Wo Shi Laowai – Wo Pa Shui

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A Bit Of Perspective, Please?

Posted by MyLaowai on Wednesday, July 8, 2009

On the 1st of September 1939, the Nazi’s invaded and subsequently annexed Poland. In April 1940 the Nazi’s were at it again, invading Denmark and Norway. In May, France and the Low Countries were invaded.

In each case, the Nazi’s were successful, defeating their victims and then launching crackdowns and pogroms that eventually led to the deaths of millions.

The Free World went to war on behalf of the victims of Nazi oppression, and supported materially the various resistance groups who were fighting the Nazi scourge from within. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do, and the end result was that the Nazi’s were defeated, the peoples they had subjugated were liberated, and the world was made a better place.

It’s a terrible story with a happy ending, but here’s another, similar, story for you to consider:

In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party seized power from the legal government of China, and the dictator Mao Zedong immediately ordered the invasion and subsequent annexation of China’s culturally superior but militarily weak neighbours East Turkestan (or what later came to be known as Xinjiang, meaning New Frontier) and Mongolia. The following year, the Red Army was at it again, invading Tibet, and carving it up into several provinces, each of which was to become a part of New China.

In each case, the Communists were successful, defeating their victims and then launching crackdowns and pogroms that eventually led to the deaths of millions.

The Free World, tired from WWII and busy fighting to keep the Chinese from over-running and occupying the Korean Peninsula, did nothing.

And thus it was that the various resistance groups fighting the CCP scourge received little or no support and the peoples of these occupied nations were never freed from the tyranny of Communist Occupation.

There’s been a lot of talk in the media recently about how violence is bad and how all sides should be nice to one another and about how innocent people are being hurt. But here’s a thought for you: How would you feel if your nation had been invaded by brutal, murderous thugs? How would you feel if your new colonial masters set about systematically destroying your livelihood, banning you from practising your religion, taking apart your temples and churches, imprisoning your political and spiritual leaders, conducting mass sterilisations of your womenfolk, flooding your country with settlers, banning you from speaking your language and denying work to you if you tried? How would you feel if your nation’s ancient cities were bulldozed to make way for concrete accommodation blocks for the new settlers, while you were relegated to the countryside? How would you feel if, instead of this occupation lasting a mere six years, as it did in Nazi Europe, it had lasted sixty years and there was still no end in sight, and no sign at all of anything getting any better?

Would it be fair to say that you would continue turning the other cheek, and simply accept it? Or would it perhaps be more accurate to suggest that you might feel that you were entitled to strike back?

I challenge you to name a single example in human history, where an occupied nation was freed without the use of force of some kind.

These ‘rioters’ are nothing of the sort. They are freedom fighters, and they are heroes. And we in the Free World have let them down, badly. I for one applaud their bravery, their courage, and their spirit, and though I do not see how they can win freedom by this or indeed any course of action at all, I admire them for trying. It is, after all, better to die standing than to live on your knees, at least according to Emiliano Zapata.

Please feel free to disagree with me on this. But don’t bother bleating your whiney platitudes here, unless you actually have some experience of having seen your family, your culture, and your nation subjugated by a brutal totalitarian regime. For all you pink-spectacled tossers, why not go somewhere else where you can wring your hands about the wrong group of people being democratically elected in Iran?

If you are Han and wish to make a complaint, please write to GloriousMotherland@Lies4U.com

Posted in Annexed Territories, China, Human Rights, Media | 47 Comments »

June 4th Etc

Posted by MyLaowai on Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I didn’t write a post to commemorate anything last week. I didn’t even feel any need to do so, as there were apparently more than enough other people out there who were more than eager to do the job for me. I only wish a few of them hadn’t been talking out of their arses.

It seemed to me, as a reader who also just happens to know a little about China, that most writers felt June 4th was a good day either to remember how pro-democracy protesters were gunned down in Beijing, or to use it as an excuse to say how bad the United States is for doing business with Saudi Arabia etc and that it’s pretty much the same thing as what the folks at Zhongnanhai did in 1989. I’m not up for a naming of the names here, but certain bloggers have been crossed off my Christmas card list for that last part. In related news, I’d just like to say that Dan Harris is a complete twat.

What happened in Beijing twenty years ago was an utterly despicable act by an utterly despicable group of thugs and murderers, and there is no way that it can ever be forgiven or casually swept under the carpet. That said, however, it isn’t the savage butchery of the Chinese Communist Party that really gets my goat, not by a long shot.

