tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post6703575136917448228..comments2023-08-19T12:02:43.740-04:00Comments on An Immigrant's Evolving Perspective: What Kind of Country is China Today?Xujunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-11607914533472657072010-03-10T12:35:42.349-05:002010-03-10T12:35:42.349-05:00I'm from Syria and in my school tomorrow is an...I'm from Syria and in my school tomorrow is an international day for all the school so my teacher said to me "Bring some information about china"hamza orabihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08356348843302743320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-7057265188302687222009-03-25T11:15:00.000-04:002009-03-25T11:15:00.000-04:00Welcome, SoapBoxTech.Uln, Blogger.com does provide...Welcome, SoapBoxTech.<BR/><BR/>Uln, Blogger.com does provide the function for email notices, but I guess that link only appears if you have provided an email address. Let me know if it works for you.Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-71547545381924523702009-03-24T13:22:00.000-04:002009-03-24T13:22:00.000-04:00@Alfonso - Nice to see another Spanish in the Chin...@Alfonso - Nice to see another Spanish in the China blogosphere. :)<BR/><BR/>Sorry I answer so late to your comment, I just saw it now, as this blog doesn't have email notices for comment replies. (Xujun, if you want to have more people discuss your posts I absolutely recommend you add this feature, I added myself recently and Ifind it really useful).<BR/><BR/>Re: The WSJ article you link, I suppose you have seen the record long discussion that took place on the FM forum?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-89332627571459192312009-03-23T23:02:00.000-04:002009-03-23T23:02:00.000-04:00How wonderful to have found this blog. Thanks for...How wonderful to have found this blog. Thanks for the insightful post and to the commenters for the discussion. As a Canadian who is woefully lacking in knowledge about the socio-political situation in China, it is really nice to be able to read here.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps I'll actually be able to join in on the discussion sometime!Jerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10354640729644229842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-13604971237125180942009-03-18T03:37:00.000-04:002009-03-18T03:37:00.000-04:00@uln"haha, you are ecodelta. Why do you take a Spa...@uln<BR/>"haha, you are ecodelta. Why do you take a <BR/>Spanish name now?"<BR/><BR/>Because I post with a profile that pick up my name. In other blogs there is not profile selection.<BR/><BR/>And yes. Spanish people use to have Spanish names.... ;-)<BR/><BR/>I agree with most of your post, it is the pessimistic view of the future of CH than many fear.<BR/><BR/>Lets hope that CH can surprise us here once more.<BR/><BR/>Interesting point about Deng. Can changes only take place when a great leader arises above the status quo seeking nomenclature?<BR/><BR/>It is not without dangers, just remembers past history. That he has a vision, does not mean that the vision is a good one, or can be implemented without unexpected consequences.<BR/><BR/>The only thing that can be said now, is that much has improved in CH lately, but much more has to be done in the future the keep them and to enhance them.<BR/><BR/>"Here in Southeast Asia, far away from the high drama and frequent, high-pitched calls for national fervor, I am reminded that despite the jaw-dropping success of recent decades, many of China's native sons and daughters continue to leave (or flee) the country due to poverty, lack of opportunity or political persecution. Perhaps frenzied nationalism could wait for the day when the government does not leave its citizens hungry in the cold, its political dissidents helpless before authoritarian repression and its citizens opting for new life in foreign lands. Until then, this daughter of the "motherland" will settle for finding solace in fish head dishes, congee, roast pig and banter with other Chinese whose mere existence provides a stark reminder of how much more China must still do for its citizens."<BR/>By YING MA. WSJ<BR/>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123689227002811567.htmlalfaecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911891345810629684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-47699795098387304272009-03-17T11:53:00.000-04:002009-03-17T11:53:00.000-04:00Mark, I don't think my book will be released in Au...Mark, I don't think my book will be released in Australia in the near future. Some publisher there has to buy the rights first, you know. Thanks for your interest though.Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-33009826370976653632009-03-17T11:45:00.000-04:002009-03-17T11:45:00.000-04:00Uln, I'm actually a pessimistic person in nature, ...Uln, I'm actually a pessimistic person in nature, so it's interesting that you found me being optimistic. :-) My main aim here is to explore possible scenarios as to how a relatively peaceful political reform might occur, and one of which could be through open factions within the party. Speaking of factional conflicts, the recent "cage and bird" dispute is very different in nature from the Shanghai scandal. It is less a power struggle than dispute over ideas, and it's done openly and peacefully (so far), which is why I take it as a cautiously encouraging sign.<BR/><BR/>As to the political parties, if they can get their members out of jail, if they dare to issue different voices on policy matters, those are not quite cosmetic changes, don't you think? Especially if you knew how cosmetic and helpless they were during the Mao era. Small and slow changes maybe, but there are noticeable changes.