Ai Jing's "My 1997"

Here's the video of Ai Jing's "My 1997", which Andrew F. Jones notes in his article The Politics of Popular Music in Post-Tiananmen China (Blum, Jensen, pp. 306-7).

"My music teacher was my papa," she sings. "He's been working in a state-run factory for 20 years now.

"My mother used to sing northern style opera. She always sighs that she never saw good times."

"Come quick 1997!" she sings. "Then I can go to Hong Kong!"

Americans are out of touch with today’s China

“Chinese visitors to the US have shared the shock of witnessing a severe dichotomy between how much Americans seem to talk about China and yet how little they know about it,” notes Xu Wu in the May 1 edition of The Christian Science Monitor. (He is an assistant professor in strategic media and public relations at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He is also the author of "Chinese Cyber Nationalism.") Living in the world’s so-called superpower, Americans tend to assume a “type of benign negligence” he says, demonstrated by the China experts in the US who don’t even know how to speak the language. It’s difficult to understand a culture without communication.

So here are “recurring talking points in the American media” that Xu Wu finds faulty:

China is a rising power, and a rising power is dangerous.

Xu notes that China is not only a rising power, but also a returning power. As a united continental power for more than 2,000 years, China is composed, restrained, mature and, judging from history, not aggressive or expansive. “They were famous for building walls,” he says.

China is a Communist country, and Communism is evil.

Xu explains that “today's ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could easily be renamed the Chinese Confucian Party (CCP) without changing much of its ideological belief or organizational structure, or even its acronym for that matter.” (For real paranoia, check out this site: China is evil dot com ).

Tiananmen Square in 1989 is an iconic image that lingers in the minds of the Chinese.

To this Xu asks: “Is the Watergate scandal still the dominant issue facing the US today?”

As we have seen in this class, and as Xu reveals here, there is an imbalance of knowledge between what the Chinese know about Western culture and what Americans know about theirs. Chinese youth are taught from an early age English and the Western way of thinking. Those of us in this class are here by choice, not by curriculum requirement.

Since China is a top economic power, perhaps a short segment in middle school about this country isn’t significant enough to dispel the myths Xu examines in this article.

More music from China

Speaking of culture, I really like this group: Long Kuan Jiu Duan. They seem to reach across cultural boundaries, as music often will.




Here's Long Kuan crossing the great divide in the band Mika Bomb:




Let's just all get up and dance and forget our assimilations!!

Awakened by the dragon

Before I was awakened by the dragon, China was an alien place on the other side of the planet where Communism constrained every movement of its people. In spite of this constriction on individual freedom, I assumed some form of modernity had found its way into the country; I just wasn’t really sure what it looked like. I think I have a better picture now, yet also realize how much more there is to know about China. Before, I would have never wanted to visit this vast, diverse, multi-colored land, but now I would really like to make the journey.

Too bad I didn't know about The National Committee on United States-China Relations before now. It's been around since 1966 when certain scholars and business leaders began to understand the importance of reciprocal education between the citizens of China and the United States. According to its web site, the committee was founded in the "belief that vigorous debate of China policy among Americans was essential and that balanced public education could clarify U.S. interests and strengthen our foreign policy." Continuous dialogue between citizens would foster mutual understanding, "a basic requirement for stable and productive relations."

After 40-plus years, the committee's basic purposes are the same: focusing on exchange, educational, and policy programs on international relations, economic development and management, governance and legal affairs, environmental and other global concerns, mass communication, and education administration. Some of the programs the committee sponsors are these:

Public Forum Events which, in the past, have included topics on the Shanghai Communique, International climate change negotiations between Beijing and Washington, and American and Chinese views on the world and each other. Upcoming events include opportunities to hear author David M. Lampton discuss his latest book, The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds, Judge J. Clifford Wallace speak on judicial reform in China, and three leading specialists examine the integration and implications of the American and Chinese economies.

"CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections" uses web casts and on-site speakers to give Americans in dozens of cities the opportunity to hear directly from policy-makers and specialists.

Twice annual Chinese education delegations visit American schools, federal government agencies, and education-related NGOs to learn about innovations and challenges in the U.S. education system with the goal of applying this knowledge to their own systems.

U.S.-China Teachers Exchange Program sends American K-12 teachers to China and brings Chinese secondary school teachers to the United States to foster the development of language and culture programs at schools in both countries.

