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Subscribe to RSSPORTLAND, Ore. -- A vivid mural in an Oregon town that depicts a Tibetan monk's immolation and promotes independence for Taiwan has created a dust-up with China, whose consular officials have asked the city to take "effective measures" to stop such advocacy.
The mayor of the town of Corvallis, where a Taiwanese-American businessman installed the downtown mural to express his political views, responded by telling consular officials free speech laws barred the town from taking any action.
The status of Taiwan and the human rights situation in Tibet is a contentious political issue for China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually unified with the mainland.
See a picture of the mural in this article from the Corvallis Gazette-Times
Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.
"There is only one China in the world, and both Tibet and Taiwan are parts of China. It is a fact recognized by the U.S. and most other countries in the world," read an August 8 letter to Corvallis city leaders from China's Consulate in San Francisco.
"To avoid our precious friendship from being tainted by so-called 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence,' we sincerely hope you can understand our concerns and adopt effective measures to stop the activities advocating 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence' in Corvallis," it added.
Group: Teens set selves on fire, taking Tibet burnings over 50
'Freedom of artistic expression'
The brightly colored mural, painted last month, runs 100 feet long and about 10 feet high along the top of a building at a busy intersection owned by businessman David Lin, who came to America from Taiwan in the 1970s.
The mural shows the immolation of a Tibetan monk against a bright yellow background and depicts a Tibetan monk being beaten by Chinese police, in addition to what the Corvallis Gazette-Times described as "images of Taiwan as a bulwark of freedom."
Lin, 65, told Reuters he had long been concerned about China's role in Taiwan and Tibet, and commissioned the mural because: "I feel that somebody has to stand up and do something."
Lin told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he was "under a lot of pressure to take down the mural," saying his family and friends were concerned about possibly being arrested if they go to China.
Still, he did not plan to remove it. "I'll just keep it the same. ... I've got to live my life, that's all."
PhotoBlog: Tibetan man sets himself on fire in protest
Municipal leaders said they had informed the consular officials that there was no room for the city government to get involved in such a matter.
"I responded to them that I was sorry to learn the art work caused concern," Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning said, adding that she told Chinese officials in a written response that the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, "and this includes freedom of artistic expression."
The Chinese consulate then sent representatives to Corvallis to express concern in person on September 4. Vice Consul Zhang Hao and Deputy Consul General Song Ruan met with Manning and City Manager Jim Patterson. That meeting did not include any demands.
Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland, has a population of about 54,500 people. It is home to Oregon State University, which Patterson said has an estimated 1,600 Chinese students.
The Chinese consulate in San Francisco did not respond to an email request for comment and could not be reached by phone.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Good for Mr. Li I support him 100% but it's all BS as some of the posters here have noticed. If he or anybody else were to put a mural on they're building depicting a family at the dinner table bowing their heads saying grace, and a message saying something like "This business supports marriage between a man and woman and a strong traditional family unit". The ACLU, atheists and homosexual groups would bitch and it would be down (by force if necessary) within hours. Freedom of speech, ya, sure.
Who's going to force it to be taken down? Freedom of speech is just that. You are free to say whatever you want, but must also take responsibility for what you say. The first amendment says you have freedom of speech, not "freedom of speech with complete impunity".
Ain't freedom of speech great? That amendment you love so much also allows those groups you hate so much the same freedom of speech. You see, that 1st amendment is meant for EVERYBODY, even the ones you disagree with.
Sorry Mr. Chinese man, America have freedom of speech. You no likee mural? Toughee luckee.
By interfering with the internal affairs of the people of the United States, China has hurt the feelings of all Americans.
Note: if this sarcastic post looks familiar, check out any press release from the Chinese government whenever they get their noses out of joint because somebody else told them something they didn't want to hear.
Hey China...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck YOU!
Hey israel...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck YOU!
Congratulations Mayor Manning on a trully professional response to the Chinese embassy. Mr. Lin, thank you for your courage in saying what you believe.
Hey Two Dog! You stop taking your medication again, or you get hold of too much?
someone needs to take a photo of this mural and post it on the internet and facebook for the whole world to see. China is a joke and needs to be put in their place.
