TWO young women have become poster girls of the recent wave of Chinese nationalistic backlash against the West, but for reasons that could not have been more different.

Ms Jin Jing (above), a 27-year-old Paralympic fencer, has become a national hero for doggedly shielding the Olympic flame from pro-Tibet hecklers during its chaotic relay through Paris on April 7.

Epithets such as 'most beautiful torchbearer' and 'angel in a wheelchair' have been piled on her in the Chinese media and cyberspace.

In one interview, Ms Jin was quoted as saying: '(The protesters) would not have been able to take the torch from me, unless over my dead body.'

Yesterday, she basked in more spotlight as she received a personal letter of apology from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, delivered by his envoy. Mr Sarkozy condemned Ms Jin's attackers and invited her to visit France again.

Ms Jin is the diametrical opposite of Ms Grace Wang Qianyuan, a freshman at Duke University in the US who is now public enemy No. 1 in China.

Ms Wang, 20, from the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, had expressed support for Tibet independence during a on-campus confrontation on Apr 9 between pro-Tibet and pro-China students.

A video clip of her speaking to other Chinese students at Duke, with a backdrop of Tibetan flags and banners, was posted to YouTube - and immediately ignited an outpouring of outrage in her homeland.

Ms Wang has been called a 'traitor' and an 'opportunist' in countless Internet forums. She has received threatening phone calls and emails, she told Western media.

Even her family has been implicated.

Angry netizens posted personal information on Ms Wang and her parents on the Internet, and their home in Qingdao was recently vandalised. A bucket of faeces was even emptied at their door.

Writing in the Washington Post on Sunday, Ms Wang said her countrymen were 'crucifying' her.

'This crucifying of me is unacceptable. I believe that individual Chinese know this. It's when they fire each other up and act like a mob that things get so dangerous,' she wrote.

She claimed that she was merely trying to mediate between the two opposing groups of students, although she admitted that she wrote 'Free Tibet' on the shirt of a pro-Tibet student.

The parallel tales of the two women reflect Chinese anger over the disruptions to the torch relay of the Beijing Olympics, seen by China as a showcase of its nascent rise as a world power.

The relay yesterday completed its Kuala Lumpur leg with few incidents.

The Chinese are also incensed over biased Western media coverage of the deadly unrest in the Tibetan region last month.

CNN commentator Jack Cafferty's recent criticism of the Chinese as 'goons and thugs' have further fanned passions.

Over the weekend, thousands of Chinese demonstrated outside many of French retailer Carrefour's 122 branches in China. Thousands more rallied in Europe and the US.

Fearing that things might get out of hand, Chinese authorities on Sunday banned university students from joining in protests.

And for the fourth straight day yesterday, the leading People's Daily carried an editorial urging Chinese to be 'rational' in showing their 'patriotism.'

The measures seemed to be working. Carrefour stores in China said they were operating normally yesterday. There were no signs of protests or boycotters.

'(The protesters) would not have been able to take the torch from me, unless over my dead body.'
MS JIN JING, 27, A PARALYMPIC FENCER

'This crucifying of me is unacceptable. It's when they fire each other up and act like a mob that things get so dangerous.'
MS GRACE WANG QIANYUAN, 20, A FRESHMAN AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

This article was first published The Straits Times on April 22, 2008

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