Zhongnanhai

China's rural areas are falling behind; The economic boom in the cities isn't being heard in the countryside
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Page: D2
Section: Comment
Byline: Cam MacMurchy
Column: Cam MacMurchy
Source: Special to Times Colonist

My cab driver pulled up to Beijing West Railway Station around 4 p.m. I put my luggage through security and began looking around for a waiting lounge prior to my 4:30 departure to a city I had never even heard of. My ticket said Beijing to Gucheng, which is a small town in Hubei province in central China. It's also known as the middle of nowhere.

Gucheng is definitely remote, but my final destination would take me one step further. To get there, I would have to take a 40-minute van ride from Gucheng's train station to the even more remote village of Wushan.

We arrived in Gucheng the following day. I hauled my luggage down a couple of stairs and waited as the train pulled away. I crossed the rickety tracks and stepped over broken concrete before I walked through a deformed gate and out onto the street. The Gucheng train station doesn't even have an arrivals area. It was as though the train stopped by the street and passengers quickly piled into vans or walked away.

Wushan, unfortunately, is much too small for a hotel. The village has a little over 1,000 residents, most of whom survive on about $275 a year. Our sleeping quarters, shared with a small group of journalists from Beijing, would be in a government guesthouse.

Foreign media attention often focuses on the thriving nightlife and business opportunities in Shanghai, the glittering skyscrapers in Guangzhou or the political power being amassed in Beijing.

The transformation of China's east-coast cities is vast, and undoubtedly residents are enjoying drastic improvements in their living standards.

But despite these feel-good stories, the countryside is being left behind -- way behind.

We met with Communist party cadres in Wushan, who explained that though medical insurance for villagers is only $1.50 per year, even paying that fee could sometimes prove difficult for the poverty-ridden villagers. The insurance covers about 60 per cent of their medical expenses, meaning the rest of the money for treatment has to be paid by the patient.

It was explained to me that a simple operation could still consume a lifetime's savings. The irony of villagers being forced to pay exorbitant medical fees in a supposedly communist country didn't go unnoticed.

I walked through the beautiful streets of Wushan, flanked on all sides by lush greenery with a small stream going through the village centre. I stepped into a couple of rural homes, some which didn't even have four walls.

As the sun was setting I stuck my head into what seemed like a vacant house; inside a man was sitting on his couch in the dark. He didn't have any electricity and lived in a concrete room with a large door open to the elements. About 750 million people in China -- roughly 70 per cent of its population -- live in conditions like this, or close to them.

Fortunately, we weren't in Wushan just to observe peasant life. We were actually there for a good news story, one which we might hear a lot more about in the future.

The Beijing Green Cross (a Chinese non-governmental organization not affiliated with the international one), led by Sun Jun, went into Wushan about three years ago to turn the formerly dirty village into an environmentally friendly tourist spot. At the time, litter was strewn in the streams and garbage was everywhere.

"We have to learn to take care of our environment," said Sun. "We can not be a developed country if we don't take care of our surroundings." And somehow he has been able to convince the villagers to buy into it.

Wushan now has solar-powered street lights, new environmentally friendly irrigation systems and compost piles.

Villagers have been planting trees and divide their garbage into categories ready for recycling. A town square has been built, where we were treated to dance and musical performances by some of the children.

It has also taken one of its core industries -- 100-per-cent organic green tea -- and is using it to build the town's tea culture.

There is now a tea temple, and the tea ceremonies held there are becoming famous in the area. The result of all this, combined with the region's stunning landscape, has been more visitors and higher incomes for residents, not to mention a new-found pride in their village.

Our group stayed in a renovated government house that night. Although the village is now environmentally friendly, it remains very poor. We were fed the same food four meals in a row--- beans, tomato and egg soup, fatty pork, roast pumpkin, chicken soup and a few other dishes.

The sleeping arrangements were comfortable, although I spent most of my night swatting at flies and mosquitoes.

One of the biggest challenges facing China -- if not the biggest -- is improving the incomes and living conditions for rural residents. President Hu Jintao has been clear that narrowing the widening income gap between rural and urban workers is his priority. If he fails to do so, it could lead to further unrest and threaten the party's hold on power.

A quick trip to rural China shows that there is a long way to go. But through efforts like those of Sun Jun, there is reason for optimism.

Cam MacMurchy is a Victoria journalist working in China.

cam.macmurchy@gmail.com

Two items to pass along this afternoon.

I was surprised and a little bemused to see a notice going out in this week's That's Beijing weekly newsletter.  Under the June 22 events column, I found this:

» Quebec National Day
Come celebrate Quebec's National Day with The Bookworm. RMB 120 includes buffet and three drinks (free for kids under 12). For tickets, contact Denise at 139 1011 9354.
6pm. The Bookworm (6586 9507)

Yes, I know this is a private event.  And as a Canadian, I don't much care if there are Quebec Nationalist events in China, Canada, or anywhere else (we are much more secure about these things).  But I still found the event humerous, considering China's track record with others who give the slightest hint of dealing with or referring to Taiwan as a nation.  

Obviously the Bookworm is a private business, and is not a reflection of the government.  But the next time some private group/company/organization decides to Honor the Dalai Lama or Chen Shui-bian or whatever or whomever else, we should remember this event in the heart of Beijing. (I am tempted to say this event "hurts the feelings of the Canadian people.")

