Eric's Beijing Diary

Went to my favorite Hunan restaurant this evening with some students. They told me that the place is going to be torn down. I had hoped this one might be spared, but it now appears that the whole west side is going to be demolished. Most of it is already gone. Hard to believe, really. The west side is like a ghost town now. A paved ghost town. A nice new road will look better for the Olympics, I guess.

I hate change. I guess you have to expect change, especially when there is so much money flowing into this country. But this change is harder to accept, because it is not really related to progress. It is change for the sake of cosmetics. Perhaps I shouldn't judge too quickly, but I don't think I'm going to like what replaces it.

Sculpting in Time had a birthday today. The folks in Wudaokou wanted me to come to the party because it was being held at the new Sculpting in Time on the Beihang campus. Jimmy, the guy in the corner with the sweater is from Taiwan. He came to Beijing to study film. Somehow, he came up with the idea of starting a small coffee bar, and the whole idea turned out to be a lot more successful than he had expected. I think part of the reason for the success is because Sculpting in Time is not a Taiwanese coffee bar in the classic sense. Most of the Taiwanese coffee bars are really a cross between a coffee bar and a traditional Chinese tea house. But Sculpting in time is a study bar, sorta like the study bars on Mill Avenue (like Coffee Plantation) but better, I think. It doesn't hurt that this coffee bar is located in a community with half a million students. The more important statistic, though, I think, are the 12 thousand international students, because Chinese students are used to studying in their dormitories. I don't see many undergraduate Chinese students in coffee bars.

Met a young lady at the English corner today. I said, "What's your English name?" She said, "Linda, but you can call me 'Fish.' Fish is freedom."

For some reason, I am getting a lot of questions about Taiwan lately. Here in China, people seem to be convinced that America wants to interfere with the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland because of their desire to control Taiwan. I reminded them that the Americans have always supported the "one China" policy, because Chiang Kai-shek insisted on it then just as much as the mainland does now, and because the American association with Taiwan was always predicated on the assumption that Taiwan represented China.

How could a country like Taiwan go from being a member of the UN Security Council to being a small island nation that no one recognizes? The answer, of course, is simple. Taiwan was never a member of the Security Council. That would be ridiculous. The Republic of China on Taiwan was a member of the Security Council. People today say that China has been in the United Nations since the early seventies, after Nixon's trip to China. In fact, China has always been a member of the United Nations. And China has always been a member of the Security Council. Taiwan was a member of the United Nations and the Security Council as China, never as Taiwan.

So what to do about this contradiction? Chen Shui-bian (current president) would, of course, advocate that Taiwan become independent. But that's because he is a Taiwanese native. If you ever talk to a diehard Taiwanese native, they don't speak disparagingly about "the Communists." They talk about "the Mainlanders," an epitaph that refers to everyone who came from the Mainland after 1949, most of whom were anything but Communist. When I was a kid, Taiwan was referred to as "free China." While that name was reasonable as a distinction from the mainland government, especially given the events at that time, it would never have been honest to refer to Taiwan as "free Taiwan." The Taiwanese natives certainly didn't view it as freedom. Their island was taken over by the mainlanders (1949) in a very bloody invasion, and the government they set up, while pro-American, was not the least bit democratic.

So what is it that motivated the KMT to voluntarily give up Martial Law and become a democratic nation? Credit for that goes to Lee Teng-hui, who was a member of the KMT, but was actually a Taiwanese native. I guess I should go back one step, and give credit to Chiang Ching-kuo (son of Chiang Kai-shek), because he did seem to be moving toward democratic government before he died, and because he named Lee as his successor instead of naming someone from his family, thus ending the family political dynasty. But it was Lee who implemented the change. He offered elderly KMT law makers huge retirement honoraries, because of their meritorious service (bought them off, in other words), and once those guys were out of the way, he completely democratized the government. In the next election, Chen Shui-bian's party won because of a split in the KMT. Taiwan was now ruled by the natives, who constituted some 70 per cent of the population.

