Comments

1. Note: the selected comments can be found in the print copy of Tiger Weekly.

   Stephen | 2008-04-16 - 04:27:40 PM (CDT)

2. I dont’ have access to the print version of this paper. How may I view the rest of this article?

   Thanks | 2008-04-16 - 05:54:58 PM (CDT)

3. Here’s what the print copy has -- selected comments made by readers on the article online:

   Comments are printed as written

   “Common people in the west believe that their media is free, balanced, bearing truth. However, these medias is intentionally distorting the situation in Tibet.
   “They constantly are telling people some fake stories and exaggerate the action of the Chinese government but not tell people how the organized Tibet in exile were killing and burning in China. Of course a government would used its police or troop to suppress the riot. Any country will not allow riot continue in its country.
   “When such a riot havened, However, the western media will say Tibet is not free. Is America allow a free killing, a free arson, a free riot.
   If such propaganda continue, the 1.4 billion of Chinese be against the western medias. And the misled Americans will be standing in the opposite of Chinese. Hater between the two country will begin. I do not think that Americans want another Korean War.
   “In fact, CNN has become a symbol of liar. one of the most popular website in China now is www.anti-cnn.com. As a Chinese in the U.S. I can read both news in Chinese and English. I think the western media is brainwashing people. I am just telling the truth. I read some books about Tibet history in English and Chinese and surprisingly found that they are so different. The Chinese version of the history of Tibet including many pictures and documents of the Tibet from Yuan dynasty of China (hundreds of years ago) that claimed Tibet as the territory of China. And Tibet have never been separated from China.
   “How come the Tibet want to do it now? Because China do not allow Lamas to cut hands and trip skins of their servant. It is hard to find a book in English telling about the terrible ruling of Lama in Tibet 50 years ago. Since westerners only have information of Tibet from British in English who want to colonized the land but failed because Chinese government (the Qing Dynasty ) was behind it. If you want know more about China, do not rely on English stories. talk to your Chinese friends or read in Chinese. The western medias have a tradition to distort anything about Tibet.”
   - by PersonalOppinion

   “Truth is the virtue of a real story! Please stop persuding others by distortion!-----to the author
   “I studied the Re-education through Labor system as my thesis topic in China. Maybe you need consult me first before your story! I understand if the author still keeps the view in 50s’, he would think he is correct somewhat. But now everything is changed so much in last 20 years, not only this old system but also the whole political and ecnomic system, as well as the world view of Chinese people. The western courtries just have not been ready for a stronger China!
   “There are no perfect systems in the world. The most important thing is to change! Go to China to take a look or go to Tibet by yourself, then give us a stroy see if it will be different from this one or not. Why did the author have to flatter the reader with delusion instead of truth? If you want to know about China, ask us, Chinese students on campus. We will tell you more about China.
   “To be honest, we can’t totally agree with our government too, but it doesn’t mean you have the right to seperate our country!!! You may noticed there are no stronger voices than Chinese all around the world during the Olympic Torch Process. If you pretented not to hear that, you are only a liar. And now, you try to put your readers into the embarrassed situation too if they accept your bias opinions on China.
   “Please explain more about freedom when you talk about the speration of Texas or the Irak War. Don’t use DUAL-rule for the same problem. If you read a little history of tibet you should know that Tibet was a serfdom society before 1950. Gelongs and slave owners were dictators there. Maybe you would argue why serfdom was bad. I would ask you why you had civil war in this courtry. Maybe you think that giving the privileges to only a few people is a knid of freedom! Go to ask the tibetan in tibet, you will be told that they have much better lives than before, of course, except the melongs, because they have no priorities any more. Tibet was a part of China from 1032 BC, is a part of China as a province now, and will be a part of China without doubt!
   “To make it clear, I am only a Chinese stuend here. I am not working for Chinese government. You can offer your negative view on China no matter if it is based on truth or not. We have the same right to speak out the truth!
   “We love China, love freedom, and love equality!”
   - by Xian Guan

   “After 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, social reform started in Tibet; people in Tibet were first time free from a brutal theocratic serfdom regime. Tibet can be freer, but ‘free Tibet’ is a false slogan .China is undergoing a great change; it is a mistake not to award China the Olympic Games. 1.3 billions Chinese people (including Tibetan Chinese) deserve it! “
   - by “Jiayin Ma”

   Stephen | 2008-04-16 - 06:05:48 PM (CDT)

4. Another version I received by email:

   The following will be printed in next week’s issue of Tiger Weekly:

   Retraction for April 9 issue

   Dear Readers,

   I made a mistake. Last week’s article "New event for Beijing Olympics: rioting" caused more controversy than I would have ever imagined. First, I managed to grossly mislabel the article as news instead of opinion, so its placement in the print copy of our paper was misleading (a la Apple satire).

