Communication means so much more than language

I had an interview recently with a French gentleman who works at Sciences Po, the prestigious French social science institute in Paris, on the subject of Chinese students coming to study in France.

The interview was in English as we both assumed that we weren't able to speak each other's languages. When he talked about the Chinese educational system, he suddenly and almost unconsciously switched to Chinese as if he was more comfortable with speaking Chinese than English.

At the moment I realized that we, the Chinese and the French, perhaps know each other better than we think. So why didn't we bypass the third language in the first place?

Both cultures tend to be influenced by their own sets of prejudices and stereotypes.

When I have interviews with politicians, businessmen or intellectuals about China and France, the thing they emphasize the most is neither politics nor business. Surprisingly, it is mutual understanding.

It may sound like nice, empty words at first. But if you give it serious thought and look at what is happening between our two countries, you would realize it is something worth discussing and you could sense that there is a strong urge to fill in the gaps of our mutual perceptions.

Every year more than 1 million Chinese tourists visit France. But if you ask an ordinary Chinese about France, I am pretty positive that the first words popping out are still the disappointing answer: a romantic country, even though the word "romantic", for most of the time, has a negative connotation in French.

Similar rigid perceptions can also be found in French attitudes toward China. They will commonly describe the country as an ancient civilization with a huge population. They might mention its fast-growing economy that produces goods of poor quality or point to the lavish spending of the newly rich.

In French, the word Chinese still has another meaning: something complicated and incomprehensible. If you find something incomprehensible, you are scared and you wait. This could also help explain why many businessmen and scholars feel that there is huge unexploited potential between our two countries.

France is not just a tourist destination and a place for good food. The country possesses extensive resources in technology and know-how in fields that range from fashion to space. The nation's expertise in these areas could compete with or even outstrip that of their German and British neighbors.

Contrary to persistent prejudices, China is no longer just a world factory of cheap goods but a country with an emerging younger generation that desire sophistication in every aspect of life.

In addition to the state visits and meetings of top politicians, the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations should be an opportunity that enables the businessmen, the students, the intellectuals, and ordinary people to meet and talk.

It should be a start for our two countries to rediscover each other and to update our knowledge about the new reality between us.