Chinese Olympic Kung Fu Artists Locked Up in Camp for a Year

154 Comments

buffalowolf, on 08/15/2008, -6/+57China...supporting human rights for 100 years
rz8472, on 08/15/2008, -2/+48ATTENTION: The whippings will continue until morale increases.
MikeFallopian, on 08/15/2008, -0/+36Haven't you guys seen kill bill? Martial arts training consists of punching a wooden board and eating rice every day, on a remote hilltop with an awesomely bearded master.
uselessaccount2, on 08/15/2008, -3/+37While watching the opening ceremony, I was wondering how those Kung Fu Artists trained for what they did. And after all that, all they get is a thank you certificate. Damn that sucks.
FutureGuy, on 08/15/2008, -7/+29China has no soul, it has a lot of history but no depth. Its like a machine where people are its parts. This might be uncool on digg, but that the fact.
Greengoo, on 08/15/2008, -1/+22Hopefully the training camp was at LEAST at the top of a remote mountain...
P1um, on 08/15/2008, -6/+27Well so much for China creating a better image for itself. Looks like this whole Olympics thing is backfiring.
scottsutherland, on 08/15/2008, -3/+24Hahahahahahaha

Sweet jesus...everything in China is state-run and oppressive in terms of free speech. You're like the blind man saying "can't you see?"
ricker2005, on 08/15/2008, -1/+14When you join the army, most people understand that it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows. I don't think a bunch of kids training in martial arts knew they were going to be treated like ***** for a year when they signed up.

On a related note, please don't ever become a doctor because your understanding of "informed consent" is somewhat lacking.
inactive, on 08/15/2008, -5/+17And they call themselves "The People's Republic" ---
TypeEE, on 08/15/2008, -0/+11Ironic: First line of Chinese national anthem's lyrics is "Stand up, don't be a gang of slaves"
jd33, on 08/15/2008, -1/+12When I hear of these kinds of stories I really start to question my faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
No noodles, not even a measly dumpling. Breaks my heart.
siszam, on 08/15/2008, -7/+17Forced abortions, one child policies, persecuting and murdering Christians......the list goes on and on.
kingmanic, on 08/15/2008, -0/+10All the students were under the Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei.
TypeEE, on 08/15/2008, -0/+10one child policies? You just need to pay $8000 RMB penalty fee if you have 2nd child. That's a bit more than $1k USD.
mattmy, on 08/15/2008, -2/+11they know kung fu... so they should have kicked there asses.

/s
rz8472, on 08/15/2008, -1/+10Well there's always the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea. Why would they lie?
aggiejaa, on 08/15/2008, -0/+8Wow - all that for a piece of paper. Can 2012 be in North Korea, Kim Jong-il invented the Olympics didn't he?
Fanboy88, on 08/15/2008, -9/+17Why all the China bashing? Is this really news? The news media likes to be critical of everything so people go to their website and read this BS. Rupert Murdoch's news companies are the worst. It seems no one can do anything right. All the westerners must live in fear. The Chinese are out to get you. The terrorist will blow up your cities. The Russians want to take over the world. Don't forget about the Iranians. blah, blah, blah. For myself, I am enjoying the Olympics.
blogosphear, on 08/15/2008, -2/+10They must have had many noodle dreams
Nuhaus, on 08/15/2008, -0/+8Self-sacrifice for the greater good is the predominant lie that many Chinese people are forced to believe. The people are forced to sacrifice and the party members reap the benefits. In this example, a bunch of kids are forced to live in crap conditions, train hard for a performance, and then get sent home with nothing but a certificate to show for a year's worth of work. I'm sure that certificate won't be worth anything when they start looking for work after they get home. Meanwhile, the "organizers" get patted on the back for a good show. You're right, this is very difficult to understand in western cultures, where such actions are commonly referred to as slave labor.
tim04, on 08/15/2008, -0/+7I'm usually not one to take many of these Digg articles on China seriously (like the stuff about faking the opening, seriously, who cares? It's meant to be entertaining), but this is pretty atrocious.

