<p>This difference is hardly an excuse for ignoring gross human rights violations, however. Those are universal, and I can’t, as a humanitarian, excuse those actions as necessary or justified - whether carried out by my government or another’s.</p>
<p>What i mean is,we have traditonal culture that you guys don’t have.By the way,being collective is a way to protect individual’s benefits.For example,if some people attack one village,one or two people are killed, the rest of the village should be united to fight against invasion so that each of us will survive finally.</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with human rights violations.I know you always want to use human rights as a tool to attack china whatever I say. Even when I say,chinese prefer fish,chinese have traditional culture.</p>
<p>You are too crazy about bashing China. But this won’t help you,man,no matter what excuse you pick.
Human rights violation,as what I understand,the victims should be people like me.But what’s funny is that,we chinese as “victims” haven’t been hurt by our government and hardly anyone complains.But why do you want to fabricate the issue?The only reason is you want to find an excuse.</p>
<p>by the way,go back to another post and answer my question directly.
Avoid questions you don’t like is not cool.</p>
<p>zhong means middle and guo is rather ambiguous. In a literary sense, it could imply state/country in English. But if you look at it symbolically, it is an enclosed jade king sitting in the middle if you can look at this: “国” lol I’m always fascinated by how my ancestors come up with those amazing characters. 国’s outer component 口 is like a great wall, enclosing 玉 or jade–and jade implies yu huang da di, or the jade king—inside. </p>
<p>Chinese culture is not “collective” in a commie sense. It is more family centered. In the west, the basic building block of the society is individual and his relationship with others. In China, it is the family and its relationship with the individuals. Chinese are willing to fight for the family, as in the case of Mulan. But few are willing to fight for their country(It takes Japs seven shot artillery pieces to capture a major chinese city during world war 2, and two weeks to capture the entire northern China, Chinese army retreated at a rate of 800 miles a day, a world record none can beat. lol), that’s why the Chinese nationalists reaction towards the 2008 Olympics surprised me a bit. </p>
<p>When you look at Chinese closely, they are not really that different from westerners. sad to say this, but I see a lot of common traits while accepting each’s differences. But I believe differences can be understood through dialogues, not boycotting olympics. It is not gona help. If you really want to help Chinese, help those dissenters within China, help them get money and support their cause.</p>
<p>The reason why china retreated is not because people don’t want to fight,but because the government(republic of china,which equals to taiwan now).Chinese people tried a lot to fight against Japanese in World War II.</p>
<p>Most people are not radical nationalists but potential nationalists. Only when Chinese are invaded or insulted by foreigners will Chinese be inspired to be patriotic.That’s why there are so many people here in San francisco this time.Engineers,students,etc,all kinds of chinese people gather there this time.</p>
<p>Honestly,I wasn’t a supporter for olympics(nor protestor) originally,simply because I am not interested in sports.But now,I’m thinking of doing something to support it.</p>
<p>Okay, I’m going to enter this conversation as a Han Chinese who grew up in China and supports Tibet. I think that everyone has a right to be free from an oppressive government.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But….they have attacked other countries without provocation.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>lol.</p>
<p>I think it’s because we’ve had so much bloodshed in our looonnggg history. I mean, even our flag is almost completely red to represent the loss of life. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Are you f***** kidding me? Are you really Chinese? Because it seems like you don’t know what you’re talking about? The name of the country does not imply that China is ‘moderate.’ In fact, it is an epitome of the arrogance of the Chinese government. The name means that China is in the middle, as in, the middle of the world. The middle of the universe. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Good is bad.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s actually kind of true, although whether or not Tibet has always willingly been a part of China is in doubt. </p>
<p>I hear this argument a lot, but it doesn’t really matter. For all I care, Tibet could have been a part of China since the beginning of time. Currently, China is a communist regime that abuses human rights and the Tibetans have a right to be free from such a government. What happened in the past is not as important. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You mean, you haven’t been hurt by the government. Or, maybe you have. Maybe you went to the re-education camp and that’s why you’re supporting the Commies now. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You stated that two wrongs don’t make a right when you were bashing the Tibetans; yet, you frequently compare the Chinese government to other countries as if that makes it less atrocious.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>WRONG!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>haha, and you’re the typical pro-China person. You always think you’re more informed than everyone else and that your position is somehow infallible. But, as the next reader will be able to see, your arguments have holes all over them.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My relatives used to praise the communist government all the time. </p>
<p>Most Chinese don’t worship commies. However, saying that it’s just a political term is ignoring the influence that it has on China. It is a political term, but it’s also the position of the Chinese government. They are communist. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Alright, fine, I’ll say it, YOU’RE BRAINWASHED. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Uuuummm, just so you know, tasers usually go up to 50,000 or 100,000 volts and they are usually non-fatal. In fact, deaths from tasers have almost always occurred when someone “repeatedly” shocked an adversary. Therefore, his number of 100,000 is not only feasible; it is expected. 1,000 volts can kill a person, but a person has to be exposed to it for a longer period of time. I don’t understand how you can be so arrogantly confident when you don’t know what the **** you’re talking about.</p>
<p>You BS like twice in every sentence. Why doesn’t anyone else point this stuff out?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’ll take your little quiz.
Apparently, I know more than you. Why? Because I’m Chinese, I’m an American citizen, and I’ve done some research.
Many, of course.
Born, grew up there.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Always communist propaganda. CNN might be biased, but news in China is equally biased, if not more so. I prefer CNN’s thank you very much.</p>
<p>Want to start refuting my arguments? Try starting with the taser comment. lmao.</p>
I’m Chinese and I’m not US citizen.I’ve spent more time in China and I’ve done more research.
So,Obvisouly,I know more than you.</p>
<p>
Yes,all the political news you can see is biased.I admit that CCTV is not better.
