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Let’s consider that most important of ceremonial and symbolic moments - the lighting of the Olympic flame by the final torchbearer. It’s a moment full of meaning and passion. But who should have this honour? Who could Beijing choose to best embody China’s hopes for the Games, to best symbolize China’s regard in the international community, to best represent Chinese culture and history? Can one person achieve all these things? Here’s my shortlist:

Liu Xiang. One of the favourites and China’s big hope to get the flags waving and the anthem playing in the stadium; a reigning Olympic champion and worthy of consideration.

For: my students assure me that he can sing as well as jump.

Against: arguably a bit of a prima-donna and not so recognisable to a wider audience.

Yao Ming. China’s vertically gifted NBA star is another leading contender and comes across as a people’s man with an image recognisable the world over.

For: will have no problem reaching over the rim of the cauldron and has proven more reliable than other Chinese exports.

Against: has developed a tendency to fracture lower extremities under pressure.

Liu and Yao are the hot favourites, but what about the chances of the old guard?

Mao Zedong. An interesting ‘dark horse’. This could be China’s chance to stun the world with its advances in cryogenic technology.

For: everyone knows that lovely smile and history tells us he has a 70% chance of getting it right on the night.

Against: as Icarus discovered, when wax gets too close to something hot there can be disastrous consequences.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A rank outsider. Although still very much alive, reliable sources indicate he has less chance than either a Japanese revisionist or the aforementioned Mao. After all, who wants a Nobel Peace Prize winner when we can see a brutal dictator in action?

For:  Loved by everyone except China.

Against: Loved by everyone except China.

None of the candidates mentioned so far create enough of a spark for my liking. What about this man?

Hu Jia. A no-hoper for Olympic flame duties, but more deserving of the honour than any mentioned above. A true winner in life.

For: he’s presently incarcerated and could do with stretching his legs.

Against: he’s too good, too selfless, too honest, too pleasant, too humble, and too hard-working in campaigning for the rights of the disadvantaged, the dying, and the dispossessed. Clearly not the sort of person China wants as a symbol of the nation. 

Did I miss anyone?

Updated to say that the wise men of Beijing have decided to jail Hu for three and a half years - an unjustified, undeserved, petty, senseless sentence. Hu Jia should be held up as an example of how far human rights have come in China, not a victim of its suppression. I suspect this will turn out to be a regrettable move, and not just for Hu himself. 

….well written essay on the Chinese response to recent foreign media coverage of the T1betan protests. Here’s a taster:

For its part, Xinhua blamed the Western media bias on a “cognitive blackout,” and many foreign journalists in China do need a more sophisticated understanding of the issues in Tibet. Unfortunately, the government chose to respond to this cognitive blackout with a news blackout. In the absence of information, the mind races even as the fingers type, and western journalists are generally trained in such a way that when a government appears to be hiding something, it must be something worth hiding, and so they begin to suspect the worst. On the day the violence erupted, only The Christian Science Monitor and The Economist had people on the ground filing stories as Beijing Street in Lhasa burned. Everybody else was in Beijing (the city) desperately trying to get as close as they could to the action but to little avail: the government was not letting any more foreign journalists into Tibet.

The site is well worth a visit, but you’ll need a proxy if you’re in China!

Click here to see it.

I’m not sure how long this will last - until the next criticism, I suspect.

The timing is interesting. My guess is that Beijing are confident in the way they have been spinning stories of bias in the western media, such that any alternative views on Tibet, for example, will now serve only to reinforce the seed planted in the mind of most Chinese.

Timesonline today runs an article about Yang Chunlin, an unemployed factory worker who exercised his right to petition the government on behalf of farmers who have had their land swiped by local authorities. He was protesting that the Olympics ought not to be the government’s priority in light of so many injustices. One would have thought that such an act of goodwill would bring praise from the party who came to power on the back of a peasant insurgency. After all, it is the People’s Republic of China; right? Apparently not:

China has sentenced a man to five years in prison for protesting against the Beijing Olympics. The sentence was passed only a month after the Foreign Minister of China told David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, that police would offer a cup of tea to any Chinese protesting against the Olympics.

That ‘cup of tea’ offer sounded a bit hollow, if not sinister, at the time. Another remark made by Yang Jiechi, China’s Foreign Minister, during Miliband’s visit can only be regarded as a lie:

“No one will get arrested because he said that human rights are more important than the Olympics. This is impossible.”

Beijing’s capacity for making the ‘impossible’ possible is truly amazing. Five years in jail for a legitimate protest on behalf of the nation’s backbone! That’s one year for every millennium of civilization in this part of the world.

