Opinion

March 10
Way to go China!
China lashes back at U.S. human rights criticism
AUDRA ANG

Associated Press

Beijing — China on Thursday lashed out against U.S. criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at U.S.-run detention centres abroad.

The State Council, China's cabinet, denounced the United States for what it said were rampant violence and widespread discrimination against minorities -- especially blacks -- in its annual response to the U.S. State Department's report on human rights worldwide.

“For a long time, the life and security of the people of the United States has not been under efficient protection,” the Chinese report said.

Blacks are given heavier criminal penalties, arrested more frequently and are more likely to be targeted for hate crimes, the report said.

It also criticized American troops for brutality at prisons in Iraq and the detention camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“As in previous years, the State Department pointed the finger at human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions, including China, but kept silent on the serious violations of human rights in the United States,” it said.

It is “an act that fully exposes its hypocrisy and double standard on human rights issues,” said the report which drew mostly from stories and statistics in the American press.

The response came one day after the State Department said the Chinese government's human rights record “remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses.”

The U.S. report said repression worsened in China in 2005, with a trend toward “increased harassment, detention, and imprisonment” of people seen as threats to the Chinese government. It also mentioned tightened controls over print, broadcast and electronic media and censorship of on-line content.

The State Department study, published each year since 1977, offers a comprehensive analysis of all countries in the world except the United States.

A large section of the Chinese report was devoted to racial discrimination, which it said had “long been a chronic malady of American society.”

It said the country's blacks and other minorities had much lower living standards and incomes and faced job discrimination. Blacks were also more likely to receive the death penalty for serious crimes, it said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Muslims have been targeted for arrests and detention under “the banner of 'anti-terrorism,”' the report said.

It also criticized American foreign policy and detailed prison abuse by American troops in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, accusing them of using “various kinds of torture” while trying to “extract information.”

The report also touched on:

-- private gun ownership in America, saying the “unchecked spread of guns has caused incessant murders.”

-- secret wire taps and surveillance on American citizens under the Patriot Act.

-- the poverty rate and the problem of homelessness.

“No country in the world can claim to have a perfect state of human rights,” the Chinese report said.

“We urge the U.S. government to look squarely at its own human rights problems, reflect what it has done in the human rights field and take concrete measures to improve its own human rights status.”



Way to go China for standing up to American hypocrisy. As Stacey put it, China's certainly not perfect, but at least China's moving in a good direction, making progress, the US is regressing back to their ultra-conservative religious anti-freedom war-loving intolerant racist homo-hating past.

2:10 AM

February 22
nothing much, 美国不好
Well, I got my plane ticket for Beijing today. I have 7 more days of working at my school and then I'm heading up to Beijing for a week and staying with Stacey and Dave. Then I'm heading home. It'll be one year when I go home, well 364 days, somehow I lost a day. I got a really good price on the ticket - only 400 yuan. Thank god for the post-spring-festival low season. I've managed to save quite a bit while living here. I did have a pretty good job and salary in Wuxi. So what next? Well, I'm going to be a bum for a while. I'm going to visit some friends, do some couch surfing. Try to find an apartment in Guelph that's closer to the university so that I don't have to have a car and indirectly support US oil companies and very indirectly Bush. Ok, really I just hate paying high gas prices.

Although, living in China has really given me a new perspective on America. Well, actually, Americans have given me a new perspective on America. Now, I don't speak for all of them - I know at least three or four great ones and half of the US did vote against Bush, but, fuck, I've never met a bigger bunch of ignorant, arrogant, brain-washed jingoes. Want proof? Just ask anyone who's not an American what they think of America. Or better yet, do what I've been doing - read what Americans have to say about things on their blogs. My recent obsession has been searching through blogs on a variety of topics. The shit they write is insane: Canada is weak because we don't like killing innocent people, Iraqis aren't good enough for democracy, the American media is too liberal, all the faggots in the army should go to weak-ass Canada and have sex with our gay looking mounties [wtf?], Bush is a great family kind of guy who's preventing Iraq from raping and murdering children all over the world and all the other countries are too self-involved to do it themselves or try to help, freedom freedom freedom, democracy, freedom, free speech, you can't write inappropriate words in your msn blog, free speech, Communist China, etc. Frightening really. It's amazing how unwilling people are to join your war when you call their national police force a bunch of pansies. And China is an oligarchy by the way. Not even America is more free-market-loving capitalist than China is, and the US should realize how dependent they are on China.

