American Teacher in China Dials Back Mob Attack Story
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 04.25.08 | 10:41 AM ET
The Shanghaiist report of an American volunteer teacher attacked by a mob outside a French grocery store in China’s Hunan Province was “sensationalist,” the teacher says. Shanghaiist reports that it posted the account April 22 after reviewing emails from two additional sources, including one from the volunteer organization’s field director that “appeared to corroborate the initial version of events.” Nevertheless, the teacher writes: “The crowd ... was ... following and chanting, but not attacking me in spite of ample opportunities to do so thoroughly. I eventually got into a taxi and the crowd surrounded it, content to have a foreign audience for their message. ... In spite of plentiful false reports in the Western media, I was not harmed during the course of this protest.” We posted a short item on the story Wednesday.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
HS 04.25.08 | 12:57 PM ET
Even though the stories of physical assault were exaggerated, as they often can be in such incidents, the very fact of a protest outside a Carrefour in response to French protests about the BJ games, plus the fact that the American was prevented from shopping there, indicate how far China still needs to go in international relations. There must be plenty of Chinese in Paris who shop in Chinese stores without harrassment. Given how much Chinese consumers have gained from the presence of western enterprises like Carrefour, they might try adopting the values that underlie them.