hankyoreh

The day the Beijing Olympic torch was run through downtown Seoul, the city was in chaos the whole day long. That was because during its trip from Olympic Park to Seoul City Hall, there was a physical clash between thousands of Chinese welcoming the torch and protesters trying to block the procession to draw attention to the human rights situation in Tibet. It was nothing short of lawlessness, with Chinese protesters, who overwhelmingly outnumbered people protesting the torch, attacking them in the street. Our government has expressed strong regret to the Chinese.

If you examine the way the clash unfolded, you clearly see that the Chinese got excessively excited and overreacted. They threw rocks and bottles and injured people who had gone through normal procedures to register their public assembly. Hundreds of Chinese chased people who had been waving Tibetan flags into a hotel lobby, where they seemed to physically assault them in a group disturbance that will surely be remembered as a riot. Citizens who saw this openly taking place in the middle of the country’s capital surely felt insulted.

With behavior like that the Chinese protesters were doing their own damage to China’s dignity. They all either waved or wore Chinese flags and went about revealing nationalist tendencies with slogans and signs saying things like “Tibet is Chinese forever!” They physically attacked Koreans protesting China’s armed suppression of Tibetan protests, which was enough to prompt the people of the world to wonder whether Chinese nationalism is going so far that it is becoming violent. If the Chinese think those who express other views are to be attacked and erased, then it is nothing more than an expression of an intolerant collectivism. It was a far cry from the mature democratic society China is trying to show off through the Olympics.

It needs to be noted that what happened could have been avoided. Reportedly, Chinese students in Korea had been organizing torch welcoming-events and protests through an online community before the torch came to Seoul. It is hard to understand how the police got all flustered and confused at the actions of the Chinese, without having gotten ready for the event beforehand. Those who were out in the streets to protest against the torch had properly reported their public assembly and gotten a permit for a street parade, but none of the Chinese are said to have followed any of the procedures. The very reason the law requires prior registration is to protect legitimate assemblies and protests, so the police should have done their best to protect what was a legal public gathering.

What transpired must not lead to an emotional confrontation between the Korean and Chinese peoples. No one should fall to encouraging that to happen. But for that to be avoided, the police will have to follow up on what happened in a way that is strict and consistent with the law, and to the extent that people feel assured of their course of action.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]