From the Readers

China needs to change its way of thinking

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-24 14:58

Comment on "China plans draft immigration law" (China Daily, May 22)

The fundamental problem is that, compared with many countries in the world, China today still puts far too much emphasis on "differences" and "borders." To the average Chinese, it matters much more that I am a foreigner than it matters to a European, Indian, South American, or Arab. This is a basic philosophical question.

Any true cosmopolitan would think that we are all citizens of the world, and that migration restrictions should exist only where they are necessary for practical reasons such as huge economic imbalances that would lead to unmanageable migration levels. Otherwise, borders should be relatively open, as they are in the European Union and South America. Until China can change its way of thinking, to believe that one has to justify restrictions, not justify openings, then it will never be attractive as a cosmopolitan center of the world.

Laowai, on China Daily Website