<BR/><BR/>I do think it is in the Party's own interest to reform, as Alfonso has argued. And if the Party has gone this far, it could go further. But this of course depends on the rise and ebb in power between the reformists and the vested interest groups. No one can foresee the future just yet.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I found your recent posts about the NPC very interesting and informative. Thanks for the links!Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-24616301042430768992009-03-17T11:26:00.001-04:002009-03-17T11:26:00.001-04:00@Ben: The phenomena you point out, such as the par...@Ben: The phenomena you point out, such as the party's use of nationalist sentiment and capitalist-heroes as means to maintain its power (or enhance the legitimacy of its ruling), are all true, but those are not the same thing as the personality cults discussed in this post. They are worth looking into in their own rights though.<BR/><BR/>@Anon (next to Ben): it is true that the government still owns the land, however the content of land ownership now is quite different from that of the Mao era. Urban residents now enjoy the property rights to 70 years , a significant increase from the 30-year rights set in 1993, which was in turn increased from the 15-year term set in the 1980s. The privatization trend is still ongoing, for example President Hu Jintao recently told the farmers that they could soon sell or transfer their land rights. It is entirely possible that the land ownership will be more completely privatized in the near future.Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-32323401148252566252009-03-17T00:51:00.000-04:002009-03-17T00:51:00.000-04:00haha, you are ecodelta. Why do you take a Spanish ...haha, you are ecodelta. Why do you take a Spanish name now?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, to answer to your comment, you say: <BR/>"Yes. But they could still promote an effective independent judiciary, reasonable free press and less stringent censorships."<BR/><BR/>Of course they could. And they should. But they don't.<BR/><BR/>Because that would mean separating powers, and that is exactly what Wu Bangguo has said they will not do. They want the power "in a unified way", all for themselves.<BR/><BR/>It makes sense, because if they had a truly independent judicial power and press, quite a few of the corrupion schemes would be exposed, and the whole guanxi network that keeps the party together might collapse.<BR/><BR/>So what is being done? Superficial or purely cosmetic changes. And as long as China continues to thrive economically and the government is not seriously put under pressure by the people, I really don't see how they could do more.<BR/><BR/>I could perhaps believe in change if it depended only on one person, like Deng Xiaoping, who accumulated most of the power. One leader can have a vision and can decide to take risks for it. But a shapeless bunch of people that owe favours to each other can simply not afford to do that. <BR/><BR/>That is what we are seeing these last years, IMO, in spite of Hu and Wen's apparent good intentions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-45682379851290956172009-03-14T21:45:00.000-04:002009-03-14T21:45:00.000-04:00Thanks Alfonso.Thanks Alfonso.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-25447611349974221622009-03-14T18:11:00.000-04:002009-03-14T18:11:00.000-04:00Sorry to say, I have no blog. I am kind of lazy an...Sorry to say, I have no blog. I am kind of lazy and wouldn't be able to hold a blog for long time. <BR/><BR/>I prefer to use the facilities that people like Xunjun are kind enough to provide and take the bother to maintain. <BR/>I held bloggers like her in high esteem.<BR/><BR/>Also I wouldn't have much to say to give a blog a good use. Prefer to drop here and there and occasional comment when I find it interesting. Sometimes I get the post bug, but it is not strong enough to make me set up a blog.<BR/><BR/>I find CH fascinating and am an usual reader and occasional poster on a few CH blogs. This one being one of them.<BR/>You may find me under "ecodelta" identifier in other blogs<BR/><BR/>I use Google reader as an post aggregator, quite useful but dangerously addictive.<BR/><BR/>If you use Google Reader wouldn't mind to share some links.<BR/><BR/>Glad to hear you find my comments refreshing and interesting :-)alfaecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911891345810629684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-19484171941284543522009-03-14T14:00:00.000-04:002009-03-14T14:00:00.000-04:00Hello Alfonso, do you run a blog? If so, could you...Hello Alfonso, do you run a blog? If so, could you point to it? I find your views on China refreshing and interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-90717113528653217662009-03-14T13:47:00.000-04:002009-03-14T13:47:00.000-04:00I wonder if some of the funny censorship blocking ...I wonder if some of the funny censorship blocking decisions are taking not because the central gov. consider it necessary to silence conflictive websites but rather by the internal dynamic of the "censorship-industrial complex".<BR/><BR/>In a way similar to the military-industrial complex, this so called censorship-industrial complex crates it own dynamic to justify its existence and consumption of money and resources.<BR/><BR/>This may be the reason why censorship in China has become so stringent. The censorship-industrial complex vested interest is to mace censorship as extensive and complex as possible, even if it goes against the interest of CH gov.<BR/><BR/>Less stringent censorship policies would go against the vested interest of this complex. It would reduce its size an amount of resources it can get.