It’s been a relatively quiet week in the torch relay, Carrefour boycotting, blogosphere and general media attention of both the Free Tibet groups and Pro China/Anti Western Media masses (real and netizens). Perhaps it has a little to do with two political movements this week that made headline. First being Poncelet (French Senate President Christian) greeting torch bearer Jin Jing in Shanghai delivering a letter of invitation from Sarkozy, and now China’s government is meeting with a representative of the Dalai Lama. Sarkozy having insulted the Chinese government and people earlier in the month now is congratulating China in it’s efforts for dialogue. I find the Chinese government is trying to diffuse situations to the upcoming Oylmpics, even calling for restraint of it’s own citizen’s national fury over Carrefour (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/20/china.chinathemedia?gusrc=rss
&feed=networkfront). I suspect the leaders are proud and chuckling behind curtains over the overwhelming nationalism of the young people fighting the BBC, CNN, Carrefour and western commentators over the net. But seriously, many are disgusted by the slander and malicious content and actions of those individuals who, full of scorn condemn whose who are seeking a more balanced perspective. Now we have Chinese fighting other Chinese. One infamous case concerns a Duke University student, Grace Wang (http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20080423_1.htm) who saw a photo online of her parents house in Qing Dao where someone had left excrement on the doorstep after she had intervened in a argument between pro Tibetan and Pro China individuals. What began as a backlash and defense by Chinese netizens began to get nasty. Over the past month, even death threats have also been sent to western reporters (http://www.danwei.org/foreign_media_on_china/scapegoating_cnn.php). It’s easy to get caught in the daily happenings of events and no doubt they affect many people in a serious way. Searching through the layers of stories and commentary, one finds larger pieces of this jigsaw to help in seeing the bigger picture. I’m not sure what I see at the moment but I feel there are larger forces at work. A blogger here writes about writing about RFA (Radio Free Asia):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/15/224155/744/780/492483
Radio Free Asia was originally a radio station broadcasting propaganda for the US-American government in local languages to mostly communist countries in Asia. It was originally founded and funded in 1950 by the CIA (Wiki). It is apparently the leading source of information to and from Tibet.
Here is a good and long article about the past and future relationship between the US and Tibet and the US and China by Hilary Keenan.
http://21stcenturysocialism.com/article/the_unusual_suspect_01635.html
A meeting i missed at Frontlines (16th April) is worth watching/listening to:
http://www.frontlineclub.com/club_videoevents.php?event=2039�
If all that’s a big heavy, the National Geographic just published it’s May edition which has good articles and great photography all about China. I advise, just even for the photography.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/05/table-of-contents
I am just about the begin searching for new subjects for interviews. But besides that, I will go back and continue my search for another piece of the puzzle.
- J
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Pulse of Peace
Yesterday I went to shoot the student organized rally for Pro China/ Anti BBC in Westminister. Both Berlin and Washington DC also held rallys on the same day. There was about 400 people, most of whom seem to be students, a majority of them wearing masks of silence bearing BBC on them. A line formed the front of the protests that faced the traffic and the Houses of Parliment. A mix of banners and placards were held in silence. Placards with anti BBC slogans; supporting the Beijing Olympics; Welcoming people to China; pictures of the riots in Tibet; fabricated news from various western media. Miss Qin, an economics student from Cambridge University gave a speech that included reciting the names of the Han Chinese and Tibetans who were killed in the riots on March 14th. The students came together from all over the country and their message was not just to protest the established BBC media, but to ask the public to find out the truth about the recent events in Tibet and to seek more understanding about China.
I managed to speak to a few students and media supporters and was present from the beginning to the end. Apart from the singing of a few Chinese songs, the protest was peaceful and friendly. I was very proud of the students for organizing the event and staging it so quietly. It is almost ironic that one of the first ones they organize is to defend their country where being up in arms about media distortion is not a done thing. It was a day to feel so very proud of being Chinese.
I have looked up both the BBC's website which it was only mentioned at the end of this article, almost a footnote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7357258.stm
The TV report is on YouTube but I did not hear of it after that. One would think that a protest that has a global following and is occurring in 3 countries simultaneously would be news worthy. It may go to show that the issues that many Chinese have grievences about have very solid ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyh6cPCxLzs
I was also dismayed to see that none of the online papers including The Guardian had not written one single article about the protests.
Here's a llink to a video of the Olympic supporters on the 6th April in Downing Street during the Torch Relay, that also wasn't in the natonal news:
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/04/06/china-chinese-protest-in-london-you-never-see-on-bbc/
Also on the same day, including today, was the continuing arguement of coycotting Carrefour, the French Supermarket in China:
http://zonaeuropa.com/200804b.brief.htm#028
Some images from video shot: (a video of this event will be online very soon)
- J
I managed to speak to a few students and media supporters and was present from the beginning to the end. Apart from the singing of a few Chinese songs, the protest was peaceful and friendly. I was very proud of the students for organizing the event and staging it so quietly. It is almost ironic that one of the first ones they organize is to defend their country where being up in arms about media distortion is not a done thing. It was a day to feel so very proud of being Chinese.
I have looked up both the BBC's website which it was only mentioned at the end of this article, almost a footnote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7357258.stm
The TV report is on YouTube but I did not hear of it after that. One would think that a protest that has a global following and is occurring in 3 countries simultaneously would be news worthy. It may go to show that the issues that many Chinese have grievences about have very solid ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyh6cPCxLzs
I was also dismayed to see that none of the online papers including The Guardian had not written one single article about the protests.
Here's a llink to a video of the Olympic supporters on the 6th April in Downing Street during the Torch Relay, that also wasn't in the natonal news:
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/04/06/china-chinese-protest-in-london-you-never-see-on-bbc/
Also on the same day, including today, was the continuing arguement of coycotting Carrefour, the French Supermarket in China:
http://zonaeuropa.com/200804b.brief.htm#028
Some images from video shot: (a video of this event will be online very soon)
- J
Monday, April 14, 2008
30 Days of Hate?
I'm going to add quite a few things in this entry. Firstly, some images of the riots in Lhasa that began exactly one month ago on the 14th March. Second, some images from CCTV9 (a CCP supported news channel) of the pro China protesters in Syndey on the 12th April. Many of these images are from CCTV9 but I am posting these because it is unlikely you'll see them widely in most western media outlets. Thirdly, some comments from an article from the Telegraph Online (Is The West Demonizing China?). And lastly, a link to an excellent article by Russell Berman, 'Why They Hate China' (published by Telos).
LHASA, 14th MARCH 2008:
Source: CCTV9 and net.
Sydney, 12th April 2008:
Source: CCTV9.
A FEW COMMENTS FOR TELEGRAPH'S SPEAKER'S CORNER: IS THE WEST DEMONIZING CHINA?
