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Shennong

Listed below are comments made by Shennong between Friday, 22nd August 2008 and Tuesday, 30th September 2008.

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Spending on China's credit card 2:09pm on 30 Sep 2008 Look, if reports are not predicting doom and gloom because of China's economy overheating, then it's predicting doom and gloom because of China's economy slowing down. Well, James, you can't really have both, can you?

A little diversity in where China invests will do it a world of good, but ultimately, this slowdown will be good because many China shares were over valued anyway and needed to adjust. And devaluation because of US market woes is much better than devaluation because of primary reasons related to Chinese businesses themselves.
Run for your life 6:10pm on 18 Sep 2008 Native Americans have every right to be angry and resentful at the US government. And while they do bear the responsibility of uplifting themselves, the problems that plague their communities cannot be compartmentalised and seperated from their history.
High-profile resignation 2:39pm on 16 Sep 2008 Speaking as someone who loves the "Mother Land", the Chinese government should take the public anger as a lesson learnt in how democracy works. This is where elections and an independent press can help prevent public anger and these mistakes in appointing failed officials.

If provincial governors were elected officials, and given an independent press that's free to criticise as much as it wants, Meng Xuenong may not have been put in the position of the Governor of Shanxi in the first place.

And on the chance that Meng Xuenong would have been elected anyway (because as we can clearly see, elections are hardly without its problems), then the voting public would have to take ownership for the mistake of putting this man in a position of power in the first place, thus lessening public anger.
Pandas - a gift from China to Taiwan? 2:24pm on 16 Sep 2008 To discuss these two pandas, you have to consider the context under which they were initially offered to Taiwan. They were offered to Taiwan during DPP rule, right after high level KMT officials paid a visit to Beijing.

The DPP had been maintaining in official capacity that they were opened to friendly relationships and dialog with the Chinese government, while playing up the fact that the Chinese government would only talk to the Taiwanese government IF Taiwanese government agree with the One China principal - something which is seen as unreasonable to the Taiwanese people.

Well, here was the Chinese government making an unconditional gesture of goodwill toward Taiwan with the panda offer. But there was no way the DPP would have accepted the offer, since it was made after the KMT visits. It would have validated the KMT's effectiveness in Mainland relations, basically making the DPP look like a bunch of usurpers to power.

But turning down the panda offer - something that did not come attached with the usual precondition of acceptance of the One China principal - the DPP also showed itself to the Taiwanese public that it really was less opened to friendly relations and dialog than it tried to portray itself to be. It exposed the DPP's passive aggressiveness in inching Taiwan toward independence.

Basically the panda offer was a genius political chess move by the Chinese government. Personally, I applaud any use of "soft power" by the Chinese government. The next thing to do now, especially since the KMT is in power again, is to point those missles elsewhere and away from Taiwan.
New story for China? 6:16pm on 26 Aug 2008 Woh, hold on there. There's a big difference between criticising yourself, and criticising others. Of course, I wish there is independent press in China, and it is perfectly within Western journalists' rights to criticise the Chinese government. But the willingness to criticise oneself does not automatically give moral justification to criticise others.

What might be a comparable scenario here is, for example, the BBC criticising close allies of the UK, or other EU members. And that is something I rarely see on this site. The BBC coverage of the current Russian conflict is especially taking a critical slant against the Russian and South Ossetia's side of the story. Perhaps because Georgia was close to becoming a part of NATO, and that it is an ally of the West, the supposed champions of democracy?

On the other hand, most of the BBC press on China is critical or negative. Again, journalists are well within their rights to be critical, as they are well within their rights to conduct biased reporting, something which many in Western news media seem to practice.
China Detentions Update 2:55pm on 25 Aug 2008 They didn't get released because of political pressure. They got released because the Olympics are over.
Beijing, over and out - follow that, London! 2:36pm on 25 Aug 2008 Hahhah, well said. Your post put a smile on my face, and reminds me why I like the Brits more than the French - you have a better sense of humour.
New story for China? 4:35pm on 22 Aug 2008 China is not going to change the way it views itself as a victim as long as Western nations continues to criticise China and tell China what it needs to do with itself (thank you, Gordon Brown). This is evidenced by the strong nationalistic reaction that came from Chinese citizens as a result of the protests along the Olympic Torch relay.

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