Friday, April 25, 2008

Traitors to the Han Chinese

In China, the most serious crime a person can ever commit is to be a hanjian – traitor to the (majority) Han Chinese. This is a crime comparable to apostasy in Christianity.

In 1999, following the bombing of Chinese embassy in Belgrade by American fighter jets, anti-US protests broke out in China. Chinese demonstrators gathered in front of McDonald’s and KFC to vent their anger.

In April, 2008, a few months before Beijing Olympiad, pro-Tibetan groups staged anti-China protest in France, where Olympic torch run was being held. In response, furious Chinese netizens called for boycott of Carrefour – the French retail giant which had more than 100 outlets in the country.

I am thinking: had the Chinese employees of McDonald’s, KFC and Carrefour become hanjians overnight?


汉奸

在中国,汉奸是不可宽赦的大罪人,相当于基督教的叛教者。

1999 年,在中国驻南斯拉夫大使馆被美军轰炸后,中国爆发反美大示威。示威者聚集在麦当劳和肯德基前发泄他们的怨恨。

2008 年,当奥运火炬在法国传递时,西藏支持者举行反中国示威。愤怒的中国网民号召抵制家乐福。

我在想:受雇于麦当劳,肯德基和家乐福的中国人,是否都在一夜间变成了汉奸?

6 comments:

  1. cant comment much on this...
    but wish for peace in the coming olympiad ~

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  2. To love your own country is good. But if it poses threat to the worldwide peace, then it becomes extreme. I think the Chinese netizens should not blame either the Carrefour employees or Carrefour itself. They have nothing to do with the disruption of torch relay.

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  3. 迷迭香
    I hope for wish beyong Olympic...

    jam
    Carrefour employees are Chinese too...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Messy affair, all these boycotts and such and eventually, it's a lose-lose equation.

    I remember one time Malaysians were raising hell about a certain country and even mentioned about boycott or something. However, people did not realise that if foreign investments were withdrawn, it's the locals who will suffer/be out of jobs. People should be responsible enough or be aware of consequences before they act or even speak lest they incite untoward incidents.

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  5. happysurfer
    In China - a Confucian society - nation, and government, always come first. Individuals are not important. (Well, unless they are killed by Americans. In such cases they suddenly become national heroes.) Chairman Mao once said China did not fear nuclear warfare. It had 400 million people. If 200 million perished, there would still be 200 million remain.

    That is why Chinese think it is OK to sacrifice the employees of Carrefour so long as they can punish France.

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  6. This is really sad. Fighting within a country. :( I don't know what to comment either. I really don't know what's going on in their minds.

    ReplyDelete