I have lived in China for eight years now. Indeed, I am in China at this very moment and have no trouble in reading this blog. In fact, despite all that is written about blocking, there is nothing much that I find blocked in my perusal of international papers on the internet. If I suspect that something is blocked in one place, I seem to have no trouble finding it in another. As for the current debate, I think it is not widely understood outside China with what joy and anticipation the Chinese people are approaching the Games. I sense no triumpahalism about the whole thing. Rather I find the delightful Chinese people that I know keen to put on a good show for the world in the hope that their efforts will be appreciated, that they will contribute something good to the world and that they will be better understood by the world. What a frenzy has been produced by events in Tibet - and how well timed to make things awkward for China! I keep thinking of my home village of my childhood. The Kellys may have hated the McCoys but the one thing for sure they would not have done, despite whatever antipathy the Kellys may have felt towards their neighbours, would have been to invade a McCoy wedding and defecate all over the dance floor. There are times for demnstrations of antipathy and there are limits - and both the Kellys and the McCoys would have known them. And so I have the feeling that that's how it should be, whatever one's views regarding Tibet, with the Beijing Olympic Games. The Games are so important to ordinary people here that to poop on them from a height to make a convenient political point is really beyond the pale. Orindary people here are not much concerned with politics of any kind but they are concerned about the Olympics as an expression of their pride in the country. It is a shame that a perennial problem, Tibet, should have been chosen as the cow that flies to poop on this proud Chinese moment.
Posted by Tom Whitford on April 14, 2008 11:02 AM
Media coverage of the journey of the Olympic torch has been heavily biased. There have been very few anti-China protestors when compared with the scale of support on the streets of London, Paris and San Francisco, for the Beijing Olympics. The latter have had fleeting mention but BBC News 24, for example, has gone heavily with visual scattered protests rather than provide meaningful explanation of scenes its coverage was distorting, never mind China's history having started before 1950. I'm no great admirer of what China has become these past few decades, but do not support the campaign to split this or that part of China from the rest of the country. Also I question the ploy of lumping China, Burma and Sudan together as 'the case against', a ploy that seems transparent in its prejudice. Posted by Peter, NW London on April 14, 2008 9:54 AM
The West is not so much "demonising China", as being trapped by a romanticising and simplistic notion of the East - of Tibet, China, and other nearby cultures. The dominant paradigm in popular Western culture is that Tibet is a peaceful, isolated nation of priest-kings and yak herders. Similarly, the Chinese are mindless drones labouring under the yoke of their Communist overlords. TV cameras play to, and as a result, reinforce such stereotypes. Most troubling of all, Tibet, like China, is assumed to be monolithic. Few question the ability of the Government-in-Exile to speak for people actually in Tibet - as opposed to the privileged monk-nobility classes who were willing and able to escape in 1959. Likewise, the common Western conception of China ignores the diversity of both political opinion and ethnic identity within China. There is also little understanding of the complex inter-relationship between and amongst Tibetans, Mongols, and Han Chinese, a history stretching back some 17 centuries.
Posted by Tommy on April 14, 2008 6:40 AM
I think the problem in the eyes of most Chinese is that they know (as most foreigners with experience of China do) there has been a substantial improvement in human rights in China, yet the Western media either ignores or denies this. Most absurd of all is to wait until 2008 to raise the point when the situation is clearly better than it was in 2001, when the games were awarded to Beijing. The games themselves have been a clear catalyst for change and improved governance.
Posted by Andrew Johnson on April 14, 2008 3:04 AM
What you don't seem to get is that this torch relay ordeal has turned protests against the Chinese government into humiliating the chinese people. The Chinese people would love the idea of better human rights in China, but when pro-human rights became anti-China, it's not hard to understand why the Chinese are enraged.
Posted by Kyle on April 14, 2008 9:32 AM
I believe some guys need to learn more about the history of China and Tibet before giving comments. Tibet has become part of China since centuries ago when Communist party was even not born. Have you guys ever travelled in China or Tibet, have you got any knowledge about the real situation here? There're quite enough evidences showing that the Tibet event is not a peaceful protest but a well organized violence to embarrasse the Chinese government before Beijing Olympics. However the western media definitely used the Double Standard in reporting this event, they picked out what they wished to spread to the pubilic but ignored the objectivity. To be honest, many young people in China used to disdain the Communist government and yearn towards the democracy of the west but now the western media is pushing them backwards. What we need to concern about is the gap between the average Chinese and the west is becoming larger and seems hardly to be repaired in a short time.
osted by DERY_CN on April 14, 2008 9:13 AM
Dear Fu Ying, I have lived in China for just over three years and have found most of the Chinese people I meet to be charming and friendly. Of course, I view Chinese state bureaucracy with the suspicion and contempt that I would view my own country’s state sectors. The English do. What I feel should be pointed out is the cultural difference in the way countries view their overlords. As a Chinese person, you could easily and perhaps justifiably condemn and criticize Blair, Brown, Bush et al, (They are all Bs. The irony of it!) and would be given freedom to do so, if in the west. One million people rallied in London against the Iraq war, and we are disgusted about the way our feelings were ignored as Blair stumbled along blindly, hanging onto the coattails of another religious nut. This is because most westerners do not automatically associate their governments with the people. This may seem strange in countries confessing to be democratic. How can democracies separate government from the people? It is what we do. One thing I have come to realize is that in China, as it was in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party cannot be separated from the people. The Party is the people and the people are the Party. When westerners see the Chinese flag, they do not see the Chinese Flag. They see the Communist Flag. Do you see capitalism and colonialism when you see the Union Flag? Communism and its bloody history (which cannot be denied) are as abhorrent to most westerners as the bloody history of capitalism (which cannot be denied) was to Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and to most westerners now. I was taught at school about the evils of slavery and colonialism. Britain is still ‘suffering’ from guilt – although I expect that would surprise you. We are reminded of it in the state controlled China Daily everyday, especially at the moment. Many of the comments by Chinese readers are extremely aggressive and racist. We do not harp on about what your Great Helmsman did to your country, or what Stalin did to his own people. I have met Chinese people who say that 9/11 was a good thing. I don’t like their opinion, but I can understand why they think that. Westerners are taught about Japanese Aggression, something we suffered, but not to the extent of China. I read anti-Semitic views on China Daily every day. I’ve even read comments urging Chinese people to beat up foreigners. This would not be published in the English press. You can be rude, insulting and patronizing. You can even tell lies, but you cannot incite racial hatred and violence. One of the west’s most iconic pictures in the second half of the twentieth-century is the picture of a young man standing in front of a tank, holding two carrier bags, in 1989. This was seen as the spirit and strength of a young and new China which was finding a new way. It is as iconic as the horrific picture of a napalmed girl running in sheer terror after the strafing from an American fighter in Vietnam. What I find most disconcerting in both western media and Chinese media is that demonstrators are classed as anti-Chinese. Anti-Chinese is far from the truth. Many people in the west are anti-communist, just as China and the Soviet Union were anti-capitalist, and anti-liberal. The west will always see communism as oppressive, as oppressive as Fascism, no matter how much China improves under the communist regime. Westerners also view the new capitalism of China in the way that 19th century European capitalism is now viewed, the evils of extreme Darwinian Capitalism prompting the works of Marx. Don’t forget, Marx fled to England where he was free to write his anti-capitalist pamphlets, often given free reign to view Parliamentary documents, and kept from starvation by a rich industrialist. There’s an irony for you. Another destructive era of Chinese history imported from the west. Western Europe is now more socialist than China.
