This is quite a find – just follow the links. Of course, compared to Chinesepod it’s painfully primitive (hey, it’s from the late 1970s) and basic, but it’s a fun resource.

And I don’t see that as a cheap shot. It’s fair and it’s supported by incontrovertible evidence. Whether you like Kos are not, the quotes are real and incontestable. Every president and every person lies at some time or another (and if you say that’s not true, you’re lying). But this is akin to The Big Lie – one told over and over again with the intentional goal of making it morph into an accepted Truth. And it’s despicable.

Once again, I am deeply impressed with a Taiwanese blogger who offers an ESWN-like service, translating important Chinese articles (and even songs) into English. This translation of a lengthy article by a Chinese dissident in exile is absolutely superb. Here’s just one paragraph:

But a deeper goal of the mainland’s missile deployment is to manipulate Taiwan’s internal politics. The 900 missiles are a hand from the mainland stretching into Taiwan. If they merely wanted to threaten Taiwan’s pro-independence forces, they simply wouldn’t need the missiles. China’s military power and the refusal to renounce force are enough for this purpose. Besides, the missiles are a bad policy in terms of China’s international image. China’s missile deployment against Taiwan is not for military purposes or for threatening Taiwan. The real purpose is to use the missile issue to interfere in and manipulate Taiwan’s political situation. It’s similar to the release of dissidents from prison before Chinese leaders go on overseas trips. They arrest dissidents to intimidate the opposition forces in the country. They release them to increase their bargaining chips in talks with the West. These 900 missiles can give China considerable advantage in its dealings with Taiwan. Negotiations are mutual compromises. But China’s withdrawal of missiles is not a compromise at all because China has unilaterally added the missile issue to the equation at a later time.

This guy can not only translate, he can write. Now, if only he would offer these gems on a daily basis he truly would stand as Roland’s counterpart. (Then again, there are very few people on the planet, in any language, who can do what Roland does in terms of sheer quantity.)

It amazes me when people like ESWN and Levitator and Nausicaa take so much of their time and effort to perform this great public service. I may not always agree with all of their political outlooks, but my hat is off to them – they make everyone’s lives richer.

If you’re a Chinese villager, this article explains, your worth is measured by the number of people that attend your funeral. The more mourners, the greater the honor. So you need to be creative in order to attract the multitudes; what better way than offering a racy funeral striptease show? (And no, I’m not making this up.)

Five people have been detained in China for running striptease send-offs at funerals, state media say. The once-common events are held to boost the number of mourners, as large crowds are seen as a mark of honour.

But the arrests, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, could signal the end of the rural tradition. Local officials have since ordered a halt to “obscene performances” and say funeral plans have to be submitted in advance, Xinhua news agency said.

The arrests, in Donghai county, followed striptease acts at a farmer’s funeral, the agency said. Two hundred people were said to have attended the event, which was held on 16 August. The Beijing News said the event was later revealed by a Chinese TV station. The leaders of five striptease troupes were held, it said, including two involved in the farmer’s funeral.

“Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai’s rural areas to allure viewers,” Xinhua agency said. “Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honoured.”

I guess it’s up to the farmers to decide how they want to spend their money, and if they want to hire funeral strippers, why not?

I am, in all seriousness, very curious about how far back this practice dates. Looking at the Xinhua quote, one might be led to believe it’s an old and time-honored tradition. Is it? Or is it a more recent phenomenon, inspired by Western decadence? (I ask because I got into a discussion about it with a friend this morning, who insisted this is not a Chinese “cultural thing,” but rather a result of unhealthy Western influence. I honestly have no idea, but would love to learn.)

Every day in every way, Iraq is getting grimmer and grimmer and grimmer. Gone are the upbeat appraisals and the assurances that we are making steady progress. Now, the most Bush can now say is, “If you think it’s bad now, imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before this government can defend itself.” This perceptive article notes the change in language and tone that signal a marked change in the way BushCo is framing our misadventure in Iraq.

Of all the words that President Bush used at his news conference this week to defend his policies in Iraq, the one that did not pass his lips was “progress.”

For three years, the president tried to reassure Americans that more progress was being made in Iraq than they realized. But with Iraq either in civil war or on the brink of it, Bush dropped the unseen-progress argument in favor of the contention that things could be even worse.

The shifting rhetoric reflected a broader pessimism that has reached into even some of the most optimistic corners of the administration — a sense that the Iraq venture has taken a dark turn and will not be resolved anytime soon. Bush advisers once believed that if they met certain benchmarks, such as building a constitutional democracy and training a new Iraqi army, the war would be won. Now they believe they have more or less met those goals, yet the war rages on.

