A Smoggy day in Beijing

There is a situation going on right now at east gate in Beijing. About 100 people and are in the area. The issues is with the demolition of several apartment blocks to make way for a park. The residents have made a "last stand" in front of the last building.

Anytime people actually get hifey about something, it probably has to do with cheddar. The gov. is notorious for dividing the residents against each other and haggling one-on-one in order to squeeze more profit out of the real estate deal ...

I am sure the media will be on this soon enough ...

Today is also a very smoggy day ... I can't imagine these Olympics going 24hrs without having problems. The good news is, the local volunteers and security forces are going out of their way to be polite and civilized when foreigners are around and the girls are starting to smile a bit more ..

Indocrination II

My good friend and patna Fraggle Beanmilk has just been hired by a large daily newspaper here in the Du. They signed ol' Beanmilk to a three year contract and the training began yesterday.

So far, she has learned that Marxist Theory on the media is right in line with the current Party theory and with all the other red theories inbetween.

"A propaganda tool has no freedom."

this was bluntly put to the new reporters today. Yesterday they learned that the media is the servant of the people, the society, the nation, the Party and the government. As such, there can be no bad influences emanating from the pages of any outlet. Nothing that may damage the interests, plans or work of the government may be reported. Nothing that may hurt the feelings of the people or upset the harmony of society may be reported. Nothing that deals with bums, child labor, corrupt officials, dirty sewers or ridiculous traffic can be reported.

There are a host of topics and themes that must be reported in an appropriate manner. Taiwan must be labeled an area and all its "officials" must have "quotation marks" around their titles.

You can not put Islam and pigs on the same page. You cannot in any form or manner report on anything that might be bad for the Party. The priority of the news is as follows: Party politics, timely events, news.

and so on. Any infraction will result in getting fired immediately.

One good example that the "professors" gave them was of the two advertising production guys who let an ad through that commemorated June 4, 1989 (6.4 as it is known in China). Those two guys did not know about 6.4, so the government's indoctrination program had actually been successful, but they were fired anyway. For not knowing any better.

The Case of Wang Shi

The Chinese government has decided to clamp down on the schoolchildren issue to ensure social harmony and stability. All protests are dealt with by black-clad police and the media has been warned from on high to keep their mouths shut about the schools. They can't even mention it.

Instead, Wang Shi, CEO of one of the largest real estate developers in China, Wan Ke, has been vilified in the press for only giving 2 million RMB to the victims. Wang is known for his high-class, carefree lifestyle and he was loved for it when he was on top. But the paltry two million and him flashing the peace sign for a pic in the quake devastated area has sent Wan Ke's stock price plummeting and unleashed waves of Internet insults against their CEO. The media has been all over it here in Chengdu and Wang Shi has now announced that he will step down as head of Wan Ke.

The same can't be said for the dozens of government rats that are responsible for the shoddy construction of schools. Schools are usually paid for with government funds, a prime cash cow for whore-mongering, BMW-driving officials in the Sichuanese hinterlands.

"We can take Wang Shi down," said a friend of mine, "but we can't possibly vilify the government so. Have you ever seen that happen here? Impossible ..."

China handles business

President Hu Jintao made it to Dujiangyan today and shook hands with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao...

Today I took a ride with a civil engineer and a security and infrastructure assessment expert around the northwest suburbs of Chengdu. We visited Chongzhou, Qingcheng Mountain and the outskirts of Dujiangyan.

The purpose of the trip was to give the security's expert's clients -- corporate clients -- an idea of the damage done in Chengdu and the economic impact on their businesses.

We saw hundreds of vehicles heading north out of Chengdu toward Dujiangyan -- a veritable rag tag fleet i.e. Battlestar Galactica -- loaded up with water, blankets, clothes and instant noodles. Many of these vehicles were turned back by police. Some of them dropped their supplies off, others were not able to.

