This past Saturday, about 20 members of the Independent Chinese PEN Society were stopped by the government from attending a year end dinner. Tactics included detention in hotel rooms and warnings by the police not to go. The article can be found here. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071222/lf_afp/chinamediarightsoly2008chn_071222185514
Those who did make it to the dinner were elated when they heard the news that some of their fellow writers were prevented to attend. "We, Chinese writers have had a tough time gaining international recognition," said one writer who chose to remain anonymous. "Now that the government is doing this, people who read about this news story abroad will finally know who we are!" He went on to say how his dream was to one day be detained so that people around the world would know who he is too.
Another writer said that the government was actually supporting writers by by keeping members from attending. "As you can see, the arts in China are flourishing and us writers (are) gaining international recognition because of what the government is doing," she said. "As a writer, being stopped by police is a golden ticket to getting your name out there."
She appears to be right. Because of their detentions and arrests Chinese writers are now more popular than ever. Modern Chinese novels are flying off the shelves from New York to Tokyo. The Chinese movie and television industry are popular worldwide, all of which, it seems, would have been impossible without the suppression of free thought of the writers who make them.
A Long time author who is still looking for recognition said, "Who hasn't heard of that guy who was arrested for writing a blog? Some guys have all the luck!"
Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Japan is Dangerous!
So, I was on Japanprobe.com just now when I saw a posting about a survey taken asking Japan, South Korea, and China what countries or regions they consider the biggest military threat.
here are the results.
Japan:
North Korea (73.6%); 2. China (46.1%); 3. Russia (24.3%)
China:
1. Japan (78.2%); 2. U.S. (75.2%); 3. Taiwan (36.6%)
South Korea:
1. North Korea (71.0%); 2. China (46.6%); 3. Japan (37.5%)
These numbers actually are linked from another blog called GlobalTalk 21. Anyways, there are a couple interesting things about this poll. Most of it stemming from China being the odd man out.
Both Japan and Korea picked North Korea with almost the same percentage as the number 1 military threat to their country with both countries around 70%. They next chose China again with an equal 46%. It is only on the third choice that Japan picks Russia and Korea choosing Japan.
China has very different countries on its list. The first is Japan with a whopping 78% followed by the USA with 75% and Taiwan rounds out the top 3 with 37%.
Now this is supposed to be a semi China focused blog, so Ill comment about China's numbers. Again, anybody who knows China probably knew that Japan would be #1 on the list. 60 years ago, they did some pretty terrible things while they occupied China. However, the Japanese did very similar things in Korea during the war. But it is China who sees Japan as a much bigger threat. About 40% more than Koreans do today. That has to beg the question of why? Why such a huge contrast?
The best answer I can come up with is an education system who deliberately teaches Japan as still a very real enemy. The second is the efficiency of the Communist propaganda machine which influences every type of media and ways of communication reminding people of the enemy of Japan whose people are immoral, and would like nothing better than to invade China again. (Just about any time of the day in China you can turn on the TV and see a war drama between Japan and the heroic Chinese.) Of course this threat couldn't be further from the truth. 60 years later, it is simply a distraction to make a kind of "rally round the flag" mentality keeping people looking suspiciously outward so they don't begin doing the same thing inward. And after 60 years of this, it appears to be working very well.
I was also surprised to see the USA as China's #2. Not only that but only a few percentage points away from Japan! But now that I think about it, Americans would definitely have China in the top 3 if asked the same question. Still, it would be interesting to find out why America, who's RECENT history in China has been much more friendly compared to Japan's is only 3 points away from Japan. Okay, I know America's rep in the world, but I never thought it would be that bad in China.
Last of all is Taiwan coming in at 3rd. Are Chinese really threatened by a small island off their coast? Also, they consider Taiwan as part of China, so would that be a civil war? Maybe this is the real reason USA is #2. Without its support of Taiwan, the list, at least for China would be much different because there would be no independent Taiwan.
here are the results.
Japan:
North Korea (73.6%); 2. China (46.1%); 3. Russia (24.3%)
China:
1. Japan (78.2%); 2. U.S. (75.2%); 3. Taiwan (36.6%)
South Korea:
1. North Korea (71.0%); 2. China (46.6%); 3. Japan (37.5%)
These numbers actually are linked from another blog called GlobalTalk 21. Anyways, there are a couple interesting things about this poll. Most of it stemming from China being the odd man out.
Both Japan and Korea picked North Korea with almost the same percentage as the number 1 military threat to their country with both countries around 70%. They next chose China again with an equal 46%. It is only on the third choice that Japan picks Russia and Korea choosing Japan.
China has very different countries on its list. The first is Japan with a whopping 78% followed by the USA with 75% and Taiwan rounds out the top 3 with 37%.
Now this is supposed to be a semi China focused blog, so Ill comment about China's numbers. Again, anybody who knows China probably knew that Japan would be #1 on the list. 60 years ago, they did some pretty terrible things while they occupied China. However, the Japanese did very similar things in Korea during the war. But it is China who sees Japan as a much bigger threat. About 40% more than Koreans do today. That has to beg the question of why? Why such a huge contrast?
The best answer I can come up with is an education system who deliberately teaches Japan as still a very real enemy. The second is the efficiency of the Communist propaganda machine which influences every type of media and ways of communication reminding people of the enemy of Japan whose people are immoral, and would like nothing better than to invade China again. (Just about any time of the day in China you can turn on the TV and see a war drama between Japan and the heroic Chinese.) Of course this threat couldn't be further from the truth. 60 years later, it is simply a distraction to make a kind of "rally round the flag" mentality keeping people looking suspiciously outward so they don't begin doing the same thing inward. And after 60 years of this, it appears to be working very well.
