Culture

Pro-Tibet Protesters targeted by cyberbullies

by cynthia yoo | April 13, 2008 at 02:00 pm

3765 views | 2 Recommendations | 6 comments

Chinese students and protesters who participated in Free Tibet demonstrations are being targeted by self-appointed trustees of Chinese nationalism.

A Chinese student at Duke University seen by other Chinese students taking part in a Free Tibet demonstration (see video on the right) now has her pictures, US phone number, Chinese identity card number, parent's address and home number in China splashed all over the internet as a "human flesh search engine" ensues, writes John Kennedy of Global Voices.

Video of counterprotests by Chinese students at Duke University.Above-mentioned student Wang Qianyuan appears at 5:16, clearly standingopposite the vast majority of the Chinese students. At 7:05, a fewclassmates surround her, asking why she's calling for Tibetanindependence, and not waving the Chinese flag. At 7:27 she retorts bysaying that Hong Kong has a flag too. Wang is now labelled "traitor"and "betrayer" all over the Chinese internet and Chinese netizens havedug up all sorts of details about her past and pieced them together.

Here's the link to a Youtube vid on the Duke University protests.

The Tibetan protestor who tried to snatch the torch away from Chinese paralympian Jin Jing in Paris has also had his name, home address, work and contact details circulated all over the internet in a similar manhunt, although EastSouthWestNorth doubts if Chinese netizens got it right in the first place.

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PEP

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:01 on April 13th, 2008

cynthia yoo, I like this story. It's good stuff. Scary stuff, but things we need to be aware of. Apparently Salem and the witch hunts are getting a second chance in cyber space.

cynthia yoo

at 18:59 on April 13th, 2008

I agree, but Global Voices blogger, John Kennedy also situates this example of "cyberbullying" into the bigger issue of how the West and China are leagues apart when looking at the issues concerning China and Tibet.

Kennedy writes:

"You’re right, it is completely unacceptable. But like it or not, China is what it is. There are 1.3 billion people in this country, which holds hundreds of billions of US dollars in reserves and plays an irreplaceable role in the global economy, so dismissing China’s stance on Tibet or using economic leverage to improve human rights obviously isn’t an option any longer. The bigger the Free Tibet movement gets, the more of this kind of thing we’re going to see. Blind left-wing nationalist sentiment here will not just disappear because the West screams louder than the Chinese do, this is fact. If people in the West are feeling helpless about the situation in Tibet, or in China, unfortunately any sympathetic voices or allies they previously had in China have now been silenced because of how the torch relay protests have played out.

I of course know that we Westerners have the privilege of protesting however we choose to, but what are we supposed to conclude when the forms of protest we do settle on have the exact opposite result from what was intended?"

Dean Podmore

at 22:02 on April 13th, 2008

I was amazed at the overwhelming support and colourful display by the Chinese community within Melbourne. Great to see a peaceful demonstration which was appreciated by media, police and the wider community. - Dean Podmore

Dean Podmore has contributed a photo to this story.

boarderstu

at 02:23 on April 14th, 2008

This was a bit surreal, I was only out in the street, and there was lots of Chinese people wanting to tell me their story and views! However with todays media (Ours and China's) I still don't know who to believe.

boarderstu has contributed a photo to this story.

william2

at 18:39 on April 15th, 2008

I don't believe chinese media. I didn't watch CCTV for many years after I came US. And I don't like Communist Party either. Personally, I think western media is more objective.

But frankly say, I am dispointed about the recent report about Tibet. If you can understand both English and Chinese, maybe you could watch this story from both sides. I think maybe it's a good chance for the western to understand more about China.

The conflict between cultures is still the most challenging problem in the world. The war in middle-east, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan.....all of them are related to this.

Listen more, think more... Which government system is the best? Is there any so called "the best system"? Should all countries in the world be forced to follow the same way to develop? Should people have the right to choose their own way? Think about it.

Echokid

at 14:55 on April 17th, 2008

William2, your comments are very well reasoned. What's really troubling is the knee-jerk outrage that occurs when Chinese detect the slightest diversion from Communist Party Line. Is this the kind of diplomacy we can expect from the future leaders of an emerging world power? Anyways, this is the USA. Free speech still reigns, for the time being at least.