Some overseas Chinese say 20 year old "traitor" should be "burned in oil"
The New York Times has published an article today telling the story of a 20 year old girl at Duke University who tried to mediate between the Tibetan and Chinese protesters on campus:
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.
We know a conflict has gone too far when even the mediators are demonized.
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well, well, well, quit this already, my friend. When an American says he loves his country, he is a PATRIOT. When a Chinese says he loves his country, he is a NATIONALIST. When an American speaks for the Soviets, he is a TRAITOR. When a Chinese speaks for the Dalai Lama, he is a FREEDOM FIGHTER. Come off it, my friends. Remember What Jesus said to those who wanted to cast the first stone?
What disturbs me more than the online nationalistic rants is the human-flesh search engines. That people could get that enraged by an opposing viewpoint to hunt down and harm their family is very very frightening.
J.
It would be a severe crime to burn a person in oil, even in China.
Frankly I am not shocked, neither should you. Hi pal,don't take the outcry too serious. I am sure you know very well about those character assassinations conducted by mainstream pundits against anyone who was daring enough to oppose or criticize the invasion of Iraq.Those being deemed as unpatriotic or traitorous will always be spat on.
History always repeats itself.
Cam,
Would you care to use the magic word "some" when you decide to use a headline which boards being inflammatory, although I understand this is the standard practice among many western "journalists". I'd like to hold you to a higher standard than that, however.
CC, you're right. Thanks for the note, and the headline has been changed.
This is excellent show case of how well Chinese, even those well schooled (I don't think "educated" is the right description) to attend universities, are behaving. This cultural display is an excellent opportunity for the west to observe Chinese behaviour first hand. We can now see what they are really like. How civilized they are. How they come to conclusions on issues. What their values are. Great show, China.
Pierre,
With what you have just said, you have successfully passed the qualification test for working as a "journalist" in BBC, CCN or France24, etc.
The fact that her parents have had to go into hiding over this...my God, it boggles the mind.
When people's brains shut down and they turn into 'senseless soldiers', you know the brainwashing has been effective.
Plus, some people really need to just get laid.
Wow, this is getting outa control. CCP miscalculated the nationalistic rage of the populace. I feel sad for her. Trying to be a bridge but fail and get framed for being a traitor. How the extreme nationalist must have distorted the truth to get the rage rolling.
But what is this, another round of generalization and stereotyping? Its like trying to blame ALL the Chinese in the world for the actions of ....a few?/few hundred?/few thousand?what is the figure?. And treating verbal threats like already committed crimes? Thus every kid on MySpace is a serial killer. I committed some heinous crime too, I admit to saying the 6 girls who had beaten up Victoria Lindsay deserve to be gang banged to death. Thus I committed rape and 1st degree murder. Put me and 100 million other netizens in jail please. Thus prove of 100% Chinese brainwashedness? Wow, thats so convenient.
Boy, I can see now how Serbs who have not performed ethnic cleansing felt, treated like a racist. How every Palestinian is a potential suicide bomber.
Don't you think that it's really silly to generalise on the basis of one incident/sample size? =] I thought for someone who has been so conscienciously rational in the criticsm, you'd know better than to generalise.
A lot of conflicts arise because people generalise, and that is how stereotypes and racism came about.
Come on, extremists exist in all countries, just because the media doesn't report it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
If the Chinese media has been greatly biased, what makes you think that the Western medias are not? On the simple basis that they've brought down some politicians and dug out some dirty secrets (which by no means affect the stability of the western nations in any way)? Well, even kids who reads Harry Potter know that there's such thing as a double agent. Someone who pretends to be on Lord Voldermort's side in order to save Harry -- the hidden agenda. Just that in this case, it might be the other way round.
Yes, that's a childish analogy, if u'd forgive me, but it's enough for people to get the point. As Einstein says, everything should be made simple, but not simpler. The Media should never be trusted fully, we should have the maturity to critically judge the motive, the authenticity and other things that we can see from a bigger picture.
Don't you think that it's really silly to generalise on the basis of one incident/sample size? =] I thought for someone who has been so conscienciously rational in the criticsm, you'd know better than to generalise.
A lot of conflicts arise because people generalise, and that is how stereotypes and racism came about.
Come on, extremists exist in all countries, just because the media doesn't report it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
If the Chinese media has been greatly biased, what makes you think that the Western medias are not? On the simple basis that they've brought down some politicians and dug out some dirty secrets (which by no means affect the stability of the western nations in any way)? Well, even kids who read Harry Potter know that there's such thing as a double agent. Someone who pretends to be on Lord Voldermort's side in order to save Harry -- the hidden agenda. Just that in this case, it might be the other way round.
Yes, that's a childish analogy, if u'd forgive me, but it's enough for people to get the point. As Einstein says, everything should be made simple, but not simpler. The Media should never be trusted fully, we should have the maturity to critically judge the motive, the authenticity and other things that we can see from a bigger picture.