We’ve seen a lot of extreme talk on the part of Chinese netizens recently. And one of the biggest mistakes that people in the west can do is to assume that the views of those “crazies” are the views of all Chinese. I was reminded of this by Dezza, an old friend of mine, who posted this comment over on my CNet blog:

I was talking to a reporter for a respected newspaper in China and she said something to me that was really interesting. She said that although China’s internet users number around 300 million, there are still 1 billion+ Chinese who aren’t netizens. The western media and blogosphere seems to focus on these (often irrational) netizens perhaps because it is easier to gauge the feelings and mood of the Chinese people but in reality they are only a minority and do not represent the feelings of the majority of Chinese. The average Chinese person is more worried about inflation, joblessness, and the environment to dilly dally about boycotts of L’oreal and Louis Vitton.

If Carrefour has a big sale on peanut oil, pork or cabbage tomorrow, i’m thinking there would still be a big stampede to get some.. French support of the Tibetans be damned.

While the typical Chinese netizen is between the ages of 18-40, are part of the ‘little emperor’ generation and have not suffered through the pain and suffering of the great leap forward, cultural revolution, etc so they have only seen the economic development in the past 30 years, thus their idea of their government is skewed anyway. Propaganda and nationalist education can do wonders.

That said, anyone who opposes these extreme netizens can be prepared to face a barrage of insults, and possibly even death threats. Here are two high profile examples.

From National Hero to “cultureless, brainless stupid c*nt”

Jin Jing, the wheelchair-bound torch-bearer who bravely defended the Olympic torch in Paris, was hailed as a national hero for her efforts. But as China Digital Times points out, what a difference a day makes:

Olympic torch bearer Jin Jing has publicly said she hopes netizens will be prudent in handling calls to boycott Carrefour as the first victims of such a boycott are likely to be the many Chinese who work for Carrefour.

Below is some of the commentary from netizens:

Netizen from Jinan, Shandong: “Jin Jing is bullshit! Speaking on behalf of Carrefour. I think she’s a traitor.”

Netizen from Beijing: “Torch bearer Jin Jing, I earnestly request you to shut your mouth. You’ve done your duty already. Don’t go around making irresponsible remarks. First she’s missing a leg, now she’s missing a brain.”

Netizen from Dalian: “This c*nt’s attitude is the same one the Qing rulers had after the Eight Allied Forces came. What was the result then? Are you capable of representing the Great Han Race? Do you what you’re supposed to do!”

Netizen from Chengdu: “Someone goes to France once and it’s like she thinks she’s French. Jin Jing speaks with the voice of an utterly brainless evil-eyed wolf traitor. No wonder her original work unit wanted to get rid of her.”

Netizen from Jiangmen, Guangdong: “Jin Jing??? A cultureless, brainless stupid c*nt!!! And she’s a torch bearer…I demand we rip the torch from her hands!!!”

Grace Wang tries to bridge the gap

And then there’s this Duke University student who tried to get Pro-Tibet and Pro-China groups to talk to one another, only to end up the object of a Chinese internet witch-hunt for her efforts. For the record, she thinks Tibet is part of China.

Wang, who had friends on both sides, tried to get the two groups to talk, participants said. She began traversing what she called “the middle ground,” asking the groups’ leaders to meet and making bargains. She said she agreed to write “Free Tibet, Save Tibet” on one student’s back only if he would speak with pro-Chinese demonstrators. She pleaded and lectured. In one photo, she is walking toward a phalanx of Chinese flags and banners, her arms overhead in a “timeout” T.
…
The next day, a photo appeared on an Internet forum for Chinese students with a photo of Wang and the words “traitor to your country” emblazoned in Chinese across her forehead. Wang’s Chinese name, identification number and contact information were posted, along with directions to her parents’ apartment in Qingdao, a Chinese port city.

Salted with ugly rumors and manipulated photographs, the story of the young woman who was said to have taken sides with Tibet spread through China’s most popular Web sites, at each stop generating hundreds or thousands of raging, derogatory posts, some even suggesting that Wang - a slight 20-year-old - be burned in oil.

Someone posted a photo of what was purported to be a bucket of feces emptied on the doorstep of her parents, who had gone into hiding. International Herald Tribune

Two things about this whole situation make me somewhat sad. (And I expect I’ll require a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica to recover)

1. Any Chinese person who attempts to be a voice of reason is met with insults, and branded traitors by extremist netizens.

2. Which do you think is going to receive more publicity? The extreme behavior of these internet crazies? Or brave Chinese like Jin Jing and Grace Wang that venture to into the middle ground to try to accomplish something productive?

So all that said, I hope that when May 1st rolls around no one gets hurt. Carrefour is planning some holiday sales, and many Chinese will certainly be tempted to pass on the boycott. As Dezza wisely says, some may be of the opinion that food on the table is more important than national pride. Hell, given that Carrefour sells mostly made-in-China products and employs an army of Chinese workers, some (like Jin Jing) may not see the sense in such a boycott, and skip past the protests anyway.

Whatever the case, lets hope that no harm comes to anyone if that’s what they decide.

Update: American attacked in Zhuzhou, Henan Update 2: Ammended by Shanghaiist. The American says his taxi was surrounded by a chanting mob, but he was not hurt. Very good news.

Update: At Carrefour today in Dalian, there were well over 1000 people gathered at the Huanghe Lu, Xi’an Lu intersection to observe the anti-Carrefour protest. Heavy police presence. But things were kept orderly. Traffic backed up a bit of course. Adjacent Japanese franchise Mykal enjoyed particularly brisk business. Seems the calls for Japanese boycotts of 3 years past are a distant memory. I feel bad for any Chinese employed by Carrefour right now. Must be a tough position to find yourself in.

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