|
Beijing: Chinese official media have sought to temper nationalist calls to boycott foreign businesses accused of backing Tibetan independence, urging angry citizens to focus on economic development.
Chinese internet sites have been awash with calls to stop buying French goods and stop shopping at Carrefour stores after Tibet protesters in Paris upset the Beijing Olympics torch relay.
Some angry citizens have protested in front of Carrefour stores in Chinese cities. An opinion poll in ten Chinese cities found 66 per cent of respondents supported the Carrefour boycott.
Following prominent local news reports, Chinese officials and citizens have also vented outrage at a commentator on CNN television who spoke of Chinese "goons" and "junk" products.
But in a sign Beijing may be moving to cool public ire, Xinhua news agency called for "patriotic zeal to concentrate on development".
The official commentary that appeared late on Thursday said the boycott demands were an "unadorned expression of patriotic zeal and a demonstration of public opinion".
But it balanced the praise with a warning not to challenge the government's policies of opening to foreign investment.
"Patriotic zeal must enter onto a rational track and must be transformed into concrete actions to do one's own work well," said the commentary widely distributed in the Chinese media.
"Thirty years of reform and opening up have created a China miracle. But we must be clear that for China that has endured so much, the future road will not be all smooth going."
Most Chinese people are intensely proud about the Beijing Olympic Games in August, and the government has waged a propaganda war against the exiled Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of masterminding the riots last month in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa and across other Tibetan areas.
Beijing says the Tibetan Buddhist leader sought to upstage Olympics preparations and a multi-national torch relay. The Dalai Lama has rejected the allegations, speaking out against the violence and backing the Olympics.
Chinese official and public anger has far from subsided. In a separate commentary, Xinhua called the Tibet protests that dogged the Olympic torch relay in Britain, France and the United States a "conspiracy" to humiliate the Games host.
"The goal was to cause trouble for China, damage its image and hinder its peaceful rise."
|
