How do you Kent State in Chinese?

October 27, 2006 6:10 AM

Chinese students riot in Jiangxi province after being told that their diplomas would not be recognized by the government. Riot police and soldiers had to be brought in to stop the riots, reportedly under the pretext that Ethnic Muslim Uighurs were causing the riot.
posted by afu (16 comments total)

A chinese friend messaged this to me today. I tried to find some links to threads about this in Chinese forums, but they seem to have been deleted already. EastSouthWestNorth as usual has the best coverage.
posted by afu at 6:12 AM on October 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

How do you Kent State in Chinese?

Did you forget a word?
posted by delmoi at 6:21 AM on October 27, 2006

How do you Kent State in Chinese?

If everybody Wang Chung tonight.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:28 AM on October 27, 2006

In contrast to the widespread student protests 15 years ago, most recent campus disturbances have been prompted by personal concerns about the value of degrees rather than political idealism. The Guardian.

Damn. Go go gadget capitalism!
posted by loquacious at 6:30 AM on October 27, 2006

prompted by personal concerns about the value of degrees rather than political idealism.

Economic survival trumps utopian dreams everytime.
posted by jonmc at 6:57 AM on October 27, 2006

Economic survival trumps utopian dreams everytime.

Depends on how well-armed the dreamers are.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:06 AM on October 27, 2006

Well, sure. But I was talking in terms of getting people motivated.
posted by jonmc at 7:11 AM on October 27, 2006

After reading all of the linked to material, I don't see where you are getting that the riot police were called in under the pretext that Uighurs were causing the riot. The Taipei times simply reported that among the students were reportedly many minorities including 2000 Uighurs.

Frankly everything that is being reported in Chinese is pretty straightforward. Additionally, maybe it is difficult to find things in Chinese forums but news web pages are still are still reporting it. I don't think the government is too concerned about finding a pretext for sending in riot police to stop a riot at a private school that cheated students.

Finally from the looks of the photos this does not appear to be a non-violent protest so comparisons to Kent State may be a bit off.
posted by wobumingbai at 7:22 AM on October 27, 2006

Most revolutions occur at a point when things start to get better rather than when things are at their worst. People see a light at the end of the tunnel and become dissatisfied with the pace of change. When things are at their worst people tend to keep their heads down and try and survive day to day.
posted by edgeways at 7:23 AM on October 27, 2006

"I heard some students attacked them," a female student who gave only her surname, Chen, said.

When they find this "Chen," she's going to be messed up.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:29 AM on October 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

nerd riot = awesome
posted by matteo at 7:45 AM on October 27, 2006

"How do you [say] Kent State in Chinese?"

"Most Favored Nation." EVAR@!!@!
posted by Eideteker at 7:54 AM on October 27, 2006

Twenty injuries does not equal four dead, so the Kent State comparison is out, and as wobumingbai says, there's no indication that the presence of the Uighurs had anything to do with the reaction of the police. Where's the flag for "interesting information presented in misleading way"?
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 8:48 AM on October 27, 2006

Well, sure. But I was talking in terms of getting people motivated.

Sure, totally explains 9/11...
posted by delmoi at 10:27 AM on October 27, 2006

I am not a lobster - The kent state comparison is a stretch I admit. But you are misinterpreting the Uighur side of the story. No is claiming that there was a large Uighur contigent, what they are saying is that the goverment played the Uighur scare card in order to justify moving troops in to quell the students.

That report is from an anti PRC taiwanese paper, but it is certainly within the realm of possiblitly that it happened. If it did it means that the Jiangxi goverment thinks that it is ok to play against anti muslim sentiment in order to bring out a big military presence, which is intersting in itself.
posted by afu at 12:18 PM on October 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

Huh. This happened again? I can't quite recall when, but this exact same event happened months ago. In that situation, students had paid extra to go to one school, but to get a diploma from a far more impressive school. For some reason, the powers that be decided not to do this, leaving people with a much less valuable diploma.
posted by Atreides at 6:53 AM on October 28, 2006