On the radio the other day (4/15/08), I heard on KQED a radio piece on The World (and in In The New York Times today -”Chinese Student in U.S. Is Caught in Confrontation“), discussing a situation regarding Grace Wang, a Chinese freshman student at Duke University. [Listen here: starts at minute 25:50]
Only a dozen or so pro-Tibet demonstrators turned out last Wednesday for a protest, but were overwhelmed by several hundred pro-mainland Chinese students. Wang walked into the protest as she existed the dining hall and walked right into the middle of the demonstration (see YouTube video above). Wang was trying to get both sides to talk, but got caught up in situation. Afterwards, according to Duke’s “The Chronicle” in “Student gets threats after China protest“:
“After the protests, the student’s personal information, including her name, phone number and Chinese identity number were posted to the Duke Chinese Scholars and Students Association (DCSSA) Web site, according to documents obtained by The Chronicle. Photographs and a video of the student from the rally have also been posted on several popular Chinese-language forums… The student’s parents have also been targeted. Their contact information was posted on several popular Chinese-language Internet forums. Some Internet sources said their home was attacked, though the student said she has been unable to confirm this with her parents, who declined to discuss the issue when she contacted them via e-mail.”
Actually, Wang’s information was emailed in the DCSSA email listserv. The DCSSA said that someone on their list abused their privilege and they whole heartedly condemn the release of Wong’s information and the University was happy with their quick condemnation. The radio piece goes on to explain how the Chinese government has encouraged extreme nationalism amongst Chinese students studying abroad.
This reminded me of an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times the other day, “China’s Loyal Youth:”
“Educated young people are usually the best positioned in society to bridge cultures, so it’s important to examine the thinking of those in China. The most striking thing is that, almost without exception, they feel rightfully proud of their country’s accomplishments in the three decades since economic reforms began. And their pride and patriotism often find expression in an unquestioning support of their government, especially regarding Tibet….Barring major changes in China’s education system or economy, Westerners are not going to find allies among the vast majority of Chinese on key issues like Tibet, Darfur and the environment for some time. If the debate over Tibet turns this summer’s contests in Beijing into the Human Rights Games, as seems inevitable, Western ticket-holders expecting to find Chinese angry at their government will instead find Chinese angry at them.”
I agree. One might think that mainland Chinese students, especially those living and studying abroad here in the United States, would be exposed and automatically accept a Western-point-of-view. But that is a bit naive to think. For the Chinese under 30, the world that they have been brought up in has been their oyster. China’s rise and culmination to the Olympic games is China’s defining moment and coming out party to the world, and they have a right to be proud. But over time, the Chinese youth will hopefully come to understand why the world often protests against the Chinese government (and not the Chinese people). One can love a country and still criticize it - and if fact, that is the tough love that many Americans today are practicing with their government. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail as we approach the August 8th, 2008.
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Jon wrote:
Things like this are fairly common in China. People don’t have many ways to give outlet to rage and frustration (a legitimate frustration about the image of their country — people are desperate to feel proud), and so it often is misdirected, or cynically guided. That is easy to do. Politically, China is very immature, and led by a clique that not only encourages, but sometimes itself indulges in adolescent rage.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 1:13 am | Permalink
Kai Liu wrote:
Here is an article written by Grace Wang’s roommate in Duke.
http://happinessguaranteed.blogspot.com/
Grace apparently has some issues. Read it and make your own judgment. BTW, Grace’s open letter written in Chinese is really a maniac work. Full of quotes from old literature works and none of them make sense in the way she put together. Her logic is disordered and obviously she thinks she is intelligent and deserve to rule. It is sad such a girl who likes to bring attention to herself is trapped in this sensitive moment.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 7:50 am | Permalink
Eveline wrote:
As a Chinese-Canadian observer, I’ve been saddened by all the anger and hatred being thrown from both sides, I was glad to see that others, like John, think the same:
There’s an inherent difference between being critical of the communist party, and of its people.
Unfortunately, I think all Chinese think the worldwide protests was meant to be a slap in THEIR faces, but that’s not what my Canadian, German, or French friends think or want! They are squarely against the government’s policies and terrible record.
The Chinese people need to understand that if this were happening to any other country in the world with a history of rights violations, people would be out in the streets too. I’m sure we’ll see protests prior to the London 2012 Games.