Posted by Carl on April 14, 2008 3:40 AM
I think the Western media is to some extent oversimplifying the Tibet issue, and we only ever seem to hear about human rights abuses there. That Tibet is an independent nation occupied by China seems to accepted as historical fact. And yet, no country has ever recognized Tibet as an independent state and its complex history intertwined with China goes back well before 1949, centuries in fact. Many people for example seem to be totally unaware that the title of "Dalai Lama" was created by Mongol ruler Altan Khan in 1578 for political reasons, and that Britain itself is historically hardly an innocent party, having invaded Tibet in 1904, exercising some human rights abuses of its very own on the Tibetan people. What's more worrying regarding the present situation though is that the fact that China has done a lot of good in Tibet, such as abolishing slavery, introducing free, universal, secularing education, modernising the economy, reducing infant mortality from 43% in 1950 to 0.661% in 2000, spending 300 million yuan restoring temples goes totally unnoticed by the Western media. In fact, it ought to be remembered that the Chinese government, much maligned, has lifted a massive 300 million people out of poverty in the whole of China during the past 25 years. An astounding effort if you think about it. If I were Chinese, I'd be really angry too if what was supposed to be a great sporting celebration hosted by my country was being hijacked to make my country look like a monster. We only ever hear about what an evil dictatorship the CCP is. Certainly it's not perfect, but it's not Stalinist repression either. Chinese culture places very high value on harmony and mutual respect. Unless absolutely unavoidable, you don't point out the faults of others, and even then you do so in such a way that will always allow them to save face. In this regard, I can well understand the Chinese sentiment that we simply have it in for them. Posted by Daniel on April 13, 2008 9:46 PM
Of course China is being demonised,but not by the ordinary hardworking citizen trying to keep a roof over his head and food on the table. Those making all the noise are the professional chattering classes,on the public gravy train who seek a cause ,any cause that detracts from getting a real job to earn money. They believe everything they have been told,have never been to Tibet and know little or nothing of the history. Tibet in the early 50s was still a feudal society,practising slavery,serfdom,terrible tortures and punishment.The poor were taxed to the hilt and life for the majority of the population was worse than in the middle ages in Europe.All of this was done under the banner of religion. When the Communist government of China moved in to do something about it,naturally some of those responsible for the centuries of oppression fought against the communists or got out. The monasteries were seen as the centres of oppression and were attacked. The Tibetan society was so backward that millions of Chinese were needed to bring it into the 20th century. As a result Tibetans are becoming a minority(just like the English in the UK,what's Browns' excuse). Everyone knows that China is a no nonsense society,criminals are executed,objections are frequently not tolerated and democracy is in name only,but China has come from a feudal society in 60 years to one of the most powerful economies in the world on which the west now depends(mainly because of the wests self destructing policies). When the world looks back 10-20years from now on the achievements of the Blair /Brown dynasty, they will see a once great nation reduced to an insignificant island,inhabited by a non cohesive society dependent on the outside world for its existence.Its best and bravest will have already left as they will have realised there were no opportunities for their talents.
Posted by mike reading on April 13, 2008 9:29 PM
I imagine that the average non-political citizen in China would find our obsession with Human Rights rather strange, and their implementation in this country even more so. At times I wish we had China's attitude to illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, drug dealers, prison conditions, gangs of youths, murders, etc.
Posted by Brian E on April 13, 2008 8:29 PM
Ambassador Fu delivered a clear message to western media outlets: don't compromise your journalistic professionalism just because you hate communism and/or dislike China in one way or the others. Reporting in China may be hard at times, don't use it as an excuse because that is what makes journalists' job respectful. China earned her rights to host 2008 Olympics because the country is moving along the right direction. It is now capable of sustaining 1.3 billion population by herself and becomes a productive and responsible member of world community. People in the West need to understand it is impossible to install 100% western style democracy over a short 30 years of China's open-up. China is still building its legal system. Chinese ppeople having issues of laws now can sue or defend with the help of lawyers. When heat passed and dusts settled, it will be clear the current hysteria about Tibet and Olympics is simply a reflection of ideological, economical and cultural difference between West critics and a developing country. Tibet, Darfur and animal rights (you name it here) are just smokes and excuse. The interesting thing is that no matter what China says and does nowadays will not please these critics. However, western media outlets need to do their job better.
Posted by David on April 13, 2008 7:45 PM
ORIGINAL LINK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2008/04/13/view13b.xml
The above comments are only a selection. I avoided the more scathing, anger fueled voices from both sides of the discussion and instead concentrated on those trying to understand and offer some understanding of the current topic.
Lastly, an excellent article by Russel Berman, 'Why They Hate China' seeks to offer an explaination of why the seemingly sudden anti Chinese sentiment as risen.
http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=237
That's it for now but be sure there will be more later.
- J
LHASA, 14th MARCH 2008:
Source: CCTV9 and net.Sydney, 12th April 2008:
Source: CCTV9. A FEW COMMENTS FOR TELEGRAPH'S SPEAKER'S CORNER: IS THE WEST DEMONIZING CHINA?
I have lived in China for eight years now. Indeed, I am in China at this very moment and have no trouble in reading this blog. In fact, despite all that is written about blocking, there is nothing much that I find blocked in my perusal of international papers on the internet. If I suspect that something is blocked in one place, I seem to have no trouble finding it in another. As for the current debate, I think it is not widely understood outside China with what joy and anticipation the Chinese people are approaching the Games. I sense no triumpahalism about the whole thing. Rather I find the delightful Chinese people that I know keen to put on a good show for the world in the hope that their efforts will be appreciated, that they will contribute something good to the world and that they will be better understood by the world. What a frenzy has been produced by events in Tibet - and how well timed to make things awkward for China! I keep thinking of my home village of my childhood. The Kellys may have hated the McCoys but the one thing for sure they would not have done, despite whatever antipathy the Kellys may have felt towards their neighbours, would have been to invade a McCoy wedding and defecate all over the dance floor. There are times for demnstrations of antipathy and there are limits - and both the Kellys and the McCoys would have known them. And so I have the feeling that that's how it should be, whatever one's views regarding Tibet, with the Beijing Olympic Games. The Games are so important to ordinary people here that to poop on them from a height to make a convenient political point is really beyond the pale. Orindary people here are not much concerned with politics of any kind but they are concerned about the Olympics as an expression of their pride in the country. It is a shame that a perennial problem, Tibet, should have been chosen as the cow that flies to poop on this proud Chinese moment.
Posted by Tom Whitford on April 14, 2008 11:02 AM
Media coverage of the journey of the Olympic torch has been heavily biased. There have been very few anti-China protestors when compared with the scale of support on the streets of London, Paris and San Francisco, for the Beijing Olympics. The latter have had fleeting mention but BBC News 24, for example, has gone heavily with visual scattered protests rather than provide meaningful explanation of scenes its coverage was distorting, never mind China's history having started before 1950. I'm no great admirer of what China has become these past few decades, but do not support the campaign to split this or that part of China from the rest of the country. Also I question the ploy of lumping China, Burma and Sudan together as 'the case against', a ploy that seems transparent in its prejudice. Posted by Peter, NW London on April 14, 2008 9:54 AM
The West is not so much "demonising China", as being trapped by a romanticising and simplistic notion of the East - of Tibet, China, and other nearby cultures. The dominant paradigm in popular Western culture is that Tibet is a peaceful, isolated nation of priest-kings and yak herders. Similarly, the Chinese are mindless drones labouring under the yoke of their Communist overlords. TV cameras play to, and as a result, reinforce such stereotypes. Most troubling of all, Tibet, like China, is assumed to be monolithic. Few question the ability of the Government-in-Exile to speak for people actually in Tibet - as opposed to the privileged monk-nobility classes who were willing and able to escape in 1959. Likewise, the common Western conception of China ignores the diversity of both political opinion and ethnic identity within China. There is also little understanding of the complex inter-relationship between and amongst Tibetans, Mongols, and Han Chinese, a history stretching back some 17 centuries.