Oh and America: you impeach your president for cheating on his wife but not for killing a bunch of your beloved American soldiers and scores of innocent Arabs? Last time I checked, you electrocute people for murder and get a divorce for adultry. If Bush is so unpopular with so many Americans as a variety of polls seem to suggest, why don't you impeach him already?! Hey America - your leader is fucking around with other countries - don't you think it's time for a divorce?

Alright, I'm done for now. But I will DELETE any comments from ignorant people telling me how much better my world is because of right-wing, ultra-conservative, religious fanatics who clowned their way into the US government and are busy fucking the world dry for their own ego-gratification.

Also, I'm planning a trip to Europe this Spring with my Grandmother. I'm not sure where I'm going to yet, but I have the money and I have the time and I have the company so it should be a great time. More on that after I get home and consult a travel agent. Anyway, that's all for now, so take care and feel free to run over a Republican next time you're in the States.

7:50 AM

January 25
blogs
I'm not going to apologize for not posting lately. I have been busy, but that's not intended to be an excuse. I'm starting to wonder what the purpose of a blog is anyway. I created mine to keep people up to date on my time in China and to make it easier to share pictures with people. Frankly, I hate this thing. It feels pretentious. I hate pictures and I hate taking them and that's why none of the ones on my blog are mine, also I don't have a camera. Ian recently bought a nice new one, so maybe I'll bother to put up something interesting. For now, I'll leave the pictures up, but I'm planning to take them down soon and archive them somewhere. So, for those who like them, please save copies, because they won't be there forever. I haven't really figured out what to do with this space after I go home, in about 7 weeks. A friend of mine referred to blogs as verbal diarhea. Initially I was shocked because I couldn't imagine my love for writing treated that way, but now that I've read all the shit that other people put on their blogs about their boring lives and complaining cryptically about nothing, I'm inclined to agree with him.

There's this one blog a bunch of us read that's done by one of our fellow foreign teachers. Of course, he doesn't know that we read it and that's part of the fun. You see, people forget that the world wide web is public and anyone can read whatever whiny crap you unload onto it. Which becomes infinitely amusing when you accidently come across your colleaugue's blog while aimlessly surfing and/or googling your own name. So, of course, we read this guy's blog to see what's he's written about us and the people we know. Aside from that, I'm not really interested in his incredibly verbose self-glorified rambling.

Thinking about going home has motivated me in various ways and now I'm thinking about my blog and whether or not I'm contributing to the verbal septic tank that is modern blogging. I saw one today that was interesting. It's done by a girl named Helena. She's a FT in Wuxi and from what I can see, has a blog for something more than complaining about China, which seems to be the norm. I'll put up a link to it later maybe. I kind of wish that I'd read it a little earlier. I've kind of neglected to get to know her, and I think that was a mistake. It's refreshing to read something good for a change.

Anyway, so I'm going home on March 13 for a break and then I don't know what after that. I'll make that decision after I sober up from my welcome home parties. I'm not happy about the election result. But, I'm trying to be positive and hope that with such a minority, Harper won't actually be able to accomplish anything disastrous and we'll get a new Liberal party leader in time for the next election, at which point everyone will forget about how much of a tool Martin was. Well, that's my free speech exercise of the day.

6:36 AM

December 12
irrelevant rambling
So, I've decided to compile a list of commonly used crossword answers because it seems that now that I've been doing crosswords for about two years now, I know all the answers. There must be a pool of like a couple hundred words that they use after they've made up a few pop culture and sports references and added in a few celebrities they consider obscure enough to be included in a crossword puzzle. I hope I'm never obscure enough to be in a crossword. Poor, poor Ani DiFranco. I just think the newspaper crossword writers of the world need to start being a little more creative. Anyway, so here's a list of words that I see ALL the time in crossword puzzles. Feel free to add some of your own if you feel inclined to participate in this pointless discussion I've started.

