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Jul 23

Saw on ESPN.com AP reports that

Beijing will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month’s Olympics … Liu Shaowu, director for security for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said Wednesday that areas in at least three public parks near outlying sporting venues have been set aside for use by demonstrators.

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Jul 22

More released from Pew Global Attitudes survey.  From the IHT/NYTimes: “Eighty-six percent of the Chinese surveyed said they were content with the country’s direction, up from 48 percent in 2002 and a full 25 percentage points higher than the next highest country, Australia. And 82 percent of Chinese were satisfied with their national economy, up from 52 percent.”

Jul 22

Wired recently reported some amazing statistics:
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Jul 22

Zhang Ziyi was recently interviewed on a Chinese TV network:

She said (in translation):

The first time I was the lead in an English-language film, I received some high praise. And especially as a Chinese person, I thought that was something to be proud of.

At the Cannes Film Festival, in front of all that media, then they call your name… And as a Chinese person, they then call you by your Chinese name… I was pretty emotional. I’ve never thought about changing my name, changing it to an English name. I’ve never thought about adopting an English name just to accommodate them.

My father and mother gave me my name. It’s mine, and if you want to remember me, you have to put some thought into how to pronounce it. It’s mine.

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Jul 22

There is probably only one other issue capable of challenging the Olympics for national attention in China right now: the collapse of the housing market in China, led by Shenzhen. Home prices in Shenzhen grew very rapidly in recent years (on the order of 50%-100% ), and now appear to be falling just as quickly.

But for some people, it might not be falling fast enough. Two years ago, Zou Tao organized a campaign to fight rising prices in Shenzhen called “Not Buy House” (explanation courtesy of ESWN). The government gave Zou Tao a firm “suggestion” that such mass campaigns were not welcome. Now, he’s back. Courtesy of Southern Metropolis, an article on his new campaign (连接):

Zou Tao organized a “Not Buy House” campaign two years ago. He is now initiating a new campaign: “Housing For Ten Thousand – Group Buying Activity”. He has already established a web platform at www.zoutao.com, and online voting and registration is currently on-going. Zou Tao says that he is doing this voluntarily without any compensation. His goal is to use a group-buying model to push down housing prices, and let those without homes find a place to live.

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Jul 21

(Letter) Quizhou’s jamboree bonfire

Written by: guest | Filed under:-guest-posts | 4 Comments » newest

大陆[强国论坛]检索“贵州瓮安事件”
(博讯北京时间2008年6月29日 转载)

强国论坛 translate Strong Nation Forum ,on http://www.people.com.cn,the official website of People’s Daily,is one of the extreme nationalistic forum in mainland China.On 20-June morning,Hu jin-tao went on-line for 15 minutes,resulting in tens of thousands of netizens,all log-in onto that web page and try to have a chat with Hu,”Brother No1″,an affectionate nick name given to Hu by young bloggers(in their 20 or early 30),they themself are nick-named “Angry Youths”
Most of the blogs written by these “Angry Youths” are pro-government,such as anti CNN,anti Dalai Lama,kill Sharon Stone,stuff like that.That was the main reason “Brother No1″ went on-line there because that is his home turf,100% no funny or embarrassing comments.
On 28-June,the students riot in Wen An ,has changed the color of “Angry Youth” (on both people.com.cn and xinhua.cn) once and for all.For the first time in the short history of Chinese internet,95% of comments posted on Tianya.cn,sina.com.cn,xinhua.cn and people.com.cn were supporting the students,calling those local officials “Liers”,calling for the immediate resignation of local officials.Some even called for the overthrow of THE mighty CCP,and these calls come from XINHUA.CN and PEOPLE.COM,from the CCP’s headquarters!

The show of power by dissident netizens,by putting massive amounts of posts(in tens of thousands) onto major chinese bbs,went from 28-June to 2-July,then slowly calmed down.On Tianya.cn,some bloggers commented that this is:The Cyber War that will be remembered for long time.

