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New Freedom, and Peril, in Online Criticism of China
Duke University freshman Wang Qingyuan and her family became targets after a Tibetan independence rally.
(By Zachary Tracer -- Duke Chronicle)
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Her mother told Wang recently that someone -- she doesn't know who -- installed a video camera outside their apartment. She and Wang's father have moved out.
Wang's father is a Communist Party member. He sent her two long e-mails right after the incident telling her to publicly apologize. "After the opening up and reform, China has made great developments and been steady, so that you and our family have all we have today," her father wrote in Chinese. He said she should concentrate on her studies and stay away from politics. He told her that he and her mom loved her but that she needed to tell people she had chosen the wrong path.
But as Wang describes the events of the April 10 vigil and her involvement, she stands by her actions.
She said that she when she arrived at the vigil, a couple of dozen pro-Tibetan students were facing off with around 400 Chinese students, waving Chinese flags and shouting slogans. She decided to try to mediate between the two groups but found that neither side wanted to listen. The Chinese students surrounded her, shouting insults and peppering her with questions about her national loyalty. She eventually asked a police officer to escort her back to her dorm.
A few hours later, Wang wrote an essay and posted it on a forum run by the Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Association. In it, she explained what she had tried to say at the demonstration: She did not support Tibetan independence but called for tolerance and dialogue.
The forum was soon aflame with critical posts.
Wang says she has gotten hundreds of phone calls and thousands of e-mails, most vilifying her but some that are supportive.
"One-sixth of the population of the world now knows my personal information as detailed as my identity number," Wang said. "I'm not going to let them easily call me a traitor, such a name that can ruin my future forever."
Drew reported from Beijing. Researcher Liu Liu contributed to this report.
