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"Are you arresting me? I am a journalist," said John Ray, of London-based ITV News, as he was arrested by the Chinese police. The pernicious crime perpetrated by John Ray was covering a protest outside the National Stadium. "They bundled me out of the park," Ray was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. "They forced me to the floor, dragged me, manhandled me into a restaurant next door." Ray was covering the action of eight activists, seven from the US, who unveiled a "Free Tibet" flag near the National Stadium in Beijing.
Video of Ray's arrest with his narration below:
Police said that they confused Ray with a protester, despite his press pass and loud protestations. Ray's arrest earned a mild rebuke from the IOC who said, "The IOC does disapprove of any attempts to hinder a journalist who is going about or doing his job seemingly within the rules and regulation." It's those very "rules and regulations" that are part of the problem. The IOC issued firm statements that freedom of the press would be respected during the games. China has also insisted that, "there will be no restrictions on journalists in reporting on the Olympic Games."
But foreign journalists have issued reports about everything from restricted internet access to restricted movement. They also report of being photographed by police officers while they interview athletes. Yet it's been a cakewalk compared to reporters who are from China itself. Chinese reporters had notebooks and tape recorders confiscated after they interviewed Olympic athletes following the stabbing death of Todd Bachman, father in law of US men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. Bob Dietz, the Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Project Journalists wrote, "Chinese reporters recently [reported] of a 21-point directive that came down last month from the Central Propaganda Department. Taboo subjects include everything from seating arrangements for dignitaries at the opening ceremonies, food safety issues, and an outright ban on using any source of information other than the official Xinhua News Agency for Games-related scandals. The standard rules for referring to Taiwan (the acceptable form is "Chinese Taipei" not the Republic of China (Taiwan) were also on the list, but no mainland Chinese reporter really needs to be reminded of that."
Although China has a very authoritarian state run media system, I do wonder if the US has much of a platform to stand upon. NBC has thus far treated the games with the political depth of an old Hope-Crosby road picture. They might as well call their coverage, Costas Goes to China. Since General Electric is a key sponsor of the games and the owner of NBC, this doesn't come as much of a surprise. But our cynicism shouldn't stop us from criticizing the way the IOC and China--with full support from America's corporate leaders--lied to the world about the way these Olympics would be conducted.
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Shocked! Shocked that the Chinese are actually an authoritarian regime!!
Why...they PROMISED they would lighten up for the Genocide Olympics. They never lied before
Oh, wait, they lie all the time. They lie about the killings in Tibet, the beatings and killings in their jails, the air quality, the safety of products leaving their country, their propping up of their currency....etc etc etc
But, they sell us cheap crap and cheap labor, so who cares how they treat their people, environment and the people of Sudan and Tibet. Who cares that dozens of people (some estimates are as high as 400!) died building those cool venues? Whiners all.
Posted by crabwalk at 08/15/2008 @ 10:41am
Just to echo CRAB somewhat...
Mr Zirin, what did you expect?
That the Chinese would "keep their word" and allow protests??????????
This was a done deal when the IOC gave them the Olympics years ago. And anybody who thought that Beijing was going to turn into Prague Spring was or is hopelessly naive.
Posted by Maskdelta at 08/15/2008 @ 10:49am
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 11:25am\\
Yeah! Screw Tibet...I wanna see women's beach volleyball!
Posted by Maskdelta at 08/15/2008 @ 11:51am
Why is the the fault of the US, or is it corporations?
Because NBC decided to broadcast the games instead of a protest by 7 Americans over Tibet?
Get a life
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008
no, darin, it's my fault as i type on this madeinchina computer,
and it's your fault as you munch your madeinchina garlic,
and it's nbc's fault because they paid the thugs $2,200,000,000 to broadcast "the games",
and it's "democracy's" fault for ignoring china's abuses all in the name of hiding our inflation.
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 11:55am
why is it that we could make all these products 20-30 years ago?
have wages gone up that much?
have environmental regulations become so strict?
no.
our money's been diluted.
oh, did i mention greed?
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 11:57am
Frosty,
I posted to you on the McCain thread in response to your ignorant and hate filled post to me.
Here is my response.
"Conservatives care as much as anyone about the environment.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/14/2008 @ 3:41p
and you have negro friends, too!
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 4:00pm"
Frosty,
Unless I get an apology (which I don't expect) this is our last dialogue.
FU- I have a black/hispanic wife and 3 wonderful black/hispanic step-sons and an incredible extended family of African Americans.
