Monday, April 7, 2008

a ruined day

It's so sad.
Today the olympic flame was going through Paris; of course, it was a mess.
The flame was invisible, in the hands of the athletes surrounded by chinese policemen and french policemen. Invisible. And what you could hear was shouting, insults, people running from the police, fights.
There were some dignified protests; our representatives held up banners on the walls of the Assemblée Nationale (parliament) RSF (Reporters without borders) managed to hang their flag everywhere, from the Eiffel Tower to the Town Hall and Notre Dame.
It's such a shame. The passage of the flame is supposed to be a celebration, a party, a day to be proud of. Today's exhibition is enough to reduce anyone to tears.
And France's chinese immigrants are furious, of course.
And none of these incidents were seen by chinese viewers, although if the CCP wanted to rile up the people against the West, it would have been just too easy.
I was ashamed, and no-one could say i'm a fervent admirer of the CCP.
London yesterday was just as bad. I just don't see the point anymore.
I'm going to China for the first time this summer. Not during the games, of course, I'm not crazy, I'm just going to stay with a friend, and going to try to improve my chinese.
AT the moment China is not popular here.
I don't know if people are stupid, but they just don't seem to be able to dissociate a state and it's people. I've had the impression that people think I'm crazy because i want to study chinese, go to China, etcetera.
It seems so complicated for people to realise that we tend to act the same.
China and its people feel victimized by the west especially as information there isn't free; of course it stokes the country's nationalistic feelings.
It's the same everywhere.
Say anything bad about the US, you'll get a bunch of rednecks attacking you; say something bad about France, the french will get in a huff; etcetera, etcetera.
Human nature doesn't change much.
And I'm going to strangle Fred the next time he states that China is linked to Russia. For fuck's sake, the fool drives me nuts.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, just wanted to stop by and read your blog. It is depressing for me reading about the protests from Beijing and I bet it's even more so having it take place right in your face...

...oh, and which part of China are you going to?

Froufrou said...

Hunan, but apparently Shuang is planning trips all over the place^^