COMMENTARY

Diversity's Importance to Society

by Peter Cheng^ This passage explores the question, "What does diversity mean to society?" Achieving greatness. During Christmas, a family from the local Protestant church hosted a Buddhist monk during his visit to the United States. Deciding to treat him to an ethnic meal, they took him to a Jewish restaurant. After finishing the food, a waiter brought each of them a tree omament in celebration ofthe holidays. The monk inspected his gift, turning it around in his hand, and suddenly burst into tears. The family comforted the monk and asked him why he was crying. The monk wiped his tears away and said, "Only in America can you give a Buddhist a present made in India, for a Christian holiday, in a Jewish restaurant," Like the family, we take our society's diversity for granted. Our everyday lives are a combination of different races, religions, and heritages that mesh to create America, Walking through our grocery store's fresh food section, I found everything from Hawaiian pineapples to Chinese lychee nuts. Such ethnic variety has been present since the dawn of our nation, a salad bowl that has drawn ingredients from countries around the world. Waves of immigrants have poured into our country, adding to our nation's fiavor while retaining their own unique taste. Together, we are the blood in the arteries of America, keeping the country alive and giving it strength. Without us, America could not be great. In other parts ofthe world, diversity is little or non-existent. In such areas, the people often live in a tunnel-vision world. They are oblivious to the freshness of diversity, and therefore are missing an important part of existence. Lives in seclusion produce narrow-minded people. But in countries like America, where diversity is valued, people leam to coexist and bring peace to a civilization. In Israel, Muslims and Jews share a mutual hate, in America both attend the same schools. By practicing such cooperation, a rich reservoir of ideas is created. Knowledge from around the world is blended to create the most powerful and universal intellectual machine in the world. Driving the streets of St, Louis is an intriguing experience for foreigners. Synagogues, temples, and churches stand adjacent to one another. Ethnic restaurants dot the same strip malls. And even more amazing, Asian, White, and Black families go to the same establishments! In America, there are no police or cultural apprehensions barring us from one another. People in the United States are not only citizens, but also members of a large family. Brothers and sisters, our bonds are strengthened by our love for diversity. If we were to completely rob our culture of one group of people, our society would cmmble. Each social division is a beam that tresses other beams to create an intricate web of relationships. If even a single support is removed, the entire structure is doomed to topple; all of its greatness lost. The heart of our society beats with the rhythm of diversity. It pumps life into all of its appendages, giving the body immeasurable strength, the strength to mold the precedent for the world to follow, a world searching for unity, Peter Hung Cheng is a proud leader and proponent ofthe Asian American youth. He promotes cultural awareness and unity through a proactive philosophy. Realizing that Asians need a stronger voice in our nation, Peter encourages and practices expansive social involvement among Asian teenagers. Peter plans to pursue a law degree after his high school graduation in June. He aspires to join the ranks of the Asian American leaders of our country.

Rape of Nanking^
by Peter Cheng 1. What is "The Rape of Nanking" or "Nanking Massacre" ? This passage, based on Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking, does three things: First, it explores the reasons behind the Rape of Nanking; Second, it prohes the general and underlying cultural causes ofthe Rape; Third, it identifies what circumstances are necessary to repeat this atrocity, THE FORGOTTEN HOLOCAUST OF WORLD WAR TWO, Ask any person what he or she knows about Nanking and you are answered with another question, "What is Nanking?" "Who is Nanking?" "Is it a type of food?" Why does the world know so little about Nanking? For America, the knowledge of World War Two began when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, But in Asia, military aggression began with the Manchurian Occupation in 1931, On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army marched into Nanking, where the soldiers participated in one of the largest orgies of rape, looting, and murder in history, as described in Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking, Unfortunately, most of their actions were kept secret for over five decades, A crime of this magnitude is detrimental if not exposed and examined. In the words of Ross Terill, "Only if the past is understood, can the future be navigated," "Bonzai! Bonzai! Bonzai!" was the battle call ofthe Japanese troops as they marched towards Nanking, the capital of China, The Tanaka Memorial had led the soldiers through a Korean invasion and now to China on the path to the Japan's manifest destiny, world domination (27), The army was prepared to destroy everything that came in its way, including 29