Mrs MyLaowai knows a thing or two about what was happening throughout China in 1989. She should: she was here. As a member of the proletariat and one of the masses, she has never fallen into the group of journalists and ‘experts’ who have the most to say on the issue, but be under no misapprehension at all – she was very well aware of exactly what was going on.

So, what was going on? Well, to start with, it wasn’t about a bunch of students who wanted democracy. Or Democracy, either, for the benefit of those of you who like to see the word capitalised. In truth, it wasn’t even really about the students who were in Beijing. Sure, a lot of students were demonstrating in Beijing, and a great many of them had travelled from their hometowns across China to do so, but democracy was a very tiny part of what it was all about. In general, most of them merely wanted to ask their ‘government’ to be a little more open and accountable to the people they claimed to represent. And it was a feeling that was widespread across the entire nation, not to mention the occupied territories. The students in Tienanmen Square were merely the obvious, TV-friendly face of a broadly-based, widespread, grass-roots wave of feeling that cut right across Chinese society, and which generally ignored class and status divisions. Even members of the Army and the Party itself claimed to stand with the students, in spirit if not in body. And it wasn’t just the students in Beijing, either: it was the students in every city and many towns in China. It was fire-fighters (who in China are also members of the Army), it was bus drivers, housewives, teachers, police officers, factory workers, you name it. The entire country had the feel of a holiday or festival. No, this wasn’t a few radical students looking to overthrow the government, it was the vast bulk of the population asking if it would be alright, please sir, to have just a little genuine representation.

We all know how that turned out.

At least, we all know how that turned out in Beijing. What virtually everyone forgets (neglects?) to mention is that the next day, June 5th 1989, the broad support had completely evaporated, and the subject made taboo. And it wasn’t the Party who did that, it was the people themselves. Virtually overnight the entire nation changed sides, switched allegiance, and sold out those who had stood up on their behalf. Ask anyone in China about the events of June, and not one person will claim to know anything about it. Mind you, ask anyone in China about the Cultural Revolution, and they will all say it was a difficult time but they are glad it didn’t involve them, despite the fact that for anyone over forty years of age, it involved them in the same way that the Nazi’s were involved in the deaths of six million Jews.

The Chinese have a selective memory for these things, and they are very happy with that. It allows them to absolve themselves of guilt, to ignore the consequences of their actions, to escape from the thought that they should have done something to help. It explains why large-scale organ harvesting continues to this day, and it permits the continued existence of Laogai slave labour camps that are as bad as anything Stalin dreamed up. There are so many injustices in China, so many abominations, so many abhorrent and disgraceful acts that have never been acknowledged, never put right, and for which no one has ever been held accountable, that some days I just honestly despair for the entire human race. But they all continue to exist for the simple reason that the Chinese people themselves are okay with it all. After all, why would you take any risks to help someone else? That’s something that only a foolish, charitable, Westerner would do, right?

Few people in China ever seem to help anyone else, no one ever seems to take any responsibility for anything, and almost nobody ever seems to care about anything that doesn’t hold an immediate benefit for themselves. There was a hue and cry last year when an earthquake knocked down some schools, but today it’s all forgotten, especially the part about how it was the Party-approved contractors who used substandard materials and methods to build those schools, whilst ensuring that the government buildings were built to spec. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of babies were made ill (and many died) when poisoned milk was sold, and nothing was done because the Party wanted their Olympics to go off without a hitch – where are the patriotic citizens today? They certainly haven’t all been shot. And what of the bus that burst into flames a week or so ago in Chengdu, burning to death most of the passengers? I watched video that was taken of the fire, from the moment smoke was seen to the awful end. Here’s what I saw: Not one person trying to help. Not one person doing anything at all to help a busload of human beings burning to death. Not one person doing anything at all.

It makes me sick.

So by all means punish the Chinese Communist Party with meaningless bans on weapon sales. Personally, I don’t see how anything the civilised world has done has ever had the smallest positive effect on the basic nature of the vast majority of the Chinese people. They may have better clothes and taller buildings and proper roads and television sets now, but China remains today what it has been ever since Qin Shi Huangdi took the reins: a savage cultural wasteland largely populated by selfish ne’er-do-wells who are utterly lacking in even the most basic of human virtues. To hell with ’em. And to hell with anyone who claims otherwise.

