Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Great thief, no gambler


The master thief and the lousy gambler are not two different persons, they are one and the same.

Name: Li Weimin
Occupation: Township chief
Monthly income: 5,000 yuan
Performance as a master thief: embezzling 100 million yuan
Performance as a lousy gambler: losing 90 million yuan

It is not difficult to understand how Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu could embezzle millions. As party secretary of Shanghai everybody in the city wanted to curry favor with him. Nobody dared to accuse him of any wrongdoing. How his fall came about is still not clear. But it could only happen with the explicit go-ahead of President Hu Jintao himself.

But township chief Li? How could this guy who only earned 5,000 yuan a month lay his hands on a hundred million and then gamble it all away? On one night in Macao, he lost 4 million yuan.

The gambling sector in Macao is booming. That is certainly a good thing for its economy and people. But most of the money gambled and lost has been embezzled in the mainland.

Maybe it would be good if Macao could diversify a bit. And humble township chiefs in China are prevented from stealing a hundred million.

And Li Weimin? He is waiting for the executioner’s bullet so he can continue gambling in the afterlife. 

Monday, October 30, 2006

Red carpet for Belgians


Vice-Premier Didier Reynders and the Chairman of the Chamber of Representatives Herman De Croo have both been called for an audience with Vice-President Zeng Qinghong. In the course of one week. That’s quite a big honor.

Reynders didn’t even come to China as Belgium’s Vice-Premier but as Chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR). His host in China was the International Department of the Communist Party.

De Croo of course got a meeting with NPC-Chairman Wu Bangguo because he is his counterpart. But he also got to see VP Zeng as a bonus.

In a way it is recognition of the importance China attaches to good relations with Belgium. It also shows the Chinese know who counts in Belgium. Prince Philip and Flemish ‘minister-president’ Leterme never met anyone that high in the Chinese hierarchy.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Evangelicals & the Devil


Christian conservatives in the U.S. are mobilizing to push voters in the upcoming mid-term elections to vote for Republicans. The anti-abortion, pro-marriage, anti-gay-marriage, anti-porn, anti-stem-cell-research bunch is terrified that the Democrats will win a majority in the House and the Senate. They are not satisfied with what the Republicans have achieved, but the message is “Hold your nose and vote”.

They are defending so-called unborn life, but don’t care about the murders of 650,000 formerly living Iraqis. They are pro-marriage, but only if the two partners can make babies so they can grow up to die in Iraq or anywhere else their president tells them to die. They are anti-porn because it depicts the act of love-making, but rejoice in the act of war. And according to them, stem cell research has to be banned because you should not try to heal yourself since God will decide about that.

It is this Christian fundamentalism which is a threat to the world. Bush is not the Devil, of course. He is only the war-criminal-in-chief. But voting for his Republican followers comes pretty close to voting for the Devil’s friends. God-fearing Christians beware! If – and only if – God exists, he will remember…

Let’s hope the American voters for once make the right choice and turn the coming two years into a living hell for George W. 

Saturday, October 28, 2006

The art of diplomacy


Lesson 1: talk to your enemies. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld never learned their first lesson. Condi probably knows, but is not very eager, because she would have to do the talking. Bush refuses to talk to the leaders of his ill-defined ‘axis of evil’ (Kim, Mahmoud and an anonymous insurgent leader, replacing Saddam). Unless they kotow nine times first. The leaders of vassal states only do this to a real emperor, not the ‘Evil One’ in the White House.

Even at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia were diplomatically talking to each other, without preconditions, because if you set preconditions, you won’t be talking anytime soon.

Some advisers are now advising Bush to talk to his enemies. But he is staying the course, deaf and dumb. The result may very well be another serious miscalculation. 

Friday, October 27, 2006

Chirac's warriors


The French president arrived in Xian today to have a third look at the army of emperor Qin Shihuang’s terracotta warriors,… in his third capacity!

He first saluted the army as mayor of Paris in 1978, even before the site was opened to mere mortals. He became the first foreigner to view the excavation and promptly declared the terracotta army the 8th wonder of the world.

In 1991 he visited as France’s prime minister. Today he returned for a third time as president. It may not be his last visit, but the next time it will be as an ordinary pensioner, although in the eyes of the Chinese government he will always be a VIP.

Some commentators argue that Chirac is friendly to China in order to try to sell French products. That is only half the truth. He also loves Chinese culture and civilization, its porcelains and bronze wares. He has also visited the Shanghai Museum three times.

