E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
CCTV
Yang Rui, host of CCTV-9's English-language talk show, Dialogue, is under fire for a microblog posting he made last week calling for the China to "Clean out foreign garbage."
BEIJING – Following recent high-profile examples of foreigners behaving badly in China, last week saw a spike of anti-foreigner sentiment that culminated in the announcement of a hundred day Beijing police crackdown on illegal immigration.
Among the commentators who applauded the crackdown was Yang Rui, a television host on China’s state-run English-language TV network, CCTV-9. On his microblog on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, Yang posted a bile-laden diatribe on how China’s Public Security Bureau should deal with foreigners (Thanks to China Smack for the translation):
"The Ministry of Public Security must clean out foreign garbage, arrest foreign thugs and protect ignorant/innocent girls, with Wudaokou (popular student area in Beijing) and Sanlitun (bar & restaurant district in Beijing] being the disaster areas [worst places]. Behead the snake heads [human traffickers], the unemployed Americans and Europeans who come to China to make money, trafficking in people, misleading the public and encouraging them to emigrate. Identify the foreign spies, who find a Chinese woman to cohabitate with, while their job is to collect intelligence, drawing maps and perfecting GPS [coordinates] for Japan, Korea, Europe, and America under the guise of being tourists. Drive out the foreign shrew, shut down Al Jazeera’s Beijing office, let those who demonize China shut their mouths!"
The vitriol in Yang’s post is appalling but is made all the more worse by his day job. Yang co-hosts “Dialogue,” a current event news talk program in the vein of “Meet the Press” or the “Charlie Rose Show.” On his program, Yang invites foreign experts to discuss topical world and China-related news.
That Yang holds such inflammatory opinions of foreigners is worrying, given that he’s the host of one of CCTV’s more venerable news programs charged with providing a forum for the civil exchange of ideas and opinions between China and the outside world.
Ad hominem attacks on foreigners aside, particularly of concern are Yang’s charges that foreign spies have infiltrated China, at a time when Chinese suspicions of foreigners are already running high.
Yang’s comments come after a series of high-profile incidents that have provoked extreme nationalist rhetoric in public debate: sovereignty in the South China Sea, American re-commitment to Asia and the recent kidnapping of Chinese fishing vessels by North Korea.
Guests who have appeared on Yang’s show have contributed to the negative fall-out.
The Atlantic’s James Fallows –who during his years in China occasionally appeared on the program– posted a piece on his blog about what it was like to appear on “Dialogue.”
Similarly, Charlie Custer, founder of the tech blog China Geeks and a two-time guest on the show also expressed his outrage and even confronted Yang on Weibo about his post.
Yang responded on Weibo by calling for the Public Security Bureau to investigate Custer and even threatened to sue him.
One thing that is clear from the reaction registered by Fallows, Custer, and other foreign guests is that it’s about to get a little bit harder for Yang to find foreigners willing to appear on his show.
Explanation or apology?
NBC News attempted to call Yang; an email sent to him today went unanswered. But the embattled host penned a statement in today’s edition of the Global Times, apparently as a response to a Wall Street Journal story about the incident.
CCTV
CCTV-9 host, Yang Rui.
In this statement, Yang claimed his comments were a reaction to last week’s news and a “wake-up call” for both Westerners and Chinese people. While he acknowledged that there was a “silent majority in the expat communities who obey and respect our culture and society,” by singling out the “foreign trash,” Yang argues he was “protecting the reputation of decent Westerners.”
However, he stood by his comments on Al Jazeera and the “foreign shrew,” a reference to Al Jazeera correspondent, Melissa Chan, who earlier this month became the first foreign reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade.
Yang remains unapologetic about his characterization of Chan, only making the point that translations of his post had mislabeled her “b—ch” instead of “shrew.”
China is currently investing millions of dollars into what have been branded as “soft power” initiatives, designed to improve the mainland’s global standing. They include the development of enterprises such as CCTV America, China’s new 24-hour cable news channel seen in the United States, which is meant to provide a more polished and China-centric interpretation of world news.
The success of such programming will rely significantly on China’s willingness to provide a measured and open look at itself. But that willingness looks threatened by rhetoric such as Yang's.
Update:
Popular purveyors of animated news media, Next Media Animation, have also looked at the Yang Rui issue:
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Portraits of a queen: When the monarch becomes the subject
- Tokyo Sky Tree takes root as world's second tallest structure
- South African farm-worker found guilty of white supremacist's murder
- Pakistan blocks Twitter -- but fails to stop tweets
- US student dies after going swimming at Scottish beach
- Chinese fishermen held by North Korea released but questions linger
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
I wish we could clean out all of the trashy products they dump in the U.S. ....
nonetheless my dearest ben:), Yang has the right idea
Bet this guy is a big fan of Larry King, but without the class that Larry has!
