Gary Locke’s Home Is America, not China

Chinese culture has strong feelings about relationships, which are expressed in phrases such as “all four corners of the world are home,” and “all the people of the world are brothers.” Because of this sentiment, Chinese culture generally adds an intimate family feeling to all aspects of life. When U.S. President Barack Obama nominated a Chinese-American, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary F. Locke, to be the U.S. ambassador to China, mainland China cheered with joy. However, many Chinese people do not understand that Gary F. Locke is an American citizen, not a Chinese citizen.

Chinese people, who revere their lineage and ancestors, will often jump for joy at the news of people of Chinese descent who are successful in countries around the world. Chinese people will always feel inexplicably excited when they hear that an American scientist of Chinese descent won the Nobel Prize, or that a foreign citizen of Chinese descent works as an official for the government in another country.

Since ancient times, Chinese people have been accustomed to crossing the ocean to eke out a living in another country, in the same way that migrant workers leave their homes in the countryside of China to work in big cities today. The early immigrants faced many hardships. However, some of the children of immigrants became wealthy and powerful in governments around the world. If I remember correctly, Chinese-American forensic scientist Chang Yu-Lee’s original home was in Taiwan. Furthermore, the mayor of Oakland, California, USA, is a Chinese-American named Jean Quan. Also, Pansy Wong, former minister of New Zealand’s government (former minister for Ethnic Affairs and former minister of Women’s Affairs), is from Hong Kong. In 2010, Mrs. Wong resigned after misusing public money for private business activities during a trip to China. Recently, Chang Yu-Lee surprised many people when he attended but did not vote at China’s joint session between the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC). Many people do not know if American citizens are allowed to participate in politics in China, so there is some confusion as to their real influence.

Many people in China applaud the decision for Gary Locke to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China. Locke is a second-generation* immigrant who was born in America. His father is from Taishan, Guangdong Province. To a certain extent, Mr. Locke is not fully a foreigner; he is a man of Chinese descent. The way that Chinese people treat people of Chinese descent and foreigners is different, so Locke is more welcomed than a person of another ethnicity. If some time in the future, Gary Locke’s name is printed on the list of people attending China’s joint session between the National People’s Congress and the CPPCC, please, don’t be surprised.

Gary Locke’s wife, Mona Lee, has a very famous grandmother — Lu Muzhen. After Lu Muzhen divorced Li Meng, Mona Lee’s paternal grandfather, she married Sun Yat-sen and had a son, Sun Ke. In effect, this makes Sun Yat-sen the great grandfather of Gary Locke. In this way, Gary Locke is related to Sun Yat-sen through his wife’s grandfather’s first marriage. This fact about his family is very important in the political scheme of things. It gives mainland China, which gives great weight to family ties, a good reason to respect Locke.

People are strange animals — when you see a white person, you will adjust your actions to try to agree with him, and that white person might also try to agree with you. When Chinese people see Locke, they want to act like he is a Chinese person, having high expectations for him and expecting him to do things the Chinese way. However, he is an American, so they should act like he is a foreigner, treating him courteously and accepting his mistakes and faults graciously. I believe that when Gary Locke faces people from Taishan, his heart has more Chinese characteristics. This is because in China, both lineage and heritage are so important that they can control many aspects of a person’s life.

Another example of the importance of family ties is the respect paid to the tombs of one’s ancestors. Recently, because Lien Chan has started the “peace” activities with the mainland, all of his ancestors’ tombs received a first-class renovation by the government. On January 17, 2011, when Ma Ying-jeou said he wanted to “go to the mainland to see his ancestral tomb,” the relevant departments on the mainland probably took the hint and worked as quickly as possible to prepare the tombs. After the Cultural Revolution, the tomb of Sun Yat-sen’s widow, Soong Ching-ling (the famous vice chairman of China) was seriously damaged by the Red Guards, which showed an intentional and deep insult to her family and her legacy.

This is Chinese culture. Many people, after leaving home to go to a faraway place, hope that they can return home in glory. According to Zaobao’s report, the people of Gary Locke’s ancestral hometown in Taishan became very lively after hearing that he would become the U.S. ambassador to China. Maybe these simple and honest villagers are actually happy for Gary Locke. However, they might not understand that that Locke is an American soldier on the diplomatic front. If he does his job well, it is very likely it will make Americans happy, but not make Chinese people happy. Gary Locke is an American!

In 1990, a Peruvian man of Japanese descent named Alberto Ken’ya Fujimori was elected president of Peru. The Japanese people were not particularly joyous about the occasion. Later, Fujimori was forced to step down from office, and even tried to flee to Japan to seek refuge. In the end, he was extradited to Peru and stood trial for his corruption**. Everyone needs to remember that Locke will be acting in America’s interests. He will be cordial, but he will not be a friend who always supports Chinese interests.

*Editor’s note: Locke is third-generation

**Editor’s note: Fujimori tried to escape his criminal charges by fleeing to Japan, but was subsequently arrested on a visit to Chile and extradited to Peru, where he was convicted of human rights violations such as kidnapping and murder, along with bribery and embezzlement.