They are not "looking for trouble", they are desperate and looking for help, that's why they are protesting where they are.
China's SCS Strategy Thread
- Thread starter lilzz
- Start date
They are not "looking for trouble", they are desperate and looking for help, that's why they are protesting where they are.
solarz
Brigadier
They are afraid to speak their minds, so they protest in front of the Ministry of Defense???
vesicles
Colonel
Well, that's indeed a common misconception in the west about China.
On the one hand, the western media reports tens of thousands of large scale protests (meaning at least 10,000 participants each) in China each year to illustrate how chaotic the Chinese society is. On the other hand, the western media describes China as a complete police state where people are afraid of showing their discontent. So which one is it?
About names. It is custom for eastern Asians to tell strangers only their family name. This is actually the same logic that westerners only tell strangers their first name. In the west, there are only very limited choices for first names (mostly those of the saints for guys, for example), but seemingly limitless family names. So it would be difficult to identify a person only by his first name. How many Johns and Michaels do you know? You still have no idea who I am even if I tell you my name is Ben.
By the same token but opposite situation in east Asia. There are only about 100 family names in Chinese society. Yes, only about 100 family names amongst 1.5 billion people in China. Yet, first names can be so complex that you can hardly find two people sharing the same given names. So just like westerners give only their first names, the Chinese typically only give their family names to strangers. It would be impossible to identify someone with a last name of Zhang (one of the most popular last names), just as difficult to identify someone with a first name of Michael.
So this has nothing to do with whether people are afraid of showing their faces. In fact, they were willing to protest in front of DoD HQ in public and in front of cameras. They were willing to give interviews with their faces shown on camera.
This is about different customs in eastern vs western societies. No matter where you are, you want privacy. So you tell strangers the least identifiable part of you (first name for westerners and last name for Chinese). Just think about how often you tell strangers your full names.
Actually, now I think of it, Chinese people seem to dislike the idea of calling people by their first names. Even between close buddies, they call each other by their last name. If you are a young guy with a family of Zhang, all your buddies will call you "little Zhang". And when you get old, they would call you "big Zhang" and eventually "old Zhang". Note that this is not in public and completely in private between buddies. People seldomly mention others given name unless in formal situations.
Even couples sometimes call each other by their family names. A wife might refer her husband as "big Zhang" when talking with her friends about her husband.
Now I think of it, it would considered kind of creepy to only call someone by their first name among Chinese... don't know why. It just doesn't feel right... I have no problem letting my western colleagues call my first name. I would feel very weird if my Chinese colleagues do the same... I would rather let them call my full name.
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Equation
Lieutenant General
Sure why not? Beats listening to some Gandalf in the sky right? Your Bible is not a history book, just a fairy tale, that some people needs it out of spiritual insecurity.
Equation
Lieutenant General
Like Black Lives Matter here in the US? NOW they're looking for real help for a problem that's been going on for decades and ignored by the US institutional elites who doesn't care for them.
solarz
Brigadier
It's a pretty arcane formula.
Calling someone by only their given names is done only by relatives or very close friends, such as a friend with whom you feel close enough to share personal issues with.
Calling someone by their full name (family + given) is an appelation commonly used between common friends or class mates (but not colleagues). It implies a certain formality but also some familiarity. From my experience, it's mostly used between adults and children, or among young people. Otherwise, it's usually considered rude to address someone by their full name. (I would equate that to addressing someone by only their family name in western culture.)
Among colleagues, acquaintances, and in-laws, the custom is to call them by their family name, preceded by an epithet.
Of course, there are personal variations to the above. Some people might have no issue with being called by their full name, or only by their given name.
Jura The idiot
General
oh I would've thought the organizers would've been caught and sent to some tough prison in ... the Gobi Desert (if there is such a thing as a tough prison in the Gobi Desert
solarz
Brigadier
oh I would've thought the organizers would've been caught and sent to some tough prison in ... the Gobi Desert (if there is such a thing as a tough prison in the Gobi Desert
That's because you have no clue what China is like.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Are we going to hear how there's a military coup happening in China now like with the Bo Xilai case where just because he was favored by the military the media spun stories that a military coup was happening because the media in their delusions of grandeur thought they had the power to start a military coup in China by declaring a coup was happening in China? If the roles were reversed we would hear how the US's VA scandal is far worse. Veterans being ignored and dying from lack of attention which has been charged as intentional sweeping problems under the rug. Not so respectful of soldiers after all. A little incident not told a lot where after WWI US veterans staged a protest near the White House for lack of support for soldiers after the war. They were mowed down Tiananmen Square style. One shouldn't thrown stones from glass houses.
solarz
Brigadier
It's pretty clear that western media, and the people who believe it, invent their own narratives on China (among other issues). Inconvenient facts are simply ignored.
There has always been anti-Chinese sentiments in the West, but we have seen a sharp rise in recent years. From the economy to housing to foreign policy, the media blames China for engaging in capitalist behavior that the West has indulged in for decades (if not centuries!).
No amount of justification and rationalization can hide the fact that such sentiments are based on ignorance and bigotry.