wealth comes from something. either from the natural resources, or at the expense of others. when the middle class develops, i am sure there will be other problems.
Time is everything. Things will be totally different 50 or even 30 years from now. 30 years ago China was basically a totally backward undeveloped country on par with the poorest African nations today.
I"m not trying to rock the boat, but china supports the government in darfur. i think its kinda of hypocritical to do business with a country that supports a government in darfur. Yet, they want to talk about ethinic cleansing and terrorism.
I lived there during my childhood too. Yeah, Hefei people always love a good protest. Check these videos out, Protest in a Carrefour store in Hefei And the next day, dozens of trucks show up to block the entrance to the store.
As expected. And note that no violence was reported at any of the demonstrations. We Chinese are a civilized people, unlike the French and British. Anti-French protests erupt across China 2 hours ago BEIJING (AFP) — Hundreds of Chinese protested Saturday in Beijing and several other big cities against France over its attitude towards Tibet and the Olympic Games, according to police and witnesses. The largest anti-foreign demonstrations to hit China in three years mainly targeted branches of Carrefour, the French supermarket chain accused by some Chinese of supporting Tibet, an allegation it denies. "There were a couple of hundred, mostly young people in the morning, and by noon they were gone," said an employee at a bookstore near one Carrefour outlet in the central city of Wuhan, asking not to be named. Initially the demonstration involved 300, a separate source said quoting a Wuhan police report, but the number of protestors swelled as high as 10,000 towards noon. AFP could not independently confirm the number, but photos posted on a web portal depicted huge crowds in front of a Carrefour in Wuhan, with one protestor carrying a French flag with the Nazi swastika painted on it. At the protests, crowds chanted "Boycott Carrefour" and "Oppose Tibet independence," according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. It reported protests in Beijing, in the eastern cities of Hefei and Qingdao, in southwestern Kunming city, and in Wuhan. They were the first Chinese protests specifically targeting France since Paris and Beijing established diplomatic relations in 1964. Anti-French sentiment in China has been rising since the chaotic Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay, where pro-Tibet protesters tried to wrestle the flame from Jin Jing, a young wheelchair-bound fencer. The resentment has been amplified by French President Nicolas Sarkozy linking his appearance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony to progress on human rights in Tibet, following China's crackdown in the region. Smaller protests erupted in Beijing around the French Embassy and the nearby French School, Xinhua and other witnesses said. About ten cars draped in Chinese flags drove around the embassy before the area was blocked by police, witnesses said. A little later, a small group of Chinese people gathered in front of the school, holding placards, the witnesses said. Previous outbursts of public anger aimed at foreign countries include 1999 demonstrations after US forces mistakenly bombed China's Belgrade embassy, and anti-Japan protests in 2005 triggered by a range of grievances. On Saturday China repeated calls for its citizens to harness their patriotic feelings for the purposes of economic development, in a sign Beijing may be uncomfortable with a nationalist outburst over Tibet as the Olympics approach. "We should turn our patriotic fervour into a common determination to ensure social stability, national development and rejuvenation," the People's Daily said in an editorial. The editorial, which followed similar Xinhua opinion pieces, was summarised on prime-time TV news, ensuring the message would reach hundreds of millions. The same TV programme reported the French ambassador to China Herve Ladsous was "regretful" for the disruption of the torch relay in Paris. In Hefei on Saturday, the square where Carrefour is located was packed with people, a receptionist in a restaurant across the street told AFP. "There are protestors and people who gathered to watch and show their support. Even crossovers and footpaths are packed with people," she said. "Yesterday, there were many trucks in the parking lot of Carrefour and people standing on top of the trucks to protest." A witness in Qingdao said there were a large number of demonstrators at a Carrefour on Friday and Saturday. "Today, there are more people than yesterday joining in. With all those protestors, I wonder how anyone can still manage to buy stuff there," she said. No injuries or arrests were reported at the demonstrations. AFP was unable to confirm if they were spontaneous or engineered by the government. Violence in Tibet's capital Lhasa erupted on March 14 after four days of peaceful protests against 57 years of Chinese rule, and spread into neighbouring Tibetan-populated areas. Exiled Tibetan leaders say more than 150 people have died in the government crackdown. China says Tibetan "rioters" have killed 18 civilians and two policemen.