The committee also sponsors a student exchange program and publishes several reports, including a series on China’s policies.

These programs all facilitate the belief that increased public knowledge of China and U.S.-China relations requires ongoing public education, face-to-face contact, and an honest exchange of ideas.

With organizations like this in place, and the proper high-level officials to heed its recommendations and learnings, perhaps the Sino-American relationship will flourish and help the whole world develop in harmony as well.

Folk Art and Amazon Women

This post is in response to KR's wonderful blog about Mongolian Amazon Warrior Princesses, which gave me license to post what I have been thinking ever since we read about the Mosuo.



James Harold Jennings, an untrained outsider artist, lived in Pennacle, North Carolina, in a school bus by the side of the road. He painted pictures depicting mythical modern-day Amazon women. Whether they were beating up bad boys and lyons, riding motorcycles, or raiding James's Art World, they were tough warriors, who sought to make a statement about their prowess and dominion.

I bet James would be happy to learn that there is evidence that Amazon Women existed. If he were still here, I'd be sure to let him know. At least his fantasy is still alive in his art.

China is No. 1 Internet user

Check it out: China had 221,000,000 Internet users as of the end of February, ranking it the first in the world. The proportion of users among the total population is still lower than the global average, though.

Cities need slums

Big Chinese cities need slums for migrant workers, according to Tsinghsua University Professor Qin Hui. An April 15 article on the China View web site quotes him as saying this in a speech at a public forum on urbanization in Shenzhen:


"It is no shame for big cities to have such areas. On the contrary, Shenzhen and other cities should take initiatives to build cheap residential areas for low-income residents including migrant workers who want to stay in the cities where they work."

He is right, of course, since full-time residents and the country at large reap huge benefits from the people who travel 100s of miles from their homes to do dangerous and tedious work that the more affluent consider beneath them. Without ample living space, migrant workers are left to squatting in corrugated, cardboard shacks or residing in unfinished or partially demolished buildings, train stations, on the streets, and under bridges and eaves. Some are lucky enough to live in cramped domitories provided by their employers (see photograph).

With no immediate expectation for legal residency, even though they live in the cities most of the time, migrant workers will not be seen as regular members of city life. However, as Qin noted, migrant workers need to be included in cities' plans for providing housing to low-income citizens. The migrants could even build their own homes in designated areas, he said. Indeed, approximately 30 percent of them work in construction.

"To protect the rights of these people, we should respect their freedom to build houses in some designated areas, and improve their living conditions," said Qin.

It is interesting to note how migrant workers are treated as outcasts, even though they provide needed labor and services to city dwellers. Long hours, poor living and working conditions, sorry pay, and sometimes no pay are some of the agonies they face to provide living expenses for their families back home in rural locations. As seamtress Zheng Jingang says, "Sometimes I think about the foreigners wearing the clothes we make. The material is quite expensive and I think: I'm working here but I can't afford to wear these things. But I'm a migrant worker. I know a lot of things are unfair."

Work Cited: Solinger, Dorothy, The Floating Population in the Cities, pp. 274-288, China Off Center, ed., Blum and Jensen, 2002.

Multinational Companies Discriminate against Chinese Employees

Guangdong Provincial Situation Survey and Research Center released the 2007 Survey of the Public's Evaluation of Multinational Companies' Image In China which reveals that 81% believe that multinational companies are discriminating against Chinese employees in China according to this March 18 article in China CSR.

Seventy multinational companies in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Hangzhou were considered in the survey. The Chinese dislike these four behaviors of these companies, according to the report:

1. Charging higher prices for goods sold in China
2. Hiding defects of goods in the Chinese specifications
3. Transferring pollution to China
4. Refusing to compensate Chinese consumers for bad products.

Those interviewed appreciate these actions by multinational companies:

1. Transferring advanced technology to Chinese companies
2. Participating in China's charity causes
3. Educating Chinese talents
4. Abiding by Chinese laws and regulations

Seventy-six percent of the interviewees believe that multinational companies have fulfilled their social responsibilities in China, while only 22.54% believe the profit made by foreign companies in China are in proportion with their social responsibilities. More than half don't believe the companies' claims that they have not made any profit in China. Lastly, up to 40% of the people believe that foreign companies are doing better than domestic ones on dealing with consumer complaints.

