Jottings from the Granite Studio » 2008 Olympics http://granitestudio.org A Qing historian reads the newspaper... Thu, 17 May 2012 04:20:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Democracy, ethics, and China’s post-Olympic challenge http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/27/democracy-ethics-and-chinas-post-olympic-challenge/ http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/27/democracy-ethics-and-chinas-post-olympic-challenge/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:26:11 +0000 Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/?p=565 In a “mini-debate” posted at Dissent Magazine, Daniel A. Bell and Michael Walzer contend the question: Should the international community do more to support democracy in China? 

Bell establishes the parameters for the discussion by defining ‘democracy’ as ”free and fair competitive elections at the national level” and ‘promotion’ to mean “moral criticism of a non-democratic status quo.” Unsurprisingly, given his other writings, Bell’s answer is no, and he argues this by comparing China to despicable regimes in Burma and Zimbabwe, while outlining five conditions which he feels do justify ‘moral criticism’ in the service of democratization.  

I’ve listed the five below and sketched out Bell’s defense of the Chinese system with Walzer’s responses: 

The target country must be led by an outlaw regime. (Bell: Not when compared to the Burmese junta or the Robert Mugabe. Walzer: What is the threshold for moral criticism? Need it be so rigorous?) Outsiders can confidently predict that the rulers would lose democratic elections. (Bell: The urban elite LOVE the CCP. Walzer: If full political freedoms were granted, the CCP would lose power with two to three election cycles.) There is an obvious political alternative. (Bell: Been in China awhile and haven’t found one yet. Nobody seems to be getting organized. Walzer: ]]> In a “mini-debate” posted at Dissent Magazine, Daniel A. Bell and Michael Walzer contend the question: Should the international community do more to support democracy in China? 

Bell establishes the parameters for the discussion by defining ‘democracy’ as ”free and fair competitive elections at the national level” and ‘promotion’ to mean “moral criticism of a non-democratic status quo.” Unsurprisingly, given his other writings, Bell’s answer is no, and he argues this by comparing China to despicable regimes in Burma and Zimbabwe, while outlining five conditions which he feels do justify ‘moral criticism’ in the service of democratization.  

I’ve listed the five below and sketched out Bell’s defense of the Chinese system with Walzer’s responses: 

  1. The target country must be led by an outlaw regime. (Bell: Not when compared to the Burmese junta or the Robert Mugabe. Walzer: What is the threshold for moral criticism? Need it be so rigorous?)
  2. Outsiders can confidently predict that the rulers would lose democratic elections. (Bell: The urban elite LOVE the CCP. Walzer: If full political freedoms were granted, the CCP would lose power with two to three election cycles.)
  3. There is an obvious political alternative. (Bell: Been in China awhile and haven’t found one yet. Nobody seems to be getting organized. Walzer: Democratization is a long process and alternatives at their inception might not be so obvious when they develop in an authoritarian regime.)
  4. Regime change would improve the people’s material well-being. (Bell: China has lifted millions of out of poverty. Walzer: How would things such as independent labor unions or democratic political parties undercut economic growth in China?)
  5. The transition to democracy won’t be bad for foreigners by which Bell means “the rest of the world.” Bell: Democratically-elected leaders are bound by the narrow vision of their local constituents, whereas oligarchies made up of morally superior elites have the wisdom to think globally. Walzer: Democratization in a great power has benefits for its immediate neighbors citing Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania, as well as (less convincingly) Georgia and Armenia.

In the end, Bell has narrowed the debate such that it’s a bit of a trap. He agrees with Walzer about “the need for more freedoms of speech and association in China,” but adds “the argument here is whether the international community should support national level elections in China: meaning that the democratically chosen leader would hold all the trump cards.” 

Surely there is more to democracy than this? What of local or provincial elections? What about encouraging China to end its tight control on the media, permit open discussion of sensitive topics, allow for free assembly and the right to peacefully demonstrate, and to provide its citizens unhindered access to the courts to pursue these rights while at the same time freeing the judiciary to make decisions on the merits of the case rather than the political requirements of the local Party secretary?  Do these not count as forms of democratization?