And for a laugh, well, if you're not Peruvian, check out this story.  It appears Cameron Diaz has landed in hot water for wearing one of those Mao bags emblazoned with the red star that we see in all the tourist markets in China.

While the bags are marketed as trendy fashion accessories in some world capitals, the phrase has particular resonance in Peru.

The Maoist Shining Path insurgency took Peru to the edge of chaos in the 1980s and early 1990s with a campaign of massacres, assassinations and bombings.

Nearly 70,000 people were killed during the insurgency.

A prominent Peruvian human rights activist said the star of There's Something About Mary should have been a little more aware of local sensitivities when picking her accessories.

I'm wondering, now that superstar Cameron Diaz has been spotted sporting the Mao bag, if I should buy a bunch of these and begin peddling them on eBay. 

I have already staked out my claim on the 2008 presidential election, and perhaps I was the earliest guy to do so. That being said, other factors can shake up the race, and we are getting lots of other factors.  Over the past couple of weeks Fred Thompson has emerged as a possible front-runner for the Republicans, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just pulled out of the Republican party amid speculation he will run as an independent. Despite all this, New York Times editorial board describes the '08 race this way:

Mr. Bloomberg’s announcement that he is getting out of the G.O.P. but not getting into the race, certainly brought some fresh air into the longest and already most airless presidential campaign in memory.

Really?  For the first time in history, a black man (okay, he's not totally "authentic" black, which is the buzzword in the US media at the moment) has a realistic shot at becoming President.  Likewise, Hillary Clinton has a legitimate chance of breaking the gender barrier and becoming the country's first woman President. Either one of those two storylines are great, and this year we have both!  Not to mention the candidates on the Republican side: an actor-cum-senator Fred Thompson shaking up the race, America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, formerly-popular maverick Senator John McCain, a Mormon candidate (Mitt Romney) and now a potential respectable and formidable third-party candidate.  This is hardly what I would describe as an "airless campaign." What more does the Old Grey Lady expect? 

Anyway, I am just leaving the office, so don't have a lot of time to expand on this (although I certainly have lots to add!). Below are a few links you might want to check out, with a focus on Bloomberg's decision to bolt the Republican party and speculation on his next move.

• Some say Bloomberg has been preparing this bid for nearly two years, and has been studying Ross Perot's third-party run from 1992. He doesn't want to simply be a spoiler.
  
• Needless to say, his decision hasn't made his predecessor, Rudi Giuliani, too happy.
• The Boston Globe isn't too confident of Bloomberg, or any person who decides to run as an independent.
• And finally, if there is one MUST READ for politicos, it's The Note by ABC News.  My former media relations boss (one of the smartest men I've ever met) turned me on to this, and it's a must for those serious about US politics. Many of the links I've listed here are courtesy of the Note.
  

So there I was, in a taxi with one of my colleagues. We were discussing the merits of Beijing and Shanghai, something of which I touched on earlier but hope to explore more fully in the future.  He said he loves Beijing, and wants to live in Shanghai following the Olympics because he loves it there, too.  "Have you been to Guangzhou?" I asked.  "No. I have no desire to go there.  It's unsafe," was the reply. It's a common answer.

The thing is, everybody knows about Beijing and Shanghai, and the third member of the "big Chinese city" clique seems to always get left out: Guangzhou.

Ever since I arrived in Beijing I tend to ask if people have been there.  "No" is the usual response.  That's usually followed by horror stories of wallets and bags being stolen, people being cut with knives, and general violence. There are then some digs at the Cantonese and Cantonese language, and their perceived poor ability in Putonghua. Odd that such descriptions come from people who have never been there.

Just before I made the move south, my old boss at China Radio International, Xu Huazhen, regaled me with horror stories about Guangzhou.  I was excited to be moving onto a new job, and I ran into her in the hallway.  

 "Have you ever been to Guangzhou?" I asked.

"Yes... it's awful!  They eat such strange things down there, they are dirty, and it's very unsafe.  You won't like it at all."

I must admit I can't remember her exact words, but they are very close to the ones I've written above, and exact in spirit. Nonetheless, these weren't exactly the reassuring words I was looking for ahead of my big move.

I'm not sure how such a vile image of Guangzhou came about.  What I do know, is that these stereotypes of different regions in China are just as strong, no matter which region you're talking about.  Engage a Bejinger about Shanghai, or vice versa, and you will hear a torrent of criticisms and generalizations about the other.  Guangzhou people are no different. Anyone outside of Guangdong, I was told, is referred to as a laobi, or butlau, in Cantonese.  And the people in Dongbei are apparently the worst and most uncivilized.

Anyway, I could yammer on all day about stereotypes, but the point of this post is to give a much needed defense to one of China's great historic cities, a cultural mecca, China's wealthiest city, and my former home: Guangzhou.

First, some admissions: Guangzhou is probably slightly more dangerous than other places.  I base this on one fact: even people in Guangzhou told me so.  During my time in Guangzhou, I witnessed one purse-snatching. In Beijing or Shanghai, I saw zero. Although some of my friends had their cell phones and digital cameras stolen (both in Beijing). On personal account, Guangzhou doesn't seem any more or less dangerous. That being said, maybe avoid the San Yuan Li area if you can. Guangzhou residents tell me the crime is largely committed by migrants from nearby Hunan.

