Fili’s world

Jonathan Ansfield, a Jewish guy writing for Spot-on in Beijing, has a very interesting article about the Chinese response to the war currently going on between Israel and the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Jonathan opens up with a funny introduction of what it means to be a Jew in China :

It’s not typed on my resume currently. But were I applying for a job with a Chinese employer, I might consider adding it. Seriously. Right at the top of the page, where young Chinese grads customarily note their ethnic background, whether Han, Hui, Hakka or one of the 50-odd other official minorities, anyway. Tell them you’re a youtai ren (Jew), and it's a bit like dropping casual mention of your M.B.A. from Harvard.

In "China vs. US on the Israeli issue" I've already mentioned the very strong reaction China had to the killing of one UN Chinese person in a very unsuccessful air-strike, so that China has battled the US in the UN. Jonathan writes :

So does that mythic status of Jews in China translate into sympathy for Israel? Not necessarily. With respect to the current conflict with Hezbollah, the answer would increasingly seem to be "no." Particularly after a Chinese observer with the UN was felled by an Israeli bomb which the U.N. Security Council did not condemn. A day afterward, a long litany of Israel-bashing by readers at the popular Chinese news portal, sina.com.

After the China Bashing lecture I wrote about and the Israeli lecturers response with a bit of America Bashing, the world is now taking on some Israel Bashing. Is this a good reflection of the Chinese mood?

Here's another view of the war from the Chinese perspective from Danwei:

Historically, the Chinese language press has responded to perceived assaults on China’s national interests far more aggressively than has the China Daily.

Last week the historical pattern was reversed. On Thursday – the first day of reporting following the incident – the China Daily published not only a front page article on the attack but also an editorial entitled “Israel has gone too far”. This compares with virtual editorial silence on the Chinese language side since the attacks.

This role reversal represents a significant departure from past media strategies. In 1999 the then little known Hu Jintao apparently chose to divide his media messages in such away that would stir up Chinese nationalists while simultaneously softening the message to the outside world. For a host of reasons, which probably include the limited success of the old method, current strategy seems designed to do just the opposite.

For me, as an Israeli, it's always amazing to realize how strongly other nations in the world feel towards happenings in this region. Israel, so it seems, will always be a very international topic.

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Other posts on the war going on in Israel can be found here: The missile era ; A country gone made ; Israeli confusion ;China vs. US on the Israeli issue ; Sun Tzu on the war in Israel