<BR/><BR/>A possible solution to the problem would be to direct the human and material resources that are now being dedicated to extensive internet blocking to profitable service areas.<BR/><BR/>For example, instead of censoring the internet, extensive surveillance of the blogshpere can be done to provide gov and institutions in CH with detailed status and dynamic of public opinion. <BR/>I think this is already, maybe that activity should be enhanced.<BR/><BR/>Other option would be to provide internet filtering as outsourced service. A promising business area that requires substantial resources an man power.<BR/><BR/>Variations to that filtering would be to provide outsourced censorship services to totalitarian, authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. Democratic and freer regimes could be also interested, there is growing drive to censor file sharing, pornography and child abuses on the internet.<BR/><BR/>By providing growth areas to the censorship-industrial complex I think it would be easier to get a more reasonable censorship in Chinese internet.alfaecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911891345810629684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-21814728711767270892009-03-14T01:24:00.000-04:002009-03-14T01:24:00.000-04:00Xujun wrote: "While China still has a political sy...Xujun wrote: "While China still has a political system that is built for all the above totalitarian functions, the party that operates this state apparatus is no longer exercising many of the functions."<BR/><BR/>This is an interesting way of looking at China's political system, although some may might argue that the same could be said for parliamentary democracies like Australia, Britain and the United States.<BR/><BR/>I plan to write a detailed essay for my China Discourse website on what I take to be a democratising China, so I have been researching this very topic of late. I hope to publish it at the end of next month. I'm still synthasising a variety of viewpoints, so I have yet to form my own opinion.<BR/><BR/>On a different topic, will your book, "Apologies Forthcoming" be released in Australia - the Blacksmith's Hong Kong edition perhaps? I've been looking out for it in all of my local bookstores, as I'm hoping to review it for my chinadiscourse.net site. Any idea then, of a possible Australian release date?Mark Anthony Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182443553516881761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-56156922926114172412009-03-14T01:01:00.000-04:002009-03-14T01:01:00.000-04:00About that independent judiciary, reasonable free ...About that independent judiciary, reasonable free press, and less stringent censorship, I think that runs into the control/power issue. Although the current censorship policies could be a lot smarter. Some of the things they censor is just stupid (nothing off the top of my head at the moment but I'm sure you fine people know what I'm talking about).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-31187260885283811502009-03-13T16:55:00.000-04:002009-03-13T16:55:00.000-04:00"why would anyone, when all is going well, give up..."why would anyone, when all is going well, give up all their power to introduce a new democratic system that has no guarantees of success and that can easily turn against them ?"<BR/><BR/>Yes. But they could still promote an effective independent judiciary, reasonable free press and less stringent censorships.<BR/><BR/>They could be good tools to control local officials/government/departments and bring them some degree of accountability.<BR/><BR/>By doing that the central gov. could also use the trick of appearing as the protector of simple people. Like the king/emperor against nobles/aristocracy for the sake of its subjects well being and protections of rights. (even it is at placebo level)<BR/><BR/>Free press would be understood as a press free enough to report the doings of governments and specially officials, but never to go beyond the limit of putting the system too much in doubt. <BR/><BR/>In a similar way as in the US, some issues could be pre-nogiated between major news/journalist before making them public, and cooperation in cover ups or sugaring issues could be compensated providing enticing information for later local consumption, or relaxing restrictions in some area permanently or temporary.<BR/><BR/>Actually, by being more clever, the could present the image of a benevolent and enlighten authoritarian regime which guides with tender but firm hand to a brighter and freer future... that always remains in the future.<BR/><BR/>Status quo remains, but things would keep improving bit bit though<BR/><BR/>Not such a dim future after all... or should I call it present.alfaecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911891345810629684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-81766566755678579492009-03-13T13:07:00.000-04:002009-03-13T13:07:00.000-04:00Xujun, thanks for sharing that interesting info on...Xujun, thanks for sharing that interesting info on the Zhigong party. If you go to the official website of NPC you can see the percentage of different parties from each province and they are significant. <BR/><BR/>However, I find your post very optimistic. The semi-democratic experiments at municipality level have been going on for years now, and the feuds among factions of the CPS are not really new, look at Shanghai's major scandal in 06, for example.