While the American presidential election has created a global furor of gossip over the past few months, many Chinese friends of mine sternly refused to share any happy-hour chat on the big trendy topic. They found the presidential election boring because neither candidate mentioned China very much in their platforms. This was interpreted as a sign that neither candidate was taking China—a future superpower on the rise—very seriously.

“But no news is good news,” I argued. When Clinton, Bush, or Reagan mentioned China while they were campaigning as presidential candidates, how was the country presented? Wasn’t China the bad guy locking up dissidents, bullying Taiwan and the Dalai Lama, and exporting cheap socks and jeans that put millions of American workers out of jobs? Now—just for once, for Heaven’s sake—Obama and McCain, while touring around America with their key-note speeches on the economy and Al-Qaeda, have dropped China and stopped “demonizing” the peace-loving nation. We’re no longer the slanty-eyed Dr. Fu Manchu brewing an evil plot to conquer the world. Isn’t that something worth celebrating with a glass of uncontaminated Mau Tai?

But my friends were not convinced. If China is mentioned in the campaign it makes them lose face; but not being mentioned at all has them pull a long face. The Middle Kingdom, placed directly in the center of the earth, should enjoy every courtesy of being mentioned, and only with all due respect, in every American presidential election.
That’s why the splash story of Allan Zeman, a local Canadian who rules the territory of Lan Kwai Fong, has caused such an uproar of joy in Hong Kong, his declaration of being naturalized as a Chinese citizen nearly eclipsing the American presidential election. It is a rare and emotional moment of pride for all Chinese. Yes, all the gweilos take it for granted when tens of thousands of faceless Chinese restaurateurs and professionals queue up for a US green card or a Canadian passport as an insurance policy. But suddenly, it is no longer one-way traffic. Does this mean that China can now adopt westerners into her 3,000-year-old bosom and thereby pardon them for the sins of a century’s worth of imperialistic invasion? What a change.

Zeman caught the limelight at just the right moment. It is a historic episode that symbolizes the crucial place of China on the world stage, which Obama and McCain, to the dismay of many Chinese, failed to see. No wonder so many Chinese people felt offended at being neglected, even by Sarah Palin, who mentioned only Russia as the big country she could see from the back garden of her home in Alaska. China can be seen everywhere, omnipresent in every T-shirt, every pair of jeans and shoes, every Christmas tree, and until recently, every can of milk powder. And if you found the latest American presidential election campaign the most refreshing one yet because it was China-free, just don’t tell your Chinese friends.  

Chip Tsao is a best-selling author and columnist.
A former reporter for the BBC, his columns have also appeared in Apple Daily, Next Magazine and CUP Magazine, among others.