I am very happy we have so much thoughtful discussions here so far.

Sonagi pretty much gets the bigger picture more accurately, it appears. No offence to Korean people but that’s closer to the reality of the attitude of the Chinese general public.

That said, it doesn’t really surprise me if you can collect some comments like those from websites where those fifty-cent partiers and young male Chinese from what we call here “bogansville” congregate.

It’s too hard to generalise a population of 1.3 billion, isn’t it. Yet it’s always nice to have some silly “s—s and giggles” at the expense of the stupidity of others. At least I think so. lol

One question how do they know these things? you don’t live in North Korea.

The only thing we can do is make assumptions from are what they’v been told.

NK is not evil, only what you have been told about them is.

“However, most of the Chinese netizens (I expect most of them are young generation) view Mao as their truly God and we should stand strongly as Kim did towards the evil America imperialism.”

I would agree that most Chinese netizens admire Mao greatly. I’m not sure that most netizens think Kim Jong-il is a good role model. Prior to North Korea’s recent attention-getting antics, Chinese netizens had been scornful of him, calling him their favorite anti-Korean slur, “bangzi.” Even ordinary Chinese know that North Korea is an economic basketcase that survives mostly on foreign aid and remittances. In plain English, Chinese netizens only like Kim Jong-il when he’s lobbing missiles towards Japan or rattling his saber at the US.

As for China, too, standing up to “American imperialism,” what exactly does that mean? What actions do young Chinese expect their government to take?

It is very interesting to see how young Chinese view the world by looking at their comparison bewteen Mao and Kim.

There is a recent article “Contemporary Chinese Youth and the State” by Stanley Rosen (The Journal of Asian Studies, vol 68, no.2. May 2009). In the study, Rosen argues that western culture, particular American culture has been penetrating into post-1980s generation of Chinese youths when they grow up eating MacDonald and KFC. Besides, they do not have so much support to their communist party/communism. In a survey, more than 2,000 students from various universities in Xian, only 11.5 per cent of respondents believe in communism and most of the remaining view the party membership as a passport to a well-paid job and good housing in major cities.

However, most of the Chinese netizens (I expect most of them are young generation) view Mao as their truly God and we should stand strongly as Kim did towards the evil America imperialism. What they think and what they act might be totally different.

In the article, there is another interesting finding, despite the fact that over 75 per cent of youth expressed their willingness to participate in politics, 72.5 per cent noted that they have not actually participated at all.

I hope you are enjoying a relaxing summer vacation on Zhenbao Island. Have you thought about visiting any other border islands in China?

How about Chouduan Island (绸缎岛) in Liaoning province at the mouth of the Yalu River? It’s a great place for birdwatching and you can see many different kinds of waterfowl like cranes and egrets. Oops, wait a minute. It looks like China evacuated this island in 1963 and gave it to North Korea! How could land so close to China’s shore be given away as a gift to … Kim Il-Sung!!
What was Mao thinking?

OK, we’ll just go upstream a little further and do our birdwatching on nearby Huangjinping Island (黄金坪). Oops! 又来了！ China conceded this island to North Korea as well! Hey, there’s even a small settlement of North Koreans living at this plot of land on China’s shoreline. That Mao was one generous bloke, eh mate?
Well, I guess we’ll just have to go a little further upstream again. Sorry for the inconvenience. Oh look! What about Yu Chi Island? (于赤岛)
Nice view of the Hushan Great Wall, we’ll get good photos from this vantage point. What? The North Koreans own this one too? That’s right! There’s even an amusing little sightseeing spot the Chinese call “Yi Bu Kua” (一步跨) where tourists like you can have their picture taken stepping onto land north of the Yalu that China conceded to North Korea. Mao must be rolling in his mausoleum now, don’t you think so Kuzf?
哇哈哈哈哈! (wahahahaha!)

