Celebration Thread

Time to commemorate the 56th anniversay of the Glorious Revolution! A contrarian might say, “It wasn’t glorious and it wasn’t a revolution.” Discuss.

(And feel free to discuss anything else, of course.)

The Discussion: 69 Comments

Give me a Flying Pigeon any day of the week…

October 1, 2005 @ 12:11 am | Comment

Doesn’t the Glorious Revolution refer to the installation of William and MAry on the throne of England?

Which, now that I think about it, also pretty much fails to live up to either word in its name.

October 1, 2005 @ 12:43 am | Comment

Here’s what I find, well, “interesting” in the People’s Daily editorial:

Seventh paragraph: “…says Professor Hu angang of the prestigious Tsinghua University…”

Eighth paragraph: “Professor Hu is known for his study of Chinese conditions”

Some other “experts” also mentioned by name, including “Zhou Jun, an amateur historian and TV worker in Chengdu.”

(“Amateur historian” is hilarious. As if any independent historians were free to publish in the PRC)

But especially Hu, of the “prestigious” Tsinghua. If it’s prestigious then it must be correct. (sarcasm)

Final sentence: “…as predicted by Professor Hu and other experts….”

All CCP cadres, of course. But what to they get in exchange for whoring this way for People’s Daily? (And conversely, the “journalist” who wrote this, what does he get for consulting with all those “experts” and promoting their names – without any dissenting interpretations or any material evidence? NOT money, no.
Not money for this article anyway.

No, it’s just the religious cult reinforcing itself.
It’s a massive circle-jerk among the religious cult-members of the CCP. And what each one gets out of it, simply, is continued and reinforced special privilege, to write absolute nonsense and be paid handsomely for it, and glorified for it, without any competition.

It reminds me of an old Russian joke
:-)…….well, back in Soviet times, in the 1980s, when Russia’s economy was just opening up, a Russian Communist Party member started a “Western Style” bar with strippers, exotic dancers, topless waitresses. But his business failed miserably – nobody ever stayed in his bar for more than two minutes. He asked his friend for advice, and his friend said, “Are you REALLY serving Western drinks?” The guy said, “Yes, I import ALL the best liquor from Europe! And I hired the best European interior designers!” So his friend asked, “well what about the strippers?” And he replied:

“There’s NOTHING wrong with the strippers! They have all been good Communist Party members, for more than 50 years!”

October 1, 2005 @ 1:05 am | Comment

Was just going to write that there’s only one “glorious revolution” that I know of and it’s one that removed a dcitatorship, not enforced one; looks like JD beat me to it.

October 1, 2005 @ 1:18 am | Comment

The way of coexistence among different civilizations

href=”http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200509/

Between the late 20th century and early this century, the conflict of civilization and dialog of civilization has become a hot topic of conversation in today’s world. This is a refraction of the global situation after the Cold War, as well as mankind’s thinking of its own destiny.

Human civilization is manifested as different civilization systems that are born out of different geological and humane environments and so have their specific contents and forms. This is a basic Marxist outlook on human development, as well as a historical fact recognized by many sociologists.

Humanity is facing a world with different civilizations, how should various civilizations get along with each other has all along been a question difficult for human beings to resolve. In the age of economic globalization, in the era when the Earth becomes increasingly “small”, it has become more urgent to seek a solution to this question.

Recently, Chinese President Hu Jintao noted at the UN Summit: “In the spirit of equality and openness, we should safeguard the diversity of civilization, promote the democratization of international relations, concert our efforts to construct a harmonious world that embraces all kinds of civilization”, expressing China’s principled view and basic idea on this issue.

First, the diversity of civilization represents not only the basic characteristic of human society, but also the basic drive for the progress of human civilization.

Not long ago, the international community passed an international convention on protecting biological diversity, which shows that mankind has realized the extreme importance of the diversity of living things in safeguarding the natural ecology. Such an outlook can also be used to approach civilization. Humanity should also realize that the variety of civilization is of extreme importance to safeguarding mankind’s social ecology. Humanity’s past and present show that among different civilization systems there exists the phenomenon of mutual exchange, merger and influence, such close association has become an important driving force for the development of different civilization systems. The system of human civilization must be diversified and open, only then can it have the vigor to live on without end.

Second, different civilization systems should hold an attitude of equality and mutual respect. Any kind of civilization system has its inherent requirement of heredity and self-existence, which is irreproachable. Different civilizations are required to respect each other, only then can conflicts be avoided. Development of civilization is differentiated in the early or late order, without the distinction of superiority and inferiority that should be the consensus of humankind. In human history, the conquering and invasion of one civilization by another is disastrous and immoral. In modern world history, European colonialists’ invasion and occupation of the America is a typical conquer of civilization. This writer once visited an ancient Indian remains in Peru, a tourist guide of Spanish descendant gave a detailed description of the calamity caused by Spanish colonialists in those years, and sternly condemned the act of conquering civilization. This shows that the subjugation of civilization is morally intolerable in the world and cannot be forgiven by even the descendants of the conqueror.