   Additionally, a blatant factual error slipped by in editing, stating that the 2000 Olympics were held in Atlanta, Ga. when in fact they were held in Sydney, Australia.

   The piece was meant as an opinion column, part of a future running of weekly political articles by Robert Lay, and – at the risk of sounding like a PR bot – the writer’s opinions do not reflect the views of Tiger Weekly and the rest of its staff.

   It has never been in my management practices to purposely incite anger or controversy in our paper, given that Tiger Weekly’s primary editorial goal has always been to offer light-hearted local news and entertainment – and that has served us well.

   If I had the option to do it all over again, I would not have run the column at all, simply because it offended so many of our Chinese readers in Baton Rouge. It’s not in our best interest to print articles that alienate any readers of a particular race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or any other demographic. In short, though we don’t exactly live up to the media standards of the more serious papers in this city, we do enjoy having readers who like us.

   On behalf of Tiger Weekly, I sincerely apologize to any reader who was offended by the article. All of your letters were read and considered before deciding to write this retraction.

   Below are three reader comments extracted from our Web site, www.tigerweekly.com. While we aren’t able to print all of them (There were more than 150 responses), we read them all and encourage you to continue commenting on the article in question and any future articles if you feel so inclined. Let us know how we’re doing; it’s the only way we’ll get better.

   Sincerely,
   Stephen Phillips
   Tiger Weekly Editor-in-Chief

   Lair is always a lair | 2008-04-16 - 09:36:06 PM (CDT)

5. Yes, and we changed our minds after the threats we received via e-mail. Anything else?

   Stephen | 2008-04-16 - 09:38:18 PM (CDT)

6. agreed. Very dumb for your organization to threaten the paper and expect an apology....

   hmm | 2008-04-16 - 01:23:08 AM (CDT)

7. Several years ago, one LSU student was grumpy with an article in Daily Reveille and dumped a bunch of the paper. This type of intimidation used against the press happened in any country, NOT "notably Russia and China".

   Learn, think and remember, brainwashed TW editor.

   Liar changed minds quickly | 2008-04-17 - 11:07:03 AM (CDT)

8. Maybe you shouldn’t have written anything Stephen. these people are psychotic.

   yeah | 2008-04-17 - 12:27:45 PM (CDT)

9. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/world/asia/17tibet.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

   Get over it | 2008-04-17 - 06:13:01 PM (CDT)

10. be specific please. I did c someone posted such a comment. however, CSSA never send such a threat to TW and most of the Chinese Students and Scholars here are reasonable about this issue.
    I personally feel sorry for TW. You can not even honor ur own words. Next time, find a better exuse and maybe a better Editor.

    shao | 2008-04-18 - 02:18:00 AM (CDT)

11. “… we could just take all papers on the campus and discard them …”

    “… u really dont know what we’re capable of fuckerrrr.”

    “I dare yuo not to post a public formal apology …”

    "we will make sure tigerweekly is forever gone."

    I have no doubt you are a reasonable person, however.

    Stephen | 2008-04-18 - 02:27:12 AM (CDT)

12. Also, please let me add that I have no proof nor do I believe that these e-mails were from CSSA. However, this letter was not addressed to one organization.

    Stephen | 2008-04-18 - 02:31:18 AM (CDT)

13. Stephen Phillips
    Shame on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Everybody in LSU will know your character!!!!!!
    That is not a big promise, liar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    A SHAME OF TIGERWEEKLY TO HAVE SUCH AN EDITOR | 2008-04-18 - 03:16:41 AM (CDT)

14. Stephen Phillips is teaching us what is free speaking!!!!!
    Speak freely when you make your promise, whatever you will do is another thing!!!!!
    Don’t worry about speak out, you don’t have to be consistent with what you ever said!!!!!!

    Eat words editor!!! | 2008-04-18 - 03:24:49 AM (CDT)

15. So you DO KNOW these emails are not representing most of the Chinese here. And you still use these emails as an excuse to eat your own words? I just can’t see any logic here.

    shao | 2008-04-18 - 11:20:23 AM (CDT)

16. Little known fact:

    Exclamation points enhance an argument. You can never have too many of them.

