You know things are going wrong in Tibet and other Tibetan areas when CCTV tells you that Tibetans are living happily as never before, Global Times hits hard on “lawless Tibetans”, and Wumaos (五毛) are swarming Twitter accounts of Woeser and other sources of Tibetan news and spitting hate. On Weibo, there are loose items by travelers, local Chinese, or even one or two members of the armed police, about what they see and do. Otherwise they do a pretty good job making sure there isn’t much news. Click to see a set of pictures taken in Lhasa, Tibet, on Jan. 31. In this issue we have items about the makeup of China’s new leadership, political reform or the absence of it, a reminiscence about a young couple from 23 years ago, I Have a Dream—the Chinese version, and more. Click date below for link to the original.
- 斯伟江/Si Weijiang/(A well-known defense lawyer based in Shanghai)/: Across the country, communist aristocratic former red guards have now assumed high-level leadership. Many of them were involved in the violence against ordinary people at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping didn’t want to promote them, and as a result, they didn’t have much room to maneuver in the era of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. But Chen Yun [陈云, a party elder] supported them. Chen said, “These are our own descendants and they alone can be trusted.” via Qin Hui (秦晖, professor at Qinghua University)
Jan. 31 11:52 From Sina Weibo, Repost (3724) | Comment (863)
- 韩志国/Han Zhiguo/(Economist)/: 【Why am I increasingly concerned with political reform? 】 My opining about political reform has brought me unimaginable pressure. It’s there all the time and it’s everywhere. It even threatens the safety of my life. Political reform is the confluence of all conflicting interests in Chinese society now. Without it, the country will be heading downward, reforms will halt, and 1.3 billion people will be walking toward a cliff with their eyes blindfolded. Time is running out, and there aren’t that many opportunities anymore!
Feb. 1 21:13 From iPad client Repost (2538)| Comment(460)
- yangpigui许晖/Xu Hui/: In Xinxiang, Henan (河南新乡) on June 6, 1989, I received a Nanjingese college student who had just fled Tian’anmen Square and was travelling southbound on the Beijing-Guangzhou railway. In blood stained clothes, he talked to people along the way about what had happened. Accompanying him was a beautiful college girl who had also fled the Square and, since meeting the young man, had been taking care of him. But she spoke of nothing. After the meal, I shook hands with them to say goodbye, and had someone else take them to the train station to broad a train to Anyang (安阳). I don’t know what became of them after that. I wish them the best.
31 Jan via web Retweeted by xixihaha89 and 17 others
- hanunyi寒君依/Han Jun Yi/: I have a dream that, one day, I will not have to go to Hong Kong to buy safe baby formula . I have a dream that, one day, I don’t have to drive myself crazy to try to go abroad for an equal education. I have a dream that, one day, I can write freely without being censored. I have one last dream that, if I dream any of these dreams, I will never wake up from it.
1 Feb via Gravity! Retweeted by necho and 8 others
In response to comments made by Liu Xiaoming (刘晓明), Chinese ambassador in London, to BBC that China is not a communist country and the communist party is merely the ruling party:
- FifthDimen吾囗/: You can’t say a bandit fort is not a bandit fort just because there are hostages in it.
1 Feb via web Retweeted by songzw and 4 others
- 59-year-old poet Zhu Yufu (朱虞夫) is on trial right now in Hangzhou (杭州) on charges of “inciting to subvert state power”, and the main evidence presented by the prosecutors is a poem titled “It’s Time” which Zhu penned. Little known hitherto, the poem is now going viral on Weibo:
It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
The square belongs to all, and the feet are yours
It’s time to walk to the square to make a choice
It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
The song is for all, but the throat is yours
It’s time to sing the song from the bottom of your heart
It’s time, Chinese!
The time is now
China belongs to all of us, but the choice is yours
It’s time for you to choose the future of China
The Tibetan photos are pretty graphic. I have a young Chinese friend who moved to Lhasa last year to be with her policeman boyfriend, much against her parent’s wishes. Last I heard, she was returning to Xining for Spring Festival but her boyfriend’s leave was cancelled. My friend is very unhappy in Lhasa and the relationship with bfriend seems problematic. I shared her parent’s concern, when asked for my views but am long in the tooth and know that love would win in this case. I wonder what the equivalent Chinese saying is for “You can’t put an old head on young shoulders”. Something to do with xin yan?
The post by Han Jun Yi seems (to me) to be the most pertinent, not to mention the one with the most long-term negative consequences for the nation. I may have to see if I can incorporate that somewhere…