Pomfret's China

No Hummer Sale to China?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:32:43 -0500

The sale of GM's Hummer division to China was front page news and used by many a bloviator (see my main man Peter Goodman here) as an another example that CHINA IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD!!!

Have China's Censors Gone Nuts?

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:40:54 -0500

Here is a really smart post on China's nutty net nannies by Rebecca MacKinnon, China Internet watcher extraordinaire.

China's Rising Internet

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:21:31 -0500

Two disparate events in recent weeks in China point to an interesting development. China's Internet users are challenging the government and forcing it to respond. First China's plan to force computer manufacturers to install censoring software and then the furor over a pedicurist who killed a government official after he beat her when she rejected his demand to have sex.

Post 6/4 -- How the CCP Has Stayed in Charge

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:59:04 -0500

This is my take on how the Communist Party has managed to stay in power for the 20 years after Tiananmen Square.

A Changing Chinese Tune on North Korea?

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:21:49 -0500

There are surprising noises coming from China these days about North Korea. One influential Chinese academic thinks China's policy -- long supportive of the hermit kingdom -- might be changing.

The Chinese Pedicurist Who Struck Back

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:51:05 -0500

This is a really interesting piece from the South China Morning Post on a story that has captivated China. Two reporters beaten as gag on case tightens Pressure on activists over accused killer's plight SCMP He Huifeng May 29, 2009 Two reporters were beaten in Hubei's Badong county as local authorities sealed off the epicentre of a scandal involving a cadre allegedly killed by a hotel pedicurist. Two reporters - Kong Pu from the Beijing Times and Wei Yi from the Nangfang People Weekly - were beaten yesterday morning by officials in Yesanguan town, according to media sources. They were interviewing a grandmother of the 21-year-old pedicurist, Deng Yujiao . The reporters were left bruised by the attack and both had their cameras smashed, the sources said. They were detained from 1pm to 5pm, and there were a number of security personnel monitoring their hotel after their release. Both reporters said they had proper media credentials. A media gag was introduced by central government censors on Tuesday. News organisations were ordered to halt their reporting on the case and recall reporters from Hubei, saying the case was under judicial investigation. Deng's plight has sparked one of the biggest civil rights movements on the mainland in recent years as various groups showed their solidarity with her. Many netizens and reporters have travelled to Yesanguan to follow the case voluntarily. But a group of five women's rights activists who arrived in Yesanguan on Monday said the town was eerily quiet because access to it had been cut by local authorities. "We were told by local residents that the ferry from Yichang to Badong had been suspended since Tuesday," said Zhou Li, one of the activists. "Every vehicle entering Badong county is being checked. If drivers or passengers are not locals, they are told to turn back." Ms Zhou said hotels in the town had been told not to receive outsiders. Some shops had even been shut since Wednesday. "We've been followed by more than a dozen plain-clothes police since we arrived in Badong. Now, the electricity and water supply to our hotel has been cut off. They are trying to make us give in," said Ms Zhou. "Five Yesanguan officials, including the chief of police, came [on Wednesday night] and asked us to leave. They said they could not guarantee our safety if we stay here. We came here to show support for the powerless and anger at officialdom. We'll be here until the end." The dead official, Deng Guida, the head of a trade promotion department in the town, reportedly demanded "special services" - a euphemism for sex - from Deng at Yesanguan's Xiongfeng hotel on May 10. In the presence of a subordinate, he threw money in her face and pushed her to the sofa several times before she stabbed him with a fruit knife. The subordinate was injured. The reported behaviour of the officials sparked fury among netizens, and this was heightened when local authorities appeared to tone down the description of the officials' activities in a way that could see them avoid charges of demanding sexual services or rape. On Wednesday, Deng was released from custody and placed under house arrest. Commentators said the move would help to address public mistrust in the government. They also said the house arrest could be an indication of official back-pedalling from the earlier murder charges and an attempt to defuse public anger.

China's Military Game Changer?

Thu, 28 May 2009 18:20:57 -0500

Check out the cover of this month's US Naval Institute's Proceedings. It depicts a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in flames, smoke billowing from the deck. The headline asks a simple question: Chinese Carrier Killer?

This month's Proceedings magazine cover.

Why China Won't Do More With North Korea

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:29:49 -0500

Reading all the stuff about North Korea's nukes, one thing strikes me: the United States seems to want to outsource not just its jobs to China, but also its diplomacy. "It's up to China!" and "China can do more!" are the operative phrases emerging from DC-think-tanks and the US government. As if....

Jon Huntsman to China

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:47:39 -0500

This is the smartest piece so far that I've read on Obama's pick for ambassador to China.

