BEIJING, China – Demonstrations against French supermarkets and western medias rocked China on Sunday. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Carrefour in several Chinese cities, sang the national anthem and waved the Chinese flag. Some protesters have been calling for a boycott of the French store Carrefour, which has more than 100 outlets in China. The boycott comes after pro-Tibet demonstrators attacked a Chinese amputee athlete in a wheelchair who was bearing the torch in Paris and the city council raised a banner on City Hall that read, “Paris defends human rights all over the world.” The authorities maintained a heavy police presence but did not interfere with the demonstrators, according to wire service reports.
The Chinese government has called on citizens to temper their fury at the West in recent days. The state-run newspapers urged Chinese not to launch a boycott campaign against French goods and to express their patriotic enthusiasm calmly and rationally and express patriotic aspiration in an orderly and legal manner. Still, many are ignoring the government’s call for calm. Beijing police reportedly turned away a small group of demonstrators outside the French embassy.
The protesters also expressed their anger about what they see as biased reporting of unrest in Tibet by Western medias especially CNN and BBC. Demonstrators carried banners saying, “Oppose Tibet Independence” and “Condemn CNN,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Protests are occurring beyond China’s borders. In Paris, several thousand protesters gathered in the Place de la Republique. Many wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Let’s make the Olympics a bridge, not a wall”, reported the AP news agency. Thousands Chinese gathered outside the CNN’s bureau in Los Angeles demanding that Jack Cafferty apologize and be fired from the network over comments critical of China and the U.S. government’s relationship with it. Jack Cafferty, a commentator on CNN’s “Situation Room” program, used the term “goons and thugs” while comparing the current conditions in China and 50 years ago.
For more information, please see:
AP – China urges calm after anti-Western demonstrations – 21 April 2008
BBC – Anti-French rallies across China – 21 April 2008
CNN – China protests target CNN, French store – 21 April 2008
CNN – CNN commentator’s comments draw protests – 21 April 2008
New York Times – Protests of the West Spread in China – 21 April 2008
Time – China Frowns on Patriotic Protests – 21 April 2008
Washington Post – China seeks to contain patriotic outbursts – 20 April 2008
