how much the tainted-milk victims will be compensated?

At last, the case of the tainted-milk has entered into the compensation phase. 

China's Diary Industry Association, the organization that includes 22 diary producers, announced on Saturday that the tainted-milk victims will be compensated. It's a one-time cash payment, but the report gives no specific amount of compensation and the schedule of payment.  The compensation package also includes the coverage of medical bills for any related after-effects. 

The latest figure: 294,000 babies are affected, 6 are dead. 

So far, none of the lawsuits brought up by the families of the victims have been accepted by courts. 

Sanlu group, the major diary producer in the scandal, has been declared bankrupt. 

Trial for a melamine dealer and a producer opened. 

melamine, the revenge of the abject

Ubiquitous! Probably it is the best word to describe the usage of melamine in China. As the milk scandal hasn't faded away from the public eyes yet, its trace has been discovered in eggs. How safe the food in China now?!

Many topics have been discussed since the milk scandal broke out. Lack of efficient supervision, loopholes in the chain of quality control and law enforcement, corruption, and degeneration of morality, all of those factors are linked with this melodrama unprecedented in the public sphere.

Suddenly, a lot of city dwellers who are used to purchasing fresh milk and egg in supermarket have realized that those basic products in our daily menu are polluted in a uncanny way, that inside those polished and well-advertised food packages, the real stuff that will enter into their bodies are tainted!

So, as an ordinary consumer, what can I do? To avoid such processed food as much as possible? Anyway, it's ridiculous to pay those basic products with the price that are largely to cover the cost of food processing, marketing and distribution, and other fees not related to the food itself. Quite unlikely, as long as I'm a city dweller, without means to produce those food by myself. Turning to organic food? Too expensive, and who can guarantee its quality.

No wonder nowadays, a lot of city dwellers in China, especially those with private cars will go to rural areas at the weekend, to enjoy not only fresh air and scenic spots, but a meal made by local farmers in their courtyard with their own produces. 农家乐, happy as we go!

In a world that the fake and faulted food keep popping up, such a meal, made directly from freshly picked vegetable from backyards of farmers and their own preserved rice or maize are supposed to be organic and authentic, healthy without additives, safe because they are not sold in the market but being preserved for self-consumption.

The best way is of course DIY from the bottom, so it's trendy now in some advanced countries for a city dweller to return to the rural area. Living in a idyllic self-sustained way of life sounds attractive for those being disillusioned by the playful cosmopolitan city. That's the decoupling process, isn't it, from the world of modern consumerism, to a simple and frugal, but real and down-to-earth life, just like what the financial crisis teaches us not to trust those fanciful derivatives saturated in the virtual world, but be more prudent and realistic on money issue.

However, such a prospect is quite unimaginable in China, as the development of the rural area in general is far lagged behind the urban area. For those who are concerned too much about when China will enter into the club of the first world, and ignoring reality in its rural development, perhaps the best and direct refutation is to say only when Chinese city dwellers want to be farmers.

It is from this stand point, that one will see something more than itself in this melamine havoc. Those who add it into animal feed, thus leaving its trail in eggs and meat, those who taint milk with it, and those who put whatever illegal material into food without having been detected, are obviously criminals. However, there are so many of them, given the scale of its usage. It must have become a subculture, largely unnoticed but nevertheless having been existed for a while.

Those who turn to such loathsome means to own their livings and probably even make fortunes, who are they? Which social stratum are they in?

Doesn't this chemical stuff that is now permeating everywhere in our daily life embody the revenge of our ignorance of the abject poverty at the bottom of our society?

the first legal case of milk scandal

A couple in Guangdong has decided to sue Sanlu Group for producing adulterated milk powder, which has resulted in kidney stone of their child, this report says.  It is the first legal case since the milk scandal broke out in August. 

The couple has appealed to claim financial compensation worth RMB 900,000.00 from Sanlu Group and China Diary Industry Association, but the case hasn't been accepted immediately by the middle-level people's court in Guangzhou as the amount is less than 50 million RMB - the entry-level for such a case. According to the report, after the lawyer made some effort on emphasizing the uniqueness of the case, the local court finally received the legal file, and promised to reconsider whether or not it will be formally entering into legal procedures. 

It's an open end for the first step. Could it be rolled into a collective lawsuit against Sanlu Group and other manufacturers? Let's see.  

The Systematic Problems of the Milk Scandal

More than 50,000 babies are affected, of which more than 12,000 have been hospitalized. So far, 4 children have died, and more than 100 babies are in serious condition. The number of victims of harm milk is piling up. The practice of adding melamine and other harmful materials into diluted milk now in the dairy industry has become a well-known matter of fact. This dirty open secret within the diary industry has finally been exposed to the public in China, only at an extremely high human cost.

In addition to Sanlu Group, Mengniu and Yili, another two famous brands of diary products have failed the test of melamine. Those two brands have more media exposure on the state media, generally employing celebrities to be advertising spokespersons. In fact, the manufacturing facilities in those factories can be called state of the art, which have attracted tourists in the cities like Hohhotm, and site visit of those modern factories easily leaves trustworthy impression on visitors.

