How the Chinese Government Views Barack Obama

Being somewhat familiar with the stories of the hardships experienced by biracial children in Asian societies I had an idea of how the Chinese government might view Barack Obama. But I have to admit that Edward Cody's Washington post article "In China, Fascination With Obama's Skin Color" was enlightening.

Cody quotes an article in the Monday edition of China's People's Daily Newspaper as saying,

"Obama won precisely because he did not emphasize his racial characteristics," the writer said. "He even made a clean break with radical black people."

"Obama is a graduate from a first-class university," the editorial continued. "He is a symbol of assimilation rather than a representative of different races coming together. Obama did not break the superiority complex of white people. On the contrary, his appearance strengthened the superiority complex of white people."

And just when I was getting over the fact that the contract from the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument that will stand in the National Mall in Washington has been outsourced to a Chinese artist.

Edward Cody goes on to write:

" The editorial was signed by Ding Gang, a name frequently assigned to important analyses in a publication that plays the role of party bulletin board. Chinese journalists said they believe it is a pen name used by senior editors or other party propaganda officials conveying an official point of view.

The 68 million members of China's Communist Party, at least those who take their responsibilities seriously, normally would be expected to take their cues from such an editorial and repeat its key phrases in speeches and official conversations around the country. But it ran only in the overseas edition, which projects China's opinions abroad, and thus will not be seen by most of China's 1.3 billion people.

The Chinese government has grown comfortable over the last eight years in its relations with the Bush administration, whose leader belongs to what the People's Daily editorial called "the core of U.S. mainstream society, the white Protestant with Anglo-Saxon blood."

Officially, the Chinese government has abstained from comment on the U.S. voting, following the standard practice here of avoiding interference in the internal affairs of other nations. But the editorial touched on a theme that has frequently been expressed by ordinary Chinese ever since it became clear Obama would be the Democratic nominee: wonder at the fact that a man from a racial minority could be within reach of occupying the White House."

I guess we know who the Chinese government would like to see win the 2008 US Presidential election.