Return to Suzhou

In a sense my holiday really finished with the taxi ride from Hangzhou and the ride back to Suzhou and in a sense it didn't; a friend from Qingdao is in town and we met up with him, his wife and his kid and took ourselves down to the Bookworm for dinner. After dinner we popped into Suzhou's Irish pub and low and behold, there was one of the couple of lads from work who I said in an earlier post that I would miss when I left here. All very civilised and I stuck to a couple of cans of sprite, learned that a new nicer Bookworm has just opened in Suzhou, discussed the transfer of Robbie Keane; how he does a silly wee summersault, or tumbles his wilkies, as we said back in Glasgow when I was a lad, instead of a triple salto and how he is not as good as Torres or Berbatov but is pretty good anyway and then we went on to talk about a couple of other things and then took ourselves off home. China doesn't seem like work when there is no work and I could actually waste time here contemplating my navel but, of course, I could do that anywhere.
Tomorrow, there will be a little extension of the holiday and we will get up early and get an early train to Nanjing where we will spend the day. Nanjing is, as I have mentioned before, one of the more pleasant Chinese cities I know but, having just seen them on holiday, Chengdu and Hangzhou would fall into that category too.

The Holiday The Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth

A few days ago, I wrote about how there was no mention of the SNP in the 'China Daily' in its small report on the Glasgow by-election. My assumed reason for this being so was also touched upon. Of course, there is something else; if you tell some of the true story, you don't need to lie. It is a bit like the United States telling the world that it has opened its markets to 97% of Bangladesh's products, including, cars, aeroplanes, electronic equipment, machines etc etc and that tarifs are levied only on textiles. You can then tell the world at large and the public at home that you are liberal and have opened your doors to almost all of the WTO's listed products. There is no need to mention the fact that Bangladesh normally doesn't have the capacity to produce any of the 97% of the products that they are allowed to export.
On arriving back at the hotel this afternoon after a nice walk on the west lake, I put the computer on and looked at the news on German television. There was a report on how China has failed to fulfill its 'Olympic' obligations vis-a-vis journalists and how reporters are finding it difficult to watch the BBC, open their blogs, interview people freely etc etc. Now, I am not in Beijing but I was watching the BBC in Chengdu a couple of days ago and today I am watching it in Hangzhou and I have been watching it without any problems in Suzhou for the last eleven months. Initially, I couldn't open my own blog unless i typed in a proxy before the url. However, after a week or so, I had unfettered access the blog. Might it be that typing in a simple proxy such as 'youhide.com' is beyond the intellectual capabilities of the particular journalist that was being interviewed? Oh, and then there was this old report that they dug up where journalists on the great wall were being challenged by local officials. The Chinese government later apologised for this particular incident and might it not just be that the incident was instigated by over zealous local officials.
Now, believe me, I am the last person to want to protect the Chinese government and there are a lot of things in this country that I don't agree with. However, German television has just shown me how we distort things at home; tell the public a bit of the truth, doctor it to appeal to those prejudices that have already been created and which serve certain ulterior motives and vested interests. The Chinese really could learn from us but then they are already, aren't they?

The Holiday Hangzhou, Costa Coffee and the Breakdown in the WTO Talks

This is not, strictly speaking, a China post with the holiday sort of already coming to an end. Tomorrow I will take the bus or taxi to Suzhou and tie up the odds and ends there before going to London, which, means that my eighteen months in China is also coming to an end!

Sitting here in a Costa Coffee in Hangzhou I now find myself with time to catch up with the news and pride of place in today's news is given to the breakdown in the WTO talks. These talks began in Doha in 2001 and were meant to facilitate redressing some of the imbalances in favour of the rich nations. Imbalances, which were only compounded by the agreements that were signed at Marrakesh in 1994 and were neglected during subsequent talks. In Doha the developed countries commited themselves to ensuring that the negotiations would be a "development round".1 The poorest countries were to benefit and what has happened? Simply put, while the EU has shown its willingness to compromise, the United States refuses to budge effectively on the question of its agricultural subsidies in general and on its subsidies to cotton farms in particular. Most of the money here goes to massive farms and, indeed, invariably to corporate farms.2 These subsidies represent a form of coorporate welfare and they ensure that the cotton farmer in, for instance, India continues to struggle just to keep body and soul together. Subsidies for agriculture in the west are very different and they have very different consequences from agricultural subsidies and tariffs in the developing world. The 'special safeguard mechanism', which is employed by developing countries allows those countries to raise farm tariffs if imports surge. This is a very different situation from the top 20% of cotton "farmers" in the United States who receive 80% of the subsidies there or, in other words, an average of almost $200,000. In the meantime the United States can argue that it has opened up its markets to about 97% of the goods produced in the third world; the 'Banana Republic' is not allowed to export bananas but it can export all of those things, which it is incapable of producing. The United States has no interest in a level playing field.

So for me the holiday is coming to an end but I would just like to say that the Costa Coffee in Hangzhou is just about one of the nicest Costa Coffees I have been in. The German word "lauschig" might best describe it. Outside we are surrounded by bamboos, there is a chirping and chirring in the trees, the big coffee is finished, this post is finished and it is time to "carpe diem". By the way if there were no globalisation, there would be no Costa Coffee in Hangzhou.

The picture looks through the window in the Costa Coffee down by the west lake in Hangzhou.

1 Joseph Stiglitz, 'Making Gobalization Work' (London 2007) p80

2 ibid p86

The Holiday Hangzhou

We arrived into a wet and windy Hangzhou today and we should have looked at the weather forecast before deciding to come here. Anyway we booked into a very nice hotel and then took ourselves down to starbucks, had our coffees, surfed a bit on the internet and then went for a walk along the west lake before having dinner and after dinner we walked around the town a bit.
The read on the plane was interesting; a preface in the airline's magazine in IELTS 6.5 English, explaining why the economic reforms in China conform to Deng Xiaping's "Chinese road to socialism" and not, as some commentators in the west are suggesting, to a neo-liberalist doctrine of the sort that we associate with the "reaganomics" of the eighties. In my opinion neo-liberalist economic policies that would, in fact, put the Chinese in the pockets of the IMF and the World Bank and consequently leave them dependent on the west. Now, I have already voiced my own opinions on this in some earlier posts. Moreover, I also don't believe in the "trickle down" theories of the Washington Consensus that would accompany those neo-liberalist policies. However, I also find it absurd to think that there is going to be some magical redistribution of wealth in China once China has sufficiently developed.
Close to the west lake in the city centre in Hangzhou there is a smattering of nice restuarants, cafes and up-market shops and just down the road from those plush eateries and malls there is a sales centre for Ferraris and Maseratis, walking in the rain towards the car showroom we were stopped every ten metres or so by children holding begging bowls sustained in their hope by the knowledge that some money will come trickling down in the immediate future and in the less immediate future all the money is going to be shared anyway.

The picture above shows the west lake in Hangzhou.

