05.11.08
Suppressing dissent
Chinese student in US targeted after Tibet protest The build-up to this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing has been disrupted by protests over China’s treatment of the Tibetan people.
In one clash at Duke University, North Carolina USA, a Chinese student tried to be a peacemaker and found her life turned upside down.
As pro-China and pro-Tibet protesters clashed at the university, Wong tried to mediate and get the two sides to communicate with each other. Photos that appear to show her siding with the pro-Tibet group surfaced and enraged the Chinese community around the world.
Grace Wong has become the target of an international smear campaign with offensive messages, images and videos of her broadcast over the internet. Her home address and Chinese ID number have been made public in the campaign.
Messages calling her a traitor have appeared online and her parents’ home in China was vandalised - someone painted the Chinese for “kill everyone in this home” on the house.
China’s official television network called her ‘the most hideous overseas Chinese student’.
Wong was very upset by the attacks and ended up missing a month of classes due to stress.