But the future direction is not independence. In a recent article in the Far East Economic Review, Ma Ying-jiu (current mayor of Taipei and KMT chief), who will probably be the next leader of Taiwan, outlined the approach he would use to this issue. He said he would not advocate independence, and he would not support reunification. He would propose following the status quo for the foreseeable future. Although the Beijing government will not support this approach enthusiastically, they will probably be relieved by this change. But Ma Ying-jiu will be a thorn in Beijing's side, too, because he always attends the Tiananmen memorials, and because he was a vocal critic of the anti-secession law, in contrast to his party, which was silent on the issue. He is having some trouble right now because of a scandal in his office. I personally think he will survive, because there is no evidence of embezzlement, just of lazy accounting, but his opponents will certainly try to use it against him, so only time will tell.

Labels: Taiwan, United Nations

I told my students today that God had mercy on the Pilgrims because they wanted to honor God. They came to America knowing nothing about it, got blown way off course, landed on a cold, barren coast, and just happened to meet the one American Indian who had studied abroad. What are the odds?

Jean is kinda in between things right now, so she's staying at the youth hostel in Wudaokou. Tonight I invited her to join me at Tim's Texas BBQ in Jianguomen for Thanksgiving Dinner. Tim's Texas BBQ used to be the John Bull Pub. I had Thanksgiving there two years ago. The whole placed has been changed over now. No more Shepherd's Pie.

The new menu is all barbecue stuff. I'm a bit skeptical, because I've been to a Texas barbecue. I mean a real Texas barbecue, down in Corpus Christi, back when I was trucking. I can't imagine something like that being replicated here, but I should come back sometime and give it a try, I guess. But tonight was for turkey. Jean had never had a "fire chicken" dinner. Eating a Thanksgiving "set meal" is really not the same as a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner, but it was actually pretty good. But these places would go broke if they depended on people like me. They had my custom tonight because it's Thanksgiving, but generally I would not come this far to pay this much. My problem, of course, is that I like Chinese food too much, and there are lots and lots of Chinese restaurants in my part of town. Plenty of Japanese restaurants, too. In fact, if you want to have Japanese food, the best place to live is Beijing. When I go to Tokyo, I eat at McDonald's, because I can't afford the stuff I like. But here in Beijing, Japanese food is very affordable. The little place under the coffee bar in Wudaokou is run by a Japanese guy, and they make the best hamburger curry rice. But enough about food. Happy Thanksgiving.

I was parking my bike in Wudaokou this evening when a group of young ladies came up to me and asked me if they could interview me. We went into KFC and sat down for a few minutes. They were students in a class at Qinghua University, and they had an assignment to interview a foreigner about what it is like for a foreigner to get used to China. But they also had lots of questions for me about life in other places. They were all making preparations to study in Canada, so they asked me if I knew anything about it. I told them that I had gone to graduate school in Canada. I hesitate to be too hard and fast in making comparisons between graduate education in Canada and that in other countries such as the U.S. and Australia, because I graduated from the University of Regina in 1986, which is (my goodness!) twenty years ago now. But I think I can still be safe in generalizing that you can get the same or better education for less money in Canada than in the United States. It was definitely true in my case. The program I went through at the University of Regina was significantly better than what I could have gotten in North Dakota, and for quite a bit less money than it would have cost me if I had stayed home.

Well, the Chinese have really outdone themselves this time. The pirated a town. That's right. They copied a town in England lock, stock and pub. Actually, I think what they did was to take parts of several towns and copy them. Nevertheless, the individuals from those towns are more than a little put out by the fact that their storefronts have suddenly appeared in a new suburb of Shanghai.

Piracy is a way of life in China. The other day, I was showing the iTunes podcasting software to a student of mine who was interested in downloading English language podcasts. I told her that while IPOD is hardware that is perhaps a little expensive for her budget, the software is free. She gave me a motherly look, and I knew what was coming.

"You know, in China, all software is free."