The Chinese like Chirac because he is a cultured man. Some other so-called statesman’s knowledge is limited to a cowboy hat.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Stay or change course?


So George W. dropped his mantra ‘Stay the course’ in Iraq. Now even the blind and the deaf can see and hear that Iraq is a bloody mess. George W. is of course too idiotic to see or hear whatsoever, but since Congress elections are coming up on November 7 and the Republicans are set to lose BIG, he is at last willing to utter some nonsensical rubbish to try to turn the tide.

He still believes he can achieve final victory in Iraq if only the tactics are adjusted a bit. Bullshit! When the U.S. invaders change tactics, the insurgents will adjust theirs and the number of American body bags and Iraqi victims will continue to rise.

It’s the strategy, stupid! Invading and occupying another country will only lead to resistance. Mao said, where there is oppression, there is resistance. The U.S. and their British poodles should get out of Iraq immediately. 

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The Dragon & the Lion


35 years ago on October 25, 1971, the People’s Republic of China replaced the Kuomintang government as representative of China at the United Nations. On that same day, Belgium and the PRC established diplomatic relations.

Since then China has been playing an increasingly important role on the international stage. Relations with Belgium overall developed smoothly. In the past 35 years no major incidents were recorded. During the first years following the establishment of diplomatic relations, not much happened. But after the formal end of the Cultural Revolution and the fall of the Gang of Four in October 1976, political, economic and cultural exchanges started to develop.

Dr.Paul Janssen and Chris Morel started negotiations to set up two flagship joint ventures, Xian Janssen and Shanghai Bell. In August 1978 I arrived in Beijing to study Chinese at the Beijing Language Institute. And the rest is history. But without the establishment of diplomatic relations on October 25, 1971 all this would not have been possible. 

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

UN no world government


Today is United Nations Day. Most countries agree that the system of the United Nations has to be thoroughly reformed. The world can’t do without the UN, but on the other hand the organization is fatally flawed because it is dominated by a few big countries. A reform of the Security Council alone won’t solve the problem.

The organization should be made more democratic, with a drastic expansion of the powers of the General Assembly to begin with. One meeting a year is not enough. Let the ambassadors of all the countries work the whole year round.

And give dissenting voices who don’t agree with the ‘consensus’ of the Big Five a fair hearing. Failure to do this risks making the UN an accomplice of the U.S., because since the fall of the Soviet Union and the ‘harmonious’ international policy of China, the U.S. basically gets what it wants. Yes, its demands are watered down in Security Council resolutions, but sanctions on North Korea and Iran for example are precisely what the U.S. wants. If the UN is perceived as being an ally of the U.S., its role will be finished. 

Monday, October 23, 2006

“Do your homework”


A delegation of Flemish businesspeople arrived in China to look for business. Most represent small and medium-sized enterprises in the environmental sector. Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) organized a lecture at the Belgian Embassy with Gilbert Van Kerckhove of Strategy4China. Gilbert is one of a hard core of Flemish ‘old China hands’. He knows what it means to do business in China.

His major recommendation is “do your homework” before coming to China. What exactly does that mean, asked somebody in the audience. A very good question indeed.

Gilbert replied with a series of questions of his own. Ask yourself what is the unique selling proposition of my company? In precisely what aspects am I better than the competition? Why exactly should the Chinese buy my products or services? And, can I still make a profit? Asking yourself those simple but crucial questions may prevent a lot of problems.

Good advice doesn’t have to be expensive. In this case it was free. 

Sunday, October 22, 2006

The Long March turns 70


Today China officially commemorates the end of the legendary Long March 70 years ago. What began as a strategic retreat to escape a Kuomintang encirclement in Jiangxi province ended in triumph in Jiangtaibao in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on October 22, 1936. Months later the marchers would set up a new base in Yan’an in Shaanxi province.

At the time it was not at all certain that the march had ended in victory. The march certainly ended, because the marchers stopped moving, but the Red Army had only conserved around one tenth of its strength. But the extraordinary fighting spirit, perseverance and determination of the marchers had shown the Chinese people that if they followed the Red Army, a better tomorrow could be possible. The Japanese invaders and Kuomintang reactionaries could be defeated and a new republic would rise in the East.

We can still learn a lot from the spirit of the March. With patience and determination, adversity can be turned into victory. 

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Cognac boat drama


According to UN Security Council resolution 1718, countries who chose to do so, may board North Korean vessels carrying tanks or fighter planes, or components of weapons of mass destruction, or, well… hmmm bottles of Hennessey cognac.

