Dear Editor,
This is in reference to Zhong’s letter. I take umbrage to the tone, demeanor and disposition of the letter. To the writer, all I have to say is I am an international student myself, and I am deeply offended by the manner in which your dissent is expressed. Such words as “you Americans” leaves me with a bad taste. I would like to remind the writer, who so proudly wears his/her eastern tradition on the sleeve, the same tradition also puts high dividends on propriety and graciousness. Put more bluntly, your reparteé is quintessential of an unlettered person.
As international students, we are first and foremost ambassadors of our country. In this you have done great disservice to China with your rather uncouth language.
Lest I am mistaken, I am a proud Indian, I love my country, but I am in no way going to disparage the U.S. This country has given me the best in terms of education and friendship. I have friends here whom I consider like family. I will carry the gratitude I have for this country, and the love my American friends have given me to my last breath. I revere the Old Glory as much I love the Tricolor. Propriety dictates that as guests we must not publicly comment upon the political woes of our hosts.
As a final point, let me remind you that China has neither a free press nor a democratic government. One way or the other, to put it unsheathed, may I refresh your memory regarding 1989 — Tiananmen Square. Those of us who come from a democratic culture understand and respect the need for dissent and protest. I’m sorry to say, but China has a rather sordid record on this matter. Democracies don’t break up protests with heavy machine gun fire and drive tanks over their bodies, like China has so vividly demonstrated it is capable of doing. This very same letter if written by an American student studying in China would have led to revocation of his/her visa.
So, like they say from where I come from, “People living in glass houses should be rather cautious about throwing things out of windows.”
By the way, this is in no way a judgment on my awesome Chinese friends, professors and colleagues — I understand, every basket has some rotten fruit. So mate, you are welcome to take your hateful rhetoric somewhere else and stop embarassing my dear Chinese buddies.
Prahalad K. Rao, industrial engineering Ph.D. student
Dear Editor,
Please allow me to add to my previous statement on the Chinese-Tibetan situation.
Jingoism and patriotism are two different things. A jingoist says “My country, right or wrong,” and refuses to express any concern for those who have suffered from wrongdoing.
A true patriot wants to improve his country by righting wrongs. A true patriot wants to be able to take pride in his country for real reasons — not just turn a blind eye to shameful wrongs.
As an American, I have a patriotic duty to point out all that is shameful in America and then work to change it. To delude myself that all is well and nothing is wrong, just so I could enjoy a feeling of happiness and pride, would do a disservice to America — it wouldn’t lead to improvements.
Understandably, the Chinese want to take pride in China. But to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing, both in China itself (where there are political prisoners and slave-laborers) and in Tibet, is mere jingoism.
Tibetans have risked their lives to tell the truth. What would I learn from traveling to government-controlled Potemkin-style displays in Tibet itself?
Zhong’s indifference to Tibetan and Chinese suffering invalidates his words.
Randi Eldevik, Associate Professor of English
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