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Like most people, countries want to be understood. Powerful countries have a powerful interest in controlling the narrative that shapes public opinion inside and especially outside the nation state.
Quietly and with great patience, China has worked to shape external perceptions, and in the process the shapers are also shaped. For example, China developed the Confucius Institute, a government funded franchise that has taken root in the U.S. and other targeted countries, mainly on college campuses where it's easier to teach and perhaps influence tomorrow's national leaders.
Considerable sums of money have been spent on the program, though the budget seems to be a secret. Some colleges have declined to participate because of controls placed on the funds by the donor government. On the plus side, schools lacking a Chinese studies program, including language instruction, now have them.
The other side of the yuan coin is the China Bridge Program, a language and culture competition for students in grade school through undergraduate. Events are held each year in the major geographic regions of the U.S., and in other countries.
Your WPG correspondent attended the one for students living on the east coast at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Clouds of students jammed the student union waiting to have their turn getting quizzed by a panel of Chinese language teachers, all of them native speakers.
But first came the cultural performances, which for some reason were not counted as part of the final score. One young man played an ancient string instrument and recited a poem. A young woman did a fan dance. Another sang a Chinese pop song called “You are the lyrics to my song.” All were impressive, and the judges and assorted Chinese consular officers were eating it up.
Then each student gave a short memorized speech, an English translation of which was projected on a giant screen. That was the easy part.
The judges then took turn asking contestants questions about their speech. No chance to memorize them. Some students clearly faltered. Others appeared to nail it, though they could have been speaking Klingon for all your correspondent could decipher. What seemed amazing was hearing very poised young non-Chinese speaking Mandarin Chinese, complete with the devilishly difficult tones that done incorrectly can completely change the speaker's meaning into garbled or embarrassing gobbledygook.
At the end of the day winners were selected in each age category, the prize being an all-expenses paid trip to the international competition in China later in the year. There, winning students from around the world will compete before a nationwide TV audience. Hard to imagine here in the U.S. CNN or Fox offering extensive coverage of a contest where Chinese students speak English.
A bridge too far?
But like the Japanese before them, Chinese are now fascinated by foreigners who can speak their language. It's not something people there often hear, and the foreigner becomes less foreign.
Of course there's also a Survivor aspect to the TV coverage where contestants strive hard, only to be thrown off the linguistic island in the end.
One surprising part of the competition is that national teams don costumes that the organizers think communicate to the TV audience where the contestants come from. Americans end up wearing cowboy hats and other western gear.
Stereotypes aside, the students seem to have a good time, and already there is buzz about a genius member of the Russian team who allegedly speaks perfect Mandarin without a foreign accent, even though he learned the language listening to the radio.
Some of the speeches seemed over the top in praise of China and Chinese culture, but one about American students meeting Chinese for the first time and using a game of basketball to find common ground hit the mark. We compete, but we are on the same team and we enjoy many of the same things.
It can be a metaphor and bridge too far. But in a world where misunderstanding and ignorance of the ways of others have serious consequences, the China Bridge is one that more people should cross.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| NUKR30X/3AS NTN | 12 | 30 | 15 |
| NUKR180/3AS NTN | 64 | 180 | 76 |