Looking at this question as a historian, I am struck by a few things not specifically touched upon in the original piece. First of all: What is and what is not a “truly awful” regime? Bell defines it here as one that violates “basic rights,” of which he lists one: ’right to food and basic means of subsistence.’  This of course cuts to the heart of a larger debate: Is there a set of basic (inalienable, if you will) human rights to which all human beings are entitled and that cannot be sacrificed to satisfy other ends? 

Viewed from another angle, that of historical comparison, how much credit should today’s CCP receive just because it’s less repressive than before? In a recent essay, Theodore Dalrymple describes how the Russian author Vladmir Voinovich once satirized (the sadly and  recently departed) Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn for the latter’s romantic attachment to a pre-Soviet Russian nationalism.

Dalrymple writes:

“Voinovich was alluding to the fact that, were it not for the horrors of Bolshevism, the pre-revolutionary Russian political tradition would be regarded as so brutal that no sensitive person of good will could be a Russian nationalist.  As it was, the Bolsheviks regularly killed in a few minutes more people than the Romanovs managed in a century, giving pre-revolutionary Russian history the retrospective luster of decency, wisdom, and compassion that it did not in the least deserve.”

This can go both ways. Hu Jintao is not Mao, but does the Chinese government and the Communist Party get a free pass because imprisoning dissenters seems quite minor compared to the millions who died and suffered under the Mao regime? Are we to commit ourselves to a moral race to the bottom, establishing the lowest common denominator of misery and suffering before finding the gumption to speak up and say “Enough”?

By way of wrapping up an admittedly disjointed essay composed of the orts and leavings of last night’s bedside reading, Orville Schell has this to say on China’s “Post-Olympic Challenge“:

“I fear that China’s leaders and people will continue to feel a certain gnawing, inchoate sense of deficiency and incompleteness in their quest for global respect until they find the strength to begin addressing the crucial, but elusive, issue of making China an ethical, as well as an economic and military, power. For a country steeped in millennia of Confucianism, the need for ethical leadership should be clear.

To fully address the question of the moral and ethical base of a new form of Chinese governance, China’s government and its people must be able to look back freely and come to terms with their recent history: the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the events of 1989, Tibet, and other sensitive issues. They must also freely be able to discuss the future and what kind of society they wish to see rise from the ashes of Mao’s revolution.

I make these somewhat critical observations about China not with any sense of moral superiority or a wish to relieve myself of the responsibility to level the same critique at my own country’s recent failures. As most of the world knows, America’s quest to maintain its claim to the title of “greatness,” has, of late, also been elusive.

Arriving from different staring points, both the United States and China now find themselves confronting a similar challenge: restoring global trust and respect. Their success inevitably requires directly confronting their evident moral failures.

If many of those same viewers who have been impressed by China’s successes in Beijing now also find themselves recoiling at the idea of a stronger and more prideful China, that is understandable. For strength unalloyed by checks and balances — and by a capacity for self-critical reflection about the rightness and wrongness of state action — can be unnerving. Many Americans, too, have recently had to learn this.”

Indeed.

]]> http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/27/democracy-ethics-and-chinas-post-olympic-challenge/feed/ 22 Beijing 2008: A photo in desperate need of a caption… http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/21/a-photo-in-desperate-need-of-a-caption/ http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/21/a-photo-in-desperate-need-of-a-caption/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:35:51 +0000 Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/?p=562 From yesterday’s Lithuania-China game…

]]> From yesterday’s Lithuania-China game…

]]> http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/21/a-photo-in-desperate-need-of-a-caption/feed/ 11 Beijing 2008: The national pastime takes a few lumps… http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/19/beijing-2008-the-national-pastime-takes-a-few-lumps/ http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/19/beijing-2008-the-national-pastime-takes-a-few-lumps/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:47:15 +0000 Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/?p=559 YJ and I went to the US-China baseball match last night at Wukesong Stadium. I was at Wukesong this past spring for the LA Dodgers-San Diego Padre AAAA international tour, and the experience last night was more or less the same…with the addition of a few thousand rowdy China supporters making up in exuberance what they might have lacked in actual baseball knowledge.

