Is this really the best way to express your grievances with France? Go see the photo. Another blogger quoted in the post wisely notes,

It’s not hard to imagine how Chinese people would react to having symbols of their World War 2 occupier added to China’s national flag or the moral integrity of China’s national heros slandered.

Not hard at all.

Don’t miss the same blogger’s excellent post on why some foreigners in China are starting to worry about their safety. For the record, I feel no such worries myself, at least not yet, though if the trend he describes keep escalating, that may change. I don’t see it happening any time soon.

I believe the CCP is going to go on overdrive in an attempt to calm the people down. They know this is not the face China needs to put forward as “friend to all the world.” They’d rather show off the fuwas, not shrieking banshees waving swastika-adorned French flags. What a dilemma they’ve put themselves in. They saw blind nationalism as a useful tool – when they could manipulate it. I don’t think they factored in how mass movements can take on lives of their own. How to get the genie back in the bottle?

Here’s an open thread to do so.

I just noticed Blogspot is open again, after being open for a couple weeks and then slamming shut again a few days ago. The Cybernanny is being unusually bipolar lately.

Raj

Recently we’ve read about the shameful treatment of a Chinese student in the US, Grace Wang. The Washington post gave her the opportunity to explain her side of the story.

Over Christmas break, all the American students went home, but that’s too expensive for students from China. Since the dorms and the dining halls were closed, I was housed off-campus with four Tibetan classmates for more than three weeks…

I’d long been interested in Tibet and had a romantic vision of the Land of Snows, but I’d never been there. Now I learned that the Tibetans have a different way of seeing the world. My classmates were Buddhist and had a strong faith, which inspired me to reflect on my own views about the meaning of life. I had been a materialist, as all Chinese are taught to be, but now I could see that there’s something more, that there’s a spiritual side to life.
We talked a lot in those three weeks, and of course we spoke in Chinese. The Tibetan language isn’t the language of instruction in the better secondary schools there and is in danger of disappearing. Tibetans must be educated in Mandarin Chinese to succeed in our extremely capitalistic culture. This made me sad, and made me want to learn their language as they had learned mine.

Chinese will complain that foreigners have never been to Tibet, but they haven’t lived with ordinary Tibetans either. Maybe they’ve come across a couple of very wealthy ones who work and live in big Chinese cities, but they’re the minority – it’s like hob-nobbing with someone who lives in Chelsea, as if they can tell you what it’s like for most Londoners. In any case they don’t understand Tibetans that well either.

The Chinese protesters thought that, being Chinese, I should be on their side.

It appears that in China some people believe your race dicatates what your opinion can be.

Some people on the Chinese side started to insult me for speaking English and told me to speak Chinese only. But the Americans didn’t understand Chinese. It’s strange to me that some Chinese seem to feel as though not speaking English is expressing a kind of national pride. But language is a tool, a way of thinking and communicating.

(more…)

Alice Poon of Asia Sentinel pointed me to this most interesting post about Radio Free Asia and the neocons behind the RFA’s curtain. The post is a real shocker, and causes one to wonder if the entire Tibet issue hasn’t been manipulated to further the agenda of PNAC and the AEI. One brief sample; the writer has just documented article after article after article in which RFA casually refers to “unconfirmed reports” of Chinese killing Tibetan monks.

All of these “unconfirmed” reports originating from Radio Free Asia appear to contradict eyewitness reports from a BBC reporter on the ground during the riots and a German reporter that interviewed local Tibetans in Lhasa that I have linked to below.

Watch and listen to this from Exile Government spokesperson Dawa Tsering as he explains how they gather information for dissemination on RFA and more shockingly, his rationalization that beating Chinese and Hui people is “non-violent” and that the deaths of the 5 young girls, the 10 month old baby and others that were immolated as they hid from the rioters were “accidents” because they didn’t run away fast enough. This is the epitome of bad PR and irresponsible journalism as well as a heretical view of non-violent Buddhism.

The post is a shocker. You have no choice but to wonder how we can hope to separate news from propaganda. This is why, in two separate threads, I tried to ask readers for proof that the blue-clothed “goons” who ran alongside the torchbearers had indeed acted like “storm troopers” or “Nazis” or “thugs.” You definitely get an impression from various reports that they were thugs, but you get nothing more than an impression – no one can cite any example of behavior that parallels that of Nazi storm troopers. It was a perfect example of the media leaving an impression with nothing to back it up except vague fears over sunglass-wearing, expressionless bodyguards who were doing their job, i.e., keeping people back from the person they were protecting.

In the same Asia Sentinel post, Alice Poon also directs us to an oldie but goodie on the “myths and realities” of Tibet, written in 1998 but worth reading today.

Western concepts of Tibet embrace more myth than reality. The idea that Tibet is an oppressed nation composed of peaceful Buddhists who never did anyone any harm distorts history. In fact the belief that the Dalai Lama is the leader of world Buddhism rather than being just the leader of one sect among more than 1,700 “Living Buddhas” of this unique Tibetan form of the faith displays a parochial view of world religions.

