6. Chinese people and society has many contradictions. On the one hand, most Chinese people I talked with say that most Chinese people are too stupid to have democracy; democracy will lead to social instability and chaos (see “chaos” above). Yet, government officials are the ones that create corruption which makes things go bad.

7. Tibet is a part of China. It does not matter what you believe about the status of Tibet in the past… it will not become independent unless China ceases to be a nation state. (see “Chaos” above). This does not mean that Chinese people and Tibetans cannot solve their differences. However, Westerners calling for “independence for Tibet” only accomplish turning their cause into a propaganda tool for the Chinese government. It reinforces the perception that Westerners are arrogant, ignorant, hypocritical, don’t know history (which is important to Chinese people), and want to bring Chaos to China. I cannot stress this more… shouting “Free Tibet” does not help anyone, except possibly help you get laid with a liberal hippie chick or Richard Gere.

8. Those interested in helping Tibet should talk about the benefits of protecting the environment for all Chinese. They should talk about how China can show itself to be a great nation by embracing multi-cultural-ism. They should point out the historical practice of granting freedom of religion. They should emphasize Tibet as a revenue of tourism money and a testing ground for alternative energy projects. This is how the supporters of Tibet’s culture can influence Chinese people.

9. I believe that food and family are the too most important things for most Chinese people. They care about the quality and taste of their food. They care about their large families. They generally prefer to buy their food at local markets which are supplied by local farmers.

10. Some Chinese people sometimes eat dogs. Most do not. The dogs they eat are “food dogs” and are not pets.

11. For those that remember the lead-paint in Mattel toys, please note that those toys were not made by China or imported into the United States by China. Those toys were made by Mattel. The responsibility to monitor quality in the supply chain falls to the company which puts its name on the product and sells it. It is not the responsibility of the Chinese government.

12. For all the talk now-a-days about Chinese cities being very polluted, please note that China will probably quickly surpass the United States as a manufacturer and consumer of alternative energy. That is, unless the next President of the US makes some big changes. The Chinese government has been investing heavily in wind power and solar energy. Now, if they would only also force regulations on building insulated buildings, they would have a lot more progress.

13. My general impression is that Chinese people think that the US Government is extremely hypocritical and arrogant. And they feel that Americans misunderstand them. They see the US supporting Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and many other countries with “human rights” problems, while making a big fuss about China’s human rights record, when in fact, for the vast majority of Chinese people, they have never been freer. Chinese people think that their nation needs to be held to a lesser standard than the United States ( which does not live up to its own standard ) because China has too many very big problems.

14. Most Chinese people look up to the United States. They watch the Space Shuttle launch on the news. They follow US politics (although they have little concept about the social issues that take place in America). They like American television. They admire American accomplishments. They like the concept of ‘Rule of Law’ which they think of as being a key element to America's success.

15. In my opinion, Chinese people tend to think and speak about “process” and reasons in detail before talking about concrete results. Westerners tend to talk first about the specific desired end-result, or how things should be, instead of starting off with how things got to be where they are. Chinese also place much greater value in “harmony” than in “logic”. This is evident also when one compares classical Western philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) and classical Eastern philosophy (LaoZi, MengZi, ZhuangZi, Confucius). In my opinion, the political implication of this is that Western diplomats to China (including citizens who become “diplomats” by virtue of their writings and pronouncements) need to abandon the Western “what’s-the-bottom-line” approach and instead positively focus on specific mutually beneficial improvement processes, as well as acknowledge the historical events which made the world the way it is today. I think this is difficult for Americans to do, because we tend to focus on immediate desired results – what needs to be different – and pay very little attention to the historical circumstance that lead up to the current situation.