She's right, I guess, and in some ways, I can't blame Chinese students, who could never hope to afford US prices for the software they need to jump through the hoops set before them. But it isn't good to maintain a culture where no one ever gets paid for innovation. The open source folks believe that all software should be free. While I am very sympathetic to their position, you just can't get around the fact that all of us benefit from software that would never have been developed if software could not be sold. If it were not for the commercial profitability of software, there would not be anything like Windows. We would all be using the geeky command line stuff that is the domain of open source types. Linux fanatics talk about how Linux is "as good as Windows," but in places where it is available, I don't see people fighting over those systems. The simple fact is that software has to pay if we want to encourage companies to design stuff like Windows. Think of it....What we call "Windows" is actually a 'C' program with some 30 million lines of code. It takes a huge company to produce something like that.

Microsoft has now signed an agreement with Lenovo whereby windows would be installed at the factory, and added to the price of the product. This is probably a good compromise. It will allow the software manufacturer to be compensated in a way that will allow further development, while keeping the software at a manageable cost.

Online book. I think you're going to like this one, you guys. It's a story about a Jewish family in Eastern Europe. The audio story starts on November 13 on "Christian Classics," a feature program on BBN Radio. The program for each day is posted on that day, and kept there until the same day of the following week. So the program for Monday, November 13th will be available through Sunday, November 19th. Don't waste any time--I think you will want to hear this.

When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask God if I can go to Beijing in November. I like the climate in Beijing (except for the middle of the summer), but I would have to say that autumn is the nicest. They say that autumn is a short season. Officially 45 days. But "they" have never been to North Dakota. Of course, the Dakotas have their own beauty, but it seems like the leaves came off the trees a lot earlier. And they all fall the same day. Here in Beijing, the process is much lazier, although it certainly varies a bit from year to year. The beginning part kinda depends on how soon the fever breaks from the heat of the summer. September was really nice this year. We did have a cold spell in October, but most of the month was nice. That's the thing--if you pick any three or four days out of the fall, they could be warm or cold. But the cold snap is nice, because it really cuts down on the bugs. And then the sun comes out again. In that respect, all northern climates are similar. We used to have Indian Summer in North Dakota after the first blizzard of winter. I can remember standing in shirt sleeves in December. Of course, the cold always came eventually. There is about a month and a half delay in the atmosphere, so while December 21st is officially the shortest, it is not necessarily the coldest. In North Dakota, we used to say, "When the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen."

But Beijing has a much milder climate than North Dakota or Minnesota. It reminds me of Prescott, Arizona, except that the middle of the summer here is not only hot here, but very humid, which is bizarre, because Beijing is known otherwise as having a very dry climate. The Shanghai folks (especially women) complain about it, because they say it dries their skin, but I do like a dry climate, because it is so much easier to keep warm. Cold and wet is tough to deal with, but cold and dry is easy--just keep adding layers until you feel comfortable. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I've somehow wandered into a discussion of winter, and I'm supposed to be talking about fall. That's the thing with me...I tend to wander all over the place in my writing. If I were writing this for publication, I would have to straighten it up considerably, but since I am a blogger, I can say whatever I want, and I don't give a hang what any publisher thinks about it. Anyway, back to my subject, I guess everyone has their preferences, but in my opinion, it's pretty hard to beat a North China autumn.

Today we went to Fragrant Hills and did some hiking. There were lots and lots of people, but it was such a nice day, that we didn't even notice them. OK, that's a bit strong. Anyway, you can either take the chair lift to the top, or climb the steps (which is what we did). Then you can take your pick of different pathways down the hill. We ended up the day by stopping at the Sculpting in Time coffee bar just outside the East Gate for some pizza. The manager of that place is cat, and he is really bossy. You should have seen the waitresses trying to coax him off a table when they ran out of places for people to sit.

