Defenders of nation's dignity overseas: Opinion

Zhang Jing, the head coach of the Hungarian national short track speed skating team, announced her resignation after Csaba Burján, a member of the team, used insulting words against China in an Instagram post.

Burján used pejorative words against China because he waited for longer than an hour to pass through immigration and the airport. Insulting a nation because he felt inconvenienced, is of course unacceptable.

Zhang has done a good, patriotic deed by fighting against this.

When foreign companies list Taiwan or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as separate entities from the Chinese mainland, it has been Chinese people overseas who point out the mistakes and ask for corrections. When foreign brands publish commercial advertisements that contain bias and prejudice against China or the Chinese culture, it is Chinese people overseas that first find them and call for nationwide boycott against these brands, which finally lead to them correcting their wrongdoings.

Having been coaching the Hungarian national short track skating team since 2012, Zhang has led the weak team into a relatively stronger one and earned Olympic gold medals for it. Burján was one of the team members who benefited from Zhang's efforts as he won a gold medal in the Men's 5,000 meter Relay at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea.

When such an influential person submits a resignation letter as protest, the sporting authorities of Hungary have no other choice but to face the situation. The head of Hungarian Skating Federation is reportedly traveling to China on Thursday, which shows how seriously the federation is treating this issue.

Drawing conclusions, two essential factors together defend China's dignity overseas. First, the Chinese working and traveling overseas have been increasingly more aware of the role they play in upholding national dignity and are ready to defend it. Second, the Chinese overseas have gained ample influence to make their protests worthy of attention.

Zhang said that Burján has already been expelled from the Hungarian team and sent back to Hungary, and he is not allowed to participate in races. We hope the incident will teach a lesson to all foreign sporting teams and let them see the determination of every Chinese citizen to defend the nation's dignity.