Is China’s Society Really Advancing? Re: Prof. Gregory Chow

Prof. Chow's blog on sohu.com










The Chinese society has made great process in the past few decades and will sure continue to improve in the future. This is the view Gregory Chow (Zou Zhizhuang), professor emeritus of political economy at Princeton University, wrote in an article published in China Business News and also posted on his blog on sohu.com. This article is listed as the “Opinion Leader” piece on sohu blog homepage on Tuesday.

Seems to me, however, Prof. Chow’s argument is ambiguous at best.

First, he listed the criteria for judging social progress: people should feel that the society is better than the past; the public should obey the law and don’t do things that harm others; the public observes high moral standards, and is willing to help others, etc. Prof. Chow threw the standards out there without making the claim that the current Chinese society has achieved them. Maybe he was actually subtly criticizing the current situation, which perhaps makes more sense.

Indeed, millions of people are feeling that the society is getting worse: people are more selfish, youth don’t respect the elderly, government is nothing but corrupt. The list goes on and on. Also, who is to say that people really obey the law in China? If so, then how come counterfeit and fake goods have become the hallmark of China’s burgeoning market, so prevalent that even baby formula could not be exempt? And what about altruism? Well, people will laugh if someone tries to advocate for this idea. “Are you dumb?” They are going to ask.

Prof. Chow did, however, praise progresses made in the past few decades in the Chinese society, such as education. “I believe, the Chinese society will continue to advance,” he went on to say. Why? “Because the government and the public are making efforts in the aforementioned directions,” he wrote. So again, people are trying to achieve a good society as he depicted, but not quite there yet. His other reasons for being optimistic include China’s economic growth and a “sufficient number of” excellent individuals in China.

I appreciate his insights but not sure about his prescription. For one thing, society-wide corruption—government, business, even academia—is not something that could be resolved by a stronger economy or a few excellent individuals. And don’t forget that if China’s environment continue to deteriorate at the current rate, there is no future for the nation, no matter how much money, how many talents it will possess.

Of course, I may sound just too bleak. What I’m trying to say is that, yes, China’s society may well get better, but certainly more needs to be done.

Prof. Chow’s blog on sohu.com
http://zouzhizhuang.blog.sohu.com/132431943.html

Chinese Bloggers on Obama Victory: Admiring American Dream, Concerned about Sino-US Relations

One Chinese blogger blogs about Obama's election win







Obama’s victory in yesterday’s presidential election taught a great lesson about American dream and democracy to many Chinese bloggers, whose enthusiasm in blogging about this historical moment is manifest in the thousands of blogs appearing in the past less than 24 hours.

They recognized the power of American dream and ideas, America’s achievement in overcoming racial conflicts, and the value of democracy. Some bloggers expressed admiration for these American values, exclaiming “dreams will come true!” and calling such a success story an example of a “positive culture.” Obama's victory even inspired one blogger to imagine the possibility of a Chinese American president of the US.

Blogger Yao Xiaoyuan writes that because of this election, Chinese people will like the United States more and more, out of their admiration for the “universal human values represented by the United States.” However, not many bloggers used Obama’s case to advocate applying American values to China. The American dream stays American.

To some Chinese bloggers, the outcome was a surprise. Yang Hengjun, for instance, thought it was more possible to have a white woman than an African-American man as American president.

Meanwhile, many bloggers discussed the implication of Obama’s presidency to China’s interests. In this regard, the picture is not as rosy at all.

“Once the [American] economy turns better, I believe the Democratic Party will talk with us about trade protection,” one blogger writes. Another blogger concurs, concluding that China will face more pressure in energy security and decline in export due to Obama’s energy and economic policies.

These bloggers, however, failed to notice Obama's close tie with Hawaii, a state heavily populated by ethnic Chinese, which may influence the new president's approach to China.