You indeed are an ignorant idiot.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:53am
Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/15/2008 @ 12:01pm
sorry, lvliberty.
you used "conservativeSSSSSSSS" in the plural.
just a joke on the ol' cliché about the "conservative" golf club member whose got a "negro friend".
you didn't mean YOU. it meant "conservatives".
in fact, i've defended YOUR personal life from other's misconceptions before.
(well, at least from what you've said here)
i've always found an incongruence between how you choose to live and the violence you choose to promote.
i'm hoping one day that you will want to share with others the peace you find at home.
but hey, nobody's perfect.
anyhoo, don't get so riled. my wife's a nice raw sienna and our hybrid son looks like a shiny new penny.
plus, i've asked for apologies from you a couple of times and received nothing.
no big deal. it's still fun driving you crazy.
but please, don't take this personally.
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:18pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 12:44pm
Actually, Darin, what's ironic is...that "change in Iraq"...
was paid for with U.S. debt owned by the Chinese!
Posted by Maskdelta at 08/15/2008 @ 12:48pm
But I guess the only ones not responsible for the chi-coms' actions are the chi-coms themselves.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008
of course they are.
but who pays them?
where did the chinese get $1,300,000,000,000 from?
who is more guilty, the assassin or the person paying the assassin?
(and i never said "usa", trollboy. all the supposedly "free" societies are enamoured with chinese slaves)
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:57pm
I fear it may take a century or more to bring democracy to China.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008
if china spends the next century becoming US (i.e. you and me),
we're doomed.
we're gonna have to rent venus and mars.....
"God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts. "
~Mahatma Gandhi
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 1:00pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 12:44pm
Nah I don't think we should impose change in either. If the people there wanted change then it's to them to change it. Iraq and China alike. We aren't the world police. It is not up to us to dictate what system of government people should follow. Let the people of a country choose for themselves. It's the arrogance of many in the US to think that we should dictate to others what they should be.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 1:12pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 1:00pm
"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren't actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we... are the cure."
-Agent Smith.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 1:35pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 1:46pm
No they aren't, it's called good old fashioned revolution. If you don't like your government change it by force. There is nothing contradictory in what I said. Americans today are so spoiled to think that the only way to change a government is through Democracy. We were once not a democracy. There are plenty of governments around the world that have been changed through revolution. If the people don't like the way the country is run change it by any means necessary. You don't need the arrogance of America to come along and change it for you.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 2:08pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 1:46pm
Study world history. You will see a pattern of governments ousted through may different methods other than "Democracy." French Revolution, Russian Revolution, American Revolution. More recently Revolutions in Africa. Democracy is not the only method of change in the world. Let the people decide what they want to do. If they decide they want to revolt and try to change their government THEN we help them. We don't impose our will on others because we think since we are the self-titled greatest country that gives us the authority or KNOWLEDGE of another culture in order to change them.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 2:16pm
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 1:46pm
It's not contradictory, Darin. Not a shot was fired and the Soviet Union collapsed (into what and if better is, THIS WEEK, another argument). We didn't invade it to impose democracy.
We also didn't do it by propping up another dictatorship with billions in OUR debt.
Posted by Maskdelta at 08/15/2008 @ 2:22pm
Anyone find it funny that the right always complains that the left are always trying to tell people how they should live. Then they want to go traipsing into every country to change them into a Democracy.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 2:33pm
Anyone find it funny that the right always complains that the left are always trying to tell people how they should live. Then they want to go traipsing into every country to change them into a Democracy. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 2:33pm
Well, funny... It would be funny if there weren't so many people who got killed in the process. Besides, who are the U.S. government to lecture the world on democracy anyway? The U.S. democratic system is by far the most corrupt in the West. And what the right is most opposed to, is campaign reform: a system which would outlaw private 'donations' - that sounds so much nicer than 'bribes' - to politicians.
Posted by Amsterdam69 at 08/15/2008 @ 3:05pm
CCC
You're forgetting the other not so pretty half of it...what if the revolution fails? You seem to assume that win or lose, everyone will live happily ever after...that's not the case. The reigning government will understandably want to wipe out the "revolutionaries" and the results ain't pretty (see Darfur)...after all what's the point of winning a revolution if you can't eliminate the threats. Are you willing to stand idly by while the government does just that? Or Are you willing to accept potentially tens of thousands of refugees to your country?