Let’s stick with the cognac for now, after all we don’t need no tanks or WMD, but a nice vintage bottle of cognac…

The navies of the UN members states may now impound the crates of cognac found on a North Korean vessel, transfer them to their helicopters hovering overhead and deliver them to Downing Street 10, the Elysee, the White House or the Wetstraat. Perhaps not the Wetstraat, the Belgian navy doesn’t have anything that could take on a North Korean merchant vessel.

Never mind, you get the picture. This is a pure cognac-flambéed recipe for disaster. Professor of History at Tufts University Gary Leupp writes on the CounterPunch.org website that such actions could lead to resistance by the North Korean crews and furthermore could “mushroom into a very ugly situation”. And he wisely adds “Maybe that’s the intention”.

Resolution 1718 is intended to provoke a situation where the U.S. navy sinks a North Korean freighter, leading to naval clashes, leading to all-out war. Preferably before November 7, because Bush needs a war to win the mid-term elections.

China sensibly said it wasn’t going to do inspections of North Korean vessels on the high seas. But it could have vetoed the resolution. It gave Washington an excuse to start yet another war.

There is one consolation: the U.S. will certainly lose. They lost in Vietnam and Iraq, they will lose in North Korea and Iran. Because the law of imperialism says it can only pick up a stone to drop on its own foot (dixit Chairman Mao).

But once again hundreds of thousands of innocent people will die. Thanks to the Texas cowboys. 

Friday, October 20, 2006

35 years after UN-2758


35 years ago, in October 1971, the People’s Republic of China was finally admitted to the United Nations. The role of China on the international scene has changed dramatically.

In 1971, the Chinese government believed that a third world war was inevitable and revolution would herald a new tomorrow.

In 1974, then vice-premier Deng Xiaoping pledged at the UN General Assembly that China would never seek hegemony. He defended the concept of the Third World.

In 2000 China started to participate in UN peacekeeping operations. Today it advocates a multipolar world and aims to make international relations more democratic.

But as a so-called ’stakeholder’, China increasingly refrains from firmly criticizing U.S. foreign policy. The pendulum has swung from war and revolution to dialogue and reconciliation. China could lead the Third World countries and many countries of Europe against the imperial machinations of Washington, but it refrains to do so. The pendulum has swung too far…

In September 2005, president Hu Jintao attended the summit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the UN. He called on all countries to build a “harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity”. That will remain a dream as long as imperialism is not defeated. Harmony in Iraq, anyone? 

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Bush in space


The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction in space. But Bush wants to turn space into a war zone. A new policy says the U.S. has the right to conduct whatever activities necessary for its own national interest AND to take measures to deny adversaries the use of space for activities hostile to those interests. The rights the U.S. is claiming for itself, it is denying to others. That’s called ‘Washington’ style freedom.

The Pentagon is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from Congress to develop space weapons. That may still be avoided if as expected the Republicans lose both houses of Congress in the November 7 election.

Bush wants to be Darth Vader, or rather the Evil Emperor reigning over outer space. But as in ‘Star Wars’, the emperor will be destroyed and the rebels will be victorious. The dark side of the Force will never triumph. Bush will be defeated! 

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Stop the elitism


The University of Xiamen has made golf classes compulsory for students in law, management, economy and software engineering. Presumably so they could be part of the ‘elite’.

First of all, there are many people who are part of the ‘elite’ but don’t play golf.

An secondly, this is really an attempt to raise an elite class of people who believe they are superior to the workers, and the peasants, and the ordinary people who are doing an ordinary job and don’t belong to this ‘elite’, ‘high level’, ’superior’ class of, well the ‘Elite’.

Dress code obligatory of course, the ‘elite’ dresses well, in suit and tie.

Very well, go on, but don’t be surprised when the next Cultural Revolution comes along and you get a dunce cap on your head. 

The Anti-corruption fight


Following the fall of Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu in September, more officials are being investigated by the party’s discipline inspection commission. Some analysts expected the anti-corruption fight to die down after the high-profile dismissal of Chen. But this seems not to be the case.

In Beijing, the director of the National Bureau of Statistics Qiu Xiaohua was abruptly replaced. It was reported that he was also implicated in the pension fund scandal. And in Shanghai the man who brought Formula 1 racing to the city, Yu Zhifei was also picked up for questioning.

In Shenzhen, several judges were arrested, one of them only hours after being promoted. The party has been fighting a ‘life and death’ struggle against corruption for many many years. It seems this time Hu Jintao means business. 