Mosuo Song Journey

In the summer of 2004, Chinese filmmaker Diedie Weng followed American scholar Carol Bliss and Mosuo writer Lamu Gatusa to collect traditional Mosuo folk songs. The documentary Mosuo Song Journey presents their journey through that culture while recording the singing of different generations of Mosuo people. As one woman says, "We really sing with passion. We only sing when we mean it. If we don't mean the words, we don't sing." As their world is being changed by tourism, pop culture, and education, one hopes they still find meaningly words to sing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3fGJGy8NHo

http://butterflybutterfly.info/mosuo_song_journey/?page_id=96

Unauthorized Bible sales in China

Apparently Chinese officials are worried about other “religions” besides the Falun Gong as the Beijing Olympics approaches. According to this April 19 article on the World Net Daily , a bookstore owner has been re-arrested and detained after being cleared of allegations of publishing Bibles and Christian literature.

Shi Weiban was released January 4 after being arrested November 28 during police raids at his home and office. He legally operated a bookstore located near the Olympic Village, and sold only books approved by the government. He was again detained on March 19 and has been held without any communication with his family, which includes a wife, Zhang Jing, and two children. An Asia Times Online report said Shi and his Holy Spirit Trading Company were accused, again, of printing Bibles and Christian literature without government permission.

Chinese Christians report a shortage of Bibles and other Christian resources, but the China Christian Council claims that Amity Press, the only legal publisher of Bibles in China, is producing enough Bibles to meet the demand, according to a Compass Direct News article . While the Council says the total number of Protestant believers in China is 16 million, a survey performed by the East China Normal University (published in February 20070 reported that China had 40 million Protestants.

According to the Compass article, Shi’s arrest appears to be part of a crackdown on religious groups that the government fears could raise dissident voices during Olympic Games. The U.S. State Department’s 2007 International Religious Freedom Report notes that Chinese authorities interrogated house church leaders about the possibility of disrupting the Games.

Waiting for Innovation

The Chinese nation is known throughout the world not only for its industriousness and stamina, but also for its ardent love of freedom and its rich revolutionary traditions.
- Mao Zedong, from The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party, December 1949

Today’s global superpower status, according to William Pfaff, requires a very high level of autonomous technological capacity and a sophisticated and innovative industry to make use of it. Regardless of its economic growth and international influence during the past 30 years, China is lacking in both of these requirements, he notes in this opinion piece from the International Herald Tribune.

Here are his reasons:

Lack of innovation: China has recognized the importance of educating the next generation of scientists and technicians crucial for its continuing development by sending them overseas to learn. Once they return, however, they find an “industrial base too limited to put them to proper use.” China makes “unsophisticated goods” which were designed abroad, as is its technology.

Widespread corruption: China’s uncontrolled and corrupt manufacturing sector reaps destruction and devastation on the environment. A modern superpower works against this disruption of the environment. Furthermore, corruption from a similar source in what Pfaff describes as “the massive, backward, impoverished and politically restless Chinese agricultural population” could lead to a “major political crisis in China in the foreseeable future.” The “inadequacies, corruption and political illegitimacy of a self-perpetuating ruling class, whose only claim to authority is its bureaucratic descent from the catastrophic Communist regime of Mao Zedong” have created this predicament.

Backlash from economic exploitation of other countries: China’s foreign investments in “advanced countries” and “massive purchases” of raw materials from underdeveloped and unregulated “resource-rich countries” creates economic influence but also creates a sort of resented dependence on China. China takes what it needs and then abandons these countries, all the while having destroyed local industries that cannot compete with cheap Chinese imports.

Pfaff goes on to recognize the conclusions of François Hauter who, in a series of articles, finds that two Chinas co-exist: the so-called modern China that foreigners see and the hidden China in which nothing has changed in 25 years. Also commenting on the modern lack of innovation, he wonders, where "is the China that gave mankind paper, printing, the compass, gunpowder?" and "Is China's genius now imprisoned in its current role of copyist for the West?”

… it is not at all surprising but entirely to be expected that a capitalist economy will develop to a certain extent within Chinese society with the sweeping away of the obstacles to the development of capitalism after the victory of the revolution.
-- Mao Zedong, from The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party, December 1949

Pink Moon and Pop Stars

I discovered the music of Nick Drake in 1985, eleven years after his premature death at age 26. His music was relatively obscure, but had a strong, small following at the time. It wasn’t until Volkswagen used his song Pink Moon in a 2000 television commercial that Drake’s music reached widespread popularity. Within one month of that commercial, more Drake records had been sold than in the previous 30 years.