Hey China, YUCK FOO ! This is the United States and not a province of China regardless of what our political leaders might have us think. Try cleaning up your own sh*thole of a country before complaining about someone critizing you for the truth.
Retired, that is exactly what those of us who participate in the daily anti war protest in Corvallis say to the US government , "try cleaning up your own country before attacking another, who says democracy US style is right for all?
I didn't but the topic is about a country with a history of human rights abuses that is second only to North Korea.
China is hilarious.
...
Nice going guys.
Pizzing off the Chinese is not prudent.
How are we going to get our social programs funded if we do not have their money?
...
china cannot take of all of its over 1 billion people yet they want tibet and taiwan.
Good morning China, I know you don't get it, but people here are allowed to express their own opinions. Yes, its painful, yes it makes ruling harder, yes you get more out of your labor force for short periods of times because you can treat them like slaves, yes your economy booms because....because....because.. oh yeah because the government owns your businesses. Can you imagine how well money wise our government would do if they owned BOA, GE, Morgan Stanly etc, and when I mean owned, received the profit, fired CEOs for non performance etc.
I can. I can also imagine the government running those firms into the ground because the businesses start concentrating on political objectives and get staffed by people seeking political favors.
Besides, owning businesses doesn't mean your government handles money better. It just means (maybe) that they'll have more money to waste. I'd rather have that money going to the citizens that earned it rather than the feds.
America needs to take "effective measures" to terminate our "relationship" with Communist China.
Red China is Red China. They may be graviting toward capitalism, but they are still Red China. Don't forget the 20,000+ casualties in Tiamenen square.
Art of War
Make yourself seem not like the enemy but like the enemy so that the enemy will become your friend and allow you into their home. During the night let your friends in and kill your enemy making your enemies home your home.
Or the 100,000 dead civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq by invading western militaries.
When our hands are clean, then we can challenge others
As much support that can be given to this situation must be used.
If China is able to effectively make the American take down his mural which is based upon Freedom of Speech that is a Constitutionally protected freedom such an act will bolster the Chinese think that they can dictate to America what we can and cannot do inside of our country.
Since China wants to tell Americans what we can display or not display because because it offends them and inspires freedoms China needs too make the Chinese vote for the leaders of China instead of being oppressive like they are.
This event is not a laughing matter because it will either be used by the Chinese government to further invade America or it will be used as a heavy bell of freedom to inspire the Chinese to to demand that their voice be heard in who is elected to their government.
Pretty sure the outcome has already been decided. China can't really enforce their censorship on foreign soil. At least, not OUR soil.
Maybe Korea.
So where is the photo of this mural? Is NBC afraid to post a photo of the mural?
Exactly. De facto, self-imposed censorship. Waaaaa waaaaa, we might offend the crybaby Chinese. Because of our stupid "outsourcing" relationship with China, we conveniently forget that they are a bunch of f*c*i*g Communists.
If you read the story you will see a link to the local news paper. The link says: See a picture of this mural....
Well, not that I'm taking China's side, believe me I'm not and you'll see that if you make it to the end of this post.. but Taiwan lacks the economic ability to stand on its own and is basically the product of a lost civil war.
It'd be like us letting the dicktip of Florida or Texas remain the Confederate States of America. Said dicktip wouldn't last a solid year as a truly independent country as it would be economically inviable and not taken seriously by the rest of the country or countries around it, which it would need.
Taiwan relies heavily on mainland China for .. much of everything. It's an export economy reliant on..another more developed export economy. It's leaders know that. It's economy reflects that. That's why it does not go for miles with the independence thing and when it does, Taiwan suffers.
I can't say as much for Tibet, but it's not like they're a rich region being held back from becoming the next Australia because of China. They have yet to turn their situation into something productive as have Hong Kongers and Taiwanese who actually live in Taiwan. Most of the comments here reflect no understanding of the regional dynamic that keeps these places married to China, whether they like it or not.
Were the Chinese to let Tibet and Taiwan "go", Taiwan would probably become another disputed island shortly after it's economy collapses or gets tarrifed to death by a vengeful China who'd be well within their rights to do so. And.. Tibet would... just keep burning itself in frustration, only over a different issue.
