Is China a Paragon of Peace?

From NewsMax.com (link) :

China's "Prime Minister" Wen Jiabao spoke at a press conference on March 14, and on March 16 UPI reported his speech under the headline "Chinese PM Downplays China Threat."

China threat? But from the UPI report or from any other report of the Western mainstream media, it is not obvious that China is a threat, still less why it is a threat.

To understand that China is a threat, nay, a mortal danger to the West, it is necessary to understand the macrosociology of dictatorship, but few Western reporters or radio/television hosts and guests are able to understand anything except "news." Had China invaded Guatemala and then Mexico, as Hitler invaded in 1939 "the rump of Czechoslovakia" and then Poland, all Western reporters, as well as TV hosts and guests, could talk the news all around the clock.

But actually, China's "Prime Minister" Wen Jiabao made the following statement to prove that China is a paragon of peace: "We have not sent a single soldier abroad in the world; we have not taken a single inch of foreign land."

I think the comparison here with Hitler and Czechoslovakia is important. If you'll remember, Hitler claimed that he was taking land that was rightly German land, since so many Germans lived there and they needed to watch over their German brothers. The Chinese make similar claims to lands such as Taiwan, Tibet, parts of India, some Japanese islands, etc. They claim that all of this is Chinese land, since at one time it was controlled by China. So it's considered an internal affair, not acts of outward aggression, like the wars the United States has been involved in.

I find two problems with his logic here. First, the United States has not taken foreign land, as Mr. Jiabao is implying. In Afghanistan and Iraq, great pains have been taken to turn the land over to the people in those lands. If the United States truly wanted to be an imperialistic power, as so many people (especially in our own press) are wont to imply, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan would all be under our control. The fact that they're not testifies to the restraint that the United States has been able to demonstrate as a hegemonic power.

Secondly, China has not been so peaceful with their neighbors as they would like us to think. They attacked the Soviet Union under Mao, and also attacked Vietnam in 1979 under Deng Xiaoping. And, of course, they have over 700 missiles aimed at Taiwan, and are continually threatening to take over that island. Of course, I suppose all of these would be considered "internal affairs"...

Japan Rejects Chinese War Claim

A demonstration was held (once again) earlier this week in protest of Japan’s inability to (once again) excuse itself for atrocities of the Second World War, in this case regarding slave labor of Chinese men and women taken captive by the invasion forces.
A court in Fukuoka ultimately rejected the plea for 1 billion yen in compensation, and a written apology of the Japanese government.

This is another example in the myriad of cases that have been brought to the public eye’s attention over the past seven decades since the capitulation of Japan. I am concerned that China will use its nationalism as a means to manipulation of its people, not to say that other countries (such as our own) aren’t guilty of this as well; however, the riots against Japanese embassies last year are an example of how Chinese government officials fail to take responsibility in assisting their diplomatic allies in a situation spurred on by ads from the Central Government. Although there were police forces present, there was little action to quell the riotous behavior of demonstrators in the inner city.

Similar to Clinton’s apology to the Native Americans it is difficult to associate people of the present doing justice for those atrocities of a previous generation. Bending to the accusations would put Japan in a difficult position, in that it would be admitting guilt for wartime atrocities yet it would fail to burry the hatchet between the two countries. China’s animosity toward Japan may be historically well founded, but some of the most adamant supporters of Japanese admittance to guilt are young student groups who physically have little or no direct relation to the war in the pacific. The situation is generally something that will only impair future relations between the two “Asian tigers.” It is thereby also essential that violent forms of radicalism be verbally denounced by the respective governments. In any case, it will most likely be a long time before there is any headway on the issue.

“Japan anger at Shanghai violence” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4452097.stm
“Japan rejects Chinese war claim” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4855640.stm

HOLD YOUR HORSES!!!11, or move 'em...to Hong Kong

In an interview with CCTV Timothy Tsun-Ting Fok, president of the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, discussed several aspects of the decision to move the 2008 Olympic equestrian events, right up there with Trampolining in my book, to Hong Kong. He expressed, among other things, his disappointment in the fact that the average resident of HK exercises only 30 minutes a week, as well as concern about time constraints and various other obstacles that we so closely associate with Olympic committees; i.e. Athens, "well, guess we don't really need a roof."