Posted by Tommy on April 14, 2008 6:40 AM
I think the problem in the eyes of most Chinese is that they know (as most foreigners with experience of China do) there has been a substantial improvement in human rights in China, yet the Western media either ignores or denies this. Most absurd of all is to wait until 2008 to raise the point when the situation is clearly better than it was in 2001, when the games were awarded to Beijing. The games themselves have been a clear catalyst for change and improved governance.
Posted by Andrew Johnson on April 14, 2008 3:04 AM
What you don't seem to get is that this torch relay ordeal has turned protests against the Chinese government into humiliating the chinese people. The Chinese people would love the idea of better human rights in China, but when pro-human rights became anti-China, it's not hard to understand why the Chinese are enraged.
Posted by Kyle on April 14, 2008 9:32 AM
I believe some guys need to learn more about the history of China and Tibet before giving comments. Tibet has become part of China since centuries ago when Communist party was even not born. Have you guys ever travelled in China or Tibet, have you got any knowledge about the real situation here? There're quite enough evidences showing that the Tibet event is not a peaceful protest but a well organized violence to embarrasse the Chinese government before Beijing Olympics. However the western media definitely used the Double Standard in reporting this event, they picked out what they wished to spread to the pubilic but ignored the objectivity. To be honest, many young people in China used to disdain the Communist government and yearn towards the democracy of the west but now the western media is pushing them backwards. What we need to concern about is the gap between the average Chinese and the west is becoming larger and seems hardly to be repaired in a short time.
osted by DERY_CN on April 14, 2008 9:13 AM
Dear Fu Ying, I have lived in China for just over three years and have found most of the Chinese people I meet to be charming and friendly. Of course, I view Chinese state bureaucracy with the suspicion and contempt that I would view my own country’s state sectors. The English do. What I feel should be pointed out is the cultural difference in the way countries view their overlords. As a Chinese person, you could easily and perhaps justifiably condemn and criticize Blair, Brown, Bush et al, (They are all Bs. The irony of it!) and would be given freedom to do so, if in the west. One million people rallied in London against the Iraq war, and we are disgusted about the way our feelings were ignored as Blair stumbled along blindly, hanging onto the coattails of another religious nut. This is because most westerners do not automatically associate their governments with the people. This may seem strange in countries confessing to be democratic. How can democracies separate government from the people? It is what we do. One thing I have come to realize is that in China, as it was in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party cannot be separated from the people. The Party is the people and the people are the Party. When westerners see the Chinese flag, they do not see the Chinese Flag. They see the Communist Flag. Do you see capitalism and colonialism when you see the Union Flag? Communism and its bloody history (which cannot be denied) are as abhorrent to most westerners as the bloody history of capitalism (which cannot be denied) was to Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and to most westerners now. I was taught at school about the evils of slavery and colonialism. Britain is still ‘suffering’ from guilt – although I expect that would surprise you. We are reminded of it in the state controlled China Daily everyday, especially at the moment. Many of the comments by Chinese readers are extremely aggressive and racist. We do not harp on about what your Great Helmsman did to your country, or what Stalin did to his own people. I have met Chinese people who say that 9/11 was a good thing. I don’t like their opinion, but I can understand why they think that. Westerners are taught about Japanese Aggression, something we suffered, but not to the extent of China. I read anti-Semitic views on China Daily every day. I’ve even read comments urging Chinese people to beat up foreigners. This would not be published in the English press. You can be rude, insulting and patronizing. You can even tell lies, but you cannot incite racial hatred and violence. One of the west’s most iconic pictures in the second half of the twentieth-century is the picture of a young man standing in front of a tank, holding two carrier bags, in 1989. This was seen as the spirit and strength of a young and new China which was finding a new way. It is as iconic as the horrific picture of a napalmed girl running in sheer terror after the strafing from an American fighter in Vietnam. What I find most disconcerting in both western media and Chinese media is that demonstrators are classed as anti-Chinese. Anti-Chinese is far from the truth. Many people in the west are anti-communist, just as China and the Soviet Union were anti-capitalist, and anti-liberal. The west will always see communism as oppressive, as oppressive as Fascism, no matter how much China improves under the communist regime. Westerners also view the new capitalism of China in the way that 19th century European capitalism is now viewed, the evils of extreme Darwinian Capitalism prompting the works of Marx. Don’t forget, Marx fled to England where he was free to write his anti-capitalist pamphlets, often given free reign to view Parliamentary documents, and kept from starvation by a rich industrialist. There’s an irony for you. Another destructive era of Chinese history imported from the west. Western Europe is now more socialist than China.
Posted by Carl on April 14, 2008 3:40 AM
I think the Western media is to some extent oversimplifying the Tibet issue, and we only ever seem to hear about human rights abuses there. That Tibet is an independent nation occupied by China seems to accepted as historical fact. And yet, no country has ever recognized Tibet as an independent state and its complex history intertwined with China goes back well before 1949, centuries in fact. Many people for example seem to be totally unaware that the title of "Dalai Lama" was created by Mongol ruler Altan Khan in 1578 for political reasons, and that Britain itself is historically hardly an innocent party, having invaded Tibet in 1904, exercising some human rights abuses of its very own on the Tibetan people. What's more worrying regarding the present situation though is that the fact that China has done a lot of good in Tibet, such as abolishing slavery, introducing free, universal, secularing education, modernising the economy, reducing infant mortality from 43% in 1950 to 0.661% in 2000, spending 300 million yuan restoring temples goes totally unnoticed by the Western media. In fact, it ought to be remembered that the Chinese government, much maligned, has lifted a massive 300 million people out of poverty in the whole of China during the past 25 years. An astounding effort if you think about it. If I were Chinese, I'd be really angry too if what was supposed to be a great sporting celebration hosted by my country was being hijacked to make my country look like a monster. We only ever hear about what an evil dictatorship the CCP is. Certainly it's not perfect, but it's not Stalinist repression either. Chinese culture places very high value on harmony and mutual respect. Unless absolutely unavoidable, you don't point out the faults of others, and even then you do so in such a way that will always allow them to save face. In this regard, I can well understand the Chinese sentiment that we simply have it in for them. Posted by Daniel on April 13, 2008 9:46 PM
Of course China is being demonised,but not by the ordinary hardworking citizen trying to keep a roof over his head and food on the table. Those making all the noise are the professional chattering classes,on the public gravy train who seek a cause ,any cause that detracts from getting a real job to earn money. They believe everything they have been told,have never been to Tibet and know little or nothing of the history. Tibet in the early 50s was still a feudal society,practising slavery,serfdom,terrible tortures and punishment.The poor were taxed to the hilt and life for the majority of the population was worse than in the middle ages in Europe.All of this was done under the banner of religion. When the Communist government of China moved in to do something about it,naturally some of those responsible for the centuries of oppression fought against the communists or got out. The monasteries were seen as the centres of oppression and were attacked. The Tibetan society was so backward that millions of Chinese were needed to bring it into the 20th century. As a result Tibetans are becoming a minority(just like the English in the UK,what's Browns' excuse). Everyone knows that China is a no nonsense society,criminals are executed,objections are frequently not tolerated and democracy is in name only,but China has come from a feudal society in 60 years to one of the most powerful economies in the world on which the west now depends(mainly because of the wests self destructing policies). When the world looks back 10-20years from now on the achievements of the Blair /Brown dynasty, they will see a once great nation reduced to an insignificant island,inhabited by a non cohesive society dependent on the outside world for its existence.Its best and bravest will have already left as they will have realised there were no opportunities for their talents.
