Chinese students at Duke University live up to the "goons and thugs" label
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on April 18, 2008
A Chinese student at Duke University attempted to mediate a confrontation between pro-Tibet and Chinese students, and published an essay calling for tolerance and dialogue between the two sides. Grace Wang does not support Tibetan independence; she sees Tibetans as Chinese, and just believes that they ought to be treated by other Chinese as “brothers and compatriots”:
I think that Tibet is definitely a part of China. It is indivisible from China. This means that we must deal with Tibet and Tibetans as our brothers and compatriots. That means that we should use other methods than those used to deal with outsiders. You can use whatever methods you think expedient with outsiders, even very forceful methods. But with Tibetans we are dealing with our own relatives. There should be more reason and more relatedness in our dealings with them.
In return for her call for tolerance and reason, members and supporters of the Chinese student association at Duke barraged her with death threats and published her personal information online, as well as that of her parents, who live in China. Her parents home was vandalized, and her parents have been forced into hiding.
This is not the Chinese government at work. This is a group of Chinese students. Jack Cafferty may want to limit his “goons and thugs” label to China’s communist government, but behavior of this nature by ordinary citizens clearly deserves the same label, and the students responsible should be immediately expelled and deported.
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2008/04/18/china_tibet/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/17student.html?em&ex=1208577600&en=e767da4f6a75cfec&ei=5087
http://www.dukechronicle.com/news/2008/04/16/Editorial/Discourse.Gone.Awry-3328298.shtml
15 Responses to “Chinese students at Duke University live up to the "goons and thugs" label”
Leave a Reply
RSS
Their fury is all about the idea that the Olympics are endangered.
I’m not sure what to do about this real anger. Even the Beijing bullies are showing signs of wanting to reign it in, even though they unleashed it quite effectively. Chinese mostly don’t know or care about Tibet. But the gaining of the right to have the Olympics is a big boost to the individual and collective psyches of Chinese people everywhere. They imagine you don’t really care about Tibet, either. You just want to take their Olympics away from them, and you’re using Tibet as a political football, because you hate China.
How do you react to all that in any kind of skillful way? I’d just like to know.
Grace Wang is my hero. Now if we could only reason with her on the independence issue…
Thanks, Dava, for that very insightful comment.
It seems that both sides of this issue are deeply entrenched in their respective positions — positions which are often founded on ignorance and/or misinformation. At least those of us outside of China — including Chinese students studying abroad — have access to information on the issue, even though we may choose not to take advantage of it.
Grace Wang displays a remarkable level of tolerance, understanding, and reason, not to mention courage. We now have, sadly, a very clear understanding of what sort of reaction to those qualities we can expect from at least some Chinese citizens. That reaction underscores just how difficult it will be to have any form of meaningful dialogue between the two sides.
i know that some chinese behaviors are not proper and rational, but that’s because they are so angry. i am angry too. I am so disappointed to see some countries bad manner. We treat them so nicely and friendly… why they attack us and talk badly. i just can’t bear them pull bad worlds on the Olympic. That’s just a different type of rude. Physically attack and mentally attack are the same
i am so sad… i don’t know why that other countries can’t see the merit of chinese government.
Yue, I can’t see the merit of the Chinese government because I can’t see past the suffering that is needlessly caused by that government.
I’m sorry it makes you sad, though. Those of us who are involved in this issue are really just trying to stop what we see as senseless violence and oppression committed by your government.
well, i believe my country and my friends will get over this situation. My country’s government and citizens are actually friendly to people all over the world. At least, i feel that people should not mix the Olympic game with political issues. Do you agree with that?
I know you guys think the chinese government treats it’s people badly. However, our government actually saves us from starving and gives us a better life. i know that, because i have been a chinese for 20 years. i see the progress.We just need more time.
Don’t be worried about the chinese people. We know whether a government fits the country or not. Also, nothing can be perfect. We will correct these mistakes little by little.
i know that you are a very rational and knowledgeable person. you know that many things we see from TV or other mass media are not the truth. They are sometimes the opinion of the dominant people in the society, trying to influence the people how to view a world under their control. Some pictures are modified and reverse the truth. For example, one picture from Germany shows that a government car is running towards a innocent citizen. However, the government car is attacked by those people, and the car is trying to save the citizen who is terrified by this situation. The media just modified the picture and clip the people who were throwing stones to the car.( please view the video from YOUTUBE)
I believe every government is trying to make the country stronger. A stronger country brings wealth, safty and happiness to it’s citizens.
Anyway, i like your comments. It is somehow mild and i see you really care the chinese.
looking forward to your reply~
Yue,
I appreciate your comments, too. It seems like if it were just you and I trying to resolve this issue, we could probably do it.
I do not, however, agree that the Olympics should not be mixed with politics. The Chinese government wanted to host the Olympics to showcase and highlight the positive aspects of China, which is, of course, what every country wants when they host the Olympics. It seems fair to me that the Olympics can also be used to showcase and highlight what many of us see as the negative aspects of Chinese policy. The Olympics have often been used as a political tool; and, frankly, the tying together of politics and the Olympic games, in this case, is causing the human rights message to be heard in an unprecedented way. I doubt you and I would be having this conversation were it not for the fact of the Olympics in Beijing. Beijing is using the Olympics for their purposes, and human rights advocates are using it for theirs. That seems fair to me.
well, i am curious about what you guys want or want our government to do. Why are you guys not satisfied with the chinese government?
i said the Olympic should not be mixed with politics because citizens put lots of efforts into this event and we want to introduce china to the world. No matter what you think of the government, the olympic should not be influenced. Otherwise, the chinese will be so disappointed, including me. If you guys use the Olympic as a chance to change china, it will not work. On the contrary, it will raise anger because people are eager for the Olympic for 4 years.
