The following is not a verbatim account of a conversation with a single person; it never occurred as such. It is a fabrication of several conversations with several people, and some inventiveness to boot. It is nonetheless true.
“Well, people of the older generation believe that you students are all too concerned about your cell phones, your texting, and your Renren, to be political anymore. They feel that things have changed since 1989, and that you have been bought off by the open door business developments that have occurred since then.”
“Well, that isn’t true, we are still political; we just know how to work the system better than in the old days. We know that we are being watched at all times, so we have to do things differently. Did you see the silent protests we arranged at the McDonalds? We just went down there and sat without saying anything, without even making any protest demands. The police and the authorities freaked when we did that; now they have stationed police cars there permanently to make sure that we don’t come back; but we surprise them by going to a new site.”
“So everything is just below the surface, ready to break out – is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. We students are mostly liberal in our attitudes and beliefs, and believe in change for the better to allow for more freedom; so if these changes are coming on their own, then we don’t need to be protesting. But if things stopped and there seemed to be no progress in the direction that we want – then we would have to take a different approach.”
“So as long as the Chinese economy seems to be growing and the government can afford to share more rights with students and people generally, then everything is ok?”
“But, if things were to become bad economically, then things might well be different, and the Party knows this, so they have to keep a close eye on things.”
“Do you ever wonder whether or not there are agents working for the United States endeavoring to stir up unrest among the students?”
“Oh, we know there are. We all read the WikiLeaks transcripts that listed all the students and others who go over to the U.S. Embassy. They aren’t just going over there for a social visit.”
“Well, did they all get arrested? What was the response of the authorities to this leaked information?”
“There doesn’t seem to have been one particularly. I am sure their names are on a list somewhere, and if things turn bad, they would probably be the first to be picked up. But no one seems to take it too seriously. We thought it was pretty funny, all these names being listed.”
“What do you think of the Americans doing this kind of thing? And wouldn’t these students be considered traitors or spies by the authorities in some way – that would have been the case in the old days under Mao?”
“Well, it is all part of a game. I am sure the Chinese are trying to do the same thing – not necessarily by recruiting American students – although there may be some Chinese Americans with divided loyalties – who knows? It’s all part of the Great Game. But these people tend to want to learn information about the U.S. economy and business, rather than endeavor to destabilize things in the United States itself. As far as the Americans destabilizing things here, they can only really be successful if there is a great deal of discontent out there.”
“Yes, but as you have said, there is quite a bit.”
“Well, there can either be a political movement pushing for gradual change, or a protest movement endeavoring to disrupt things; we are the former, and under those circumstances, American penetration will have limited success.”
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