Blogs » Society » ‘How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing’s Fears’: Foreign Affairs

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• ‘How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing’s Fears’: Foreign Affairs
• Black Bear + Polar Bear = Panda Bear
• Angola Deports Suspected Chinese Gangsters
• The Model For Zhengzhou’s “Filial Pigs” Sculpture Depicts An Orgy, Most Definitely Not Filial
• Speaking Events in Shanghai and Beijing
• Man In Beijing Jabbed By HIV-Infested Needle Hidden In Back Of Taxi, Police Decline To Investigate
• Hong Kong Netizens Condemn China for Expanding Individual Visit Scheme
• Here’s How Yesterday’s Empire State Building Shooting Looks On Youku
• Remember Those Porking Pigs? Here’s A Video
• Dashboard Cam: Police Chase Down Motorcyclists Weaving Through Traffic

‘How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing’s Fears’: Foreign Affairs Posted: 25 Aug 2012 05:37 PM PDT Andrew Nathan There is  a lot  in 'How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing's Fears,' by Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell, in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, to disagree with. You can paint it as a reductionist project that reinterprets Chinese views using Western, or more precisely, American categories. We don't see how Chinese think about these issues; we see about Drs. Nathan and Scobell think they think. Andrew Schobell You can say, on the other hand, that it paints with too broad strokes China's many-faceted, faction-rife, multi-generational views of the world and debates about how to move within it. It is simply too general to be of value. You can question what is assumes about China and what elements it chooses to discuss at the expense of equally or even more crucial ones. And, in doing so, you may be right. I read through the article and had all these thoughts. But, after I finished I realized that I had just read a brief, given the complexity of the topic, tour de force that will challenge the perspective of anyone considering how U.S. policy toward China and the region should be crafted. Among thoughtful people and serious policymakers, it will create discussion; it will become the starting point for a debate that has the power to change Sino-U.S. relations. I found three sections especially persuasive. First, about how China views the U.S. and world, and why: Most Americans would be surprised to learn the degree to which the Chinese believe the United States is a revisionist power that seeks to curtail China's political influence and harm China's interests. This view is shaped not only by Beijing's understanding of Washington but also by the broader Chinese view of the international system and China's place in it, a view determined in large part by China's acute sense of its own vulnerability. Second, regarding the U.S, 'Beijing views this seemingly contradictory set of American actions [described earlier] through three reinforcing perspectives.' Of these, I found the second a sound reminder of a factor I had been lulled to overlooking: Second, although China has embraced state capitalism with vigor, the Chinese view of the United States is still informed by Marxist political thought, which posits that capitalist powers seek to exploit the rest of the world. Third, the 'Four Rings' that define China's world view and inform its foreign policy: The world as seen from Beijing is a terrain of hazards, beginning with the streets outside the policymaker's window, to land borders and sea-lanes thousands of miles away, to the mines and oil fields of distant continents. These threats can be described in four concentric rings. In the first ring, the entire territory that China administers or claims, Beijing believes that China's political stability and territorial integrity are threatened by foreign actors and forces. … At China's borders, policymakers face a second ring of security concerns, involving China's relations with 14 adjacent countries. No other country except Russia has as many contiguous neighbors. They include five countries with which China has fought wars in the past 70 years (India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Vietnam) and a number of states ruled by unstable regimes. None of China's neighbors perceives its core national interests as congruent with Beijing's. … The third ring of Chinese security concerns consists of the politics of the six distinct geopolitical regions that surround China: Northeast Asia, Oceania, continental Southeast Asia, maritime Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. … Finally, there is the fourth ring: the world far beyond China's immediate neighborhood. China has truly entered this farthest circle only since the late 1990s and so far for limited purposes: to secure sources of commodities, such as petroleum; to gain access to markets and investments; to get diplomatic support for isolating Taiwan and Tibet's Dalai Lama; and to recruit allies for China's positions on international norms and legal regimes. [bolding mine] This is one of the areas where I felt that the authors were imposing a western structure on what is, for the Chinese, probably a much more fluid and inter-dependent way of analyzing this set of challenges. Nonetheless, for those of us who try to understand and predict Chinese policy, it is a useful structure, and one that I intend to refine and use for own analysis. As I mentioned, there is a lot to challenge about this article. But, through the process of challenging its many contentions, our perspective, sensitivity, and understanding will be even further enhanced. I can think of no better recommendation for  'How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing's Fears,' and I congratulate Drs. Nathan and Schobell.