Here is a bunch of specialists that are basically volunteering a whole year of their lives for nothing more than a sense of patriotism, and the government screws them out of basic necessities, like food and air conditioning. How much could that seriously cost? I really hope that this is not true, but I have a bad feeling about it...
exec0extreme, on 08/15/2008, -1/+8Why is this surprising? Did you really think that China would send these people to some preforming arts camp in the breathtaking hillsides of the country and feed them ice cream for a week before the opening ceremonies?
ilistenisee, on 08/15/2008, -0/+7when you only read western news...how can u even come close at saying what the government has done good,or bad? For ppl who have been there, stepped a foot into the culture, seen what the country has been able to offer the past 2 decades, they will tell you that the government has done a good job in bringing hundreds of millions of people out of poverty (this #is not exaggerated), creating unprecedented number of jobs, moving China's economy forward in a positive direction, despite more needs to be worked on . China is a nation with 1.3 billion ppl with deep historical roots, and looking at what the country has suffered in the last 100 years due to foreign invasions, internal turmoils, and economic errors, where China stands today's incredible. I think China is moving in a positive direction...some of the things will take time to improve- many are deep rooted and goes back hundred/thousands of years, it WILL take more time. It's only been less than 50 years since the cultural revolution.

If you take away all the things you've learned from the western media about China, ask yourself, what do you actually know about China?
BlackJackJester, on 08/15/2008, -0/+7They're just kicking dirt over problems and painting over leaky pipes. China is still an unbelievable *****.
hipnerd, on 08/15/2008, -5/+11Forced births, many child policies, persecuting and murdering people.....the list goes on and on.
monkeyrun, on 08/15/2008, -2/+8100 years... Honestly do you really want to go that far in history? If you look back 100 years, not even the United States was interested in Human Rights.

No one's interested in Human Rights during Opium war, Second Opium war, or the Eight Nation Alliance war against China.
Western "civilization" only want "Human Rights" after they got a taste of their own medicine (aka WWI and WWII).
decker12, on 08/15/2008, -1/+7China has dug their own hole many, many times over. I don't have to think twice about a China related story if it somehow involves oppression or human rights violations. I would have doubted the story MORE if they actually reported that all the performers were treated like human beings, paid for their performances, or in some other way rewarded for doing a good job. Instead it's been reported that surprise, surprise, they were treated like *****. I believe it.
dododohead, on 08/15/2008, -2/+8Where the ***** did this 100 years come from? China was under immense change, none that you know of apparently. The Boxer rebellion against the Europeans trying to take influence over China, the death of one of the greatest Chinese heroes who could have modernized china far before Deng Xiaoping(Sun zhong shan), then, the pillaging by the Japanese, then a full out civil war where the KMT lost and Mao succeeded.

It wasn't until 1950 that the cultural revolution wiped through China and there were human rights issues, which also changed dramatically from Deng Xiaoping's reforms.
lowtolerance, on 08/15/2008, -1/+7What's with the all the people defending China? It's not like we're bashing the people. I feel really sorry for them. It's their goddamn government that needs to get a grip. They want to be a part of the civilized world, host the olympics, and this is how they treat their own citizens? It's an outrage.
pathouston22, on 08/15/2008, -2/+8One child policy is a smart move. Overpopulation is a real problem.
jd33, on 08/15/2008, -0/+6He probably works for the State.
ZeeZee2k, on 08/15/2008, -1/+7it's the fact because you're from the future?
thedogfatherx, on 08/15/2008, -1/+6Why the ***** don't they have a revolution?!? I wouldn't stand for that if I lived there.
Shoebox639, on 08/15/2008, -7/+12This kind of stuff happens when western education equates communism with dictatorships/totalitarianism/police states. There is no doubt that the Communist party censors speech. But it is by no means 1984 in China. People immediately assume that they faked passports and silences anyone trying to speak out. If they were silencing everyone, how did this trainer speak out about the training camp? Why were all journalists given free and total access to everything without escorts? Most of the people with anti-china sentiment have never been there. They only know what the media wants to show them.
TypeEE, on 08/15/2008, -0/+5and pray to Flying Spaghetti Monster
geneticlemon, on 08/15/2008, -1/+6Trooooooll.
rockrapdude, on 08/15/2008, -3/+8The western world...supporting humans for 2000 years.
thedogfatherx, on 08/15/2008, -0/+4Yea. It's very interesting to read up on peoples reality and thoughts in communist countries. I mean do you think they all want to live like that? Other people running your life everyday? It's very odd indeed.
mattlohkamp, on 08/15/2008, -2/+6No kidding. If you live in China currently, you might want to consider not living in China.

