August 31, 2006
Shanghai + Sex + Blog + Controversy = Book Deal?
Do you remember what you were doing on May 18? Let us help you: You were reading a Shanghaiist post about Sex and Shanghai, a blog started by one "Chinabounder", a British teacher living in Shanghai. In this blog Chinabounder wrote about his sexcapades, as well as scattered thoughts about sex and sexuality in China, Mao, the Cultural Revolution, and China in general.
We wish we could show you some of what he wrote, but his blog has been blocked, or rather is now invite-only. This is because this once popular blog caught the attention of Shanghai Academy of Social Science psychology professor Zhang Jiehai (张结海), who read the blog by accident on August 25, and became infuriated by a blog where he felt Chinese women had been reduced to sexual play-things and Chinese men were routinely ridiculed as "dull" and sexually incompetent.
On August 26, the professor penned a 5,000 character essay on his blog calling for the masses to rise up and unveil Chinabounder and "kick him out of China." Professor Zhang criticized Chinabounder on four counts:
- 1. The use of dirty (i.e. sexual) language.
- 2. insulting Chinese men
- 3. insulting Chinese pride (Chinabounder, an English teacher, asked his students on August 17 "Why are the Chinese still angry at Japan sixty years after the war?")
- 4. engaging in splittist propaganda (Chinabounder asked students "Should Xinjiang really a part of China?")
Professor Zhang's essay (read ESWN's translation here) ended with this request:
If people think that there is a foreign language teacher who fits these descriptions, or otherwise find valuable clues, please leave a comment at my blog or contact me directly via email.Netizens and compatriots, if you are a Chinese man with guts and if you respect Chinese women, please join this "Internet hunt for the immoral foreigner"! Let us act together!
I believe in the power of the Internet, because I believe in the power of the Chinese people!
This created a firestorm on the internet. People wanted to know who Chinabounder was. According to various reports, readers of the blog picked up the fact that Chinabounder in a British male teacher, 34-36-ish in age (they say he was born in year of the dog, which would make him 35 or 36), who works at Fudan or Jiao Tong University, whose name may be Brian. Heck, now there's even a blog called Who is Chinabounder!.
On August 28, a defiant Chinabounder replied on his blog to Professor Zhang's accusations -- with the blog closed we don't have the exact quote, but a Chinese translation suggests that he basically called Zhang a raving mad lunatic that likes to whip people up into nationalistic frenzy.
Of course, bloggers, Chinese and foreign, have been adding their two cents' worth, and the story's gotten big enough that the The Guardian wrote about it too.
What's interesting is that Chinabounder is not just the self-described "scoundrel" that sleeps with a lot of women, but that both his behavior and actions touch a raw nerve on so many issues -- Taiwan, Xinjiang, Sino-Japanese relations. Read the comments on the blogs and BBSs -- you'll find them more illuminating, in a way, than what either Zhang or Chinabounder have to say. There's a a slew of mini-debates about whether the women in Sex and Shanghai were really being played (or if it was consensual), whether or not what Chinabounder did was intrinsically worse than what other teachers/foreigners do (except that he wrote about it), or whether or not such actions, even if deemed reprehensible, really deserve the kind of attention and "punishment" (getting kicked out of the country) that Zhang is calling for. Others are more interested in Chinabounder's women, with some accusing them of being "trashy Shanghainese" women, while Zhang and others have tried to clarified that some of these women are not Shanghainese, etc.
Shanghaiist isn't all that concerned about the sex. What about what Zhang says about Sino-Japanese relations? He praises the Israelis (he means the Mossad, we think) for going to South America to find Nazi officials in hiding and bringing them to stand trial in Israel. He says that if a small country like Israel can do that, then what's wrong with China. We have to say that we find this a bit disturbing. Furthermore, on the issue of Taiwan: What if Chinabounder's comments in the classroom were merely to the effect that Taiwan is, de facto if not de jure, an independent country? A description of the status quo is not the same as promoting Taiwanese independence.
One comment left on Zhang's blog entry/essay says that whenever something goes wrong, Chinese people always look to blame others, and never examine themselves. The next entry asks "Are you a Japanese masquerading as a Chinese?" Nationalist diatribes veer into dangerous territory when women are involved because of the whole symbolism revolving around rape, violation, purity, etc. If horny white chicks were using Chinese men like sexual play-things, would there be a similar uproar?
