Emergency Green Plan

The pollution is Beijing has been bad ever since the new restrictions were put in place. The government is blaming it on the weather which has been especially hot and humid. Hopefully some rain or wind will blow this out of here before the Olympics. But just in case it does not get better, Beijing is contemplating an emergency plan for if pollution continues.

The emergency plan will be put in place within 48 hours of the Olympics start on Aug. 8th. The plan would take 90% of the private vehicles off the roads, all construction sites and more factories in neighboring areas would be closed.

New Olympic Restrictions

It has been unclear since we have been here what activities would be restricted by the government leading up to the Olympics. There has been a lot of rumors over the months. Here is what we now understand:

• Visa restrictions were imposed a couple of months ago which has made it difficult to enter China. The government says they have only imposed the rules that were already in place.
• The police are stopping foreigners and checking for passports and visas. We have not experienced this but know co-workers and friends who have.
• The police started checking residency permits by going door-to-door to expat communities over a month ago.
• On July 1, half of the government cars were pulled off the road. We were impacted by that at work.
• Also on July 1, trucks with yellow tags (don't pass emission standards) are no longer allowed in the city of Beijing (that impacted our packing and moving schedule).
• Tomorrow the new travel ban takes place for private vehicles. Cars can only travel on odd-even days based on license plate number until Sep 20. As a result I will be riding my bike to work for the next two weeks.
• Heavy industry will shut down factories from July 20 to Sept 20.
• Government office hours have been reduced to 9 to 5 instead of 8:30 to 5:30 until Sep 20.

I sure hope this all works to reduce the pollution for the Olympics. Here are some pictures from Saturday at Jingshan Park, Coal Hill, Gaobeidian:

Tomb Sweeping Day

April 4th is Tomb Sweeping Day in China. This is a traditional holiday that was passed up in the previous few years due to the Golden Weeks that were established including the week in May. In 2008, the government eliminated the May Golden Week and instituted some traditional cultural holidays instead.

We spent the day by visiting the Summer Palace. It was a beautiful warm, blue sky day. We took a couple of boats up the canal to get to the Palace. It turns out many others had the same idea of visiting the Palace.

Tomb Sweeping (Qingming Festival) has been celebrated since the 2nd century BC and is considered an unlucky day to work. Here is an excerpt from the Chinese Culture Club:

Tomb Sweeping Day is one of the few traditional Chinese holidays that follows the solar calendar-- typically falling on April 4, 5, or 6. Its Chinese name "Qing Ming" literally means "Clear Brightness," hinting at its importance as a celebration of Spring. Similar to the spring festivals of other cultures, Tomb Sweeping Day celebrates the rebirth of nature, while marking the beginning of the planting season and other outdoor activities.

Qing Ming Jie in Ancient Times In ancient times, people celebrated Qing Ming Jie with dancing, singing, picnics, and kite flying. Colored boiled eggs would be broken to symbolize the opening of life. In the capital, the Emperor would plant trees on the palace grounds to celebrate the renewing nature of spring. In the villages, young men and women would court each other.
The Tomb Sweeping Day as Celebrated Today With the passing of time, this celebration of life became a day to the honor past ancestors. Following folk religion, the Chinese believed that the spirits of deceased ancestors looked after the family. Sacrifices of food and spirit money could keep them happy, and the family would prosper through good harvests and more children.
Today, Chinese visit their family graves to tend to any underbrush that has grown. Weeds are pulled, and dirt swept away, and the family will set out offerings of food and spirit money. Unlike the sacrifices at a family's home altar, the offerings at the tomb usually consist of dry, bland food. One theory is that since any number of ghosts roam around a grave area, the less appealing food will be consumed by the ancestors, and not be plundered by strangers.

Honoring ancestors begins with proper positioning of a gravesite and coffin. Experts in feng shui determine the quality of land by the surrounding aspects of streams, rivers, trees, hills, and so forth. An area that faces south, with groves of pine trees creates the best flow of cosmic energy required to keep ancestors happy. Unfortunately, nowadays, with China's burgeoning population, public cemeteries have quickly supplanted private gravesites. Family elders will visit the gravesite at least once a year to tend to the tombs.

While bland food is placed by the tombs on Qing Ming Jie, the Chinese regularly provide scrumptious offerings to their ancestors at altar tables in their homes. The food usually consists of chicken, eggs, or other dishes a deceased ancestor was fond of. Accompanied by rice, the dishes and eating utensils are carefully arranged so as to bring good luck. Sometimes, a family will put burning incense with the offering so as to expedite the transfer of nutritious elements to the ancestors. In some parts of China, the food is then eaten by the entire family.

Besides the traditions of honoring the dead, people also often fly kits on Tomb Sweeping Day. Kites can come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Designs could include frogs, dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, bats, and storks.

Censorship Part II

With all the protests and activities in Tibet, the censorship story has become even stranger. On Friday and most of Saturday BBC and CNN were blocked when any news on Tibet came up. Then later on Saturday we could occasionally see a report on BBC. Also CCTV 9 which is an English speaking news station here in Beijing reported on the damage that the Tibetan rioters had done to Han Chinese property.

