Monday, June 11, 2012

China Battens Down the Hatches



This piece originally appeared at Asia Times on June 2, 2012

 The entertaining ruckus over CCTV talk show host Yang Rui’s anti-foreign comments obscures a rather significant trend in Chinese government policy.

It appears that the CCP is winding down its five-year charm offensive meant to bolster its international legitimacy and standing, and is turning inward to focus on pressing domestic social, economic, and political concerns.

Disturbingly, China has a limited number of effective policy levers to deal with these issues.  The few they have are ugly in conception and application—like xenophobia.

China’s economic miracle, typified by the spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the titanic stimulus program of 2009-2010 (which is credited with forestalling a prolonged global recession), never elicited the Western respect that the Chinese leadership felt was its due.

With the election of President Obama, the West rediscovered the impeccable moral self-regard it had forfeited during the Bush II years and, instead of acknowledging Chinese regional suzerainty, cobbled together an alliance to “pivot” back into Asia and contain China.

International policy toward China is inseparable from criticism of China’s human rights record, its neo-mercantilist economic policies, and its heightened security profile in East Asia, and the hope and expectation that China will fall on its behind before the West (excluding Greece, probably Spain, and perhaps Italy) does.

“Soft power”, in other words, hasn’t won China much breathing space.  As the CCP turns its attention to a fraught leadership transition complicated by smoldering inflation, simmering public discontent, slowing economic growth thanks to the dysfunctional Eurozone, and a spate of opportunistic bitching over uninhabited island groups by its maritime neighbors, perhaps xenophobia is the most effective way for the Party to seize the initiative in the public sphere.

In recent weeks, public opinion has been entertained and inflamed by such diverse exhibition of foreign misbehavior as 1) arrogant Russian cellist putting his feet where they didn’t belong on a Chinese train 2) brain-melted foreign tourist trying to undress a hapless Chinese woman on a busy Beijing street 3) North Korean “pirates” holding Chinese fishermen for ransom.

There was a lot of palaver about what the kidnapping said about the North Koreans and their possible unhappiness with Chinese criticism of their weapons testing.  Remarkably, there was very little discussion of why the Chinese media chose to give this event (which, quite possibly, was simply the most recent of many shakedowns by North Korea’s cash-hungry/smuggling-happy coastal security forces) front-page treatment.

The xenophobic piece du resistance, however, was a May 16 Weibo screed by CCTV’s Yang Rui, sneering at “foreign trash”.

One can safely assume that Yang was supporting the party line on pesky foreigners.  It also appears that Yang put a lot of himself, too much, in fact, into his 140-character ramble, including accusations that foreigners were shacking up with Chinese women in order to make maps and send out GPS coordinates to overseas intelligence services (coordinates of what, Yang failed to enlighten his readers).

What caused Yang’s anti-foreign assault to backfire, however, was his use of the term “po fu” to describe Al Jazeera Beijing correspondent Melissa Chan.

Chan,a well-regarded reporter who had aired pieces on black prisons and illegal land grabs that the Chinese government certainly found uncomfortable, was expelled (technically, her request for a visa extension was refused) in early May.

Yang lumped her together with the foreign trash, declaring:

赶走洋泼妇,关岛电视妖魔化中国的

We kicked out the foreign po fu, closed down Al Jazeera’s Beijing office, so those who demonize China shut their mouths and beat it.

Global Times translated “po fu” as “crazy”, which is pretty far from the mark.  The Wall Street Journal translated “po fu” as b*tch, which is closer to the truth, if not quite accurate, and helped feed the expressions of quivering outrage by expats in China who tweet.

Yang tried to explain that his insulting characterization actually means “shrew” in English, and he does have a point.  “Po fu” started out as a literary term coined by the Qian Long emperor.  During one of his southern tours he saw two women fighting and said something along the lines of (adjusting for the dense meaning of individual characters in classical Chinese), “when you’re talking about fierce, unreasonable, and incapable of engaging in elevated moral discourse, that’s women.”


