Chinese Ph.D. Student in U.S. Accused of Terrorism

It was in the late 1980s. At that time, I was studying French in Nanjing. A teacher told us a joke about an exchange student from France attending a summer camp in China who initially refused to share accommodations with his male roommate. After he got to know everybody, this foreign student said frankly that in France, people would not gossip about a boy and a girl sharing a house, but if two boys lived together, they would be mistakenly considered to have a “particular orientation.”

This French student understood that there are differences between China and France. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Only in this way can we get along better with local people. It’s basic common sense.

According to media reports, Chinese Ph.D. student Zhai Tiantian lately experienced the embarrassment of not following the rule “do as the Romans do." Zhai had a verbal dispute with his professor over his academic work. In his quarrel with the professor, Zhai was a bit brash and said something he did not really mean. Unexpectedly, the professor reported Zhai to the police. The police arrested Zhai under suspicions of terrorism.

It seems that Zhai was treated unjustly. Although the professor and the police might be exceptions, the real reason was that Chinese and American cultures are so different they clashed when Zhai did not follow the local rules. Never underestimate these differences. Sometimes they can create very serious consequences.

It is a matter of course for parents to scold naughty children in China. But it is different in both America and Canada. There have been several cases of parents being separated from their children because they were reported for “child abuse” by passers-by and neighbors when shouting at their children on the street or even at home. In China, shoving a police officer after having one's driver's license suspended over a traffic violation is not considered a grave infraction. But in America and Canada, the police take this kind of behavior seriously because they are on high alert. They may open fire without hesitation if an action is considered to be an “assault on a police officer.”

Another similar case also happened in the U.S. not long ago. A Chinese student was fined for breaching airport security to kiss his girlfriend goodbye, triggering a shutdown of the airport. If this had happened in China, the consequences would not have been serious. However, in American culture, it was serious enough to break the law.

This cannot be blamed entirely on Americans being rigid and stubborn. In fact, every country has its own culture. At the beginning of reform and opening-up, the first foreign teacher employed by a school sent flowers to all the female teachers in the same teaching and research group on Valentine’s Day. Because of this, he was reported for “poor behavior” and accused of being “a hooligan foreigner.” A good western practice has been “demonized” like this.

When we are in a strange country, we should stick to the bottom line of our morality and principle. But as to those minor matters, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; knowing the local rules beforehand is the most appropriate and beneficial philosophy of life.