China: One world, one dream, and one multi-front protest
Last week's Olympics “angel” Jin Jing is on the traitor [zh] list now, after she spoke out against the upcoming nation-wide anti-Carrefour [zh] protests set for May 1 [zh].
People can't wait [update: yeah, it's totally on now] to get out to those, it seems, just like Chinese hackers, having already gotten into Carrefour.com.cn, weren't willing to wait until the 19th for the planned CNN.com DDOS attack to begin, all this against the backdrop of millions of netizens finding ways to display their patriotism.
As if that weren't enough, Jack Cafferty's remarks even got the central government on the anti-CNN bandwagon.
So now Saturday is looking like Chinese anti-CNN day in a number of different places [zh] around the world [zh]
At least one related post at China.com has over 27,000 comments over nearly 500 pages. As Heike The Dark Visitor blogger points out, the April 19 protests will mostly be held in western Europe:
1. 1500-1800hrs, 19 April 2008, at the Bundestag, Platz der Republik, Berlin
2. 1300-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, two routes (from Talie – Hotel de Ville – Bastille) or (Republique – Bastille – Hotel de Ville –Bastille, Paris
3. 1100-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, Downing Street outside of Whitehall, England
4. (No time given) 19 April 2008, Amsterdam, HollandThe protests appear to be well organized, with the coordination of donations, banners, flags, T-shirts…etc. While it is of course impossible to tell how widespread the demonstrations will be, an online keyword search, using Chinese, did produce several hundred hits.
One link Heike provides emphasizes that the protesters are furious and promising demonstrations that will flood Europe in a sea of red flags:
On April 18, one of the earlier members of anti-CNN.com posted the address and fax number for CNN's office in Beijing, along with a sample letter for anyone to send:
致美国有线电视新闻网负责人：
美国东部时间4月9日晚6点，贵台主持人Jack Cafferty 在“时事观察室”节目中发表了侮辱全体中国人的种族歧视言论，令人甚感震惊。他说：“他们（中国人）基本上还是五十年来的那群恶棍和暴徒。”
全世界华人充分理解贵国一贯秉持的言论自由原则，并尊重Jack Cafferty的政治立场，但是作为一个公众人物，一个新闻从业者，Jack Cafferty所说的已经完全超越了言论自由的底线，相信任何一个有尊严的华人都不会接受这种对于华人整个族裔的谩骂。
At 6pm EST on the evening of April 9, your network's anchorperson Jack Cafferty, made racist remarks on the program The Situation Room that insulted and shocked the entirety of the Chinese people. He said, “(the Chinese) they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years.”
The Chinese people of the world fully understand that your country has always upheld the principle of free speech, and respect Jack Cafferty's political stance, but as a public persona and a news professional, what Jack Cafferty said has gone way beyond the line of freedom of speech, and [we] believe that any respectable Chinese person cannot accept this kind of invective towards the entire Chinese race.
贵台稍候在15日发表的简短声明中辩解称Jack Cafferty所说的恶棍暴徒指的是中国政府，这样避重就轻没有诚意的道歉声明更是令人难以接受。首先，在Jack Cafferty的言论中，他反复多次说到中国，中国人，丝毫没有提到中国政府的地方；再者，Jack Cafferty在说到“恶棍”与“暴徒”时，使用的是复数，其意思非常明确，他口中的“他们”指的就是整个华人族群；最后，贵台的声明把矛头转向中国政府，这样牵强的强辩实际上是对中华民族的二度伤害！难道攻击一个国家的政府就不会伤害该国人民的感情了吗？
为此我致函向CNN以及Jack Cafferty提出严正抗议和谴责！
中国向世界敞开大门只有短短20多年的时间，全世界华人都能够理解各国人民对中国这个遥远的东方国家尚存在许多的疑问及种种误解。但是这并不意味着某些人可以不负责任、口无遮拦地攻击中国以及中华民族。即使不了解中国，任何一个有良知的人也不应该对发生在自己身边的事实选择性失明。
It is for these reasons that I have written to sternly protest and condemn both CNN and Jack Cafferty!
