李洹的精彩演讲 (English Version)

Speech of LiHuan at Paris’ Rally on April 19, 2008 (Transcript in English).

Original Videos in French Available at:

(Part A) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2icam2SqOQ

(Part B) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8hd428T_9g

(Note: The first paragraph and a portion of the second paragraph is missing at the beginning of the video and was reproduced from the Chinese version available on the internet)

Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning, My Chinese and French Friends,

Firstly I want to express my thanks to the Parisiens (People living in Paris) and the Paris’ police officers, for giving us the opportunity to get together here today. This is a very rare opportunity. However, it is the biggest rally of Chinese in the French and European history.

I want to speak a few words on behalf of my friends coming from other cities, several hundreds kilometers away, by bus, train, and their own cars. There are still many friends, who were not able to come here, join us. I’m passing their same feeling to China, to France, to French people, to the French-Chinese friendship!

In this campaign of the media distortion about China and demonizing China, we, Chinese students abroad, feel very painful, our feelings were wounded. However, we don’t want this pain, because the person responsible is not you, French people, but certain irresponsible media and some professional agitators.

As for all the professions, the journalism has professional ethics to respect. The journalism requires the impartiality, objectivity, the verification of the information, and the moderation of comments. In no case, we can accept them slandering someone, accusing someone without proof, distorting the reality.

For these recent events, certain journalists, get out of their normal roles, which should inform the people with the reality, to transform themselves into judges holding the truth. Further, with delirious simplicity: “a small gentle and a big naughty”, their roles are defined, from the beginning. Then they are looking for ways to justify these two roles.

Beside, they select a little history, assuming that the Chinese revolution is an invasion despite Tibet as an integral part of China, and without mentioning an obscure bureaucracy which the 95% of the Tibetan population suffered under the Dalai Lama’s theocracy. They take Nepal police officers as Chinese. They take the 20 year old pictures for today’s. They distribute the information without any verification, the death toll, unbelievable testimonies, etc.

The testimonies from the foreign tourists and the videos they took show a such violence toward the innocents. Nobody talked about these, except an arrest on a picture of a young man chasing and attacking the innocent passengers. The worst is that, certain irresponsible media invents for us, imposes on us, a hypothesis of a bloody repression without any reliable, impartial proof.

They invite rarely Chinese to talk before the media. When it happens, it is very often to place him at the position of an accused with a much important numbers of “judges”. Yes, for criticizing the Chinese government for information closure, but No, for inventing stories. This treatment of information on the Tibet riots is a media repression, an ideological deception, a speech hegemony, a campaign of information distortion, a gross slander.

The first victims are the French people, who are fraternal and sympathizing, who have the trust on the media, but unfortunately, they are manipulated.

Long live France! Long live the French People!

An information system, which was a model for us, for the future of China, is no longer our model now. The public opinion is not to be manipulated, not in China, not anywhere else. This is another form of census in the media system.

And the intellectual laziness of certain political figures, who are considered as the French elite, astonished us greatly. The human rights for certain people, is the order of the crusade and the pretext of all irresponsible instigations, for their political goals, just as Mr. Robert Ménard (President de Reporters without Borders). Why you were nowhere when the tortures repeat in the jail at Guantanamo, when the iraq people were outraged by the American soldiers. Is this not a selective blindness!

The UNESCO has terminated its support to Reporters without Borders and explained in a declaration that this organization has shown, multiple times, an absence of ethics, by treating certain countries in a way rarely objective. Then why doing this? Let’s take some information available on internet where everybody has access, and admitted by Mr. Robert (Ménard) himself, we understand that Reporters without Borders is financed by some associations very close to the CIA. What does the CIA? Overthrow of government alleged hostiles to the American world, or simply injuring their images for the interest of the U.S.

Mr. Robert Ménard, you are one among many other Americans (against the peace flame). Tell your Master that the world belongs to the people who love the peace. The world does not belong to, the world will never belong to, you thousands of Americans, who are promoting the war, the hatred.

We, Chinese students abroad, we feel very painful. They are opening their arms, to welcome our friends all over the world.  

Welcome to China! (Audience: Welcome to China!...),

When the Olympic torch goes everywhere in the world, the message is unique, coming from Chinese people: we all are waiting for you for the Games. Some media said the torch relay is a slap, a slap for China, after the passage (outraged by the professional agitators) of the peace, friendship flame, in Paris. I do think it is a slap, but not for China, instead, it is for Chinese people, French people, for all the people who love the Olympic Games.

Many people have some kind of fears about China. This fear comes from a lack of knowledge, That’s why you need to communicate to us directly, through us, a bridge very solid, trustworthy, faithful and friendly.  

Long live our French-Chinese Friendship! (Audience: Long live our French-Chinese Friendship! …)

China and its culture are peaceful. Its history shows that it was invaded numerous times, by other countries, and then the invaders became all, almost all, one part of China. I think it is this, the magnitude of a culture of 5000 years. Is it worrying? Maybe.  However this is a living culture. When I speak here with a tie, it is your culture which invaded me, but I like it. When you, the French people, use the chopsticks in the Chinese restaurants or Asian restaurants in general, the Chinese culture opens its arm fully for you.

Long live the Chinese culture! (Audience: Long live the Chinese culture! …)

Long live the French culture! (Audience: Long live the French culture! … )

Long live the communication between peoples! (Long live the communication between peoples! … )

Long live the mutual understanding between peoples! (Long live the mutual understanding between peoples! … )

Demonizing China, will keep the Chinese away from Western peoples, will increase the distance between our peoples,

No demonizing China! (Audience: No demonizing China!...)

Communicate between us, communicate between our cultures. We have a message to pass, a very sincere message: We, Chinese students abroad, we don’t want hostility between our people, between our countries, which is not rational, not useful, no matter what it is. With two cultures, we want to be a bridge, a messenger between our people. We are passing our feelings, the emotions of Chinese people. And we transfer your friendship to Chinese people. This bridge, believe-me, will be strong, stronger than ever, needed more than ever, in a situation extremely damaging as today.

My dear French friends, you are all welcome to our country, even for those who are planning to create disorder in Beijing, we will help them to find a good insurance for your civil responsibilities.

See you in Beijing, my dear friends! See you in Beijing! (Audience: See you in Beijing! …)

Long live China! (Audience: Long live China! …)

Long live France! (Audience: Long live France! …)

Long live all the peoples! (Audience: Long live all the peoples! …)

Long live the communication between the peoples! (Audience: Long live the communication between the peoples! …)

Long live the world! (Audience: Long live the world! …)

Long live the Olympic Games.! (Audience: Long live the Olympic Games! …)

We love the French! (Audience: We love the French!)

Love us! (Audience: Love us!)

No hatred! (Audience: No hatred!)

Love! (Audience: Love!)

The communication! (Audience: The communication!)

The mutual understanding! (Audience: The mutual understanding!)

Thank you! Thank you very much!