A Chinese student has apologized after she received heavy criticism for a graduation speech she gave in the American state of Maryland. Yang Shuping gave the speech at the University of Maryland on Monday. A video of her comments was posted on the Internet. The video has been played more than 50,000 times on the YouTube website. In her prepared comments, Yang talked about breathing “the fresh air” of free speech after arriving in the United States to study. She described arriving in the U.S. this way: “The air was so sweet and fresh and utterly luxurious.” “The moment I inhaled and exhaled outside the airport, I felt free,” Yang said. She added, “I grew up in a city in China, where I had to wear face masks every time I want outside, otherwise I might get sick.” Radio Free Asia reports that the video of her speech appears on China’s Sina Weibo social media website. By Tuesday afternoon, it said, the site’s users had played the video more than 56 million times. Many users accused the Chinese woman of unfairly criticizing the shortcomings of her home country. Yang wrote an apology that appeared in the Chinese newspapers Global Times and the state-operated People’s Daily. In it, she said, “I love my country and hometown and am proud of its prosperity.”
Title: Chinese Student Criticized for Graduation Comments
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/chinese_grad_comment.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Chinese Student Criticized for Graduation Comments' data-article-id='2404'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='12625'>A Chinese student has apologized after she received heavy criticism for a graduation speech she gave in the American state of Maryland.</span> <span data-start-time='12625' data-end-time='19333'>Yang Shuping gave the speech at the University of Maryland on Monday.</span> <span data-start-time='19333' data-end-time='24229'>A video of her comments was posted on the Internet.</span> <span data-start-time='24229' data-end-time='31438'>The video has been played more than 50,000 times on the YouTube website.</span> <span data-start-time='31438' data-end-time='44208'>In her prepared comments, Yang talked about breathing “the fresh air” of free speech after arriving in the United States to study.</span> <span data-start-time='44208' data-end-time='55479'>She described arriving in the U.S. this way: “The air was so sweet and fresh and utterly luxurious.”</span> <span data-start-time='55479' data-end-time='63771'>“The moment I inhaled and exhaled outside the airport, I felt free,” Yang said.</span> <span data-start-time='63771' data-end-time='76771'>She added, “I grew up in a city in China, where I had to wear face masks every time I want outside, otherwise I might get sick.”</span> <span data-start-time='76771' data-end-time='87917'>Radio Free Asia reports that the video of her speech appears on China’s Sina Weibo social media website.</span> <span data-start-time='87917' data-end-time='97708'>By Tuesday afternoon, it said, the site’s users had played the video more than 56 million times.</span> <span data-start-time='97708' data-end-time='107083'>Many users accused the Chinese woman of unfairly criticizing the shortcomings of her home country.</span> <span data-start-time='107083' data-end-time='117458'>Yang wrote an apology that appeared in the Chinese newspapers Global Times and the state-operated People’s Daily.</span> <span data-start-time='117458' data-end-time='125500'>In it, she said, “I love my country and hometown and am proud of its prosperity.”</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/chinese_grad_comments.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=8717 data-hint-location='97708' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/what_does_shortcomings_mean.m4a'>What does shortcomings mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='weakness'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/free_speech.m4a'><span>free speech</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/air_quality.m4a'><span>air quality</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/weakness.m4a'><span>weakness</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/strength.m4a'><span>strength</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=8718 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/what_did_the_student_receive.m4a'>What did the student receive?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='criticism'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/a_diploma.m4a'><span>a diploma</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/criticism.m4a'><span>criticism</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/recognition.m4a'><span>recognition</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/awards.m4a'><span>awards</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=8719 data-hint-location='19333' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/a__blank__of_her_comments_was_posted.m4a'>A <span class='blank'>video</span> of her comments was posted.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='video'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/rebuttal.m4a'><span>rebuttal</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/video.m4a'><span>video</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/transcript.m4a'><span>transcript</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/1887/copy.m4a'><span>copy</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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