In essence, therefore, Yang appears not be saying that Ms. Chan was a b*tch (a bad woman), but the unfortunate but entirely predictable manifestation of female shrewishness in her reporting prevented her from scaling the highest peaks of respectable journalism (already occupied, perhaps, by certain smugly condescending male CCTV presenters).

Sometimes, when you’re in a hole, it’s time to stop digging.

The furor over “po fu” also distracts attention from the more interesting question of why Ms. Chan’s visa was not renewed.  

The conclusion of Yang’s Weibo blast (so those who demonize China shut their mouths and beat it) implies that the Chinese government made an example of a free-wheeling reporter at a second-tier news outlet in order to pass the message to top-line media outlets that nettlesome reporting will have consequences for individual reporters and, perhaps, entire news operations (in addition to not renewing Chan’s visa, the Chinese government has so far refused to accept a replacement and the Al Jazeera Beijing bureau is, at least for the time being, defunct).

The impression of Chinese xenophobia was also accentuated by the announcement of a three-month drive to crack down on foreigners residing or working in China without proper documentation.

Needless to say, it is an unpleasant experience to be regarded as potential “foreign trash” and go through the degrading transaction of presenting one’s papers to the local police on demand.  It is also an indication that the security system’s relatively kid-glove treatment of foreigners is the latest victim of China’s growing political and economic uncertainty.

Chinese policies toward improperly documented aliens bear a remarkable resemblance to laws in Arizona and Georgia that have integrated immigration policy into police operations largely in response to xenophobic sentiment and political unease in a deteriorated economic climate.  

The real issue may not be the outraged feelings of foreigners today; it may be making the scapegoating of foreign troublemakers, journalists and otherwise, an available option against the day when the political climate inside China worsens for the CCP.

If and when bad times come, the CCP seems to have a decreasing number of tools available to deal with the situation.  In particular, there are sticks available, but not a lot of carrots.

This restricted toolkit apparently applies to dealing with domestic dissatisfaction as well as pesky foreigners.

A remarkable object lesson in the financial and systemic hazards of contemporary Chinese authoritarianism is illustrated by the remarkable extralegal detention of Chen Guangcheng and other dissidents.

It takes a village, apparently, to button up a lawyer-activist in China, and the amounts expended on supervising and harassing Chen—estimated at over 8 million RMB—are a source of wonder.

What is perhaps an even more remarkable source of wonder is the fact that variants of this extravagant system are applied to perhaps 1 million Chinese that no one has ever heard of.

As reported by Charles Hutzler of AP, hundreds of thousands of Chinese activists, dissidents, miscreants, parolees, and suspicious characters are kept under intensive surveillance similar to Chen’s.

The operations are funded by “stability maintenance” funds from the central government, part of the $110 billion the government spends each year on domestic security and order.

The article recounted the case of Yao Lifa, a schoolteacher who ran afoul of the system when he tried to run as an independent for a local political office 25 years ago.  The current system of tight surveillance has been in place for a year or so.

Yao told AP how his surveillance is managed, including a significant outsourcing to gym teachers in the school he used to teach at:

Anywhere from 14 to 50 people a day are on the local government payroll for his round-the-clock surveillance — what he calls the "Yao Lifa special squad." They get 50 yuan, $8, for a day shift and twice that for night work. Often, he said, hotel rooms, transport, meals and cigarettes are thrown in.
The sums add up in Qianjiang, a city of struggling factories and one million people set in the center of the country. Basic pay runs about 1,000 yuan, or $160, a month for an entry-level teacher and goes to three times that amount for a veteran, Yao said.

"This isn't bad for teachers," said Yao. "An English teacher probably wouldn't take it. They can earn extra money giving private tutoring. But gym teachers can't do the tutoring. Besides, their superiors have told them to do this. They can't not do it."
He said he heard the school and education bureau were arguing over $48,000 for his surveillance.
"I have many acquaintances. Some of them work in police stations," Yao said. "They tell me 'Really we could use a Yao Lifa. If we had one, we could make more money.'"


According to Hutzler, an article in Caijing reported on a village in south China in which a quarter of the local government personnel were on the stability payroll.

