Chinese Americans feel sting of Olympic protests

But inside some Chinese American communities, notably the San Gabriel Valley, the view of Tibet and its spiritual leader is far more complex.

On Cat Chao's Mandarin-language talk show "Rush Hour" on KAZN-AM (1300), most callers haven't been debating whose side to take but why the Western media has been so biased against China in its reporting of the riots that rocked Tibet earlier this month.

"They're pretty angry," Chao said. "People usually trust Western media because they think it's balanced. Not anymore."

Others complained that the torch protests have gone beyond criticizing the Chinese communist government and have a decidedly anti-Chinese feeling. In recent days, some prominent Chinese Americans who support greater ties with China have fought back.

"We're proud of the progress, but at the same time we're worried" about human rights, said S. Alice Mong, director of the Committee of 100, an organization of leading Chinese Americans.

Two of the committee's members, actress Joan Chen and author Helen Zia, recently wrote newspaper editorials warning that confrontation with China would stymie progress and that support of the Olympics would lead to more openness.

"The Chinese are a proud people. They want freedom and greater rights, but they know they must fight for them from within," Chen wrote in the Washington Post.

Of course, this backlash is far from universal. Some Chinese Americans had fled the repressive region and support the outcry over Chinese human rights issues. And the San Gabriel Valley's large Hong Kong and Taiwanese populations are naturally wary of Beijing, a feeling reinforced by events in Tibet.

Hurt feelings

But many Chinese Americans are struggling to balance their concerns about the Chinese government with the nationalism they feel as their homeland is the host of the Olympics for the first time.

"The Olympics were supposed to bring glory to the Chinese," said Daniel Deng, a leading Chinese American defense attorney based in Rosemead. "Now the focus is the Dalai Lama and Tibet. A lot of Chinese are offended."

Deng, a native of China, said a popular analogy being used among Chinese likened the protests to wearing funeral attire at a wedding. "That's how people feel," he said. "This was supposed to be a great thing to celebrate."