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beamused

Listed below are comments made by beamused between Wednesday, 13th August 2008 and Tuesday, 7th July 2009.

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Three years in China 05:57am on 07 Jul 2009 Thanks.

Are you relieved or sad to be leaving this assignment?
Who is next, and is the posting seen as a prize or a poisoned chalice?
Will you miss being in China and being amongst the Chinese?

Good luck.
Cancer 3:10pm on 01 Apr 2009 Apparently hard to avoid these days, so just a question of which one and when.
Tough words on human rights 3:32pm on 01 Mar 2009 What fun. The world bully being goaded by the bully in waiting. At least the rest of us can get on with life while they play.
Saying sorry to the Chinese 08:28am on 16 Feb 2009 Whenever I hear people going on about 'face' I cringe. I become indignant that one nation above all think they are the only people on earth who do not like to be made to look stupid or have their ego dented. An apology received after insistence, implied threats, sanctions, or just because you are the new class bully, is worth precisely nothing. Creep if you have to, but let's hope there are some who are not for creeping. If an apology is relevant, then it will be universally recognised as such and an honourable individual, institution, or nation should offer it wholeheartedly. Furthermore, the receiving party should have the grace to accept it FIRST TIME and not expect the apologist to return over and over again and eat humble pie. Undeniably Chinese has been wronged in the past and it should be recognised. But let's not milk it.
The Semi-Attacked Politicians' Club 11:42am on 03 Feb 2009 Shrugging this episode off by showing examples of how domestic politicians are treated won't wash.

Wen Jiabao was a foreign guest of both the UK and Cambridge and this self-indulgent action has brought disgrace to the individual and shame to both the UK and Cambridge.

No doubt the Chinese premier has received due and genuine aplogies from our own premier and Cambridge. Whilst it is not for the BBC and its current employees to do likewise I find there is something slightly malignant about the attitude of this blog that does not sit well with me as a UK national. It's the underlying aloofness and sneering that's beginning to grate.
What do people in China do with a day off? 2:30pm on 01 Dec 2008 Your post should read 'What do people do in Beijing with a day off '? In Yunnan your report would be different.

China is big. Beijing, Shanghai based commentators and correspondents too often lead their readers and listeners to believe that what is true of the developed coastal regions represent this continental sized country.

Not many people in Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Yunnan who spend a day at the seaside - even if they could afford it. But, interesting observations anyway. It's always good to know how the other half lives.
A clever performance 06:08am on 01 Sep 2008 The claim is often made that the President of the United States of America is the de-facto leader of the 'west'. This being correct, voting should not be left to US citizens. It's simply not democratic.

Were the vote to be opened to the larger, arguably more logical electorate of the 'west', the mere thought of a 'pro-life, gun loving' (how do they fit together logically?!) Republican VP who supports creationism would result in a landslide Democrat victory.

The prognosis is not good, US voters track record of choosing a leader is derisory. Given the talent pool in the USA from which to choose, US voters should be charged with criminal negligence.

USA gets the leaders it deserves. But the rest of the world should not continue to suffer the fall out.
Credible news - who decides? 2:05pm on 20 Aug 2008 NewsCred will be an interesting experiment and I for one would like to be as optimistic as its creators.
I signed up to post comments on James Reynolds China Blog. His Blog must attract one of the highest responses (I haven't checked) but I can't help wondering if it's popularity is down to a 'rent a mob' mentality. 'This may seem a ridiculous suggestion, even an outrageous comment, but look at the expat crowds the Chinese managed to produce during the latter stages of the worldwide Olympic Torch Relay. The same thing could happen online. I realise 'Reynolds China' is not news it's a 'blog' in the same spirit as 'from our own correspondent, but try explaining that to some of the respondents.

Let's see what happens on NewsCred when negative news reports appear about China. Objective news reports could be targeted by the 'rent a mob' bloggers and turned into a referendum based on nationalist sentiment. Similarly single interest groups may also be prepared to call out their battalions if NewsCred ever became in any way influential. Think of the 'pro-life' brigade and you can brainstorm the other usual suspects for yourself.
Would NewsCred be prepared to publish results based on geographical responses, say using data from IP addresses ?
Liu Xiang out 1:02pm on 18 Aug 2008 I'm British, but my heart goes out to Liu Xiang as it did also to Paula Radcliffe on Sunday. I hope both will compete in 2012.

A great deal of money has been spent on these olympics, and possibly for valid reasons, but I hope London does not even try and compete on anything approaching this scale.

A 'back to basics' olympics and one were athletes are not under huge commercial pressures should be a goal for both London and the IOC.
Liu Xiangs detractors are hardly worth a response.
Not quite what we thought 05:37am on 13 Aug 2008 1. This was entertainment not a documentary.
2. The BBC itself has been fined recently for 'fakery' in phone-in programmes.
3. This has been billed as 'China's coming out party'. "Hello, nice to meet you, I have a bunion you know!" It is accepted protocol in any culture to show your best side on first meeting. Bad form to burden others with your foibles. The best, most interesting, humourous and real-life China is a treat that must wait for foreign guests.
4. A key factor for successful western 'democratic' election candidates is aesthetics. Candidates are judged on their 'photogenic' credentials.

Oh, and James, you broadcast from Beijing, is there not a make-up artist on hand who comes along and dabs you with powder to cover-up real-life imperfections. Is this not a form of 'fakery' ?

I'm still feel overwhelmed by the opening ceremony and I do not feel cheated to learn that Li Ning can't really fly!!

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