For those who can pick up a pen and hold forth brilliantly on national affairs and international currents, Master Chi has always held deep admiration. Though I sometimes feel the itch to jump in with a thought or two, I ultimately know my limitations in the arena of international politics — so looking back across my hundreds of articles, there is barely a single one that seriously tackles “great power competition.”
Leave professional matters to professionals. There’s no need to force yourself into a conversation where you don’t belong. After all, embarrassing yourself and distinguishing yourself are only one step apart. Master Chi acknowledges this is a domain where I am not strong — to respect it from a distance is the most rational stance.
But while grand narratives are not my forte, small wisdom is.
So in this article, Master Chi wants to discuss something that is clearly important and weighty, yet tends to be overlooked by many: why do Chinese people abroad so often find themselves on the receiving end of mistreatment?
In today’s world, nearly every family has some experience with study abroad, travel, overseas postings, immigration, or official business. Knowing how to protect yourself and avoid swallowing humiliation that brings shame on your homeland — that is well worth our time to understand.
Oh, and one more thing — Master Chi almost never asks you to share articles, but today I genuinely hope you’ll send this one to your family and friends.
Perhaps Only Chinese Culture Prizes “Refined Elegance” as Beauty#
Thanks to having spent a considerable portion of my formative years in Canada and the United States, I came away not only with reasonably fluent English, but with a fairly deep understanding of mainstream North American culture.
This is why, when today’s crowd of conspiracy theorists whispers darkly that “white Westerners especially discriminate against us Chinese,” I can only respond with a weary smile. The truth is, white people discriminate against everyone who isn’t them — Anglo-Saxon arrogance and prejudice run bone-deep.
But there is another layer of truth: “The Western world discriminates against and preys upon the weak even more — and Chinese people, at a high rate, have nothing to do with physical toughness.”
If you have no frame of reference for that observation, or if you think I’m wrong, please don’t rush to argue. Go abroad a few more times, observe carefully, and you’ll slowly come to agree.
Let me give you an interesting example. A distant relative’s child flew to California for high school a few years back. Before they left, the parents asked me: is there anything to prepare? Should we bring more money and material support?
I told them directly: “None of that matters. The most valuable thing you can do is help your child develop a solid fitness habit early.”
The relatives thought I was joking — but this was from the heart. Sure enough, within weeks of starting school, the child became a target for bullying and was awarded the charming title of “CHINKY NERD.”
Most people seeing that slur against Chinese people would immediately explode: “Those damn white people, they’re just discriminating against us Chinese!” — completely ignoring Master Chi’s earlier point about how Western culture preys on weakness.
Today, whether you’re Chinese, Indian, or even white — if you don’t have sufficient physical presence, you will at high probability be bullied and targeted. Chinese families and parents, almost universally, have no awareness of this.
I later called this kid directly and walked him through the logic:
- You’re being targeted because you genuinely lack the physical deterrence to protect yourself.
- Pure book study is a specific cultural artifact of certain regions. Most successful people in the world are built on both mental and physical strength.
- You’re 183 cm tall but weigh only 64 kg — that is a clear signal broadcasting “I am weak.” The bad kids at school will naturally pick you to establish dominance.
The solution? Simple and blunt: hit the gym, learn firearms, significantly increase quality protein intake — and the next time someone messes with you, throw hands.
Masculine energy is cultivated slowly, with the capacity for violence as its foundation. A man without masculine vitality cannot be a gentleman — at best he’s a fragile little chick.
Tell any of this to someone who has never ventured far from home and they’ll be terrified. They’ll think: surely that can’t be how the world really works? Isn’t the correct move, when you’re in trouble, to call the police and tell the officer you’ve been bullied?
No. That may be the standard approach domestically, but looking at the world more broadly — especially in the US, Canada, and Australia where Chinese communities are concentrated — that is not the optimal solution. When you’ve been bullied, violated, or harmed, the ideal response is to fight back immediately and then seek legitimate legal support. That is the complete answer.
Unfortunately, violence and the law are both subjects Chinese people are weak in. Which is exactly why we’re so easily targeted — by Black people, white people, and Indians alike.
