|
Chinese-American Zhang Shu-ying, who teaches at a weekend Chinese language school in the state of New Jersey, is quite amazed at the interest Asian-Americans are showing in China. Not only Koreans, Pakistanis and Indians but also Japanese are eager to teach their children Chinese. "It's hard to understand that even Japanese who are much better off than we are learning the Chinese language," she said.
The influence of Chinese-Americans is making rapid strides. Prestigious American universities near the Pacific coast like Stanford and UC Berkeley have long had a significant proportion of Chinese students. They are expanding their influence in the eastern U.S. as well. "The proportion of Chinese-American students is about 35 percent," said a Korean whose child attends the prestigious Stuyvesant High in Manhattan. "Korean students, buried by Chinese ones, are almost invisible." Stuyvesant High admits applicants based on the marks they earn in objective exams on English, math and logic. That the school has many Chinese-American students evinces that ethnic Chinese students are extremely talented, and that the education fever of Chinese parents is no less than their Korean counterparts.
Chinese-Americans officially numbered 3.5 million in 2006, 1.2 percent of the U.S. population. If illegal Chinese-Americans are included, the population is said to be well over two times as many as the two million Korean-Americans. The Chinese are expanding their standing in America on the strength of their population, money and their motherland's economic might. Leading their drive are reputed Chinese-Americans such as Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, labor secretary Elaine Chao and champion figure skater Michelle Kwan. Major Asian-American political fund raisers for New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are Chinese. Clinton's staff openly say that if she wins then many of her Asian-American supporters, mainly of Chinese descent, will be named justices, federal government secretaries, judges, prosecutors and White House staff members.
Chinese-Americans tend to be united in their pride for their rapidly growing motherland. If their influence in America increases, they can strengthen their influence to the world by taking advantage of the strength of the world's strongest power, the U.S. Archimedes' leverage theory "If given a long enough lever, I can move the earth" is the strategy Israelis employed in the U.S. to expand their influence to the entire world. "If we use the influence of Korean-Americans, we can do business with powers like China and Japan with more ease with the U.S. serving as a base," says Oh Dong-jin, president & CEO of Samsung Electronics America.
Regrettably, however, as Chinese-Americans expand their influence, the standing of Korean-Americans is gradually shrinking. The commercial power of the Flushing district in New York has shifted from Korean-Americans to their Chinese counterparts; city councilors are Chinese-Americans. Korean store owners in Manhattan have begun to compete with Chinese-Americans. Senior Korean citizens are moving to remote regions like Alaska to save living costs. The worse off they are, the weaker become their ties with the motherland.
Koreans in America complain that the Korean government's overseas Koreans policy falls short of their expectations. "Incentives to have outstanding second-generation Korean-Americans work for the motherland are inadequate," said an ethnic Korean businessman. In this era of a global talent war, there is a strong need for a new overseas Koreans policy.
This column was contributed by Kim Key-hoon, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in New York.
|