I've got news...Chinese didn't not point a gun at the US and order the US to accept China's trashy producuts. American big corporations asked the Chinese to do so...so that the shareholders can maximize the profits. Don't you like it? Don't you have democracy? How come your elected officials don't give a @!$%# about it...haha
I hate to admit it but you have a point. And it's one of the biggest damn mistakes this country ever made and now it is coming back to bite us! Fortunately people are starting to realize this and reverse the trend, but the damage has already been done.
Lei Chen - Your right, China didn't hold a gun to us, however, I think we should do the same thing to China that they have done to us. Close our markets to China and what little product we do let in, TARRIFF the hell out of it! Then when the trade deficit has equaled out we can start negotiations with China going forward. We allowed China to keep their markets closed to our products, that was the first mistake. China's mistake was loaning us all the money and now they have little hope of getting it back. can you say "forgive the debt'?
Ah, yes! Protectionism! THAT'S how you create jobs and promote economic growth!
Of course! Every credible modern economist must be completely wrong! Yes, let's do that!
After that we can go back to horse-drawn carriages instead of cars and curing disease by dispelling demons from a person's soul. Because killing trade isn't nearly regressive enough for me.
The irony of this is astounding. The Chinese benefit immenseley from our greedy corporations sending our jobs overseas, and a relative handful of young unemployed Americans desperately go off to China to seek out one of OUR jobs that was shipped over there, and they DARE complain...? We REALLY need to reverse this Free Trade nonsense. Our economy has been gutted, by the 1%, to benefit the 1%.
I have been going out of my way to not buy any non-necessary Chinese product (most household goods). I have also been systematically clearing my house of all the Made-In-China knick knacks and household goods, and replacing them with good ol' USA made goods - buying vintage at flea markets, second hand stores, etc. My house looks like a throwback to the 1940s, and I couldnt be happier about it.
Be prepared to see increasing numbers of reports like this. The Miitary-Industrial complex knows the American people are angry about our manufacturing base being disemboweled and sent over to China. the MI complex is looking for a new enemy to fight, and theres nothing more that they (Pentagon, CIA, Defense Dept.) would like than to have another long, drawn out, crazy-making, PROFITABLE cold war. They have China in their sights for that and they know that the American people would get behind that. So some of our own citizens gutted our manufacturing base for a quick buck, fraternized with a communist state to do it, and now are planning on redirecting our angst to China to take the attention off of them, and to make MORE money from a bloated military.
Its so maddening.
At least he got one thing right: Shut down Al Jazeera!
Hooray for Yang...he is on target! Having traveled to China many times and spent a great deal of time there I have total admiration for what this country has done in only a few short years since DongXiao Ping opened this beautiful country to the world after Mao was gone. If China were a business, it could be compared easily to Apple...a dynamic, innovative, strong willed and incredibly successful, forward thinking company. Yang tells it like it is, shows each of us what folly we followed in allowing all the foreigners into the US, those who didn't relish doing the work of making thier own countries great as did our fore-fathers, but only come to eat at the table our hard working ancestors and forefathers set. And he is especially pointed and correct about ridding this beautiful country of all who follow AlJazeera, the voice of the cowardly, hate filled muslim scum. And of course it might be worth noting that China has not been attacked by the muslims because China's retribution would be so severe and so swift that even the ignorance of the islamists keeps them at bay. Keep up the good work Yang!
yes Jack, but if the Western World had not bought all the Chinese trinkets and low quality products they produced in the 70's and then got our assembly lines they'd be still like it was under Mao, and the Korean war might be raging. and if we stop buying all their stuff and bring all our jobs back, they'll be at risk of being there again. I mean we all are at risk, being interdependent, but China getting out of the jungle did not happen miraculously.
If we didn't help them out in ww2 they would be speaking Japanies right now, and that's no joke. Let's talk that up on his show, oh I mean the Chinies State run fox news.
Do you think so? Why do you ask the Mongols.
Yah, of course American two A bombs helped China out, and America really did helped the Chinese out. But do you seriously think it was solely because of USA that China won the war? You're dain wrong.
It was because of the complicated Chinese geography. The mass Chinese population, and their strong spirits. Japan was already losing the war before US dropped those two bombs. And think about it, a British guy randomly tried to rape a girl on the main street? poosh..... that is no joke at all. And stop talking so much about old history. Chinese people doesn't really thank America at all.