In any case, Zhang has stated in an interview that he doesn't care if Chinabounder is caught or not. Isn't this something of an about-face? Evidently, he doesn't think so -- the lesson of this whole episode, he says, is that Chinese girls realize that even among foreign men, there are "trash."
And he needed 5,000 words to say that. Sounds like a professor indeed.
Also on Shanghaiist:
So, this guy has lots of sex and writes about it on the internet
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Way to post rumors you've heard about what his name and employer. It's good to see the Shanghaiist isn't above jumping on the bandwagon of irresponsible journalism and mob lynching.
Can someone ask Prof. Zhang what is the difference b/w China Bounder and Ms. Muzi Mei who posted her sexual escapades on her Chinese blog, of those she had with Chinese and Westerners, married and single.
Smacks to me of Chinese double standards and a load of bollocks.
Yes.. the blogger "peasant" commented on this a few days ago.
http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/community/index.php?blog=20&title=sex_and_shanghai&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
His comments found their way to other chinese blogs and before you know it, he had dozens of comments, some of which named names of other playa teachers and some which amounted to death threats against the chinabounder. I don't blame them for taking that blog offline. The problem is, most did not even seem to have read the blog ( either from chinabounder or from peasant ( who IS Chinese ), but rushed to react with the crowd in curses and insults in the comments. Doesn't take much to stir some people up.
Did you check out other posts on prof. Zhang's blog? He is quite a xenophobe, amazing what anti-foreigner propaganda he pens there. And that for a psychology professor who has studied in France, maybe he is the one that should be kicked out (of his job, that is).
I had access to a few of his blog.
an exemple.
"Of course China is full of guys like me. We're 90% a bunch of bastards."
"I think it's important to be honest about this. I hope that some women in China at least will read this stuff and begin to be a bit more cautious. The blog is also here, since blogspot is censored in China."
"I have various friends involved with foreign guys, and at the beginning of their relationships the woman has told me `This foreign guy is different.' But he never is. We all lie and cheat and chase."
"The reason I do not put my photo up is because I would be identifiable. If I was identifiable, the women I write about would be too. That's the same reason I give the women fake names and do not put up their photos. I do have some respect for them, even though it may not appear that way."
I do not agree that all the foreigner only want to chace and change from girls to girls....
He does not seems to be such a bastard many chinese post want to make us believe.... But I could not read all the posts... so I have no clear idea about that.
But the important think for me is: "you should be free to say what you think, even to speak about china when you are in China"
I feel that a Foreign Blashing is "good" for chinese nationalist feeling... always attacking the japanese are maybe not enought...
I loved the blog, and I am really sad I cannot read it anymore. Even google's cache seems to be gone. Does anyone know where I can find a transscript?
Something similar has happened to me, I was in love with a Chinese girl (still am) and her boyfriend attacked me with all kinds of nationalist propaganda! Seems like there is a strong relation between patriotism and lack of good sex (that also explains a lot of global 20th century history..)
i can understand why so many foreign men don't find anything wrong with this. they most likely envy him.
for me, it's extremely offensive. not becuase i'm chinese but because it plays nationalistic senses. if any man or woman were to parade their sexual endeavors by race or culture, it would most certainly offend people from that race or culture.
this person is exploitative. it's evident from his writing that he uses these women. now, it must be said that these women are idiots. i put blame on both parties but i put more blame on this filthy douchebag cause he is actively pursuing chinese women and using his foreigner status as leverage.
i think all men who exploit women are pieces of shit. i think foreign men who exploit chinese women are bigger pieces of shit. why? because we all know that a man from a foreign country has more advantages than any local man here. from the offset, he is wealthier, more privileged, and probably better educated (not necessarily by his own merits just the luxury of growing up in a foreign country). i think people who take advantage of the women here using their foreigner status are pieces of shit cause they have no merit whatsoever.
this guy is a teacher? and he is having sex with his students? sorry, but in my book, that doesn't fly. thats ethically and morally wrong.
he broadcasts his sexual exploits on his blog? again, exploitative and degrading. so what you don't use their names. regardless of whether these women are idiots or not, you are degrading them by putting this out there. are there any gentlemen anymore?
honestly, if i met the guy, we would have words. and i hope everyone sees this for what it is. nevermind the professor. he's not exactly reasonable is he? but underlying his 5000 character essay is the principle that men need to treat women with respect.
when I pick an airline (by the way 99.9% KLM) is not because how chic or beautiful the airhostesses look, but security and services. In this order. I don't even care if the food is not good.