OLEO
APSE
ETNA
ORB
EMIR
OBI
ABS
AIM
OPUS
GOAD
ETON
ARIA
URAL
RANI
2:47 AM

November 29
Homework
I probably shouldn't do this, but I'm going to anyway. Most of my students' homework is unoriginal, and most of it is plagiarized anyway, but occasionally, I get something worth mentioning. I'm posting something written by a student named Anne, who is intermediate level English. The assignment was "write about your past and present". It may not seem like anything unusual, but people who know something about Chinese culture will appreciate this. I think it's interesting regardless. I've posted the assignment as it was submitted, with no corrections.

In the past, I really thought that grade encourage our to learn. However, I've changed my mind now.

Given the opportunity, students will spend time using their intelligence to figure out how to get a higher or top grade without doing the real work of the course and without thinking, rather than spending the same time thinking and exploring, regardless of what grade this may bring them. It isn't that these students are not motivated. It's just that they're not as motivated to learn as much as they're motivated to get good grades. Once one becomes grade-oriented in ones thiking, it is difficult for him or her to stop thinking that way.

Anybody who gets top grades is, in some sense, a winner of the system. But these seeming winners are, far too often, losers of a more important game. To win the grade competition in high school, most of these "winners" learned to ask what was expected of them and they did just that. They had to make sure they got high scores by every test. They wanted to know from their high school teachers if the material being covered on a given day was going to be on the test, because they realized early on that the test is all that matter.

When these "sucesses" of the system arrive in college, they have not changed their attitudes. They fear oped-ended assignments. They are impatient with discussions that are not going in any particular direction except where the interests of the discussants dictate, since they know that such discussions waste time that could have been better spent studying for a test. What these students have learned from school is the underlying message that the world is run by authorities who have definite points of view. These system has taught them that the way to get along in the world is to understand and to cater to those points of view espoused by the educational "authorities". Cleverness pays, but disagreement does not. Such students are in the process of becoming "yes men".

On the other hand, students who do less well in highschoool are often rebelling against curricula they see as irrelevent to their lives. This type of student judges what goes on in school according to how well it relates to his own day-to-day concerns. If alegbra does not seem relavent to the problems such students face, then they see little need to pay attention to it. But schools don't think like this, so the conclusion drawn by many students is that since so mcuh is irrelvent, they might as well tune it out. These students learn to get by as well as they can, separating themselves from other kids who are willing to play the game.


12:34 AM

October 16
Chinese Model
I went to my office the other day to grab a sweater and the phone rang, so I picked it up. It was a woman who was looking for a female teacher who doesn't work here anymore. Then she asked for another woman who doesn't work here anymore, so I told her that they'd were gone. Then she said "how tall are you?". So I told her and she was happy. And she asked how old I was and I told her and she was happy. Then she told me she wanted me to be in a advertisement for electric bicycles. I though, why not?

So I met her and the representative from the advertising company and the owner of the bicylce company for dinner and we had a chat. They were so excited that they immediately asked if I would be available for a clothing company ad as well as some English karaoke programs with the TV station.

I went to the motorcycle company yesterday to have a look around and for some preliminary photos and so they could give me some lines in Chinese to learn. The ad was supposed to be filmed today, but I got a message that they were going to do it later this week.

If this works out, it'll be a lot of fun I think. But, I feel a little uncomfortable about it. The Ad Rep is way too friendly for a Chinese man. They've hired their own translator for me - the woman who called me originally, who wouldn't tell me how she met the other two women who worked here who apparently did some stuff for them. They keep changing times and dates. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask one of my friends to come with me for a trustworthy translation. For now, they don't think I can understand any Chinese. I think I'll let that keep for a bit. I just hope they'll consider me useful enough in the future not to screw with me now. I hate having to think about the worst. It's agravating not being able to trust anyone.
6:55 AM

August 19
Follow up....
A few postings ago, I was discussing my ideas on Sabrina's posting regarding western men. As promised, I have conducted an informal non-scientific survey of people's opinions regarding this, and I would like to share some of the things that I discovered, so here they are:

