| Well, that was long, reading everything down. And really interesting. Quite a few people made relevant points: Chris, George W. Shen, James Brown and Jay. I'd like to share my views on this topic. It was very interesting for me to see one day all my MSN contacts show the "(L) China..." name. As a French who's lived in China for a few years, many of my colleagues have asked me why the French are so bad and so against the Chinese. Like Jay said, French are not against the Chinese, but against some of the policies the CN Government has/implements. Of course, we should know better than to judge another country but... We always protest, about anything. Even internally. And we know our media are biased. Don't think we always believe everything they say. There have been many reports pro-Chinese actually but seems the spotlight was only on the anti-Chinese ones. Kevin Woo and others: Please understand that the French who protested at the Torch Relay in Paris do not represent the majority of French people and their opinions on that matter. Most of them actually didn't care about the Torch Relay. Jian Wan Shuo and Tommy: The Paris Mayor and the French Government are not one same thing. Unlike in China, the mayor of a city does not have to be of the same political party as the government therefore he sometimes does as he pleases, which is what happened. The Paris Mayor decided against the French Government advice to hang that banner and make the Dalai Lama and a chinese dissident citizens of the city. This decision was personal and political, a way for the mayor to get back at the President. It doesn't mean the French Government and the whole French people agree or support this decision. Again, most people probably didn't care. However, not knowing the French political scene, I see why you believed so. I have trouble explaining to my colleagues the above points as well as the fact that although many people protested as a group during the Torch Relay, several had different agendas. The Olympic Torch is but a means to protest against many of the P.R.C's involvements around the world people are not happy about that, i.e. Chinese goods flooding the markets, Tibet, Taiwan, Sudan, Chinese presence and influence in Africa... The Olympic Games are basically just a platform that people use to gain impact on the issues they defend. And note that none of these are anti-Chinese but just the Government. Unlike Chinese, we don't have that strong an attachment to the Government. We are proud of our country but the country, the government and the people are not amalgamated. Regading the boycotts, well... I was told several times by my colleagues they would boycott the evil French brands. They still have the *heart China in front of their IM name and they still shop at Carrefour, Auchan or purchase French products. I believe everybody is pulled into this patriotism/nationalism thing and acts accordingly. I understand why, I only regret that none of them thinks on their own and reflects on the decisions and actions they take instead of simply doing it because media/BBS and friends discussions told them it is the thing to do. |
Friends Started to Boycott French Products