Simon's China and East Asia Highlights: 2004-11-30

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on East Asia, courtesy of Simon World.

Asia by Blog is a twice weekly feature at my blog, posted on Mondays and Thursdays (the latest edition is here and the full archive here). You can be notified by email when it is updated, just drop me an email at simon-[at]-simonworld-[dot]-mu-[dot]-nu. The following is a digest of highlights from the past month's Asia by Blog series.

The round-up has four key areas of focus:

• China, Taiwan & Hong Kong: Politics, Economy & lifestyle, History sport & culture, Information
• Korea & Japan
• South-East Asia
• Asian Miscellany

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong

Politics

• She defected to China in the 1940s, now American nuclear physicist Joan Hinton is finally getting her green card in China.

• Former WaPo Beijing bureau chief John Pomfret's thoughts on China. John Quiggin wonders is China on its last legs, just as Suharto's was at the end? Check the comments for some thoughtful rebuttals. Personally I think not.

• There has been several ethnic based riots in China in the last few months. There were riots in Henan and in Inner Mongolia, although the band involved in the latter is "ugliest collections of musicians ever assembled since the Traveling Wilburys. Perhaps even the Moody Blues." Fabian has more. More trouble in China's regions: this time a huge troop deployment to control protests over a new dam project. Stephen notes another ethnic riot, this time over kebabs. The CCP is worried about protests and wary of following the Soviet Union. Yet more riots in Guangdong, though this time not ethnic based. The increase in unrest may be due to improved communications.

• A kinder, gentler kind of authoritarian.
• Hemlock (on Monday) picks apart the pleading of HK's pampered public servants.

• Over 3 million people go to Beijing in September to petition for their cause: a look at the system, its vagaries and its inefficiencies. China is going to reform its petitioning system.

• If re-unification issues don't start a war between Taiwan and China, maybe Taiwanification of increasingly rare Chinese brides will.

• Taiwan's opposition leader is certifiably mad.

• China's worries about energy see it prepared to trade away integrity for supplies. Is China's energy diplomacy working? And what about water security? Thomas Barnett worries that while China rapidly secures energy sources and strategic alliances, America is being left behind.

• As part of its energy security and economic push China's role in Central Asia is building.

• Several experts have looked at the prospects for Sino-US relations and potential changes in America's Taiwan policy.

• An interesting contrast in attitudes to wealth and police power in Hong Kong and China.

• A change in the history curriculum for schools in Taiwan reflects Chen's growing push towards independence through the creation of a more distinct Taiwanese culture. From the other side of the Strait, a concise view of Chinese mainstream thinking on Taiwan.

• Colin Powell's parting thoughts on China.

• The US Congressional Executive Commission on China has a Political Prisoner Database. That it exists at all, let alone being so comprehensive, is a reminder of the evil that still lurks in China.

• China may have missed out on World Cup football, but they've found a new one to play with against their old friends Taiwan.

• Andres has a great post covering likely political parties and systems if China had free elections.

Economy and Lifestyle

• A good look at China's economic and foreign exchange policy. There's far more for China to consider and worry about in floating its currency than the US trade deficit. Is China getting ready to shift its exchange rate regime?

• Jeff looks at industrial safety and lack thereof in China.

• Hong Kong's Disneyland is costing more than you think.

• China's emerging middle "stratum".

• China's economic numbers just don't add up.

• Wal-Mart has given in and allowed Chinese trade unions to operate in its stores. Another world first for China.

• 5 Chinese workers protested about not being paid their wages. They went to jail for their troubles. And 24 peasants were beaten up by their boss for asknig for their wages.

• China raised its interest rates for the first time in 9 years.

• China is clamping down on its leaky capital account.

• As part of China's adjustment to a market economy, it is also getting its first corporate lawyers, with all the entails. To think China went 5,000 years without them. But there's proof China's economic boom will soon end. And a market tip on China's currency and rates.

• Hostage negotiation Chinese style.

• Despite their protestations to the contrary, China's economy is still very much a planned one, not a market one. But at least in small ways the rule of law is starting to take hold.

• Ellen looks at sophisticated Chinese counterfeiting schemes - so advanced the counterfeiters are claiming patents themselves! Fakes are a notorious problem in China, the latest being fake Government bonds. But hats off to this guy, who passed himself off as the long dead founder of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen! You can't even trust if the coffee is real anymore.

• New York's port is coming back...thanks (partly) to China.

• Are China's economic policies even more orthodox than America's?

History, Sport and Culture

• A must read: the death of Chinese humour.