The Holiday Chengdu The Pandas

Went to see the pandas today, there are almost seventy of them in captivity in Chendu and about another couple of hundered locked up elsewhere and somewhere in the region of 1,600 running wild. Now even if those figures are not quite accurate there is still going to be less than 2,000 giant pandas and that makes them an endangered species.

Anyway, it was a nice little trip in the taxi that took us out through the suburbs of the city and the more I see of this town the more I have to say that it is one of the more pleasant cities I have seen in China. Still we will keep this post short and simple and stick to the pandas.

The picture is of one of the pandas in captivity and he doesn't look too unhappy does he?

The Holiday No News is Good News

Firstly, having decided Chengdu is worth an extra day, there was a reasonably late breakfast this morning and time to "indulge" in that veritable 'Pravda', the 'China Daily'. Actually, on the whole, the newspaper is no better and no worse than most of the daily trash that you get in the west. However, in this weekend's edition there was a wee report on the Glasgow by-election that I read with interest and, which might have been taken straight from some of the British media where the emphasis seems to be on Labour losing the seat and not on the fact that the Scottish Nationalists won it. In the 'China Daily' they go a step further; there is absolutely no mention of who won the seat, under the headline, "Labour loses vote" it is deemed unnecessary to say who they lost against and enough to write about Gordon Brown's "setback"1. Now this was a small report of about seventy words and they might not have found the space to mention the SNP. Indeed, the report might be plagiarised from AP, Reuters or somewhere else in the western media. Nevertheless, one cannot help but think that in a country where national unity is almost a creed it might be deemed undesirable to report on seperatist tendencies elsewhere.
1 'China Daily' (July 26-27) p11

The Holiday Chengdu The Bookworm

You might know the Bookworm from some of my other posts, it is a little oasis in Suzhou where we can peruse, scan, skim our English papers and books, sit and chill out while surfing, supping good coffee and eating decent western food. The Bookworm has branches in Beijing, Suzhou and Chengdu and today, as I am in Chengdu, it is the place be; we will get the necessary information on the city and suitably refreshed we will do a little bit of exploring. However, firstly I will calm down after this morning's frustrating exercise in booking a ticket from Shanghai to London through one of the two main Chinese travel agents. Unknown to me you have to fax a signed authorisation and a copy of your passport and credit card if you use a foreign credit card to book your flight. Anyway, there was me having to photo copy and fax things, spending time and, less importantly, money and I am still waiting for the final confirmation that I have the ticket. It is all, of course, linked to China's fiscal policies but one wonders, is it really necessary? Still, it is partly due to their fiscal policies that China has not drifted into the pockets of the IMF and the World Bank. Perhaps, there is a method to their madness but in the case of online bookings it is a trifle difficult to fathom it.

Anyway, here we are chilling out in the Bookworm and I am thinking about having another cup of coffee before we take ourselves down to one of the temples and an arty farty street that has been recommended. What I like about Chengdu and about this area of Chengdu in particular is the lack of crowds and, looking past the two Europeans sitting opposite me out of the window across the tree lined street towards an Indian restuarant that is adorned by a motive of Shiva, I might think for a minute that I am already in London.

The picture above is of Chengdu's Bookworm.

The Holiday Chengdu

A large part of yesterday was spent walking around the Renmin Nan Lu area where our hotel is and the impression one gets is that this is one of the more pleasant larger Chinese cities and these larger cities are not small; the Chengdu administrative area has a population of about 10 million and the urban area has some 3.5 million people. Therefore, what we have in China is cities ranging in terms of size from Tokyo and Mexico City to Berlin and Rome that are making there way into the first world. Chengdu's new ambitious metro project indicates where the city is going; in 2010 the first line of will have been completed and by the time all seven planned lines are completed round about 2035, Chengdu and China will already be a developed country. Of course, there might be a number of obstacles that will prevent this happening and, while the government of China remains an enigma for me, it might indeed, prove to be that development and the the present system will prove incompatible.

There was an interesting article in yesterday's 'China Daily', "Officials face sack for bad public work"1, which emphasised that local government and CP officials can be sacked should they be incompetent in dealing with the public. Reference was made to the Weng'an (see post on media) and new guidelines were laid out for officials when dealing with the public. Having personally witnessed some of the failings of those officials, I can only emphasise the need for a change in attitude. Of course, such behaviour from police and government officials is not unique to China. However, at least in the west, there is an accountability and transparency that, at least, appears to be lacking here. The question is when the government ushers in proper procedures for grievances where will the buck stop and what will this ultimately mean for the political system in China? One would hope that China and the Chinese will be allowed to solve that dilemma on their own for the evidence would seem to suggest that they are more than capable of doing so.

The picture above was taken in a nice trendy little corner of Chegdu, where I had a lovely cup of illy coffee.

1 'China Daily' (July 25th) front page

The Holiday Thoughts on the Train

There was a bit of a problem with the train tickets yesterday and so, for the first time in China, I travelled second class and second class is really quite alright apart from the little kids who were running up and down the aisle making noise as little kids everywhere tend to do and then there was this crappy piped music whining all the way into the carriage.
Of course, back in Europe you don't see so many little kids on trains but rather middle aged and older ladies sitting peering out of the window, chewing the cud and thinking about the sort of things middle aged and older ladies think about and this is indicative of the fact that back in Europe we tend to drive between cities unlike the Chinese, who would usually prefer taking the train and back in Europe we all, especially middle aged and old ladies, prefer our peace and quiet. Anyway, the journey was hunky-dory and we arrived after a comfortable ride, despite the "re nao" and I even managed to read a wee bit and there was an interesting bit in Joseph Stiglitz's, "Making Globalization Work", where he writes about the Koreans moving away from an economy based on rice to an industrialised based economy, when he says that "the only way to learn how to produce steel is to produce steel, as the Koreans did."1 Yes, they did and the Chinese are already manufacturing more cars than Germany and while the quality is still a bit crappy and nobody in Europe wants to buy them at the moment the signs are ominous; the construction, the development, the increasing wealth, the emerging middle class, everything is there and while there are no general laws in history the more I see of China and the Chinese the more I am tempted to say that I wouldn't bet against them and as I said back in Suzhou, while they don't quite get it right or always get it right, they are obviously getting a lot right a lot of the time.
1 Joseph Stiglitz "Making Globalization Work" (Penguin, London 2007), p70

The Holiday Chongqing

Well what do you do, when you get to Chongqing? The city is similar in many ways to any other big Chinese conurbation and, of course, it also means that my little world is available, as it always is in this part of the world, and the first thing that the anti-tourist me looks for is the local starbucks; there are two very close to each other in the Jie Fang Bei area and the one I am in at the moment is the nicest of the two.

It is in Chongqing, far away from the better known urban centres in the east and west of the country that you begin to realise where China might be going. With a growth rate of 15% per annum the metropolis is closing the gap on the cities of the Pearl and Yangzte river deltas. This, is largely due to government schemes and subsidies and it might be interesting to see whether Chongqing could attract suitable investment on its own. Nevertheless, the sense of what China is achieving is all too obvious here especially in this part of the city where you could be anywhere in the world with your wireless connection and cup of latte.

