10 ms·

Boston Student wrote ‘I'm from Hong Kong’ An onslaught of Chinese anger followed

51 points by bubmiw 7y ago

joelx 7y ago
China is a terrifying dictatorship extending control to every part of life for their citizens.
- dragonsh 7y ago
  Chinese are unhappy for this article by a ethnic Chinese person from Hong Kong, since this people in HK never fought against British for democracy or even similar rights they have since 1997. Even though British treated them like a bonded servant without brains, give them money, food, they are happy. Chinese government give them more rights except full political freedom. Now this people wants to hide their ethnicity as Chinese because they think they are superior to mainland Chinese. This cause an outrage. I do not like personal attacks on the article writer, but probably people should resort to polite debate and discourse. But given modern obsession with social network I don't see it. I feel China is as terrifying as USA if you cross paths with government agencies. It has its own problems like any other government including USA. Let's wait for indictment of Assange under espionage act, it will erode first amendment rights which I think is one of the good thing in USA to keep democracy alive.
techntoke 7y ago
I'm from Portland, not the US!
- rangibaby 7y ago
  Look Portland, if you join the United States you can continue running your city as a democracy, we won’t mess with you, we just want you to join our country. 20 years later: Just kidding! Haha!
  - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
    Hong Kong wasn't a democracy under British rule. It's become more democratic since the handover - not less. A lot of Chinese people are touchy when you tell them that part of their country - a part that was taken away from China at the point of a gun in the 1800s - isn't part of China. They're proud that Hong Kong was returned to China, because it's a symbol of China overcoming colonialism, after all the damage and humiliation colonial powers inflicted on China. The Chinese central government is mostly happy to let Hong Kong run itself, as long as they don't try to secede from China, and secession is the primary goal of many of the "pro-democracy" activists. There isn't really any analogous situation in the United States. Any attempt to make some sort of hypothetical analogy - involving Portland, for example - will sound forced, because the United States doesn't have the same history of foreign powers invading it and carving it up.
    - madhadron 7y ago
      > the United States doesn't have the same history of foreign powers invading it and carving it up. True. The foreign powers in the Americas went for genocide and carving it up.
      - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
        That wasn't done to the United States. It was done to the native people before the United States was founded, and by the United States to the native people afterwards.
    - fieryscribe 7y ago
      The Chinese central government is not happy to let Hong Kong run itself. That's why Article 23 was pushed numerous times, as well the National Anthem Bill and the extradition law. They put their customs officials on Hong Kong territory, to the dismay of many locals. They also conduct extra-judicial behavior such as kidnapping HK citizens. In 1997, HKers were afraid their freedoms would erode under Chinese rule. We were left alone for a while, but the spectre was always there. Now, the Central Government has made it more of a priority. That said, there are many HKers who consider HK part of China and many others who don't.
- SuperNinKenDo 7y ago
  Nobody's convinced by your false equivocation, wumao.
- wyxuan 7y ago
