Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/29/china.tibet/index.html
More Riots in Tibet
We just finished reading about Chinese history and Chinese culture where we learned that the guiding belief in China is the notion that a unified China is considered a necessary step towards achieving true power. If a divided China is deemed weak, then the occupation of Tibet is in synch with their desire for unity. The goal of unity feels heavy-handed to outside observers. I would suggest that the heavy-handed tenor feels oppressive because we draw parallels to Tibet with occupations that have redefined our own western world. Where the sprawling Roman Empire sought to expand, their push for power recognized the unique cultural components that defined the areas that fell under Roman rule. Rome’s respect for unique cultures is what allowed their empire to explode across Europe.
China’s notion of assimilation is problematic because it denies cultural identity. This is a huge divide that creates a great deal of dissent. If China allowed Tibet to be “Tibetan” respecting the culture and the peoples, the occupation of Tibet would not be so turbulent. China’s assimilationist notion of squashing unique Tibetan culture, along with attacks on spirituality have escalated the issue into a holy war. In the recent riots, Tibetan Buddhists led a protest that erupted into violence. Eighteen people and one police officer were killed. The monks led ten people (including five monks) to destroy government offices, rob businesses and commit arson.
Meanwhile, those responsible continue to protest that many more (than the 19 people killed) were killed as a result of Chinese-inspired violence against Tibetans. Because China has used force, and even murder, to achieve their goals, those in Tibet feel justified to respond with deadly force.
Violence begets violence. This little lesson continues to escape Chinese authoritarianism. Violence is a last resort. The riots in Tibet are yet one more of many voices that howl the message loud and clear – China's leadership is fraternity of megalamaniacal yokels who spewer out a collection of haphazard policies and rhetoric that continues to fail miserably. One of the key goals of any bureaucracy is to listen to the people. Bureaucracies that are deaf to the commonwealth can count on the voices of the commonwealth growing louder. Voices turn into howls. Howls turn into protests. Protests turn into riots. And riots sometimes escalates into bloody revolt and revolution.
China - wake up and listen to what your people are saying! Wake up and listen to what the world is saying! Wake up and LISTEN. Discourse is preferable to blood. Great progress can be made and nobody has to die along the way. Flex those muscles till the veins pop out. Brute force is not power. It is not greatness. It is weakness and ignorance and weak willed politicians who lack the strength of character to do what is best for China.
While China is leafing through history and hanging their hat on archaic cosmology, they should stop and ask themselves why the Qing Dynasty failed in 1911. The PRC is making many of the same mistakes. The more disconnected they become from the wants and needs of their people (even those in Tibet), the more fuel they pour into the hearts and souls of the commonwealth. All it takes is one charismatic leader and the whole regime will come crashing down. Mao Zedong was wrong. Political power does NOT grow out of the barrel of a gun. Political power grows from respect. If the bureaucracy respects their people and listens to the voice of their own, they will earn their absolute respect, trust and loyalty.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Hijacked Prejudice
The Uyghurs who live in China's forbidden province are an ancient civilization that has developed in isolation for nearly 4000 years. Although little has changed in nearly 1000 years, the CCP has actively tried to suppress the Uyghurs since 1949 by using strong-arm tactics and strong-arm policies that marginalize Uyghurs and threaten their way of life.
Uyghurs live primarily in Xinjiang, which is closed to all outside media. Those reports that have traveled beyond the wall of silence are alarming. Over 10,000 political arrests and over 1000 executions underscore the preferred method of suppression. The suppression is a clear example of terrorist-style authoritarianism which relies on fear to dominate the Uyghers.
Public executions are used both to punish, and as a warning. In one example, five men were executed for hanging the Turkistan flag on a statue of Mao Zedong, an extreme punishment for what most would consider a minor offense. In another example, a woman explains how a large tub was filled with water and brought to boil. Several Uyghurs were executed by being dropped into the scalding water. The Uyghurs are genuinely afraid.
Violence is used squash even the slightest infraction. In addition to strong-arm authoritarianism, economic pressures and mass migrations have further disrupted the Uyghurs way of life.