Of course we can’t forget another of China’s greatest heroes, Hu Jia, at this time either. I’ll have more to say about his case later. In the meantime, if the Chinese Foreign Minister offers you a cup of tea, run away as fast as you can.

China Daily’s Olympic spotlight page brings us news of the latest security measures to be implemented at the Games’ venues. Let’s take a closer look:

Guns, drugs, explosives, and poisonous and radioactive materials will be banned from Beijing’s Olympic venues, a security official said Thursday.

Now really!! How can we be expected to enjoy ourselves without a bit of unstable uranium isotope to elevate the spirit? OK, alright, yes, yes, fine! I can live without an encounter with critical mass, but what’s all this nonsense about banning poison, guns, drugs, and explosives? These security boys are a bunch of real joy killers. Must be a cultural thing.

Animals, drinks, radio equipment, and banners and oversized flags will also be prohibited…

Australians can be totally out of control, and we don’t want any kangaroos putting Liu Xiang to shame in the 100m hurdles, so fair dinkum to that policy. Oversized flags could be more problematic. Given that colour contrasts can produce optical illusions and security personnel will have two decades of anti-Japanese rhetoric behind them, it may be that a red circle on a white background suddenly looks bigger than it really is. We’ll see.

What next? Radio equipment. I’m not sure about this one. Many people attending venues, both foreign and Chinese, will want to keep their own record of events. Some may have some pretty fancy equipment unfamiliar to security staff. It’s possible that a South Korean’s state-of-the-art minidigicam type thingy could be a Chinese police officer’s idea of sabotage electronics. This will be win-win for China, whose top reverse engineers will be on hand to ‘take good care of things while you’re enjoying the synchronized swimming.’ 

That leaves drinks. What’s to say? August in Beijing: a seething cauldron of humidity and trace elements and no water to wash it all down with. Lunacy. Total fucking lunacy. Or greed. There will, no doubt, be drinks available inside venues at ten times the price of the identical items withheld moments earlier by security. If this suspicion is anywhere near the mark, the BOCOG would do well to have a rethink now. That assumes, of course, they’re not in on the scam.

And finally ….

If everything is okay, a person can pass through a standard security check in about five seconds. But that might be longer for media workers if they are carrying a lot of equipment. 

So, to be clear: if you are not in possession of firearms, drugs, toxins, grenades, plutonium, livestock, electrical devices, big flags, or drinks, you’ll be through the turnstile in a jiffy. Unless you’re a reporter, in which case anything more than a notebook and pencil is going to result in a messy confrontation. This will provide entertainment and photo opportunities for the spectators kept waiting by those thoughtless bastards who brought their own water to the stadium on a day when it was only 90 in the shade.

Just a few thoughts.

Some readers have complained that they want less political commentary here. It’s certainly not my intention to make this a political blog, so I’ll regress to some writing that’s about 16 months old.

Those that know the story already will have to forgive the repetition, as I have not been lucky enough to break any bones recently.

In November 2006 I broke my arm while playing table tennis. I decided to undergo the required surgery in Luoyang rather than go home for a less interesting experience. This is my account of the first of four days incarceration in a Chinese hospital.

Day 1

Not unexpectedly, the novelty of foreign flesh to carve up on the operating table and the connections of the Dean pushed my name further up the hospital waiting list than my injuries warranted. There’s absolutely nothing I could do about this other than to refuse treatment altogether; or perhaps that’s just the rationale of a guilty conscience. Either way, they found me a bed almost as quickly as they began charging. Be advised, exchanging informal greetings with a doctor in a Chinese hospital comes with a consultation fee. Even the simplest requests find their way onto the bill, a fact that would have bothered me more if these expenses had not been met by the medical terms of my contract. For the vast majority of people in this country it’s a ‘pay or die’ health care system, and most of them can’t raise the extortionate cost of treatment when ailments are life-threatening. Hospitals are strictly profit making organisations.

My ‘ward’ turned out to be a two-bed holding room for emergency cases that was situated next door to the nurse station. The other occupant, Mr Du, appeared to be in more pieces than a jigsaw. ‘No can du’ would have seemed more appropriate, somehow. During the first two days, before his transfer to another ward, Mr Du was a picture of suffering, especially when his wife was giving him his daily scolding. She would saunter in at about lunchtime and begin a hands-on inspection of her husband’s injuries. Mr Du was audibly distressed but in no condition to demand that his wife give him his trousers back. Thankfully for the unfortunate Du, his nephew was an always present and helpful companion.