[/rant]

Posted in China, Human Rights | 120 Comments »

Happy Nailing Jews To The Cross Day

Posted by MyLaowai on Friday, April 10, 2009

So Jesus walks into a hotel, marches straight up to the receptionist, hands over some pieces of wood and asks: “Can you put me up for a couple of nights?”

Sure, I’m going to Hell for that one. But to be fair on the guy, at least he didn’t have any bad habits, like biting his nails. The bad habits he left to his future wives, who were all Catholic for some reason.

Why exactly do we celebrate this barbaric tradition again…?

090410goodfriday

Posted in Human Rights | 6 Comments »

It’s [Fact] Friday!

Posted by MyLaowai on Friday, April 3, 2009

Today’s fact is:

Fact! Serf Emancipation Day was a crock of shit.

One point two million serfs were indeed liberated from their lives, and more than six thousand monasteries were liberated from their foundations when the Red Army rolled into Tibet. But that isn’t the same thing at all.

China – Leading The Way Since 2991BC

Posted in Fact Friday, Human Rights, Lies & Damned Lies | 2 Comments »

Song of the Grass-Mud Horse

Posted by MyLaowai on Saturday, March 21, 2009

This song is a clever protest of China’s censorship of free speech and profanity on the internet.
The major characters in the song have names that sound similar to Chinese curse words.

There is a herd of Grass-Mud Horses (fuck your mother)
Who live in the MaLe Desert (your mother’s cunt)
They are lively and intelligent
They are fun loving and nimble
They live freely in the MaLe Desert (your mother’s cunt)
They are courageous, tenacious, and overcome the difficult environment

Oh, lying down Grass-Mud Horse (Oh, fuck your mother!)
Oh, running wild Grass-Mud Horse (Oh, fuck your mother, hard!)

They defeated the River Crabs (censorship)
In order to protect their grassland (free speech)
River Crabs (censorship) dissappeared from the MaLe Desert forever!

Posted in Censorship, China, Human Rights, Media | 1 Comment »

Christie’s To Auction Falling Cow!

Posted by MyLaowai on Monday, March 2, 2009

ChinaDaily, the propaganda mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had this to say recently:

China fights to stop sale of looted relics.

China Tuesday demanded the auction of two looted historic bronze sculptures in Paris be canceled, saying it broke international conventions.

The auction seriously violates the country’s cultural rights and interests, and hurts national sentiment, it said.

A Paris court on Monday ruled against stopping the sale of the sculptures, rejecting an appeal filed by the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe.

The heads were taken from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace when it was razed by invading French and British forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War.

“The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) has formally informed the auctioneer of our strong opposition to the auction, and clearly demanded its cancellation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a news conference.

“The Western powers have plundered a great amount of Chinese cultural relics including many precious items robbed from the Old Summer Palace. All these should be returned to China,” Ma said.

Potent stuff and, I’m sure you’ll agree, well worth further consideration. So here at MyLaowai HQ, we went to work finding out what all this hullabaloo is all about…

The Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty (or Manchu) ruled China from 1644 to 1912, but the really interesting thing is that they weren’t Chinese. The Qing were in fact Russians (specifically, descended from Jurchens, a Tungusic people who lived around the region now comprising the Russian province of Primorsky Krai). They didn’t like the Chinese, they didn’t trust the Chinese, and they most certainly didn’t see themselves as being even remotely related to the Chinese, who were after all nothing more than chattel in the eyes of the ruling Manchu. They famously forced all Han Chinese men to shave the front of their heads and comb the remaining hair into a queue, on pain of death. To the Manchu, this policy was a test of loyalty and an aid in telling friend from foe. For the Han Chinese, however, it was a “humiliating act of degradation” that went against their traditional Confucian values. The order was so deeply unpopular that it triggered strong resistance to Qing rule until at least the late 1640s. Hundreds of thousands were killed before all of China was brought into compliance. As a result of this ‘Queue Order’, to this day the Chinese hold a deep aversion to queues of any kind.

The Opium Wars. In 1793, the Emperor of China stated to the British Ambassador that China had no use for European manufactured products, and that as a consequence, Chinese merchants would only accept bar silver as payment for their goods. The British and French governments eventually sought alternative payment options, one of which was opium. The Chinese Government, which held a monopoly over the growing, production, refining, distribution, and export of this profitable drug, responded by banning foreigners from the Opium Trade altogether, and seizing or destroying stocks of opium held by foreign traders.. This led to a bit of a scrap (later referred to as the First Opium War) between the East India Company and the Chinese Government, which was resolved when the Chinese Government agreed to play fair and by international rules, and signed the Treaty of Nanjing. This is generally regarded as signalling the end of China’s isolation.

