Know Who to Love, Who to Hate

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 25, 2002

Know Who to Love, Who to Hate

The news that an American man behaved in a wild manner on a Beijing bus last Friday, April 19, has aroused strong indignation from the public. When asked not to stomp on the engine cap, the Yankee chose to hit the woman driver of bus No. 359 and a passenger in the face. Both were wounded, with blood dripping down their faces ...

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The news that an American man behaved in a wild manner on a Beijing bus last Friday, April 19, has aroused strong indignation from the public.

When asked not to stomp on the engine cap, the Yankee chose to hit the woman driver of bus No. 359 and a passenger in the face. Both were wounded, with blood dripping down their faces.

The man became hysterical, insulting onlookers with foul language and obscene gestures before being taken away by police.

Given that no civilized society would allow such hooliganism to go unpunished, it is natural to expect that the evil-doer will be condemned by the public and punished by law.

This is not the first time a foreigner has acted indecently on Chinese soil.

Not long ago, an American man took liberties with a woman passenger on a bus in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province. The event set off a similar wave of criticism from the public.

As Chinese society opens wider to the outside world, Chinese people find themselves in frequent contact with foreigners, many of whom have a high opinion of Chinese hospitality and the country's increasingly civilized social environment.

But such merits should not encourage some foreigners to return evil for good.

The above events, though isolated and sporadic cases, do hurt the feelings of Chinese people and affect their generally good impression of foreigners.

Bitter memories of being bullied and humiliated by foreign imperialist powers on China in history also contribute to the strong social reaction to these two events.

Nevertheless, it is unnecessary for the public to let their anguish go too far.

Bad behaviours of a few individual foreigners should not erode Chinese people's faith in the friendship in the majority of foreigners coming to China.

A large number of expatriates have made due contributions to China's economic and social advancement. Some love China just as we Chinese do.

Foreign Rogues, Don't Act Wildly: Beijing Evening

There are rogues in whichever country, and their nature is similar: They despise laws, undermine social morality and trample upon human feelings.

Since they are hooligans, they will behave atrociously wherever they go.

However, the two foreign rogues have acted wildly to such an extent that their acts must be treated differently from ordinary "indecent behavior".

Their evil doings are not only a serious harm to the victims involved and a violation of China's laws, they have also hurt our feelings and dignity.

A ruffian of whichever country, who has committed a crime, must be brought to law. When the said rogue comes to China, he will be dealt with in the same manner - China's laws and statutes are by no means the code of conduct only for Chinese.

Chinese people are widely known for their hospitality. Foreigners, whoever they are, once come to China, must first understand this point: "to be courteous" does not mean "can be bullied willfully". Once they come to China, they must respect China's laws, respect China's civil morality and respect the Chinese.

Have you watched the film "Shang Gan Ling" ("Sanggamyong Ridge")? The song of the woman fighter is still in the memory of all the Chinese: "When a friend comes, we have good liquor to treat him; but if a wolf comes, what greets him is a hunting gun."

Nowadays, the Chinese no longer use hunting guns to deal with various hooligans, foreign or indigenous, in our society under the rule of law, what we use are laws.

Those Chinese filled with righteous indignation did so that day, they are absolutely not to be bullied, but instead they show calmness and reason, so that the foreign rogue can ponder the weight of Chinese laws.

As regards the rogue's indecent behavior in China, some people interpreted it as "misunderstanding caused by language barrier", saying that it is not worth feeling surprised at such a trifling thing.

But should those holding this view be able to understand the rogue's language of behavior?

Has the rogues' arrogant attitude fully shown their utter contempt for the Chinese law?

Can such persons be treated as civilized gentlemen?

Of course, if someone lifts this kind of incident to the height of "national honor", one certainly has gone to extremely far and is thus suspected of an attempt to ignite a nationalist sentiment.

There is no need for us to direct our national sentiment at some individual hooligans, because that would mean we are treating them as something worthy.

From the two incidents we can come to understand this logic: Law is the most effective weapon, with the law, it is not difficult to handle things, major or minor, and to deal with people, regardless of Chinese or foreigners.

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