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:45pm
no big deal. it's still fun driving you crazy.
but please, don't take this personally.
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:18pm
Frosty, Not to worry. Liv will call you names, play the race card when it works in his favor and then turn around and back the racist republican party that screws people of color and working folks over time and time again. He preaches out one side of his mouth about moralistic jingo, but his words posted here tell a completely different tale.
By the way, he can't resist getting into the arguments here or he would be posting at some conservative neanderthal site where all would agree with his points of view and be calling Obama half and half like ole Hapster.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:47pm
CCC
You also are a bit contradictory in your thoughts. You say we shouldn't mess in another country's affairs...it's none of our business...but then later state we should join with the revolutionaries (who we think are the "good guys.")
What difference does it make if we see something wrong in a country, intervene and have the revolutionaries join us
or
wait for a revolution and then join in?
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:51pm
I am resigned to accept the things I cannot change, you call me an asshole.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 12:44pm
I am quite fed up with stupid ass Americans trying to tell other countries how they should run their countries. For example, the U.S. invaded the country of Iraq but then points fingers at Russia for doing the same. Hypocracy to the nth degree.
You guys point your fingers at China for human rights violations while you think it's just God damned dandy to water board and torture prisoners? You think it's ok to indefinitely hold prisoners just because well, W and Cheney decide that's the thing to do.
This country was a great country and can be a great country again. But, our first step is to get our shit together here at home. Take care of OUR PEOPLE. Make sure OUR PEOPLE have jobs and we don't outsource OUR JOBS to CHINA, INDA and wherever else corporations can get slave labor tax free.
You morons out there waving the flag around wouldn't see a damned bus running right at you in the middle of the day unless your right wing talk shows told you the bus was indeed coming to run your asses over.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:57pm
"...I do wonder if the US has much of a platform to stand upon."
"But our cynicism shouldn't stop us from criticizing the way the IOC and China--with full support from America's corporate leaders--lied to the world about the way these Olympics would be conducted."
by the Author, Dave Zirin
Dave,
Within the confines of one paragraph you graduate from "wonder" to an unequivocal indictment of all U.S. based corporations. Surely you didn't mean to include such corporate soul mates as Ben and Jerry's Inc. or Whole Foods Inc.? For they, too, are thriving members of America's loathed corporate class.
You could very well have express your rightfully placed disdain for the standard operating procedures of communist parties without the corny and obligatory shot at America. Believe it or not, Dave, capitalist America is your friend and communist China is your lying foe.
Posted by Person at 08/15/2008 @ 7:34pm
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:45pm
Like I said we help them if they want to be helped so the government doesn't just squash them.
"wait for a revolution and then join in? Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:51pm"
It makes all the difference. A revolution big enough to take down a government is usually taken by a majority of people in a country or at least supported by a majority. When we decide for them we may not be deciding to help a majority we may be deciding to help a minority. The rest of the people in the country may be fine with the choice of government but we are imposing our will. When we act to change we are not aiding a group of people we are imposing our will. When we join a revolution we are helping THEM to change their lot.
I know many Americans like to think that the opinion of the world doesn't matter but in this increasingly globalized world it does. The difference between a war of aggression and a war of defense is the difference between 4,000 American lives and trillions of dollars in debt to what would have been a multilateral war with many countries aid. It's the subtle difference that make the biggest points.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 8:12pm
"Most corrupt western nation". Horseshit! We aren't even the most corrupt on this contintent of two countries.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 4:34pm
Continent of two countries?
North America consists of 23 countries Darin.
Alas, another victim of No Child Left Behind.
Posted by djb1972 at 08/15/2008 @ 9:37pm
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 8:12pm
I think you're making a few assumptions... 1)the majority is right and 2)those who accept the status quo agree with it...there is such a thing as learned helplessness after all, and 3)that what was voted for was as advertised...ever heard of an honest politician? me neither.
But it sounds like you're stating we must wait to intervene until there appears to be "enough" people in favor of it...so justice now has to wait for a majority? Man...the Jews would have loved you in 1941. History is littered with examples of the persecution and oppression of the minority by the majority...but according to you, we should not get involved in those situations because that's what their people want and we shouldn't meddle. Or maybe we have a greater responsibility as a world power to recognize and support freedom and democracy against tyranny.
