China Holistic English » Politics

SCARY TIMES?

Theodore — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:34:02 +0000

Worst case scenarios: India and Pakistan engage in a 4th war but this time one or both use their nuclear arsenal. With prevailing easterly winds in the south, the resulting radioactive mushroom cloud would sweep across southern China. The fallout would kill or sicken hundreds of millions of innocent Chinese people.

North Korea drops a nuclear bomb on South Korea or Japan. With prevailing westerly winds in the north, the resulting radioactive mushroom cloud would sweep across southern China. The fallout would kill or sicken hundreds of millions of innocent Chinese people.

Iran completes work on a nuclear bomb and uses it against Israel. This would undoubtedly cause WW III.

CHINA is a major stakeholder in all three situations. Chinese officials regularly consult with India and Pakistan to try and facilitate peace between them. China is a friend and major trading partner with North Korea and is constantly trying to rein in the rogue actions and rhetoric emanating from this friend. China is a major purchaser of Iranian oil and thus has some degree of influence.

This is one of the reasons the west welcomes China’s appearance on the world diplomatic stage.

Scary times? – NO DANGEROUS TIMES!

Dali Lama: Deity or Devil?

Theodore — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:00:27 +0000

Dali Lama: Deity or Devil?

The west perceives the Dali Lama as a deity, the 14^th spiritual leader of Tibet. China views him as a devil, a warlord of sorts.

Is either view correct or are they both extreme?

The west receives the Dali Lama on official state visits, as a spiritual leader akin to the Catholic Pope. China protests these official state visits and goes ballistic when countries do not heed China’s warning against receiving the Dali Lama.

The west perceives the leader of 350 million Buddhists as an important religious leader.

Within the west the Christians dissent because they believe that Buddhism is a pagan cult. The west is not unified in embracing the Dali Lama as a religious leader.

Tibet has always been a part of China. The west does not fully understand the history of Tibet and China’s propaganda machine has not done well in making its case.

China is so paranoid about the Dali Lama that most web sites about him are blocked in China. This prevents the Chinese people from understanding how the west comes to its erroneous beliefs about the Dali Lama.

China views the Dali Lama as a separatist leader seeking autonomy for Tibet. The west sees the Dali Lama as the leader of a liberation movement to free Tibet. But to free Tibet from what, China? China is the liberator of Tibet and its economic benefactor. China freed Tibet from the tyranny of a warlord parading around in the guise of a spiritual leader, subjecting his followers to his opulent lifestyle while they toiled in the fields to support him. China has brought economic prosperity to a previously economically depressed area.

China adopted Buddhism from India. China accepts this religious practice as a fundamental religious freedom. If Buddhism’s leader would restrict his activities to religious duties and refrain from political activities, this so called man of peace could single-handedly resolve a major conflict between China and the west.

But this so called man of peace chooses to continue to be a thorn in China’s side and foment political instability for the very Tibetan people he claims to love and serve. A true man of God is a servant not a leader; a man who truly brings peace even if it requires personal sacrifice.

In the west it is said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. China is to be faulted for not convincingly telling the west the truth about Tibet and the Dali Lama.

The west also has a saying, take the log out of your own eye before trying to remove the splinter from someone else’s eye. The west should pay more attention to its own shortcomings and leave China to properly deal with its internal matters free from outside interference.

The west is also critical of China’s communist form of government and is constantly trying to coerce democratic reforms. Yet, China’s CCP has done more, for more people, in a shorter time, than any western country. No western democracy could have accomplished so much for so many so quickly. The west needs to clean its own house before trying to clean China’s house.

Your civilized and thoughtful comments are welcomed.

RESPECT FARMERS

Theodore — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:32:02 +0000

RESPECT FARMERS AND PEASANTS

In China farmers and peasants are generally considered to be lower class people, poor and work manual labor outdoors.

In America and Canada farmers are some of the most respected and richest entrepreneurs

While the disparity of income between China’s urban population and its farmers/peasants grows larger daily, little is done to bring real change. The CCP is becoming increasingly concerned that this economic disparity may lead to social unrest.

Before looking down upon framers we should think about their contribution to society. If the farmers stop producing food, can we sustain our lifestyles? Can we really grow enough vegetables in backyard gardens or even on rooftop gardens to survive? Do we even know how to stat or maintain a garden?

Farming is the highest risk business in the world. Yes it is a business. There is a heavy financial investment and farmers must make a profit to survive.