This is certainly a worthy topic concerning the games in Beijing, but what was more intriguing was the reasoning behind the move to Hong Kong. The program broke to a clip of some upper-age bracket woman, apparently very well versed in horse respiratory systems, explaining in an eastern European accent that, "(our very expensive)...horses must have at least 10 to 15 kilometers of (emphatically,) disease-free area around them at all times. Beijing doesn't have that." (Apparently Hong Kong does, but my efforts at yelling at the TV went unnoticed)

Aside from me assaulting the integrity of equestrian events, I'm more concerned about what this implies; Beijing is endangering horses' lives!!, yes, but what about the alleged mass influx of visitors to the city? Once again I find myself wagging my finger at Chinese efforts to control pollution; however, there is something to be said about a city that expects to host the games. Mind you, there will be a large number of people, media, and diplomats all of which could easily be impressed in one way or another.

Two thousand eight is right around the corner, let's face it, China will have little time to reduce its pollution significantly. So, grab a mug of dirt with a side of smog flavored rice, and let's enjoy the games in either Horse-free Beijing, or silly-Olympic-sport-hosting Hong Kong!!

Iran, China Forming Major Alliance

I found an article at NewsMax today that details the strong alliance that has been forming over the years between China and Iran. It's a couple of years old, but I think it's especially relevant now as Iran is being taken to the Security Council, where China holds a critical veto power.

The article outlines the strong economic relationship of the two nations:

What [the relationship] means for the United States in the short term is an inability to pressure the Islamic republic into following policies beneficial to Washington. What it could mean for the long haul is a stronger, more menacing Iran and China, each buoyed by needs being met by the other.
* * *
"The bilateral trade between China and Iran has increased fast in recent years, with trade volume reaching some 3.3 billion U.S. dollars last year, several times higher than that some 10 years ago," People's Daily reported.
* * *
For instance, said the Post, in October "the two countries signed a preliminary accord worth $70 billion to $100 billion by which China will purchase Iranian oil and gas and help develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field, near the Iraqi border."

And, "earlier this year, China agreed to buy $20 billion in liquefied natural gas from Iran over a quarter-century," the paper continued.

For Iran, however, more is better when it comes to China. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said this month, according to China Business Weekly, "Japan is our number one energy importer for historical reasons . . . but we would like to give preference to exports to China."

Even more troublesome is China's proliferation of nuclear technology to Tehran:

In terms of its nuclear weapons ambitions, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has determined that China, along with Pakistan and Russia, have probably provided nuclear technology to Tehran.

With China and Russia, two major trading partners with Iran, both holding a veto power in the Security Council, can you really expect to get a resolution with any teeth in it? If not, then what's the point of going through the United Nations?

Full Article

Taiwan authorities must correct their mistakes

The U.S. State Department on Thursday asked the Taiwan authorities to correct their comments that there is no distinction between "abolish" and "ceasing activity" with regard to the "National Unification Council." Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian declared on Feb. 27 that the "National Unification Council" (NUC) would "cease to function" and that the "National Unification Guidelines" would "cease to apply," which has drawn immediate opposition and condemnation from major political parties and groups on the island. And at the same time, many countries in the world have reiterated their stand on adhering to the one-China policy and opposing Chen's move of advancing "Taiwan independence". The action Taiwan took on February 27 was deliberately designed not to change the status quo. Abrogating an assurance would be changing the status quo, and that would be contrary to that understanding. The maintenance of Taiwan's assurances is critical to preservation of the status quo. There should be no unilateral change in the status quo.

congress will work on political reform

Domestic academics and overseas dissidents are calling for more political reform as the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is due to open on Friday, Reuters reported. An open letter signed by about 200 Chinese political activists overseas urged the party to reverse its verdict on the 1989 pro-democracy protests during the congress, according to a human rights group. The letter commended the party for the economic reforms that brought China to a prominent status in the world's economic stage. "But fairly good economic development cannot conceal increasingly visible and deep social threats," it said. "The problem is that because of the rejection of systemic political reform, because of the rejection of democracy and rule of law, corruption is worse and worse." According to Liu Qing, president of New York-based Human Rights in China, the government should address the legitimate demands for political change from its own citizens and start by recognizing freedom of expression would benefit society. Inside the country, prominent academics are making bold calls for political reform. Hu Angang, head of the Center for China Studies run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University, cited the examples set up by Deng Xiaoping at the 13th party congress when the average age of the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee -- the party's top policy body -- was kept under 64. That would mean the stepping down of leaders such as Jiang Zemin. Hu added that the party should also have a clear policy on retirement. The line should not be blurry so that there could be semi-retirement or reshuffling position.