Past protests provide good examples. Let’s not forget the massive protests against the Iraq War; the worldwide outrage at Guantanamo prisoner abuses; even today, there are still people protesting for the closure of Guantanamo!
The West is not as hypocritical as some Chinese think; and I think when the West makes clear who they’re targeting, things will get better.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 8:11 am | Permalink
Rinzing wrote:
To all the pro china protesters,
It is good that you love your china. you hate us tibetans for calling FREE TIBET. but how come you are expecting us not to hate your govt, when they are kiling our tibetans brothers and sisters in tibet.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 10:01 am | Permalink
Huang wrote:
Any responsible government will certainly crack down those rioters who looted, burned, killed, and destroyed the innocent people.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 7:00 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Huang - I certainly don’t condone any Tibetan rioters who “burned, killed, and destroyed innocent people.”
But the Chinese government doesn’t exactly have a great track record on human rights. The students in Tiananmen Square weren’t exactly rioting,looting burning or killing innocent people in June 1989 when they were killed by the PLA.
Without a free press in Tibet, we aren’t totally sure exactly what happened afterwards when the Chinese government kicked out the foreign press.
Posted on 17-Apr-08 at 8:22 pm | Permalink
Cara wrote:
http://chineseinvancouver.blogspot.com/2008/04/here-maybe-proof-of-violence-in-tibet.html
Consider this.
Posted on 18-Apr-08 at 10:13 am | Permalink
John wrote:
Cara - sounds like a conspiracy theory to me - “a destabilized China,” led by the United States, is the last thing the United States. No U.S. policy maker wants a country of 1.3+ billion people to be de-stablized.
The truth is - China and the U.S. need each other and it is in both country’s self-interest to maintain a peaceful relations. Peaceful does not mean that the countries do not always agree.
John
Posted on 18-Apr-08 at 11:55 am | Permalink
uRB4N wrote:
I think “destabilizing” is a strong word but I do think that the US is behind the plan to either embarass China or weaken it’s influence. Thing is, America think it’s so sly and that everyone is dumber than they are.
It’s this type of arrogance which is going to be it’s undoing.
Posted on 18-Apr-08 at 2:01 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Well, as the world’s only “super power,” its in America’s best interest to weaken everyone else’s influence. But with Bush, the Iraq War, etc… the U.S. influence is less and less…. Americans are dumb, or at least those who voted for Bush:
How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?
November 4, 2004
http://www.thehumorarchives.com/attachment/232/mirror_bush.jpg
Posted on 18-Apr-08 at 5:47 pm | Permalink
hareyuan wrote:
i don’t know who killed the most man and woman in this world, but i know it is not chinese certainly!
the japannes and it’s king killed more than 45millions chinese, but japanes would not be protest and the king is the king yet,there is no human right and any other trouble because it is useful and good to usa
the same everyone know england looted, burned, killed, and destroyed this world than anyother country in the past 300 years, but now england is human guarder of this world ,because he is asistant of usa
now here is looted, burned, killed, and destroyed in iraq everyday, who asked why?
there is ony onw world ,man is himself and only think himself more than other,so it is the same of usa, and wester goverment too
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 3:26 am | Permalink
loveuS wrote:
This article is not impersonal!
Patriotism is also a kind of freedom. Patriot should not be blamed.
On the other hand, Things are not so bad actually. The author has exaggerated the fact.
The author expressed the feeling that it was “cool” that so many peopled had died in the Tibetan riot.
The author stirred hatred. This is not what we want! I against the prejudice !
By the way, Grace Wang just wants to get the greencard. Now, this is a God-given chance!
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 8:15 am | Permalink
oneChina wrote:
Today ,
in china,
whichever political party in power,
CCP included,
will be overthrown by people in the next day if Tibet were split from China!
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 8:25 am | Permalink
Cara wrote:
Why do people in the west get all excited when they see Chinese fighting over issues where
they happen to have different perspectives. They are all Chinese. Would you get excited when you see Americans or Canadians fight over some issues, verbally. No weapon, no guns, just national flags and songs. I call that peaceful exchange. If you understand enough Chinese. The song they were playing in the video was a beautiful song attributed to all Chinese, overseas Chinese and minority groups in China, to promotes love for one another. It was not meant to hate or discriminate anyone. I think Grace Wang was just speaking her mind. According to a report in a Chinese newspaper, she was calling both sides to calm down, didn’t mean to side with either group. She is not a traitor and should not be called that simply because she has an opinion.
