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, Holland

The 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:

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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。

To those responsible at America's Cable News Network:

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。

In your station's brief statement made in defense shortly after on the 15th, it was said that what Jack Cafferty was referring to as goons and thugs was the Chinese government. Such trivialization of a major issue and lack of a sincere apology is even harder for one to accept. First of all, in Jack Cafferty's statements, he repeatedly said China and the Chinese people, and didn't at any time make the slightest mention of the Chinese government; secondly, when Jack Cafferty said “goons” and “thugs”, he spoke in the plural, so his meaning is exceptionally clear: the “they” he spoke of is the entire Chinese race; thirdly, this station's statement shifts the attack to the Chinese government, and a far-fetched argument maneuver like this was in fact a second-degree injury to the Chinese people! Did you think that attacking a country's government wouldn't hurt the feelings of that country's people?

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。

Looking at America, the Chinese who have immigrated in the past years are the friendliest and most law-abiding group of people in society. I don't know if Mr. Cafferty remembers, but after the 9-11 incident took place, President Bush issued an award to the family of ethnic Chinese flight attendant Betty Deng, calling her “an American hero” for her brave display during the hijacking of one plane, and during the incident, Chinese student Zhe “Zack” Zeng continuously rescued people from the site of the World Trade Center, in the end bravely sacrificing himself; he was posthumously awarded the “Community Contribution Award” by the City of New York, making Zack Zeng the second person in America history to be granted this special honor. Does Mr. Cafferty not know that last year, in the Virginia Tech shootings that shocked America and shocked the world, there was one female ethnic Chinese teacher who stepped forward to lead students to push and keep the main door shut to stop the shooter from entering, and in that protecting an entire classroom of students? At which point did the friendly and dutiful ethnic Chinese contributing quietly to world peace in fact become the thugs and goons that Jack Cafferty speaks of?

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

For years, CNN has prided itself on having established a reliable and positive reputation around the world, but Jack Cafferty's torrents of abuse toward the Chinese people at this point in time are without question a disgrace not just to CNN but to all American media! Allow me to ask: is someone who baldly expresses racist remarks qualified to take the moral high road in criticizing others for being goons and thugs?

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

  • XniteMan

    cooper,

    Unfortunately for you our average IQ is higher than yours, so you probably can’t understnd what I say.

    What would you feel if you see the above sentence at the beginning of a lot of my posts? Although I don’t completely agree with you on whether it’s an attitude or a fact, I would not like to argue here. I was just suggesting you that if you mind your wording sometimes it would make better conversations.

  • XniteMan

    Kai,

    Also, I don’t think we are “embarassing” ourselves. As I have made it before, this is NOT about persuading the west or changing their minds, it’s impossible. This is about expressing our own voice. We do NOT have to do it according to the western standard, we do NOT have do it the way the westerners like. As notcool said, we have this collective anger, we need to express it. We don’t expect the west to change their minds because of it, we just want to express our emotions. It’s so funny you are saying “Don’t do it! Westerners don’t like it! They will laugh at you if you do it!”.

    I agree some people is overreacting here, are some have even broken the law. I condemn their actions, but it doesn’t invalidify the whole picture. Chinese will learn to express their opinions more peacefully, I wouldn’t worry about that.

    Finally, we do not understand the westerners, but we demand the westerners to understand us. Why is that? Because we also don’t criticise the domestic affairs of westerners, yet they do to us! We are just asking them to understand what they are talking about before they draw criticism, are we asking too much?

  • Joseph

    XniteMan,

    You’re absolutely right. Although I think Cafferty’s remarks were meant to be about the government, the Chinese have every right to get upset or angry about their government being attacked. Moreover, the “junk” comment was silly, who really thinks China JUST puts out junk anymore? Is a Lenovo Thinkpad junk? Personally, I’d love to have one.

    “This is about expressing our own voice. We do NOT have to do it according to the western standard, we do NOT have do it the way the westerners like.”
    This is perfectly acceptable, and the boycotts are completely in accordance with the Western standard anyway. The hacking less so, but I personally don’t have a big problem with that either. I think this is all great in the long run. A chance for the West to see what the Chinese _people_ feel, not just the politicians speaking through xinhua.

    If the people are satisfied with their government, then that’s that. Get over it, and give them a break. Is this some leftover from christianity that we need to “convert” everyone to “freedom”?

    “One World, One Dream” almost sounds sarcastic now, eh? Lucky for me, I never cared about the Olympics anyway, in any country. “Olympic spirit,” what a joke. Who doesn’t see right through that?

  • Eric Hu

    To kai:
    I must say your point of view is such a fancy to me

    let’s see your proof from people’s Daily again:

    “What happened in Paris just revealed the true face of Tibetan separatists to more people and showed what kind of freedom and rights the Dalai clique want, the commentary concluded.”