Xu Shao Lin, a thoroughly delectable nurse with zero English (or zero inclination to practise), was the first of several to take my blood pressure and temperature, after which she performed a gentle massage above and below the limits of my plaster cast – a sort of rub down from a woman in uniform without the sleaze factor. A promising start, I hear you say. The dream was soon shattered, as I knew it would be, when I made my first visit to the tenth-floor facilities. I held on to the vision of Xu Shao Lin for as long as possible, but we all have to go in the end.

Emptying the bladder was possible with extreme focus and determination. However, if you are anything like me, the prospect of taking a very open dump in cold, damp, unsanitary conditions surrounded by curious onlookers is enough to close the door of even the most relaxed orifice. Inadequate numbers of urinals and only a couple of holes in the floor drove patients and visitors (not that they need much encouragement) to do whatever, wherever. Every receptacle was overflowing with the sludge of a thousand mixed samples. Cleaners periodically soaked up the excess with their mops before using the collected moisture to wipe footprints from the corridor, a most effective way of killing two birds – and possibly a few patients – with one stone.

Thankfully, fortune occasionally favours the desperate. Opposite the hospital was a small hotel that I felt sure could solve my bathroom requirements. With Monica’s help and my insistence, a deal was reached for the use of a room for three hours per day (no visit, no fee) for the duration of my residence in the hospital. The hotel was seedy at best, but room 308 seemed like a vision of paradise compared to the hospital facilities. With the exception of the day I chose to shave, I’d emerge from the room with a satisfied glow in less than one hour, an expression that I’m sure was misinterpreted by the numerous maids eager to see what state I’d left the room in.

The first night was an ordeal of boredom rather than discomfort. Family Du favoured lights-out before nine o’clock and snoring until dawn. He was in bad shape, so I wasn’t about to compromise his need for rest with my need for entertainment. Consequently, I took to wandering the other hospital floors and departments, finding amusement in the faces of the countless patients in the bed-lined corridors. I think I frightened a few of those for whom the existence of foreigners was confirmed for the first time.

Coming soon: more Tibetan intrigue or next hospital chapter (response dependent).

Jeremiah is once again doing a great job of advancing the understanding of current events in a historical context. I recommend the whole piece, but here’s a taster:

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) is a good place to start as the Manchus did maintain garrisons on the ?ibetan plateau while administering the region through local elites. The Qing rulers, great patrons of Lamamism, consolidated their rule by maintaining cultural and religious ties with ?ibet beyond mere military occupation. They also–generally but not always–ruled with a light touch, allowing relative autonomy in religious and cultural matters, which suited the situation quite well. The Qing Dynasty was, after all, a large, multi-ethnic empire, and maintaining order and peace in outlying territories was the utmost concern.

The problem is that the PRC is a nation-state, and the demands a nation-state places on its people are different than those of an empire. It is not enough that Tibetans merely pay taxes and not revolt, they must also identify with the nation-state first and foremost, with other cultural and religious aspects secondary to the demands of modern state building. Empires want to be respected, nation-states want to be loved. That’s a sticky wicket the Qing never had to face.

This is a telling point. The CCP have always demanded allegiance and have often demonstrated brutality when they don’t get it. Intolerance towards the true feelings of Tibetans with regard to their cultural and spiritual leanings is one example. The latest evidence of this has been the petulant demonisation of the Dalai Lama by China’s leaders, and the requirement of Tibetan students in Beijing to denounce His Holiness:

They are required to provide four answers, Tibetan sources told The Times. First, they must write a reply to the question “What position does the Dalai Lama occupy in your heart?” Second, they must provide the address and place of work of their parents. Third, they must give details of their own identity card. Finally, they must guarantee not to take part in any political activities.

The recent violence should be condemned, as should some of the actions and policies in the last 50 years of Tibetan history that lie at the heart of the current problems. But forcing citizens to swear ‘loyalty to the emperor’ can only be seen as a backward step in a progressive society. This move would be embarrassing even if it was a joke. We know that it’s not a joke because the CCP don’t have a sense of humour, much less respect for free thought.

Whatever the geopolitical reality is for the Tibetan region, its marginalised indigenous population regard their land as being occupied by unwanted forces. There are two alternatives open to the Chinese government. One is to enter into a meaningful dialogue that will produce a framework acceptable to both Beijing and the Tibetan people, a dialogue that must include the Dalai Lama. The other is to drive every last vestige of cultural identity from the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people. Indications so far are that Beijing favours the latter approach. 

I suppose it had to happen. How can you marginalise an entire culture for half a century without breeding resentment? That resentment is more likely to find a voice when the world is watching. On whichever side of the political divide you find yourself encamped on the Tibet issue, it is an issue; and there is trouble relating to that issue happening right now. A good account of events as told through various media outlets can be found at chinadigitaltimes.

