By Philip Yeung
In Chinese culture, if a man wears a green hat, he wears the stigma of having an unfaithful wife. But don't worry. You are not going to China as a cuckold. You are going there to embrace China in peace, minus your preconceptions.
The Green Hat is the idea of Edward de Bono, the father of Lateral Thinking, famous for his theory of Six Thinking Hats—including the White Hat for collecting facts and data, the Black Hat for pessimism and faultfinding and the Green Hat for hope, creativity or possibilities.
The troubled China-West relationship is down to Western leaders wearing the Black Hat for too long. They mistake their misperception for reality.
But Trump has performed a "hat" trick with his imperial lawlessness. By his tantrums, he has opened China's floodgates for foreign friendships.
They now know that the Trump turbulence is not a passing storm, but a climate change.
This has led to a stampede of Western leaders calling on Beijing, from the leaders of France, Canada, Finland, and now Britain and later Germany to seek a calmer climate.
Trade is a two-way street. Moralizing is a dead-end alley.
Go see the China miracle unfold. Within 40 years, this country has gone from ox carts to trains roaring at the speed of a bullet. This ancient civilization has reinvented itself into a modern nation of education, science and technology. Here, reason reigns supreme.
But don't just come as a cool-headed pragmatist.
You need a sea change in attitude.
China is not "a necessary evil", a means for surviving the US stranglehold.
The Chinese are wired differently. Westerners have an adversarial mindset with roots in Greek and Roman culture. By contrast, after an eternity of Confucian teaching, being humble has become their second nature.
To cross the culture divide, leave your deep-rooted biases at home. The governance models may be different, but don't come flogging your values. The brutality of ICE officers and the Gaza genocide should have silenced those holier-than-thou China knee-jerk critics.
Forget Xinjiang and other trumped-up charges against China. It is an inclusive society that is generous towards its minorities, with its own affirmative action measures.
The Cold War is long gone. And China has done nothing to bring back any of its jitters. Stop looking at China through the prism of US propaganda.Go like a simple tourist and breathe in China with its triumphs in technology. Above all, enjoy the warm hospitality of its people.
But one thing never sits well with China: disrespect, whether it is over Taiwan or punitive tariffs.
China has leapfrogged an entire Europe, caught asleep in the tech race. It is now neck-and-neck, or toe-to-toe with America as its only peer-competitor in science and technology.
British cynics mock Starmer for going to Beijing like a travelling salesman with an empty suitcase. But at least he has brought his goodwill, a new awareness and an open-hearted earnestness.
However, one prickly issue has inserted itself between the two countries. Without any foundation in fact, China is portrayed as a threat to British security, when the reverse is true.
The so-called "China threat" is a virus that has been spreading unchecked. Thank God for the Trump vaccine. The end of the epidemic is in sight.
Now, let's look at the harm ledger between the two countries:
Britain brought China the post-Boxer Rebellion looting. We brought you Chinese takeaways. You brought us opium; we brought you tea. We tried giving you 6-G, but you said, "No thanks". You seized Hong Kong, we gave you Hong Kong troublemakers who remain the only bone of contention between us--- the aftermath of the Hong Kong riots, a time-bomb planted by Britain before the handover when it sowed seeds of "democracy" in an apolitical city. Its notorious anti-hero is Jimmy Lai.
Lai, as a British passport holder, thought he enjoyed immunity. He brazenly called for the US to impose draconian or extreme sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong to kill the National Security Law. He funded the violent street protests that paralyzed the city for nine months. Is he above the law, even in Britain? Try to put the boot on the other foot.
The so-called harassment of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in London is a spill-over from Britain's interference in its former colony.
China's diplomatic representatives were merely trying to defend China's legitimate interests against these traitors, who are only outsiders or third-class citizens in Britain, and nowhere near the heart of British politics. So, where is the threat to British national security?
There is nothing worth stealing in middle-power Britain. There is not much for a spy to do. Who wants the Windsors? Please, don't flatter yourself.
It is Britain that owes China an apology for derailing its peaceful reunification with Taiwan by discrediting the one-country-two-systems in Hong Kong. China-haters have got the whole thing backwards. Britain poses a threat to China's security, not the other way around. This is malicious, muddled thinking.
Unlike the Soviets, China has no imperial designs.Its socialism with Chinese characteristics boils down to long-term planning, stability and common prosperity. Not exactly the teachings of the devil, is it? China is the creator of value for its people, something Britain fails to do.
Western politicians have grown mentally lazy. They can't see beyond labels or their biases.
Now, Trump has turned China into the go-to palatable partner for a better world. Unlike the US under Trump, China doesn't dictate an either-or choice on its trading partners.
Next time you come to China, leave your Black Hat at home. Come accessorized in Green—the color of hope and positivity. Trust me, you will feel proud to be a leader again. Even your wife may like it.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Canada, a middle power, stands tall and tilts at the windmill of American super-power
Opinion | How Trump, the non-winner, has become a Nobel Peace Prize blackmailer
Opinion | Canada's U-turn on China takes both countries to new V-era
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