The big picture is that China is in high demand of diary products, ranking the third in the world regarding diary products consumption, which understandably resulted from the improvement of common people's living standard. However, the current supply of diary products is lagged behind the demand. According to some projections, milk production is expected to grow at the 6%-9% annually, and it's quite obvious that individual dairy farmers as the primary suppliers of raw milk couldn't cope with such a growing demand.

According to this SCMP report, only one out of 90 cows is fed at the modern farm park in Hohhot alone, and most of cows are raised in the ragged backyards of dairy farmers. This should be a typical case as Hohhot is the hub of China's dairy industry. The problems such as lacking technical know-how, and the support from both the government and manufacturers are still prevailing. Safety loopholes are actually quite easy to be identified as this insider's account recalled the malpractice before the scandal broke out :

"Whenever my milk failed the quality test, they [used to] direct me to a different place and ask me to unload my milk into a factory milk container" (Wu Tianhua, a milk dealer from Licheng county in Hohhot)

The fundamental issue is the quality of raw milk, and manufacturers are directly responsible for allowing contaminated milk to enter into production lines.

As a result, the chief quality inspector Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine resigned today, and so far several officials accountable for the problem both at the city level have been sacked, including Wu Xianguo, the Communist Party chief, Mayor Ji Chuntang and Vice Mayor Zhang Fawang of Shijiazhuang city, where Sanlu Group is located.

This report says 'under the Civil Servants Law effective as of 2005 and the State Council Regulations on the Punishment of Civil Servants of Administrative Organs enacted last April, heads of administrative organs who fail to fulfill their duties and cause avoidable severe accidents to happen will face removal and severer punishment.'

However, for those directly involved in the scandal, including diary farmers, manufacturers and the third party officials in charge of quality inspection, the ultimate legal reference should be the Food Safety Law that which the draft version was publicized in April, and thereafter has been submitted to the legislature for the rectification.

According to the draft version, manufacturers who produce harmful food could be jailed for life, but it does not cover food products from the farm to the final consumers, observed by WHO China's representative Hans Troedsson.

The Ministry of Commerce and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (AQSIQ) also worked out an important measure which requires food product to carry a code allowing consumers to trace back their place and time of origin. It's supposed to be implemented by the end of June, but was postponed to the end of this year.

So far, it's not clear when the draft of the Food Safety Law will become the law, but the latest milk scandal offers a rare opportunity for the legislative members to review the draft more thoroughly. The final version should cover the complete chain of food products from the farm to the final consumers, and basic agriculture products such as rice need to be covered as well.

Melamine, again!

An unfamiliar word suddenly has become hot in town talks. Melamine, a stuff that is supposed to be used in non-food industry, has been found in Sanlu baby milk powder in China, and so far has caused one infant death and kidney stones in dozens of babies. The contamination is confirmed by China's Ministry of Health on Friday.

This latest case of food safety scandal reminds me of Anhui Fuyang baby milk powder scandal in 2004, in which harmful milk powder caused hundreds of babies suffer from malnutrition. Sanlu's case is far more serious than the previous one, because Sanlu is a famous brand in China and its distribution channel is nation wide, so it's not a surprise to see more reports about kidney stone baby popping out in different places as time goes by.

Since the questionable baby milk powder had enjoyed the privileging status as an quality-inspection-free product before the safety problem was detected, the scandal will damage the reputation of the national accreditation system for food quality as well, and it will take a lot of effort and longer time for the authority to restore the confidence of consumers.

Wiki provides a thorough description of this material, and it's updated to the latest development of Sanlu milk powder scandal. From the existing reports, the diary farmers add melamine into diluted milk to pass the test of protein content.

This harmful material has been used discreetly in manufacturing animal feed, as a cheaper alternative to real soy bean protein. The issue was addressed last year in the case of pet food being exported from China to the US, and this NYT report provides detailed background.

In retrospection, if that pet food scandal was highlighted in the food industry last year, probably some preemptive measures would be taken to improve the method of testing protein content.

The question is how come those diary farmers can simply add melamine to diluted milk and pass the quality check? Punishing those who are directly responsible for providing fake milk is just the first step. Sanlu group and the quality accreditation authority must also be held accountable, and a thorough investigation should be conducted, followed by the improvement of the testing method.

colossal CDB shows its appetite, but is it healthy?

This murky state-owned business world. Tactics, strategies, national interests and corruption, how CDB's involvement in an acquisition case has become a complex issue. 

It's quite obvious that Dresdner is in trouble, and Allianz wants to sell it. CDB's bid to buy is favourable to some German, as this FT story reports,

'The Chinese pitch appealed to German unions, Dresdner management and some German politicians because CDB was prepared to keep all the bank’s staff, whereas Commerzbank has announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs at the two banks.'

