As the Olympic flame continues its tumultuous journey around the world, the lives of two young Chinese women whose brief gestures during the torch relay were captured on video have emerged center stage in the black-and-white world of Chinese public opinion.

One is Jin Jing, a one-legged former fencer in a wheelchair who, with her tiny body, defended the torch from pro-Tibet protesters trying to snatch it from her on the streets of Paris. The images of her action have been disseminated on the Internet, and she has been elevated to national hero status and dubbed an “angel in a wheelchair.”

The other is Wang Qianyuan, a newly arrived student from China at Duke University in North Carolina who turned up in the middle of a videotaped shouting match during a pro-Tibet campus rally on the day the torch passed through San Francisco. She is now viewed as a traitor.

© Kate Zhao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Grace Wang, Jin Jing, nationalism, Olympics torch
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Lanzhou-based blogger Liang Fafu wrote a post examining the nationalists’ demonization of Jin. Liang’s commentary is no longer available on his blog but has been re-posted by someone at 6571.net. Translated by CDT:

Below is a news item:

2008-04-16 14:24:00 Source: Xinmin.cn. Netizen Comments: 480. Summary: 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!!!”

Look at the face of these nationalists. A few days ago, Jin Jing was a hero because of her courage in the face of attacks from [splittists], but today she becomes a traitor because her conscience led her to point out reality: a boycott of Carrefour will harm the Chinese people who work there. Even if she’s wrong, it’s her right to freely express what she thinks. Why curse her so crudely?

In my opinion, the harm done to her here is worse by far than the harm done her by the [splittists]. These nationalists are attacking her for her handicap, launching inhumane personal assaults on her.

In the eyes of the nationalists, Chinese workers losing their jobs—losing the money they need to support their families—is a matter of no consequence. For love of country, everybody should be willing to starve to death before going to work for a foreign company. This leaves me speechless.

To use such cutting rhetoric to attack a handicapped girl, to assault her on the basis of her handicap—?where has these nationalists’ humanity gone? As long as you love your country, it’s OK to dispense with humanity, dispense with basic respect for other people, dispense with basic respect for the dignity and spirit of a handicapped girl?

From this you can see just what kind of thing a nationalist is.

Ironically, the New York Times has just run a long piece on China’s love for Jin Jing: “Sympathy on the Streets, But Not for the Tibetans“

© Zhaohua Li for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: carrefour, fenqing, Jin Jing, nationalism, Olympics torch
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“At that moment, I was only thinking about protecting the Olympic flame!” Yesterday our reporter received a SMS message from Olympic torch bearer Jin Jing who is in Paris (France).

Jin Jing is a Shanghai girl and a member of the Chinese national wheelchair fencing team. Through the process of Olympic torch bearer selection, she became an overseas torch bearer. On the day before yesterday in Paris, Jin Jing was interfered with by Tibet independence protestors during the torch exchange. She did everything she could to protect the Olympic flame. Afterwards, the photos and stories about Jin Jing’s feat were circulated on the major Chinese portals as everyone was touched by the “girl who used her body to protect the Olympic flame.”…

Jin Jing said that she had conferred with the other torch bearers that they will maintain their smiles in public no matter what happens in order to show the spirit of the Chinese people to the whole world. Jin Jing and her companions were able to accomplish that. “I think that the eyes of the people are snow-bright clear. Everybody can see our dedication to the Olympics. Everybody can see that and nobody can take it away!” Jin Jing said, “At that moment, I felt that the entire motherland is supporting me, and our Olympics will be completed successfully!”

Youtube: How did the Free Tibet protesters assault a DISABLED GIRL

© Wu Nan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jin Jing, Olympics torch, Tibet
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