Shoe Thrown At Wen Jiabao, Chinese Reactions

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1. Mark

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7:12 pm

   I’m sad it happened, particularly to Wen Jiabao.

   But I’m so happy to see the same Chinese who laught so loud for Bush, the Xinhua agency who let the Bush/Shoes pictures on their home and their photo section for weeks… So funny!

   Reply
2. fcuk da lu ren

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7:28 pm

   If someone throws a show, it is definitely a foreigner. Cambridge’s foreigners [non-Chinese] truly have bad character, I seriously despise this.

   大便活人:

   Foreign devils, go to hell.”

   These kind of comments from the Chimatrons make me have no sympathy for “grandpa wen” FCUK him and all the other Da Lu Ren. I with that shoe would have smashed his ugly monkey face

   Reply
3. Kai

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 8:35 pm

   @ STAND UP,CHINA:

   I just ran the same search shown in the post here and I’m getting only one search result. It’s a link to CCTV.

   @ Meow:

   As apt as the characterization is, I’m afraid I somewhat feel children often argue better than many Chinese. Some of the more idiotic threads overrun with nationalism (whether genuine or because there’s some wu mao dang astroturfing going on) is like reading YouTube comments.

   Reply
4. mtm

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 8:42 pm

   Foreign devils, go to hell

   Reply
   • samuel welsh

     Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 2:01 pm

     just your leader

     Reply
5. Matt

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 8:50 pm

   “Foreign devils, go to hell”

   I didn’t know the Boxers were back in China.

   Love seeing how soon some Chinese forget that it was the opening up to those “Foreign Devils” that allow them to be so proud of where China is today.

   Reply
6. Peteryang

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 8:58 pm

   I just ran the same search shown in the post here and I’m getting only one search result. It’s a link to CCTV.
   ———————
   confirmed here.

   http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4600/searchkn2.jpg

   Reply
7. dace

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 9:02 pm

   I also liked the one about “If someone throws a show, it is definitely a foreigner. Cambridge’s foreigners [non-Chinese] truly have bad character, I seriously despise this.”
   Guess what? When you’re in the UK, you, the Chinese, are the foreigners you dumb fuck. I usually don’t get annoyed about this sort of stuff but being back in Australia last year with my wife and having all the Chinese we met there referring to me and other locals as foreigners really got me steamed up. WTF does this plonker know about Cambridge or anyone who studies there anyway? Fuckwits the lot of them.

   Reply
8. jay

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   Wow, those over-the-top Chinese netizens are really funny – in a pathetic sort of way. So sensitive! So full of themselves! What wankers!

   Reply
9. Peteryang

   Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 9:27 pm

   I don’t like the term “wu mao dang”, most of them aren’t paid to say stuff they are just stupid bored and have no idea whats going on in the world, and the true ones are very easy to identify, they keep posting scripted shits without ever replying, they get the salary for that day and they log off.

   and I do NOT agree the notion that this country is overrun by nationalist trolls, I’ve met a lot of moderate and intelligent Chinese and no one I’ve talked to in real life behaved like fenqings, people here do have complicated thoughts and opinions on all matters they choose to care, and ordinary people whine about the governement every day, difference is they don’t take their voices to the streets and since its impossible to carry out opinion poll of national scale, you never know what people really think.

   fact of the matter is, most chinese hold favorable perception toward foreigners, and are friendlier to them than perhaps any other country in the world. there was a “give way to the foreigners” sign by a road during the olympics, I mean you’d never see this in other countries. we also don’t have neo-nazis rampaging on the streets like europe and russia. the chinese government has been offering preferential tax rate to foreign investments, our embassies around the world literally give away visas like charity work, while I got kicked out of australian embassy in beijing and had to line up outside in freezing winter some years ago.

   so all I am saying is, don’t bother with online stuff really, they dunt never represent the real china, if you wish to visit china by all means do it, and you will get absolutely the warmest if not flattering reception you can ever have.

   Reply
10. fcuk da lu ren

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    “so all I am saying is, don’t bother with online stuff really, they dunt never represent the real china, if you wish to visit china by all means do it, and you will get absolutely the warmest if not flattering reception you can ever have.”

    @Peter, does that mean the volleyball guys’ family member who got stabbed was extended the great hospitality of the motherland? FCUK you Peter. Chimates only smile when they are cheating you.

    Reply
11. 武璟轶

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    I was sitting not far from that guy when this happenned. It was really awkward and embarassing, he asked other people to protest but all the Chinese students were like “Shame on you”. Although his speech wasn’t that interesting, I still have a lot of respect for Premier Wen and really hate the guy who did that.

