Yesterday I introduced to you a beautiful essay originally written by Ms Xi Murong, who is an ethnic Mongolian from Inner Mongolia of China.  The family background of Ms Xi makes me remind of a classmate of mine in high school.

We had been in the same class from 7th grade until the end of 11th grade when he chose science while I opted for humanities in our senior year.  We also lived in the same county Yong He, so we became good friends with each other.  Just like Ms Xi, he is an inner Mongolian.  Because of his "special ID", he did not have to pass through the keen competition in each stage of entrance exams like us, and was able to get into NTU engineering with lesser efforts than other competitors: due to the policy of positive discrimination in favor of those students from "frontier areas".  Naturally, he should thank to Nationalist China for rendering him and his family such a privilege, shouldnt he? 

Well, one day in early 60s he told me in private that his family had a party at some night to celebrate Mongolia had become an UN member.  (Then for some reasons, ROC dared not cast its veto on the resolution of UN assembly.)  He even said his father was so excited that he could not help himself crying that night.  You know, being a little bit hypocritical, I did not say anything to spoil his pleasure on the spot, though I felt unpleasant toward what he was happy about. 

During university days, we became alienated from each other mostly because we were in different college.  After graduation, I took military service in Kimen, and so we had lost contact since.  (I am not sure if he was obliged to take the service, but I do know those students of overseas Chinese were not.)  Most likely he would have gone abroad to advance his study after graduation, and then settle down there; now I wonder if he still regards himself as Mongolian, not Chinese.

It is your latitude to have the sense of national identity of your own, and sometimes that would bring you sense of pride, whereas that might also bring you the sense of loss as well.