Raymond Li
Apr 28, 2008          

A group of scholars has issued a statement against rising nationalistic and xenophobic sentiment on the mainland, warning that it threatens the country's development.
The online statement signed by nine mainland-based scholars comes as protests against French supermarket giant Carrefour sweep the mainland in the wake of disruptions to the Olympic torch relay in Paris earlier this month.
Internet calls for protests and a Labour Day boycott of Carrefour show little signs of abating despite increased damage-control efforts by the French government in the past week and pledges of support for the Beijing Olympics.
Staff in the capital's Carrefour supermarkets have donned new uniforms featuring a Chinese flag, Olympic logo and the phrase "Beijing 2008", the Beijing Evening News reported.
Mark Ling Cangzhou, one of the signatories to the statement, said the group felt the need to speak out against public sentiment which the scholars felt was becoming increasingly irrational.

The scholars said in their statement that they supported the Olympics, opposed Tibetan independence and shared the dream of a Chinese renaissance.
"But we steadfastly oppose blind and narrow-minded sentiment against foreign interests," they said.
Shandong University professor Sun Wenguang said the heightened sense of patriotism among protesters and students was a result of the one-sided education system, which used only government-sanctioned textbooks and "political science studies".
Professor Sun said protests against French businesses once again demonstrated how good the government was at manipulating public opinion - using the media it controlled to condone such demonstrations.
"But the manipulation of public sentiment is like a double-edge sword that can turn against the authorities," he said.
"However, instead of changing the way it behaves after any fallout, the government will no doubt just exert its control over the public."
Security at the Sanlitun embassy enclave in downtown Beijing, including at the French embassy compound, was tightened during the weekend.
Armed police guarded entrances to several roads leading into the area, which were off-limits to the public.
The statement said patriotism should first come with a love of freedom, and the public should care about the right to speak out, the right to information and the right to vote.
"We do not want to see the Olympics become a propaganda tool to whitewash problems, but a catalyst to forge ahead with ethnic reconciliation, social harmony and freedom," the statement added.
Mr Ling said people should not be blinded by radical patriotism or turn their attention away from some of the more pressing issues, such as soaring commodity prices and the plight of the poor.