----- Original Message ----- From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 5:53 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] FW: Popular militancy in China New York Times. 6 April 2001. The Mood in China. Excerpts. AIKOU, China, April 5 While Washington and Beijing worked to bridge the gap between the regret expressed by President Bush and the apology demanded by President Jiang Zemin over the collision of an American spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, many young Chinese insisted today that there could be no middle ground. "Regret is not enough," said Claire Chen, a senior at the Hainan University law school here, not far from where the plane's 24 Americans are being held. American officials again were not allowed to visit the crew, succeeding just in passing newspapers and magazines to them through local officials. Speaking beneath the whispering palm trees of the university campus as students strolled by through the soft evening air, Ms. Chen said young people across China would protest if the American crew members were released before there was an American apology. "Students would go into the streets," she said, providing a glimpse of the hard-line attitudes that Mr. Jiang has to appease in resolving the diplomatic dispute. ... On the Web site of People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, several people have posted messages that express a desire for a strong leader like Mao, revered for standing up to foreign domination. "We miss Chairman Mao," read a posting by someone who used the name "New Force of Laid-Off Workers." Under the name Road to a Strong Nation, another posting read, "China needs politicians like Chairman Mao who have strategic vision," a thinly veiled criticism of Mr. Jiang, who many Chinese say has failed to articulate a clear vision for China's future. The spy plane incident has reinforced young people's perceptions of the United States as a careless bully that throws around its weight without considering the views or feelings of people from other nations. Ms. Chen repeated a common Chinese complaint that the United States "acts like an international policeman, interfering in situations all over the world." ... Many students on the campus echoed Ms. Chen's assertion that there would be larger demonstrations if the government released the crew members before the United States had made an apology. ... On a wall of the university dining hall, Chinese characters written in bold black brush strokes on a large piece of white paper read, "Wipe Out Our National Humiliation, Severely Punish the American Military." Another poster read, "Put the American Military Personnel Involved On Trial." PLEASE DISREGARD ANY SPAM THAT MAY FOLLOW THIS LINE Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
