“Ethnicity Vs. Globalization” is a column of our magazine involved in great concerns. As we have noticed, globalization has aroused the attention of virtually all politicians, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, writers, artists and scholars of humanity all over the current world, prompting discussions among them on the question. From the beginning of 2005, we will put feature interviews with cultural counselors, attaches, and scholars from different countries in this column. Here, they will express their opinions and share their ideas on this topic. The following article is the interview with British cultural counselor Michael O'Sullivan on March 7th, 2005.
    oYang Cheng: Nowadays, globalization has become one of the hottest topics. Under the trend of globalizing, many fixed cultures have been greatly influenced. And the cultural diversity has been threatened by this trend. What is your opinion on such a phenomenon?
    Michael O'Sullivan: I don't believe that cultures can be regarded as fixed. Cultures are the product of creativity, and they change constantly, both from within and as a result of external contact and exchange. Trying to protect a culture from change and from contact with other cultures is not a good way to preserve it; indeed, it is more likely that such methods will shorten the life of a culture. The representative products of traditional cultures can and should be preserved, but these cultures themselves should not be treated as museums, they need renewal and change in order to survive.
    oYang Cheng: As the western value gradually becomes the main stream, interpretation, differentiation, competition, dialogue and fusion among different civilizations have come out, how do you view this phenomenon? And in what way do you think equal expressions and communications can happen to various cultures?
    Michael O'Sullivan:It's difficult to define "western values". In western countries, there exist many different values and ideas. And times change. To take my country and my family as an example, my values are different in some respects from my mother's. So it is quite difficult to say what "western values" mean. Some people believe "competition" is a core value in western countries, and that it represents a contrast with "harmony" or "co-operation" in some other societies. But these days in China's great cities, it seems to me that life for many people is a great deal more competitive than in some quiet western cities I have visited.
    oYang Cheng: For quite some years in the past, China has neglected Chinese traditional culture to some degree. And in recent years, there has been a new cultural trend-to reconsider and revalue our traditional culture. What do you think of this trend?
    Michael O'Sullivan:It's a positive trend in my opinion. But we need to distinguish between paying more attention to preserving representations of China cultural traditions - for example China's traditional architecture, artifacts, literature and ancient music - and what is needed to improve the future prospects of Chinese culture. Both are important, but to ensure a future for a national culture it is not enough to preserve it, we need to encourage its further development in the context of contemporary society, for example developing new music which uses some Chinese instruments.  It is good to see that in both respects Chinese culture is now receiving more attention in China and abroad.
    oYang Cheng: In your mind, what is the ideal pattern of mankind's culture?
    Michael O'Sullivan:It's difficult to say what the ideal for a culture is, and in fact I don't think there can be any ideal culture. It would imply that some cultures are better than others, which I don't think is true. And it would suggest that a culture can remain the same, which is also wrong in my opinion.
    oYang Cheng:Our magazine, China's Ethnic Groups, tries to explore and explain the diverse cultures among 56 ethnic groups in China. Would you like to give us some advice for our future work?
    Michael O'Sullivan:I've been to some "ethnic villages" for tourists in Beijing and seen their programmes based on the life and traditions of ethnic minorities, such as singing, dancing, music, and costumes. But these are just trivia, mainly for the purpose of entertainment. Personally, I am quite critical of regarding other cultures mainly as a source of entertainment. I would expect many of your readers to be more interested in people's modern lives and achievements, in the social, cultural and economic problems they encounter, and in the development of policies to help them deal with such problems.