They are China's poorest people. Very few houses have running water or any modern facilities. Traditional mud homes still house many Uyghurs. Migrations to the area have caused additional strife leaving fewer opportunities to earn a living. As a result, many are now homeless.
Adding to their difficulties, oppressive pricing structures cause widespread misery. In a region where farmers earn less than $100/year, the excessive pricing means many families are denied basic subsidence. The current price for a bag of flour is 60 to 70 yuan (U.S. $10). Recent riots have resulted from the soaring prices of commodities.
The Uyghur's primitive way of life has become a target. China wants to assimilate the Uyghurs to the Chinese way of life. Mass migrations, economic pressure and the threat of physical violence are employed to destabilize, erode and breed-out the Uyghur culture entirely.
Much of the interest in this region is because of the oil reserves near Xinjiang which produce approx. 10-million gallons of oil annually.
Chine mutes international pressure by exploiting cultural prejudice against Muslims. For instance, after the 9/11 attack in the United States, Beijing took the position that Uyghur groups were connected with al-Qaeda, asserting that one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, was a “major component of the terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden," although there is no hard evidence to support this claim.
Uyghurs live primarily in Xinjiang, which is closed to all outside media. Those reports that have traveled beyond the wall of silence are alarming. Over 10,000 political arrests and over 1000 executions underscore the preferred method of suppression. The suppression is a clear example of terrorist-style authoritarianism which relies on fear to dominate the Uyghers.
Public executions are used both to punish, and as a warning. In one example, five men were executed for hanging the Turkistan flag on a statue of Mao Zedong, an extreme punishment for what most would consider a minor offense. In another example, a woman explains how a large tub was filled with water and brought to boil. Several Uyghurs were executed by being dropped into the scalding water. The Uyghurs are genuinely afraid.
Violence is used squash even the slightest infraction. In addition to strong-arm authoritarianism, economic pressures and mass migrations have further disrupted the Uyghurs way of life.
They are China's poorest people. Very few houses have running water or any modern facilities. Traditional mud homes still house many Uyghurs. Migrations to the area have caused additional strife leaving fewer opportunities to earn a living. As a result, many are now homeless.
Adding to their difficulties, oppressive pricing structures cause widespread misery. In a region where farmers earn less than $100/year, the excessive pricing means many families are denied basic subsidence. The current price for a bag of flour is 60 to 70 yuan (U.S. $10). Recent riots have resulted from the soaring prices of commodities.
The Uyghur's primitive way of life has become a target. China wants to assimilate the Uyghurs to the Chinese way of life. Mass migrations, economic pressure and the threat of physical violence are employed to destabilize, erode and breed-out the Uyghur culture entirely.
Much of the interest in this region is because of the oil reserves near Xinjiang which produce approx. 10-million gallons of oil annually.
Chine mutes international pressure by exploiting cultural prejudice against Muslims. For instance, after the 9/11 attack in the United States, Beijing took the position that Uyghur groups were connected with al-Qaeda, asserting that one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, was a “major component of the terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden," although there is no hard evidence to support this claim.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
From a western perspective, the notion of child labour sounds appalling. In the West, we coddle our children. We like to regard them as simpering, helpless little things that require the utmost care and diligence. In truth, they’re not nearly so fragile.
When we read about children being treated as small adults elsewhere in the world, it feels messed up and the hair on our neck bristles. We are Pavlov’s dogs, thoughtfully drooling. Our cultural admonishment over the condition of children is the point that is out of whack. We like to look to the east and howl disapproval.
Meanwhile, right here in North Carolina, you still find young people helping out around a family farm. Even Al Gore, in his Inconvenient Truth movie reminisces nostalgically about working on a tobacco farm. For Al, his story represents happy memories. Today, I reckon Al Gore’s mother and father would have a sit-down with child protective services to defend themselves about why their precious little boy was working in the tobacco fields.