This would appear to be more than “stability maintenance”.  It’s a form of central government support to shore up the finances and legitimacy of the local government i.e. the local Communist apparatus.

Call it CCP welfare, or “workfare”.  Well, maybe call it “goonfare.”  

It is, to put it mildly, not a good thing for the CCP when the local face of the party is a crew of musclemen hassling schoolteachers.

To add to the problem, and the perception, for many local officials the temptation to graft off the imperfectly supervised “stability maintenance” funds is reportedly irresistible.

Now that this system is in place, it is difficult to see how the central government can abolish it—unless, in addition to howls of protest from local cadres, it is interested in dealing with a surge of local unrest and disgruntled petitioners, and a legal system that is not up to the task of protecting the rights and serving the aspirations of its citizens.

The fundamental problem is that, contrary to the party’s hopes, breakneck economic growth over the last decade has not translated into an outpouring of gratitude or support for the Chinese Communist Party.  “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” like another triumphant economic system we all know and love, has inequality built into it. 

In Western capitalism, the power of the “1%” is diffused, anonymous, entrenched in every institution, and embedded in every political party.  Even after the colossal rich man’s cock-up of the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, 99% Americans were unable to summon up the united political will to confront Wall Street, let alone engage in a satisfying politico-economic jacquerie against the moneyed elite.

However, in China, the political problem is much more severe because inequality clearly benefits party members—and princelings within the party—disproportionately.  Overall GDP growth, that scorecard of economic success that infatuates state planners, foreign businesses, and economists alike is, for China, a two-edged sword, since it ineluctably widens the perceived income and social justice gap.  

Therefore, there is a lot of anxiety inside and outside the party about closing the wealth and justice gap ranging from traditional command economy nostrums like subsidized housing to fancy free-market panaceas like reforming the pampered, cash-rich state run corporations through private corporate competition and public wealth sharing through increased stock ownership.

In fact, it would be useful to consider that China is now trying to turn away from macro-economic management of the economy, with its implication of passively waiting for the tide to lift all boats, to politically targeted financial and investment policy meant to selectively grow vulnerable sectors of the economy at the expense of industries and institutions that have emerged as political liabilities.

However, these solutions don’t go very far in addressing the disgruntlement that suffuses Chinese society like a toxic fog: the idea that Chinese wealth creation is primarily an exercise by which the CCP enriches and entrenches itself.

It’s not easy—or perhaps even feasible—to remove the dead hand of the party from economic and political life, or from the consciousness of the Chinese citizenry under the current system.

Things are less than ideal even after—and, to some extent because of—a decade of rampant growth.
Now, of course, China is looking at a period of slowed growth as a matter of policy as well as necessity, one that will presumably leverage even greater perceived economic and social injustice onto the shoulders of the resentful Chinese citizenry.  

The West’s faltering effort to free itself of the incubus of its failed economic policies means a Eurozone crisis and bad news for China’s export economy.  At the same time, China is still dealing with the inflation and real estate bubble hangover from its massive 2009-10 stimulus and cannot risk fueling inflation by dumping a lot of money into the economy.

If the CCP finds itself unable to finesse the looming economic and political crisis through a savvy combination of political and economic policies, the alternative—a bout of xenophobia and domestic repression that reveal the party in its least attractive light both to the world and its citizens—is not going to be pretty.

"Bo Fu" image from nipic.com
 

22 comments:

ali khan said...

我真的很伟大查看您的博客,留下深刻的印象,阅读和查看它,你正在做伟大的工作,希望你能保持它,我成为你的粉丝,表示赞赏。
http://www.shaadi-direct.com/

Unknown said...

Nice article, thanks for the information. It's very complete information. I will bookmark for next reference
jaring futsal | jaring golf | jaring pengaman proyek |
jaring pengaman bangunan | jaring pengaman gedung
http://www.jual-jaring.blogspot.com/
http://www.agen-jaring.blogspot.com/
http://www.pancasamudera-safetynet.blogspot.com/
http://www.toko-jaring.blogspot.com/
http://www.pusat-jaring.blogspot.com/
http://jualjaringpengaman.blogspot.com/
https://pancasamudera.wordpress.com/
https://pasangjaringfutsal.wordpress.com/
https://jualtambangmurah.wordpress.com/
https://tokojaring.wordpress.com/
https://jualjaringfutsal.wordpress.com/
https://jaringfutsal.wordpress.com/


Blogger said...

