Chinese Students Shocked, Appalled at Obama’s Town Hall Meeting
Chinese students in Shanghai were shocked, appalled, incredulous, and generally uncomfortable at President Obama’s town hall meeting yesterday afternoon.
The audience, made up of carefully-screened students from several Shanghai universities, was stunned that a head of state could have a personality and speak to them as if they were real people. “We expected to be addressed en masse like subjects,” said Jiaotong University student Wang Jiabo. “It was strange and unnerving to be drawn into a discussion.”
Expats to Street Food Vendors: “The Jig Is Up”
Foreigners outside metro stops citywide have been seen walking off in a huff, outraged by what seems to be an outbreak of race-related overcharging.
“This is ludicrous,” muttered Daniel McKay of Portland, Oregon, rummaging through his wallet for another one-yuan note. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Dwoh-shaow chee-yen?” McKay asked again, then leaned in and asked louder, forcing the baozi vendor to resort to hand gestures when he seemed unable to understand the amount specified in Chinese.
Californication and the Age Illusion
Riffing on a concept here: When the first wave of American film studios set up shop in Los Angeles a century ago, one of the benefits (besides evading the clutches of Thomas Edison’s patent-enforcement goons) was the area’s diverse set of looks and locales. Deserts, forests, beaches, grasslands — you could find it all within an hour of the city. And since one of the basic laws of movie magic is that with enough money you can make anything look like anything, Hollywood has recreated practically the entire world within the thirty-mile-zone.
The Amazing And Spectacular Antics of the Roundeye
Imagine, if you will, flipping through channels and coming to a rest on this: a Chinese, an Arab, and an African man are facing off in a contest of English. The next question: “A _____ by any other name would smell as sweet?” *BZZT* “Frower!” says the Chinese guy. The audience groans in disappointment. Next up: the talent portion. The African announces proudly that he will sing the classic American ballad, “Love me Tender” by Elvis Presley. Thunderous applause follows his rendition, despite being slightly off-key. The Chinese follows up with an enthusiastic, if not entirely professional, banjo ditty. Not to be outdone, the Arab launches into a comedic routine with a passable southern accent, featuring words like “varmint” and “hightail.” The camera pans to a packed audience of white faces, grinning broadly and applauding madly.
Does this show sound surreal to you? Well, frequently in the evening, that’s exactly the kind of show that’s on prime-time Chinese television—foreigners paraded on television for all to watch, showing off their skills in Chinese.
Who Owns the Paracel Islands?
In the South China Sea there are a group of tiny, uninhabited islands known to the western world as the Paracel Islands (Quan Dao Hoang Sa in Vietnamese and Xisha Qundao in Chinese). The archipelago lies roughly 200 miles from the nearest mainland shore, equidistant from Vietnamese and Chinese coastlines, and is delineated into two groups: the Amphitrite group in the northeast and the Crescent group in the southwest. In total the geographic region consists of over thirty islets, sandbanks, and reefs.
Uighurs and Guantanamo
Four Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay who were cleared for release will not be moving to America. Although a large Uighur community in Northern Virginia has offered to accept the former detainees, elected officials from Virginia refused to allow the Uighurs to resettle in Northern Virginia.
The Premier in Bermuda, a British protectorate, agreed to accept the Uighurs without consulting the Foreign Ministry in the U.K. This unilateral move led to large protests across the island calling for his resignation that coincided with the arrival of the Uighurs. 13 other Uighurs have been moved to Palau. None of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay who have been cleared of the charges against them has been released into the United States.
I Know You Aren’t, But What Am I?
On June 3, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a message to the Chinese government, asking them to remember and recant on the 20th anniversary of the events at Tiananmen Square, saying: “A China that has made enormous progress economically, and that is emerging to take its rightful place in global leadership, should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.” Toward the end of the memorandum she dangerously advised: “This anniversary provides an opportunity for Chinese authorities to release from prison all those still serving sentences in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989. We urge China to cease the harassment of participants in the demonstrations and begin dialogue with the family members of victims, including the Tiananmen Mothers.”
Approximating the Truth
We might never know the truth about the events of early June twenty years ago. The story might forever remain an unfocused tapestry of anecdotes, interviews, and the occasional memoir. But twenty years later, we gain new understanding in the form of a photograph of a familiar scene, taken from an unfamiliar angle, which reminds us that what is know is only a collection of points-of-view that approximates truth, but the more points-of-view we collect, even if they contradict each other, the closer we come to understanding. This week, some questioned the apathy of students, while others proved that they had not forgotten, and still others wondered: had we gotten this all wrong?
In addition to these points-of-view, I offer two anecdotes about the twentieth anniversary of June 4, 1989.
Writer’s Block
There is a Chinese idiom about a man who buried a sum of silver underground and, worried that passersby would find it, placed a sign next to the plot that read “ci di wu yin san bai liang,” or “There is not 300 liang of silver here.” Needless to say, the next day his silver was gone.
I wonder if the censorship bureau understands this parable because one thing everyone in China should know by now is that if you ever come across a website that terminates your Internet connection, start digging.
Tanks in the Streets of Beijing
I popped out just a few minutes ago to the convenience store to get a bottle of water, and saw a convoy of tanks roll by right beside the second ring road.
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