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Blogs » Politics » Party Elders Block Reform Candidates: Report |
- Party Elders Block Reform Candidates: Report
- Photo: Longwu (Rongwo) Temple, Tongren, Qinghai, by Ken Marshall
- China’s Latest Twitter Criminal
- The U.S. Pivot to Asia: Much More Than a Military Rebalance
- Judo in Japanese Schools – Concerns about Safety
- Tibetan Self-Immolations Continue
- Why Are Some Chinese Provinces Pre-Collecting 2013 Taxes?
- China Grieves After Fairy Tale of Development Becomes Nightmare for Five Young Boys
- China Ready to Build More Aircraft Carriers
- Toys “R” Us Aims Towards China’s ‘Tiger Moms’
- Censorship Vault: Beijing Internet Instructions Series (13)
- China Fast Becoming a Nation of Shutterbugs
- Obama Visit Shows U.S.-China Rivalry Over Myanmar
- Live Discussion: The U.S.-China Relationship
- Fall foliage at Napa Valley
| Party Elders Block Reform Candidates: Report Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:05 PM PST When the new Standing Committee was announced last week, many people expressed surprised that two reform-minded politicians, Wang Yang and Li Yuanchao, didn't make the cut. Xinhua reported after the 18th Party Congress that a "landmark" straw poll had been held by "leading cadres" to select the top leadership. Reuters reports:
Now, Reuters is reporting that in the course of the straw poll, Party elders including Jiang Zemin and Li Peng effectively ruled out the advancement of Wang and Liu:
The report also explains that Wang Yang was left off the Standing Committee after the fall of former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai in order to avoid further antagonizing Bo's supporters:
Yet it is not clear how the poll was held or if this will become a standard method to choose new leadership within the Party. Some journalists remain skeptical:
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Photo: Longwu (Rongwo) Temple, Tongren, Qinghai, by Ken Marshall Posted: 20 Nov 2012 05:48 PM PST  Longwu (Rongwo) Temple, Tongren, Qinghai © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| China’s Latest Twitter Criminal Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:51 PM PST  Zhai Xiaobing with Ai Weiwei. Even beyond China's Great Firewall, Twitter is not always a safe haven for the country's more outspoken critics. Just before the 18th Party Congress began, Zhai Xiaobing, a fund manager in Beijing, was arrested for a tweet deemed to "spread false terrorist information" (涉嫌散布虚假恐怖信息):
Zhai has not been released since his November 7 detention. An online petition [zh] for his release, signed by prominent Chinese activists such as Ai Weiwei and Hu Jia, has collected 419 signatures as of this posting. "We hope the the Beijing police shows a sense of humor and do not create a big incident out of a small issue," writes petition author Bei Feng (Wen Yunchao). "In particular, do not ruin the image of the new leadership soon after the 18th Party Congress." Zhai's is not the first Twitter-related arrest in China. Zhai, whose Twitter handle is @Stariver, studied ancient (pre-Qin) literature at Peking University, and formerly worked in the media. His acerbic tweets make no excuses for the violence and corruption in China, while images of armed police in Lhasa streets and protests in Hong Kong against patriotic education mingle with cat and food photos. Yaxue Cao of Seeing Red in China writes, "In Twitter's Chinese community, @Stariver is known for his cool and biting comments about current events in China that cut the froth and burst false 'hopes.' He is also known for the depth of his knowledge in classics." CDT Chinese has collected some of Zhai's more urgent tweets, translated here by Mengyu Dong:
Noticing that the death toll was reported at 37 for multiple incidents across China this summer, netizens call this the "Law of 37" (死亡37定律). Zhai wrote this tweet soon after the Beijing flood.
