Ed note: This is a guest post by Zhang Yajun, A.k.a. “YJ”, A.k.a. “Mrs. Granite Studio.”
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On June 20th, over 20,000 overseas Chinese in Paris organized a demonstration to protest against what they call an epidemic of violence and robbery against the ethnic Chinese community. As a Chinese citizen who once studied in France for a few years, I am happy to see the Chinese community speak out and demand its basic human rights in a peaceful way. Furthermore, based on my own experiences, I feel that this protest is not simply a reaction to a few individual crimes, but is related to profound race problems in French society.
Chinese and other residents of Paris protesting last week against what they see as a continuing pattern of violence and crime against the Asian community in France.
Possessed of a mentality that seeks to avoid trouble whenever possible, Chinese communities usually prefer to keep problems to themselves rather than seek help from police. Being perceived as physically weak also makes Chinese seem easy targets for attacks and robbery. But after keeping quiet for many decades, the Chinese community in Paris finally decided to publicly demand greater security. This