The myth, of course, is an outgrowth of Tibet’s former inaccessibility, which has fostered illusions about this mysterious land in the midst of the Himalayan Mountains — illusions that have been skillfully promoted for political purposes by the Dalai Lama’s advocates. The myth will inevitably die, as all myths do, but until this happens, it would be wise to learn a few useful facts about this area of China.

First, Tibet has been a part of China ever since it was merged into that country in 1239, when the Mongols began creating the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). This was before Marco Polo reached China from Europe and more than two centuries before Columbus sailed to the New World. True, China’s hold on this area sometimes appeared somewhat loose, but neither the Chinese nor many Tibetans have ever denied that Tibet has been a part of China from the Yuan Dynasty to this very day.

This article, by the son of American missionaries who grew up in China, takes on a lot of myths about Tibet. After reading it, I can only wonder, if China has done so much good in Tibet, then why is it so dreadful in telling the story to the world? Is it simply because the “Dalai Lama clique” keeps undercutting them with better PR? Or is there truly a darker side to all the love and joy China has brought to Tibet? I’m still trying to figure it out for myself, and find it perhaps the murkiest, most misunderstood and confused topic in modern history.

Posted by Richard (not Raj)

This plain hurts.

On the day the Olympic torch was carried through San Francisco last week, Grace Wang, a Chinese freshman at Duke University, came out of her dining hall to find a handful of students gathered for a pro-Tibet vigil facing off with a much larger pro-China counterdemonstration.

Ms. Wang, who had friends on both sides, tried to get the two groups to talk, participants said. She began traversing what she called “the middle ground,” asking the groups’ leaders to meet and making bargains. She said she agreed to write “Free Tibet, Save Tibet” on one student’s back only if he would speak with pro-Chinese demonstrators. She pleaded and lectured. In one photo, she is walking toward a phalanx of Chinese flags and banners, her arms overhead in a “timeout” T.

But the would-be referee went unheeded. With Chinese anger stoked by disruption of the Olympic torch relays and criticism of government policy toward Tibet, what was once a favorite campus cause – the Dalai Lama’s people – had become a dangerous flash point, as Ms. Wang was soon to find out.

The next day, a photo appeared on an Internet forum for Chinese students with a photo of Ms. Wang and the words ‘traitor to your country’ emblazoned in Chinese across her forehead. Ms. Wang’s Chinese name, identification number and contact information were posted, along with directions to her parents’ apartment in Qingdao, a Chinese port city.

Salted with ugly rumors and manipulated photographs, the story of the young woman who was said to have taken sides with Tibet spread through China’s most popular Web sites, at each stop generating hundreds or thousands of raging, derogatory posts, some even suggesting that Ms. Wang – a slight, rosy 20-year-old – be burned in oil. Someone posted a photo of what was purported to be a bucket of feces emptied on the doorstep of her parents, who had gone into hiding.

“If you return to China, your dead corpse will be chopped into 10,000 pieces,” one person wrote in an e-mail message to Ms. Wang. “Call the human flesh search engines!” another threatened, using an Internet phrase that implies physical, as opposed to virtual, action.

Nothing is scarier than the herd mentality, especially when the herd is being plain stupid. I care about this country and the people I love here, and they are so exquisite in the individual, and – at least at times like this – so frightening in the mass.

I know: it is infuriating and insulting to hear an ungrateful foreigner and a guest criticize his host. I really know. And I know the argument, Who are you to tell the Chinese people what to do and how to think? And my answer is, I am nobody at all. But I know stupid and immature when I see it, and right now you are hitting new peaks of immaturity and stupidity. And although I am nobody and a guest here, I have to say it.

If this is harmony, I’ll go for dissonance every time. My deepest sympathy to the noble Ms. Wang. And I hope the Chinese bloggers and others who hear about this act of depravity will have the courage and the cojones to make themselves heard and tell their people that this is plain wrong, that we mustn’t let blind rage overcome our rational thinking

To see a nation willingly surrender its critical faculties is heartbreaking, especially when you know what so many of these people are capable of, how much they want to learn and grow and improve their lives. Well, take it from a foreign nobody, acting like this will only take you backwards. Please, please stop, listen, and think for yourselves. Don’t let others do it for you. Don’t just heart CHINA because everybody else is doing it.

China has come so far so fast, but if it doesn’t grow up along the way it will be doomed to wallow in impotent and pointless rage. It can do better than this.

Sorry if I sound scolding. This is just so depressing.

I will be traveling from now until May 5. I will be posting, but not so much.

Maybe we can start with this Jeremy Goldkorn post on the much-discussed boycott of Carrefour initiated by Chinese angered at the Free Tibet demonstrations in France earlier this month. Friends of mine are very enthusiastic about the boycott and the word is mainly being spread by SMS.