THAT BEING SAID, China does need to realize that this is America and you can't just volley threats to some local town leader as if he can override the US Constitution. They also need to realize that this isn't something worth pressing with US Representatives either, because it's just a piece of art. The whole problem with them is that they are too too sensitive about things that don't matter, in the end, and it makes them do and say brash things that reveal their insecurities.
What they should do is take this transition of power to do a sweeping evaluation of their foreign policy. A much less irritable China would be one we couldn't say that much against. We, in turn, do have to become a little more politically sensitive to their regional concerns. We ARE too often playing or insinuating the role of uninvited home wrecker in their back yard, after all.
On issues like this, though, they're just gonna have to suck it up, because this is the offensive sign in our yard against which there are no laws. They're picking the wrong form of childishness. They could at least state-sponsor equally offensive Anti-Taiwanese-independence signs put up in China.
That would say it without saying it, ..while saying it.
What, exactly, does Taiwan rely on China for, besides trade links (which would remain in place whether or not Taiwan is an independent country)? Does China actually give the government money for administration purposes? You say Taiwan relies on China for "much of everything", but I don't know what that means outside of China shipping in goods which are paid for normally (again, not really an intra-state relationship). I don't see any inherent reason why an island the size of Taiwan can't function as an independent economic entity, although it might lack scale.
To Hell with China. The anti-freedom Chinese are just like Muslims ... they never stop whining, complaining and telling everyone else what to do.
This is funny actually. China thinks they can apply pressure to a small city in Oregon and get the government there to take down privately commissioned art work. Have you been to a contemporary art museum lately??? Anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-china are themes being expressed everywhere. I mean we have a movie about Ai Weiwei headlining theaters this weekend. There is just no way that they are going to do make this guy take down his mural, it's simply a form of free expression. If he has family in China though or relies on business contacts there, the Chinese may be able to pressure the guy who commissioned this more directly to get it removed. But the idea that they could dictate public art in some 3rd tier western city in the US is laughable.
It isn't even public art, apparently. This guy paid to have it painted on the side of his business.
Maybe that's why the Chinese are up in arms about this, specifically. Unlike the other projects you noted, this piece isn't confined in a gallery where relatively few people see it.
Ahh China, the world's first crybaby superpower. Do you need a glass of warm milk sweetie. Go get your spiderman PJ's on it's almost bedtime.
Honestly, grow a backbone China, no one will agree with you all the time as no one will agree with us all the time.
The Chinese probably have some problem grasping the concept of the First Amendment. They don't have to worry about annoying things like a Bill of Rights over there.
The Chinese Consulate office, needs to take their commie ass's back to their office. China might be inclined to believe that they own America, but they cannot own our spirit that made our country strong. We might not be the financial power we once were, but the last I heard we still have the military. If we wanted to squash China, all we would have to do is close Walmart, and Ebay.
Semper Fi.
Actually, we ARE still the financial power we once were. The American dollar is still the world's reserve currency, and our treasury bonds are still highly demanded, despite the loss of our AAA rating. Don't think that just because we're always bickering about the debt that there isn't money to spend.
China can take a long walk on a short pier or jump off a high clift as far as I'm concerned. "Freedom of Speech is "Freedom of Speech" which is given to everone here in the United Staes by the U.S. Constitution. This person or persons in Oregon can express their desires for freedom for Tibet and Tiawan this way if he wants to do so.
china owns you, you better do what they say or else
I'd like to know how we can get a copy of the mural (a smaller one) to put up in front of my place? Instead of all this name calling let's do something to let the Chinese government know what freedom of speech is really all about... it let's a bunch of you angry, mean spirited people say all these nutty things on these pages .. often leaving your brains behind in the emotion of your prattle ... but a copy of the mural in front of a lot of houses in America ???? can anybody see that happening?
So... freedom of speech is about solidarity of spite?
I think China should stuff it up their posterior and mind their own business. We DO have freedom of speech in this country, that's why we are called "the land of the free" and China is called the 'yellow horde".