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COMMENTARY
civilian buildings and innocent bystanders. The citizens of Nanking fully expected a peaceful occupation, as promised by the flyers that stated the Japanese military would be "kind and generous to non-combatants and to Chinese troops who entertain no enmity to Japan" (72), The well-organized and equipped Japanese soldiers took the city with little trouble from the chaotic and misguided Chinese troops. The Japanese troops entered the city to find thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians patiently awaiting directions for surrender. Instead of proving to be the "better rulers" (82) the Chinese expected, the Japanese hegan a reign of terror that came to be known as the Rape of Nanking, Firing on non-combatants, many old men and children were found "face down on the pavement, apparently shot in the back on whim" (82), Death proved to be the best of fates for Chinese victims, Possihly 80,000 women were kidnapped (93) for personal pleasure or to fill Japanese government sponsored brothels (52), The large numher of prisoners gave the Japanese occupiers opportunities to perform "live burials, mutilation, death by fire, death by ice, [and] death by dogs" (87), Babies were impaled on bayonets, men and women were hung hy their tongues (88), and people became live guinea pigs in Unit Ei 1644, injected with poison, germs, and snake venom (164), Whereas the Nazis killed one in eight prisoners of war during the many years of World War two, the Japanese killed "one in three" prisoners of war over six weeks (173), Nanking's death toll totaled nearly 380,000, greater than the mortality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (99), puts forth the idea that all humans are brothers,,,Shintosim in Japan purports that only the emperor and his descendants were created in God's image" (54), This callous disregard for life did not immediately rob the Japanese of all humanity; it took practice, "one historian tells the story of a squeamish Japanese schoolboy in the 193O's; who burst into tears when told to dissect a frog. His teacher slammed his knuckles against the boy's head and yelled, "Why are you crying about one lousy frog? When you grow up, you'll have to kill one hundred, two hundred chinks!"' (30), The harsh integration of total obedience into the members of society crushed individualism and created an efficient emotionless machine. The human cogs of this machine were physically beaten to obliterate all value for humanity. The Japanese people were a time bomb waiting for thefinalseconds hefore meltdown. The countdown began when Japanese soldiers suffered heavy losses in the city of Shanghai, The soldiers' mood tumed ugly, and the bomb exploded upon their arrival at Nanking, The Japanese officers received an official order to "KILL ALL CAPTIVES" (40-41) on December 13, 1937, Going beyond their orders, they collectively performed the largest rape in history, brutally raping an estimated 80,000 women during a mere six weeks. Tens of thousands of women were abducted and imprisoned in military brothels, while many others chose to fight or commit suicide, Li Xouying suffered 37 bayonet wounds when she fought the advances of a Japanese aggressor choosing to "rather die than be raped by the Japanese" (97), These monsters had evolved from one of the most peace-loving races in the world. We have few atrocities to compare the Rape of Nanking, also known as the forgotten Holocaust of World War Two, except the German Holocaust itself. The social conditions in both countries were similar. The people had relinquished all personal value to further "the good of the country" (31), Japan and Germany held themselves to be the super-race, second to no one (30), The societies of both nations channeled their anger, frustration, and downfalls on a specific group of people. Civilians and soldiers alike were willing to go to any means necessary to dominate the world. Focusing around this general theme, the entire country was able to concentrate its energy, maximizing efficiency and effectiveness. All of this was overseen by a leader who was worshipped as a god. But most importantly, the people had been made into robots devoid of the capability for a conscience or emotion. Constant propaganda and stringent control kept the population under the sole influence of the government, 3. Will the history repeat itself? Will history ever offer a parallel to the Rape of Nanking? Many people doubt such an occurrence is repeatable. But a close analysis of our world reveals the conditions for such an atrocity are present in Indonesia, The native Indonesian people blame the country's small population of Chinese merchants for the country's economic collapse. The nation's financial insta-

2, Why did the supposedly peaceful Japanese became so violent? The Japanese have the reputation as the most polite race on earth. Their culture is characterized hy harmony and peaceful arts such as tea ceremonies, flower arranging, and haiku. How is it possible that the model civilization managed to outdo hoth the Romans at Carthage and the Spanish Inquisition (5)? The Japanese soldiers did not spontaneously act on fleeting emotions; instead, the entire culture had been bred for generations to believe the Japanese were destined to rule the world, "The molding of young men to serve in the Japanese military hegan early in life" (29), beginning with psychological reformatting of the nation's values. Children were taught to hate China and its people because Japan was a more civilized and culturally advanced nation. One story holds that a teacher held a bright red apple for his class to see and explained to his students that the Chinese people had fruits and were unwilling to share: therefore, the Chinese must be destroyed. History books held that Japan had been wronged after World War One by the European and Asian countries when the captured Liadong Peninsula was returned to China, The country's leaders held that Japan needed to avenge itself by fulfilling its "right to a dominate role in Asia" (28), In order to rise to their position of power, the Japanese mind set had to be reinstated. The ideals of Shintoism were instilled from birth, "While Christianity 30

