The 3 blind men and China experts

Every time I read an article from the China experts it never fails to remind me of the 3 blind men and the elephant. Yes they all claimed to know the elephant very well, a kind of expert. They have touched the elephant and smelt the elephant. One claimed that the elephant was like a tree trunk. Another professed that it was like a snake. And another swore that it was like a rope with loose ends. The beauty of it all is that they all believe that they were right and the elephant is what as they described. If only they could go pass beneath the skin of the elephant, if only they could look at the whole picture. But China experts are plentiful and of different degree. Then again, most of them are just like the 3 blind men. The betterer part is that they are propounding their theories of what China is all about and trying to con everyone of their expertise. Put it in another way, how about a Malaysian asking a Singaporean who visited JB once on where to buy cheap and good Malaysian local products? And the Singaporean happily went about explaining like an expert of Malaysian local produce and where to get the best deal!

Bodyguards and Assassins 2

The movie has many angles to look at, and lessons to be told. The Qing Dynasty was decadent and had lost the mandate to rule. But the Dowager was bent on keeping the Dynasty going for as long as possible, and with all means and resources available. Suppressing the opposition at all cost was her only way. The Dynasty had run out of ideas on how to rule the country. The country was in disarray and controlled by foreigners. The foreigners were calling the shot. It was a pathetic scenario, even in modern society, should the foreigners ended calling the shot in a country. The dangerous part about this ‘foreigner’ thing in modern history is that they could pass themselves off as citizens by simply acquiring a citizenship. And overnight people believe that they are one of them, no longer foreigners. Instant trees and instant citizenship have their merits and dangers. The Qing Dynasty was oppressive and deadly. They just killed off any opposition. Under such a political culture, when the rulers were ruthless and ready to demolish anyone trying to stand up to voice their opposition, the patriots could not hope for a peaceful change of the power elite. They were compelled to meet force with force, a rebellion. But for such an endeavour to succeed, there would be many sacrifices of lives. For every martyr that was taken down, more must stand up to replace the fallen. It was a bloody time. The unassuming doctor in Sun Yat Sen stood up. And so were many pen pushers, academics and students, all wanting a new China for the people. Many were mowed down by the soldiers who wielded the sword and the gun. The pen pushers provided the leadership and ideas, the brain. And the soldiers provided the muscles and the brawns to take on the ruthless Qing regime headed by an ageing Dowager. The rest was history. An empire of several hundred years, with all the elite in power, with guns and money, was overthrown by the will of a desperate people. History repeated itself. No empire can survive forever, no matter how powerful, how long it stayed in power, and how ruthless is the suppression of the people’s will. There will always be a new dawn and a new era.

Bodyguards and Assassins

I like this movie. It was set at the dying days of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat Sen was a rebel, outcast by the Govt in Beijing. The movie was about his visit to Hongkong to organize a revolt against the corrupt and decadence Qing Govt. And HongKong was a British outpost occupied by foreigners and foreign talents. The Qing Govt was dead against the rebels challenging its authority to rule but closed an eye while the foreigners flourished in the country. The Qing Govt might not love the foreigners, but it was a case of not ruffling feathers. As long as the foreigners were doing their own business and not involved in the politics of the day, the Govt could live with it. Curbing the rebels and their cause was the main priority, to extend the rule of the Manchus. The Qing Govt sent a band of Imperial Guards to assassinate Sun Yat Sen in HongKong. The Imperial Guards were led by a devoted and loyal Commander called Yan XiaoGuo. His loyalty and conviction to the Govt of the day was unquestionable. He sincerely believed that exterminating the rebels was the right thing to do. His zeal was admirable if one does not make any subjective judgement on which side was right or wrong. Civil servants of such nature were exemplary and deserved every cent paid to them. And the Qing Dynasty was able to extend its corrupt ways for much longer than necessary at the detriment of the country and its people. The change and overthrow of a corrupt govt was made to take a much longer time with more bloodshed, misery and loss of life. Thanks to such loyal civil servants that pledged blind loyalty to the dynasty without question. In the case of Yan XiaoGuo, his loyalty was not blind loyalty but full of conviction that the Govt then was legitimate and good for China. Overthrowing the Govt was against the mandate of heaven. He died for his belief and in the execution of his duty as a loyal civil servant. But his zeal and devotion to his master nearly killed a patriot and prolonged the decadence of a bankrupt dynasty. And in the cause of following the ruthless order of his masters without questioning, many citizens were killed or maimed as a result.

Human rights a major issue in Hu Obama Summit

With billions of dollars of chips on the table, the most important issue to the Americans will be the jailing of Liu Xiaobo. The Americans are pulling their hair off their heads at the dismal human rights record of China. And they are flabbergasted that the Chinese were unable to clear up their human rights problems after so many years of pressure from them. Obama may want to help the Chinese by giving Hu a recipe on how to clear up the dissidents once and for all and don’t have to look back again. The two worst human rights violation in the history of America that outshone the rest of the world must be slavery and the genocide against the true natives of America, the Red Indians. What Guantanamo? What Abu Ghraib? And the Americans handled these two problems so well that the survivors of these two abominable human rights violations against humankind are living happily without protesting. I am not too sure how the African negroes have been appeased and no longer pursue the violation of their self respect and rights as a human bean, but how the Americans dealt with the Red Indian issue were all well documented in the history books and the movies of Hollywood. From what I have read, the recipe to ensure that there will be no protest or grievances from those whose human rights were violated is very simple. Execute a ruthless campaign of genocide, make sure that the wipe out is as complete as possible. The Americans were extremely successful in exterminating the Red Indians that not many survived the ordeal to become dissidents today. What ever few that were left, send them to the reservations in no man’s land. With several millions of the Red Indians, young and old and womenfolks included, shot by the US cavalry, the human rights issue of the Red Indians is history. There must be a complete whitewash, and not to be spoken of again. The second part of the recipe is exactly this. Just keep attacking other countries’ human rights record so that they have no time to think about what had happened in America. Yes, the arrest of Liu Xiaobo is an earth shaking event that must not be forgotten and must be taken out regularly to be aired. Ssssssh, don’t say a word about the abhorring human rights violations against the Blacks and the Reds in America. No one must know or remember. How about Hu Jintao raising a wine glass and toast to the Blacks and Reds in the state dinner? The nation with the most abysimal record of human rights violation is chiding the China for human rights violation!

Santa Claus coming to America

Or shall I say the wise men from the East coming to visit America and bringing gifts for the baby? Hu Jintao is in America on a 4 day visit and a summit with Obama. And he does not come empty handed. In his wagons were loads of gold and silver, all ready to be dispensed to the hungry Americans. Several hundred millions have already been given and more to come, to the tune of billions, if America is willing to be a nice boy. Even before the visit there were threats and threats from the American elite, including Hillary Clinton. And the stupid woman still rabbled about human rights in China and that the Chinese must change their social and political system to suit the Americans. Why should the President of another country go to the US to listen to someone complaining about his domestic affairs and how to run his own house? Maybe China should do more homework and insist on talking to the Americans about compensation to the Red Indians and the descendants of former slaves. Actually, there is no need for China to indulge in the same gossips as a housewife. Go to the White and talk politics, about bread and butter and guns. If the Americans insist on talking about human rights and all that nonsense, just pack up and go home. No need to waste more time on unproductive and destructive distractions. The important issues are economics and how to give the people of both countries a better life. The gangsters and the Al Capones can go on and talk to whoever they want about gangland warfare. China should rise above the occasion and avoid being dragged into gangsterism. Santa Claus does not have to pour out his bag of goodies if the children misbehaved.