Kevininfuckinpudong

In college, I had to read this book called "Compassion Fatigue" about reports on tragedy. I think the Chinese must have the worst case ever of compassion fatigue. Just look at these comments, translations from Chinese chatboards! WARNING: Pretty damned offensive. 1. Great bombing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Repay blood debts with blood!!! That's right! I won't sympathize with the British. Invaders are not worthy of sympathy. Support Iraq, support Afghanistan, support all people living under oppression!!!! Would there be such bombings if the US and British governments hadn't openly invaded other countries?????? It's justified! 2. The US and Britain constitute the biggest terrorist forces in the world! They just invade other countries whenever they want! They violate the wills of other peoples whenever they please! When US and British bombs were falling on Afghanistan, Iraq and countless other invaded countries, did they ever think of how many innocent civilians were being killed? Maybe they thought about it! But killing citizens in other countries for their own political and economic benefit is something not worth mentioning, in their opinions, or even seen as a price that simply needs to be paid for their own good! We feel sorry for the death of innocent people, but there is simply no way to compare the number of civilians who have died in the US and England with the number of civilians slaughtered by these countries' armies! It's clear that the invasion of Iraq was wrong, but the people still support Blair. This shows that colonialism is still popular in Britian. This is the price the British have to pay for their hegemonic thinking! 3. The countries fighting the war on terror lack the knowledge of our ancient culture! All they know is oppressing people and controlling them through violence. Poor innocent civilians. The only other country sharing our knowledge is France! 4. Terrorism is the only way for the weak to fight back against the strong. No matter what reaons they may have, the US-British attack on the people of Iraq was wrong and constitutes blatant terrorism. All the weak can do in response is to bring you down with them. 5. Fuck, why didn't they bomb Japan?!!! I hope to see a Chinese branch of Al Qaeda deliver a masterpiece in Japan.... 6. In the Western world, the government is chosen by the people. Naturally, if the government does something wrong and angers someone else, the people will have to accept the outcome of its government's behavior. I have no sympathy for the English voters who died, only for those who didn't vote! It's good that everyone appreciates and supports China's foreign policy, making China the safest place in the entire world. Come on everybody, come to China! 7. The bellicose US and British people selected bellicose presidents! The two often act in collusion to pick on the weak. This should be avenged! The US and England are the real Axis of Evil! If it weren't for their invasions, no innocent civilians would have died in Afghanistan or Iraq or even the Balkans! So the US and Britain should reflect on this! 8. You reap what you sow! Yeah, pretty disturbing. I guess they got compassion fatigue from dwelling on the Nanjing Massacre for over 60 years. My only question is: where is the humanity here? Who are these people? It disgusts me, seriously. What kind of a people rejoices in the suffering of others? Oh yeah, people with a complete lack of confidence and chip on their shoulder. Sounds like some people I know. I'm really very concerned about the inability here in China to view fellow humans as people, and treat them as such. Other than that, I really don't know what to say. I think these quotes speak for themselves. They speak volumes. Final note: sorry for the haphazard translations. Busy today. posted Friday, 12 August 2005 THM made this comment, Gosh, I wonder how the poster of that first comment would feel if a Tibetan said the same thing about the Chinese? comment added :: 8th July 2005, 17:26 GMT+08 :: http://thehorsesmouth.blog-city.com Kevin made this comment, hehe, yeah, 'self-reflection' is definitely not a strong point here in china. anyway, didn't you hear? tibet is an inseparable part of the motherland. ummm... yeah... sure i was most amazed by: "I hope to see a Chinese branch of Al Qaeda deliver a masterpiece in Japan...." we all know all these comments passed through a censor, so the inclusion of that one blew me away, kind of... comment added :: 8th July 2005, 17:57 GMT+08 American man made this comment, Kevin,great site! It doesn't surprise me in the least.The Chinese are just scared little people.It just makes them feel strong to have others suffer.It is truly pathetic. I have had classes of 50-60 students laugh about 9/11.What can you say?Zero empathy.Is there a word in Chinese for empathy? comment added :: 8th July 2005, 20:39 GMT+08 A Chinese from HK made this comment, Are you sick or something? I feel sorry for you.... comment added :: 8th July 2005, 22:51 GMT+08 American man made this comment, Sick