And I also want to know if these beautiful looking outfits would hinderen the movement of the staff when there is an emergency evacuation.
Funtionalities. NOT beauty.
Cindy
Regardless of race being an issue, this is just totally insulting to all women. If I were one of his girlfriends, I cut off his dick and flush it down the toilet.
show respect to our chinese. all men are created equal. interculture communication should be based on respect, not insult
Agree with Pete. Don't even try to argue such topic with Chinese, you always lose in whatever ways. I was almost speechless when talking about Japanese with my friends once and I won't do that again.
Chinabounder seems to be a hoax: http://www.marc.cn/2006/08/witchhunt-for-blogger-4-is-it-all-hoax.html
A great practical joke guys (and girls).
This blog or whatever it is was originally blocked by everyone's friend, the chinese government, then unblocked. Why? To stir up more nationalist crap.
On an international chinese website, chasedream.com, this topic is discussed in depth. While some are infuriated, most are fairly casual and find some of the blog funny and even true in some respects.
This blog only exposes the ugly, nazi-nationalist side of china which is a direct side effect of 1. being closed and 2. people being bombarded with mind bending propaganda all their lives.
This just goes to show how far China has to go to become a truly developed country. Shiny (empty) buildings and a (smoking, broken) maglev doesn't make you developed. Yes, this stuff does go on in the west, especially in the US with an almost pop culture flare to it. Don't believe me? check out the "yo mama" jokes on MTV, or watch a non-white comedian on stage (they are much harsher on their own ethnic group than on white folks).
Yo mama is soo black...
Yo mama is sooo white...
Which car holds the most latinos...
Whose are the toughest vegetable stand owners, Jamaicans or Koreans, etc.
Chinese people need thicker skins, they are not the center of the world and no one is above being barbed.
"This blog or whatever it is was originally blocked by everyone's friend, the chinese government, then unblocked. Why? To stir up more nationalist crap."
i offer another conspiracy theory for you to discuss - Prof Zhang is actually Chinabounder itself, he just wants to do some PR for his blog
the whole thing becomes a comedy
Chinabounder does not need more publicity by posing as another poster. An Aussie paper had mentioned that this blog was a joke played by a group of chinese expats and their friends who had lived in China. They would all know the right buttons to push to make chinese men mad. Other blogs today talk about how Chinas decaying, patriarchal society cannot come to grips with sexual liberation as part of social evolution.
Whether this blog is true or not, it did succeed in revealing the feeble, fragile ego of china and its crack-addict level of addiction to "face". It also highlights the need of those nasty old men up north to let society evolve so that chinese men can get thicker skins. Many non-americans could not conceive how many "white jokes" exist in the US and are shown on TV, and yet white people are not up in arms about it.
Chinese society is truly weak, thanks mostly to thousands of years of continuous cultural oppression and control.
Here's a little extra info for all of those overly sensitive chinese who are upset about what is said on that infamous blog.
That person or persons only put into type what has been quietly said in bars by western expats for years about China, Chinese girls and Chinese boys. There is nothing new or shocking about what chinabounder said, he or they just made those opinions about the Workers' Paradise more well known.
Go thank an expat.
I believe that someone like Chinabounder should have the right to blog whatever kind of trash he wants, but I am exasperated that a number of those posting here continue to try to point an accusing finger at the Chinese in all of this.
"They would all know the right buttons to push to make chinese men mad." - Naan
Your whole premise seems to be that the reaction here is somehow uniquely "Chinese". You can't honestly believe that a blog purporting to be written by a foreign or minority teacher in the US or Britain that trashed local/majority men while detailing sexual manipulation of women (including students) coupled with sweeping racial/cultural generalizations wouldn't produce outrage. (And why, oh why, Naan, should we view this outrage against exploitation of women as a sign of societal weakness?)
