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Sep 29

In my prior post about Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama’s opinion piece on the NYT, I was encouraged by Hatoyama’s view of an Asian Union. This is an interesting trend I encourage our readers to follow. Xinhua reported Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan has met in Shanghai on September 28, 2009 to “deepen their all-round cooperative partnership.” This is in preparation for the three countries top leaders to meet in October in Beijing. It will be interesting to see what new trilateral agreements they reach by then, at which time the top leaders will endorse and announce.

Sep 26

Here is one of the many links on this story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8262477.stm

This is free advertising for Made-in-China corp. – different from another bad story on bad quality on Chinese products.

The story has a kind, warm human touch too. Thanks Buffett!

Sep 25

Here is something interesting I found on Youtube.  For all the talk about China spreading propaganda and indoctrinating their children – you know teaching children about the greatness of their nation, their leader, their history … about the importance of social harmony …  instilling hope for a better future – does the U.S. really look that different?

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Sep 24

minipost-Sustaining Fools Mountain

Written by: dewang | Filed under:-mini-posts, General | Tags:, ,
8 Comments » newest

Dear Readers and Contributors,

Many of you know, Fools Mountain is a very unique blog and is one that is widely recognized in the China blogsphere. To date, all the costs associated with hosting and bandwidth have been paid privately by admin. We would like to make FM more self sustaining. Our first step is to make hosting and bandwidth costs community sponsored. Following that, we hope to use additional funds to license new contents or procure services to further enhance the blog for the benefit of the FM community.
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Sep 23

minipost-Sound Unlimited!

Written by: Steve | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, media, music | Tags:, ,
1 Comment » newest

Louis Yu’s new show called Sound Unlimited has hit the net. This show features indie music from all over the world, including the hottest bands in China. The format is in Chinese and you can download the podcast here or subscribe to it on iTunes.

Take a few minutes to check it out. It’s very rare (if not unique) to be able to find a music podcast from North America (in this case, Vancouver) that caters to the Chinese market. I can guarantee you that Lou knows his music and you’ll be exposed to many top bands you’ve never heard nor seen before.

Sep 16

rolf Says: September 12th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
rolf, you’ve been warned against thread-jacking and off-topic nonsense before.
Post deleted (probably by Raj)

I think this is quite serious. In a way I am warned that if I mention CIA/NED once more, I will be banned. The person(s) who is doing this wants probably the discussion on Xinjiang to focus on the contradictions between Hans and uighur, which will make Hans the main culprit and harm Chinas unity.

In my opinion it is impossible to have such strong and cruel riots as in Xinjiang and Tibet, without a strong organization and outside backing and training. Ordinary people just don’t kill, invalidize and hurt so many in such a short time. It can only be done by trained killers. The main culprits are Al-Qaeda, some Istanbul based Big-Turkey-organizations and CIA/NED. CIA is the most plausible. If you look at www.ned.org you can see that CIA supports the Xinjiang and Tibet separatists economically. If you listen to or read http://www.voa.gov the link to the American government is strengthened a lot. The same if you read http://www.uyghurcongress.org

It has been very alarming to look at some of the You Tube videos from the riots in Tibet and Xinjiang – where you can see how well-trained and focused some of the rioters are.

I am now not allowed to mention CIA in connection with Xinjiang. I protest this censorship. The person(s) who censor these views are not at all deserving their administrator responsibility.

Fools Mountain is indirectly and unintentionally supporting separatism by suppressing views about imperialism. I felt this at once when I first looked at your site about a year ago. It is a bit sad because you are the only “Western” site on the internet which is positive about China. In a way by your administrator policies you are leading the discussion astray.

Regards Rolf

Sep 16

minipost-Memories of Mao

Written by: guest | Filed under:-guest-posts, -mini-posts | 61 Comments » newest

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KI17Ad03.html

As the countdown of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern China looms, it seems that China is getting ready for the big party, from the restoration of Chang’an street to the Film created for the special occasion Jianguo Daye. One thing that seems to be absent in this occasion is Mao himself.

