Chinese humor as a window to Chinese culture and politics

One of my Chinese language teachers is an Israeli woman who got her Chinese education in Taiwan. The special thing about the way she likes to teach is that she finds Chinese jokes that are suitable for our very limited level and brings those to class so that we can practice with them. Aside from this being a great way to learn Chinese, I also find those jokes to be a great way to get a small taste of Chinese culture and thought, even if those don’t fully represent everyone. 

To give an example, here’s a joke in Chinese, which was taken from a Taiwanese Bulletin Board System (BBS) :

美國人、法國人、中國人
PART 1
一個美國人，一個法國人還有一個中國人走在大沙漠中,走著走著看到一個瓶子,打開瓶塞後跳出來一個人,那個人說:「我是神仙,我能滿足你們每個人三個願望!」
美國人第一個搶著說:「我第一個願望是要很多的錢。」神仙說:"這個簡單,滿足你!說說第二個願望吧."
美國人說:我：還要很多的錢!"
神仙滿足他的願望後,美國人又說了他的第三個願望:"把我弄回家 "
神仙說:"沒問題."於是美國人帶著很多的錢回了美國.
神仙又問法國人.法國人說:"我要美女!"神仙給了他美女.法國人又說:我還要美女!"神仙也滿足了他,給了他美女.法國人最後說:"把我送回法國."
神仙把法國人送回國後，問中國人要甚麼，中國人說:「先來瓶二鍋頭吧！」
神仙給了他.問他第二個願望是甚麼，中國人說:「再來一瓶二鍋頭!」神仙問他第三個願望是甚麼，中國人說:「我很想法國人和美國人的,你把他們都弄回來吧！」
PART 2
法國人和美國人氣得不得了,但是沒辦法,三個人只好繼續走,走著走著又看見一個瓶子,打開塞子後又跳出來一個人,那個人說:"我是剛才那個神仙的徒弟,法力沒他高強,所以只能滿足你們每個人兩個願望."
法國人和美國人合計合計認為先讓中國人說比較好,免得一會兒又被他弄
回來. 於是中國人說:"那就先來瓶二鍋頭吧."神仙滿足了他的願望.
法國人和美國人叫中國人趕快把第二個願望說出來，中國人喝完二鍋頭後對神仙說:"行了,沒事了,你走吧"
part3
美國人和法國人很生氣地跟著中國人繼續走，走著走著又看到一個瓶子，打開瓶塞後又跳出來一個人，那個人說:"我是那個神仙的徒弟的徒弟,我只能滿足你們每個人一個願望"
美國人搶著說:"我再也不想見到那個中國人了."神仙說:"好的."，然後轉頭問法國人：“你的呢？＂法國人說:"我也不想見到那個中國人了."神仙說:"好的."，然後轉頭問中國人：“你的呢？“中國人說：“他們說的都不算“
Part4
於是美國人和法國人只好又跟著中國人，走著走著又看到一個瓶子，打開瓶塞後又跳出來一個人，那個人說：「我是那個神仙的徒弟的徒弟的徒弟，我只能滿足你們每一個人最後一個願望!」
美國人和法國人很小聲地說：「那個中國人說的甚麼都不算！」。
那個人說：「好的！」，於是轉頭問中國人：「你想說甚麼？」，那個中國人說：「讓他們都回自己的國家吧，別跟著我受罪！」

Here’s a quick translation of the first part with the help of Babelfish:

An American, a French and a Chinese walked together in the big desert. They walk alot till they see a bottle, they open the bottle and out jumps a person. That person says : "I am an immortal (genie), I can satisfy three wishes for each person!". The American goes first : "My first wish is to have alot of money." The immortal : "this is simple, no problem! what’s your second desire?" The American : My second desire is to have even more money!" After the immortal satisfies his desire, the American tells his third desire: "I want to go home." The immortal replies : "no problem." The American then goes back to the US .

The immortal also asks the French. The French : "I want beautiful girls ", the immortal gives him beautiful girls. The French : "I want more beautiful women!" the immortal satisfies him again. The French finally says: "take me back to France." After the immortal returns the French to his country, he asks the Chinese what he wants, the Chinese answers: "First, get me a bottle of white liquor!" the immortal gives him one and asks for his second desire. The Chinese replies: "Give me another bottle of white liquor!". The immortal Asks for his third desire, and the Chinese says: "I really like the French and the American, please bring them back here!"

Every time the American and the French would try to get something from the genie and the Chinese would stand in their way with his wish.

Now, listening/reading this joke and hearing that it’s from a Taiwanese BBS I wondered whether this is a joke about Chinese people who are suppose to include the Taiwanese people or whether this is about the different mainland Chinese. Even if this is a mainland Chinese joke, it is still fascinating, since I think there are a few subtleties about the China, Europe and American relations that go beyond the obvious joke. Even the stereotypes about the American, the French and the Chinese in this joke can serve as a basis for a  nice qualitative academic paper.

Interesting, right? Did you happen to come across other simple jokes of this type?