• Look through this fascinating list of changing terms used in Chinese papers over the past 50 years. It tells you a lot about the changes the country has gone through in that time.

• While China's soccer is a mess, it's really becoming a modern nation now it is getting its own football hooligan law...but the law isn't just about football.

• The Great Wall of Silence about suicide.

• Why use English signs in China?

• Brilliant title: Bonfire of the bourgeois vanities...Running Dog takes an excellent look at the madness of the Cultural Revolution. In Beijing it's the hottest book at the moment, because it's expected to be banned: Zen Insight. On the same topic comes this excerpt of a similar book on what life was like in those crazy times. Fabian looks at Mao's Little Red Book and its value.

• A creative writing assignment results in some keen insights and differences between Western and Chinese thinking. Matthew also has an interesting clash in the classroom and finds it says a lot about how much China has and hasn't changed in the past twenty years.

• John neatly demonstrates a fundamental difference between Chinese and Western concepts of truth, with the help of some eggs and introduces false modesty as another explanation of the differences.

• Unique Chinese names have forced authorities to limit the number of characters that can be used to a mere 12,000.

• For a first hand account of one journalist's travels through the heart of China, check out Dan Washburn.

• Hong Kong's Alexander the Great.

• Taking the time to enjoy living in China, rather than just criticising it. Similar to what I was getting at here.

• The author of The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang, committed suicide. Via Kirk comes this detailed and moving look at her life. There were two very different reactions to her passing in Japan.

• Tom (another who's not happy with US Immigration. America's stringent visa policy is costing ever-more: half of the Chinese delegates to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas were refused visas and many of their compatriots and firms withdrew in solidarity.

Information

• We Observe the World is a project by Chinese journalism students, bringing to the world first hand opinions by China's next generation. Joe Bosco is behind the project.

• Via Fons, the Globe and Mail looks at the impact of the internet of China's youth. Could the USA be doing more to help the net in China?

• First it was the free lunch, now the (almost) free ride is about to go in Hong Kong, as are disgusting newspaper photos.

• Mixing politics and profits can be tricky, as the China Youth Daily is discovering. The crackdown on Guangzhou's press continues.

• Andrea has some thoughts on how the Western media reports on China. Also a look at the "frames" and narratives through which many journalists look at China.

• Playing cat and mouse with China's media censors.

• China's war against online porn continues while the old-fashioned kind is out on display.

• Having trouble getting people to see your movie? Not in Shenzhen.

• Judging by the numbers China's newspaper industry is booming. But from the inside the view is not as rosy. China has also made reporting easier - it's listed 8 central and 24 local media websites as the officially approved ones. Being a Chinese reporter isn't easy. Amongst other injustices they don't even get Reporters' Day off. The path to riches is not through newspaper reporting.

• Andres reports on a talk by noted blogger Dan Gilmour and others in Shanghai on the effects of technology on media. Also a look at three factors hampering development of Chinese cyberspace. Slowly and quietly China's bloggers are emerging, says Dan Gilmour. Another example of the emerging digerati in China is the Niu Niu incident, or maybe a blogger's eyewitness murder report. Yet more on the boom in Chinese blogging.

• The Economist keeps it simple and quotes Confucius...or do they?

Korea and Japan

• A mystery Chinese submarine was in Japanese waters, perhaps searching for natural gas, but was, after a fashion, chased away. China urged calm while Japan went mad with questions without answers. More proof of the seriousness China is taking its energy security. Winston Marshall has a good and detailed look at the incident and the broader Sino-Japan dynamic. Between China and Japan sorry can be the hardest word. With the APEC meeting in Chile the two countries' leaders are getting ready for a summit. A duet of "Yellow Submarine"? Matthew has Mao's thoughts on the starting point.

• The China/Japan rivalry is the real threat to Asian security, according to Fabian. While the two are clearly rivals, they also depend upon each other far more (especially economically) than the antagonists in the previous Cold War. Also a look at US troops in Japan and their affect on China and the region.

• Condi Rice's thoughts on North Korea. Adamu reports some interestingly different views on the North, its future and how it is not a threat.

• South Korea is no longer the sex utopia for US troops it once was.

• The always fascinating Far Outliers has an excerpt looking at the Greater East Asia War and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which was to include Hawaii.

• Jodi looks at a shocking form of discrimination against HIV positive non-Koreans.

• Seoul will remain Korea's capital (forcing some to drink) and Infidel uses the decision to look at the regional rivalries and disparities within the two Koreas. Oranckay looks at the same thing from a political view. Infidel also looks at the economic and political preparations for Korean unification.

• Japan is contemplating allowing Empresses.

