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beijing_2008

Listed below are comments made by beijing_2008 between Wednesday, 3rd June 2009 and Tuesday, 22nd September 2009.

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Hu's talking: Who's listening? 9:52pm on 22 Sep 2009 One can always count on ghostofsichuan to bring human rights into any discussion on China. From reading the said author's accounts, one would be forgiven for thinking that China's entire population is oppressed by the State to the extent that the air smells wonderful simply due to the fear of farting on the part of its citizens.

I'm quite sure that ghostofsichuan could even bring human rights into a discussion about Chinese food.
Rudd unlikely to do as Romans do on Rio 2:51pm on 16 Jul 2009 Concerning #19, #22
"China's gross distortion of the free market system"

In the 19th Century, China, beset by foreign occupation, was robbed not only of its most valuable treasures but also of the territories - Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan - that would have greatly helped the country to climb out of its medieval poverty.

One century later, some of the countries that took part in the above adventures in China controlled, more or less, the entire global financial architecture, from the exchange rate mechanism, to treaties, to resources, to the world reserve currency, to the International Monetary Fund, to the World Bank, through to the World Trade Organisation.

I will say no more for fear of my comment being moderated. Suffice to say that I hold the views of #19, 22 in utter contempt.
Rudd unlikely to do as Romans do on Rio 10:40am on 11 Jul 2009 I know not why my previous comment was removed. It seems increasingly clear, to me at least, that free speech (vis-a-vis Chinese issues) is only valid as long as it contains anti-Chinese sentiment.

I was merely pointing out an untruth that is expressed in comment #3, namely that were China to claim, as its own, "every land that a Chinese has ever set foot on" (I assume the author is referring to the tributary system of Imperial China) then, by this logic, China would be laying claim to Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Nepal and Vietnam.

Indeed, there is even a body of evidence that suggests that China discovered (present day) America. Is China laying claim to the United States?
A comical take 1:52pm on 01 Jul 2009 Concerning post #44,

The author is seemingly a proponent of the use of diplomatic language in this blog, yet has, on this page itself, two removed comments.

1. I would have thought most people understood the purpose of quotation marks, that is, to enclose a direct quotation. Thus the statement "repressive goverment" should have been taken to be a repetition of the author's own words, not accedence to its content. This really is very elementary.

2. It is true that a significant reason for China's growth has been the availability of low-cost labour. But it was identified - well before the financial crisis occurred - that this model could not continue indefinitely. Thus we are beginning to see China adopt policies that move away from relying on exports to sustain its growth.

3. The author continues to put forward the argument that China's youth do not possess a "fully developed mind", whatever that may be. If Chinese pupils do not possess "critical analytical skills", in the academic sense, it is only because the Chinese education system places strong emphasis on rote learning. What this has to do with a censored media I know not - but then again China-bashers have an extraordinary ability to link politics to every aspect of Chinese life.
A comical take 4:18pm on 29 Jun 2009 Concerning post #42,

1. The number of Chinese who benefit from China's "repressive government" far exceeds the number of Indians who benefit from India's enlightened goverment.

2. To say that China has 1.3 billion "cheap" (I assume in the context of cost, rather than quality) labourers is puzzling. It seems unusual that a nation wholly consisting of factory workers, shoe makers or potato growers would have the world transfixed about its rise.

3. It seems odd, again, that a nation, whose youth are apparently denied "intellectual development", should consistently come top in international Mathematics, Computing and Science Olympiads, and be making huge advances in areas such as nano-technology, stem-cell research and space exploration.

"Free" access to information, it seems, has not enabled the above author to obtain a more balanced perspective of China.
Trying to get into Tiananmen Square 11:15am on 25 Jun 2009 #69,

If I'm not mistaken, the Kent State massacre was a result of student protests against the American invasion of Vietnam. The author above states that "the shootings... (led to) many beneficial political and legal results". That may be true, but the underlying cause - America's propensity for war - has not changed.
Try not to take the moral high ground, please.

The Chinese Communist Party does not exist in a vacuum. It can not possibly exist in a vacuum. It, too, must constantly evolve (and is evolving) to meet the needs of the Chinese people in these changing times.
A comical take 1:28pm on 15 Jun 2009 #11 says
"... claim to be in China or Hong Kong argue against the facts and in the Chinese gvt's favour ..."

Oh the irony.
Where have you been since 1997?
Conflict of party and private lifestyles 11:45am on 10 Jun 2009 The corruption that exists in Chinese politics, not just at provincial level is, quite frankly, a disgrace.
The aforementioned Guagua who, before attending my alta mata, was actually a student at Harrow. One wonders how his father, albeit China's Foreign Minister for a brief period, could afford the school fees on a basic government salary (however much that is - the lack of transparency prevents anyone from knowing).

Perhaps the children of government officials should reflect on the plight of hundreds of millions of poor folk - their own people - living in China's hinterland.
Trying to get into Tiananmen Square 1:00pm on 04 Jun 2009 Why is it that for the past week - yes I never realised an anniversary (of an event that took place so long ago) takes a week to commemorate - we have been fed an overdose of Tiananmen related stories?

If a wedding anniversary took that long to commemorate, I'm quite sure the couple will have divorced by the end of it.
Today's generation of young people 12:32pm on 03 Jun 2009 Perhaps the two protagonists in this story - Liang Liang and Lao Dao - should consider that were it not for the CCP (and the KMT), the songs they would be listening, and singing along to, would be in Japanese.

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