And I tell you, folks: those fans were treated to a real old-fashioned barnburner.*

The score wasn’t close (9-1 USA) but we had a little of everything.  Former MLB manager, one-time “Batman” guest villan, and now coach of the China team Jim Lefebvre got tossed in the sixth for arguing with the umpire.  US outfielder Nate Schierholtz, attempting to score on a sac fly from catcher Taylor Teagarden, completely took out Chinese catcher Yang Yang in a close play at the plate.  The Chinese fans in my section–perhaps not up on the rules–wanted Schierholtz called for a foul or at least to receive a yellow card.  I reminded them that if the catcher has the ball and is attempting to block the plate, the runner can use any means at his disposal short of shooting the guy to knock the ball loose and score.**

The Chinese had already ]]> YJ and I went to the US-China baseball match last night at Wukesong Stadium. I was at Wukesong this past spring for the LA Dodgers-San Diego Padre AAAA international tour, and the experience last night was more or less the same…with the addition of a few thousand rowdy China supporters making up in exuberance what they might have lacked in actual baseball knowledge.

And I tell you, folks: those fans were treated to a real old-fashioned barnburner.*

The score wasn’t close (9-1 USA) but we had a little of everything.  Former MLB manager, one-time “Batman” guest villan, and now coach of the China team Jim Lefebvre got tossed in the sixth for arguing with the umpire.  US outfielder Nate Schierholtz, attempting to score on a sac fly from catcher Taylor Teagarden, completely took out Chinese catcher Yang Yang in a close play at the plate.  The Chinese fans in my section–perhaps not up on the rules–wanted Schierholtz called for a foul or at least to receive a yellow card.  I reminded them that if the catcher has the ball and is attempting to block the plate, the runner can use any means at his disposal short of shooting the guy to knock the ball loose and score.**

The Chinese had already lost Wang Wei, their starting catcher and one of their more experienced players, an inning before in another close play with Matt Laporta (remember that name) sliding in hard to home.  After Schierholtz leveled him, Wang’s backup Yang Yang, jumped up and had to be restrained from going after Schierholtz. Lefebvre came out to argue, though I don’t think he was arguing the nature of the slide per se, but rather whether Schierholtz was out or not.  No dice: the argument became heated, Lefebvre got in the umps face, the ump tossed Lefebvre, and now China’s got a beef.

Keep in mind there were already something like five or six hit batters at this point, two by the US team and the rest by the Chinese pitchers.  To be fair, some of those were just glancing brushes of the jersey, not full on plunks.  Those would come later.

Bottom of the 7th, Chinese reliever Chen Kun gets revenge for Yang Yang, sending one right into Matt Laporta’s dome.  Did  I mention the US manager is Davey Johnson? Colorful guy, I’ve never competely forgiven him for being the manager of the ’86 Mets.  Anyway, Johnson comes charging out of the US dugout–at this point I seriously thought we’d see the benches clear–and runs toward the mound like he wants a piece of Chen Kun, only to have the home plate umpire hold him back.  LaPorta’s on the ground, looking very unconscious, and Chen is standing halfway to home plate with a ’who me?’ grin on his face. 

Long story shorter, Chen and China’s pitching coach/acting manager Steve Ontiveros both get ejected.  Fortunately, the US team took the high road, refusing to get baited into a beanball contest and possibly starting World War III. Instead US batters just broke out the lumber and put a few crooked numbers up on the scoreboard, sending most of the crowd to the subway by the eighth inning. 

Other notes:

- Sang ”Take Me Out to the Ballgame” with gusto at the 7th inning stretch, the only one in my section to do so, but sometimes you just got to say, “What the…”

- Concessions continue to be a problem. Supplies run out unexpectedly and the requirement to pour all beverages at some (but not all?) stands into cups instead of distributing bottles grinds the whole process to a halt.