When I watch this commercial, my heart literally aches with sadness over Drake’s depression and possible suicide, and with the total distastefulness of using his lyrics and music to sell a car. The obvious irony, however, is that now more people can enjoy his work.

Such is the sentiment for many Chinese pop stars, according to this BBC News Asia-Pacific article entitled ‘Chaos' of China's music industry. When an advertiser chooses an artist to promote its product, the artist becomes more commercially popular and can make a lot more money. “Chinese pop stars rely heavily on these types of commercial performances, which make up more than half of their income,” notes the article.

Singer Agi and her band Mika Bomb made $2,000 a month from music royalties and live shows while in the UK. In China, she and her band Long Kuan Jiu Duan can almost double that amount by performing one commercial. In this video, Long Kuan Jiu Duan performs Lotus Flower.

"It's really hard to earn money from records because of illegal downloading from the internet and pirated CDs," Agi said. The Chinese recording industry has given up on trying to halt the piracy, purely by necessity rather than by choice, said Shen Lihui, the head of China's largest independent label, Modern Sky, based in Beijing. According to the article, Modern Sky’s entire record collection can be downloaded for free through the country's largest search engine, Baidu.com. The World Trade Organization is currently investigating the problem of piracy in China.

Shen is still optimistic that China will be at the forefront of the music industry in the future. "You can do anything in China. It's the freest place. Try another business model," he said. Indeed, the future may hold the opportunity for corporate sponsorship of Chinese pop stars.

Evolution and revolution: Chinese dress 1700s-1990s

While doing research for the last paper, I came across this site http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/ which describes the changes in Chinese dress from the latter Qing Dynasty through the late 20th century.

Here is a picture of shoes worn during the mid-19th century for women who bound their feet (left). With cloth heels and embroidered silk uppers, they were made in China about 1850.

Powerhouse Museum collection

The cheungsam, seen in the picture to the right, became popular with the growing awareness of women's rights. After such restrictive traditions in dress, Chinese women selected the cheungsam as their national dress. The women portrayed on the calendar posters dressed in sleeveless cheungsam with high side-slits. This picture depicts a 1930s advertising poster for Qidong Tobacco Company showing a fashionable woman wearing a cheungsam.

Powerhouse Museum collection.

Imagine getting married in this (below), a red cotton velvet jacket (xiao'ao) worn by a 26-year-old actor for her wedding in 1977. The jacket was made by the Cultural Revolution Clothing Factory in Peking, though the Cultural Revolution had already ended. Most couples who married at this time wore uniforms (zhifu).

Powerhouse Museum collection.

Below are some more contemporary designs

from 1997 found on this site. They are slightly

reminiscent of the past.

Nine Chevrolets and Neon Lights

Through May 28, the Guggenheim Museum in New York boasts nine white Chevrolet cars suspended from varying heights in its Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda . Upon entering the museum, viewers' "first experience is one of assault, one of confrontation, of tremendous violence" as they take in these cars which "simulate a car bomb explosion" according to Alexandra Munroe, the senior curator of Asian art for the Guggenheim. That explosion, she says, begins on the "rotunda floor, spits in a fury of explosion, tumbles through the void space, ending up on Ground Six."

The artist behind this display, Cai Guo-Giang, is one of the most powerful operating anywhere in the world today, according to Thomas Krens, the Guggenheim's director.

If you care to push aside the thick art-gobbledy-talk emerging from the mouths of elite curators, check out this link to Cai's exhibition in New York http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/exhibition_pages/cai.html

It appears that Cai (who was born in 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, and studied stage design at the Shanghai Drama Institute) has circumvented the preposterous nature of western materialism and propensity towards glamour and bright lights to create an awesome scene that asks the viewer to forget gravity and the drive toward acquiring stuff. Instead, he asks his audience to recognize the beauty of the stuff itself when it is arranged artistically. I think Cai wants us to rethink our desires. Nine white cars suspended from various heights in a stark white six-level rotunda, each adorned with colorful lights shooting out from it, could possibly reawaken the minds of the average American consumer. We can do recognize the beauty of living and the aesthetics of culture.

