so much news about china, so little time
i know i’ve left you hanging for several weeks now. so in case you were wondering, china cut its diplomatic ties with kiribati.
and the posturing and finger-pointing across the strait reached new, shrill heights with the contested referendum vote that started with bold talk of bolstering taiwanese democracy, and predictably ended in a compromise that created more ambiguity on taiwan’s integral position as china’s democratic territory that runs itself and seems to have diplomatic status, but not really. after needlessly getting their panties in a wad for a few days, the CCP was able to take satisfaction in the subsequent dissatisfaction of the pro-independence taiwanese.
the WHO cautions china as the country is moving quickly in testing its SARS vaccine. and it all started with the eccentric eating habits of those southerners.
an interesting, if not questionable move, as larger chinese cities are arguably already struggling to accommodate their burgeoning populaces:
China encourages mass urban migration (ft.com)
it could very well be that you don’t care one bit about all of this boring talk about chinese banks and bad loans. but china news will take an interest in this extremely important subject, not only because it is of great interest to the editor. and to standard & poor. sorry for you, just skip over the section if it puts you to sleep.
not one to disappoint, this edition of china news will close out with a little communist-sponsored safe sex, the next chinese model, china’s silicone wonder and rapping mao.
DISCLAIMER: the views expressed by the news editor do not necessarily reflect those of the shanghai diaries … but they probably do. no, the news editor is not dan. yes, the news editor is sometimes too busy to post editions of china news on a more regular basis. deal with it.
11.30.2003, 2:16 PM · News
cambodia :: day three :: monks taxi, too
“are you going to kampot?”
“yes.”
“me too.”
and that’s how i learned i would be sharing a three-hour taxi ride with a buddhist monk. well, a buddhist monk and five other people. in cambodia, that taxi stays parked until it’s packed.
11.26.2003, 7:27 PM · Cambodia · Comments (1)
cambodia :: day two :: keep smiling
cambodia’s political history is confusing as hell. it twists and turns like the murky mekong river, which cuts a mysterious path right through the heart of the country. cambodia goes through regimes, its leaders go through shifts of allegiance, like rural khmers go through kramas.
this much is clear, however. cambodia was home to the most murderous revolution of the 20th century. between 1975 and 1979, nearly 20 percent of the population was killed, either by execution, starvation, malnutrition or lack of medical care. these were the most lethal years of the khmer rouge’s bloody reign. led by the hitler-esque pol pot, the “revolutionists” eliminated nearly 2 million cambodians in a radical social experiment aimed at restructuring the country into a maoist, peasant-driven collective.
11.24.2003, 10:52 PM · Cambodia · Comments (2)
cambodia :: day one :: hello moto
prostitutes. drugs. guns.
i learned all i needed to know about cambodia during the short ride from the phnom penh airport to the last home guesthouse. well, this was all my moto driver bunyong thought i needed to know. don’t think he’ll be getting hired by the cambodia travel bureau anytime soon.
11.20.2003, 10:56 PM · Cambodia · Comments (4)
my uncle olaf used to say …
… whenever you finish four mind-numbing days spent grading 400 final exams (which require students, among other things, to “write two examples of a swear word”) …
… go to cambodia.
well, i’m taking ol’ ollie’s advice. i’ll be in cambodia until nov. 28.
how do you say “happy thanksgiving” in cambodi … um … cambodianese? (i really should have read up on this place a little more. cambodiahua? cambodinglish?)
[olaf also used to tell me never to mention stories i have promised to readers, but, for whatever reason, haven’t written yet. so i won’t mention the xinjiang stories that i owe you, among others. i won’t apologize. i won’t blame the the fact that they’re not written on 400 final exams … but i could.]
see you in 10 days!
(by the way, i got my camera fixed. so expect some pics.)
wild on xinjiang: setting the stage
note: the following is the first of many posts that will document my 10-day stay in china’s xinjiang uighur autonomous region during the national day holiday. now, i’ll be the first to tell you that this introduction has little to do with the xinjiang i saw. but i’ve been doing some research on the topic lately. i find it interesting. and there you go.
the uighurs wobble … but will they fall down?
the place: china might as well add “restive” to its already long and disingenuous name for the xinjiang uighur autonomous region. read a newspaper or magazine story about this vast and mysterious northwestern non-province, and restive will undoubtedly show up somewhere. (see, i’ve already done it twice.) this makes me chuckle. my dictionary defines autonomous like this: “not controlled by others; independent.” and restive like this: “difficult to control.”