The history of the west is filled with stories about working children, and children who left the household to work apprentice jobs at a very early age. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the idea of child labor came under scrutiny. The reason child labor came under scrutiny had very little to do with the age of the worker. The primary concern was working conditions where children were put in harm’s way. The age issue came into play because young children lack the fine motor skills of a mature individual, a deficiency that could result in serious injury.
It may sound like I’m making light of the child labor issues in China. I’m not. I’m well aware that children are *sold* to factories. I’m also well aware that children are *kidnapped* to work at factories. In both examples, the real issue isn’t age. It’s slavery. What I’m saying is the west needs to get off their self-righteous pedestals and quit howling about child labor like it’s a special area of concern. The issues of slavery/forced service and safe work conditions are far more compelling. If a worker loses an arm or dies from poisonous fumes, why does the age of the worker matter?
I’m inclined to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche’s way of looking at the world, that any worthwhile achievement in life comes from the experience and overcoming of hardship; that any existence that is too comfortable is worthless; that suffering and failure should be welcomed by anyone seeking happiness; that we feel pain because of the gap between who we are at the moment and who we could ideally be. And finally, in Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” he provides a working definition, that good is “that which makes us stronger” and evil is “that which makes us weaker.”
Although Blecher’s Hegemony suggests that the workers in China lack the unity and organization to rise up against the state, I would argue that the working class in China already possesses the means to make themselves stronger, to improve their lot in life, to make themselves stronger. At the end of the day, the fight isn’t our fight. It is up to the downtrodden masses in China to face their own demons and find their own solutions. Even if we had the means to fix their lives right away, we would be wrong to do so. We don’t have the right to steal away the empowerment they will earn for themselves when they are victorious with their own struggles.
Sources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/800/chinarussia.htm
http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/15889
When we read about children being treated as small adults elsewhere in the world, it feels messed up and the hair on our neck bristles. We are Pavlov’s dogs, thoughtfully drooling. Our cultural admonishment over the condition of children is the point that is out of whack. We like to look to the east and howl disapproval.
Meanwhile, right here in North Carolina, you still find young people helping out around a family farm. Even Al Gore, in his Inconvenient Truth movie reminisces nostalgically about working on a tobacco farm. For Al, his story represents happy memories. Today, I reckon Al Gore’s mother and father would have a sit-down with child protective services to defend themselves about why their precious little boy was working in the tobacco fields.
The history of the west is filled with stories about working children, and children who left the household to work apprentice jobs at a very early age. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the idea of child labor came under scrutiny. The reason child labor came under scrutiny had very little to do with the age of the worker. The primary concern was working conditions where children were put in harm’s way. The age issue came into play because young children lack the fine motor skills of a mature individual, a deficiency that could result in serious injury.
It may sound like I’m making light of the child labor issues in China. I’m not. I’m well aware that children are *sold* to factories. I’m also well aware that children are *kidnapped* to work at factories. In both examples, the real issue isn’t age. It’s slavery. What I’m saying is the west needs to get off their self-righteous pedestals and quit howling about child labor like it’s a special area of concern. The issues of slavery/forced service and safe work conditions are far more compelling. If a worker loses an arm or dies from poisonous fumes, why does the age of the worker matter?
I’m inclined to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche’s way of looking at the world, that any worthwhile achievement in life comes from the experience and overcoming of hardship; that any existence that is too comfortable is worthless; that suffering and failure should be welcomed by anyone seeking happiness; that we feel pain because of the gap between who we are at the moment and who we could ideally be. And finally, in Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” he provides a working definition, that good is “that which makes us stronger” and evil is “that which makes us weaker.”
Although Blecher’s Hegemony suggests that the workers in China lack the unity and organization to rise up against the state, I would argue that the working class in China already possesses the means to make themselves stronger, to improve their lot in life, to make themselves stronger. At the end of the day, the fight isn’t our fight. It is up to the downtrodden masses in China to face their own demons and find their own solutions. Even if we had the means to fix their lives right away, we would be wrong to do so. We don’t have the right to steal away the empowerment they will earn for themselves when they are victorious with their own struggles.
