Back
I'm back from Los Angeles but am too tired to write much. In the meantime, this website has evaluated the respective flags of every country in the world, starting from Gambia (world's best) to the Northern Mariana Islands (worst).
(hat tip Marginal Revolution)
To Los Angeles
In less than an hour I'll be indulging in one of my favorite pastimes: driving down the California coast. My destination? Los Angeles, where I'll be spending the weekend with some old friends. Blogging may be reduced depending on time constraints.
An Endorsement
The all-important Schiavenza endorsement goes to.....(drumroll please).......Barack Obama! Should I get my act together and cast an absentee ballot in California's February 5th Democratic primary election, I'll be punching the hole next to the Illinois Senator's name.
Intellectually, the candidate that most impressed me was Joseph Biden, who seemed to be the only one with a firm grasp of national security issues. He never had a realistic shot at the nomination, alas, and dropped out after finishing a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses.
Of the three left in the race (Clinton, Obama, and Edwards), only Obama opposed the Iraq War. This is my main criterion. After all, successful presidents exercise good judgment and on what matter was good judgment needed more than on the Iraq war? Given the political winds of the time, opposing the war took a lot of courage. Neither Clinton nor Edwards showed it, and no amount of recanting will make up for it.
I also have serious problems with Clinton's foreign policy posture (especially her yes vote on the idiotic Iran resolution) and with Edwards' tired "two Americas" approach.
In addition, Obama seems like the Democratic candidate with the best hope of securing the independent voters necessary to win the general election. Clinton is too divisive, and Edwards' populist rhetoric alienates socially liberal but fiscally moderate Democrats, an important constituency for the party.
Plus, I simply find Obama the most likable of the three. That should count for something, after all, for we'll have to listen to whomever is elected president for the next four or eight years.
In any event, I would prefer any of the three over all Republicans, even Ron Paul whom I admire. This isn't a party loyalty issue but one simply of belief- none of the Republicans running would make decent presidents in my view.
OK- now back to regularly scheduled China programming...
Is China Communist? If Not, Then What Is It?
In the midst of an interesting post on common misconceptions people have about China, the Humanaught writes that "communism is a farce", elaborating:
Most definitely the most overly-confused issue for Neverbeens as relating to China is the conflicting reports of capitalism running amok in what is the world's largest communist state. Now to set the record straight, China is - in no way, shape or form - communist. State-run monopolies are at a minimum, there are no mass socialistic programs (Canada's health care and welfare systems are more inclusive), and free enterprise is (somewhat annoyingly) rampant. It's 100% capitalistic, but under a one-party, authoritarian system.
I'm afraid that Ryan, in an effort to correct misperceptions among non China-hands, has unwittingly fallen for a misperception himself. While China may not be purely communist, calling it 100% capitalistic simply doesn't resonate with how the Chinese government and economy actually function.
Ryan correctly points out that Canada's health care and welfare systems are more inclusive, which in a strict sense is true. Rural Chinese and undocumented workers in cities lack access to benefits afforded to China's urban elite. I would argue, though, this is more a result of governmental incompetence than a policy shift toward market capitalism. Poor Chinese aren't looked after not because China's ruling elite is composed of privatization zealots but because its welfare system is a bloated, inefficient mess. In fact, one of the central tenets of the government's plan is based around building a "new socialist countryside" which would in theory bring welfare benefits to the rural poor. Whether they succeed or not is anyone's guess, but it could hardly be referred to as a deviation from socialism.
Canada is a small, wealthy country that has admirably constructed an inclusive and effective welfare state. China, if anything, would probably like to emulate Canada's example. Its inability to do so results from it being a developing country with a lousy government rather than anything related to ideology.
I'm also not convinced that free enterprise in China is "rampant", whether annoying or not. (I, for the record, happen to think the limited amount of free enterprise the Chinese do enjoy is the best thing to have happened to the country, but this is beside the point). People point to China's gaudy economic statistics and its proliferation of fancy cars, skyscrapers and Starbucks and conclude that the Chinese are running around in some sort of Randian free for all.
In fact, a friend of mine who works as a financial journalist told me that most of China's growth results from government-funded fixed-asset investment, such is in infrastructure. Very little of China's growth seems to stem from bottom-up initiatives, such as the proverbial American example of starting a billion-dollar computer business in your college dorm room. The government still directs much of China's economy from above and most of the winners of China's boom have strong connections to important government officials. Without these connections, it can be very difficult for the average Chinese to get ahead.