The Chinese government does plenty of stuff that I don't agree with, and I am not a big fan of witchhunts. But I think any speculation on the "Chinese-ness" of the outrage here completely distracts from what I think is largely an issue with the expat community in China:
Regardless of whether or not this website was a fake, those of us living in China can all name a few guys we've met who remind us of Chinabounder. Asian fetish, yellow fever, call it whatever you want, but these losers actively exploit Chinese women because their skin color, nationality, and/or economic status empower them to do so. We may be disgusted by Chinabounder, but we are certainly not shocked.
Why is the expat community willing to put up with these nasty, racist assholes?
James:
I included information about the man's employer s not because i intended to spread rumors, but because this is part of what happened; people dug up this information and I am merely reproduced it. If you think that this has only added fuel to the fire, then I regret that, since that was not the intention of this post. I could have left specifics out and just said "he teaches english, probably at local universities" and perhaps that would have been better. I'm flattered you think that we at Shanghaiists are journalists, and therefore are beholden to journalistic ethics--heck, those ethics are good, but I should remind you that we at Shanghaiist are not, strictly speaking, journalists. We can say "hey, there's a rumor that..." --but you are right that with that right comes some form of responsibility for the consequences of such actions. I cannot foresee what will happen but somehow i don't think it will come down to "mob lynching." It seems some of the commenters believe the thing to be a hoax, not a theory i subscribe to but perhaps plausible.
"Jumping on the bandwagon" almost assumes that we are against this guy, that we want to see him "mob lynched"--I hope it's clear that despite the fact that I made explicit rumors about his whereabouts that we are not exactly in favor of Professor Zhang's position either.
Simon Bard:
I have never talked to Professor Zhang, but there was a comment on the whoischinabounder.blogspot.com blog that is addressed to Roland Soong of ESWN. The comment is one of the last ones (last time i checked) and is written in Chinese. This person addressed the difference between Muzi Mei and Chinabounder -- and what it came down to was a matter of the respective positions of power -- for this commenter, foreign men are in a position of power (强势）vis-a-vis Chinese women. I'm not quite sure what this means, concretely, but I believe that the commenter's point was that Muzi has sex with people who are her "equals," whereas for whatever reason power relations ar different between foreign males and their chinese female love interests. I see the distinction as being interesting but the argument well, doesn't seem to really hold much water. I haven't read CB in depth so i don't know how he treats women, in general.
I haven't found much else that directly references Muzi Mei, but remember that Professor Zhang points out 4 criticisms he has, and that all the sex stuff is just the first one: the others are essentially about politics and the politics of culture. CB touched about all the raw nerves that exist. Remember when the actress Zhao Wei was wearing a white shirt that had a "rising sun" on it -- she got skewered for it in the Chinese press. A bad pass at erotic literature is, in the end, forgivable -- the forgetful public enjoys a bit of titillation once in a while. But questioning the reason behind Xinjiang being part of the PRC -- that's outright blasphemy, and people will not forgive or forget that lightly.
I feel sorry for this Professor, losing face in public like this,,, being an idiot.
@epay:
"Your whole premise seems to be that the reaction here is somehow uniquely "Chinese"."
Ok, muslims were equally up at arms over the Danish charicature of Mohammed. Islam is faced with a "modernize or die" choice too, and some would say it has an "eggshell" ego about criticism and reform, as if killing everyone labled "nonbeliever" is the norm.
"You can't honestly believe that a blog purporting to be written by a foreign or minority teacher in the US or Britain that trashed local/majority men while detailing sexual manipulation of women (including students) coupled with sweeping racial/cultural generalizations wouldn't produce outrage"
That kind of stuff plays on the same level as "white man can't play b-ball or dance", "black men are chronic cheaters" and "asians can't drive cars", etc. Anyone with brains knows this stuff is the stereotypical fodder for jokes that ethnic groups in the US even point at themselves.
But how it was handled is the big problem. You can't fix a problem unless you can confront it and maybe laugh at it. But that's just another difference between a developed society and backward one.
"Exploitation of women"? Did he rape those women? They came to his apartment. Heck, all one of them needed to do was accuse him of rape and he'd be toast, proof or not.
"But I think any speculation on the "Chinese-ness" of the outrage here completely distracts from what I think is largely an issue with the expat community in China:"
The "chineseness" has to do with the outrage over one person's actions or a group's joke. As old china hands told western governments for a long time "the chinese don't like criticism", so western governments walked on eggshells with China. No more, China is what it is and CHinese people have to deal with it, and no one is above ridicule. And I think the expat community in China and in Asia is generally shit, full of misfits and a few criminals that cannot function in their native cultures. As one chinese girl asked me; "why do all of the bad foreigners come to china". Hey, at least its not Thailand, global HQ of child molesters.