- The Chinese team had some early trouble putting the bat on the ball, so for the first few innings the crowd cheered each foul ball and really oohed and ahhed when someone sent a ball back over the screen.

- Scalpers were EVERYWHERE.  Probably over 100 offers for tickets between the subway and the gate, probably due to the US-Germany basketball game being held next door.

- I’ll be going back tomorrow night for US-Japan.

———–

*Keeping in mind that my actually being there wasn’t exactly a benefit to transcribing what took place.  The stadium replay sucked, didn’t show any close plays, and the announcers weren’t really into announcing things like “We’ve just ejected the entire coaching staff for Team China,” so if I missed a few details or got some names wrong, I ask for your indulgence.

**I had a similar moment when I was a college student in Singapore.  Playing for my dorm team, I was heckled by the opposing fans chanting “Yankee go home.” First of all, I’m a Red Sox fan, so being called a ”Yankee” really pissed me off. Sure enough, I slapped one down the right field line and started running.  I’m a rugby player and the catcher was maybe 120 pounds soaking wet but he decided to man up, take the throw and block the plate.  Bad idea.  I scored and he ended up watching the rest of the game wearing a suit of ice packs.  I’m not proud of it, but them’s the rules…

]]> http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/19/beijing-2008-the-national-pastime-takes-a-few-lumps/feed/ 2 Beijing 2008: Urban Hiking and Blue Sky Days http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/15/beijing-2008-urban-hiking-and-blue-sky-days/ http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/15/beijing-2008-urban-hiking-and-blue-sky-days/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:55:38 +0000 Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/?p=556 I took advantage of the sunny skies to do some urban hiking through the legation quarter, up through Tiananmen Square and back over to Wangfujing.  Some random TGIF thoughts:

Today was a BLUE SKY day.  We’re talking 蓝 freaking 天.  First one of the Games and well timed too as track and field preliminaries kicked of today.

The square was busy with every available piece of shade filled with resting bodies.  I’m not kidding.  There was a row of people lined up squatting on the concrete in formation, perfectly aligned along the 6″ x 6′ shadow of the light post.  Who says Beijingers don’t queue?

The visible security at the square didn’t appear out of the ordinary.  The square always has its share of personnel, and today I didn’t feel like there was a huge increase in the security presence.  Quite a few visitors though, and walking around I was treated to a cacophony of languages—Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, English, Japanese, Korean, and those were the ones I could identify from snatches of conversation, there were more to be sure.

No scam artists on Wangfujing!?!? Or maybe there were so many foreign visitors that they didn’t get around to me ]]> I took advantage of the sunny skies to do some urban hiking through the legation quarter, up through Tiananmen Square and back over to Wangfujing.  Some random TGIF thoughts:

Today was a BLUE SKY day.  We’re talking 蓝 freaking 天.  First one of the Games and well timed too as track and field preliminaries kicked of today.

The square was busy with every available piece of shade filled with resting bodies.  I’m not kidding.  There was a row of people lined up squatting on the concrete in formation, perfectly aligned along the 6″ x 6′ shadow of the light post.  Who says Beijingers don’t queue?

The visible security at the square didn’t appear out of the ordinary.  The square always has its share of personnel, and today I didn’t feel like there was a huge increase in the security presence.  Quite a few visitors though, and walking around I was treated to a cacophony of languages—Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish, English, Japanese, Korean, and those were the ones I could identify from snatches of conversation, there were more to be sure.

No scam artists on Wangfujing!?!? Or maybe there were so many foreign visitors that they didn’t get around to me before I moved on.

The Foreign Language Bookstore on WFJ pretty much sucks, no? Great for coffee table books or to get your Jane Austen on, but substantive reading…Forget about it.

Han children in costume posing as minorities during a made-for-CCTV gala? Fake fireworks? Lip syncing? A Chinese athlete falsifying their age? I am SHOCKED! Shocked that there is gambling going on this establishment.  Where’s Claude Rains when you need him?