Posted by mike reading on April 13, 2008 9:29 PM
I imagine that the average non-political citizen in China would find our obsession with Human Rights rather strange, and their implementation in this country even more so. At times I wish we had China's attitude to illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, drug dealers, prison conditions, gangs of youths, murders, etc.
Posted by Brian E on April 13, 2008 8:29 PM
Ambassador Fu delivered a clear message to western media outlets: don't compromise your journalistic professionalism just because you hate communism and/or dislike China in one way or the others. Reporting in China may be hard at times, don't use it as an excuse because that is what makes journalists' job respectful. China earned her rights to host 2008 Olympics because the country is moving along the right direction. It is now capable of sustaining 1.3 billion population by herself and becomes a productive and responsible member of world community. People in the West need to understand it is impossible to install 100% western style democracy over a short 30 years of China's open-up. China is still building its legal system. Chinese ppeople having issues of laws now can sue or defend with the help of lawyers. When heat passed and dusts settled, it will be clear the current hysteria about Tibet and Olympics is simply a reflection of ideological, economical and cultural difference between West critics and a developing country. Tibet, Darfur and animal rights (you name it here) are just smokes and excuse. The interesting thing is that no matter what China says and does nowadays will not please these critics. However, western media outlets need to do their job better.
Posted by David on April 13, 2008 7:45 PM
ORIGINAL LINK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2008/04/13/view13b.xml
The above comments are only a selection. I avoided the more scathing, anger fueled voices from both sides of the discussion and instead concentrated on those trying to understand and offer some understanding of the current topic.
Lastly, an excellent article by Russel Berman, 'Why They Hate China' seeks to offer an explaination of why the seemingly sudden anti Chinese sentiment as risen.
http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=237
That's it for now but be sure there will be more later.
- J
Saturday, April 12, 2008
We, The People.
The following is from BBC news online, a post of Chinese people's perspective on the protests of the Olympics. For me it shows an educated voice of reason and the general cencensus of many Chinese people all over the world.
Zhongze Chen, 25, Student, Hefei, China.
"Like many others in China, I am really saddened and enraged by the chaotic scenes in London and Paris.The failure of the French government to protect the torch in Paris has already aroused an outcry amongst Chinese people in cyberspace. Dozens have posted suggestions of French brands that should be boycotted in response. I agree that our country does have human rights problems. For example, there is a general lack of freedom. With regard to Tibet, I don't support everything our government does - and have even posted apologies on YouTube following events in 2006. But those protesters should wait until a more appropriate time to take a stand. I e-mailed Reporters Without Borders to say I support their cause - but they are choosing the wrong time to take a stand. The demonstrators are in danger of making an enemy of everyone in China. We are very excited and proud about the Olympics. I really hope they will be harmonious and magnificent. The best outcome would be improved communication between people inside and outside China - with the Games helping to reduce fear of foreigners within the nation".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/7340987.stm
-J
Zhongze Chen, 25, Student, Hefei, China.
"Like many others in China, I am really saddened and enraged by the chaotic scenes in London and Paris.The failure of the French government to protect the torch in Paris has already aroused an outcry amongst Chinese people in cyberspace. Dozens have posted suggestions of French brands that should be boycotted in response. I agree that our country does have human rights problems. For example, there is a general lack of freedom. With regard to Tibet, I don't support everything our government does - and have even posted apologies on YouTube following events in 2006. But those protesters should wait until a more appropriate time to take a stand. I e-mailed Reporters Without Borders to say I support their cause - but they are choosing the wrong time to take a stand. The demonstrators are in danger of making an enemy of everyone in China. We are very excited and proud about the Olympics. I really hope they will be harmonious and magnificent. The best outcome would be improved communication between people inside and outside China - with the Games helping to reduce fear of foreigners within the nation".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/7340987.stm
-J
Thursday, April 10, 2008
We?
When I began this documentary, I began with questioning Spielberg’s resignation ‘over Darfur’. I started off my research with the civil war and history of Sudan but when the riots in Lhasa and the other provinces broke out, I started reading about that. I did not foresee that the anti China sentiment was just about to overflow in sync with the start of the Olympic Torch Relay. Scouring the internet for news, articles and blogs I began to realize that there is a pro China stance from many Chinese people, not just on the mainland, but the ones overseas and- individuals born overseas. The main surge of complaints are what this documentary started out being about; the unfair coverage of western media about China and the boycotting of the Olympics. Although when I began, there only existed biased reporting about various issues. And then on 14th March, the riots in Tibet broke out.
What made many Chinese (both mainlanders and overseas) break silence and garner a sense of ‘nationalism’ or national/cultural pride/defense was the fabricated photographic reports from CNN, FOX (SKY), BBC, German N-TV, N-24 and Bild Zeittung. The most infamous response to this is the site ANTI CNN (http://www.anti-cnn.com/). A rather crude looking site with some crude YouTube videos, the most infamous being Tibet WAS, IS and ALWAYS WILL BE a part of China (a rather heavy handed knee jerk reactionary video). Despite being crude looking, it does have some interesting links and some dubious links (see The Secret Truth About The Dalai Lama- Christina Rosetti’s claim that the Dalai Lama is in fact a Nazi supporter). There are many blogs by many young Chinese mainlanders who range from being as attacking as their counterparts to the more calmer and mindful in their response. A good piece, translated piece originally written by student Mengsha recites her experiences as an ethnic minority ‘Zhuang’ in relation to the China- Tibet issue.
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/04/us-and-them/
It occurs to me though that this eruption of ‘war’ of East vs West in cyberspace is large. I was surprised to find that many overseas Chinese were defending China despite having probably lived in overseas countries since birth. Chinese people do not normally speak up for their rights, let alone defend other peoples. This includes the overseas Chinese. Chinese people are more likely to walk away than to argue against you, especially if you aren’t Chinese.
Thus the camaraderie of Chinese around the globe in protest is an interesting phenomenon. Not only because of a sudden collective of Chinese people speaking out in defence of China but also the sense of overseas Chinese people rising to the sense that they are part of this collective ethnicity, culture and history that they feel want to defend/protect.
We must make a distinction here; when the Chinese (both mainlanders and overseas) are speaking in defence of China, I suspect they are defending not the Chinese government/regime but the culture of Chinese, as a collective people, as a nation. Although at times, some seem to not be able to make that distinction and their defensive argument has the voice of nationalism (political). In effect, if ones argument or standpoint isn’t clear, the response you receive is based on this. On Danwei.org, an intriguing short piece on YouTube videos, which asks if this might be "the world's first international user generated propaganda war?".
http://www.danwei.org/video/youtube_propaganda_war.php
On which I left my own comments.
