Did anyone hear the caller who called in about the picture that cnnsi took of Yao Ming? Didn't get the full story but I just heard that a poster in the background had something written in Chinese that said, "Chinese people unite, defeat the American Imperialist." Just wanted to get the full story if anyone knows it. It's didn't seem like a big deal Pallilo and Lord were laffing about it and saying that the poster wasn't in Ming's house or anything.
Heard it too. Can't say I know the whole story, but here is what I heard. Supposedly a picture that featured Ming included a sign, poster or banner on a wall that contained "Chinese people unite and defeat the American imperialists" written in Chinese. My guess, probably Mandarin. The photo was taken at a CNN affiliate in China and 610 credited the photo to AFP, a French news agency. I have not seen this photo, was it in the Houston Chronicle? I think they said that it was. Charlie and Rich on 610 figured its placement to be in the photo was intentional, but was it serious or a joke? Maybe the French put it there for a joke. Who knows.
You don't need to read the writing to know that it's there. I think it's on the front page of the sports section. There's a factory worker, a soldier, and I don't know what the third person is wearing. They are standing together and shaking their fist and the soldier has a gun ready. That's the only thing that worries me about the team's chemistry. What are these guys gonna do together if Yao is all about communism and doesn't like the american way of life at all. I think, he's only here to become a better player. Yao's dream isn't to win an NBA championship, he wants to win the gold medal at the olympics. I'm not saying he isn't gonna work hard and do his best, I just don't see the guys relating. We'll just have to wait and see, it will be interesting to see which way this team will go.
I doubt Yao's going to go out of his way to discuss politics. I'd worry more about his teammates trying to get him to agree that China is messed up and isn't the U.S. so much better, if anything. But I wouldn't be concerned because bottomline, these guys all care about basketball and winning. As long as everyone just tries to get along and maybe Yao and a couple of the guys actually become good friends, I think it'll be fine.
Come on, Ming didnt put the poster there. The people with that french news agency put it there. Ming might not even see it.
MR. The Real Shady, PLZ stand up, stand up, stand up... I know u r slim. So , how could u believe these bull**** such as "a poster in the background had something written in Chinese that said, "Chinese people unite, defeat the American Imperialist.""??? I am chinese, I am from shanghai, I am Yao ming's Fan. Now I am rocket's Fan, too. I know this is a not good place to show some political infomation. But let me tell u truth, in modern China, most people do NOT think U.S. is our enemy, even you boom our embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999. Maybe u see the procession on TV, but it's a "show", a group of shallow-brained college students made it, they only wanna say something or perform someting on the pop media. In fact, "defeat the American Imperialist" is a oldoldold speech, maybe our grandfather like it. But we don't. Remeber, we r all Rockets fans now. WE LOVE THIS GAME!
Politics is not a problem. The gap between USA and China is too huge. Chinese rarely talk about politics now. When someone is saying "USA imperilism", he is just trying to be HUMOROUS. Would you care if I write a " USA communism"? CNN is the most anti -china thing in this world. If you want to figure out what China is, please don't waste time on CNN.
Yeah, I was listening to 610 when the guy called in. Here's what happened...... The interview was given in a news bureau that has dozens+ of posters, mostly political, and all old, in their halls and offices. The posters represent a "collection"; not a snapshot of current Chinese ideology. Hell, they probably had one beside it that translates to "Include Kissinger in the Gang of Four". It was a relic of past doctrine. Nothing more. I'm just wondering how the hell I can get my hands on one. My 14 year old son loves stuff like that.
ok people this is a basketball chat room not a political one. If you want to discuss politics go to a political chat room. Geeeze
I don't agree. I've read too much from Yao lately that he's coming here to win. He talks about becoming a better player and all but he says something to the effect that he's won at every level of basketball he's played in and now he wants to win in the NBA. He's coming here for an NBA title. Period. Sports are supposed to sooth the strains between politics. Let's stay on basketball and leave the politics to the politicians.
. It's amazing how the news media would go extra miles to make something out of nothing. That French News Agency now has an eye-popping picture which is controversial enough to appear on the front page of a few newspaper. I am not sure if it was not a set-up.
That poster with three men must be a joke. It is an image popular in the cultural revolution, well in the 70's China. Anyone trying to show that kind of pictures around will surely be laughed at. Or some bonehead reporters just set the thing up. But, quite funny thing. Haha.
