Republics of Asia — Part 3/3

November 14, 2010

I’ve written about the Republic of Singapore before in The Reasons Why China is Studying Singapore.

Singapore is a model “republic” respected around the world. In fact, Singapore is tied for number one in the Corruption Perception Index for 2010 with a score much better than the U.S. Source: Transparency.org

Focus Singapore says, “It is interesting to note that Singapore laws are very strict with harsh punishments for smoking and littering in public places.”

For example, “A drug offence in Singapore can attract severe penalties including a death penalty.… Homosexual acts, including kissing between men, are illegal in Singapore and penalties include imprisonment.”

Human Rights Watch reports, “Singapore officials should cease using criminal defamation and contempt laws to silence government critics.… “Free speech is an endangered species in Singapore.”

In fact, “Singapore remains the textbook example of a politically repressive state,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Individuals who want to criticize or challenge the ruling party’s hold on power can expect to face a life of harassment, lawsuits, and even prison.” Source: Human Rights Watch

However, the Western media often ignore human rights violations in Singapore, because, “The United States has maintained formal diplomatic relations with Singapore since it became independent in 1965. Singapore’s efforts to maintain economic growth and political stability and its support for regional cooperation harmonize with U.S. policy in the region and form a solid basis for amicable relations between the two countries.”

About religion — “Singapore generally allows religious freedom, although religious groups are subject to government scrutiny, and some religious sects are restricted or banned. Almost all Malays are Muslim; other Singaporeans are Taoists, Buddhists, Confucianists, Christians, Hindus, or Sikhs.” Source: U. S. Department of State

Lee Kuan Yew was Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990. He was the world’s longest serving prime minister and was elected seven times. His son Lee Hsien Loong has been PM since 2004. When he ran for office, there was no competition.

Singapore sounds similar to China except for China’s policy that leaders may only serve two five-year terms and must retire at sixty-seven. Oh and there hasn’t been any nepotism as in North Korea and Singapore.

Return to Republics of Asia — Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Republics of Asia — Part 2/3

November 13, 2010

Thailand will be the next democracy compared to China.

Transparency.org ranks Thailand’s corruption at 78 — tied with China.  India, which I have written about before, ranks 87th — worse than China.

A Blog about Political Prisoners in Thailand claims that there is no freedom of speech in Thailand. Saying what you feel or think can get you thrown in jail.

Thailand also passed a Computer Crimes act in 2007. The language in one section sounds similar to language in China’s Constitution that Western Critics often complain about

The Asian Human Rights Commission writes that Thailand chained wounded detainees recently under an Emergency Decree. “For many years, the AHRC and other concerned organizations and individuals have voiced outrage at the shackling and otherwise barbaric treatment of accused criminal prisoners in Thailand.”

In May 2010, Reuters reported that Bangkok was being cleaned up after the worst riots in modern history. “At least 54 people were killed and more than 400 injured in the latest bout of violence which began on May 14. Almost 40 buildings in the city were set on fire and the tourism and retail sectors have been devastated.”

In fact, analysts reported, “The political problems are not over….”

About women in Thailand, the 1997 Constitution increased legal protections for women and persons with disabilities. However, some inequities in the law remained and some protections were not enforced. Violence and societal discrimination against women were problems. Societal discrimination against hill tribes and religious and ethnic minorities continued. There were reports of forced labor and child labor. Trafficking in women and children, coerced prostitution and labor were serious problems. Source: U.S. Department of State

We seldom hear about Thailand in the Western media for problems that don’t exist in China. Even when there is turmoil and unrest in Thailand, the news reports in the West are friendlier compared to the language used to report any incident that happens in China.

However, the reason for this soft treatment is obvious since Thailand has had close relations with the United States since the end of the Second World War. Threatened by communist revolutions in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during the Cold War, Thailand actively sought U.S. assistance to contain communist expansion in the region. Source: U.S. Department of State

Return to Republics of Asia — Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Republics of Asia — Part 1/3

November 13, 2010

This three part series will focus on three Asian Republics — South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, which will be compared to China. All three are staunch allies of the United States.

The first report will be on South Korea.

In 1998, the BBC News produced a special report on South Korea: A Political History.

With US support, Syngman Ree was the President of the “Republic” of South Korea in the 1950s until April 1960. His government was autocratic and the country had limited political freedom.

In fact, South Korea would be an autocratic state with limited political freedom (fancy words for a dictatorship) from 1948 to 1987.

There was a military coup in 1961 and General Park ruled until he was assassinated in 1979.

Mao ruled China eight years longer than Park Chung Hee ruled South Korea.

In 1980, martial law was declared after the army killed 200 during student demonstrations. Recently, South Korea’s constitutional court upheld a controversial military ban (censorship) on 23 books considered subversive. Source: Time

However, the Western media seldom reminds us of those democracy demonstrations in South Korea. 

Instead, we are annually reminded of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident in China.

Of course, it helps to forget the 1980 killings when South Korea is now the world’s second largest source of Christian missionaries (after the United States) with a government that favors Christianity.

I wonder if China’s government suddenly decided to favor Christianity, would we stop hearing about the students killed in Tiananmen Square.

It wouldn’t be until 1986 that South Korea’s constitution was changed and in December 1987, Roh won the first direct presidential election since 1971. The first free parliamentary elections took place in 1988.

China revised their Constitution in 1982. Instead of becoming a democracy that favors Christianity, China remained a one-party Republic with tight controls over the political influence of religions, which remains very unpopular with the Christian majority in the West.

South Korea ranks 39th among 178 countries when it comes to corruption. China ranks 79th and we often hear about corruption in China but little about South Korea and the hundred countries with more corruption than China. Source: Transparency.org

Discover more about the Two Republics of America and China.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Censorship Perception

November 13, 2010

I read Don’t Call China’s Internet “Censored”, at Good Magazine.  It’s rather brief and biased, which is usual from a Western media source that judges China from a Western cultural perspective.

However, what I found interesting were two comments to the post.

Shaun Pen’s comment was, “Chinese people in China don’t consider it censorship, much the same way we Americans don’t consider anti-child pornography laws “censorship.”

Nathan Heath says, “But Shaun is also missing a few things.  The average Chinese internet user uses the internet completely differently than Americans do.  In fact, I honestly think it would take a long time for Chinese internet usage to change in China even if the “Great Firewall” were lifted tomorrow.  The vast population just doesn’t care. (Except Facebook. We want FB back.) THAT is the cultural difference between China and the West.”

Then there is The Economist, which had opinion pieces about China’s censorship in two recent issues.

The Oct. 23 issue had Gagging to be free, which claimed if Marx lived in China today he wouldn’t have been able to publish the Communist Manifesto. 

Not true.

There is a thriving underground in China that translates and publishes censored books into Mandarin, and I’ve often found books in Beijing and Shanghai’s English language bookstores that are on China’s censorship list. If the books are in English, China doesn’t seem to care.

Considering that learning English is mandatory in China’s public schools, why bother to censor anything. If there is money to be made, there are Chinese that will figure a way to earn it.

The Oct. 30 issue of The Economist had another go at China’s Net Nanny with Breaching the great firewall. The complaint here focuses on Twitter being blocked and replaced with a popular copy-cat called weibo, which is heavily monitored for “subversive” content.

When you discover what the West is doing to monitor subversive content on the Internet, you’ll see the hypocrisy.

Wired says, “In the US, American spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon.” 

In fact, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community is putting cash into software that specializes in monitoring social media.

If these agencies are developing and buying this software, you can be sure they are using it.

In addition, if most Chinese don’t consider the Net Nanny censorship, then it isn’t. There is software available in the US so parents may censor and monitor their children’s’ activity on the Internet. That’s how most Chinese see the so called “Great Firewall”.

Those in the West who complain the most are probably the same people who want to influence and subvert Chinese thought until the globe is filled with Western clones.

Discover why Internet Censorship May be Going Global

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Good Financial News for China

November 12, 2010

China’s economic growth continues as a report from Mogran Stanley claims that Apple could make as much as $9 billion from the Chinese in 2012 compared to $2.9 billion this year.  According to Katy Huberty and Matthew Schneider, this increase will be due to Apple creating more ways for Chinese customers to find and buy Apple products in the future. Source: tuaw.com

The World Bank also announced China was the largest growth economy on the globe.

However, the post at Wall St.com pointed out potential weaknesses in China’s economy due to rising prices for agricultural goods and metals and the possibility of less demand for goods manufactured in China. The possibility of a currency or trade war that was recently avoided was also mentioned.

Then The Truth About Cars says that industry experts predict China is on the way to breaking the U.S. car sales peak in 2000 when 17.4 million vehicles were sold.

That would make China the auto industry’s largest consumer. Meanwhile, GM President Kevin Wale predicted that sales in China should top 19 million next year.

In fact, since the 1990s, China has expanded a network of expressways to connect the country’s cities. That network now has more than 65,000 kilometers (40,430 miles) making China the second longest expressway system in the world after the US. 

All major cities are expected to be linked to this system by 2020 when the goal to reach 85,000 kilometers (53,000 miles) is reached. This continued construction of roads, railroads and airports will provide a massive employment boost in China over the next decade.

As a comparison to understand how fast China has modernized, its neighbor and economic competitor in the region, India, only has about 200 kilometers of expressway.

Ride the Train to Tibet

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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