    One interesting thing is that there were some Chinese-looking free tibet people outside who handed hard copies of the speech (or at least that’s what I thought) in english to everyone there, so all the foreigners were reading that, but actually it was a list of lies Wen Jiabao had told. So maybe he just got frustrated after reading that, but on the other hand it must have taken some planning to get a whistle through security.

    At the end, another European girl asked Wen a very clever question which he quite blatently avoided answering directly, but what do you expect.

    It will be interesting to find out who that guy is, I bet there is already a human flesh search engine looking for him. Once his identity is revealed he’s just going to get raped by all the chinese in Cambridge which will be awesome. He must have been a student or staff btw.

    Reply
12. hendry tjoa

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    i am so angry bout that embarassing incident. i am in Indonesia and very shock when saw that incident.
    i hate the shoe-thrower. what he did just show that he doesnt look like an educated person..a high educated people using their brain and logic not violance..
    you know that chinese people spread in all over the world and we have the largest population in the world. so, dont even try to make any trouble with us!!!
    the conflict in Tibet is an internal business of China, and thanks for your attention for this problem, but China doesnt need any of your OPINION!
    坏蛋！！

    Reply
13. Peteryang

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    …i am in Indonesia … so, dont even try to make any trouble with us!!!…

    —————————————–

    indonesians made a huge trouble with chinese in 1998, slaughtered and raped chinese women, burnt chinese stores, it was the most disturbing act I’ve ever seen. and the local chinese community literally hid their asses instead of attempting a fightback, and the government here in china didn’t even do their usual “hurting feelings” thing.

    so tell me, with this magnitude of cowardice, how would you expect people to not make trouble with you??

    Reply
14. Sirbi

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    HAHA.

    Wish it was Jiang Zi Min tho.

    But hey, they all suck.

    So much love for the political leaders… who the fuck these peeps think they are? Obamatards?

    Reply
15. Peteryang

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 11:18 pm

    @fcuk da lu ren

    you are a fucking idiot, by your logic may I say the bus accident that killed seven chinese in the states were american hospitality?? and that it should suggest every american on this planet is drunk retard?????

    your rushing and racist reponse made you indifferent from fenqings. you probly have mental errors, go see a doc before its too late.

    Reply
16. too yellow

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:52 am

    “a lots things happened. there was protest on campus, the principal called him a “petty dictator”, he was denied to visit ground zeo…”

    but nothing was thrown at him, shoes or otherwise, during his speech

    Reply
17. mtm

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:49 am

    “Love seeing how soon some Chinese forget that it was the opening up to those “Foreign Devils” that allow them to be so proud of where China is today.”

    Oh yes! How ungrateful of me! Thank you mister foreign devils for your gunboats, thank you for the opium, thank you for looting and burning our palaces… etc

    Oh wait?! That’s yesterday’s news innit? Okay, (think modern…hmmm) thank you for the slave labor sweatshops, thank you for the patronising our massage palours, thank you for all the protest and anti-China histronics… etc

    Reply
    • Steven

      Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 9:13 am

      Why not thank your Chinese leaders for the Tiananmen Square massacre?

      Reply
18. peace

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 5:30 am

    “A few chinaSMACK readers asked me if we will report about it. Of course many people want to know how Chinese people will react when it happens to their own leader instead of another country’s leader. One person also threatened our “honesty” if we do not, but I am not sure why it affects our honesty. Wow, do not be so serious.”

    Haha, Fauna I think you’ve gained a dedicated following of trolls that seem to get kicks from Schadenfreude.

    Reply
19. Tyler

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 5:31 am

    More reaction:

    http://www.blables.com/comics/?id=7

    Reply
20. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 8:57 am

    but nothing was thrown at him, shoes or otherwise, during his speech
    ———————————
    duhh, calling him a petty dictator right after he took the stage is, to me, much much more insulting than shoe flight, at least Wen enjoyed an overall welcoming hall and everyone except that idiot showed due respect, while Ahmadinejad was encompassed by pure hatred ALL THE TIME. besides, no one shouted “shame on you” at the principal, they probly all thought “nice job you said what we want to say”.

    srsly I have a growing understanding of why he blasted US everytime he was at UN, I heard that US once even denied visa for his assistants. haha.

    Reply
21. Bozo

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 9:10 am

    I’d like to know what questions the students asked. Anyone know where I can find them? You can guarantee the spineless Chinese media won’t have reported the questions.