The reasoning behind this was explained by the civil engineer, who has extensive experience in disaster areas such as Sudan and West Africa in the 1970s and 80s and more recently in Indonesia after the tsunami. A lot of times, well-meaning volunteers create more problems than they solve. Often with tragic consequences.

What all of us have seen here is in direct contrast with the situation we saw in New Orleans during and after the tsunami. The sense of social responsibility in China does not exist in our society. Any person who would actually dare to loot, pillage, shoot someone or rape during this time of crisis would be lynched by the neighborhood before the police even heard of it. But the point is, it would never happen here.

We saw the wave of nationalism that took over the nation following the Tibetan protests and the media wave that followed. This ability to unite is in full force again and the world is now seeing the flip-side of a united China -- determined instead of aggressive.

After the government and the people of China showed that they can mobilize quickly and efficiently, the western media flip-flopped from criticism of government efforts to praise for a China that has "finally learned" how to be civilized. It smacks of civilizational fear.

Anyway. In Qingcheng mountain everybody is living in tents, all houses and buildings have been damaged in some way or another, but its extraordinary that the vast majority of these buildings are still standing. I know that the areas farther north closer to the epicenter are decimated and in ruins, but near the outer edge of the earthquakes impact, almost all buildings -- although maybe shaken -- will house people again in the near future.

The people are resilient and in good spirits. The first words out of every one's mouth was: "Thank you for coming and caring about us." They let us know what they need -- basically medicine, water and dry clothes -- but they also offered us water and noodles. This is quintessentially Chinese. I know this place is corrupt as hell and after the dust settles heads will roll, but now is not the time. I believe all people pull together like this in times of need ... or did once, before we let ourselves be divided.

The relief effort has not reached many towns and villages that could use help, but this is a function of the earthquake's impact and the vast population of Sichuan Province. Every 5km one passes a township of around 50,000 people. Every 20km a town of about 100,000 pops out of the rice fields. The relief crews are focusing on those areas with bleeding, dying, trapped people. Those that are uninjured hunker down in tents, while rain pours into their living rooms. They register with the local government authorities and wait for someone to tell them what is next.

As far as I can see, the relief effort is astounding and well-organized. Around Chengdu, drop-off points for supplies are constantly filling up. Foreigners are giving what they have as well and holding benefit concerts and the like, but our assistance is minuscule and symbolic. The Chinese can handle their own business.

Back to Qingcheng Mountain: The mountain itself was hit very hard and most buildings, temples and pagodas where we once spent afternoons composing bad poetry and dreaming about sages are gone forever. I still don't have reliable info on the White Lotus Monastery -- but I will go back up with Charlie tomorrow to retrieve his bike and to meet with the old woman he carried out. I will keep you posted.

Rationalism is Bleak

Today has been another magnificent day in Chengdu. I am sitting in the Bookworm, a fine place to ease back and read/write be smart with myself and I am using my OWN computer. For the past three weeks, I have been using any computer I could because I lost my damn power source while up in Jiu Zhai Gou chillin the in the mtns. But now I have it back.

If you are in China, peep this site for buying stuff. You might need a Chinese homie to help you, as you need an account, but the goods here are super cheap and as far as I have heard it is governed less by strictly enforced rules than a code of conduct.

here are a few news items regarding the past few months in China and how they affect the international community, Chinese people themselves and the Olympic Games.

The situation is tense, but Lord Almighty does time move quick in our epoch. The whole world changes on a day to day basis.

China has agreed to talk to an envoy of the Dalai Lama, and this, more than anything will defuse the situation and tilt it in China's favor. Should have done this a long time ago. But we shall see, the Chinese side is not giving the talks much space to breath:

”It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks”

I was telling my cracker friend Himmler earlier that it would take only one more incident to get people here really pissed at the Western media/political establishment. And although it is actually a very small minority of people who are vigorously protesting in defense of China (mostly students and young people) the take-no-prisoners approach of these patriots makes it difficult for anyone to discuss the issues with them. Especially difficult for other Chinese.

