China reacts to Avatar the Movie

Avatar the movie opened up in China on January 4th, 2010. Lines stretched for blocks outside of most every theater in the nation for the next week as waves of Chinese went to see the next stage in movie evolution, 3D fantasy on a Hollywood scale. I went on the 6th and from the first few seconds, when water droplets from the crygenic sleep chamber floated right in front of my face, I sat agape and fascinated by the visual spectacle. All around me, I heard the elated gasps and shrieks of an enraptured audience.

What followed afterward, all across the world, was an analysis of the movie's visuals and message from dozens of perspectives. In the US, editorials criticized the movie for employing the same old "white guy saves the natives" guilt-fantasy that has been the theme of many a movie, from Dances with Wolves to a New World. In China, the reaction to the message was no less intense, but focused on a much more immediate, more Chinese problem. The problem of Home.

For the past 20 years, China has been playing catch up, economically, with the rest of the world. China as a nation is catching up with the big boys and is many ways surpassing them and an integral part of that success has been the real estate boom that has turned villages like Shenzhen into international powerhouses and forever transformed the skylines of every major (and minor) city in China. China is urbanizing very quickly and the long-sought after goal of turning farmers into factory workers and laborers is close at hand, but the sacrifices made by millions of Chinese in the name of their Motherland and Progress is starting to tear at the social fabric.

The theater fell silent near the middle of the movie when the Nav'i were forced to watch their home, the Mother Tree, be destroyed and razed to the ground. The silence was full and begged for expression. At the time, I thought it was the pain shared in a theater and did not realize how big the outpouring of comments and essays and blogposts would be the very next day. On popular blogs like Mop, hundreds of comments compared the destruction of the Navi'i home with the widespread demolition of homes across China. Other sites, like ChinaSmack and EastSouthWestNorth translated fragments of these posts for foreign consumption, but they could only give a small taste of what was really boiling underneath.

One essay in particular, posted on the wildly popular Douban.com, is an emotional and in depth response to the rampant demolition of peoples' homes. The essay does not deal with the old, cultural neighborhoods and their value as historical relics, but goes into the very emotional idea of one's home. The author questions whether or not Chinese today actually can call any place they live in a home, because in China one cannot "own" a piece of property, but only "rent" it for up to 70 years. Not only does one never actually own the home or the land one lives on, but the local government can at any moment change their plans and decide to build a road through your neighborhood. Even more galling is the fact that private developers and local officials often conspire to get rid of poor workers and farmers, then use the land to build (or not to build) high rises -- the government forces the people off of the land with minimum compensation then sells the land to the developer for a good price, after which the developer sells the land and any improvements to the growing affluent class of Chinese that are thoroughly enjoying China's economic miracle. The workers are left with inadequate compensation and the destruction of their community.

The comments on this essay are also revealing, in that the majority of them express the same disgust for developers and officials and fully half of the responses say "we are waiting for you to be erased," because essays like these, stories like these are suppressed by the government in order to maintain social stability.

A case in point is the recent tragic death of a woman in Chengdu, who climbed to the roof of her home in November 2009 and set herself on fire in full view of onlookers, police and the demolition crew poised to destroy her home. The woman, named Tang Fuzhen, has a very typical story: in 1996 she built her home here and lived for 10 years without any interference from the authorities. In August of 2007, the local government decided to build a waste management plant near her home. In October, they told her her home was illegal and she would have to leave.

This story, although one of thousands of similar tragic tales, swept through the web like wildfire. Netease quickly deleted their coverage of the story, but not before thousands of netizens left their often angry, but mostly hopeless remarks.

Avatar, or more specifically the spectacle of Mother Tree falling in flames, has brought the anger of the netizen and the tragedy of the common, poor laborer into everyone's living room. People who normally would not even think of such things, just go about their daily business in a fast paced growing economy that requires fast wits and daring, these people are suddenly talking about the pain of losing a home and the absurdity of "renting" a plot of land that cannot be passed on to children or grandchildren. This is a matter of great concern for Chinese parents. The family structure here is still very strong, even after years of being battered by wars, famines, revolutions and unfettered capitalism. For a Chinese to not help his children buy a home is still very rare, so with each demolition and accompanying tragedy, this very deep-rooted need -- to provide for one's children -- is threatened.