" the unemployed Americans and Europeans who come to China to make money, trafficking in people, misleading the public and encouraging them to emigrate."
Isn't that kind of the pot calling the kettle black..... what do they think their and many more citizens of other countries do in our country.... Hey... maybe they should probably stop paying their citizens to hack other countries defense systems among many other things before they want to complain about what other people of different countries are doing in theirs..... more Chinese double standard BS !!! If it were up to them they would completely run the world so what does that tell ya...... oh wait they are on their way to doing just that !!!
The Chinese version of Gin Brewer.
Huh. The chinese don't like foreigners coming in, making money, spying on their country, etc. Isn't that what china does to us though?
Yes...that's what China is doing to you...but the American business elites, who truly are the ruling class of the USA are fine with it----as long as the Chinese make sure that shareholders of big American corporations are making the profits. Have fun enjoying the American "democracy"...hahaha
Why is it ok for usa to have 3 aircraft carrier groups surrounding China, + stations in Korea and japan? Who is the terrorist here? How would you feel if China station 3 aircraft carrier groups in Gulf of Mexico? americans are don't even blink when you lie.
First off, when has America ever threatened the Chinese Government? Was it not China that recently threatened the U.S. for holding joint training exercises? was it not the U.S. that came to China's aid when the Japanese invaded their country? I think Claire Chenualt and the rest of the "Flying Tigers" recall this because they fought on behalf of the Chinese people without being ordered to do so. name one time that we have been the aggressor against China! Name one secret from industry that we stole from China? How many Chinese students go to college in the U.S.? So, new in cyberspace from Toronto and Lei Chen, remember if it wasn't for the U.S.A. you would be speaking Japanese not Chinese. Please remind me, where was China's government during 9-11? When hurricane Katrina hit us? When North Korea threatens the world with nukes? Oh thats right, they keep their mouths shut, even when North Korea steals you fishing boats! Your so caught up in your own little world that you would let Iran close the straights of Hormus, where a large portion of your oil flows thru! Oh wait, China is going to let the U.S. handle that too! If your so unhappy outside of China...carry your ass back to your product copying, movie and music pirating, trade secret thieving, country! We really we're doing fine without your dumb asses to begin with!
"Why is it ok for usa to have 3 aircraft carrier groups surrounding China, + stations in Korea and japan?"
Because we have a lot of allies in the area, including Korea and Japan, who willingly host our soldiers precisely BECAUSE of aggression from China and North Korea.
Your question about "terrorist" is irrelevant. This has nothing to do with terrorism, and I'd really wish people would stop using that as a catch-all phrase to demonize any activity they dislike. This is simple geopolitics.
And to answer your last question, we wouldn't like it if China put military bases in Venezuela or Mexico, but if those countries willingly hosted their troops, we'd have to deal with it, same as they do. And hopefully it would encourage us to rethink our foreign policy with our neighbors, if it came to that.
USA is still running weekly spy mission inside Chinese air space. Can you immagine if China does that inside US territories? Americans always think it's ok to do it to others but not to yourself.
I don't know if that's true or not, but isn't the whole POINT of spycraft to get away with as much as you can while denying your enemies the ability to do the same? I don't see a single thing wrong with wanting more capabilities than your rivals.
This is just a very mild version of what americans are doing to Chinese. Racist and bias "news" report everyday in your media. You are only getting a taste of your own medicine. Don't like it? Too bad! On top of everything, this was started by foreigners going into China to rape girls. If this had happened in usa, you would have wanted the foreigners' head. But of course this little detail is overlooked.
Let me understand, the details we missed? It's because your government keeps everything so hush hush! I watch the news regularly and see no basis for you to call us racist, however due to your rant, I can tell that you are a racist! There are more different races living in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world! Your government can't say that! Furthermore, if your such a big fan of the communist party...carry your ass back to China! It's people like you cyberspace from Toronto that stir up this kind of crap, when you really have no idea what your talking about!
How many foreigners go to China to rape Chinese women?
I mean it, I seriously don't know if this is a real problem or what. I mean, Yang says (eventually) that most foreigners are just fine (why are they the "silent" majority?), so actually any claim you can make of "America" itself causing problems in China is clearly false, but is China swarming with foreign criminals?
And FYI, this does happen in the USA. We have several criminal groups that operate on the border and - quite literally - enter the US just to commit crime, make money, and leave. We do what we can, and we have our own racist fanatics who rant about it, so I don't really make much of this guy Yang, but I'm actually quite curious as to the extent of the problem he claims China has.