The Second Opium War came about as a result of international demands that China open it’s markets to foreign merchants, exempt foreign imports from illegal ‘internal transit duties’, stop acts of piracy, regulate the coolie trade, and give permission for foreign ambassadors to reside in Beijing. The Chinese Government completely rejected all such demands, and furthermore refused to honour the terms of the Treaty of Nanjing that it had signed. That was followed by an attempt to poison the entire European population of Hong Kong. However, local bakers, who had been charged with lacing bread with arsenic, bungled the attempt by putting an excess of the poison into the dough, in sufficient quantities to be detected. Criers were sent out with an alert, averting disaster. Enough was enough, and the international community responded by telling the Chinese to play fair and by the rules, or else face the consequences. All parties then signed the Tianjin Treaty, which essentially granted permission for foreigners to travel in China, and forced the Chinese Government to pay compensation to British merchants for the illegal destruction of their property. The Chinese, predictably, did not honour the terms of the Treaty they had just signed, and insisted the British meet for ‘peace talks’. When the British sent an envoy to these ‘peace talks’, he and his entire entourage were arrested and tortured, with some brutally murdered. The international community discussed the destruction of the Forbidden City in order to discourage the Chinese from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact justice for the mistreatment of their hostages. The final decision was further motivated by the torture and murder of almost twenty Western prisoners, including two British envoys and a journalist for The Times. The Russian envoy Count Ignatiev and the French diplomat Baron Gros settled on the burning of the Summer Palaces instead, since it was “least objectionable” and would not jeopardize the treaty.

The ‘Looting’ Of The Old Summer Palace. There are a number of competing theories one must consider here. They are:
The “I was sold these goods by Chinese officials” Theory.
The “This stuff was stolen by Chinese citizens and later sold to foreigners” Theory.
The “All foreigners are to blame for everything, always” Theory.
Personally, I tend to subscribe to a combination of the first two of these Theories, based on the testimony of my Great Great [etc] Grandfather, Captain Angus MacLaowai of the Royal Engineers. He was actually there at the time and his will made note of the fact that the items from the Old Summer Palace he left to his family (and which I today possess), were legally purchased from Wang Xiansheng, a Chinese trader in Beijing. I’ll be damned if I give back something that was legally purchased, just because a Chinese trader stole them in the first place.

Putting It All Together. So, the original makers of the items in question were not Chinese to begin with, but Manchu. The war in question was fully justified and was in fact caused by the Chinese Government not keeping it’s word. And the items themselves were not stolen or looted, but were in fact legally purchased in good faith by innocent foreigners. Christie’s auction of the rat and rabbit bronzes did not break any international agreements and the pieces’ legal ownership has been “clearly confirmed.” It all seems pretty clear to me.

What China Didn’t Mention. There’s something curiously missing from the ‘fire and brimstone’ reporting from ChinaDaily, and that is the fact that the current legal owner of the bronze heads offered to give them to the Chinese Government, free of charge. That’s right folks: Pierre Berge (partner of designer Yves Saint Laurent) offered to return the pieces to China in return for a pledge to improve human rights. That’s it, just a little promise to start behaving responsibly and treat their own people a little bit better. The Chinese foreign ministry dismissed his offer as “just ridiculous.” The Chinese Government went on to say that it demanded the statues’ return, but the French government said it received no official request from Beijing, and the sale went ahead. Berge is offering the proceeds to fight AIDS, while the Beijing-based Global Times is accusing France of “hurting China’s feelings”, as usual.

A Late Twist. A Chinese man said Monday he was the mystery collector behind winning bids for two imperial bronzes auctioned at Christie’s over Beijing’s objections, and that he made bogus offers to protest any sale of the looted relics.

Auction house owner Cai Mingchao said he made the $36 million in bids for the bronze rat and rabbit heads by telephone last week when the pieces were auctioned in Paris as part of a collection owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

“What I need to stress is that this money cannot be paid,” Cai told a news conference in Beijing. “At the time, I was thinking that any Chinese would do this if they could…”.

Cai, an art collector and expert on relics, is the owner of Xinheart, an auction company in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen.

And Now, Another Auction. As the current legal owner of a number of items that originated from the Old Summer Palace at the time the Chinese were taught their lesson, I am well within my rights to dispose of the goods in any manner I see fit. I am offering one of these priceless family heirlooms to the New Beijing Museum, free of charge, in exchange for a pledge by the Chinese Government to improve human rights. The piece in question is a bronze that the MyLaowai Family refer to as the Falling Cow.

