> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8hd428T_9g
>
>
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen, French and Chinese friends,
>
> Greetings,
>
> I would like first of all to thank the people of Paris and the
> prefecture of Paris, for having provided the op****tunity to hold this
> meeting and for making this space available. This is a very special
> occasion, one of the largest assemblies of Chinese people ever to take
> place in France, indeed in Europe.
>
> I would like to say a few words on behalf of the students who have
> traveled hundreds of kilometers by bus, train or car to be here. And I
> would like to pass on the greeting of many others who although they
> could not be here today, share our attachment to China, to France, to
> the French people, and to Franco-Chinese friend****p.
>
> During the recent campaign of disinformation and demonization of China
> we students have felt very upset; our feelings have been hurt, but we do
> not blame you, the French people, because the responsibility lies not
> with you but with certain irresponsible media organizations and
> professional agitators.
>
> Like all professions, journalism has professional ethics that ought to
> be respected. Journalism requires impartiality, objectivity, checking
> and verification of information, moderation in commentary. Calumny,
> unproved accusations and distortion of the facts should never be
> permitted.
>
> But during the recent events certain journalists have departed from
> their proper role, which ought to be to inform, and have turned into
> vigilantes possessed of an innate truth, a truth, furthermore, of a
> delusional simplicity. They have recounted a fable of a gentle victim
> and a merciless bully; the roles, moreover, were assigned at the outset.
>
> Having assigned these roles a priori they then tried by any and all
> means to justify their depiction of events. Selectively citing
> historical facts, they ****trayed what was part of the Chinese revolution
> as an invasion of an integral part of China, making no mention of the
> obscure theocracy that oppressed 95% of the Tibetan population. They
> speak about peaceful demonstrations by Tibetan monks, they confuse
> Nepalese police with Chinese police, pass off 20 year old images as
> today's, publish information without any pretence at verification,
> exaggerate death tolls, rely on unreliable witness re****ts etc.
>
> The testimony of foreign tourists including video footage shot by them
> showing violence inflicted on innocent people, of innocent passers-by
> lynched by young rioters, was, apart from a few still pictures,
> completely ignored. Even worse, certain irresponsible media
> organizations invented and imposed on us the hypothesis of a bloody
> repression carried out by the authorities, without, of course, supplying
> any impartial or credible evidence.
>
> Very few Chinese were interviewed by the press, and the few that
> appeared were usually put in the position of a defendant outnumbered and
> surrounded by hostile magistrates.
>
> Yes.
>
> By all means criticize the Chinese government for blocking and
> controlling information but not by inventing facts.
>
> The way the media have treated news of the Tibet riots amounts to
>
> - Media aggression
>
> - Hype and ideological trickery
>
> - An attempt to impose hegemony of discourse
>
> - A campaign of disinformation
>
> - A gross calumny
>
> The primary victims are the fraternal and compassionate French people,
> who put their trust in the media, but have unfortunately been
> manipulated.
>
> A news system that had been a model for us, for the future of China is
> no longer that. Public opinion is not an object be manipulated, neither
> in China nor elsewhere. What we have witnessed is nothing more or less
> than a form of censor****p operating within the system of a free press.
>
> And the intellectual laziness of certain politicians, the elite of
> France, has astonished us.
>
> Human rights has become for some people, I mention in particular Mr.
> Robert Menard, a sort of crusade and the excuse for all sorts
> irresponsible agitation undertaken for political ends.
>
> Why was he nowhere to be found during the repeated torture of the
> inmates of Guantanamo, or when Iraqi prisoners were being subjected to
> outrages by American soldiers? Isn't this a sort of selective blindness?
>
>
> UNESCO has called a halt to its sup****t for Re****ters Without Borders
> (RSF) and has explained in a declaration that RSF had repeatedly shown a
> lack of objectivity in dealing with certain countries.
>
> Why might that be?
>
> Let us look at information readily available on the Internet, and
> furthermore acknowledged and admitted to by our Robert, that RSF is
> financed by organizations close to the CIA. What does the CIA do? It
> subverts states hostile to United States' hegemony, or simply blackens
> their image to further the interests of the USA.
>
> Robert Menard, you are a nothing more than a lackey of the American
> neo-conservatives; tell your masters the world belongs to those who
> value love and peace, and will never belong to the American
> neoconservative promoters of hatred and war.
>
> We, Chinese students overseas, we feel very upset, our feelings have
> been hurt, but we do not blame the French people. We are the bridge of
> information and exchange between two very different worlds who find
> ourselves the first victims of this cultural, ideological, and above all
> political conflict.
>
> The Chinese in China place great worth on the views of their students in
> foreign lands about what is happening abroad. China's perception of
> foreigners depends largely on the sentiments of this expatriate
> community.
