By Sunny Lee
BEIJING _ Since North Korea’s artillery shelling earlier last week, Chinese bloggers have been voicing their views on the matter. Unlike the state-controlled media outlets that invariably reflect the Beijing government’s angle, the Internet reveals a much more diverse spectrum of views.
“China is kidnapped by North Korea,” a blogger Ruo Xiaoyi posted on Sina.com, bemoaning the situation that whenever North Korea creates a problem, it becomes China’s liability.
The comment comes as a starkly different take on the matter from the state-controlled official media outlets, which don’t deviate from the government’s stance; it is officially neutral, but in reality sides with North Korea.
Noting China’s impotence in criticizing North Korean behavior, a blogger quipped: “North Korea is China’s Israel!” in an apparent reference to how the United States always sides with Israel when the latter has disputes with neighboring Arab countries.
“China also loathes North Korea,” the blogger said, adding “But North Korea is a lesser threat than the U.S.”
On Friday afternoon, the online poll of the Global Times, a tabloid under the official People’s Daily, showed 89 percent of respondents chose South Korea, not North Korea, to a question: “Between the two Koreas, who is more responsible for creating instability on the Korean Peninsula?”
Yet many Chinese bloggers displayed sophistication, saying they knew it was North Korea which initiated the provocation, sourcing their knowledge to overseas media reports, including those in Hong Kong.
The Chinese Internet, albeit tightly censored by the authorities, but is also porous and is a useful avenue to have a glimpse of unreserved feelings of Chinese public, as they tend to bent, hiding behind anonymity. “North Korea is behaving like a crazy dog,” said a Chinese, who signed his name as Ni Ning.
Chinese citizens on the Internet are also seasoned political commentators as well. “I think the Chinese leadership is also very angry about North Korea. The North is creating a mess when China is holding the Asian Games. North Korea really doesn’t give China a face!” said a blogger, who signed as Blossompark.
But Chinese bloggers also largely support China’s handling of the current conflict, arguing that China’s move is not against South Korea.
“The reason China supports North Korea is not because it is against South Korea, but because it is against the United States,” a Chinese with the moniker, Douglas, said.
“The Korean Peninsula is just a venue for power struggle between China and the United States,” said a blogger, Yu Chen.
They also display a strong antipathy toward the presence of American forces in South Korea.
“If South Korea really wants China to be a fair player, stop taking sides with the U.S., then the U.S. military should leave South Korea.
But America clearly won’t. Therefore, China also won’t,” said another Chinese on the same website.
In a show of solidarity of Seoul-Washington alliance, the United States has decided to include the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington in a joint military drill in the West Sea that started on Monday.
A blogger with the nickname, Achilles’ Heel, said: “South Korea shouldn’t bring in its adoptive father, the U.S., to the Yellow Sea with USS George Washington. That amounts to playing fire in the back courtyard of China,” reflecting the common sensitivity Chinese
people have over the introduction of the powerful U.S. military asset near its territory.
South Korean observers have been trying to decode the nature of China’s strong affinity with North Korea, often attributing it to the “blood ties” of the two ideological allies that goes back to the Korean War 60 years ago.
But Chinese netizens predominantly disown the view. “After all, the inter-Korean dispute is the matter between the two Koreas. But China, openly and secretly, supports North Korea. Why?” a blogger posed a question before he also answered. “Of course, it’s for China’s national interest.”
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