Reporter clarifies comments about non-Shanghainese
- Source: Global Times
- [10:17 July 15 2010]
- Comments
Xuan Kejiong (right) on a live TV news report in Shanghai when he was still working for the former Shanghai Oriental Television Station over five years ago. Photo: Zhao Yun
By Zhou Ping
A famous news reporter has clarified comments he made online about migrants in Shanghai following the murder of a security guard who tried to prevent the theft of a scooter.
On Tuesday, Xuan Kejiong, a famous reporter currently working at the News Center of Radio and Television of Shanghai (RTS), posted on the micro-blogging service of Eastday. com to express his anger over the killing of a security guard on Monday.
Xie Yuwei, a 55-year-old security guard and Shanghai native who worked at a residential compound in Baoshan district, was killed when he tried to prevent a Henan Province native surnamed Wang and an Anhui Province native surnamed Yu from escaping with a scooter they had stolen from the compound. Wang drove into Xie, who was knocked down and pronounced dead at hospital.
"I don't welcome killers and robbers coming to Shanghai from out of the city. Please leave soon, you bad guys who harm Shanghai!" Xuan wrote in the original version of his post on Tuesday evening.
The post was reproduced on popular local forum Kuandaishan by an Internet user. Although many of the forum users supported Xuan's post, some took it be a general attack on non-Shanghainese people living in the city.
One forum user named "Keku Kele" commented that "Little Xuan is against harmony" and that "Shanghai should be for everyone in the nation." Another forum user named "Shen Sunren" demanded an apology from Xuan.
Xuan changed his words on his micro-blog later Wednesday morning.
"I was too emotional and wrote some words that could be misinterpreted, but I changed them this morning after my friend told me that they were being fiercely discussed online, because I neither want to mislead other people nor sour the relationship between Shanghainese and non-Shanghainese," Xuan told the Global Times Wednesday.
"I welcome people coming from outside of the city to contribute, and I've met a lot of excellent non-Shanghainese. But personally, I don't welcome killers and robbers coming to Shanghai, because they cause tension," Xuan continued. "Population mobility benefits the development of society."
Xuan called for more attention to be paid to the situation of the victim's family. According to him, an application to posthumously bestow the title of "Peace Guard" on Xie has been submitted to the authorities, and Xie's family will receive compensation from the district government.
Qian Nairong, a professor of linguistics at Shanghai University, told the Global Times Wednesday that it's true that the floating population could threaten the stability of society. "But this problem also exists in other cities," Qian said. "We should not intentionally separate people based on origin."