Third, different civilization systems should hold an attitude of learning from each other’s merits to make up for each other’s deficiencies, they should not assume the air of self-importance and adamantly exclude other civilizations. “Harmony without uniformity” should become a normal state of coexistence among different civilizations. The process of the formation of Chinese civilization is also a process of the blending of different cultures and the “peace-harmony” idea formed in the process is of enlightenment significance to the world of today.

Today, humankind is moving toward a historical juncture of development. How to carry on self-existence, and how to carry on coexistence, has become a historic topic for different civilizations and different nations. “Building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity ” is both the good wish of humanity since ancient times and a practical choice of humankind today.

October 1, 2005 @ 1:30 am | Comment

If you do not know yet, the Chinese government now has an official website:

http://www.gov.cn

This is launched on Oct 1, 2005. I hope this will provide enough information for everyone.

October 1, 2005 @ 1:33 am | Comment

Oh good, I always love to read government websites to find out the real truth of what’s happening in the world.

I want to collect government website addresses. Who needs books or blogs, when we have government websites to instruct us?

If you REALLY want to learn the Correct Line of Superplusgoodthinkfulness, you can visit the government website of North Korea (in English) at:

http://www.korea-dpr.com

The music video (on that site) of the North Korea National Defense Song is, well, different from other music videos you might have seen. I suggest it would go down really well with just a bit of herb.

However, North Korea’s site seems to be blocked in most of China.

October 1, 2005 @ 1:52 am | Comment

Hu Angang is a very established scholar in China, and well quote in western media such as NYT, WSJ since over 10 years ago.

if i remember correctly, he actually proposed a lot of radical reform at that time.

btw, what was wrong with Hu’s quotes?

he said,
“In the 200 years from 1750 to 1950,much of the world was striving for industrialization, but the Chinese economy stood stagnant, and the country was rated as one of the weakest in the world.”…”Old China was unable to industrialize because it did not have a strong enough government to defend the country and keep society in order,”

which are pretty much true, except you might want to add 1966-1978 to the stagnant list as well.

October 1, 2005 @ 1:53 am | Comment

e.g. business week

“China needs to shift from a high energy-consumption model of development to a gr een model,” says Hu Angang, director of Tsinghua University’s China studies center.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_15/b3928070.htm

October 1, 2005 @ 2:01 am | Comment

Glorious Revolution? Didn’t China only start to improve from being poor after it SCRAPPED the Glorious Revolution? Or is it impolite to point this fact out?

Some of the things people say to me in China really is of the 2 + 2 = 5 variety. Has anyone else noticed how they can explain away the most outrageous contradictions on a amazingly regular basis?

October 1, 2005 @ 2:34 am | Comment

Nearly 60 years after the glorious revolution and China is now embracing most of the things the revolution was against: landlords [that SOHO couple], the KMT, class [are you a “VIP”?] and prostitution. I wonder what they have left to teach at the Party schools these days.

October 1, 2005 @ 2:37 am | Comment

sun bin:

1966 to 1976, the Cultural Revolution, was not “stagnant”. It was “chaos and barbarianism”

That is what’s wrong with Hu’s quotes. It’s shamefully untruthful of him – in reciting a “history” spanning many centuries – to omit any reference to THE most savage, chaotic time in all of China’s history,
the Cultural Revolution.

That is, simply, the most shameful and cowardly way of lying.

October 1, 2005 @ 4:12 am | Comment

July 4, 2006

Editorial, on the 230th anniversary of the United States:

With a population of 300 million and a big big land mass – very big – and lots of coastal waters – America is very big. It is the second most populous democracy in the world, after India.

For America, which takes pride in its civilization of 5,000 years, mixed of all the great civilizations of the world, especially the civilization of ancient Greece and Rome and the Roman Empire which was bigger and more diverse than China, July 4 1776 marked the beginning of development in a real sense. For the American people now comprised of 200 ethnic groups and hundreds of different religions, that day meant freedom, once and for all, from humiliation and starvation, the beginning of a long historic march toward stability and prosperity.

For two decades before the Continental Congress proclaimed the United States in 1776, the nation was tormented by foreign invasions and humiliations by the British Imperialists and French enemies and so-called “Indigenous Peoples” on the frontier.

The humiliations at the hands of the British – who burned the White House in 1814 – were so bitter that Beavis and Butthead, two Eighth Grade boys at Springfield Junior High School, said, “The British suck. We kicked their asses. America RULES! We RULE!” Little Beavis grunts a lot whenever we ask him whether the British suck. He says all foreigners suck.