of living in a 5,000 year old toilet. comment added :: 8th July 2005, 23:23 GMT+08 Fabian made this comment, Near fifty years of Communist propaganda and "education" will do wonders for your faculties and critical reasoning. comment added :: 9th July 2005, 05:38 GMT+08 :: http://www.theswanker.com/macammacam Gordon made this comment, It's all Sun Yat-Sen's fault. (I will do a blog entry about this when I get my laptop back) comment added :: 9th July 2005, 21:25 GMT+08 :: http://thehorsesmouth.blog-city.com Nanjinger made this comment, If you read the Chinese History textbooks and listen to the Chinese media . You probably would understand why there are so many radical patriotic views in China. These views are the reflections of shortcomings of Chinese modern society. I will evenually hinder the progress of modern China. comment added :: 12th July 2005, 15:59 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, Nanjinger, thanks for visiting. Let me tell you, I love the city of Nanjing! I spend a lot of time there. Hell, even going there this weekend. So, em, rock on Nanjing! comment added :: 12th July 2005, 17:55 GMT+08 John-Ward Leighton made this comment, Compassion for whom? Does one have compassion for professional thugs who get killed or injured while breaking into you house to steal your goods. Or does one have compassion for the victims of the crime? Compassion fatigue indeed! JWL comment added :: 15th July 2005, 06:09 GMT+08 Michael made this comment, Compassion fatigue implies that there was some to bigin with. It's more like vacuum. 5000 years of this middle-kindom mind set plus 60 years CCP's distorted view of the world would do that to ya. Now, refresh me. What did these people say when Chinese embassy is bombed? It's truely a nation full of hypocrites. comment added :: 15th July 2005, 11:36 GMT+08 LEO FROM CANADA made this comment, A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE WEST NEVER KNEW THE HISTORY OF CHINA.... IN THAT SENSE, THEY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND THE CHINESE MIND......HOW MANY BRITISH, JAPANESE AND MAYBE AMERICAN KNOW THAT BRITAN, JAPAN AND SOME WESTERN NATION HAD DONE A LOT OF HARM AND PAIN TO THE CHINESE NATION IN THE PAST????????????????????????? NANJING MASSACRE BY THE JAPANESE, FEEDING THE CHINESE OF OPIUM BY THE BRITISH...AND WHATEVER THE WEST COULD LAID HAND ON THE GREAT CHINESE NATION.....WHERE WERE THE JUSTICE?????? WHAT YOU HAD DONE (HARM AND DESTRUCTTION) IN THE PAST WILL COME BACK TO GET YOU. BY THE WAY, I AM A FRENCH CANADIAN THAT HAD UNDERSTOOD THE REAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD. comment added :: 6th August 2005, 12:22 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, Intenet comments are highly unreliable in China. They include rumors, lies, extremism and fanatism. I suspect the motive of Kevin. You just see one side of the coin and you make all these peopel believe that is all. After all, please remerber the terrorists who hit London are British, not Chinese. Can I generalize that all the British people are sick, mad and insane? comment added :: 11th August 2005, 03:30 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, Most Chinese people are sympathetic with the British people and resent the terrorists. You can find a lot of articels, comments in support of the victims. I'm a Xinhua correspondent in Cairo, Egypt. Here I will show you some of the stories carried by Xinhua after the bombings. Pretty damed surprised, en? comment added :: 11th August 2005, 03:35 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, Xinhua stories on London blasts, a small party, Kevin. You want to see more? Blair says British people not be intimidated LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair vows upon back to London from Scotland on Thursday that the " British people will not be intimidated and terrorists won't win." Speaking in Downing Street, the prime minister said: "It is a very sad day for the British people but we will hold true to the British way of life." Blair vows to bring blasts criminals to justice LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday the perpetrators of the deadliest peacetime attacks in Britain's history acted "in the name of Islam" and he vowed to "bring the responsible to justice". China resolutely condemns terrorist attacks in London BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday said it was shocked at the terrorist explosions in London and strongly condemned the terrorist attacks. Roundup: Latin American countries condemn terror attacks in London MEXICO CITY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Latin American countries on Thursday condemned the terrorist blasts in London, the deadliest terror attacks on British soil in recent years, and expressed their sympathies to the victims. Backgrounder: Major terror attacks in the world after Sept. 11, 2001 BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua)-- A series of explosions hit London's transport system during rush hour Thursday morning, killing at least 37 