Black Bear + Polar Bear = Panda Bear Posted: 25 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT Via Weibo (H/T Alicia)

Angola Deports Suspected Chinese Gangsters Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:15 PM PDT This is one of the darkest sides yet of China's commercial push into Africa. Angola, China's biggest trading partner on the continent and home now to more than 250,000 Chinese, has deported 37 Chinese nationals accused of kidnapping, armed robbery … Continue reading →

The Model For Zhengzhou’s “Filial Pigs” Sculpture Depicts An Orgy, Most Definitely Not Filial Posted: 25 Aug 2012 06:52 AM PDT We've had our fun with this, now it's time to drop the hammer. Earlier today, Wuhan Evening Paper reported that Zhengzhou's now-infamous "filial pigs" — a mother and son in a pose suggestive of anything but filial piety — was in fact based off a statuette from a series called "Hooligan Pigs," created 10 years ago, in which anthropomorphic swine were depicted having sex in a variety of positions. This particular statuette, if the price tag is to be believed, was worth 15 yuan, or $2.36. I'm sure someone could sell it for a lot more nowadays. With this latest revelation, we don't know how the stone sculpture in Zhengzhou can survive. There were children riding it, for crying out loud. And I think it's safe to say the carving's supporters will have to drop all pretense as to what it actually conveys. The sculptor plagiarized the statuette down to the exposed breast. You would think maybe he could have covered that up? Wuhan Evening Paper's photojournalist, Yu Zhiyong (@七点钟001), apparently discovered the above picture, and of course it's now spreading across Sina Weibo. There are more smutty images of these indecent and fantastic hogs and sows after the jump. (H/T Alicia, Jacques Thesing, Ivan Petrov) @beijingcream "Porking Pigs" And here is the "proof" it's "massaging". Lol. (courtesy @ivan_petrov) twitter.com/ShanghaiJack/s… — Jacques Thesing (@ShanghaiJack) August 25, 2012

Speaking Events in Shanghai and Beijing Posted: 25 Aug 2012 06:36 AM PDT I'm going to be speaking at several events over the next week, to which readers are welcome to register and attend. On Thursday, August 30, I will giving two talks in Shanghai.  Starting at 4:00pm, I'll be participating in a panel discussion sponsored by the European Union Chamber of Commerce on "China's Consumption Challenge: Rebalancing China's Growth."  My fellow panelists will be Fred Hu, former head of Goldman Sachs in China and the founder and chairman of Primavera Capital, and Arthur Kroeber, founder of Dragonomics.  The event will take place at the Grand Ballroom of the Le Royal Meridien Hotel, Shanghai, and there is a charge of RMB 400 for members and RMB 500 for non-members.  You can find further details and register to attend by clicking here. Starting at 7:30pm that same evening (Thursday, August 30), I will give a separate talk hosted by the Hopkins China Forum and Young China Watchers, on the topic "Is the China Growth Story Finished?"  The event will take place at The Wooden Box, 9 Qinghai Lu (just to the south of Nanjing West Road) 青海路 9 号, 近南京西路, 地铁二号线南京西路站.  For details and to RSVP, please email editor@shanghai-review.org or youngchinawatchers@gmail.com.  I'll try to cover somewhat different ground than the EU panel. On Saturday, September 1, I'll be back in Beijing where at 4:00pm I'll be talking to the Wharton Club of Beijing in what is being called a "Fireside Chat" on "The Future of China's Economy in Uncertain Times."  The event will take place at the Fairmont Hotel, 8 Yong An Dong Li, Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, Chaoyang District, Beijing (tel: +86 10 8511 7777), and is open to non-Wharton alumni.  There is a charge of RMB 150 for club members and RMB 300 for non-members.  You can register by clicking here.

