Posted on 07/19/2008 2:15:20 AM PDT by bad company
http://www.beijingboyce.com/2008/07/18/um-really-update-on-scmp-story/
An update on my earlier post about the South China Morning Post claim that Beijing secretly plans to ban blacks and Mongolians from bars during the Olympics. Unfortunately, duty called this afternoon, so I didn’t have much time for this issue, but here is where things stand:
- The owners of five bars in and around Sanlitun told me that the police did not ask them to undertake any such ban during the Olympics (these bars tend to be frequented by residents rather than tourists). Several other people, including in the restaurant and the wine business, also told me they were unaware of any such police action.
- Three reporters from the international media contacted me and said they had called numerous bars and, like me, found no one to confirm the SCMP claim.
- The bar owner I noted who said the police told him a few months ago to not serve blacks clarified that this did not seem to be part of any official policy.
- The only way I can see the SCMP story as plausible is if the newspaper is talking about an isolated bar area, such as that neon-lit strip on Sanlitun North or the clubs on Workers Stadium West. Even then, this is yet to be confirmed by anyone I have talked to.
I suspect this was made easier by the fact that a lot of Chinese cops don't carry guns. Of course, there's the usual saying that a knife-wielder within 21 feet of an armed opponent with a holstered pistol will generally kill or seriously injure that opponent. In the confines of a police station, it was probably like shooting fish in a barrel - for the guy with the knife.
I went to look the dragon in the eye. It's a trek, and it's nowhere near as enjoyable as Europe - or most other vacation spots in East Asia - in terms of eye candy or creature comforts. But once you run out of far flung vacation spots to visit, China is certainly one place you should check out, to see if your experiences actually match the hype. I was perpetually underwhelmed, but I could see that starvation is no longer the primary problem in Chinese life, even in poor and remote locations.
Maybe sombody should just explain to them that damgaing or destroying government property is the most heinous of all heinous crimes (true from the perspective of ANY government); and that the people the criminals prey upon are the ultimate in government property.
For that matter, also explain that the criminals are a defective, malfunctioning part of "The China Machine" which must be repaired or replaced.
The Chinese I know will parrot government propaganda as if they really mean it, and then proceed to break the law if it benefits them. My impression of the Chinese is that saying one thing and doing another is standard operating procedure, especially if doing so will help them get ahead. Conscientious public servants are the exception, not the rule. Chinese cops aren't automatons programmed to enforce government edicts at the risk of their lives - they'll make a show of doing so, but do their very best to stay out of harm's way, even if that means not doing their jobs. It's a cultural thing, and the more I know of Chinese ways, the less impressed I get.
Let's go get 'em! :)
What constitutes a black in China?
A year after Tian’An,Men I was in the square taking pictures (on the sly) of the tank-gouged steps on the People’s Heros monument, and the plastered bullet holes on its side. No problem — I got away with it. In the mid 90’s I was again in the square, this time with my husband and was taking the same pictures again, to see the difference over the years - still on the sly. My husband tapped me on the shoulder, and said that “this gentleman” wanted to say something to me. I turned and there was a man in uniform. Now — as many times as I have been in China, I could never figure out the different uniforms on the policemen or the servicemen. I thought this man was a policeman and that he had seen me taking the pictures. So I politely, in my limited Mandarin, asked hinm what he wanted and he pointed to my camera. I damn near died! Then he pointed to an older man who was nearby and asked if he could have a picture of them taken with me and in turn if we would use his camera to take a picture of all of us. Can you imagine relief??!! ‘Dangran’! ‘Certainly’! I said!!! He was a serviceman, touring the city with his Father, and as so often happens, asked to have a picture taken with foreigners. I was delighted. We took the pictures and parted with smiles and waves.
In my many visits and/or study sessions to China, I have had very few unpleasant experiences. Only one really stands out — a pickpocket. The people were friendly and when I got to know them as individuals, they opened up to me. They loved their country, and the older ones could see the positive changes that were happening. The span of time from my first to last - 1984-1997, I could see the changes for myself. Materialistically, of course, but in the freedom to do things and go places was also also apparent. As Zhanng Fei pointed out — there is great progress even off the beaten track. They have come a long way since the Mao era, and along with the freedoms has also come some negatives. But that is human nature. The Chinese are no different from the rest of humanity. With so many people, there has to be a strong central government. Imagine the chaos without it.
I’d go back tomorrow, but I can’t take all the walking, anymore. But I love that country and its people and its history.
About the language. I’m still studying it! I’ll never be fluent, but after several years of formal study, I love and respect the language so much that I still do reading, writing, and analysis of the characters. Fascinating! And I’m great in a Chinese restaurant!!
I think a strong central government is necessary to prevent the disintegration of the Chinese empire. The question is whether China's disintegration into perhaps a dozen countries would be good or bad for the Chinese. Or the world. Long term, it might be good for the world - from a security standpoint - to see many countries emerge out of the ruins of the Chinese empire. Short term, civil war and national disintegration would be terrible for the Chinese, in terms of lives lost and the resultant psychological trauma and bad for the world's economy, in terms of a decline in total output and trade.
