8 c4 M& l. |- L巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡的神学校学生（和该市声名狼藉的、最近发生枪战和军事围攻的红色清真寺有关联）在城镇穿梭，搜寻“道德沦丧”的堡垒。在数周自由攻击巴基斯坦同胞后，这支自命伊斯兰教教法严格执行者的队伍加大了赌注，选择外国目标。6月23日，神学校学生进入中国人经营的保健中心（通常是色情场所的委婉说法），并绑架了七名中国人，包括他们认为是妓女的五名女性。: p' s3 E) a) I6 K" T
5 ?5 J1 z0 S( [" n在巴基斯坦内部，以及许多密切关注这些事件的人当中，这起事故，以及两周后白沙瓦三名中国人被杀的事件，被许多南亚外交官认为是促使总统穆沙拉夫决定围攻该清真寺的原因，穆沙拉夫难得地和国内激进伊斯兰势力直接对抗。 / X* n! X- ^6 f! ~( p+ N8 q7 Q( |" p w& \7 M2 }* c' `; I- e
这些外交家广泛表示，出于对中国公民受袭的震惊，以及公众对这些事件的敏感，中国领导人向穆沙拉夫施加强大的压力，要求他采取行动。在军事和经济上，中国是巴基斯坦日益重要的同盟，穆沙拉夫采取了行动。* i) f+ g" _5 P- i
: U# k! c7 h \ X! Y) z1 g对事件的这种理解在其他地方可能很普遍，但在中国却没有听闻。中国媒体没有提及反华袭击在巴基斯坦政府围攻红色清真寺的决定中的可能角色。此外，几乎没有媒体报道伊斯兰堡那些遭绑架然后获释的妇女是性工作者。$ h/ T% o$ Z7 C+ U( T
! |0 M* o0 C8 c/ X4 I# _# |* H网上，有中国的声音冒着被诘问的风险提出这样的问题，显示这里的舆论在为一些更成熟的东西做好准备。 4 B% E" V: \; D' i0 q3 Y3 K! ? ) H. P/ _2 u, ^6 J & D8 c! T- G8 X$ sAn aerial view of the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad. : r" s% h1 @4 Q; t2 ~+ R) n" E* i9 U8 v& m0 P
! p8 y/ K+ E( g: r6 ]; u) L
4 A( b1 Y+ _3 fLetter from China: Mosque siege reveals the Chinese connection / L0 j9 F) {1 c5 v( J/ j# L, p0 o$ Z& C
SHANGHAI: The facts may be murky, but the situation itself is riddled with hints that favor certain interpretations.6 h0 \. [( [7 U3 x
0 h2 }- B: g7 N! r" R! vSeminarians in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, who were associated with the city's notorious Red Mosque, site of a recent gun battles and a military siege, were scouring the town in search of redoubts of "loose morals." 7 V4 p/ ]6 V$ C4 {8 O3 h+ X. l- N6 M; l' O( Y6 I! J
After weeks of free rein in the city attacking fellow Pakistanis, the squads of self-appointed enforcers of strict Shariah, consisting of armed male and female students, raised the stakes, and selected a foreign target. % ^3 y) Q" c# c! s 3 `6 ^5 l; o; g* f$ V9 l hOn June 23, the seminarians entered a Chinese-run health care center, which is often a euphemism for sex parlor, and kidnapped seven Chinese people, including five females whom they believed to be prostitutes. 1 j: v7 l3 x2 F2 g) K0 G + q/ i D y6 q$ n- k. u/ p& r {Within Pakistan, and indeed much more widely among people who have followed these events closely, this incident, along with the killing two weeks later of three Chinese people in the western Pakistani city of Peshawar, is believed by many South Asian diplomats to have precipitated the decision by President Pervez Musharraf to lay siege to the mosque, mounting a rare, direct confrontation with the forces of radical Islam in his country., ]- q; ]: R4 q9 |, T+ r* M
0 P$ }- {4 l1 x( W6 F EAlarmed by the attacks on their citizens, and on the sensitive question of public perception of these events, Chinese leaders are widely reported by these diplomats to have put strong pressure on Musharraf to take action. And China being an increasingly important ally, militarily and economically, for Pakistan, that is exactly what Musharraf did.6 f: l3 ?5 K: R4 K( ]7 I
& [! G) x; i5 {% F. MThis understanding of events may be common elsewhere, but it has gone all but unheard of here in China. There has been scarcely any mention of a possible role of the anti-Chinese attacks in the Pakistani government's decision to take on the radicals at the Red Mosque, and none at all in the Chinese media. & w- K, f; {/ L; O- a. o+ ~8 t' R. L
Moreover, almost no one in the press has printed, even speculatively, what many Chinese themselves presume to be the truth of this matter, that the women kidnapped and later released in Islamabad were sex workers. : R. C) f* r0 {7 ^8 C1 [5 u+ [2 j, _/ m1 s8 M; ?