and wounding 700 others, the deadliest terror attacks on British soil in recent years and yet another deadly incident since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Chinese president strongly condemns London terrorist attacks GLENEAGLES, Scotland, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday strongly condemned the terrorist attacks against London, and offered his deep condolences to the victims and their families. Argentina condemns terrorist attack in London BUENOS AIRES, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government condemned Thursday the terrorist attack in London. US condemns explosions in Britain WASHINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States condemned on Thursday the explosions in London that killed some 40 people and expressed condolences to the victims of the explosions. London blasts bear hallmarks of al-Qaeda attacks, says UK's Straw LONDON July 7 (Xinhua) -- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday that the bombing in central London earlier in the day had "the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda related attack". Portugal condemns London blasts, reinforces security LISBON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates condemned the terrorist attacks in London on Thursday. Portugal is prepared to cooperate with England "in any way it needs," Socrates said, adding that "democracy cannot give way to terrorism." Security tightened up across Europe LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Security is being tightened at airports and railway stations across Europe after explosions attacked London's transport system on Thursday. comment added :: 11th August 2005, 03:52 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, Actually, not suprised by the Xinhua reports, chinese reporter. There's nothing suprising about that. That's called humanity, and we're all human. What I was suprised by were the reactions that I saw in chat rooms, which I have translated here. There's no denying these things were said. There is also no denying that comments about democracy or human rights are deleted from such sited, while garbage and hatred such as that shown above remains. There's something wrong with such a system. comment added :: 11th August 2005, 10:26 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, Kevin, I'm not denying these nasty things being said, but what I want you and all the other readers to realize is that these nasty things are just a party of comments made in Internet rooms and many other things are also said. Not to memtion only a very small part of Chinese use Internet, 10 percent maybe. Please do not generalize what you have seen. I'm a journalist. I know pretty many explosions and disasters. Actually I rushed to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt shortly after it was hit by terrorists on July 23 which killed some 90 people. I was shocked. I think every human being is shocked to see fellow human beings being massacred in such a brutal way. However, we have to do some soul-searching on our own part. Why there are these crazy guys? I have been in the Middle East for quite a long time. Frustration is prevailing and anti-American sentiments running high. I know many common Egyptians. They are farmers, teachers, pofessors and jounalists. You don't understand what impact the war in Afganistan and Iraq has had on their mind. They see killings, bombings and bloodshed on tv every day. Unlike Americans who blame everything bad in Iraq on terrorists, they blame Americans and the British people whose governments invaded Iraq. Yes, I appreciate your words when you mentioned humanity for so many times. Those crazy terrorists are once joyful young men. They are not born crazy terrorists. It takes a lot to drive a young and fresh man into a cold and insame terrorist. We, especially the people in the western countries, have to think about it. Blaming everything on a batch of bad guys does no good. As we Chinese say, lead by virtue not by force. I have to state, as a matter as fact, many Arabs strongly believe whenever there is war of Crusaders on the Arab soil, there shall be 9.11 and July 7. Americans say they want to liberate Iraq from tyranny, but they turn a large number of Arab young man into radicals. After all, Arabs do not invade the western countries. Your governments brought war and bloodshed to their doorstep and they just push it back to your lobby. Sorry to say that. As for democracy and human rights in China, that is a good topic. But we Chinese never expect foreigns to give us all these beautiful things. History tells a lot. As someone have mentioned above, the British once gave us opium and the Americans fought at least three wars with us, the Chinese Civil war, the korean war and the vietnam war. We have our own way of doing things and we believ we can do it right. Peace, prosperity, and democracy, all we want. We will have them one by one, but never believe some westerners can give them to us. Please do not lecture these things on us. It is American