OPINION> Commentary
Tantrum no big reflection
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-20 07:40

You can't project individual behavior to reflect that of a nation, says an article on the website www.gmw.cn. The following is an excerpt:

A video recording a woman from the Chinese mainland screaming hysterically, crying and rolling on the ground at an airport in Hong Kong has attracted wide attention. Many domestic netizens have felt ashamed watching it, saying the woman has blemished the image of Chinese.

It's incorrect to judge personal behavior as representative of a nation that he or she belongs to. What the woman lost through her personal deeds was her own face not national dignity.

This woman probably had some urgent matter to attend. She obviously had an emergency on her mind, not protecting the face of the nation.

As long as she didn't disrupt the social order, no matter what kind of indecent behavior she exhibited, we shouldn't make a fuss about it.

(China Daily 02/20/2009 page8)