Dear Mr. Wood,
I hope that you won't think that I was boasting if I say I
understand a bit your logic here. However, if the debate was based on
the assumption of 'invasion' of one side into another, the possiblity
of having a fruitful discussion is fading out. As refered by another
member of this list just now, the relationship of entities in
different scale is really complex. Hence the assumption, which then
might easily drive audiences to have some fantasies, is not suitable
for a critical discussion. Will you agree with this point?
By the way, I don't think those who 'speaking for China' can not
accept criticism. I sincerely appreciate your attitude of openness for
critics, but that doesn't make me less alert of the prejudice under
the neutral-looking arguments. To enrage the other side in debate is a
good strategy, but hardly a good manner.
If you have some friends who can read in Chinese, perhaps you will
know the criticism on Chinese online forums. They were doing all kinds
of critics both on domestic affairs and abroad. I mean, the problem
does not lay on the attitude of debate, but the start point.
With respect,
Yannan Ding
Quoting D F J Wood <[log in to unmask]>:
> I get the feeling that some people do not seem to understand that
> 'criticism' must be able to be universal or it is meaningless. As a
> British academic I spend a lot of time criticising my country of origin,
> its government and its power structures. I fully expect academics of
> other nations to criticise what 'Britain' does too. If those who claim
> to be speaking 'for China' cannot accept ciriticism, I suggest that they
> are probably unable to be Critical Geographers (or indeed Critical
> scholars of any kind). If Tibet had invaded China and oppressed its
> people, I would be the first person to be critical of Tibet. Your
> country of origin is irrelevent.
>
> David.
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: A forum for critical and radical geographers
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of A M Law
>> Sent: 07 April 2008 15:13
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Feeling Ashamed
>>
>> Dear Jimmy Li
>>
>> Thank you for your message. I acknowledge that the Western
>> Media certainly has a role in producing negative images of the
>> Chinese government and also the present crisis in Tibet. I am
>> also very sure that at times papers, and other forms of
>> Western media make your government and its actions look worse
>> than it actually is for the sake of making the news.
>>
>> However, I believe that very strong issues and human rights
>> abuses remain. To be honest with you I could spend a long
>> time dragging through layers of historical evidence and
>> ongoing issues but I cannot be bothered to debate with you;
>> anyway to look at some of the 'evidence'
>> that might have shaped my own interpretations check out
>> Amnesty international for details.
>>
>> http://www.amnesty.org.uk/search.asp?q=+tibet&submitted=-1
>>
>>
>> I also think that you did not read my email. Like an email
>> posted by Dr Larch Maxey recently I was merely signing up to
>> join a collective petition... I.e. the Tibetan Olympic Team.
>> However, rather than acknowledging this, you have simply
>> decided to be critically of me personally. In this list when
>> disagreement occurs - and thankfully it is often - there is
>> usually a way of talking to one another critically without
>> resorting to 'shaming' one another, or calling one another
>> 'ignorant'. I have felt that that it is the discussion of one
>> another's ideas critically - as opposed to discussing them
>> through aggressive and shaming words - that results in this
>> 'loose' and often blurry thing we call academic discussion.
>> In this regard if you wish to be critical of my decision to
>> support Team Tibet I would appreciate it if you would do this
>> without aggressive confrontation and or intimidation tactics
>> towards myself or other list members
>>
>> Yours
>>
>> Dr Andy Law
>>
>
>
--
Yannan Ding
Doctoral student
Institute for Social and Economic Geography
KU Leuven
Belgium
Disclaimer: http://www.kuleuven.be/cwis/email_disclaimer.htm
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