The founding of the US marked the beginning of a new era of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all ethnic groups in the country. Under the Constitution of 1787, all Black Slaves were represented in the US Congress. (Three fifths of the slave population were counted for representation in Congress – which is more direct representation than any Chinese get today.)

In a harmonious way, with respect to all ethnic groups and in the spirit of cooperation, the US established a Bureau of Indian Affairs to look after the interests of Native American minority groups.

Today, in the spirit of harmony and mutual respect and cooperation, all American Indians have the right to self-rule on their own autonomous reservations.

The government of the United States always respects the culture of the Native American ethnic groups, who are very interesting and colorful.
We can see this in the way the US mint put pictures of Native Americans on coins in the 1800s and 1900s. From 1859 to 1909, every American Penny had a picture of an American Indian on its face, in full beautiful Native American headdress. So we can see, America always treated its Indians with respect in the 1800s.

So, on July 4th, let us all say only good things about American History and remind each other that everything was always very good and happy in America after 1776, and our government always did great and glorious things to make people happy.

And let us always remember to blame all of our problems on foreigners.

October 1, 2005 @ 5:03 am | Comment

National day always brings about a sense of pride. On days like this I’d prefer to remember Mao and the revolution for what they did in the 30s and 40s, for their efforts to defend China and their efforts to get rid of the KMT. The first few years of “New China” were years of great hope and happiness for the majority of people and while things tanked afterword, the past 20 years has brought positive change that, despite the abandonment of certain Communist principles, couldn’t have been achieved without the Communist Party in power.

October 1, 2005 @ 5:11 am | Comment

Keir: it was more a case of replacing one dictatorship with another, really. All in the name of keeping down religious minorities. Not England’s finest hour.

October 1, 2005 @ 5:11 am | Comment

Ivan, thanks for the DRPK link. For convenience, I inserted a hyperlink into it….just in case you’re wondering.

October 1, 2005 @ 6:10 am | Comment

Martyn,

Good idea, to hyperlink the DPRK site.
I was able to get it in China around a year ago – that’s when I saw the bizarre music video of their National Defense Song, and it was SO hilarious, so I’ve always remembered it – but when I tried again today, it was blocked.

Which is very weird, considering that it’s a nominal ally of China.

I also remember, on the DPRK site, we can learn how Great Leader Kim Il Sung single-handedly defeated the Japanese with no help from the Americans or any other country. Not even China is mentioned. Japan was defeated by Kim Il Sung, single handedly.

Sometimes I’m tempted to visit North Korea as a tourist (or to at least try, although I doubt that I would get a visa, due to being a Yank with Russian visas in my passport) – just to experience all of the weirdness before it disappears just like all the other Communist dictatorships did. (I mean, it’s really the only one left. Cuba and China don’t count as “Communist” countries, not really.)

I’ve only gotten some faint tastes of what Real Communism was like. There’s really nothing left of it in China. And I didn’t move to Russia until Yeltsin took over, when the only vestiges of “Communist” habits were fungible and transferable skills like tapping my phone (and my listening to the clicks and the bored monitors on those cheap phones, and saying hello to them) and being escorted on train rides by KGB/FSB agents (great conversation, good chess players, and good drinking buddies), and coming home to my flat after a week of travel and finding my desk cleaned up and all my papers nicely put in order by the KGB/FSB, while they left the rest of my flat as messy as always. 🙂

(I actually left them a note once, when I left for a trip, to please clean my kitchen too when they come…and when I came back the whole flat had been cleaned, and especially my desk and my computer and my papers, all nicely put in order for me.
But they also cleaned my kitchen and took out the trash, since I asked them to. Hoorah for RUSSIAN HOSPITALITY! 🙂

But I’ve NEVER been in a REAL Communist country with TRULY psychotic leaders and TRULY insane and paranoid spies, like North Korea.
So I have a fantasy about visiting North Korea, just to see what REAL Communist paranoid psychotics are like!

But I know better. I know that I’d be shot half an hour after arriving in North Korea, because I’d start laughing at something….. 🙂

Well, now on October 1, if any Chinese want to remember what Communism was REALLY like, they can visit North Korea………….

October 1, 2005 @ 6:59 am | Comment

Just a quick one – I just posted a great article from The Economist on the growing number of “mass incidents” in China. Just as they managed to completely quash the grass-roots democrats in Taishi it is becoming ever clearer that there’s a lot of more of these incidents going on than ever before, and better yet we’re actually hearing about some of them.

http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/123711.php

October 1, 2005 @ 7:48 am | Comment

Haha, guess what new post I’m working on at the moment? Great minds and all that…

October 1, 2005 @ 7:56 am | Comment

Great idea Martyn – I started the same post two days ago but gave up due to time constraints. It’s a good article.

