Chinese student sorry after uproar at US 'fresh air' speech
中國留學(xué)生在美“空氣清新”演講遭罵聲一片后致歉
A Chinese student has apologised following a furious reaction to her US graduation speech that praised the "fresh air of democracy".
一位中國留學(xué)生對(duì)她在美演講稱贊“民主空氣清新”惹民憤后致歉
Speaking at the University of Maryland, Yang Shuping drew a parallel between air pollution in China and the country's restrictions on free speech.
Yang Shuping（楊舒平）在馬里蘭州立大學(xué)演講將中國空氣污染與國家限制言論自由做比喻。
Angry Chinese social media users accused her of denigrating her homeland and told her to stay in the US.
中國社交媒體用戶憤怒的指責(zé)她詆毀祖國，告訴她待在美國。
But the university backed her, saying it was vital to hear different views.
但（馬里蘭）大學(xué)支持她，聲稱聽到不同的言論是非常重要的。
Ms Yang - who was selected by the university to speak - contrasted wearing a face mask against pollution with the "sweet and fresh" air in the US.
楊小姐她被學(xué)校選擇進(jìn)行演講--將污染，戴口罩與在美國空氣是甜的、新鮮的做比較。
"The moment I inhaled and exhaled outside the airport, I felt free," she said in a video of the speech posted on YouTube.
“我走出機(jī)場呼吸的一剎那，我感受到了自由，“她在YouTube貼出的演講視頻中說。
"I would soon feel another kind of fresh air for which I will be forever grateful. The fresh air of free speech. Democracy and free speech should not be taken for granted. Democracy and freedom are the fresh air that is worth fighting for," she continued.
Her speech became one of the hottest topics on the internet in China, with posts about it having been viewed more than 50m times by Tuesday.
她的演講在中國成為頭條話題，截止到周二轉(zhuǎn)載多于五千萬次。
Many Chinese social media users were angry, including fellow Chinese students at the University of Maryland who made their own YouTube video in which they accused Ms Yang of "false statements".
One of the students, Xinliang Jiang, said China was "still improving" and "needed to embrace suggestions from the outside world" but said Ms Yang's speech amounted to "deceptions and lies".
The city authorities in her home city of Kunming in southwestern China also weighed in, saying air quality had been good almost every day so far this year and adding: "In Kunming, air is very likely to be 'sweet and fresh'."
The People's Daily newspaper meanwhile accused her of making a "biased" speech.
人民日?qǐng)?bào)同事指責(zé)她演講有偏見。
Faced with mounting uproar, Ms Yang issued a statement on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, saying she was "surprised and disturbed" by the reaction to her speech and "deeply loved" her motherland.
"I apologise and sincerely hope everyone can forgive me. I have learned my lesson," she wrote.
She was nevertheless backed by her university, which said in a statement: "Listening to and respectfully engaging with those whom we disagree are essential skills, both within university walls and beyond".
Some Weibo users agreed. "It looks like even if Chinese people go to America, they still can't have freedom of speech," one said.
