Chimerica

That day, Tessa gives her presentation, confidently explaining that for her company to succeed in China, they’ll have to pitch a more Chinese version of themselves—not a more American version of China. Tess flashes the photo of the Tank Man on the screen, arguing that the photo represents not just the political violence of Tiananmen Square, but a golden window of opportunity for her company. After all, after the events of Tiananmen Square, China wholeheartedly and unrestrictedly invested in economic development—and now they’re in the perfect position to be interested in Tess’s company’s credit card.

As Tessa delivers her speech, she accidentally skips too far forward in the slides, and she seems to lose her focus. She awkwardly comments on how quickly she had to gather her data—and from here, she begins to ramble about the breakneck pace of China’s economic development. Tess recalls the smog in the air when she was in Beijing, attributing it to China’s short-sighted and uncompromising dedication to development. Thinking aloud, she worries that the Chinese becoming more American in their spending habits will be a bad thing. She wonders if the Americans are “getting in bed with someone [they] don’t really understand.” The slides skip back to the image of the Tank Man, and Tess finds her place again.