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BradZimmerman

Listed below are comments made by BradZimmerman between Wednesday, 16th July 2008 and Tuesday, 17th March 2009.

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Choosing the next Dalai Lama 01:55am on 17 Mar 2009 More "Chinese-style democracy" which means: the central government does whatever it wants, whether that's abusing your land, your home, your life or your religion. Good deal... if you're the one in power.
Tough words on human rights 8:02pm on 28 Feb 2009 Bad things happen both in the US and China. I think what the Chinese miss in their report, however, is a distinction between "societal ills" and "poor human rights".

Societal ills: getting shot/stabbed/attacked by a non-government person, e.g. your neighbor or some stranger.

Poor human rights: Getting shot by a police officer or military person.

Societal ills: Drug use and poor mental/physical health services that lead to premature death.

Poor human rights: Companies, inspected by corrupt/lazy/incompetent government officials, that are more or less allowed to produce substandard food/drink.

Societal ills: Racial discrimination (in the judicial system or anywhere).

Poor human rights: Closed trials, defendants with poor or no access to a lawyer, corrupt judges that ignore evidence/testimony, sham trials.

Societal ills: Sensationalist news reporting, one-sided news reporting (but presented as multi-faceted reporting) that leaves the general population knowing plenty about nothing.

Poor human rights: journalists that are threatened, detained or jailed.

There are many problems in the United States (and in "the West") and there are many problems in China. One of the big differences is, though, that MOST of the US's problems are caused by the general public. In China, MOST of the problems are caused by the government. It is acceptable to people in the US (and in "the West") for problems to be caused by the general public but NOT by the government. Why? Because it is relatively easy for one person to take action against another person or even a company. Taking action against the government of a country is almost impossible and likely to get you in jail or murdered. You, an individual, can not fight against an enemy armed with bombs, tanks and aircraft. So when the government violates your rights to be free, to speak freely, to be safe... you have NO recourse.

That is the difference between societal ills and poor human rights.

To be perfectly clear, the difference is: societal ills have the potential to be "fixed" by the people themselves. Poor human rights, perpetuated by a lazy, incompetent, corrupt, malicious or indifferent government do not have much potential to fixed by the people but require a government to respect the people they govern, to listen to the people they govern and to care about the people they govern.

Chinese people, whether you live outside of China (why, I wonder?) or Chinese people that live in China: defending the Chinese government by saying that China is different and has a different history so it should be judged/treated differently ...you are simply making excuses and allowing the people of China to continue being disrespected and abused by the Chinese government. Because China is not likely to be changed from within in a NON-violent way it is up to the rest of the world to pressure the government of China to change. The United States, China's biggest trading partner, is right to speak up regarding China's poor human rights.

Let's be fair, though: the societal ills of the US should not be dismissed in an off-handed manner. They are serious, VERY serious and are not easily solved. While the US has a more open judiciary and government there are still far too many violations of the law by those entrusted to enforce the law or to deliver justice under the law.

I suppose it can be summed up like this: where would you rather live? In the US or China?

I personally would rather not live in either place; I'd choose Canada, Germany, Norway or my current home of Poland. They are all better than the US or China.
Saying sorry to the Chinese 01:50am on 13 Feb 2009 Ahhh, saying sorry without saying "sorry". The art of appearing contrite while admitting no guilt (though possibly alluding to it).

Normally I think of Asian cultures as possessing the most class, finesse, subtlety... but this makes me realize that isn't necessarily the case. We're just used to this sort of thing in the west; we know such apologies are meaningless but necessary, lacking in emotion or feeling but the absence of even a hollow apology is worse.

The problem, though, is that while the "sorry!" is necessary and expected, since no one is actually sorry they have learned nothing, aren't at all sorry and will likely do more misdeeds. That's the way of the world, I guess.
The last bangs 01:08am on 10 Feb 2009 With fireworks flying around for two weeks, I'm surprised that many more buildings aren't burned to the ground and many, many more fingers aren't blown off. People who set of fireworks like that are not necessarily concerned with where they go, as James pointed out, so incidents like this are surely bound to happen year after year.

Here in Poland (Krakow) I usually hear fireworks starting up an evening or two before New Year's Eve. It's annoying, especially because it seems so uninspired. People don't seem to be celebrating the new year or the end of the old one, just looking for an excuse to make a bunch of noise.
Are you still reading? 10:56am on 09 Feb 2009 I disagree with the sentiment (or theory) that "Google is making us stupid". One might argue that Google is making us impatient ...but I don't think it's Google. It's the internet in general.

Obviously, up until the last 10-15 years, most of us had to work pretty hard to do light research, to read news from lots of sources, or to stay in touch with lots of friends. These things are commonplace now; I regularly - daily - read news from 12 sources across the planet and another half-dozen a few times a week. However, I am almost always just reading the articles of interest to me. "Reading the entire paper" is not something many, if any, have time for today. Getting different perspectives on the same issue or event, getting local truly local news and quickly finding the information that you know is relevant is what I, if not we, are seeking.

Earlier today I was Googling for information on CDMA usage around the world. I took a very quick look at a number of links, perhaps less than 30 seconds on each, before finding the information that I was looking for which I proceeded to read in-depth. Did Googling make me stupid because I quickly scanned a number of links/information? Obviously not; they weren't exactly what I was looking for.