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:13pm
How's about this USC: we just stop butting in unless there is an overwhelming humanitarian crisis? Yes that doesn't rule out Darfur but our response there has been shameful for the exact same reasons our reaction to the Ray incident would be tepid at best: you don't piss off the people who own you. The Chinese are making a fortune keeping the status quo going in Sudan, so their incentive to change it is at best minimal. Of course we have a long and sordid history of meddling in other nations' affairs when it supposedly suited us.
Posted by yutsano at 08/15/2008 @ 11:22pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/15/2008 @ 10:51pm
You expect The Nation to celebrate the successes of one of America's sons? You gotta be kidding...they'd much rather comlain about how much media exposure the American athletes are getting in the US at the expense of the other athletes...they'd rather talk about how all those other poor countries just weren't given enough of a chance...that Phelps didn't EARN those medals...oh, no...by having so much success, he is obviously stealing those medals from the other countries...as a matter of fact, in the liberal mind, they probably think it's unfair for one man to have so much gold around his neck...they're likely to "repossess" 4 of those medals (or 5 if he wins another one, and they let the tax cuts expire) and redistribute them to those other less successful countries...all in the interest of fairness of course. Don't want those other countries to feel bad, now do we? The Nation will probably advocate for handing out gold medals to everyone, just for participating...it's the effort that counts, not results.
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:30pm
we just stop butting in unless there is an overwhelming humanitarian crisis?
Posted by yutsano at 08/15/2008 @ 11:22pm
so if its a "small" genocide, we should let it slide?
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:36pm
The Nation will probably advocate for handing out gold medals to everyone, just for participating...it's the effort that counts, not results.
Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:30pm
USC, I haven't complained about the U.S. taking part in the Olympics. I think the Olympics are a damned good idea. The Olympics are about getting nations together for sport which is a hell of lot better than blowing each other up.
Some of our Olympic representatives have distinguished themselves with honor and have shown the spirit of the games. However, going over there to shove our flag up the asses of other countries is far from what the games are about also.
Jimmy Carter was wrong for boycotting the Olympics when they took place in the Soviet Union. It was a childish gesture. The only thing president Bush has done right, has been to go to he Olympic games and actually mingle with the athletes of his nation. He's the first U.S. president to do that on foreign soil which blows me away.
The U.S. needs to get off it's high horse, realize that we are one nation of many nations, and that our way, even if we think it's the best, is not necessarily the way for other nations to proceed. Think about it. If we try to shove our ideals down the throats of other nations, we wouldn't be following the way we are supposed to even govern ourselves.
How did J.C. put it? Remove the log from your eye before talking about the splinter in another's.... or something along those lines?!
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/16/2008 @ 12:18am
"The U.S. needs to get off it's high horse, realize that we are one nation of many nations, and that our way, even if we think it's the best, is not necessarily the way for other nations to proceed."
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 08/16/2008 @ 12:18am | ignore this person | warn this person
Good God. If ever there were an axiomatic post on "The Nation" blog, this is it. Does anyone else need an Alka-Seltzer?
Posted by Person at 08/16/2008 @ 01:18am
But it sounds like you're stating we must wait to intervene until there appears to be "enough" people in favor of it...so justice now has to wait for a majority? Man...the Jews would have loved you in 1941. History is littered with examples of the persecution and oppression of the minority by the majority...but according to you, we should not get involved in those situations because that's what their people want and we shouldn't meddle. Or maybe we have a greater responsibility as a world power to recognize and support freedom and democracy against tyranny. Posted by usc1 at 08/15/2008 @ 11:13pm
You are using a deliberately over inflated example. What's going on in China is not Hitler exterminating jews and attempting to take over the entire world. You are being deliberately deceptive.
"Or maybe we have a greater responsibility as a world power to recognize and support freedom and democracy against tyranny."
This is you main problem. We prop up tyrannical governments that serve our purposes. So how do we have the authority to then tell one tyrannical government they are in the wrong while supporting another.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/16/2008 @ 04:12am
Darintroll...
[Fri Aug 17, 2007
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas oilman David Chalmers and two companies he owns pleaded guilty on Friday to paying millions of dollars in secret kickbacks to Iraq in connection with the United Nations oil-for-food program.
When Bayoil was indicted in April 2005, prosecutors said the oil trader played a pivotal role in efforts to fix the price of oil under the oil-for-food program.
U.S. and U.N. investigations have found that lobbyists and U.N. and Iraqi officials enriched themselves through kickbacks and bribery.]
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 08:47am
Gee, I thought the neo-cons were AGAINST communism, authoritarianism, and corrupt governments that intrude on peoples freedoms.