However, even CDB hasn't submitted a formal bid, its intention already made some patriotic observers in Germany ring the alarming bell. Andreas Nolting once gave two reasons in this article that why German should prevent CDB from buying Dresdner, 

'Firstly, a takeover by CDB would have placed yet more of Germany's banking sector under foreign ownership. Secondly, the Chinese never said or even hinted at what they planned to do with Dresdner and why they wanted to buy it. Such secrecy should not be rewarded.'

Interestingly, even Andreas realizes the serious problems that Dresdner is facing, as trade unions 'lobbied and demonstrated in favor of a takeover of Dresdner by CDB', the answer is still no. 

Stay cool! Since the deal is not promising, the decision of China's state council to hold back the approval is a reasonable one. Judging from CDB's past track record in foreign acquisition, prudence and close scrutiny from the State Council is certainly necessary.    

Besides, CDB is also in trouble.

'It has also been rocked by scandal after the arrest of vice-chairman Wang Yi in June and his continued detention as part of a probe into alleged corruption and a report from the state auditor that the bank extended billions of renminbi in illegal and irregular loans last year.' 

Better to improve its performance from within before allowing it to take any ambitious overseas acquisition, like another one into the Polish telecoms market, simply because it sounds good. 

Bizarre Mooncake

The traditional mid-Autumn (moon) festival is coming, so moon cakes are widely available now in various shops. I received a box of simply-packed moon cakes from my parents several days ago, a kind of family tradition indeed. Probably that's the only reason, a bit nostalgic, that would propel me to eat those greasy sweet cakes to celebrate the Festival.

When I was a child, the choice of moon cake was very limited. Yolk, ham, bean, date etc, probably all together moon cake stuffing had less than ten types. But in recent years, a lot of new types of moon cake have been created to lure customers. Tea, ice cream, coffee, mushroom, organic cereal, all sorts of fanciful or healthy stuffing are put inside a piece of tiny cake. Still, it's a seasonal food, which perhaps explains why it's not like tart, or cookies, that you can always have it as a kind of daily delight with a cup of coffee or tea.

In fact, no matter how attractive the stuffing sounds to me, I simple would ignore it when I step into a lovely bread shop at the street corner opposite the east gate of the Temple of Heaven. Until a friend of mine who just visited China for the first time showed special interest in those tiny moon cakes, wondering why one piece was nine RMB while a blue berry tart was just five, did I notice that there were quite a lot of moon cakes being displayed there. At the moment he asked that question, we just finished our breakfast, and I suddenly realized that probably I should have treated him a piece of real moon cake. That nine-yuan moon cake has pine mushroom (matsutake) inside, it should be tasteful.

A bit strange though, today when I saw that vulgar gold moon cake in the newspaper, I ruminated a bit on why I lost my touch to this seasonal food. I guess I'm not the only one having such a mentality. There is a saying in China now that those who buy moon cakes will not eat them, and those who eat moon cakes generally would not buy themselves. They have become gifts, not made purely for the pleasure of taste buds and for the family re-union, but for lubricating Guanxi or bribery, with sumptuous packing and ridiculous stuffing such as gold, jade, silver, or even platinum.

For the pure gold moon like the one in the photo, it can be sold with the prize tag nearly 10,000RMB. Everybody knows its purpose, and every year when the Moon Festival is approaching, there are always some extremely bizarre and expensive moon cakes being sold in the market. Creativity in bribery is abundant!

Gone are the days when moon cake is simply a nice small cake, while eating it under the full moon, with some snacks and liquor, brings so much joy among family members and friends. When a delicate tradition connecting to our inner world has been spoiled by those bizarre gold cakes and bogus practice of Guanxi, perhaps I can excuse myself for forgetting to treat my friend a piece of real nice moon cake.

Procedural Justice? Yang Jia's Death Penalty

Cop killer Yang Jia （杨佳）was sentenced to death today. The report from Xinhua says:

'The court ruled Yang had perfect capacity for criminal responsibility according to a forensic psychiatric assessment conducted by a qualified and specialized institute entrusted by the police. But it didn't give a specific name.'

The sentence has received questions on the procedural justice. Xinhua's report doesn't specify the name of the institute that is responsible for Yang Jia's mental illness evaluation. On whether or not this institute has judicial testimony qualifications, lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan （刘晓源）comments in his blog that the procuratorate or the court may not re-do the qualified psychiatric testimony on Yang Jia.

The first psychiatric assessment is conducted by the Ministry of Justice's Science and Technology Research Institute (MJSTRI), and the report says 'Yang was confirmed to be of a sane mind after a judicial appraisal following the attack'. According to Mr. Liu Xiaoyuan, MJSTRI is actually not qualified institute to conduct such an expert testimony.

The death sentence is the result of the first trial, and Yang Jia now has seven days to appeal to the Shanghai People's Higher Court. If the verdict is still the capital punishment, then the case will step into the review procedure at the People's Supreme Court.