Here's more about Cai's work around the world: http://www.caiguoqiang.com/shell.php?sid=2ell.php?sid=2.

Implications of China's One Child Policy

According to Independent Online (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=nw20080311133052892C490454&set_id, March 12, 2008), China announced that it has lowered greenhouse gas emissions through its family planning policy. Its "one-child" policy has prevented the births of more than 300 million people since its adoption in the late 1970s. (The party has previously claimed that 400 million births have been prevented.) These averted humans would have emitted an additional 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, a government environment report said. The report also said that China had likely surpassed the United States as the world's biggest contributor to climate change.

China's communist party implemented the family planning policy as a way to curtail population growth beyond what the country could feed. Nevertheless, thirtysome years later, China still has the world's largest population, approximately 1.3 billion people.

Generally, urban families are allowed to have one child, while rural families and minority groups receive exceptions to the rule. Sterilization, late-term abortions, and a higher ratio of male to female births are all results of China's policy.

Consider these:

A 2000 study (Birth planning and sterilization in China, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=11640214&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google) found that sterilization is the most prevalent method of contraception in China and that approximately half of all women of reproductive age report that they or their husbands are sterilized.

Men are required by law to be at least 22 years old and women 20 years old prior to getting married. Because unmarried couples in China are not allowed to have children, many women resort to having mutiple abortions (Today’s Face of Abortion in China Is a Young, Unmarried Woman, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/world/asia/13abortion.html 5/13/2007).


In China, 117 boys are born for every 100 girls, whereas the global birth ratio is 103-107 boys for 100 girls. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/16/content_349051.htm

Finally, a Chinese national "Care for Girls" project has been established to educate people and persuade them to give up their traditional preference for male children. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/08/content_346700.htm

Spit-Free Day

Beijing is considering a "No Spit Day" in its attempt to establish a "Healthy Olympics, Healthy Beijing".

According to ChinaCSR (http://www.chinacsr.com/2008/03/13/2174-beijing-considers-spit-free-day/#more-2174, 3/13/2008), a representative from Beijing Municipal Health Department says that spring is the peak time for people to suffer from various respiratory diseases, and setting a special day for no spitting reinforces the importance of a sanitary lifestyle and confirms the culture's stance on the habit of spitting. A specific date for the "No Spit Day" has not been finalized.

Liaoning Will Shut Down Over 200 Small Paper Making Plants This Year

Liaonig Providence, which is located in the southern part of China’s northeast region and borders the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, announced tomorrow (March 5) that is will shut down more than 200 small paper plants along the Liaohe River basin (the 7th major river basin in China) during 2008 (ChinaCSR.com, www.chinasourcingnews.com/.../04/01161-liaoning-will-shut-down-over-200-small-paper-making-plants-this-year/ ). Removing the “stinky smell from 10 branches of the Liaohe River over the next three years” is another goal.

Since there are several heavy industry cities along the river and more than 1,000 of those industries qualify as “big polluter enterprises”, this part of China’s geography is ranked as the “most seriously-polluted…among all the river basins in China.” Closing 200 paper mills and getting rid of the stinky smell is just the beginning. Fortunately, seven other industries - metallurgy, chemical, medicine, petroleum, nonmetal mining and textile – are also targeted for modification. The article does not indicate how, but Wang Bingjie, director of Liaoning Provincial Environment Department, announced that closing the paper-making plants would eliminate about 400,000 tons of backward production capacities.” By “straightening out a batch of major polluters” the provincial environmental department expects “that the 10 seriously-polluted branches of the Liaohe River would eventually become clean.”

Contrast that statement with PetroChina’s announcement (PetroChina to build 10-mln-ton capacity refinery in Huludao in ... ) that it plans to build a 10-million-ton capacity refinery in Huludao in northeastern China's Liaoning province. PetroChina is the China’s top oil and gas producer, spewing greenhouse gases into the air and metal deposits into the water, although a recent U.S. EPA analysis concluded that in the United States the “risks to human health and the environment posed by oil refinery emissions were low enough to warrant no further regulations” (www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/epa_lets_ignore.php). Perhaps emissions during refinery have no affect on the environment after all.

American Importers Share Responsibility For Unsafe Chinese Products

In its February 2008 issue, China CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) reports that the American Society of Quality (ASQ) says that U.S. importers need to assume some of the responsibility for the inferior products being exported from China. Because quality-control is a relatively new concept to developing countries, American importers need to do their own assessment of incoming products.

Furthermore, as would be expected in a capitalist world, the privately owned exporters tend to have better equipment with better controls than government-run operations. To continue to compete in the global economy, China will need to implement regulations to ensure confidence in its products. Perhaps this will be one arena where strict control will benefit the country. Until then, according to ASQ, Taiwan is the best bet for reliable products.

Here’s the article in its entirety:


The American Society for Quality says much of the responsibility for quality problems that have resulted in Chinese product recalls lies with inadequate oversight by U.S. importers.

“Companies are so used to dealing with suppliers in the United States or Europe that comply with their specifications that they aren’t taking into account that the whole concept of quality systems is a radically new thing to many foreign suppliers in countries like China,” says Randy Goodden, chair of ASQ’s Product Safety & Liability Prevention Interest Group, in a press statement.

In addition to cultural differences and different business operating models, companies sourcing from developing economies are encountering an unfamiliar legal climate often providing no recourse for failure to uphold terms of a contract, document forgery or protection for intellectual property, according to Goodden. William Barthold, chair of ASQ’s Customer-Supplier Division, recently returned from a sourcing study trip to China, where he found a major difference according to types of ownership.

“We tend to find lackadaisical attitudes from government-owned suppliers where management staff gets a paycheck regardless of performance,” says Barthold in a press statement. “But privately-held companies are the best bet as they are investing in their future with newer equipment and more process and controls.” He adds that private companies with foreign management, such as Taiwanese owners who bring in their own managers and work styles, are the ideal combination right now in China.

Both Goodden and Barthold agree that importing companies need to take more responsibility for their inadequate assessment of risks in dealing with foreign suppliers, insufficient supplier development activity and a lack of discipline in applying quality basics with suppliers.

While the United States needs stronger consumer protection measures and an increased capacity of federal consumer protection agencies, ASQ’s new quality report identifies some other high-impact actions that outsourcing companies can take to make a difference.

With more than 93,000 individual and organizational members, the American Society for Quality advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers.

For more information, go to http://www.chinacsr.com/

The Snow Will Fade, But Responsibility Won't

The Chinese have a long tradition of submitting to fate.

(Here is a current event from the English edition of the weekly Chinese newspaper at eeo.com, the economic observer online.)

Tuesday, February 12 2008


NATURAL DISASTERS
By Editorial staff

It has been a snowstorm that no-one was prepared for. From private to public, across all strata of China's infrastructure - including railway, airlines, highway, power, coal, oil, telecom and others - organizations could only respond to worsening conditions and gradually adapt relief strategies accordingly.

The storm has already hit17 provinces, causing tens of billions of yuan in economic losses, affecting more than one hundred million people, and claiming 60 lives. The people on their way home for the Chinese New Year holiday too have suffered, in Guangzhou city alone, as many as 800,000 people have been setback by the storm.

So far during the storms, more than 10 provinces have experienced limited power supply, making it even more diffiicult for disaster relief efforts. As railway transportation has broken off in many areas, coal could not be delivered to the southern provinces to fuel power stations. In return, the railway transportation system itself has been hurt, with some trains unable to start due to lack of power. These and other force multipliers are working together to worsen the disaster.

Furthermore, even if power, railways, and coal power were operating well temporarily in certain areas, further deterioration in the weather would bring disaster to them as well. Weather forecasts say that many hard-hit areas will have heavy snow over the next few days and that aviation, rail, and highways will continue to be seriously affected. In view of this, the hardest of times may still have yet to come.

That said, every winter comes to an end eventually. Though meteorology experts say China will one day face all kinds of extreme weather, we are not yet facing disasters shown in “The Day After Tomorrow”. When this winter season passes, it will become easier to fix the broken power stations, the railroads, and water supplies.

The Chinese have a long tradition of submitting to fate. Throughout China's thousands of years of civilization, with one disaster striking after another; the commoners fastened their hopes one phrases like “the bad will one day turn into the good" and “the struggle with forces of heaven brings endless pleasures”. Disasters did not herald the unraveling of society because common Chinese became impassioned by working through them and maintaining obedience to their kings. After each catastrophe, their lives returned to normal until the next one came.

Modern society can not deal with disasters in this way. In face of disaster, the public needs not only remedies, but also explanations and the ability to criticize. And taking these storms as an example, even though the government has shown strong emergency response capabilities, everyone knows that the government's response has been far from perfect.

For example, neither the disaster warning system nor emergency response measures were consistent with the Law on Emergency Responses. This reveals insufficient reserves and flawed emergency response plans by government at all levels, which usually attach more importance to aid afterwards than prevention beforehand. Another example is the coal and power shortage, a thorny problem that stems from the pricing system. Without rational pricing, the government is powerless to handle emergencies.

The spring festival migration is yet another test. The heavy snow only highlighted the existing problems caused by the urban-rural dualistic structure--apart from family and tradition, another force driving the migrants home during the festival is the fact that where they are living cannot be called home, as it’s virtually impossible for them to become lawful urban residents under the current system.

All this can be traced to the government’s executive ability and its economic and social management.

In the wake of such a disaster, the work of non-profits and charity organizations is commendable, and they have truly embodied the spirit of a “harmonious society”. But it’s the government that should play the leading role in managing public crisie and providing public services. Besides relief work, it must draw experience from disasters and learn from its mistakes.

With this in mind, the critical attitude of the public cannot be disregarded as unreasonable complaining. The snow will ultimately thaw, but what the publ

Images from Tiananmen Square June 1989

The year 1989 was filled with exciting and tumultuous times. It included Hurricane Hugo, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, and the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Here are some of the images I remember seeing on television during the summer of 1989. Some of the images are new to me, but all bring back the dismay I felt during that time. I don't feel the same disgust anymore, but only deep sadness.

Tomorrow's Happiness

The following excerpt is from an article that appeared in Time magazine (September 27, 1999, Vol. 154, no. 12, www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0927/democracy_wall.html)

Democracy Wall: A Sudden Explosion of Free Speech, 1979;Unorthodox Opinions Are Heard on the Street

by Wei Jingsheng

The outpouring of outspoken criticism could not have happened at any other time. In the early part of the 1970s, people had yet to realize how flawed the communist system was. Mao's death left a power vacuum that resulted in a loosening of control by the government. In bidding for power, Deng and rival factions tried to win the people's favor by allowing a small degree of freedom. These leaders hoped, too, that freedom of speech would result in people criticizing their opponents.

At first, I was optimistic. I believed that some people in the party would be open to fair criticism and that we would be allowed to continue to express our views. Within two months after the first genuinely critical essays had appeared, a real democratic opposition began to form. This group's goal wasn't merely to tinker with the system, but to declare that, without democracy, China had no future. Because of the controversy surrounding my essay, however, I realized that I would be arrested. This was disheartening, but I still believed that what I had written was right. (photo of Wei Jingsheng)

My friend, parting time is pending.

Farewell, democracy wall.

What can I say to you?

Should I speak of spring’s frigidity?

Should I say you are like the withered winter sweet?

No. I should instead talk of happiness,

tomorrow’s happiness.

Of pure orchid skies,

Of golden flowers,

Of a child’s bright eyes.

We ought to part with dignity, don’t you agree?

- an anonymously posted poem found on Democracy Wall (1978-1979)

World Watch

Do you believe that a widespread and cataclysmic event such as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution could occur again in China today?

I believe that Mao Zedong acquired much of his political power from a Chinese state of mind that dates back thousands of years. Chinese rulers were believed to be divine, so culturally, Mao could claim some of that thought pattern for himself. Lineages of kings, emperors, military nobleman, and clergy maintained power for extended periods of time, sometimes hundreds of years, by requiring the common people to think the same way they did. Free thinking was discouraged, books were burned, and fear was a definite factor in preserving social concord. Which is not to say that uprisings and revolutions didn’t occur. Many have died in China’s history due to unrest, power struggles, and cultural revolutions. The question is: can another one occur in China today?

It’s ironic that during the last revolution, the fight was against the very rulers whose titles gave Mao the cultural power he needed to ignite the people. The leaders of China today don’t seem to have the same power. China is not totally its own anymore, and is gradually embracing its place in the global world. The West has entered and too many people are watching for another revolution, such as the one Mao led, to become a reality today.

