ARmy Rumour SErvice

**smartascarrots** · 02-05-2012, 19:56

Originally Posted by Mr_Fingerz

Apparently "Chen Guangcheng says he left his refuge in the US embassy in Beijing after Chinese authorities made threats to his family". It was unlikely that the Chinese authorities would ever allow Chen and his family to leave for the US.

We'll see how that one pans out. They were glad enough to see the organisers of the 1989 student movement out of the country and in the grand scheme of things Chen's a comparatively minor nuisance. They may very well let him leave, they may not.

Ironically, his chances of getting out decreased dramatically the moment he became a fixture on western news programmes. The road to Hell, indeed.

**Rayc** · 02-05-2012, 19:58

Interesting explanation.

Radio Free Europe used to be jammed.

VOA is not jammed in China.

CNN and BBC are said to be 'blacked out'.

**Busterdog** · 02-05-2012, 20:20

The Blind Guy's been released and returned to his home, how magnanimous of the Chinese, I'm betting he dies soon - of natural causes.

**Rayc** · 03-05-2012, 05:24

Chinese whispers after US handover
Questions on activist deal

At the hospital, Chen was reunited with his wife, his daughter and a son he hasn’t seen in at least two years. But after they got to his room in Chaoyang Hospital, he said no US officials stayed behind and that the family is now scared and wants to leave the country.

“The embassy told me that they would have someone accompany me the whole time,” he said. “But today when I got to the ward, I found that there was not a single embassy official here, and so I was very unsatisfied. I felt they did not tell me the truth on this issue.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS AND NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
Chinese whispers after US handover

Apparently, Chen (the blind activist) has been given a raw deal.

I do hope things will work out for him.

**Rayc** · 03-05-2012, 10:25

Originally Posted by Busterdog

The Blind Guy's been released and returned to his home, how magnanimous of the Chinese, I'm betting he dies soon - of natural causes.

He has gone to a hospital just like Wang!

Reminds me of the days of the USSR when dissidents (well, as per the western media) were sent to hospital and subjected to psychiatric experiments which were not pleasant.

But then, who knows? China maybe a civilised country!

**Rayc** · 03-05-2012, 10:29

One thing I have not been able to understand is that if China is 92% Han and with such a huge land mass, how come the UK is not 92% English when it is such a small isle!

**smartascarrots** · 03-05-2012, 12:18

Originally Posted by Rayc

One thing I have not been able to understand is that if China is 92% Han and with such a huge land mass, how come the UK is not 92% English when it is such a small isle!

Apples and oranges. If you compared Han with a religious affiliation rather than a nationality you'd get a better comparison.

It does look like Chen has been rather dropped in it, although it's hard to see what else they could do in all reality. There was a massive surge in people claiming Falun Gong membership after it was outlawed - as part of their asylum applications.

If it's been sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk then I'm probably pissed.

**Rayc** · 04-05-2012, 08:36

Originally Posted by smartascarrots

Apples and oranges. If you compared Han with a religious affiliation rather than a nationality you'd get a better comparison.

It does look like Chen has been rather dropped in it, although it's hard to see what else they could do in all reality. There was a massive surge in people claiming Falun Gong membership after it was outlawed - as part of their asylum applications.

If it's been sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk then I'm probably pissed.

I would use chalk and cheese. Not totally Americanised as yet. British legacy prevails.

Han is not a religion as far as I know.

Han is a nationality?

Tibetans and Uighurs are Hans?

I would still state that all are not Hans but are assimilated (which I think you do not subscribe to).

100 Yues are Hans?

As far as Chen is concerned, here is what we hear:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/112050...p#.T6NypdX83EU

From the NYT News Service.

**smartascarrots** · 04-05-2012, 19:33

Originally Posted by Rayc

Han is not a religion as far as I know.

Han is a nationality?

I'm well aware that your English is sufficiently good to tell the difference between simile and metaphor. I'm forced to conclude from that fact that you're either wilfully misrepresenting what people write or not actually bothering to read it in the first place. "If you compared Han with a religious affiliation rather than a nationality you'd get a better comparison." is not the same as "Han is a religion", as I'm sure you very well know.

The comparison is quite apt: a person can be described as 'Christian' and it will be entirely accurate while at the same time failing to capture either the degree of heterogeneity within Christianity or the extent to which identity is made up of many facets beyond that one single label. Just as it's possible to be an Indian while being different in most respects from countrymen in other parts, so Han are differentiated by place, language and ancestry.

Originally Posted by Rayc

Tibetans and Uighurs are Hans?

I would still state that all are not Hans but are assimilated (which I think you do not subscribe to).

100 Yues are Hans?

No they're not, nor has anyone but you ever introduced that argument and you only for the purpose of rebutting a point never made. That's called a 'strawman'.

Not all Chinese are Han, not all Han are Chinese. Come to peace with it and the world will be a far more placid place.

Originally Posted by Rayc

As far as Chen is concerned, here is what we hear:

Secret talks & Chen’s escape saga

From the NYT News Service.

In breaking news. He's expected to head for a US university, soon. Busterdog may very well win his bet, assuming one accepts multiple gunshot wounds as 'natural causes' on a US campus.

**Rayc** · 04-05-2012, 19:51

Not all Chinese are Han, not all Han are Chinese. Come to peace with it and the world will be a far more placid place.

Such vast a nation has 92% Han. Great homogeneity indeed!

"If you compared Han with a religious affiliation rather than a nationality you'd get a better comparison."

So I take it that it is not a nationality. So, what exactly is it? And there is 92% who are Han.

If one compares Han with a religious affliction is a thought that is too open and loose for interpretation and I am not into religion and so it is beyond me to comprehend.

And yet

Han are differentiated by place, language and ancestry.

As an Indian one can be different culturally, linguistically, by religion, by customs and tradition. India is but a political entity and Indians are people who live within that political entity.

Hans in China are 92% and so they should be one race with similar culture, language, traditions, customs etc. If they were not, then it would be diverse peoples moulded into a political entity shaped by history and not a unique and singular 'people/ race'. And yet you state (and you would know better) that the Han is differentiated by place, language and ancestry. Does appear a bit difficult to understand and reconcile, especially when a doubt has been germinated during the discussion.

So, what exactly would you term being a Han as?

Just want to know academically since there are so many different interpretations one finds on what exactly would define what is a Han, to include from the Chinese themselves!