> Letter from a Chinese "Traitor" -- Caught in the Middle, Called a
> Traitor/Grace Wang
>
> -- Micky's humble opinion: Many Chinese "patriotic" hooligans claim that
> "Chinese love Tibetan brothers", however, if one asks how many "loving"
> Chinese speak the native language of their "beloved "Tibetan brother,
> the collective Chinese hypocrisy is glaringly obvious.  --
>
> washingtonpost.com
>
> Caught in the Middle, Called a Traitor
>
> By Grace Wang
> Sunday, April 20, 2008; B01
>
> I study languages -- Italian, French and German. And this summer -- now
> that it looks as though I won't be able to go home to China -- I'll take
> up Arabic. My goal is to master 10 languages, in addition to Chinese and
> English, by the time I'm 30.
>
> I want to do this because I believe that language is the bridge to
> understanding. Take China and Tibet. If more Chinese learned the Tibetan
> language, and if Tibetans learned more about China, I'm convinced that
> our two peoples would understand one another better and we could
> overcome the current crisis between us peacefully. I feel that even more
> strongly after what happened here at Duke University a little more than
> a week ago.
>
> Trying to mediate between Chinese and pro-Tibetan campus protesters, I
> was caught in the middle and vilified and threatened by the Chinese.
> After the protest, the intimidation continued online, and I began
> receiving threatening phone calls. Then it got worse -- my parents in
> China were also threatened and forced to go into hiding. And I became
> persona non grata in my native country.
>
> It has been a frightening and unsettling experience. But I'm determined
> to speak out, even in the face of threats and abuse. If I stay silent,
> then the same thing will happen to someone else someday.
>
> So here's my story.
>
> When I first arrived at Duke last August, I was afraid I wouldn't like
> it. It's in the small town of Durham, N.C., and I'm from Qingdao, a city
> of 4.3 million. But I eventually adjusted, and now I really love it.
> It's a diverse environment, with people from all over the world. Over
> Christmas break, all the American students went home, but that's too
> expensive for students from China. Since the dorms and the dining halls
> were closed, I was housed off-campus with four Tibetan classmates for
> more than three weeks.
>
> I had never really met or talked to a Tibetan before, even though we're
> from the same country. Every day we cooked together, ate together,
> played chess and cards. And of course, we talked about our different
> experiences growing up on opposite sides of the People's Republic of
> China. It was eye-opening for me.
>
> I'd long been interested in Tibet and had a romantic vision of the Land
> of Snows, but I'd never been there. Now I learned that the Tibetans have
> a different way of seeing the world. My classmates were Buddhist and had
> a strong faith, which inspired me to reflect on my own views about the
> meaning of life. I had been a materialist, as all Chinese are taught to
> be, but now I could see that there's something more, that there's a
> spiritual side to life.
>
> We talked a lot in those three weeks, and of course we spoke in Chinese.
> The Tibetan language isn't the language of instruction in the better
> secondary schools there and is in danger of disappearing. Tibetans must
> be educated in Mandarin Chinese to succeed in our extremely capitalistic
> culture. This made me sad, and made me want to learn their language as
> they had learned mine.
>
> I was reminded of all this on the evening of April 9. As I left the
> cafeteria planning to head to the library to study, I saw people holding
> Tibetan and Chinese flags facing each other in the middle of the quad. I
> hadn't heard anything about a protest, so I was curious and went to have
> a look. I knew people in both groups, and I went back and forth between
> them, asking their views. It seemed silly to me that they were standing
> apart, not talking to each other. I know that this is often due to a
> language barrier, as many Chinese here are scientists and engineers and
> aren't confident of their English.
>
> I thought I'd try to get the two groups together and initiate some
> dialogue, try to get everybody thinking from a broader perspective.
> That's what Lao Tzu, Sun Tzu and Confucius remind us to do. And I'd
> learned from my dad early on that disagreement is nothing to be afraid
> of. Unfortunately, there's a strong Chinese view nowadays that critical
> thinking and dissidence create problems, so everyone should just keep
> quiet and maintain harmony.
>
> A lot has been made of the fact that I wrote the words "Free Tibet" on
> the back of the American organizer of the protest, who was someone I
> knew. But I did this at his request, and only after making him promise
> that he would talk to the Chinese group. I never dreamed how the Chinese
> would seize on this innocent action. The leaders of the two groups did
> at one point try to communicate, but the attempt wasn't very successful.