Yang Jia attacked nine cops on the 1st of July and six of them died. The sensational case immediately stirred up all sorts of speculations on how and why he went into such an extreme. Yet in just two months, his death sentence is convicted. The handling of this case by the law enforcement and judicial system in China is obviously quite fast. Because of the Olympic Games, the trial actually was postponed at the end of July.

Although the verdict of the first trial is not a surprise to many observers, the judicial procedure in handling this case has become the focus of the public attention. Some people have questioned about the transparency of the trial as the public gallery of the court was fully booked by Shanghai PSB yesterday, so basically there was no media staff inside the court to witness the trial.

While Chinese legal tradition has emphasized on the substantive justice, some procedural rules are not strictly followed or even violated by the courts. The pressure for a judge's conduct to show procedural justice has slowly been piled up from the public opinion side. Yang Jia's case will be the latest one to testify to what extent the procedural justice has been realized in Chinese judicial system.

Postscript:

Yang jia was executed on 26/11/2008. Here's Ap report for the record.

Naked Officials? (裸体做官，luo ti zuo guan)

A recent corruption case has immediately caught the attention of Chinese netizens.

Pang Jiayu, former vice chairman of the provincial political advisory body (the CPPCC of Shanxi province) , was sentenced a 12-year jail and his personal assets worth RMB 200,000.00 was confiscated. Pang's case was widely reported last September because of the saying that he was brought down by his own 11 mistresses (Ernai, 二奶 in Chinese). He was also labelled as 'Zipper Mayor' after the story was exposed.

What makes the case so hot among netizens in China is the fact that Pang's wife and son already immigrated to Canada in 2002 when he was still the party boss in Baoji, a city of Shanxi province, which means he probably had already transferred most of his illicit money to his wife before he was charged of bribery. Netizens have coined the phrase '裸体做官 luo ti zuo guan' (naked officials) to describe such a phenomenon that a corrupted official would arrange his/her family members to immigrate overseas secretly, as a means to mitigate the possible severe effects if he/she is found guilty later on.

Pang's case is not a singular one. In fact, some observers have pointed out that becoming-a-naked-official has evolved into a subculture in Chinese officialdom, and some even characterizes it as 'the more corrupted, the less remorseful officials are'.

Although there is a mechanism within the officialdom to record the personal and family members' assets, lacking transparency virtually creates a lot of loop holes to prevent such phenomenon.

The latest movement to tackle rampant corruption problems by the Chinese authority is to amend the Criminal Law. The report says the legislative body of China is currently reviewing the draft of an amendment, which would add clauses oriented to relatives and people who have 'intimate relations' with corrupted officials, if they abuse the officials' positions to accept bribes or otherwise profit illegally.

A positive step indeed, but allowing media to perform the checks and balances is also quite critical.

orderly, but soulless

Yesterday evening, when I was watching the well-coordinated movements of thousands of performers in the closing ceremony, I suddenly thought about some mise-en-scenes in the film the Lord of Ring, in which the intimidating force is represented in the similar manner. The only difference is that the later one is a simulacra created on the screen with the help of computers, while the former one is a real event happened in the Bird's Nest.

Today, quite exceptionally, the headline of the top story appeared nearly all newspapers in Beijing, and Internet news portals as well, has unanimously used IOC chief Roggae's word 'truely exceptional' (in Chinese it's translated as '无与伦比', which plays up a bit to the meaning 'best ever' from Roggae's words, like this story from the Australian indicates) to praise the Beijing Olympic Games. Although it's amusing to see the gap btw the Chinese expectation in the translation and what's been given in reality by Mr. Roggae's, I'm really sick of such self-intoxication in such a shoddy unanimity and order, so depressing and distasteful that when I heard Boris Johnson poking fun to his audience at the London House by saying it's the 1908 Games, I couldn't help laughing.

It makes me feel better, and I swear, it has nothing to do patriotism or nationalism. I'm just cheered up a bit by his sharp and humorous comment, like suddenly you are granted to breathe freely after having been confined in a tightly controlled space for a while. This somewhat eccentric London mayor just behaves like that lovely child in the story of Anderson's emperor's new cloth, by simply pointing out a matter of fact, while most of us are silent. Of course, the speech given by him as a whole is full of Londoner's pride, but it's not offensive to my ears.

What a relief! I know he thinks the aesthetic taste of the ceremony is quite outdated, even philistine.

There is another story from WP that has made my head even cooler. Probably it is the first insider's account on the weirdness of services he was provided.

'As sports spectacles go, I've never seen one more efficiently or soullessly executed than this one. I have no idea where they put the real people for 17 days, but I felt like Jim Carrey in "The Truman Show." Where's Ed Harris saying: "Truman is going to turn left on Main Street: Cue the smiling girl and the hearty hot dog vendor." '

Very personal indeed, but it gives me a sense of truth about how good it is.

Really a cool stuff!

Farewell, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games!

Thanks, Chen Jie, for this wonderful photo.

Chinese collectivist mentality? Too simple to say so...