Kun Shan

The western media feels guilty for spearing the Chinese. At least some of them do. After jumping all over the Tibet story from the Tibetan perspective -- lambasting Chinese state media along the way -- reporters are starting to look for Han Chinese living and working in Lhasa to tell the story from their perspective.

It will be interesting for them to compare the statistics and see if there truly is a government sanctioned immigration program afoot, in that the state gives incentives to the Han settlers large enough to equal or outweigh the incentives given to Tibetans as a registered minority. I don't know about that ... I will try and look for something.

It is unlikely that the western media will let off the heat, though. Especially when they feel the need to counter stuff like this in the Shanghai Daily:

"It's the heart of the matter ... Jin Jing, a disabled Chinese fencer and torchbearer, closes her eyes and holds tightly to the torch after an assault by a Western man who tried to snatch away her pride and joy."

It's getting emotional. The Chinese make themselves a target with their antiquidated PR campaign -- a campaign that is just a step above North Korea's government mouthpiece. But as my friend Jarret Wrisley says:

"As the Olympic torch flickers its way across continents, protestors have taken to the streets to condemn the treatment of Tibetans and other human rights violations. But what they fail to realize, beyond the sheer implausibility of a free, independent Tibet, is that most people here don’t really care what the rest of the world thinks. Dissent within has been crushed, and foreign media reports are dismissed as so much propaganda. It’s China’s moment, and no one can spoil it."

faded

I am just a few short miles from Aba, where the Tibetans burned down a police station last week. Since that incident it has been mostly quiet. This is a big tourist area and the troubles do not seem to have affected business much. Busloads of Cantonese rumble through daily, honking, yapping and taking funny pictures. The Tibetans in this region -- Jiarong Tibetans, supposedly the oldest of the many groups --are considered a rather passive lot compared with their cousins in Kham and Amdo. Many of them are more Sinofied then their cousins as well -- they may or may not speak Tibetan, but they sure as hell speak Chinese.

Aba is a bit more accessible then Kham and has Jiu Zhai Gou, a World Heritage Site that brings in 3 million tourists a year. Hard to remain warlike and pissed when the tourism money flows in.

Ironically, the police rounded up hundreds of poor Han Chinese peasant-laborers here without ID cards and sent them back to wherever they came from. The Tibetans treat the laborers with disdain and there is a clear racial issue between them.

A large group of journalists tried to sneak into Tibet proper here recently but were caught at the border and sent back to Beijing after heavy questioning. As with the Tibetan District in Chengdu, there is a large police presence on many of the roads in Aba and they routinely pull over foreigners and hassle them. They take pictures of rowdy Tibetans and spread the Party message of anti-splittism and solidarity with the Motherland. The police rely on a heavy hand and constant barrage of propaganda to keep the peace.

My gong fu master has been hired as security for the torch relay, so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say about the Tibet issue. He is a very open-minded and thoughtful man with no racist tendencies and a strong sense of honor. I think he is one of the best choices for security. He is able to talk with Tibetans. I just hope he gets the chance to talk before they start lobbing stones at him for being a member of the "oppressing race of Han."

I am really tired and this past week I have been dealing with crafty, maneuvering Chinese and battered, stressed out, shell-shocked Germans. I stand in the middle and because of that I am considered to have a more important position than I actually do have. The Germans look to me for solutions and the Chinese are trying to suss me out and get an advantage.

I just wanna head back to my crib, smell flowers, drink tea and think up cool stuff to write about.

Peace to Big Daddy Jake.

Hi Mom!

Aint nothin special bout me

i walked back to my house tonight around 2am and i live near the Tibetan district of town. there were police cars on every block with running motors and flashing lights. the entire neighborhood is surrounded and infiltrated. the only things moving were the cops fingers typing out a lazy message to his girl and the swirl of red and blue bulbs.

thanks to all my people asking about Tibet and sending me news and messages ... it is on everyone's lips here in China as well and i am finding that discussions are not as demented as they could be.