Sources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/800/chinarussia.htm
http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/15889
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Fix
Hollywood loves a good war story. Almost every war story I've ever watched takes place on an overcast day. It's one of those things movie-makers like to do with war movies and horror movies, the dark backdrop that makes every scene visually dull. That backdrop screams DULL and the gloomy texture makes most of these films feel lethargic. They do it to create a mood. But that convention of creating mood also frames the mental picture that becomes the way in which much of the Western world views an entire country. Modern entertainment manufactures reality. For instance, when I think Middle East, I think SAND and Camels. When I think New York, I think CITY. When I think Vietnam, I think JUNGLE. And when I think China, I think PRIMITIVE and DARK. At least that's what the cinematic version tells me to see.
BMX bikes, in-line skates, skateboarding, Rock music and American Idol - those things feel as American as Chevrolet's baseball, hotdogs, apple pie commercial. They feel out of place in China.
This however, is the New China. China's government is very hip to the idea of creating the illusion of freedom; the illusion of opportunity and prosperity. Their desire to create this illusion is so profound that Beijing displays huge billboards tht read: "What New York Has, Beijing Has As Well." They idolize the Western model, but decline to take that next step - the step towards true Democracy.
In an attempt to find a happy medium, "Chinese official tend to approve of imports that can be described as wholesome and harmless." Their efforts to find a happy medium pokes a stick at the dichotomy of trying to maintain a market economy while simultaneously clutching at authoritarian control. They aren't seeing the bigger picture.
Freedom is the ultimate designer drug. The first line is the most fantastic high. Then you are absolutely hooked. The withdrawal symptoms are awful. They range from mild suffocating tremors, anti-authoritarian rhetoric, energetic text messaging, lethargy, marching in protest and standing in front of tanks. Extreme withdrawal is often accompanied by acute burning of government vehicles, destruction of property, violence and Ø t-shirts. The only known treatment is institutionalization or death.
As the West wafts into the Far East, all of China is catching a contact high. China's making a stab at treating the widespread addiction. They're attempting to use substitution therapy. Substitution therapy is illusory and is not sustainable. It will only work short-term. When these goggly-eyed freedom-fiends begin to feel that insatiable craving, the withdrawal symptoms will be unmanagable by anything less than the real deal.
It really isn't that complicated. Smokers use Chantex; heroin and opioid addicts use methadone, and freedom fiends can be satiated by carefully controlled doses of rock music, "Super Girl", skateboards and Yueqin Hero video games. So what happens when substitute therapy quits working? Jonesing and jonesing bad. You can always go back to the drug of choice. In the absence of Chantex, there is always nicotine. In the absence of methadone, jam a heroin needle in your arm. In the absence of illusory freedom...REAL freedom. For the most powerful high known to man, there is no satisfying alternative.
So here's a fun little homework assignment that will help underscore the power of this designer drug. 1: Go buy some crystal meth. 2: Go to your nearest biker bar and make sure everyone knows you have it. 3: Make sure everyone there also know...nanner nanner, you can't have any. (for added effect, put your hair in pigtails and dance around like an elf singing La La La, all fer me - none fer you, La La La, dancing around and gently patting the bikers on their buttocks; La La La, all fer me - none fer you!). It's a sociology experiment. They'll understand. They'll just laugh and laugh with delight. It's perfectly safe. I'll drop by with a shovel and some plastic bags to pick you up in just a bit.
Maybe the Chinese Government needs to quit dancing like taunting elves. The imminent wave of freedom-addicted, stoned-out-of-their-skulls-for-the-next-angry-fix crowd isn't going to allow them to dance and pat their bottoms forever.
Authoritarian leadership in China is walking a fine line. They fear losing power and prestige, and their fear inspires them to make decisions that are sometimes disadvantageous. It encourages me to consider Thomas Jefferson's words, "when the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." It's a good sound bite. But is it just rhetoric or was Jefferson right? Because if Jefferson is right, then perhaps the growing pains in China are, in fact, the growing pains of liberty.