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COMMENTARY
bility has led to widespread frustration and anger. These feelings have unified the country around one universal ideal, resulting in massive unrest. The Indonesians have elevated their feelings to action, harassing, looting, and in some instances raping and killing Chinese merchants and their families. As the economy weakens, so do the moral constraints on society. The only factor that has held the people at bay is the foreign media that broadcasts every riot, political changeover, and victim live to the world. Unlike the Japanese at Nanking, who only had a handful of European and American missionaries to witness their actions, Indonesia has every major news organization keeping tabs on their every move, Indonesia seems to he following in the footsteps of Japan, Will history repeat itself? We can only hope that the world has not forgotten the brutality of the Rape of Nanking, the nearly Forgotten Holocaust of World War Two, not because he shrinks from confronting authority. When he managed to slip into Hong Kong4 a year after his release. Fan staged protests in front ofthe official Chinese govemment news agency and the U,S, embassy to demand that he be cleared on charges of spying for the U,S, This drew the attention of Hong Kong media, but two full years passed before the United States granted Fan a visa in May of 1997 on the eve of Hong Kong's retum to the People's Republic of China, Now living in Seattle with his wife, Beatrice, Fan is gaining an audience among Chinese Americans not only for his depiction of prison conditions in China but also for his skepticism about "extremist" dissidents some of whom, he says, are "working for (their) own personal reputation and benefit by demonizing China," In late June, the Sing Tao Daily4, an intemational Chinese language newspaper headquartered in Hong Kong, published Fan's six-part series, "Shattering Harry Wu's Westem Fun House Mirror," which takes on America's best known Chinese dissident, Harry Wu^, who has opposed World Bank loans for irrigation projects in Xinjiang, fiew to Hong Kong in 1996 to meet with Fan, Wu himself was arrested in 1995 when he illegally entered Xinjiang to investigate prison conditions. Fan says, "In the end, I refused to cooperate with him," on the grounds that Wu's approach would not help the many labor camp prisoners who still did not have enough to eat, "If I wanted to become as famous as possible, the way it would work would be to demonize China," Fan said through an interpreter, "So when I see someone who's taking an extreme stance, saying that everything is bad about China, I think maybe that's why they're doing it," "We have only one goal," he told an audience at the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Califomia, Berkeley his first public appearance in the United States, "and that is to improve the conditions in the labor camps," U,C, Berkeley professor Wang Lingchi sees Fan as a rare counterpoint to the Chinese dissident exiles whose views receive wide play in the media and the political arena, "Fan's views represent the vast majority of the Chinese intellectuals who are concemed with the need for political reform. His views are not interesting to the westem media because they do not conform with what the media imagine a Chinese dissident to be," In contrast, Wang says, "celebrity" dissidents "know how to say things the media want to heartheir constituencies are in the media and in Congress, not in China," Fan is also unusual in his willingness to acknowledge improvements in the prison labor system, "If I'd been sent to the labor camps in the '6O's and '7O's, I wouldn't have spent time in prison," Fan says, "I would have been executed," "On the other hand, if the Chinese govemment had conformed to standards of legality, I wouldn't have been sent to prison at all," Fan believes that prisons became less repressive during the 1980s 31

A Quiet Dissident From China

He Sees Hope for Reform in
Prison Labor Camps by A. A. Quong Pacific News Service

This article was produced by PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE (PNS). For more information, call (415) 438-4755, or write to PNS at 660 Market Street, Room 210, San Francisco, CA 94104, or visit their website, http://www.pacificnews.org Can a "quiet dissident" accomplish more to improve prison conditions in his homeland than militants who target the country and its government as a whole? Fan Shidong^ thinks so and has dedicated his life to informing the public in both the United States and China about prison conditions without entering into what he described as "extremism." PNS correspondent A. A. Quong is a freelance journalist. Unlike high-profile Chinese dissidents who have generated extraordinary media attention in the United States, Fan Shidong has spent a year in the United States unnoticed except in the Chinese language media. Yet contact with U, S, consular officials in Shanghai was an important reason for his arrest in May 1983 on charges of counter-revolutionary activities and giving political intelligence to the U, S, He spent 11 years as a prisoner, mostly in laogai labor camps in the remote Xinjiang^ region of northwestern China, Cheng Liping, a classmate at Shanghai Finance and Economics College arrested with him, was released after serving three years. Fan takes care to distinguish "extremist" dissidents who offer unrelentless harsh criticisms of the Chinese govemment from those, like himself, who "seek truth from facts," This is

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