外國人來中國可能和你聊起的敏感話題有哪些？如何應對？

01-16

When I first came to China, I was told it was unwise to talk about the "3 T"s." I won"t write what they are, but I"m sure you can guess. I don"t discuss them with Chinese friends, it usually isn"t productive.

Like any conversation, I believe it is helpful to view it as two people working together to find the truth, not one side attacking the other, or vice versa.

In my experience, the worst arguments of any kind happen when sides get defensive. Most people, even if they are aggressive in their questioning, are really just curious. I encourage you to share your experience as a Chinese person in an open and honest way.

In the minds of many Chinese people I know, they want to show that China is a strong and powerful country, and defend it from attacks from outsiders. In my experience, most foreigners already view China as a strong and powerful country. China won that argument ten years ago.

What most foreigners wonder now is whether or not China can be trusted. By trying too hard to prove that your country is strong, you will undermine your ability to show that it is trustworthy.

In my opinion, the best way to represent your country is to be a good person and friend. My Chinese friends are what makes me feel warmest about China. In my opinion, it is China"s greatest "soft power" asset in the world.

就像我們其實一般除了對美國和英國等多一點了解，說到其他國家沒什麼概念一樣，大部分來中國談生意的外商對中國也沒有多少概念的。不要期待他們知道中國多大、有多少個省、最大的城市有哪幾個、歷史怎麼樣、什麼時候建的國、有多少民族、說什麼語言、台灣為什麼似乎很特別等。甚至有的，你提到Chairman Mao他們也面露迷茫，需要你拿出一百元人民幣給他解釋一番。不過每個人都知道長城倒是真的。

帝國主義亡我之心不死，總是在說我們的壞話。受帝國主義強大傳播工具的洗腦，歪果仁往往不關心我們經濟的飛速發展、人民生活水平的迅速提高，經常聊到的話題反而集中在以下幾個：

一、計劃生育：

通常對話這樣開始：

——You know this family planning thing, it』s very strange.

——...

二、政治制度和共產主義

——You know the western world is saying a lot of bad stuff about China.

——Yes, I studied international journalism in college and I listen to the BBC every day. It』s a childish and na?ve thing to do, them saying those things.

——But it is a one party system, huh?

——Yes. No offence, but your country has more than one party, do your people live a better life? Sometimes it all comes down to good governance or bad governance, which does not necessarily have much to do with how many parties your political system features.

——Makes sense, and democracy itself has its innate problems, like the democracy of the US.

——Yes, and there are many forms of democracy. You know what, they are scared of the word 「communism」. They look at the word, and instantly deem it evil. I read a piece of news some time before that in one state of the US someone was not allowed to run for state legislator because he

is a member of the communist party. And they say they do not prejudice, that they are pen-minded, and that they embrace diversity. It』s just that they themselves don』t see how stupid it is.

三、港澳台問題：

——So you need travel permit to go to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

——Sadly, yes.

——Is Hong Kong a part of China?

——Of course, always has been. It was for some time a colony of the British and was returned to China in 1997. So this year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong.

——Some people there are saying it should be an independent state.

——It』s only a bunch of stupid people. You know we have something called 「once country, two systems」. They got to keep everything, the legal system, the economy, everything, except for army and foreign affairs. It』s the same with Macau, which was a colony of the Portuguese for some time.

——So what about Taiwan? They have their own army, huh?

——Yeah…

——So it is an independent state.

——No, it is a province of China. It is a province.

——Then why do they have their army? What』s the deal about Taiwan?

——Taiwan is the really tricky problem here. The 「once country, two systems」 idea was initially conceived to solve the Taiwan problem. Taiwan Island is much much bigger than Hong Kong or Macau. Before 1949, China had a civil war. The Kuomingtang, another party, led by Mr. Jiang, fought with the CPC led by Chairman Mao, and got defeated. So they retreated to Taiwan. That』s how the Taiwan problem came into being.

——So now it is an independent country?

——No, it has been, is and will always be a province of China.

——Why?

——Because that』s the only way it is and will be.

——Why is it the only way?

——BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE BOTH WANT. It』s all a stupid fight between brothers. Compared with Hong Kong or Macau, Taiwan and the mainland are much more alike in everything, the culture, the language, etc.

——What about trade? Do the mainland and Taiwan trade?

——We do a great deal of trade every year.

——And for other countries, whether to acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state is an important issue.

——Yes, China will not establish ties with any country that does that. Of course they know which way brings more loss.

四、天安門：

——That"s the Tiananmen Square.

——So that』s where they (did what and what).

——...

I"ll gonna stop you right there, some other dude some other day, alright?

說個題外話

很多外國人對中國了解少，可能會在無惡意的情況下觸及到了中國的敏感話題。

然後就惹怒了本國「愛國青年」，而這些「愛國青年」再高舉「你是來中國的xx居然不知道zz，這可是常識」大旗，齊齊整整的扣起了乳滑的大帽子。

把一些本國人才知道的事實當成全世界人民都理所應當的「常識」，真以為自己是天朝上國，別人憑什麼來了解你？呵呵呵呵。

It"s none of your fxxking business.

who do you think you are?

1??吃狗肉絕對上榜啊，還不止一個國家的朋友問過這個問題...

我覺得很有必要解釋，不是所有人，不只是中國人...自己很愛狗啊blah blah blah

2??毛主席的問題（但是他們其實也對他沒什麼具體認識啊，呆久了因為人民幣就愛上他的臉了什麼的...）...沒法解釋

3??計劃生育

唉...其實覺得可以用錢解決的不是什麼大問題

（誒你沒什麼錢好嘛！

我無法應對，因為我的回答被刪了

話題是否敏感很多時候和對話雙方的教育背景，文化習慣和親密程度有關。

在美國也有種說法，要避免R（religion）A（abortion）P（politics）E(economy/ethics)，信仰，政治什麼的在美國也算是敏感話題，一般不會和不熟的人聊。

如果真要有人談起，可以禮貌拒絕並轉移話題。識趣的人應該能夠理解。

1.同學去中國參加項目，我都要提醒他們準備和朋友失去聯繫一段時間，因為facebook和instagram不能用

2.印度人問我有沒有兄弟姐妹，答沒有，她表示"I like one child policy, so that non-educated people will not give birth too many children."

3.狗肉，我說我愛狗的，但是也吃過一次。白人們表示有機會一定要嘗嘗，越南人表示狗肉那是相當好吃。

應對個屁，對付這些不懂眉眼高低的老外，解釋是沒用的，熱臉貼冷屁股，下次他們再老調重彈某些話題直接「雖遠必誅」即可

他們會問中國是否有妓女等敏感問題。你只需大義凜然地回答，有，在台灣即可。