China is too big and overpopulated to be policed efficiently at the street level without a a general faith-based morality carried in the hearts and minds of the people.
A faith-based morality that the socialist athiest ChiComs have been deleting for,as of 2008,sixty years.
(The Peking Olympics and the 60th Anniversary of the destruction of Democracy in China at the same time—one almost chokes on the macabre symbolism)
Thus the ChiCom jack-booted thugs concentrate on taking as many “political prisoners” to the Gulags as they can and to heck with controling the common miscreant.
And as all who know even a little about evil totalitarian regimes—such arrests are done quietly and out of public view.
“Nacht und Nebel” is a police state specialty and the ChiCom SS have been doing it for—well, sixty years.
This is probably a total coincedence,but while I was posting on this thread my computer unexpectably started downloading what was to be an “image.”
There was no image and all my security functions went wild.
I had to immediatly scan,remove both trojans and viruses,and then restart to clean my OS.
Like I said,probably just a total coincedence.
Chinese historical and cultural traits have withstood the tests of time. They have have kept their unity by their written language and the Confucian ethic, for a couple of examples. I would hate to think of a disintegration of any kind. Yes -— the strong leadership is disarming, but they are but a dot in the passage of time.
Their history does not show a tendency to war-monger and land grab. I know they protect their borders by overpowering strength, but do they really wish to conquer the world?
He went on to complain that Stalin's kangaroo courts contributed to the unfounded prejudice that Stalin had kangaroo courts.
“Have been to any farms? Seen any pigs and chickens and livestock and fruit and vegetable production?”
No, not yet. Just the markets selling these things. I have gotten a few first hand stories of farm life during the Cultural Revolution-—yikes!
LOL!
What's the allusion? There is an internet now, but googling "worthy customers" "philadelphia phillies" turns up your post and nothing else relevant.
Thanks for the account. I know these situations in China first hand. May I also relate one?
I was scheduled to meet a friend in the Russian city of Blagovescensk, which is on the north bank of the Heilongjiang River (Russians call it the Amur River), directly opposite of the Chinese city of Heihe.
It was March, 1993, and the river was still frozen solid. Passenger busses were moving across the river on the ice. Heavy army trucks were operating on the river, and Chinese helicopters were parked on the ice.
I was stopped from crossing the river because I was neither Chinese nor Russian, and they had placed a stop on all third-country passport holders, prohibiting them from crossing at that frontier.
I joked with the police that they had to throw me out there, ‘cause I had not enough money to stay in Heihe. They took me seriously though, and invited me to stay the night free at the police guest house. I ACCEPTED, and was given a very nice warm private room, with TV, and they brought me a hot meal at about 8:30 pm.
The next morning they gave me a ride to the train station and their presence with me meant I had no difficulty at all getting a soft-sleeper rail ticket back to Harbin City.
But before leaving Heihe, I decided to take pictures along the river that separates the Chinese “Cock’s Head” from Siberian Russia. I walked out on the ice headed toward the center, ‘cause I wanted to face Heihe City from the river for a photo. I did not realize how close I was getting to the Chinese Army helicopters.
I began to take some shots of the choppers sitting way out on frozen river. Suddenly I heard, “TINGZHE! TINGZHE! (Halt! Halt!) I turned toward the shore, and two soldiers bearing SKS rifles were charging toward me. Instinctively, I threw my hands in the air and spread my feet some. I though I was going to jail! Surely I had gotten too close to the helicopters, or had strayed to far out on the river.
One soldier stopped in front of me presenting arms, and the other ran around my back. The one who had run around out of sight suddenly was at my right arm, and he handed me a camera. He asked, “May we each have a photograph taken with you?”
I put my arms down, feeling pretty silly. Each took two shots with me standing with the other, and then allowed me to get two snaps of them together with my camera and the choppers in the background.
We three walked to the shore together, and we all ate a jianbing (a thin flapjack rolled up with egg, onion, and sauce) on me.
During the Battle of the Bulge, German troops who spoke English were masquerading as GIs. They were infiltrating Allied lines to cause confusion and chaos. In the war movies about it the GIs would ask the names of baseball players to test people they didn't know. Can't do it now because you can find out almost anything on the internet.
Forgot this. “Worthy customer” sounds like something Charlie Chan would say.
Great story!!!! LOLOL! Did the soldiers ever realize what you thought they were going to do?
And — jianbings are to die for. Gee, I love them! I wish there were a jianbing stand in NYC’s Chinatown. Simple, but great food.
I’ve never been to Harbin or to the NE in winter when all is ice. I’ve know students from Harbin who were studying here in the US during Tian’An Men. One of them sang the beautiful “Songhua River” and they all were in tears. It has become one of my favorites.
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