Monday, October 16, 2006

Belgium in the UN-SC


Belgium has been elected to a fifth two-year term on the United Nations Security Council.

Congratulations? Perhaps, but only if Brussels is capable of some independent diplomacy. That remains a big question mark.

While Belgium has already won the vote, the battle between Venezuela and Guatemala is still undecided. And guess for whom Belgium voted? Guatemala of course, so they both can vote for their masters in Washington.

An independent, anti-imperialist vote is sorely needed in the Security Council. Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela is a good candidate. Let their be some real discussion and dissenting voices in the Security Council. Not those 15 to 0 silly votes like on the North Korea resolution. Do they really believe they are representing the ‘international community’ or just following the tune of the war criminals in the White House.

Let’s keep an eye on how Belgium will vote in the future. 

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Beggar & billionaire


Creating a harmonious society has now been declared to be the goal of the Chinese Communist Party.

Well, still some way to go Comrades!

While around 23 million Chinese still live below the poverty line (that’s the Chinese one, which is much lower than the international recognized level of one dollar a day), the Top Marques Shanghai 2006 exhibition was held in Shanghai last week.

It turned out to be a glittering showcase of the most expensive luxury goods such as Ferrari, Porsche and Spyker cars, Zitura and Girard-Perregaux watches and anything in between and beyond that could captivate one of China’s 15 billionaires or its numerous millionaires.

Now that the UN Security Council has outlawed the sale of luxury goods to North Korea, China will also have to take in their part to protect the world’s luxury industry from collapsing.

The UN, however, didn’t give a definition of ‘luxury goods’. Will poor Kim now be deprived of his favorite XO-cognac?

Why doesn’t the Security Council just ban the production of luxury goods altogether and divert the investment to the Grameen Bank, the winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Price? 

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Preaching N-Armageddon


Washington Post Op-ed columnist Charles Krauthammer is preaching the nuclear annihilation of North Korea. At the first available opportunity that is, when a terrorist group detonates a nuke. Because he is certain it would have been sold to them by the North Koreans. Never mind the ‘terrorists’, Uncle Sam will level North Korea, flat. Return to sender.

Unless of course, if there are two nuclear ‘rogue’ states, because then it becomes difficult to know who sold the stuff to the terrorists. Therefore, Iran must be kept from going nuclear. At least before North Korea is annihilated by a U.S. nuclear holocaust. “One rogue country is tolerable because it can be held accountable,” concludes Krauthammer (and presumably annihilated by American nukes). “Two rogue countries guarantees undeterrable and therefore inevitable nuclear terrorism.”

We’d better run to our nuclear shelters. Because if North Korea is a nuclear rogue country, there are already two in the world. Including the U.S., that is.

How much more sick and deranged can a man’s mind get?

Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, but nobody should be allowed to preach nuclear armageddon.

Denying a previous holocaust is not allowed. And rightly so, although maybe it shouldn’t be written into law. Nobody is put into prison for claiming that the world is flat.

But is seems to be acceptable - at least in the American press - to advocate a future holocaust. 

Friday, October 13, 2006

Collateral genocide


654,965 dead bodies are the glorious result of the American-British invasion of Iraq. ‘Surplus dead’ which would not have occurred without the ‘leadership’ of the Bush-Blair duo. That’s about 560 a day or one death every three minutes. And only one or two percent of those may be classified as ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’.

The 654,965 figure was calculated by the Bloomberg School of Public Health and published in the British scientific journal The Lancet. Based on scientific extrapolation. And no, the scientists didn’t count the bodies. Anybody who would try to do that would end up a dead body himself before he could say ‘Amen’. The U.S. Army murdered ITN journalist Terry Lloyd in 2003, they would certainly kill the body counters in 2006. The news doesn’t suit them, Bush said it was not ‘credible’.

Because it proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Iraq was better off under Sadam than under the U.S.-U.K. occupation, even taking into account Saddam’s murderous secret service, torture chambers, poison gas, non-existent WMDs and non-existent links to Al Qaeda.

And to be fair, add to that 2,747 dead and 100,000 disabled American soldiers, who have done their ‘duty’ in the ’service’ of their country.

“The Bush regime is proceeding exactly as the Nazi regime proceeded,” concluded Paul Craig Roberts. No, he’s not a leftist buddy, he’s a former assistant secretary of the treasury in the Reagan administration.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

The wisdom of harmony


Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao is definitely forgetting Mao’s admonition to think of the class struggle every minute. Hu wants to build a “harmonious socialist society”, basically in 15 years time, by 2020.