    Reply
22. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 10:32 am

    “Love seeing how soon some Chinese forget that it was the opening up to those “Foreign Devils” that allow them to be so proud of where China is today.”

    Oh yes! How ungrateful of me! Thank you mister foreign devils for your gunboats, thank you for the opium, thank you for looting and burning our palaces… etc

    Oh wait?! That’s yesterday’s news innit? Okay, (think modern…hmmm) thank you for the slave labor sweatshops, thank you for the patronising our massage palours, thank you for all the protest and anti-China histronics… etc

    Actually Matt, I think “Fcuk You Foreign Devil”.
    And that’s a “Fcuk You Foreign Devil” with added lead paint.
    Cunt.
    ———————————————

    ok I have to disagree with two things: opening of china and sweetshops. let me put it out for you.

    colonist aggression back in the 18th century was a result of two factors: imperial global expansion and Qing government’s inablility to defend the territory, one has to take both into account when discussing the matter.

    not long after emperor Qian Long succeeded the throne the british commercial fleet knocked on china’s door and requested to expand trade route, triggering a debate on the necessity of opening up the coastlines within the forbidden city, certain interest groups like He Shen and local governments in the far south regions were looking for a deal but Qian Long himself strongly opposed to the scheme on the basis that China was mighty enough to sustain itself thus did not require international trade, and that foreign nations and their goods were inferior.

    so then the request was denied and existing foreign trade missionaries were expelled from china, coastal borders completely shut down. out of spite, and knowing the vast profit potential china could offer, foreign powers led by britain waged whats called an “opium war” on china, coerced it to agree on undue terms and, because the qing government was so corrupt and backward it had to use cavalries and polearms to counter machineguns, china was defeated within matter of weeks.

    china remained a divided and colonized state for the following 100 or so years, some like Matt argue this period represents the first ever true “opening up” but it was in fact more like a “wild west” era colored by power struggles, civil conflicts, extreme poverty, warlord rulings, and a series of humiliating agreements.

    then came Mao Zedong, frankly speaking, he succeeded in eliminating imperialism and bureacracy, but in doing so he created a much worse autocratic state characterized by starvation and delibitating political movements, after his death china was once again on the verge of destruction, and fortunately, Deng grabbed power and started his ambitious project which is what I consider the real “opening up”.

    if you look at china today, none of the skyscrappers, wealthy goons, flashy cars has anything to do with what happened between 1840 and 1949, and so do the 800 million peasants and poor rural regions.

    so I conclude that opium war did not bring opening up.

    —————————
    sweetshops.

    suffice to say, foreign sweetshops in china are probably all run by taiwanese and korean companies, while american and european companies treat their employees much better, with japanese firms somewhere in the middle.

    I work in Wangjing of Bejing, it was filled by korean businesses but when the economic crisis came, a lot of them simply escaped and left thousands jobless, I talked to a laid-off driver he told some of the bosses just bought a ticket and flied back home the next day, and many of his colleagues had to line up under my office build looking for cheap runs.

    so from my experience, the ranking goes something like this:
    1. western companies, large state enterprises.
    2. foreign but asian companies, e.g. japanese, malaysian.
    3. taiwanese, korean, local privite, small state, family business.

    Reply
23. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 10:48 am

    and ya know what, this shoe incident is a good thing, it means Wen is at the same status with the almighty Bush!! CHINA = AMERICA AHAHAHAHAHA LUL.

    Reply
24. JessC

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:43 am

    Showing disrespect to a popular leader who works for the good of all the people makes me wonder if this was not an attack on their country as a whole rather than a personal attack on a leader who helped the poor. As stated above, he took away taxes for the poor.
    Leaders like him deserve respect and honor, not a smelly shoe.

    Reply
25. Sirbi

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:45 am

    you are such a fucking troll Peteryang. (I admit tho, thank you for the knowledge… props).