Man In Beijing Jabbed By HIV-Infested Needle Hidden In Back Of Taxi, Police Decline To Investigate Posted: 25 Aug 2012 04:33 AM PDT This is the sort of story that you wish was merely an urban legend. Recently, a man in Beijing taking a cab from Wudaokou was jabbed by a hypodermic needle hidden, for reasons unknown, in the back pouch of the front seat, where magazines are kept. Apparently the syringe broke skin on his right knee. When he saw there was fluid inside the needle, he became very worried and had it examined at the Chaoyang District Disease Prevention and Control Center. The man, surnamed Xu, soon got word that the fluid contained the HIV virus. The news hit him "like a bolt from the blue," according to the video (translation errors in subtitles are mine). But hold on, there's some good news and bad news. The good news is Xu initially tested negative for the virus, though he has to be checked three more times in three months to verify. The bad news? As South China Morning Post notes (from behind a paywall): The man was preparing to take his girlfriend to visit his parents as a prelude to proposing. But when she learned of the incident, she ended the relationship. We do hope, for their sake, they get back together in three months when tests confirm Xu is clean. In the meantime, he should feel heartened by this: Scientists and medical authorities noted that HIV does not survive well outside the body, making the possibility that he is infected remote. Lun Wenhui, a doctor at Ditan Hospital, told the Beijing newspaper that the HIV virus needed optimal temperatures to survive outside the body. He said the case was a freak accident and urged the public not to panic. Nonetheless: what a nightmare. UPDATE, 8:05 pm: Not sure how I overlooked this detail earlier, but it seems important. SCMP again: The taxi driver said he had picked up three women passengers before the man but had not noticed anything suspicious. Police have declined to open an investigation, classifying the incident as accidental injury. Declined to open an investigation? As Natalie Nitofsky points out on Twitter, that sure seems fishy. Then again, police can be quite lazy chaps, so maybe they'll change their minds about that investigation after sufficient public pressure mounts. Or maybe our man Xu was having an affair with someone he discovered was HIV-positive and needed an alibi for his girlfriend just in case he tested positive. That's crazy, of course. But crazier than being accidentally jabbed by an HIV-laden syringe in the back of a taxi?

Hong Kong Netizens Condemn China for Expanding Individual Visit Scheme Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:30 AM PDT Hong Kong netizens are extremely furious that the Chinese government expands Individual Visit scheme to 4.1 million non-permanent resident of Shenzhen on September 1st. According to SCMP, (screen capture) Hong Kong's doors will be open for regular visits by 4.1 million non-permanent residents of Shenzhen from next month – despite the concerns of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying that the city will struggle to cope with more mainland visitors. The announcement by Shenzhen authorities that multiple-entry permits will be available to millions of residents of the border city who do not hold hukou, or household registration documents, there prompted new concerns that Hong Kong's infrastructure would be overwhelmed and that visitors would compete with locals for resources. Netizens' Reactions Overpopulated annaannawaifan: Hong Kong already has too many people that the air becomes breathless. In the future, there will be no place to stand. Anonymous: I still remember the Hong Kong of ten-odd years ago. There were very few people on the street in the morning. I could even sing "the morning is so fresh and cheerful" while rambling around. It is no long like that now. Even in the morning, the air is thick with dust. Needless to say, in daytime, I have to squeeze through people. Whenever I move, I can touch someone else. Mong Kok and Causeway Bay are disaster areas. When I go there, I almost can't breath, no joke. People who have respiratory problem, pregnant women, elderly and children should not go there. 豪龍: I don't against Individual Visit Scheme. However, the policy should not be overdone. Hong Kong isn't that big. How can Hong Kong accommodate that much people! Even there is no space for local. Does it mean that Hongkonger stay at home and Mainlanders do shopping on the street, doesn't it? Rubbish government! Seriously Affects Daily Life sbhk: F***! Now, Hong Kong is so crowded now. Besides crowding all shopping malls in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay (Now I avoid these places at all costs), these bastards love taking MTR (Mass Transit Railway) during rush hour. They also bring their luggage with them, f***! 可悠悠: What the…HK has already became so crowded that people can't take public transport…Can they split into groups? Hong Kong is going to sink! (*Most Hongkongers don't own cars and have to rely on public transport.) Ric: I take MTR to go to work in Admiralty and I used to take exit B (that is the bus terminal for Ocean Park). Now I have to take other exits because exit B is occupied by them…Now, even let more people come…Sigh! Business owners get rich while we employees suffer! The price of everything inflates, inflates and inflates… 來打醬油的某A: Do Hongkonger need to live? Now, (tourists of) Individual Visit Scheme have started to establish presence in Kwun Tong, Prince Edward and even remote place like Tsung Kwan O, The survival space of local people is going to be disappeared. Everyday, when I walk on the street, I afraid that I will get in a fight with (tourists of) Individual Visist Scheme. In shopping malls, I have to face the situation that when I am being jumped queue I can't criticise. Do the Hong Kong government have to receive whom the Mainland approved? Isn't it a rape of our living quality? Mann: I do not discriminate Mainland compatriots. However, Individual Visist Scheme now has seriously affected the daily life of Hongkonger. If the scheme expands, Hongkongers and public facilities can't really support it anymore. Besides, price index, housing price, public expenditure etc will be bound to shoot up. And this will deepen conflict between Hongkongers and Mainlanders. CY Leung should handle it seriously, otherwise there will be protests. Hong Kong is about to become a place not for Hongkongers. It is going to be a city just for people to go in and out. Lui: <If you are a Hongkonger, please share> The number of Individual Visit Scheme (tourists) is 6 times of Hong Kong population. Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui have already been "ceded" to them. Now, increase the number of Individual Visit Scheme again? 10M more people and multiple-entry permits? Freaking crazy! Hong Kong is occupied!!! As a city, she can't control the influx population, useless government! The never-ending increase of Individual Visit tourists has already seriously affected the daily life and welfare local residents. Puppet Government and Beijing's Wish Orange: As a Hongkonger, seeing my government even surrender Hong Kong permit approval to China, it is really disappointing. ★敗家★: Mainland China want the death of Hong Kong…therefore they use locust plague. Pak Ho: Beijing just want to integrate Mainland China and Hong Kong. Max: Beijing want Hong Kong to become a normal Mainland city. Mainland China doesn't want to use the special environment of Hong Kong to change their internal political system. The pearl of oriental has already died. Angry, helpless and heartbroken. MOD1: China just want to replace us with Mainlanders. If we don't against it… in the future, we local born and raised "Hongkongers" are going to be an ethnic minority… The Anger Venus: Actually… Do Mainland China and Hong Kong governments want to oppress Hongkongers to the state that blood sheds like Indonesian anti-Chinese incident happen so that they will finally be peaceful and happy? ****More comments later****