• Korea has the fourth highest suicide rate after Hungary, Japan and Finland. Marmot's found a common factor between all four countries.

• Japan's aging population may not be all bad news.

• When he's not busy ruling with an iron fist, Kim Jong-Il likes to blog. It may not last long: South Korea is moving to block many pro-North websites.

• Japan's forces in Iraq will extend their tour of duty.

• Terrorists took a Japanese hostage in Iraq, but Koizumi will not withdraw troops. Joi Ito has an interesting slant on the Japanese reaction.

• If you thought being North Korean was hard, try being a gay North Korean.

• Japan, famous for its low crime rate, finds its prisons are over-crowded. Although with only 61,500 odd prisoners out of a population of 127.3 million, the reputation is intact.

• South Korea's Government is trying to work out what to call North Korean escapees. NKZone has a look about why these "economic migrants" are desperately trying to escape. The recent court-martial of Robert Jenkins also provides an insight into living in NK.

• Japan's working girls work on getting a-head.

• Japan's Iraqi hostage was found dead after Japan steadfastedly refused to remove troops from Iraq. Japan's people are behind PM Koizumi in staying firm on its Iraq policy.

• Even North Korea's fast food sucks.

• An excellent look at how Japan's culture holds it back.

• The Norks are ready to test a missile which can reach the United States, while the people prepare for famine.

• "Korea without kimchi is still Korea".

• Meet Charisma Man...more examples here. Maybe he should start with this line.

• The people of North Korea aren't as passive and compliant as commonly believed.

• America has drawn up its red lines for North Korea. Kirk has an interesting discussion with a Japanese bureaucrat about dynasties and North Korea.

• A Chinese nuclear (yellow) submarine may have entered Japanese waters. Jodi wonders if China is really the threat?

• Thomas P. Barnett (via NK Zone) asks why does Pyongyang and Taipei run America's relationship with China?

• Did (newly unionised) Wal-Mart help bring down those Kim Jong-il pictures? More seriously Bradley K. Martin asks if the move is a brand protection strategy. Kimchi GI points out the top NK general wouldn't be in Cuba if something was going on.

SE and Other Asia

• Indian Hindu nationalism as dangerous as Islamic fundamentalism.

• Thai monks know how to party.

• Like that other rising Asian power, India's military needs to modernise.

• Thailand's PM is facing a tough choice in dealing with the southern violence. A dubious report linking Malaysia's PAS and Thailand's southern Muslims is dealt with by Myrick.

• India is following China's lead in worrying about energy security.

• Anwar returns to Malaysia.

• SBY spells out his plans for Indonesia and Macam-Macam takes a look at the answers.

• Singapore is the only developed nation at the bottom of the world press freedom rankings. They're not happy about the company they keep. An insider's view on Singapore's press, by the Straits Times former global-affairs columnist, covering everything from Singapore's racism to its censorship.

• Steven notes the similarities between the Ukraine elections and a certain SE Asia island nation.

• Philippines tax avoidance scheme: religion.

• Singapore's getting "safer", and Hicky rightly worries about cameras in the classroom. And Singapore's opposition leader has lost his appeal against a defamation case.

• India's Government is trying to ban detailed maps of the country.

• Mahathir interfering in the internal affairs of another country? It might be against "Asian values" but it didn't stop him.

• India sees China as a strategic threat and containment strategies will not work in the longer term.

• Pol Pot's cremation site is now a tourist attraction.

• Asian reactions to Arafat's death.

• Indonesia comes clean on its spying of Australia during the East Timor crisis. It was also the 13th anniversary of the Dili massacre.

• Outsourcing has even hit India's idol business.

Miscellany

• A look at the rise of Asian film-making.

• The Far Eastern Economic Review is to close, which isn't a surprise. There have been other media lay-offs this week, and ex-editor Philip Bowring has an "obit" for the FEER.

• At last, proof of the long-held theory.

• Quentin Tarantino's going local. He could get these guys to write the script.

• Fabian has the first installment of his weekly round-up of Maoist insurgents around the world, plus he lists former Maoists or Marxist-Leninists and where they are now. And meet the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, a (you guessed it) Maoist party based in, of all places, France.

• The mouthless cat turned 30. She turns up in interesting places and of course she's got a blog.

• Another reason why Coke is it.

• America's visa restrictions are costing it billions each year.

• Rory gives us a lesson in what not to cook: a fried kimchi and ham sandwich. It has to be seen to be believed. The Mohamed Ali of eating is a scrawny Japanese man.

• Everything you want to know about Hello Kitty, and some things you don't as well.

• I am so glad I did not go to university in Hong Kong.