    It is a official condemnation to Dalai and his followers who initiated 314 riot in Lasha where innocent and ordinary people were killed whoever they are han or tibetan. They are condemnation because of their crimination by killing people to achieve separatism. 5 girls were burning alive in a shop by those criminals. That is the reason so many chinese people have to find a way to express their anger. Just as 911 strike to American people, those terrorist killed innocent people to achieve their personal willness which have been prove by tons of evidence as well as Dalai Lama had a direct relation to this crimination. Is freedom means killing if necessay? Is that mean those people in paris holding a “free tibet” flag or wearing T-shirt know throughly tibetan history and realized who is muderer to all of dead in 314? I don’t think so. Because tibet exile and westen media told them “another fact” base on either fated or “modified” information, in some cases no proof at all. And they automatically believe in what they said althought westen media had been unusually unprofessional at the very begining. It is all of anti-cnn activity and slogan “don’t be too like cnn” come from.

    I’m not sure who is including into “Tibetan separatists” “and “the Dalai clique” in your mind. But those who support killing and physically attack the disabled torch relay girl in paris(now you see the connection) are clearly the cause of all of the protest now.

  • Steven chang

    I am a chinese young man come from xinjiang.in my opinion, chinsese tend to know western countries more than your westerns understand us. at least ,as for me , i would spend twenty to thirty minutes in browsing websites like usnews.com,ap.com bbc.com to know what happened in these developed countries. and i even subscribe email from washingpost.com. i would ask how many westerns developed the habit of browsing our website like sohu.com?
    chinese , especially young generations know much about westerns, from your tradtional cultures,your history,your politic systems,your militray affairs to your people.but i don’t think majority of your people usderstand our country better like we do for u. because, we begin to study english from middle school, now ,in big cities children study english even from elementary school.
    with the rapid development over the past 30 years, china has made great progress in all directions,especially in ecnomy . now ,we have strong desire to display our peace-loving and harmonious image of and invigorate the country’s economy further via beijing olympics. but for what reasons some of your western countryies choose to boycott the games ? what wrong things did we do? if just because the Tibet riots, i think the western countries who want to boycott the olympics has made a laughably stupid blunder! all chinese will look down you because all people in the world know the spirit of the olympic games, it has nothing to do with politics. and if you boycott beijing olympic games, so will we boycoyy London olympic games in 2012? that’s too absurd.

  • Fact-checking China’s netizens: an German student’s expose of that anti-CNN website

    http://jotman.blogspot.com/2008/04/fact-checking-chinas-netizens-expose-of.html

  • Alice

    XniteMan I am impressed by your diplomatic and fair arguments. Being raised in a western society and married to a Chinese gave me a good basic insight on both points of view on this delicate issue. The points explained in your arguments gave me further understanding to why my partner acts the way he does, and I thank you for helping me with this as he loves his country very much and has been very upset with the recent developments.

    I believe this to be a cultural misunderstanding and I feel sad that things are going the way they are. I hope the the leaders of each nation will step up soon and do what they’re supposed to do to have this issue put to rest and calm everyone’s anxiety.

    I feel sad that the Olympic spirit is tampered with and I believe that the timing of Tibet’s declaration of independancy has been selfish. Tibet is playing the victim card (of course I am not denying that they might well be the victims), attempting to gain the sympathy of the world and taking full advantage of the time when the whole world is looking at China to prove itself by having a great Olympics event.

    I think it is fair to say that the Olympic games and the independancy for Tibet are completely two separate issues. The protestors for Tibet’s independancy may be for a good cause, but don’t ruin the spirit of the games for the rest of us.

  • Rudolf

    CNN paid journalist happily described the entire 1,5 bio Chinese race (most of whom they never met) all over the world as goons. I think this, although this is expected of the racist CNN, is the worst form of racism. Chinese all over the world should do more than just boycoting Carrefour. Carrefour – and CNN – should be boycotted permanently.

  • Joseph

    Chinese boycotting CNN won’t accomplish much, as most viewers are not Chinese anyway, you should put pressure on and boycott their advertisers if you want a result

    Rudolf, as a native English speaker, I am 90% sure Cafferty meant the Chinese government were thugs and not the race. That said, you’ve every right to be upset about it anyway.

    As for “Olympic Spirit,” it’s money and politics, don’t hope for anything more, your heart will be broken.

  • @ Rudolph, who said, “CNN paid journalist happily described the entire 1,5 bio Chinese race (most of whom they never met) all over the world as goons.”

    False. He described “the Chinese” as such. “The Chinese” is not an unambigious phrase, it’s an adjective after all, which can be used to refer to “the Chinese nation”, “the Chinese government”, “the Chinese business community” or even “Chinese food” in another context. Xinhua has distorted his rather ambigious phrasing and translated it as “華人”, which is clearly inaccurate.

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