    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | 2008-04-18 - 12:31:50 PM (CDT)

17. The Hypocrisy and Danger of Anti-China Demonstrations

    by Floyd Rudmin
    We hear that Tibetans suffer “demographic aggression” and “cultural
    genocide”. But we do not hear those terms applied to Spanish and French
    policies toward the Basque minority. We do not hear those terms applied to
    the US annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1898. And Diego Garcia? In
    1973, not so long ago, the UK forcibly deported the entire native Chagossian
    population from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. People were
    allowed one suitcase of clothing. Nothing else. Family pets were gassed,
    then cremated. Complete ethnic cleansing. Complete cultural destruction. Why
    ? In order to build a big US air base. It has been used to bomb Afghanistan
    and Iraq, and soon maybe to bomb Iran and Pakistan. Diego Garcia, with
    nobody there but Brits and Americans, is also a perfect place for rendition,
    torture and other illegal actions.
    When the Olympics come to London in 2012, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
    will certainly lead the demonstrators protesting the “demographic
    aggression” and “cultural genocide” in Diego Garcia. The UN Secretary
    General, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the new US
    President and the entire US Congress will certainly boycott the opening
    ceremonies.
    The height of hypocrisy is this moral posturing about 100 dead in race riots
    in Lhasa, while the USA, UK and more than 40 nations in the Coalition of
    the Willing wage a war of aggression against Iraq. This is not “demographic
    aggression” but raw shock-and-awe aggression. A war crime. A war on
    civilians, including the intentional destruction of the water and sewage
    systems, and the electrical grid. More than one million Iraqis are now dead;
    five million made into refugees. The Western invaders may not be doing “
    cultural genocide” but they are doing cultural destruction on an immense
    scale, in the very cradle of Western Civilization. Why is the news filled
    with demonstrators about Tibet but not about Iraq?
    And as everyone knows but few dare say, “demographic aggression” and “
    cultural genocide” can be applied most accurately to Israel’s settlement
    policies and systematic destruction of Palestinian communities. On this, the
    Dalai Lama seems silent. Demonstrators don’t wave flags for bulldozed
    homes, destroyed orchards, or dead Palestinian children.
    The Chinese Context
    The Chinese government is responsible for the well-being and security of one
    -fourth of humanity. Race riots and rebellion cannot be tolerated, not even
    when done by Buddhist monks.
    Chinese Civilization was already old when the Egyptians began building
    pyramids. But the last 200 years have not gone well, what with two Opium
    Wars forcing China to import drugs, and Europeans seizing coastal ports as a
    step to complete colonial control, then the Boxer Rebellion, the collapse
    of the Manchu Dynasty, civil war, a brutal invasion and occupation by Japan,
    more civil war, then Communist consolidation and transformation of society,
    then Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Such events caused tens of millions of
    people to die. Thus, China’s recent history has good reasons why social
    order is a higher priority than individual rights. Race riots and rebellion
    cannot be tolerated.
    Considering this context, China’s treatment of its minorities has been
    exemplary compared to what the Western world has done to its minorities.
    After thousands of years of Chinese dominance, there still are more than 50
    minorities in China. After a few hundred years of European dominance in
    North and South America, the original minority cultures have been
    exterminated, damaged, or diminished.
    Chinese currency carries five languages: Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uigur,
    and Zhuang. In comparison, Canadian currency carries English and French,
    but no Cree or Inuktitut. If the USA were as considerate of ethnic
    minorities as is China, then the greenback would be written in English,
    Spanish, Cherokee and Hawaiian.
    In China, ethnic minorities begin their primary schooling in their own
    language, in a school administered by one of their own community. Chinese
    language instruction is not introduced until age 10 or later. This is in
    sharp contrast to a history of coerced linguistic assimilation in most
    Western nations. The Australian government recently apologized to the
    Aboriginal minority for taking children from their families, forcing them to
    speak English, beating them if they spoke their mother tongue. China has no
    need to make such apology to Tibetans or to other minorities.
    China’s one-child-policy seems oppressive to Westerners, but it has not
    applied to minorities, only to the Han Chinese. Tibetans can have as many
    children as they choose. If Han people have more than one child, they are
    punished.
    There is a similar preference given to minorities when it comes to admission
    to universities. For example, Tibetan students enter China’s elite Peking
    University with lower exam scores than Han Chinese students.
