TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

China urges ‘rational protests’ of the West

The front-page Sunday editorial in the People’s Daily called on Chinese people to cherish patriotism “while expressing it in a rational way”.

It said: “As citizens, we have the responsibility to express our patriotic enthusiasm calmly and rationally and express patriotic aspiration in an orderly and legal manner.

Protestors in Britain, France, and San Francisco couldn’t have handed the PRC better news fodder than they did by trying to extinguish the torch with sand and water balloons, and even steal it from the runners. In one case the protestors tried to take the torch from a wheelchair-bound woman who fought the protestors, giving the Chinese a picture-perfect PR coup. 

 Protesting China’s human rights violations are fine. But what isn’t is not respecting China’s monumental progress thus far, and addressing the Chinese as a lesser people, like Western powers did in the 19th century. Besides bordering on discrimination, this arrogant attitude not only reinforces Chinese nationalism and drives them to supporting their government, but also severs the tenuous relations between China and the West built piece by piece, small step by small step, since Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. China’s further progress as a country toward respecting human rights, a path that it is on, depends upon these relations. 

 In this way, these shortsighted and disrespectful protests (which seem suspect in their motivation because of their timing — where were all of these “free Tibet” protestors a year ago? Five years ago? I’d bet that two years ago, a significant number of these protestors couldn’t even locate Tibet on a map. This is why these protests seem less because of China’s HR violations, and more so because some in the West still want to keep China in its subordinate role to the West) are very counterproductive. Rather than push China to better respect human rights, it is instead pushing the Chinese people to embrace their government and thus reinforce human rights violations, making it less likely that the PRC will institute better human rights protection. 

 So congratulations, protestors. You’ve managed to give the PRC a PR coup, and bolster their support from the Chinese people. Hope you’re proud.