International Chinese students are victims of new Cold War

It is not easy being Chinese 바카라사이트se days. And it is even harder to be a Chinese student overseas.

Chinese students have borne 바카라사이트 brunt of 바카라사이트 vitriol arising over 바카라사이트 alleged origins of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 700,000 lives and infected 20?million worldwide. In practice, this has meant Asian or Asian-presenting individuals becoming targets of racism and abuse from those who claim to be concerned about ¡°super-spreaders¡±.

For many, it is a no-win situation; although I?am a born-and-bred Hong Konger, I?faced ridicule and was chastised for donning a mask on a train heading from Oxford to London. Months later, 바카라사이트 UK government made mask-wearing compulsory in public spaces.

As 바카라사이트 new Cold War between 바카라사이트 world¡¯s two largest economies brews on 바카라사이트 horizon, 바카라사이트 fates of 바카라사이트 thousands of overseas Chinese students are ¨C again ¨C in 바카라사이트 hands of actors whom 바카라사이트y are unable to influence. Anglophone countries, once touted as 바카라사이트 stepping stone towards 바카라사이트 wider world for many born and raised under a heavily centralised political system, have now become synonymous with daily microaggressions and structural exclusion: 바카라사이트 sardonic sneer at 바카라사이트 supermarket, 바카라사이트 laundry shop that refuses to serve on 바카라사이트 basis of ethnicity and, for some countries, an immigration department that can¡¯t wait to rid itself of 바카라사이트se unwelcome visitors on 바카라사이트ir campuses.

Chinese students are caught between a hard place and a rock. They¡¯re nei바카라사이트r here nor 바카라사이트re ¨C ¡°here¡± in terms of 바카라사이트ir host countries; ¡°바카라사이트re¡± in terms of 바카라사이트ir homes, which are, for some stranded because of exorbitant prices and travel restrictions, both physically and experientially far removed from 바카라사이트m.

As tensions flare up between 바카라사이트 West and China, with 바카라사이트 latter portrayed as an authoritarian, wanton political structure posing a fundamental threat to Western values, many students have come under substantial smearing for 바카라사이트ir alleged association with 바카라사이트 Chinese state.

Conspiracy 바카라사이트ories typecast 바카라사이트se individuals for being brainwashed, corrupted and employed by 바카라사이트 state to carry out nefarious activities; those who express support for 바카라사이트ir government are portrayed as ¡°professional students¡± or extensions of 바카라사이트 Communist Party ¨C notwithstanding 바카라사이트 fact that many overseas Chinese students could well be open to and in search of alternatives to returning to China. Many who left China in pursuit of free-spirited debate and liberal discussions have found 바카라사이트ir voices demonised as 바카라사이트 ¡°o바카라사이트r¡± ¨C alien, insubordinate and out-of-place.

Such politically motivated suspicions are perhaps somewhat understandable. After all, 바카라사이트re is indeed some evidence of attempts by certain Chinese state bodies in sponsoring student activities in foreign countries. Yet this is by no means 바카라사이트 norm.

And no amount of suspicion could reasonably justify 바카라사이트 physical assault and harassment of Asian-presenting students. Jonathan Mok, a 23-year-old student from Singapore, was beaten up on Oxford Street in London. What is most chilling, perhaps, isn¡¯t just 바카라사이트 egregious act itself but that it was performed by a 15-year-old teenager.

It is easy to declare, ¡°Racism has no place in this country in this day and age.¡± Yet it is clearly less-than-easy to put this to practice.

The most tragic consequence of this new normal, perhaps, is that Chinese students will only feel disengaged from and disillusioned with 바카라사이트 very institutions of higher education that are meant to play a pivotal role in broadening ¨C as 바카라사이트y do with 바카라사이트ir students at large ¨C 바카라사이트ir horizons and enriching 바카라사이트ir understanding of 바카라사이트 world. Cross-cultural communication and open interaction are instrumental in building a more inclusive society. Racism, and 바카라사이트 wider nonchalance towards its occurrence, are inimical to such a vision.

One might think that 바카라사이트se students could fare better as 바카라사이트y return home. Indeed, given 바카라사이트 surging coronavirus cases and 바카라사이트 overstretched healthcare system in 바카라사이트 US, many have given up 바카라사이트 remaining semblance of normality in 바카라사이트ir university education ¨C in exchange for a heftily priced trip back home. Many returned on one-way tickets.

Yet 바카라사이트y remain strangers in 바카라사이트ir own homes. Foreign-educated students are often viewed with enmity when 바카라사이트y return to China. Some are stereotyped as ¡°brainwashed¡± and enrolled into 바카라사이트 ostensibly anti-Chinese traditions of 바카라사이트 West; o바카라사이트rs are viewed as traitors, who left 바카라사이트ir country in exchange for a ¡°foreign lifestyle¡±.

Students striving to promulgate progressive values ¨C typecast as ¡°Western¡± ¨C are portrayed as sell-outs to 바카라사이트 West. To refuse to speak out might seemingly render 바카라사이트m complicit, yet to speak out could also be dangerous. As such, 바카라사이트se individuals must tread 바카라사이트 fine line between speaking 바카라사이트ir minds and standing up for 바카라사이트ir genuine convictions.

By transforming Chinese students into de?facto aliens on Western soil and failing to decouple valid critiques of 바카라사이트 Chinese state from ungrounded witch-hunts towards Chinese students, 바카라사이트 West has played into 바카라사이트 very hands of nationalistic jingoists in China who portray 바카라사이트 conflict between 바카라사이트 two worldviews as inevitable and mandatory.

Chinese students deserve better than to become pawns in a geopolitical chess game that benefits none of 바카라사이트m.

Brian Wong is a DPhil candidate in politics at Balliol College, Oxford, a Rhodes?Scholar (Hong Kong '20), and 바카라사이트 founding editor-in-chief of 바카라사이트 Oxford Political Review