Here’s How Yesterday’s Empire State Building Shooting Looks On Youku Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:21 AM PDT By now you've heard that there was a shooting on Friday morning in New York next to the Empire State Building. The skinny of it: Jeffrey T. Johnson, 58, used a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun to kill an office rival, Steven Ercolino, in broad daylight. Police confronted Johnson when he walked around the corner, and when he pulled out his gun, they unloaded 16 rounds on him, killing him and wounding nine others. If you thought the Chinese Internet wasn't going to splice together footage and images from that incident and set it to stock dramatic music, you don't know Chinese Internet. I've put the video on YouTube, but the original Youku version — 110,000 hits and counting — is embedded after the jump.

Remember Those Porking Pigs? Here’s A Video Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:01 AM PDT Some people really want this sculpture to be just a son massaging his mother, whose quivering eyes are merely grateful and on her ruddy face the arpeggio of delight turned ecstatic is divested of all venereal context. Not really sure why her left nipple is exposed though. Other questions: Why does the pig even have anthropomorphic breasts? Must they be so voluptuous and perfectly positioned, pressed against the pillow, plump to bursting? Now that I examine this sculpture again, closely, I admit to feeling disappointment that the mother's fingers aren't curled underneath the edge of the mattress, barely able to keep a grip on a reality torn asunder by the pleasure of her son giving such a bracing and purgative back massage. Translations are mine, along with any errors. Youku video (sans English subtitles) for those in China after the jump.

Dashboard Cam: Police Chase Down Motorcyclists Weaving Through Traffic Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:00 PM PDT Last Thursday, police in Foshan, Guangdong province were tracking two men on a motorcycle near a tourist area when one of them suddenly tried snatching a woman's purse. Realizing a cop was on its tail, the motorcyclist tried to get away through heavy traffic. One of them even threw a helmet at the car. The chase didn't go well for the thieves, who were eventually subdued and arrested. Police found car-stealing equipment on their bike, according to the Youku video description. Youku video for those in China after the jump.

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