I guess not.
what is it about the largest Communist nation on Earth that makes you guys swoon?
Is cheap labor worth this:
[Wang became a prisoner of conscience on May 14, 2002, when she was taken from her workplace by police. Police gave no cause for arrest, only stating that Wang was part of the Falun Gong.
In an account of Wang's time in captivity provided by eyewitnesses and persons close to Wang in China, guards at the Masanjia Labor Camp reportedly deprived Wang of sleep, subjected her to the elements, bound and hung her, locked her in a bathroom for over a month, and physically beat her. She was also forced to perform labor, including some 300 hours in one month. On one occasion Wang was beaten and kicked by camp guards for six hours.
In early 2003, two male guards, exasperated at not being able to extract a statement of "repentance" from Wang for her beliefs, tore open Wang's shirt and shocked her breasts with high-voltage electric batons. The torture is said to have lasted for over 30 minutes.
The perpetrators, part of a special team from the Liaoning Province Public Security Division (Benxi Camp) sent to the camp to "reform" Wang and other Falun Gong believers, allegedly yelled at Wang, before the mutilation, "We'll see who is tougher!" Following the torture Wang was denied sleep and made to stand through the night. Wang's wounds were not attended to, and soon began to fester.
The following morning two additional guards bound Wang's limbs in a contorted position and hung her up, looking "like a ball," with handcuffs for seven hours. The pain reportedly left Wang crippled. Wang was photographed after having been sent home to
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 08:54am
Why should the US be "blamed" for the rise in Chinese Communist power?
Because they get MFN status from our government and we are their biggest, and firstest, trading "partner".
The list below gives us perspective on which countries imported the most Chinese goods in 2005. Amounts shown are $US billion, with the percentage change from 2004 in brackets.
Top Countries China Exports To
United States = $162.9 (+30%) Hong Kong = $124.5 (+23%) Japan = $84 (+14%) South Korea = $35.1 (+26%) Germany = $32.5 (+37%) Netherlands = $25.9 (+40%) United Kingdom = $19 (+27%) Singapore = $16.6 (+31%) Taiwan = $16.6 (+22%) Russia = $13.2 (+45%)
And, as we can see here on this blog, the same goons that were so terrified of phantom wmd's in Iraq, sooo bent on "freeing" Iraqis from the yoke of our former ally, so disdainful of Americans that might brush up against a communist thought or website, are enamored of China, a self described SOCIALIST state that has nukes, chemical and biological weapons and occupies land that does not belong to them.
(and, as it is 9:00 am here, and 9:00pm in Beijing, is there any live coverage of Olympics on NBC? No!!
Any taped coverage from yesterday? No!
Right now I can see "American Latino" playing on NBC. Maybe it's a good show, but it's the GDamn Olympics!!! Put in on the telly, you corporate morons!)
Their coverage stinks to high heaven)
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:04am
This is what USC1, LIVER, and DARIN are defending... (too rich for words)
[CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA
(Amended and adopted at the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct. 21, 2007)
The Communist Party of China is the vanguard both of the Chinese working class and of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. It is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and represents the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. The realization of communism is the highest ideal and ultimate goal of the Party.
The Communist Party of China takes Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents as its guide to action.
...After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Party Central Committee, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their chief representative, analyzed their experience, both positive and negative, gained since the founding of the People's Republic, emancipated their minds, sought truth from facts, shifted the focus of the work of the whole Party onto economic development and carried out reform and opening to the outside world, ushering in a new era of development in the cause of socialism, gradually formulating the line, principles and policies concerning the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics and expounding the basic questions concerning the building, consolidation and development of socialism in China, and thus creating Deng Xiaoping Theory. Deng Xiaoping Theory is the outcome of the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism with the practi
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:09am
(this new 1800 character limit is interesting)
Anywhoo... the China Constitution must be defended by the American Nationalists, so here it will continue to be posted and the neo-cons can explain to us why they defend SOCIALISM in China, but despise it everywhere else.
