Justice—a difference of Opinion

March 17, 2010

The American media seems obsessed when pointing out every event that takes place in China that can be used as an example that China is not free like America but should be.

It was reported months ago that Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was placed under arrest. Liu was a former university professor who spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square. In his writings, most published only on the Internet, Liu called for civil rights and political reform.

Then there is the case of Gao Zhisheng, a missing Chinese human rights lawyer. At a Beijing news conference, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the lawyer had been sentenced to prison for subversion.

National Guard Troops at Kent State

“On May 4, l970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The impact of the shootings was dramatic.” source

Even if it is wrong—by Western standards—to send these two Chinese citizens to prison, considering what happened at Kent State, Luy Ziaobo and Gao Zhishen are fortunate to be alive.

Discover Respecting Cultural Differences Out-of-Focus

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Flowers, Greenery, and Gardens

March 17, 2010

Originally Published at Speak Without Interruption on February 18, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption. Posted on iLook China, 3/17/10 at 08:00

The photos with this guest post are from my collection. Click on Originally Published to see more.

One of the aspects of my trips to China, that I truly enjoyed, was seeing all of the flowers, greenery, and gardens along the way.  I wanted to specifically mention this fact, and state, the photos you might have seen of typical Chinese landscapes are true.  In fact, there were many more beautiful sights – of plants and flowers – than I had anticipated.  I saw them in cities – in the country – in hotels – in restaurants – in offices – and other places too numerous to mention.  Our office was in southern China – with a tropical climate – so there were flowers and greenery there any time of the year I visited.  As you go farther north, in China, there are the four seasons; however, even when it was too cold for outdoor plants there were many indoor ones wherever I went.

Shanghai Public Park

I do not enjoy planting or maintaining plants but I certainly like looking at them.  The growing scenery I saw in China always gave me a feeling of tranquility.  I had once thought about buying a condo in Shenzhen so I could stay longer when I visited.  One of the condos had a small patio (this was a multistoried condo building) and each patio came with a beautifully planted garden with flowers, plants, and trees.  It was a place where I would have enjoyed going every evening and just sitting.  It was covered so I could have enjoyed it in most types of weather.

Shanghai Public Park

Because I never stayed in the Western type hotels – rather staying where my Chinese associates stayed – I was treated to a unique insight on how some of the Chinese population lived.  Some of the hotels – where I stayed – were literally right next to apartment buildings.  I could actually look out my window into those apartments.  I can’t say that I saw anything “personal” in nature but I did get to see how some Chinese decorated their apartments and balconies.  I could also see the gardens many planted on the rooftops of their apartment buildings.  Staying in those places certainly gave me even more appreciation of the Chinese people in that I saw a side of their lives that most “Westerners” would never see unless they stayed in places where I stayed.

I will always have fond memories of the many beautiful things I saw growing in China – it is a picture that will remain with me forever.

If you want to see more of China, see Visiting Xian at http://wp.me/pN4pY-8o

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China Bashing

March 16, 2010

Americans need their boogiemen. Many Americans blame teachers when kids don’t learn. Many also blame liberals when the economy or a war goes wrong. Kids blame mom and dad for things the kid did. After all, mom and dad raised the child. It seems rare when an American takes the blame for anything.

China bashing is still popular as US lawmakers attack China ahead of November elections. source  The big difference between now and then is China’s standing in the world. In the 19th century, China was weak. Today, China is strong.

Dr. George Morrison (on the right)

Americans did not invent China bashing. That started in the 19th century. The man responsible was probably Dr. George Ernest Morrison, Peking correspondent for the London Times. He was the only full-time resident journalist in China’s Imperial capital, and his lies influenced the history of China for almost a century.

It is ironic that Sir Robert Hart, the main character in my novel, who was in Peking and witnessed Morrison’s conduct and read his inaccurate newspaper reports, saw him as lazy, self-indulgent, intolerant, racist and unprincipled.

Many of the London Times pieces Morrison wrote were littered with lies and deceit influencing people’s opinions toward China to this day.

To read another example of China Bashing, see No Political Machine

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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. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

More than Money

March 16, 2010

The S’ung dynasty cautiously issued true-paper money in 1023, in small amounts in a limited area good for a specific time period. The notes would be redeemed after three years, to be replaced by new notes for a 3% service charge. source

Chinese money – Yuan

With the United States wanting (source) China to devalue their currency, China finds itself between a rock (1.3 billion Chinese) and a hard place (America). If China caves in and does as America wants, products manufactured in China would cost more. If that happened, demand for Chinese products from other countries would decline and Chinese people would lose jobs.

Labor unrest in China is already increasing. source People want jobs and higher pay so they can join the growing middle class and buy more things like Americans do. To get ready, China’s police  are undergoing special training to deal with expected social unrest over factory closings that have left millions of migrant workers out of jobs.

What’s happening in China today is similar to what happened in America during the 1860s and ’80s. source

It’s the same old story—the rich want to keep the money while workers want to earn more.

Discover Deng Xiaoping’s 20-20 Vision

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His third book is Crazy is Normal, a classroom exposé, a memoir. “Lofthouse presents us with grungy classrooms, kids who don’t want to be in school, and the consequences of growing up in a hardscrabble world. While some parents support his efforts, many sabotage them—and isolated administrators make the work of Lofthouse and his peers even more difficult.” – Bruce Reeves.

lloydlofthouse_crazyisnormal_web2_5

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

3 Comments | America, business, China, Chinese history, economy, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Shanghai

March 15, 2010

The first time I flew into Shanghai, the jet landed at Hangqiao Airport.

There was no Pudong with its Maglev Train, which can move 150 to 200 km/h, running eighteen miles to the city.

Even with the larger Pudong, Hangqiao still handled 25 million passengers in 2009, but more fly into Pudong.

Model of Shanghai

China’s leaders are finishing the job Qin Shi Huangdi started twenty-two hundred years ago, and it’s not easy.

The first emperor unified China with one written language.

Now, the country is being stitched together with one language, Mandarin. It may take several generations.

People are used to speaking the language they grew up with.

There are fifty-six with more dialects, like Shanghainese. Learning English is also mandatory in the public schools.

Old Shanghai – I’ve shopped here.

One-hundred-fifty years ago, Shanghai was a sleepy fishing town.

Then England and France started two opium wars with China to force the emperor to allow them to sell the drug to his people.

The treaty that ended the first opium war made Shanghai a concession port and part of the outside world bringing expats, who are still arriving.

Today, there are twenty million residents and 4,000 high-rises with more on the way. They sprout like mushrooms.

The 101-story World Financial Center is China’s tallest building.

Visit the Shanghai World Expo

The next four Shanghai photos are courtesy of Tom Carter, photo journalist and author of China: Portrait of a People

Tom Carter, photo journalist

See the Shanghai Huangpu River Tour

See more at National Geographic, Shanghai Dreams

See more about Shanghai at Eating Gourmet in Shanghai

Discover Hollywood Taking the “Karate Kid” to China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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2 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Chinese minorities, government, tourism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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