1. Chinese women are really hot.
2. Most western men come here by themselves.
3. Western women don't seem to be as inclined to come to China.
4. Western women don't seem to be very interested in dating Chinese men, and some are very irritated with the constant attention and outright staring that they encounter.
5. Men are horny.
6. Chinese women are really hot.
7. There are a lot - a lot - of dirty old men here.
8. It's the Chinese man's fantasy to sleep with a white girl; the Western man's fantasy is a threesome.
9. Be careful of the Russian prostitutes in Babyface - they're expensive.
10. All white people are rich; also, all white people are not rich.
11. Chinese women are really hot.

I think that just about clears up the mystery behind the behaviour of Western men towards Chinese women. The next question I will be exploring will be: "Would a swift kick to the groin discourage you from harrassing a woman?" I expect the results will be quite illuminating.
11:40 PM

August 06
Re: Just want to talk about something
Below is something from Sabrina's blog. I think she made some very interesting points that I would like to discuss. I think it's very enlightening to have a Chinese perspective to compare my thoughts to. So read what she has to say first. READ IT.



Okay, background: True Blue is a bar where all the foreigners in Wuxi like to hang out. Some Chinese people go there if they have foreign friends or if they want to practise their English, but most of the patrons are foreigners. And, yes, the word "foreigner" is used constantly here to describe anyone who is not Chinese. I guess Canadians are in the habit of avoiding language which could be construed as being exclusionary or discriminating, which is why it seems so weird. Or, maybe, we're concious of the fact that everyone is Canada is an immigrant if you follow their family tree far enough back. Secondly, there is garbage everywhere in China, people do throw it on the ground instead of a garbage can. And it is very commmon for men to spit on the ground. Yesterday afternoon, for the first time since I've been in Wuxi, we saw someone spit on the floor in the restaurant... appetizing.

What I find interesting about this is that I rarely ever hear opinions of what Chinese people think about foreigners. Well, I do, but never from students. Or, maybe it's just that some of the opinions I hear are either ignorant or contradictory. So, to the first point: foreign men being too forward with Chinese women. I think they should know better, but some men will push as far as they can, and try as much as they think they can get away with. They don't get too friendly with Western women because we have a women's lib movement and they probably know they'd get their nuts ripped off. But that's not an excuse. They should behave themselves and be aware of the fact that Chinese women may not feel confident in vocalizing their discomfort with a man's advances, especially where the culture permits, to some extent, the physical abuse of women. And it does exist; I see the bruises on my students. Anyway, since I'm not a Western man, I've decided to conduct an informal poll of men's opinions on this issue, so that's left to come. As a side note, it's been my general obsevation that, even though it seems to be the top fantasy here to sleep with a white girl, Chinese men seem to hold their distance and be generally respectful of western women. Although, I have been groped a few times in overly crowded places. Highschool students are the same everywhere.

The second issue is with respect to Sabrina's comment about foreigners throwing garbage all over the place and spitting. I'll leave her comments directed at Chinese people where they are, but I find it interesting that some people believe that it's the foreigners who are making the messes and disrespecting China. I admit that foreigners do, in fact, litter and spit, but the Chinese do it too. There are 5 million Chinese in Wuxi and around 4000 foreigners, most of who are German. Is it the Chinese person's responsibility to set a good example of how they wish to be treated? When in Rome, do as the Romans do... People don't litter in Canada, and certainly not in Guelph. Why? Because I live in fear that a hippy will jump out of the bushes and chase after me about killing the earth and being an evil consumer. I wouldn't litter in China if it weren't acceptable. But, I will never spit in a restaurant. Ever.

And, as for Sabrina's comments about cheap labour, well, I'm going to leave that alone, because I really don't feel that I'm in a position to be able to add anything to the perpetual discussions on this topic. There are many people who are far more capable and willing to argue for the abolishment of the abuse of the Chinese cheap labour market. However, it is just another example of the many contradictory prevailing ideas floating around China these days. I'll discuss this more further when I'm quite sure that the Chinese police aren't going to show up and interrogate me about my potentially negative comments regarding my life in China.