First tweet translated by Yaxue Cao. Excerpts from petition translated by Oiwan Lam of Global Voices. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| The U.S. Pivot to Asia: Much More Than a Military Rebalance Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:04 PM PST  Dr. Paula Briscoe is National Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. President Obama's trip to Southeast Asia this week brings into sharp relief the challenges facing the administration: how to retain influence in the region and honor commitments to allies without provoking China or furthering suspicions of encirclement. In numerous remarks and public statements President Obama's cabinet have been on message stressing the need for balance. On November 15, the day before the president departed on his five-day trip, the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon, reiterated the importance that the United States places on getting this balance right: "The United States is a Pacific power whose interests are inextricably linked with Asia's economic, security, and political order. America's success in the twenty-first century is tied to the success of Asia." On her recent trip to Australia and Thailand with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Clinton also presented a message of partnership and of U.S. neutrality regarding Southeast Asia's territorial disputes. The Australia-U.S. Ministerial Meeting's 2012 Joint Communique states: "We welcomed a strong, prosperous and peaceful China, which plays a constructive role in promoting regional security and prosperity." And: "We reaffirmed that we do not take a position on competing territorial claims in the South China Sea." Despite these conciliatory statements, China remains concerned about the planned military build up and by attempts to bring diplomatic matters China would prefer to deal with bilaterally into multilateral forums. An example of the more cynical speculation about China's concerns appeared in the China Daily recently: according to security scholar Wang Yusheng, "Using China's rise and the 'China threat' theory, the U.S. wants to convince China's neighbors that the Asia-Pacific needs Washington's presence and protection in order to 'unite' them to strike a 'strategic rebalance' against China in the region." To allay China's concerns while maintaining U.S. influence in the region, the United States must:
The U.S. strategy in Asia is often viewed in terms of naval realignments, but the rebalancing strategy is not simply military. It includes as main tenets: "strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening our working relationships with emerging powers, including with China; engaging with regional multilateral institutions; expanding trade and investment; forging a broad-based military presence; and advancing democracy and human rights." It is important that we remember that and and that China understands that. |
| Judo in Japanese Schools – Concerns about Safety Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:35 PM PST Memo #191 By Robert Aspinall – aspinall [at] biwako.shiga-u.ac.jp
In most cases Judo is chosen as the martial art. Many parents are concerned about the very poor safety record of school judo. Between 1983 and 2011, there were 114 recorded deaths and 275 very serious injuries of children in secondary school judo class or club activities. Although some parents of victims have pushed for prosecutions where they believe criminal negligence or other wrong-doing has occurred, public prosecutors have so far refused to act. With a huge increase in the number of participants since April, it can be assumed that the number of deaths and injuries in Japanese schools will increase. To address great concern over this matter, parents and activists have set up the Japan Judo Accident Victims Association to reduce death and injury in school judo classes. The discourse over the safety of school judo exemplifies an ongoing conflict between traditional values and liberal values in education. Traditional values stress discipline, obedience to authority, and conformity to the ethos of the group. Liberal pressure groups campaign for children's rights, more choice, diversity, and respect for the individual in schools. The picture is made more complicated by the fact that another strand of conservatism is campaigning for the school system to be reformed in order to nurture the entrepreneurs and innovators they believe the stagnant economy requires – reforms that also require more flexibility and choice. Shinzo Abe's own party – the Liberal Democratic Party – contains politicians of both conservative tendencies. This includes those who want more discipline and obedience, versus the neo-liberals who want more initiative and creative thinking. Only time will tell if the differences between these two groups can be resolved in actual education policy, including policy related to physical education. Dr. Robert Aspinall is a Professor at Shiga University, Faculty of Economics, Japan and author of the recently published International Education Policy in Japan in an Age of Globalisation and Risk. If you enjoyed this memo, subscribe to our e-newsletter for free and receive new memos 2+ times per week via email.  (Source: Japan Judo Accident Victims Association) Links:
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| Tibetan Self-Immolations Continue Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:33 PM PST The recent surge in self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Beijing's policies has continued unabated. At least 76 Tibetans have self-immolated since 2009. Most recently, 25-year-old Wangchen Norbu set himself on fire in Qinghai on Monday. From Voice of America:
Then today, another man was reported to have self-immolated in Xiahe, Gansu, though few details are available. From AFP:
The Hindu also reports on two cases over the past weekend in Rebkong (Tongren), Qinghai, which has become a locus for self-immolation protests in recent weeks. The Hindu describes the town center:
LinkTV interviewed Columbia University Tibet scholar Robert Barnett about the self-immolations and the Chinese government's response: Advocacy groups, including International Campaign for Tibet, have reported stringent restrictions on the families of those who have died from self-immolation. According to ICT:
For its part, Xinhua News reported that monks in Tibetan regions are being trained as fire fighters, without mentioning the self-immolations:
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Why Are Some Chinese Provinces Pre-Collecting 2013 Taxes? Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:40 AM PST  (Jacksui/iStock Photo) As China's economic growth loses steam, its government has started to place more burdens on the shoulders of its citizens. According to the the Xiaoxiang Morning Post (@潇湘晨报), at the end of October, the Treasury Bureau of Zhejiang province asked companies to pay business taxes which were not due until 2013. Ye Tan (@叶檀), an economics and finance commentator, wrote on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, that the phenomenon was not confined to Zhejiang. "I just received a call from a friend who is an entrepreneur in northeastern China. He said that local officials were collecting taxes for 2013. If companies refused to pay, officials would look up account books [and find an excuse to fine them]." @猪肉脯lora adds that Jiangsu province also follows this practice. We've seen this before As expected, the chatter kindled web users' discontent. @行者平疆 traces the phenomenon to hundreds of years ago, saying that the government is just following an "old tradition." "It reminds me of what happened under the ruling of emperor Chongzhen [the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1628-1644 A.D.]. The government went crazy creating new taxes, then in a single breath collected 40 years' worth." @早安我的城市 sees the phenomenon as a dangerous signal. "Historically, these actions have only been seen during wartime. But now it's happening during peacetime too. If the trend continues, our country won't be a country anymore." Why the rush? By pre-collecting taxes, the government is trying to offset a decrease in revenues. The growth rate of public revenues on a year-on-year basis was "only" 10.9% during the first three quarters of 2012, compared to 22.4% in the same period in 2010 and 29.5% in the same period in 2011. Although the growth of public revenues still far exceeds those of GDP and per capita income, many local governments have opted not to adopt austerity policies to rationalize their balance sheets, instead desperately searching for more revenue to cover their spending. China's revenue stagnation can be traced to two chief factors. First, there is the slowdown in economic growth. In the second quarter of 2012, the year-on-year GDP growth rate was 7.6%, the first time the number has been lower than 8% since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. In the third quarter, the rate fell to 7.4%. Lower aggregate demand reduces the country's taxable base. The second reason is a reduction in revenues from China's unique and troubling system of "land finance" (土地财政). The term refers to a local government practice of appropriating land from farmers with low compensation, then selling the parcels at high prices to real estate developers. (Strictly speaking, what is bought and sold is not the land itself but the right to use it, as legally speaking, all land in China is ultimately publicly owned.) In recent years, as China rapidly urbanized and housing prices skyrocketed, so-called land finance was tremendously profitable. In 2010, the practice brought 2.9 trillion RMB to government coffers (about US$465 billion) making up about 35% of overall public revenues. But since 2011, China's powerful State Council has implemented a set of strong measures to cool the real estate market. As a result, the land finance sector has been shrinking. In the first half of 2012, land finance revenue decreased by 27.5% on a year-on-year basis. These numbers are troubling on their surface, but behind them lies something more profound: The state's propensity to reap a disproportionate amount of economic gain vis a vis the private sector, one of the most severe problems resulting from China's "strong state, weak society" political structure. Three elements undergird this predatory public finance system. The underpinnings of today's problems The first element is China's 1994 tax reform. In the 1980s and early 1990s, tax collection was devolved to local governments, who kept most of the revenue. This system piqued local governments' enthusiasm to catalyze regional economic development, and laid a foundation for the economic takeoff during the first