…of John Pomfret’s Chinese Lessons. Sample:

…China has gone from being one of the most egalitarian societies in the world to among the least. It is a rapidly aging country stricken by widespread and devastating environmental degradation, and the government’s first response to epidemics, poisoned water supplies and natural disasters is usually to try to cover up the debacle. Pomfret’s sketches of self-serving Chinese officials, bureaucrats and businesspeople will be depressingly familiar to anyone who has worked in China. (Though this was the first time I had read of some Chinese executives’ penchant for spending weekends smoking methamphetamine, popping Viagra and bedding prostitutes.) And Pomfret’s portraits of contemporary Chinese who enter adulthood with a naive optimism that is soon replaced by heartbreaking cynicism will be maddening to readers who are rooting for China to become a responsible world power. Yet to his great credit, Pomfret’s affection for the people he is writing about almost always shows through, which keeps Chinese Lessons from feeling like a polemic; the book’s accumulation of acutely observed detail is compelling.

My own review is here If you haven’t bought the book yet, do it now.

This is inexcusable. I used to truly respect the man. Now there’s nothing left to respect. He’s confirmed all our worst fears. I can’t imagine this sitting well with the Democrats who voted him into office again and again.

She’s good today.

Junior Needs a Spanking
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: August 26, 2006

The Old King put the Boy King over his knee yesterday and gave him a good thwack with a lobster-shaped paddle.

O.K., that didn’t happen, but don’t you wish it had?

Junior certainly deserves it, with recent attempts to blame his dad for policies that led to 9/11 and the rise of Osama and Middle East terrorism.

(more…)

A book that we talked about at great length here in the past, Zhongguo Nongmin Diaocha has been translated into English, with an introduction by John Pomfret. This book was a classic example of the Hu administration’s Hamlet complex. At first they encouraged the book and then, once it caught on, they banned it (not that the ban meant much; I hear it’s still available in the mainland if you look for it). It was heralded as a true breakthrough, a hard-nosed look at corruption and the outrageous burdens imposed by local officials on China’s 900 million rural poor.

I’ve just seen the first review of the English edition; here’s how it starts.

Water holds up the boat; water may also sink the boat = Emperor Taizong (600-649 C.E., Tang Dynasty)

If you believe the mainstream media – and why should you be so foolish as to do that? – China will soon overtake the U.S. as a major military and economic super power. Just look at the gleaming cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, they tell us. Take a look at your local Wal-Mart: Just about everything there is made in China.

Chinese journalists Wu Chuntao and Chen Guidi returned to Chen’s native province of Anhui, one of China’s poorest – and the setting for ‘The Good Earth’ by West Virginia native Pearl Buck – to undertake a three-year survey of what had happened to the peasants there, asking the question: ‘Have the peasants been betrayed by the revolution undertaken in their name by Mao and his successors?’

The short answer is ‘YES’ and the reportage in ‘Will the Boat Sink the Water? The Life of China’s Peasants’ (PublicAffairs, 256 pages, $25.00). Translated by Zhu Hong, with an introduction by former Washington Post Beijing Bureau Chief John Pomfret, the book is a masterpiece of investigative journalism. It’s as if Seymour Hersh’s wife were an investigative journalist as accomplished as Sy and accompanied her husband on their collaborative work.

Then come all the details, none of them very cheerful. Read the review, and then tell me how people can continue to laud the cadre system, a bloated, corrupt, foul creation that rewards freeloaders, failures and liars at the expense of the miserable poor the party was created to protect. Irony of ironies.

On another note, but one still related to this review… A common complaint you’ll hear from the fenqing crowd is that the Western media only portrays the PRC in negative light. This is a colossal misrepresentation that can be obliterated with a simple search of any major news portals. On any given day, there will be a sizable imbalance of glowing economic and finance/trade-related stories, and a couple of stories of human rights issues. Anyone scanning these stories will see China as a wonderland and as the place to be. Most of the coverage is positive in the extreme. I only bring this up in this post because of the opening words of the review, cited above, on how the mainstream media have created a glowing picture of a China that for most Chinese doesn’t exist. The reviewer tells us,

As Pomfret says, the book is ‘an important antidote to the boosterish pablum churned out by many China experts these days. It’s a street-level look at the downside, and the dark side, of China’s economic juggernaut.’

