John Kennedy of Globalvoicesonline.org has posted interesting look at a Chinese exchange troll, allegedly living here in Korea, who claims that Koreans are now persecuting Chinese students — the same ones who were only trying to protect the “sacred flame” (sure). While this poster’s grasp on reality is blatantly distorted, some of the Chinese comments are pretty funny because it seems that quite a few Chinese know what dung smells like as well and they waste no time calling bs on it.

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As reported in two Chosun Ilbo articles, Koreans may be “going overboard” with mad cow disease. “PD Diary”, the famous MBC current affairs program, has claimed that 94 percent of Koreans have a “special” gene that makes them more susceptible to getting Mad Cow Disease vs. regular Americans or Britons (Canucks, Kiwis and Aussies were, unfortunately, not mentioned in the report). Per the article:

“A tepid and delayed response from the government is only fueling fears. The personal blog of President Lee Myung-bak, who promised that resuming import of U.S. beef will bring high-quality and low-priced beef to the table, has been virtually shut down by Internet users who bombarded it with messages protesting against the decision.”

Interesting bit of “scientific” exposé there MBC! It would have reinforced their case if they had interviewed just one gyopo from America who’s had his brains melted from a lifetime of eating American beef. Reminds me of another equally futile piece of pseudoscience that Koreans still hold dear.

Picture from Japanese show “Morning Musume”.

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The Foreign Ministry says it will tighten entry visa regulations for Chinese students entering Korea:

“We are going to talk with the related authorities over steps to toughen the issuance of entry visas for Chinese students and other Chinese people,” said Moon Tae-young, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The tough stance comes as public anger shows little signs of subsiding over violence committed by Chinese demonstrators on South Korean activists protesting Beijing’s crackdown on Tibetan separatists, and its treatment of North Korean refugees.

This also comes after the Hanguk Ilbo ran a piece noting that 31,829 of Korea’s 49,270 foreign students — two out of three — are Chinese, but the Chinese basically pay their way in with little in the way of academic requirements. Nine of 10 Chinese students in Korea, in fact, come to Korea through overseas study institutes in China, some of which forge documents so that undesirable students can enter the country. Then there are all the Chinese “students” who hardly attend class, instead focusing their attention on finding work.

In particular, regional colleges have been quite aggressive in recruiting Chinese students, but now, some schools — regarding Chinese students as problematic — are refusing to take any students from China.

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If you’re bored of the Seoul torch relay violence stories, skip this post. If not, read on. If you’re a C-borg linking in, be forewarned: you won’t like what you’re about to read.

Chinese netizens aren’t too pleased to hear that the Korean government plans to arrest and deport violent Chinese demonstrators who attacked Tibet and North Korean human rights advocates during the torch relay, and they’re launching a PR counterattack with photos and Youtube videos. Circulating on the internet are collections of photos dissected to prove that Koreans are lying about allegations of violence by Chinese demonstrators. It isn’t only nutizen chatter. Some material appears to be sourced from printed newspapers, probably daily tabloids. The characters are simplified, so they may be mainland publications.

The image of members of a certain unnamed Chinese student association in a large southeastern port city in Korea attacking the man on the bicycle with their flags reminds me of this historic photo, but the Chosun Ilbo made a different connection.

It is actually the Chinese who appear to be doctoring photos by whiting out the face of one attacker and the name of the Chinese student association on the back of the t-shirt of the other attacker.

Near-sighted C-borgs apparently can’t tell the difference between Free Tibet demonstrators and those who advocate on behalf of North Korean refugees, branding anyone who protests against anything related to China as fanhuafenzi(反华分子), or “anti-Chinese partisans.” Those who are not with the Chinese government are against the Chinese people in the worldview of the C-borgs.

MH commenters aren’t the only ones who’ve noted that violent protest isn’t unusual in Korea. The Chinese have, too. And in the Chinese blogosphere, all your blog are belong to us (thanks, Elgin) as posts like the one titled “比CNN还卑劣！韩国媒体造谣中伤中国留学生” (More Despicable Than CNN! Korean Media Fabricates Rumors to Stab Chinese Overseas Students) have gone viral on dozens of websites.

I’d like to remind our fanhuafenzi commenters that C-borgs like those who attacked peaceful demonstrators and those who defend the attackers are not representative of the 1.3 billion people who live in China and that some Chinese students were injured in the fights. And Fanhuafenzis, take heart. At least you’re not KKK red neck thugs like Jack Cafferty.