The picture above is of the nicest of the two starbucks I found in this area and the one where I am now sitting.

The Holiday Arrival in Chongqing

We probably arrived in Chongqing about midnight last night and I am up bright and early this morning waiting for the six o'clock morning coffee. Outside it is still dark but the sillhouettes of the skyscrapers indicate that this is a big city and it is. It is one of China's four provincial level municipalities, the other three being Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin and the administrative borders of Chongqing are bigger than the other three; the municipality has a population of about 32 million, which would make it just about the biggest city in the world. In actual fact though, the urban population of the city is much smaller and is only about ten million, which, of course, means that its population is closer to London than it is to Mexico City, Sao Paulo or Tokyo. Another interesting fact is Chongqing will be the terminal for a 2,380 kilometer oil and gas pipeline that will run from deep water port of Sittwe in Myanmar. The oil and gas that Myanmar supplies along with the tankers from the Middle East and Africa that dock there, will help to quench China's growing energy needs. In understanding those needs,we might begin to understand why China needs a government in Naypyidaw that is a stable and sympathetic friend.

The picture was taken from the boat at about 6.30 a.m. with the fogs receding and the day breaking in Chongqing.

The Holiday Three Gorges Ghost Town

Today we had a look at Fengdu, the "ghost town, now I won't delve into why it is called the "ghost town" in this post but there are nice little temples up there on the hill and the "King of Hell" has his domain. The original Fengdu itself though is the real ghost town as it has been demolished and moved across the river. How the locals feel about having to move, I am not quite sure but our guide assures us that the younger people are for the most part happy and the older people generally a wee bit peeved. This might indeed be true and I can imagine that the younger people like the nicer newer flats, while the older people feel a trifle aggrieved at having to move from there ancestoral homes.
On arriving back on the boat, I heard the same guy who negotiated the vendor down from 50 RMB to 30 RMB for his six pack of Tsingtao yesterday, discussing what we had to pay for and not pay for on the boat and why he wouldn't buy a cup of the much better illy coffee at the bar and there he was again, about ten minutes later standing behind me telling someone how back home he buys up land and then builds properties and sells them. Now, I realise that it might appear to have very little to do with Fengdu. Nevertheless, it is the little things like this that can get you out of that the rather narrow mindset that a cruise might put you in and put you back in touch with a wider reality; the poor and very poor line the route from the boat up to the temple and back again, trying to eek out a living, just before getting back on the boat we are confronted with the poorest of them, sometimes disfigured, sometimes blind and sometimes both, they stretch out their hands looking for a few pennies and you look at them and you look at the property speculator from California and you realise that the "trickle down" theory that accompanies the policy forged between the IMF and the World Bank known as the "Washington Consensus" is just as much pie in the sky as Deng Xiaoping's Chinese road to socialism.
The picture shows a statue of one of the ghosts that line the way to the temples. This is a sort of Chinese Bacchus and I thought it most appropriate that it be chosen by a wee debauched Scotsman to celebrate his newly acquired 'pi jiu du'.

The Holiday 3 Gorges Tributaries

We all got into a smaller boat and went off into a lot of nice little tributaries today and then we got off the smaller boat and got into even smaller boats and went into even smaller tributaries. Very nice and pleasant and one can only speculate what the area was like when the water level was 30 to 150 metres lower. No need to speculate because we were shown pictures of how they used to drag the boats across dry areas on the river and how there used to be rafting in the area. Anyway, there we were sailing down the tributaries and looking up at the monkeys, which I never saw and I was left wondering if my fellow passengers had all been given something that I didn't know about but I did see the new houses perched further up on the mountain and they all saw them too, so at least we were seeing the same thing and maybe the monkeys that they were seeing were little figures that the authorities had placed here and there for the tourists or maybe they were even locals running along mountain ridges for 50 RMB a day dressed in monkey suits. Whatever, the mind boggles when you think about what these people live on and one wonders too, will the water level increase further and will they have to move on again some day?
Now, sitting in the bar, supping a cup of illy coffee and waiting to enter a lock and when we enter the lock the internet connection will go. Therefore, I will publish this post and say, "ciao for now".

The picture shows the smaller, not the smallest, boat sailing into the smalller gorges with the passengers, mostly American, keeping an eye out for the monkeys.

The Holiday 3 Gorges

Arriving at the three gorges dam, you have to be impressed by the scale of the thing and although it is not the place here to give you the details, suffice to say, that it was originally thought that it would supply 10% of China's energy needs. However, while it does supply Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing and Guangzhou with electricity, those percentages have had to be revised and scaled down to 4%. That, nevertheless, is not because the dam is not doing its job, but rather because China's energy needs today are vastly different from when they were doing the original thinking. Of course, when I think of those needs, my mind drifts back to some of my earlier posts on geopolitics.
China is very much aware of its energy needs, virtually excluded from the Middle East, indeed, possibly totally excluded should the west get its way on Iran, losing out increasingly in Central Asia to the "smooth" operators from the west, abroad it is to Africa and to some extent South America that China looks and at home, while the importance of the Yangzte should not be played down, it is Xinjiang that is crucial due to the oil and natural gas there. The environmental consequences for the Yangzte have been well documented and for the uighur population of Xinjiang the portents are ominous.

The picture above is of the main dam going upstream.

The Holday on the Yangzte first Dam

The information on the dam is being broadcast in the background; it is 2,600 metres long and 70 metres high, that makes it longer than the three gorges dam, which is 2,300 metres long and 180 metres high. The morning 'tai chi' has finished, which I conveniently slipped away from and we are now slipping into the mountainous area. That might mean that the connection is about to go, so I would be well advised to get this post published and move on as he begins to tell his story about a General who was in the area 1,700 years ago as well as other stories such as; "there is one of the Yangzte tributaries and the Yangzte has over 700 tributaries ..... " and then there is another General from the 3 Kingdoms era, 1,700 years.

It is more the here and now I am interested in and moving into China you begin to understand that this is a land of superlatives; the most people, the highest train, the fastest train, the biggest dam, etc. etc. Still, their football team is crap, the quality of their products is generally poor, service in shops and restuarants leave a lot to be desired and neither is the Yangzte the longest river, nor is China the biggest country. Nevertheless, although I don't know what they are going to do about the Yangzte, I think that they just might solve the other problems, including that of not being the largest country. For that problem they only have to look at some maps of China that you might find in the Republic of China (Taiwan). "Que serra, serra" ........ The picture shows the first dam on the Yangzte after leaving Yichang.

The Holiday on Board on the Yangzte

Having expected an internet connection in the room, I am rather disappointed to discover that there are only four computers in the bar on the fourth deck and that the connection is at times slow and at times non-existent; it is expected that we will lose the connection when we enter the Gorges. Therefore, this short post is just to say that for the first time since this blog was started, there might be no daily postings. An effort will be made to keep them up but "que serra".
Other than that, the boat looks fine; the cabin is smaller than I expected but there is CNN and HBO as promised and, all in all, the trip should be just fine and, who knows, with a little bit of luck I just might be able to keep up the daily entries.