The concept of a harmonious society is very much Confucian, everybody should know his place, act accordingly and everything will turn out fine. Well, that’s rather far removed from today’s China. Harmony is impossible to attain in a class society, whether you think about class struggle every minute or not.

Hu Jintao’s measures, which should lead to this harmonious society on the other hand are very recommendable. Here we go!

Creating a social security system covering everybody, perfecting the legal system, expanding democracy, defending human rights, narrowing the wealth gap, increasing employment, improving the government’s public service, promoting moral standards, securing public order, protecting the environment, developing education, fighting corruption, constructing a clean government, pursuing social harmony, stressing fairness, listening to people’s grievances, stimulating rural development, aiming for sustainable growth, saving energy, encouraging domestic demand, balancing regional development or to sum it up, build a democratic society under the rule of law, a society based on equality and justice, an honest and caring society, and a stable, vigorous and orderly society in which humans live in harmony with nature.

Got that? Well, try memorizing the above paragraph by heart :-)

A harmonious society may never be realized, but if the measures taken to pursue that ephemeral vision improve Chinese society, so much the better.

And you can definitely forget about a harmonious world as long as the White House exists… 

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Big Bang & diplomacy?


So Kim Jong Il detonated his nuke. I already argued that he had every right to do so and still practically the whole world was deeply shocked. Especially the Chinese government, which had been pushing for a resumption of the six-party talks.

The Chinese sternly condemned the test, mainly because they lost face. Making the Chinese loose face is always dangerous. Of course Kim knew this, but he still went ahead.

What’s next? Even if China would condone limited sanctions in a U.N. resolution, sanctions are a dead-end street. The only thing sanctions will achieve is to push the North Koreans even more on the path of escalation. Pressure or sanctions will never achieve their intended purpose of tempering the behavior of the recipients of pressure and sanctions.

China is still advocating diplomacy, but ’standard’ diplomacy probably won’t work. The U.S. are still opposed to bilateral talks and the North Koreans are not really in the mood to listen.

Only a major diplomatic initiative could make a difference. With an idiot occupying the White House, nothing positive is expected to emerge from Washington.

In the waning days of his presidency, Bill Clinton made plans to travel to Pyongyang. Time ran out then. Maybe he could still go. I am sure he will like Kim Jong Il’s ‘Pleasure Brigade’… 

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

‘Dress Code’ Dictatorship


Honestly, I am going to limit posts of this kind to the absolute minimum. If I have to climb on my Banana Soap Box, it means I am REALLY REALLY VERY VERY pissed off about something and anything written here may not be suitable for persons under the age of 18, because they are really too young to read this, or anybody above the age of 98, because I do not want to disturb the peace of those elderly ladies and gentlemen.

SO THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING, READ ON AT YOUR OWN PERIL…

Are you still with me? Very well then…

Today I received an e-mail sent by the Benelux Chamber of Commerce in China (BenCham) inviting me to a breakfast meeting. First things first, I never like breakfast meetings. I never - ever - take breakfast, perhaps because it’s not really appropriate to have a beer at breakfast and if that’s not ‘done’ I prefer to skip breakfast. At least, at lunch I can have a beer - or two, or three…

So unless some really BIG BIGSHOT invites me to breakfast, you won’t see me there…

Well, never mind, so far, so good.

Back to BenCham. They are organizing a breakfast in the Capital Club on the 50th floor of the Capital Mansion at the unholy hour of 8 a.m. and have the temerity to mention “Please note that there is a dress code for the Capital Club”.

Period. What dress code? You guess? Probably suit and tie. I never ever accept any dress code unless it’s T-shirt/jeans/sneakers!

In some parts of Europe, including Belgium, wearing a headscarf, chador or burka is prohibited by law or regulations. And here in the center of Beijing you have a place which tries to force you to wear a suit and tie.

To hell with the fascist dictatorship of the dress code!

If a lovely Muslim lady wants to wear a headscarf, chador or burka, please let it be. If it’s a headscarf, we unfortunately can’t see her beautiful hair, if it’s a chador we can only see her beautiful eyes and if it’s a burka we can’t see anything at all. Let her be free to wear whatever she wants.

Likewise, everybody should be free to wear a suit and tie, or NOT…

And for those who still want to have my recommendation for a dress code? Very well then: Comrade Kim Jong Il’s bomber jacket! 