Quote

Just want to talk about something

Sometimes,I feel shame for chinese people.
just a very simple example.In true bule,when a foreigner talk to a chinese gir,he will touch her body.anywhere he wants to touch.but if he talk to a foreign girl,he will kep distance with that girl.it's shame.not presure! but chineses girl doesn't say something about this.she still smile and talk with the guy.so I am not surprise that foreigner look down chinese girl.it's not their falt.Today,I told David,a student study in web:I knew the guy was looking at me that evening in true bule.I just pretend I didn't know.I don't want to lose my vaule. If he just greeting like"hello." I will said:"if you sit down,maybe we can talk about something"But he did such unpolit action.He though who he is!
Don't talk about something like foreigner throw garbage on the ground or split on the ground or something else.a half of falt is ours.If we respect ourself,respect our country,they will respect all of ours.
Cheap larbor is not advantage.it's our shame! we,chinese people,have two eyes,one nose,one mouth,two hands,two feet.why we should be cheap larbor?
Someone ask me:"you learn englishhave you even though about something like go abroad" I said:"no,just for travel.I will not change my nationality."because my blood relationship can't be changed.I just like to learn different culture.I like differences.I am not shame for my nationality.
I look down someone that he (she)forget who he(she) is.
sometimes I think chinese people are very strange.all day I aways hear chinese student says:"I have no chance to talk with foreigner".This words make me feel very funny.obviously,they are adults.but why they aways wait for chance not to creat! ridiculous a group of people. If they saw you keep a close relationship with foreign teacher,they will think you don't have self-respect.they will look down you.stupid!Yes,I like to get out with foreigner.because they are very simple .they don't have so many complicated though.they are very easy going to with.I like simple thing.chinese people like say a half,and then give you another half to guess.
5:27 AM

July 14
Sensitive Content - Be Forwarned
I've been in China for four months now. I'm familiar with China, I can get around, I know how most things work, I'm beyond that point where most people decide to throw in the towel and go home, but sometimes even when you think you know everything, you run into something you're totally not prepared for.

That was me today. I was wandering through Nan Chan Si - the temple market - looking for various gifts. We wandered all through the dirty pet market where they keep the animals in tiny little dirty cages, where the animals can't move and all diseased. This made me a little sick the first time, but now I can handle it. Then we were looking for a restaurant, when we turned the corner and saw a cute little girl in a pretty white dress playing. But, then, I realized she wasn't playing, she was actually beating a a tiny little white kitten to death while her grandmother looked on and frowned. We looked at her horrified and the grandmother said, in Chinese, not to worry. Then she let the child beat the kitten for a few more minutes, and when the thing was so weak and injured to land on its feet when the girl pushed it on the ground, the grandmother picked it up in some newspaper and threw the crying kitten in the garbage can to die.

I can't even begin to say how much I hate this country today. Now I have to go teach as if everything in the world is fine and the Chairman is God on earth.
2:06 AM

June 15
MSN Agreement with China
Apparently, in order to appease China and, well, make money, Microsoft has agreed to censor any politically charged words from all MSN spaces and profiles. I'd tell you what these words are, but I can't use them on this page, or won't be able to when they implement the policy, so we'll see what happens to this page. I've edited a few things already, not that I'm acquiescing. I might move my blog elsewhere on the internet, a site which allows me to acknowledge reality. Unfortunately, that might mean that I won't be able to access it because it might be blocked in China, or else China might require that all blogs that can be viewed in China be registered or else blocked out. We can't have the Chinese thinking or learning about thier history, after all. They might realize that this system sucks. God I'm glad to be Canadian.

Thus, in thanks to our forefathers who realized the value of rights, I'm posting an album of places where you can do whatever you want. I'm excluding the US, because they condone both Microsoft and its stupid deal and George Bush and his war against sex and Iraq.

Let me know if I've missed any.

Oh and here's a link to a news story about this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1506601,00.html

3:42 AM

June 04
June 4
In memory of this date in the year of 1989, I have posted a few photos many Chinese have never seen, are scared to see, don't want to see. They don't know the numbers, they don't know the reasons. They just don't talk about it.

1:59 AM