Most of us have grown up with suspicion and even a little animosity towards China. I still feel this way. But the possibility of what China might become is exciting. If the most powerful nations on earth come together, rather than remain divided by ideology and fear, won't that bring us one step closer to world peace? And perhaps, even one step closer to world-unity; a unified world with mutual respect and an appreciation of how our differences make us all stronger. Nobody wants a homogenized world anyways.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s02-woap.html?s=widep
BMX bikes, in-line skates, skateboarding, Rock music and American Idol - those things feel as American as Chevrolet's baseball, hotdogs, apple pie commercial. They feel out of place in China.
This however, is the New China. China's government is very hip to the idea of creating the illusion of freedom; the illusion of opportunity and prosperity. Their desire to create this illusion is so profound that Beijing displays huge billboards tht read: "What New York Has, Beijing Has As Well." They idolize the Western model, but decline to take that next step - the step towards true Democracy.
In an attempt to find a happy medium, "Chinese official tend to approve of imports that can be described as wholesome and harmless." Their efforts to find a happy medium pokes a stick at the dichotomy of trying to maintain a market economy while simultaneously clutching at authoritarian control. They aren't seeing the bigger picture.
Freedom is the ultimate designer drug. The first line is the most fantastic high. Then you are absolutely hooked. The withdrawal symptoms are awful. They range from mild suffocating tremors, anti-authoritarian rhetoric, energetic text messaging, lethargy, marching in protest and standing in front of tanks. Extreme withdrawal is often accompanied by acute burning of government vehicles, destruction of property, violence and Ø t-shirts. The only known treatment is institutionalization or death.
As the West wafts into the Far East, all of China is catching a contact high. China's making a stab at treating the widespread addiction. They're attempting to use substitution therapy. Substitution therapy is illusory and is not sustainable. It will only work short-term. When these goggly-eyed freedom-fiends begin to feel that insatiable craving, the withdrawal symptoms will be unmanagable by anything less than the real deal.
It really isn't that complicated. Smokers use Chantex; heroin and opioid addicts use methadone, and freedom fiends can be satiated by carefully controlled doses of rock music, "Super Girl", skateboards and Yueqin Hero video games. So what happens when substitute therapy quits working? Jonesing and jonesing bad. You can always go back to the drug of choice. In the absence of Chantex, there is always nicotine. In the absence of methadone, jam a heroin needle in your arm. In the absence of illusory freedom...REAL freedom. For the most powerful high known to man, there is no satisfying alternative.
So here's a fun little homework assignment that will help underscore the power of this designer drug. 1: Go buy some crystal meth. 2: Go to your nearest biker bar and make sure everyone knows you have it. 3: Make sure everyone there also know...nanner nanner, you can't have any. (for added effect, put your hair in pigtails and dance around like an elf singing La La La, all fer me - none fer you, La La La, dancing around and gently patting the bikers on their buttocks; La La La, all fer me - none fer you!). It's a sociology experiment. They'll understand. They'll just laugh and laugh with delight. It's perfectly safe. I'll drop by with a shovel and some plastic bags to pick you up in just a bit.
Maybe the Chinese Government needs to quit dancing like taunting elves. The imminent wave of freedom-addicted, stoned-out-of-their-skulls-for-the-next-angry-fix crowd isn't going to allow them to dance and pat their bottoms forever.
Authoritarian leadership in China is walking a fine line. They fear losing power and prestige, and their fear inspires them to make decisions that are sometimes disadvantageous. It encourages me to consider Thomas Jefferson's words, "when the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." It's a good sound bite. But is it just rhetoric or was Jefferson right? Because if Jefferson is right, then perhaps the growing pains in China are, in fact, the growing pains of liberty.
Most of us have grown up with suspicion and even a little animosity towards China. I still feel this way. But the possibility of what China might become is exciting. If the most powerful nations on earth come together, rather than remain divided by ideology and fear, won't that bring us one step closer to world peace? And perhaps, even one step closer to world-unity; a unified world with mutual respect and an appreciation of how our differences make us all stronger. Nobody wants a homogenized world anyways.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s02-woap.html?s=widep
Monday, March 24, 2008
How we define power
When we talk about “world power” what do we really mean by that? If we consider the question in terms of economics, few would argue China’s “world power” status. But what happens when we stack China up against the top 5 world economies in terms of income and employment?