"Why is the expat community willing to put up with these nasty, racist assholes?"
Because the expat community consists primarily of these assholes, and for those who aren't sex fiends (or chronic cheaters), there are plenty of expats stealing from their companies, selling their "home" country's secrets to the Chronically Corrupt Party or just fleecing their company and everyone they know for every jiao they can get.
Before attacking a Chinabounder (Bounder = a man who does not behave according to social precepts, particularly in regard to his treatment of women.) because he is foreigner....
Why Chinese people do not attack the fact that many many Chinese men, as soon as they have money start having lot of Mistress, go to hookers, have a concubines... These things are much more developed here in China that in Western countries. And THAT should shock the Chinese.
By the way look to these few Chinese saying, quite interesting :
家花没有野花香 = jiā huā méi yǒu yě huā xiāng = the flower of the house have not the parfum of the wild flower (mean fuck with someone else that your wife is better)
男不坏,女不爱 = nán bù huài nǚ bù ài= If the guy are not bad guy the girls are not in love
男人有钱就变坏,女人变坏就有钱 = the guy have money then they become bad, the girls are bad girls then they have money.
PS: I disagree with what Chinabounder did because it seams that he has lying to the girls to seduce them... He should better just have one night stand with girls he meet on bar. so no promess, no cheating...
PSS: "pathetic" You said: "has more advantages than any local man here. from the offset, he is wealthier, more privileged, and probably better educated" By saying that you make shame of Chinese girls... So for you it is normal that the girls choose the guy according to the money ? and not the personality ? Someone thinking this way in Western will be look down...
mememe,
I agree with you PLUS don't forget the Cultural Revolution. How could you guys have forgotten the Chinese raped and killed themselves too. I don't see these hypocritical and uncivilized Chineee criticizing themselves before bitching about the innocent foreigners in China.
Enjoyed this discussion ..
Chinabounder broke no law.
In his blog there are no racial slurs just cultural ones.
The women consented.
Chinese men of the type the professor represent, have very brittle self-esteem. The emancipation of women beyond the mother-wife mold and, hell, much of the modern world is a threat to them.
Chinabounder seems to have large amount of self-doubt himself. He thinks his self-consciously abject position insulates himself from criticism but he is at the end of the day, abject.
He is politically naive, subscribing to a type of dinner-party and opinion lead politics that shows the extent to which he has not understood politics in china.
This flip of this blog (rich chinese man boning less rich western women and boasting about it) would not have caused controversy in the west.
In the west, the Professor and/or his cohorts may have got done for incitement to murder.
nanheyangrouchuan, you are one sick racist mo-fo who clearly knows nothing about Chinese people, and not much about the expats who live here. Your thinly veiled venom towards anything Chinese is revolting. Most of the expats I know are hard working people leading responsible lives, some just scraping through and others living the high life. And all respect or try to respect the laws and values of the country that has allowed us to live here and contribute to something bigger.
You clearly hate it here judging by your totally ignorant arguments and yawn-inducing sweeping generalisations ... Go home mate! You're not welcome here.
And which comments, praytell are actually racist and not merely critical? Every culture has its problems, some are able to face up to them and attempt change, others are not, but free speech and free press are a requirement of change.
"You're not welcome here."
You aren't either, the chinese only tolerate you bloated, perverted, greedy, theiving, self congratulating bums becuase you bring money, technology and know-how to their country. And if you were "integrated" you'd be playing chess in the park on sunday morning instead of killing your liver at expat bars, eating what passes for food in expat restaurants and not using your "white face" as carte blanche to a special existance.
And to top if off, having lived in the "twilight zone" for so long, you are now an disfunctional twat back home. Stay in your expat compound, you aren't needed or wanted anywhere else.
nanheyangrouchuan is Chinabounder, go to google his name and notice his writing styles. This troll has posted a whopping 40,000 Chinese bashing posts in different blogs and forums, his hatred against Chinese is absolutely unbelievable.
nanheyangrouchuan sounds like a miserable, jealous, racist twat.