The Holiday Yichang Day Three

Booking out of the hotel and one of the wee things that annoy me here just had to happen; the girl is checking me out and this guy just shoves in front of me, shouting, waving his arms and demanding attention. At the time I was a trifle peeved, however, now that I am sitting down with my coffee and wireless internet, it really isn't such a big deal, that is the way it is here and they don't really mean any harm. Moreover, when you hang around in nice hotels, you see China changing, you see the emergence of that non-spitting bourgeoisie class that is well-mannered, polite and tolerant. Nevertheless, in saying this, I am also forced to think of tolerance as a bourgeoisie invention; something that the well-heeled can afford to practice because they have got the money, the space and the time and you know I am even grateful that I have most, if not all, of those things. Perhaps, I should learn to be a little bit more tolerant.

The Holiday Yichang Day Two

We spent this afternoon in Yichang, a city of just over a million people and what was noticable was the complete absence of foreigners; that is, of course, except for ourselves. There also appears to be no starbucks or costa coffee in Yichang. However, that doesn't stop the town from imparting a feeling of, "we are doing alright". The majority of the people are, if not well heeled, reasonably well dressed and well-fed, McDonald's and KFC are choc-a-bloc, there are a few modern shopping centres, a big park in the town centre and a variety of modern housing complexes with more being built all over the place. There appears to be a certain quality of life here and you notice that China's development and economic growth is not confined to the Pearl and Yangzte river deltas. Moreover, while there might as of yet be no starbucks or costa coffee in Yichang, we still managed to find a nice little cafe that served nice lavazza coffee.

The picture looks over the park in the town centre.

The Holiday Yichang Day One

Of course, it is what they are there for, the people who check the plane, they have to make sure that there is nothing wrong and that the plane doesn't sort of just fall out of the sky. So, there we were all sitting waiting to fly to Yichang at 13.40 only to be told to get off of the plane because there was a small technical problem. Anyway, we all trudged off of the plane and onto a bus and the bus drove away and then it stopped with the sun beating down on the roof and windows, stood for about ten minutes allowing us all to sweat in the heat a bit and then started again and took us back to the terminal. Still, it was good that somebody was doing their job and that we didn't just fall out of the sky and with a two and a half hour delay we all got safely to Yichang.
Yichang seems pleasant enough, although I didn't see very much of it on the way to the hotel from the airport. The hotel though is tasty; it is a five star affair and it has a nice swimming pool. We got down to the pool before dinner and the swim was very relaxing and everything could have been hunky-dory but you can see it, you really can see it, the maintenance, or rather the lack of it and then there was this one particular hotel guest who was chewing what I think were pieces of chicken and he had nothing better to do than spit out the bits of fat or was it bones that he didn't gobble down and there they were all lying around the ground for his "inferiors" to clean up before some western or enbourgeioised Chinese could take offence. Well, "you can take the man out of Glasgow but you can't take Glasgow out of the man, can you? Or something like that! Anyway, I gave him a dirty look but I really don't think he got it.
The picture looks across the hotel swimming pool.

Hongqiao Airport

This morning the driver brought me up to Hongqiao Airport; he was quick and I now find myself with about two and a half hours to play with before I get on the plane for Yichang.
When I arrived in China some eighteen months ago, it was difficult to find a wireless connection at Shanghai's domestic airport. It is now very easy! Moreover, there were no western papers available and a read on the plane was limited to the paperback in your bag, 'The Shanghai Times' or 'The China Daily'. Today, I purchased 'The Financial Times' and 'The South China Daily' (HK), preferring them to 'The International Herald Tribune', 'The Wall Street Journal' and a weekly edition of England's 'Express'.
China appears to be improving but it is inconsistent and the western papers could become as difficult to access as they were eighteen months ago in the time it takes you to say "abracadabra" or something similarly ridiculous. This inconsistency is shown in a number of areas and it was with sheer amazement that I read recently of China complaining about the tourists not coming. They are not coming, of course, because it is being made extremely difficult for them to get a visa; they don't give them a visa and then they complain about them not coming. Inconsistencies like this are a part and parcel of this country. However, for now I will sup my coffee, avail myself of the wireless connection, browse in my newly acquired journals and wait for my plane.
The picture was taken in the little cafe downstairs in Hongqiao Airport, where a great wireless connection is available. On the table you can see my recently acquired western newspapers.

The Long Goodbye

It would appear that the goodbye has started; tonight there was a pre-holiday dinner for the staff at the university and it was all very pleasant even to the point where I was left thinking that I might have been a wee bit hasty in my decision to leave. However, that is to be expected because despite the inadequacies of both China and the university where I work, I am tempted to think that they are both getting something right and so much so that there might indeed be a future for both of them. ..... and for me? There will be a late summer at Brunel in London, where my being in society will be accessed, this will be followed by an early autumn in Fuerstenfeldbruck and then probably a two to four hour day, earning good money, extremely easily, translating boring texts from German into English; sitting down at the Amper, coming up for air in the Tuerkenhof, living 'la dolce vita' until, once again, that ardent thirst for distant scenes, that "Wanderlust", arrives and ......
Whatever, tonight I said goodnight to my colleagues and I will miss a couple of them, I will miss the students, and all in all it has been a worthwhile year. However, for me the goodbye to China will now start with my third trip around some part of this rather big country. After the Beijing-Lhasa-Xi'an and the Sanya-Guangzhou-Guillin trip it is now down the Yangzte from Yichang to Chongqing. Consequently, my blog over the next couple of weeks will look more like a traveller's diary. The first instalment is tomorrow.

Prisoner Exchange

My stint in the Lebanon in 2006 was sort of brought to its final conclusion with today's exchange of prisoners and bodies. As readers of the blog will know my short term contract with the British Council and the UNRWA teaching methods to Palestinian English teachers was terminated suddenly when Olmert launched his war against the Lebanon. The pretext was the two Israeli soldiers, who were captured by the Hezbollah, there were to be no negotiations. The story of the 2006 war is known and if Olmert's objective was to force the release of the two soldiers the catastrophic manner in which he failed to achieve that objective is also well documented. Today, the bodies of the two soldiers were exchanged for five Lebanese prisoners and tomorrow the remains of 199 Palestinian and Hezbullah fighters exhumed over the past week will be handed over.
The exchange is being hailed as a victory for the Hezbollah and it is and I am left asking myself why the Israelis didn't negotiate after their capture in 2006. The reason, of course, was that their capture was used as a pretext for other very Machiavellian aims. In trying to achieve those aims 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were to lose their lives, including 28, fourteen of which were children, when the Israelis for no apparent reason bombed the town of Qana. One wonders if when Qana was being bombed the Israeli captives were still alive and one might further speculate as to the how those guarding them might have reacted if they were.
The picture shows the Lebanese prisoners who were exchanged for the two dead Israelis. In the middle Samir Kuntar who was convicted of of murdering three Israelis: an Israeli policeman, a 31 year-old man, and his 4-year-old daughter and whose release is particularly resented in Israel.