As the #4 leading economic world leader, China’s people earn 54% less than those living in Brazil (#10). China also maintains a rate of unemployment that is almost twice that of Brazil.
When compared to the average of the other top five economic powers, China lags far behind. The average income level in the peer countries of the U.S., Japan, Germany and The UK is $37,375 as compared to China’s income set at $5,300. China’s working class earns 87% less than the rest of the world while they struggle with unemployment rates that are approx. 300% higher than their economic peers. At the same time, China is lagging behind in health care, education, retirement benefits, and disability benefits.
#1: U.S. Per Capita - $46,000 ~Unemployment - 4.6%
#2: Japan Per Capita - $33,800 ~Unemployment - 4%
#3: Germany Per Capita - $34,400 ~Unemployment - 9.1%
#4: China Per Capita - $5,300 ~Unemployment - 16% (Est)
China's prosperous surface masks a rising sea of joblessness
that could threaten the country's stability
#5: U.K. Per Capita - $35,300 ~Unemployment - 5.4%
#6: France Per Capita - $33,800 ~Unemployment - 8%
#7: Italy Per Capita - $31,000 ~Unemployment - 6.7%
#8: Canada Per Capita - $38,200 ~Unemployment - 5.9%
#9: Spain Per Capita - $33,700 ~Unemployment - 7.6%
#10: Brazil Per Capita - $9,700 ~Unemployment - 9.8%
What yardstick do we use to gauge world status power? From my side of the fence, I have a difficult time accepting China as a world power because their prosperity is more a mirage than a reality. Gross Domestic Product is a doppleganger that doesn’t mean anything unless it translates to prosperity shared among the people. In terms of prosperity, the majority of people in China continue to live in abject poverty. The lives of the commonwealth do not communicate success or prosperity. The disturbing market-economy trend in China has left too many people behind. The deficiencies mentioned earlier are issues that must be addressed. In the meantime, I absolutely reject China’s claim as a world power.
As the #4 leading economic world leader, China’s people earn 54% less than those living in Brazil (#10). China also maintains a rate of unemployment that is almost twice that of Brazil.
When compared to the average of the other top five economic powers, China lags far behind. The average income level in the peer countries of the U.S., Japan, Germany and The UK is $37,375 as compared to China’s income set at $5,300. China’s working class earns 87% less than the rest of the world while they struggle with unemployment rates that are approx. 300% higher than their economic peers. At the same time, China is lagging behind in health care, education, retirement benefits, and disability benefits.
#1: U.S. Per Capita - $46,000 ~Unemployment - 4.6%
#2: Japan Per Capita - $33,800 ~Unemployment - 4%
#3: Germany Per Capita - $34,400 ~Unemployment - 9.1%
#4: China Per Capita - $5,300 ~Unemployment - 16% (Est)
China's prosperous surface masks a rising sea of joblessness
that could threaten the country's stability
#5: U.K. Per Capita - $35,300 ~Unemployment - 5.4%
#6: France Per Capita - $33,800 ~Unemployment - 8%
#7: Italy Per Capita - $31,000 ~Unemployment - 6.7%
#8: Canada Per Capita - $38,200 ~Unemployment - 5.9%
#9: Spain Per Capita - $33,700 ~Unemployment - 7.6%
#10: Brazil Per Capita - $9,700 ~Unemployment - 9.8%
What yardstick do we use to gauge world status power? From my side of the fence, I have a difficult time accepting China as a world power because their prosperity is more a mirage than a reality. Gross Domestic Product is a doppleganger that doesn’t mean anything unless it translates to prosperity shared among the people. In terms of prosperity, the majority of people in China continue to live in abject poverty. The lives of the commonwealth do not communicate success or prosperity. The disturbing market-economy trend in China has left too many people behind. The deficiencies mentioned earlier are issues that must be addressed. In the meantime, I absolutely reject China’s claim as a world power.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Mealy-mouthed rhetoric
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/05/china.politics.ap/index.html
Hey, the article started out on a positive note.