Get daily ideas and guides for generating $1,000s per day FROM HOME totally FREE.
CLICK HERE TO START NOW

Blogger said...

If you need your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend to come crawling back to you on their knees (even if they're dating somebody else now) you must watch this video
right away...

(VIDEO) Have your ex CRAWLING back to you...?

Blogger said...

QUANTUM BINARY SIGNALS

Get professional trading signals delivered to your mobile phone every day.

Follow our signals today & earn up to 270% a day.

Escorts In Lahore said...



Elite Class Fashionable Well Educated Hot Sex 👙 Models Service Provider Madam Dolly lahore call girls
I Love All Countries Provider Escorts Service best Vip Call Girls in lahore
Full hot and sex excellent girls in available Hotel door service Pakistani lahore Call Girls in lahore
Pakistani lahore vip call girls best female professional call girl models in available vip Hotel best service in Pakistani
call girls in Lahore we have many Independent call girls in Lahore. Our call girls are not road side call girls.
Safe Service call girls in Pakistani lahore
We give you best and safe escorts service in Lahore islamabad call girls
Escorts Services 👉 69 sex 👄 Call/ Whatsapp ☛ ☎ ▻ +92 305 3777077 💃 girls Provider Madam Dolly
we serve all over in Lahore, If you want to more safe side I suggest you book an any 4 & 5 star hotel in Lahroe.
Vip Call Girls in Rawalpindi
Call Girls in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi call girls
Vip Call Girls in Islamabad
Call Girls in Islamabad
Islamabad call girls
Vip Call Girls in karachi
Call Girls in karachi
karachi call girls
escorts service in lahore
escort in lahore
lahore escorts service
escorts service in Pakistani
Pakistani escorts service
Pakistani call girls

Shani69 said...

TopEscortsinKarachi is the best organization which is providing best and sexy Call girls in Karachi. You you just need to make a call and our assistant will guide you how to book our services. We are providing top escorts service in Karachi at affordable price and the first thing is our service is 100% safe. So make your time memorable and contact us any time.

Call Girls in Karachi
Escorts Service in Karachi

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

russian escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts gurgaon
russian escorts in delhi
russian escort gurgaon
russian escorts in delhi aerocity
russian escorts in delhi aerocity
mahipalpur escort
escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts mahipalpur
gurgaon escorts

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

aerocity escort service
call girls in aerocity
escort in aerocity
escort service in aerocity
russian escorts in delhi
escort service aerocity
aerocity escorts
escorts service in aerocity
russian escorts in gurgaon
aerocity escort
------------------------------------------------
aerocity call girls
female escorts in aerocity
call girls aerocity
call girl in aerocity
escorts service in gurgaon
escorts near me
hot sexy escorts
escorts in aerocity
gurgaon russian escorts
russian escorts in mahipalpur
------------------------------------------------

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

russian escorts in aerocity
aerocity escorts service
escorts in mahipalpur
escort in mahipalpur
independent escorts in aerocity
delhi aerocity escort service
russian escorts
russian escort in gurgaon
delhi russian escort service
escorts near andaz
------------------------------------------------
russian escorts gurgaon
escort
aerocity escorts in aerocity near delhi airport
housewife escorts in gurgaon
escorts service in delhi
call girls in mahipalpur
russian gurgaon escorts
independent escorts in delhi
gurgaon escorts
russian call girls in gurgaon
------------------------------------------------

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

Much obliged for making this weblog. So glad the mod. Plan is gradually occurring. I want and ask it keeps up to the resulting contributions Independent Escorts in aerocity

