The Chronicle

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News
Last update: 4/16/08 at 6:07 PM EST

Media Credit: Zachary Tracer Freshman Grace Wang (bottom right) has been called a traitor since appearing to support Tibetan independence at a pro-Tibet demonstration April 9. Her parents' home in China was vandalized.

Media Credit: Zachary Tracer Freshman Grace Wang faces a crowd of pro-Chinese protestors at a vigil held April 9. Her personal information, including her parents' address in China, has since been leaked.

Media Credit: Zachary Tracer Chinese protestors interrupted a vigil supporting Tibetan independence on the Chapel quad.

A Duke student's participation in last Wednesday's pro-Tibet and pro-China protests has led to retaliation against the student and her family and has attracted international attention.

The home of freshman Grace Wang in the city of Qingdao, China was allegedly vandalized as a result of her involvement in the protests. The Chronicle has obtained an image of a bucket of what appears to be feces poured in front of an apartment door from the Chinese Internet forum bbs.cnhan.com. Wang confirmed in an interview that the apartment belongs to her parents.

Her parents are no longer living in the apartment, and cameras have been installed around the building, according to an April 13 e-mail sent to Wang by her mother sent and provided to The Chronicle.

Directions to the family's residence were posted on the same Internet forum, along with photographs and video from the protests. Family members' private information-including their Chinese identity numbers and workplaces-were also listed.

A video of Wang standing in front of a Tibetan flag at Wednesday's protests and appearing to confront pro-China demonstrators was posted on YouTube.com last Thursday and has been viewed more than 600,000 times. Some viewers interpreted the video as evidence of a pro-Tibet stance on Wang's part.

Although she has acknowledged writing "Free Tibet" on junior Adam Weiss, an organizer of the pro-Tibet protest, Wang denies advocating for Tibetan independence.

"Freedom is not independence," she said. "Freedom is freedom. I want people to have free thinking and freedom of speech."

Wang first spoke to The Chronicle, on conditions of anonymity, April 13, but has since decided to use her name publicly, including with national media.

"If I did not say anything, it would actually be easier for them to attack my parents," she said. "Now, if the whole world knows about it, the Chinese government and the Chinese people would feel a lot of pressure to really consider the consequences before they take any irrational action."

Scott Savitt, Trinity '85 and a former foreign correspondent for United Press International and the Los Angeles Times in Beijing, said he believes the danger faced by Wang and her parents is real.

"In the Chinese world, when you post her parents' address, you know something is going to happen," said Savitt, who is advising Wang on how to handle the e-mails and calls. He is also scheduled to be a panelist for a discussion on the conflict in Tibet to be held Wednesday in Griffith Film Theater.

Never before have political actions by Chinese individuals abroad led to this level of internet vigilantism, he said.

"This Internet mob mentality, that is unprecedented," he said. "There is nothing typical here.... I mean, it's crazy."

Some posters on Chinese-language Internet forums called Wang a traitor. A photograph of her with "traitor" written in Chinese on her forehead also appeared on some sites last week.

Wang also said she has been receiving disturbing telephone and e-mail messages since Wednesday, some of which were sent over the Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Association e-mail listserv.

One message sent to the listserv, dated April 10, contained Wang's name, graduation year and information about her hometown, as well as a link to footage of the protests. Another April 10 message warned that Wang would be unable to return to China if she continued to speak publicly. The Chronicle reviewed all messages sent to the DCSSA listserv since April 6.

None of the e-mails contained Wang's phone number, but her number is publicly available on the University's online directory.

DCSSA removed the messages from its listserv archive and disabled the archive April 14. Previously, all messages sent to the e-mail listserv were archived on the DCSSA's Web site.

In a letter to the Duke community posted to the DCSSA site April 14 and signed by DCSSA President Zhizhong Li and vice presidents Weina Wang and Weining Bian, all graduate students, the organization "declares our unequivocal position that we strongly disagree and condemn the behavior of these few anonymous subscribers."

Attempts to reach Li were unsuccessful.

Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said he met with DCSSA officials to discuss the messages that were posted on their Web site and to help them develop a response. He said he did not see any need for a direct investigation of the group.

Moneta added that he has been working with Student Affairs and Wang's residence hall staff to "make sure she has proper support."

Maj. Gloria Graham, operations commander for the Duke University Police Department, said DUPD began investigating the messages Tuesday and will attempt to determine who posted Wang's information.

"Once we do that, then we would obviously want to speak with them and see what their intent was," she said.

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