It is very revealing to see that many Westerners, especially Americans, choose to see the guilt/fantasy of the white man redeeming himself and saving the planet.

China's Charter 08

"China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of the UN Council on Human Rights, should be contributing to peace for humankind and progress toward human rights. Unfortunately, we stand today as the only country among the major nations that remains mired in authoritarian politics. Our political system continues to produce human rights disasters and social crises, thereby not only constricting China's own development but also limiting the progress of all of human civilization. This must change, truly it must. The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer."


This is the English translation of perhaps one of the most important documents in modern Chinese history, by Perry Link.

I have said to friends and in columns and blogposts that if CHina awoke -- not like Napoleon warned, as in economic or political terms, but in intellectual and moral terms -- than we might very well be on the verge of a great transition in society away from the Bushes of the world and toward pragmatic, aware, compassionate and intelligent societies.

China vs. Portland

In Portland, cars will stop on a busy street and let pedestrians cross. Even with a whole line of cars behind them. The pedestrian then turns to the car, nods or waves, receives a nod in return and life goes on. This is not law. It is just how people do here in Portland.

When you walk down the street and pass someone, i would say about 75% of the time there is a mutual greeting. Respect and consideration is shown as much as possible.

In China crossing the street is like playing Frogger, with sentient cars trying to hit you. Cars will roll into a crosswalk and nose their way through, as the pedestrians kinda flow around. There are no traffic laws that are obeyed. Its just, see an opening and go. Or make an opening and go.

In China, if you greet someone, they will be surprised and non-plussed at first, but then will engage in a spirited conversation. People are happier in China if you show some respect, because it is not expected.

People get irate in the US if you do not show respect.

I think scale has a lot to do with these differences. If the streets of Portland were ALWAYS crowded with people, then I think consideration would take a back seat to expedience. People in China are extremely civilized in their own homes, but completely disdainful of the public area. If everyone in China were considerate and thoughtful while out on the town, there would be no time to do anything else but be polite to every person who crosses your path.

And this issue of scale also has a lot to do with the general air and water quality differences. In Oregon, you can pretty much see the stars all the time, the moon can light your way to anywhere and the sunrises hurt my eyes.

In China, you have to go to Tibet or Xinjiang to have that experience. Or deep into the countryside. There are Chinese villages, unknown and wallowing in some warped, stretched time-zone with TVs, nightsoil, cell phones and buffalo-operated tills, that have more people than the Greater Portland area.

In Oregon, I can go 30 minutes outside of the city and pick wild mushrooms and run from rutting young elk.

Wild animals in China lurk in the shadows or become a "protected delicacy."

And of course the absolute disregard for commoners shown by the "leaders" in China kind of sets an example. Which is another HUGE difference. There are phalanxes of unfriendly class-conscious older women protecting the halls of Chinese government buildings from unwanted commoners. They are backed up by commoners in military uniforms standing at every gate.

Here in Portland, the government is quite accessible. They answer phones, emails and blog posts. Here, everyone is entitled to respect and if a leader refuses to show it, he will be charged with elitism and thrown out of whatever office he holds.

This is of course the beautiful American sentiment that McCain hopes to capitalize upon. He believes there are enough ignorant people out there who fear and hate "the elite" to vote him into office. Hence Palin. It kinda backfired on him in Lakeville, MN when a particularly dumb woman said,"I dont trust Obama because he is an A-Rab."

Interesting similarities, interesting differences.

What we deserve

I went to watch the Vp debate at Nicole's friend's house. A lot of very liberal women were there and we basically laughed a lot at what Palin had to say and especially how she said it ...

But i had a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched, because I know that a large chunk of America identifies with her grammatical errors, down-home smarmy sarcasm and appeals to the lowest common denominator.

I urge everyone to vote (for Obama) and come November if the ignorant bastards manage to pull out a win and we have a McCain Administration, well then the US deserves whatever consequences come out of that. By US i mean the nation as a whole. In my backyard, I will be doing my thing and living my way and that is still possible in this country.

Even with fears of Depressions and Never-ending Wars, there are regions and cities throughout the US that can and should carry on with Obama's vision of our society, regardless of which politician makes it into office.