It additionally does right by me that we are trying to build our own one of a kind weapon frameworks with the confined accounts that we have. Female d call aerocity young ladies escort service gurgaon
call girls in aerocity delhi
escort service
russian call girls in aerocity
russian call girls in mahipalpur
premier escort agency
russian escort in aerocity
escorts service in aerocity call girls in delhi
aerocity russian escorts
escort service in delhi
------------------------------------------------
call girls mahipalpur
gurgaon russian escort
russian escorts delhi
escort service in gurgaon
russian escort in delhi
escorts in delhi
escorts near delhi airport
russian escort gurgaon
escort marriott
air hostess escort in gurgaon
------------------------------------------------

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

call girls in delhi
escorts service
gurgaon escort service
delhi aerocity escorts
aerocity escorts services
aerocity call girl
female escorts
escorts near igi airport
delhi russian escorts
aerocity escorts agency
------------------------------------------------
delhi aerocity escort
russian escort service in delhi
delhi russian escort
delhi call girls service in aerocity
escorts services in aerocity
independent escorts
russian escort
russian escorts service in delhi
gurugram escorts
mahipalpur call girls
------------------------------------------------

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

independent aerocity escorts
escorts aerocity
independent escorts service
escorts blog
call girls near delhi airport
bollywood celebrity escorts delhi
gurgaon russian call girls
escorts in dwarka
russian escorts aerocity
model escorts in aerocity delhi
------------------------------------------------
aerocity call girls near delhi airport
call girl aerocity
russian escorts service
foreign call girls
dlf city escorts
independent female escorts in delhi
escort services
delhi independent escorts
mahipalpur escorts
russian escorts service in aerocity
------------------------------------------------

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

Escorts Service in Mahipalpur
Russian Escorts in Mahipalpur
Russian Call Girls in Mahipalpur
Russian Escorts in Dwarka
Russian Escorts in Aerocity
Russian Escorts in Hotel ibis Aerocity
Russian Escorts in Novotel Hotel
Russian Escorts in hotel JW Marriott
Russian Escorts in Red Fox Hotel
Russian Escorts in Lemon Tree Premier hotel Aerocity

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

russian escorts in mahipalpur
russian escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts gurgaon
russian escorts delhi
russian escorts in delhi
russian escort gurgaon
russian escorts in delhi aerocity
russian escorts in dwarka
russian escorts in connaught place
mahipalpur escort

Escorts Service in Delhi 9811190633 Independent Escort Delhi said...

russian escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts gurgaon
russian escorts in delhi
russian escort gurgaon
russian escorts in delhi aerocity
russian escorts in delhi aerocity
mahipalpur escort
escorts in gurgaon
russian escorts mahipalpur
gurgaon escorts

Escorts In Lahore said...





Best Vip Full Hot Sex New Models escorts in lahore service in good hotel
Real Escort Service In Pakistan Lahore Islamabad And escorts service in lahore Karachi Rawalpindi
Corona Free Girls Available In Hotel Service ( Baba Ji +92-305-3333-758 Call Now And On WhatsApp Mobile Number 📞 ) Call girls lahore Best Vip Call Girls Provider Anytime Contact Real Person
well educated neat and clean Cooperative staff in Pakistan full hot sex call girls 👙 call girls in Pakistan Lahore
One Of The Well known escorts Office in Lahore, Lahore is capital and heart of Punjab. It is exceptionally popular for business of escorts. Various people come here for various


Top Luxury Escorts Service In Lahore best vip call girls in lahore
Lahore is the very wonder full city of Pakistan many people come in Lahore from all over the world many people want to enjoy with Call girls in Lahore butt in lahore many people search call girls with some difrent words like Lahore Escorts Call Madam Dolly 24*7 for escorts in Lahore 💋( ☎ +92-305-8575555 )❤👩‍❤️ Full Hot Sex Girls Price 25k to 65k
Call girls in Lahore butt in lahore many people search call girls with some difrent words like Escorts Service In Lahore
Lahore vip escorts
Lahore call girls

………… /´¯/) click for supper hot and sexy top luxury escort Service girls in lahore ❣️
……….,/¯../ /
………/…./ /
…./´¯/’…’/´¯¯.`•¸
/’/…/…./…..:^.¨¯\
(‘(…´…´…. ¯_/’…’/
\……………..’…../
..\’…\………. _.•´
…\…………..(
….\…………..\.
👉 New Models 💃 In Dubai Dubai Escorts
girlfriend escorts dubai
Escorts Office in Dubai Top Extravagance Escorts in Dubai call girls in dubai Super Dubai Escorts
escorts service in dubai
escort in dubai
dubai escorts

Escorts In Lahore said...