Bellow are some of the comments left on bbs.people.com.cn

2. 瓮安大火比火炬更激动人心 ( wanmin 2008-06-29 18:17:16 )

The big fire at Wen An makes people’s heart more excited than olympic torch

福娃里面有个代表火的,有人说火炬被抢已近应了,我看这次鬼州瓮安警民联谊开篝火晚会才算是应了。 ( 读资本论治平天下 2008-06-29 18:02:38 )
One of the Olympic dolls represents fire,someone said the attack of the torch meant something,to me,this jamboree bonfire by the friendly police and all their friends really means something.

我最欣赏的是瓮安消防队的同志们,车开不进去,就不勉强.哈哈. ( 曾是知青④ 2008-06-29 17:49:38 )

I particularly admire those comrades from WenAn fire department,couldn’t get the fire engine any closer,relax,not here to force anything.HAHA.

椐谣传:事发后,瓮安竟然看不见穿制服的工按.”都转入地下工作了? ( 重庆越南 2008-06-29 17:40:57 )

瓮安那么多人,却见火不救,袖手旁观。 ( 绑架真理 2008-06-29 17:36:55 )

According to rumors:During the riot,those people in uniform are nowhere to be seen,are they all gone underground?
So many people at WenAn,not only refuse to put out the fire,just stood there and watch,with hands in pocket.

国内发生的事要到国外网站去看!悲哀啊! ( 贵州乡民 2008-06-29 17:33:12 )

神圣圣火在贵州瓮安热烈燃烧!! ( 北秀村的沙漠 2008-06-29 17:31:58 )

Have to go to web sites outside China to learn what is happening inside China!How sad!
Sacred fire is is burning like hell in Quizhou!

刚才听说:贵州瓮安十万民众自制圣火迎奥运,公安大楼意外着火。 ( 广州家伙 2008-06-29 17:08:34 )

Breaking news:Quizhou WenAn 100,000 people make own fire to welcome Olympic,police big building catch fire by accident.

如果瓮安的当事人(县太爷)迅速被自杀,效果也许会更好。 ( 随缘而至 2008-06-29 17:02:20 )

Supposing the person involved(county big boss) was swiftly being suicided,the end result shall be better.

从瓮安事件看出,一个人民没有选票、权力缺乏有效、意见和诉求没有管道的国家其社会混乱只是迟早的事情! ( 争自由 2008-06-29 13:49:04 )

The WenAn incident clearly shows that,a country that do not give ballot paper to its people, with no effective restriction of its power,opinions and requests have nowhere to appeal,this kind of country,its plunging into social chaos is only a matter of time.

Jul 21

(Letter) Taiwan’s Diao Yu Tai island

Written by: guest | Filed under:-guest-posts | No Comments » newest

献给不屈服于武力威胁的台湾同胞
文章提交者:最期之诗2008 加帖在 猫眼看人 【凯迪网络】 http://www.kdnet.net

台湾是中华天空中的一颗恒星
虽黯淡,却未曾熄灭它的光焰
虽寂寞,却未曾屈服黑夜的恐怖
虽孤独,却未曾忘却光明的荣辱
虽渺小,却于无穷的黑幕中一闪一闪地向前行

愿我们都能是一颗恒星
不自卑于渺小黯淡
不沉沦于寂寞孤独

愿我们都能坚守那金石般的誓言:
在黎明未曾到来之前,你所能仰望到的天空
都有我们闪烁的身影
Taiwan,a star shines in the sky of Chung Hua
Though dimmy, yet flames dancing refuse to die
Though lonely, yet facing the terror of darkness refuse to bow
Though solitude,yet has not forgotten honor and glory
Though tinny,yet sparkling and glittering among endless darkness,always advancing

Pray that we all become shining star
Though dimmy and lonely,yet proud and brave,never ever give in
Pray that we all standby the golden oath:
Before dawn has come upon the dark sky
There shines our glittering shadow

感谢在汶川大地震中慷慨解襄的台湾同胞,你们的深情厚谊,大陆同胞体会到了。你们把爱传递给了我们,体现出两岸同胞血浓于水的同胞爱、手足情。

Thanks to our Taiwan brothers,who donate generously during Wen Chuen earthquake.Mainland people can feel your deep love and compassion,prove again blood is thicker than water,because we all are brothers and sisters.