11.09.2003, 10:56 PM · Politics, Xinjiang · Comments (4)
i love china. honest, i really do.
combine an irresistible urge to procrastinate and an oncoming stream of sarcasm, and you get another issue of china news. good for you, of questionable benefit for me. but china news is all about the readers, the masses of you that are surely out there.
to get things started, the most laughably obvious statement of this edition: China admits it can do more to combat piracy (straitstimes.com)
a couple more rather pressing issues that china still considers to be less important than making plans for shenzhou reloaded and shenzhou revolutions:
China’s bad loan disposal worries Moody’s (ft.com)
Epidemic threatens to devastate China’s economy (globeandmail.com)
the CCP, being the pr darling that is has always been, throws yet another tantrum over taiwan’s latest outrage: a visit to the states combined with formalizing diplomatic relations with that international political giant kiribati (where exactly is this?). quick, see if you can jump to conclusions about taiwan’s clear moves towards independence as fast as china has.
winning this edition’s “most ballsy foreigners” award, read this story to learn how to very effectively use history to step on china’s toes. read this story to learn how to very effectively step on hong kong’s toes after trying the same thing before and nearly getting hk’s top communist bureaucrat torn to shreds by over half a million angry protestors.
like cabbage? the chinese used to. see how this ap writer managed to get a story published on the historical significance of chinese cabbage:
China’s appeal for cabbage withering (news.yahoo.com)
DISCLAIMER: the views expressed by the news editor do not necessarily reflect those of the shanghai diaries … but they probably do. no, the news editor is not dan. yes, the news editor is sometimes bitterly cynical. deal with it.
11.08.2003, 10:11 AM · News
photos!!!
johnson and dan traded clothes for halloween.
click here for photos of a chinese halloween party at an “american” sports … cafe? i don’t know. that’s what they call it. anyway, you’ll get to see one of shanghai’s scariest cab drivers — and that’s saying a lot.
other photos added recently:
* city scenes: including the long lost cricket fighting photos!
* campus life: i just can’t walk past those fish without taking a photo! johnson wears a shirt that says “latino” to my class!
enjoy!
(i’m going to go fix the exclamation mark button on my keyboard! seems to be sticking!)
11.06.2003, 12:49 AM · Photos · Comments (4)
bush vs. china
in this first edition of china news, president bush comes out looking like a surprise winner as he actually decides to put more stock in expert advice rather than interest group demands. suddenly, pushing for the revaluation of the chinese yuan as the top priority on the china-bashing agenda seems like a bad idea. read it to believe it:
Why Bush Won’t Bash China (caltradereport.com)
keep in mind that dubya’s prime, newsworthy competition consisted of SARS and the chinese communist government (aka gungho for shenzhou) which finally decided to acknowledge the existence of poverty and homelessness in china. a step in the right direction, but a miniscule step that has taken far too long. making an empty gesture of assitance and deciding not to throw beijing’s homeless in jail does little to help the problem. in fact, it doesn’t do much good for the CCP’s image, either:
China finally opens its eyes to surging homeless crisis (chicagotribune.com)
DISCLAIMER: the views expressed by the news editor do not necessarily reflect those of the shanghai diaries … but they probably do. no, the news editor is not dan. yes, the news editor is sometimes in a cranky mood. deal with it.
11.05.2003, 12:31 PM · News
‘that’s how they do business’
so i’m getting my crapped-out digital camera looked at by the fine people at a canon shop on nanjing xi lu. asked them to look at it, identify the problem and estimate the cost for repairs … before actually making the repairs. no problem.
today, i got a call from my friend johnson, who is acting as translator for this process (hell, he acts as my translator for most processes). they told him that they looked at it. they told him what the problem was. and they told him how much the repairs would cost: RMB 500.
“ok,” i said. “i guess go ahead and tell them to make the repairs.”
“oh, it’s ready,” johnson replied. “you can pick it up now.”
“they repaired it already?”
“yes.”
“but what would they have done if i told them i didn’t want them to repair it?”
“they would break it again.”
“huh?”
“that’s how they do business.”
“oh.”
11.03.2003, 10:32 PM · Observations
finally
photo: shannon shue
(if you care, my camera is currently in the shop right now. this explains the dearth of new photos here recently.)
later this week, i will begin posting my xinjiang travelog. i plan to do this day-by-day, diary style. lots of stories to tell. xinjiang is — um, well — different.
11.03.2003, 12:51 AM · Photos, Xinjiang · Comments (1)
ucla yankee cola
seen on the side of a minibus: “scientific-atlanta of shanghai, ltd”
seen on a student’s shirt: “i need more juicy”
i love this place.
11.03.2003, 12:41 AM · Humor
i’m back
well, i didn’t really go anywhere. just kind of a mental sabbatical. every time i sat down to write something for the blog … i didn’t.
my mid-autumn malaise can partly — partly — be attributed to three things:
11.03.2003, 12:32 AM · Observations · Comments (1)