Will Zhao's Book Shake China? Don't Bet On It

Fri, 15 May 2009 02:24:14 -0500

Someone asked me whether I thought Zhao Ziyang's posthumous memoirs -- "Prisoner of the State" -- was going to cause some type of controversy on the mainland or add to the worries of the Chinese Communist Party. My answer? Nothing major and not much. The book's Chinese edition will sell well in Hong Kong. Other than that, the reaction will probably be like this:

China's Changing Views on June 4th

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:36:05 -0500

Here's a (non-exhaustive) list of what the Chinese government has said about the June 4th crackdown. Over time, the government's tone has morphed into something a bit less strident. In the early '90s, the PRC called it "counter-revolutionary turmoil" or just "turmoil" for short. Then it modified that to "the Tiananmen incident." In a 2003 interview with the Post, Premier Wen Jiabao gave what I thought to be the most illuminating answer, framing the "incident" as something that occurred "in the last century" with the clear implication that it was irrelevant to today's China. Compiled by Nicholas Bequelin: June 1989 Zhang Gong, spokesman of the army Nobody was killed in the Tiananmen Square, and there was nobody crushed by tanks in the Square. June 6, 1989 Yuan Mu, spokesperson of the State Council During the "clearing" of Tiananmen Square, 5,000 soldiers were injured, and 2,000 civilians and "rebels" were also injured, 300 soldiers and "law-breaking criminals" died, including 23 university students. June 16, 1989 Yuan Mu(interviewed by the U.S. news station ABC) The news clips shot by ABC depicting troops entering the Square killing civilians and students were actually created by "advance technology" with the aim of twisting the facts. 1990, Jiang Zemin, General Secretary Dismissed international condemnation of the Tiananmen Massacre as "much ado about nothing." January 2001, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao Defended the use of deadly force against unarmed civilians in June 1989 as "...timely and resolute measures...extremely necessary for the stability and development of the country." November 22, 2003 Interview with Premier Wen Jiabao with The Washington Post "In the last century, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, drastic changes took place in the Soviet Union and countries of Eastern Europe. In China, a political disturbance occurred. At that time, the party and government of China adopted resolute measures in a timely fashion to safeguard social stability and became more determined to press ahead with China's reform and opening up. Our development over the past years has proven that stability is of vital importance for China. As premier of this country, I think the most important issue for me is to ensure stability and development. This is because China has 1.3 billion people." 2008 Qin Gang, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Regarding the political incident that took place at the end of the 1980s, there is already a clear conclusion. 2009 Zhao Qizheng, spokeperson of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference The government has already reached the verdict on "June Fourth", and the stability of the country was the foremost priority.

Are Zhao's Memoirs Real? Seems So.

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:21:31 -0500

Here's what we know about the authenticity of Zhao Ziyang's memoirs,which will be published in English on May 19 (20 years to the day when he was removed from his post as general secretary of the Communist Party). Zhao's editors say the following: 1) They liaised with people whom they knew to be close to Zhao. (Bao Pu was one of the editors and his father, Bao Tong, was Zhao's political aide. If Bao Pu didn't know the people personally, his father did.) 2) The memoirs were dictated by Zhao into tapes. Zhao numbered them in his own hand. His voice on the tapes sounds exactly like his voice on other tapes of him speaking, although you do have to take age into account. 3) Other sources close to Zhao knew of the tapes. 4) A transcript of one of the tapes has already been cited in an appendix to a book in Chinese by the author Yang Jisheng. (The tapes, however, apparently have no relation to "Zhao Ziyang: Captive Conversations," a book by Zhao's longtime friend Zong Fengming.)

Death Tolls and Press Controls on Quake's Anniversary

Fri, 08 May 2009 10:21:32 -0500

A year after the horrible earthquake in Sichuan province, China released statistics that said 5,335 school-aged children died in the quake. Many of them died in shoddily-built schools. About 70,000 people altogether died in the quake. Parents of the dead children have lobbied the government for reparations and to punish corrupt officials who built the lousy schools. Covering the quake's aftermath isn't easy. Here's an example from the Financial Times.

Talk about a Peace Dividend. Get Ready for PRC Investments in Taiwan

Wed, 06 May 2009 16:17:56 -0500

This is a really smart op-ed by Dan Rosen on the new hope in the economic relations between China and Taiwan. The operative graph for me is this: Until now, Taiwan has blocked inward investment from China -- despite WTO obligations -- ostensibly out of national security concerns. While unofficial estimates of Taiwanese investment in mainland China range from $200 billion to $400 billion, reciprocal Chinese investment in Taiwan stands near zero. During the most recent round of direct China-Taiwan talks in Nanjing, agreement was reached to resolve this asymmetry. As a result, many sectors of Taiwan's economy stand to benefit from new inflows from across the Strait, including real estate, information and communications technology, areas of financial and business facilitation services, biotechnology and other sectors.

China's Little Election That Could(n't)

Wed, 06 May 2009 15:11:23 -0500

There's a lot of talk these days in China about anniversaries. This year marks the 90th since the May 4th student movement that introduced Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science to China. The 60th since the founding of the PRC. The 20th since the Tiananmen Square crackdown.