Tag Archives: china

Divine Blur

Three days, three countries, and four cities. Approximately 31 hours spent in airplanes, airports, and on trains. One black signal rainstorm. A grand total of six hours of sleep.

To many, this experience would be a hellish torture on par with any of the dastardly tactics devised by the interrogators at Guantánamo Bay. Yet, for me, the whirlwind journey I made from London to Tokyo to Hong Kong to Shenzhen and back to Tokyo was strangely empowering. I’ve always found that there’s a sort of freedom and clarity that comes from not being attached to anyplace, from knowing that, six hours from now, I’ll be in another city in another country speaking another language and the present will be like a distant, faded memory…. When I’m in such a constant state of motion, it’s as though my flight has never landed, and I’m still floating ten thousand meters above the earth, even if my feet are firmly planted on the ground.

At one point, with a few hours to spare before my return flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo, I found the time to head to Ocean Park, a local HK version of Sea World or Disneyland. And it was while riding 越矿飞车 (Yuè kuàng fēi chē), staring out at the beautiful landscape of the South China Sea, that I realised the best way to describe the way I felt: it’s like that brief calm at the crest of the hill on a roller coaster, where everything seems clear for a single, brilliant, dreamlike moment. But you know that it can’t last. In an instant, you’ll be in free-fall, and reality will be rushing up to meet you.

Ocean Park Mine Train Roller Coaster

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5 August 2010 0 Comments ,

Of Chickens, Tires, and Stupidity

In a September 17, 2009 editorial entitled “Economic Vandalism,” the Economist decried the Obama administration’s decision to implement harsh tariffs on tires imported from the People’s Republic of China as “bad politics, bad economics, [and] bad diplomacy.” It is hard not to agree with this assessment. At a time when the global economy is already faltering and the US desperately needs Chinese support on a wide range of key issues, it can hardly afford to alienate China with protectionist trade policies aimed primarily at generating domestic political capital.

The importers of the newly-tariffed Chinese tires will no doubt simply turn to other developing nations for their supply of inexpensive imports, and the United Steelworkers’ Union which originally petitioned the Obama administration to take action against the Chinese tires will have in essence gained nothing. Yet the trade dispute resulting from Obama’s decision to implement this tariff has potentially wide-reaching implications. Indeed, the fallout has already begun. After an outpouring of anti-American rhetoric from the Chinese internet community, the country’s commerce ministry announced that it would begin investigations aimed at implementing tariffs on imports of chicken and automotive products from the US. While China will barely notice the loss of a mere $1.3 billion of tire exports — a relatively miniscule 0.38% of its total exports to the US — the floundering American automotive industry cannot afford to lose a market of 1.33 billion consumers. GM, for instance, sells more cars in China than anyone but Volkswagen, and the retaliatory action by the Chinese government will further undermine GM’s already shaky financial state.

The impact of the brewing mini-trade war between the United States and China has the potential to reach far beyond the tire, chicken, and automotive industries. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, a rise in protectionist trade policies is widely credited with prolonging the recession and exacerbating its effects. With the world’s economy still on shaky footing, no country can afford to engage in self-serving protectionism. Furthermore, in capitulating to the protectionist demands of the steelworkers’ union, the Obama administration has set a dangerous precedent, inviting a flood of similar demands from other special interest groups. In addition, the United States, long the leading cheerleader of free trade and the global economy, has opened itself to accusations of engaging in hypocritical, politically-motivated policymaking. President Obama, who at one point specifically pledged to not engage in “self-defeating protectionism,” has now lost vital credibility in dealing with economic issues.

Moreover, the Obama administration desperately needs Chinese cooperation on a number of key policy issues. Its permanent seat on the UN Security Council and corresponding veto power means that China’s support is critical in addressing the nuclear weapons programs of North Korea and Iran. Likewise, PRC backing of any new international climate change legislation is essential. Finally, continued collaboration with China on economic issues, including yuan valuation and US treasury bonds, is also crucial.

The Chinese response to Obama’s actions was justified. China did not, so to speak, fire the first shot. The United States, especially with its role in leading the world into recession, no longer possesses the ability to unilaterally take economic action against other nations without facing reprisals — nor should it. China’s domestic economy is growing rapidly, reducing its reliance on exports to the US and placing it in a position to be able to call out hypocritical and counterproductive American policies. For once, the tables have been turned: the United States now has far more to lose than China.

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20 September 2009 0 Comments ,

Misleading Headlines and Media Bias

China court sentences drunk driver to death. This rather shocking headline graced an AP story posted yesterday to MSNBC.com, implying that the Chinese justice system was now in the habit of executing citizens for what, in the United States, is generally a misdemeanor offense. Many who saw this headline likely read no further: it simply further confirmed what they already had been told countless times by the media about the Chinese government’s widespread abuse of its citizens.

However, the article itself tells a very different story than this sensationalist and misleading headline. It reveals that the 30-year-old man was, in fact, not condemned to death for the simple act of driving while intoxicated:

He was reportedly drunk and speeding in the capital of Sichuan province last year when he struck four other cars. Four people were killed and another person was seriously injured. He was also driving without a license.

Indeed, the man was sentenced to death for what amounts to murdering four other drivers and seriously injuring a fifth, an offense which, under any judicial system, would result in far more than a slap on the wrist. May I suggest a more accurate headline? Drunk driver kills four, is sentenced to death.

Not content with just a misleading headline, however, the article’s author proceeds to give us a lesson in lying with statistics.

China imposes capital punishment more than any other country. Amnesty International says China put at least 1,718 people to death last year. The actual figure is believed to be higher.

This widely quoted figure fails to take into account that China also has the world’s largest population, currently sitting at 1.33 billion — more than four times the number of citizens in the US. A more accurate statistic would be the number of executions per capita, which can also be calculated from the data provided by Amnesty International. NationMaster has done so, providing us with some significantly different results.

When population is taken into account, the country with the most heavy-handed use of the death penalty is not China, but rather the Bahamas, closely followed by Singapore. Indeed, thirteen nations use the death penalty more frequently than China, which places 14th on the list of executions per capita. The United States ranks 20th, sentencing its citizens to death more than 175 other countries. Why does the American media rarely highlight this fact, or condemn the Bahamas and Singapore?

While the PRC government, like any other, certainly has plenty to answer for, this type of deliberately misleading journalism serves as little more than propaganda, reinforcing popular inaccuracies and distorting reality. Americans are incensed when we catch wind of this type of biased reporting taking place in other countries, yet turn a blind eye to blatant offenses occurring in our own press. The next time, before we complain about irresponsible, misleading reporting, we should look in the mirror.

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26 July 2009 2 Comments , ,