Land risk – land ownership and use is risky. Land is taken away from farmers for development, most times without adequate compensation and illegally. Even when land ownership is secure, the soil fertility is a risk. Crops must be rotated and often nutrients must be added to make the soil productive. This costs money.

Land preparation – the land must be tilled, harrowed, fertilized, all at the proper time. This is labor intensive and costs money. If done improperly or at the wrong time it is money wasted and lost.

Weather – farmers are at the mercy of the weather. Too cold, too hot, at the wrong time, all investment is lost.

Seed stock – if the seeds are defective there is no crop. Money lost.

Water – too little or too much and there is no crop. All is lost.

Harvest – if f or any reason such as lack of equipment, lack of labor or lack of proper weather conditions the harvest is not timely, all is lost.

Logistics – failure of adequate transportation from farm to market means a lost crop.

Market conditions – the farmer is at the mercy of the market. Too much product at one time, the price is too low to make a profit.

At every turn the farmer is subject to conditions totally beyond control. What other business is exposed to such constant and high risks?

As China struggles with this situation, there is a simple solution, a food tax. People buying food should pay a tax that is rebated directly to the farmers to increase their income. This is called redistribution of wealth. Charge the rich and give to the poor.

If the rich do not want to share their wealth with those who make their rich life possible then they must face the adverse consequences of a farmer strike or insurrection. Rich people never lead revolutions. .

I AM PROUD TO BE A FARMER

I graduated from an agricultural land grant college in California with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Agriculture Business Management

In senior middle school I rode a bicycle 25 miles each day to work on a dairy farm and pig farm.

As a 35 year old business man I operated a cattle ranch of 5,000 mother cows in California.

At 45 years I developed a 125,000 sq mt. tropical plantation in Micronesia. I .developed the first orchid import business in Micronesia, importing orchids from Thailand

I have taught Tropical Agriculture in Middle School and Agriculture Business Law in University.

I have completed Masters work in Agriculture Business Management.

A 1% food tax would not be burdensome for anyone but would generate billions for farmer support. Migrant workers are usually fed by their employer and the employer would pay the food tax.

What about a 10% luxury tax? Surely someone who pays 2 mil. For a car can afford an extra 200,000 for the farmers. Someone who pays 60 mil for a luxury apartment can afford another 6 mil for the farmers. Someone who pays 2,000 for a new suit surely can afford 2,200 so the farmer can have 200.

TABOO

Theodore — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:34:06 +0000

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/05/chinese-premier-wen-jiabao-criticizes-cultural-revolution.html

China’s Leader Breaks a Taboo

Nov 6, 2011 12:00 AM EDT

In a startling break with official custom, Premier Wen Jiabao spoke out publicly last month about how his family suffered during the Cultural Revolution.

On Oct. 25, an audience of 1,500 at Nankai high school in Tianjin turned out to hear the popular Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao give a talk at the school where he’d studied 51 years ago. Wen told of his hardscrabble roots, of how his father hocked his wristwatch to buy medicine when Wen fell ill, of how his family of five lived in a nine-square-meter room. The auditorium fell silent when Wen turned to the subject of the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, one of the nation’s most controversial periods. He said, “My family suffered constant attacks in the successive political campaigns” after he went to high school. For the first time, the premier revealed details of how his grandfather and father, both educators, were victimized by radical Red Guards.

Until now, Chinese leaders have rarely talked about how their families fared during the chaos unleashed by Mao Zedong in the Cultural Revolution. Senior officials normally observe a longstanding political taboo by skirting around such tales of torment. Now, Wen Jiabao has broken that taboo in what some analysts believe is a veiled warning to China’s future leaders not to repeat the mistakes of history, reported the Telegraph.

The 69-year-old premier talked publicly about how his grandfather, a primary school teacher, was compelled to write incessant “self-criticisms” before his death at the height of the Cultural Revolution. These often-humiliating documents were routinely required of intellectuals during that era (and sometimes extracted under extreme duress) to reinforce their loyalty to Mao. “Now the school where he taught still keeps his dossier … filled with one self-criticism after another, written in small neat characters,” Wen revealed.

The Cultural Revolution remains a neuralgic political topic because it reflects poorly on Mao, who presided over that decade but is revered by many Chinese as their nation’s “Great Helmsman.” During that decade, youthful Red Guard radicals rampaged through the country, sowing violence and terror. Universities were shuttered, professors imprisoned in cowsheds, and violent factional struggles manipulated to consolidate Mao’s political control. Millions of Chinese were persecuted, especially intellectuals labeled “revisionist,” feudal, or bourgeois. Even today, the government wiggles around Mao’s responsibility for the Cultural Revolution with an ambiguous formula that declares his achievements to have been “70 percent good, 30 percent bad.”

