Reimagining China in Tokyo

I’m full of admiration for people like Zhang - holding on to a dream and trying to build communities abroad to keep the dream alive.

My ancestors were political and economic refugees who brought not much more than their favourite books through civil war, temporary asylum, war, more war and ultimately safety. They too dreamed of creating a community around their dreamed-for homeland.

None of their grandchildren in the rich world speak their language, or share their dreams. Their old homeland is further away than ever from being a place you can be proud to be from.

I wish Zhang and all his fellow travellers less heartache and loss than my own grandparents and their refugee friends, and much more success in their project.

We all need a better China.

Several times before the pandemic, when tourism from China to Japan was booming, I saw encounters in Ginza between Chinese tourists and people carrying signs and handing out fliers in Chinese critical of the Chinese government. Some of the protesters seemed to be members of the Falun Gong, while others had signs about the Tiananmen massacre. The tourists looked wary of the protesters, while Japanese and other non-Chinese passersby seemed oblivious to the potentially charged encounters taking place on that peaceful Tokyo street.