>
> The Chinese protesters thought that, being Chinese, I should be on their
> side. The participants on the Tibet side were mostly Americans, who
> really don't have a good understanding of how complex the situation is.
> Truthfully, both sides were being quite closed-minded and refusing to
> consider the other's perspective. I thought I could help try to turn a
> shouting match into an exchange of ideas. So I stood in the middle and
> urged both sides to come together in peace and mutual respect. I believe
> that they have a lot in common and many more similarities than differences.
>
> But the Chinese protesters -- who were much more numerous, maybe 100 or
> more -- got increasingly emotional and vocal and wouldn't let the other
> side speak. They pushed the small Tibetan group of just a dozen or so up
> against the Duke Chapel doors, yelling "Liars, liars, liars!" This upset
> me. It was so aggressive, and all Chinese know the moral injunction:
> Junzi dongkou, bu dongshou (The wise person uses his tongue, not his fists).
>
> I was scared. But I believed that I had to try to promote mutual
> understanding. I went back and forth between the two groups, mostly
> talking to the Chinese in our language. I kept urging everyone to calm
> down, but it only seemed to make them angrier. Some young men in the
> Chinese group -- those we call fen qing (angry youth) -- started yelling
> and cursing at me.
>
> What a lot of people don't know is that there were many on the Chinese
> side who supported me and were saying, "Let her talk." But they were
> drowned out by the loud minority who had really lost their cool.
>
> Some people on the Chinese side started to insult me for speaking
> English and told me to speak Chinese only. But the Americans didn't
> understand Chinese. It's strange to me that some Chinese seem to feel as
> though not speaking English is expressing a kind of national pride. But
> language is a tool, a way of thinking and communicating.
>
> At the height of the protest, a group of Chinese men surrounded me,
> pointed at me and, referring to the young woman who led the 1989 student
> democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, said, "Remember Chai Ling? All
> Chinese want to burn her in oil, and you look like her." They said that
> I had mental problems and that I would go to hell. They asked me where I
> was from and what school I had attended. I told them. I had nothing to
> hide. But then it started to feel as though an angry mob was about to
> attack me. Finally, I left the protest with a police escort.
>
> Back in my dorm room, I logged onto the Duke Chinese Students and
> Scholars Association (DCSSA) Web site and listserv to see what people
> were saying. Qian Fangzhou, an officer of DCSSA, was gloating, "We
> really showed them our colors!"
>
> I posted a letter in response, explaining that I don't support Tibetan
> independence, as some accused me of, but that I do support Tibetan
> freedom, as well as Chinese freedom. All people should be free and have
> their basic rights protected, just as the Chinese constitution says. I
> hoped that the letter would spark some substantive discussion. But
> people just criticized and ridiculed me more.
>
> The next morning, a storm was raging online. Photographs of me had been
> posted on the Internet with the words "Traitor to her country!" printed
> across my forehead. Then I saw something really alarming: Both my
> parents' citizen ID numbers had been posted. I was shocked, because this
> information could only have come from the Chinese police.
>
> I saw detailed directions to my parents' home in China, accompanied by
> calls for people to go there and teach "this shameless dog" a lesson. It
> was then that I realized how serious this had become. My phone rang with
> callers making threats against my life. It was ironic: What I had tried
> so hard to prevent was precisely what had come to pass. And I was the
> target.
>
> I talked to my mom the next morning, and she said that she and my dad
> were going into hiding because they were getting death threats, too. She
> told me that I shouldn't call them. Since then, short e-mail messages
> have been our only communication. The other day, I saw photos of our
> apartment online; a bucket of feces had been emptied on the doorstep.
> More recently I've heard that the windows have been smashed and obscene
> posters have been hung on the door. Also, I've been told that after
> convening an assembly to condemn me, my high school revoked my diploma
> and has reinforced patriotic education.
>
> I understand why people are so emotional and angry; the events in Tibet
> have been tragic. But this crucifying of me is unacceptable. I believe
> that individual Chinese know this. It's when they fire each other up and
> act like a mob that things get so dangerous.
>
> Now, Duke is providing me with police protection, and the attacks in
> Chinese cyberspace continue. But contrary to my detractors'
> expectations, I haven't shriveled up and slunk away. Instead, I've
> responded by publicizing this shameful incident, both to protect my
> parents and to get people to reflect on their behavior. I'm no longer
> afraid, and I'm determined to exercise my right to free speech.
>
> Because ...
>
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