Several thousand China supporters stage Paris demonstration The Associated PressPublished: April 19, 2008 PARIS: Thousands of pro-China demonstrators have staged a demonstration in support of China's handling of the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games. Organizers say between 6,000 and 7,000 turned out for Saturday's protest, at Paris' Place de la Republique. Police officials put the number of demonstrators at around 3,500. Many of the demonstrators were wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Let's make the Olympics a bridge, not a wall," in French. Many appeared to be Chinese citizens living in France. France has been the target of a backlash by supporters of China angry about pro-Tibetan protests that rocked the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay earlier this month.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/19/nbbc119.xml Chinese protest outside BBC over 'media bias' By Natalie Paris and agencies Last Updated: 3:51pm BST 19/04/2008 More than 1,000 Chinese students gathered today to protest against the Western media's portrayal of the Free Tibet movement. Demonstrators wearing "I love China" T-shirts held hands outside the BBC building in Oxford Road, Manchester, for the Protest Against Media Distortion. They carried banners denouncing the BBC and other media organisations for their portrayal of China's handling of riots in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and the Olympic torch relay. Organiser Tian Yang, 21, said: "The BBC is the national broadcaster, so we aim at them, but also the Western media in general. "The way they frame the story is biased. There is only one side of the story. "They take their views from Tibetan government and the Western petitions. "All we want is more people to listen to our voice and Chinese people's voices because they are only interviewing the Tibetan separatists." The protesters held a two-hour silent demonstration outside the studios before reading out an "open letter" addressed to director general Mark Thompson. It stated that the BBC failed to provide "credible and independent coverage" of recent free Tibet protests and the Olympic torch relay. It also accused the corporation of double standards and said: "Justice and fairness are only applicable to news about western countries." BBC News 24 came under criticism for allegedly failing to show the "huge presence of pro-Chinese supporters" during the Olympic torch relay in London. Mr Yang, who is a business and media exchange student at Manchester University, said: "We feel that through this biased reporting in the news it will generate racist prejudice and hostility in the west. That's what we really worry about. "We strongly believe that the Olympic Games is a good opportunity for people from the west and China to foster a better-than-ever friendship." The BBC said in a statement: "Despite restrictions placed on journalists, our coverage of Tibet has been extensive, fair and balanced. "The same is true of our reporting of the Olympic torch relay and the protests that have accompanied it."
Because the French are dumba**es, that's why. They were the first to float the idea of a boycott, and Sarkozy is still the only leader of a major western power to consider a boycott of the opening ceremonies. GWB is going. Britain's Brown won't be there for the opening, but will be there for the closing. Other leaders like Germany's Merkel won't be going but took great pains to explain that their absences have nothing to do with a boycott. Everyone is hedging their bets, leaving the dumb French hanging out there to dry. And the protests in Paris against the torch relay was by far the most violent and disruptive, and there was a sense that the French authorities, or at least the Parisian municipal government which actually raised a Tibetan flag, was aiding and abetting the protestors. And of course, there is the indelible image of poor Jin Jing. All in all, the end result is that it's not very popular to be French in China nowadays.
what type of french? traditional french? Canadian French? Cajun French?, Persian French? please explain...
All of them. Q. What is the first thing the French Army teaches at basic training? A. How to surrender in at least 10 languages. Q. What is the most useful thing in the French Army? A. A rearview mirror, so they can see the war. Why does Nike like the French Army? Because, in war time, they are the biggest buyers of running shoes Ok ... time to go to Mickey D's and get some Freedom Fries. <b>Stay the course. You're security depends on it. Vote McCain 2008. </b>
lol, you must not have ran into a Cajun French man like myself, you know... the ones that don't back down. well half cajun french, half irish... but you get the point.
WOW, I think most Chinese will be very happy if the woman in red is indeed the wife of Chinese President. x21
Man, you get the best of both worlds. You're able to grow the potato, and then you get to make fries out of them. But in America, we call them freedom fries and we don't worship Mary. <b>Stay the course. You're security depends on it. Vote McCain 2008. </b>
Wow, large-scale protests all over the world today, London, Paris, Germany, Canada, Los Angeles...... This is in front of the BBC in London This is in Birmingham, England In front of the CNN building in Los Angeles Anyone recognizes this flag? Even the Taiwanese are joining in the protest. And this is Berlin
This doesn't change the fact that France's first lady is 1000x hotter than China's. I'm with France on this one.