Mainstream media accounts of that period that are deemed to be too emotionally raw are censored. In August when the Chinese and American vice presidents met in China, Vice President Xi Jinping—who’s slated to become China’s top leader next year—mentioned to visiting American Vice President Joseph Biden that Maoist Red Guards had treated his family badly, according to a source who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. However the Chinese interpreter neglected to translate Xi’s comment fully into English.

Premier Wen’s comments are notable not only because they were uttered in public, but also because some actually were published by Chinese media. (Even so, many domestic reports stuck to the non-controversial aspects of Wen’s visit, saying the premier exhorted Nankai students to maintain “lofty aspirations”). Wen was quoted as saying his grandfather died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1960 and “I was the one who carried him on my back to the hospital.”

That same year Wen’s father, also a teacher, was investigated for so-called historical problems, a euphemism for politically incorrect thoughts or deeds. Wen said his father—who passed away this year—was “an honest man, hardworking and diligent,” but was not allowed to teach any longer and was banished “to work on a farm on the outskirts of the city tending pigs.” When Wen passed his college entrance exams—allowing admission to institutions of higher education, which began re-opening in the late ’70’s after the worst of the Cultural Revolution madness—he recalled that “the venue for me to say good-bye to my father was that very remote pig farm. He asked for leave to come home and help me pack [for college].”

Wen’s comments are in keeping with his recent campaign to lobby for greater political reforms. The premier is well-liked for his comparatively liberal image and avuncular style; his grassroots popularity is reflected in his nickname, “Grandpa Wen.” Over the past year, he’s called publicly for greater political reform—a term identified with political liberalization—and warned that the “excessive political control” of the Chinese communist party should be loosened. During a visit to Shenzhen last autumn, he said, “Without the safeguard of political reform, the fruits of economic reform would be lost.”

GAF

Theodore — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:19:17 +0000

GENETICALLY ALTERED FOOD

4 legged and 4 wingged chickens? Are they the future? Is this how KFC will reduce production costs and increase profits?

GADDAFI

Theodore — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:59:32 +0000

He governed Libya with an iron fist for more than 40 years.

He held the world hostage to terrorism for more than 40 years.

He ordered the Lockerbie bombing of an airborne airplane.

He appointed his sons to the most important government positions.

He stole the peoples’ money and squandered it on a lavish lifestyle.

He entertained dignitaries from around the world.

He ate with world leaders.

He signed billion dollar oil deals.

He used excessive military force to kill his own people to stay in power.

He died like a dog, killed by his own people.

The world is now a far better place and the Libyan people are finally free.

PAKISTAN

Theodore — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:54:36 +0000

Back in the 1960’s our junior high school political science teacher taught us that Pakistan invented international terrorism, trained international terrorists, financed international terrorism, exported international terrorism and gave safe haven to international terrorists.

I grew up believing that Pakistan was an enemy of the USA.

Imagine my surprise when after 9/11 the US Government announced a partnership with Pakistan in the war against terrorism. I had two thoughts: 1 Can a leopard really change its spots? 2. Has the US made a deal with the devil? I was aghast to hear that the US would share intelligence with Pakistan and provide Pakistan with 1 billion dollars a year to fight terrorism. This looked more like a bribe than a cooperation agreement.

Now, 10 years and 10 billion dollars later it is discovered that Pakistan was giving safe harbor to the world’s #1 terrorist, Osama bin Laden. After the US military entered Pakistan secretly and killed Osama, it is learned that Pakistan was kept in the dark because Pakistan could not be trusted.

Osama lived in Pakistan for 6 years. As a Saudi Arabian citizen he simply could not have done this without government knowledge and support.

Pakistan still tolerates terrorist training camps. Pakistan still gives safe haven to terrorists. Pakistan still supports terrorism. It is high time for the US to STOP trying to bribe Pakistan with billions of US dollars because a leopard can never change its spots and one can simply NOT make a deal with the devil.

To truly make a clear statement that terrorism will NOT be tolerated, it is time to take the Enola Gay out of mothballs and make a couple of special deliveries to Pakistan.

That may not be politically correct but it is correct.

BURN THE KORAN?