Given the government's role in shaping the economy, and its persistent ownership of much of China's industry, it's more than a little hyperbolic to call China's economy "100% capitalistic". Like virtually every other country on earth, China blends, or tries to blend, market capitalism with social welfare. But what makes China different from, say, North American or Western European countries is that its political leaders continue to rhetorically support Marxist ideals. The government has never repudiated communist tenets despite deviating from them, skirting this obvious contradiction between their words and deeds by altering the very definition of Marxism. For a true capitalist state with an authoritarian government, one can look at China's own Hong Kong or Singapore as examples, though I suppose one could argue that China would very much like to resemble these places some day.
I'm not trying to pick on Ryan, and I think his views on the matter are probably shared by a lot of other foreigners who live in China. One of the principal reasons for this confusion is that China's political and economic system is largely unprecedented in the world (although it is being copied elsewhere) and therefore not easy to define. I'd say the only correct way to answer someone's question about China's economic system is to shrug your shoulders and laugh.
On Comments
Chris downblog notified me that some of his comments have not appeared on the blog. Because something like 95% of all comments I receive are spam, I tend to go through them very quickly in my queue, often deleting them in bulk. If by mistake I delete one of your legitimate comments, please let me know via e-mail. I apologize for the error!
The Two Versions of Lust, Caution
Ang Lee's Lust, Caution might be the highest-profile Chinese film to be released internationally in years. Yet within China itself, the full version of the film is prohibited due to its explicit sexual content. Instead, Chinese audiences (both in cinemas and via the country's ubiquitous pirated DVD shops) saw the truncated version with all of the sex scenes edited out. This was the version I saw when a friend bought me the DVD two or so months ago.
I was impressed enough with the film to want to see it in its entirety, even after one of my friends here downplayed the significance of the sex scenes. She said she found them rather gratuitous, and added that she almost would have preferred the censored version. I still wanted to see for myself. Yesterday, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I finally got my chance.
And....wow. The sex scenes really made a difference. My friend and I both agreed that without the sex, it would be difficult to understand the degree of emotional intensity between Wong Chia Chi and Mr. Yee, the collaborationist official she slept with in order to set him up to be killed. Indeed, the sex served as a synecdoche of their entire relationship. Yee applies his brutal interrogation tactics in the bedroom, while the subservient Wong, despite her burning hatred for him, still cannot avoid letting him worm into her heart.
It is my understanding that Lee did not intend his sex scenes to be purely erotic- and they weren't. Eroticism, of course, does not require nudity or explicit sex, and can be expressed in the subtlest gestures that would evade even the strictest Chinese censors. Rather, it is during these scenes when his two main characters are stripped bare of not only their clothes but also their facades, allowing them to act upon their basest instincts. Wong Chia Chi's entire existence is marked by caution- she must not reveal her real identity. Lust, as Lee presents it, is the yin to caution's yang, and it is during her trysts with Mr. Yee that she achieves a long-awaited release.
Although my overall impression of the film didn't change (I liked it both times), I felt relieved that I was able to watch it in its entirety. The censored parts, when included, simply illuminated the film's emotional relationships with a clearer light.
So why was the original version of the film banned, rather than restricted, in China? The historical content in Lust, Caution is entirely consistent with the government-mandated Chinese interpretation, and the film's fictional university students (one of whom criticized a foreign play as "bourgeois") could even be seen as nationalist heroes with a Marxist slant. Obviously, its sexual content renders the film unsuitable for children but does the government really expect the sight of Tony Leung's bottom or Wei Tang's breasts would somehow foment disharmony and instability among the nation's adults?
I write this not as a criticism of China per se, and American culture also has a tortured relationship with sex and nudity, at least in comparison with our more libertine European cousins. But I do think it is worth lamenting that an important film concerning their history cannot be shown in its entirety within China.
Fun With Terms!
Reading this recent piece in The Washington Post about China's "Marxist" journalism schools, I am reminded how well certain countries twist and obfuscate the meanings of normally clear political terms. To wit, here is a Chinese lexicon:
Marxism: a system of economics in which market capitalism is encouraged and practiced most effectively by members of the Communist Party
the rule of law: a legal structure that applies to most men, excluding those in the Standing Committee of the Politburo
democracy: a system of government in which free press, freedom of speech, and full freedom of religion are prohibited, as well as national elections in which members of different parties may compete.
