"A New China Appears Amid Quake Rubble" LA Times 6/17

The LA Times reported that according to a human rights group in Hong Kong, Chinese authorities are detaining a teacher and internet writer for writing about corruption in school construction and relief efforts following the earthquake (see observechina.com). These government actions are evidence that the Communist Party is moving away from its “relaxed restrictions on media coverage of the disaster” in preparation for the Summer Olympics.

The teacher is charged with “inciting state subversion” based on her essay with photos showing collapsed schools near government buildings not damaged by the earthquake. The construction of these schools is a controversial topic and the government wants to silence this discussion. The internet writer also raised questions about school construction on his website and is charged with “possession of state secrets.” These charges by authorities are generally applied whenever civil society voices dissent against the Communist Party’s position on an issue.

Valerie

Hi Griselda,

I have been wanting to mention an article that I saw in the LA Times on June 5th: "China tightens media limits loosened in quake". The article claims that the Chinese government is already cracking down on certain subjects to be discussed on the internet; such as questions about school construction and whether the government's response to the quake was fast enough.

To a large extent however, I do understand that China has different standards - when it comes to freedom of speech - as we have in the United States or in other western countries. I was raised in a country with a population of 7 million people. Switzerland is divided into 26 states. Each state has two senators and a number of representatives. In other words, the per-person-representation in the government is enormous. China does not have the luxury of individual representation. Since the Swiss presidency is made up of seven councillors, each councillor represents only one million people, that's roughly the constituency of a Los Angeles city council member. Imagine if one Los Angeles city council would represent the entire North American continent. That's how I try to picture representation in China.

So the accomplishments we have witnessed recently, are very amazing given the enormous amount of people that are involved in these events concurrently. I feel that what we are seeing this year are merely the beginnings of many amazing feats that we will witness in China over the next decades. I am reminded of the late 19th century when Europe began to take note of the amazing accomplishments in government and industry occurring in the United States. It was a period when a great nation had found a way ( through railroad, telegraph, liberalism and democracy) to organize itself on an unprecedented scale.

Alfons

[Edit by="agreber on Jun 26, 3:09:11 PM"][/Edit]

The USC US-China Institute posted an article on "soft power" in Asia in the July 7 - 23 Talking Points. It makes very interesting comparisons based on research in Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and USA. It differentiates betwen military, economic, political, diplomatic and cultural power. According to the article, the US has still a very powerful position in Asia, but it definitely also shows the emergence of Asian power. What struck me though, is that while 82% of Chinese parents think it is important for their children to learn English, only 11% of American parents thought it was imortant for their offspring to learn Chinese. I made a decision right there: I will learn Chinese.

Alfons

Its been two months since the earthquake in China an it seems to be a distant memory. Im curious if anyone has heard any updates on how the relief efforts have been going. What impact to international organizations and donations play in the recovery process? Is the process complete? What were the final death tolls? I also wonder how the Olympic Committee will address this issue during the summer.