One of my neighbors referred me to an herbal treatment for stomach disorders called, "Berberine." I'm pretty sure that is the same stuff I took last year when I was in Zhengzhou and didn't have my antibiotic with me. I can't really tell you if it worked...results were certainly not as quick as they would have been with Cipro. But I am starting to have questions about Cipro. Shortly after I came back from Suzhou a month ago, I got a very severe case of diarrhea. That doesn't happen to me very often in Beijing, but I wasn't surprised, because I had just been on the train from the south. I took some Cipro, and the diarrhea disappeared immediately, but I started to have really weird symtoms. My heart beat was very strange. It reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe's "Telltale Heart." I could feel every heartbeat. I was a bit surprised by this, because I had not recalled reading anything about heart problems associated with Cipro. Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to Google, and typed in "Cipro" and "heart," and brought up a plethora of complaints about the drug. Many of these were the type of thing I wouldn't have paid attention to if I had not been feeling such strange symtoms myself. Still not sure what the deal was...some say that caffeine intensifies the drug, but I think it is probably the other way around. Cipro probably intensifies the effect of caffeine.

Anyway, the experience gave me pause. I would say, "Be sure you talk to your doctor," but I don't think that works, because most of the complaints I read were from people in the States, where Cipro is a prescription drug. Presumably then, their physicians were not aware of the problems. The only difference I can identify between the Cipro I took and the stuff I brought from the States when I first came to China, was that the stuff from the States was dispensed in 1000mg time-release capsules. The stuff I bought here is in 250mg capsules, which you take two at a time. I did get a larger dose the first day, because I didn't take the evening dose until 2 am, but I don't think that would be the problem, because I have seen information recommending 1500mg the first day.

So I really don't know what to advise. Definitely do not drink any coffee at all if you take Cipro. And try to get the time-release capsules if you can. I think they might introduce the drug into your symptom in a more gradual manner. Since my first study, I have tried to get more information...I Googled "quinine" instead of Cipro. Sure enough, arrhythmia is listed as one of the side effects. If you take Cipro and start having heart problems, stop taking it right away. I am not one of those types who preaches against antibiotics. The main reason I don't like to take them has nothing to do with the side effects. It is that they are "killers," and I would much rather coax my body to develop natural resistance to problematic stomach bacteria. But if you get really sick, then it seems to me that it would be good to kill the thing that is killing you. So I am not absolutely opposed to antibiotics. I carry them with me for extreme cases. But if they are going to make my heart go wacky, then I think I would rather put up with the creeping crud.

OK, folks. An update on the self-taught lawyer in Shandong province who was sentenced to four years in prison. I have some things to say about this, but I'll let you read the story first, from the weekend edition (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 3-5, 2006) of the Wall Street Journal Asia Edition:

China's Political Courts

By Teng Biao
And Zhang Zuhua

BEIJING--In China, legal decisions in politically sensitive cases aren't subject to public accountability. The process, hidden behind closed doors, is steered by political--not judicial--authorities. This has been true for decades, and was proven true again this week in the appellate case of Chen Guangcheng, China's blind, "barefoot" lawyer.

On Monday, the Linyi City Intermediate People's Court in Shandong province overturned Mr. Chen's four-year prison sentence, and remanded his case for retrial at the local court in Yinan county, where Mr. Chen was originally convicted.

That first trial, held in August, was a sham. Mr. Chen had angered local officials in 2005 by documenting forced abortions and sterilizations. After putting him under house arrest and then detaining him for a total of nine months, local Party officials arrested him on trumped-up charges of "international destruction of property" and "gathering crowds to obstruct traffic."

Mr. Chen's initial, two hour closed-door hearing was barred to all but his three brothers. His legal team, of which I was a member, was replaced by two government-appointed lawyers, against Mr. Chen's wishes. The two new lawyers never met Mr. Chen before the trail, read any of his case files, nor offered a credible defense. They only parroted the prosecution's case. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Chen was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.

The appeals process was similarly secretive. This time, our defense team was armed with extensive supporting testimony from hundreds of eyewitnesses. But in mid-October, while awaiting notice of a court date, we suddenly learned that the court had already finalized a ruling without releasing its decision to the public. Mr. Chen's family had been kept in the dark, too.

While we were relieved that this latest decision favored Mr. Chen, China's judicial process remains as opaque as ever. Reversals of verdict in politically charged cases are rare. Last year, when the Hunan Intermediate Court upheld a 10-year sentence against journalist Shi Tao, its decision was likewise shrouded in secrecy. In that case, as well, the decision was rendered without hearing arguments from Mr. Shi's lawyers. Countless other cases in China have followed a similar pattern.

Why, then, was the decision in Mr. Chen's case different? One can only guess, as Liyunyi court officials have explained nothing. But it seems implausible that any professional legal review was involved.

We know that local authorities in Yinan County were angry at Mr. Chen for exposing their abusive birth-control methods. When the travesty of the subsequent arrest and conviction of Mr. Chen drew international attention, political considerations at higher levels—most likely from Beijing—may have come into play. The remanding of Mr. Chen's case thus seems to be the fruit of his courageous supporters inside China, as well as their friends in international human-rights groups.

Cynics might object that only those who are individually noticed and championed seem to receive any justice in China. A vast, silent majority of victims languish without attention or justice. Indeed, it could be argued that a frightened and paranoid government might even double its abusive efforts to stifle this growing opposition.

Still, the fight remains worthwhile. The Yinan County court now has, according to the law, six weeks within which to conduct a new trial based on the existing evidence, or to order an entirely new investigation. For Mr. Chen personally, it means a chance to avoid imprisonment in squalor. And for China as a whole, one can only hope that the continued pressure brought on by rights defenders against legal abuse might bring about long-term change.

Vaclav Havel, during similar struggles in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, wrote that "demanding that the laws be upheld is thus an act of ‘living in truth,' which threatens the whole mendacious structure of its point of maximum mendacity." If China has an independent judiciary three decades from now, we might look back on the Chen Guangcheng case as having played a role. (Teng Biao is one of Mr. Chen's lawyers, and Zhang Zuhua is a pro-democracy activist.)

As you can see from this article, the sentence handed out to Chen Guangcheng was overturned by the appeals court, which is good news, but the manner in which it was done is more than a little disconcerting. Ordinarily, appeals courts are supposed to hear arguments from the defendant's lawyers relative to the propriety of the original trial. But the appeals court made the ruling without hearing any arguments! Clearly, this ruling was dictated, which affirms what critics of China's legal process have been saying for a long time. Judicial decisions in China are not independent. Judges are not allowed to make decisions based on the law. They can actually be ordered by the party to rule one way or the other. Perhaps one could argue that the actions of the lower court were so egregious that the appeals court's decision was foregone. Nevertheless, a court decision without argument does not give much assurance to those who want to believe that blind justice is the only determinant of judgment.

In America, the opposite problem prevails. Recently, the New Jersey supreme court ruled that the legislature must pass laws accommodating same-sex relationships. Here is their decision:

Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our state Constitution.

No longer?? If there current law is unconstitutional, it has been unconstitutional from the time it was written. Such decisions are supposed to correct the injustice created by the very writing of the unconstitutional law. Laws do not somehow slowly become unconstitutional over time. This business of Supreme Court judges changing law by reinterpreting constitutions is an abuse and completely unlawful extension of their authority. A very similar trend is developing in Japan, where, in the wake of North Korea's saber rattling, there is talk of changing the constitution to allow Japan to build up its military. But the issue is politically charged, and some feel that the process of amending the constitution would be too lengthy and troublesome, so there is some suggestion that the courts may have to "reinterpret" the constitution. This is China's problem in reverse. In China, we see the lack of independence of the judiciary, while in the West, we see the tyranny of the judiciary. Laws are not made by elected representatives; they are made by unelected judicial tyrants.

Labels: Chen Guangcheng, Human Rights, Samesexuality

Cold winter wind today, but it is very sunny, and not too cold otherwise. The best thing about it is that they have turned on the hot water. They should turn it on the middle of October, but there are usually a number of really warm days in late October, so they don't feel it is needed. So it is scheduled to come on by the 15th of November. But days like today sometimes move them to turn it on a few days early.

Yesterday I went to the Great Wall at Badaling. I have been there more than the other Great Wall locations, because it is simpler to get to. But it is also more touristed. I met a couple Iranian kids who wanted their picture taken with me. They were there with their parents...I guess their Father is teaching here for a year, or something.