Theodore — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:45:52 +0000

A lunatic fringe “Christian” pastor in Florida held a mock trial, judged the Muslim’s Holy Book, The Koran, to be evil, and then burned it. This person belongs in a hospital for mentally ill people. The Christian Bible (Holy Book) says DO NOT JUDGE LEST YE BE JUDGED.” The so called Christian pastor is a fake.

12 foreigners are now dead in Afghanistan because of retribution attacks by very angry Muslims. The US not only has to deal with the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Mujadine, now every common man on the streets of every Afghan city Is an enemy.

The US invaded Afghanistan because of the 9/11 twin towers incident in New York. It was believed that Bin Laden was there and had engineered the attack from there.

10 years later the US still occupies Afghanistan and Bin Laden has never been found.

It was wrong to invade, it was wrong to stay, it is wrong not to get out now. The US has never won the hearts and minds of the Afghans and it never will. Al Qaeda has been waiting for an inevitable US withdrawal to take over again. With the burning of The Koran there is no longer any need to wait because the common man is now with Al Qaeda.

How can such a developed country be so stupid?

As a US citizen I tell my country’s leaders now – learn from China and do not get involved in the internal affairs of another sovereign country.

Get out of Taiwan!

Forget about Tibet!

Leave Libya to resolve its internal civil war!

Leave Iraq!!

Leave Afghanistan!

NO ONE ELECTED OR APPOINTED YOU TO BE THE POLICEMAN OF THE WORLD

“News” or “news”

Theodore — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:13:36 +0000

During the last week of January 2011 I was surprised to see a public service announcement on CTTV 9, extolling the need to protect intellectual property. This is the first such announcement I have ever seen on any Chinese TV channel in the past 10 years. I have been promoting a public education project to inform the public about IP protection for years. I was a little disappointed that the public service announcement did not explain what Intellectual Property is or how it should be protected. It was a simple statement that everyone should protect Intellectual Property and nothing more. Not very informative.

Then I started to question the target audience. CCTV 9 is China’s only English channel and it is broadcast around the world. I can’t get my Chinese English students to watch it so I wonder just how many ordinary Chinese citizens watch it.

My answer came in the first week of February 2011 when China was blocking all news within China about the public rioting against Egypt’s President Mubarek’s 30 year autocratic rule. There was a complete news blackout on the Internet and all Chinese TV channels.

However, CCTV Channel 9 broadcast extensive coverage of the crisis in Egypt. Apparently NO ordinary Chinese citizens are perceived by the Chinese Government to watch CCTV 9. But the west is led to believe that there is freedom of “News” reporting in China.

So the IP protection public service announcement was NOT targeted at the Chinese people. It was propaganda for the west to cajole the west into believing China is taking IP protection seriously?

I once had a student who advised me that I should never believe CCTV 9 because it only projects what China wants the west to believe about China. He advised that Chinese people do not even trust the Chinese news papers or TV stations because they are all controlled by the Government.

Enter the Internet where the Chinese people can share eye witness accounts of the “News”

And ignore the official version of the “news.”

Chinese netizens have exposed government corruption of all kinds, including abuse of power, misappropriation of public money, land grabs and even murder.

“My father is Li Gang” would have gotten away with his crime were it not for public outrage on the internet.

Every Chinese netizen is a potential Julian Assange of Wikileaks.

It has been reported that China employs more than 30,000 internet censors who delete all posts, instant messages and even blocks phone messages that are considered some kind of threat to the Government In a crisis, phone and internet networks are shut down completely. The only “news” comes from official sources. There is no “News.”

.The question is –

WHY?

Transparency and accountability require “News” and not “news.”

TAIWAN (Formosa)

Theodore — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:05:04 +0000

Taiwan

When I commenced teaching business in Wuhan, China in 2002, all the new foreign teachers were subjected to an orientation by the Wuhan Public Security Bureau. We were informed that we were precluded from discussing Taiwan, Tibet or Religion with Chinese people, in or out of our classrooms. Having great respect for the rule of law, I have never violated this admonition and do not intend to do so here. The purpose of this post is to state my personal opinion and give others the opportunity to state theirs.

Throughout WW II (the second Sino-Japanese war) and China’s efforts to rid itself of the Japanese occupation; the USA lent aid to Chiang Kai-Shek’s democratic Nationalist Government for several reasons. First, Japan was also an enemy of the USA, having conducted a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Second, the US wanted to support the burgeoning democracy promised by Chiang Kai- Shck. Third, the US paranoia about and vehement prejudice against communism and its desire to help Chiang Kai-shek prevail in the long running civil war against the Chinese Communist Party

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he attempted to eradicate the CCP, with continued support from the USA.. Ultimately, bolstered by support from Soviet Russia, the CCP defeated Chiang, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to the Chinese island of Taiwan (Formosa).

