Chinese Students Demand Biden Apologize for UPenn Grad Speech

by Allison Pan on Wednesday, June 5, 201323

On NetEase:

Biden Claims One Cannot Breathe Free in China; Chinese Students Demand He Apologize

Global Times – United States Vice President Joe Biden gave a speech at America’s University of Pennsylvania graduation ceremony, claiming that China is a nation that cannot “think different” or “breathe free”, arousing resent from the Chinese students present. According to a May 22nd report [Chinese translation] by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, the school’s Chinese students have already drafted a letter, demanding that Biden make an official apology. As of the 22nd, already 343 people have signed, the letter to be first sent to the school’s president, then sent to Biden’s office.

Biden has always been widely known as a “big mouth”. The UK’s The Guardianclaimed that Biden’s May 13th speech was “by far the funniest of the recent commencement addresses.” While talking about how “the Chinese are going to eat our lunch”, Biden’s speech changed and said, “China’s problems are immense, and they lack much of what we have, such as an open and fair legal system, vibrant venture capital markets, as well as innovative thinking”, “The key to all this is the ability to think different, but in one nation, you cannot think different, you cannot breathe free; In a nation that cannot think different, you are unable to challenge orthodoxy, because change only comes from challenging orthodoxy.” At the end of the speech, Biden twice mentioned China, as well as mentioning his 10-day visit to China in 2011 August.

South China Morning Post claims UPenn Wharton Business School graduating Chinese student Zhang Tianpu said: “I believe Biden should apologize for his inappropriate comments, he made those comments at commencement in the face of at least hundreds of Chinese people. It was a humiliating experience, and how can a graduation speech be this political?” Zhang expressed that he and his peers have already drafted a letter to Biden, demanding that Biden make an official apology. With regards to Biden’s comments, Zhang retorted: “My ancestors were challenging orthodoxy even before his ancestors got to America.” He also rebutted criticisms of him overreacting, saying “after four years of hard work and studies, the graduation speaker suddenly says to you, you and your nation suck. How would you feel?”

Biden’s office at present has not issued any comment. South China Morning Postsays Biden has been attacked many times before due to inappropriate comments, once claiming in an exclusive interview that Russia is a “withering country”.

(Original Headline: American Vice President Claims China Cannot Breath Free; Chinese Students Demand He Apologize)