On Sunday afternoon, Beijing was allowing CNN to show a live video stream that I believe was also being shown in the US by some unknown person to a Hong Kong TV station. This was very strange as to why they were allowing this. Then the Dali Lama came on to speak and again the broadcast was blanked. The Beijing government feels that the Dali Lama is the cause of all the unrest and view him as a national threat. I included this interesting article about the Chinese chosen Panchem Lama:

China's official Tibet Buddhist leader condemns riots
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top state-favoured Tibetan Buddhist leader has condemned the riots that shook Lhasa, state media said on Sunday, but the tightly controlled teenager appeared to avoid directly criticising the exiled Dalai Lama.

The Panchen Lama ranks second to the Dalai Lama in the hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism.
After the 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989, Beijing and the Dalai Lama made rival choices for his successor, and the Dalai's choice, a boy then aged six, disappeared into the control of Chinese authorities.

But according to the Xinhua news agency, Beijing's choice, 18-year-old Gyaltsen Norbu, has come out backing the government condemnation of protests that left parts of Tibet's regional capital Lhasa smouldering with torched vehicles and shops.

"The rioters' acts not only harmed the interests of the nation and the people, but also violated the aim of Buddhism," he said, according to an English-language report from Lhasa.
"We strongly condemn the crime of a tiny number of people to hurt the lives and properties of the people," he said.

Chinese authorities have said the Dalai Lama directly caused the protests, which snowballed from peaceful marches by monks.

But the 11th Panchen Lama, at least in the published comments, did not condemn the Dalai Lama, whom China reviles as a "separatist" while most Tibetans venerate him as a spiritual leader, even though his image is banned.

Tibetans widely disdain Beijing's choice for the 11th Panchen Lama, but tradition dictates the Dalai and Panchen lamas should recognise each other's reincarnations.

Reuters

I am so glad that we decided to go to Tibet last year. I cannot see the Beijing government allowing foreign tourist in the area any time soon.

Censorship

Picture of Tibet Separatist

Censorship is an interesting topic in China. There has been speculation in the media that China will selectively loosen censorship on the Internet for hotels, convention centers, and Internet cafes that westerners will frequent during the Olympics. This obviously is intended to give the perception that China is open.

I can tell you that censorship still exists in Beijing in spades. Recently, BBC television had several program segments which dealt with the air quality and China separatist activities (Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions). The TV was completely blank as these segments came on air.

As for the Internet there are many sites that we cannot get access to like Wikipedia. This blog is even censored for viewing, thankfully editing is not blocked.

Democracy in China

Our English paper, the China Daily had a very good whitepaper report this week titled "China'a Political Party System". The basic political system in China is a Multi-party Cooperation System, (better sounding name for Communist Party of China - one in the same though) according to the Chinese Constitution. This is different than the western two-party of multi-party competition systems.

So here is where the constitution gets interesting and reads, "The People's Republic of China is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants." The whitepaper goes on to explain, "The government system that accords with such a form of state is the system of people's congresses, and the political party system that accords with it is that of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC. The systems of people's congresses, multi-party cooperation, regional ethnic autonomy, and self-governance at the primary level of society together constitute the kernel and fundamental framework of China's political system, and are the embodiment of socialist democracy".

Do you follow all that ......
So here are the names of the other political parties that are consulted by the Communist Party and how large the membership is (total of 707,000 out of the 1,300,000,000 people in China which is .05%:

• Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK)
  RCCK recruits members mostly from people who have relations with the former Chinese Kuomintang, those who have historical or social relations with the RCCK and those who have ties with Taiwan. The RCCK currently has branches in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. Party membership numbers 81,000.
• China Democratic League (CDL)
  The China Democratic League was secretly established on March 19, 1941 in Chongqing, and was then named China Democratic Political League. The CDL is mainly made up of senior and leading intellectuals in the fields of culture, education, and science and technology. The CDL now has branches in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. Party membership numbers more than 181,000.
• China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA)
  The China National Democratic Construction Association was founded by a number of patriotic industrialists and business people, as well as some intellectuals in Chongqing on December 16, 1945. The members of the association are mainly business people.
  The CNDCA has branches in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and more than 108,000 members.
• China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD) Founded in Shanghai on December 30, 1945, the original members of the China Association for Promoting Democracy were mainly intellectuals in the fields of culture, education and publishing. Currently, the CAPD has branches in 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, with a membership of over 103,000.
• Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party (CPWDP)
  Deng Yanda, a leader of the left wing of the Kuomintang, held the first national cadres' conference of the Kuomintang in Shanghai on August 9, 1930, and at the conference the Provisional Action Committee of the Kuomintang of China was founded. On November 10, 1935, it was renamed the Chinese Action Committee for National Liberation. On February 3, 1947, it was renamed the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.
  Its members are mainly senior and leading intellectuals in the medical field.
  The CPWDP now has branches in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, with more than 99,000 members.
• China Zhi Gong Dang (CZGD)
  The China Zhi Gong Dang was founded in October 1925 in San Francisco, USA, under the sponsorship of some overseas Chinese societies. In May 1947, the party held its third congress in Hong Kong, and reorganized itself into a new democratic party.
  Its members are mainly from the middle and upper social strata of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives. The CZGD now has branches in 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, with more than 28,000 members.
• Jiu San Society
  At the end of 1944, a number of progressive scholars organized the Forum on Democracy and Science, to strive for victory in the Anti-Japanese War and political democracy, and to develop the anti-imperialist and patriotic spirit of the May 4 Movement of 1919. In commemoration of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and in the world anti-Fascist war, on September 3, 1945, it adopted the name Jiu San Society ("Jiu San" means September 3 in Chinese). On May 4, 1946, the Jiu San Society was formally founded in Chongqing. Its members are mainly senior and leading intellectuals in the fields of science and technology. The Jiu San Society currently has branches in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, with more than 105,000 members.
• Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (TSL) I can't believe this exists in Mainland China and these people would actually be listened to.
  The TSL was founded in Hong Kong on November 12, 1947 by a number of Taiwan personages engaged in patriotic campaigns after the February 28 Uprising of the Taiwan people that year. The TSL is composed of people from Taiwan. The TSL now has branches in 13 provinces and municipalities directly under the central government, with a membership of over 2,100.
• Personages Without Party Affiliation
  During the New Democratic Revolution (1919-1949), the famous personages without party affiliation were generally called prominent public figures. Since the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was founded in 1949, the category of "democratic personages without party affiliation" has been set up. Currently, those who do not belong to any party but have made positive contributions to and have a positive influence on society are categorized as personages without party affiliation. They are mostly intellectuals. numbers of members not given
  

17th Party Congress

This is a very big week in China and especially Beijing. Today begins the 17th Party Congress Meeting at the Great Hall of the People which was built in 1959. The meeting lasts until Sunday.

The Communist Party of China meets every 5 years to establish the direction of the country and to select its leaders.

The interesting thing is that all the policies and decisions have already been made in previous weeks leading up to this meeting. This will be an opportunity for the 2,217 delegates to hear and discuss the new policies. There are over 73MM out of the 1.3B people who belong to the communist party in China. Hu Jintao, the general Secretary of CPC Central Committee and the President will deliver his political report.On the way into work today (I do not go directly in front of Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall) there were a great number of police and local citizens with red arm bands lining the 2nd Ring Road to keep order (traffic and people).

Oh and magically the last two days have had beautiful sunny weather and good visibility and what appears to be low pollution. It never seems to amaze me anymore when important events are scheduled in Beijing.

Another Olympic Test

We have been hearing over the last month or so rumors that government officials were going to pull cars off the roads in Beijing during August to see the effects on pollution. There were lots of variations on how this was going to be done. The decision has been made and implemented. I am glad I am not in Beijing right now.

Olympics: Beijing bans over a million cars to cut pollution
by Charles Whelan Fri Aug 17, 2:17 AM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing banned more than one million cars from its roads on Friday in a test run to improve air quality for the Olympics, easing notorious gridlock although a thick smog still hung over the city.

More than 6,500 traffic police were on duty across the city to ensure car owners observed the ban, while an extra two million more trips were expected to be taken on subways and buses during the day, officials said.

The four-day test is expected to be a prelude for a similar ban to be put in place for the duration of the August 2008 Olympics, as part of a range of measures to temporarily improve air quality for athletes and visitors.

Beijing is one of the world's most polluted cities, and poor air quality, blamed partly on the city's three million cars -- a number growing by 1,200 a day -- has long been a top concern for athletes and officials.

Those worries were exacerbated as a weeks-long smoggy haze that reduced visibility to just a few hundred metres (yards) on occasions marred the build-up to last week's August 8 one-year countdown to the Games.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, in Beijing for the countdown, said then some events could be postponed if pollution was extremely bad, in what would be an unprecedented move to protect athletes' health.

The ban received a mixed reaction from commuters in Beijing on Friday morning, with many being forced to jam into crowded subway lines. Others did not believe it would have much of an impact on air quality.

"I cannot believe it is so crowded, two trains have just passed and I just could not squeeze myself on," said businessman Wang Xindong, who normally drives to work but found himself stuck at an inner-city subway station.

"As for the pollution emissions, I don't think taking cars off the road for just four days will have an immediate effect."

With taxis exempt from the ban, cab driver Jia Jinrong was up early on Friday and expecting a good day of business. However he was surprised that the traffic had eased only marginally.

"The traffic is okay, but not as good as I expected," he said. "We all know this car ban is just a show for the Olympics, a superficial phenomenon."

Of the city's 2.4 million private cars, those with licence plates ending in an even number are banned on Friday and Sunday, while those with an odd number must remain off the roads on Saturday and Monday.

Commuters who drive on the wrong day face fines of 100 yuan (13 dollars), according to the state-run press.

A fleet of government-owned vehicles were also taken off the roads, with the total number of cars remaining at home each day expected to be around 1.3 million, according to city officials.