感谢前往钓鱼台捍卫主权的台湾同胞,你们的民族大义,大陆同胞体会到了。你们把勇气传递给了我们,体现出两岸同胞同仇敌忾,共御外侮的英雄气概.

Thanks to our Taiwan brothers,defending soverign at Diaoyutai.Mainland people can feel your patriotic heart.Though courage first come from you,we will all unite as one,and victory will come,we are all heros,smash all the intruders.

感谢实践着自由民主的台湾同胞,你们发出“人民最大”的声音,向世人证明我们中华民族也是配享自由民主的高贵种群,而非生来遭受奴役的劣等族群。

Thanks to our Taiwan brothers,praticing freedom and democrcy.The voice of “People always No.One”,is the prove that CHINESE PEOPLE is PEOPLE of high dignity.who are worthy of freedom and democracy,who are not born into slavery,neither low class nor sub-human.
有星空就会有梦想,有梦想就会有方向;有方向,我们就可以迎着黑暗义无返顾地去追寻光明。

When there are stars
There are dreams.
When we have dreams
We have direction
When we have direction
We shall advance towards brightness
Disgarding darkness behind

Note:Above is a blog I copy from http://www.kdnet.net,a famous mainland chinese web site where I enjoy reading those postings,some of them are of superb quality.I have copy many classical writing,and will try to translate into English.

Jul 21

(Letter) Confucius-Meng Zi Teaching

Written by: guest | Filed under:-guest-posts | No Comments » newest

生,亦我所欲也;義,亦我所欲也:二者不可得兼,舍生而取義者也。

舍生而取 義is a very famous phrase written by Meng Zi about 2000 years ago,is the crown jewel of Confucius-Meng Zi teaching.義 has no equivalent English word,similar word is 仁. In the west,society is bound by the Ten Commandments,the fear of being burned eternally in hell,or enjoy eternally in heaven,is enough to made its citizens behave.On the other hand,Confucius-Meng Zi do not promise heaven to come,nor threathen its citizens with hell fire.Instead,citizens,and their rulers,all need to understand 仁義, and practise it,then heaven can be achieved on earth.

仁義 is the ultmost important factor,the foundation of Chinese,or Asian,society.If you check on dictionary,the translation is benevolence and righteousness,but the real meaning is much more than that.From a westerner’s point of view,the best,and also the easiest way to both understand and appreciate its value is through watching Chinese Kung Fu movies.Bruce Lee’s movies is a very good example.Bruce Lee,through his movies,the best of Chinese qualities,to be good,to be strong,to dare to punish evil and darkness using force,use action,not word,all these qualities been shown to the world,and loved by the world.Next come Jet Lee,his many movies tell the story of a real life Kung Fu legend Wong Fei Hung,who was both a kung fu master and a traditional medicine man.Wong Fei Hung was,and still is, deeply loved by Asians all over the world,because he hated evil and darkness,and always try to stop evil using kung fu.

舍生而取義 means to be rightous,to fight evil and darkness,one is prepared to give up one’s life.During the Japen-invade-China war,many Chinese soldiers,and ordinary citizens,fought the invaders to the end of life.Millions and millions of Chinese lost their life,defending the motherland.These national heros will be remembered by generations of Chinese to come.

舍生而取義 does not advocate retreat,nor protray weakness,nor meek.It calls for revolt,to fight,to smash unjustic and evil.I belive 仁義 will soon prevail, and shines among Chinese,the land of Confucius-Meng Zi.