I was also surprised to see the USA as China's #2. Not only that but only a few percentage points away from Japan! But now that I think about it, Americans would definitely have China in the top 3 if asked the same question. Still, it would be interesting to find out why America, who's RECENT history in China has been much more friendly compared to Japan's is only 3 points away from Japan. Okay, I know America's rep in the world, but I never thought it would be that bad in China.
Last of all is Taiwan coming in at 3rd. Are Chinese really threatened by a small island off their coast? Also, they consider Taiwan as part of China, so would that be a civil war? Maybe this is the real reason USA is #2. Without its support of Taiwan, the list, at least for China would be much different because there would be no independent Taiwan.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Taiwan's Entry into the UN opposed by Ch...THE USA?!!
It seems like today was a good day to protest and/or march...at least if you're in Taiwan and the USA. Anyways, I was checking the news today when I saw video of what was said to be 100,000 people marching the streets of Taipei in support of Taiwan's latest efforts to join the UN. Before, Taiwan has tried this, and naturally, every time they have China gets angry and starts complaining. The UN not wanting to anger one of its Security Council members has rejected every previous Taiwan bid because Taiwan applies to the UN as its official name, "The Republic of China", and there can only be one "China" in the UN.
So this time,(#15) Taiwan is applying simply as "Taiwan" for membership. Again this begins to ruffle Chinese feathers (as it has and may always do) which alone would probably be enough to keep Taiwan out of the UN even with it's "new" name.
However, the thing that disturbs me the most of this story has nothing to do with the Taiwanese-Chinese rivalry. Instead it has to do with the United States shunning its democratic allies bid to join the UN.
John Negroponte, US Deputy Sec. of State made these recent comments about Taiwan's UN bid to Hong Kong based Phoenix TV. "We see that as a step towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan, towards an alteration of the status quo." He goes on to say "What I would like to emphasize is that we believe it's important to avoid any kind of provocative steps on the part of Taiwan."
When hearing this comment, i could have sworn the same thing could have been uttered by a Chinese official, vague terms and all. I mean what really is the status quo that he is talking about? Taiwan's President Chen is also confused saying in response,
"As a leader in the community of democracies, why can't the U.S. say no to China?," he asked. "Why can't the U.S. openly say that you can't hold a gun pointing at the head of the 23 million people of Taiwan and use the other hand to choke Taiwan" and then say Taiwan "can't cry out in pain?" He also mentions that poll numbers say 77% of Taiwanese support its membership in the UN.
Now I realize in politics, like in many situations, there are things you say, and things you actually do. The US says it has a "One China" policy but has done very little to actually prove it. Now that Taiwan is making its move, the US was forced to react. This time choosing to say it opposes Taiwan's membership bid. However, I still have little doubt that if China decides one day to attack Taiwan (which won't happen), the US would be there to defend it. The real issue however isn't the danger of war, but the danger of losing money should relations begin to turn sour. Both US and China know that without the other, it would cause a severe blow to economies and society in both countries. In this case keeping things hunky dory is much better than standing up for what your country is supposed to believe in. When it comes to Taiwan however, It seems like only the US is making this sacrifice. And yes I did just say hunky dory.
So this time,(#15) Taiwan is applying simply as "Taiwan" for membership. Again this begins to ruffle Chinese feathers (as it has and may always do) which alone would probably be enough to keep Taiwan out of the UN even with it's "new" name.
However, the thing that disturbs me the most of this story has nothing to do with the Taiwanese-Chinese rivalry. Instead it has to do with the United States shunning its democratic allies bid to join the UN.
John Negroponte, US Deputy Sec. of State made these recent comments about Taiwan's UN bid to Hong Kong based Phoenix TV. "We see that as a step towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan, towards an alteration of the status quo." He goes on to say "What I would like to emphasize is that we believe it's important to avoid any kind of provocative steps on the part of Taiwan."
When hearing this comment, i could have sworn the same thing could have been uttered by a Chinese official, vague terms and all. I mean what really is the status quo that he is talking about? Taiwan's President Chen is also confused saying in response,
"As a leader in the community of democracies, why can't the U.S. say no to China?," he asked. "Why can't the U.S. openly say that you can't hold a gun pointing at the head of the 23 million people of Taiwan and use the other hand to choke Taiwan" and then say Taiwan "can't cry out in pain?" He also mentions that poll numbers say 77% of Taiwanese support its membership in the UN.
Now I realize in politics, like in many situations, there are things you say, and things you actually do. The US says it has a "One China" policy but has done very little to actually prove it. Now that Taiwan is making its move, the US was forced to react. This time choosing to say it opposes Taiwan's membership bid. However, I still have little doubt that if China decides one day to attack Taiwan (which won't happen), the US would be there to defend it. The real issue however isn't the danger of war, but the danger of losing money should relations begin to turn sour. Both US and China know that without the other, it would cause a severe blow to economies and society in both countries. In this case keeping things hunky dory is much better than standing up for what your country is supposed to believe in. When it comes to Taiwan however, It seems like only the US is making this sacrifice. And yes I did just say hunky dory.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Hi and thanks for reading.
This will probably be one of the the most disorganized and random blogs you have ever read. It will, I suppose, be mainly focused on my life in Beijing, China. However, there are times I imagine where Ill go way off the topic of China if I feel I have to say something about it. I was going to call this blog "Seeing Red" but since it was taken, I used "Hong" which is the Chinese word for red...or so they tell me. The "red" should be obvious to anybody who knows anything about China. Sometimes living here is good, and sometimes things really bother me so you can expect to be hearing me complain about one thing or the other but don't worry, It won't all be bitching.
Anyways, its getting late here, so Ill end this first post now. You can look forward to actual stories and comments at some point tomorrow. Until then...
Anyways, its getting late here, so Ill end this first post now. You can look forward to actual stories and comments at some point tomorrow. Until then...
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