The ball’s in your court now, chaps.

Falling Cow Auction. Bidding Starts Soon.

Posted in China, Falling Cow Zone, Human Rights, Lies & Damned Lies, Wang Xiansheng | 9 Comments »

My Wet Pussy Award – August ’08

Posted by MyLaowai on Sunday, August 31, 2008

Poor China. It seems that no matter what it does, it’s wrong in the eyes of the Evil West. Poor China has long been the victim of foreign aggression, foreign discrimination, foreign conspiracies, foreign trade restrictions, and foreign media reporting. Poor China, indeed.

But hang on a moment. Poor China? Hasn’t China in fact been a net beneficiary of bias in all of the above cases? Foreign aggression, for instance: Since the country was founded in 1949 following the Communist Terrorist victory over the legally elected Government, China has invaded or initiated wars with East Turkestan, Tibet, Korea (against the UN), India (twice), Vietnam, Taiwan (Yachen, Quemoy, and Matsu Islands), Burma, and Russia, in the process nearly doubling the size of the country. They have sponsored terror in places as far-flung as Cambodia (Khmer Rouge), Peru (the Shining Path), the Philippines (New People’s Army), and India (Maoist Communist Party), not to mention supporting materially and financially people such as Osama Bin Laden. As for trade issues, China has long been known for an apparent inability to abide by any international agreement or treaty (take for instance the Treaty of Shimonoseki, in which China ceded Taiwan in perpetuity, and which China unilaterally abrogated). Or the opium trade, in which the Chinese Government was the primary force behind the growing, production, refining, selling and exporting of the narcotic substance (but for which the British were blamed when they, too, sold a little in order to try to restore the trade imbalance caused as a result of the Chinese Government’s reneging on international trade agreements). As for discrimination, I feel quite comfortable in saying without any hesitation whatsoever, that there’s no one on earth quite like the Chinese when it comes to discrimination. Really, there isn’t. Hell, I had a three-year-old (!) toddle up to me a couple of days ago whilst I was minding my own business, say “Wai Guo [foreigner]” to me, and try to spit on my foot (in response I picked up the little bastard with my left hand, and with my right gave him a smack on the arse so hard his grandchildren will be bruised, thus confirming that we foreign devils are not to be trifled with). And as for media bias… well, more on that shortly.

What has all this to do with Wet Pussies? In case you were unaware of it, Communist China has just hosted the Summer Olympics. For anyone who missed it, they were given this great honour by those wettest of pussies, the International Olympic Committee. It seemed an opportunity too good to pass up on – we in the West give them this opportunity to prove themselves ready to join the community of nations, and they in return promise to start acting like adults and not kill quite so many of their own people. And that was the deal, make no mistake about it. We in the West kept our side of the bargain…

In a way, it was a marriage made in heaven: the IOC, long known for being one of the most corruptible organisations in the world on the one hand, and on the other, Red China, probably the most brutal dictatorship in human history. Each on their own was utterly beyond contempt, and yet together they seemed to give each other such credibility – no wonder that Jacques Rogges was always so keen to meet his commie buddies in the KTV at Zhong Nan Hai.

Ah, Jacques. What a bastard you are. A lying, crooked, corrupt appeaser and in general terms a complete twat of the first water. I’d dearly love to award you this Wet Pussy Award for services to the Chinese Communist Party.

But unfortunately, I can’t.

Because, you see, there’s an even more deserving recipient, and that would be the Western Media, those same people who are so regularly accused of showing unfair bias against Poor China.

Oh sure, there are a few journalists and reporters who do know their topic, and who are not afraid to write the truth. Sadly, though, they are few and far between. For those of you who might read this, please understand that I value you all the more for it.

Let’s just go back to my opening remarks, shall we? When, in all those events, did China ever get the caning it so richly deserved from our media? Somehow, they’ve always managed to squeak through smelling, if not of roses exactly, at least not like the dogshit that they are. For hundreds of years they’ve had the benefit of doubt, they’ve been the poor underdog who just needed to be given a chance and a little encouragement, the child who always got let off lightly when he didn’t play well with others. And then they got the Olympics, and the harsh glare of the international media spotlight was upon them. And we let them off the hook again!