Most of my posts are more Beijing bashing than china bashing, and more than %30 are dedicated to bashing the far right wing in the US. But some people don't take the time or effort to carefully research (china expats writing for money, for example).
The ex-pat community are quick to say that Chinese have a right to be upset at the writings of "Chinabounder". I understand that you are in a place where you yourself would be suspect if you didn't curry favor with locals, administrative and citizen, and so you feel that, if you discuss the issue, you have to bow to the side so vehemently against the Sex and Shanghai blog.
But let's look at this professor (I'm not even going to look up his name since he deserves no respect) and his push to purge the country of the likes of Chinabounder. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in a country that sees disagreement with the government line as something that can be repressed, but does his virulence and bile not smack of the Cultural Revolution (young Chinese, if you don't know what that is, ask someone older than you who isn't a Party member)? And is his understanding of media and popular opinion so feeble he doesn't know that just by treating the blog so seriously, just be raising such a stupid stink about some guy's amazement that he is getting ass (finally, since he couldn't score in the UK) he is gving the media a story and making the fame of the blog. Next, thanks to the professor, comes the book deal and the official protest against the publishers and the "spontaneous" protest of the citizens.
And you ex-pats with your comments on the turmoil, you are lower than the oppressive professor. You are siding with him without comment on the oppression he desires for the single purpose of making your blog more popular, which might end (you hope and pray) in money to you someway.
The guy, or group or whoever the hell they are, have a RIGHT to write about what they want. If it disagrees with some people, don't read it. If you hate it yet you read it and want to protest it, you have a chip on your shoulder and you are like the famatical Islamists or the Ultra Right conservatives. I reserve my particular bile for the ex-pat suck-ups who did not HAVE to take on the story, but did so for their own benefit. In all your personals ads sponsors and purse sales, did you lose your balls?
"And you ex-pats with your comments on the turmoil, you are lower than the oppressive professor. You are siding with him without comment on the oppression he desires for the single purpose of making your blog more popular, which might end (you hope and pray) in money to you someway."
I agree, expats in china are accustomed to towing the mark (publicly) and cowardly going along with whatever seems to be the popular movement of the people and the government. Expats have no backbone, like seaweed they move according to the strongest current.
But in the expat bars, they brag of their conquests and what they can get away with. dirty, dirty shame.
Running dog and nanheyangrouchuan:
What i don't understand is why you insist on lumping all expats together: i think i have seen a variety of opinions both here and in other websites: some find the Chinabounder type reprehensible but have not said much about the recent controversy, some agree with the Chinese anger but might find the reaction (kicking the man out) to be an overreaction.
The people that post on Shanghaiist are not representative of the expat community -- at least not in any scientific or statistical sense, therefore i think it would be hard to draw conclusions about expats one way or the other.
Running Dog: I assume that your remarks about blogs, personal ads, and purses is directed at Shanghaiist. I never argued that he should be shut down, or that he didn't have the right to write. We mostly wanted to just let people know what was happening -- what value judgments I did make were more targeted at the professor than the blogger; even so I didn't come down on the side of one person or the other. Did it appear as if I did?
If you really cherish the freedom of speech, then I hope that you will respect our right to blog about it; as you said, if someone doesn't like it, then can always stop reading. I would interested in hearing your criticisms of what I or this site have written, rather than what criticism you have for what commenters have said -- i don't control what other people say, I only hope that you don't conflate the commenters with either me or the site as a whole -- we're not exactly the same.
"What i don't understand is why you insist on lumping all expats together: i think i have seen a variety of opinions both here and in other websites: some find the Chinabounder type reprehensible but have not said much about the recent controversy, some agree with the Chinese anger but might find the reaction (kicking the man out) to be an overreaction."
I can't answer for nanheyangrouchuan, and I am guilty of lumping, but I divided the lumpage into two groups, the ex-pat community at large, and those who have kept this no-leg story on the treadmill for weeks. Your reply to me doesn't contradict what I wrote, though, if the only thing you've seen or heard uttered by ex-pats are those 2 reactions.
