| 2008, We are all losers? |
contact: peaceintibet@gmail.com
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| | | | | | | | | | |
In Ancient Greece, a truce (εκεχειρία, which literally means "holding of hands")
was announced before and during each of the Olympic festivals, to allow visitors
to travel safely to Olympia.
However, today's Olympic games become more and more an opportunity to
escalate conflicts in order to attract attention. In Tibet, organized riots killed
dozens of ordinary people and ruined the life of thousands (link) . Then
unprofessional journalism used false photos to agitate boycott. (link). Finally,
activists jumped into the torch relay parade, tried to grab the torch and forced the
torch to extinguish.(link) Can all the Free Tibet supporters in Europe and North
America celebrate their victory now, because they have raised their cause to the
spotlight and overshadowed the original Olympic festival? (click for full text)
was announced before and during each of the Olympic festivals, to allow visitors
to travel safely to Olympia.
However, today's Olympic games become more and more an opportunity to
escalate conflicts in order to attract attention. In Tibet, organized riots killed
dozens of ordinary people and ruined the life of thousands (link) . Then
unprofessional journalism used false photos to agitate boycott. (link). Finally,
activists jumped into the torch relay parade, tried to grab the torch and forced the
torch to extinguish.(link) Can all the Free Tibet supporters in Europe and North
America celebrate their victory now, because they have raised their cause to the
spotlight and overshadowed the original Olympic festival? (click for full text)
Olympic torch extinguished,
does it help anything?
does it help anything?
At the first look, the answer seems out of question with so many ongoing dramas around this year’s Olympics.
No matter people like it or not, Olympic Games have factually become a stage of global significance and a
topic of international politics. However, by definition Olympics are just a sport festival and should be spared
from the violence, greed and hypocrisy of real politics. They are non-political in the sense that their political
impacts are different from the conventional politics. They can achieve effects which cannot be obtained by
violence, protests and sanctions. (click for full text)
No matter people like it or not, Olympic Games have factually become a stage of global significance and a
topic of international politics. However, by definition Olympics are just a sport festival and should be spared
from the violence, greed and hypocrisy of real politics. They are non-political in the sense that their political
impacts are different from the conventional politics. They can achieve effects which cannot be obtained by
violence, protests and sanctions. (click for full text)
Are Olympic Games political? Yes and No.
partial patriotism of Chinese youth, they both addressed the importance of bridging cultures and tried to find
where the current wall lies.
Mr. Forney rightly observed the extremely nationalistic youth in China and noticed the fact that the Chinese
government is a widely supported government rather than a suppressive police state. However, he wrongly
identified the origin of the loyalty as the dogmatic education system in China and indifference to poor people.
First, though the young people in China are angrier and more radical towards the Western, overseas Chinese
support the government as well. Until now nearly fifty rallies have been and will be held worldwide (www.
peaceintibet.com/rally.html). All of them are spontaneous without governmental participation. These overseas
Chinese have seen two or three different cultures, have been educated in both Chinese and Western systems
and can speak many languages. Their education cannot be categorized as indoctrination. On the contrary they
have wider range of sight and more comprehensive knowledge than most of the Western public. Mr. Forney did
not consider the reason for their support to the government, but simply attributed the patriotismto the Chinese
education system. In fact, the idea that Chinese education system is indoctrination is itself an untrue cliché.
Second, many of these young people in China are very poor. The support does not only come from the children
of urban nouveau riche, but from all classes and all regions. Compared with their peers in the industrialized
Western society, Chinese youth have experienced or witnessed much more real poverty and suffering. They are
not indifferent to others’ sufferings. There are numerous photos and discussions about poor people in China’
cyberspace. Young people are actually again the most emotional discussants and often demand radical
changes. However, today Chinese people do not regard these problems as the fault of political system,
because we lived much more misery, we understand the difficulty of the solutions and we see the government
addressing the problems and working on them hard. Blaming the political system only distracts the government’
s attention and effort for the real solutions.
Moreover, ethnic Han Chinese are not indifferent to other minorities either. From our childhood, we have
already read Muslins' folklores, listened to Tibetan music and danced in Uighur style. These are actually a part
of our official "indoctrination". Several months ago I was still reading the poems of the 6th Dalai Lama (link),
whereas the Western public and media have only the 14th Dalai Lama in sight.
