Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Category: China

  • Time Magazine is Wrong About China

    Time: Kentucky Fried Rice. Starbucks has the gall to sling its lattes for coffee connoisseurs in Vienna, and Budweiser peddles its brew in Belgium. So why shouldn’t Yum Brands–the Louisville, Ky.-based company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and more–sell dumplings in a fast-growing market where Chinese food is just called food?

    In an attempt to squeeze in a lame joke, Time really missed the mark. Sure, at one time in America, going out for Chinese food meant a visit to the local Cantonese restaurant which served the same item as every other Chinese restaurant. However, this is 2008 and most major American cities offer a more diversified Chinese menu that now includes Hunan, Sichuan, Beijing, and Shanghai cuisine. So, Time should know that when Chinese people go out for lunch or dinner, they have choices as well. Chinese people don’t go out for Chinese food. They go out for Cantonese dim sum, Taiwanese food, Shanghai xiaolungbao, Northern Chinese cuisine, etc. Just like American food in America isn’t just called food. You have burgers, steaks, California cuisine, salads, Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches, seafood, pizza, etc.

  • KMT: The Pro-China Opposition Party?

    Christian Science Monitor: Opposition Win May Bring Taiwan Closer to China. The resurgence of Taiwan’s opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which picked up a majority in Saturday’s parliamentary vote, could usher in a significant thaw in cross-Taiwan Strait relations with China, especially if it goes on to win the presidency in March.

    It’s all relative, I guess. If someone had asked me to name the pro-China opposition party in Taiwan, I don’t think I would have guessed the Kuomingtang. For some reason, the American media does not apply the term “opposition party” to American political parties. Despite President George W. Bush’s contentious term in office, we still refer to the “other” party as Democrats or the Democratic Party. Certainly, not the Democratic opposition party.

    As for being pro-China, I think that is a misleading description. Sure, they may not harbor strong Taiwan independence sentiments, but as far as accepting a seat as a mere province of the People’s Republic of China, I’ll believe it when I see it. One possible road map to eventual unification is the Hong Kong model. We are 10 years past 1997 and Hong Kong is as vibrant and successful as ever. However, Hong Kong and Taiwan do possess vital differences in population and history. Hong Kong has a population of close to 7 million people, while Taiwan has over 3 times as many. Additionally, Taiwan has a history of true democracy and self-rule which Hong Kong lacks, both in the present day and under British rule.

    Basically, since neither China nor Taiwan is looking for a bail out, both parties are negotiating from a position of strength. You don’t give something up, especially your freedom and right to self-determination, unless you can get something as or more valuable in return. So, as I see it, the real question isn’t whether the President of Taiwan favors unification with China, but whether the Chinese Premier so desires unification that he (or she) is willing to surrender one-party rule. That’s the price of being pro-Taiwan.

  • Beijing Olympics: Table Tennis

    Chris Anderson calls the partnership between NBC Universal and Microsoft to broadcast over 3,000 hours of live and on-demand content at NBCOlympics.com the first “Long-Tail Olympics.” This should be great news for table tennis fans in the United States. Sure, we can catch our regular basketball, track and field, swimming, diving, and gymnastics events on television, but I’ve never seen Olympic table tennis before. Hopefully, this will be one of the sports that will fall within the 3,000 hours of coverage.

  • China Has a Shadow Government?

    By now, most people have heard about the recent tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. As expected, the survivors who were attacked by the tiger have retained legal counsel. I was reading the biography of their attorney, Mark Geragos, and something stood out.

    In February of this year, Mark successfully won dismissal of all felony charges, including kidnapping and torture, for his client, Hung Bao Zhong, the recognized exiled leader of the shadow government of China, who has an estimated 38 million followers worldwide.

    How is it possible that someone is the exiled leader of the shadow government of China and I have never heard of him? I’ve heard of the Dalai Lama, but not Hung Bao Zhong. After some guessing, I tracked down his biography on Wikipedia, where he is listed as Zhang Hongbao. Political threat? Possibly. Leader of the shadow government? Not likely.

  • Chinese Adoption Blog

    The New York Times has a Relative Choices blog that focuses on adoption and the American family. One of their bloggers is Jeff Gammage who writes about the experiences of his two daughters, both of whom were adopted from China. He recently wrote about the Chinese language and culture classes that his daughter attends, and he asks whether these classes are enough or too much.

