Racist slur against Tibetans by Han Chinese woman court condemnation

Racist slur against Tibetans by Han Chinese woman court condemnation

[Tuesday, November 22, 2016 19:28] By Tenzin Dharpo screen grab from the viral video by Chinese woman DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 22: A video-post by a Chinese woman on a Chinese social networking site vehemently discrediting Tibetans as a people and expressing racial slur has courted condemnation and response from Tibetans, especially those who are living inside China and Tibet. An ethnic Han-Chinese woman from Shanghai broadcasted a live post through the Chinese social media site menpai earlier last week, hurling offensive racial slur against Tibetans calling them uncivilized race, unaccustomed to any culture and likened them to “garbage” and “low class villagers”. In her viral post that lasted over a minute, the Chinese woman, according to a translation by a Tibetan netizen mentioned, “Do you know what culture is? This backward, primitive and remote area which is called Tibet." Further disparaging Tibet as a nation, the woman said, "These low class villagers, not qualified enough to use Chinese language, don't you hear me? You people deserve to be trampled under the Han Chinese feet," and that the parasitic Tibet should be removed from the Chinese map immediately. Although a post from a single person displaying xenophobic sentiments do not account to any measure of concern on a broader scale, however, the viral post has been met by responses from Tibetans inside Tibet and China condemning the views expressed. Many Tibetans from inside Tibet and China including students expressed condemnation towards what they called “ignorant views from a Han-chauvinist”. While some resorted to humor in disregarding the sentiments, some demanded apology over the offensive comments and “even legal action from Chinese court against such an instigative opinion.” A Taiwanese student and East Asia coordinator for International Tibet Network, Penghsuan Lee wrote in face book that such comments are a, “part of that sickly boastful culture that China (is) having now, and they'll have to swallow up the consequences anyway.” Noted Tibetan activist and former SFT president Tendor wrote on Facebook, “A Shanghai Chinese woman is getting some flak for spewing a plethora of insults at Tibetans. But there's one thing she said which I fully support: that Tibet should be expelled from the Chinese map. Nothing would make us happier than to be disentangled from the last remaining colonial empire on earth.” In a tech savvy digitized world where using social media as a political medium is becoming a new normal all over the world, posts such as these are providing a platform for issues that do not get limelight on the official table. According to Business Insider, an average of 1.8 billion posts including videos, photos and texts are uploaded by users in a day through prominent social media sites in China.