That’s unfair to the people in china. Just because you guys want to change the government, people’s work on Olympic is all in vain. That’s really unfair. If you guys want to help the chinese, you should first support the Olympic and later to discuss the political issues with our government.
you know why people in China are so angry this time? because they think you guys are not helping them but destroying everything they contribute to the Olympic.
The world is disappointing chinese people at this point.
using the Olympic, which people put so many efforts in, to reach political goal is really not proper. We all know that…..
Essential Spirit is right. On the one hand, the Chinese government says that the “Olympics shouldn’t be used for politics.” But on the other hand, that’s exactly what the Chinese government is using it for! They want to showcase how great their government is to the world, and show the economic progress that China has made. That is political.
Now some people are using the attention the Olympics has focused on China to highlight stories that the Chinese government would prefer stay quiet. Such as an utter lack of political or press freedom in China. The Chinese government promised to respect human rights more if they were awarded the Olympics — but what has happened is that the Chinese government has stepped up its arrest of dissidents and anyone who says anything the government doesn’t like.
Yue, you wrote something I agree with completely: “i know that you are a very rational and knowledgeable person. you know that many things we see from TV or other mass media are not the truth. They are sometimes the opinion of the dominant people in the society, trying to influence the people how to view a world under their control.”
I agree that some Western news reports may have been slanted to fit the story they wanted to present. But that is *exactly* what the Chinese government does, every day!! They control all the media in China, and arrest anyone who says things they don’t like.
The simple fact is, the Chinese people are not free to say what they want. I think that’s sad. I also find it frightening.
Yue,
What we want from the Chinese government is a sincere demonstration of a basic respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html), to which I believe China is a signatory, would be a good guide for what we want generally.
Specifically, we want freedom of religion for Tibetans, Uyghurs, Falun Gong, and other religious groups within China; the release of political prisoners within China; a meaningful dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama, moving toward true autonomy for the Tibetans; an and to torture and arbitary detention; active support to end the genocide in Darfur; respect for and preservation of the culture in Tibet and other minority areas; judicial reform, especially as related to the use of the death penalty; freedom of speech and the press; etc.
China will have its Olympics; no one can take that away from you. And the Olympics will introduce China — both the good and the bad — to the world.
China should have known this would happen when they put in their bid for the Olympics. The fact that the human rights protests have been so surprising to China is … well, surprising. Human rights has been a topic of discussion with China for decades — a fact, which I’m sure, has not been made available to citizens within that country. Repeated calls for improved human rights in China have been repeatedly ignored by the government. They’re having a difficult time ignoring it, now, precisely because of the Olympics. To me, that more than justifies the politicization of the Beijing Olympics.
well, i agree with some of the ideas. but i still think different country should have different type of government to fit their special situation. you are right and i am right too…..
i know you guys think this government does not fit china. However, i like this government and most people in china like this government(you can see that from the recent activities) and that’s it. that’s all a country needs to develop well.
that means the people and the government can work together, sharing a same goal.
i know in some countries, most people are not satisfied with their government and i think you guys should help them first.
Yue, this is not about the form of government; it’s about abuse of basic human rights. You can have any type of government you want, as long as that government doesn’t kill, torture, imprison, rape, forcibly sterilize, exploit, and otherwise abuse innocent people. We’re not criticizing the form of government; we’re criticizing the activities that are carried out by the government.
So, perhaps the majority of Chinese citizens are not experiencing this abuse, and are therefore not dissatisfied with the government. They’re fortunate. Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Falun Gong, political dissidents, and other people under Chinese control are experiencing this abuse, and they’re not satisfied. We’re taking your advice by trying to help them.
Do you support torture, murder, imprisonment, destruction of property, etc. of people just because they want to believe and act differently than the majority?
What if it were you who held a view different from the official party viewpoint? Would you gladly submit to imprisonment, torture, and death because that’s just the type of government you live under? Would you tell me that I should worry about some other people before I worried about you?
And for the record, people who are concerned about human rights are generally concerned about all human rights, not just those associated with a particular country or area. The U.S. does not have a perfect record on human rights, and I’ve criticized my own country for its failures, too. Fortunately, I can do that without worrying about being sent to prison or worse for speaking out. A government that thinks it can only survive by suppressing dissent is on pretty shaky ground to begin with.
？we will not be put to prison too, if we say something about our country’s failure. this situation happened long long time ago. we are free to say anything we want. i don’t know why you say so.
well.actually, many of your opinions are right. i just hope that you guys can solve the problem by not harming chinese people/or solve it peacefully
Yue, we all hope it ends peacefully with no harm done to anyone.
You can read the U.S. State Department’s 2007 Report on Human Rights Practices in China — http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100518.htm — for specific recent examples of Chinese citizens jailed for expressing their opinions.
Also, see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/chinese-activist-gets-jail-sentence-20080403 for the story of Hu Jia, sentenced just this month to 3 1/2 years for expressing concerns about human rights abuses by the Beijing police force.
thank you for your information. i have to say that i know even less than you do. hope we can all try hard to solve this problem.