Learn from KFC Boycott:Keep away from Crazy Patriotism！
文章导读：南海仲裁案后，中国政府及人民对菲律宾及其盟友美国和日本试图扭曲历史与现实的行径感到十分愤怒。不少网友在网上转载“南海是中国不可分割的领土”的相关图文，也有一些网友转载了将菲律宾人民称为“卖芒果的”“卖香蕉的”的图文，更有一小部分人在网上发布具有煽动性的言论，组织人们上街游行，抵制菲货美货和日货。
随后，全国不少地方都有所谓的“爱国者”站在肯德基，麦当劳等“美国快餐店”的门前拉条幅、阻止其他人在那里消费，甚至还给所有购买美国产品，如苹果手机的中国人扣上了“卖国贼”的帽子。
那么这些人真的是爱国者吗？这些人的行为真的是有利于促进国家的发展和提高人民的生活吗？应该如何评价近期部分中国人抵制KFC的行为？
下文便是对本次事件的背景、具体情况的介绍和编者对于本次事件的分析与思考。
【Background Information】
On July 12th, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hagueruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines, saying there was no legalbasis for China's claim to a large part of the South China Sea. China stronglyrejected the decision.
The South China Sea dispute case was initiated by thePhilippines and its allies the US and Japan have interfered in this issue,which has aroused public indignation in China. Some Chinese expressed theiranger on the Internet by degrading Filipinos as mango sellers, while a fewChinese resorted to a more irrational and unreasonable way — launching aboycott campaign against United States, Japanese and Philippine products— to showtheir “patriotism”.
【News Highlight】
Because of Washington's interference in the South China Seadisputes, some KFC outlets in China have been the target of “patriotic” protesters.From Tangshan in North China’s Hebei province to Changsha in Central China'sHunan province there have been dozens of reports about people assemblingoutside KFC outlets with banners, some of which read: “US food out of China!” “Refusethe foreign rubbish food!”
The recent protests have interfered with the business of theserestaurants. Some of the “patriots” reportedly entered KFC outlets, recordedvideos and tried to force customers to stop eating and leave; some even havehumiliated and harassed customers, calling KFC customers "traitors"and claiming they are not being patriotic.
Furthermore, three men have been detained for organizingprotests to impede the operations of US fast-food chain KFC in Henan province,police said. The men “illegally organized netizens to block two KFC restaurants”on Tuesday, according to the Puyang police micro blog. In an earlier post onTuesday, the Puyang police said they had noticed posts on messaging app WeChatinciting people to demonstrate against and boycott KFC. The post warned thatanyone disturbing a company's production and operations would be punished underChinese law.
【Brief Reflection】
Perhaps the “patriots” believe they could deal the US a bigeconomic blow by boycotting its fast food chains. However，they don't have any knowledge about themodern industrial chain. They don't know or care that KFC outlets in China arerun by Chinese, and by boycotting them they will jeopardize the livelihoods oftens of thousands of compatriots.
While the motivation behind the calls to boycott businesses fromthe United States, the Philippines or Japan may be an emotional demonstrationof their love for their motherland in the face of these countries’ indecentroles in the South China Sea disputes, putting a banner in front of a KFCoutlet to stop other people from dining there is not only a cry far frompatriotism, but also the violation of the law.
Patriotism is not the hotchpotch of actions that self-claimedpatriots select to do. Nor can it be used as a label to provideself-justification and legal grounds for extreme actions that violate the law.
Even if some believe it is necessary to express their anger atthe award in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines over its dispute withChina, they may apply for approval from a local public security department foran assembly, which can be organized in a peaceful manner without disruptingpublic order.
We want Chinese people to be patriotic with rationality, ratherthan in a silly way. And we want Chinese people to learn from the KFC boycott —keep away from crazy patriotism.
【词汇考点】
1. boycott
v.to refuse tobuy, use ortake part in sth. as a way of protesting
拒绝购买（或使用、参加）；抵制
n. ~ (of/on sth.) an act of boycotting sth.
（对某事物的）抵制
E.g：We are asking people to boycott goods fromcompanies that use child labor.
我们正呼吁大家抵制雇用童工的公司的产品。
2. resort to
to make use of sth., especially sth. bad, as ameans of achieving sth., often because there is no other possible solution
诉诸；求助于；依靠
E.g：They felt obliged to resort to violence.
他们觉得有必要诉诸武力。
3. violate the law
to go against or refuse to obey a law
违法
E.g：They went to prison because they violated the law.
他们触犯了法律，因此坐了牢。
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