stage of China's economic reform. But drawbacks emerged as time passed. In the 1990s, China's central government had such weak financial capacity that many large-scale development projects could not be initiated. The central-local power relationship was highly unequal as the central government had to borrow heavily from its local counterparts. In 1994, the central government enacted a radically new policy, in which it appropriated most tax revenue, then paid out those revenues at year end to local governments to cover their expenses. Local authorities responded by finding new revenue streams. During late 1990s, local governments tended to impose arbitrary charges on peasants as a way to generate revenue. After the turn of the century, as China's urbanization gathered steam, land finance became the major source of cash for local authorities. Thus, a "predatory state" came into being as the central and local authorities struggled for financial power. Second, China's taxation system does not follow the "no taxation without representation" principle. Although the 2000 Law on Legislation (立法法) confers taxing power on the National People's Congress (NPC) and its standing committee, the NPC has authorized the State Council to make law on taxation issues since 1984. This power transfer from the legislature to the executive grants the latter almost unlimited power to introduce new taxes. The third factor is an opaque budget. The 1994 Budget Law (预算法) gives the NPC the right to examine and approve budgets of government bureaus, but it rarely exercises this power. Even more problematic is ordinary citizens' lack of access to budgetary information. In 1997, the State Secret Bureau and the Treasury Bureau defined government budgets as state secrets which were not publicly disclosable. Eleven years later, the State Council released the Regulation on Open Government Information (政府信息公开条例) which requires government bureaus to release budget information. But the law lacks teeth. Worse still, a large part of public finance happens outside the budget system. Since the 1994 taxation reform, in each year actual total public revenues have exceeded budget projections. In 2011, the revenue excess was 1.4 trillion RMB; this year, the number is estimated to be as high as 900 billion RMB, despite the slowdown. According to conventional practice, most of the excess is to be spent within the same fiscal year it is received. In this regard, the role of the budget system in regulating public revenues and expenditures is seriously weakened. Hopes for reform With the presence of strong incentives to generate more public revenues and the absence of checks and balances, China's public finance system poses a long-range threat to China's economic and political spheres. No one knows whether the new leadership will endeavor to repair this flawed system. At least the National People's Congress is planning to amend the Budget Law within a few years. Hopefully, that event will provide the catalyst for a reform that China badly needs. |
| China Grieves After Fairy Tale of Development Becomes Nightmare for Five Young Boys Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:29 AM PST  User Lian Peng tweeted this image in grief. (Via Weibo) This is what a famous fairy tale writer named Zheng Yuanjie had to say: "November 15 is a date that Chinese should remember forever. Five children from Guizhou, ranging from seven to thirteen years old, choked to death in a dumpster, caused by the fire they lit to keep themselves warm." He posted these words on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, on November 18 as but one among millions of comments on the tragedy that occurred two days ago in in Bijie, Guizhou, a less-developed province in Southwest China. On November 16, hours after new leader Xi Jinping took the reins of power in China, five boys who were later confirmed to be relatives were found dead in a dumpster; according to the Wall Street Journal, the youngest was in fact nine years old. According to a police investigation, they died from carbon monoxide poisoning, believed to be caused by a fire they lit that night to keep themselves warm. Four of the five were drop-outs who had been run out of home just weeks earlier. During their disappearance, parents and school-teachers had reportedly been searching for them. On November 20, the vice district governors in charge of civil affairs and education were suspended and placed under investigation. Grief and outrage pour forth This news soon became the top breaking news on Weibo, attracting over 4 million comments. They evinced mixed and complicated emotions, but anger, sadness, helplessness, and frustration predominated. Many commentators expressed outrage using a line from a poem wrote by Du Fu back in 755 A.D.: "[While] the meat and wine in rich families have rotted, the poor die hungry and cold by the roadside." Zuo Yeben (@作业本), a famous Weibo commentator, wrote: "'Five kids died in a dumpster'—the most miserable declarative sentence of 2012". The Editor in Chief for Wall Street Journal China (@袁莉wsj) wrote, "The stories from my childhood textbook of a dark, cold capitalist society are now happening [here]." Other devastated Web users turned to satire. State-controlled China Central Television (CCTV), which has taken fire for a recent focus on Chinese happiness that many find transparent and self-serving, became a particularly popular target. @红太郎fjr chided, "Five young boys died like this. CCTV likes asking people 'are you fulfilled?' Go ask these kids". Searching for answers, and perhaps scapegoats One commentator (@木尔) with more than 40 thousands followers contrasted the death of these boys with the wealthy life led by the Party Secretary from the same city, who the blogger complained has a weakness for luxurious leather belts: "[The cost of] any one of his belts could easily cover many people's foods and clothing."  