“Greece won the gold medal in doping”, said Jacques Rogges, and his words were faithfully reported around the world. But, how many reporters mentioned that the Greek athletes in question had had their dietary supplements laced with steroids, quite deliberately, by the Chinese company that produced them?

“Keep politics out of sport”, cried the Chinese Propaganda Ministry, and the media picked up the tune. How many reporters mentioned, even in passing, that China had boycotted more Olympics than any other nation in history?

“Protest Zones have been established in Beijing”, announced the Chinese Security Services, and the media loved it. Very few made much of a deal about the fact that not a single protest was ever approved, and that many of the applicants were taken directly to a slave labour camp for re-education.

Rogges again: “For the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet.” And our media loved that one. Well then, why didn’t they use the opportunity to exercise their new-found freedom, and report on the plight of the millions of people who are currently in Laogai slave labour camps for Re-education Through Hard Labour, and who are quite outside any legal system. Or report on the vast number of people who were sent to live in the countryside, so as to hide Beijing’s true squalor from the gaze of any Olympic visitors? How many reports did you read quoting stories of horror from the lips of Tibetan victims of torture and oppression? How many Uyghur’s were interviewed for their views on the illegal Chinese occupation of their country? I didn’t read a single report highlighting the fact that the face on the money is that of Mao Zedong, the greatest murderer in all of human history, who was proudly responsible for the deaths of more people than Hitler and Stalin combined? Did you just happen to miss that one, did you, media hacks?

Western Media, you are the people we trust to give us the truth, and who are, by dint of the sacrifices made by our forefathers, in a unique position to be allowed to do so. You have let us down again. You have conspired to support China once more at the expense of the truth, and for this you deserve nothing less than this Wet Pussy Award.

 

Oh yeah, and in case anyone thought I’d forgotten it, here’s yer Pair of Tits for August, while I’m at it:

Posted in Human Rights, Media, Propaganda, Wet Pussy Awards | 17 Comments »

My Wet Pussy Award – May 2008

Posted by MyLaowai on Saturday, May 31, 2008

It’s a bit of a different story this month, and it took me a while to figure out how I was going to tell it. My apologies for being a couple of days late.

I have a friend who’s just gotten out of a Chinese Detention Centre. He was inside for a month, and what he went through was fairly horrific. He’s certainly not the man he was before he went in. Before I tell you a bit more of his story, however, I’d like to talk briefly about a few of the other foreigners that were in there at the same time.

There’s the guy, for instance, who made the mistake of being in a bar at the same time that a bar fight broke out between two groups of Chinese. He wasn’t involved in any way at all, but he was the one the Police picked up because he was the only customer who wasn’t a local. He was, in fact, a sailor on a container ship that had docked up the river, and this was his first visit to China. He spent every night crying and praying. He only got out when the Captain of his ship payed an enormous bribe to the prison guards.

Or the guy from South East Asia, who was picked up in a random sweep in the far west (Xinjiang to the locals, East Turkestan to the rest of the world). His crime was ‘looking like a separatist’. The local Police there, unwilling to admit they had picked up a foreigner by mistake, shipped him off to distant Shanghai. He’s been in for months, and has no prospect of getting out any time soon.

Then there’s the foreign investor whose Joint Venture partner, a corrupt member of the Shanghai Government, decided he wanted the whole operation for himself, and had this poor blighter arrested and put away.

Worst of all, the guy who has been inside for a year and a half. His crime? In the words of the guard who boasted to my friend: “He’s black, and we don’t like black people in China. We don’t want to let him out”.

None of these people – none of them – have ever been charged with any crime. None of them has, to the best of my knowledge, been allowed to see a lawyer. Their consulates don’t know they are in there. Their families haven’t heard from them. They have simply disappeared.

Which brings me to my friend.

He was in a bar with his colleagues after work early one evening, when a very large, very drunk American came over and accused his boss of stealing his drink. He was very obviously looking to start a fight. The target of his aggression offered to buy him another drink to replace the one he had lost, and the American went away after roundly abusing the entire group. Half an hour later he was back, and made to attack my friend. My friend threw up his arm to protect his face, and the glass he was holding nicked the American (but not badly, just enough to draw a little blood). After the American was restrained, my friend left quickly so as to avoid further incident, but apparently the American was able to find out where he worked and what his name was.

Several days later, my friend got an email from this American, which said “I’m gonna fuck you up”. That night, when he arrived home, the Police had set a trap for him, and whisked him away to the Detention Centre.

