AP World History: Chinese Pronunciations

On the National Gallery of Art webpage there is a pronunciation guide for Chinese words.  Impress your friends by visiting the site then pronouncing difficult Chinese words correctly:  National Gallery of Art

Jackie Chan: Cold Warrior?

The timing for this article couldn't be any better as we continue our unit on the Cold War and China's communist revolution. Story from the Associated Press.

Spokesman: Jackie Chan comments out of context (AP)

Source: AP Tue Apr 21, 2009, 1:55 am EDT

HONG KONG - Jackie Chan's comments that freedom may not be good for China were taken out of context, his spokesman said Tuesday, while Facebook users and Chinese scholars condemned the veteran actor on the Internet in a spreading backlash.

The 55-year-old star of the " Rush Hour " action films caused a huge uproar after he told a business forum on Saturday that it may not be good for authoritarian China to become a free society .

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said Saturday, adding freedoms in his native Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies "chaotic." Taiwan, which split from China in 1949, is democratic and Hong Kong , a separately ruled Chinese territory, enjoys some free elections.

"I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want," he said.

Hong Kong and Taiwanese legislators lashed out at the comments, with some accusing Chan of insulting the Chinese race.

Solon So, the chief executive of Chan's company JC Group and his main spokesman, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry and not Chinese society at large.

Chan was speaking at a panel discussion about Asian entertainment industries and was asked to discuss movie censorship in China.

"Some people with ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he was saying," So said.

Meanwhile, the public backlash against Chan grew.

A group of Chinese scholars published a letter on the Internet on Monday accusing Chan of "not understanding how precious freedom is," even though "free Hong Kong provided the conditions for you to become an international action star."

A Facebook group set up by Hong Kong users calling for Chan to be exiled to North Korea had drawn more than 2,600 members by Tuesday. The group also posted form letters urging Hong Kong's Baptist University and Academy for Performing Arts to strip Chan of honorary degrees they gave the actor.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board , for which Chan serves as an ambassador, had received 17 complaints as of Monday that his comments "hurt the image of Hong Kong and aren't reflective of Hong Kong people ," a publicist said. She declined to give her name because of company policy.

Opposition Taiwanese politicians on Monday demanded that the city government of Taipei strip Chan of his role as ambassador of the Deaf Olympic Games to be held in the Taiwanese capital in September.

The Olympic Torch Run

The Olympics are usually associated with athletic competition and the uniting of nations through sport. This year though with the Olympics being held in Beijing, China some people are protesting the human rights abuses that are taking place there. I'm posting an article about the Olympic torch being attacked in Paris this morning. The irony is almost funny--this symbol for unity being protested throughout its route today. From Reuters news service.

Olympic torch extinguished twice on Paris run

By Thierry LevequeMon Apr 7, 10:34 AM ET

Security officials extinguished the Olympic torch at least twice on Monday during a chaotic relay through Paris where thousands of pro-Tibet protesters tried to block its path.

The torch's progress through Paris was regularly delayed by demonstrators protesting against China's crackdown on Tibet after it set off from the Eiffel Tower. At one point it had to be put on a bus to protect it from the crowds.

The torch then had to be extinguished because of a technical problem, a police spokesman said. A Chinese official was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying it was put out for safety reasons.

After a brief interruption the relay resumed with the torch alight, only for it to be extinguished shortly afterwards despite the fact that protesters appeared to be well away from the relay team, which was flanked by police on rollerblades.

"Boycott Chinese goods" and "Save Tibet" read some of the banners held by demonstrators.

"We are doing our best but it will take the world to put pressure on China to help bring democracy and human rights to Tibet," said Phurbu Dolker, a 21-year-old Tibetan refugee.

The scenes were reminiscent of the protests that hit the torch's passage through London on Sunday, with the build up to the Beijing Olympics rapidly becoming a public relations disaster for the Chinese organizers.

Three hours after setting out on its 28-km (17 miles) trip through Paris, the protesters tactics meant the relay had accumulated a delay estimated at roughly two hours.

"FIASCO"

"Security Fiasco," France 24 television said in a banner headline running on the bottom of its screen.

At least 23 people were briefly detained by police for trying to disturb the relay, a spokesman for the Free Tibet movement said.

Militants from rights group Reporters Without Borders chained themselves to the Eiffel Tower and deployed a black flag with handcuffs replacing the Olympic rings.

A member of the French Greens party had earlier been restrained by police when trying to grab the torch from the first of 80 torch bearers, former world 400 meters hurdles champion Stephane Diagana.

Escorted by security, Diagana was wearing a badge reading "For a better world."

France has deployed more than 3,000 police officers for the zig-zagging journey to the southern edge of Paris, where the torch was initially due to arrive at 1500 GMT.

Thousands of protesters waving Tibetan flags and shouting "Shame on China" tried to disrupt the torch's run through London on Sunday, the British leg of the international relay billed by Beijing as the "harmonious journey."

French human rights minister, Rama Yade, denied on Saturday that President Nicolas Sarkozy would boycott the Games' opening ceremony unless China started talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and released political prisoners.

The Olympic flame is expected to remain a magnet for anti-Chinese protests ahead of the August Games in Beijing.

The flame is due to return to Beijing on August 6, two days before it will be used to light the cauldron at the Olympic opening ceremony.

(Additional reporting Brian Rohan; Writing by Patrick Vignal, Editing by Crispian Balmer and Elizabeth Piper)