  Geographically and politically it may be true but an identity is something that is hard to shake off, especially given the differences in dialect and customs. Portland and the US just doesn't have that difference. Many mainlanders believe that Hong Kongers are just haughty elites that think that they are higher than the mainlanders.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- nutcracker46 7y ago
  Taiwanese have never been part of the People's Republic. Deal with that.
  - akvadrako 7y ago
    The PRC is just the current government of China, and Taiwan does claim to be part of a single China including the mainland.
nutcracker46 7y ago
Those sinofascists also tell ethnic Chinese citizens of other countries that they are Chinese, and owe allegiance to the People's Republic. Not much different from Nazi Germany's expectations of ethnic Germans living abroad. Except that the Chinese citizens feel extreme offense and hurt feelings when told that some Chinese are not citizens and don't owe a damn thing to the People's Republic.
- asciident 7y ago
  Could this article be provocative on purpose? This seems like something that is written to provoke outrage, and exactly what I would do if I were running anti-chinese propaganda. It's unconfirmably anecdotal, the victim is a female Boston college student (very easy to sympathize with), and fits in the "China is expanding their fascist policies" narrative. In the same vein, if I were running Chinese propaganda, I'd probably write a story about how a fat American in China demands a Chinese laborer give up their seat because they are inferior.
  - neilv 7y ago
    Yes, it could be. It could also be a sincere journalistic attempt to report their understanding of a situation.
  - boapnuaput 7y ago
    The Chinese government has attempted to quash free speech in the USA which criticizes it. [0] is an interesting anecdote. [0] https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/mural-draws-fire-from-china/article_22529ace-f94a-11e1-bf2a-0019bb2963f4.html https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/mural-draws-fire-fro...
vinni2 7y ago
During my stay at various research institutes throughout Europe where I met a lot of Chinese PhD students and Researchers, it was surprising to know that many of these highly educated intelligent people didn’t see anything wrong with Chinese leadership. And insisted Tibet is theirs and Hong Kong is part of China. I was really shocked at first but a friend from Hong Kong explained me that many Chinese are highly patriotic and brainwashed from Chinese media to distrust western media. And anything bad western media says about china they think it’s all false.
- xenospn 7y ago
  Israel is very similar. After several decades of “this is ours”, people don’t even remember what the world used to look like before.
remarkEon 7y ago
This article is very impressive to me. China is able to project cultural power to US universities. That’s incredible. The West has no comparable. We’re too confused these days with the myriad of identity politics in our democracy and China has realized that that is a weakness and is going to exploit it.
Rumperuu 7y ago
Semi-relevant anecdote: Back in my first year of university (in the UK), I remember coming back from the Christmas break to find my Chinese flatmate, disheveled. Turns out he had spent the holiday in the library reading up on Tiananmen Square and the like and was very eager to share with me his astonishing discoveries. He was surprised when I told him that people outside of China know about all that stuff. I can't imagine how confused it all must've made him feel, especially since he returned to China after his studies.