After all, there are important myths to protect: One of them is the essential goodness of the Chinese people, and the other, that China does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs.$ j$ _" N! h& y! R" H
; H" { }7 c J" H7 p9 B3 K
Chinese citizens and Chinese interests are fanning out around the globe at a rate that is unequaled in this country's long history. Wherever they land the Chinese are very often reproducing a Chinese way of life, as Americans did in the postwar era over half a century ago.' n2 I$ L8 l! y5 ~2 m
2 c; H1 e+ @, X" C' c/ ?3 d
As with overseas Americans - the "Ugly American" became a cliché in Asia - among the Chinese, naturally enough, there is good and bad. Along with fresh injections of capital and ingenuity and China's famous entrepreneurial bustle, the Chinese also often bring an insular clannishness, a driven style of management, an unblushing attitude toward corruption, and as the case in Pakistan suggests, an acceptance of things like brothels, which are common in China but in many other societies are seen as undesirable or are illegal./ l- b. V, t4 w3 ]! i( w
: R y w. e" u3 j% ` J6 lBeyond the very real issue of the problems such things might cause abroad, there is an issue of growing importance in China itself, one of information and candor and an ability to accept criticism, or more to the point where the events of Pakistan are concerned, to promote and accept self-criticism. . o5 L$ ~' X) W8 \ 9 p4 s, A, _. B5 bIn online discussions of the massage parlor kidnappings, Chinese who mentioned the possibility that the abductees were prostitutes were quickly denounced. Others who had been fed sanitized accounts of the incident demanded military action.3 ?4 U( k4 c3 |) v
% @/ T. p0 {- o7 p9 J6 _/ S) z) N- x"If you ask me, I'd say we stop protesting, and just go there and eliminate the problem," wrote one man on a popular forum after the Peshawar killings. "How about it? We have over one billion people. We needn't fear. If our country loves its people, it should stand up for them. If the Americans have a lot of excuses, we can find excuse too!" o/ @4 v; P% ]+ L( {- q L
9 t+ W2 z4 T: s4 \, Q9 W ]3 z# |- E
Another person lamented that "the last page of an American passport says, 'The U.S.A. stands behind you!' The last page of a Chinese passport says, 'When Chinese citizens encounter difficulties, please look for necessary assistance from the country or area you are in.' " Unfortunately, neither passport description was correct.. [4 G6 t- s, P! A; g, x
9 W$ V9 y7 q8 ?, I1 ]$ {8 \4 K
Why does any of this matter? Because as the Chinese presence in countries around the world grows and as the country's overseas interests deepen, nationalistic reasoning like this, fed by skewed and censored news accounts - filled with conspiring foreigners and innocent Chinese - is likely to grow. U$ ~/ R# x( f' z3 L8 h
% y3 G8 X o% S8 D% V" i8 ]9 z
The Chinese government will, of course, have only itself to blame if a crisis like Peshawar passes the threshold of damage control and spirals altogether out of control.3 b' G' q1 c' _4 d
. b, C+ g) e0 _; ^( [Subtly belying the official line of noninterference, the newspaper The China Global Times spoke of the recent events in Pakistan, saying that top Chinese leaders had followed them closely, and had been giving direct instructions to the country's diplomats in Islamabad. Presumably, this included marching orders to them to ratchet up pressure on Pakistan to protect Chinese nationals.1 ^- b4 K& I) ?, r/ u
4 Q# ?, v' X4 h* w5 P6 @ e$ qDuring the negotiations for the release of the "health center" workers, the Red Mosque seminarians insisted at one point that the masseuses appear on television and make an apology. According to the newspaper, Chinese diplomats strongly rejected this, arguing that it would cause a "loss of face" for the country. . Y) l- l# }+ X8 `; [7 t; [ ; M5 y1 n1 I* H8 _After the hostages' release, Chinese diplomats insisted that the "health center" was properly licensed but also issued a statement saying that care should be taken to respect local traditions and culture. 5 |" j y! k" x6 H4 @8 a Z- L. ?3 x* m- \: q/ y. u& F
Why all the coyness? : L/ r. ~/ |; }! q, [: [) ] : \- s; Z8 m. M. O/ @Although they risked being heckled for saying so, Chinese voices on the Web suggested that public opinion here is ready for something more sophisticated.6 Z$ t6 \9 }+ \) S& w
0 Z& N4 G9 Q% g4 V$ @! w% f
"Conservative local students had appealed to the government for years in vain," about sex parlors, wrote one commentator. "That's why they went in to catch them. But domestic news is all sanitized, telling only half of the story." % A }: M6 \" S8 _ }0 D0 ^" m. Q) t/ p. \
Another man wrote, "Hell! Prostitution in an Islamic country. Isn't that looking for trouble?"