The UN Veto

'The Guardian' is picking up on the fact that China might, and probably will, use its veto in the UN Security Council to block any attempt to arrest Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, on genocide charges. Of course, China being a leading supplier of weapons and one of the main investors in the country has a lot to lose in what is, in fact, a cynical game being played by the so-called "international community". An indictment for genocide might lead to direct western involvement in a country where the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation has its largest overseas engagement.
Where does China then go? The multi-nationals that dominate the industry are already consolidating their hegemony from Kazakhstan to the Middle East. The writing is on the wall for China and is evidenced by the return of the "big four" to Iraq and that country's subsequent binning of 49 understandings with other countries including China. It might even be the the CNPC's existing contracts in Sudan can become vulnerable and we need look no further than the Russian company Lukoil, which had to terminate all of their projects in Iraq to see how this might happen.
With reference to the killings in Dafur, William Schabas, of the rights centre at the National University of Ireland, said: "Genocide is reserved for the physical extermination of ethnic groups, and I think most observers would agree that's not what we're seeing here."1 It is not and, while there is a lot that we might find obnoxious in the person of Omar al-Bashir, let us at least be aware of the so-called "international community's" true motives and let us least try to understand the Chinese and Russian positions on Iran, Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe and elsewhere when they invest in those places and use their vetoes in the UN to protect those investments.
1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/15/sudan.africanunion

Now's the Time to say Goodbye

Yesterday I was offered pre-sessional work at Brunel University and I decided for the time being to say goodbye to China. It will be a long goodbye; my partner arrives in Beijing on Friday, she will then fly to Yichang where I will join her, we will be getting on a boat and going up the Yangzte and then we will be travelling for about another ten days. On the third or fourth of August I will fly to London. It will be a long goodbye but already there is a sort of "Wehmut", a sort of sadness, because, although I have been doing a fair bit of complaining about this that and the next thing here, the experience has on the whole been positive. Still, I am still here so, perhaps, I should save my goodbyes until closer to the day. Now, is not the time to say goodbye!

Paranoia

At the moment it is extremely difficult to access the internet; the connection is fine but the pages are either downloading very slowly or not at all or some Chinese page will open although I haven't asked for it. This could be a problem that might occur anyway and anywhere or that is what I would think if it were not for the fact that I am watching the transferring data notice on the bottom left hand of the page playing a sort of ping pong with various data.
Maybe I am paranoia but I get this feeling that someone is watching me, trying to monitor or hinder my activities. Yes, but maybe, just maybe this is indeed a problem that can happen anyway and anywhere and do you remember the song:
"They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!"?

China Changing

It is interesting how the world outside China stumbles on some of the little big things that all of us living here already know and so it was that a report in today's 'New York Times' made interesting reading. In the article, "In Changing Face of Beijing, a Look at the New China " the author made some interesting comments about China's bombastic attempts to show the world a new post-modern China and nowhere is this more obvious than in Beijing and it begins on arrival at the new Beijing Airport. However, he goes on to add how this impression of that new ultra modern China is deflated on the way to the city when he states that many of the appartment buildings that are only a couple of years old are already decrepit.1

Interesting observations and nothing new here for us "old China hands" and there was me in my first, very modern, apartment in Suzhou opening a cupboard door only for it to come away in my hand. Of course, quality can be found but it is a rarity and things are built here to look good and not to last and not to worry if in a couple of years they don't look good because by the time a couple of years comes along it will be time to rip them up and build anew. Should I visit Beijing again in the near future I will of course be taking in the great wall, the forbidden city and the summer palace again. Indeed, knowing the Chinese it could be that in five years time or so they will be rebuilding the great wall out of unbreakable glass so a visit there is almost essential ..... still, I will also have to have a quick look at the new airport, the CCTV building and the birds nest, for who knows in a few years they too might be unrecognisable from what they are now.

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/arts/design/13build.html?hp

The picture above shows the new CCTV television headquarters.

The Coming War in the Middle East

It is surely obvious to all and sundry that Israel is threatened and will continue to be threatened until some sort of settlement is reached with the Palestinians who have, to put it succinctly, had their land stolen from them. Therefore, Olmert's promising to destroy those who hate Israel and George Bush saying that no American president can remain idle if Israel is threatened,1 only have as their logical conclusion a war sooner or later. We should, however, not be diverted from the two most important questions though, namely: why is Israel hated and why can no American president remain idle, if Israel is threatened?
Israel is hated quite simply because it is built on land that belongs to others, it really is that simple and no amount of hogwash can deflect from that reality. The United States cannot afford to remain idle, if Israel is threatened because Israel, a country of only six million people, helps the United States pursue its interests in the Middle East. There is also, of course, a powerful lobby in the United States that ideologically support the zionist state.
The article in today's "Sunday Times" was revealing because it represents one of the clearest indications yet that there is going to be a war with Iran; the headline read, "President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran".2 Of course, if the US were to attack Iran, there would be an international outcry. No, do it under the guise of Israel and when Iran defends itself, step in to defend that "small", "innocent" country that has its very existence threatened by enemies who hate it. The same small, innocent country that has been relentlessly seizing and occupying others land since 1949, that facilitated the massacre of men, women and children at the Shabra and Shattila refugee camps in 1982 and again at Qana in the Lebanon in 1996 and again in the very same place ten years later, that ignores international law and practically imprisons millions of people.
The neo-conservatives in Washington and the zionists in Jerusalem are, once again, putting the lives of American and coaliton soldiers at risk in Iraq and Aghanistan, thousands if not hundreds of thousands are going to die there and elsewhere. Why? the Middle East has some two thirds of the Planet's oil reserves, by dominating the area politically and economically the US has an advantage over its economic rivals.
1,2 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4322508.ece

Being Comfortable

One amazing thing about the Chinese, is their ability to get themselves into comfortable positions. Their ability to squat is an example of this and everywhere you go you will see men and, sometimes, women sitting on seats that are made of thin air. It is a position that I could hold for about one minute before losing my balance. Nevertheless, with the centre of my gravity namely, my big fat arse, being so close to the ground this would mean that it is very unlikely that I would hurt myself. The problem would occur if I were to try to immitate someone squating on a wall, while supping a glass of tea or a worker eating out of his rice bowl while delicately balanced 60 foot up at the edge of a roof.

The picture I have attached to this post is of someone having a sleep in his rickshaw. Now, believe me I have sat in one of those little things and they are just that, little! Those of you who know me can imagine the scenario of me trying to have a sleep in the above rickshaw. One of two things would happen; I would either be jammed in and unable to get out of the seat or the whole fucking thing would tilt over taking me with it.