There is an understanding that something must be wrong in Tibet. locals themselves are under no illusions about their government. prices are rising all the time -- for meat, school and gas -- and the brazen bosses toss money, women and fat cars around like rice at a wedding. They know they are being lied to. Every time a campaign like this comes around from the gov, bullshit piles up and the stank carries far and wide. People here know this. But its never easy to hear a foreigner talk smack ... in a single conversation it can go from dirty stinkin tibetans to the lying, thieving Party to loudmouthed, hypocritical long-noses (Westerners). Life is tough for everybody out here -- we're all Lao Bai Xing just trying to get by

"Just keep your hands offa my stack"

Beijing is much more worried about what goes on in the minds and hearts of its own people than anything else. the chinese gov has no choice but to crack down hard on the tibetans to show the rest of the populace -- taxi drivers, turks, mafiosos, farmers -- that ass can be kicked at any time, anywhere. the Party wants to remain in control of this good thing they are building and reap the benefits of chinese capitalists unleashed in perpetuity.

(Beijing-gov-Party ...)

Cuz even if Sarkozy does boycott the opening ceremonies of the olympics, french businessmen will still go to beijing on their knees offering to build nuclear plants and begging for more containers, more tourists, more consumers to feed. the chinese will be the real indispensable nation and as such, jealous haters who refuse to come to the party now, will grovel for a chance to press noses to glass later.

I consider my motives for supporting Tibet:
I admire and love Tibetans and their Tibetanish ways. They're cool. Han Chinese not so much. They're religious ... and their religion is cooler than islam or christianity. i naturally tend to side with the underdog. Political oppression, cultural dilution and fast paced, ruthless economic development are not my bag.

two views on the issue, here at Antiwar.com and here at LewRockwell.com

Consider the history of the West and ask if we have the right to raise our voices anywhere -- Yugolsavia burned in Europe's backyard.

Consider the onus of guilt placed on a newborn for the crimes of his grandfather and ask if we have the duty to raise our voices everywhere -- so our grandchildren may enter the world unstained.

gettin paid

i should be putting this down for an article for Antiwar.com or somebody else, but events move to fast and I enjoy the freedom of this blog. But hell, ninja needs to get paid.

Last night I was interviewd by KBOO in P-Town about the Tibet protests. I was caught a little off guard by the questions and so I was not able to say all of the wonderful insights I have gathered over the years and days. When the interviewer asked if I had anything to say, I was like ... naw .. a little shook and I didn't want to mess anything up further with more random statements.

I was asked about Western nations advocating boycotts, which I haven't read anywhere. Mentioning them yes, advocating them no. I read a blog entry that suggested using yellow armbands and scarfs in the Opening ceremony to send a message of solidarity with struggles worldwide. What has a greater impact? A black fist in the sky atop the golden podium, or the grumbling of the nation that didn't come to play?

I was asked about the Dalai Lama declaring to step down. This is also news to me and actually, I don't have to look to hard to know its utter nonsense that he is considering stepping down. The interviewer was probably referring to the DL's declaration that he can reincarnate anywhere he wants. This is a very important political and spiritual statement. Normally, the monasteries get together and through arcane methods divine the whereabouts of the next DL. Usually in Tibet proper. Given the Chinese stranglehold on the Himalayas and willingness to brazenly corrupt the selection process, the DL's statement secures his successor a place to grow.

I was also asked about the possibility for sustained protests in Tibet and China. I said impossible, given the wrath of the army, police and populace. Imagine a popular uprising by the KKK in the south. How long would they be able to sustain it these days? Such is the image of the DL and his followers in the minds of Chinese.

Nancy Pelosi gave the Tibetan movement a boost and probably scared the shit out of Beijing with her visit to Dharamsala. That visit was planned before, but lord did it come at the right time. Makes one wonder what was planned and what wasn't ...