Jul 21

On one of our earlier threads on the misnamed Dalai Lama, there is an excellent on-going exchange of thoughts and positions from two of our posters: one is a Tibetan in exile, the other is Chinese in China.

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Jul 21

It has been three days since the sensational title “Authorities order bars not to serve black people” written by Tom Miller showed up in the supposedly reputable South China Morning Post. I used the phrase “supposedly reputable” because I don’t read SCMP and really can’t directly comment on it. However I vaguely remember someone, in one of the many blogs/forums discussing this allegation, commented to the effect of: “It comes from the SCMP, which has a solid reputation. So I am inclined to believe this is true.” Sorry, I seriously intended to quote that comment here, but I somehow just can’t find it. It must be buried in lots of other comments either questioning SCMP’s journalism standard in this case or blaming China for all the wrongs of the universe. Nevertheless, I logically infer that SCMP must have had a solid reputation with at least some readers up until three days ago.

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Jul 21

Two months ago, major Western newspapers ran stories on laywers Jiang Tianyong and Teng Biao. These two have been working in the “rights defense” (维权) movement in China. Both have received extensive overseas praise and attention for their work defending dissidents and FLG practictioners. Both also offered to defend Tibetans implicated in the March riots.

It all culminated in these articles at the beginning of June.  I won’t bother quoting from the articles; the titles are pretty self-explanatory:

New York Times: Beijing Suspends Licenses of 2 Lawyers Who Offered to Defend Tibetans in Court
Washington Post: China Shuts Out 2 Lawyers Over Tibetans’ Cases
Toronto Star: Lawyers pay high price for coming to aid of Tibetans
Reuters: China rights lawyers say licenses blocked after Tibet call

The articles largely agree in content, and are basically copied directly from press releases from activist dissident groups: the two lawyers were denied their licenses for political reasons, authoritarian China, no sign of reform, etc, etc…

Well, we’ve learned more about their situations since.  However, the Western media doesn’t seem very interested in telling the rest of the story.  We’ll just have to discuss it here.

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Jul 20

Chinese Exceptionalism -义理和人情

Written by: bianxiangbianqiao | Filed under:Analysis, culture | Tags:, , ,
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Before switching from posting immature opinions on things I know unprofessionally to the work I do for a living for a few weeks, there are some thoughts I really want to get out of my chest. I hope these thoughts will help non-Chinese understand some puzzling phenomena in the Chinese social and political life.

Notes:
1. My English translation of the key terms (义理, 人情, 隐忍) might be a bit off. Suggestions are welcome.
2. If you disagree, please trash, ridicule, tear it apart or ignore. Don’t worry about me committing suicide out of shame. Continue reading »

Jul 20

(This is excerpted from: Tianjin’s “Old Hundred Names” on the Olympics)

Here’s what some of our neighbours and others from our daily routines in the city think about the Olympics. I asked them, “What do the Olympics means to Chinese people?” (奥运会对中国人有什么意义?) and “Why are they doing so much preparation?” (我听说中国为了奥运会作很多准备。为什么是这样?)

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Jul 19

On July 18th, Beijing released a set of official Olympic and Paralympic posters and graphics. A sharp eyed reader quickly pointed out a mistake in one of the smiling face photos:

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Jul 19

As the Internet has gained in influence in China, the “human search engine” and “internet mob” has also made itself increasingly known.  We’ve discussed several such stories here, including the case of Wang Qianyuan.  In the past, some unknown government bureau might have simply issued an edict banning this behavior… but in a hopeful sign of the maturing legal system in China, senior judges are discussing how to deal with a lawsuit related to one such incident.

ESWN provides background on the case of Jiang Yan, and her husband Wang Fei.  Jiang Yan committed suicide in the last few days of 2007, and that’s where the story begins.  The full story of her husband’s affair and cruelty was described on numerous internet sites by Jiang Yan’s sister and friends.  The human search engine and internet mob went into action, harassing Wang Fei and family at work and at home. 