Monday, October 9, 2006

The President of Antwerp


There seems to be a lot of confusion about which party actually won or lost local and provincial council elections in Flanders (that’s the Northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium).

The winners include the Christian-democrat/nationalist CD&V/N-VA, the socialist Sp.a and the right-wing VB. The losers include the liberal VLD and again the right-wing VB.

Well, nobody ever said that politics in Belgium was easy to grasp :-)

The foreign press expected a victory of the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) and so that’s what they reported. The truth is a bit more complex. Let’s put crooked things straight:
  • CD&V/N-VA is a winner, because it’s the largest party in Flanders, but it lost 6 seats in the provincial councils
  • Mayor of Antwerp Patrick Janssens is a clear winner because he beat Filip Dewinter on preference votes and his Sp.a-Spirit became the largest party in the Antwerp city council
  • VB won because the number of its seats in local councils increased from 439 to around 800. But that’s mainly because it participated in many local elections for the first time. In Antwerp it only gained 0.5%, Dewinter was trashed by Janssens and nowhere did the party clinch an absolute majority. That’s a win-loose situation. So no 13th election victory in a row.
And Miss Marie-Rose (Morel) has to pass the next couple of winters without the mayor’s scarf in Schoten.

Finally, Antwerp has its President!

Sunday, October 8, 2006

Will Abe do a Nixon?


Will he or won’t he do a Nixon, that’s the question!

Japan’s newly appointed prime minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Beijing to a courteous welcome by president Hu, NPC chairman Wu and premier Wen. It is a highly symbolic visit, the first summit meeting between the leaders of the two countries since October 2001. The Chinese government turned its back on Abe’s predecessor Junichiro Koizumi because he stubbornly kept on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. Abe is even more right-wing than Koizumi, so where’s the logic?

“Two years from now, we might look back on this and say ‘Look, he did a Nixon’”, the Dutch China-guru Willem van Kemenade told the Associated Press. Right-winger Nixon made a bold move by visiting Chairman Mao in Beijing in 1972 and paved the way for the restoration of relations between the U.S. and China.

Relations between China and Japan have deteriorated to rock bottom. Will Abe succeed in turning the tide and make his visit not only symbolic but also historic? We’ll know in two years time.

Willem must have been flattered by being called a sinologist in the AP dispatch. He surely knows a Chinese swear word or two. Does that make one a sinologist? Never mind, Willem definitely has a way to coin an expression: “Did you do a Nixon today?”. 

Saturday, October 7, 2006

Mooncakes - The Day After


Mooncakes are round pastries (to resemble a round moon) with a dizzying array of possible fillings: lotus seed paste, egg yolk and different kinds of nuts are the more traditional ones. I like the nutty ones, but try to stay away from other kinds.

There has been a lively trade in mooncakes in the past two or three weeks. Everybody is giving everybody mooncakes. Mooncakes you receive from friend A can be recycled and offered to friend B. Nearly nobody is buying mooncakes to eat, it’s just a trading object and sometimes the packaging is more expensive than the mooncakes it contains.

There has been a proliferation of mooncake flavors: chocolate, jasmine tea, champagne, bird’s nest, durian, coffee, cheese, chocolate and cheese combined; you name an edible substance and it will have found its way into a mooncake. Some hotel restaurants even organized mooncake buffets, so every possible and a few impossible flavors could be savored in one sitting.

Or an inedible substance, like gold and diamonds! The venerable mooncake has been turned into a bribery vehicle. Of course the authorities know this. To combat corruption, strict rules were issued about what an (edible) mooncake may contain and how it may or may not be packaged. But the rules do not apply to inedible mooncakes. And so you have mooncakes made of solid gold, encrusted with precious diamonds and so on.

Well, today, the morning after, everybody is happy the mooncake madness is over. Any leftovers are sold at steeply discounted prices. Some are even kept in storage till next year.

Mid-autumn has passed and it is still 21 degrees at noon in Beijing. Climate change and global warming?

Friday, October 6, 2006

China: 30 years ago


Thirty years ago - to the day - on October 6, 1976, China experienced a momentous event that would change its destiny.

Certainly you would expect some commemorative stories in the Chinese press and even in the international press, considering it was indeed a momentous event. A search on Google News turned up stories about a gang of four robbers committing a crime or about the Gang of Four pop band.

The South China Morning Post managed to pull one story out of its hat, although not written by one of its correspondents. At least AFP, Agence France Presse, somehow somewhere put a reminder that this day, 30 years past, turned out somewhat remarkable.