Nations are like spouses and jobs - as soon as you realize it's not working, you've got to get out, otherwise you're going to spend the rest of your life trying to 'make it work', only it'll never happen.
Drahkar, on 08/15/2008, -0/+4You are right, but people associate and cope with horrors and atrocities better when they have a slogan to attach to it...

Why are we trying to cope with it I'm not sure, but I'm sure someone has a thought for it.
towjam, on 08/15/2008, -0/+4you really don't have much of a choice there
EtherGnat, on 08/15/2008, -0/+4Oh go no. Kim Jong-il would win every event for sure.
FeloniusMonkey, on 08/15/2008, -1/+5>> What exactly is a soul?

(insert Cliff Claven answer here)
Philophobic, on 08/15/2008, -7/+11Forced births, many child policies, persecuting and murdering Muslims.....the list goes on and on.
An0nym0u5, on 08/15/2008, -4/+7I say *****. Any random idiot with a smallest grudge can now make some unsubstantiated allegation and China bashers will just lap it up. But you know what? nobody gives a flying ***** what you ***** thinks. The fact is China still owns you. When this is over China will carry on doing what its been doing, you guys will carry on bitching and living in the same fairy tale land. A place where nobody goes hungry, where there is no over population. A place where you are accountable to yourself and absolutely nobody else. A place where your ideas of liberty give more rights to criminals than victims, so much so that you wish to spare a murderers life, not for the good of society but so YOU get a nice comfortable feeling that you've payed your way into heaven and can live the rest of you life looking righteous. A place where you can live under the total illusion that you still own the moral high-ground and can demand change in another country that supplies you with the junk that you simply cannot live without. Carry on as you are. You're doing just fine. You don't know it but the rest of the world is thumbing their noses at you.
leerayIG88, on 08/15/2008, -0/+3Well..it doesn't hurt to think it might happen.
ilistenisee, on 08/16/2008, -0/+3@lowtolerance:
The Tibet situation is complicated. I myself don’t know well enough to tell you what’s right and wrong...but what I do know is that before the 1950s, the Tibet region's governed by feudalism with a mass majority of the people living in impoverished conditions and often live in fears serving the top elites, which only include ~1% of the population. In early 50s, China's PLA took over the region- there are many stories regarding the process of the takeover, I myself don’t know enough about it. Tibet's society has a long religious root, and when u mix Mao's communist government ideals with the religious beliefs of Tibet, problems start to emerge. You have to understand that, at the time, talking to the Chinese government about religion is like a Christian trying to preach gospels to a Muslim, or vice-versa. In the last 2 decades, Tibetans have feared that they are losing their cultural roots with government's push into economic development. Do you think a society based on religion will function well in today's world without being exploited? I, being religious myself, do not think that will work. China has pumped huge amounts of $ into the Tibet region in providing education, health care, and economic development. I think this is great for the people of Tibet in a long run. However, the government needs to allow more religious freedom, which I think is the main cause of the problems in the Tibet. There’s a difference between Tibetans who want to talk with the Chinese government to resolve the issues, and ppl who want independence, which I think is absurd and could potentially be disastrous. Westerners are concerned about China’s human rights record, which is an issue that must be addressed. But, you have to understand…China’s society is still very much influenced by the thousands years of practices…some of the fundamentals have been there for thousands of years. It will take more time for China to build the foundation for the freedom of human rights.
ElGuano, on 08/15/2008, -1/+4I don't understand. Why didn't they just fight their way out?
inmylife, on 08/15/2008, -0/+3"But the organizers have promised them an Olympic certificate thanking them for their effort. They will not receive pay. Nevertheless I think that the majority will think that it was good to do what they did for the Olympics and their country," says Liu

They must be VERY proud people if they still feel good after being locked up in that place.
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