Here’s another I wrote comments to but are unpublished:
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4948/
It’s not a good article AT ALL and I don’t mean by way of it’s leanings, just by the way it’s written. And it’s not at all good representation of Spiked which actually has some funny articles by it’s editor Brendan O’Niell. Spiked actually has it’s own section that challenges ‘China Bashing’.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4506/
The important thing to remember when the water divides is not which side one is on, but to understand the issues, the complexities of them, the intentions of each voice bearer or collective. Instead of standing on either side, two can share the space in the middle. If one can identify with our cultural background despite geography and protect our shared object of interest (ie ‘Chinese’), can one not try to identify with whom we are trying to protect that object from?
J
* The issue of ‘Chinese’, being ‘Chinese’ is under discussion. What does being ‘Chinese’ mean?
** The ‘object’ of ‘Chinese’ by this I mean whether it is Chinese people, the Chinese government, the land of China, the collective nation, the culture and traditions of Chinese. People are defending different things and they may not necessarily know which ones they are as sometimes it may seem all rolled into one. �
What made many Chinese (both mainlanders and overseas) break silence and garner a sense of ‘nationalism’ or national/cultural pride/defense was the fabricated photographic reports from CNN, FOX (SKY), BBC, German N-TV, N-24 and Bild Zeittung. The most infamous response to this is the site ANTI CNN (http://www.anti-cnn.com/). A rather crude looking site with some crude YouTube videos, the most infamous being Tibet WAS, IS and ALWAYS WILL BE a part of China (a rather heavy handed knee jerk reactionary video). Despite being crude looking, it does have some interesting links and some dubious links (see The Secret Truth About The Dalai Lama- Christina Rosetti’s claim that the Dalai Lama is in fact a Nazi supporter). There are many blogs by many young Chinese mainlanders who range from being as attacking as their counterparts to the more calmer and mindful in their response. A good piece, translated piece originally written by student Mengsha recites her experiences as an ethnic minority ‘Zhuang’ in relation to the China- Tibet issue.
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/04/us-and-them/
It occurs to me though that this eruption of ‘war’ of East vs West in cyberspace is large. I was surprised to find that many overseas Chinese were defending China despite having probably lived in overseas countries since birth. Chinese people do not normally speak up for their rights, let alone defend other peoples. This includes the overseas Chinese. Chinese people are more likely to walk away than to argue against you, especially if you aren’t Chinese.
Thus the camaraderie of Chinese around the globe in protest is an interesting phenomenon. Not only because of a sudden collective of Chinese people speaking out in defence of China but also the sense of overseas Chinese people rising to the sense that they are part of this collective ethnicity, culture and history that they feel want to defend/protect.
We must make a distinction here; when the Chinese (both mainlanders and overseas) are speaking in defence of China, I suspect they are defending not the Chinese government/regime but the culture of Chinese, as a collective people, as a nation. Although at times, some seem to not be able to make that distinction and their defensive argument has the voice of nationalism (political). In effect, if ones argument or standpoint isn’t clear, the response you receive is based on this. On Danwei.org, an intriguing short piece on YouTube videos, which asks if this might be "the world's first international user generated propaganda war?".
http://www.danwei.org/video/youtube_propaganda_war.php
On which I left my own comments.
Here’s another I wrote comments to but are unpublished:
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4948/
It’s not a good article AT ALL and I don’t mean by way of it’s leanings, just by the way it’s written. And it’s not at all good representation of Spiked which actually has some funny articles by it’s editor Brendan O’Niell. Spiked actually has it’s own section that challenges ‘China Bashing’.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4506/
The important thing to remember when the water divides is not which side one is on, but to understand the issues, the complexities of them, the intentions of each voice bearer or collective. Instead of standing on either side, two can share the space in the middle. If one can identify with our cultural background despite geography and protect our shared object of interest (ie ‘Chinese’), can one not try to identify with whom we are trying to protect that object from?
J
* The issue of ‘Chinese’, being ‘Chinese’ is under discussion. What does being ‘Chinese’ mean?
** The ‘object’ of ‘Chinese’ by this I mean whether it is Chinese people, the Chinese government, the land of China, the collective nation, the culture and traditions of Chinese. People are defending different things and they may not necessarily know which ones they are as sometimes it may seem all rolled into one. �
Monday, April 7, 2008
Will The Real Representative Please Stand Up?
Yesterday was the day of the Olympic Torch run in London. My plan was to document it in Chinatown and at the O2 arena (although I was too late to get a ticket). I woke up and the forecast for snow was real, all 4 inches of it. It is April.
I arrived in Chinatown at 11.15am and asked some police about which way the runner would be coming. I made my way down with it snowing down Gerrard Street and made it to the corner of Gerrad and Wardour, where the torchbearer would turn and move on to Shaftsbury Avenue. I got a good spot and even got there before a broadcast Cameraman and a Photographer for AP got there. So I shared the space. We waited while it snowed lightly. It tailed off magically towards the time but there were masses on police in fluorescent jackets everywhere, it was difficult for us to get a clear line of sight despite having nearly the best seat in the street. When the torch bearer came down the street, we were all surprised and dismayed to see about 30 Beijing Olympic representatives surrounding the runner and then another 50 British police surrounding them. As far as I witnessed, there was only one guy with a Free Tibet banner present who earlier seem to get into a minor scuffle with some elderly Chinese people. When the time came, we barely got a shot of the runner or the torch! I did ok but the AP Photographer was complaining. The torch was guarded more heavily than the American President on a jog in Central Park. I said a quick hello to the broadcast Cameraman and said we might see each other at the dome.
At the O2 ‘arena’ area where the torchbearer was to come down lined people, a few ‘Free Tibet’ protesters where present. But more, much more, were to arrive. I did a few shots before another 200 protestors arrived. There seem to be an equal number of Olympic supporters as well a protesters though the protesters made more noise and waved more flags, so they seemed to dominate the landscape. Chants of, ‘CHINA OUT OF TIBET!’ and other chants were frequent. There were many Tibetans as well as non Tibetans protesting. Non-protestors waved little Beijing Olympic flags and makeshift periscopes that were handed out. Banners of disdain for the Chinese government where present, often citing human rights abuses and murder.
While shooting, many protestors were eager to get attention waving banners in my view and stopping so I would get a good shot of their slogans. I guess they presumed I was press and had no idea I was shooting footage for a documentary that is trying to address the issue of China for a balanced perspective. It’s been a while since I was in the midst of a protest and certainly not one where I felt personally involved. I did feel though tried not to; feel personally attacked by the anti China sentiment as if it were about Chinese people. I felt misunderstood and attacked. And I am a British Born Chinese. I wonder how the Chinese felt who actually were from China? But I reminded myself I was just there to document. So I did.
