Troubling double standards
“If you kill a Chinese person, it is not as bad as arresting one for fishing.”
Why would I start this letter off this way? Sounds provocative, doesn’t it? But it seems that this actually happened. On June 4, North Korean border guards were accused of shooting three Chinese and wounding another near Dandong City in China’s Liaoning Province. They were accused of illegal cross-border economic activities.
The Chinese government demanded a quick and thorough investigation. Since then, little has been heard from the Chinese side.
Before this, in May, one should remember that the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan took place during a period of North Korean saber rattling and old bonds between Beijing and Pyongyang being renewed and solidified.
Looking a media reports from June on, it’s difficult to find anything other than the celebration of the friendship between China and North Korea and the struggle against imperialist aggression.
Now let’s move on to something fresher in our minds. On Sept. 7, Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing trawler and arrested its captain for illegal fishing and colliding with two Japanese Coast Guard vessels off the Senkaku or Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
This clash resulted in mass protests, heightened political tensions and increased economic pressure, which appears to have continued to this day, with China continuing to withhold rare earth mineral shipments to Japan.
Now, it’s understandable the Senkaku/Diaoyutais would get pushed prominently to the forefront as it involves two traditional rivals, while the deaths of three compatriots at the hands of a friendly neighbor would be water under the bridge.
The Chinese have had a rough year of sorts in its surrounding region, beginning with the Cheonan sinking, the East China Sea isles dispute heating up once more, and later with the Vietnam-US rapprochement and its implications for the South China Sea.
On top of this, this was supposed to be the year of the Shanghai World Expo, but it has become a side note. Needless to say, this year has not gone in China’s favor.
On a people level, these contrasting responses by Chinese authorities and the subsequent coverage by Chinese media involving its citizens accused of “illegal” activities in each case have been starkly divergent, yet have pointed out the focus of the Chinese government.
Follow-up stories involving the deaths of Chinese citizens along the North Korean border seem to have not merited the time and effort.
The eventual release of the Chinese captain by Japan basically ended in favor of the Chinese, though how favorably probably will not be known for some time.
The Japanese public has shown a level of dissatisfaction rarely seen with both Beijing and its own government, and whether this will be a growing trend is anybody’s guess.
The two incidents involving Chinese accused of illegal activities seem to raise questions given what Chinese citizens are worth in the Chinese political machine and likely highlights that the political goals of decisionmakers will not be tempered by how its citizens are treated.
PHILIPPE MCKAY
Pingtung City
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