    China is not a perfect nation, but on matters of minority rights, it has
    been better than most Western nations. And China achieved this in the
    historical context of restoring itself and recovering from 200 years of
    continual crisis and foreign invasion.
    Historical Claims
    National boundaries are not natural. They all arise from history, and all
    history is disputable. Arguments and evidence can always be found to
    challenge a boundary. China has long claimed Tibet as part of its territory,
    though that has been hard to enforce during the past 200 years. The Dalai
    Lama does not dispute China’s claim to Tibet. The recent race riots in
    Tibet and the anti-Olympics demonstrations will not cause China to shrink
    itself and abandon part of its territory. Rioters and demonstrators know
    that.
    Foreign governments promoting Tibet separatism and demonstrators demanding
    Tibet independence should look closer to home. Canadians can campaign for Qu
    ébec libre. Americans can support separatists in Puerto Rico, Vermont,
    Texas, California, Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska. Brits can work for a free Wales
    , and Scotland for the Scots. French can help free Tahitians, New
    Caledonians, Corsicans, and the Basques. Spaniards can also back the Basques
    , or the Catalonians. Italians can help Sicilian separatists or the Northern
    League. Danes can free the Faeroe Islands. Poles can back Cashubians.
    Japanese can help Okinawan separatists, and Filipinos can help the Moros.
    Thai can promote Patanni independence; Indonesians can promote Acehnese
    independence. New Zealanders can leave the islands to the Maori; Australians
    can vacate Papua. Sri Lankans can help Tamil separatists; Indians can help
    Sikh separatists.
    Nearly every nation has a separatist movement of some kind. There is no need
    to go to Tibet, to the top of the world, to promote ethnic separatism.
    China is not promoting separatism in other nations and does not appreciate
    other nations promoting separatism in China. The people most oppressed, most
    needing a nation of their own, are the Palestinians. There is a worthy
    project to promote and to demonstrate about.
    Danger of Demonstrations
    These demonstrations do not serve Tibetans, but rather use Tibetans for
    ulterior motives. Many Tibetans, therefore, oppose these demonstrations.
    Many Chinese remember their history and see the riots in Lhasa and
    subsequent demonstrations as another attempt by foreign powers to dismember
    and weaken China. There is grave danger that Chinese might come to fear
    Tibetans as traitors, resulting in wide spread anti-Tibetan feelings in
    China.
    Fear that an ethnic minority serves foreign forces caused Canada, during
    World War 1, to imprison its Ukranian minority in concentration camps. For
    similar reasons, the Ottomans deported their Armenian minority and killed
    more than a million in death marches. The German Nazis saw the Jewish
    minority as traitors who caused defeat in World War 1; hence deportations in
    the 1930s and death camps in the 1940s. During World War 2, both Canada and
    the USA feared that their Japanese immigrant minorities were traitorous and
    deported them to concentration camps. Indonesians fearing their Chinese
    minority, deported 100,000 in 1959 and killed thousands more in 1965. Israel
    similarly fears its Arab minority, resulting in deportations and oppression.
    Hopefully, the Chinese government and the Chinese people will see Tibetans
    as victims of foreign powers rather than agents of foreign powers. However,
    if China reacts like other nations have in history and starts systematic
    severe repression of Tibetans, then today’s demonstrators should remember
    their role in causing that to happen.
    Conclusion
    The demonstrators now disparaging China serve only to distract themselves
    and others from seeing and correcting the current failings of their own
    governments. If the demonstrators will take a moment to listen, they will
    hear the silence of their own hypocrisy.
    The consequences of these demonstrations are 1) China will stiffen its
    resolve to find foreign influences inciting Tibetans to riot, and 2) the
    governments of the USA, UK, France and other Western nations will have less
    domestic criticism for a few weeks. That is all. These demonstrations can
    come to no good end.

    zz | 2008-04-18 - 08:33:58 PM (CDT)

18. Hi,

    I personally accept your apology, and admit that everyone can express their own opinion, no matter how ignorant.

    But I hope that you will take back the following statement:
    \"..To us, this is the type of intimidation used against the press in many foreign countries, notably Russia and China..\"

    I hope you understand that just because a few patriot Chinese readers became angry with the writer/publisher, and said a few things out of anger, it does not mean that they will neccessarily do it.

    And I hope you will stop thinking the Russian or Chinese government constantly intimidate the press, I hope you can check on sites like www.anti-cnn.com to see what your press has done to the truth.

    ChineseCanadian | 2008-04-22 - 01:31:44 AM (CDT)

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