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Salt on our wounds

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-30 07:48

Nobody here expects true like-mindedness between this country and the West. More often than not, our cultures and ideologies are too divergent to generate identical perceptions.

That is why the Chinese focus on harmony instead of uniformity in international relations. At the core of such a diplomatic philosophy is sensitivity to other's concerns as well as observance of the decencies of the international community.

From the charter of the United Nations to criminal codes of all countries, killing is considered the most heinous crime and, hence met with the severest penalty.

Yet those identified as the masterminds behind the July 5 carnage in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, instead of being reproached, are being valorized and welcomed as "heroes" in the West.

That is perplexing. In the merciless "war on terror", the Western world was so furious that Iraq was shattered and its civilizational heritage pounded.

We did not complain when Westerners failed to show due sympathy for the ethnic Han victims of the Urumqi rioting. We forgave their ignorance of the truth. For us, a crime is a crime, regardless of the identity or ethnicity of the victims.

It is one thing to take a blatantly partisan and unjust view. It is altogether another matter to stand facts on their heads, and this is exactly what is being done by some. The rioting is portrayed as a suppressed ethnic minority's "uprising" against a repressive "regime"; and, those inciting ethnic hatred and fomenting violence are extolled in the West. That is an intolerable insult to the victims and a shameful rejection of human decencies.

Westerners love to blame the Chinese for being nationalistic. They should ask themselves: Why? Some of us are suspicious of Western intentions. And, should we not be?

The Chinese, not just the government, cherish national unity. National unity is seen here as a fundamental, and overriding national interest. And, our people share lasting memories about who has done what to our country.

Indeed, we cannot prevent an Australian film festival from showing a documentary that sings the praise of the notorious leader of the World Uygur Congress. The Japanese can cite their national sovereignty to justify a visa for a public enemy of the Chinese. And, members of the United States Congress can go ahead and hold a close-door whatever with the woman they see as a "freedom" fighter.

Since they are determined to be associated with persons or forces that are perceived as a threat to our national security, they should not expect to have it both ways. Modern Chinese history is replete with instances that show the Chinese as a nation whose cohesive power is redoubled when foreign forces attempted to sow seeds of discord.

Particularly after the 2008 riots in Lhasa and the Olympic torch relay, the average Chinese knows what some of our Western friends are truly up to. Now, they have a clearer picture of what the Western affair with the East Turkistan Islamic Movement means.

We should be grateful to those who rub salt in our wounds. They remind us of the importance of the international Who's Who.

(China Daily 07/30/2009 page8)