And the tension continues...
A somewhat disturbing manifestation of what we were trying to outline in our previous post here on Zhongnanhai about foreigner's personal security here in China at the moment. I direct you to The Shanghaiist post today about a weekend Carrefour protest in Zhuzhou.
Couple of things I would like to note about this incident. First off, as was pointed out in the Field Director's follow-up email to his charges, the US Embassy here in Beijing notes that there have been cases 'in the past' of protesters targeting foreigners. This, for me, denotes that the US Embassy, at least, has not received other reports of violence against US nationals during these recent protests. That's a good sign. The other thing of note from the post on Shanghaiist is - as was rightly outlined by the Field Director - that people who are foreign residents here in China have to use their heads. I'm not condoning what the protesters in Zhuzhou did to the poor volunteer, but common sense should dictate that you should avoid putting yourself in harms way. Mob mentality is a dangerous thing. Ask anyone who's been to an important sporting event where tensions and animosity run high. 
When groups get together under a common purpose, psychology changes and things can get out of hand in a hurry. (Ironically, it was a pair of French psychologists who came up with this theory of mob mentality in the late 19th century) So if you have lived here in China as a foreigner for any length of time, you should realize that tensions are running high right now. But where the wild-card factor comes into play, and could create significant problems for BOCOG officials ahead of the Games, is if unwitting tourists get caught up in something like this. Where an expat might recognize a potentially dangerous situation when he or she sees one, a tourist might not be so savvy. And what a PR nightmare that would be if someone who has come to visit China relates back stories to their country of origin about getting roughed up by angry Chinese protesters.
Under Chinese law, spontaneous gatherings or protests are illegal. If you want to hold a demonstration here, you have to get permission. Now I can't say for sure if the government has granted permission for these Carrefour protests or not. But regardless, they're letting them take place. But from a PR perspective, Beijing is dancing on a tightrope right now. Because if a tourist who comes here to explore and discover China gets injured or worse in one of these demonstrations, the ramifications are going to reverberate across the globe.
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The only source of this piece of news is a blog called Shanghaiist, I troll through the internet, unable to find any report within or beyond China that can corroborate it. I t does not smell right.
If true, this latest incident will probably mean the end for the Carrefour boycott thing will come even sooner rather then later. The crazy nationalists remains a small part of Chinese society, although loud and obnoxious they are. The CCP has proved on previous occasions that the extreme nationalists have insufficient influence in the wider Chinese society and thus the "genie can be put back in the bottle" in many senses. I'm thinking of the arguably much more serious anti-Japanese boycotts, that pretty much sputtered out, as most Chinese failed to head its message. Taking a look at the streets of Beijing and Shanghai, there are probably more honda or toyota vehicles then perhaps ever before.
This incident mirror the Boxer Rebellion of late 19th century very well. As we all know that the Boxer Rebellion was determined as patriotic uprising of grass root to protect China against foreign interests and invasion. It is a highly respected movement in text books and government publications.
Will the Chinese government try to cool down a patriotic movement ?
Pierre, I'm not sure how much the Boxer rebellion can be directly related to the rather minor incident of the Carrefour boycotts. 19th century China was on the brink of complete collapse, the traditional social structure had failed, and huge rebellions raged across China from the Opium War onwards. It was in that context, that the Boxers emerged. Many of the more extreme people behind the Carrefour incident on the other hand despite their loudness, obnoxiousness and penchant for violence, are a disgruntled minority, among a sea of Chinese trying to engage foreigners and learn their languages. Modern China can hardly be described as economically or politically developed, but it isn't the Qing Dynasty in 1900 either.
Good luck 2010, Canada!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beqota9Ew3c
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/04/24/volunteer_in_ch.php
I guess since Shanghaiist has revised its version of the accident, claimng the report was much an exaggeration, the author of this blog should have the decency to clarify the fact,
does he ？