    I think this issue is pondered by all Chinese-American parents and not just those parents with adopted Chinese children. How “Chinese” do we want our children to be? Regardless of whether we send them to Chinese school, make them take erhu lessons, or learn Chinese kungfu, our Chinese-American children will never have an identical experience as those children raised in China. And that is okay.

  • Chinese History From a Western Perspective

    Time: Second Thoughts on the Chairman. Not even Mao was perfect, it turns out. Propped up by two solicitous aides, Ye Jianying, 81, the venerable chairman of the National People’s Congress, tottered up to the rostrum last week to deliver the keynote speech for China’s 30th anniversary celebration.

    If you are ever curious about how the West perceives China, head over to TIME Magazine. For example, if you search for Liu Shaoqi, TIME will return results from its historical archives. The earliest reference to Liu Shaoqi comes from October 14, 1979. You can then sort the results by newest, oldest or relevance, or even refine your search by date.

  • Blame China

    Bloomberg.com: Chinese-Made Cribs Recalled After Three Children Die. The maker of Graco and Simplicity cribs recalled 1 million Chinese-made cribs after three children died.

    Another China scandal right? Or so the headlines would lead you to believe. However, if you delve deeper into the news story, it reports that “[t]he problem with the recalled cribs was caused in part by design flaws.” I’m guessing that the design work was the crib was done in America, not China. Why mention that the cribs were Chinese-made? It fits into the current hysteria around shoddily-manufactured Chinese goods.

    That’s not reporting. That’s propaganda. American-Designed Cribs Recalled After Three Children Die should have been the headline.

  • The Las Vegas of China

    New York Times: BiggerThanLasVegas?That’s Macao’s Bet. Las Vegas’s days as the capital of excess may be numbered. The $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort, scheduled to open here Tuesday, will give Sin City more than a run for its money.

    My favorite line from the article? “But Macao’s average gambler is still a day-tripper from Hong Kong or nearby Chinese cities in the Pearl River delta. These visitors are so frugal that they often bring their own food and do not rent hotel rooms.” 🙂

  • Tit-for-Tat

    Associated Press: China Suspends Some U.S. Meat Imports. China has suspended imports of chicken feet, pig ears and other animal products from seven U.S. companies, including the world’s largest meat processor, in an apparent attempt to turn the tables on American complaints about tainted products from China.

    This is great news! You know China is meticulously scrutinizing every shipment of American food products. To their credit, they discovered American meat products contaminated with salmonella, anti-parasite drugs and food additives. This is one instance where when governments play tit-for-tat, the people actually benefit. I hope they continue scrutinizing each other’s food products. It only means safer foods for the rest of us.

  • Final Score: 79-29

    Reuters: China Calls Official’s Execution a Warning Siren. China on Wednesday hailed the swift execution of the nation’s former drug safety chief as a warning to corrupt officials while detailing a web of graft that thrived for years without punishment.

    If China’s food and drug safety problem is truly limited to a handful of corrupt officials, then the execution of Zheng Xiaoyu should represent a good first step in a quick clean-up process. However, if the problem is cultural or institutional, then this execution was meaningless and will not solve the larger problem confronting China.

    As China has demonstrated, they can try, convict and execute a government official in a matter of months with chilling efficiency. However, rooting out the culture of corruption that pervades all aspects of society will be a more difficult task and not a task that can be resolved in months. It demands checks-and-balances, eternal vigilence, and institutional commitment to audit, probe and investigate corruption at all levels—high and low. And, it cannot be done on the cheap.

    China may or may not be aware that it now must play to two different audiences—the domestic and the international. In previous decades, China could afford to act alone domestically without regard to international pressure or perception. However, that is no longer the case now. If you sell to the American consumer, you must act in a manner that doesn’t breach the trust and goodwill you have earned with the American public. Because when circumstances reach the tipping point, all that trust and goodwill can evaporate suddenly. And, China will have to work for years, if not decades, to rebuild that trust.

    Earlier this week, I took a stroll down the street and counted cars. I tallied the American cars on one hand, and the foreign cars on another. The final score? 79 to 29. That’s 79 foreign cars to 29 domestic cars. In truth, I was expecting more of a 50-50 ratio instead of the lopsided margin. This told me why the Detroit auto makers are all struggling. If the American public has not forgiven Detroit for its past sins of pumping out poorly manufactured automobiles, what chance does China have?