<BR/><BR/>Also, those political parties seem to me a mere cosmetic change, so the government can tell the people: "you see, we have a special democratic system better than the Western." To this effect, see the recent speech by NPC chairman and politburo 2nd in line Mr. Wu Bangguo. Also, see how Wen's timid attempts at some kind of political reform are quickly muted by the party. All links are in my last post here: http://tinyurl.com/cnfyzd<BR/><BR/>I am afraid that CPC will not make any fundamental change until it finds itself forced to do it. Which makes sense: why would anyone, when all is going well, give up all their power to introduce a new democratic system that has no guarantees of success and that can easily turn against them ? Come to think of it, if I were in Hu's shoes I am not sure I would go for it either...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-85245963581829536092009-03-13T01:24:00.000-04:002009-03-13T01:24:00.000-04:00China is still a bona fide communist country, beca...China is still a bona fide communist country, because all lands belong to the government, which is the most important feature of communism. I think this kind of regime, which uses a land based taxation system, is super-stable economically, in the sense that theoretically, the government can deal with any budget deficit by raising land utilization taxes.<BR/><BR/>As for the direction of China’s future development, I think that for the short term, China is moving toward deliberative democracy. Chinese government knows that they cannot control the internet, and nobody can. The most logical thing for the government to do is to use internet as a public forum, where public opinions and suggestions about government policies will be evaluated for improvement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-31676852803892339092009-03-11T22:11:00.000-04:002009-03-11T22:11:00.000-04:00Hi Xujun,I wish I were as optimistic as you! But ...Hi Xujun,<BR/><BR/>I wish I were as optimistic as you! But I wish to raise the following issues:<BR/><BR/>What do you mean by "the progressive trend of civilization worldwide"? The proliferation of nuclear weapons? The ability of Wall Street capitalists to wreck the world economy? The rise of Islamic fundamentalism?<BR/><BR/>Remember that totalitarianism was regarded as a distinctly modern phenomenon. There were no totalitarian regimes before the 20th century. And totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy and the Russia were very adept at using new techologies to oppress people.<BR/><BR/>China may not have personality cults anymore, but surely the Party wants to stir up Chinese nationalist sentiment-- the Olympics, the space flights, etc. Seeing as Marxism/Maoism has more or less withered away as an ideological force, old-fashioned nationalism is the glue the Party is using to maintain its power. And doesn't China have new capitalist-heroes, as opposed to worker-heroes? Seems to me that all these Chinese Bill Gateses have their own cult. There may not be posters of them like there were for Lei Feng, but they sure get plenty of media time.<BR/><BR/>BenTingkun55https://www.blogger.com/profile/08665675388631689526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-51121447263539792172009-03-11T21:31:00.000-04:002009-03-11T21:31:00.000-04:00Hi Alfonso, I agree that the dispersion of power m...Hi Alfonso, I agree that the dispersion of power might be worrisome, especially with corrupted local and sector powers (and there are already signs of the latter as well). On the other hand, I think open factions could help lead to the party's internal reform toward democracy. Such reform will indeed be in the CCP's best interest.Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-56604417569550228612009-03-11T18:29:00.000-04:002009-03-11T18:29:00.000-04:00Strictly speaking China is no longer a Totalitaria...Strictly speaking China is no longer a Totalitarian state. <BR/><BR/>It can still be defined as an authoritarian state though.<BR/><BR/>Or if you prefer a watered down definition, as an arbitrarian state.<BR/><BR/>What I found worrying in your post is the fragmentation of power. Combined with a lack of check and balances it should eventually lead to conflicts between power centers and greater difficulties to control them.<BR/><BR/>That dynamic make the country more and more difficult to manage<BR/><BR/>It is paradoxical, I believe the main reason for CCP to prevent the implementation of a system of check and balances (whatever it may be:elections, open media, independence judiciary, etc, tec) is to prevent its loss of power, but by doing it its power and controls capability its been eroded in this new situation.<BR/><BR/>Could it not be in the best interest of the CCP to implement those checks and balances as a way to be able to manage the new power entities born from the increasingly dispersion of power?alfaecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911891345810629684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-34425562136767338392009-03-11T16:20:00.000-04:002009-03-11T16:20:00.000-04:00Hi Zhou, no problem. I often have typos myself. Th...Hi Zhou, no problem. I often have typos myself. Thanks for commenting.Xujunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05534267282303815433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-43395579802389369402009-03-11T13:19:00.000-04:002009-03-11T13:19:00.000-04:00真是不好意思,将BILL GATE(比尔盖茨)的名字打错,现纠正。真是不好意思,将BILL GATE(比尔盖茨)的名字打错,现纠正。Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13974296645733775.post-61275569244556261452009-03-11T12:19:00.000-04:002009-03-11T12:19:00.000-04:00最欣赏比尔盖羡在哈佛演讲中的其中一段:But humanity's greatest advance...最欣赏比尔盖羡在哈佛演讲中的其中一段:But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.除了DEMOCRACY(好像需要时间,这个词我们国家定义跟西方不同),国家正大力通过STRONG PUBLIC EDUCATION,QUALITY HEALTH CARE,BROAD ECONOMIC OPPOERTUNITY来减少不平等。IMO,WE ARE AT THE CORRECT WAY.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com