~~~~~~~~~~
Premier Wen Jiabao laid out
the priorities for the year:
- strong economics utilized to make sure rising prices for food and other basic goods do not hurt the poor.
- increasing subsidies for farmers, the poor and pensioners.
...it's all downhill from there
~~~~~~~~~~
Filled with all the familiar rhetoric about maintaining social harmony, and sewage treatment; all aimed at creating a pretty little picture to obfuscate the truth from world scrutiny during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Unhappy masses protesting during the Olympics would humiliate China, so they're taking action now to assuage every little complaint.
Then the article decays even further. Instead of being an article discussing bold moves that spell real change for China, this article was more of the same, with a solid 3/4 of the article immediately descending on the Taiwan issue. Military buildup, increase in military spending by 17% blah blah, we firmly oppose Taiwan independence, spending boosts the People's Liberation Army by projecting power, and blah blah...intent to back up threats to use force against Taiwan if it refuses to accept unification with the mainland.
I keep looking for something positive to say about China. Either the American media machine is going out of their way to maintain a long-winded anti-China spin, or the problems and backward politics are as genuine as we've all been led to believe.
In an earlier post, I discussed boycotting the 2008 Summer Olympics. But I reckon I'm re-considering that position. The Tiananmen Square riots were successful at shaking things up. Sometimes, people need a solid slap to the side of their noggins to break them from their trance. Maybe we'll get lucky and the Olympics will turn into a riotous ordeal that will shudder across the world, breaking the trance that currently forces China to totter with one foot in its archaic past while the other foot tries to sloppily hang-ten an economic wave into its future.
I'm not a huge sports fan. But wide-spread chaos and puffy-veined foreheads by frenetic politicians, now that's good entertainment.
Hey, the article started out on a positive note.
~~~~~~~~~~
Premier Wen Jiabao laid out
the priorities for the year:
- strong economics utilized to make sure rising prices for food and other basic goods do not hurt the poor.
- increasing subsidies for farmers, the poor and pensioners.
...it's all downhill from there
~~~~~~~~~~
Filled with all the familiar rhetoric about maintaining social harmony, and sewage treatment; all aimed at creating a pretty little picture to obfuscate the truth from world scrutiny during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Unhappy masses protesting during the Olympics would humiliate China, so they're taking action now to assuage every little complaint.
Then the article decays even further. Instead of being an article discussing bold moves that spell real change for China, this article was more of the same, with a solid 3/4 of the article immediately descending on the Taiwan issue. Military buildup, increase in military spending by 17% blah blah, we firmly oppose Taiwan independence, spending boosts the People's Liberation Army by projecting power, and blah blah...intent to back up threats to use force against Taiwan if it refuses to accept unification with the mainland.
I keep looking for something positive to say about China. Either the American media machine is going out of their way to maintain a long-winded anti-China spin, or the problems and backward politics are as genuine as we've all been led to believe.
In an earlier post, I discussed boycotting the 2008 Summer Olympics. But I reckon I'm re-considering that position. The Tiananmen Square riots were successful at shaking things up. Sometimes, people need a solid slap to the side of their noggins to break them from their trance. Maybe we'll get lucky and the Olympics will turn into a riotous ordeal that will shudder across the world, breaking the trance that currently forces China to totter with one foot in its archaic past while the other foot tries to sloppily hang-ten an economic wave into its future.
I'm not a huge sports fan. But wide-spread chaos and puffy-veined foreheads by frenetic politicians, now that's good entertainment.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
China's Poison for the Planet
(source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,461828,00.html)
China's Poison for the Planet
Can the environment withstand China's growing economic might?
As one of the planet's worst polluters, Beijing's ecological sins
are creating problems on a global scale.
Many countries are now feeling the consequences
The cloud of dirt was hard
to make out from the ground,
but at an altitude of 32,808 feet,
the scientists could see the
gigantic mass of ozone, dust
and soot with the naked eye.