Remember this: when you step outside China and enter the part of the world shaped by North American culture, you are by default entering a dark jungle. In this jungle you will meet many polite and friendly people from all cultures and backgrounds — but you will also encounter plenty of unreasonable and aggressive ones, equally from all corners of the earth. At that moment, the only thing that can protect you is your own two fists — man or woman.
So when you’re bullied, the best response is not to stand there frozen like the Chinese people we so often see in those videos — too afraid to make a sound. You must learn to give as good as you get. If someone hurls insults at you, hurl them back with equal ferocity. If someone raises a hand against you, don’t just stand there like a helpless statue taking the blows.
If there is one thing worth praising in those countries, it is “legitimate self-defense” — and it genuinely lives up to its name. Master Chi may come across as gentle and measured in guiding you here, but in real life I am actually quite “rough” and “commanding.” No deep philosophy behind it — years of living abroad simply taught me that “not everyone responds to reason, but everyone is afraid of an iron fist smashing their nose.”
People who have lived abroad understand this well: why is it that among Asians, both Black and white people are wary of Vietnamese guys who are considerably shorter than us? Vietnam is a small country, far from our nation’s reach — but they have nerve. An average height of 160 cm, but push them hard enough and count on someone showing up that night with a folding knife and a .45 to settle the score.
Remember that line from Let the Bullets Fly? “A gun — it works.”
United in Strength, Divided in Weakness#
Those who see the world through the bottom of a well always believe that Chinese civilization is the supreme and flawless pinnacle of humanity — and so they abandon any effort to learn from everyone else’s strengths. This is a very pitiable way to think. And frankly, it’s been barely a few decades since we climbed out of the wreckage of the Sino-Japanese War — and we’ve already lost ourselves?
We cannot do this. Using the foreigners’ strengths to overcome the foreigners — learning, borrowing, referencing, and ultimately surpassing — that is the true core strength of our civilization.
The first step in learning from others is to honestly acknowledge that others genuinely do certain things better than us. For instance, among Asians, the solidarity of Vietnamese and Korean communities is something Chinese people have not yet reached.
Many people who’ve read a few pulp novels are convinced: “Oh, we have the Big Circle Boys overseas, how powerful! We have our tongs and Chinese associations, how impressive!” Anyone who genuinely believes this has simply not used their brain in decades of living.
A few years ago, Master Chi watched Jackie Chan’s film Shinjuku Incident. Most of the plot was the screenwriter’s creative flourish — but one thing is absolutely true: in many situations, the ones who do the most damage to their compatriots are the very people sharing our black hair and yellow skin.
This is a horrifying and absurd reality. It also fully explains why certain overseas Chinese are looked down upon — it is not undeserved misfortune. It is earned.
Why do many Chinese people living abroad ultimately choose to integrate into white social circles? It’s genuinely not out of some fawning instinct — they were pushed there.
Consider the things you can’t easily do alone when living abroad: tax filing, legal matters, real estate and car brokers, job referrals. If you entrust these to an old-timer Chinese immigrant who appears to share your heritage — if you walk away without having three layers of skin scraped off, Master Chi would consider you a seasoned survivor. But go to a Westerner? Yes, more expensive and slower — but the work will probably be done cleanly and properly. Bad people exist everywhere, but the concentration of bad actors among “our own” is unfortunately the highest.
Nothing like the Vietnamese or Koreans — small-country people too, but the moment one of them is in trouble, one call brings their whole community rushing over.
There’s an old joke: a Chinese person, a Vietnamese person, and a Korean person get into a fight. The Korean’s friend is a lawyer — he decides to help his friend get justice through the law. The Vietnamese person’s friend is a street tough — he decides to help through force. The Chinese person’s friend is a great buddy — who decides to help the Vietnamese and Korean get justice, and squeeze the Chinese person for money in the process.
If you haven’t lived abroad you might not feel the weight of this. Once you leave China, you’ll know this joke is funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
Never mind people — even wolves, as ugly as the phrase sounds, know to back each other up and help each other succeed. Yet in a foreign land, the last people you can rely on and the first people you must guard against are your own — truly one of the world’s unique spectacles.