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 10:48 am | Permalink
Ben wrote:
As a Chinese American and a Duke graduate, I think we need to contemplated limiting the number of graduate student we allow from China. After the recent arrests of a number of Chinese spies here in the US by the FBI for industrial espionage, we need to accept the fact that we’re educating certain individuals that are actively opposed to our democracy.
We didn’t allow Russian graduate students during the Cold War, we still have export limitations for technology to China, so it seems somewhat illogical to allow Chinese graduate students come to the US to procure knowledge in an intangible form that we wouldn’t export in a tangible format.
Frankly the amount of xenophobia and nationalism in China does concern me. Idiots like onechina that think that the Han Chinese should dominate China regarding of the historical context of their own country’s formation just shows how little they know of what broke apart the old Yugoslavia, the partitioning of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the current trend towards separatism in Belgium. There’s no cultural link between Tibet and Beijing except for the fact that China’s been sending Han Chinese there in order to attempt to dilute the population. Nice try.
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 1:07 pm | Permalink
Cara wrote:
Is it really just an “attempt to dilute the population” OR may be the Chinese government is trying to integrate them into the Han society? Are we saying that isolating Tibet is a good thing? I am sure most of us do not recommend segregation. I like living in a racially /culturally diverse community. I don’t know a lot about Tibet, honestly I am still learning.
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 4:10 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Ben - actually, in general, it has been more difficult for foreign graduate students to get a visa to study in the United States after 9/11.
As for “Chinese spies” - well, I’m sure there have been some “real” spies and some Chinese-Americans (American-born and naturalized) who have taken the opportunity to sell information to the Chinese due to their access to sensitive commercial or military information. No different than Americans like Aldrich Ames selling CIA secrets to the Soviets / Russians.
However, I am concerned about the sensationalism of “Chinese spies” - which has lead to the illegal imprisonment of people such as Wen Ho Lee or even worse, back i World War II, the internment of Japanese-Americans - one of the greatest violations of civil rights in American history (probably behind the genocide of the Native American and the history of slavery in the United States).
Cara - there is one thing if people want to be assimilated into the greater society as a whole, but from my limited understanding and knowledge of Tibet’s history, Tibetans have primarily stayed to themselves. Ironically, the Dalai Lama is for more openness of Tibet and access to the rest of the world and China. As for Ben’s comment regarding dilution - this has been a typical tactic for governments to marginalized and slowly eliminate an ethnic minority. Whether or not this is China’s intent is up for interpretation.
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 6:13 pm | Permalink
Cara wrote:
This blogger has something intelligent to say about Tibet and China relationship.
http://www.kaichang.net/2008/03/friday-music-tibet.html
Posted on 19-Apr-08 at 9:52 pm | Permalink
Freedom wrote:
Respect people with a different point of view! That’s the problem with most Chinese!
They can’t tolerate different opinions and they can’t admit mistakes!
The faults are always on the other party.
Posted on 20-Apr-08 at 12:07 am | Permalink
Cara wrote:
Freedom, if you put it that way. I think most people are guilty of that. Americans included.
Posted on 20-Apr-08 at 10:36 am | Permalink
shrek wrote:
Eveline wrote:
Unfortunately, I think all Chinese think the worldwide protests was meant to be a slap in THEIR faces, but that’s not what my Canadian, German, or French friends think or want! They are squarely against the government’s policies and terrible record
To Eveline:
Unfortunately, I think you are totally wrong! What you think is absoluately not what most Chinese people think. If you knew only” a little ” history of tibet and not a
goon, you would know why chinese people are so angry.
So do you think you can bare that the slogan “Free Washtion D.C.”? You will say that’s bullshit. Yes you got the right answer. That’s the reason. Maybe you will say “that’s toatlly different”! So go back to learn only a littleeeee histoty about tibet, and if you still are not able to undertasnd, welcome to tibert to live for some time.
Your western are used to condemn “Chinese human rights, Chinese Comunist Party……”. As a native China citizen, I can tell you that No ONE Western Party can do better in China internal affairs than Comunist party in the Past and Today’s world If the western party came into power in China. If you could live in China for more than 10
years, you will understand what I said.