China has only opened its doors to the world for a short twenty-something years, but Chinese people from around the world are all able to see that people from every country around the world still bear many doubts and various sorts of misunderstandings toward China, this country far off in the Orient. But this does not mean that certain people can be irresponsible, and freely make attacks against China and the Chinese people. Even if one doesn't understand China, no conscientious person ought to be selectively blind to facts which lay before them.
以美国为例，华人移民多少年来都是社会中最遵纪守法和最友善的一群人。Cafferty先生是否记得， 9.11事件发生后 ，布什总统向劫机事件中表现英勇的华裔空姐邓月薇家属颁发奖状，称她是“美国的英雄”，事件中另一名中国学生曾喆在世贸大厦现场不停救人最终英勇牺牲，被追赠纽约市“社区贡献奖”的曾喆是美国历史上获此殊荣的第二人；Cafferty先生又是否知道，去年震惊美国震惊世界的弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击案中，有一名华裔女教师挺身而出带领学生顶住大门阻止了枪手进入，从而保护了全班学生。从何时起，善良、本分、为世界和平默默做出贡献的华人竟然成为了Jack Cafferty口中的恶棍和暴徒？
我相信，身为一名资深政治评论员，Jack Cafferty决非无知，他更没有失忆，促使他公开侮辱中国人的根本原因是他对我华人的种族歧视！他的言论无疑是对整个中华民族，尤其是在美华人最无耻的伤害，更造成了非常恶劣的影响，严重损伤了中美两国人民的友谊。
I believe, that as a senior political commentator, Jack Cafferty is in no way ignorant, as much as I don't believe he has amnesia: the underlying reason which led him to publicly insult the Chinese people is his racism towards Chinese people! His words undoubtedly referred to the entire Chinese race, shamelessly hurting in particular those Chinese in America the most, but the most terrible impact this has had is the serious harm it has done to the friendship between the peoples of America and China.
贵台多年来一直标榜CNN在全球树立了很强的公信度和良好的声誉，而现如今Jack Cafferty信口开河恶意攻击中国人的言论无疑是CNN甚至全美传媒界的耻辱！试问一个赤裸裸发表种族歧视言论的人有何资格站在道德高点批评他人为恶棍暴徒？
希望CNN及Jack Cafferty收起傲慢与偏见，立即向全世界华人进行公开、正式的道歉！
如果贵台及Jack Cafferty本人迟迟不愿就辱华言论事件向全世界华人做出诚恳回应，全球华人定将依法提起集体诉讼，追究CNN及Jack Cafferty的诽谤侮辱责任和相关赔偿。
期待你们的答复！
一名普通中国人：
2008年4月18日
I hope CNN and Jack Cafferty retract their arrogance and prejudice, and immediately issue a public and formal apology to the Chinese people of the world!
If this station and Jack Cafferty himself take their time in issuing a sincere response to the Chinese people of the world for this remark incident which has disgraced us Chinese, the Chinese of the world are firmly prepared to adhere to law and file a class-action lawsuit to look into CNN and Jack Cafferty's responsibility and appropriate compensation for this slanderous insult.
I await your response!
164 comments
It’s rather interesting to me that when Chinese excercise freedom of expression, it is deemed a “waste of time” and something that makes some people “fed-up” with our lack of understanding.
I don’t think we really need so much advice on why, how, if or when to excecise this basic human right.
Nor do we need to apply special rules for Chinese that are not applied to others.
If Mr. Cafferty is free to express his opinion in (ironically) blunt and offensive terms that is his choice, and one that comes woth the privelidge of a mass-media pulpit.
If we chose to take issue with him in clear and articulate terms using the internet, that is our choice.
If it bothers some that we do so, I apologize for the inconvennience caused.
1.Can I call you a pig and later explain we refer “pig” as brilliant and beautiful animal? thus if we call you a pig, it is a praise actually.
2.We don’t care in you country, you can insult whatever your government, friends and anyone close to you and you think how reasonable it is. When you deal with people from different culture or religion, it should begin with mutual respect not rudeness. If people keep offending each other without awillness perhaps, it is not a good way to make friends or just cooperation.