Now that that's out of the way, here are the other things I experenced:

• Superb southern charm - like elsewhere in China, the Cantonese people are proud of their heritage and are keen to help others and welcome them to their community.
• A rich history - Mao himself taught at a school in Guangzhou.  It was China's trading gateway for nearly 100 years during the Qing dynasty when all the other ports were closed.  It has a strong western influence.
• Weather - tropical.  Need I say more? Pollution not nearly as bad as Beijing, nor as dry. Sunshine, palm trees, and lots of outdoor swimming pools were the order of the day. I had to turn off my air conditioner in December and January. It dipped down to around 10 degrees in those months.
  
• Scenery - The banks of the mighty Pearl River have been revitalized. Each night visitors are treated to a laser-light show complete with music accompaniment (a ripoff from Hong Kong, I know). The water has also been cleaned up, and there's hardly any debris or litter that remains.  The Mayor of Guangzhou swam across the river last summer to prove its cleanliness (a bit of a stretch, I admit).
  
• City planning - Unlike Beijing, where historic buildings are being torn down to make way for the new and modern, Guangzhou is keeping its heritage.  The colonial buildings along the Pearl River and the beautiful European architecture on Shamian Island are tributes to the city's past. New business areas, instead of being built on top of these iconic spots, are being moved to either Tianhe or Pearl River New City.
• Cantonese language - I must admit, after living in Beijing previously, I was adverse to trying to learn a new language.  Those that speak both (and I admit, people that speak both are heavily Cantonese) claim Cantonese is much richer in substance and more pleasing to the ear. Since moving to Shanghai, and now Beijing, when I hear someone speaking Cantonese it brings back warm memories.
• Practical people - The Cantonese aren't concerned with politics, and while "saving face" is important all over China, it seems less-so in the south. They get things done, seem to be more efficient, and are more open (possibly due to its location near Hong Kong).
• Geographical location - Okay, I know in Shanghai I could visit Hangzhou and Nanjing.  I know there are other places.  Beijing?  Perhaps Tianjin?  What else is up here? In Guangzhou, it was, at most, 2 hours to some of the country's great cities or up-and-coming tourist destinations. Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Macao, and Hong Kong. I've omitted the smaller cities, but let's just say I visited some beautiful beach resorts, hot springs, and tropical locales only an hour outside of Guangzhou.
• Cantonese culture - which is a lot different from northern Chinese culture. During Chinese New Year, I must have received 60 red envelopes filled with money. Their eating customs are different, too: When we ate hot pot, they were disgusted that I put my chopsticks into the broth. They explained that the practise was dirty and could spread germs (obviously), and that nobody does that in Canton.  They use the spoon to dig out the bounty - ALL the time.

Do they eat weird things in Guangzhou?  Sure.  But I didn't eat anything too strange when I was there (except for a frog's ovaries, but that's for another post). The rural residents in Guangdong insist on eating civit cats, peacocks, and other animals. But they are looked down upon by the sophisticated city-folk.

The bottom line is Guangzhou is not one giant horror story.  It's one of China's great cities (much older and more cultured than Shanghai, Shenzhen, or Hong Kong, for example). It is the heart of Cantonese culture, a culture which has spread its wings around the entire globe. It also lies in the heart of China's wealthiest province, also known as the workshop of the world.

I wrote an article in the Times Colonist a while back that talked about how south China is the most exciting region in the country.  Even after having lived in Shanghai and returned to Beijing, which is preparing for the Olympics, I can't be more sure of what I wrote. 

Just a quick update this morning, as I rush around trying to pick up luggage from Shanghai.

• I went to the small village of Wushan, Hubei Province last week.  The village has turned itself into an eco-village led by the Beijing Green Cross. The transformation in the village has been astounding (I saw the "before" and "after" photos) and I will write at length about it shortly.  New irrigation systems have been put into place, the villagers now sort their garbage and recycle, and all the street lights are solar-powered. The village has been so successful that the program is being expanded into four new villages.
• I did another radio interview this morning on CKNW AM 980 in Vancouver, and broadcast around British Columbia on the Corus Radio Network.  It was a wide-ranging interview with more focus on June 4 (which, as I said earlier, seems to be a pre-occupation among journalists in western countries). It was nearly 30 minutes in length and even included some critical callers.  You can find the interview here, shortly after the newscast at the top of the hour.
• Courtesy of the China Law Blog comes this article in the Seattle Times about the delicious Chinese food in Vancouver.  As my hometown is Vancouver, I couldn't be more proud of the variety of cuisine there, Chinese and otherwise.
  
• And finally, imagine Rosie O'Donnell as host of the Price is Right.
  

I've lived in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.  I've spent copious amounts of time in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macao.  I've hit all the main tourist places in China... Hangzhou, Xi'an, Guilin, Dongguan, Zhuhai, etc.  But one place I've never been is the countryside.

Guilin is probably the closest I got.  I caught the bus from Guilin to Yangshuo, a tourist mecca in its own right. But the bus wound through sparse roads and crumbling homes en route to the trendy West Street.  Sure, I saw chickens running across the street, and things like that.  It was rural, but not as rural as where I'm off to this afternoon.

I am heading out to a small village called Wushan in Hubei province.  It's apparently got electricity, which is good.  Not so sure on the running water part.  And I've seen photos of the bathrooms in Wushan -- let's just say it must be cold in the winter, and hopefully it doesn't rain much.  There are no hotels in the village, so I will be staying at a government guest house.

I'm looking forward to it, yet also thankful it's only for two nights.  I'll post a full report when I return. 

A huge hat-tip to Danwei for this article on a controversy in Salt Lake City. As I was reading through it, I couldn't believe this wasn't a satire of some kind. There are so many angles to this story.

The premise is this: Real Salt Lake hosted China in a football friendly at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Considering the game was in the United States, it could be expected that the fans cheered for the home team, and they didn't disappoint. That wasn't the problem -- the problem was the taunts given to the Chinese side. Did they hurl racial epithets? Make faces with squinty eyes? No. Their crime was to wave the flags of Tibet and Taiwan.

Coker said he and several others, including five Tibetan men, were escorted out of the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium by about 10 officials, including stadium personnel and Real Salt Lake representatives, because they had been waving Tibetan flags and had refused to put them away when the officials told them to do so.

The controversy began shortly after halftime, when Chinese players complained about fans displaying Taiwanese and Tibetan flags and a sign that said "6-4," written in Chinese. That sign referred to June 4, 1989, the date of the Chinese government's attack on protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Members of the Chinese National Team stepped off the field and refused to continue playing unless the flags were put away.

Now, clearly waving the Tibet and Taiwan flags would not be appreciated by the Chinese players. Although I'm sure chants of Osama in Mexico City a few years ago didn't impress the American side, either. Unlike Tibet and Taiwan, 9/11 happened only a few years ago and left a deep scar on the American psyche.  It has directly lead to two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thousands of Americans are dying overseas. Many people lost loved ones in Washington, Pennsylvania, and New York that day.  I would argue most Americans have been personally touched by 9/11 in some way, whether they lost someone in the attacks, lost a family member or friend in the wars, or has seen someone head off to Iraq or Afghanistan. As such, I would argue that the wounds from 9/11 go much deeper to today's generation of Americans than the plight of Tibet does to today's generation of Chinese.

Despite this, fans in Mexico city chanted "Osama! Osama!" to throw off the American players and score political points. One American player summed up his experience in the game this way.

"Since Mexico won convincingly, every fan walked out cheering," U.S. goalkeeper D.J. Countess said Wednesday after training. "I've been hit with bags of urine, limes and batteries. There even was a dead chicken thrown on the field next to me in El Salvador, but since Mexico got the result they wanted, there wasn't much of that.

"I'm sure if we would have won the game, there would have been a lot of stuff thrown at us and a lot of chants."

Dead chickens? Being pelted with batteries? The Americans played through it regardless, even though there were threats against their personal safety. The Chinese can't bear seeing a flag they consider offensive. Draw your own conclusions.

Sports is about having fun, and generally shouldn't be political. That being said, fans will be fans. I'm a big Vancouver Canucks fan, and their playoff drive this spring saw them go through the Dallas Stars and struggling goaltender Marty Turco. Game in and game out, fans chanted "Turco Sucks!" I couldn't image how hearing 18,000 fans, chanting in unison that you suck, could make a player feel. Nonetheless, he played his heart out, was terrific, and was arguably Dallas' best player in the series. In other words, he was mature about it.

I don't totally object to taking things to a political level either, as long as it's done with respect. No burning flags, no burning effigies, no racial epithets. Waving a Tibet flag, while it carries inferences of "Tibetan Independence" does not necessarily mean so. It's a fairly benign way to make a point. Likewise with Taiwan, which has a flag that is flown in Olympic ceremonies and in places all over the world. Perhaps references to 6-4 were a little over the top, but I still err on the side of free speech. At the end of the day, the game was in America, and if you can't make political points there without fear of repercussion, where can you?

I can understand why the government and players objected to having these banners and flags flown while they played. Just like I understand why goalkeeper D.J. Countess didn't like being pelted with batteries, or why Marty Turco didn't like being told repeatedly he sucked. But I can't help but think that this is life, and this is sports -- grow up, and get over it. I'm still waiting for an official Chinese government spokesperson to say that the flags "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people", a phrase that turns supposedly thinking, mature adults into defenseless children. It's a sorry state of affairs when the world's apparent future superpower won't even play football because it's offended by some piddly flags.

Regardless of the political implications, many fans admitted they were just trying to throw the team off.

Fitzgerald said the fans who were ejected weren't really interested in protesting China's politics and instead just wanted to harass and disrupt the Chinese team. He said other fans have frequently complained about those particular fans' use of profanity and sexually explicit language and props during previous games.

Again, trying to distract the opposition is perfectly normal. Just watch an opposing player try and throw a free throw in the NBA.

Despite Fitzgerald's reasons for being there, others were definitely trying to make a political point, and feel their rights were infringed upon -- and rightly so.

Coker admits that he displayed the flag partly to distract and annoy the visiting team, but he said it was mostly a "form of expression about the plight of the people of Tibet."

"I'm going to be contacting the ACLU, and I'm going to pursue it," he said. "I want to hold people accountable if they broke the law, because I know I didn't."

Ironically, the flags flown by Tibetans, Taiwanese, and other concerned Americans was nearly a direct result of China's control of information within the P.R.C. When people can't make these points directly to the Chinese government, they spill out in sporting events and other activities. If China was to allow free debate and discussion on things like Tibet and Taiwan, or engage with those critical of it, perhaps there would be no need to use this kind of an event to score political points. I highly doubt people would be carrying banners saying "6-4" if the Chinese government had already given a full vetting of the event.

At some point the Chinese government and people will have to come to terms with its sometimes brutal and controversial past.  The longer things like June 4th are ignored, the more they will crop up in events like this.  Keeping the people shielded from opinions and events that might be uncomfortable may work inside the P.R.C. for the time being, but it will spill out in other places, like this week's football match. And it's going to spill out a lot more frequently in the years to come.

This also boils down to the players, management, and owners of China's football team.  Were they really so offended that they couldn't play?  Was seeing a Tibetan flag so offensive and utterly disgusting that they were prepared to walk off the field?  Is this the mindset of the Chinese people?  And if so, the rest of the world is scared about what, exactly? 

__________________ 

Notes:

• Video from the game, including shots of the forbidden flags, can be found here.
  
• A fan, who was at the game and waved an ROC flag, blogged about his experience getting kicked out of the stadium here.
  

I've definitely had bad luck when looking for apartments in Beijing. I moved to the city in 2004 when a number of new buildings opened catering to foreigners, such as Lan Bao and Sunshine 100, both near the Dawanglu Subway station in the Central Business District. At the time, my good friend and CCTV 9 news anchor James Aitken took a place in Lan Bao for 4000 RMB per month -- it was a tiny, albeit new, bachelor suite. I paid 4500 a month for a bachelor in Sunshine 100, although the bed was in a room slightly separate from the living room.

We both watched as rents plummeted in the following year. I renegotiated my contract after a year, and got the rent lowered to 4000. Shortly thereafter, friends were finding beautiful new 2 bedroom places for 4000 or even less. But how times have changed.

Coming from Shanghai, I figured everything here must be cheaper. I had a 23rd floor (the top) 2 bedroom suite near People's Square. It was 144 square meters. The view from my patio and bedroom window was to die for - an unobstructed panorama of Shanghai's skyline. Not to mention it was a 5 minute walk to the Xinzha Road subway station. For this, I paid 6000 a month. Surely I can get something in Beijing for cheaper?

Not so. I mean, sure, if I wanted to live outside of the third ring road. My office is on Chaoyangmenwai, and after catching Beijing's rickety and smelly subway from Dawanglu to Babaoshan (CRI) and the Military Museum (CCTV) I realized I want no part of it for my second tour in Beijing. I want to live within walking, biking, or a very short subway ride to work. But that also means higher rents.

Apartments quite far south of Jianguomen are going for 4500 - simple one bedrooms, and the one I saw didn't even have a TV. Pretty much everything half-decent inside the third ring starts at 5000. What happened? Sure, people tell me, I'm being quoted the laowai price, even though my girlfriend has been doing everything, and she's Chinese. I've also bargained with a few -- I found a decent two bedroom loft for 5000 at Dongsishitiao. The furniture was old and sparse, the bathrooms and kitchen were falling apart. And it was a 6-floor upstairs hike to get to the front door. The building, although I'm told it's new, looks like it serves as a dorm for migrant workers from Hebei. The best part was it had an upstairs loft and a big patio, although the architects, in their infinite wisdom, surrounded the thing with a 3-meter high concrete wall. We couldn't see anything, other than the odd star in the sky, which is a once-a-year occurance in Beijing. Anyway, they lowered the price down to 4500 for me, but I still had to think about it.  Is this the best I'm gonna get?

Part of the issue is I've decided to study Chinese full-time, and work part-time, so I planned a reduction in my living standards already. But I didn't plan this drastic of one.

Finally this morning, I found my new home. I'm paying way more than I wanted, but such is life in the new Beijing. I'll be living in Xingfu Er Cun, a mere 5 minute walk north of Gongti's north gate. It's an awesome location. A 5th floor, two bedroom suite. No elevator, which is no big deal. It has white carpets in the living room and bedroom, which is uncommon in China to say the least. The bottom line is it feels like a home, and it's well decorated. For this, I will pay 5200 RMB per month - about 1200 more then I originally budgeted.

Last night I sat on the rooftop at Kokomo in Sanlitun and paid 45 kuai for drinks, something that was not so common in Beijing even two years ago. I'm not a cheap-skate by any measure (just look at my bank account) but I've realized the frontier, bohemian, cheap party that Beijing used to be is quickly evaporating.  In a way, it's sad, but also inevitable. 

I'm not sure how Chinese teachers make it here anymore. Beijing has a long way to go before it's as expensive as Tokyo or Hong Kong (my favorite city), but it's certainly on its way. 

I never thought I would miss Shanghai because it's cheaper. 

This is a letter that was published in Wednesday's edition of the National Post.  It is a follow-up of a column that was published on Monday to coincide with the June 4th anniversary.  I think the letter writer raises some good points.

Tiananmen no concern of a 'capitalistic' China
National Post
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Page: A15
Section: Letters
Byline: Petros Dratsidis
Source: National Post

Re: Chinese amnesia, Cam MacMurchy, June 4.

With all due respect to Cam MacMurchy, the so-called Tiananmen Square Massacre is not a major anniversary in Chinese history. We are talking about a nation with a 5,000-year history, a nation whose population is one-fifth of humanity, an emerging and ambitious superpower. What happened in early June, 1989, in Beijing is merely an episode in history caused by misguided and impressionable students, an episode equivalent to the 1968 riots in Paris or the student unrest in North American universities between 1968 and 1972, but far smaller in scale.

Talk about amnesias: Should the French commemorate the anarchy on their streets some 40 years ago? Should the U.S. president lay a wreath every May 4 to commemorate the killing of the four students at Kent State University in 1970?