Blogger's New View of the Inside of the Bird's Nest Stadium

Some college student volunteers recently got access to the newly finished "bird's nest" Olympics stadium in Beijing, and posted pictures on blogs. The pictures provide a fresh look of the inside of the main venue of the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Here is the link to one of the blogs: http://xiaomazha.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!58C39065F72FF5C8!380/
(Access permission needed)

TV Dramas Shed Light on Ideal Values

one scene from Struggle: Lu Tao, middle, with his friends




Among hundreds of TV dramas aired across China in 2007, ten received the most reviews from blogs on Sina.com, one of China’s largest blog sites, according to a ranking released by Sina blog this month. It is interesting to see that many bloggers took the chance of reviewing these popular TV dramas to discuss values in the transitional society of today’s China.

These discussions indicate some Chinese people’s resentment of the money and material-driven values that are prevalent in today’s China. Meanwhile, they expressed their longing for some ideal and traditional values presented in the TV dramas.

At the top of the ranking is a show about a young man from the countryside, Xu Sanduo, and his experience as a soldier. Innocent, naive, clumsy, and lacking confidence, Xu Sanduo, regarded by viewers as the Chinese version of Forrest Gump, is persistent and always does things with his full heart. Eventually, beyond almost everyone’s expectations, he becomes a member of the elite special force of the army.

Netizens wrote about their love for the show and the character. One says that while too many TV dramas focus on the vileness and dirtiness of things like the money-power exchange, this one shows that “after all, there is such a clean aspect of human nature.” Some say the character is both realistic and idealistic, and that “we badly need people so simple as Xu Sanduo in reality.”

The second ranked drama is called “Struggle,” about the life right after college of a group of young people of the 1980s generation. The main character, Lu Tao, has two fathers. His biological father is a rich businessman who recently returned from Wall Street, and his stepfather, who raised him, is a government official who doesn’t have the money to buy his own house. Lu Tao worked hard and made his own fortune in real estate, but gave up the money to pursue his dream and true love. He also decided that his poor stepfather is the man he would like to call “father,” while his biological father has a lot of money but little love.

Many young people of the same generation love this show, praising it as portraying their real struggle for life, love and career. Still, they are very much into the idealism reflected in the drama, i.e. the classic theme of seeking true love over money.

One commentator says that after watching the drama, he realizes that “pursuing money is never as important as pursuing love, including love for family, lover and friends,” and that “if always listening to the rich father and looking at life with a businessman’s eyes, life will not have passion, but only profits.”

“We are in a society that is full of the taste of money and more and more people are being driven by money. Where is the direction? Don’t know. Where are our old ideals?” writes a blogger who claims to be a member of the 1980s generation and lays out a few thoughts drawn from the drama, among which is the statement that “money cannot control ideals.”

Another drama among the top ten is staged in a five-star hotel, involving business competition and family foes. In such a show, blogger Jiang Xiaoyu sees “the universal values of the true, good and beautiful, which reflect Chinese people’s ultimate pursuit of civic character amid social transition.” The show features a group of honest, hard-working and simple people, who represent “the normal life that modern Chinese citizens dream about in this transitional period that loses key values and makes people feel insecure.”

Watching TV is a major form of entertainment for tens of millions of Chinese people and they love TV dramas, which sometimes satisfy viewers’ psychological need for an ideal world and maybe give them hope that living by ideal values could bring happiness and success. It is interesting to see how the Chinese public buys into such idealism, which, on the other hand, indicates people’s disappointment and dissatisfaction with reality. These blog discussions also reveal people’s awareness of the value change associated with China’s social transition, and that they are willing to uphold traditional, or main values like true love, honesty and hard work. At the same time, they also accept some new values represented by the younger generation, such as pursuit of personal dreams and fulfillment of one’s individuality.

See the post on China Digital Times

Paparazzi and Celebrity Blogs Most Popular

One of Wei Jiaqing's blog articles has been viewed for nearly 1 million times

The most popular blog entries--the ones that have the most visits--so far this year on Sina blog (http://blog.sina.com.cn/) are about celebrities.

