The American Conservative Daily, with air between ears, says this about the fact that learning English is mandatory in China’s public schools, “A nation planning to invade and occupy another nation would learn that nation’s language.”
Republican Elephant
Did the Japanese make learning English mandatory in Japan before bombing Pearl Harbor?
Did Nazi Germany require citizens to learn English before starting World War II in Europe?
Since when has any nation required its citizens to learn the language of a nation they are planning to invade and conquer?
When the US waged war against American indians, many indian children were sent to Christian boarding schools and forced to learn English and forget their native language. US citizens were never required to learn any American indian languages.
When the US won the Spanish America war and acquired territories like the Philippians where Spanish was spoken, did the US make Spanish mandatory in the US schools?
When I was in the US Marines and fought in Vietnam, I didn’t have to learn Vietnamese.
The reason China made English mandatory is because America is China’s largest trading partner and China has invested more than a trillion dollars in America. If you ever visit any of China’s major cities, like Shanghai or Beijing, you may notice that the street signs are in English and Chinese. On the subways, the voice that announces the next stop says it first in English and then Chinese.
The Chinese are not stupid. English, thanks to the British Empire (not the United States), is the most spoken language on the planet and is the language of business and science. If China wants to be successful in a world where business and science are dominated by the English language, the Chinese people must speak English.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart. He also Blogs at The Soulful Veteran and Crazy Normal.
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