politicians who are scared by the emergence of a strong and stable China. We are confident and we really want to fairly compete. And, thousands of Chinese students and officials go to America every year to study. We learn, we adapt and we implement. Don't worry about democracy issues in China. We Chinese don't worry about that. What does concern us is whether the politicians in Washington and London are able to accept the fact that a little people living in the toilet for 5000 years are just as competent as they are, and in some cases, even better. comment added :: 11th August 2005, 16:22 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, Thanks for your well thought-out response. I understand where you're coming from, but I gotta say it sounded a bit too much like... well, like you work at Xinhua. Comments such as "Your governments brought war and bloodshed to their doorstep and they just push it back to your lobby. Sorry to say that" and "Don't worry about democracy issues in China. We Chinese don't worry about that." I would recommend that you spend more time learning more about the world while you are outside of China, because I don't think that statements such as these can be characterized as accurate or open-minded. For example, could you inform me of why 911 happened prior to Afghanistan? What was the reason for that? And after 911, was the US supposed to sit back and leave Afghanistan as it was? I believe we are in agreement on Iraq but that is certainly no reason for attacks on Western civilians. And as for your comment about Chinese not caring about human rights, well, sorry. That is just silly. Perhaps you should ask some of the people currently doing jail time for promoting human rights and freedom of the press. I know these are things that are not covered in Xinhua news, but they do exist. So maybe pick up some other newspapers and surf some other websites, such as my own, while you are in Egypt. I think you'll learn a lot. comment added :: 11th August 2005, 16:57 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, Firstly, Xinhua is not what you suppose it be. We follow every piece of news carried by AP, Reuters and AFP. Whatever you read, we read much more about it. Not to mention CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and any other major news sources and TV channels. Why we disagree each other? Think about it. As I have said, we Chinese have our own ways of doing things. There are dissidents, there are bloodshed on Tian'anmen Square, there are many many other injustices and grievances... Do you think we are silly enough not to realize these things do exist? We have different ways of looking at them. You can't build a democracy with more than one billion free citizens in one day, can you? I'm not speaking for the government because it is not the government I voted for. I speak for myself and many of my fellow countrymen share these views. We see democracies around the world, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Nigeria to Argentina. Unfortunately, they can hardly be good models for China. There are good models in terms of human rights and freedom, they are America, France and Germany, etc, and we are learning, as I have said, we will adapt and implement. Every Chinese knows an authoritarian system can not hold for ever, but the question is how to reform it. When I say "Don't worry", I mean we are working on it. Don't you lecture us and don't you give us hasty prescriptions. Every time when it comes to human rights and democracy, western people do appear to have some kind of moral superiority, they will mention lots of obvious facts in China that go against good standards of freedom and liberty. Anyway, thanks for saying those things again and again, but what we need is a solution. We are working on it. Secondly, about "Your governments brought war and bloodshed to their doorstep and they just push it back to your lobby. Sorry to say that" , I just repeated what I was told when I was in Egypt for so many years, and many people around the world somehow share the feelings. Humanity does not just mean western humanity. Do you know how many Palestinian innocent civilians were killed in the Palestinian -Israeli conflicts prior to 9.11? America has backed the most resented foe of the Arab people for more than fifty yeras, plowing countless seeds of hatred. Then do you know why there is al-Quida? You can read more and you will find Bin la-Dan was infuriated by the blind US backing of the Saudi royal family which bans women from driving and confines them to male domination. The corrupt and tyrannical Saudi government even let US foreces in on Saudi Arabia's soil, which hosts two of the most revered shrines in Islam. Everything has its source and origin, so does terrrorism. Buddha says where there is an origin, there is a result. If the western people do not deal with the origins of terrorism and work hard to win the hearts and minds of the Arab people, there will be a lot of tragical, bloody results. I'm in Egypt for many years and surely I'm learning