Do I need to write a long, two or three page letter to my parents, who live 7,500 kilometers away from me? Of course not, we email back-and-forth several times a week; there is no call for a lengthy letter. A few paragraphs with the latest news and we're done. Have we lost the art of letter writing? Of course not, it's just evolved.

People who had short attention spans or were, lets face it, just plain dim ...were that way before the internet. Yes, there are more kids taking Ritalin or the equivalent today but how many studies are done to verify the huge number of ADD diagnoses? I suspect that mums visit their GP's with the complaint of "he's always running around!" (e.g. being a child) and get prescribed Ritalin. What else would the doctors do? Tell mums to start accept the responsibility of parenthood and spend real, quality time with their children? Obviously not, it's easier to prescribe something.
Digital music - who can beat iTunes? 10:57pm on 23 Sep 2008 I'd never heard of 7digital before this blog post. Created an account (claimed I was in the UK since there doesn't appear to be a "Poland" option yet), used my existing Paypal account to pay for a few tracks. Took all of maybe 15 minutes from reading to listening and a good part of that 15 minutes was realizing it wasn't playing nice with Firefox. Once I attempted to download the tracks with IE7 all was well.

320Kbps MP3's with artwork and good tags for two tracks at £1.67. Not too bad in my opinion and a lot easier than attempting to use iTunes from Poland. iTunes demanded that I create an account with a credit card. No Paypal option, no option to use my debit card. So, no account on iTunes yet.
In retrospect 1:56pm on 23 Aug 2008 While the leadership of China will most likely handle the critisism with at least a bit of decorum and dignity, I doubt the same can be said for other commentators on this blog.
A cup of tea with China's police 01:18am on 06 Aug 2008 I'm very eager to see how the pro-Chinese serial-posters to the blog respond to this incident.

Will it be, "you were asking for it"? Or, "you must show China some respect (and you weren't!)" Perhaps it will be, "this is our country and 'Chinese democracy' is different (than actual democracy)!" Quite possibly someone will point out how James doesn't know Chinese, doesn't bother to investigate anything (and/or uses faulty investigatory methods), doesn't speak to regular/real Chinese people and how he ought to go back to the UK and report on the thousands and thousands of knife-attack victims which were so obviously denied their human rights.

Yes, China-supporters, the IOC let China host the Olympics. Tragedy that may be, but the IOC didn't randomly choose a country - China bid for it and bid very, VERY hard. Unless people here are implying that China's leadership completely failed to do their homework and had absolutely no understanding of the sort of publicity (media coverage) that the Olympics creates ...then the leaders of China were implicitly (and explicitly!) welcoming thousands of journalists and the giant eye of the media to China.

I'm just glad I live in post-Communist Poland where I do not fear the police, where leaders earn respect rather than demand it, where I can breathe the air without a mask, where my internet access is never blocked or filtered and I can be proud of our history, accomplishments and goals.

James, keep reporting. The too-often silent but curious majority needs to have reliable sources like you letting us know what you experience in China.

Everyone else, especially the pro-China supporters: accept the criticism with grace. It may be your country but China is part of the world and is judged by "common" standards. If the people of China wish for the world - particularly "the West" to show China respect, then the people of China can not simply dismiss the criticism with a wave of a hand and the explanation of, "it's *Chinese* democracy!"

PS: "The West" isn't without fault, as the Chinese media is so quick and eager to show to Chinese readers and viewers. That doesn't mean, though, that "the West" or even the world can't criticize China. We can and will.
Olympic arrivals 11:44pm on 28 Jul 2008 Responding to comment #3 by snsgenius: If you think the UK is particularly hard on people applying for visas, try emigrating from the US to Poland. The first time I applied for a visa I was told that, even though my employer was sponsoring it, it was denied. We tried two or three more times before they, without comment - and any other changes to the copious amounts of documentation (birth certificate (translation also notarized), copies of my entire passport, proof I was living in the country with my fiancee (stamped by another department), explanations of every visit to/from the country, copies of my various diplomas, notarized copies of my work agreement with my employer and so on)... they finally agreed to let the application go through. Of course, right after I received my visa card I asked, because I'd become married during the year-long application process, if it was hard to update the visa because I was married and I was told that I would have to go through the ENTIRE application process again. The marriage documents had to be provided, along with all the other documents I'd originally provided, plus separate interviews with my wife and I to ensure we weren't faking our marriage and finally they issued the updated visa - good for two years.

So please, while you may think that the UK is making life difficult for some Chinese students who wish the luxury of studying in the UK, don't delude yourself into thinking that it is particularly difficult on foreigners. They are not; it is far worse elsewhere.
National sentiment 12:27pm on 16 Jul 2008 The problem with those playing the victim is that they often turn into a bully... and I think that many, many people outside of China fear exactly that. I personally feel like the Chinese government lacks the finesse to deal with difficult, complex world issues and so falls back on the "we've been oppressed for so long, get off our backs!" excuse when something goes wrong. When it goes right, China Is the Greatest.

I hope that the Chinese realise that the past is the past and continually mining it for reasons to act as they do now is a bit immature.

Taiwan is gone and, without a massive war, will remain gone. Tibet is China's and will remain so for the future. In the meantime, there are real issues to be discussed and tackled. The environment, living standards, corruption in government and keeping their economy on track are all intertwined and are all of the utmost importance. If the Chinese get distracted by worrying about Taiwan or continually moan about how the rest of the world judges them (instead of taking the criticism and fixing their problems) ... they might find out that they're their own worst so-called enemies.

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