To new in cyberspace from Toronto
You must have you head up your a$$, there have been enough cases of Asians, including Chinese that have committed crimes, including murders, here in the US. Unlike the Chinese, we do not condemn China because of the actions of these criminals.
Are you representing the Chinese culture? I (the white devils as you call us) think that your society is based on racism. There are, of course, exceptions.
Don't forget, you economy depends heavily on the US, and besides, if you think your homeland is so much
better, why are you here in 'white devil land'?
Oh, you came to the Western Civilization to get a job, education, and a good life!
Hypocrite!
Look at the racist rants in this blog and my points are proven. Anybody who speaks well of China is wrong and assumed to be another Chinese. I just visited China a few times and realized how bias the North American media had been. Why is this even news? american media is filled with anti China "news" everyday. Half truths and bias reporting. Even more disgusting is how ignorant the general population is.
Well, it's not like most of us can just go to China to check it out ourselves.
And while I can't argue that our news stories about China aren't biased (although I have no reason to trust your assurance that they are), I inherently distrust the government controlled news from China, as it has been repeatedly proven to be a party mouthpiece and proganda tool. So who am I to believe? Should I just ask you about every China story to make sure it's on the level?
'Nationalism', 'Sovereignty', and even a bit of 'Isolationism' and 'Protectionism'...these were in part responsible for making America the greatest Nation in the World... at one time.
There was a lot to gain for the Elite few (wealth and power) who orchestrated the dismantling or abandonment of those Ideals and policies in exchange for 'Globalization' and 'Free Trade'...all at the expense of the people.
Can't blame China if they want to follow a successful format that our politicians intentionally abandoned.
China is very far from isolated, and they're becoming less protectionist every single day. All of those elements you named were FAR more powerful back when Mao was in power and they were legitimately Communist. And every one of them were weakened significantly when China opened up and liberalized its economy. Only THEN did they start to industrialize properly, make gains against poverty, and manage to feed their people. It's incredibly ironic that you credit their success to the very things that were holding them back.
Have any of you ever watched Yang Rui's program? I think for the most part, not many. I have viewed several of his interviews and conclude that the program in and of itself, interview questions, and the format to be very comprehensive. I don't understand why everyone is up in arms by what he said as this was his personal opinion. As politicians and citizens in the U.S. and Europe are constantly stating that the people in China have no freedom of speech... then why are you pissed off that he made comments that are not to your liking. Again, China is a Communist State with their own rules and laws. Don't like it, then don't go there. As with any society a lot of activities perpetuated by outsiders have created problems for its citizens in the U.S. as well as in China. Don't be a player hater.
My goodness Lan Gi Kwan!
Why doesn't Yang make any negative comments about how the Chinese government, its domestic/foreign policies, China's support of an off the wall rogue country like N Korea, etc etc etc? Can he do that and still be a 'free' man??
Seems to me that you do not comprehend 'free speech' or fredom of the press.
What he is saying is pretty much inline with the government. Does he dare say something against government policies? Or China's policies are perfect?
Dream on, free speech and free press come at a price, the Chinese people have not paid for it yet.
Don't forget the thousands of illigal Chinese immigrants that come to the US, Australia, and other Western Culture nations!
I have no misconceptions when it comes to free speech. In the 1960's I too demonstrated against the Vietnam War while attending UCLA and got bruised up and locked up for demonstrating and exercising my free speech... all while working for the Los Angeles Police Dept as a civilian employee. Is Yang Rui not allowed to be of the same opinion as the Central Government in this matter? I am in contact and interface with a lot of different academic scholars, business owners and college students in China and the majority of them are satisfied with the Central Government but have a distaste for their local officials and how they govern their districts.
When discrimination was still rampant in Los Angeles all while the local authorities weren't doing anything about it... minority residents took it upon themselves to take this matter directly to our state capitol and Washington. Did I blame the President for the housing discrimination problems, no. I placed the blame solely with our state governor for not adhering too or overseeing that the anti-discrimination rights of minority residents are not violated by property owners. And again, how long did it take for this country to finally abolish the anti-discrimination problem, a very very long time. China has come a long way but will continue to have more challenges to work through since it has a population 5 times larger than the U.S. As far as illegal immigration is concerned, I don't care who they are or where they come from, if they are here in the U.S. or any other country illegally... deport them immediately to where they came from.
Why do we Westerners continue to push to Westernize other countries? They have their lives and we have our lives! LIVE AND LET LIVE! Who is to say, who is right or who is wrong? We MUST LEARN TO CO-EXIST before we have NO FRIENDS LEFT WORLD WISE!
