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In a rambling recitation of CCP talking points an interview with Al-Jazeera, China’s special envoy to the Middle East Wu Sike attempted to mend fences with those in the Islamic world who might have taken umbrage to the Chinese government’s response to the riots in Xinjiang.
In true CCP-style, Wu responds to the question “What happened in Xinjiang” with that specialty of Chinese officialdom, “the half-baked historical claim.”
“Wu Sike: Chinese relations with Arabs and Muslims date back to two or three millennia.”
Either Wu needs help with his history or his math.
There is little doubt that the early civilizations in what is today China interacted with other cultures in western Asia dating back to the neolithic period. While Chinese historians aren’t fond of dwelling on the topic, items such as the domesticated horse (and its 2.0 version the chariot) likely came to China as a result of such interactions, as did other useful advances including the cultivation of wheat and the compound bow. In the same way, aspects of what would become Chinese culture, notably the use of silk, flowed west. BUT…
Western Asia is not “Arabia” and Islam first appeared on the scene only in the late
Who cares what we believe, just as long as those with different opinions or alternative perspectives shut the hell up.
Comparisons between the riots in Urumqi and 9/11 are not quite right (a closer parallel can be found in the race riots which swept US cities during the 1960s), but even if we are to swallow hook, line, and spoon-fed sinker the CCP campaign to equate RK with Osama Bin Laden, it still does not justify the actions of those who are trying to get the film removed from the Melbourne Festival.
If, for example, Beijing hosted a film festival that included a puff-piece propaganda film celebrating Bin Laden (I’m not saying that’s what Jeff Daniels’ movie does with RK, but that’s the way it has been presented by the Chinese media), then I would jump at the chance to go. Why? Because who wouldn’t want to ask the filmmakers tough questions about how their narrative was constructed or how they justified certain positions? At the very least, some insight might be gleaned into the inner motivations of a man who clearly sees the world very differently than I do.
I’ve not seen Daniels’ movie, so I’m not judging it
Well as most of my China-based readers know, there will be an eclipse tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 9:30 local time. The local news this evening reminded people not to gaze directly into an eclipse without protective goggles. They should have also mentioned that it probably wouldn’t be the best time to test the salesperson’s claims regarding the UV protection on your almost-but-not-quite ray bans you bought at the Silk Market.
Frankly, I’m not sure if anyone in Beijing will really notice the sun being out of commission for a few minutes. First of all, the capital is a little too far north to get the full monty, and besides let’s be real, the sun in the Beijing sky gets blacked out more often than a Chinese official on a three-day KTV bender delegation visit.
But to honor the occasion nonetheless, I meandered down to the smog-choked southwestern corner of the Jianguomen traffic cruller where a lonely tower stands, crowned with instruments of sky gazers past — Beijing’s ancient observatory.
On the plus side, it’s one of those attractions — increasingly rare in China — that doesn’t get its fully complement of screeching hat-wearing flag lemmings, I guess it’s
Following our misty mountain hop through Zhangjiajie, we traveled south by train to the town of Jishou. Jishou isn’t really anything, it’s a transportation center masquerading as a fugly provincial town, but it’s a convenient gateway to the towns of Fenghuang and Dehang. We had made reservations in Jishou while still on the train, some binguan recommended by Lonely Planet. We walked down the street, still in our sweaty, smelly hiking clothes to the hotel, it was pretty depressing. Fortunately right across the street was a gleaming new “international business hotel.”
YJ and I looked at each other, looked at the dusty old lobby of our reserved binguan, and hustled across the street to check on rack rates and possible discounts. Blithely ignoring the “appropriate clothing only” sign on the door, we sloshed our way across the marble floor and politely inquired as to available rooms. Sure enough a “deluxe double” was available for 298 RMB. Now, that might sound like a lot in Jishou — and it is — but then we saw our room. Flat screen, giant bathtub, great view, huge room, it was the Suite Life with YJ and Jeremiah. After two days of hiking and guesthouses,
45 minutes on this particular trail and we realized that there was absolutely nobody else around. It was an odd sensation for two residents of urban China where every space has eyes and the flow of humanity is a ceaseless feature of the cityscape.
YJ and I were in Western Hunan taking our bi-annual vacation, and the first stop was Zhangjiajie National Forest with its towering quartzite and sandstone pillars and lush, green scenery. Waterfalls and small streams pour through the mist down impossible looking precipices. It’s a stunning thing to behold, one of those places in China which make you realize that the cheesy shanshui painting in the Chinese restaurant back home isn’t so far fetched.
While Guilin and Yangshuo get a lot of attention, and with good reason, Zhangjiajie benefits from being just a nudge off of the main tourist trail, and the shear size of the park means that there are still places, like the trail we found, where on could spend an entire afternoon and see more lizards and monkeys than other human beings.
We flew directly from Beijing to Zhangjiajie on Saturday evening and decided to stay in Zhangjiajie City (as opposed to Zhangjiajie village, which is
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National Pride and Film Festivals
Who cares what we believe, just as long as those with different opinions or alternative perspectives shut the hell up.
Comparisons between the riots in Urumqi and 9/11 are not quite right (a closer parallel can be found in the race riots which swept US cities during the 1960s), but even if we are to swallow hook, line, and spoon-fed sinker the CCP campaign to equate RK with Osama Bin Laden, it still does not justify the actions of those who are trying to get the film removed from the Melbourne Festival.
If, for example, Beijing hosted a film festival that included a puff-piece propaganda film celebrating Bin Laden (I’m not saying that’s what Jeff Daniels’ movie does with RK, but that’s the way it has been presented by the Chinese media), then I would jump at the chance to go. Why? Because who wouldn’t want to ask the filmmakers tough questions about how their narrative was constructed or how they justified certain positions? At the very least, some insight might be gleaned into the inner motivations of a man who clearly sees the world very differently than I do.
I’ve not seen Daniels’ movie, so I’m not judging it