councilor.org
| Source | Henry C.K. Liu |
| Date | 99/07/03/01:18 |
| Speech at the Protest Rally outside U.N. Headquarters on May 14, 1999 by a Chinese student My fellow countrymen, my American friends, my friends of all countries: What we are protesting here today is not some isolated, "unfortunate accident". What we are protesting today is a prolonged pattern, a pattern of aggression and domination. Let us be clear: the bombing of the Chinese embassy and the war of aggression against Yugoslavia is a continuation of a phenomenon called imperialism. Yes, imperialism! Let us be clear: the western colonial power have imposed violence and misery onto the non-western peoples for 500 years. The conquest is still continuing today. In fact, Yugoslavia and the most of Balkans is regarded as the backward third world inside Europe, not part of the so-called "civilized" Europe. That may partly explains the extraordinary savagery and cruelty of the war waged on Yugoslav people, Serbs and Albanians alike. Let us be clear: the evil of imperialism, colonialism and racism are still haunting us. Today, the domination of the weak by the strong takes two forms: one is the naked gunboat diplomacy, the other is economic imperialism, or neo-colonialism. The weapon of choice for the economic form of imperialism is multi-national corporations, and western dominated organizations such as IMF, World Bank, and WTO. Last month, US and China held trade talks on China's entry into WTO. A serious incident occurred at that time. Without China's consent, US published a 17-page detailed list of demand for China's market opening and penetration of foreign capitals. This document is effectively demanding China to give up her economic sovereignty and become a semi-colony of US. This is part of the grand scheme of US imperialism to destroy and dismember China, by whatever means, economic or military. I hope all of the friends who have come here today will think about the seriousness of this matter, and try to see the deeper relations between this incident and the bombing of the Chinese embassy. Lastly, let me say a few words about the alleged "anti-American sentiment" of people in China, and about the difference between anti- American and anti-imperialism. The big corporate media of the west try very hard to portray everything in terms of narrow, irrational racial hatred, whether it's the Kosovo issue, or the Chinese protest. We should not be misled by and tricked into this. Imperialist propaganda feeds on blind racial hatred, and actively incites blind racial hatred. The Chinese students' battle cry is very clear: they are anti- imperialist, not anti-American. The Chinese people don't have any argument with the American people. However, they do have a serious struggle against Mr. Clinton's policy of aggression, against the US government war machine, and against the US ruling class' plan to dominate the world. Finally, let me appeal to all of you: People of all countries, unite and fight against imperialism in all forms! Dignity, equality and peace for the whole human race! |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho