T!BET (my blog is so blocked)

Clearly, the Communist Party’s mishandling of the current unrest in Tibet has become a hot topic in today’s news even as the violent protests cease in most parts of the region and its periphery. During my recent visit home, I was surrounded by this mounting criticism of China followed by sharp attacks on my judgment for voluntarily associating myself with this authoritarian regime. The truth is, Tibet is a complicated issue and is quite difficult to discuss among those who are unqualified to fully assess the situation, including myself (but here we go anyway).

Unfortunately, most Americans are buying into this Cold War propaganda that our own media projects to strengthen a mainstream conception that a red empire is on the rise threatening our way of life and the moral standards that we live by. In a polarizing nation that gossips about radical pastors, cheating governors, and juicing baseball stars strained by an inevitable recession, failed war, and a lame duck president, criticism of China hits a nationalistic chord that transcends all divisions as it reminds us that behind all the bullshit, we are all proud Americans. Does China deserve criticism? Yes. But it would be wrong to say that our media is completely fair in its reporting. .

First of all, the accounts of how the protests began are unclear. A peaceful sit down by monks on the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exit from China had turned for the worst as police interference instigated a violent back lash from those people on the streets. This brawl escalated quickly and within a day, unleashed tension from years of “cultural genocide” rocked the region before the government could quell this incited sense of rebellion that had the potential to spread across the whole nation.

The facts are nearly impossible to confirm but it seems by piecing together the information we have been able to obtain, Tibetans literally went on a killing spree – burning down buildings, vandalizing shops and murdering Han Chinese (the majority ethnic group that Tibetans fear will overpopulate their land thus fostering assimilation and the annihilation of a two thousand year old culture). The truth seems evident – these were not peaceful protests – they were extremely violent. This, in my opinion, is lost in many of the news accounts on CNN, BBC, and elsewhere.

However, the Communist Party propaganda machines are very keen on stressing this fact, going as far as calling offenders terrorists and describing Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as a conspiring “splitist” devoted to challenging the territorial integrity of China. And because Tibet has now become a military state with a ban on foreign journalism, we don’t know the casualties of Tibetans or Han Chinese – the numbers are unconfirmed and will undoubtedly alter from the official account. But whether these actual events begin to look like a Kent State massacre (violence from the oppressors) or more likely the LA riots (violence from the oppressed), the real problem is the oppression itself – a problem that the Communist government is refusing to recognize. Without a free and open platform to analyze and assess the underlying tensions and historical injustices that fueled such an outburst, the government will not be able to resolve this crisis any time soon. Instead, the government has targeted Tibetans and specifically the Dalai Lama as the only culprits, breeding racism that will ultimately turn Tibet into China’s own Chechnya.

Chinese media will constantly refer to Tibet’s growing prosperity and the economic benefits that the Han Chinese bring, but then fail to discuss the erosion of cultural freedoms that has resulted in six million Tibetans struggling with identity and with autonomy over their land. This dialogue of struggle for our basic human rights is nonexistent in China, while it touches the core of every American. We pride ourselves by protecting the individual and his rights while Chinese pride themselves in the wellness of their nation – sustainable only through squashing social unrest and restricting all channels that could be used to challenge the Party.

So as China’s state-owned media publishes and broadcasts images of Tibetans burning and looting Chinese shops in Tibet and attacking ethnic Han Chinese, the international media continues to report on the persecution of the Tibetan and criticism seen in videos of peaceful protests at Chinese embassies around the world, disruptions during the lighting of the Olympic torch in Athens, and world leaders voicing words of concern. The only international support that CCTV could report on came from the Communist Parties of Russia, India, and Brazil, as well as Samoa, Fiji, Mauritania, Fatah, Eqypt , and Iraq – talk about support(chuckle, chuckle).

China is a developing nation with many problems strongly imbedded in the framework of its society, making it harder for civil rights to prevail and for Tibetans to overcome these hardships. But in a globalised world that has never been so integrated before, blankets infested with smallpox, lynch mobs, and concentration camps are no longer tolerated by a well-informed international community – in today’s world China has to deal with their dirty laundry on a global stage, the first rising power to do so, and they must perform this balancing act between internal development and external acceptance very carefully.

Like I said – complex. China has suppressed the unrest this time, development will continue, but its relations with the rest of the world have been tarnished. To save face, Hu Jintao may invite the Dalai Lama to Beijing to perform a series of diplomatic exchanges. Little will be achieved, the DaLai Lama will eventually die, and the new DaLai Lama will be under strict control of the Party. Tibet will stay as part of China and will have to wait with the rest of the country to see major political reform and their basic rights realized.