By all means Mao is regarded to many Chinese as the George Washington of China when China rose as a nation from the burning ashes of WWII. Yet, the Chinese media did not mention anything of his death at September 9. The movie released at 10/1 Jianguo Daye means “Lofty Ambitions of Founding a Republic” doesn’t sound ‘patriotic.’ Even textbooks are devote less space for Mao than the previous years.

Chinese history wrote of Mao’s deeds of 70-30 (70% good, 30% bad). The older generation Chinese remember China before 1949 have great regards of Mao because they have seen the devastation of WWII. The middle generation Chinese have bad memories of Mao because of the cultural revolution and great leap forward. The young generation Chinese care less about Mao, and tend to remember what Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao did.

What do you think of him?

Sep 15

Panda loves bamboo, and so did ancient Chinese musicians. Here is an image of a ceramic xiao () player excavated from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) tomb in Sichuan province (also home to pandas). The dizi (笛子) is held horizontally. Both are made of bamboo. What do you get when you add the Mongolian morin khurr to the mix? Here is a composition involving these instruments: “梦回鄂尔多斯 (Dreaming Ordus).” Ordus (鄂尔多斯) is a city in Inner Mongolia, China.
Sep 12

In the continuing saga that is Chen Shui Bian’s colorful life, a trial court in Taipei sentenced Chen to life in prison yesterday as the first phase of his dramatic corruption and embezzlement trial came to an end. Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-chen, received a life sentence on corruption charges. Their son and daughter-in-law, convicted of money laundering, received relatively lenient 2 1/2 – and one-year terms. Continue reading »

Sep 09

A case was filed last month at a US Court alleging US President Obama was born at hospital in Coast Province, the Repulic of Kenya. The case file can be read from here

http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/kenyan-birth-motion-to-expedite-authentication.htm

The core piece of evidence is a birth certificate obtained through back channel by an immigration lawyer.

http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/obama-certified-copy-of-registration-of-birth-in-kenya.htm

More can be followed on this attorney’s blog

http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/blog1/

There were some allegation during last year’s US President election but was rejected as speculation. With newly found evidence, what will be the outcome of this case?

Sep 09

Four In Urumqi Indicted Over Needling Pedestrian:

According to Xinhua News on 9/7, prosecutors in Urumqi indicted 4 people over Shaoximen needling case on 9/3. This is the second case of needling the Urumqi prosecutors have filed.

Suspects Abdul-Rusuli Abdul-Kedl, Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Razzaq, Abdul-Keyoumu Abdul-Aufu, Abdul-mithi Mamati, around 9/3 10:30 followed a woman (surname Lee) into pedestrian underpass in Urumqi’s Shaoximen area. When they passed Lee, Abdul-Rusuli Abdul-Kedl with help of three others, stabbed Lee’s neck with a hyperdermic needle.

Withe the help of the crowd, the four were caught at the scene. On the 3rd they were detained by Urumqi police on the charge of endangering public safety. On the 7th, the case was moved to the prosecutors, and the four were offcially arrested. Urumqi police carried out the order on the 7th.

Urumqi prosecutors said, these four suspect ignored established laws, needling women in the public, severely distrupted social order with serious consquences. A crime has clearly taken place, with concrete evidence.

Sep 07

The Boston Globe article on this Sunday.

“In 1842, on a British warship anchored off the city of Nanjing, Chinese and British representatives signed a treaty that brought the First Opium War to an end. The British victory had been decisive, and along with the reparations and trade concessions exacted from China was the requirement that Hong Kong, a coastal island sparsely populated by farmers, fishermen, and the occasional pirate, be given to the British in perpetuity as a crown colony.’

———
A kind of upset of the article twisting history and the truth. It reflects the ignorance of the west and journalists.

How outrageous to say the opium pusher (the Britons), was good for the victim (Chinese)?