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The Hankyoreh talked with Chinese students about Sunday’s ugliness, and found that while most expressed regret about the violence, they also felt they were being unfairly singled out:

Concerning the violent situation that took place during the Olympic torch relay on April 27, Chinese students and other Chinese generally expressed “regret.” But they also protested that there was much provocation, including Koreans grabbing and pulling Chinese flags and people demanding Tibetan independence.

A 30-year-old Chinese student in Jeollabuk-do complained, “Many Chinese were hurt, but this was hardly spotlighted. You should take into consideration our passion as we prepare for the Olympics.”

Another Chinese, who attended the festivities with three friends from Daejeon, noted that the Olympics are the biggest event granted China in the last 100 years, and that he simply came up to Seoul to see this once-in-a-lifetime event. He said it was the first time so many Chinese had gathered together abroad, and compared it to when Koreans got together during the 2002 World Cup. A Chinese student in Busan said he came in a spirit of celebration and desire to protect the Olympics, noting that he was afraid something might happen after seeing the difficulties the torch relay experienced in Britain and France. He then issued my favorite line of the Hankyoreh piece, “The West is quite far from China, and don’t know China well, but Korea is geographically close and the same cultural area, so I thought they’d understand our actions. But they didn’t.” (emphasis mine)

As for the cause of the violence, the Hankyoreh said many responded it was because of the Pride ™ of the Chinese. The student from Jeollabuk-do said, “People usually see the Chinese as powerless and weak, but their pride is strong… In particular, it seems we felt a lot of humiliation watching our flag get pulled and desecrated.” He added, “It also seems there was animosity about Koreans looking down on us, asking Chinese if they have TVs or refrigerators.”

A Chinese-Korean living in Busan said that as the level of education rises in China, young Chinese feel greater pride in their nation. The Olympics are a symbol of that pride, he said, but this was being brought down in many places in the world because of the Tibet issue, and Chinese had grown sensitive to this. A Chinese student in Seoul said he doubted how much Koreans knew about the Tibet issue. He said he was both frustrated and agitated because Koreans speak too easily about a complicated and sensitive ethnic issue.

The Hankyoreh also noted the two-sided view Chinese students had of the Olympics. On one side, all were quite adamant that the Olympics and politics should be kept separate. Yet they also viewed the Olympics as more than just an athletic event; it was an opportunity for China to improve its international prestige. Said one Chinese graduate student in Seoul, “The Olympics are a golden opportunity to show China’s new image. People usually think only of China’s past, but we’ll be able to show our developed and modernized image.” The Chinese-Korean in Busan said the Olympics are a global sporting event, and the Tibet issue is only an internal issue of China. He said that just as Koreans left a strong impression through the World Cup, most Chinese wish the same thing.

Marmot’s Note: Leave a strong impression? I’d say your students certainly did a fine job of that on Sunday.

PS: Please, grow a set. And have a nice flight back to China.

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The fallout from the Chinese student riot continues.

The Chinese ambassador to Seoul offered as close to an apology as one would expect in this situation (AP):

China’s ambassador to Seoul, Ning Fukui, said he regretted the “extreme behavior” of the Chinese protesters and offered sympathy to wounded South Koreans, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

If Beijing could leave it at that I think the situation might been resolved with a few arrests and deportations.

But noooooooooo.

Ning’s higher ups decided to pass the blame:

“As to the disruptions and sabotage by the separatist forces, some students upholding justice came out to safeguard the dignity of the torch — I believe that’s natural,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said in Beijing.

So the Chinese government’s line is that it is natural for Chinese, in Korea, to attack Koreans and anyone else they don’t happen to like. That’s a nice extraterritorial attitude if Beijing can get away with it.

I have to admit that I love the Chinese (at least the ones we see in the news and in the comments sections of this blog). They are the only folks who make Americans seem humble and Australians seem polite.

Hat tip to Korea Economic Reader email service.

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Oddly, the government has not been amused with gangs of punky young foreigners running riot in the heart of the national capital — the government has decided to deal with the rioters in stern fashion, including deportations.

In a Cabinet meeting today, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said, “As the pride of our citizens has been hurt badly by this incident, legal and diplomatic measures that can recover the peoples’ pride will follow.”

That’s a line I’m sure our Chinese friends can appreciate.

