A gold medal for China's star hurdler Liu Xiang 劉翔 eludes, following his withdrawal from the Men's 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics. It's bad enough his dream of another Olympic gold medal has been shattered, but the poor guy now has to face the wrath of a disappointed nation, according to this article ("Hurdler Liu faces cyber-wrath in China") that appeared in the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売. Nationalism is an illness, and the Chinese version of it is a particularly nasty strain, but apparently it also exists in parasitical form, and can begin to devour its host, at least judging from some of the comments directed at Liu from Chinese bloggers:
"...runaway soldier...cowardly act...1.3 billion people hurt--a new world record...Was this his last race after becoming rich?...You're finished!"
Hell hath no fury like a Chinese nationalist denied the chance to bask in his/her nation's glory. As one commenter noted:
"It [China] is an unusual society. Many Chinese like to shift responsibility and duty to others. If that person succeeds, he is revered. If the opposite happens, he will be condemned."
Is it any wonder I have little interest in these Games?
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