My friend was lucky – his girlfriend knew what happened to him. Why lucky? Because when the girlfriend went to the consulate, and the consulate went to the Police asking why they hadn’t filed the mandatory report with them, the Police denied any knowledge of the incident. They continued to deny knowing the whereabouts of my friend for a week, and when they finally admitted to knowing where he was, it took another week before they allowed Consular officials to see him, in clear violation of several international agreements. My friend was warned at this time not to say anything except that he was being treated well.

He was not being treated well, not by a long shot.

He was being subjected to intense political re-education, all day every day. No exercise, bright lights all the time, emotional abuse, you name it. He was placed in a small cell with half a dozen Chinese murderers who had also been subjected to the same political re-education, and who as a result harboured a particular hatred towards all foreigners. He ate stale rice and drank dirty water for a month. He slept on the floor. No showers, and one shave per week, with a blunt and bloodied razor that was used for the entire prison population (he refused to shave). Following the events in Sichuan recently, the guards came around and demanded that all prisoners sign a document ‘donating’ their money to the guards, for an ‘Earthquake Appeal’, and when my friend refused, the guards saw to it that all the other prisoners knew it.

My friend was not treated well. Not by a long shot.

He was released after his family agreed to pay the American 350,000 RMB (although he had originally demanded 1,000,000). That’s a lot of money.

And what about this mysterious American, the one who arranged for him to be there? Well, it turns out that this particular Yank has rather a history of doing this sort of thing to people. His modus operandi is to start fights with other foreigners, younger than himself and smaller in build, and then have them arrested. He either pays the Police a percentage or a set price, it isn’t clear which. And then he pockets the money and moves on to the next victim. A regular, old-fashioned, extortion racket. Just like in the old days.

This bastard lives in Shanghai, and has in fact been here for quite a few years. He is involved in real estate, and has a lot of local connections to help him do his dirty work. I know who this person is, I know what he looks like, I know where he works and where he lives, and I know what I’d like to see happen to him. My friend has asked that I don’t publish any of that, and I intend to respect his wishes. But I will also be hitting my knees on the floor every night, praying that this bastard gets his just desserts.

This Wet Pussy Award is for him.

Un-named Yank Bastard, Wet Pussy Award winner.

And where now are the righteous Chinese patriots, the ones who cry foul whenever China’s human rights record is questioned? I can only presume they are okay with their own Police and Party Officials colluding with this American, to extort money out of other foreigners. But hey, feel free to prove me wrong – until you do, I’ll go right on believing that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

And while I’m quoting others, here’s another one for you:

“Why is that camera off? You don’t know what you’re doing here, but maybe I know what I’m doing here. These people [the State] are risking their lives for us? I want to see what they’re going through, even if they don’t want us to. And I want other people to see it. What do you think they’re doing out there? Protecting and defending secrecy? That’s the world of Mao, the world of Stalin, the world of secret police, of secret trials, of secret deaths! You force the press into the cold, and all you will get is lies and innuendo, and nothing – nothing! – is worse for a free society than a press that is in service to the Military and the Politicians. Nothing! You turn that camera off when I tell you to turn it off! You think I give a damn what you think about me? You serve the People? So do I.”

Posted in China, Corruption, Human Rights, Wet Pussy Awards | 31 Comments »

He Says, They Say… (Reprise)

Posted by MyLaowai on Sunday, November 25, 2007

Darfur rebels spurn Chinese force

Rebels in Darfur have demanded that peacekeepers from China pull out of the Sudanese region just hours after the arrival of 135 Chinese engineers.

The army engineers arrived on Saturday to prepare for a joint UN and African Union peacekeeping force of 26,000.

The key Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) rebel group accuses China of being complicit in the Darfur conflict.

Last month the group attacked a Chinese-controlled oilfield, kidnapping several workers.

The Jem says it wants China to withdraw its support for the Sudanese government.

They say that oil sold to the Chinese is being used to fund government operations in Darfur.

Rebels would not allow the Chinese into areas controlled by their forces, Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim told the news agency Reuters following the arrival of the engineers.

“We oppose them coming because China is not interested in human rights. It is just interested in Sudan’s resources,” he said.

“We are calling on them to quit Sudan, especially the petroleum areas.”

Mr Ibrahim did not say whether he would target the Chinese engineers.

“I am not saying I will attack them. I will not say I will not attack them,” he said.

“What I am saying is that they are taking our oil for blood.”

The Chinese engineers are tasked with building roads and bridges and dig wells ahead of the deployment of the joint peacekeeping force planned for January.

