I will begin these China news notes by acknowledging that my default mechanism is one of relative non-engagement with and ignorance of contemporary affairs. I tend to take a general sweeping look at life and its processes as I wander through my days and not engage with the minutiae of political matters and relationships. 
So, because of that, I will begin with a quote from President Obama atop the Great Wall in Beijing. Obama noted: “It’s magical. It reminds you of the sweep of history… It gives you a good perspective on a lot of the day-to-day things. They don’t amount to much in the scope of history.”
This is, generally, how I feel about a lot of the news that bombards us on a daily or, now I suppose, hourly and even minutely basis. This is not to say that these issues are not important, a lot certainly are, though of course a great deal are not. It is just, that in the great scheme of things, they don’t always mean that much and can, I believe, also obscure a wider perspective on our lives and the processes that underpin them. That said, I am going to use these China News notes to keep myself a little more informed, on a weekly basis, of what is going on with things Chinese on a so-called wider news front and not just the everyday way of life that I am a part of here in Xi’an.
The Obama visit seemed to be, as had to be expected, something of a balancing act between on the one hand, the wish to express deep held beliefs, and on the other, the recognition that those same beliefs are not actually shared in some quarters of the world. In a town hall in Shanghai he touched upon an issue surrounding freedom of speech, or more precisely“non-censorship” with regard to Internet access, an issue that the Chinese government were not that keen to hear or be let heard. Then there was aUS led desire to make progress with discussions over the re-evaluation of the RMB, so to, amongst other goals, ease the huge trade deficit the United States has with China. It was however, met by an equally strong desire from the Chinese not to do so, or at least not in the short term. State sovereignty and national priorities are still having their day.
This continued with a recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but which included a pleasant sentiment, that it would be nice if the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama enter intosome kind of dialogue. Maybe, I suggest, to discuss some of the more picturesque views in Tibet and where the best place might be to view them from. The US President went on to acknowledge that the US acknowledgesChina’s position on Taiwan while staying quieton the issue of US arms sales to the island.
Just to note from my experience of living here in Xi’an for a few years, the so-called Taiwan/ Tibet issues are absolutely, categorically not issues as far as nearly every single Chinese person I have ever come into contact with is concerned. There is, on this topic, a disbelief and incomprehension about why any such questions would even be asked. This is not a comment on the rights and wrongs but on the fact, as it is here amongst the vast majority of people. It is dwelling upon this fact that one could contemplate the US arm sales to Taiwan.
On a lighter note, China wants all itsArt Treasures returned, China and Vietnam have signed a land boundary demarcation agreement, India expressed concerns about America’s close inter-relationship with China, and according to the China Expat, Chinese grammar isn’t too difficult, while learning the tones of each word are of most importance. The latter point I am now finding to my own cost, only last week I signed up to a school, specializing in 1-1 tuition, who have promised to take no prisoners when it comes to drilling into me the tones of the words I have already learnt. Or more correctly, the words I haven’t actually learnt because I can’t quite remember the tones and thus often pronounce the word incorrectly, which to the Chinese means misunderstanding and incomprehension. Oh well! 慢慢来。
Finally, to end my first weekly sojourn into the China news, if the so-called firewall is hindering your efforts to engage in inter-continental dialogue or access certain sites and information, the not so non-censored internet, then the Virtual Private Network (VPN) has arrived. It may well have arrived some time ago but I only heard about it this week. As I have managed to mention the old DL and the two big T’s in my first weekly China news note, I may well soon be in need of one myself. Though, that may just be me descending into an expat paranoia, engendered during a mis-spent youth and induced by a government not quite letting people do what they want to do, and who keep an eye on those who try to do it anyway.
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Tags: Obama
西安