GUEST COLUMN: Will true democracy arrive in China?

Growing up in Shanghai, I always believed the People's Republic of China was a great and wondrous nation that took care of everyone and shared its wealth with its people. Children my age were the luckiest of all because we never had to endure the ordeals of the Cultural Revolution. And yet we were still able to enjoy the fruits of what the generation before us had fought for -- equality and better living conditions. That fact was constantly reminded to us and ingrained in us through our academic curriculum, family and the media. All hopes were instilled in us -- the future of Communism and of China. By the tender age of 8, my loyalty was so great that my father had to practically drag me kicking and screaming to the American embassy in Beijing for my green card because I didn't want to miss my initiation ceremony to be a "red-scarf cadet." That naive attitude of mine soon changed as I viewed China from a foreigner's point of view over the years. From China's tumultuous Cultural Revolution in the 1970s to the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square, the country appeared to be in quite a bind with its people and the world. On July 4, the "great dragon" made another mark in history as Britain ended its colonial contract with China and returned Hong Kong -- one of the most prosperous cities of the world -- to the communist motherland. The Chinese of the mainland seemed to be overjoyed and excited to have Hong Kong back in its embrace. But do they truly understand what this move means? Newsweek described an 80-year-old grandmother's reaction toward the issue to be quite apathetic: "The [television] says it's a happy occasion.' But why is it a happy occasion? 'I don't really know. They said it on the box, but I don't remember'." Surprisingly, many Chinese today -- old and young -- have similar sentiments to this elderly peasant woman. Whether they had learned in school that the Opium War was the cause of losing Hong Kong to Britain or not, many people cared much more about the economic impact of the hand-over than the symbolism behind it. Nevertheless, China has used this occasion as a political "getting back on its feet" gesture to show that the country has what it takes to be a world leader. However, before it can earn respect from the world, China must gain the admiration of its people. That is no easy task considering China has the largest population of any nation in the world. The obstacle increases in complexity since there are also Chinese scattered worldwide, who do not identify with China and form exclusive cultural clubs that limit their membership to only one kind of Chinese. The truth of the matter is the Chinese of the world are no longer fervently Chinese. The nationalism that was once so strong 20 or even 10 years ago has been replaced by a long overdue sense of individual-awareness. China's brother and sister -- Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively -- have also gained their own independent identities as powerful and prosperous regions of the world. While these three neighbors are usually content in their own domains, their cultural and nationalistic differences collide when they are brought together. Uniting these factions -- including the 50-plus minority groups already occupying China's huge territory -- with its many generations of emigrants all under the banner of "one nation, one people" will be painstakingly difficult for China. The Chinese people of the late 20th century cannot easily forget the physical or the emotional wounds inflicted by the its government. Through its efforts to become a people's nation over the last 100 years, China has not been able to detach itself from an imperialistic past. Government up to the present has been disguised as "one-man rules" in titles from emperor to chairman. Whether it is imperialism or communism, China has yet to stray from its need of dictatorship. The coming millennium will be a test to see if the new leaders of the PRC can be true to their words and gradually democratize China instead of using the term as a ploy to have control of the masses. If the government is smart, it will focus its efforts to improve the country's domestic needs before it worries about gathering everyone home for a family reunion. If the citizens of China are happy with what they see from the government, they will gladly stay in China instead of looking elsewhere in search of better opportunities and better lives. With improvement and stability, the respect China is so desperately seeking from the world will all come in good time.