这是我在跟一个外国朋友聊天时，他写给我的自己对近期学生游行的一些看法！~想与大家分享一下！因为怕翻译误差，我直接放了英文版本。呵呵。。　有些长，不过真的很值得思考！ 请大家一定耐心读完！

The recent demonstrations have concerned me. The students have a legitimate cause to protest against the coverage of the Tibet crisis. Unfortunately, the students are playing right into the hands of the media. Some of the language that the Chinese students have used in the past is inflammatory and aggressive and does nothing but reverse western prejudices and paranoia about China. The presence of thousands of students echoing these inciting statements (“the Dalai Lama is a liar,” “the Dalai Lama is evil” etc, will only make paranoid westerners and the media aware that these “hostile and anti-democratic” groups that are already here.

Chinese approach to the question of Tibet cannot be seen to be reactionary, as whether you like it or not, each Chinese citizen is now representative of their country and how they act will be perceived as a reflection on Chinese internal policy. The more irate, irrational and insensitive you appear to be about this issue irrespective of the legitimacy of your counter reaction to equally insensitive and irrational reports, the more power the messages these media reports will hold in the eyes of the British public. If they protest angrily, they will portray you all as indoctrinated nationalists that have been created by an evil all-pervasive state machine and at worst how all Chinese people are now part of that evil machine and are beyond hope. Essentially, an angry protest makes you look as hysterical and inane as your antagonists.

What the students need, with no offence intended, is more clarity in their argument. We cannot afford to have students appearing less eloquent than their antagonists and responding to accusations with “no, you a liar!” as that indicates that the counter protests lack any intellectual or factual credibility. You need well-vetted spokespeople, people who are confident, well spoken (in English and Chinese), who understand the Tibetan problem from both sides but have elected to adopt the Chinese side.

Ideally, these people should be students of international relations and have studied the Tibet issue as otherwise they will be rubbished by being tutored by state propaganda within China. These people need to acknowledge that there are problems in Tibet, as there are in greater China, but that China’s influence in the region has a predominantly positive effect in enhancing the standard of living of its people. These people need to use the cause of globalisation and the importance of development as dialectic when addressing Tibet’s situation and compare that to the servitude that is engendered through its traditional cultural and theocratic systems. These people need to be able to discuss the weaknesses of democracies when employed in nations of vast numbers, which have only been reunited after civil strife and disunity for almost 60 years, when the west has taken centuries to arrive at their present political system, when they are attacked for not allowing democratic to automatically disseminate. These people need to address hypocrisies within Western ideals such as out tacit support for Israel, whose occupation of Palestine has encouraged wars, apartheid like structures, civil deaths in the thousands and UNSC vetoes on countless resolutions. They need to think of other geo-political hypocrisies such as allowing Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence but refusing Tamils in Sri Lanka, Saharists in Morroco, Abkhazians and South Ossetians in Georgia, Basque in Spain, Flemish in Belgium, Native Amerians in the USA, Kurds in Turkey and Iraq etc the right to self-determination.

There are many issues that they can use to leverage the Chinese position against the Tibetans, but none of the protestors, in my opinion, are eloquent enough to deliver them, nor is the loud, irate and hysterical be the right platform to illustrate to the world that China is a peaceful, harmonious society that allows alternative views but reserves the right to counter such erroneous perceptions in a legitimate and eloquent fashion – like on a televised debate, or a public forum.

What’s more, the Free Tibet people will know about this demonstration too and use it to incite aggressive responses from the Chinese. DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. If anything, it should be the pro-Tibetan protestors who are more interested in hostilities as they have mentioned to the press. If they can be seen to be the antagonists to a peaceful Chinese demonstration then there might be some hope for us.
It is stories and reactions like this which do you all a disservice. Nationalism is one thing but employing it to the point of actually damaging one’s own country is downright political suicide and, if the world’s politicians reacted similarly, we would all be at war. DO NOT DO THIS

China, whilst opening up, should celebrate all of the manifestations of its new international position. Unfortunately, being a global power, you suffer global scrutiny. The US has suffered in this way for a long time – protests against the war in Iraq managed to gather millions of people under one movement. If anything, the degree of interest in China is a understood acknowledgement that China is in the position to do things, whereas previously we would have deferred all such protests to the US, the UN and the UK.

What you must do now is learn to acknowledge concerns and counter them. It is the subtlety of international politics and diplomacy. Be patriotic, but not blindly nationalistic – acknowledge problems and counter with the problems of others. We should all read Sunzi, the art of war.