I have just returned from China, and I can assure you that the epithet "communist" does not fit China today. There are no pictures of Mao glancing admonishingly from billboards -- except the one overlooking Tiananmen Square, where his mausoleum is. The police on the streets are almost invisible, and owning private property is encouraged, as is opening a private business. Western music is everywhere, Shanghai's stock market is booming and China is full of "capitalistic" energy, in fact, too much of it.

If we must give a name to the Chinese system of government, then a correct name would be centralized democracy. Foreign investment agrees with this assessment, and is pouring into China at rates never seen before in history.

David Brady, deputy director of the Hoover Institute of Stanford University, recently said: "The normal pattern is for at least two parties to alternate in power … but I wouldn't say that has to be China's way. I am not smart enough to tell what China should do."

The same should apply to Mr. MacMurchy. Is he, a freelance journalist, knowledgeable enough to tell the Chinese people how to conduct their affairs?

Petros Dratsidis, Toronto.

Petros makes some good points about other movements that have been crushed by the government or law enforcement officials, especially the one at Kent State in the United States (although that was 4 people to an estimated 3,000 in Beijing).

Governments, including the Chinese one, should never feel obligated to remember those who died challenging their authority. However individuals -- the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins of the victims -- should be able to remember what happened, publicly, if they so choose. 

People in Paris can read about the riots of 1968, and lay a wreath if they like.  People in America can read about what happened at Kent State or watch a documentary on the subject.

Unfortunately, when it comes to June 4, 1989, people in China aren't so lucky. 

It's nice to see Canada having a bit more flair. Yesterday, current Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided to decline a meeting with U2 star Bono.

"I've got to say that meeting celebrities isn't kind of my shtick, that was the shtick of the previous guy," said Harper in a dig at his Liberal predecessor Paul Martin, who met Bono regularly.

"I hope we do it at some point but my principle focus in public policies is not kind of to meet celebrities," added the prime minister, a Conservative.

The Reuters story says Bono has met with George W. Bush and Angela Merkl already, but Harper says he's too busy to meet the star. 

While relieving debt to African nations is a laudable goal, it's nice to come across a politician who is more concerned with actual politics instead of photo-ops with celebrities. 

Huang's funeral was held at Babaoshan Cemetary, where all the major government leaders and revolutionaries are buried.  Even disgraced former leader Zhao Ziyang was buried there, despite his opposition to the government's crackdown on June 4, 1989 and subsequent house arrest, which lasted untl his death in January 2005.

Jiang Zemin and his ailing wife made it up from Shanghai and all the way out to Shijingshan for the memorial, which makes it all the more curious that Li Peng and Qiao Shi weren't there - as Beijing residents, they didn't have nearly as far to go.

Those familiar with Li Peng will know he was the Premier under Zhao Ziyang in 1989. He was the most vocal and supportive of bringing in the military to rid Tiananmen Square of protesters. Students in the square (and people around the country) loathed Li Peng for everything from corruption to overusing government vehicles and stopping traffic for simple trips to the grocery store (Zhongnanhai hears this may have also been his wife). 

Li Peng was no fan of Huang Ju, and speculation has run rampant for the reasons behind this.

As for Qiao Shi, he served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1993-1998.  He was previously known for his dislike of Jiang Zemin, and Huang Ju was a Jiang loyalist and member of his Shanghai clique. 

They were the only two high-level officials or former leaders who were not present for the memorial. 

It's been a big week here.  Besides moving from Shanghai to Beijing (and I am still seeking suitable living quarters in Beijing), trying to blog, Huang Ju's death, and the passing of the June 4th anniversary, lots has been happening.

Fortunately one of my columns this week was picked up by Canada's Toronto-based national newspaper, the National Post.  I was subsequently called to be a guest on Adler Online, a nationally-syndicated radio program. Yes, despite everything that's going on in China, the Tiananmen Square crackdown (or massacre, if you prefer -- see Imagethief for an excellent post on this) remains one of the most compelling stories for foreign audiences.

I hope to post the audio from the interview here shortly, but for the time being you can find it here.  Click "Mon June 4" and "2:00pm" and then fast forward to about 2:45. They have a nice intro complete with broadcast news snippets from June 4, 1989.

The article I've posted below, and my radio interview, largely deals with the lack of attention (obviously) paid to the June 4 anniversary.  It's remembered by those who lived in Beijing, and discussed by the older generation in the provinces.  But thanks to strong and centrally-controlled media, many in the younger generation have no idea what happend.  Here is proof. 

In the meantime, I have posted the National Post column below.

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Chinese amnesia; Today is the 18th anniversary of Tiananmen. But few in China know --or care
National Post
Monday, June 4, 2007
Page: A12
Section: Editorials
Byline: Cam MacMurchy
Dateline: BEIJING
Source: National Post

BEIJING - Today is a major anniversary in Chinese history -- but you wouldn't know it from the country's media. In fact, China's Communist rulers go to great pains to make sure no one publicly mentions what June 4, 2007 represents: the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

At least that's what the West calls the event. In China, it's simply known as "June 4th." On the 15th anniversary, in 2004, a large sign on the front door of state-run China Radio International informed staff not to mention the date, and all programs were pre-recorded for the entire week lest anybody slip-up.

The seeds of the massacre were sown when the Communist Party declared martial law on May 20, 1989, after a month of protests and hunger strikes by hundreds of thousands of students calling for improved economic conditions, a crackdown on corruption and democracy. The tanks rolled into the outskirts of Beijing, where they sat until June 3, when then-supreme leader Deng Xiaoping gave the orders to clear the Square "at all cost." The tanks began heading through the streets of the capital after sunset.