During the test, scientists will monitor pollution levels at 27 stations throughout the city to gauge how effective the scheme will be for the Games.

Beijing city transport commission deputy head Liu Xiaoming said last week the ban was expected cut vehicle emissions by 40 percent.

He said vehicle emissions were responsible for a quarter of particulate matter and more than 50 percent of three other major pollutants -- sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Chinese Authorities Delay Probe

Uncertainty still exists into the cause of death of the S.Korean diplomat who ate a sandwich in Beijing.

BEHIND THE NEWS / Envoy's death still unexplained / Chinese authorities delay probe into S. Korean diplomat's demise
Takuji Kawata

The Yomiuri Shimbun's city news section carried a small story in its Aug. 2 issue reporting on the death of a South Korean envoy at a Beijing hospital. Whang Joung Il, minister for political affairs at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing, suffered a stomachache after eating a sandwich he bought at a shop on July 28. Whang, second in command at the embassy, died suddenly the following day after being put on an intravenous drip at the hospital.

His body remained in Beijing for two weeks before being transferred to the South Korean Embassy for a funeral service there Tuesday. Whang's body was flown back to South Korea later that day.

The slow pace of China's probe into the cause of Whang's death was behind the delay in the return of the body.

A South Korean official said: "If we send the body home without identifying the cause of death, the matter may remain unresolved. For this reason, we transferred the body to another hospital in Beijing." But the Chinese side has yet to submit a report on the results of its probe capable of satisfying the South Korean side. So the bereaved family decided to have the body sent home.
With the cause of Whang's death yet to be determined, I have no intention of criticizing the Chinese side without careful deliberation.

But, judging from the words of those involved and reports by South Korean newspapers, it seems the Chinese response to Whang's mishap was shoddy, no matter the cause of his death. For those of us living in Beijing, what happened to the South Korean envoy cannot be shrugged off as an unrelated affair. Therefore I would like to raise a few problematic points.

"The hospital staff recognized something was wrong with Whang 20 minutes after administering the intravenous drip. He stopped breathing, and there was no pulse. But the hospital wasn't equipped with artificial respiration equipment," a South Korean official said. The doctor reportedly made an emergency phone call by dialing 120 (the equivalent of 110 in Japan) but it took 40 minutes for an emergency squad to arrive. During this period, the only treatment given to Whang seems to have been cardiac massage.

The hospital in question is located in central Beijing and is used often by non-Chinese.
The South Korean authorities are taking a serious view of the drugs used to treat Whang. According to their independent investigation, the Chinese doctor inserted intravenous drips--containing Ringer's solution--into Whang's hand and leg after deciding the envoy was dehydrated. The doctor also administered an antibiotic at the same time.

The antibiotic given to Whang is not allowed to be used in conjunction with any medical substance containing calcium, as simultaneous administration causes blood clots, thereby threatening to block the arteries. Ringer's solution contains calcium, and many blood clots were said to have been found in Whang's body. If this proves to be true, his death likely was caused by a medical error.

"The Chinese authorities were confused [by Whang's sudden death]," a South Korean official said. Both police and public health authorities initially denied the incident fell within their jurisdiction. However, on the evening of Whang's death, it was decided that the public health authorities should take charge of the matter. Thus, the autopsy was postponed until the following day. The public health authorities reportedly said the results of the autopsy might not be known for a month, as it would take a long time to cultivate the bacteria.

I was concerned at how little coverage the incident received from the Chinese media. Although some Chinese newspapers reported the incident, it was treated as a small story. As a result, many Beijing citizens and non-Chinese residents do not know about the incident at all.

The Chinese media, which are under the direct control of the Communist Party government, do not run news that is considered unfavorable to the government. This makes me wonder whether this had any bearing on the coverage of Whang's case.

The safety of food and drugs is closely linked to human life. Therefore, it is an iron rule to publicize information on problems relating to food and drugs immediately and determine the cause of the incident as soon as possible, or similar incidents may occur.

About 600,000 people are expected to visit Beijing from overseas for the Summer Olympics next year. If the Chinese authorities continue to approach food safety in the same lax way it dealt with Whang's case, people will not even be able to consume a sandwich without concern.
Whang is said to have been the most conversant with Chinese affairs among South Korean diplomats and loved China very much. To ensure his regrettable death was not in vain, the Chinese authorities must clarify the cause of his death in a convincing way and draw up measures for improvements.

Kawata is head of The Yomiuri Shimbun's Chinese General Bureau in Beijing.
(Aug. 16, 2007)

Censored News

Well here is some censored news that did not make its way to us in Beijing. I can't wait to hear the outcome of the autopsy; bad food, bad drugs, malpractice.............

Whang Joung-il, 52, a high-ranking diplomat at the Korean Embassy in China, died while being treated in a clinic in downtown Beijing Sunday morning.
On Saturday evening Whang ate a sandwich from a nearby shop while working in his office at the embassy. He then experienced diarrhea and severe abdominal pain and went home.

