Chinese People Rally via the Internet to Help the Earthquake Relief

On its website, the National Development and Reform Commission asks for citizen's opinion on rebuilding earthquake affected areas

Many Chinese people from all round the country are posting messages on BBS, blogs or chatrooms calling for fellow citizens to join relief work and rebuilding efforts for the earthquake struck area in south west China.

On baidu.com, China’s NO.1 search engine, for example, a chat room has been set up exclusively for posting relief and rebuilding related messages. Some people said they were willing to organize citizen groups on their own and travel to the disaster area to help, or become volunteers.

People are also expressing support and hope for the rebuilding effort, as well as their concerns and suggestions. Several messages warned about official corruption such as embezzlement of relief funding. Some suggested that instead of trying to send relief to the most affected areas, the government should move people out and send them to other cities to be taken care of. After their homes are rebuilt, they can go back.

One college student suggested nearly one hundred colleges in Sichuan to take summer break early and let the campuses accommodate homeless people from the earthquake regions. These colleges could provide not only thousands of dorm rooms, but also shower and dinning facilities.

One notion stands out from people’s online comments, and that is the call for attention to mental care for earthquake victims, especially orphans. Anhui Normal University announced that its psychology department has opened counseling hot lines and posted on baidu.com the cell phone numbers of several psychological professors, promising that these cell phones will be on 24 hours a day.

The central government has set up a national office to guide the rebuilding efforts and opened a website where citizens can submit their advices and comments on the matter. However, as of June 4, there were only five entries on this site while there were hundreds posted on baidu.com,.


Earthquake relief chatroom on baidu.com
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=388241857

http://tieba.baidu.com/f?ct=&tn=&rn=&pn=&lm=&sc=&kw=%D4%D6%BA%F3%D6%D8%BD%A8&rs2=0&myselectvalue=1&word=%D4%D6%BA%F3%D6%D8%BD%A8&submit=%B0%D9%B6%C8%D2%BB%CF%C2&tb=on

http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=378729246

http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=384654859

Blogger's New View of the Inside of the Bird's Nest Stadium

Some college student volunteers recently got access to the newly finished "bird's nest" Olympics stadium in Beijing, and posted pictures on blogs. The pictures provide a fresh look of the inside of the main venue of the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Here is the link to one of the blogs: http://xiaomazha.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!58C39065F72FF5C8!380/
(Access permission needed)

Debate: Is it a mistake to award the Olympics to Beijing

The Economist is hosting an online debate about the Beijing Olympics, under the proposition: "It was a mistake to award the Olympics to Beijing."

As of Wednesday, May 28, 38 percent of visitors' votes were for the proposition, while 62 percent against.

The argument supporting the proposition points out that Beijing is not technically ready to host a grand sports event like the Olympics, mainly because of its bad pollution. It also holds that the game is making China's political system more repressive because in order to make sure the game will run smoothly the "Party has resorted to old-time dictatorial tactics."

The opposite side supports China as the host of the Olympics on the ground that Chinese people should not be denied an opportunity to demonstrate their national pride just because having an autocratic government. It also hails that China has come a long way economically, culturally and socially in the last 30 years and that the average Chinese citizen has a much better, hopeful and freer life in 2008 than he or she did in 1978.

Several scholars are involved in the debate, including Gordon G. Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China; Charles W. Freeman III, Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC; Dr. Yang Jianli, a research fellow at Harvard University; and Victor D. Cha, director of the Asian Studies program at Georgetown University.

The debate is still ongoing and the public could vote and comment on its website. On June 6, the winner of this debate will be revealed.

(Thanks to Lauryn Nicasio for the tip)

The debate:
http://www.economist.com/debate/index.cfm?debate_id=7&action=hall

Chinese Netizens Calling on Boycott of Carrefour in the Wake of Troubled Olympic Torch Rely

A photo circulated on the web: a young woman protests the interruption of the Olympic torch relay in France in front of a Carrefour store in Beijing

A boycott against French retailer giant Carrefour in China was recently waged on the Internet. One message has been widely circulated on the web, calling on people around China not to shop at Carrefour on the May 1 holiday to resist the retailer's big sale event on that day. Another message asks the Chinese public to stay away from Carrefour stores for 17 days, mirroring the duration the Beijing Olympics, between May 8 and May 24.

“No one should shop at Carrefour, because the biggest shareholder of Carrefour donated huge money to the Dalai Lama, a lot of French people support the independence of Tibet, and even the French president has announced boycott of the Beijing Olympics,” says the message.

In response, Carrefour China has posted a statement on its official website on Tuesday, claiming that “the rumor about Carrefour Group’s support of some illegal political organizations is completely groundless.” The statement goes on to express Carrefour’s support for the Beijing Olympics. “Carrefour Group has always actively supported the Beijing Olympics,” it says. “Currently, Carrefour stores in Beijing are busy preparing to welcome the opening of the Olympics.”

The protests in Paris during the Olympic torch relay there clearly enraged many Chinese people, who have been so enthusiastic about hosting the Olympic Games. Calling the Olympic torch “the holy flame,” Chinese people see the torch relay as a sacred ritual as well. To millions of common folks in China, what happened in Paris was like a slap in their faces, anything but acceptable. Angry comments about the Paris incident have flooded online forums in China in the past few weeks and now people are calling for actions. As perhaps the best known and the most widely presented French business in China, Carrefour is easily targeted.

Not everyone, however, sees boycott of Carrefour or French products as the right thing to do. “Boycott Carrefour, such a slogan is a bit too simple and hasty,” says one post, advocating a focus on the long term. “Once we develop and become stronger, will we still be afraid of other’s bullying?”

Some Chinese netizens are comparing the current anti-west reaction over the torch relay interruptions with the historic conflict between China and the West after the Opium War in the 19th century, and even describing the supporters of the boycott as the “contemporary Boxer,” drawing an analogy between some activists and members of the anti-foreigner rebellion in the early 20th century.

There are also a few voices warning about the seemingly rising nationalism ignited by the Olympic flames, and concerning things might go out of control on the eve of the Olympics. If so, one post says,“ [it] will cause long and unrecoverable damage to China’s international image.”

Online comments:

http://xinzhe2541.blog.163.com/blog/static/396532502008316113757752/

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Carrefour statement:
http://www.carrefour.com.cn/note/note.html