The dumpsters where the children were found. (Via Weibo) Indeed, the search for a culprit ranged far and wide: Sloppy governance, careless parents and schools, an indifferent community. Web users were not the only angry ones. An article titled "Children's Helplessness [Leads to] Questions [About] Social Baseline" appeared on the ninth page on People's Daily on November 20. It's significant that this story appeared not only online, where liberal voices tend to reside, but also in the print version of a Party-line newspaper. The editorial stated, "[A proposal has been put forth that] by the end of 2012, Chinese cities will try to have no more juveniles on the streets. If so, why did relevant departments did not see these 'street' boys in Bijie and protect them?" Other commentators cautioned that officials were being turned into scapegoats. As @bll2012 opined: "We are used to finding scapegoats when we encounter problems, then they give you a scapegoat! Then you shut up! You are so pathetic! Why not find the real cause: The failure of the social protection system." Independent Chinese media Caixin (@财新网) also sounded a note of caution: "The tragedy in Guizhou did not only reflect management loopholes in Bijie alone, but also the defects of the mechanism protecting Chinese children's rights. China is among the few countries that does not have a professional child welfare department. Administrative systems for child protection and rescue urgently need to be built." Moving forward in sadness While the vivid and horrific particulars of this story no doubt brought it to quick nationwide and international attention, commentators both on- and offline seemed aware that a far more complicated interplay of social issues relating to China's breakneck development lurked in the background. Until more robust mechanisms for protecting the youngest Chinese are put in place, children from poor or troubled families will continue to live at risk. One undeniable fact: All of these debates will now occur in a world that none of the five lost boys will have a chance to experience. As fairy tale writer Zheng Yuanjie concluded: "Though you left the world in a dumpster, you are not trash. The irresponsible adults are. A child frozen to death means a future frozen to death. Beijing spent 800 million RMB to [heat the city for an additional 15 days this winter], but still did not warm you … please forgive us." |
| China Ready to Build More Aircraft Carriers Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST While China is selling more commercial jets and unveiling its newest stealth fighter, the China State Shipbuilding Corporation is calling for the building of more aircraft carriers. The company is owned by the Chinese state. China has also recently tried to galvanize aircraft engine research with a 100 billion yuan grant. From AFP:
This call to build more carriers comes amid recent maritime tensions in the South China Sea as well as the dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. Earlier this year, China had also handed over its first aircraft carrier to the navy. According to the Business Standard, the CSSC was responsible for the designing and manufacturing of the Liaoning carrier, which was refitted from one of Russia's carriers:
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Toys “R” Us Aims Towards China’s ‘Tiger Moms’ Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:27 AM PST With the recent rush of online shoppers trying to get Singles' Day deals and claims of the continuing need for economic growth, Toys "R" Us has announced it will launch an e-commerce site in China. Toys "R" Us seems to be following suit with other companies by expanding into China. Among these companies, car manufacturers have geared their designs towards Chinese preferences, and J.Crew has attempted to expand into China through Hong Kong, from AP:
As part of its business plan in China, Toys "R" Us will also aim towards China's 'tiger moms'. Other companies, such as Nestle, have also aimed towards Chinese mothers as China's baby market has been lucrative in recent years. The Wall Street Journal reports:
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Censorship Vault: Beijing Internet Instructions Series (13) Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:41 AM PST In partnership with the China Copyright and Media blog, CDT is adding the "Beijing Internet Instructions" series to the Censorship Vault. These directives were originally published on Canyu.org (Participate) and date from 2005 to 2007. According to Canyu, the directives were issued by the Beijing Municipal Network Propaganda Management Office and the State Council Internet management departments and provided to to Canyu by insiders. China Copyright and Media has not verified the source. The translations are by Rogier Creemers of China Copyright and Media.