When I first read Mr. Brooks' essay on the societies with individualist mentality and the ones with collectivists mentality several days ago, I sensed something wrong in it. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be over tonight. Since that essay has something to say about the opening ceremony, it would be interesting to review it from the final result of the Games.

The following presuppositions for Brook's argument are especially problematic.

1. Americans usually see individuals; Chinese and other Asians see contexts.
2. Americans are more likely to see categories. Asians are more likely to see relationships.

Brooks draws evidence from some scientific research for the above-mentioned presuppositions, but by presuming such a flawed generalization as the truth, Brooks himself falls into a collective mode of thinking, a typical problem of the external reflection where the content goes against the form.

Anti-thesis to such a fault statement is quite obvious when one looks into the Olympics medal table. China's version focuses on the number of gold medals, while America's more on collective overall figure of all medals. That will lead America into the No.1 sports country. It is indeed. China stands at the top of the gold medal list, largely because of its unique national sports system - a highly efficient champion making mechanism, if not an elite one. But strangely, most of the gold medals won by Chinese athletes are from individual competitions, collective wise, US performs much better in team-work games, such as basketball, volleyball, women's football, baseball, softball, relay competitions in swimming and running. Brooks' argument certainly can't explain such a phenomenon.

In addition to sports, business world also sees something contradictory. Anyone who attends American business school to get MBA degree would find that networking and team spirit is the central theme in their studies of successful multi-national companies. They are influential now in China as well, and I'm shuddered to find out how popular the American style corporate training programmes are in China, in which the team spirit is instilled by the slogan 'we are the one'! To say successful MNC secretly adopts the ideology of fascism and brainwash their employees in such a manner might go too far, but its impact on the mentality of anyone in the economic sphere across national borders and cultural boundaries can't be ignored. Does the great convergence happen in both countries as this interesting essay argues?

The paradox is that although the Chinese authority heavy-handedly maintains the public order, individuals' desire to reach their full potentials is not repressed in the economic sphere, which has made it very vibrant and energetic, but also brutal and primitive.

One of the following readers has keenly observed that Chinese are rather in conformist mentality, instead of collectivist one. I would add that this is more or less in the political sphere.

Here are some noteworthy readers' comments on Brooks essay:


'A society that is either too individualistic or too collective will not prevail. As a Chinese-born American, I have seen the downfall in both. The Chinese have learned to be more individualistic over the past few decades (and probably want to continue moving in that direction). Perhaps it is time for the U.S. to put a little more emphasis on the collective. (And then maybe we can actually get some meaningful health care reform.) '— Michelle, Princeton, NJ

'Let's not confuse "collectivist" with "conformist." Conformity may be a virtue in the East, whereas it may be a character defect in the West, (except that everyone's conforming in the West, too!)' — G, Tucson, AZ

'The tension between individualistic behavior and collectivist behavior is very fundamental to how the world thinks - it is not a simple East-West cultural binary. The very fundamentals of the Scientific method, are rooted in reductionist thinking that isolates subjects from their contexts in order to objectively study them.' — Alan, Houghton, MI

'If we replace the word 'collectivism,' which has a more negative connotation in the West, with a word like 'communitarism,' which emphasizes 'cooperation,' 'interdependence,' and 'civil society,' the importance of a balance between 'Harmony and the Dream' becomes clearer to Western ears.' — D.B. Borsody, New York

'Has David never considered that the left has always been collectivist and the right individualistic since the dawn of the industrial age or that the working class tends to be collectivists while the middle class is individualistic. Unionism, suffrage, abolition,and grass roots movements for the living wage, universal health, and so on are collectivist in aim and method. Read Raymond Williams for starters.' — patrick finn, buffalo, ny

'As I see it, collectivism and individualism, far from being mutually exclusive, are complementary and both necessary for a healthy society and culture. The idea of them being separate opposites may be, after all, due to that American way of perceiving things, as Mr. Brooks himself points out: one that fails to see the relationships but focuses, instead, on categories.'— Diogo, Portland

Some of comments have entered into the determinate reflection, like the last one. Good to see such a cool head!

The prize for each olympic gold medal

Chinese gold medalist will be rewarded by an unprecedented amount comparing to their peers in the previous Olympic Games.

Here is the list (per gold medal) base on this report:

China: USD300,000 on average (from the central and local governments, corporate sponsorship, possible bonus including apartments, government jobs, cars and instant admission to university etc);

US: USD25,000 (from the US Olympic Committee);

Russia: USD150,000 (promised by Putin);

Germany: 50 litres of beer/month (German do love beer!);

Belarus: a lifetime worth of sausages (vow!);

India: USD 1 million (plus a doubling of pension and a life time go-anywhere free first-class train pass);

Mongolia: telephone number 9999-9999;

North Korea: something like 'hard-working hero' award.

How about other countries? Any feedback is welcome.