Co-existing doesn't just meaning sitting down, shutting up and staring at the other guy with your hands where they can see them. Part of that co-existence involves the exchange of ideas and - yes - even the debate and argument over values and policy. People arguing with each other about which system is best and taking lessons from each other is part of co-existence too.
So I guess what I'm saying is that there's absolutely no reason for Westerners to stop lecturing the Chinese, and there's also no reason for the Chinese not to complain about it.
So libbies I guess he can't be a racist because he's chinese right?
I have no problem with the "Live and let live" theory, until these super nationalistic Chinese folks who don't even live in their own country start talking trash about th U.S.! The Chinese should not throw stones about racism until they get over their own! Then tend to forget the assistance they recieved from us over the years. Has far as I can remeber, we never asked them to repay us for driving the Japanese from their country!
Get a grip. Are you aware that there are millions of ethnic Chinese people in the U.S. with ancestors who migrated here since the 1800's. And yes, they too have contributed greatly in helping to build this country. Not "ALL" Chinese people are illegal immigrants as they are Americans just like you. Just because they are of Chinese ancestry doesn't make them any less American. Furthermore, as an expression of free speech, they can trash talk all they want... it's their own personal opinion. And for those of you that make comments about going back to where you came from is just stupid... after having been here for 6 Generations, exactly where is that place? My family totals over 200 members residing throughout California. With each generation, we continue to excel as doctors, lawyers, screen writers, producers, engineers, educators, and law enforcement officers. We have over 90% that are college educated, and yes, each family paid for their own education. We are law abiding citizens, tax payers and home owners. As such I think we have the right to agree or disagree with the general masses when it comes to voicing an opinion. China has 5 times the population over that of the U.S. and its up to them to govern their society as they see fit. Simple solution: don't like their standards, then don't engage them. Also don't generalize or assume that "ethnic minorities" making comments to this site isn't from the United States.
The Chinese are acting as if they are innocent. The Philippine government must do the same...deport all illegal Chinese immigrants in the Philippines. For every 1 illegal Pilipino immigrant in China is equal to 10,000 Chinese illegal immigrants in the Philippines. Drug trafficers, smugglers, piracy from Asia are all coming from China. Now, are they clean? I agree they need to clean up, they need to clean their own mess.
All this talk of race and national ties just muddies the argument. Criminals are criminals, no matter what race they are. You're not going to stop crime if you stop immigration, and it's only going to hurt your nation once it's choked off from a flow of foreign business, investment, and expertise. It's not like criminals from one race are any worse than those from any other.
Damir Miranda, interesting theory. However there are over 14,000 Filipino domestic workers currently in Hong Kong, and yes that's in China. Should they decide to revoke all of their Work Visa's who do you think would suffer the most? Certainly not the Chinese, as most of them are business owners in the Philippines. If they are made to leave the country, no problem as they would only set up shop in some other Southeast Asian country.
The families that are being supported by domestic workers in China would be the losers. Loss of employment and the loss of income that supports 14,000 families. Do you honestly think that China would have a problem in replacing them, not hardly as domestic workers would be imported from Indonesia or Malaysia and they would be happy to take their places.
The issue between China and the Philippines is an internal problem between them. Why are we all in their business. We don't have a say so in it.
Fully support Yang's comment about foreign trash in China. Pity that Chinese government has not heeded to this. France is tighting up on the control of illegal immigrants and so are many European countries.
It's time US should call for cleaning its foreign trash in the country, tens of thousands of them literally.
So what qualifies as "foreign trash"? How do you distuingish between it and the "foreign non-trash"? I'm the grandson of an immigrant. Most of us are the children of immigrants. Do we count? Should everyone but the aborigonese abandon the country? How many generations have to live in America before they cease being "foreign"?
Foreign trash simply means individuals who have migrated into the country illegally and then commit crimes against society. Pretty simple to me. No one is in dispute that America was built on the backs of immigrants. However that was along time ago and when people were made to abide by the immigration laws for entry. Today that rule doesn't seem to apply as Canadians cross into the country all the time illegally and blend into society. And lets not mention all of the "other" foreigners that enter via through Mexico. The key word is "illegal entry"... and committing crimes against society. There's nothing racist about it. Crossing our borders illegally is a crime... simple as that.
So you're saying that "foreign trash" is just an unnecessarily provocative word for "criminal non-citizen".