So you western people have a wonderful democracy??? Take American as an example:So beautiful democracy—–>So beautiful democracy presidential election——> BUSH become president——>evil Iraq war(Just an excuse). So I think your
so-called democracy led to this evile War. Is this your so-called democracy?? Who are responsible for those innocent people’s dying? Who?? Don’t tell me this war aimed to eliminate terrorists——War only made more and more terrorists. Don’t tell me that is
only the American government opinion——You voted to them(at least stand the most Americans opinon)! Living is the most essential human rights!! It’s hard to understand
your so-called human rights. Your so-called democracy is a nightmare for those people in developing country.
Posted on 21-Apr-08 at 7:08 am | Permalink
Cara wrote:
shrek, I support you. Thank you for speaking out.
Americans might have all the education and “FREEDOM” but what they
don’t have is Chinese WISDOM!
Posted on 21-Apr-08 at 12:16 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
Has it occurred to anyone if the U.S. in a democratic state can have serious issues with objectivity in the media, then so too can China in a communist state encounter this problem, too? We may not know the whole Tibet-China story here in the U.S., but certainly the Chinese under Chinese education don’t know it either.
Arguing with Chinese Nationalists about what China has and hasn’t done is like arguing with evangelical Christian zealots. “You’re WRONG because the Communist Chinese government said…..so it MUST be true! Otherwise…why would the Communist Chinese government tell us that?!?”
Posted on 21-Apr-08 at 12:33 pm | Permalink
Guo Ren wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QNKB34cJo&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xsoc4-QnplY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7_lWHLT7d4&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XhG9-LdwG_k&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XhG9-LdwG_k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rut-tXh_TEI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4J6nfyb-3k
Posted on 22-Apr-08 at 3:50 pm | Permalink
well wrote:
So called patriotics Chinese, most of them are waiting for green card, not just Wang. Look at statistics how many from mainland who come to study and return. Only those ring leaders of student association might return back since they will get party post other than them are looking down to settle in west no matter how China has developed or toxic.
Posted on 27-Apr-08 at 8:18 am | Permalink
szwpang wrote:
Shrek, do you actually know the history of tibet, and from whence does this education come? and can you dissociate yourself with your nationalist feelings long enough to question if your opinion on this matter is jaded by biased history lessons, and further misguided by love of country? i personally have little knowledge on the subject, but i HAVE lived in China for more than 10 years (and visited tibet several times) and watched CCTV 4,5,6..X daily, and i find the coverage on the subject laughable. In fact, i just finished watching a rediculous show on CCTV7 where they marched out 2 han chinese “experts”, one with a PLA uniform on, and repeatedly analyzed the Cafferty gaff, discussing “why the westerners don’t like us” and why they so misunderstand the Tibetan issue, as if that idiot Cafferty represents Western opinoin on the matter. As an educated, and hopefully intelligent Chinese person, this kind of patronizing news and commentary should embarrass and offend. if it turned out that Tibetans were deeply angry at the Chinese presence there, and had legitmate issues with the way the region is governed, woudl this matter to you? what if they insisted of independence? is the 大陆 Han chinese position on this the only valid one? The pro-China pontifs love to march out examples of US attrocities against native americans as if that gives them a free pass on Tibet. The bottom line is the issue of Tibet’s independence is too big, and complicated to for most of us to understand. most either have no, low or wrong education on the matter by way of propoganda wars on both sides. A much, much more relevant and immediately addressable issue is why the Chinese people are so accepting of information from the CCTV robotic mouthpieces, andf why they get all worked up to defend a position (so-called biased western media), without a basis for making the argument - ie. an alternate, credible news source? you are arguing that CNN is biased (and i agree, for the most part), but how do you know if they are biased on teh tibetan issue? please, for the love of God, tell me? And i dare you to find a source that does not start with a C…and end with a..V. The fact that the CCP kicked all other media groups out of Tibet makes this a rhetorical question.
Posted on 04-May-08 at 2:23 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
szwpang:
I’ve been waiting for this opinion and commentary to finally come out! THANK YOU. ARRGH!!!! So frustrating that it took this long.
I was watching Chinese news the other night and also saw a special where commentators gave their opinions on why all the hostility toward China in the West. Loved it. Some of the best irony ever because the reasoning they gave was that the Western media is biased and has thusly brainwashed the people. Moreover, the rampant nationalism in America makes us want to be #1 and since China is rapidly catching up, we see them as a threat and thus need to break them down and paint them as demons. Again. Irony, anyone?
Posted on 04-May-08 at 12:11 pm | Permalink