In an old thread (from yesterday) on Blogspot and Blog City, a commenter in China asks for recommendations for a blog hosting service. Can anyone help him out?

October 1, 2005 @ 8:03 am | Comment

Speaking of DPRK, (temporary) Beijing resident Austin Arensberg is headed there for a visit in two weeks. Check out the story on his blog.

http://www.austinarensberg.com/?p=255

He plans to share his experiences over beers (or blogs) when he gets back.

October 1, 2005 @ 8:12 am | Comment

Oh yes, it’s that time of the year again..time to celebrate “liberation”.

Maybe one day the Taiwanese can joyfully celebrate “liberation” as well.

October 1, 2005 @ 8:31 am | Comment

Disagree, JD. For me and many others, the Glorious Twelfth served to confirm British liberty and our parliamentary system over James II’s oligarchy. It also gave us the advantage of Dutch business practice and know-how that built the empire. I say it was the catalyst for our finest hour.

October 1, 2005 @ 9:11 am | Comment

“Maybe one day the Taiwanese can joyfully celebrate “liberation” as well.”

Let’s hope so, because reunification is something Taiwan can’t evade. Not in “Communist” China, neither in “Democratic” China. Also you have the right to be sceptical about the PRC Maoist era, but making fun of the fine article of Xinhua is nothing more than cheap shots. China will become a developed country by 2050, so another 45 years. This hope is expressed in that article, and many Chinese hope they don’t have to wait that long. I hope I can witness it by then.

October 1, 2005 @ 9:35 am | Comment

45 years? I sure hope so. It’s been 30 years since the economic miracle begin, and 47 percent of the population is nearly as bad off now as they were then. So they do have a ways to go.

October 1, 2005 @ 9:51 am | Comment

ZHJ,

You said, “making fun of the fine article of Xinhua is nothing but cheap shots.”

No. You are looking at it backwards. The “cheap shots” are articles like the one in People’s Daily, which are too cheap and too cowardly to tell the truth about China’s history.

It is a “cheap shot” to pretend that all of China’s sorrows came from Foreigners.

It is a “cheap shot” to pretend that Foreigners bear the main responsibility for China’s sorrows, without making any criticism of how Chairman Mao and his policies killed more Chinese people than ANY Foreigners ever did.

It is a “Cheap Shot” for the CCP to pretend to have liberated China from the Japanese, when in fact the USA was the main power who defeated Japan, and in China, the KMT fought more battles against Japan, and lost more good Chinese warrior-patriots, than the Communists ever did.

It is a “Cheap Shot” for the CCP to pretend that it ever liberated China from Japan. China was liberated by the USA and the TRULY glorious Chinese patriots of the KMT, and China would NEVER have been liberated without the help of the USA.

It is a “Cheap Shot” for the CCP to publish articles in People’s Daily, about October 1 1949, without mentioning the Red Army of Russia, who put the CCP in power.

That WHOLE ARTICLE in the People’s Daily, is a “Cheap Shot” from China against every intelligent person. And it is a cheap shot against all the USA who liberated China from Japan, and it is a cheap shot against the KMT who fought very valiantly against Japan while the Communists sat back and let the Japanese cut the KMT to pieces, and it is a cheap shot against the Russians….
….because the People’s Republic of China would not exist without the help of the Russians.

“CHEAP SHOT?” Sorry, I generally refrain from vulgarity on this site, but the cheapest shots have come from you and from People’s Daily, and you can shove those shots up your ass.

China would be NOTHING today, without the help of America and Russia. So you can shove every cheap shot about “foreigners” up your ass.

PS, WHEN will the CCP finally be honest and admit that they owe their very existence to their Big Brothers of Russia?

Come back to us, CCP. Come back to your big brother, Russia, who created you. Russia is the Father of the CCP. So, CCP, you must follow us, follow Russia….your bigger (and stronger) brothers in Russia, we Russians will show you the way……

🙂

October 1, 2005 @ 10:07 am | Comment

Ivan, shame on you.

October 1, 2005 @ 10:11 am | Comment

Richard,

Ah, you say shame on me? Well you know, my Russian soul (or even better, my Irish soul, you know)….

…My soul says, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned – but I know you wanted me to…..”

🙂

Into the twilight, as my shyanasheee
(phonetically spelled, it means, “Poet and Teacher” in Gaelic) WB Yeats said:

“And God stands winding his lonely horn,
And Time and the world are ever in flight,
And love is less dear than the grey twilight,
And hope is less dear than the dew of the morn.”

Which means – to any Celts here (or our brothers of the Celts, the Jews), and with a wee bit of Russian accent from me:

All the best beauties are born in the twilight.

🙂

October 1, 2005 @ 10:27 am | Comment

And on a totally unrelated note, it looks like the typhoon is bearing down Taipei right now. The wind and rains are ferocious.