The next morning Whang suffered shortness of breath and died while being given an injection of Ringer’s solution at a clinic in the Chaoyang district of downtown Beijing.

According to Korean Ambassador to China Kim Ha-joong, Whang continued to suffer from stomachache and diarrhea after he returned home from his office.

Around 8:30 in the morning Whang drove his car to the clinic, which is popular with foreigners. He died about 20 minutes after he began receiving the intravenous solution.

The clinic had prescribed Ringer’s solution to prevent dehydration. Just after he began receiving the solution, he began having difficulty breathing.

The clinic dialed the emergency number 911, the equivalent to Korea’s 119, and began performing CPR. But when emergency medical responders arrived 20 minutes later, Whang had stopped breathing. The clinic confirmed his death at 11:30 a.m.

Witnessed by an embassy official, Chinese police and officials from China’s Ministry of Health seized the remaining solution for investigation.

With the consent of the embassy and Whang’s family, Chinese police performed an autopsy on his body Monday afternoon.

The exact cause of Whang’s death will likely be known after the results of the autopsy are released. Chinese authorities promised the embassy they would deliver the results as soon as possible.

The embassy believes Whang’s death may be linked to the sandwich he ate the previous evening, or to the intravenous solution. The solution may have been fake or improperly administered.

China has been plagued by serious health issues in recent days, including an uproar over steamed dumplings allegedly stuffed with chemical-laced cardboard instead of pork, and the distribution of bogus foods and medicines including phony blood for transfusions.

Politics in China

Politics in China are as rough and tumble as anywhere else. Looks like Hu Jintao is cleaning house before the big congress meeting in Ocotober that will create the leadership through 2012. It could b3 a very interesting Fall here, then followed by the US election process.........

China arrest takes scandal into politburo
By Richard McGregor in Beijing
Published: August 3 2007 18:01 Last updated: August 3 2007 18:01
The former political secretary to a member of China’s politburo has been detained in a widening probe over misuse of Shanghai’s pension funds, elevating the scandal for the first time into the inner-circle of the Chinese leadership.

The detention of Wang Weigong, reported by a Chinese financial magazine on Friday, comes ahead of the five-yearly Communist party congress in October, which will choose the country’s senior leadership until 2012.

Mr Wang had headed the office in Beijing of Huang Ju, who until his death earlier this year was the fifth-ranked member of the nine-member politburo standing committee, China’s elite leadership group.

Before moving to Beijing in 2002, Mr Huang was the mayor and then party secretary of Shanghai. Mr Wang worked for him in both capacities.

The scandal has already led to the arrest and expulsion from the party of Chen Liangyu, the former Shanghai party secretary and the highest ranking official to be toppled for corruption in a decade.

In line with disciplinary practices, the party investigates and passes judgment on officials detained for corruption before handing them over to the criminal justice system, which ritually tries and then sentences them.

The latest arrest gives further weight to the conventional explanation of the unfolding scandal, which is regarded as an effort by Hu Jintao, the president, to take down the once dominant “Shanghai gang”.
Jiang Zemin, Mr Hu’s predecessor, hailed from Shanghai and surrounded himself in Beijing with officials trained in the city. Mr Hu has an entirely different power base.

Shanghai officials have sought to play down the implications of the purge of more than a dozen former top officials from the city over the past year. A retired senior Shanghai official said that the central government had singled out the city only because Mr Chen’s behaviour had been so blatant.

“This is not about Shanghai, but about sending a message to other cities, where there are similar problems,” said the official. He said that Mr Jiang had helped to initiate the investigation into Mr Chen.

The party congress will usher in a new leadership team, both in the politburo and also among the four vice-premiers, which are key day-to-day policymaking posts for the economy.

Although there are a number of favored candidates for promotion into the new leadership group, the outlines of Mr Hu’s new team are not yet clear.

The scandal, plus the leaking to a Beijing-backed newspaper in Hong Kong last week of details of Mr Chen’s crimes, is a sign that the struggle over the new line-up is intensifying.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Another good article (but it was blocked so I had to use "SurfonSteroids" and anonymous web surfing site. Only way we can get to wikipedia site and our own blog site).

Can Hu Jintao Go Beyond The Politics Of 'Winners Are Kings, Losers Are Bandits'? - Liang Jing
Posted by Xiao Qiang :: 2007-08-04, 10:38 AM :: Politics
Dr. David Kelly translated following essay from overseas Chinese political commentator Liang Jing, the Chinese text is here:

Last week, the Communist Party announced the expulsion of Chen Liangyu from Party and public posts, and handed him over to the processes of law. This development is understood by all, both domestically and abroad, in terms of the needs of the power struggle over the 17th National Party Conference. However, in a recent interview with reporters, Xia Zanzhong, deputy secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, went so far as to say that "Chen Liangyu's serious breach of discipline was quite covert, deceptive and harmful," implying that Chen had now become his prisoner of war, not because he was Hu Jintao's political opponent, but because he was so clever and subtle.

