Brett Knowlton wrote:
> Henry,
>
> Where did this come from?
>
> >The title of this post: West vs East, is telling. Communism came from the
> >West.
>
> Capitalism came from the West also. What's your point?
>
Precisely. My point is that this is a struggle between socialism and capitalism, not East vs West.
>
> The title was not intended as a slur against China, or Asia, or anyone for that
> matter. I used it in the same manner that people talk about the North/South
> conflict (meaning european colonialism and exploitation of Africa + South
> America and the Third World generally).
It was not taken as such, merely what I said above. There is a East vs West struggle, but that is another issue.
>
> >There is a certain self aggrandizement by some of this list who admit on the
> >one hand that they know little if anything about China, then in the next
> breath
> >pontification about its evil.
>
> So, are you saying that I'm not entitled to an opinion? That I have to
> keep my mouth shut because I haven't spent a few years living in China? Or
> because I'm not Chinese myself? I know enough about China to dislike the
> political system.
>
It was direct not toward you but to others. There is some baggage in this thread, as you may have noticed. The is one person who claimed that he purposely twisted his views out of personal vendetta and another who said he needed no data to support his conclusions. You have the right to dislike anything, political system or otherwise, but if you are making an intellectual criticism of Chinese policy, a little information is necessary.
>
> >China was there before they arrived and will be there long after they are
> >gone. And if they continue to defame China in English, their messages
> will not
> >be heard by 99% of the people in China.
> >We don't need your approval.
>
> Does my critique become compelling if I use Chinese characters? I don't
> understand this Us vs. Them mentality, or where it comes from. I was
> simply stating my opinion on a topic I'd been following over the last
> couple of days.
>
No, but do not be encouraged by apparent popular support when you post in English on a list inhabited by Westerners. Just because most Westerner agree with each other does not mean its true. Chinese speaking audiences may not find your views reasonable. Furthermore, if you don't know Chinese, your information input about China is generally filtered, and your conclusion though seemingly logical to you, may be based on Western propaganda. Beware of democracy, there are 1.3 billion of us; that is a lot of votes ;o). Better emphasize minority rights.
Peace with honor,
Henry C.K. Liu