The Media

To some extent there is an almost extensive cover of events in the People's Republic of China today and it is certainly more comprehensive than it has been at any time in the past. Nevertheless, the bias, at times, is still too obvious, the English language reporting, at least, can sometimes be monotonous and sometimes infantile and the sheer size of the country means that events, which might lead to a nationwide discussion elsewhere, just slip off of the mainstream news within a couple of days and so it was with the events in Weng'an, a rural town in the remote Guizhou province when tens of thousands took to the streets to protest what they understood to be an official cover up of the alleged rape and murder of a fifteen year old girl. However, what remains interesting, as one commentator pointed out, is that there is a history of distrust between the citizens and authority in that particular town. What in fact happened to the girl, Li Shufen, is still not clear.1 However, there can be no doubt as to the extent of the protests and of the fact that the state controlled media openly reported the events. For instance, the following passage is summarised from 'The Shanghai Daily' of the 3rd of July; the fact that up to 30,000 people took part in the riots Guizhou was at least partly due to the people there being generally unhappy about the authorities and their inability to solve major social greivances.2 Of course, we might speculate as to why the media is being so open about these events, even to the extent where they have set up their own discussion forums on the internet. However, one of the main reasons for the openess, the internet itself, is also indicative that today it is neither possible nor even desirable or necessary to completely control the flow of information.

Another, very different, piece of news that is worth looking at is the US drafted resolution on Zimbabwe and the fact that both China and Russia used their veto in the security council.3 Of course, China and Russia are only looking after their own geopolitical and business interests. However, so too is the west.4 In the area of world affairs China is, at least, as credible as the west, especially when we consider the hypocrisy of our dealings with the Arab world in particular and, indeed, with the wider world in general and in the case of Zimbabwe in particular China and Russia are, whatever their motives, in actual fact right for as Simon Jenkins says in today's "Sunday Times", "Whatever their (China and Russia) motives, they are right. Sanctions are an ineffective, or worse a counterproductive, weapon of interstate aggression."5

To sum up, it would appear that there is, albeit with limitations, a certain openess in the Chinese media at the moment and this openess has been evidenced on a number occassions in recent months. Of course, there are a number of tabus but it does, nevertheless, seem that people are being informed and, in fact, have the ability and possibility to inform themeselves that not everything is hunky-dory. China's reaction to the Sichuan earthquake is one example of this, "new" openess and regular reports on environmental issues is another. Furthermore, there is straight and direct reporting where China's own interests are concerned and if the said reason for their veto, is no more than a pretext to protect their own geopolitical interests, so too is the reason given by the US for their resolution. In short, I would argue that the hegemony enjoyed by the mainstream media in the west hardly helps people to form an alternative opinion. Here in the PRC the same is true in a country where the state media has a monopoly. Nevertheles, that monopoly is beginning to look like a piece of Swiss cheese and there is a window out there where opinions can be expressed. The question remains how that opinion will be controlled, harnessed and ultimately tamed or at least rendered insigniicant. Here, the Chinese could learn a lot from the west. They might do well to start by making their own state media a little bit less monotonous.

1 http://zonaeuropa.com/20080701_1.htm

2 http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200807/20080703/article_365514.htm
3 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-07/12/content_6839983.htm

4 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/unitednations.zimbabwe

5 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/simon_jenkins/article4322592.ece

The picture above is of the riots in Weng'an

The End of Sport

There was an interesting little article on doping in sport in 'The Times' today and it put forward this interesting little theory that a French lady, Christine Arron, who ran a 10.73 100 metres at the European Championship in Budapest in 1998, is possibly the fastest "clean" woman ever. Everyone has heard of Flo-Jo (Florence Griffith-Joyner) and we all know Marion Jones but have you heard of Christine Arron? Well, I hadn't until today.

When asked how she felt about Marion Jones being sent to prison, Ms Arron could not hide the fact that she felt some satisfaction and she added that she feld more than a little bitter about being deprived of her place in athletics history by Jones.

At the Beijing Olympics an unprecedented 4,500 drugs test are being planned by the IOC. However, there are already serious doubts being expressed by Australian doping experts as to how serious those tests. Whaterver the results, they are sure, that they cannot be trusted.1

Christine Arron was interviewed by "die Sueddeutsche Zeitung" before the 2005 World Championship and when asked, if she thought she were the real world record holder, she answered, "yes, when you look at the people who have run faster than me."2 Those people were Flo-Jo and Marion Jones. Methods of doping are becoming increasingly sophisticated and doping is becoming increasingly difficult to detect, especially using the current testing procedures. There is evidence, especially with China's dubious record in positive testing, which would appear to suggest that the "false negatives" will once again be in the ascendency and that there is no place in history for the Christine Arrons of this world. When the national anthems are being played though, this will matter little.

1 http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=591373

2 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Arron

The picture above is of Christine Arron

Social Development

Yesterday' rather simplistic post, where I finished by saying that a restribution of wealth just won't happen, begs some argument that at least attempts to show why it won't happen.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics was first expounded by Deng Xiaoping n 1979 and on an ideological level it would appear that he actually believed China could transform itself and catch up with the developed world and that once developed it would undergo a transition to a truely socialist society. However, I would argue that there will be no peaceful transition to that socialist society envisaged by Deng Xiaoping during the 3rd plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s 11th Central Committee in 1979. Indeed, when any real attempt is made to bring about the fundamental redistribution of wealth necessary for that transition that is when the real class struggle will begin. Once more I am forced to think about the condondrum that Rousseau's 'Emile" and "Du Contrat Social' confront us with. The perfect being, Emile, is produced by a superior educational system and it would appear that we need a society of Emiles for the general will to express itself in the form of the social contract. Unfortunately, it would also appear that we need the social contract for the said educational system to be in place. China is a very long way away from being a society of Emiles. Moreover, party cadre are part of that broader burgeoning economic elite that has been created by the economic reforms. Are they, being as they are, going to walk away from their privilege and consent to a levelling of society? The above, however, is only a part of the problem and it is, of course, stupid to believe that there can be indefinite growth in a world of finite resources. The environment in particular is already beginning to feel the strains, conflicts because of natural resources are unavoidable and the gap between rich and poor is increasing day by day. Furthermore, while it is true that almost everyone in China is better off than they were in 1979, this is relative. The vast majority of Chinese still don't have access to those things that for people in Western Europe are deemed essential and with the upheavels that come with the economic reforms people are being uprooted from their traditional way of life; increasingly alienated and invariably angry, how long will they stay quiet?
The hope for China is not in its adherence to the absurdity that in a world of finite resources the economy can develop indefinitely and that once sufficiently developed there can be a redistribution of wealth. In the real world this just doesn't happen and, if it does happen, it doesnt happen without a class struggle. Nevertheless, I would have to accept that, in 1979, there was nowhere else for China to go. What China is now doing is making the transition not to a socialist society but to a bourgeioise capitalist society. Marx's history of class struggle continues and while we don't have societies that are made up of 'Emiles' there are, here and there, enlightened people, who can, perhaps point the way and who might operate against there own class interests in doing so. It is they who may, just may, bring us a little further down the road we need to go down. This, however, will not happen without a struggle and time is not on our side.