If you’re in China you might have problems accessing that link without a proxy, one of the reasons I choose to raise the issue here. The CCP could be a lot smarter in handling its coverage of these incidents in the months preceding the Games. But nobody should hold their breath waiting for that to happen.

A reasonable discussion of current events is underway at Peking Duck. However, some of the party faithful seem unable to contain themselves:

Chinese governement should crush tibetan people as hard as possible. If you have to drop a bomb in the crowd, do it.

We should set an example. Now is the Opportunity. Just crush Tibetans. Maim them, burn them, destroy them. And make the world know, it if you want to take the advantage of Olympic games to destabilize china, you shall pay with your life, your family’s life and your country men’s life!

A more sober and detailed account of events to date can be found at the timesonline:

In the Barkh_r market that winds around the J_khang temple, Tibet’s holiest site, they reported the bodies of two Tibetan men and two Tibetan women. The body of a Tibetan man was seen in the Lugu district and a Tibetan woman lay dead on Qingnian Road, near the city centre. They said all appeared to have been shot but no monks were seen among the dead.

Many ethnic Han Chinese, a minority in Tibet, were wounded in attacks by Tibetans hurling rocks and bricks as they vented their anger against Beijing rule. Residents said a number of Han had been killed but no figures were available as the city was engulfed in chaos.

China Daily predictably puts a slightly different spin on events:

Xinhua reporters in Lhasa saw many rioters were carrying backpacks filled with stones and bottles of inflammable liquids, some holding iron bars, wooden sticks and long knifes, a sign that the crowd came fully prepared and meant harm.

The mobs assaulted passersby, sparing no women or children, witnesses said.

I can just imagine the glee of the Xinhua reporters who found ‘witnesses’ telling them that protesters were “sparing no women or children”. It would be nice if Xinhua reporters could exhibit the same level of journalistic enthusiasm with regard to the police and military excesses against Tibetan people.

That said, there does appear to have been some needless violence directed towards those regarded as occupiers by Tibetans. This will not help their cause. And the Chinese government needs to restrain the brutal inclination of its recent history if it is to keep its Olympic dream alive.

Last week one of my former students from Luoyang wrote to me expressing concern for my safety. What was the nature of her concern you ask? Bird flu outbreak? Contaminated water? Rising pork prices? None of these. No, the source of her worry was that pesky bit of turf across the Taiwan Strait, and their outgoing president’s push for a referendum on whether or not the island should seek UN membership under the name Taiwan rather than its formal name of the Republic of China.

I’ll leave CNN to fill you in on the background and details, not to mention Beijing’s predictable threat to make Taiwan “pay a dear price” for any move perceived as pro-independence.

Gripping stuff, indeed. And of course the Party elite whip up the rhetoric and the feelings of the people at such times like turning on a tap. The result is to put the population on heightened alert for imminent war, with many expressing a desire for a missile launch to teach their disobedient neighbours a lesson.

My former student’s worry was that Taiwanese hooligans were about to storm the beach at Xiamen, break a few deck chairs, and demand ice cream at discounted prices. I reassured her that the Chinese government was ‘all talk’ on the possibility of invading Taiwan in the run-up to the Olympics.

If China were to scratch their military itch between now and August, the opening ceremony in Beijing will look like this: Burma, China, North Korea, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and possibly Venezuela. After the Games I suspect Beijing’s urge to flex their military muscle might prove irresistible. If it comes to that I’m sure all foreigners will be rounded up and secured in five-star accommodation. So, nothing to worry about.

China’s petty film authorities have done it again. Timesonline today reports that Lust, Caution star Tang Wei has been blacklisted (unofficially, of course) because Ang Lee’s film is considered to “glorify unpatriotic behaviour.”

This action has been taken despite - or possibly because of - the films popularity in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ang Lee is widely celebrated in China for the many international honours bestowed on his films and their actors: ‘This is our boy’, they cry, ’And we Chinese can show you western types a thing or two about film-making.’

Beijing clearly don’t mind Ang Lee collecting a few gongs and statues on their behalf, but have no inclination to allow the Chinese public to judge his award-winning films on their artistic merit. Instead, they censor, ban, and blacklist their home-grown talent in the great tradition of petulant state interference. 

Thanks to the internet and widespread piracy, banning a film has little or no effect on who gets to see it in China these days. They’ve tried many times before, as in the recent cases of Lost in Beijing  and Brokeback Mountain. Keep up the good work, boys.

The targeting of actors strikes me as being especially nonsensical and childish. I confidently predict more success for Tang Wei, at which point I hope she gives a defiant finger to the clowns who are compromising artistic expression by telling people what they should be watching.