Prisoners of war
I refer to '50 years on, Korean war still perplexes many Chinese' (July 26).
Nailene Chou Wiest's article was interesting, well balanced and covered the Korean war from the point of view of those Chinese who fought in it, an area seldom given media exposure.
Unfortunately it was spoilt by the use of the term 'concentration camp'.
Historically, the Korean war was characterised by ill-treatment of prisoners of war on both sides and many breaches of the Geneva Convention are well documented.
However the term 'concentration camp', though originally coined by the media to describe an internment facility where large numbers of people were concentrated (often in appalling conditions) during the South African War, has, because of the horrendous events of the second world war, come to mean something quite specific.
The words still evoke strong emotions and should not be used merely to add flavour to what otherwise was a serious and commendable piece of journalism.