117.89.105 2009-07-05 16:52:54: “毛主席的伟大、英明，至少若干年内难以有人能够比肩。
你可以夸奖别人，但不可以贬低毛主席！”

“Mao’s greatness and wisdom, after some years it may be difficult for some to make a comparison. You may praise others, but do not disparage Chairman Mao!

xymmm 2009-07-05 22:06:07 :”笑话！和毛主席比肩的人还没出生！”

What a joke! There is no one who compares to Chairman Mao!

221.178.75 ] 于2009-07-05 23:30:36 : “管他谁像谁？谁是伟人，谁是智者？
我们老百姓就图个有吃、住、住、穿、行，健康！
至于说什么制度,什么是伟人和小人,我们小老百姓不能左边,也与此无关.
我们要的是自由\民主\幸福!”

He wonders who is like who? Who is great? Who is wise? We the people seek food, shelter, clothing, and health! Regarding whatever system, who is great or not, we little folks cannot take a side or take any interest in this. What we want is freedom, democracy, and happiness!

中华是我亲爱的家 于2009-07-05 11:14:05:
“在文革中,像你这种瞎乱类比的人,是会遭到严厉处罚.你是拍马屁拍到马蹄上了.这表明你的智商有问题. ”

During the Cultural Revolution, your kind would have suffered severe punishment for such reckless comparisons. You’re a boot licker, which calls into question your intelligence.

架秧滴 于2009-07-05 10:11:12:
“你想埋汰毛主席直说。金正日能跟毛主席比？差老鼻子了！”

You tarnish Chairman Mao with your candid talk. Kim Jong-il compares to Chairman Mao? You’re way off.

Not everyone was so dismissive. There was a lot of badmouthing of the US. It’s not that the Chinese think Kim Jong-il is great. They’re more likely to ridicule him than praise him. It’s that the Chinese cheer on any leader or any country that engages in a confrontation with the US. The OP appears to be pro-North Korean, judging by the heaps of praise for Kim Jong-il and criticism of the US and South Korea, especially Lee Myung-bak. Some of the commenters who agreed admired Kim for his defiance of the US.

A few commenters responded sarcastically to the OP’s propagandish tone:

又好又快 于2009-07-05 15:41:49:
“今年朝鲜GDP超过韩国”

This year North Korea’s GDP will surpass the South’s.

唤醒千百万 2009-07-05 10:48:48 : “金正日同志是朝鲜人民的伟大太阳。”

Comrade Kim Jong-il is the Great Sun of the people of Chosun.

whahahahahaha.. what and uneducated loser!

大陸人到底啥時才要看清現在的局勢呀!!世界各國盡全力的在維持或著至少是努力的朝世界大同的方向前進~就只有少數幾個國家幼稚的以為大家都睡了，就可以盡情撒野，還以為其他人不反抗或忍耐是因為沒能力是軟弱，其他人沒站起來反擊是因為現在的相對平靜是多麼的可貴多難得，不想破壞而已好嗎!!!!

只會罵其他國家，也不好好想想自己的國家才是那一直存在的禍害!

自許大國，請拿出真正大國的風範，不然中國大陸充其量也不過只是個廣大的區域而已。

First of all Kim Jong-il does not have any of the military accomplishments that Mao can boast. Kim Il-sung, on the other hand, is revered as a war hero for leading guerrilla battles against Japanese troops. This is something that Mao did as well.

Kim Jong-il does not have the respect of the world, in fact most global leaders agree that he is incompetent. Kim Il-sung at least had some strong credibility among major communist powers like the Soviet Union and East Germany. Mao was respected worldwide and even gets credit for restoring US-China relations.

Kim Jong-il is far more selfish and corrupt than his father, and is considered less compassionate toward the common people outside of Pyongyang. Kim Il-Sung was very popular in the countryside and Mao also was a proponent of placing the rural peasants as his top priority. Mao’s legacy survives today despite the failures including the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. After Kim Jong-il dies it won’t be long before somebody better replaces him and he won’t be remembered for anything but disasters. Kim Il-sung, like PRC’s Chairman Mao, will still be honored in history as the founding father of DPRK for as long as the Korean penisula remains split.