The undertone of western nationalism

Yesterday, when I talked to a friend of mine on China's nationalism, I said that the strong sense of national pride, achieved by compromising or undermining individual citizen's rights can't be called patriotism. Some of my friends prefer the word 'patriotism' to avoid negative connotation of 'nationalism', which in my view is just self-cheating. Actually, such a strong sense of national pride held by the most of Chinese, which in general is disproportionate to the development of civil society in China, is a worrisome sign.

China's strong sense of national pride after the Olympics might play a very important role in re-instating the sense of western nationalism if the development of civil society in China fails to eliminate doubts from the outside world. The division of the Self and the Other at the national level has never been so prominent since the end of the cold war. Coincidentally, Russia now might be another important factor in shaping western nationalism, especially after its invasion of Georgia, as conservative Robert Kagan argues in his recent essay that 'nationalism, and the nation itself, far from being weakened by globalization, has returned with a vengeance'.

The tricky thing is such a western nationalism is always a latent one, hidden behind universal values with the aim to differentiate You and Me, like Kagan's democracy vs. autocracy, but when one looks into the argument one would find what's really important to him is actually power play.

I think any argument tinged with such a mentality of the national power play, in the name of defending democracy, is a kind of nationalism, because it hijacks the universal notion - democracy to serve the writer's national interests, presumably western. It is for this reason that I'm very suspicious about Kagan's divisive thinking, as it might fanfare confrontation instead of promoting peace.

I'm not so sure what Kristof's view is about Kagan's history-is-back (I myself agree that history is back, but not in a sense of Kagan's argument about democracy vs. autocracy), and I'm not very comfortable either about his way of argument in his latest essay on China's rise. I even think he might fall into the trap of western nationalism by saying 'now it will be our turn to scramble to compete with a rising Asia'.

Does he? Granted that China's success so far in its development lies largely in its flexibility to cope with pressures either from the outside or from the inside, but the standpoint of Kristof is quite ambiguous. In fact, one can sense a bit his conservative undertone by playing up the rise of China, which nevertheless underlies his strong identification with the US (patriotic feeling as he may argue) instead of liberal values per se.

Interestingly, there is another critique from Gulf News by Amir Taheri, which sheds some insightful light on the similar concern about China after the Olympics. Instead of portraying China as a major competitor, threatening to gain more from other nations' existing interests in a zero sum game, Taheri poses questions rather from internal problems that China is currently facing without the reference to his own country. In a very concise way, Taheri touches three urgent issues that largely would shape the future of China.

The first one is the political reform,

'The Chinese ruling elite is divided between reformists and supporters of the status quo ante. Portraits of the Great Helmsman may have disappeared from public view for the duration of the games. But a good chunk of the elite, still drunk on the heady wine of Maoism, is biding its time. The final purge, both in terms of policy and personnel, has not yet taken place.'

The second one is the concern about China's role in the international arena,

'the international system needs a positive input from China. A policy of nay-saying and prevarication cannot deal with dangers, such as nuclear proliferation spearheaded by North Korea and Iran, that could ultimately affect China’s own security.'

And the third one is how to assimilate so large amount of migrant workers in Chinese society into a stable social stratum,

'The 300 million or so poverty stricken seasonal workers roaming from one end of the country to another could emerge as a veritable human tsunami, destroying all that China has built since the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping a generation ago.'

The analysis is insightful, problems are better articulated, and the questions posed by the writer are sharper. Sorry, Mr. Kristof, it is such a vigorous thinking without too much concern of the self-interest sets up the standard. Instead of some shallow cliches with the tone of nationalism, be it eastern or western, such an insightful argument is in need now. Quality matters!

Legal problems of protest

Here is the story of a brave lawyer who are against all odds to pursue his ideal. Another story tells about two elderly women, who had some problems in settling down the compensation fee with the real estate developer for the demolition of their old houses, applied for the permission to protest in the specified zones by the local authority but only received ridiculous punishment. Sadly, it's impossible to look into the details of these two cases. So it's just for the reference here.

However, some Chinese legal experts do write up something on the protest issue. In his essay about citizen's rights to protest in China, Gao Yifei, a professor in Xiangtan University of Hunan province, elaborates the legal basis on the citizen's right to protest, particularly the historical context for the protest law passed in 1989. More importantly, he also points out that there are some flaws that need to be re-addressed in that law. For example, there is no clause in the current law to grant citizens the right to litigate the government to the People's Court if their applications are rejected by the government, which means under the current situation, if citizen's application is rejected by the government, he/she basically has no means to obtain further legal support. It's the dead end. Obviously, such a law is not sufficient to fully guarantee the citizen's right.

I must say it's a timely analysis which is very helpful to understand the issue of protest right. The problem is when lawmakers in China will write a bill to amend the current assembly and demonstration law.

Protest? You're Kidding.

I guess that foreign media's questioning about the quietness in all three protest zones in Beijing, which signifies the repressiveness of the authority, did have some effects. At least, the municipal PSB held a press conference, so we know that the number of applications for protests has totaled 77 since August 1.