51 points by bubmiw 7y ago

joelx 7y ago

China is a terrifying dictatorship extending control to every part of life for their citizens.

dragonsh 7y ago
Chinese are unhappy for this article by a ethnic Chinese person from Hong Kong, since this people in HK never fought against British for democracy or even similar rights they have since 1997. Even though British treated them like a bonded servant without brains, give them money, food, they are happy. Chinese government give them more rights except full political freedom. Now this people wants to hide their ethnicity as Chinese because they think they are superior to mainland Chinese. This cause an outrage. I do not like personal attacks on the article writer, but probably people should resort to polite debate and discourse. But given modern obsession with social network I don't see it. I feel China is as terrifying as USA if you cross paths with government agencies. It has its own problems like any other government including USA. Let's wait for indictment of Assange under espionage act, it will erode first amendment rights which I think is one of the good thing in USA to keep democracy alive.

techntoke 7y ago

I'm from Portland, not the US!

rangibaby 7y ago
Look Portland, if you join the United States you can continue running your city as a democracy, we won’t mess with you, we just want you to join our country. 20 years later: Just kidding! Haha!
- DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  Hong Kong wasn't a democracy under British rule. It's become more democratic since the handover - not less. A lot of Chinese people are touchy when you tell them that part of their country - a part that was taken away from China at the point of a gun in the 1800s - isn't part of China. They're proud that Hong Kong was returned to China, because it's a symbol of China overcoming colonialism, after all the damage and humiliation colonial powers inflicted on China. The Chinese central government is mostly happy to let Hong Kong run itself, as long as they don't try to secede from China, and secession is the primary goal of many of the "pro-democracy" activists. There isn't really any analogous situation in the United States. Any attempt to make some sort of hypothetical analogy - involving Portland, for example - will sound forced, because the United States doesn't have the same history of foreign powers invading it and carving it up.
  - madhadron 7y ago
    > the United States doesn't have the same history of foreign powers invading it and carving it up. True. The foreign powers in the Americas went for genocide and carving it up.
    - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
      That wasn't done to the United States. It was done to the native people before the United States was founded, and by the United States to the native people afterwards.
  - fieryscribe 7y ago
    The Chinese central government is not happy to let Hong Kong run itself. That's why Article 23 was pushed numerous times, as well the National Anthem Bill and the extradition law. They put their customs officials on Hong Kong territory, to the dismay of many locals. They also conduct extra-judicial behavior such as kidnapping HK citizens. In 1997, HKers were afraid their freedoms would erode under Chinese rule. We were left alone for a while, but the spectre was always there. Now, the Central Government has made it more of a priority. That said, there are many HKers who consider HK part of China and many others who don't.
SuperNinKenDo 7y ago
Nobody's convinced by your false equivocation, wumao.
wyxuan 7y ago
Geographically and politically it may be true but an identity is something that is hard to shake off, especially given the differences in dialect and customs. Portland and the US just doesn't have that difference. Many mainlanders believe that Hong Kongers are just haughty elites that think that they are higher than the mainlanders.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
nutcracker46 7y ago
Taiwanese have never been part of the People's Republic. Deal with that.
- akvadrako 7y ago
  The PRC is just the current government of China, and Taiwan does claim to be part of a single China including the mainland.

nutcracker46 7y ago

Those sinofascists also tell ethnic Chinese citizens of other countries that they are Chinese, and owe allegiance to the People's Republic. Not much different from Nazi Germany's expectations of ethnic Germans living abroad. Except that the Chinese citizens feel extreme offense and hurt feelings when told that some Chinese are not citizens and don't owe a damn thing to the People's Republic.

asciident 7y ago
Could this article be provocative on purpose? This seems like something that is written to provoke outrage, and exactly what I would do if I were running anti-chinese propaganda. It's unconfirmably anecdotal, the victim is a female Boston college student (very easy to sympathize with), and fits in the "China is expanding their fascist policies" narrative. In the same vein, if I were running Chinese propaganda, I'd probably write a story about how a fat American in China demands a Chinese laborer give up their seat because they are inferior.
- neilv 7y ago
  Yes, it could be. It could also be a sincere journalistic attempt to report their understanding of a situation.
- boapnuaput 7y ago
  The Chinese government has attempted to quash free speech in the USA which criticizes it. [0] is an interesting anecdote. [0] https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/mural-draws-fire-from-china/article_22529ace-f94a-11e1-bf2a-0019bb2963f4.html https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/mural-draws-fire-fro...

vinni2 7y ago

During my stay at various research institutes throughout Europe where I met a lot of Chinese PhD students and Researchers, it was surprising to know that many of these highly educated intelligent people didn’t see anything wrong with Chinese leadership. And insisted Tibet is theirs and Hong Kong is part of China. I was really shocked at first but a friend from Hong Kong explained me that many Chinese are highly patriotic and brainwashed from Chinese media to distrust western media. And anything bad western media says about china they think it’s all false.

xenospn 7y ago
Israel is very similar. After several decades of “this is ours”, people don’t even remember what the world used to look like before.

remarkEon 7y ago

This article is very impressive to me. China is able to project cultural power to US universities. That’s incredible. The West has no comparable. We’re too confused these days with the myriad of identity politics in our democracy and China has realized that that is a weakness and is going to exploit it.

Rumperuu 7y ago

Semi-relevant anecdote: Back in my first year of university (in the UK), I remember coming back from the Christmas break to find my Chinese flatmate, disheveled. Turns out he had spent the holiday in the library reading up on Tiananmen Square and the like and was very eager to share with me his astonishing discoveries. He was surprised when I told him that people outside of China know about all that stuff. I can't imagine how confused it all must've made him feel, especially since he returned to China after his studies.