The government has recently passed laws to protect the Great wall. There has been some public complaint, because groups of young people (There is a sizeable international youth culture in Beijing.) like to go to the Wall and have parties, and then they leave the place in a mess. Places like Badaling are largely rebuilt; it's hard to tell what is original. Still, it is a pretty impressive structure.

At the English corner this evening, a guy stopped by and wanted me to help him identify the English terms for the various levels of command in the military. Not being a military man, I told him this was not my specialty, but I would try to help. No idea why he wanted to know. He said he thought that a squad was the smallest, and I agreed. Above a squad is a platoon, and then a company. He asked me what was above a company, and I told him that I thought it was a division. But in his listing, he kept leaving out "battalion," and I told him I was sure that should be in there somewhere. As you can see, my comprehension of the levels is pretty rusty. Like I said, I'm not a military man--never been in uniform (except when I was a boy scout, where a troop, believe it or not, is a group of boys, not just one). For those of you interested in such trivia, here is the list.

This evening, I went to the Bookworm to get a glimpse of the austere forbidden kingdom of North Korea by way of a screening of a movie by Nick Banner on the training of young performers for the Mass Games. Nick Bonner has put together a tour company, leading tours to North Korea. Not sure when I will see that country. Americans are generally not welcome (although there are brief periods when American citizens are allowed), and it is very expensive. Some day, but I don't know when.

As I was returning to the subway stop, a couple young ladies walked up beside me. One of them spoke pretty good English. They were hustling for money. She told me that they had come from the countryside to get work, but couldn't because they didn't have proper ID. They wanted money because they were hungry. Well, I will generally let any beggar bum a meal off me--I did enough of it myself when I was hitchhiking across the country as a kid. So I took them to McDonald's and bought them each a hamburger meal. The young lady who spoke English told me they had never been to McDonald's. While we were eating, she told me that they wanted to go home, but did not have enough money to buy a ticket. I've heard that line before.

Several years ago, John and I were on the way to church in Tempe, Arizona, when we came upon a lady standing by the freeway exit with a sign that said, "Will Work For Food." Problem with most of those people is that they don't really want to work, they want money. I stopped and told the lady that we were going to church, and invited her to come along. I put her bike (a very nice one, I might add) in the trunk of my car, and we went to church. When we got to the church, I put her bicycle in the church store room until after the service. It turned out that the church was having a potluck dinner that day, so I invited her to eat with us. As it happened, there was a guy in the church who did quite a bit of work with drifters. I told him of her request for money to go back home to California. He talked to the church leadership, and they authorized a check for the ticket price. He told me that he was going to take her to the bus stop and put her on the bus, which I told him was a good idea. I informed the lady that we had arranged her travel expenses. Well, she waited until I turned my head, then she disappeared. Was I surprised? No. Not at all.

Back to the two young ladies. Of course there is always the possibility that they were telling the simple truth--came to the city, couldn't find work, and became homesick. But I doubt it. They didn't look or act homesick, and they were both pretty well dressed and seemed to be feeling good. So would they use the money I gave them to buy drugs or something? I don't think so. I am pretty sure they would use it to buy food and a place to stay. But getting along in life by playing an endless con game with sympathetic foreigners is not a responsible way to live. There are beggars in Beijing who make more money begging in the streets of Beijing than they can working all day in the fields back in the countryside. In a way, I can't blame them for wanting to have an easier life, but as Christians, we should not be encouraging begging. But we can't just sit and do nothing. I really believe that part of the solution is to encourage the development of NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) in China. If there were a Christian homeless shelter in the Chaoyang district, I could have taken those two young ladies there, and they could be given the kind of help that would guide them into responsible employment, without encouraging dependency. I am thinking out loud, now--we will not solve all the problems of poverty in a day. But we should spend some time thinking and praying about these things. We must believe that God cares more about these problems as we do--that, in fact, our concern comes from God, and that He will help us to develop the kinds of ministries that will reach out to needy people in a way that encourages them to be responsible citizens.