It was out of the question that Xia Zanzhong himself believed what he said. It has long been public knowledge that, protected by Jiang Zemin, the Shanghai Gang, including Huang Ju, Chen Liangyu, and Jiang's princeling son Jiang Mianheng, did bad things for many years in Shanghai, and were even so bold as to openly confront the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Group. Why then did Xia Zanzhong give such a performance of "no 300 taels of silver here"? It only shows that Hu Jintao and his supp­orters in the party are aware that attacking their political opponents in the name of pun­ishing corruption is drawing censure.

Why did Hu and his supporters take this step, if they felt it was bound to be criticized? Hu's sympathizers may say that Chen Liangyu, a lackey fed by Jiang, was an un­reasoning thug who had repeatedly challenged Hu's authority under Jiang's protection, so this heavy-handed move of Hu's was a last resort. Moreover, Chen Liangyu was actually guilty of many crimes. Hu's detractors may quite legitimately claim that, if investigated with the same methods and punished according to the same yardstick, not only would a large number of CPC officials have to step down, but Jiang himself would be purged. Hu Jintao's political trick of, on the one hand, lauding Jiang Zemin to the skies, while on the other taking Chen Liangyu down, is less than con­vin­cing.

Hu Jintao may in fact have had no choice but to take neutral stand and praise Jiang Zemin on the one hand while eliminating Chen Liangyu on the other. After all, the rules of the political game are often not chosen by a single party. Jiang Zemin is someone without a moral baseline, is it not asking Hu Jintao to commit political suicide to demand, while his own political strength is wanting, that he act as a "great," not a "mean" man?

So what is Hu's political philosophy in his heart of hearts? When his position is sufficiently consolidated will it be possible for him to transcend the traditional political culture of "winners are kings, losers are bandits" and introduce modern political civilization into China's power game? Unfortunately, Hu's record over the past five years, especially toward civil dissidents and human rights defenders, gives us no cause for optimism.The regime has recently launched a new round of suppression of non-governmental organizations. Founding editor of the China Development Brief, Nick Young, who has always dealt with the Chinese government in good faith and advocated cooperation with it, became a target of this suppression.

Although China Development Brief was banned on the charges of "violating China's law on statistics and carrying out illegal investigations," it is clear to all that this was a tech­nical excuse. The case that best displays the gangster political ideas pf the regime is the "illegal publishing crimes" of Guo Feixiong. China's security departments, which have adopted all manner of illegal means to persecute rights-protection crusader Guo, arrested him 10 months ago on "illegal publication" charges, and tortured him; according to his revela­tions, 90% of the questions and matters said to be related had nothing to do with him, but were connected with his involvement in the "Taishi Village" rights-protection case. Despite 10 months of detention and use of heinous, despicable interrogation methods, when the case came on earlier this month it could not continue for need of "supplementary evidence."

Such cases of "ruling the land through the law" have not diminished but gained in intensity over Hu's five years in power. What reason have people to believe that after purging his political opponents he will bring in civilized politics? Moreover, how can he not be making more enemies for himself with his stale political code?

Food Quality in China is Tops

I understand that there is a lot of media attention in the US on the quality of products from China, particularly food. Just so you know, in Beijing they believe that all the media is hype and sensationalism. One example is the recent news on the steamed buns (baozi) that were filled with cardboard. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/13/content_5434250.htm

Six days later an article explains that the whole thing was a fabricated story. Who do you believe in the China press? http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/19/content_5438963.htm

China Daily also published this article today WHO: Food safety 'big problem' for all http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/19/content_5438993.htm

Just to prove the point, China and the US will have bilateral meetings to discuss the food quality issue. China has published statistics to prove that the food exports from China to the US actually have a higher approval rate than the exports from the US to China. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-07/19/content_5439012.htm

Beijingers' Bad Behavior

Agree with this article that nothing has changed. I think people will just get to know how the Chinese behave at home. Is that such a bad thing or is this really a show for the world (I think maybe it is only a show).

Official worried about Beijingers' bad behaviors ahead

(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-07-09 09:07
CHANGCHUN, Northeast China, July 8 -- With 13 months to go before the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games, the most worrisome thing might be how to help the Beijing residents to improve their behaviors.

Zhang Faqiang, vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said: "It's the most difficult thing to ensure the Beijing Games a humanistic Olympics."

Spitting, queue-jumping, littering and spitting have always been criticized in the Chinese capital but there is no sign that these behaviors will disappear during next year's Olympics, which opens on August 8, 2008.

Zhang told Xinhua that Beijing has made every 11th day of a month a 'queuing day', which encourages the citizens to queue. "But there is still a long way before we fully realize the idea, which is our pivot work next for sure," Zhang said.

The Beijing city government earlier this year announced that spitters and litterers would face fines of up to 50 yuan (6.5 dollars).

Some two million Chinese and 550,000 foreigners are expected to visit Beijing during August next year.

Another Olympic Test

We actually heard some rumblings about this early last week but now it seems to have been picked up by western news services as well. Beijing used traffic control methods earlier this year for the African Conference but it was not to this scale and this long. I ened up taking the subway to work as a result. I am going to be glad to be back in the US while much of this is going on. Until we hear more about the plans I am not sure how this will impact us getting around the city.