Okay, I can get behind that, if it's true. But then why the racist undertones? You can rail against criminals and very few people are going to argue with you. What makes the non-citizen lawbreaker any worse than the citizen lawbreaker?
If you're correct, then it makes no sense to me to underline the "foreign" aspect of the problem, because it naturally alienates all the foreign non-criminals who feel like they're being accused of something just for being born the wrong color. Much of the opposition to Arizona's "immigration check" law came not because people don't want illegal immigrants caught and deported, but because they disliked the idea of legitimate immigrants and tourists having to arbitrarily prove that they're not breaking the law.
Which is to say, you may be right, but there still seems to be a problem here.
sf
Last year alone there were over 22 million foreigners entered and exited China and this is increased at the rate of 11 % per year. The majority of them enter, live and work in China legally and they have no fear of Chinese law. However following the economic hardship in the west and other parts of the world, many umemployed and criminal elements among the foreigners flock to China to seek fortune and engage in illegal activities. There have been many crimes committed by these foreigners who are the trash in their own countries. The recent white Brits who attempted to rape a Chinese woman in the Beijing street typifies this sort of deplorable behaviour. Yang was right to say these are foreign trash.
If foreigners come to US and engage in illegal activities, surely you will be crying for the law to deal with these foreign trash, won't you?
Having lived in China for over three years, it's best not to take the Chinese too seriously. These things come and go. The foreigners here are just a convenient whipping boy when China wishes to distract attention from itself. Patrick Chovanec, a business professor at Tsinghua University suggests that this most recent outbreak is due to the clear economic downturn taking place here. Who knows. When the Chinese were angry at France, they rioted outside the Carrefour department stores, but it all blew over. The Asian concept of face plays a big part; one can never be publicly wrong. Gotta find someone to blame for all China's problems. Must be the foreign devils!
Your observations are correct. Spent 10 years in China and observed the same thing with the anti-Japanese so called "spontaneous" riots. Watched that guy on CCTV and he is a self proclaimed expert on everything but actually 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag.
One reason I believe for the diatribe was that China has a trade deficit, they imported more than they exported and it is bound to get worse for them as labor costs go up and their water tables recede driving the cost of food up and causing more food products to be imported. As the labor costs go up they lose jobs. So now you have a country that has adapted more to western goods, fewer jobs and a higher cost of living with less food . Gee I wonder what happens next? Right now there are more than the U.S. borrowing from China, will they tell everybody to pay up? Will cyber activity increase, will they take over parts of Africa as China runs out of coal? Will Lassie ever find her way home? Beats me.
They have a trade deficit now? I thought they were still in surplus.
Who's importing everything? I know we do a lot but not enough to revert the trade balance. Africa, maybe?
Instead of defending the press freedom and a professional colleague, he used vulgarity to call name on a lady reporter. Such a gentleman and educated he is!His comments show how arrogant Chinese have become about the success of their powerful economy and how much contempt view of the economic crisis in the West. He represents the best face of China, educated, gentle and soft-spoken, well-mannered and civilized. I guess that the best that China can offer to the world. Best Face of China: Prominent Chinese TV host Yang Rui’s Incendiary and Racist comments those inappropriate and insensitive comments made in USA, the anchor would have packed his or office boxes home.
I don't think it's fair to take Yang's comments as the sentiments of an entire nation, although it does seem to be a common viewpoint (judging by the comments here).
If you think that, what about Rush Limbaugh. Do you think he represents all of us with his stupid commentary and racist remarks... I think not. Just as he doesn't speak for our nation as a whole, neither does Yang Rui. However, he is entitled to his opinion and has every right to agree or disagree with the position taken by the Central Government in this matter. If the Chinese people are of the same opinion, then why should it concern you. Racist? well considering China has 56 ethnic minorities within its borders and have had to co-exist with one another for over 5,000 years whatever position they take is their business and not ours. In the article it never commented on race but rather illegal foreigners committing crimes against their citizens.
The thing I do not understand about the Chinese (from China) and Chinese-at-heart is this: Whenever someone criticises PRC or people who live over there, almost every time they come with 'you-do-not-like-China attitude' and the defensive talk laden with bashing of USA starts. What if we are just 'mis-informed', could you 'educate us'? What if we just want to see China change for the best - from our perspective? I speak this from authentic experience and not from TV, newspapers or other sources claiming to be credible. This will surprise you: the majority of Chinese (who live in China) knows nothing of their country policies and even first hand experience in a lot of what we talk about China. They only know China through news outlets (which are tightly controlled and censored by the government) so whatever they hear they have to believe and no one will actually change their opinion. They have been subconsciously conditioned to discredit any info that contradict government stand. For example many Chinese (living in China) know nothing of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Prize Laureate now serving prison sentence in China. There are a lot of info you can extract about China from Chinese portals - the thing is many foreigners [as they refer to anybody who is not 'looking like Chinese' - Koreans, Japanese, Mongolians or some Vietnamese are identified by their respective nationalities. Mind you this is the 'unofficial' definition, the down-to-earth Chinese will tell you this] do not bother to read them. After ten years of living in China this is what I have gathered:
1. Chinese are masters of Double Standards - Whatever they do to others is okay, Same things done to them, they cry foul.