October 1, 2005 @ 11:03 am | Comment

is it ok,or are you father vision?

October 1, 2005 @ 3:10 pm | Comment

Mr Editor, it’s a very important day today, why don’t you spend you time doing some quality editoring work for People’s Daily or go and fly some flying pigeons for this special occasion. I’m sure There are many many many positive highlights already. A flying pigeon surely will add up to the scene. Here, we are commemorating in a special way:Disachievement Award ceremony of the Glorious Revolution. I mean, if you have a sense of humor. For God sakes, please don’t try to set up a tune for Peking Duck:’If you want to read about China’s problems, pick any other day.’–come on,man, this is only a blog, not some ‘daily’ you’re editing. I mean, why don’t we say this way’If you want to read about Pecing Duck, pick any other day.’ I promise you if I fancy some takeaway of positive highlights later, I’ll visit people’s daily, but that’s not the intention I come to Peking Duck for. Let’s just play for fun,ok. Party only started.

October 1, 2005 @ 4:50 pm | Comment

Ivan, you are nuts.

October 1, 2005 @ 7:48 pm | Comment

ZHJ,

You might be right, but I never murdered 70 million people like Mao and the Communists did.

October 1, 2005 @ 9:39 pm | Comment

Ivan, You know what you are? You’re like a big bear with claws and with fangs …big fucking teeth, man. Yeah… big fuckin’ teeth on ya’. And she’s just like this little bunny, who’s just kinda cowering in the corner. Shivering. Yeah, man just kinda… you know, you got these claws and you’re staring at these claws and your thinking to yourself, and with these claws you’re thinking, “How am I supposed to kill this bunny, how am I supposed to kill this bunny?” And you’re poking at it, you’re poking at it… Yeah, you’re not hurting it. You’re just kinda gently batting the bunny around, you know what I mean? And the bunny’s scared Ivan, the bunny’s scared of you, shivering. And you got these fucking claws and these fangs… And you got these fucking claws and these fangs, man! And you’re looking at your claws and you’re looking at your fangs. And you’re thinking to yourself, you don’t know what to do, man. “I don’t know how to kill the bunny.” With *this* you don’t know how to kill the bunny, do you know what I mean? You’re like a big bear, man.

October 2, 2005 @ 12:30 am | Comment

Like, totally wow, you know?

October 2, 2005 @ 1:33 am | Comment

Shrine visits `unconstitutional’
10/01/2005

The Asahi Shimbun

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit over Yasukuni Shrine visits express dissatisfaction Friday that they were denied compensation.

OSAKA–The high court here Friday ruled Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine from 2001 to 2003 in an official capacity and thus engaged in religious activities forbidden by the nation’s Constitution.

It was the first high court ruling to say the prime minister’s visits to the Shinto shrine, where Class-A war criminals are honored along with the nation’s war dead, were unconstitutional.

If the plaintiffs accept the ruling, it will stand. The government cannot appeal because the plaintiffs’ compensation request was rejected.

The Osaka High Court’s ruling also comes a day after the Tokyo High Court gave a completely opposite decision on the matter.

“Despite strong criticism at home and abroad, Koizumi repeated his visits, giving the public the impression that the government gives Yasukuni Shrine special treatment and promotes a specific religion,” Presiding Judge Masaharu Otani said at the Osaka High Court.

The ruling was handed down in a lawsuit filed by 188 plaintiffs, including 116 Taiwanese, who sought compensation of 10,000 yen each from the state, Koizumi and the shrine for mental anguish they said they suffered as a result of Koizumi’s three visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

Koizumi has made four visits to the shrine since he took office in 2001. The plaintiffs argued that his visits on Aug. 13, 2001, April 21, 2002, and Jan. 14, 2003, violated the Constitution.

The court rejected the plaintiffs’ compensation demand, however, saying the shrine visits did not violate their rights to freedom of religion and benefits.

“I understand that even the judicial branch has various views on this issue,” Koizumi said Friday at a Lower House Budget Committee session. “It is hard to understand why my visits to Yasukuni Shrine are unconstitutional because I did not make them as part of my official duties. My visits were intended to pray for the war dead and peace.”

Before Friday’s decision, nine rulings had been handed down by six district courts and two high courts in connection with lawsuits against Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

In all the cases, the compensation demands have been rejected.

Among those nine rulings, only the Fukuoka District Court has judged the Yasukuni visits as unconstitutional.

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday ruled that Koizumi’s visits could not be classified as an official act by the prime minister.

But the Osaka High Court on Friday cited several reasons why Koizumi’s shrine visits were part of his official duties: Koizumi used an official car and was accompanied by his aides; he visited the shrine to carry out a campaign pledge; and the prime minister did not clarify if his visits were done in a private capacity.

The ruling also said Koizumi has expressed his plans to visit the shrine once a year, showing his unwavering intent to visit.