Beijing to ban a million cars in clean air test

Thu, 05 Jul 2007, 11:52AM
BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing is planning to ban a million cars from the city's streets for two weeks next month as a test-run to ensure clean air at next year's Olympics, officials said here Wednesday.

"The plan has been drawn up and is ready to go," said Fan Yinlong, a city government spokesman, referring to a range of measures that will include the ban on one million cars in notoriously polluted Beijing from August 7-20.

That two-week period is crucial to Olympic planners, as it roughly coincides with the time that the Games will be held next year, from August 8-24.

Beijing will also host 11 Olympic test events during the fortnight, including cycling road races, wrestling, hockey and beach volleyball.

Beijing has spent around 15 billion dollars on a massive pollution clean-up in the run-up to the Olympics, according to city officials, but air quality remains a key concern.

Despite assurances from the Chinese government, International Olympic Committee leaders have expressed deep concern about the problem and demanded "contingency measures" to contain the pollution threat.

Beijing Olympic organising committee spokeswoman Zhu Jing also confirmed that the traffic ban was being prepared as part of the one-year countdown test program.
Zhu said the plan to remove one million of Beijing's three million cars was inspired by a similar campaign that proved effective during a China-Africa summit hosted by Beijing last year.

"Air quality was better, and traffic congestion improved," she said.

Zhu said the measures would be officially announced once they are approved by the city's rubber-stamp People's Congress on July 24.

Hong Kong (10th - Tin ) Anniversary

China is celebrating the 10th anniversary of return of Hong Kong to China on July 1st. As expected there is a lot of propoganda news covering the event. The President of China, Hu Jintao attended celebration ceremonies. This is his first trip to Hong Kong as the leader of China.
I was watching a BBC news segment which was focused on China's military display and the attempt of pro-democracy demonstrators to meet with Hu. The censors stepped in and blacked out the TV program until the segment was over. Another reminder that we are living in a communist country with control over what news is allowed.
Excerpt from Chinadaily.com:
On July 1, 1997, China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong. In the past ten year, Hong Kong, along with the Chinese mainland, has experimented successfully the principle of "one country, two systems." It also won through the Asian financial crisis, global economic depression and SARS, among other difficulties, and consolidated its position as a financial, trade and shipping center in the world.

"It's a special year for Hong Kong as we are now in the 10th year of return to the motherland," said Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive of the HKSAR, at the beginning of the year. "The HKSAR government will launch a number of large-scale celebration programs in Hong Kong, mainland, and even overseas to show the achievements we made under the 'one country, two systems' principle."

Shenzhen

I just got back from a business trip to Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. It is an amazing city that was created with policy changes by the mainland Chinese leaders. It was the first of three Special Economic Zones created by the Chinese leadership back in 1980. The National People's Congress passed "Regulations for The Special Economy Zone of Guangdong Province" and officially designated the Shenzhen Special Economy Zone. The new policy allowed what was a small fishing village to grow to a city of around 14 millions people in such a short time.
Before coming to China I had never even heard of this city and yet it has 14 million people living in it. The city is still building and expanding like most cities in China. It is relatively new and more upscale than other cities. Another benefit is it is next door to Hong Kong. Many residents of Hong Kong have bought property in Shenzhen. There is still a tremendous amount of building construction activity.

Chinese Napping at Work

Napping is one of the more unusual habits that we face while working in China. We need to be careful about scheduling meetings during the lunch hours so the workers can schedule nap times at their desks. We often experience people sleeping in our meetings as well.

The picture above was taken at the annual National People's Congress (NPC) meeting where more than 2,800 NPC deputies attended the Fifth Session of the Tenth NPC.

Hot Debate

One of the current hot debates in Beijing is the Starbuck's at the Forbidden City. This has been going on for some time. Here is a synopsis from the People's Daily.

Debate: Should Starbucks be removed from the Forbidden City?
"Why Starbucks Needs to Get Out of the Forbidden City? was title of a blog article written by Rui Chenggang, an anchorman on CCTV's English channel. The article has sparked another round of hot debate on whether the American coffee chain should be removed from one of the most important landmarks of Chinese civilization.

Anchorman: this is trampling on Chinese culture
Perhaps it is acceptable to have a Starbucks outlet near the Forbidden City, Rui wrote in his article, but it is obscene to have it within the City where it will be remembered by visitors as part of this historic Chinese site.

He argues that the coffee shop, a symbol of popular culture in America and western countries as a whole, doesn't blend in at the Forbidden City. He goes so far as to call it "visual pollution?

"It is not globalizing; it is trampling on Chinese culture", he said.

His blog recorded 530,000 hits and comments have flooded the Web. Many have called the outlet a "disgrace" and the Palace Museum, the administrative organ of the Forbidden City, a "slave to money", according to Tuesday's China Daily.

Museum spokesman: we will stick to principles of conservation
The Museum's spokesman Feng Nai'en responded to the accusation in an interview with the Beijing Morning Post. He said that the museum was in discussions with Starbucks to find a proper solution, with the outcome to be decided by mid-year at the very latest.