In a Cabinet report, Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han expressed “deep regret” that foreigners had held illegal and violent demonstrations at a time when Koreans themselves were holding off on such behavior with a new administration taking office. He noted that the torch relay would have ended peacefully if not for the Chinese rioters, and the Justice Ministry would deal sternly with the problem makers, regardless of nationality.

Later, a motley crew including the cops, prosecutors, NIS, Foreign Ministry and Labor Ministry met at Seoul Central Prosecutors Office to mesh out a plan to criminally prosecute the rioters and forcefully deport them to China.

In fact, even if the rioters receive only fines or suspended sentences, they may still be deported.

Unfortunately, only one Chinese — a 21-year-old student — has been arrested. But fret not — police are examining the tons of footage from police, hotel CCTVs and ordinary citizens, so expect more arrests.

UPDATE: Police have identified four more Chinese and are now looking for ‘em. Oddly enough, all four of them live in the Busan/Gyeongnam area.

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Korean news photos of the torch relay are circulating on Chinese news forums and blogs. The reaction is mostly patriotic chest-thumping over the sea of red in Seoul and indignation at the pro-Tibet and NK human rights protesters for disrupting the relay. Some commenters are furious at the Korean media’s “distorted reporting.” A post called “Korean Media Is Even More Shameful Than the US Media” appears on several blogs. The writer accuses the Korean media of misrepresenting the orderly and peaceful Chinese participants as uncivilized and expresses doubt that it was a Chinese who threw a rock at the Korean reporter’s head. On another forum, a photo of Dr. Norbert Vollertsen and other NK human rights protesters is captioned with the claim that the demonstrators hurled rocks at Chinese students and reporters. I saw no rocks in anyone’s hands. Under photos of other acts of violence, like kicking the man on the bicycle, it is claimed that the non-Chinese instigated the violence. Yet another netizen was bewildered by a photo of a demonstrator dressed up in a PLA uniform, standing next to two hooded, bound demonstrators representing NK refugees; the caption expressed puzzlement at what the demonstration had to do with North Korea. Anti-CNN.com, the website dedicated to correcting international media distortions of China, has a photo essay thread which lumps together pro-Tibet and NK human rights advocates as “anti-Chinese partisans.”

Chinese forums aren’t link-friendly. Often it isn’t possible to link to just one comment or image, so the links in the above post will take you to the entire forum thread, where you can scroll down and have a look. The Chinese mainstream media is ignoring completely the controversy in Korea over the torch relay, but as usual, censorship hasn’t stopped Chinese netizens from doing their own reporting and commentary. It’s easy enough to dismiss the rantings of anonymous netizens, but photo essays like those linked above are all over the Chinese blogosphere, and the defensive patriotism communicated in these forums is probably widespread among urban, educated Chinese youth.

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Civic groups are accusing the Chinese embassy of organizing the Chinese protesters that ran riot in Seoul on Sunday, reports YTN.

In particular, the embassy is accused of sending text messages, letters and making phone calls to Chinese students, asking them to participate.

Chinese students who participated, however, deny this, claiming they got involved through overseas student groups. Said one Chinese student, “I didn’t receive anything. All of our universities have overseas student groups. People like the head of the group contacted us.”

In another report, YTN specifically quotes the civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy as accusing the Chinese embassy of mobilizing Chinese students to block anti-Chinese protests along the torch route.

Not quite finished, the YTN also relays a report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun accusing Chinese embassies worldwide of organizing local Chinese students to stop anti-Chinese protesters. In particular, it quoted a Chinese student who participated in demonstrations in Japan who claimed the Chinese embassy in Tokyo paid the expenses — including bus fare — of some 5,000 Chinese students.

Participants also handed out specific instructions for forming human walls around the torch and blocking anti-torch demonstrators.

The Asahi also reported that Chinese embassies in Paris, London, Canberra and elsewhere were mobilizing local Chinese students to convene pro-China demonstrations.

Interestingly, when asked about it on April 24, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to give a direct answer, simply saying the question was meaningless. Or so said the Asahi, via YTN.

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The Foreign Ministry gave the Chinese ambassador to Seoul as close to a dressing down as the Foreign Ministry is prepared to give the Chinese, expressing “strong regret” about Chinese youth running riot in Seoul yesterday.

The Chinese ambassador, for his part, expressed his regret and condolences over the reporter and cop that got hurt by “extreme actions by some Chinese youth” in the protests.

As far as I’m concerned, nothing short of a mass deportation of the hooligans involved will do.

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