Here in China, the media have been taking advantage of years and years of brainwashing in the school system to ratchet up the anger against Tibet and also Taiwan. There were threats of war if Taiwan did anything, declarations of international support for the suppression of criminal Tibetan rioters and various stories detailing the burning and pillaging of innocents by the rampaging rioters. What is truth?

A billion plus people believe what Xinhua and the China Daily tells them ... I suppose in a metaphysical sense there is no real argument for the truth of either side -- ours or theirs.

Ours or theirs ...

Bill Richardson will endorse Obama in the next few days and it seems as if the collective breath we all held in while the storm of race broke over the campaign is being slowly let out. It was the Battle of the Bulge for Clinton ... and the cavalry held the flanks.

The jazz band just packed up and I am gonna end this and head to a safe house to get some R&R.

Peace.

China censors

It might be hard for an American to imagine what life would be like under a dictatorship of the proletariat. What happens, among many other things, is that news is completely censored as are your modes of communication.

My gmail account is spotty and has been for weeks. But since the protests I can barely be online for more than 10 minutes without the bastards shutting me down. I can access most sites through a proxy, but my communication is hampered slightly. And I am annoyed, growing furious actually. I am so proud to be an American, because fury at the suppression of my freedom is natural and accepted and encouraged. My response to censorship is in-born, as I am human, yet also cultivated by the values of the society I spent the most time in.

I think with this thing in Tibet going down, we should direct our attentions to the things at home that we can alter, improve or at the very least think about.

The candidate I support is currently experiencing a backlash by people in the US that frustrates me as much as the young girl who fails to empathize with Tibetans. There will be no solution in Tibet until girls like the one I described begin to diversify their viewpoints on life.

In America, a grand nation with every creed and color, still suffers from the exact same sickness as this girl. Obama, who tries to walk a path of mediation and unity in a nation fractured, is pulled back into the mud of racial politics by his enemies, who see him as an empty suit harboring secret anti-American Black Nationalist views.

Typically, the establishment cannot fathom a black man with rounded views: he has to be Cosby or Malcolm. In fact, the issues Obama rides on are change and hope and a new century for America, whereas his critics hope to paint him black into a corner, scaring the shit out of white people and opening the door for the status quo to return to business as normal.

We as a nation are big economic problems as well as the militarization of our foreign policy. Historically, this situation has been seen before with falling Empires. They often resort to violence and suppression to maintain what they have built. The Establishment invariably fils to understand that change, in the form of a new president for example, will not only reviatalize the nation, but give the people hope and energy.

The status quo does not change, actually, if Obama wins. All that changes is the attitudes of their charges (us) and the focus of our energies. We need a kick in the ass, not another old white man with Imperialist tendencies or a bitter, power-hungry woman with an interfering, interventionist, lying-ass husband.

The diaspora

yesterday i got a message from a young girl -- 21 yrs old -- and a reporter for the Chengdu Economic Daily. In our society, a young girl will be the bleedingest heart you'll find. and if she's smart enough to be a crack reporter, she will most likely be passionate and serious about her causes. Not in China people. She tolerates my support of Tibet with the patient understanding of an old woman with her grandchild. funnily enough, she fits the old Churchill quote:

"if you are young and conservative you are heartless, if you are old and liberal you are foolish"

Well China has skipped and altered many things on her path toward riches and this particular sentiment is one of them. The young Chinese are as hardline on Tibet as any cadre. Here is what she sent me, in response to me equating blacks (whom she supports at every turn in their struggle against .. well, me) with Tibetans.

"The Tibetan killed an immaculate citizen near the Huaxi Hospital"

This is of course doublespeak emanating from the boardrooms of her paper, where the Party sets the agenda. Seems to be over her head, this small fact.

Anyway. There was supposedly a bombing of the 78 bus line yesterday which passes the Southwest Minority University, but the circumstances are unclear and it doesn't make much sense. If a rebellion is reported i the news as isolated seemingly unconnected acts of random violence, my first reaction is to think "staged for effect" by the government. For this 21 yr old little girl, she sees clear and concise evidence of the Dalai's corrupting influence over the naiive Tibetan youth.