Don’t think others don’t know this. White people and Black people both understand it perfectly — they know full well that when Chinese people are wronged, no one will stand up and speak for them. That is exactly why they keep pushing further.
Why do you think white people have that complicated mix of respect, fear, and resentment toward Black people?
You may know a particular person is a drug dealer with a criminal record — but if you can’t nail them with hard evidence, what’s waiting for you is the Black community’s powerful and terrifyingly cohesive civil rights organizations.
I vaguely recall that a few years ago, a Chinese-American police officer suffered an injustice — one who had acted lawfully. Yet Master Chi genuinely cannot remember a single person who stood up to speak for him. Of course, technically he was a foreign national — but others don’t care about such distinctions. They’ve already decided all yellow-skinned people are pushovers. This is what “one person’s cowardice shames the entire people” means.
Don’t think this has nothing to do with you. Ask yourself why certain people instinctively look down on yellow skin from the gut — think about it, and the answer becomes clear.
Some Advice Before Entering the Jungle World#
Master Chi has laid out the main reasons why Chinese people are easily targeted abroad. Let me add a few heartfelt personal conclusions:
1. As we stride out into the world, there are times we should genuinely learn from African people as a collective. Though they have contributed little of note in modern human history, they remain arguably the world’s most effective “embedded” group.
These people may look simple-minded at first glance — but they are sharp. They understand precisely which methods, however shameless or unprincipled, allow them to embed themselves within prosperous nations.
Similarly, look at Jewish people — unlike the African approach of embedding from the bottom, Jewish people take the long view, using capital and media to effectively “buy equity” in the societies they inhabit.
This is precisely what we Chinese lack. We are too self-reliant, too proud, too face-conscious — that is our national character, with great advantages and small drawbacks.
So Master Chi’s sincere advice: whether you’re going abroad to study, on an official posting, or anything else — first get to know the local customs thoroughly, especially the laws and social rules. Without that foundation, everywhere outside our homeland will be hostile to newcomers and prey on the weak.
2. The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons. Quick wit and sharp thinking are no match for fists and guns. At some point, it became increasingly hard to find in our people that vigorous, powerful, robust spirit of old — replaced instead by something soft and easily pushed around. This is the gene of weakness, and it must be rooted out.
People used to ask: why can you spot the difference between a China-raised kid and an overseas-raised kid at a glance? It comes down primarily to physique, confidence, and vitality. Kids raised in China spend over a decade studying — they don’t learn much else, and a healthy body isn’t part of the curriculum. Overseas Chinese, by contrast, are broadly enthusiastic about sports.
This is exactly why newly arrived immigrants and exchange students are most easily bullied — they simply look too “soft.” Meanwhile, locally-born Chinese are less often targeted, because generations of hard lessons have taught them to communicate with fists and firearms when necessary.
Whether you’re male or female, out in the world: hard force is fists and firearms; soft force is law and knowledge. Both are indispensable — cultivating both the literary and martial has always been the mark of someone truly distinguished.
There’s a classic Russian joke: you decide guns are no longer relevant, so you trade your hunting rifle for a fine pocket watch. Then one night, a criminal breaks in, kills your parents, violates your wife and sisters. You pull out your watch and tell him: “Sir, it is currently twelve forty in the morning.”
White people instinctively fear Russians, you know. Of all the videos of overseas brawls you’ve ever seen — have you ever seen a Black person pick a fight with a Russian? Russians are broadly martial in spirit and consistently top the firearms ownership statistics among all ethnic groups. Think about the connection.
3. When you are abroad, you never represent just yourself — you represent every brother and sister who shares your heritage. When you choose to swallow your grievance and keep the peace after being mistreated, you are broadcasting loudly to the world: “Chinese people are easy targets! There are no consequences for messing with them!”
When that message accumulates and becomes a consensus, Chinese people become the world’s punching bag — the kid in class that everyone can kick and insult without consequence.
This world and the history of humanity both tell you: those who respect themselves are respected by others; those who demean themselves are demeaned by others. Even the natural order of heaven operates this way. So learn to protect yourself — this is not optional. It is absolutely necessary.