These translated directives were first posted by Rogier Creemers on China Copyright and Media on November 20, 2012 (here). © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| China Fast Becoming a Nation of Shutterbugs Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:57 AM PST  A netizen named WildSidney shared this DSLR image online. (Via Weibo) If you haven't heard about Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR), just ask a young Chinese person. DSLR cameras produce clear and high quality pictures, and are often widely used by professional photographers around the world. But they are becoming ubiquitous in China, as more and more Chinese devote themselves to photography. With an exploding population of "professional photography amateurs," many web users have concluded that a Chinese age of "Nationwide DSLR" is approaching. Photography's history in China Chinese people have a long love affair with the camera. Photography has been welcomed by Chinese people since it was first introduced to the country. Photography in China began with the arrival of European photographers in Macao. As early as 1840, the popularity of photography among metropolitan Chinese was so widespread that its fans included courtesans, who used photos as advertising, and even the Empress Dowager Cixi. Chia-Ling Yang, a lecturer in Chinese art history at Edinburgh University, explained to a CNN reporter that photographs were distributed "as a personal gift for social networking," while others would be mounted as paintings and displayed in the imperial court and in people's homes. In the twentieth century, photography in China, as in other countries around the world, was used for recreation, record keeping, and newspaper and magazine journalism. A snapshot of China's modern age  Some shots from a Weibo user's now-viral DSLR photo collage. (Via Weibo) As Chinese living standards improve, more Chinese have started to treat photography not only as a functional tool for documenting their lives, but also as a symbolic and spiritual pursuit. On major shopping sites such as Dangdang.com and Taobao.com, DSLR cameras and other accoutrement are often listed as "the hottest clicks." Users of Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, are also embracing the pursuit. When a Shanghainese user named @青简jane, a gastroenterologist and photography enthusiast, posted a collage showing lush Chinese landscapes during each of the 24 periods (jieqi) into which the lunar calendar is divided, it was reposted tens of thousands of times on Weibo and lauded for its "rich Chinese flavor"(中国气息浓郁). Other photography lovers followed by making a collage using pictures of their own cities taken in different seasons. China's burgeoning social networking sites have also fueled a boom in the DSLR market. Social networking sites such as Weibo and Renren, a Facebook-like site, allow young people to upload their favorite pictures and share them with their friends. Decorating their personal web pages with crisp well-balanced images produced by DSLR often attract more visits, which makes them feel popular among their friend circles. A search for "photography" on Renren yields more than 800 interest groups and public pages created by shutterbugs from all over China. The size of these groups varies from hundreds of members to tens of thousands, covering a wide range of discussion from photography tips to camera equipment exchange. As the trend spreads, DSLR cameras seem to have become part of a certain class of Chinese youth identity. @vivian 米奇非常乖, a Chinese student abroad, writes: "My teammates asked me the other day if I had a professional DSLR camera to take pictures for fieldwork. They seemed surprised when I answered no, because I'm Chinese and all Chinese are well-equipped. A typical combination is MacBook + iPhone + iPad + professional DSLR camera! Well, really sorry I'm not a 'typical Chinese.'" Meanwhile, Weibo user @CoolRLH offered this handy reference guide: "It is often said that distinguishing Chinese, Japanese and Koreans abroad can be hard, but here is one way: If someone has a DSLR hung around his neck, he is definitely Chinese!" Want to bankrupt your friends? Hook them on DSLR There is a downside to this hobby: It's expensive. Not only does first-rate camera equipment cost more than many Chinese make in a month, but high quality photography requires postproduction and in many cases travel to a promising subject. Other enthusiasts will travel simply to find cheaper equipment, particularly attainable in Guangzhou, Canton's capital city. In an article published in the Yangcheng Evening Paper in 