The ecological *disaster* strolls hand in hand
with China’s economic *miracle*
It’s tempting to point a stink-finger of blame towards China. As China’s ecological disaster careens out of control, their ecological problems should underscore a global problem we all share. China acts as a beacon to capture the attention of the global community. China’s miracle economy provides a stop-frame animation of the same path that every other industrialized nation of the world has traveled. What they are showing us is an alarming and ugly picture that mimics the growth of every industrial economy in the world. The picture is jarring because of the compressed time. But the picture is remarkably familiar. There is certainly plenty of room for China to soften her environmental footprint. The question that remains is whether these issues will be addressed with the same enthusiasm shown during China’s economic explosion.
The more cheap Chinese goods
the world's consumers buy,
the bigger the price will be
that the world pays for
China's economic miracle.
The global community shares culpability with China. Worldwide greed for cheap consumer goods and greedy margins have inspired a feeding frenzy among the industrialized nations of the world. China’s explosive growth has had an international impact on both economics and environments around the globe. Manufacturing facilities located in nations that shrug-off environmental issues and decline to saddle industry with the encumbrance of environmental responsibility are able to manufacture goods in an atmosphere where overseas regulation makes it impossible for responsible industry to compete. Responsible industry is a costly endeavor. The high costs of operating responsible industry has driven investment abroad where goods can be produced at a fraction of what it costs in other parts of the world. Part of the engine that drives China’s economy is their ability to produce inexpensive goods for the global market. If worldwide standards were imposed, China’s cheap exports would be met with competition from abroad. China’s fast-paced economics, like their environmental issues, are out-of-control. Market regulations would slow their economic growth, growth that is overburdening an environment that is buckling under the load. More importantly, a slight pause, a chance to fall back and re-group, would provide more stability. Without that stability, China’s economic infrastructure will fail.
Economic models that incorporate the use of free trade agreements, models that remove tariffs were originally designed to normalize trade. However, because huge gaps exist in wage and employment laws, health insurance, and environmental issues, free trade agreements have been the scourge of international trade, turning our overseas neighbors into a population of exploited workers whose labor, health, environment and basic human needs have been side-lined to feed the immense greed of politicorporate appetites.
Free trade agreements should be scrapped entirely, favoring instead Equal Trade Agreements where the ETA safeguards an honorable quality of living that elevates the proletariat, providing the same dignity and quality of life we reserve for ourselves. Worldwide minimum standards should reward every worker on the globe with basic human dignity. Whether you work a cash register at K-Mart in the United States or you work shoveling pig feces on a remote farm in China, we have a responsibility to insist on the dignity of the labor force on a worldwide scale.
Any worker, regardless of where they work or what they do, should enjoy the privilege of their work. They should have enough to provide good housing for their family, to own their own car, to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, to enjoy healthcare, to raise their families where safe, potable water and safe food isn’t considered a luxury. Worldwide, as we enter a period of globalization, doesn’t everybody deserve a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage?
How can any of us feel comfortable buying goods that were produced in parts of the world where the man who made our widgets might not have enough to feed his family? Where the man who made our widgets is washing his clothes in human excrement? Where the man who made our widgets is treated like a cog in some machine, where the man doesn’t matter at all?
In answering the global issues of pollution, the nations of the world need to adopt strict guidelines for industry, regardless of where those industries operate. Global environmental regulation should be standardized. Global pay scale should be standardized. Global human rights should be standardized. It is this lack of standards that has allowed irresponsible industry to be swallowed up by our neighbors in both China and India. Economically, it has proven a boom for China. Ecologically, the lack of global standards has proven disastrous for the world. We all have a significant stake in the protection of our shared world. In the meantime, while we pause to scratch our noggins and consider the bigger picture, Mother Nature works 24-7 and the…
Winds are blowing ever-greater
amounts of pollution from China
into Japan, leading many Japanese
to complain about irritated
eyes and throats
The winds are also blowing pollution across the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast of the United States, and blowing clouds of pollution across the Mediterranean through Germany and the UK all the way out into the Atlantic Ocean as well. The consumer frenzy of the post-modern world is quickly financing the worldwide famine that will plague the 21st century.
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