    Reply
26. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:50 am

    2008年扁台独势力联合美日密谋5.20台独政变，而中国政府顶住了台独的压力和抗震救灾具备同时打赢两场战争的实力。美国用地球物理武器攻击绵阳，接着四川的大地震则更加表现出强烈的时空目的性。美国定的中国地震闹钟定了8个8 ：5月12日汶川8.0特大地震正是距密谋5.20台独前8天距2008 年8月8日晚8点北京奥运会开幕式前88天，震中在绵阳北的汶川、北川一带。而绵阳正是中国国防工业的核心区，不但是中国的核武器研究基地所在地，也拥有亚洲最大、世界第三大的风洞群，自然也是中国航空航天研究的中心。小到导弹、大到登月飞船都要在这里进行研究测试，触及了西方战略利益的、刚刚挂牌的大飞机项目以及登月项目自然也需要这里的技术支持。该地区集中了中国大约2/3的战略国防工业设施。

    Reply
27. no.fair.Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:55 am

    can someone translate this for me? I’m still a beginner chinese student who is studying for a test tonight.

    Reply
28. fcuk da lu ren

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    @Peter,

    I hear you Chimatrons saying this now. Do you really think you are equal to the US? Really?

    On one hand you demand that we respect you saying that you are this and that and that you are becoming a world power.

    On the other hand you beg western nations to come together to help maintain the stability of China by buying products made in China (jobs built for Chinese by foreign companies).

    You chide America telling you to stay out your business but are the first country to “slam” anything that another country does that you don’t like (more often than not, its not praising you)

    What have you done for the world? Say what you want about the US, but NO country in the world has done more for the world (saved all your asses in WWI and WW2), created things the world uses (including the internet), and been on the forefront of freedom making dreams come true (see black president)

    You are NOTHING compared to the USA. Go ask a peasant in Gansu if he feels like he has a shot at life. Or even a fudan uni grad who will probably never have anything more than house if they are lucky (probably bought with money they scammed from the foreign company that employs them).

    I grew up in a predominantly black lower income are and have achieved an MA, make 6 figures, and have seen the entire world, owed mostly to my own hard work, but also to a country that has given me the opportunity to have a CHANCE.

    Don’t ever put yourself on the same level as the USA. You have done nothing for the world except for SARS, Melanine, and Destroying the whole world’s environment.

    And before you launch into the whole: IRAQ, Economic Crisis, or whatever other Chimate pre programmed message you have, stop and thank me for the fact you don’t speak Japanese right now

    Reply
29. liz

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Personally, I admit that there are forgeiners that come into China and give the rest of us a bad name.

    I have always been respectful towards China, and her country’s laws and customs, and too throw a shoe at a government official, ANY government official is a clear sign of disrespect. That person should be forcibly removed from said country and barred from any entry.

    I come from a culture that respects our elders, and having dated a Chinese man for two years I can say, it is clearly reflected in this culture aswell.

    Please don’t judge the rest of us so harshly.

    Reply
30. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    when the fuck did I say china is on par with US??????????????
    and when the fuck did I “beg western nations” or “chide america”??????????

    you will point out the phrases, words, sentenses that remotely suggest I mean what you perceive I mean, or else you are just putting words into my mouth.

    and no thanks I am more aware of china’s problems than any of you wankers here, I went to australia in 14 and got my degree there and have been working for 3 years now, I keep reading news from foreign medias and blogs every day, I’ve been to many places across china either on profession or vacation, I take special interests in study domestic and international politics and always keep my eyes on major events, so I probably have more ideas whats going on in this world than you moron.

    and “programmed message”, oh my mao, at least my comments are diverse enough and cover all aspects, while yours are only about how screwed china is.

    go suck a baton or something.

    Reply
31. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    can someone translate this for me? I’m still a beginner chinese student who is studying for a test tonight.
    ——————————-
    its some funny conspiracy theory I found on the web, I thought it may entertain you lot.

    Reply
32. Matt

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    mtm,

    Some would say what Mao did, killing all those Chinese was wrong, but China wouldn’t be successful today if he didn’t do what he did and kill millions of his own through famine and execution.

    I don’t know if you agree with that, but foreigners haven’t even come close to doing what he did to China’s people. Yet he is recognized as such a great leader.

    Sure, there are many very bad parts of opening up to foreign business, but how can you say that Deng deciding to open up China’s economy to foreign investors did not directly result in China’s economic success? If foreigners did not help make China great, who did? What is driving China’s economic boom?

    Call me names all you want. Must kill you to leave your rock and see all those foreign devil goods that people want everywhere.

    Reply
33. Tibetman

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    Premier Wen was not in China, he was in London and it is natural to expect a more diplomatic response from him even if a shoe was hurled at him. Nothing great about that.

    However, if something like this would have happened in China, I am pretty sure the person will firstly be reprimanded, then without any trial, he will be a labeled anti-national, a reactionary who will be sentenced to long term imprisonment. And tortures and forced political re-education will be part of that package.