What happened that night is hard for me to imagine, though I've lived in Beijing for nearly two years. Tanks rumbled through neighbourhoods such as Muxidi, which I used to pass daily on my way to work, and Dongzhimen, where many of the city's best eateries are located. The troops met fierce resistance, as citizens clamoured onto overpasses and hurled rocks at their countrymen. The army responded by firing into the crowd, and even into people's homes.

That night, the city burned. Estimates of the number of people who died vary from a few hundred to several thousand. No clear number has ever emerged, partly because the Communist Party still denies what happened. To this day, the event, in official terms, is dubbed: "The counterrevolutionary riot."

I went down to the square late at night on June 3 a few years ago to mark the anniversary. The lights that normally lit the revolutionary statue and Mao's famous portrait were turned off, and the middle of the square was closed. It was crawling with plain-clothes police, some of whom were flying kites -- in the dead of night. Police cars with lights flashing were doing laps around the square, looking for the first sign of anything suspicious, such as somebody laying flowers to remember those who died.

This campaign of official amnesia is working: Many in the younger generation have no idea what happened 18 years ago. I had a local friend visit me the other day, a woman who was seven years old in 1989. I asked her about the event, and she said, "Nobody ever told me what happened. I just know it was bad."

I brought her to the computer, clicked on Google and searched for images of "Tiananmen Square." Dozens of photos popped up -- including images of that famous unnamed man, standing defiantly along Chang'an Avenue in front of a tank. She had never seen the photo.

I proceeded to give her a brief description of what happened. She had no idea of the carnage in her own hometown.

The event is slowly being forgotten in China as people clamour to make money, live in luxurious apartments, and buy BMWs and Prada handbags. The Communist Party opened fire on its own young, and the bloody offensive seems to have paid off.

Even foreign governments, which initially imposed sanctions on China following the massacre, long ago moved on. They now trip over themselves to please China's Communist emperors and tap into the country's massive market.

An English-language Web forum was launched two years ago in China. Surprisingly, it allows a great deal of free debate. Included among the permitted topics is Tibetan Independence, the status of Taiwan and relations with Japan --all hot-button issues in China. But discussing June 4 remains forbidden.

Despite this, ghosts of the event still haunt the country and foreign news pages. Yu Dongyue, now 40, was released in February last year after spending 17 years in prison for throwing ink at Mao's looming portrait during the protest. He was tortured for his crime, and his father said he's unable to properly communicate with his family.

And leading up to last year's anniversary, a group of mothers of Tiananmen Square victims again asked the government to review its official position on June 4 and remember those who died. The mothers, and the rest of the world, may be waiting a long time for satisfaction.

Yes... it could be true!  Zhongnanhai has confirmed this morning that all state-run media have been instructed to refrain from giving Huang's cause of death, which is widely believed to be cancer.

The concern stems from recent stories about China sending shipments of tainted toothpaste overseas. The toothpaste contained a chemical widely believed to cause cancer.  And... just what if... Huang Ju had been using that kind of toothpaste?  What if using tainted toothpaste killed Huang Ju?  The story was too sensational for China's Propaganda Department, which issued an edict ordering newspapers, radio and TV stations to refrain from giving Huang Ju's cause of death. 

One can never be too careful. 

Now, it's one thing if the hated Japanese and their former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi make visits to the infamous Yasukuni Shrine.  The disgust with the Japanese runs deep here, and Koizumi's decision to attend the shrine each year he was in office just confirmed Chinese beliefs that Japan, and its ruling Liberal Democratic Party, had not "come to terms with history."

But now this... former Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui plans to visit the shrine to pay respects to Japan's war dead.  Why, you ask?  According to an article in the Taipei Times, he will be honoring his brother. 

Former president Lee Teng-hui yesterday said he would like to visit the Yasukuni shrine, a controversial memorial to war dead where his elder brother is enshrined.

Lee's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.

"I have not yet decided on the timing, but since I am here, I think that I should go see my brother," Lee told reporters on his arrival at Narita airport near Tokyo.

"I will meet my brother for the first time in 60 years," Lee said.

Lee, accompanied by his wife Tseng Wen-hui, left for Japan yesterday for a 10-day visit.

Speaking to Japanese reporters on the flight from Taipei, the 84-year-old former leader said he wanted to pray at the Yasukuni shrine because he did not know how much longer he would live.

The issue has touched a nerve in Taiwan, and rightly so.  Last year I made a visit to Yaskuni myself.  It's a very sombre place, and steeped in history. Adjacent to the shrine is the Yasukuni War Museum, which I also visited.  Outside the building it lists the different exhibits inside.  For example, "World War II", "The Meiji Restoration", etc.  And at the bottom of the list is the last exhibit, simply titled "The China Incident."

Inside, great pains are made by the museum to explain that Japan was never at war with China, because Tokyo had never "declared" war.  Thus, the word "incident".  After reading Iris Chang's excellent book on the Nanjing Massacre, I was anxious to read what the museum had to say.  Indeed, it was simply called the "Nanking Incident". This is the exact wording:

After the Japanese surrounded Nanking in December 1937, Gen. Matsui Iwane distributed maps to his men with foreign settlements and the Safety Zone marked in red ink. Matsui told them that they were to observe military rules to the letter and that anyone committing unlawful acts would be severely punished.  He also warned Chinese troops to surrender, but Commander-in-Chief Tang Shengzhi ignored the warning.  Instead, he ordered his men to defend Nanking to the death, and then abandoned them.  The Chinese were soundly defeated, suffering heavy casualties.  Inside the city, residents were once again able to live their lives in peace.