Xinhua's report says issues like labour disputes, medicare disputes and welfare are involved in those applications, and they have been turned down 'because the problems those applicants contended for were properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations'.

No more details, but a story from IHT provides a glimpse on how difficult it is for an applicant to get through the procedure. I've read the adventure of NYT's columnist Nicholas Kristof the day before, but the one appeared on IHT is quite special since the protagonist is not a local resident but from Heilongjiang, a northeastern province of China. Gao's story is heart wrenching; the problem however, is complex. Unless he obtains the support at the local level, either through lawyers or through local media, his problem is quite impossible to solve by simply protesting in Beijing. This is really the vicious circle in China that a socially deprived person couldn't find a proper channel legally to solve his/her problem, and neither can he release the tension through local media's interference by playing the check-and-balance game or through the support from the civil society. When such a channel at the local level is blocked, people like Gao would come to Beijing and seek help. Such a mentality has its origin in the feudal era of China when the society is strictly conformed to the hierarchical structure without the respect of individual's human rights. Applying for the demonstration might be his last straw.

How typical is the case of Gao ? Among those who have applied for the protests, are there any Beijing residents? Reading the recent Pew's report on the Chinese attitude toward future, I'm surprised to know Chinese people's near universal optimism toward their future. I can't help wondering how relevant the case of Gao has become to those optimistic Chinese.

Putting my imagination of Mr. Gao and Mr. Optimist together, the sharp contrast is obvious. But I'm puzzled by the question who is more representative to the current China. Are they both representative? But if Mr. Gao is from the weak stratum, and not belonging to the group of Mr. Optimist, why the authority is still fearful to grant him the right to protest. Since more than 80% of Chinese are in the group of Mr. Optimist, such a solid social foundation should make the authority more confident to handle the case of Mr. Gao.

This is a typical case that harmony goes to extreme where it would damage itself. Because it's so quiet, it makes people wonder something must be wrong. And in such a wondering, something has been anticipated. And in such an anticipation, something really would happen. It's all become self-reflexive. Mr. Gao's story definitely would be ignored in the official post-Olympics narrative because it is simply against the image of the BOG it tries to project. However, this small leftover being recorded here could be a reminder afterwards, for me or for others to recuperate a bit reality when the passion for the OG runs out of its steam.

Live Broadcasting Studio of CCTV1 for the BOG

While watching the first round of 110 hurdles on CCTV1, (unfortunately Liu Xiang gave up the match because of the sprained ankle), I notice that the background of anchorperson in the live broadcasting studio of CCTV1 is Tiananmen Gate!

Sorry, I hadn't noticed this as I hardly watched any live broadcasting programmes. Isn't this a blatant sign of ideology being re-inscribed into the Olympic Games, which is supposed to be neutral? The choice is so awful that it completely goes against the slogan 'New Beijing, New Olympics' presented by BOCOG. Well, probably CCTV is discreetly ultra-conservative.

If CCTV thinks that the Tiananmen Gate embodies the spirit of the Beijing Olympics Games, instead of the Bird's Nest, it's seriously problematic and offensive to everyone who loves the Games.

A test by Nicholas Kristof

Well, just wondering if there are any protestors in the three demonstration zones allocated by the local authority in Beijing for the Olympic Games, someone has already tested the application procedure! I read it here.

A rare account though, as it's quite impossible to have it in China. It's also funny to see the complementary video, in which the interior decoration of PSB tells itself on the cost (seems to me quite costly for these leather-like sofa). Can't imagine such a videoing would be allowed!

The Big Brother is really open this time. Isn't this the syndrome of the post-totalitarianism, in which certain things are allowed procedurally in the name of the rule of law, but the difficulties you are to encounter will just turn you down.

'Surrender!' That's how it goes in front of such a procedural barrier, as what Mr. Kristof did finally. Very nice try indeed.

On Zhang Yimou's Transformation

Stunning, spectacular, extravaganza, these are some words being poured out by the spectators of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Aesthetically speaking, the ink painting part in the show is one of my favorites. When those ballet dancers in black left various ink traces on the paper through their rhythmic body movement, mimicking the free strokes of paint brush, I think it has really captured the soul of Chinese ink painting; that is seeking the lightness against the gravity of the mundane life. It reminds me of the scene in Zhang Yimou's film Hero, in which two swordsmen are fighting on the surface of a lake - simply by pointing the tip of sword to the surface of the water, both of them could stay in the air. The confluence of dancing and painting is so well choreographed that the whole process itself deserves to be a prominent artwork.

Ever since Zhang Yimou was appointed as the director of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics Games, I had been wondering about his perception and creation. To me, he is such an extraordinary persona rich in artistic vision, yet heavily burdened with the self-styled historical sense to regain the reputation that China once enjoyed in the world. In fact, most directors that belong to the so-called fifth generation in China, including Chen Kaige, are all struggling for free personal artistic creation but unwittingly being constrained by their educational and cultural background on one hand, and heavy-handed censorship on certain subjects such as the Cultural Revolution on the other.