    I don’t think Chinese who watched just the CCTV footage should not feel fooled by what they see on the TV.

    Reply
34. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    Wen did fine at PR, not super but fine. he could have responded more gracefully, if I were him I’d say something like “give the shoe back to him so he can walk home”.

    Reply
35. jayman

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    ANYONE KNOW WHERE IS HE FROM??????

    According to the BBC, the police have declined to identify the individual, beyond saying he was 27 years old. Cambridge has, as well. I’ve looked around at all the other major news sites but so far I haven’t seen a single mention of his nationality, which makes me assume he lived in the UK.

    News reports say he was described by witnesses as a goateed European with a thick accent. Maybe that’s where the notion he was German comes from, but I doubt we’ll ever know for sure unless by some strange happenstance he pleads not guilty and it goes to trial.

    there was a “give way to the foreigners” sign by a road during the olympics, I mean you’d never see this in other countries

    It’s also much harder to tell someone is a foreigner in many of those other countries.

    One person also threatened our “honesty” if we do not, but I am not sure why it affects our honesty.

    Not that I agree, but since chinaSMACK mentioned the Chinese reaction to Bush’s incident, this person probably felt you should do the same for Wen’s.

    I disagree with that appraisal, though, since Bush’s incident was popular on Chinese message boards and forums (and everywhere in the world). Wen’s incident was unoriginal, uninspired, and most likely unwarranted, and although it was mentioned sooner, it certainly didn’t receive popular attention outside of China either.

    Reply
36. Stephan Larose

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    Wow, talk about insane reactions. I think most Americans laughed when the shoe was thrown at Bush, but Chinese… y’all seem to get pretty serious. But why? Every country with a visible international profile is going to get criticized and leaders like Wen, who do oversee human rights abuses unacceptable in other countries, will be subject to such stunts and criticisms, you guys are going to have to learn to deal with that in a more level-headed way, because you just embarrassing yourselves. In any case, I’m willing to bet that at least half the comments were just a couple fifty-cent party goons (china’s internet propaganda enforcers) making up a bunch of dummy names and posting…

    Reply
37. Why so serious?

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    Some of you guys should also thank the ‘foreigners’ for jacking/preserving your cultural relics as they would of just been camp fire fodder for the red guards anyways.

    Also, some of you nationalist clowns need to loosen up and stop ‘slamming’ and ‘regretting’ every minor criticism and just brush it off. By overreacting and trying to act ‘hard’ collectively there is no respect to be won there.

    Reply
38. ffs

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    I’m sure the Chinese would like to thank you graciously for “perserving” all those relics. I’m definitely sure the millions of people you slaughtered so that you can humbly “perserve” those relics also thank you as well. ^_^

    Reply
39. infly

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    If obama had a shoe hurled at him, so many americans would get they panties in a knot.

    Reply
40. fcuk da lu ren

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    Peteryang
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 10:48 am
    and ya know what, this shoe incident is a good thing, it means Wen is at the same status with the almighty Bush!! CHINA = AMERICA AHAHAHAHAHA LUL

    That’s when you said it dousche nozzle. If your country is so fcuking great, why did you go to Australia for 14 years? I’m tired of you fcuking monkeys spouting about your greatness, you have done some cool things for yourselves, but for the rest of the world NADA.

    Reply
41. STAND UP,CHINA

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    ！

    Reply
42. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    about the relics, the most valuable ones are all in taiwan’s 故宫博物院, those in europea and left in the forbidden city are trash.

    communist party has made many requests to see them but is still denied entry, I guess they will crap their pants if they see the real shit.

    Reply
43. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 4:37 pm

    That’s when you said it dousche nozzle. If your country is so fcuking great, why did you go to Australia for 14 years? I’m tired of you fcuking monkeys spouting about your greatness, you have done some cool things for yourselves, but for the rest of the world NADA.
    —————————————–

    wtf you even fail at sarcasm, wow, whats your brain made of?? scrap metal???

    Reply
44. goldenbarn

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    @ Peter,

    the riot in Indonesia was in fact planned by Indonesian government and there was nothing the local Chinese community can do. After the incident, the Chinese government signed a secret peace agreement with the Indonesian government. Forced by the pressure, the Indonesian government had to sentence hundreds of Indonesian Military officers who were involved in the riot.

    Reply
45. Matt

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    Peteryang,

    I know you were being sarcastic, but actually there was some truth in what you said. The more successful China becomes, the more its going to be loathed in the world. Its just part of the game. More success, more criticism.

