There is an old Chinese saying: 不怕天不怕地只怕广东人说中国话

Translation: Fear neither the heavens nor the earth. Fear only Guangdong people who speak Chinese.

That probably isn’t funny to most of you reading this. I won’t elaborate.

Yesterday, Kevin Rudd, Australia’s fluent Chinese speaking Prime Minister, visited China and delivered a speech, entirely in Mandarin, at Beijing University. He altered the saying a little to: 不怕天不怕地只怕老外说中国话

Fear neither the heavens nor the earth. Fear only a foreigner who speaks Chinese.

He drew a few laughs. Except from me. He used the derogatory term for foreigner.

PM Rudd, a slight built man with a baby face, in speaking Chinese, was trying to say what? As a former diplomat, it’s no surprise that he can speak Chinese, but after seeing the spectacle the Chinese media made of his ability, it made me question whether it is a good idea for the head of a powerful State to speak at length in a language other than his own when delivering public remarks. Private discussions and banter with your foreign counterpart are one thing, but public speaking is another, especially in China. It reminded me of Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess master who tried to oppose President Putin. During his candidacy, he spoke to western media, in English. Putin’s people ran the clips and made him appear as a pawn of the west. Rudd isn’t exactly in danger of appearing as a pawn to the Australian people, but any foreigner, especially a former diplomat, should know how easy (read: natural) it is for Chinese to turn even a nice gesture like speaking Chinese into fuel for the propaganda machine. Something like: “the power of China and Chinese language”. That he would give them the material/satisfaction is beyond me.

While his trip was supposed to be used to talk “direct and straightforward” about Tibet, he only brought up the issue briefly in his address. Instead, he delivered a marshmallow of a speech - light, soft, and sweet. You may say that he was addressing his audience - the elite at Beijing University. But it doesn’t take a psychic or a telescope to see just how far his words were going - across China and into the homes of hundreds of millions of people. You know which parts reached the evening news, played over and over again.

Many of the world’s Presidents and Prime Ministers can speak multiple languages, including English, but only deliver official remarks in their native tongue. Partly because they are more comfortable and control that way, and partly because they don’t want to bow, in public at least, to the fact that English is the world’s language. I wonder about Rudd’s motivations. Was it that, as former diplomat, he was used to and expected to do so, or was it just a gesture? Is he a Sinophile? His background is interesting. Or maybe it’s just business? China is now Australia is largest trading partner. Last year, when he was yet to be elected Prime Minister, he spoke Mandarin during a visit with Chinese President Hu Jintao. That same day, China agreed to buy up to $45 billion of liquefied natural gas from an Australian company over the next 20 years.

There is no doubt that speaking Chinese is a lubricant for relationships, but too much and you can find yourself walking a slippery slope. Someone should tell Prime Minister Rudd that for foreigners in China, less is enough. No matter how good your Chinese or chopticks, it does not, as it may in other places, change the fundamental view Chinese people have of you or your country. As a foreigner, there is little, almost nothing you can do to change the deeply ingrained view that you are, above all, a foreigner (well, this is true), an enemy of the State, and a resource. The sooner you can accept these facts, the more comfortable you can be here. And ironically, the more successful./

But when it’s all said and done, I’d have to agree with the Prime Minister - fear not the heavens or the earth. Fear only a foreigner who speaks Chinese.

P.S. His tones are really good. I’m kinda jealous.