Letters | Chloé Zhao’s Oscars speech shows Chinese can transcend the limits of nationalism to hold universal values
- The first Chinese woman to get the Academy’s nod for the directing award quoted from a Chinese classic in an appeal for people to recognise the goodness in one another.
Although Zhao quoted a phrase that she had learned from the Chinese traditional text the Three Character Classic – “people at birth are inherently good” – her entire speech emphasised universal values. She said she always found goodness in the people she met, urging people to “hold onto the goodness in each other”.
One of the reasons I like Zhao so much is that through her words, she showed that Chinese can transcend the constraints of nationalism and collectivism, to simply become a person who holds the world’s shared values, even in today’s intense global climate.
As Zhao is an Asian-American, some people may argue that her win is not an honour for the Chinese people. However, Zhao’s honour touches many areas, and national pride is only one of them. If we can’t treat Zhao’s win as a boundary breaker, as a breakthrough of the self, as the victory of a healthy sense of independence and goodness in the world, it may be a loss.
Congratulations again to Zhao on her historic win!
Huixin Tan, Macau