Since your political view is anti-China,you’ll choose CNN. That’s quite normal.
oh,really?I’ve never met ANY single chinese who praises communist government all the time.
Maybe your relative is given great help by the government?
I don’t know.But this is really weird,99% chinese are not like your relative.
This is what I’m gonna say for you.
Because I’m Chinese and I won’t betrary my country like somebody else.
I’ve never heard re-education camp.
And I didn’t say I support commies,I only said I supported my own country.
I know you want chinese citizens to fight against our own government.But unfortunately,we won’t take your words seriously.</p>
<p>Anyway,since you are not real chinese,I won’t argue with you later.It’s a wast e of time.
I would rather to argue with an anti-China american.</p>
It’s OUR flag,not YOUR flag.
Our country was invaded by other countries like Japan,we have to fight against them. A lot of chinese dead because of that,yes,the red represent the loss of life.</p>
Do your homework next time,and find a better chinese tutor.
The word"zhong guo"has a long history.It already existed before the birth or PRC,or even ROC.In other word,the term"zhong guo"is not created by the government,at least not current government(PRC) and most recent former government(ROC,which represents only for Taiwan now).</p>
<p>Typical uninformed person who has no knowledge of China.</p>
<p>Butterbattle, if you’re a Chinese, I have no idea why you would refer to China under a “communist regime”. And do your homework. Communism is an economic term where everyone has equal amounts of stuff, not a political term. Anyways, the “commies” you refer to are now embracing capitalism if you haven’t noticed by now, not communism.</p>
<p>You’re not a Chinese. Your comments are ones that a person who doesn’t know China well would make. 假冒</p>
<p>Um, I think you people are obsessed with the notion of what a true Chinese should behave.
Chinese can behave in whatever way he/she wants to behave. He can support or against Tibetan independence. There is really no black and white in defining Chinese. But I will say this, an overwhelming majority of people live in China support Han Chinese cause instead of Tibetan Separatists.</p>
<p>I can’t give your source any credits.all your source is western websites like csmonitor?
now I know your logic,what western websites and media say are definitely right,so they are reliable source.And someone who has never been to china knows more than someone lived in china for years,simply by browsing some biased websites.</p>
<p>Well well well, what a debate! I guess the point of this debate is to draw people from all sides together, and to shed light on knowledge that we previously are not well informed of. As I said, truly engaging in a democratic society is not about taking sides or drawing a black and white picture or engaging in verbal or physical confrontations. The purpose of a true democracy is to maximize people’s knowledge, to help every citizen make the their most informed, indepedent judgement.</p>
<p>Though I do agree with most other posters that Butterbattle is probably a fake Chinese, or a Chinese who’s probably been separated from ground reality for a long, long time. Butterbattle, man, you should do some serious homework before you post again on this topic. Since you claim that you are a U.S. citizen, I recommend that you take the first step by studying abroad in China for a summer or a semester. Beijing University or Tsinghua offers great Chinese language programs, along with courses on China’s political, economic, and social reforms. </p>
<p>I must also emphasize one other point, and that is China is not a monolithic entity. In fact, even the Communist Party itself isn’t always united inside out. The Central Party Academy recently published an extensive report, outlining the potential obstacles, pros and cons, and aftermath of a future political reform. This study was published and circulated among top party members. In 2004, a survey was conducted among nearly 700 local Communist Party officials who had attended a provincial training program. More than 60% of the officials polled said that they were “dissatisfied” with the “backward state of democracy” in the country then, and 63% said that political reform in China was “too slow.” An even more surprising figure to the Beijing government was that 67% of the polled officials chose either “support” or “strongly support” for implementing new “popular elections in the village, county, and municipal levels of government.” </p>
<p>China also often points to the fact that the United States took almost two centuries to achieve universal suffrage. In fact, American women had to wait until the 20th century, and African Americans until the 1960s civil rights movement to really achieve the franchise. “This is one issue,” a Beijing newspaper editor joked, “about which we Chinese may be less patient than you Americans.” </p>
<p>In the spring of 2006, an article provocatively titled “Democracy Is a Good Thing for China” caused a small sensation in the central government. Published among one of Communist Party’s mouth-piece papers, the editorial boldly pointed out that “among all the political systems that have been invented and implemented, democracy is the one with the least number of flaws…that is to say, democracy is relatively the best political system for China and for the rest of the world.” </p>
<p>Last year, one senior Party leader interviewed by New York’s Council on Foreign Relations also stressed the need for China to “institutionalize” its political process and move towards a more “transparent, open” system. This Party leader sees that China’s first stage of political reform will most likely take place by the Third Plenum of the 17th Party Congress in 2009.</p>
<p>Calling China’s Communist government a “dictatorial regime” is over-simplifying the current situation. In fact, even within the Communist Party itself, there are numerous competing factions, conservative hardliners, moderates, and liberal-minded Western graduates. There also dissenting voices and officials within the party who are currently trying to lobby for greater reform and transparency in China’s electoral and ministerial organs. You might have noticed that, in the backdrop of the recent unrest in Tibet, central government ministries have been more expedient at their response to this public relations crisis. This change is because of recent lobbying inside the Party to equip each government ministry with the ability to independently and freely issue press conferences without permission from the State Council. Although changes like these are miniscule, they are clear indicators that the Chinese government and the Communist Party are intending to move onto the track of gradual political reform.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, here’s a few questions for our friend Butterbattle:</p>
<p>Since you grew up in China, what is the name of the Chinese language textbook that you used in elementary school? If you never had elementary education in China, I guess that would also automatically disqualify you from being someone who truly knows about China. </p>
<p>If you don’t want to answer, no worries. Just make sure you know your cultural identity next time you make a similar comment.</p>