I have always thought that Obama represents a return of hope and energy and his victory means more as a symbolic message to every American and to the world at large. Do we need him to win to feel and embody and act upon a message of change and hope?

Shit. We thought 8 years of idiocy was enough to convince Cracker America. But i guess we overestimated the nation and underestimated the impact of all those studies that point to the dismal state in our education system. Yesterday i saw a dude roll around in a car that had "Barack Obama is a fascist" written on the back in white paint.

I doubled over in laughter, then shook my head in disgust. I am so tired of people thinking Americans are fools, but then again it is time we moved away from this silly belief in abstract nationality. I love the trees, mountains, rivers and the skies, no gov can take those away.

Vote Obama! Live the Dream!

"you don't have to believe in your government to be a good American, you just have to believe in your country"

Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo is the ill.

Its all bad; its all good

My landlord Nikki V is doing a piece for KBOO Radio about austerity measures people (may or may not have learned from their parents/grandparents) are using to get by in "this nasty economy."

I listen with mild interest, because so far my economy seems unaffected by Wall Street's 777+ drop this week after the big bailout failed to get past the taxpayer. I mean, please, does any of those bankers truly believe we are THAT stupid? Supporting a war for oil is one thing, but supporting the big wig banker down the street -- the same guy working on your foreclosure -- naw man. no love for the banker.

I wonder how long I will be able to sit and observe all of this going on before i have to work the strip again just to pay rent ...

Is anyone out there tightening the belt? I know that there are now about 100,000 yuppies wondering what to do with themselves in NYC. They better start learning Chinese and drinking baijiu with some corrupt greedy bureaucrats in Beijing ... Joint Ventures will need their "help" trying to get lying ass Chinese partners to do the right thing ...

The right thing ... the Shenzhou spacewalk is to the Sanlu milk scandal what Palin is to the Republican Party is what Cruise missiles are to Lewinsky is what TV is to woes is what a religion is to the spirit.

There was an insert in last Sunday's paper called Obsession: Radical Islam's War against the West. It caught the attention of a few people ... as it is some pretty uninformative scare-mongering propaganda. The basic goal of the DVD is to equate Radical Islam with Nazism both as anti-Semitic and anti-Western.

Now a few people have pointed out that the Treaty of Versailles did help to bring about Hitler, but no one would go so far as to excuse the Nazis for what they did because of WWI. The Treaty of Versailles took land from the Germans and brought about massive economic collapse in that country .. is that an excuse for genocide? never.

So if we keep playing this relativist game, then we have to equate

the conditions in Germany during the 1930s
the causes of those conditions
Germany's response

to

the conditions in the Middle East since the end of WWI
the causes of those conditions
and Islam's response

it gets a little messy and circumstantial. But i think if you read the history of the Middle East since WWI and replace the Middle East with, say, the US, then you will (if you are American) most likely find yourself contemplating mass rebellion and guerrilla warfare. The Arab states were partitioned and controlled by outside forces (Britain, France, US) and pitted against each other and eventually placed under the control of the most iron-fisted despots in the region. Of course an ideology of rebellion will arise out of those conditions ...

I suppose the true link between Nazism and Radical Islam is the Jewish State of Israel. The Nazis (and their many many European collaborators) felt guilty enough to give the Jews a state, but they did not feel guilty enough to give them Switzerland or Luxembourg or Prussia or some other swath of territory from the people who slew them.

Instead, Europe made the Arabs pay for their mistake. And used the Book as justification.

What will arise, eventually, out of America's economic crisis and the wars around the world is a new appreciation for History amongst a people (Americans) who have been taught to believe that history died during the boat trip to the New World. If it means re-learning what Grampa did to get by during the hard times, or what exactly hobo glyphs are or just the aftermath of the Great War ... it will be a maturing of our young nation. Maybe I will live to see it.

The Security Establishment

Now that I have finished my stint in a semi-corporate setting in a security company, i can let you know a little bit about how things work.

These companies do business here with the permssion of the Chinese government. This means that they are under the constant supervision of the Public Security Bureau. As such, they censor themselves and many of the reports they provide their clients in order to maintain the goodwill of the CCP and continue to do business.

