-Caveat Lector-
"Many Chinese believe that NATO's behavior in Yugoslavia has exposed
American double standards:
"The US attacks Serbia with missiles while fighting against missile
proliferation by others; it demands that others respect human rights while
blithely producing its own civilian casualties.
"``Almost every issue makes people here feel America is HYPOCRITICAL.
Look at what they DO -- the total opposite of what they SAY.' "
Watch out, world -- these Chinese are apparently smarter than most
Americans!
Bombing Changes Chinese View of US
By JOHN LEICESTER
.c The Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) -- In 1989, Chinese students enamored of democracy erected a
Statue of Liberty look-alike in protests on Tiananmen Square. This week, as
they laid siege to the U.S. Embassy, they screamed ``Down with the Yankees!''
For many Chinese, respect for America evaporated with the NATO bombing of
China's embassy in Yugoslavia. To the disenchanted, the attack left the
feeling that American talk of human rights and liberty for all is empty
rhetoric.
``Through American films, we used to think of America as a just place,'' said
one protester, an employee at an American-run Internet firm who gave his
surname, Sun. ``Now, we are full of doubts.''
Protesters burned the Stars and Stripes, yelled profanities against President
Clinton, rained rocks on U.S. Embassy buildings and burned a U.S. consul's
home in southwest China. Like the students who protested on Tiananmen Square,
they marched in ranks proudly waving their school flags, wore headbands
scrawled with slogans and were cheered on by bystanders.
In 1989, the student protests were aimed at the government. By contrast,
during the four days of protests that erupted Saturday, protesters marched
with government support.
Yan Xuetong, a scholar of international relations, said many Chinese believe
the air campaign in Yugoslavia has exposed American double-standards: The
United States is attacking Yugoslavia with missiles while seeking to prevent
missile proliferation, and promoting human rights while causing civilian
casualties.
``Almost every issue makes people here feel America is so hypocritical. Look
at what they are doing, it is totally opposite from what they are saying,''
said Yan of the China Institute for Contemporary International Relations.
Necessity will likely force the U.S. and Chinese governments to mend fences.
China wants American investment, technology and know-how to develop its
economy and help provide badly needed jobs. The United States looks to
China's cooperation in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction
and missile technology, and its help in reducing tensions on the Korean
peninsula.
Both countries are economically tied, as well. The United States is China's
second-largest trade partner, while China is the United States'
fourth-largest.
But the emotional damage could take longer to repair. Even before the embassy
bombing, America's image was tarnished for some Chinese.
While many recognize that Americans are freer than they are to say and do
what they want, they have been bombarded for years by communist propaganda
that says the price of such freedoms is school shootings, crime, drugs and
other social ills. The Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal also was widely
reported.
Tensions over Taiwan in 1995 and 1996, when the United States dispatched
aircraft carriers to waters off the island China claims as its own, also
raised nationalist hackles and made some Chinese suspicious of Washington.
Others already resented U.S. concerns over Tibet and China's human rights
record as unwarranted meddling.
The embassy bombing brought such emotions to a head. China's government
supported protests because it had to. Public anger could have turned inward,
against police, had they enforced their usual ban on demonstrations.
But by giving protesters the green light and by fanning their anger with
slanted state media reports, the government may also have wanted to distract
people from domestic problems: unemployment, corruption and the crushing of
the Tiananmen Square demonstrations 10 years ago on June 4.
The bombing and nationally broadcast TV images of relatives grieving over the
cremated remains of three Chinese reporters killed in the attack has also
given the government ammunition against critics of its human rights record.
``For years, the U.S. and other Western powers have been lecturing us on
human rights and other issues,'' reporter Xiong Lei wrote in the official
China Daily newspaper. ``But the NATO bombing has smashed the rosy picture
that the U.S. is a guardian of human rights.''
China's state-controlled media helped direct anger toward the United States
by referring to the NATO campaign as ``U.S.-led,'' by ignoring U.S. apologies
for the embassy attack for three days and by dismissing NATO explanations
that it was a mistake.
The media's strident criticism of the United States was ``primarily
responsible for the very negative feelings that many Chinese students are
exhibiting,'' U.S. Ambassador James Sasser said in an interview Tuesday.
``The image of China in the United States has probably been diminished
somewhat by their reaction,'' he said. ``Clearly the image of the United
States has been diminished as a result of it here in China.''
Protesting students have called for boycotts of American products. A poster
at People's University in Beijing listed domestic brands that could serve as
substitutes for Nike sports gear and Levis jeans. ``Patriots, don't drink
Coca Cola,'' read another.
Not all protesters were one-sided in their criticism. Some said China needs
U.S. investment and technology to help modernize its economy. A Nike employee
who came to see the protests worried he might lose his job if U.S.-China ties
continued to deteriorate.
``We hate the Clinton government, but we still welcome Americans to come to
Beijing to visit and invest,'' said Li Jingbo, a student. ``We're against the
American government, not the people.''
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