[...The Communist Party of China leads the people in promoting socialist democracy. It integrates its leadership, the position of the people as masters of the country, and the rule of law, takes the path of political development under socialism with Chinese characteristics, expands socialist democracy, improves the socialist legal system, builds a socialist country under the rule of law, consolidates the people's democratic dictatorship, and builds socialist political civilization
... It adheres to Marxism as its guiding ideology, fosters the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, promotes patriotism-centered national spirit and the spirit of the times centering on reform and innovation and advocates the socialist maxims of honor and disgrace. It works to enhance the people's sense of national dignity, self-confidence and self-reliance, resist corrosion by decadent capitalist and feudal ideas and wipe out all social evils so that the people will have high ideals, moral integrity, a good education and a strong sense of discipline. It also needs to imbue its members with the lofty ideal of communism. The Party strives to develop educational, scientific and cultural programs, carry forward the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation, and develop a thriving socialist culture.]
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:17am
Oh yeah, which North American country's ruling party was most recently voted out of office because of a wide-ranging financial scandal taining almost the whole party? I'll give you a hint: They are north of the USA.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008
at least we got rid of them....
to be replaced with....
HELP!
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 09:19am
2008-07-10 17:07:01
Chinaview.com
While visiting the Beijing International Media Center (BIMC), which opened on Tuesday to serve more than 5,000 non-accredited reporters during the Games, he said officials would effectively implement regulations that ensured foreign journalists would be allowed the freedom to report.
"If you are dissatisfied, you can file your complaint directly to Liu Qi, president of Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad," he told reporters. Liu accompanied Li around the media center, one of the three major news centers of the Beijing Games.
Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, welcomed all foreign journalists to the country for the Olympics, saying, "I hope you could truly and fully cover the event and tell the world (about) a true China."
He said the center could provide broadcast transmissions around-the-clock. He promised to ensure the security of transmissions, a major concern of overseas journalists, and asked the staff to strengthen security measures.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/10/content_8524692.htm
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:21am
"Most corrupt western nation". Horseshit! We aren't even the most corrupt on this contintent of two countries.
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 4:34pm
mexico has absorbed you!
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 09:21am
HELP! Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 09:19am
sorry, too busy borrowing money from Socialists so that we can prop up an Islamic government that has ethnically cleansed it's neighborhoods.
Besides, you guys are way too Socialist for us, just step away from "our" oil-shale and nobody gets hurt.
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:27am
2007 CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX
country rank
country
2007 CPI score
surveys used
confidence range
1
Denmark
9.4
6
9.2 - 9.6
1
Finland
9.4
6
9.2 - 9.6
1
New Zealand
9.4
6
9.2 - 9.6
4
Singapore
9.3
9
9.0 - 9.5
4
Sweden
9.3
6
9.1 - 9.4
6
Iceland
9.2
6
8.3 - 9.6
7
Netherlands
9.0
6
8.8 - 9.2
7
Switzerland
9.0
6
8.8 - 9.2
9
Canada
8.7
6
8.3 - 9.1
9
Norway
8.7
6
8.0 - 9.2
11
Australia
8.6
8
8.1 - 9.0
12
Luxembourg
8.4
5
7.7 - 8.7
12
United Kingdom
8.4
6
7.9 - 8.9
14
Hong Kong
8.3
8
7.6 - 8.8
15
Austria
8.1
6
7.5 - 8.7
16
Germany
7.8
6
7.3 - 8.4
17
Ireland
7.5
6
7.3 - 7.7
17
Japan
7.5
8
7.1 - 8.0
19
France
7.3
6
6.9 - 7.8
20
USA
7.2
8
6.5 - 7.6
21
Belgium
7.1
6
7.1 - 7.1
22
Chile
7.0
7
6.5 - 7.4
23
Barbados
6.9
4
6.6 - 7.1
24
Saint Lucia
6.8
3
6.1 - 7.1
25
Spain
6.7
6
6.2 - 7.0
25
Uruguay
6.7
5
6.4 - 7.0
27
Slovenia
6.6
8
6.1 - 6.9
28
Estonia
6.5
8
6.0 -7.0
28
Portugal
6.5
6
5.8 - 7.2
30
Israel
6.1
6
5.6 - 6.7
30
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
6.1
3
4.0 - 7.1
32
Qatar
6.0
4
5.4 - 6.4
33
Malta
5.8
4
5.3 - 6.2
34
Macao
5.7
4
4.7 - 6.4
34
Taiwan
5.7
9
5.4 - 6.1
34
United Arab Emirates
5.7
5
4.8 - 6.5
37
Dominica
5.6
3
4.0 - 6.1
38
Botswana
5.4
7
4.8 - 6.1
39
Cyprus
5.3
3
5.1 - 5.5
39
Hungary
5.3
8
4.9 - 5.5
41
Czech Republik
5.2
8
4.9 - 5.8
41
Italy
5.2
6
4.7 - 5.7
43
Malaysia
5.1
9
4.5 - 5.7
43
South Africa
5.1
9
4.9 - 5.5
43
South Korea
5.1
9
4.7 - 5.5
46
Bahrain
5.0
5
4.2 - 5.7
46
Bhutan
5.0
5
4.1 - 5.7
46
Costa Rica
5.0
5
4.7 - 5.3
49
Cape Verde
4.9
3
3.4 - 5.5
49
Slovakia
4.9
8
4.5 - 5.2
51
Latvia
4.8
6
4.4 - 5.1
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 09:27am
DARIN, NAFTA fixed Mexicos corruption.