things around me. But that does not mean I have to accept some fallible chain of reasoning, no matter it be on terrorism or on human rights. I understand American and British people are ill treated by the terrorists and we share your resentment and show our sympathy. One step further, as friends, we'd like you to know some bitter facts on terrorism. It is not because we want to hurt your feelings. It is because to know better these facts will help you deal with terrorism better. That's all. God bless America. God should also bless all innocent people in the world, no matter they are westerners or Arabs or Chinese. comment added :: 11th August 2005, 19:22 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, Now here's another misrepresentation: "Bin la-Dan was infuriated by the blind US backing of the Saudi royal family which bans women from driving and confines them to male domination." So he went to Afghanistan, where... women lived free? And as for "Don't you lecture us and don't you give us hasty prescriptions." I've got a solution. How about China stop arresting people who have done nothing more than express their own opinions? That wouldn't be that hard, would it? Jiang Yanyong, Zhang Lin, I am sure you have heard of these people. Just because you have a billion people doesn't mean they can be arrested for what they say! That's simply faulty reasoning. Please don't lecture me on conditions in China, because I've been here for a while and I know what it is like. "Xinhua is not what you suppose it be. We follow every piece of news carried by AP, Reuters and AFP. Whatever you read, we read much more about it. Not to mention CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and any other major news sources and TV channels." I think that the statement "Whatever you read, we read much more about it. " is revealing. There are plenty of things covered by BBC and CNN that are completely ignored by Xinhua, such as the recent death of former leader ZZY. Xinhua is extremely filtered, so please don't try to portray it as like CNN or BBC. You might have a lot of sources, but in the end, it is heavily filtered. "As I have said, we Chinese have our own ways of doing things." I think it would be better if the people could choose their own way, rather than having the government force them to accept what you call the "Chinese way." As someone who works in the media, I would hope that you could agree that freedom of speech would be helpful to China, and would not be difficult. This is my final point: if there was freedom of speech, people could post whatever they want on the Internet. But in the current confused situation, people can post the bullshit I translated above, but cannot write much simpler things criticizing Chinese society or the government. That is sad. I have had experiences on chat boards where people were saying "kill japanese, cut off their heads," and I said "really that's not a good idea, Japan has been very helpful to China," and it was my post that got deleted! Why not delete the post that says "kill japanese"? Only when there is freedom of speech will there be a chance to have a balanced dialogue and erase some of the irrational extremism illustrated above. I think we both agree on that. comment added :: 12th August 2005, 09:34 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, As I have said, the Chinese people don't need be reminded of some obvious facts again and again. People in India has freedom of speech, but they are also in deeper poverty; Pakistan once has democracy, but the voters chose a really bad government which was toppled by General Musharaf, a move welcomed by the people. The list can go on and on. What's my point? If I can't raise my family, if I can't go to university, if I can't use Internet to argue with somebody....Why should I have a democracy? Not to mention Indonesia and the Phillipines, tow democracies, have two of the most corrupt governments in the world. (ridiculous, en?) As for the value of democracy and an authoritarian system, western philosophers have done the comparison 1500 years ago. You just read it. Why the Chinese way is still working? Because with all its injustices and grievances, under this system, most Chinese are better off than they were ten years ago, the economy is growing fast, the society is mordernizing... You just deny them! The Chinese society is too complex and you can reason either way and you will find plenty of evidence. Should I point out some silly and stupid aspects of the western society where you are from? The Americans have freedom of speech, democracy and human rights, can they stop someone from blowing the WTC in 1995(?) before 9.11, can they prevent their government from invading a country without adequate justification, can the British government stop some young Pakistani guys from turning into terrorists? It's your own society which is rotting away and fighting a tough war with terrorists. Yeah, it makes you feel better to point fingers at China. But Beijing and Pudong, Shanghai where you live are not hit by terrorists. We