To summarize, Mr. Forney obtained a few insights from his work and life in China, but still keeps some
stereotype ideas about China. This is fully understandable and just shows us how difficult and how slow the true
understanding of another culture can be achieved. In this context, I have sympathy with Ambassador Fu Ying’s
words “The wall that stands in China’s way to the world is thick.”
However, this is not a one-sided blame on the Westerners. The wall is a matter on both sides. As Ms. Fu said,
“simply a sincere heart was not enough to ensure China’s smooth integration with the world.” True mutual
understanding cannot be realized merely by emotion, but requires intellectual efforts from both sides. The lack
of intellectual communication is the major source of prejudice and irrationality. There are numerous social and
political problems in China. Every Chinese is very concerned about them. However, the critics from the West
often miss the key points. The limitation of some religious activities, the control of media and the rejection of
multi-party system are disproportionally exaggerated by the West and have distorted the real image. These
controversies are not the priority of a society which is fast developing but still has huge amount of poor
uneducated population. Hasty criticism often leads to over-protection of the fragile super power and hinders
effective improvement. In fact, there are many international organizations in China working on urgent issues
such as environment, healthcare, migrant workers and rural poverty. Their work is welcomed and respected by
Chinese people and the government has frequent cooperation with them. Therefore, Chinese do not blindly
reject external critics, but are just furious with the ignorant self-righteous critics. The ignorance is not only about
the facts, but rather about understanding how another society is functioning and how constructive critics or
suggestions can be made. This is also partly the Chinese's fault, since we neglected the importance of
communication for long time.
I met a number of people who have really lived in China and Tibet. Their opinions are always much more
moderate, balanced and practical. However, such personal exchange and communication need long time and
the world may be changing too fast. The old mindsets of the majority of the public cannot adapt themselves to
the new situation promptly enough. This caused my early concern that the hostility between China and the West
will escalate so dramatically that it will lead to new polarization between the East and the West before mutual
understanding can be established.
Fortunately, I have seen positive signs of moderate balanced understanding from both sides these days. If no
new big dramas come before the Olympics, this conflict may eventually serve as an opportunity for China and
the West to reevaluate each other and enhance communication in the future. More discussions and
symposiums should be held to enhance the intellectual communication. Human rights organizations and
international public opinions are great ideas. They prevent the world from repeating the mistakes of slaying
Indians and enslaving Africans. However, neglecting intellectual communication with other cultures and
societies, they often find their sincere hearts cause very negative responses from the people in other countries
as well. It was indeed an ironic scene that a French activist, shouting “Freedom for the Chinese”, jumped into the
torch relay parade and ignited the rage of billions of Chinese. Thus mutual understanding and intellectual
communication are vital for channeling their efforts to a more constructive direction. This will benefit both sides
and the whole humanity. Hopefully, the ironic scene will not happen again. Let’s work together to make Olympics
2008 a bridge of friendship and intellectual communication, not a wall. Apr. 15. 2008
where the current wall lies.
Mr. Forney rightly observed the extremely nationalistic youth in China and noticed the fact that the Chinese
government is a widely supported government rather than a suppressive police state. However, he wrongly
identified the origin of the loyalty as the dogmatic education system in China and indifference to poor people.
First, though the young people in China are angrier and more radical towards the Western, overseas Chinese
support the government as well. Until now nearly fifty rallies have been and will be held worldwide (www.
peaceintibet.com/rally.html). All of them are spontaneous without governmental participation. These overseas
Chinese have seen two or three different cultures, have been educated in both Chinese and Western systems
and can speak many languages. Their education cannot be categorized as indoctrination. On the contrary they
have wider range of sight and more comprehensive knowledge than most of the Western public. Mr. Forney did
not consider the reason for their support to the government, but simply attributed the patriotismto the Chinese
education system. In fact, the idea that Chinese education system is indoctrination is itself an untrue cliché.
Second, many of these young people in China are very poor. The support does not only come from the children
of urban nouveau riche, but from all classes and all regions. Compared with their peers in the industrialized
Western society, Chinese youth have experienced or witnessed much more real poverty and suffering. They are
not indifferent to others’ sufferings. There are numerous photos and discussions about poor people in China’
cyberspace. Young people are actually again the most emotional discussants and often demand radical
changes. However, today Chinese people do not regard these problems as the fault of political system,
because we lived much more misery, we understand the difficulty of the solutions and we see the government
addressing the problems and working on them hard. Blaming the political system only distracts the government’
s attention and effort for the real solutions.