Rather than just disappearing, Wang Fei has filed a lawsuit against three Internet sites and one of Jiang Yan’s friends.  I’m not going to get into the titillating details, but here’s an update from the China Youth Daily on the lawsuit (连接):

This reporter has learned that after the third hearing on the “first human search engine case”, the Beijing Chaoyang District Court has called a conference of senior judges.  54 senior judges have begun heated discussions on the topic.

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Jul 19

I was having an online discussion with a business associate about U.S. export controls. She made the following statement:

“China is such a threat to the U.S…we must be extremely careful of what they get their hands on…China and other non U.S. friendly countries will do practically anything to steal our knowledge for our weapons and military equipment.”

Notwithstanding that she has certain valid points I was still offended. I responded:

“I must admit that I take offense at the prejudiced statement because not only is my family Chinese, Chinese foreign policy for 5,000 years has been one of nonintervention & nonaggression (with a few exceptions). I realize that China does not take a Western style proactive approach to certain “hot” international issues, yet China on the other hand doesn’t directly interfere with other countries through military intimidation & conflict. China, like many other countries, has its own way of doing things and just because it is not the American way does not make them a threat.

China definitely does pose a serious geopolitical challenge, but calling China a ‘non U.S. friendly country’ is cold war thinking and detrimental to building a harmonious international community. Just because an individual is an American doesn’t give that person the right to demonize other strong countries which do not cower before America’s violent foreign policy. The world would be a much better place if countries spent more time mutually controlling and sharing technology through recognized international bodies, rather than demonizing each other and creating a world of fear and hate.”

It just bothers me that people always demonize China as a rouge state without ethics or values. I fully understand that the CCP has its share of corruption and violation of human/civil rights. I understand that China is building up its military and engages in constant espionage. I also understand that China does not share many American values. For example, the American values of…

Foreign policy: forcing poor countries to accept democracy and capitalism through military invasion.
Politics: politicians waste their time fighting amongst each other and waste the people’s money. Chinese politicians do the same but without the media coverage.
Military: China’s military personnel are usually only deployed for disaster relief
Diet/Food: gradual obesity through over consumption of over processed unnatural foods.

I am having a hard time deciding where my exact values stand because I share both American and Chinese values. Am I wrong by taking such a stand? Due to the fact that my ancestors were on the Mayflower should I take a more patriotic stand? How do you draw the line between where your values/ideology stands with statements like above?

Jul 18

A report titled China’s Economic Rise—Fact and Fiction published earlier this month takes an optimistic view of China’s future prospects: “Beijing now seems likely to overcome potential stumbling blocks such as economic instability, pollution, inequality, corruption, and a slow pace of political reform.”

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Jul 18

Tom Miller of the South China Morning Post has generated somewhat doubtful outrages with an article alleging Beijing ordered bars not to serve blacks. For now, however, Beijing Boyce seems to have seriously deflated the credibility of Tom Miller’s work. (H/T Danwei) Continue reading »

Jul 18

This is a follow up to DJ’s post on the Official Chinese Olympic Fashion, but from a different angle. Instead of mutual respect between the host and guests, I have some introspective and soul-searching thoughts about the Chinese identity fantasy in the context of a global culture.
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Jul 18

There is a heated debate going on regarding the lack of Chinese characters on China’s official Olympics uniforms in contrast with those on German’s sportswear.

Personally, I see no point in not printing Chinese text on China’s official uniforms. But for this post, I will purposely play the role of a “CCP apologist” and try to put these things in positive terms. 😉 Besides, I will explain two frequently used Chinese phrases and hopefully cast some light on a particular aspect of the Chinese culture.

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Jul 17

Chinese people (like all people) have stereotypes about different groups. Within China, Northerners view those from the south as sneaky and lack sincerity. Southerners believe those from the north are lazy and unintelligent. Chinese stereotypes are held more strongly and more widely spread. The Chinese tend to over-generalize from a few individuals’ behaviors to the individuals’ group.

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