On this episode of China Uncensored,
the pettiest fight you'll see on the internet
all day.
And that's saying something.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I'm your host Chris Chappell.
Meet Yang Shuping.
She was this year's student commencement speaker
at the University of Maryland.
And it's no wonder why.
When she came to the United States
five years ago,
she didn't speak a word of English.
She just graduated with a double major
in psychology and theater,
with a minor in German.
And to top it off,
she now speaks fluent English.
Now you would think,
this would be a proud moment
for Chinese international students.
One of their own,
singled out for achievement
at an American University.
Except, when she had the spotlight,
she said some things about the differences
between China and the United States
that were a little controversial.
It involved a student production
of a play about the beating
of Rodney King
and the LA riots of 1992.
The student actors were openly talking
about racism, sexism, and politics.
I was shocked.
I never thought such topics
could be discussed openly.
I have always had a burning desire
to tell these kinds of stories,
but I was convinced that only authorities
owned the narrative.
Only authorities could define the Truth.
You know, I applaud Ms. Yang
for tackling some big topics in her speech.
Of course, it's not quite as good
as my own commencement speech.
Which was about how as we go on,
we remember all the times we had together,
and about the importance of wearing sunscreen,
and also staying hungry and foolish.
It was a pretty great speech.
But back to Ms. Yang's speech.
Here was her key point:
Freedom is oxygen. Freedom is passion.
And then Chinese internet users
around the world exploded.
And believe me,
those were the more polite comments.
THEY WERE HARD TO FIND!
The speech also went viral on Weibo,
the Chinese version of Twitter.
The common theme was that she
shouldnt come back to China.
State-run media had a field day,
with article after article accusing her
of belittling and degrading China...
...and even worse,
convicted her of the worst crime imaginable:
being deemed unpatriotic
by cyber public opinion.
Wow. Unpatriotic?
That was way harsh,
cyber public opinion.
This is what China's Foreign Ministry spokesman
Lu Kang had to say.
Finish her!
Sorry, wrong clip.
This is what Lu Kang actually said.
As long as in the end
they still ardently love their motherland,
and are willing to make contributions for her,
I believe that the Chinese government
will encourage, support and welcome it."
You see, as long as you wholeheartedly love
the Chinese Communist Party,
and do anything for it,
the Communist party will encourage
and welcome it.
I think that was what he was saying?
People always ask me
why did you come to the University of Maryland?
I always answer:
fresh air.
The air was so sweet and fresh
and utterly luxurious.
I was surprised by this.
I grew up in a city in China
where I had to wear a face mask
every time I went outside,
otherwise I might get sick.
However, the moment I inhaled and exhaled
outside the airport,
I felt free.
What happened?
Is attacking someone for a speech
on the other side of the world
somehow supposed to convince people
that China doesn't have a problem
with freedom of speech?
For more on this,
I'm joined by China Uncensored's
resident Chinese person,
Shelley Zhang.
Shelley?
Hi, Chris.
Now Shelley, I know that talking about
freedom of speech in China can be a big deal.
But Yang Shuping was speaking in America.
Why are people so upset?
They weren't complaining about what she said
about freedom of speech.
They weren't?
They didn't get mad because she said
democracy and freedom are the fresh air
worth fighting for?
No, they were mad because she mentioned
a different kind of fresh air.
Hold on.
Chinese netizens are upset
that she complained about air pollution
in China?
Yep.
Chinese people aren't seriously denying
there's a pollution problem, right?
Well, let's let state-run CGTN America
explain it.
Some bashed her for degrading China,
while others accused her of telling outright lies
about her hometown Kunming,
a city in China's southwest Yunnan province
known for its beautiful scenery
and good air.
Wow, Chinese state-run television's
use of promotional video
really gets across how beautiful Kunming is.
So the argument is,
yeah, well...pollution isn't really
that bad in that one city.
And I guess that if she's lying
about the air quality in Kunming,
that proves she's a lying liar
who lies about China in general.
And to prove how out of touch Shuping is,
the local Chinese Students and Scholars Association
got together a group to talk
about how much they love China.
What did they come up with?
This.
We are students from University of Maryland.
We are proud of China.
Nothing says freedom of thought
like a group of people reciting
a prepared speech that someone else wrote.
Well, then there was a video
of individual testimonials
from Chinese students.
Although we know that the US
is a very free speaking country,
80% of what Shuping Yang said today
were deceptions and lies.
And then it goes into a montage
of Chinese students talking about
how nice their own hometowns are
and that they never had to wear facemasks there.
Well, that's...a good Chinese tourism video,
but it doesn't prove that Yang Shuping was lying
about wearing a facemask.
What if she has asthma?
Or overprotective parents.
And interesting note,
although Kunming is today considered
one of the best air quality cities in China,
five years ago,
when Shuping left,
it did not meet China's
national air quality standards.
But to do an in-depth investigation
into whether Kunming has great air,
state-run Xinhua News did
an hour-long livestream on Twitter
where they repeatedly stopped people
on the street to ask if they
ever wore facemasks.
That's the hard-hitting journalism
I expect from Xinhua.
But this whole things seems like
kind of an overreaction.
Well Chris, I do have to say that I understand where the Chinese students are coming from.
Really?
Sure. I came from China as a kid. I was the only Chinese kid in my class. I loved Chinese
culture. I wanted Chinese sports teams to win. I was proud of being Chinese. It was
either that or just be hurt everytime kids made ching chong noises at me.
So you're saying that the Chinese students were justified.
No, I'm saying I understand why they feel hurt
and why they want their Chinese identity
to be respected.
But then they took that
and went so far into left field
they can't even see the ballpark anymore.
There's an obsession with national pride
that's frankly a little unhealthy.
Popular phrases like
"You're nothing without your motherland."
So people are mad at her because
she was being ungrateful
to her motherland?
Well, making the motherland look bad.
But really, Shuping is not the one
making China look bad right now.
The extreme reactions from Chinese people
are keeping this story in the headlines,
and it's making us look weird.
I mean, Chinese netizens
publicly bullied this girl into shutting down
all of her social media accounts
and abjectly apologizing for using
an air quality metaphor
to talk about her love of individual freedoms.
Should we be proud of this?
Is the motherland triumphant,
now that this one voice
has been squashed?
This type of nationalistic anger
that won't be satisfied until someone
is made an example of
is an unfortunate legacy
of the Chinese Communist Party.
But here's what Shuping really did wrong.
And some of the criticisms of her
even say this bluntly.
She can feel the way she wants to
about freedom and democracy
and how great it is to be able to express
individual viewpoints.
Or even how crappy the air is in Kunming.
She just isn't supposed say it out loud.
Publicly.
So your opinion is fine
as long as you don't express it.
Wait, aren't you concerned about
getting attacked for expressing that publicly?
Chris, I fully expect the flamewar
in the comments section
to burn brighter than the sun.
Well, if there's one piece of advice
I could give you, Shelley,
it would be:
Wear sunscreen.
So what do you think about
what Shuping Yang said
and the reaction?
Leave your comments below.
Once again,
I'm your host, Chris Chappell.
See you next time.