E.N. Thompson speaker Kaiser Kuo describes Chinese-American cyber clash

Lincoln "netizens" – citizens of the Internet community – gathered in the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday night for a lecture on the Chinese-American cyberspace clash.

Kaiser Kuo is a man who says he identifies strongly with both America and China, having been born in America to Chinese parents. He has worked as a business and technology writer for various publications including Time and Time Asia, and is currently an adviser for Youku.com in China.

"I live on an island in the middle of the chasm I have described," Kuo said. "The problem is, from either side, I look like a proprietary of the other."

He spoke about the ironically detrimental role the Internet has had on a people-to-people level between Chinese and Americans. The Internet was meant to bring people together, he said, but it has managed to make sects even more divided nationally and internationally.

Emphasizing the importance of the Chinese-American relationship within the next generation, Kuo outlined the impact of the Internet in both countries. In the past decade, Internet use has increased by 300 million people in China.

Matthew Conway, a senior architecture major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, thought the speaker was eloquent. He plans to visit some Web sites Kuo suggested to bridge the gap of misunderstanding.

"I thought he had a very political mind," Conway said. "I totally wrote down his steps to not get into fights with the Chinese."

A big problem on the net is that neither the Americans nor the Chinese take the time to understand the other's varying views, Kuo said.

"On both sides of the Pacific, there are writers (on the Internet) waiting to view the worst and spoiling for a fight," Kuo said.

He thinks it is important that Americans and Chinese alike need to begin to change this by reading history and staying open minded.

"Don't condescend," Kuo said. "Just because the Chinese are behind the great firewall doesn't mean they're politically brainwashed joes."

Lindsey Andersen, a sophomore political science and international studies major, attended the speech as an E.N. Thompson scholar.

"I think it was really great that he was so frank about everything – he didn't beat around the bush," Andersen said. "I liked that he really drove home the need for both sides to understand the other."

She studied in China for a month this summer.

"I think both countries tend to favor the stereotypes," Andersen said. "When I was in China, a lot of the Chinese students would watch American television shows online, and, of course, their favorite ones were "Prison Break" and "Desperate Housewives." They told me they liked to watch them to see what American life is really like."

Not exactly the most accurate picture of day-to-day American life.

Becky Gailey, a news-editorial sophomore at UNL and E.N. Thompson scholar, enjoyed the speaker's persona as well as his message.

"Since he was talking to a younger audience, I think it was great that he was really personable, you know, he could crack a joke," Gailey said. "But beyond that, he really emphasized the fact that we can learn from them just as much as they can learn from us. Americans tend to think that it's a one-way street."

Brianna Tichy, another E.N. Thompson scholar and international studies sophomore at UNL, enjoyed his explanation of the Chinese government. Her family is Czech, and is, she said, anti-communism.

"I've always grown up with, ‘Oh, big, red communism,'" Tichy said. "But his point of view was really refreshing. I didn't really understand at first, but I think he did a great job explaining it."

The Internet can do great things and terrible things, Kuo said, and he hopes that coming years, Americans and Chinese will use the Internet to better understand each other's views. He said the best way to do this is by reading "bridge Web sites," like sun-zoo.com/chinageeks, which translate Chinese blogs that are written without a foreign audience in mind.

A self-proclaimed optimist, Kuo said he has high hopes for the future of America and China.
"The world we live in is going to be a bi-polar world," Kuo said. "It is my sincere hope that this world does not suffer from bi-polar disorder."
ellenhirst@dailynebraskan.com