The champion, with over 980,000 hits, is a short entry written by 25-year-old model and singer, Ms. Wei Jiaqing, who gained her national recognition after participating in the 2006 Super Girl singing competition. In the entry, she told her fans that she already ended a contract with the company that managed the Super Girl.

Among the eight blog articles that have been viewed for more than 500,000 times, six fall into the paparazzi and celebrity journal categories, written by celebrities themselves or by bloggers specializing in star tales. Sina hosts perhaps the largest number of celebrity blogs in China.

In one of the popular articles, which is from a paparazzi site, the blogger recounted the love story between famous Taiwanese actress Lin Qingxia (Brigitte Lin) and her three lovers. The entry is full of detailed anecdotes and old pictures, demonstrating the blogger’s rich knowledge about the super star.

The two non-paparazzi entries that reached the 500,000-hit mark concern nothing serious, either. One of them is about China National Geography magazine’s project of searching for people with peculiar family names in China.

In comparison, the most popular entries on http://www.bullog.cn/, a blog site carrying more serious discussions about politics, culture and economy, only generated five-digit hit.

As much as the Internet has become an important political forum for Chinese public, it is an even more powerful entertainment medium. This is partly due to Chinese authority’s control over political discourse on the Internet, which results into abundant revealing beauty pictures but much less out-spoken expressions on Chinese websites.

A large number of Internet users in their teens and twenties, who are ardent followers of the celebrity culture, also helped to drive the popularity of celebrity blogs. Meanwhile, celebrity blogs have become an important part of pop culture in today’s China.

Some popular Sina blog entries in 2007:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a6a57e901000c98.html (Wei Jiaqing)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_48caa4d901000bt4.html (Rivalry between two female stars)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_48bb0d010100076i.html (Peculiar Chinese family names)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4894b6f901000c3a.html (Old picture of stars)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53a020d501000c9u.html (Brigitte Lin)

List of most popular articles in 2007 on Sina blog

http://blog.sina.com.cn/lm/wenku2007.html

Young Blogger Took on the Coverage of Chongqing Nail House

Other homeowners protesting on the site of the Chongqing nail house (left)
Looking at the construction site from a nearby light rail station (right)

While the Chinese public is hungry for the latest update about the Chongqing nail house after the mainland media were largely squelched in their coverage, thanks to a young and restless blogger, people are now satisfied with on-site reporting published online.

Being perhaps the first non-journalist blogger in China to do original field reporting, Zola Zhou, a 26-year-old Hunan native, boarded a train on Monday and arrived in Chongqing early Wednesday “like a crazy rock,” on his own expense.

“News sensitivity and the desire to become famous overnight” brought him to Chongqing, he writes in his blog entry. By asking around, he found his way to the construction site where the nail house was still standing.

On Wednesday afternoon, he met Wu Ping. “Seeing her with my own eyes, [I] do not think she looks like a tough spicy girl [Chongqing women are nick-named “spicy girl” for their well-known pungent style], but an intelligent and well-mannered intellectual,” Mr. Zhou wrote. “[She] talked appropriately, like an experienced spokeswoman.”

He only had a two-minute conversation with Ms. Wu, who told him that despite the widespread rumor about her special background, the only background she had was “the law.” She also told Zhou to “be careful of health and safety.”

“Her heart is calm and strong, and deserves my trust and support,” Mr. Zhou wrote in his blog, published sometimes via his cellphone right on the scene.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Zhou met other home owners from Shanghai, Guangzhong, Zhuhai, Chengdu and Xi’an, who gathered at Wu Ping’s property site to propagate their own story of losing homes to redevelopment projects, since this place has attracted many journalists, domestic and foreign.

These people brought over pictures of their demolished houses, documents proving their legitimate rights to the properties and signs denouncing the government or claiming their own rights. A man from Xi’an even gave a public speech at the construction site, opposing the use of “nail house” on those who defend their properties, Mr. Zhou reported. Local people also told him that several cameras were installed in the trees and on the walls surrounding the site.

But what he reported is not as extraordinary as the reporting journey itself.

