Cross-cultural understanding

I walked into the room, and a colleague of mine was just finishing a chat with a lady I had never met before. By the way she looked and dressed, she seemed to be Chinese, and my guess was right when she introduced herself.

We began a brief conversation, which ended as briefly as it started. She began by asking whether I was Chinese. I said no, and said that I'm Taiwanese, at least by birth.

"Oh, Taiwan is a part of China."

I once again repeated what I had just said, "No, I'm Taiwanese."

And she repeated again what she said. As if repeating a fiction will make it fact.

I responded by saying... nothing.

Silence is golden, at times, and these were one of these times. I simply smiled friendlily, as the lady left the room.

There was little point in correcting her or getting embroiled in a big debate about whether Taiwan is really part of China. She can believe what she wants to, but I know I am right, and I really did not need to loose myself in a first encounter.

This yet another episode of Chinese ignorance and pride was reminiscent of an incident that a lecturer of mine once mentioned... the stir Allain Pellet caused in the International Law Commission when he decried China's "intellectual terrorism" when the Chinese delegated made a commotion about Taiwan's practice as "unilateral state practice".

What is surprising, and perhaps a little sad, is that this lady was sent by the Chinese government to "spread Chinese language and culture". It serves as part of the People's Republic's strategy to promote cross-cultural and international understanding and learning. Soft power if you will, to soften up the regime's hard image internationally. And whereas before all things remotely related to ancient thinkings and philosophers were denounced by Beijing as "decadent" , today there are numerous institutes springing up all over the world aptly (or perhaps ironically) named after perhaps the most renowned and respected Chinese philosopher.
But then again, if my experience with this lady was telling, it definitely is not what I would call promoting understanding and learning.