Recently in South Korea Category

At the Danwei Plenary Session last month, moderator Jeremy Goldkorn issued a proviso before the discussion began: he would be referring to the western media and the Chinese media, even though "western media" is not, by any stretch, a homogeneous creature. One of my good friends, and sometimes contributor to this blog, has complained vociferiously that "the west" doesn't exist and should, at the very least, be defined before discussion can continue.

Traditionally I have overlooked this. To me, "the west" means white, English-speaking countries: Europe, the UK, Ireland, Australia, United States, Canada. Perhaps it's also a code-word for "colonial" powers (although it doesn't fit each of the countries I listed). Chinese people I have met have told me that media from these countries - and the power they hold as a collective - is unduly influential on a global scale; thus the campaigns against networks such as CNN over their news coverage.

"The West" is now the bogeyman to the Chinese: "The west" was responsible for past humiliations, "the west" is ruining the torch relay, "the west" doesn't understand Chinese culture. In fact, in a previous post, we get a psycho-analysis of a western mind.

This is all fine and good, but overlooks some glaring omissions which came to light this week. First, to blame "the west" for the FT movement is ridiculous; the Tibetan Government-in-Exile is based in India, for starters, and last I checked it wasn't a card-carrying member of the west. Nor is Japan part of the definition of "the west" that I offered above, and look how they handled this past weekend's torch relay stop in Nagano:

Protesters hurled rubbish and flares Saturday at the Beijing Olympic torch and brawled with Chinese supporters in a chaotic Japanese leg of the troubled round-the-world relay.

At least four people were injured in the scuffles in the mountain resort of Nagano, where more than 85,000 people packed the streets including Chinese students who turned the town into a sea of red national flags.

After relative calm elsewhere in Asia, the torch met at least hundreds of protesters here ranging from Buddhist monks and pro-Tibet demonstrators to nationalists, who provocatively waved Japan's old imperial flag.

Protesters threw trash, an egg, a tomato and flares as the torch was paraded through the streets despite more than 3,000 police guarding the route, who had raised security to a level usually accorded to Emperor Akihito.

The torch, which was run through Seoul on Sunday, didn't fare much better:

The Olympic torch relay has met with more protests and scuffles on its latest leg in Seoul, the capital of South Korea....

...One human rights demonstrator tried to rush at the torch shortly after the run began from Seoul's Olympic Park, in an attempt to hinder the relay.

South Korean policemen rescued a man after Chinese students attacked him during the torch relay.

To be fair, the report from Al Jazeera says that pro-China demonstrators vastly outnumbered the people protesting Chinese government policy. But the conclusion remains the same: people feel angry enough about China's policies that they are compelled to turn out and protest the torch relay.

There will be conspiracy theorists, probably in this comments section, that will say India, South Korea, Japan, et al have all been influenced by the west, are "slaves of the west", or whatever convenient excuse people choose to create. But the bottom line is the FT movement - and the backlash against the Chinese government (not the people, I'm at pains to add) - is far from a western phenomenon.

My colleague at Tianjin Television asked me over the weekend why "westerners" like the Dalai Lama so much. My response was that the Dalai Lama is, largely, respected by people in countries all over the world. China is the lone country which continues to demonize him. I suppose there is a possibility that China's assessment of the Dalai Lama is correct, but I doubt it.

What I'd like to know is how "the west" is defined in China, and how China feels about fellow Asian countries also protesting the torch. Because this time, France had nothing to do with it.

Mind you, neither did Carrefour.

It seems so.

I've always felt there's a lot of potential for Asian ice hockey teams. They are not bruisers, like the Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970s, but they are small, speedy, and talented. I recently watched a game between China and Japan at the Changchun Winter Games this year. I was quite impressed.

It looks like China will be getting some help in the ice hockey field (arena?)... at least the women, according to Sun Media in Canada:

China, which will host the 2008 IIHF World Championships, sent its top players to Calgary this summer to train with the Olympic Oval High Performance Female Hockey Program. Six players will join the three Alberta-based WWHL teams -- the X-Treme, Edmonton Chimos and expansion Strathmore Rockies -- for the upcoming season. As well, the entire Chinese team will relocate to Calgary until the new year to play 30 games vs. WWHL teams in preparation for the worlds.

Mario Amantea, the head coach of the X-Treme, agrees that there is big potential for Chinese women's ice hockey:

Amantea... has worked with the Chinese players for a month. He said they have plenty of skill but lack game sense and experience.

"Everything from a fundamental perspective is outstanding," Amantea said. "The big challenge is how they respond to game situations.

First, I had no idea that China was hosting the IIHF World Championships, which is fabulous. You can bet I'll be in the stands, along with many other Crazy Canucks.

If you can't wait until 2008 to catch some ice hockey, you can watch the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIC) which features teams from Japan, South Korea, and China. Chinese fans might want to catch the Changchun Fuao take on the Beijing Hosa.

Here we go again... this is a Photoshopped version of the Forbidden City, which is being used in Korea to advertise a pet shop. You'll notice the Great Helmsman has disappeared... instead having been replaced by a dog! (Insert your own joke here...)

The photo was posted over a pet shop in Yongin, Geonggi Province. Chinese people complained about the image and it has since been taken down. Free Republic reports:

The owner of the pet shop said, "I got a call from the Korean Embassy in China and the Foreign Ministry, asking me to remove the signboard. And Chinese students in Korea also called nonstop to protest saying that the signboard offends China's pride." The owner explained he had no intention of insulting China but simply thought the signboard, which also showed the Great Wall of China, would look cute.

The international protest appears to have been sparked by a picture of the signboard taken by a Chinese student in Korea and posted on a Web portal. Protests from Chinese Internet users at one stage threatened to erupt into a diplomatic incident when the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned an official from the Korean Embassy in Beijing to protest and request corrective measures.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the Korean says (anybody care to fill us in?) but the photo is generating some angry comments among the Chinese. I've written before about the traditional "hurting the feelings" statement, which seems to constantly crop up anytime somebody says something remotely critical of China. That being said, portraying a country's beloved leader as a dog may be going a bit far (ya think?)

You can find other photos of the pet shop sign here.