His action has won almost universal support in China’s cyberspace. Hundreds of people left comments on his blog and other sites that republished his posts, among which the words “support,” “be safe” and “be careful” appear most frequently. His readers apparently are concerned that he may get into trouble with the authorities.

Mr. Zhou is hailed by many as a grassroot hero as well as a “citizen journalist,” or “independent journalist.” Some praised Zhou as making history among Chinese bloggers by doing such original reporting, and called his endeavor revolutionary.

People expressed their disappointment and distrust of official media, while placing on Mr. Zhou their hope of getting the true story of the incident. “Now only such an individual media like you is trust worthy,” a web user named Jorin writes.

Another poster says he heard rumors that the house has been demolished, only to find the information untrue after reading Zhou’s report.

“Keep digging deep, looks like [I] can only know the truth from you,” a poster named HP writes.

People not only give him emotional support, but material one, too. By Thursday, supporters have wired about 1700 yuan (more than $200) to Zhou's bank card and telephone card. “I am not alone,” Zhou writes.

Currently not employed, Mr. Zhou has been spending a lot of time maintaining several websites of his own. He had received some computer skill training but never went to college. He described himself as an optimistic guy, “willing to help those who are really in need,” and aiming at becoming a “righteous, strong and dare-to-dream man with money.”

This young man has also been influenced by the entertaining spirit of the media culture in Hunnan, and claims his website to “entertain the mass,” a task he has well fulfilled with the field reporting from Chongqing.

(photos courtesy to Zola Zhou)

Zhou’s Chongqing journal
http://www.zuola.com/weblog/?p=750
http://www.zuola.com/weblog/?cat=11
http://www.zuola.com/weblog/?cat=11&paged=2

Photos taken by Zhou in Chongqing
http://www.fotolog.com.cn/allsize.f?photoid=1673375

2007 NPC, CPPCC Journal, Day 10

Homepage of NPC and CPPCC member blogs at xinhuanet.com




CPPCC Blogger Ambiguous about Blogging

Mr. Wang Xudong, a CPPCC member and university professor from Nanjing, suddenly faced a dilemma these days—to continue or stop his blog at people.com.cn after this year’s two meetings.

In his latest blog post, he said he doubted whether it was necessary to continue his blog. What prompted him to consider quitting was hostile comments posted on his blog after he said that dressing in ancient costumes is not the right way to revive China’s traditional culture.

He made the comment in a speech to a CPPCC gathering a few days ago, which was then widely reported by state media. Before long, hanfu (ancient Chinese costume) advocates dropped harsh comments on his blog, even cursing him with abusive language.

Mr. Wang was apparently hurt, and wrote, “As CPPCC members, we communicate with web users sincerely, and all we said are true words. But we are so ‘ill-treated’! What is that for?”

More NPC and CPPCC members started blogging the two meetings this year than last year, thanks to the hosting of xinhuanet.com, people.com.cn and sina.com.cn, as well as some regional websites. Many of these bloggers hailed the new form as an efficient channel to hear people’s voices on relevant issues, through public comments on the blogs.

With a few exceptions, however, the content of these top legislators and political consultants’ blogs are not very rich or fresh. The posts are generally proposals and speeches they already delivered on the meetings, or published media covereage about them. Often short notes of just a few paragraphs or even sentences, the blog entries do not carry many edgy, outspoken or critical remarks.

Mr. Wang Xudong, in fact, is one of the few that frequently jot a few lines of criticism or personal thoughts. He started his blog during last year’s annual sessions and apparently had a good time doing it. But this year, he concluded that “today’s Internet environment is not very good.”