Rent money from the coffee chain, as from other shops, is part of the museum's business earnings, said Feng, adding that when the commercial benefits clash with conservation the museum gives priority to the latter.

As early as 2005, the museum began to reconsider the layout and appearance of shops within the Forbidden City, wanting them to blend in better with the surroundings, Feng told the reporter.

Liu Rong, director of the Department of Policies, Laws and Regulations under the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said in an interview that certain commercial operation were permitted by cultural relic organizations as they must also cater to tourists. However, priority must given to the proper preservation of cultural relics, including the overall image of each site.

Media: unwise to become slave to profit
Magnificent and imposing, the Forbidden City is a manifestation of traditional Chinese culture at its peak, and a Starbucks outlet from across the Pacific looks simply out of place there, wrote Lin Jinfang, a teacher from Jiangxi University, in an article published by Beijing Youth Daily, on January 17.

Another article on Xinhua Net voiced the opinion that the Forbidden City, as one of the most vivid symbols of the thousands of years of Chinese culture, should not be so insulted, especially not for the sake of making money.

On the same day, however, Beijing Youth Daily ran another article by Zhu Shugu, in which a civil servant from Sichuan argued that tourist facilities and cultural relics should not be lumped together. But, he said, "if we remove all tourist facilities related to western culture for the sake of 'original flavor' then we would certainly have to expel more than Starbucks."

Net voices: looking forward to an intact, harmonious Forbidden City
Most netizens who posted their comments were against commercial facilities in the Forbidden City.

A netizen calling himself JS wrote: "The picture of the Starbucks in the Forbidden City looks really awkward. There can be cultural exchanges. But blending everything together so crudely will only change the original 'flavor.'

Another netizen wrote that "we hope cultural relics will not be confused with business opportunities."

Liuqiu Luwei, a noted anchorwoman with Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, also waded into the debate, voicing her opinion on her blog. Both Chinese and foreign nationals hope for a harmonious, beautiful and intact Forbidden City, rather than a place distorted by commercial boards or shops, she said.

"But who should be the one to ensure that? " she asked. "Even if Starbucks is pressured to relocate, something else inappropriate may appear."
By People's Daily Online

You Have to Laugh

Being in a foreign country you are faced with things that just seem to be strange or just simply odd from our perspectives. There are some really good stories that come out of China that I will share with you occasionally. Our daily English language paper (actual newspaper that I get in the morning and read on the way to work) has a section called "China Scene" that has great local obscure stories.

Sometimes stories end up in the international news services too. The one below is from Reuters:

Chinese Airline Fined for Selling 13 Cent Tickets
Monday , December 18, 2006
Reuters

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have fined a low-cost airline almost $20,000 for selling tickets for 13 U.S. cents in a promotion, saying they broke national pricing rules, a newspaper said on Monday.
Spring Airlines, set up last year by travel agent China Spring International, sold more than 400 tickets on a new route between Shanghai and the northern city of Jinan for just 1 yuan ($0.13), the Beijing Times said.
But that went against a 2004 rule — designed to help carriers' bottom lines after a vicious price war — that the maximum discount an airline can offer is 45 percent off a government-set base price, the report added.
A standard one-way ticket between Shanghai and Jinan costs 760 yuan ($97.10), excluding tax and fuel surcharge.
The Jinan government said it would fine Spring Airlines' local travel agent branch 150,000 yuan ($19,160) as a punishment, though the company denies wrongdoing and will appeal, the newspaper said.
The case underscores the difficulty facing Chinese low-cost airlines, which are trying to model themselves on the likes of Ireland's Ryanair in bringing cheap no-frills travel to the world's most populous nation.
China's airline industry is dominated by three main state-run carriers, with which a clutch of low-cost airlines are trying to compete. ($1=7.827 Yuan)

Then there are stories that we encounter in our everyday life. Here is an interesting sign in the suburbs of Beijing:

The Digital Life in China

The Digital life in Beijing has deteriorated since returning from the Holidays. I doubt there was much press in the US about the situation. An earthquake near Taiwan on December 26th disrupted the communication lines between the US and China. As a result, we have to do things differently in our digital life. One example of this............. I would like to add pictures to my blog but that does not seem to be possible right now. I have been able to post some new pictures including Hong Kong on ourWebshots site but for some reason not on this blog.

Vonage still seems to work okay as does Slingbox. Getting to our Hotmail is a real challenge and so is getting to some US websites. Lots of pages get time-out messages. You have to very patient. We understand that their are delays to repairing the communication lines. Hopefully, the repairs will be made soon.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/19/content_788005.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/16/content_784152.htm

The other challenge we have in China is censorship. Often there are pages that do not come back on the Internet. One example is Wikepedia. We cannot get to this website, their must be some article in there that is critical of the Chinese government. Some expats have told us about some software that we could download and would disguise our proxy settings (we have not resorted to this yet).

AF has been accepted into another University---Trinity in Dublin. She is still waiting to hear from her first choice, St. Andrews.