Indeed, 30 years ago today, then party chairman Hua Guofeng and marshal Ye Jianying decided to put a final stop to the Cultural Revolution by arresting the ‘Gang of Four’: Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, along with Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan. All have already departed this world… Comrade Hua Guofeng lives on in obscurity. Those who agree with his bold action 30 years past at least could send him a thank-you note!

It seems AFP remembered that on this day “the fate of modern China was decided in an outburst of cloak-and-dagger drama”. Had they succeeded, the French news agency continued, “China could have taken an entirely different historical path, possibly a cul-de-sac of oppression and poverty not unlike North Korea today”.

Perhaps yes, perhaps no, we will never know… What we do know is that China changed course, and nobody seems to remember. 

Thursday, October 5, 2006

U.S. hypocrisy laid bare


Christopher Hill, the top U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks announced that “the U.S. will not accept a North Korea armed with nuclear weapons”.

Blatant disgusting hypocrisy! So what if North Korea will “not accept a United States armed with nuclear weapons”?

And Hill continued: “North Korea must choose either to have a future or to have nuclear weapons, but it cannot have them both.” So why would the U.S. have a future AND more than 11,000 nukes and North Korea no future and perhaps 6 to 10 nukes?

Maybe because Bush is claiming to speak in the name of God? Well, so does Iran’s president, but presumably not the same God. Which may prove there are at least two Gods, which is anathema to both Bush and Ahmadinejad. But of course, I almost forgot, Bush is the Devil! At least according to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Maybe he forgot about Dick Cheney?

Pretty murky business. Let’s keep it simple. There is no God, but… No, no, no but!

A nuclear armed North Korea is unacceptable to the U.S.; Iran developing the peaceful use of nuclear energy is unacceptable to the U.S.; well, who has the right to decide what is acceptable or unacceptable in this world? 

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Kim testing a nuke!


Headlines today scream about the intention of North Korea to test an atomic bomb.

World opinion seems to be divided almost 50-50. Comments on the BBC World website are almost split evenly and CNN’s QuickVote shows a 52% No vs. 48% Yes vote on the question whether North Korea has the right to conduct a nuclear test.

People who say Kim Jong II has the right to test a nuke base their argument on fairness. No double standards! If the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have the right to possess nuclear weapons, plus a few other states which never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (Israel, Pakistan and India), any other state also has the right to possess nuclear weapons.

Not so, say the nay-sayers. No state should be allowed to have nuclear weapons. The more states have them, the more dangerous the world becomes.

Let’s be crystal clear: nuclear weapons should all be destroyed so the world can be free of these horrible weapons of mass destruction. States which have signed the NPT have pledged to on the one hand prevent non-nuclear states to acquire nuclear weapons, but on the other hand those who already have them promised gradually to dismantle them.

One country, and only one, has ever inflicted the horrible destruction of nuclear weapons on the civilian population of another. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki rank amongst the most horrible war crimes ever committed. The U.S. possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, is threatening to use them against non-nuclear states and continues to refuse to start dismantling them. Worse still, Washington continues to spend billions of dollars to develop new weapons of mass destruction to intimidate friends and foes to submit to the international dictatorship of American imperialism.

As long as nuclear weapon states refuse to start dismantling their arsenals, how can they deny other states to develop nuclear weapons for their own self-defense? Saddam’s regime was destroyed by the U.S. because ‘it could be done’. He didn’t have any WMD. Kim is not that stupid.

Final question: if North Korea has the Bomb, is it a threat to world peace and security. Nope, because Kim can only use his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against a U.S. invasion, not as a offensive weapon. North Korea perhaps has an arsenal of six bombs, the U.S. has more than 11,000. No way North Korea can unleash a nuclear catastrophe without triggering its own destruction.

By the way, whatever Kim Jong Il may or may not be, he’s not a stupid guy. Nor a war criminal. George W. Bush is both. 

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Longhua Pagoda, a Fossil


One pagoda in the spotlight the past few days is the Longhua Pagoda in Shanghai. The Shanghai Daily described it on September 29 as a ‘living fossil’, a day after it celebrated its 1,759th birthday.

The pagoda was built in the year 247 during the Three Kingdoms Period. It is part of the largest temple in Shanghai and a symbol of Buddhism. Longhua Pagoda was destroyed and rebuilt several times. In its current form it incarnates the style of the Song Dynasty. It is 40.64 meters high, comprising seven storey’s, each with octagonal eaves.