I myself had to delete two posts because they contained viewpoints and information that at the time could have gotten back to the government, then to my company and might have hurt people who have nothing to do with me or my political views.

After all of the free thinking words i write in here, it really hurt to have to censor myself, but i did it because hurting someone so I could have a cute blog is inappropriate. Well, things have changed so I can re-post them here today.

I know there are a couple security guys here who read my blog and get annoyed with what I say. They have labeled me a "left wing anti-establishment guy who could never fit into a corporation"

to you i say: thank you very much, i appreciate the compliment.

The self-censorship of the security community here has led them to make the same type of mistakes the US security establishment made leading up to 9/11. The establishment naturally rejects analyses and viewpoints that do not mesh with their convenient worldview. Such is the case with all establishments.

The only saving grace is a conversation i had with a security guy in which he said that the intelligence community is now looking for people like me to turn the coat and work for them, because we don't stand out like sore thumbs and our perspectives, although anti-establishment, are also valid and sometimes much more so than the "professionals" they have working for them now.

here are the deleted posts, the first one was called:

Saturday, July 19, 2008
Beware of Government Promises

Lying, cheating, bribing, beating ...

This is how governments treat the people. All over the world. No matter where, no matter what the situation. Even if the government manages to re-build and re-store -- never will they take responsibility.

Last night I read about the US government's response to the shooting of an Iranian passenger jet by the American warship Vincennes in 1988 -- denying everything then paying them off ten years later.

Today I read about the Chinese buying off the parents of children who were killed by the earthquake and shoddy construction. At least the Chinese pay people off right away ...

Basically many things the Chinese promised to have in place for the Olympics will not be in place. I'll start with the media:

All news networks that use mobile broadcasting vehicles will have to register their routes and broadcast plans in advance with the PSB. Beijing residents have been warned to either keep their mouths shut when meeting foreign press or better yet toe the Party line. The huge media building set up for the thousands of journalists coming through to cover the Games will be sending their reports through a controlled and monitored Internet pipeline.

Many longtime China-based journalists manage to get around these restrictions, but the point is that China promised unfettered media access. Of course, anyone who believed this is a fool.

Another media issue with serious implications: NBC's coverage of the Games must first go through the Chinese pipeline before it is sent to the world. All TV broadcasts -- I repeat, ALL TV BROADCASTS-- will have a 10 - 45 second delay on them. The Chinese first said 45 seconds, the media haggled it down to 10. But in the end, this is just another "promise" from the CCP that should be considered worthless.

This means that what you think is live happened from a few seconds to almost a minute ago. So protests or things of that nature will probably be scrubbed from TV coverage, giving any activists much less of an incentive to hold up the "T-sign" in support of Tibet or flash a Dalai Lama medallion or any other "anti-China" demonstrations.

As for pollution, I will put up a couple pictures later tonight of the view from my building. Beijing has not met the requirements, period. We have some days where I can not see the building 100 meters from my window and some days where it is clear and cloudless. What this means for the Games is hard to predict, because the real serious policies -- road restrictions, construction bans, factory closures etc. --do not begin until tomorrow. We might yet have clear skies ...

And as for money issues, Visa, McDonalds, GE and other foreign firms have banded together to force the Chinese government to honor their pledges of marketing the companies' brands during the Olympics. What has happened is, the Chinese have accepted a huge payment for these companies as sponsors and then reneged on their promises for exposure by giving Chinese brands such as Haier and Lenovo prime coverage at the expense of foreign companies. In response to the complaints from Visa and friends, the CCP said: you are getting enough coverage, period.

And as for security, the Chinese require that all foreign companies and entities that need security details must hire from a Chinese pool of companies and talent. If they do not hire Chinese, they do not receive their registration papers. There are three plans available for companies to choose from: a 160 man detail, 120 man detail and a 90 man detail. Normally, a 90 man details would cost about 150,000RMB. The prices have risen to 4 million RMB for the Olympics.

The Chinese are restricting foreign access, smothering the media, covering up their pollution and raping foreign companies trying to do business during the Olympics. These are just a few examples, if I write any more I might risk my access.