>
> In the face of the western's media's campaign of invention and
> disinformation, many among our student fraternity have entered the
> internet fray to proclaim the truth. It is evident to us all that the
> French are victim to profound misconceptions about China, fed by certain
> among their domestic media.
>
> The failure of these well-intentioned efforts pains us, the more so as
> the participants find themselves mocked and ridiculed. They, of all
> Chinese the most westernized, are accused of being agents of Peking -
> 'Red Communist Guards'.
>
> Under the clamor to boycott the Olympics, boycott China, free Tibet, a
> mistrust and resentment of the Chinese towards the West is growing.
>
> The Chinese Government is far from perfect, but it is as absurd to call
> it the best in the world as to call it the worst. Our generation, the 20
> to 30 year olds, have benefited since childhood from China's
> improvements in standard of living and individual liberty.
>
> We struggle to understand why now, when things are moving in the right
> direction, suddenly there are so many in foreign lands eager to save us
> from 'the greatest dictator****p in the world'. Where were you before?
>
> We, the most westernized of the Chinese, have faith in our future. Our
> country still has far to travel but we, the Chinese, are ready for the
> journey.
>
> China has its own culture, its own history, its own spirit. Sociology is
> not an exact science like mathematics - there are far too many variables
> to arrive at any 'universal model' of absolutes in this sphere.
>
> China is evolving and the people of China are evolving. The Communist
> Party too is evolving. Old school conservatives are moving on, and being
> replaced by a younger generation that is much more open and pragmatic.
> Allow us a little time, and leave the development of China in our hands,
> in the hands of the young Chinese in foreign lands who will bring back
> from their travels the best of the West's systems and structures to
> China.
>
> Go yourselves to China to see the whole story - a China that is not
> shown to you by so much of the Western media. Go to Tibet and look with
> your own eyes on the 'cultural genocide', if you can find it. See for
> yourselves if the Tibetan language is facing extinction. Find out for
> yourselves whether the monks are free to practice their religion,
> whether the Tibetans do not fare better than under the Theocracy of the
> Dalai Lama - talk to older Tibetans about that unforgettable 'Buddhist
> paradise'.
>
> We must have more direct communication and a better mutual
> understanding, and we are ready to make our contribution.
>
> The Olympic Games have the sup****t of we students, and they have the
> sup****t of this people that makes up one fifth of humanity.
>
> To whom do the Olympics truly belong?
>
> To you, to me, to us, to all of us, to all the peoples of the world.
> They are not a political plaything. Leave them alone, you politicians
> and your lackeys, and you anti-Chinese movements. Leave them alone, they
> belong to us. Stop trying to wreck these Games.
>
> China as host country wants to offer the finest of gifts to the world.
> Millions of Chinese have worked for years to this end. With open arms
> they have prepared a welcome for the whole of the world.
>
> As the flame travels the world the simple and heartfelt message it
> carries is this: Come. The people of China have prepared for you a
> celebration for all of humanity.
>
> When certain media gloat over the blow to China's esteem after the
> undignified passage through Paris of that torch of peace and friend****p
> between peoples, they are in a sense right. But the blow was not to
> China, but to the people of China, and to the people of France, and to
> all those who love the Olympic Games.
>
> Many fear China, and this fear is born of ignorance. All the more
> reason, then, for direct exchanges through we who represent this solid
> and faithful bridge of friend****p.
>
> We consider that China's culture is one of peace. Our history shows that
> we have been repeatedly subject to aggression, invaded by peoples who
> almost invariably themselves became assimilated into China.
>
> I think that this is the core of the strength of a culture that has
> endured through five thousand years. Intimidating? Perhaps, but a
> culture is an evolving entity. Whenever you use your chopsticks in a
> Chinese restaurant, or in any oriental restaurant, the culture of China
> is opening itself to you.
>
> The demonization of China will estrange the Chinese from the West and
> place distance between peoples.
>
> Please, let us speak to each other!
>
> We have a sincere message to offer to you: Between our countries,
> between our peoples, we, the Chinese students, want no part in a
> conflict that is POINTLESS, AND THAT SERVES NO PURPOSE!
>
> Possessing elements of both cultures, we wish to be a bridge, a channel
> of communication between two peoples. We will speak to you of the
> feelings and hopes of the people of China, and we will take to China the
> goodwill of people of France. Trust me, this bridge will be a solid
> structure, now more than ever, now when it is needed more than ever, in
> a situation as critical as the present.
>
> Hear me, my French friends, I welcome you to my home - yes, even those
> who wish only to create strife in Beijing. We will offer the same warm
> welcome to you all.
>
> To Beijing then, my good friends... Thank you! Thank you sincerely!
>
> (China.org.cn, translated by John ***ton & David Ferguson April 21,
> 2008)
>
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