Here's the info: Vintage poster in Yao photo provides history lesson By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle China's past raged threateningly from the framed poster, rifles at the ready, angry anti-American slogans almost screaming their call to arms. China's future, wearing a Nike basketball T-shirt, perhaps appropriately waved goodbye. Yao Ming might not have even noticed the poster above a doorway in the CNN-Beijing offices Wednesday night, the night the Rockets made him the first pick of the NBA draft. But there he was, pictured across the top of the sports page of Thursday's Chronicle facing the Cultural Revolution emotions that had become a kitchy collectors item while he served as the 7-5 embodiment of what China has since become. Houston's Chinese community and the Chinese consulate noticed the irony quickly. The poster was a vivid 1968 example of Maoist propaganda. But to many, the photograph, provided by Agence France Presse, also showed just how remarkable an event the selection of Yao with the first pick of the NBA draft really is. "It tells me," reader PB Chiu said, "what a long way we have come together." Beneath a portrait of a peasant women, a soldier and a factory worker -- considered the proletariat top rung of the class structure of the time -- the message was unmistakable: "Unite people of the whole world! Down with the American imperialists! Down with the Soviet revisionists! On the left and right borders, the characters said, "Resolutely support the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America struggle for justice against America! In the portrait itself, the message was, "Get out ... American imperialism! Down with the Soviet revisionists! Down with the American imperialism. Unite peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America." The book held by the factory worker is titled Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. "These are ... old propaganda posters that are memorabilia from a bygone era," CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney said. "These posters are purchased in China as collector's items, the way people in the United States purchase old movie posters." Similar posters have become common decorations in Beijing and Shanghai, said Sinologist Yali Zou, a University of Houston associate professor and the director of the UH Asian-American Studies Center. "It reflects history," Zou said. "It does not represent today's Chinese people's feelings. "This is obviously a propaganda poster. It has become a fashion. Scholars, collectors, many people collect newspapers and posters and decorate their office or restaurant with them. This slogan doesn't mean anything related to Yao Ming. There aren't any anti-United States feelings in China. China has great feelings about the U.S. I had a big group just come back. The relationship was very friendly to the American people." But the confluence of Yao and the anachronistic sentiments expressed in the poster stirred deep emotions. "What happened back then are miserable memories for everybody," Jun Yang, an architect with J. Ray McDermott Engineering and a manager of the Houston Chinese Civic Center said. "I don't think anyone in China would cherish the political fervor and propaganda of the government of the Cultural Revolution. But many Chinese people who experienced that period still keep items from that period to remember the most difficult time in their life, just as American veterans are keeping items from the Vietnam War to remember their unhappy past." As common as the practice might be, for many, it was still not easy to see, particularly at a time of triumph. Zou said Chinese-language Internet forums and chat rooms were crowded with discussions of the photo and its place in a U.S. newspaper. "I felt so ashamed by the picture," Dr. May Lu said. "I wanted to cover it with my hands so people around me wouldn't see it." The photo ran in the first two editions of the paper, but was replaced for a late edition. "We looked at all of the photos that were available to us from the various wire services, and we decided this was the best photo to illustrate one of the biggest news events of the year," Chronicle assistant managing editor Dan Cunningham said. "Late (Wednesday) night, one of our staff members who is Chinese raised concerns about the content of the photo, so we elected to pull the photo until we could fully evaluate it. "We thought it raised many questions that we could not answer at the time. For example, where was the photo taken? What exactly does it mean? How would people react to it?" By the next day, when the reactions were as varied as they were strong, Rockets officials believed that Yao typified how far the United States relationship with China has come since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. "Yao was where he was requested to be so we could cover the draft properly," Rockets chief operating officer George Postolos said. "He was sitting in the offices of an American company. The employees decorated the office with a collection of historical artwork, which includes images of the Cultural Revolution. This has nothing to do with his views. This happens to be where he was. "We take it as a reminder of how we're getting to know another culture. We take it as a reminder of the international aspects of Yao Ming coming to play basketball in Houston. Part of what is going on is the relationships between our countries are developing. The Chinese have decided it's appropriate to send Yao Ming and other players to play in the United States because of more openness in China and a warming of our relationships. "Sports have traditionally been a way to bridge differences between people. This is part of the process of bridging differences between our countries." Staff writer Chunhua Zen Zheng provided translation and contributed to this report.
just a little tidbit. Chronicle staff writer Chunhua Zen Zheng left out some of the translation. the poster also says to unite with the Arabs to bring down America.
I actually have an English version of the poster....Its a great poster, and people are taking it out of context. Like someone said earlier, the poster was created during the cultural revolution in China, so its pretty old. Theres a African man, A vietnamese woman , South Americans, Indians, all different types of people in the background (some with guns others with their fists up). It says nothing about America it says word for word in English: Resolutely Support the Ant-Imperialist Struggles of the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America. I think most or all of us would disagree with the Imperialism that took place throughout the world earlier in this Century? at least i hope..