Benny2,
I agree with you on that the Chinese don’t “need” to boycott Carrefour. But they chose to do it as a way to express their anger, and they are entitled to do it as long as they do it peacefully.
Why are they angry? No, it’s not just because you shouted “Free Tibet”, it’s not just because someone attacked Jin Jing, it’s not just because LV donated to Dalai Lama (this is obviously not the cause of the boycott, but rather a supporting evidence). This anger is resulted from all the events occured in the previous month, the sum of them, not any single one. This anger is resulted from the untimate cause behind these events, and admit it, most Europeans look down on Chinese.
Yes, you are criticizing the government, not the people. You are painting the Chinese as a bunch of pathetic victims who have no human right, no freedom. You claim you are not bashing the people, as they are not responsible for the miserable fate of themselves. But as the second largest economy (PPP) in the world, as a country which has been a super power for thousands of years, and will probably return to that position soon, Chinese people do not think they are pathetic, they are angry that you think they are pathetic, no matter whether you think it’s their fault or not.
What makes it worse is that, 90% of the time the evidence your media use to prove the patheticness of China is either faked or inaccurate.
It is regretable that Mr Cafferty made such a boorish and loutish remarks on China and Chinese.
No doubt he has tarnished the CNN name.
The only honourable thing for him and CNN to do is to retract the remarks and apologise categorically to the Chinese people.
Why offend the Chinese when the world is facing the terrorist threat ?
>Marches like this aren’t going to “wake up” westerners
Oh, I certainly do think they will wake up Westerners. Just not the way the organisers might have hoped.
cooper,
Interesting arguments, but I still don’t see your point. You argued that there is a reason why Americans are angry and they like to hear Chinese people (or government) be called “goons and thugs” and Chinese goods be called “junks”. That’s fine, and I think it’s so clear that I don’t need to argue why Chinese don’t like to hear these. You can’t argue that because this is fine for you the Chinese must accept it, can you? This is just difference in culture.
So, you just do what you want, and we will do what we want, until maybe the politicians find a middle ground.
BTW, attitudes like “unfortunately for you we can do this and you can’t” don’t help.
Mick,
We are not the weaker side why do we want a “sympathetic individual” to argue our cause? I have tried so many times to argue with a westerner, yet I seldom truly succeeded in changing their minds. From my perspective most westerners are helplessly brainwashed by their media propoganda; from your perspective probably most Chinese are helplessly brainwashed by our media propoganda. Fine, no one can really persuade the other.
Thus, I don’t think the marches in western cities are meant to “argue our cause”. I believe the purpose is to express our anger, and show our unity. You will say that’s because we are brainwashed no matter what, that’s fine. But the fact is that all Chinese, home or abroad, are deeply supportive of our government this time.
We do criticize our government at home, and if you know Chinese you will see millions of such posts on the Internet. I don’t like many aspects of the government, but overall I think it’s doing well, especially economically. However, call it the Chinese culture, we don’t like our government be criticized by outside, especially those with an arrogant attitude, no matter how bad it’s doing its job. Color Revolution will never find its soil in China.
Boycott of Carrefor hypermart may not be the best way to reflect the sentiments of the people towards the French president Sakorsky’s attitude, it is nevertheless the only way for the people to demonstrate their displeasure at the way the relay torch was treated in Paris !
It is symbolic and sends a message to the French that this kind of disturbance is not to be taken lightly !
