First, a little definition for all those who are uninitiated in the ways of China:
Jin Jing is that girl in the wheelchair who protected the torch when them Free Tibet people tried to grab it from her in France.
Carrefour is a French supermarket chain that was/is highly popular in China. There are currently a lot of people calling for a boycott against the store while the government is trying to reign it in.
The Mob is made up of hyper-nationalistic Chinese youth who voice their opinions mainly on the internet.
So according to this article in English and this re-post in Chinese, The Mob has apparently turned on Jin Jing. Now this is the reason why the CCP is so afraid of the hyper-nationalism that is sweeping across the Chinese Internet.
One day, this girl was revered as a living goddess. She was a hero for the Chinese people who protected the torch from those evil foreigners and Tibetans. Now in my opinion, she’s not a bad person but oh she is such a tool for the Chinese government. I mean it’s not necessarily her choice. She most likely out of love for her country and her responsibility as a torch bearer protected that torch on her own whim, but afterwards, since she became like this symbol of Chinese defiance to the west, she has to be put under strict government control to make sure she doesn’t say anything like “We should tear down Mao’s Mausoleum and finally fullfill his desire of cremation” or “BOYCOTT CARRREFOUR! KILL THOSE FRENCH BIATCHES FOO!”
I mean of all the people who could have brought some sense into the nationalistic youth these days, it would have been Jin Jing. Afterall, she is their symbol, right? Or so the CCP thought. They sent her on a mission to placate the mob, but to no avail. They called Jin Jing a cunt, a traitor, a brainless one legged bitch, and so on. Now the people who said these things are the most extreme of the brainless idiots. I mean I was reading (Ok, I tried to read it but it was taking too long so I got my girlfriend to read it to me) the comments and most of them seemed to support Jin Jing. Of course, this is after the censors got rid of all the worst comments, but yeah.
The problem is, the rational voices in China and the west are not heard. It’s only the loudest, most extreme points of views that are reported. It does give a good sense of that mob mentality, peer pressure, and snow balling that is driving China’s nationalism away from just protecting the country from foreigners, but to attacking ‘traitors’ within the country as well. It’s like they’re getting tired of hating on BBC, CNN, and Carrefour, so now they have to find people closer by the criticize. And the CCP fears that if The Mob criticizes Jin Jing, they will most likely be next.
We’ll see what happens when May 1st comes around. I’ll be standing outside the Zhong Guang Cun Carrefour observing the action… and then I’m gonna go to MIDI and listen to some Chinese punk rock.
Personally, after studying various photographs, I am convinced that the whole Jin Jing torch attach was staged. Your milage may vary.
And you are entitled to your opinion, just as the Chinese are entitled to theirs.
Hm, interesting. I’m sure your perspective on all this must be so different from Beijing. I’ve just been living vicariously through the Mob generated Internet hype.
Oh, I’m going to a Cui Jian concert on 5/3 … that should be interesting …
Cui Jian’s pretty awesome, especially when you see him in person. Hope you enjoy the show!
Here is a very good NYtimes article about China’s loyal youth. I recommend you read it.
Ah yeah, I read that article, it is pretty good. I particularly liked the part about China’s Youth being the most optimistic. I had a talk with my friend about this a few days ago and we both agree that the cynacism that is dominant among American college students is severely lacking in China.
Though a failed Olympics, double-digit inflation, excessive competition for graduates to find a good job, and early death of their parents due to pollution-related disease may dampen their ultra-nationalism in the coming decade or two. Assuming, of course, the west doesn’t come in and stoke the flames by bombing their embassy or printing history textbooks saying China doesn’t exist.
Pretty much completely off-topic, but one of my pet ideas is that China doesn’t exist. China is too diverse to have any unifying essence. What is true about Beijing need not be true about Guangzhou, and so on. And of course individuals vary even more. That said, I would say the same about any country. I’m American simply because I have an American passport, not because I support democracy, or go to church, or listen to rock and roll, or whatever. So if countries have an essence, it’s pretty trivial.
I think that is the thrust of Said’s anti-essentialism arguments in “Orientalism”. And, I believe, though without having read it, Amartya Sen’s “Identity and Violence”.
Tying this in slightly to the conversation, most nationalists have an impoverished sense of history and culture because they believe in essences. Anything they don’t like, for whatever reason, they ignore or label “un-American” or “un-Chinese” and reject. You have to if you want some semi-coherent entity called “China”. What’s left is very little. “5000 years of history!” “The Great Wall is great!” and so on. Despite their claims to love their country, their simplistic thoughts and ignorance belie them. So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that they are fickle and extreme. They’re confused but don’t want enlightening.
Of course the same could be said about many critics of China, e.g. someone who says Chinese culture is inherently servile while ignoring popular heroes like Hai Rui, passages in the “Analects” criticizing rulers, and so on.
This is going to be a much shorter comment than my usual (yay), but I found it quite shocking at how how people can one moment praise a woman, and the next moment verbally (well, in written) attack her in manner that is probably more venomous than the physical assault on her and the torch.
In one of the many talk I’ve had with a Chinese friend (very patriotic, one of the first person with (L) China on his MSN that I know), he told me about how China has never threatened a foreign country (which excludes territorial dispute wit direct neighbour as they often go for the ‘X/Y is always part of China’). That Chinese people only amongst themselves and against invaders (and those end up becoming Chinese – in reference to the Mongolian invasion).