On the way home I spoke to a Chinese student (from China) and asked her what she though of the protests and she replied, ‘I don’t think they represent the people of Tibet’. I gave her my card in hopes she may be aid me in interviews with overseas Chinese. I wondered on my way home with sore hands and an aching back, if what she said was representative of the Chinese in China…
Stills from footage shot of the day:
In Chinatown:
Later in Greenwich:
- J
I arrived in Chinatown at 11.15am and asked some police about which way the runner would be coming. I made my way down with it snowing down Gerrard Street and made it to the corner of Gerrad and Wardour, where the torchbearer would turn and move on to Shaftsbury Avenue. I got a good spot and even got there before a broadcast Cameraman and a Photographer for AP got there. So I shared the space. We waited while it snowed lightly. It tailed off magically towards the time but there were masses on police in fluorescent jackets everywhere, it was difficult for us to get a clear line of sight despite having nearly the best seat in the street. When the torch bearer came down the street, we were all surprised and dismayed to see about 30 Beijing Olympic representatives surrounding the runner and then another 50 British police surrounding them. As far as I witnessed, there was only one guy with a Free Tibet banner present who earlier seem to get into a minor scuffle with some elderly Chinese people. When the time came, we barely got a shot of the runner or the torch! I did ok but the AP Photographer was complaining. The torch was guarded more heavily than the American President on a jog in Central Park. I said a quick hello to the broadcast Cameraman and said we might see each other at the dome.
At the O2 ‘arena’ area where the torchbearer was to come down lined people, a few ‘Free Tibet’ protesters where present. But more, much more, were to arrive. I did a few shots before another 200 protestors arrived. There seem to be an equal number of Olympic supporters as well a protesters though the protesters made more noise and waved more flags, so they seemed to dominate the landscape. Chants of, ‘CHINA OUT OF TIBET!’ and other chants were frequent. There were many Tibetans as well as non Tibetans protesting. Non-protestors waved little Beijing Olympic flags and makeshift periscopes that were handed out. Banners of disdain for the Chinese government where present, often citing human rights abuses and murder.
While shooting, many protestors were eager to get attention waving banners in my view and stopping so I would get a good shot of their slogans. I guess they presumed I was press and had no idea I was shooting footage for a documentary that is trying to address the issue of China for a balanced perspective. It’s been a while since I was in the midst of a protest and certainly not one where I felt personally involved. I did feel though tried not to; feel personally attacked by the anti China sentiment as if it were about Chinese people. I felt misunderstood and attacked. And I am a British Born Chinese. I wonder how the Chinese felt who actually were from China? But I reminded myself I was just there to document. So I did.
On the way home I spoke to a Chinese student (from China) and asked her what she though of the protests and she replied, ‘I don’t think they represent the people of Tibet’. I gave her my card in hopes she may be aid me in interviews with overseas Chinese. I wondered on my way home with sore hands and an aching back, if what she said was representative of the Chinese in China…
Stills from footage shot of the day:
In Chinatown:
Later in Greenwich:
- J
Failing Diplomacy?
Originally published 3rd April 2008.
I arrived back last week from Hong Kong. We managed to shoot 6 interviews and garnered some interesting views regarding China, the west, Identity and the history of civilizations.
During my time in Hong Kong, the riots in Tibet broke out. What made more headlines in Hong Kong though was the outbreak of Flu in schools. Subsequently schools were closed for an early Easter break and many students wore surgical masks. This is not to say that the television news did not report on the events in Lhasa, but it did not take the form of the most important news story on the planet, nor did it take the form that China is ‘cracking down’ on protestors. As if there was a special kind of policing that China deploys to riots and other governments in other countries do not.
Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott of the Olympic Games on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. Sarkozy, the French President has hinted at a boycott.
Many Western governments have called for Hu Jiantao, the Chinese President to hold talks with the Dalai Lama.
I myself do not even do any sports anymore, nor do I live in China though I am ‘Chinese’. But I support the event which at it’s core, should be to celebrate athletic achievement and discourse. It should not however be used and overshadowed by supposed political issues. It is not the first time a major sporting event has been overshadowed by the politics surrounding it. Though the question herein lies, where is the diplomacy in dealing with these issues that the respective countries have taken up with China? What in fact will a boycott do to this sporting event? After all, it is a sporting event that was granted to the host country by the IOC. If anyone has a gripe about the host of the event, should it not approach the commissioning body?
For the last few years now, China has been not only been reported about as a rapidly rising economic giant, but a careless one at that. Reportage regarding ‘unsafe’ levels of lead in imported toys and toxic ingredients in processed foods has made out China to be a prisoner of it’s own people and of ‘foreigners’. I do not deny these unsafe and dangerous practices have and should not have occurred but I do not agree with unrepresentative reportage and a lack of questioning. For example, why did the clients such as Mattel check the manufacturing of it’s own products before they entered the market? And in fact the levels of lead were below the safe levels set by the U.S. a few decades ago. You would in fact need to be chewing on a quite a number of paint stripped from the toys to be anywhere near an unsafe level.
The speed in it’s growth as an economic and military giant pretty much scares the bejesus out of western industrialized countries.
I have no doubt that western governments do not care about Tibet from an ethical moral standpoint. In fact they could care less. I suspect a partial reason for the generated noise is intended to sabotage China’s development because let’s face it, which country wants another country as big as China to be more powerful than themselves are? They may be thinking, ‘We not be able to stop a giant running, but we can sure try to trip it in it’s tracks’.
Some facts to consider: The CIA funded the Dalai Lama and trained Tibetan Mercenaries until 1974 when Nixon befriended China. Britain fought two wars with China in the 19th century to impose the sale of Opium and then in 1904 launched a full scale military invasion of Tibet.
To cite recent media coverage of the Tibetan riots, many western outlets including CNN, Fox, the Washington Post, the BBC and notably in Germany N-TV, N-24 and Bild Zeittung all have shown fabricated reports with Nepal police beating and arresting protestors but reported as Chinese police (they have different uniforms). Perhaps Merkel has been watching too much TV.
What one can try to understand is this: China is a big complicated country made up of 56 ethnic groups with lots of problems it is trying to solve, step by step. A country that has remained out of the global attention for most of the century and now has to contend not only with it’s rapid growth but the criticism of other countries who are judging China according to their own values and standards. It is a country with people that have thousands of years of history and culture predating most western ‘civilizations’. One cannot understand China In the time it takes for MTV or the BBC to dazzle you with spin or it’s 1 minute news update. If any government wanted to truly help the Tibetan people or the Sudanese refugees, boycotts of this kind only solidify ones own arrogance, lack of understanding and thus, a true absence of diplomacy. This perhaps goes to show where their true intentions possibly lie.
-J
I arrived back last week from Hong Kong. We managed to shoot 6 interviews and garnered some interesting views regarding China, the west, Identity and the history of civilizations.
During my time in Hong Kong, the riots in Tibet broke out. What made more headlines in Hong Kong though was the outbreak of Flu in schools. Subsequently schools were closed for an early Easter break and many students wore surgical masks. This is not to say that the television news did not report on the events in Lhasa, but it did not take the form of the most important news story on the planet, nor did it take the form that China is ‘cracking down’ on protestors. As if there was a special kind of policing that China deploys to riots and other governments in other countries do not.
Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott of the Olympic Games on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. Sarkozy, the French President has hinted at a boycott.
Many Western governments have called for Hu Jiantao, the Chinese President to hold talks with the Dalai Lama.