Models Female Rose Sex escorts service in lahore Time 💃

Vip full Hotels Service In Pakistan Lahore Call Girls in lahore

Honey Moon Romantic 💋 Night Neat And Clean Corporatev Models Girls Call Girls in Pakistan lahore

Top Luxury Escorts Service In Pakistan Lahore Provider Mem dolly Vip Hot call girls in lahore {+92-305-3777077 } Anytime Contact Real Percent Neat And Clean Cooperative Full Hot Sex Staff
Best Vip Pakistan Lahore Call Girls neat and clean Cooperative staff Call girls in Lahore
I love this Topic I serach this one for many time butt now i see this Lahore Escorts we offer you best Escorts service in Lahore
Lahore Call girls +92 305 3777077 Mem dolly provider best vip escorts service in lahore.
You are sure to have one of the most fabulous Call girls in Pakistan in this modern era. We promised you to provide professional Escort Services in Pakistan as we have well trained and beautiful Escorts in Pakistan.
Escorts service in pakistani Lahore Lahore Escorts srvice honey moon best happy night Escorts srvice in Lahore Escorts in Lahore is the best key word to search call girls in Lahore
we serve best and VIP escorts in Islamabad also.
Vip best real escorts service provider [ Mem dolly +92 305 3777077 call now 📞 on WhatsApp number reall personal contact ] full sex call girls in pakistan Lahore islamabad karachi
Call girls in Lahore
Call girls in islamabad

Escorts In Lahore said...


New Female Fancy Models Service in Pakistan escorts service in Lahore
Lahore Call Girls Available In Pakistan Vip Hotels Door Service call girls in Lahore
call girls Lahore
Lahore call girls
vip call girls Lahore
best vip call girls Lahore

One Of The Renowned escorts Organization in Lahore, Lahore is capital and heart of Punjab. It is renowned for business of escorts. Various people come here for various purposes like business, the travel industry or to settle down in Lahore. Numerous outsiders likewise come to Lahore to see the Recorded Spots of Lahore. On the off chance that they have to employ accompanies in Lahore, they don't have to stress. Escorts in Pakistan are offering our types of assistance all over in Lahore. We realize very well about our customer's wants. We send just those young ladies who can make upbeat and engaged our customers by their pleasure stunts. They won't just please you in bed, yet additionally will reveal to you that what precisely you need. When you take our Escorts in Lahore, you will come back over and over to get our best administrations that you will always remember in as long as you can remember

Rawalpindi call girls
islamabad escorts service

best vip top models in pakistan lahore. ( ✔️ )

indianpackersmovers said...

Movers and Packers in Goregaon East
Movers and Packers in Goregaon West
Movers and Packers in Malad East
Movers and Packers in Malad West
Movers and Packers in Worli

jsjks said...

accounts management services
accounting services
accounts and finance
bookkeeping
finance
payroll
persnoal tax returns

Digital Marketing Agency Pakistan said...

Coworking
co-working
shared office space
shared workspace
cowork
shared office space
private offices
private office suite
space
hot desk
dedicated desk
office on rent
flexible office space
rental office
office rental
rental space
startups
space for startups
workspace for startups
shared spaces for entrepreneurs
coworking at our place
coworking and covid
coworking a creative solution
coworking in Karachi
coworking Karachi
furnished office space
furnished offices
startup ecosystem
startups in Karachi
Cowork
community
community life
coworker
collaborate
collaboration
coworking life
coworking lifestyle
creative workspace
flexible workspace
flexible office
dream job
dream office
hotdesk
space
startup
entrepreneurs life
remote work
networking, growth
community building
inspirational workspace
try coworking,
Coworking Companies