Related post

http://josieliu.blogspot.com/2007/03/2007-npc-cppcc-journal-day-6.html

Wang Xudong’s blog
http://blog.people.com.cn/blog/u/wangxudong

Meeting member blogs on xinhuanet.com
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2007lh/blog/

Meeting member blogs on people.com.cn
http://blog.people.com.cn/blog/catindex.jspe?catid=29&page=2

Meeting member blogs on sina.com.cn
http://news.sina.com.cn/z/2007qglh/dbwyblog.html

Media reports about such blogs
http://www.cjn.cn/news/gnjd/200703/t329925.htm
http://it.chinanews.cn/it/hlwxw/news/2007/01-31/865219.shtml
http://news.163.com/special/0001139T/weblog060303.html

Cursing Comments forced Celebrities to Shut Down Blogs

Mr. Pan Shiyi

In a recent blog entry, famous real estate entrepreneur Pan Shiyi called on blog readers “not to curse mom” in their comments, because it is a “very bad habit” and has forced several celebrity bloggers to shut down their sites.

As many celebrities in China, including movie stars, popular writers and TV hosts, Mr. Pan keeps a blog on sina.com.cn. While having received over 31 million hits, his blog also has seen flood of hostile comments.

He blamed poor education for such verbal abuses, in that those who curse on other people’s blog perhaps did not learn good language manner when they were young. Media also contribute to such “language violence,” Mr. Pan added, referring to media in the Cultural Revolution, which was full of harsh languages and influenced people growing up in that era. These people, however, may only hurl invectives on the Internet, and may be nice in real life, he told Shanghai-based xmnext.com.

One of his celebrity friends, song writer Gao Xiaosong, abruptly shut down his blog after some diligent posting for a while. Mr. Gao later told Mr. Pan that some people came to his blog to assail him everyday and involved his mother, which made the lady feel very sad. “For his mother, he shut down his own blog,” Mr. Pan wrote.

Mr. Gao’s blog, apparently opened in June on sina.com.cn, still holds the space, but no posts any more. However, some of the hostile comments, posted in August and September, are still there. Among them are cruel personal attacks, such as comparing him to a pig.

Bai Ye, a literature critic, is said to be the first famous figure to shut down his sina.com.cn blog. He was overwhelmed by a storm of diatribe on his blog after he posted an entry criticizing new generation writer Han Han, who also keeps a popular blog on sina.com. Han Han’s fans posted many unbearable comments, including dirty words, attacking Mr. Bai.

To keep his site clean, Mr. Pan said he assigned a secretary to delete promptly such invectives every day, “not only those personal attacks, but also any comment cursing any party, any god, and mother.”

Still, Mr. Pan said that he would not give up blogging, because blog is his “spiritual home.”

----by Josie Liu

Pan Shiyi’s blog article
http://pan-shiyi.blog.sohu.com/31876570.html

News coverage
http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2007-02-02/170812213913.shtml

Gao Xiaosong blog
http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/1236141300#gbook_9706

Bai Ye blog
http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/1245178285#gbook_13289

Bloggers in China May be Requested to Reveal Real ID

Young bloggers at a blogger conference in 2005





The Chinese government has asked Internet Society of China, a non-governmental orgnization, to discuss the possibility and related issues of a new regulation requiring bloggers to use their real names and ID information to register for blogs, an official from the society said on Thursday.

The society held a meeting earlier this month, where experts from internet industry, law and government discussed issues like what kind of ID information should be requested, how to make sure the information are accurate and the timeline for the new regulation to take effect, according to a report on the organization’s website. No details of the discussion were revealed.

People who support such a regulation said it could prevent bloggers from publishing vicious comments, such as defamation and insult toward other people, which has occurred in the world of Chinese blog. Other people, especially those from the internet industry, voiced their concerns that the regulation could discourage people to blog and was against the open and free nature of the internet.

Other issues, such as protection of personal information and information verification, could also nullify the initiative, experts said.

Weblog started to gain popularity among Chinese people in 2002, and so far, there have been more than 33 million blogs registered in China, with more than 17 million bloggers, according to a report by China Internet Network Information Center. Like in most places around the world, Chinese bloggers have been blogging without revealing their real identity, and that is also one opportunity for some dissent voices to be heard.

http://www.isc.org.cn/20020417/ca377516.htm
http://www.cnnic.cn/html/Dir/2006/09/25/4176.htm
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2006-10-20/145310285373s.shtml

----by Josie Liu