The court said the visits also “supported and promoted a specific religion.”

Considering the social and cultural conditions, Koizumi’s visits went beyond the allowable limit, the judge said.

The court concluded the visits were a religious activity prohibited under the third provision of Article 20 of the Constitution, which reads, “The state and its organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.”

But like the other rulings, the Osaka High Court denied compensation to the plaintiffs.

The judge said the prime minister’s visits did not force the plaintiffs to embrace the shrine nor urge them to sympathize with the rituals at Yasukuni. Thus, the plaintiffs’ rights and benefits were not infringed upon.

The plaintiffs, including 40-year-old Kao Chin Su-mei, a Taiwanese aboriginal legislator, filed the lawsuit in February 2003.

The plaintiffs included bereaved family members of Taiwanese who fought in World War II under the direction of the Imperial Japanese Army.

In the lawsuit, Kao argued the Taiwanese aborigines were victims of Japan’s colonial rule before the war. “We suffered pain from the prime minister’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which was the main pillar of the Japanese people’s mentality before the war.”

In May last year, the Osaka District Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ compensation demand and did not rule on the constitutionality of Koizumi’s visits. The lower court said Koizumi used an official car and was accompanied by aides for security reasons, and therefore, the visits were not an official activity.

Yasukuni Shrine, in a statement released Friday, said, “It is extremely regrettable that the prime minister’s visits were judged as unconstitutional.”(IHT/Asahi: October 1,2005)

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October 2, 2005 @ 12:03 pm | Comment

madge spam

October 2, 2005 @ 1:15 pm | Comment

It is impossible to deny that the leader of CCP since Deng are very smart. They realized how important the economic power is. So they started to industralize China. The Chinese economic growth strengthens their political power. Even U.S and other western countries have to comprimise with CCP for the sake of money. They have to show friendly gestures in order to please those millionaires/billionaires who are doing business coporation with China. In China, the people, who become rich because of this economic revolution, are too happy to care about the political issues. The middle-class Chinese people are too busy to make a living or try to get into the rich class. They can put up with any political issues as long as they can have a decent place to live, a nice vacation and a little extra money for spending. The life is called “XiaoZi”. For the left poor people, their voices are too weak to draw any attentions. That is why I say CCP leaders are very smart to use the magic of economic powers. That is what the national day should celerbrate for.

I think, the only problem that threatens this strategy is engery resources, e.g oil, natural gas. The competitions on those goodies could cause internation attentions to Chinese political issues, and use this as execuses in order to weaken China in the fight of resources. It is interesting to see how they will deal with this.

October 2, 2005 @ 4:18 pm | Comment

Yes, Xiao Zi (translated as “small capitalist class”) is the kind of economic/cultural phenomenon in China. Basically, it is very much similar to those yuppies in American cities. People who are Xiaozi typically reside in big Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, etc etc etc. And they are typicall materially wealthy, but not super-rich like millinaires. And their lives evolve around sipping coffee in starbucks, watching movies on weekends with girlfriends/boyfriends, attending gallery openings, reading “upper-class” magazines, getting their hair done in salons, etc.

They are usually single, or newly married, and do not have much family baggage. And what is most important is that their totally impolitical. They watch American movies and eat pizzas, and also are more than happy to testify to how well the CCP has treated them. All in all, they live in their own comfortable bubbles and do not really give a shit who is in power. That class of Xiaozi is growing bigger and bigger and it is those people that influence the values/cultures/media of China.

Case in point, recently a famous Chinese actor died at age 30, around the same time the mine disasters killed 200 miners. The Chinese media all spent much more coverage mourning the death of that actor than those miners. Why? Is it because gov’t ordered the media not to cover the miners? Well partly yes. But more imporantly, it’s because the media knows most of its readers are wealthy urbanites who care more about the entertainment industry than some stupid miners. Those media cater to their readers interests and values, so naturally they identify more with that dead actor than with some miners.

What CCP did is to inundate the Chinese society with money and wealth that people simply are not politically active anymore. In 1989, the CCP’s control on media and values are a lot tighter, yet people marched on the streets. Today, CCP has loosened their control by a lot, yet people are less willing to march. Why is that?

October 2, 2005 @ 5:43 pm | Comment

So, contrary to some people’s predictions that a “rising middle class will demand more freedom and openness”, the CCP actually has found a great ally in the rising middle class. In fact, most of the mainstream middle class and the intellectual community in Mainland are more than happy to be the pens and voices for the CCP. And what is more remarkable is that those middle class are very very international and cosmopolitian, they are the ones who will later become CEO’s of Chinese companies who make overseas acquisitions, they will become professors in Harvard, they will become famous investment bankers, etc etc. And they will all be helping the CCP.