And then the article gets really depressing. Our mission is no longer to create a beacon of democracy or to save us from non-existent WMDs – it’s to keep Iraq from descending into an out-and-out bloodbath. If we can just do that, maybe we can exit with at least a bit of face. That’s the most our “victory” will consist of.

How our goals have shifted, and how painful a disappointment this war is on every conceivable level. We will be lamenting it for generations, always referring to it with some confusion, some shame, some bewilderment, uncertain as to why we were ever there, and why we remained so long after it was clear we could not win. Kind of like that other war…

A very interesting post.

It’s affected six children in Hunan province. Let’s hope it’s quickly contained. China + virus = memories.

Human Rights Watch rightfully condemns one of the government’s most repellent strategies for maintaining its police state.

Chinese lawyers who defend human rights and expose the absence of an independent judiciary are under increasing attack from state authorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The central government must respond to the recent spate of harassment, detentions, and physical attacks on human rights lawyers. Human Rights Watch also urged the central government, which has so far failed to intervene on the lawyers’ behalf, to state publicly that attacks against lawyers will not be tolerated, and to take immediate steps to ensure the effective protection of lawyers.

“It’s unclear whether China’s central authorities have ordered, condoned or ignored the recent attacks on lawyers,” said Sophie Richardson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. “But it’s crystal clear that the government should uphold the law and stop this blatantly illegal persecution of lawyers.”

Two of China’s most prominent lawyers are currently facing prosecutions that seem to be politically motivated. Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng, an outspoken advocate of the rights of victims of government violations and abuse of power, was detained on August 15 on charges of alleged involvement in criminal activities. In 2005, authorities stripped Gao of his right to practice law.

On August 18, the trial of another legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, turned into a mockery of justice when his lawyers were physically assaulted and then forcibly detained by Public Security to prevent them from attending. The court, in Yinan county, Shandong province, has charged Chen with intent to damage public property and inciting others to join him to disrupt traffic intent to damage public property and inciting others to join him to disrupt traffic….

“The Chinese authorities can no longer have it both ways,” said Richardson. “Beijing should either uphold the rule of law and tolerate legal challenges or drop this facade of commitment to legal reform. The actions against Chen, Gao and others make it difficult to believe that everyone in China is equal before the law.”

Don’t hold your breath, Ms. Richardson. The government professes in public to encourage myriad reforms – a more open press, peasant’s land rights, tax reform, etc., etc., etc. – that are then summarily forgotten whenver they feel the least bit threatened. The way we are seeing these attorneys treated is completely consistent with the government’s one sincere and fiercely adhered-to vision: that the party remain in power, unchallenged and unaccountable, forever.

She’s long been one of my favorite commentators on human rights issues, and she’s making an interesting claim here: that as the 2008 Olympics approach, China is becoming increasingly worried that simmering discontent in Tibet mght mar the spectacle of a jubilant and harmonious China they are trying so hard to promote. Thus the recent attempts to reach out to the Dalai Lama to reach some sort of reconciliation. As always, Isabel tells her story with haunting power.

When the first cracks appeared in the concrete base and bridges of the Qinghai Tibet railway, just weeks after the carefully staged, triumphal opening on July 1 (the 85th birthday of the Chinese Communist party), they were not the only sign that all is not well with China’s policies in Tibet. The cracks seem to be the result of the unstable geology of the Tibetan plateau. Equally worrying to Beijing, shifts in Tibetan political geology have caused cracks in the official Chinese narrative of unity and harmony between Tibet and China.

There had been sporadic unrest for several months: in November last year the monks of Drepung monastery in central Tibet staged a sit-down demonstration against “patriotic education” – the government’s enforced propaganda campaign. The demonstration was echoed in other important monasteries in the region.

Then last January, in a religious address delivered in India, the exiled Dalai Lama called on Tibetans to stop wearing wildlife skins to save animals from extinction. The results were dramatic: from Lhasa to Gansu, Tibetans gathered for public fur burnings. Confronted with this evidence of his continuing influence, the government accused the Dalai Lama of promoting “social disorder” and responded, bizarrely, with a pro-fur campaign in which TV presenters were ordered to wear fur on air.

Read the rest to see why, even though he’s thousands of miles away, the Dalai Lama remains a force for China to reckon with.

(Note: I am no great advocate of the Free Tibet movement or the Dalai Lama. I just want to make that clear in advance.)

Heh.

Eat your heart out, Jeremy!

For the record, I don’t think the blogger’s descriptor of this site is quite accurate: “the bastion of ultra-liberal US thought and ultra-conservative anti-China ranting that is Peking Duck.” I rant against anyone I see as a bully, whether it’s Bush’s administration or Hu’s.