Rich and Poor

Sitting here supping my coffee in my new favourite starbucks, I began to do a wee bit of people watching. Now, this area has a lot of Taiwanese and Koreans living in it so maybe, just maybe, the customers who frequent the place are not all from the PRC. Nevertheless, I sense that most of them are; it's not the clothes they are wearing, no it's not that, because they are all very trendily dressed, it's not even the proxemics, no it is not that, because their concept of personal space is almost shared by the Koreans and Taiwanese, so what is it? Well, they really do have this incredible inability to queue and then one guy has nothing better to do than shout into his mobile when I am sitting next to him; Alright that might be similar in Taiwan and Korea, so it is their inabiltiy to queue that is the give-away! Yes, most of the customers in my new, favourite, starbucks are from the PRC.
They are all sitting there supping their US$3 mugs of 'frappuccino' and this is a picture that is repeated throughout China and I have seen it in Qingdao, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Xi'an, Sanya, Guangzhou, Guillin and, yes, even Lhasa; well dressed Chinese, sitting there, supping expensive drinks and there are a lot of them and they make you think, "what a big, big, big country this is" and these are the privileged 100 million or so, who drive their cars, who get a university education, who are on the gravy train and out you go onto the street and you will see the others, working on building sites, troddling towards the factories, cleaning the streets, standing in front of your compound, serving you your meal, and these are only a few of the millions who have made it from the countryside and you know that where they came from there are millions and millions more and sometimes, just sometimes, when you look at them, your heart goes out to them and you think, "when is the wealth redistribution going to start?" Of course, in your heart of hearts, you also know that it isn't going to start and you think about 'Animal Farm' and "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

Blue Marlin

The intentions were good; there was me walking up to my favourite little Starbucks and I have gone and got myself sidetracked and landed up in the 'Blue Marlin', possibly Suzhou Industrial Park's favourite watering hole. There is this sort of ominous feeling of deja vu and there is the obligatory pool table, a few rather alienated looking ex-pats and a nice 'Weissbier' sitting in front of me. "Es laesst sich hier Leben" ("there is a life to be had here") as they say back home in Fuerstenfeldbruck. Well, there is and little old spontaneous me has decided to "carpe diem" it and let the devil take tomorrow. We are only young twice!

The picture was taken outside the 'Blue Marlin'

Collective Punishment 3

The reports surrounding the reaction to Husam Duwayit's murdering of three people are at times confused. They are of course confused because what is happening at the moment defies a normal person's logic and is so indicative of some sort of orwellian 2+2=5 scenario. This is normal, of course, for a part of the world where everything is black and white, goodies and baddies, and divine right and newspeak form the language of the day. It would appear that the house where Husam Duwayit lived in East Jerusalem has been destroyed. However, despite the police investigation concluding that he acted alone, that is not enough for some thirty right wing Israeli settlers who are now trying to destroy a house in a West Bank village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where twenty members of Duwayit's family live. Almost as reprehensible is the fact that there are hundreds of police on hand to protect these right wing nutters, "in case the protest turns violent"1, which I assume means; in case some intimidated, frightened little boy throws a stone back. When is the world going to waken up to this disgusting farce?
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999378.html

"Meinungsfreiheit"

The reason for this post is my finding my blog blocked after writing a certain article yesterday. The post was deleted ...........
In 1988, I was expected to go along to the Royal Albert Hall and pick up my M.A. from HRH Princess Anne who, I think, was Vice Chancellor of London University at the time. There was never any intention on my part of going to the charade and a couple of years later I conveniently missed the opportunity to meet her brother in Munich preferring a few jars in the Atzinger to that dubious honour. You see, I come from a generation and a part of the world where we can even tell Kings, Queens and Presidents to "fuck off". However, rather than show bad manners and do that, I just don't go along and meet them. However, even if it isn't really the trepidation that I might say something silly and nasty to them that deters me from meeting them it is at least this terribly democratic habit I have of addressing everyone I meet by their first name and standing there in a full Royal Albert Hall shaking Princess Anne's hand, while accepting my degree and saying, "thanks Anne", .... well, that is not really on either, is it?
As you might discern from the above, my habit of meeting who I want is usually accompanied by me saying what I want and this saying what I want extends to every activity of my life. Nevertheless, in the last couple of years I have become aware of limitations on this "freedom of speech". About three years ago, I was with my young sister in Manchester and we found ourselves drifting towards a gay pride parade down in the canal area. Anyway, I said rather loudly but jokingly to my sister, "Am no gone tae see a loada poofters". This was said in dialect and said more to transport me and my little sister back to the Glasgow of our youths. However, my sister was shocked and said, "James, shut up, for christ's sake, somebody will hit you if they hear that." Now I am neither homophobic nor am I a racist nor am I per se anti anything or anyone but gone are the days in "blightly" when you could call a spade a spade. In 'the land of the free', free speech has its limitations and maybe, just maybe, those limitations are no bad thing, they are limitations, that I am willing to live with.
..... and, at least, back in "blightly" you can write about why Wales should have more autonomy, if you want to, which I don't, but then that is not the point, is it?

Blood and Iron

"nicht durch Reden und Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschieden – das ist der große Fehler von 1848 und 1849 gewesen – sondern durch Eisen und Blut." ("The great issues of the day will be determined not through debating and parliamentary majorities but through blood and iron") Otto von Bismark, 1862.
There is a lot of sabre rattling going on these days with Israeli planes flying missions to prove that they can deliver a surgical strike against Iran and the threat coming from Tehran that the Straits of Hormuz will be blocked should this happen is not to be taken lightly. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Iranians are capable of blocking the straits of Hormuz although certain vested interests might just let them go ahead and do it anyway, after all oil at $500 a barrel is good for business. No, the conventional war can be won quite quickly, however, that is when the real war will begin. Of that, I am sure!
The sun has got its hat on in Suzhou, we are basking in 33 degrees celsius and the Historian's brain drifts back to June 28th 1914 and the beginning of the end of a particularly hot summer in Europe and the drift towards a war that would be over by Christmas. The neo-conservatives and Zionists are going for gold, the first shot has still to be fired but the portents are there; the "shot" will be fired and it is worth heeding Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, who says, "Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful on us. That doesn't mean we don't have capacity or reserve but that would really be very challenging, and also the consequences of that are sometimes very difficult to predict."1 The Admiral is, of course, correct but although the consequences are very difficult to predict, the stakes are high and with Iran in the bag, the west will dictate the pace for at least the next fifty years. Let the "Realpolitik" take its course.
1 http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/07/will_israel_bomb_iran.html