People's Republic: a type of government in which "the people", defined as those not involved in the government, have no say in determining the policies that affect their lives.
harmonious society: a society in which criticism of the government is discouraged and penalized.
autonomous region: a geographical region under direct control of Beijing.
overseas Chinese: ethnic Chinese born and raised in foreign countries
Have I forgotten any?
2007- The Year That Was
So...it's 2008. I've come to terms with the new year, though I'm sure I'll continue writing "2007" in my notebooks for the next several weeks. I began the New Year, as I characteristically do, with a hangover. Funny how one thinks of the turning of the calendar as an opportunity to start fresh and clean, and yet so many people spend January 1st lying around watching football, wishing they had had the foresight not to drain those last few cocktails.
Or maybe that's just me.
Some highlights of 2007:
-In early January I cycled from San Francisco to Tiburon, in Marin County, capturing great views of our fine city and the Golden Gate Bridge. Days like that tend to come to mind during miserably foggy July days when the only consolation comes from making fun of tourists shivering in their t-shirts and shorts.
-In late February I set off for Kunming, my third Chinese home in as many years. Within ten days I had signed a year's lease for a nice apartment and had started formally studying Chinese for the first time in my life.
-In late March I turned 26 and celebrated by throwing a party at my house. One of my female guests memorably gave me a large pink pillow shaped like a female breast as a present. Thanks, Marianne!
-In July and August, I spent four weeks traveling through remote parts of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, catching the last-ever Litang Horse Festival in the process. I also waited for a bus stuck in a ditch, slept with all of my clothes on inside a supposedly heated hotel room, played basketball with small boys dressed as monks, and spent a good three hours communing with the cute Giant Pandas, China's foremost animal.
-Upon returning to Kunming, I changed schools and began teaching again. For the first time in my life, I printed and carried around business cards. I started tutoring a small collection of people but by year's end my client list had dwindled to one nine year-old girl with whom I read Dr Seuss. All the same, I felt at home at my new school (Dongfang) and began working more rigorously with language exchange partners, so my Chinese improved much faster than before.
-Also in August, this blog went live.
-In October, I served as an interpreter for an off-road competition in Jinggu at the request of a friend. I remember the trip fondly, though when I think about what I did, all I can recall is sitting on a craggly rock watching truck after truck get stuck in the mud. I also found out that sleeping in a tent without a sleeping back...really sucks.
-In November I went on a camping trip with a few Kunming friends, hiking for hours in perfect weather before setting up camp underneath a cave. We entertained (horrified?) our Chinese companions by reciting movie quotes and crooning old rock songs for a good hour and a half.
-In December I spent three days in Beijing, taking in the 798 art complex and the lovely lakeside scenery surrounding Houhai. I spent the nights munching Xinjiang lamb kebabs and swilling Great Wall wine with some fine friends from New Zealand.
Some lowlights?
- I didn't go to a beach in 2007. Not once. In fact, the only time I wore a swimsuit all year was to swim in an indoor pool during a gloomy, dreary summer day in Kunming. For a California boy, this simply isn't good enough.
- I also, for the first time in over 20 years, failed to go to a professional baseball game this year. Then again, given how bad the Giants played this perhaps was a blessing rather than a curse.
On the balance, 2007 was good all the way through and often very good. Some things to look forward to in 2008:
- Continuing to learn Chinese
- Visiting Laos in February for ten days
- Turning 27 in March
- Having my parents come to visit in July and going to Thailand and Hong Kong with them.
- Taking the HSK in June and then applying to graduate schools later in the year.
- Good health, wise choices, and good times. Inshallah.
Taxicab Confessions
This afternoon my parents and I took a taxi from the Asian Art Museum to the Lumiere movie theater. The driver, without any prompting, launched into a hilariously bitter diatribe against San Francisco's racial composition:
"Y'know the Asian Art Museum you just went to? That used to be the library. It used to have murals of actual white people. Now it's run by chee-chong-ku-pho-whatever, man. If you're a white man you don't have a place in this city anymore. All the special interests have the power in this city. Black, Latino, Asian, you name it. And gays, too!"
(us) "Hey, the mayor's a white man- and he's straight, too!"
"Straight? Damn right! He's screwing every chick down in City Hall!"
Cabbies are a great source of entertainment and information in China, and conceivably this is true in the U.S., too. Yet thus far the ones I've encountered in San Francisco have either been completely silent or raving, bigoted lunatics. Disappointing.
Happy New Year!
A day late, but no less sincere: a very happy new year to all of my readers!