The rebels have said they would not object to peacekeepers from any country other than China.

But on Friday, Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir said his country would only accept non-African troops from Pakistan or China.

A month ago the Jem attacked Sudan’s Defra oilfield in the Kordofan region, run by a Chinese-controlled consortium, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company.

Jem said at the time that the Chinese company had one week to leave Sudan.

An estimated 200,000 people have died during four-and-a-half years of fighting in Darfur, with a further two million people displaced.

– BBC

But the Party mouthpiece, Xinhua, says this:

Chinese vanguards arrive in Darfur for peacekeeping

Vanguards of the Chinese engineering units arrived in the western Sudanese region of Darfur on Saturday to take part in the hybrid peacekeeping force of the United Nations and the African Union (AU).

The 135 Chinese peacekeepers, upon arrival in South Darfur State capital Niyala, were warmly welcomed by UN, AU and Sudanese officials at the Niyala International Airport.

The Chinese vanguards were also joined in the airport by five Chinese officers who had arrived in Niyala in August in order to receive the equipment of the Chinese peacekeepers, some of which have been transported there since September.

The 140 Chinese peacekeepers will dwell temporarily in a transitional camp before the camp of the Chinese unites is set up, an anonymous Chinese officer told Xinhua in a telephone contact.

The main tasks for the Chinese engineering units include building camps, roads and airports, and digging wells in addition to some other projects in preparations for the deployment of peacekeepers from other countries.

This is the first batch of the UN peacekeepers arriving in the region to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1769 adopted on July 31, which authorizes the deployment of a 26,000-strong hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The Chinese government has exerted a lot of efforts to help resolve the Darfur problem since armed conflicts erupted in the region in 2003, including appointing a special envoy for the Darfur issues and providing a large amount of relief materials to the region.

And there is also this headline:

Engineering peace, prosperity in Darfur

And another one here, in case anyone missed the point:

Chinese peacekeepers honored in Sudan

Jeez, 1984 anyone? Brazil, perhaps?

Posted in ChinaDaily, Human Rights, Lies & Damned Lies, Propaganda | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Free Burma!

Posted by MyLaowai on Thursday, October 4, 2007

071004freeburma.jpg

www.free-burma.org

The primary obstacle making United Nations’ efforts on Burma difficult is one country: China. China has repeatedly undermined the UN Secretary General, the UN system, and ASEAN by refusing to back the call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma. China has also refused to call for peaceful tripartite dialogue in Burma, again undermining UN efforts.

Economically, China is exploiting the situation by signing deals left and right that essentially steal the natural resources of Burma out from under the Burmese people. According to the Shwe Gas Movement, China’s new gas deal with the military regime is worth a staggering $40 billion dollars.

Militarily, China has sold billions in arms to Burma’s military regime. These sales include tanks and armoured personnel carriers, jet attack aircraft, small arms and light weapons, logistical and transportation equipment, and coastal patrol ships. These arms sales continue to this day.

Diplomatically, China is undermining diplomatic efforts by ASEAN and the United Nations. Three diplomatic missions to Burma to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi (by leading Southeast Asian senior statesmen Indonesian Ali Alatas, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid, and Filippino Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo) all failed, mainly because China did not endorse these efforts. China went even further to protect the Burmese military regime by vetoing the one and only United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma. The resolution would have given the UN Secretary General the power that he needs to effectively negotiate with the military regime in Burma. China completely blocked it.

In addition to China’s neighbours in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan, Australia, 14 United Nations Special Rapporteurs, One Dozen Nobel Peace Prize recipients, and 59 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the world have called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

It’s time for all of us to say “enough is enough”. The simple and undeniable fact is that if China tells the Burmese military regime it must participate in negotiations – as the UN has repeatedly called for – the regime will have no choice but to say yes. China does have the leverage – they just haven’t used it at all.

If this were a simple matter of negotiating or not, China’s position would be understandable. But the situation in Burma is much much different and extremely grave. The military regime has destroyed 3,000 villages in eastern Burma (twice as many as in Darfur, Sudan) and continues its scorched earth campaign to this day. Mothers, children, and innocent civilians are being slaughtered or forced from their homes. The regime has recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world. The regime’s soldiers are raping innocent women as a war tactic. Over 1,200 political prisoners remain behind bars. Just as the UN was paralysed and acted far too late on Rwanda, Sudan, and elsewhere, now China is paralysing the UN into action on Burma.

– Free Burma Action Centre

Posted in Human Rights | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

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