have our problems, but we will fix them one by one. All along the way, we enjoy relative political stability and economic prosperity. Why? Not beacause some westerners keep pointing fingers at us, but because we Chinese are working all along the way. By the way, how about your society and governments? As a Xinhua correspondent, I can tell you something that you don't know. Two months ago, some 10 ruling parties in Africa, including Nigeria's, sent a high level delegation to China. Obviously, they are not in Beijing to learn how to arrest people beacause they say something. SO why they are there? There must be something in China which you don't know and which was valued by them. Not to mention Vietnam, which has followed the Chinese path during the last two dacades. All these countries are crazy? No. It's beacause for some developing countries, the Chinese way is more efficient and more down-to-earth than the western way. comment added :: 12th August 2005, 16:04 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, See, now you're making broad generalizations. And saying "there must be something in China... which was valued by them" but not really saying what. And as for your comment about Indonesia and the Philippines being corrupt, point taken, but then you cite Nigeria? And China... My original point stands: there is something wrong with a country where freedom of speech is so completely limited, but where comments such as those above are permitted. I don't wanna censor anything, but if you wanna censor something, censor this BS that I translated above. comment added :: 12th August 2005, 16:57 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, And also, why characterize what I am saying as "lecturing"? I am not lecturing anyone on anything. I am not pointing fingers. I am simply pointing out a problem, and it's a big problem. comment added :: 12th August 2005, 17:39 GMT+08 Chinese Reporter made this comment, My point is: freedom of speech, or democracy, though very good, can't solve the urgent problems facing most developing countries. That's why the Indonesian government is more corupt even than the communist government of China; that's why Iran has free elections but the people are still anti-American and seeking nuclear weapons, that's also why many African countries that have democracy are now on the verge of state failure. You want me to say directly something that the African countries value? I thought you would have known that. Ok. What most developing countries value is China's experience in bringing an economic backwater into the world's fastest growing economy with national sovereignty guaranteed and social stability maintained relatively well. World Bank and IMF obviously can't do that because when they try to give orders to the southeastern Asian countries, they pushed their economies into a big financial crisis in 1997. Can Washington do that? No. They support one of the most corrupt and repressive governments in the world for oil, they turn Iraq into a nightmare, they always portray the emerging China as a threat, which turns out to be a scapegoat for anything from joblessness to the so-called double deficits. What a westerner like you, well-educated and liberal-minded, can do for the developing countries? You have good intentions and you have principles, but what you lack is the knowledge of the grey area in a black and white world. You can't reconcile a China with the most dynamic economy in Asia with a China which jails "prisoners of conscience". China has problems, sure. We'll fix them one by one and we have been working on that. Could you please just be a little bit more patient? Hundreds of thousands of Chinese, including me, are thinking about the problems every day and we hope someday we can solve them in a smooth way without stirring much social instability. comment added :: 12th August 2005, 18:32 GMT+08 Passby made this comment, Chinese Reporter, please don't take Kevin serious. He doesn't deserve your effort. comment added :: 14th August 2005, 12:13 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, Stopping jailing people would not cause social instability. That is not what is driving the economy. And permitting the comments above, while erasing or blocking other more peaceful comments, is simply wrong. comment added :: 15th August 2005, 09:53 GMT+08 Kevin made this comment, What sense does it make, in this thread, to say that a lecture is being given? What sense does it make to say "oh, China is developing so fast and Africa is learning from us." First of all, it is not comments such as those above that are driving economic development. Suppression of speech and jailing of writers does not drive economic development. Second, China's economic development is actually not that special. We've seen economic development in Taiwan, Japan, HOng Kong, all throughout Asia, and all throughout the rest of the world. Third, there is much more to life than economic development. And Chinese society will either need to come to terms with that, or face a serious dilemma.