I added the Italics. If that's not enough, here is the official Japanese take on "the Russo-Japanese War to the Manchurian Incident".

Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War and subsequent annexation of Korea resolved concerns about national security, which had been festering for years. Relief and exultation delayed the Japanese response to a new world situation. When World War I began, Japan cooperated with the Allies, capturing German possessions (Qingdao and the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands), and dispatching a special fleet to the Mediterranean Sea and other troops to Siberia. Meanwhile, at the Washington Conference in the U.S., plans were made to disrupt the new, postwar order in Asia and to prevent further Japanese expansion. The Chinese, now nationalistic and xenophobic after the revolution, focused their animosity on Japan.  An anti-Japanese movement in Manchuria and discord within the Kwantung Army resulted in the Manchurian Incident and the establishment of Manchukuo.

The exhibit goes on to say that Manchukuo is territory that is "currently governed by the Chinese."

Clearly, this is the way that the Japanese military establishment views its past, and on that note I sympathize with the Chinese.  Anyone that knows me knows I love Japan and Japanese culture.  Japan, and what the country has been able to accomplish in the past 60 years, sets a great example for other countries, like China.  Japan is industrious, the people are hard-working, and it has been able to pull off something perhaps China is failing at: holding onto old traditions while embracing western culture and modernity (which are not the same, I hasten to add).

Nonetheless, places like the Yasukuni Museum puts a taint on Japan. I have no problem with Japanese leaders remembering their war dead, but enshrining class A war criminals goes too far. 

Back to Lee Tung-hui. His visit is being criticized by lawmakers in his former party, the KMT. This, from a second article in the Taipei Times:

KMT lawmakers Hung Hsiu-chu and Joanna Lei called a press conference yesterday morning to condemn Lee's planned visit, calling Lee a "liar" for saying he wished to honor his deceased brother.

They said the spirit of Lee's elder brother had been brought back to Taiwan about 20 years ago and put in Chihua Temple, Peipu Township, Hsinchu County.

They showed a picture of a tablet bearing the Japanese name of Lee's brother, his date of birth and pointed to the name of Lee's father, Lee Ching-long, as evidence.

"There is no tablet, remains or any spirit of his brother at Yasukuni. There is only an enshrinement list there. The spirits of [Taiwanese] soldiers enshrined at Yasukuni were all relocated to the Chihua temple. I don't know what Lee is going to honor." Hung said.

Hung said she suspected that Lee's planned visit to the shrine was aimed at infuriating China.

I would guess the two lawmakers are correct.  As much as I support the right of the Taiwanese to determine their own future, actions like Lee's can only be seen to enrage China, and he has a long history of such actions. Hopefully Chinese leaders will ignore Lee's provocative move.

In the 2004 Democratic primaries, I slowly became a John Edwards fan.  I felt John Kerry was unelectable to red-meat red-staters, and it turned out to be true.  Howard Dean was obviously too shrill and generally just nuts.  Edwards' drawback was his inexperience (much like Barack Obama today), but he had charisma, was a great orator, was from the south, and seemed generally likeable (also like Obama, minus the south part).

It could be argued Edwards' star has fallen since then, especially according to an article published in TIME magazine.  The article, written by veteran campaign manager Bob Shrum, recounts the days John Kerry was agonizing over who to select as his running mate. It says veteran Missouri Senator Dick Gephardt was the man Kerry felt most comfortable with.

Kerry talked with several potential picks, including Gephardt and Edwards. He was comfortable after his conversations with Gephardt, but even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else—that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before—and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't pick Edwards unless he met with him again.

Kerry did go on to pick Edwards, and the article concludes with Kerry regretting the decision. It also says Edwards promised Kerry he wouldn't run against him in 2008, a promise we will never know if he had any intention of keeping.  But Shrum makes Edwards seem vacuous and power-hungry.

The article is actually an excerpt from Shrum's new book, No Excuses - Concessions of a Serial Campaigner. Having read the article and some of the reviews on Amazon.com, I think this is a book I'll likely be picking up on my next trip home.  Publisher's Weekly characterized the book this way:

With this lengthy but frequently gripping memoir, Shrum recounts his three-decade career in American politics, which he began as a speechwriter for New York's Mayor John Lindsay and ended as a campaign strategist for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. More insider history than memoir, the book focuses almost exclusively on the author's professional experience, featuring richly detailed accounts of his efforts working on Edward Kennedy's, Al Gore's and John Kerry's unsuccessful presidential bids (conversely, Shrum covers his engagement and wedding to Marylouise, his wife of 18 years, in three swift pages). Unsurprisingly, given his background, Shrum writes with eloquence and passion; more unexpected is his disarming candor. He's by turns effusive and brutal, for example waxing poetic about Edward Kennedy after vehemently criticizing Jimmy Carter. Later, he voices somewhat harsh ambivalence toward Bill Clinton. A deep sense of disappointment pervades the book: Shrum's string of failed presidential campaigns led to talk of the "Shrum curse," which the author never managed to overcome. Casual judgments and frank disclosures along the way make this a provocative and entertaining behind-the-scenes look at American politics.