But the point of this blog is to declare that any protests and violence in China is doomed and the Dalai appears ineffectual. It will be up to the young to carry on the fight and make Tibet a burning flame in their hearts. Like Cubans, Afghanis and Palestinians. Burmans and Haitians ... etc ...

Communism, in its worldly manifestation outside of the books and theories of old men, is the most horrible system of governance the world has ever thought up ... well ok theocracies and slave states suck worse ...

Qiangba Puncog must hang

The day after the deadline and people here in China are talking about the protests, both my Laowai homies and my Chinese homies. It is safe to say that foreigners and Chinese disagree 100% on the Tibet issue.

An article in the NYT today talks about the long simmering hatred that has finally boiled over. This is something the Chinese have no understanding of. No toleration of any such criticism. I would say it is just intellectual and could be dealt with in a discussion, but Chinese are very passionate about the issue and refuse to believe that the same government they routinely harangue for being overtly, arrogantly corrupt could possibly be oppressing dirty stinking backward half-barbarians in the mountains.

It is also difficult for Chinese to believe that racism or a deep condescending sense of superiority might have something to do with it, but for Tibetans, it is a matter of course. When they speak with Chinese, they get complimented on their excellent language skills, when they achieve, they are a "particularly clever little Tibetan" and their religion -- the cornerstone of life in a nation still spiritual after all these years -- is co-opted and corrupted by the Chinese, who themselves are still searching for a God to replace the Emperor, Communism and now Cash-Money.

For the Chinese, the Tibetans are rowdy, ungrateful splittists, led by a devious and sinister fake monk with a strong case of megalomania. A couple articles in the Asia Times -- although not as visceral as these Xinhua stories -- hint that the Dalai Lama is a scallywag at heart. Their history books teach that Tibet was always part of China and loved it. The arrival of this monk and his political brand of Buddhism spoiled centuries of brotherhood and ruined the efforts of the Communist Party to develop and liberate the Tibetan people.

Chinese believe as strongly as we do in their convictions. There is no discussion. Naturally, there exists a counter-culture here that disagrees with the mainstream views on Tibet, but the counter-culture will never betray China for the sake of Tibetans. They might criticize from a safe distance or take trips to the affected areas to do documentary film work and such, but there is no movement for Tibet in China that crosses ethnic boundaries. And there is a knee jerk reaction to a foreigner saying anything about China.

The Tibetans are alone on this one. All they got here are some Laowai like me, writing perhaps, maybe arguing passionately in a bar. We endanger the movement as much as we give it life and hope. If I am seen with a Tibetan in the next few days, publicly, that guy might just be hauled in for questioning, or worse. At the same time, the questions he may have answered could lead to a story that will reach a few thousand people.

The deadline has come and gone and Chengdu is quiet. Soldiers came to patrol the underground bars last night to see if we was up to no good. I scowled at em and thought up lines to write.

When i fight for my freedom one day, will there be cameras? Will I yell to them to pick up a gun, or stop to give an interview?

gou re de

Today i spent the whole day with my man Liu Yuan running from one massive development project to another, extolling the virtues of Chengdu's real estate situation. I was interviewed a few times for the TV and all the girls in the house were giggling. the older women too. they would roll up on me and be like: so yeah i have a daughter that needs to go abroad and so on. most of the attendees have fat pockets. they were very impressed with my language abilities and outlook on life. its cuz they don't have the chance to meet anyone who isn't rich and Sichuanese like them, so it was interesting for them. for me it was once again my ego that got blown all day. he loved it. and a few contacts were made. lord knows.

it was a good day. especially seeing as i slept but 30 minutes the night before and my man Liu Yuan gave me half a pill of ecstasy for the trip. yeah betchu didn't know chinese be all over the drug scene didja? these ninjaz are manufacturing drugs we aint even heard of yet. anyway. made the day E-Z.

To another topic, which will grace these pages for the last time:

What did i expect?

Anything but nothing.