chris nixon : nixonbyname.com

Apparently today Chinese internet users are saying “enough” to international bullying. Here’s my tuppence worth.

I don’t see any bullying going on. Western governments are doing everything they can to do business with China in the same way that they do with the United States. As a result, there is minimal criticism from the Western regimes.

The Western media is obviously highlighting human right violations. It makes for good news. This however is not bullying or even a criticism of China, simply a criticism of their government’s actions. Charities like Amnesty International are also making the same accusations, so it seems a fair cop to me. Amnesty is also very quick to level criticism at Western governments for their human rights violations so you can be pretty sure there is no bias there. China made some very serious promises to the International Olympics Committee that they would put an end to their human rights violations in order to get the Olympics in Beijing. These promises don’t seem to have been kept.

The other side of this is that a lot of people are accusing these kids of blind nationalism. The thing is that blind nationalism is by no means a trait unique to the Chinese. We in the west are equally of nationalism. It’s a stupid thing, but it’s natural to support “your team.” In the UK we do nothing but bitch and moan about our country until some “johnny foreigner” makes the same accusation. All of a sudden we are patriotic without question.

I think it’s great these kids are proud of their country, but just like the people of any country, they should be under no allusion that they have a responsibility to not let their government get away with committing human rights violations.

I am in no way against China. It’s a country I would love to visit one day. I am however, strongly against torture, capital punishment and organ harvesting. I’m strongly for freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom to practice religious beliefs (as long as that doesn’t harm others). I’m not against China. I wish I could criticise the Chinese government without having to clarify that, just like when I criticise my own government.

Yours Aye.