Collective Punishment 2

As a follow up to yesterday's post, it might be noted that the Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, has ordered the demolition of Hussam Duwiyat's home, (the Palestinan responsible for the bulldozer attack) along with the home of Alaa Abu Dhaim who in March shot and killed eight students in Jerusalem. They were both in turn shot dead by security forces during their respective attacks. Barak's order to raise both homes was based on a decision by the Israeli Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, who said that there were no constitutional barriers to, "raising the homes of terrorists", although he did go on to say that there might be both local and international legal obstacles to be considered.1 Of course, there are legal "obstacles" and while I am not sure what the exact situation is with Israeli law, I do know that, in international law, the punitive action that has been taken by the Israeli authorities is illegal. This, however, is just one of thousands and thousands of instances where Israel ignores international law with impunity.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998668.html

Collective Punishment 1

It is, of course, a violation of international law to punish a person for a crime that they have not personally committed. How would Israelis feel if their family were punished for crimes that had been committed by one particular member of the family? Moreover, common sense tells us that all, of these crimes have their roots in one major crime, namely, the illegal occupation of the Arab land. Therefore, where does this start and where does it end? However, they are at it again in the knesset and the governmentis shouting for revenge after a Palestinian ran amok in his bulldozer and killed three and injured forty four.
In this case in particular we should really stop to think; there is no evidence that this was an organised attack. Indeed, it might very well be that Israel defining the attack as a terrorist attack is politically motivated, perhaps, perhaps, but, just as importantly, from the rather warped Israeli perspective, here was a man, a resident of East Jerusalem, who, held a blue (Israeli) identity card and who was a resident of the "annexed territories", losing control; his crime is made all the worse by the fact that he had legal residency and that he had rights that those beyond the wall and roadblocks do not. The suggestion is that the man had been given too much and that he should have been grateful. Legal residency, rights, tolerated, in what is in fact his own country and he should be grateful and now there are those suggesting that his family should suffer because he wasn't. The mind boggles!

Setting an Example

No doubt, some of my posts on the hypocritical nature of the west smack, at least for some people, of a certain political naivety. It is almost childish to expect nations in their pursuit of "realpolitik" goals not to at least try to cover up their true intentions. Moreover, with India, China and Russia increasingly looking for their own, "place in the sun", it is to be almost expected that these goals should be pursued with a machiavellian thoroughness. My moaning might almost appear to be that of the incurable romatic who yearns for an ideal world without thinking that the pragmatists have to deal with the world as it is. However, that is really my point; we can gain the moral high ground only by thinking about the world we really want for ourselves and our children. If we do this, we can lead by example, there can be a real effort to look for alternative sources of energy, we can share our know-how, education, civilisation and wealth with the rest of the planet and we can make everyone aware that it is in all our interests to work together. However, what does the world see? It sees lies, lies, lies and more lies as the west is only intent on further securing its economic hegemony of the whole planet into the 21st century. The example we set is the one that is going to be copied and, as things stand, the portents are not good.

Visa

It is, of course, interesting how decisions made by others can affect our lives in little ways. The Chinese have made it more difficult to get a tourist visa and I just have to get on with it and do everything I can to make sure that my partner, with her plane ticket already booked, gets here on the 18th of July. Now, my having to send a copy of my lease and my contract of employment would hardly constitute an intrusion into my life. However, after being told that that would be enough to secure the visa, it has now transpired that it in fact isn't. She needs a booking for a hotel for the period of her stay here, which she can cancel once she arrives. Well, not quite as she will have to spend at least one night in the hotel.
Anyway, there was me today, writing mails to the office at work so that they might help me get the booking and then deciding this evening to take matters into my own hands and jumping into a taxi I made a short trip to a hotel close to where I live. Now, it doesn't look like it is going to be a problem but I still have to see the lady who personally deals with the reservations tomorrow and, as I mentioned above, it even looks like I am going to end up spending a night in a four star hotel around the corner from my flat.
So, what does it all mean; well up until now I went to work when I was actually thinking of taking a day off, I have sent mails to colleagues asking for favours when I don't really like asking colleagues for favours, I ended up spending the evening away from home although I was just going to chill out and it looks like I will be staying in a hotel I had no intention of staying in. Of course, tomorrow other wee things will happen that will affect my life in little ways. However, I suppose that is, indeed, what life is all about despite us being creatures of habit with our very own little routines. Nevertheless, despite finishing on that little philisophical note, I am going to file this under my China posts because at the end of the day it is all about them and them making life a little bit more complicated for me, when it doesn't really have to be like that.

Cars in China

Just over a year ago, one of my students handed me an essay in which she compared China today with China twenty years. One of her comparisons was that twenty years ago nobody in China could afford a car, whereas today most people can. She drives a 300,000 rmb (about 28,000 euros) Buick and her statement is only indicative of how we can all live in our own little worlds. Most people in China cannot afford a car and we are at a stage here where having a car represents a real status symbol.
This is reflected in how they drive because although there are a lot of reasons for their bad driving, it is not only bad driving; their arrogance behind the wheel is something else and even when you are on a zebra crossing with the lights in your favour, beware! Pedestrians in China never have the right of way and while I have been tempted to test that hypothesis from time to time ..... Well, do you have to touch fire to know that it burns? Anyway, I am still alive to write this.
Another thing you notice is that the little men who stand in front of our compounds salute the cars that go in and out. So there you are, walking out of or into a compound and a VW passat, that's right, a VW passat or even a silly little hyundi, comes up behind you, beeping his horns, hardly slowing to allow the gate to go up, and the gawky little fellow in a uniform that is too big for him, wearing a hat that almost covers his eyes, standing to attention and saluting the car. Of course, when we get to the stage where having a car is no longer a status symbol in China, that is when the real problems begin. Can you imagine the day, when having a car is as normal in China as it is in the the United States or Western Europe?

My New Jacket

When a wis a wee boy ma maw used to get us "provi" cheques tae buy claes wae. Anyway, a wis fifteen at the time and a went doon tae Clydebank and boat masel a sort of reddish purple satin jacket that hud wee bits a glass aw ower it; in retrospect I looked like a fifteen yer old Liberace and that wisnae very guid whair I came fae; indeed, the chances of ma gettin chibbed hud just gone up by aboot 100%. That is aw wae the wisdum that hindsight affords us though and at the time a felt galis and a thought, "yer fifteen noo, yer no a wean anymair and it's time tae look growen up ". Although al huv tae admit the jacket hud been reduced from thirty pounds tae a fiver and that did play a wee role in ma buyin it.
When a got hame, a walked intae the livin room and ma sister wis sittin there, she just turned roon and sayed, "jesus fuck, whair did ye get that thing." Now ma maw wis in the kitchen washin the dishes and she didnae like swearing and she also thought ma sister wis being a wee bit unkind if not hasty, so she sayed, "nae neid for that Margaret, cum an let me see yer new jacket son", so into the kitchen I traipsed and my maw, who didnae like swearing, just screamed, "fucking hell", dropped the plates and told me to get back to the shop pronto and get the jacket changed and as a wis leavin the hoose a heard her say tae ma sister, "Christ they must a seen him cumin". Anyway, when a got back they were awright in the shop and they changed my jacket fur a nice new orange anorak that wis aw lined wae this fake fur.