If it is your reason using force to enforce the opium trade to developing countries, what kind of civilization we’re in?

The British Parliament favored trade profit over justice. They had nothing to trade with China’s silk, porcelain…, but plenty of opium grown in India.

Britons did provide Hong Kong with stability (but stole a lot from Hong Kong as most colonial masters did). HK’s success is on mainly due to its special location (close to China), the expert businessmen from Shanghai and the cheap labor of the refugees.

Sep 01

Yukio Hatoyama will become the next Prime Minister of Japan with his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).  Since WWII, Japan has been mainly ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).  This is a big deal and a big shift within Japan. DPJ has also won about two-thirds of the seats in the Japanese Diet.  Hatoyama has an Op-Ed in the New York Times, “A New Path for Japan” which I highly recommend.  This is an abridged version of a manuscript which NYT said were circulated in business and diplomatic circles signaling Hatoyama’s policies for his administration.
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Aug 31

Many in the “West” criticize China’s media as a “mouthpiece” for the Chinese government.  The article below is a translation of an opinion piece carried on People’s Daily by ChinaNewsWrap.com.  It is urging Chinese citizens to refrain from making fun of South Korea’s recently failed rocket launch as well as to not make disparaging remarks about its Asian neighbors.

What do you think?  Is this good for society?  Should the “West” do more of this type of “propaganda?”

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Aug 28

Dalai Lama is set to visit Taiwan next week. The Dalai Lama has been invited a group of local DPP officials representing several southern counties – where DPP support is especially strong.

The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan twice, once in 1997 and 2001. However, soon after Ma took office on a platform promising to amend ties with the Mainland, a request for the Dalai Lama to visit was turned down by Ma, citing the timing as not proper. A Dalai Lama visit then could have derailed Ma’s plan for closer ties with the Mainland – and still has the potential to do so the same. Continue reading »

Aug 27

We’ve had many discussions here on Chinese Nationalism. Last year, Chinese nationalism was stoked in the aftermath of the West’s response to the riots in Tibet and in the lead up to the Olympics. Many in the West chided China on a host of issues – from domestic human rights abuses to China’s policies in Africa. Many viewed with wary eyes the rise of Chinese nationalism, with some depicting Chinese nationalism as a force for instability in the world – some going as fars as comparing Chinese Nationalism to Hitler’s Naziism. Many painted the notion of Chinese Exceptionism (the vague idea that China occupies a special place in history and has a special role to play in the world) in dark, ominous terms. Continue reading »

Aug 23

They conquer the world – who wants to fight this powerful army (see pictures). They have the right stuffs (and dual missiles too).

This is also the reason China has been invaded so many times.

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You be the judge and let me know whether yours is a male’s point of view or a female’s.

Aug 20

President Hu recently met with a delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan, and pledged further support from the mainland for whatever help Taiwan may need.  Ethnic minorities in southern Taiwan, living often in remote villages, were the hardest hit group in Taiwan by the recent typhoon. Here is a translation of a story on the People’s Web by China News Wrap:

Hu meets delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan

Hu meets delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan

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Aug 18

This post is not a comparison between the system in China and western democracy. It doesnt in any way imply the system in China is a better system, either economically or politically.)

Recently, there is “war” in USA about obama’s plan of healthcare reform. It has become an issue of if government should be allowed to butt into the private business of healthcare insurance. I am not here to judge which way is better, but after reading most media reports, it seems to me that media is trying to make it a conflict between government stand and public opinions; to make it an issue if government should have such power (or do you want socialism in US?).
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Aug 17

From August 6-9, southern Taiwan was hit with the worst typhoon in 50 years. Per the Associated Press story:

“Morakot dumped more than 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people. The storm destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of 50 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.5 billion), Ma told the security conference.”

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Aug 17

Information on charity assistance to Typhoon Morakot victims in Taiwan (from TECRO forwarded by Charles Liu):
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