陈国治不应受人格的攻击

温哥华华人媒体最近发表的一篇有关陈国治的匿名文章——《陈国治究竟是特务还是长得太像特务？》在中国社交媒体微信上广泛传播。这篇文章以讽刺的口吻和涉嫌诋毁之言论对陈国治进行负面描写，抨击身为安省部长的陈国治与中国当局不恰当的过密关系。

An article about Michael Chan recently published anonymously in Chinese media in Vancouver – Is Michael Chan a Spy or Does He Look Like a Spy? has been widely circulated in Chinese media WeChat. The article, which attacks his inappropriate close ties with China as an Ontario Minister, used a sarcastic tune and seemingly defamatory statements portraying Chan in a negative light. 

这篇文章一开篇就对陈国治进行人身攻击，文中充满对陈的外表及个性进行丑化之言辞。文章甚至还将他和中国流行电影中几个丑陋不堪、令人厌恶且臭名昭著的角色相提并论，说什么他根本不是做”特务”的料子云云。

The introductory of the article hurls personal insults at Chan, attacking his appearance as well as his personalities. It even likens him to several of the ugliest, most distasteful and infamous roles in the popular Chinese movies, citing that he lacks the qualities of being a “spy”.

事实上，在中国外长王毅因加拿大记者就中国人权问题提问而当场发飙这一外交事件引发广泛争议之际，陈国治就因为发表观点文章为中国人权辩护而引发争议，并身处不利之境。主流媒体纷纷发文对陈国治的观点和行为加以审视评论，并对其在王毅争议中所持的立场提出种种质疑，但这些文章中未对陈进行任何人身攻击。

Indeed, Chan’s opinion piece defending China’s human rights record in the wake of Wang Yi’s outburst at Canadian reporter did cause controversy and land himself in hot water. Many articles from mainstream media has put his opinion and behaviour under scrutiny, challenging his positions in Wang’s controversy, but they never make any personal attacks.

虽然质疑和批评是必要的，也是可迫使政客正确行事之利举，但人格侮辱却毫无益处。这种做法会导致文章质量下降，使得一篇本来观点鲜明的作品失去价值。文章想要表达的观点也会因为其中的侮辱性言论而丧失说服力，变成一纸废文。它还会使文章作者从一名力度的批评家降为一名无价值的江湖作者，而读者也会对文章失去阅读的兴趣。

While challenges and criticisms are great and can force politicians to do right things, personal insults are unhelpful. They would reduce the quality of the articles, making an otherwise meaningful story lose its value. Articles with insulting comments make the opinions trying to express no longer convincing and woefully unworthy. They lower the author from a would be pundits to a useless heckler, leaving readers tuning outaltogether.

从法律角度来看，含有侮辱性言论的文章表现出作者缺乏新闻从业者的责任感。这些诋毁中伤他人的言论涉嫌诽谤。根据加拿大诽谤法，相关文章的作者及其发表刊物都有可能成为诽谤诉讼的目标，并会被要求承担受害者的索赔。因此，这种文章通常都是匿名发表也就不足为奇了。

From the legal perspective, articles with these insulting comments lack responsible journalism. They are defamatory and libelous. Under the Canadian libel law, the authors and the publication of the articles are likely to become the targets of defamation lawsuits, and are liable for the damages claimed by the victims. No wonder such articles are often posted anonymously.

但是，《陈国治究竟是特务还是长得太像特务？》一文却似乎引发了微信读者之共鸣，赢得许多人的支持和认可。一些读者发表的评论甚至比原文中的言论更具攻击性，更加肆无忌惮地进行恶意诋毁中伤。这些评论充分暴露出读者缺乏明辨能力及对加国法律的无知，因此更加令人担忧。

However, the article seems to be resonating well with WeChat readers and has gained support and earned many upvotes from readers. Some comments were even more offensive and libelous than those in the original article. These comments are even more troublesome, suggesting readers’ lack of sophistication and ignorance of Canadian law.

如果对这种倾向毫无阻止并让其放任自流，它则有可能酿为一场对他人极尽诋毁之能事的的羞辱，抹黑运动。华裔人士对过激言论并非陌生，而这种羞辱，抹黑运动在祸国殃民的文革中屡见不鲜。

If left unchecked, they take on a dangerous path towards a form of public humiliation or a smear campaign. Chinese people are no strangers to extreme rhetoric as smear campaigns were prevalent during the Cultural Revolution that has turned the society upside down.

时至今日，文革余毒仍在继续影响包括海外华人在内的中国民众。在社交媒体的推波助澜下，多伦多华裔社区在过去也曾出现过多次不种形式和规模的诋毁，抹黑运动，对那些其行为和言论不为大多数人所赞同或接受的社区成员进行诋毁和人格羞辱，侮辱攻击性言论随之在网上大量涌现，直到受害者诉诸法庭寻求法律赔偿才得以收场。

But today, the Cultural Revolution legacy still exerts its influence on Chinese people – including overseas Chinese. With the help of social media, smear campaigns in various forms and sizes were launched in the Toronto Chinese community over the past, as offensive and insulting comments attacking certain community members – whose behaviours or statements were not agreed upon or accepted by the many – flooded the internet, until victims launched lawsuits to seek legal remedies.

如果华裔社区想力图发展并在加国赢得尊重，就必须具备能以理性参与对话，并在争议中保持冷静克制的素质。无论你是否赞同陈国治的做法，也不管你有多反对他的言行举止，他都不应受到来自任何人或其他任何地方的人格侮辱，言论攻击或抹黑运动的伤害。

Engaging in rational dialogue and staying restrained in controversy are qualities we must have if the Chinese community expects to grow and earn respect in Canada. Whatever you believe Chan should or should not do, regardless of how much you disagree with his behaviours or words, he does not deserve any personal insults or attacks, offensive statements or smear campaign from anyone or anywhere.