Blogs are opinion pieces, primarily, even if they feign being pieces of journalism. Your "letting people know" about what was going on is such a pretense. You gave it airtime because it made popular reading, not because you had anything to say. As another blog (Hongkie Town Redux) says, "Now I'm getting a lot of visitors because of my posts on the Chinabounder Sex and Shanghai blog. Since I'm not above pandering to the masses, a mention of it again, including making it the heading of this post." (sic)
That aside,how can you not realize that the danger of this professor's diatribe and witchhunt far, far outweighs the threat to Chinese self-esteem that some horny ex-pat can pose with his affected and adolescent writings about his discovery of the use of his penis? You say what little criticism you had in the piece was reserved for the professor, but where is this so? Is it here: "He says that if a small country like Israel can do that, then what's wrong with China. We have to say that we find this a bit disturbing". That is biting critique. And what is the thing that is disturbing, Mossad hunting Nazis or the professor linking the killing of 6 million to some guy musing on a few chicks he's banged? Didn't this comparison of his deserve more than an arching of a single delicate eyebrow?
Or this: "Nationalist diatribes veer into dangerous territory when women are involved because of the whole symbolism revolving around rape, violation, purity, etc. If horny white chicks were using Chinese men like sexual play-things, would there be a similar uproar?" Aren't nationalist diatribes dangerous in themselves without veering anywhere near as much as the logic of that paragraph? Aren't you playing the sycophant in pretending that the Chinese reaction of insane virulence, chest beating and madonna-izing has a cause and an excuse?
And then you sum it all up with blistering contempt: "the lesson of this whole episode, he says, is that Chinese girls realize that even among foreign men, there are "trash."
And he needed 5,000 words to say that. Sounds like a professor indeed.", making him seem like a harmless cliche, the pedantic, but nutty professor, just a funny little self-important fella with a heart of gold.
The truth is that this professor is evil. I'm not a conspiracy theory type of guy, but if I were I would suspect that he and his hissy fit were arranged by the Party; I mean, it has all the earmarks, playing on nationalism, pandering to the idea that foreigners are insulting and hateful (but at the same time jealous) of China and the Chinese. Whether orchestrated or not (and I am not distracting my argument for a moment in claiming that it was), this is golden for the Party, and ex-pats blogging on it without mentioning the ignorance of this professor are giving them a hand.
Chinese need to know that when people are free to speak, they are going to hear things they don't want to hear. Their inability to accept this fact is what is frightening about this case you have helped along, not some little man musing on the workings of his cock.
running dog:
First, the linking of the Mossad/Nazis was not to the blog, but to Sino-Japanese relations, not to Chinabounder's sexual conquests. As for my comments on this piece and opinions/blogs/journalism -- I tried to restrain the amount of opinion i put into this. Your argument is that blogging is opinion, and that might be true, but I did not bother revealing my full feelings about either the professor, the Chinabounder, or the whole thing -- frankly, I don't have the time or the inclination to do so on Shanghaiist. What you wanted was for me to write something that you agreed with: a condemnation of this professor. Or perhaps you at least wanted us to "have something to say" instead of making the few tepid comments that I did. Well, i wish i could oblige you but i don't have the time. Lame excuse, right? You said that you didn't even know the name of the professor because it didn't concern you. Well, i learnt his name and read his blog and read what other people had to say about both on his site and in the Chinese media. I tried not to dash something off the top of my head. Frankly, I am not terribly interested in this issue, not really my cup of tea.
I assume that were you in my position, you would have done one of two things:
1. not written about it so as to not perpetuate the life of this story in the media. Not writing about it at all would have been better, in your eyes, than writing about it the way that I did.
2. written about it in a way that makes it evident to all how dangerous this professor and his rhetoric is.
If the story here is not the lurid sex life of a foreigner but rather the reaction that various groups (foreign, chinese) have had to it, then there is something newsworthy about it, and that's why i wrote about it. Chinese nationalism is an important issue, as I see it, and that's why I wrote about this issue -- so that people could see that aspect of it, and that it wasn't just about sex and the city. Therefore, i don't think running the story is a problem -- but as regards what you said about my stance on the whole issue, specifically in this remark:
"That aside,how can you not realize that the danger of this professor's diatribe and witchhunt far, far outweighs the threat to Chinese self-esteem that some horny ex-pat can pose with his affected and adolescent writings about his discovery of the use of his penis?"
I have to say, again, that by posting links to the translation and original version of his diatribe that I am providing people with information to make up their own minds. I really didn't want to make my opinions that clear in the post, I trust that if the professor is a nationalist lunatic put up to the task by the Party, that perhaps people (like you) will be able to come to that conclusion without my tutelage. I have certainly not withheld any information that might be useful in this regard: on his blog and the associated forums, there is all the (damning) evidence that you need.