驳：你们在污蔑我们中国人的智商，你们的说法前后矛盾，我们中国人最讨厌伪善之人，我们重行轻言，你们重言轻行，这是可以理解的，但你们把你们的思想强加于我们，并且侮辱我们，这是我们所不可能忍的 我们的行为体现的是我们的人格。我们真正重的是人格，而你们的行为严重侮辱我们华人的人格与尊严。我们的所言所行是我们心里最深刻的表达。可以所你们不在乎你们的 人格。你们在乎的是你们将得到的。你们的人权是建立在过于追求个人利益之上的。你们不注重个人修养，谈何评论他人是暴徒呵恶棍与否。你为那些种族歧视者辩论，是为了掩盖你们的伪善，你们可以骂我们中国人，说是你们的权利，却在我们对你们的行为进行批判的时候你们说我们反应过度，说我们是浪费精力，你们根本就不想我们中国人有言论自由你们的伪善，让我认清一个事实，你们的生活环境是糟糕的，日子过的比我们还不好。麻烦你们去关心一下你们的政府的所作所谓，我对你们的政治丑闻耳闻已久，你们在指着别人的鼻子说三道四的时候先看看自己的样子。还有我们中国人向来把国家当家，把国家脸面当自己的脸面，你们说你们说的是中国政府不是中国人民，那么你大错特错了，你侮辱所有中国人，更何况建设国家是我们所有中国人的责任，并不是政府的全部责任，你在污蔑我们的努力，你在诋毁我们中国人。To cooper: you said”At this point in time I can’t see anyone here really caring too much about the hurt feelings of the Chinese people” Now here I will say do we ask you to care about our feelings to our government?do we ask you to care about the human right in China? Although you insult us , still , I can give an answer that our life is better than 50 years ago ,maybe some aspects are better than yours which you think you have a better life than ours especially that right of free speech and what you said Tibetans have right to be independence .and you also say the ZD’s violence behavior is kind of protest. and you said the PRC should care about the ZD’ rights , and Here I ask you a question that do you care about the people’s rights for living who were killed by the ZD. Do you care about the Chinese rights ? No ,of course not,absolutely not,You said you don’t care ,right ?You said you more care about the prosperity of own country .And you can see what you have done to us ,to all the Chinese.you are liars , you are all hypocrites .This is what the Chinese most scorned. Cooper you are finding excuses to defend what you have said . In fact , they are lame.and what you have done are screwed
I’m really tired of my fellow Chinese demanding that others “understand” them when they’re doing such a poor job of understanding others. We’re behaving as if our people or our government officials have NEVER said something categorically STUPID on television before. I’m sorry, but some of the most ignorant, racist comments I’ve ever heard have been from Chinese mouths on Chinese television or media.
Have the Chinese never criticized the governments of other countries? How many times have we criticized or laughed at George Bush, the Japanese government, or Taiwanese officials? Should so many Americans, Japanese, and Taiwanese people all join together and feel that the Chinese are insulting the entire population of America, Japan, or Taiwan? We can insult Ch#en Shu! B!an and a good many Taiwanese will nod their head in agreement! We can critize Japanese officials who visit the tombs of war-criminals and many Japanese people will agree! We can call Bush an idiot and tons of Americans will not think you’re insulting them personally, the American people, or border on hating us!
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be offended when Jack Cafferty says some offensive comments on CNN. It does mean we need to stop taking the moral high road too. Do we really think we’re proving ourselves to be better than Westerners when we make the SAME mistakes as they do? Superior people do not sink to the level of inferior people. In fact, superior people are so confident in their superiority that they don’t even pay attention to the b!tching and whining of inferior people. As someone else has already said above: we are only proving our INSECURITY in being such babies who 1) cannot take criticism and 2) fail too often to understand the context of such criticisms.
No, we Chinese should not be pathetic. But we’re making ourselves PATHETIC by being so feverishly insecure. We’re making ourselves PATHETIC by allowing our brothers and sisters burn with such intense nationalism that we’re willing to hunt down, harass, and even kill our own people JUST BECAUSE THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION. How else do you expect foreigners to look at us when our most popular BBS has so many extreme and hateful people? Is this freedom of speech? When our government doesn’t even grant us this “basic human right” (as another Chinese wrote above), how are we invoking this “right” when we do not even extend it to our own brothers and sisters? We do not behave as if we have the freedom of speech or thought, we behave as if there is only one thing we can say and think and ANYONE who disagrees is our ENEMY.
We are EMBARASSING ourselves. Yes, many Westerners are EMBARASSING themselves too. But should we be as stupid as they are? We have a lot of intelligent and rational citizens in China. Unfortunately, too many of our ignorant, racist, and bored citizens have effectively silenced them. Now it is a battle between the idiots of the West versus the idiots of China.
Fantastic. Let’s see who wins the gold medal in that event this August.