City of Beijing Relaxes Price Controls

The city government of China's capital, Beijing, has further relaxed its grip on the prices, letting market forces decide costs. The latest batch of goods, which were freed from price controls on November 1, covers more than 30 items, including tea, hotels, road transportation, some postal services and some health services.Currently, the government only controls the pricing of 5.4 percent of goods sold on the local market, while the market decides prices for the other 94.6 percent.Still controlled by the government are grain in government reserves, edible oil, sugar, petroleum, fertilizer, cotton, tobacco, salt, and explosives for civil use; some fertilizers and drugs, school textbooks, public utilities, military goods, basic telecommunications services and banking, sanitary facilities, and housing management.

A step closer to property law

Leaders of the National People's Congress approved a proposed constitutional amendment over the weekend and scheduled a vote in March by the full legislature, the China Daily and other newspapers reported Monday. The measure, which says "private property obtained legally shall not be violated," appears certain to win approval. It already has been endorsed by the ruling Communist Party as essential in pushing forward China's economic reforms. It was approved during the weekend by the NPC Standing Committee, a body headed by the party's No. 2 leader, Wu Bangguo. The committee handles lawmaking work when the full NPC, which meets only two weeks a year, is out of session. Chinese law already recognizes private property, but entrepreneurs who are driving the country's economic development lobbied for a constitutional guarantee. The amendment is expected to lead to legal changes improving the country's legal framework for trading real estate, stocks and bonds and other property. It also could help entrepreneurs get access to financing by giving them legal status that could encourage state banks, which lend mostly to government companies, to do more business with them.

Lawmakers and Political Advisors now have access to a blog

Zhou Hongyu, a deputy to China's lawmaking National People's Congress (NPC), said Friday he felt something special about this year's NPC session, scheduled to open Sunday. A blog site has been opened for him and other NPC deputies a week before the session, grouped under the title of "deputies' blogs."
Zhou has also written down motions and proposals he brought to the session in his blog, including proposals on curbing arbitrary collection of fees in schools, improving the quality of rural school teachers and protecting the interests of laid-off workers.
Tang Weihong, who is in charge of the website, blog.people.com, which hosts the deputies' blog sites, said all NPC deputies and members of the National Committee of the CPPCC, China's top political advisory body, and is free to open blog sites with the website. The annual sessions of the NPC and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in March are considered the most important annual political events of China.
So far, eight NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members have opened blogs on the website, administered by the People's Daily and more are in the process of application.
There have already been lots of responses to messages on deputies' blogs. One of them says: It's a good thing to open deputies' blogs before the NPC session, which will help the deputies know the thoughts of the public and bring them to the NPC session.
The emergence of blog sites of NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members marks a new development in China for using the latest communication technology, including the Internet and mobile phone text messages, to enhance the transparency of public affairs.
Live broadcasts of major political meetings and news conferences on the Internet, along with TV and radio, have become a commonplace.
Leading Chinese websites, including www.xinhuanet.com, www. people.com, www.China.com and the Chinese central government website www.gov, all have applied and won approval to broadcast live the NPC and CPPCC sessions of this year.

Cheating in China

As an English teacher in China in 2004, I had to develop my own cirriculum and lesson plans. I had never taught English to anyone before, so each night before I taught class the next day, I put together my lessons. With each lesson, I developed quizzes and assignments, hoping that would help my students attempt to learn English. They had already learned a lot; I just had to correct some of what they had been learning, and teach them what they hadn't learned yet.

As I administered the quizzes and assignments, I noticed some of my students working hard. Others slept, and the rest socialized. It was a pretty typical classroom consisting of 15-20 year old girls.

After giving them several minutes to complete the quizzes, I would over the answers. I would ask for volunteers to stand up and give me their answers to the questions. After the same girls volunteered over and over again, I (being the strict teacher I had to be), asked some of the girls who chose to socialize and sleep to stand and give their answers. This was the time I saw something I probably would not have seen done so blatantly in the United States. They would quickly reach over and grab their friend's paper and recite the answers they read on the paper.

They weren't sneaky about it. They knew I saw them. The supervising teachers (who taught them before I arrived) saw them. They didn't care. It was normal.

I attempted to ask them to do their own work (which mostly got lost in translation), but that didn't work. They could not understand why this American teacher would try to get them to do their own work.

We live in a society focused on the individual; we all know that. These Chinese girls had no such concept. They were there to help each other and work together. I argue this is due to their Communist-style upbringing. It is as if there is no concept of cheating.

I believe this shows how hard it will be for the Chinese to fully embrace capitalism and democracy. Communism is deeply embedded within them. It even influences they manner in which they perform in school. We cannot expect the Chinese to drastically change their ideals. Change takes time.

There is another discussion group discussing this very issue: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?p=249746&sid=8e71a80c854280d7337ad47571a216f2