
Many Chinese suffer discrimination based on their regional origin - metaphysics
https://www.economist.com/china/2019/04/13/many-chinese-suffer-discrimination-based-on-their-regional-origin
======
icsllaf
For how "homogeneous" China is considered, regions often define people more
than ethnicity or racial groups. A common greeting that most people ask is
"Where are you from?" Both migrant workers and the growing middle class now
have the ability to travel anywhere in the country to further their futures.

Back in the 70s or even the 90s this mixing of people was pretty much unheard
of. Shanghai culture was only in Shanghai while the rest of the country was
their own little thing. Only recently have the people and culture of the
country begun to mix.

The grouping of everyone in China into Han Chinese is a simplification IMO. A
person from the Northern regions of China can't even speak to a person from
the Southern region while the culture of every part of the country is
drastically different and would make the differences between Americans look
miniscule.

~~~
Cookingboy
>would make the differences between Americans look miniscule.

The culture, custom and language difference is definitely more drastic than it
is in the U.S. I was somewhat bullied as a young kid in Shanghai because I
couldn't speak Shanghainese that well.

However value is mostly not as divisive as it is here. I'm talking about the
same kind of success is valued and worshipped throughout the country, urban
and countryside alike. People also largely share similar family value, similar
world view, and even similar opinions of domestic and foreign politics. In the
U.S. I get the impression that everyone wants the best for the country, but
they just drastically disagree on what an "ideal America" should look like.
It's looking more and more like one side's paradise is the other side's
nightmare.

Personally I theorize a lot of that is due to decades of centralized media,
propaganda and a top down, heavily scrutinized education system, but in this
case one can't help but wonder if democracy is _always_ better judging by the
extreme polarization of media bubble and social value in American society. In
fact, we reached the level that democracy is only tolerated in the U.S. but
not liked by most people. If you give a theoretical ballot/proposition to
Hilary voters that strip Trump voters of voting rights and vice versa, I have
a feeling a significant amount of voters across both sides will vote YES, but
not admit in doing so.

But that's discussion for a different day.

~~~
taobility
US is more diversity than China definitely. At least in China, most people
speak Mandarin, eat noodle and rice. But in US, how many people speak English?
Eat Hamburg?

~~~
icsllaf
71% of China speaks Mandarin compared to 80% of America who can speak
English.[1][2]

>Eat Noodle and Rice.

The cuisine of China is actually very varied. Rice is more common in the
Southern and Middle parts of China compared to noodles which are found mostly
in the Northern Parts.

You could not find a Dim Sum place in Shanghai compared to Southern cities
because Dim Sum is more of a Southern tradition. While the cuisines of
Shanghai are completely different than ones found in Xian, Xinjiang, and
Hubei.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_China)
[2][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States)

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linuxftw
You should hear what people say about people that were born and raised in the
US South.

Seems in some places, it's perfectly (socially) acceptable to pick on others,
as long as you're picking on the 'right' group of folks.

~~~
chris_mc
Do people from the South (that aren't a part of traditionally discriminated
groups) get discriminated against actively because of their birthplace? Does
Joe Redneck lose jobs because he was born in Georgia rather than California?
What do those Southerners say about people like me living in San Francisco,
CA?

Not trying to be aggressive, I just want to know why you think the cultural
discrimination against white Southerners is equivalent to that against Chinese
ethnic groups that are being actively oppressed, or some other group that is
being actively oppressed.

~~~
stcredzero
_Do people from the South (that aren 't a part of traditionally discriminated
groups) get discriminated against actively because of their birthplace?_

In 2019, it has become fashionable to impute beliefs on another person on
scant evidence. Perhaps as little as what someone looks like, or what 'type'
they are based on the first impression.

Back in the day, we used to call this bigotry.

I dream of the day when all Americans will be judged not by [surface
signifier] but by the content of their character.

EDIT: If you are on the Left, then it is especially incumbent on you to call
out _your own side._ What's more, if you're afraid to speak up, or frequently
decide to hold your tongue, start asking yourself _why_.

It's a frequent trope in history: Sociopaths co-opting a cause and the
language of movements.

[https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths](https://meaningness.com/geeks-
mops-sociopaths)

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bitcurious
Some aspects of this discrimination are institutional, encoded in the Hukou
system - a registry that restricts your access to government services based on
birthplace rather than current residency.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou_system)

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curiousgal
Regionalism is a word. Most countries suffer from it as well.