I myself do not even do any sports anymore, nor do I live in China though I am ‘Chinese’. But I support the event which at it’s core, should be to celebrate athletic achievement and discourse. It should not however be used and overshadowed by supposed political issues. It is not the first time a major sporting event has been overshadowed by the politics surrounding it. Though the question herein lies, where is the diplomacy in dealing with these issues that the respective countries have taken up with China? What in fact will a boycott do to this sporting event? After all, it is a sporting event that was granted to the host country by the IOC. If anyone has a gripe about the host of the event, should it not approach the commissioning body?
For the last few years now, China has been not only been reported about as a rapidly rising economic giant, but a careless one at that. Reportage regarding ‘unsafe’ levels of lead in imported toys and toxic ingredients in processed foods has made out China to be a prisoner of it’s own people and of ‘foreigners’. I do not deny these unsafe and dangerous practices have and should not have occurred but I do not agree with unrepresentative reportage and a lack of questioning. For example, why did the clients such as Mattel check the manufacturing of it’s own products before they entered the market? And in fact the levels of lead were below the safe levels set by the U.S. a few decades ago. You would in fact need to be chewing on a quite a number of paint stripped from the toys to be anywhere near an unsafe level.
The speed in it’s growth as an economic and military giant pretty much scares the bejesus out of western industrialized countries.
I have no doubt that western governments do not care about Tibet from an ethical moral standpoint. In fact they could care less. I suspect a partial reason for the generated noise is intended to sabotage China’s development because let’s face it, which country wants another country as big as China to be more powerful than themselves are? They may be thinking, ‘We not be able to stop a giant running, but we can sure try to trip it in it’s tracks’.
Some facts to consider: The CIA funded the Dalai Lama and trained Tibetan Mercenaries until 1974 when Nixon befriended China. Britain fought two wars with China in the 19th century to impose the sale of Opium and then in 1904 launched a full scale military invasion of Tibet.
To cite recent media coverage of the Tibetan riots, many western outlets including CNN, Fox, the Washington Post, the BBC and notably in Germany N-TV, N-24 and Bild Zeittung all have shown fabricated reports with Nepal police beating and arresting protestors but reported as Chinese police (they have different uniforms). Perhaps Merkel has been watching too much TV.
What one can try to understand is this: China is a big complicated country made up of 56 ethnic groups with lots of problems it is trying to solve, step by step. A country that has remained out of the global attention for most of the century and now has to contend not only with it’s rapid growth but the criticism of other countries who are judging China according to their own values and standards. It is a country with people that have thousands of years of history and culture predating most western ‘civilizations’. One cannot understand China In the time it takes for MTV or the BBC to dazzle you with spin or it’s 1 minute news update. If any government wanted to truly help the Tibetan people or the Sudanese refugees, boycotts of this kind only solidify ones own arrogance, lack of understanding and thus, a true absence of diplomacy. This perhaps goes to show where their true intentions possibly lie.
-J
A Matter of Culture?
Originally published 8th March 2008.
I haven’t produced my own project since I left university nearly 9 years ago. And this one that I have begun was a while coming. In the lull of the winter months in ‘the industry’ and awaiting to shoot two feature films, I wrote a short fiction and formalized initial ideas for the first of many short form documentaries regarding the development of China, which will be shot over a period of 5-10 years.
With my interest in China and the propaganda of media, when Spielberg quit his position as artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics, Hollywood actors, Nobel Peace prize winners and the majority of western media upheld their position to ask the Chinese government to use it’s possible influence to place pressure on the Sudanese government; I felt there was a need to reveal the hypocrisies of western media and whether it reflects the pubic perception in the UK. I also feel the lack of understanding of cultures between and east and west and the mentality embedded in those cultures.
I was born and raised in London, UK and my parents are from Hong Kong. I have been back many times. I have also been to Beijing. Growing up and well into my twenties one does struggle with the identity of ones culture. Am I English or Chinese? Am I more Western or more Eastern? Do my personal values reflect that of my family’s culture or the country’s culture I grew up in? I have grown to understand that I am a culture of one yet need to respect the values and traditions of both when I am in those respective companies. I understand both sides and subsequently have knowledge of the fundamental difference in mentality of how they both function. I share the belief that people around the world should celebrate their differences rather than let them separate from one another and this is a theme that will be explored in the documentary.
I am currently in Hong Kong for some personal business and have taken the opportunity to start the project here. With the help of a few friends, I was confident that we would get enough interviews from people. Was I wrong I shit you not… The fact is, many Hong Kong people do not like being on camera. If you are about to photograph the exterior of a store using a SLR, you would probably be shoo’d off or shouted at. The outcome of this has led me to conclude that a voice over would be apt for the Hong Kong section. As this camera shy mentality is part of the cultural milieu, it shall also become part of the documentary. The second part will be shot in London in April/May with completion planned to coincide with the start of the Beijing Olympics. I am keeping an open mind about including Taiwan and extending the documentary to include the aftermath of the Olympics. I will keep this blog posted if there is anything to air.
Most documentaries tend to take you to places you hadn’t thought of or discovered when you first began making it, and I hope this one will be no different.
Some stills from recently shot footage.
- J
I haven’t produced my own project since I left university nearly 9 years ago. And this one that I have begun was a while coming. In the lull of the winter months in ‘the industry’ and awaiting to shoot two feature films, I wrote a short fiction and formalized initial ideas for the first of many short form documentaries regarding the development of China, which will be shot over a period of 5-10 years.
With my interest in China and the propaganda of media, when Spielberg quit his position as artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics, Hollywood actors, Nobel Peace prize winners and the majority of western media upheld their position to ask the Chinese government to use it’s possible influence to place pressure on the Sudanese government; I felt there was a need to reveal the hypocrisies of western media and whether it reflects the pubic perception in the UK. I also feel the lack of understanding of cultures between and east and west and the mentality embedded in those cultures.
I was born and raised in London, UK and my parents are from Hong Kong. I have been back many times. I have also been to Beijing. Growing up and well into my twenties one does struggle with the identity of ones culture. Am I English or Chinese? Am I more Western or more Eastern? Do my personal values reflect that of my family’s culture or the country’s culture I grew up in? I have grown to understand that I am a culture of one yet need to respect the values and traditions of both when I am in those respective companies. I understand both sides and subsequently have knowledge of the fundamental difference in mentality of how they both function. I share the belief that people around the world should celebrate their differences rather than let them separate from one another and this is a theme that will be explored in the documentary.
I am currently in Hong Kong for some personal business and have taken the opportunity to start the project here. With the help of a few friends, I was confident that we would get enough interviews from people. Was I wrong I shit you not… The fact is, many Hong Kong people do not like being on camera. If you are about to photograph the exterior of a store using a SLR, you would probably be shoo’d off or shouted at. The outcome of this has led me to conclude that a voice over would be apt for the Hong Kong section. As this camera shy mentality is part of the cultural milieu, it shall also become part of the documentary. The second part will be shot in London in April/May with completion planned to coincide with the start of the Beijing Olympics. I am keeping an open mind about including Taiwan and extending the documentary to include the aftermath of the Olympics. I will keep this blog posted if there is anything to air.
Most documentaries tend to take you to places you hadn’t thought of or discovered when you first began making it, and I hope this one will be no different.
Some stills from recently shot footage.
- J
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