It really causes one to think of what the net effect of negative coverage of China will be over the coming months. I understand the indignation and the anger, especially over the attack on Jin Jing. But I fear this strategy only reinforces the impression of young Chinese as overly nationalistic, easily manipulated and brimming with anger and resentment. Read the Danwei post, with which I totally agree.

Dave at Mutant Palm, no handmaiden to the CCP, demolishes the obscenely ridiculous “conspiracy” rumors being circulated and fanned by various kooks, including Powerline and Michelle Malkin and others, claiming the attack on Jin Jing was choreographed by the CCP – all based on a photo that shows two people from opposing sides of the Tibet issue walking on the same road without trying to murder the other! Seriously. That’s what it boils down to. Dave’s fisking of this rubbish is funny, specific and devastating.

Thanks to ESWN for the tip. I don’t always see eye to eye with Roland (or anybody else) on every issue, but his coverage of this topic has been quite excellent. Be sure to check his detailed post on the “conspiracy theory,” one of his very best. And the Mutant Palm post is an absolute must-read. Go there right now. He does a great job, too, in exposing the equally irrational fenqing who have launched a witch hunt against someone they somehow think (wrongly) was the assailant. Insanity all around.

[Click to enlarge]

One of my colleagues was using MSN and I noticed that by every single name on her friends list there was a big red heart followed by CHINA in all capital letters. She said she started hearing from friends this morning that people throughout the country were going to do this to show solidarity and love of country. I then opened my own MSN friends list and saw a lot of the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if by day’s end there were tens of millions of MSN users proclaiming they “heart CHINA.” What was so extraordinary, according to my friend, is how fast this caught on and how “absolutely everyone” is doing it.

Nothing like a little controversy to rally the masses. I would say patriotism here at this moment is at an all-time high.

I was talking with a business acquaintance today who asked me whether Americans “hate the Chinese people.” I tried to explain that we don’t, but that there was a lot of misunderstanding between the two countries and a lot of misconceptions. I tried to explain very briefly why some Americans have problems with China’s government. She said she wasn’t surprised because our government systems are night and day. She went on to tell me just how much the Chinese love having a strong central government that they know will always be there, not to be put out of office every four years, and that will take care of all its people’s needs. She hearts CHINA and its government, big time. She wonders why we can’t all see the advantage of that kind of system, which to her makes total sense. It is the way it should be, and it is the way it’s always been in China.

There many things I wanted to say, especially about how there are quite a few people outside of Beijing and Shanghai whose needs are perhaps not being met too well, but decided this wasn’t the best time for that conversation. This is not a good time for any political discussion here, as anti-cnn seems to have won over the hearts and minds of just about everybody I know, and convinced them we foreigners do not and never can understand — let alone truly heart — CHINA.

This seems to be a bad year for relations between CNN and the CCP. On top of the maddeningly flimsy charges voiced on the anti-cnn website, which has led to threats against Western journalists, CNN now has to deal with a Party gone apoplectic over remarks by a CNN commentator.

China demanded an apology from CNN on Tuesday after network commentator Jack Cafferty called the country’s leaders a “bunch of goons and thugs” and said its products were “junk.”

It was the latest flare-up after Beijing accused Western media of bias in its reporting following violent protests in the Tibetan capital last month. Atlanta-based CNN has been singled out by some Chinese who say overseas news outlets are smearing Beijing.

“We are shocked and strongly condemn the vicious remarks by Cafferty,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. “We solemnly request CNN and Cafferty himself take back the malicious remarks and apologize to the Chinese people.”

…He was speaking about the U.S. trade deficit with China when he said, according to the transcript, “We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we’re buying from Wal-Mart.”

“So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed,” he continued. “I think they’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.” Network spokeswoman Edie Emery at CNN headquarters in Atlanta pointed out that Cafferty made a clarification Monday on “The Situation Room.”

“I was referring to the Chinese government, and not to Chinese people or to Chinese-Americans,” Cafferty said, referring to the ‘goons and thugs’ comment, on Monday’s program.

Gut reaction: Cafferty was insensitive and stupid for his broad-brush generalization, which seemed to be a very sweeping condemnation of China. Whoever in The Party is going nuts over this, however, is making another mountain out of a molehill and drumming up yet more animosity toward CNN.

I know, I know, they are shocked and offended and hurt and all that but commentators often throw around harsh and even idiotic opinions, but that’s what you get for freedom of speech, a relatively small price to pay for what America has long considered its most important freedom (at least until our current president was sworn in). Cafferty should perhaps be reprimanded or be put on leave for a few days, but the dumb remarks of a two-bit commentator shouldn’t be enough to push The Party into hysterics.

Is it deep, neurotic insecurity sitting on the shoulder of the world’s largest documented inferiority complex, or is it a calculated and cynical ploy being used to drum up yet more fenqing support and national outrage to keep everyone in China defending the all-knowing and omnipotent Chinese Communist Party?

Maybe we are heading in that direction. It’s about time.