~~~
VyseofArcadia
I'm from Alabama. I'm pretty familiar with regionalism in the US. But it for
the most part stops at social situations. I've never once heard of a large
nationwide company filtering out candidates from the Heart of Dixie just on
principle, like, for example, Meituan was apparently doing with people from
Henan. This is a whole new level of regionalism.

Now when you get to the interview and they hear the traces of the accent that
you still manage to retain despite your best efforts, well, there's no helping
that.

~~~
monocasa
> I've never once heard of a large nationwide company filtering out candidates
> from the Heart of Dixie just on principle

I've seen it happen. "Culture fit" ends up being the stated reason. I lost my
southern accent for a reason when I moved out west.

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AFascistWorld
The difference is it's quite blatant and you can do nothing about it like the
996 work schedule. People of one province hate the people from basically any
other province, sometimes one part of a province hates another part.

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trw999
As someone from one of the regions the article claims is discriminated
against, I have literally never faced discrimination on the basis of the
region I'm from. And it's not like they can't tell given that my accent is
quite heavy. The dialect I speak gets made fun of a lot but that's done as
much by people from the region as by people from outside it. The fact that the
article straight up opens with poorly done translations of online comments
makes it pretty obvious that it's just another puffpiece using cherry picked
examples.

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cpufry
i wonder what kind of discrimination south asians face as well. considering
vast majority of south asians in tech are from certain parts of india.

~~~
manishsharan
Nobody hates and discriminates against Indians more than other Indians! ;-)

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himanshuxd
From what I read even though what the school did is totally horrible, there is
a lot of hatred for "Henan" people.

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jldugger
Whereas in the US, we only discriminate against people based on the origin of
their license plate?

~~~
dforrestwilson
The difference is that the U.S. is not targeting a regional majority /
national minority using advanced technologies, and then placing them into re-
education camps as a matter of policy.

~~~
linuxftw
I disagree. For many in the African American (and others) community, the war
on Drugs (I'm referring to Marijuana especially), has been just that.

Of course, the US doesn't call them 'camps.'

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fxbl0i
So, like everywhere in the world? This China bashing is getting stupid.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
I’m not sure how factual reporting on what is in China is invalidated as China
bashing because similar phenomena occur elsewhere on the planet? Aka the what
aboutism logical fallacy.

~~~
fxbl0i
It's not whataboutism, I'm saying that this is perfectly normal and therefore
I don't think it's valid criticism of China in particular.

~~~
yorwba
I don't think it's intended to be criticism of China in particular. "Common
thing happens in China, here are the details" is interesting news for some
people.

For example, I was aware that Northeasterners are seen as a distinct group,
but not in terms of external rejection, but rather internal cohesion, e.g.
when one of my friends joked that hearing the Northeastern accent of his taxi
driver made him feel almost at home.

~~~
trw999
>not in terms of external rejection

I'm from the Northeast. Your initial assessment was the correct one. There is
no external rejection of Northeasteners. Hearing others speak with a
Northeastern accent is strangely reassuring though.

>"Common thing happens in China, here are the details" is interesting news for
some people.

Except that's the issue, with articles like these the thing that's claimed to
be happening are extreme cases but they make them out to be common. Because
it's China nobody reading the Economist can smell the bullshit as they have no
direct knowledge. I see it happen with Japan related news too.

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nukeop
Chinese have different sensibilities than westerners. It's completely normal
and accepted for them. They have a word for self-important westerners who are
obsessed with politically correct speech and behavior - baizuo. It's a
different world there.

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countryqt30
That's not news that's normal and accepted in China, and been like this
forever :D.

~~~
CharlesColeman
> That's not news that's normal and accepted in China, and been like this
> forever :D.

What's normal and accepted in one place can be news someplace else.

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selfind
Yes, there is a discrimination on your intelligence and charisma.

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zarkov99
Now if only the Chinese implement quotas, restrictions on speech, affirmative
action, diversity initiatives, trigger warnings and identity politics, to
protect the discriminated of course, they can look forward to the same
harmony, cohesion and mental well being the US currently enjoys.

~~~
yoz-y
Disregarding the snark: the Chinese already do apply quotas, affirmative
action and diversity initiatives in universities for example.

~~~
zarkov99
That is great news for America. Can you share some details?