Moreover, ethnic Han Chinese are not indifferent to other minorities either. From our childhood, we have
already read Muslins' folklores, listened to Tibetan music and danced in Uighur style. These are actually a part
of our official "indoctrination". Several months ago I was still reading the poems of the 6th Dalai Lama (link),
whereas the Western public and media have only the 14th Dalai Lama in sight.
To summarize, Mr. Forney obtained a few insights from his work and life in China, but still keeps some
stereotype ideas about China. This is fully understandable and just shows us how difficult and how slow the true
understanding of another culture can be achieved. In this context, I have sympathy with Ambassador Fu Ying’s
words “The wall that stands in China’s way to the world is thick.”
However, this is not a one-sided blame on the Westerners. The wall is a matter on both sides. As Ms. Fu said,
“simply a sincere heart was not enough to ensure China’s smooth integration with the world.” True mutual
understanding cannot be realized merely by emotion, but requires intellectual efforts from both sides. The lack
of intellectual communication is the major source of prejudice and irrationality. There are numerous social and
political problems in China. Every Chinese is very concerned about them. However, the critics from the West
often miss the key points. The limitation of some religious activities, the control of media and the rejection of
multi-party system are disproportionally exaggerated by the West and have distorted the real image. These
controversies are not the priority of a society which is fast developing but still has huge amount of poor
uneducated population. Hasty criticism often leads to over-protection of the fragile super power and hinders
effective improvement. In fact, there are many international organizations in China working on urgent issues
such as environment, healthcare, migrant workers and rural poverty. Their work is welcomed and respected by
Chinese people and the government has frequent cooperation with them. Therefore, Chinese do not blindly
reject external critics, but are just furious with the ignorant self-righteous critics. The ignorance is not only about
the facts, but rather about understanding how another society is functioning and how constructive critics or
suggestions can be made. This is also partly the Chinese's fault, since we neglected the importance of
communication for long time.
I met a number of people who have really lived in China and Tibet. Their opinions are always much more
moderate, balanced and practical. However, such personal exchange and communication need long time and
the world may be changing too fast. The old mindsets of the majority of the public cannot adapt themselves to
the new situation promptly enough. This caused my early concern that the hostility between China and the West
will escalate so dramatically that it will lead to new polarization between the East and the West before mutual
understanding can be established.
Fortunately, I have seen positive signs of moderate balanced understanding from both sides these days. If no
new big dramas come before the Olympics, this conflict may eventually serve as an opportunity for China and
the West to reevaluate each other and enhance communication in the future. More discussions and
symposiums should be held to enhance the intellectual communication. Human rights organizations and
international public opinions are great ideas. They prevent the world from repeating the mistakes of slaying
Indians and enslaving Africans. However, neglecting intellectual communication with other cultures and
societies, they often find their sincere hearts cause very negative responses from the people in other countries
as well. It was indeed an ironic scene that a French activist, shouting “Freedom for the Chinese”, jumped into the
torch relay parade and ignited the rage of billions of Chinese. Thus mutual understanding and intellectual
communication are vital for channeling their efforts to a more constructive direction. This will benefit both sides
and the whole humanity. Hopefully, the ironic scene will not happen again. Let’s work together to make Olympics
2008 a bridge of friendship and intellectual communication, not a wall. Apr. 15. 2008
Build a Bridge of Intellectual Communication
With cautious delight, I read two articles last Sunday. One is from the Chinese
ambassador in London, Fu Ying ("If only the West would listen to China"); the other is
from an American journalist, Matthew Forney ("China's Loyal Youth"). Though their
viewpoints are quite different: one commented on the Western bias, the other on the
ambassador in London, Fu Ying ("If only the West would listen to China"); the other is
from an American journalist, Matthew Forney ("China's Loyal Youth"). Though their
viewpoints are quite different: one commented on the Western bias, the other on the
More to read:
Jean-Luc Melenchon: French
senator criticizes Dalai Lama and
French media.
Telos (by R. Berman): Why They
Hate China;
Jean-Luc Melenchon: French
senator criticizes Dalai Lama and
French media.
Telos (by R. Berman): Why They
Hate China;
Nick Young: Fanning the Flames
CNN Video: A human rights activist
explains why she will carry the Olympic
torch in San Francisco.
CNN Video: A human rights activist
explains why she will carry the Olympic
torch in San Francisco.