The Longhua Pagoda’s health is not so good, not altogether surprising after 1,759 years! It is leaning to one side, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The pagoda had been closed to the public since 1949, but after undergoing repairs, was opened for just the first three days of the October First Golden Week.

Climbing to the top didn’t come cheap. Tickets were sold for 100 yuan, but that included a box of mooncakes and a gilded Buddhist card. I don’t know how many people visited the pagoda in the past three days, but will keep you informed if any numbers are published.

It is nice to see that this venerable fossil has been in the limelight again, if only for a few days…

Monday, October 2, 2006

The China Pagoda


Why did I call my blog View from The China Pagoda?

Pagoda’s are a typically Chinese construction. Well, you also find them in Japan, but they probably borrowed the idea from China.

China still has thousands of pagoda’s. They are elegant, beautiful constructions. You can climb to the top of many of them along a rickety staircase. Sometimes it is so narrow you have to be pretty slim to make it to the top. One such pagoda is the one on the hilltop in Yan’an, the old revolutionary base area where Mao ended up after the Long March. I didn’t make it to the top of that one. It was really too narrow and claustrophobic.

The Big and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian are also quite famous. If you do make it to the top of those structures you have a nice bird-eye view of the surroundings. When I climbed to the top of a pagoda in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, I could see a church building which was completely invisible from the street. I dropped by and learned that the church had been founded by Flemish missionaries in 1920s!

Pagoda’s are no ivory towers. You don’t lock yourself up in them to escape from the world. On the contrary, from the top storey, they give you a general view. Once back down, you have a better idea how to explore the surroundings.

So the pagoda is a metaphor for my blog: keep an eye on the overall picture, get down to earth and fill in the blanks.

In tomorrow’s post we’ll have a look at another famous pagoda, the Longhua Pagoda in Shanghai, which has been opened for the first time since 1949 for just three days from October 1 to October 3. 

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Happy 57th Birthday PRC!


Dear Friends, Comrades, Citizens of the People’s Republic of China, (the almost Republic of) Flanders, Fellow Citizens of the World, Dear Aliens Lost in Space, May Peace Be Upon You!

The People’s Republic of China turns 57 today. Looks like an auspicious day to start my blog! So first things first: Happy Birthday PRC!

Let’s count: it’s my twenty-second October First in the PRC. The first time (yeah, right, everything has a first time) was in 1978. I must confess I don’t remember much about that day, but I do remember my first visit to Tian’anmen Square. That must have been even before October First ‘78. I had just started my Chinese studies at the Language Institute and took a bus together with a Belgian tongxue (classmate) to Xidan. Map in hand, we started walking in the direction of Tian’anmen Square. My friend was getting tired and didn’t really understand why I was so mesmerized by Tian’anmen Square. Well, can’t we put this off and return to the campus?”, he lamented. “Well, no, the hell you don’t! I want to see Tian’anmen Square!” The center of the Chinese Universe, where our Beloved Chairman Mao in 1949 proudly proclaimed that the Chinese people had stood up!

Well, that’s now 57 years ago. China, Beijing, Tian’anmen Square has changed beyond recognition. In 1949, China emerged from civil war, the war of resistance against Japanese aggression, decades of warlordism and centuries of empire. The ancient culture of China got a new dress on October First 1949! No, not only a dress, a new soul. She was young and skinny. 57 years later, well, if she would be a lady, she would approach middle age, graying hair and a bit plump.

At 57, China is full of vitality, no graying hair, just growing tall…

Standing tall on the world stage, becoming a ’stake-holder’, whatever that American-inspired invention means.

But also getting a bit fat. Getting rich is glorious! Remember the famous dictum of (hmmm he never got a decent title, once he was secretary-general of the CCP, vice-premier, or ‘Patriarch’ if you believe the Western media), well, Deng Xiaoping wanted China to get fat. Like a Peking duck…

Plump baby’s are the eye-apples of every grandmother. And China is adding weight.

Well, at 57, don’t get too plump, dear PRC! Keep up your fighting spirit, dear Comrade Soldiers! The Evil Empire of George W. is targeting Osama, Hugo, Mahmoud, Jong lI, and anybody who is not dancing to the tune of American Imperialism (well, that’s a very useful concept dating from the halcyon days of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution).

Dear PRC, once again, Happy Birthday! Keep lean and mean! I will also try to trim my beer belly!

But on this October First: CHEERS! A double Maotai to the health, prosperity and longevity of the PRC!

And more than ever, to the Red Sun in Our Hearts: Chairman Mao!