    Some Chinese are going to have to realize that its impossible to be loved and powerful at the same time and shouldn’t take it so hard when they see protests against its actions.

    Maybe Americans were overreacting like this too when they began their accent on the world stage? And from some of the responses, it seems that some still are.

    Patriotism is fine, but if it keeps you from seeing the faults of your own country, then there is a big problem.

    Reply
46. Peteryang

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    @Matt

    couldn’t be more true. I think china is definitely learning to be an international player, eariler last year the government fanned internet mobs against foreign medias but all that had accomplished was even more criticism and negativity, this event taught them a lesson on global PR so this year they are going to invest some 40 billion yuan in international propaganda, I know it still sounds stupid but its a sign of learning and adapting. we are still a young socialist nation, and so is our diplomacy.

    and I think the chinese leaders could surely use some finesse at handling protests, too.

    Reply
47. dlhanhan

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    we love the premire

    Reply
48. Kai

    Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    @ FDLR:

    Dude, Peteryang wrote China = America on the comic basis that both had leaders who had a shoe thrown at them. I don’t think he was being serious to the point that they’re actually equivalent or near equivalent in terms of geopolitical power. You’re reading too much into his joke. He even added a LUL too.

    @ Matt:

    Before China thanks foreigners for its economic development, it has capitalism to thank. It is capitalism that promotes development by harnessing human self-interest. China reformed and opened up to foreigners out of self-interest. Foreigners came to China and invested in China out of self-interest. Both sides did what they did for their own perceived good. Without capitalistic foreigners, China would not have benefited from foreign investment. Without China, capitalistic foreigners would not have had a market to invest in or Chinese resources to exploit. Foreigners would not bother with China if China had nothing to bring to the table in exchange.

    Foreigners helped make China great, but the Chinese helped make themselves great first by being willing to open up, work with, and make deals with others. It is as simple as that. It took and takes two to tango. Neither one is to be thanked more than the other.

    @ Stephan Larose:

    Some of the insane reactions are just your normal knee jerk hypocritical outrage. Some of it is genuine ignorance. Almost everyone knows that Bush was almost universally disliked. Not everyone knows that most Chinese actually think quite highly of Wen. More importantly, not every Chinese person realizes that most foreigners might not really know who Wen is other than being a high government official or that Wen is fondly regarded by the Chinese themselves, unlike Bush.

    So, for some of the upset Chinese, they’re thinking,”What? Wen is such a good guy, why would anyone throw a shoe at such a good guy?” without understanding the reasons behind foreign antagonism towards China, or representatives of China (or China’s political system). Just like infly said, many Americans would also be far less happy with a shoe thrown at Obama than they were with the shoe thrown at Bush. Wen to Chinese is similar to Obama to Americans (at least for now).

    There was a survey last year that showed that most Chinese actually believe the world looks fondly upon them. The rest of the world is baffled as to why the Chinese would be so full of themselves. It isn’t necessarily arrogance but just ignorance, partly due to the lack of information and enough cross-cultural exposure and experience.

    You can see that some Chinese are beginning to understand that as a country’s power grows, so does the scrutiny and backlash it faces. That’s why some of the comments express a certain acceptance of the shoe throwing because of China’s growing power. It’s kinda like, “well, at least this shows we’re important.”

    Reply
49. Matt

    Friday, February 6, 2009 at 4:23 am

    @Kai

    Absolutely. I don’t think I ever said Chinese should be thankful to foreigners. I just found it kind of weird to be anti-foreigner without realizing that laowai helped make China richer. But yes, of course China deciding to reform is just as important, if not more as the foreign contribution.

    Wow, we have gone off topic huh? What was this post about…something about a shoe? :P

    Reply
    • realmatt

      Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 7:44 am

      china should be thanking adam smith, thomas jefferson, benjamin franklin, etc. and all other individuals who sacrificed life and liberty to create a nation that, for over 200 years, has served as a beacon of light for china and the rest of the world.

      :)

      Reply
50. dude8

    Friday, February 6, 2009 at 5:19 am

    One thing is for sure, it didn’t happen on German sole! And who says the guy is German? All that anybody knows is that he seemed to have a German accent, even then he could have been Austrian or Swizz … just as an English speaking person is not neccessarily American.
    Should he really have been German though I am ashamed for my country men. Men who (which is fine in my eyes) aim to control their own country – Wen Jiabao – and men who aim to control the whole world – Bush – should not get the same reception.

    Reply