However, in recent African (Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, and Kenya) and Burmese histories, the world has watched as anarchy, tribal wars, and deranged military might have killed hundreds of thousands of people. Unfortunately, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch will remain necessary for years to come. Sometimes a world watching is not enough. (See http://china.hrw.org/ for BEIJING 2008: CHINA'S OLYMPIAN HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGES)

No Smoking in Beijing

From danwei.org

Three-hundred and fifty thousand people smoke cigarettes in China. If those smokers enter Beijing, they'll have to obstain, according to a new smoking ban that prohibits lighting up in restaurants, offices, bathrooms, hotels, hostels, resorts, and other public places. The new restrictions arrive less than 200 days before the Olympic Games in support of "Smoke-free Olympics."

A previous ban on smoking in Bejing restaurants was met with empty tables and declining business, according to an article in China Daily.

"We figure that, if we're going to die, at least we're going to die honorably," said Guo Xiaodong, the deputy director of Meizhou Dongpo, a restaurant chain in China. "We are happy to be the first Chinese restaurant in Beijing to ban smoking, but we may not be able to afford the drop in customers," he added. "At least we'll be remembered for championing the cause" (http://chinadaily.com/olympics/2008-01/18/content_6404823.htm).

With 100,000 people dying each year from second-hand smoke, and the largest smoking-related deaths in the world, China could save hundreds of lives with this ban, if it is enforced.

According to a BBC News report, smoking could eventually kill a third of all young Chinese men (few women smoke in China) if they don't quit (http://news.bbc.co.uj/2/hi/health/216998.stm).

In the survey on tobacco use in China, featured in the BBC report, two-thirds of Chinese people think smoking does little or no harm, 60% think it does not cause lung cancer, and 96% don't know that it causes heart disease. It appears that smoking control education is needed in addition to the smoking ban.

Dragons on Bumper Stickers

Seen today on a bumper sticker in Greensboro, NC:

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are very crunchy and good with ketchup.

Images of Mao in Modern Art

Based on Professor Anderson's comment about modern Chinese artists using Mao's image in their works, I found the following. Many works are sanctioned by Beijing, but artists are still pushing the limits with others.

Mickey Mao

http://www.saynotocrack.com/

Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times www.FelixDennis.com/gallery.php?G=6&C=23

Mao and Whitney

Artist: Yu Youban

http://web.mac.com/mmalpas/Leisure_and_Art/LEISURE_%26_ART/LEISURE_%26_ART.html

Coke Mao

Artist: Pop Zhao,

www.theeastisred.com/posters.htm

Also check out the work of the Gao Brothers at www.GaoBrothers.net/news/paris/PhoNow.htm particularly "Miss Mao No. 3"

Citreon's scowling Mao deemed inappropriate

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's. It's true, we are leaders, but at Citroën the revolution never stops. We are once more going to put in motion all the machinery of our technological ability, in order to repeat in 2008 the successes obtained in previous years.


So reads an advertisement for Citroen.

French carmaker Citroen has pulled this ad featuring a scowling Mao Zedong from the Spanish newspaper El Pais with a written apology that states that "We repeat our good feelings towards the Chinese people and confirm that we respect the representatives and symbols of the country."

Chinese Internet users expressed their disdain for the ad by commenting that "Chairman Mao is the symbol of China, and what Citroen did lacks basic respect to China" and "It is not only insulting Chairman Mao, but the whole Chinese nation."

Clearly, Mao is still revered as a god to many in China, and they will not tolerate his image being used to sell cars, especially in an advertisement that features a manipulated photograph of him that currently hangs in Tiananmen Square.

Understanding this reverence a bit too late, Citroen stated that it "reiterates its friendship with the Chinese people, and highly respects China's representative figures and symbols."

It's interesting to note that one Internet user remarked on American's acceptance of poking fun at President Bush. "But our traditions and customs must nonetheless be respected," the writer added.

References:

Foreign Policy PASSPORT, a blog by the editors of Foreign Policy, Citroen eats crow after dissing Mao, http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/7740

BBC News online, Citroen regrets Mao ad "insults", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7190249.stm

Reuters, Citreon apologizes for scowling Mao ad, http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughnews/idUSN1549505420080115?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&sp=true

Everything has its beauty,

but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius

A good traveller has no fixed plans,

and is not intent on arriving.

- Laozi

Women can hold up half the sky.
- Mao Zedong