2. Chinese know and fear what their government can do to them - There is 'freedom of speech' only if it is in alignment with what the government says. The treatment of those who spoke 'freely' in opposite direction serves as the warning. This is ingrained into their psyches. Even the kids knows what to say to a foreigner and what not to say.
3. Most big cities in China are not safe [for Chinese]. Granted a small number of foreigners are mugged or even killed - the news are only reported widely by foreign media but Chinese do more to each other. The death of a British businessman in China last year was unknown to many Chinese (living in China) until it surfaced with Bo Xilai scandal. Chinese are so wary of other Chinese and hence a lot of gated communities - almost everywhere I lived in China, photocopied pictures of robbers/wrongdoers can be seen and stories of what horrible acts Chinese can do to each other prevail to the extent that the majority will decline to help anyone in distress. 'Safe' only exists in edited data and the Chinese know this but when a foreigner raises the issue, a denial is in full force. Most foreigners feel relatively pretty safe in China's big cities mostly because many Chinese crooks know that harming a foreigner will induce unwanted attention from Public Security Bureau which is keen to 'keep face'.
4. Most Chinese are ultra-nationalists: Fight with a Chinese in a dispute arising from personal issues, he/she will make it a 'nationality' issue and you will be beaten to pulp by a group of them(not even his/her friends) as it becomes China versus the Foreigners issue. If it happens in the US, it mostly is about friends protecting friends. A Chinese will crack a dumb joke about American president and everybody (including Americans) will laugh; American crack almost the same joke about a Chinese president, the Chinese suddenly get offended.
5. Simple but 'very important hard facts' that provokes anti-foreigners in China
- Bigger percentage of male foreigners in China easily dates Chinese women; Few Chinese men get this when they live in other countries. They want to have fun with the foreign women but they just can't close the deal.
- Most American made products are revered as high quality and symbol of status in China, the reverse is not true for China's products.
- Foreigners [from Wester Europe +Australia/NZ and US/Canada) enjoy life in China by simply being a foreigner (represent a sort of status symbol); the majority of Chinese do not have this in other countries. This reason aloe makes China a great place for many foreigners to stick over there.
6. Chinese takes time to open up, the length of the time throws off many foreigners. If you persist enough you will realise the other side of Chinese which is not very different from anybody in the US. The problem is, you will be the ONLY one acknowledging this and you might be the only one who gets the privilege to experience this side.
This is my take. If you want to know more about Chinese, learn their language (speaking and reading). Then try to read their portals especially twitter like or their chat rooms... they get censored too but most of the time some really authentic stuff keeps up for some hours.
I am open to criticism from anyone. In the US we have our issues but we are open enough to discuss them inside our country freely whether they are for or against the government [only few exceptions here]. The US is not White, Black, Yellow or any other 'color' but a sum total of a human race. We openly talk about discrimination- we do not deny its existence, we are open about our sexuality, family issues etc etc. We even invite anyone from any country to come here to study (almost anything) and even join our great nation as long as they are eligible. We also allow these individuals to speak for and against our government. What will the government do with these issues is debatable. But as long as we are free to discuss them, I am all game.
Concerning the point about how the Chinese are easily offended by foreigners' comments: It is not possible for anyone to be insulted unless they to some extent agree with what is said about them.
Well, double standards are an international past time, not unique at all to the Chinese. The main difference is that a government that controls its populace and media can literally deny their own actions and history if they need to.
I also am in agreement that I would like to see China change for the better. However why should China adhere to our perspective regarding anything. That's the problem. Why can't we acknowledge that we agree to disagree on politics, human rights, and the economy. They have over a trillion people within their borders so I really don't think that they give a rats ass as to what we think, which is their right. Stop trying to dictate how a country should be govern when we can't even get our act together. High unemployment, social security going broke, a failed healthcare system, a high rate of high school drop outs, and the largest incarcerated population on the planet. And yet we have the nerve to preach good governance to someone else.