Checked out the new Legation Quarter entertainment complex recently opened on the site of the old pre-1949 US embassy.  It’s nice and has an open, unfinished atmosphere with a set of concrete stand-alone western buildings around an empty grass quad.  The place feels like a New England prep school during summer recess.  On one hand, there are so many great buildings buried in the neighborhood, misused as bureaus and offices, and the new complex could be a model for utilizing the unique and attractive architecture of the area.  On the other hand, it was clear going in that only a certain class of people would be admitted.  The nice green quad in the middle isn’t likely to see Old Wang from the hutong teaching his grandson how to fly a kite any time soon.  The whole set-up is clearly geared for the well-heeled laowai and the well-pleathered Beijinger.

More to come.

]]> http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/15/beijing-2008-urban-hiking-and-blue-sky-days/feed/ 4 Beijing 2008: The end of US, erm, dominance? http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/14/beijing-2008-the-end-of-us-erm-dominance/ http://granitestudio.org/2008/08/14/beijing-2008-the-end-of-us-erm-dominance/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:49:12 +0000 Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/?p=551 There has been a bit of bally-hoo in the press about China putting an end to US Olympic dominance, a dominance which doesn’t seem to jibe with history.  I took a look at the medal counts for the Summer Olympics, and since 1956 (not counting the boycott years of 1980 and 1984, a total of 11 Olympics) the US has topped the gold medal chart five times.  Not bad, but three of the five have  come since 1996.  From 1956 to 1996, the US only placed first twice, finishing second to the USSR in 1956, 1960, 1972, 1976, 1988, and to the Unified Team in 1992.  In fact, in 1988, the USA finished third behind both the USSR and East Germany.  Now admittedly we have had a bit of a good run since 1996, but I’d hardly call the US track record over the past fifty years of Olympiads ’dominant.’ 

Nor would it seem prudent to link gold medal tallies with the health or prosperity of a particular country or economy or to the stability of its political system.  After all, in the years between Seoul and Barcelona, of the top 10 countries in terms of overall gold medals in 1988: the top two (USSR and GDR) ceased to exist, four ]]> There has been a bit of bally-hoo in the press about China putting an end to US Olympic dominance, a dominance which doesn’t seem to jibe with history.  I took a look at the medal counts for the Summer Olympics, and since 1956 (not counting the boycott years of 1980 and 1984, a total of 11 Olympics) the US has topped the gold medal chart five times.  Not bad, but three of the five have  come since 1996.  From 1956 to 1996, the US only placed first twice, finishing second to the USSR in 1956, 1960, 1972, 1976, 1988, and to the Unified Team in 1992.  In fact, in 1988, the USA finished third behind both the USSR and East Germany.  Now admittedly we have had a bit of a good run since 1996, but I’d hardly call the US track record over the past fifty years of Olympiads ’dominant.’ 

Nor would it seem prudent to link gold medal tallies with the health or prosperity of a particular country or economy or to the stability of its political system.  After all, in the years between Seoul and Barcelona, of the top 10 countries in terms of overall gold medals in 1988: the top two (USSR and GDR) ceased to exist, four others (Romania, Bulgaria, South Korea, and Hungary) saw authoritarian regimes replaced by…less authoritarian regimes, and we all know what happened in the PRC (#8 in ’88 with five gold medals) the summer after the Seoul games. 

As for me, I’ve always enjoyed it the most when the table of medals is long rather than top heavy, so that all countries can savor the chance to claim an Olympic champion among their own.  I also think there’s something fitting to China topping the medal charts, given how important acheiving that goal is to people here.  While most of my friends and family back home bemoan the upstart surpassing two past champions in a suprising bid for greatness and respect after years of humiliation (by which they mean the Tampa Bay Rays, currently 3 games ahead of the Sox and a whopping 9 in front of the Yankees in the AL East standings), it’s been a joy to watch the joy that China’s haul has brought to the people of Beijing. 

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