Being Westerners, we of course understand the general Western point of view on Tibet and China, and are beginning to understand the intensity of the issue to many Chinese as we've all seen Chinese argue back from Paris to London to San Francisco to, well, West Campus.
Duke freshman Grace Wang tried to play peacemaker between two different factions on campus, with one being Pro-Tibet and a counter-protest. For her trouble, she's ended up an international figure of controversy, and seen her personal information posted online, which has forced her parents back in China into hiding.
It's increasingly obvious that there's a huge gap between the rest of the world and China on this, and it's really unfortunate that a 20-year-old who is a long way from home, who tried to do a fundamentally decent thing, has been put in the middle of it.
If you see her around campus, or Durham, we hope you will make her feel like we are happy she is here and that trying to bring people together is always worthwhile. People should be able to disagree without threats and intimidation.