As simplified as it sounds, it is surprisingly accurate (I am no expert in Chinese history, but I have studied some). This might explain why they try so hard to stay united. But in a twisted and dark sense of irony, this extreme attempt at unity means that they are willing to banish/vilify anyone who do not share their zeal (Wang Qianyuan being the other example). Whereas I don’t see Americans worry nearly as much about ‘separatism’, despite the many differing culture and frequent open disagreements (I’ve not heard stories about death treats being against people who find the concept of ‘Freedom fries’ downright silly).
The whole Chinese history is mostly a history of civil wars. Or to the most, wars between ethnic powers. Just because the aggressive acts did not occur on some foreign land doesn’t mean they are not aggressive. Chinese government’s sovereign immunity argument always reminds me of a wife beating husband. Domestic violence IS violence.
Apologies in advance for writing another longish response. China being peaceful is one of the simplistic bits of nationalist history I find hard to take seriously now, though at first I believed it too.
First, as resipsal mentions, you have many internal rebellions, both popular like the Yellow Turbans at the end of the Han, or more political, like the Three Feudatories in the beginning of the Qing. Then for much of China’s history (if we begin at the Qin), it has been divided into different countries, e.g. after the fall of Han for about 400 years and again after the Tang (well, really after An-Shi rebellion which would make it another 200 years of division, albeit with nominal rule for about 140 of those years). After all, “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide.” Neither peace nor unity reigned for long.
As for China being aggressive, the Han constantly campaigned against the Xiongnu, as well as other nations like the Southern Yue. One could say those were only defensive wars (at least against the Xiongnu), but I think you’re on shaky ground. Wudi wasn’t named the Martial Emperor for nothing. Attacks against the north were frequent, many defensive only insofar as nearly every country claims to be attacking defensively. One notable example is the Ming emperor Yingzong’s attack on the Western Mongols that ended with him being captured. What is now Xinjiang and Yunnan were often attacked, even relatively recently in Chinese history. It is disingenuous to discount those because now Yunnan and Xinjiang are part of China. Moreover, the Sui fell because it attempted to subdue Korea, the An-Shi rebellion occurred because the Tang favored aggressive military generals, and of course China controlled Vietnam for about 1000 years and even afterwards interfered.
That said, it would be equally false to say China is always fighting, always aggressive. The point is simply that generalizations are almost always false and misleading. History is messy.
Oh, and as for conquerors becoming Chinese, that’s generally over-rated. Read accounts of the Tang dynasty (the leaders of which were often half-non-Han) or the Qing dynasty (e.g. Evelyn Rawski’s “The Last Emperors”). Plus the Yuan dynasty set up a lot of what we now think of as China, e.g. Cheng-Zhu orthodoxy.
Finally, I always assumed the concern about separatism and divisions was left over from problems with imperialism and warlords and more recently the break-up of the Soviet Union.
I really appreciate all these rational posts here, though it could be painful to read them. I agree with many of the criticisms of China. Admittedly, there are too many issues. But often times when I think about possible ways to solve these problems, I come into defense of the current government. First of all, I have no clue of how to do it. But as Shao Ping mentioned, I don’t want to see a repeat of the Soviet Union. I’m no expert of history, so I don’t really know what exactly happened. I’ll appreciate some analysis. My general impression is that their government gave up control all in a sudden, and their country and especially their people went into big trouble. Now they are being less democratic but having a better life and people are happier. That is why I want to see a mild process of change in China, and I believe the economic development should go first, as what’s going on right now. I also think the government should give up media control, but they are not doing it yet. I just hope things will get better and better with the increasing size of middle class that are seek political power. But again, the whole thing is too complicated for me to understand.
@Alice, Resipsal, and Shao Ping – I generally don’t like to talk about history all that much since it’s the interpretation that counts in real life. I mean people can argue all they want with historical facts about Tibets history, but no matter how many facts either side piles up, there’s no conclusion or resolution.
@wood – thanks for posting your comment. What happened in the USSR was that the government attempted to do a ‘Big Bang’ change, like what happened in Poland, by wiping out all the old political and economic institutions overnight and replacing it with new ones immediately. It worked well in Poland, but Russia only went half way before getting scared. As a result, the old communist oligarchs and a few smart capitalists got their hands on most of the wealth. And one of the main reasons why Russia is doing better is because of the increasing price of oil. I’m not too sure about how much their investing in new technology or industry, but you don’t hear much about Russian exports causing working class Americans to lose their jobs…
Hello,
After I read through your blog, I really like your articles.
I am very interested in the view of China, especially the China’s society, from a foreigner’s eye. 🙂
PS: Are you in China right now? Can you access WordPress in China NOW? I think it’s been banned.
I was starting a wordpress blog few months ago, but afterwards I found my friends cannot access it in China, which pissed me off.
Could you please tell me if it is TRUE that you can access wordpress freely in China?
I appreciate it!
(I am Chinese student going to college in US)
Silu
@Silu – Ah, glad you like the articles. Hope to see you as a regular visitor around these parts.
I am in China these days and WordPress has recently been unblocked, according to some comments I recieved. However, there’s no knowing whether this is a long term thing or will it get blocked again soon.