But for now, both sides will continue to do what they think is the right think to do – and being the optimist that I am (at least today) it will progress... they shall overcome.

Classic Beijing

I know I have been a bum lately and haven't blogged in a while but the truth is that I've been quite busy with my new job and there just is't enough time in the day to post. I will also be taking a leave from Beijing during the end of the month, so this will officially be my last post until April. I will have a lot built up by then.

I just wanted to take a second to talk about a 5 minute walk I took last Friday between my office and the nearest McDonalds (I still tutor a student/friend there from time to time). In this order I was approached by two Nigerians who aked"you cool?" (code for "you want to buy some drugs?"), a woman walked past me screaming weishenme zenmeyang (Why! Whats up!) on her cell phone, I was stared at by a group of migrant workers smoking cigarettes on the curb, a rickshaw driver wanted to give me ride and in the process of refusing a BMW honked his horn at us trying to exit a hotel parking lot, I passed a girl who only muttered "socks?" and then a prostitute at the door of McDs tried to pick me up. The next two hours were spent eating chicken nuggets while comparing North Korea and China and whispering about the current CNN blackout during the riots in Lhasa (sometimes my students are afraid of Big Brother.) Classic Beijing.

I am looking forward to visiting the States next week to see my friends, family, cheesesticks, the land of the free, fresh air, and my dog. I need a break from Beijing... but I always miss it (despite its flaws) everytime I'm away.

Anything But A Mullet

Throughout my life, I have made it a point to avoid bad haircuts by staying with a hair barber that is familiar with me. As a kid, I was once forced to receive a horrendous cut at a Supercuts, and ever since I have been very careful and have stuck with a New Haven old-school Italian barber for years. Not once did I even get a haircut in Philly during my college career.

My first haircut in China was disappointing -when you cut off most of my hair, my receding hairline becomes very visible. My second haircut was in a Korean barber shop given by a guy with dreds with all sorts of weird objects sticking out of them - when you give a westerner an Asian haircut, your basically giving him a mullet. I was depressed.

Finally, I found Xiao Peng. This young Chinese man who has a shop in my apartment complex has learnt to cut Western hair by watching Hollywood movies. He is always eager to hear what occasion brings me to his place of business (usually a new job or holiday) and after 15 minutes of sitting and chatting in this makeshift filthy room with hair everywhere, mirrors loosely tapped to walls, and family members running in and out as they please, I have a fresh new look. After a quick wash, he accepts 3 dollars, and we say our goodbyes until another 3 months pass.

I've been his customer for over a year and no longer dread the inevitable haircut - I suppose I can officially call Beijing home.

The Water Cube

Last week I attended a diving competition in the newly constructed Water Cube. The event was some sort of world tournament leading up to the Olympics, I don't know, I saw China's best diver Guo Jingjing, but it didn't matter since I was there mainly to check out the new venue (the only opportunity before the Summer Games in August, which I don't have tickets for). In fact, I plan on attending another Good Luck Beijing event (a means of testing the venues before the big tamale) at the new mammoth-sized stadium, the Bird's Nest.

The building, designed by a firm out of Sydney, prtrays a glowing box of water from the outside and with no beams supporting the interior, the space above the two pools of water (one for swimming, one for diving) is more than impressive as the translucent walls and ceiling filter in sunlight as if you where in a, well, water cube . This architecturally arousing structure will certainly get the attention of the world in 2008 if it hasn't already.

Although I was in awe during the majority of the event, my experience in such edifice was not without disappointment. In terms of the building's construction, 99% was built exactly to capture the imagination of the designer, but the last 1% has yet to be completed. This lack of "finishing"plagues many new buildings in Beijing - tiles lay uneven with large cracks, oil stains or indentations from clumsy workers are noticeable, wallpaper begins to peel, toilets leak, and objects are months away from falling off walls or sides of buildings (not surprising when the most popular adhesive is still mud). Because of the lack of skilled workmanship (everyone with a hard hat is a farmer) and the fact that Chinese standards of luxury still suffer from decades absent of wealth and aesthetics, this problem may only be noticeable to the Western eye for now.

Another disappointment was the lack of civility observable in this state-of-the-art facility such as smoking in bathrooms and throwing trash in recycling bins. In terms of management, anybody running around during a dive or making a commotion was approached by one the hundreds of pimply faced volunteers - for some reason I don't see these kids quelling rowdy foreigners during an Olympic event.

I think the Olympics will impress people, but more importantly I hope the outside world will help Beijing realize, despite their lame "We Are Ready" song, that in fact they aren't.

If I was Speilberg these problems would already have been improved upon.