If I indeed did render some service to someone by providing information (or links to information), then how can you say that we were just pandering? We gave it air time because it was popular, yes. But as far has having nothing to say -- well, perhaps I'm just not the pundit that you're looking for. I don't really have the time or the energy or the taste for that, esp. not on the weekdays. I would have preferred to say even less than I did, to be quite honest: I would have rather just cut and pasted some interesting paragraphs, provided the necessary links, etc. That this is subjective in nature doesn't contradict the point that I am still trying to leave as much room for the reader as possible.
sorry we don't have "the balls" that you do.
Whether the professor has official backing to post his diatribe is unknown, but does have credence as anything that "unites" the chinese people and distracts them from the shortcomings of their government is a good thing; Mao said of the Japanese attack "to be invaded by foreign enemy is not always bad". Part of the anger of the chinese (male) population has more to do in general with chinese girls throwing themselves at foreign men AND the growing problem of not enough girls in china in general. I mean, if Tom Cruise showed up in shanghai it is understandable that clothes would come off, but most expats, especially after a few years, are more like Tom Bruise. And local girls are turning down white collar chinese guys for scruffy english teachers, married execs and of course, the classic (big fat bald pig) expat on the bar stool.
While not all expats are inherently bad, the combination of aggressive western business practices with what might be considered a "permissive" attitude by the local and national governments in asia towards foriegn business people stimulates and promotes less than responsible behavior. Asian expats don't act like this in the west, and the vast majority of the western expats in asia are merely middle to upper middle class "everybodies" in their own countries, in short they are not "special" back home.
Instead of a few bad apples spoiling the bunch, you have few good apples being completely obscured by vastly superior numbers of rubbish.
But like I said in another post, having talked to some chinese guys about this recently, this little blog may be approaching the last straw.
girls from poor backgrounds attempt to snare rich guys - take ethnicity and nationalist politics out of the picture and we have one of the oldest and most archetypal stories around. this is what girls generally do whether in new york or nairobi. officer and a gentleman anyone? this aint new. what about guys from shanghai, many of whom have money going to chengdu or hefei or hong kong guys and shenzhen girls. this is normal, natural stuff. so why the blow up? simple nationalist xenophobic rhetoric and politics. racist nationalism pure and simple. and the guys are taking advantage of the girls? poor innocent chinese girls and evil sinister foreign guys? Come on! One of those girls eventually is going to snag the foreigner guy and then we see who is taking advantage of whom. because that girl is going to end up taking that guy for all he is worth. and many girls are willing to gamble a couple of nights of probably decent or at least interesting sex for the chance that she is going to get to take advantage of this guy and take some real money off of him, maybe even a better or more interesting life or even a passport. so get real. this is human life as it has always been. there is no exploitation here, just an exchange as old as the birds and the bees. politicizing it is basest xenophobia. tribal nationalism. political and sociological immaturity, nothing more.
@ foriegner
That is the most condescending comment yet on this issue, to assume that all girls in Shanghai/China are poor and desperate and that is the only reason they chase these guys. most likely you are an angry chinese guy, so your outburst is forgivable.
Even well to do, educated chinese girls are flocking for any white face.
I'm not sure what you are saying here. I didn't attribute any "linking" to your blog. I facetiously implied that your comment was milqtoast about a deeply serious subject. 6 million dead (unless you're Iranian in which case my whole argument is a Zionist lie) versus some big-nose banging a few mindlessly similar married women and a few one-sided ramblings. Was my point.
Or perhaps you at least wanted us to "have something to say" instead of making the few tepid comments that I did. Well, i wish i could oblige you but i don't have the time. Lame excuse, right? You said that you didn't even know the name of the
professor because it didn't concern you. Well, i learnt his name and read his blog and read what other people had to say about both on his site and in the Chinese media. I tried not to dash something off the top of my head. Frankly, I am not terribly interested in this issue, not really my cup of tea.>
Attempting to make me look as though mine is an uninformed position because I didn't quote the rantings of a lunatic nationalistic "professor" is disingenuous. A snide, but weak attempt at deflecting the argument and undermining my position.
The reas