The USA continued its hostility towards the CCP right up to the famous Nixon-Mao handshake in 1972. Subsequently the USA has had a policy of engaging communist China while maintaining its treaty to defend Taiwan. There were two primary reasons for engaging China. First, Nixon erroneously believed that this was in the best economic interests of US business in light of China’s hugh population base of potential consumers of US products. Second, the US believed that engagement would bring about eventual democratization of China. Over time, both have proved erroneous.

Although the US recognizes the One China policy and does not support Taiwan’s bid to be an independent sovereign nation, the US continues to sell “defensive” missiles, fighter jets and other instruments of war to Taiwan, an act that strains Sino-US relations.

The US claims to support the reunification of Taiwan and mainland China through peaceful means brought about by the Chinese people. However, US actions belie this claim.

In fact, the US does everything possible to encourage Taiwan to remain independent of mainland China and to resist reunification interests. The US claims it is supporting democracy on Taiwan but this claim is highly suspect. Taiwan is the most forward friendly military position in the Pacific that is closest to mainland China. A friendly Taiwan is the US hope for containing mainland China.

The Taiwan situation is of the US making. The US backed the wrong horse but refuses to admit its error, apologize and move on.

Let us put Taiwan into proper perspective. Taiwan (Formosa) has always been a part of sovereign China. It is a renegade province only because of US support and US missiles.

That is right; US missiles do exist on Taiwan.

Consider Cuba and the Russian missiles incident. Cuba has never been a part of the sovereign US. But when Russia supplied missiles to Cuba during the Kennedy administration, the US was ready to go to war if they were not removed. Why can’t the US see the parallels? China sees US missiles in Taiwan just as the US saw Russian missiles in Cuba. The distance between Cuba and the US is further than the distance between Taiwan and mainland China. US missiles in Taiwan pose a much greater threat to China than Russian missiles in Cuba posed to the USA.

Chinese Provinces are most similar to States in the US. There is absolutely no way any US State would be allowed to have the kind of relationship with a foreign sovereign that the Chinese Province of Taiwan has with the US.

Everything about the US policy toward Taiwan is offensive to China and rightfully so. The US inserted itself into the middle of China’s civil war, backing the losing side, and refuses to apologize and get out.

It is US military interests that fuel US-Taiwan policy far more than the so called preservation of democracy.

Democracy is not necessarily the savior of the world.

It was Communist China that prevented the complete financial meltdown of Asia in 1997 and again it was Communist China that precluded a global economic meltdown in 2009. China’s conservative currency policy and control acted as a buffer against the reckless uncontrolled currency policies of the west. It was Communist China that saved the global economy from bankruptcy.

The US fights a war in Iraq and another in Afghanistan financed by US treasury bonds sold to China. The US 2009 economic recovery act is also financed by the sale of US Treasury bonds to China.

In the past 30 years the CCP has brought great educational benefits and economic prosperity to hundreds of millions of people. There is no western democracy that could have done so much for so many in such a short time. It is hypocritical for any country to criticize Communist China for its form of Government. No western form of democracy could effectively manage the lives of 1.3 billion people as the CCP has done. The US has not done nearly as much for its people.

It is time for the west to get over its fear and paranoia about communism, time to bury McCarthiesm once and for all, and recognize that Communism is here to stay and is entitled to equal respect right along side of democracy.

Having lived in China for the past 8 years, I recognize certain limitations on my personal freedoms that do not exist elsewhere. However, I fully recognize the need for these limitations either from a historical basis (religion) or current need basis (internet access).

The Chinese leadership has determined that the majority of Chinese people are simply not mature enough socially or educationally to properly handle certain freedoms. Having been witness to several public disturbances to the social order caused by the most basic of misunderstandings, I can fully appreciate the limitations on personal freedoms and have simply adapted.

I readily acknowledge that there are injustices in China, but name one country where there are no injustices.

In the west we say “Let a sleeping dog lie” or “Do not kick a sleeping dog.” Nixon kicked the sleeping tiger. He should have known better.

In the west we also say “If you create a monster you must either feed it or kill it.” For those who view China as a monster, forget about killing it. China is to big to fail or to be killed.

The solution to the Taiwan issue is really very straightforward and simple. Recognize that it is an internal Chinese matter and get out the way of a Chinese resolution.