Is this unprecedented in Olympic history? Do all nations play this game when hosting the Olympics? Are we naive to suggest that the spirit of the Games should come before political concerns and security? Listening to people in Beijing speak of the Olympics, I find all agree that the situation is tense, draconian, staged and nationalistic.

At the same time, I notice that if you walk away from the glittering buildings and massive venues, you will find side streets filled with curious and hospitable people. It reinforces my belief that the governments of the world are to blame for our social ills and if we as people can (like true socialists and capitalists) just meet without their interference, we could solve many of these problems over tea and cigarettes.

Governments distort and de-humanize ... but I am yet too weak minded to come up with alternatives in this modern world.

The scary thing is I thought it would be counter-productive for Muslim terrorists to bring China into the War on Terrorism as an active force. Right now China uses the whole deal to do what it does best: crush its own people. But i was informed yesterday that a united front of anti-terror states like Europe, US and China would lead to a united Muslim Front, which is the end goal of the Muslim terrorists

So it makes sense for them to attack here. Does it make sense for me to be here?

The other one was called:

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Olympic Insecurity

After just a few days here, i have been briefed on security, given dozens of pages to read and have spent hours rolling around the city. All of this week will be spent in the sweltering heat checking the venues for security gaps and figuring out evacuation routes.

As of now, I believe that the authorities are in no way prepared for serious attacks and that if something does indeed happen, it will be chaos. Now any country hosting a big international party is vulnerable and there is no reason to single out China -- chaos ensues wherever there are bombs and such.

I guess what i see here is just typical Chinese BS as opposed to typical German or Greek BS.

A few things:

-- All of the prostitutes have been kicked out, the Mongolian, Russian and now even the local hussies have been swept from the streets and remain in hiding.

-- random sweeps of areas like San Li Tun net all foreigners (and a few locals) who have no ID with them i.e. passport. They also pick up every black man they see -- recently deporting 40-some Nigerians

-- it is illegal to send water, electronic devices or other such things to Beijing via the mail

-- they have missile batteries near the venues in case of air attack.

-- there are 100,000 anti-terrorism troops and 350,000 volunteers. I have seen these people. The "anti-terrorism" troops are average run-of-the-mill guards with new uniforms. They have no special training, not even first aid. The other 350,000 are random "volunteers" such as an Anhui girl selling clothes in the silk and pearl market and random civilians with red armbands. They are responsible for their areas if the poo hits the AC.

These are to me classic Communist control methods and I would expect them to happen in China from time to time regardless of what the situation is ... but they don't make me feel safe.

The metros are unsafe, the shopping centers are unsafe and Beijing is not that easy to navigate -- even with all of the ring roads. Restrictions placed on vehicles and such near the venues hamper as much as protect and typical stonewalling from the local police keeps foreigners in the dark about possible threats.

Basically, China has spray painted the grass green, sent out all undesirables, thrown hundreds of thousands of half-cops onto the streets, made a bunch of posters and promises and put flowers everywhere to make the place look beautiful and modern and on lockdown. But its a paper thin lockdown. Anyone who really wanted to make problems here would be able to do so with ease.

China has good relationships with all of the pariah states in the world. Sudan and Iran are both friends of the PRC. North Korea is a trusted lil buddy, so China believes few international terrorist orgs or states want to upset the Olympics.

For China, the threat is domestic in the form of "extremists and splittists" in Tibet and Xinjiang and international in the form of Western NGOs and human rights orgs who may stage a public protest. So they crack down hard domestically, shooting up Uighers and having a strong Party presence in the monasteries, while keeping a tight grip on all the foreigners through the registration and visa process.

The most Westerners would do is (for example) throw a fist up for Tibet or disseminate posters in support of the Falun Gong, but these things will not cause chaos. If anything, they will re-enforce unity. So although China is very nervous about the Olympics, at the same time I get the feeling that they do not believe anyone would really bomb them. After all these years of non-intrusive international diplomacy, it would indeed seem crazy for any foreign nation or terrorist group to attack China. But this, of course, is provided that China is the target.

But if one believes that any nation attending the Games is a target (ahem: the US), then the face-based security measures that China has in place seem not only feeble but bordering on the tragic: a thin veil of colored rice paper meant to stop a bullet from hitting the guest ..

mad love atcha ...