Among his peers, Zhang Yimou probably is the most prominent figure who has survived such a struggle and been successfully assimilated into the system by the authority. If there is any reason for the criticism of his later films, I think this is the major one. However, in my opinion, he has somehow managed to retain independence within the system.

From the Red Sorghum to the Curse of Golden Flower, and finally to the stunning show of the opening ceremony, the trajectory of Zhang Yimou's evolvement around the struggle for personal freedom while facing the oppressive reality is the most interesting subject in studying his works. To elaborate on this subject is certainly beyond the scope of this blog, so the following points are only sketchy.

The most striking part of the opening ceremony comes from the movement of the printing matrix composed by thousands of performers. The visuals change several times, from the Chinese character ‘和’ (peace and harmony) at the beginning, to the Great Wall, and then collapsing itself into a kind of relics, from where bunches of peach flowers emerge.
The reason this majestic scene caught my attention is that the Great Wall was constructed under the order of Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor in the Chinese history who has unified China into one entity. Zhang Yimou seems quite fascinated by this emperor, that he has so far made two films about him. The most popular one of course is Hero, in which he re-inscribes the Master and the Slavery relations into the narrative, by positioning the Unnamed, one of the central characters by Jet Li who is supposed to assassin Shihuangdi, to accept that Shihuangdi is the Master of the world. In my view, such a fatalistic historical view probably reflects the darkest period of his life since his film to Live was banned in China.

His perception of inhuman historical necessity has been taken seriously later on by other critiques to his film the Curse of Golden Flowers, saying that it is a kind of manifestation of Fascism. The Curse has been selected in the mainland China as the most loathsome film in 2007, because so many Chinese audiences are offended by it. However, I take such a unanimous NO by the mass as the signification of the film, exactly because I think it has touched the hidden dark side of the collective psyche of China that which is secretly yearning for the power in the world as the Middle Kingdom per se, and the rigid hierarchical order so bloody oppressive in its long history of feudalism, by putting on the mask of benevolence promoted by Confucius. The greatness of Lu Xun lies exactly in his outspoken writings in attacking such a society as the one eating ordinary man.

I take the Curse as a kind of departure from his previous films since one of the rebellious figures in the film, the Empress, has such an unyielding will to rebel against the Emperor, the symbol of the autocratic power. Unlike his previous films, the end of the film is open and is subjected to various interpretations. It seems to me that the answer to the question left by that end has finally been given by Zhang Yimou, when those beautiful peach flowers emerge from the relics of the Great Wall in the opening ceremony.

Many observers have been swept off by the grandeur visual effect of the openning ceremony, but there is one small detail worth a close look, which is nonetheless very indicative to me. After those beautiful peach flowers emerge from the relics of the Great Wall, all performers hiding in the boxes suddenly appeared on the stage, waving to the audience cheerfully. On the screen, there is a close-shot to these unnamed performers. This shot is disruptive to the smoothness of the narrative, so I think it functions as a kind of recognition for those unnamed performers. I don't know whether this idea is from Zhang Yimou or not. If it is, I think it's highly plausible as he probably has recognized that the real history is made by the people, and the real master is the people. This is really the U-turn in his historical view comparing to the one appeared in Hero. In this light, the climatic scene of lighting the cauldron in the end by the legend gymnast Li Ning is truly inspiring.

August 08, 2008

First thing I did in the morning when I got up is to see the sky outside the window. No bright sunshine, no blue sky, it is grey and hazy as yesterday and the day before yesterday.

Today is a big day for China as the opening ceremony of the Games will be staged tonight at 8:00 pm. The so-called greatest event that China would host in the last one hundred years would be unveiled to the rest of the world. I can foresee the grandeur of the ceremony which is supposed to inspire, to awe, or even to shock spectators from all over the world. Anyway, which country has ever worked out such a big scale fireworks show as Beijing would do by using the whole stretch of the north-south axis of the city, to symbolize China’s returning to the world as a power?

Of course, no comments on the air pollution by such a great work, as we are supposed to lose ourselves in such a beautiful and fantastic illusion. And the mandate - enjoy! Because you must – is permeating everywhere in the public sphere, from banners saying ‘one world, one dream’ in streets to national flags in local residential areas, not to mention the hyper-joyful mood saturated in the media world.

Welcome to the grandest party that Chinese have ever had in its history. Excessiveness is everywhere, and pleasure abundant, no matter how superficial it is. We are in the era of overindulgence in the image projection and flexing muscles with national pride.

Will this unprecedented show eliminate the skeptics about the prospect of China? Certainly not. Amid this hypnotic man-made frenzy, today’s gloomy weather is the most powerful counter argument against the claim that the environment has been largely improved. The last straw to restrict the number of cars in streets didn’t deliver the miracle that most people have been hoped for.

If there is anything peculiar today, it must be weather. Disenchanting and sober, it is such a good reminder for the GREEN Olympic Games!