In other words, the CCP has successfully developed a massive domestic and overseas army of allies who are all very smart people and are willing to cooperate with the CCP. The CCP is not an isolated dictatorship like in North Korea or Iran, it is an open dictatorship with friends all over the world, and I mean powerful friends. So I don’t see how it will die or wither away.

October 2, 2005 @ 5:54 pm | Comment

The CCP today is almost like George Bush’s and his friends. Everywhere you go, you hear ordinary Americans cursing at George Bush. But as you move up, you find so many groups and people protecting and helping Bush on TV, in writing, in action, etc. Simply because those people have tied their fate to the fate of George Bush, and George Bush’s rise is their rise, George Bush’s fall is their fall.

October 2, 2005 @ 5:57 pm | Comment

By the way, it is no secret that Hu Jintao is planning to rehabilitate Hu Yaobang (the CCP member who the students commeorated during the 1989 incident).

Insiders reported that Hu Jintao’s decision to rehabilitate Hu Yaobang was met with vigorous challenge from the political bureau: 5 people voted yes, 4 people voted no. The No votes are: Huang Ju, Li Changchun, Luo Gan, and Wen Jiabao. Wen Jiabao was heard saying during the meeting “What about 6/4, what about Zhao Ziyang?” Hu Jintao said “We’ll put off Comrade Zhao for a while, since he just passed away.”

Of course this is all uncorroborated information, but it’s from credible sources.

There’ll be 4 components to the rehabilitation: 1) On Nov. 20, there’ll be an official commemoration ceremony for Hu Yaobang in the Great Hall of the People, attended by all members of the political bureau. This will be handled by the political bureau itself 2) Major newspapers will publish editorials praising Hu Yaobang, this will be handled by the Dept of Propaganda 3) Official positive biographies of Hu Yaobang will be published, this will be handled jointly by the Dept of Progapanda and News Services 4) Commerative activities will be conducted in Hu Yaobang’s hometown, this will be handled by the local provincial government.

October 2, 2005 @ 7:27 pm | Comment

You’ve now posted under the handles of Upright Man and Copied from China Daily Forum – and using two IP addresses. You’d better settle on one handle, and soon.

October 2, 2005 @ 8:20 pm | Comment

Good eye, Martyn. Funny, wasn’t Upright Man the one who offered to set me up financially last week if I championed the FLG and criticized the CCP? Remember, he was the one who quoted all those banned phrases from the Falun Gong? And now suddenly he’s lavishing praise on the CCP, and using multiple handles? Curious.

October 2, 2005 @ 8:50 pm | Comment

Yes, some lonely fool who clearly has nothing better to do during the National Day week-long holidays is adopting the personas of a F*L*G activist and then a pro-CCP stooge.

Not a problem, I’m in the middle of a year off and have all the time in the world to continue banning IP addresses.

October 2, 2005 @ 9:03 pm | Comment

First accurate analysis of Li Ao’s trip I’ve seen:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/10/03/2003274285

October 2, 2005 @ 10:47 pm | Comment

Richard; After four years in Beijing I’m impatient to leave, and I want to do so in style: bicycle back to Europe. I reckon to do so properly would take 4-6 months to reach the Bosphoros, although I’d probably stop along the way to pick up whatever teaching jobs I could. Are there any adventerous types who want to plan an extended cycling trip around June/ July, or does anyone know someone who’s stupid enough to? It’s just a crazy idea I’ve been entertaining; I’ll probably just end up accepting any job in the South Pacific I can find, hop on a plane and go that way…

October 2, 2005 @ 10:56 pm | Comment

I’m about to sign a document that means I may get access to a whole lot of cool information … but that also means I won’t be allowed to talk about it. Aint life a bitch.

October 2, 2005 @ 11:11 pm | Comment

FSN9, you don’t need to talk about it. Just send it to me and I’ll talk about it, with no reference to my source.

October 3, 2005 @ 12:22 am | Comment

Hahaha … Richard, I’m not sure that’s exactly done. 😛

By the way, offical announcement on Peking Duck … I graduated last week, so now I’m not an unofficial doctor … I’m an honest to god Dr. Filthy Stinking No.9, whatever that means.

October 3, 2005 @ 3:37 am | Comment

And before anyone asks me for medical advice, that’s a 博士, not a 醫生.

Come to think of it, I don’t mind handing out medical tips. Go for it. 🙂 Money-back-guararantee on all free advice.

October 3, 2005 @ 3:45 am | Comment

Hm, so, Richard, I called another one right? Spotted “Upright Man” for a provacateur a few days ago.

So I think it’s time you adopted some theme music for TPD. Here’s my suggestion (sorry, don’t know how to tinyurl, but here you go):

Go to:

http://www.drdemento.com/RealAudio/DrDemento0244Hour2.ram

You’ll need Real Player. Then your song starts just after the nine-minute mark (at around 9:13), “Daffy Duck’s Raphsody”

I think it’s very appropriate for you, especially vis a vis “Upright Man” and other kinds of Elmers……

🙂

(If that link doesn’t work, go to:
http://www.drdemento.com/listen/show20.shtml and then scroll down to the “Second Hour”….)