2010, Ouyang Quanmin, a college student in Zhuhai, Guangdong, summarized his experience: "If you want to push a man into bankruptcy, simply introduce him to DSLR." Ouyang's experience is representative. He had never been exposed to photography before college, but when he first saw a classmate's landscape photo, he immediately fell in love with the medium. With only three days before final exams, Ouyang woke up early the next morning and walked to a nearby bay to take pictures. Ouyang said he was so engaged that he did not eat all day. It's small wonder that many Weibo users like to write, "Photography can impoverish three generations; DSLR can ruin your life" in gentle self-mockery. Web users have also created hashtag #Beggar (#乞丐体) to describe how harsh life can be for a photographer unable to meet the hobby's considerable expenses. @王雷_叭叭呜,the Vice president of Century 21 in China, [a real-estate company], shared this vivid (and perhaps true) anecdote: "One evening while I was taking pictures of Beijing's central business district … a beggar came and sat down next to me. Feeling sorry for him, I gave him a dollar and continued with my work. Since there were only few people on the road, the beggar quickly got bored and started to watch me photographing. After a while, he said with a soft voice: 'well, actually you gotta use a smaller aperture in order to have starlight appear on the picture." What it all means  One Weibo user posted this shot using "SONY DSLR-A900 + 35mm f/1.4 G" (Via Weibo) A boom in the DSLR market reflects both the fast-growing prosperity enjoyed by Chinese consumers and the change in spending attitudes among China's young generation. According to a report by McKinsey, 1.6 million Chinese households were "wealthy" by 2008 (defined as urban households with annual income in excess of 250,000 RMB, or about US$40,000). A growing middle class means more outbound tourists, further promoting interest in photography. Many of these mobile and middle class Chinese are young, and while their parents may have valued thrift, they are more likely to spend money on their hobbies. But there's something different about photography that goes beyond the other status symbols afforded Chinese nouveau middle class. Unlike cars, clothes, or designer handbags, owning a DSLR camera is a symbol of independence, freedom, and even spirituality. It means its owner has money and the wherewithal to go on road trips with friends, but it also means he or she nurses an artistic side. With China's landscape constantly changing and physical traces of its rich history growing increasingly faint, it's perhaps fortunate that so many young Chinese are now learning how to capture the past. |
| Obama Visit Shows U.S.-China Rivalry Over Myanmar Posted: 20 Nov 2012 06:49 AM PST Little more than a year ago, there was talk of Myanmar (also known as Burma) as a "Chinese California", offering China a west coast onto the Indian Ocean. Now, Coke and Pepsi billboards glare at each other across Yangon intersections. Aung San Suu Kyi, finally free from house arrest, collected her 21-year-old Nobel Peace Prize in June, while president Thein Sein may one day receive his own for "spearheading a gradually evolving peace process in the country". As the country shifts out of its long-established Chinese orbit, U.S. president Barack Obama visited Myanmar on Monday together with secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the first time an American president had ever been there. Beijing has met these developments with a muted but clear lack of enthusiasm. From Evan Osnos at The New Yorker, citing a CDT Ministry of Truth Directive on Obama's visit:
The propaganda officials are not the only ones with reservations about the occasion. At Foreign Policy, Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations argued at length that the presidential presence in Myanmar was "too much, too soon". In short:
Obama acknowledged such concerns in a speech to the University of Yangon on Monday but, as The Economist explained last week, they were ultimately outweighed by the need to press an unexpected strategic advantage:
At The Wall Street Journal, Deborah Kan and Patrick Barta discussed these geopolitical manoeuvres and the prospects for expanded American commercial investment. Barta stressed, however, that "Burma cannot afford to upset China in the long run". Thein Sein's chief political advisor Ko Ko Hlaing recently visited China and stressed the breadth and depth of ties between the two countries. From Qin Zhongwei at China Daily:
This very importance has been a major force behind Myanmar's recent shift, however. China's stance towards its much smaller neighbour has at times been predatory. One example is the voracious logging carried out there by Chinese companies dodging environmental restrictions at home. "Soon the trees will be all cut," a manager at one Chinese logging firm told The Globe and Mail last year. "Without the trees, there will be only mountains. So we will look into mining them." The key case, however, is the Myitsone Dam, whose suspension by Thein Sein's government was a pivotal moment in its rejection of total dependence on China. The dam's impact assessment found that it would cause "serious social and environmental problems" in Myanmar, but all of the electricity it produced was intended to be transmitted to China. At YaleGlobal earlier this month Bertil Lintner saw trouble brewing for China in Myanmar as this unbalanced relationship bred resentment:
But Chinese officials have suggested that they, too, see advantages in a more open Myanmar, provided that core Chinese interests are protected. Yunnan Party chief Qin Guanrong commented on the issue during the 18th Party Congress in Beijing this month. From Ben Blanchard at Reuters:
A Global Times editorial on Tuesday, meanwhile, urged readers not to read too much into Obama's visit, and repeatedly insisted that China's relationship with Myanmar remains secure.
The newspaper has been equally insistent on the question of whether China might follow its neighbour towards elections and a freer press. "Myanmar's reforms," it claimed in August, "are still flower buds that haven't been exposed to wind and rain yet. We sincerely hope Myanmar's reforms will prove successful. But it's naïve if we doubt the road we have taken, just because these buds look different from China's prosperous tree of reform." At China File, Bi Cheng argued that this condescending attitude betrays complacency:
See also Sim Chi Yin's photographic exploration of the Chinese presence in Myanmar at China File; the full text of Obama's speech in Yangon; Max Fisher at The Washington Post on the significance of the president's use of the name 'Myanmar'; Scott A. Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations on the visit's message to Kim Jong Un; coverage of the country's ongoing sectarian violence from Human Rights Watch and The Economist; more on Myanmar via CDT; and a video from The New York Times last week summarising various aspects of Myanmar's apparent transition: © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Live Discussion: The U.S.-China Relationship Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:44 AM PST China-U.S.: A live discussion on elections, energy and climate change We are pleased to bring you this live discussion between experts in the U.S. and China. Just see the discussion box below. The live discussion includes two live, hour-long Q&A sessions with two distinct panels of highly regarded experts. You can post your questions and comments directly below, or via Twitter (hashtag: #uschinadialogue). Learn more about this live discussion |
| Posted: 19 Nov 2012 11:59 PM PST Readers on this blog know I post pictures from time to time. Today, I was at Napa Valley checking out fall foliage. Below are few taken at the Baldacci Family Vineyards next to Silverado Trail road. There is a China connection too. Napa Valley was a mining town and saw the first wave of laborers from Canton province in the 1860s into California. (More on the Chinese connection later.) Immediately below is a bundle of grapes still hanging on the vine while harvest season is well over now. Wineries in Napa Valley are busy processing grapes; squeezing out the juice, fermenting, and then aging to produce wine.  Fall foliage at Napa Valley, California Before the grape vines shed their leaves, they turn yellow, orange, and red. Today, I was hoping for the Californian golden sun, but alas it was overcast. The rolling hills of vines neatly in columns with colorful leaves still make for an amazing view. I guess I have an excuse to return until the weather is right.  Fall Foliage at Napa Valley, California Our eyes naturally find patterns pleasing. Photography oftentimes is about spotting patterns, including finding them near the ground!  Fall Foliage at Napa Valley, California Okay, so, what's the interesting 'Chinese' connection? According to wikipedia.org:
The above passage is not exactly clear who was directly responsible for the Chinese Exclusion Act, but it seems to imply it was the Napa Valley vintners. Once the Chinese were excluded, they imported laborers from southern Europe. |
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