Boosterish pabulum. Pomfret is spot-on as always. (And if you are new to this blog, I urge you to check that last link.)

Most amusing.

Via Andrew Sullivan’s guest blogger, who blithely remarks, “So that’s how they maintain the one-child policy….”

A blogger who first shopped at the Beijing institution a quarter of a century ago reminisces about the store, which will soon be meeting the wrecking ball. A charming and bittersweet first-person recollection of the way things used to be.

This is quite a find – just follow the links. Of course, compared to Chinesepod it’s painfully primitive (hey, it’s from the late 1970s) and basic, but it’s a fun resource.

And I don’t see that as a cheap shot. It’s fair and it’s supported by incontrovertible evidence. Whether you like Kos are not, the quotes are real and incontestable. Every president and every person lies at some time or another (and if you say that’s not true, you’re lying). But this is akin to The Big Lie – one told over and over again with the intentional goal of making it morph into an accepted Truth. And it’s despicable.

Once again, I am deeply impressed with a Taiwanese blogger who offers an ESWN-like service, translating important Chinese articles (and even songs) into English. This translation of a lengthy article by a Chinese dissident in exile is absolutely superb. Here’s just one paragraph:

But a deeper goal of the mainland’s missile deployment is to manipulate Taiwan’s internal politics. The 900 missiles are a hand from the mainland stretching into Taiwan. If they merely wanted to threaten Taiwan’s pro-independence forces, they simply wouldn’t need the missiles. China’s military power and the refusal to renounce force are enough for this purpose. Besides, the missiles are a bad policy in terms of China’s international image. China’s missile deployment against Taiwan is not for military purposes or for threatening Taiwan. The real purpose is to use the missile issue to interfere in and manipulate Taiwan’s political situation. It’s similar to the release of dissidents from prison before Chinese leaders go on overseas trips. They arrest dissidents to intimidate the opposition forces in the country. They release them to increase their bargaining chips in talks with the West. These 900 missiles can give China considerable advantage in its dealings with Taiwan. Negotiations are mutual compromises. But China’s withdrawal of missiles is not a compromise at all because China has unilaterally added the missile issue to the equation at a later time.

This guy can not only translate, he can write. Now, if only he would offer these gems on a daily basis he truly would stand as Roland’s counterpart. (Then again, there are very few people on the planet, in any language, who can do what Roland does in terms of sheer quantity.)

It amazes me when people like ESWN and Levitator and Nausicaa take so much of their time and effort to perform this great public service. I may not always agree with all of their political outlooks, but my hat is off to them – they make everyone’s lives richer.

If you’re a Chinese villager, this article explains, your worth is measured by the number of people that attend your funeral. The more mourners, the greater the honor. So you need to be creative in order to attract the multitudes; what better way than offering a racy funeral striptease show? (And no, I’m not making this up.)

Five people have been detained in China for running striptease send-offs at funerals, state media say. The once-common events are held to boost the number of mourners, as large crowds are seen as a mark of honour.

But the arrests, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, could signal the end of the rural tradition. Local officials have since ordered a halt to “obscene performances” and say funeral plans have to be submitted in advance, Xinhua news agency said.

The arrests, in Donghai county, followed striptease acts at a farmer’s funeral, the agency said. Two hundred people were said to have attended the event, which was held on 16 August. The Beijing News said the event was later revealed by a Chinese TV station. The leaders of five striptease troupes were held, it said, including two involved in the farmer’s funeral.

“Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai’s rural areas to allure viewers,” Xinhua agency said. “Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honoured.”

I guess it’s up to the farmers to decide how they want to spend their money, and if they want to hire funeral strippers, why not?

I am, in all seriousness, very curious about how far back this practice dates. Looking at the Xinhua quote, one might be led to believe it’s an old and time-honored tradition. Is it? Or is it a more recent phenomenon, inspired by Western decadence? (I ask because I got into a discussion about it with a friend this morning, who insisted this is not a Chinese “cultural thing,” but rather a result of unhealthy Western influence. I honestly have no idea, but would love to learn.)