October 3, 2005 @ 4:13 am | Comment

Dr. FSN9, congratulations on your new title.

Dr. Ivan, congratulations for spotting Upright Man’s game long before I did. You were spot on.

Why does this site keep attracting provocateurs. It’s as if there were a revolving door.

October 3, 2005 @ 4:21 am | Comment

Ivan’s a doctor as well?

October 3, 2005 @ 5:44 am | Comment

FSN

Doctorate degree, yes. But not of medicine.

Actually I have two postgrad degrees, and I’m a Doctor of Something, literally.

But I do NOT have a peasant girlfriend named “Gao Thing” or something – I do not have any indigenous peasant girl to make me feel important and intelligent – and I am not a postmodernist deconstructionist-plagiarist-pysho-wanker, so, I am NOT a REAL intellectual.

🙂 (PS, “Gao Thing?” Reminds me of “The Addams Family” – if you’re old enough and American enough to remember. “Gao Thing? M needs your hand right now!”

(sorry Richard, I just couldn’t resist that last snarky bit……)

October 3, 2005 @ 7:28 am | Comment

Ivan, snark away!

October 3, 2005 @ 7:56 am | Comment

Hey, anybody out there use a feedreader? I’m looking to find an industrial strength one that can do keyword filters and output blog posts or some such publishing capability.

October 3, 2005 @ 10:41 am | Comment

Hey, FSN9, what did you study again?

October 3, 2005 @ 10:42 am | Comment

Oh, alright Richard, you dare to TEMPT ME?, to snark away?

Alright:

In “The Addams Family”, I am Gomez.
(A knock-off of Groucho Marx, as you know.)

Martyn is Lurch. (That is a high compliment! I think maybe Martyn does not understand this, unless “The Addams Family” aired on BBC at some time.)

“Thing” is, of course, “Gao Thing”, the imaginary lover of a putative Intellectual named M-something, a disembodied hand who serves without question…..

“Cousin It” is davesgonechina. Very wise in his almost unintelligible way. 🙂

“Uncle Fester” is Conrad, because I imagine Conrad as a bald and ugly and smelly, offensive, sexually starved older man, unless he can find a woman who is uglier or more impoverished than he is.

YOU, Richard, are one of the unseen aristocratic ancestors of the Addams Family.

Fat Cat is Grandmama. A very wise lady who shows up occasionally. (Also Vaara. I know Vaara is a man, but Vaara is a bit like Grandmama in this Addams Family fantasy.)

And Lisa is Morticia. Gomez says: “Tish! You spoke French!” kiss kiss kiss kiss all up the arm, while Morticia looks away in elegant detachment……(like a cat…..)

🙂

October 3, 2005 @ 10:54 am | Comment

Awwww….but I don’t speak French, dammit. And I’m not sure if my mediocre Chinese, German or Spanish would have the same effect…

October 3, 2005 @ 11:27 am | Comment

Lisa:

Tish! You spoke English!

Double-Aquarian (sun and moon) and more about that in a week or two.

🙂

October 3, 2005 @ 12:24 pm | Comment

Aquarian sun, Scorpio rising…

Do tell, Ivan!

October 3, 2005 @ 12:54 pm | Comment

Lisa, email Richard and he will tell you more.

Cancer rising too. 🙂

October 3, 2005 @ 1:53 pm | Comment

Will do…

October 3, 2005 @ 3:31 pm | Comment

If you haven’t yet seen this column on Tom Delay and the corruption that is eating away at America’s soul, I strongly urge you to do so now. Strongly.

October 3, 2005 @ 5:38 pm | Comment

Uh-oh; this doesn”t sound good. Memories of 2002…?

October 3, 2005 @ 7:07 pm | Comment

I’m back to blogging, or at least I’m going to make another valiant attempt to jump back on the wagon. Anyway, I wanted to share this because its funny, and doubly funny in a dark ironic way for me since I was at a conference in Boston during the Xinjiang 50th anniversary, where I met many people who study it but who for some strange reason were not celebrating.

Xinjiang at 50: CRI Makes Shit Smell Good

October 3, 2005 @ 8:30 pm | Comment

I’m back to shameless self-promotion again as well as Dave, above. I wrote an extensive fisking of Max Boot’s most recent article in the Weekly Standard concerning China’s aspirations to regional hegemony. The article really made me angry, as you might be able to tell. Feel free to read if you have the time.

http://survivedsars.typepad.com/

October 3, 2005 @ 10:56 pm | Comment

Time for a new thread.

October 4, 2005 @ 4:18 am | Comment

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