Okay, first off, there aren't a trillion people on the entire planet, much less in China alone.
Secondly, there's an inherent value in other countries (Western or otherwise) debating about human rights, politics, and the economy, because if no one brings it up and they never have to defend their actions, then what's the incentive to improve? Whether you think the US is perfect, just as bad, or even worse than the Chinese, to say that we should just shut up and do business as it suits us is to condemn our international relationship to stagnation.
It isn't about wrong or right, but the debate itself. China benefits from this as well, since they seek international recognition and clout; if they want us to respect them and give them our money to invest, why shouldn't we tell them what they think of their government and politics. And that's putting aside whether it's morally right for us, as a nation, to willfully ignore flagrant human rights abuses and tyranny for the sake of keeping smooth international relations or "respecting other cultures".
As I've said before, coexistence and argument are in no way mutually exclusive.
One other thing, "foreigner trash/garbage" in China does not necessarily mean 'illegal immigrants'. A person legally married to a Chinese citizen is not illegal immigrant but from Mr. Yang's reference might be a 'spy'. What Mr. Yang refers here, is all foreigners who 'from the eyes' of the Chinese are 'not civilized enough'. English teaching although very important in China, is not viewed as a 'good job'. Many Chinese openly complain that the foreign 'teachers' get more cash than the real 'Chinese teachers' just because they are.... foreigners. In this case these teachers are also 'trash' - not qualified but making cash.
maybe he found out his wife is having an affair with a handsome American
No, he had intimate relationship with a lot of white 'trash"
I wonder how he feels about the Chinese national who blew a red light in Singapore last week, and killed two plus himself in his Ferrari.
Singaporeans aren't yelling for the Chinese foreigners to leave.
Well, if they did, would we know about it? How many people track Singaporean news?
China gets a lot of press because they demand attention. So I don't know.
Were you aware that 92% of the population in Singapore are ethnic Chinese and that the crime rate is .04% which is almost nil in comparison to other countries. Trust me if this guy committed a crime he will pay dearly for it before being deported to where ever he came from.
Sorry for the previous post. I didn't notice that the statement indicated that the driver had also died. However it would be really difficult to deport a foreign Chinese person when practically everyone in the country looks like him. There is very low unemployment and the housing costs is extremely high in Singapore. I'm sure however if someone wanted to enter the country illegally they would find a way, but their system is so tightly controlled someone like that would be better off trying to enter Malaysia or Indonesia.
Maybe the Cinese will "nationalize" all the industry run by U.S. corporations, kick them out, and run the factories themselves. That would be fair return for the scumbags that exported our jobs to China to take advantage of slave labor. Then we won't be having our marketplace glutted with trash sold for ridiculous prices.
Sure we would. They'd be worse quality, probably, but they might be even cheaper because the management changed.
Although, on the whole, that would be an economic disaster of epic proportions. China used to run industry centrally. They eventually stopped when they decided capitalism was better than famine.
Get on the horn to your Congressman or Congresswoman and insisting that Osama-Bama levy tarrifs against any finished goods imported from China. Manufacturing in China has lowered the bar to the lowest common denominator because they use the most substandard raw materials and slave labor to produce them.
The Chinese are waging economic war on the entire planet with their fiscal and monetary policies - China is a blackhole and scourge on the economic policies of the only stable monetary and economic platforms left in the world. The Chinese are the new millenium Nazi party and they are building a juggernaut that will suffocate the entire free world - and they are using the wealth of Europe and Amercia to fund it. That is both alarming and apalling!
They don't use slave labor. In fact, wages in China for factory line workers have risen to such high levels (relatively, of course) that it's almost eliminated the cost advantages of manufacturing there.
In addition, suddenly imposing tariffs would be illegal under the WTO and severely damage our economy as China retaliates with its own trade restrictions. We sell many things to them too, and also buy things from them that we don't have here, such as rare earth metals. Costs would rise enormously as we have to build new, higher-cost manufacturing centers in other place, leading to higher inflation and moving foreign investment into the next low-cost nation we can find with decent ports. Contrary to what your alarmist/populist, economically illiterate pundit of choice has told you, China's economic activity generates MORE economic activity with its trade partners, and severing such ties would make everyone worse off.
Typical ugly American demeanor abroad. During my travels both in Asia and Europe, I feel awkward to show my American passport at some ports of entry due to the stare of some port of entry officials as soon as they know I am an American.
They want our money but not us...... they don't want our citizens over there but they encourage theirs to come here....they dump their crap on us but don't want our crap there....
With "friends" like this... we don't need enemies......