I guess you missed it.
Vincente' Fox' version of what NAFTA means:
[""Our forecast and our idea is to sell a long-term project where we can move upwards from a trade agreement to a community of nations agreement or a North American common market. To move in that direction implies more than just trading, more than just facilitating the transit of merchandises, products, services, and capital. It has to imply the free flow of citizens, and it has to imply long-term monetary policies, maybe a common currency 20, 30, 40 years from now"[
Got that? A common currency. A free flow of citizens. AKA, "A New World Order"
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:33am
[In the first half of December 2001, having experienced long-term physical and mental torment in the camp, I started to suffer from nerve pain, toothaches and vomiting. The right side of my face was severely swollen and I was unable to eat. On December 20, 2001, when the medical section of the camp gave me a blood infusion, the chief found I had symptoms of kidney failure. Director Li Fengshi had the assistant leader of Group 1 take me to the Dabei Prison Hospital. I had no clothing to change into, but fortunately, the inmates in the ward knew the truth about Falun Gong and gave me some clothing. I had not eaten for fifteen days and I drifted in and out of consciousness. The medical exam indicated I was suffering from arrhythmia, kidney failure, and serious urea poisoning, among other problems. Refusing to take the responsibility for my death, the camp authorities released me from the prison hospital on December 30, 2001.
After coming home, I recovered by practising Falun Gong. Later, however, I was forced to leave my home because the police from the Longshan Forced Labour Camp, under the authority of their director Li Fengshi, kept harassing me.
Compared to Wang Hong and Wang Xiuyuan who were tortured to death in the camp, I was so very lucky. Compared to the dying Gao Rongrong, whose face was ruined by electric shock torture in the camp, I felt so fortunate. However, as a person who follows the principles of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance, I should not have to feel fortunate to have overcome such severe persecution, because in the twenty-first century, in today's China, human rights and laws are supposed to be protected by China's Constitution. Good people should never have to endure what Falun Gong practitioners are facing. But Jiang's regime has manipulated the e
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:47am
[Frederick Meekins Pastor Sentenced To Chinese Labor Camp 2008-07-23 at 4:22 pm · Filed under Vox Populi
According to the China Aid Association, Pastor Zhang Zhongxin has been sentenced to two years in a Chinese labor camp by Shandong Province authorities for participation in cultic activities. To American ears, such allegations bring to mind images of passing around poisoned Kool-Aid or of adolescent brides forced to wed lecherous old men; however, in this case this pastor engaged in religious exercises most of us take for granted as harmless as organizing a Sunday school.
Since freedom of religion is listed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is a duty of the United States to stand for this liberty in any way proper or possible around the world.
Radical multiculturalists will respond that it is not the place of the United States to be spreading American notions around the world as this could be construed as imposing Western values on other societies. However, another axiom of the economic age in which we live posits that the customer is always right.
If the government of the People's Republic of China wishes to continue to benefit from the financial patronage and cooperation of the United States, it is only reasonable for authorities over there to respect certain inalienable rights held by all individuals irrespective of what regime they happen to live under.]
http://tinyurl.com/5av8ze
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:53am
[they'd rather talk about how all those other poor countries just weren't given enough of a chance...that Phelps didn't EARN those medals...oh, no...by having so much success, he is obviously stealing those medals from the other countries...as a matter of fact, in the liberal mind, they probably think it's unfair for one man to have so much gold around his neck..]USC1
Got any articles to back up this tirade? I personally think Phelps is an amazing story, an amazing athlete and perhaps the greatest Olympian ever. It is hard to tell though, as swimmers get to compete in more events than any other sport, other than maybe track. Do we really need 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m in free, backstroke, breast and fly? I am a little tired of seeing background stories on him nightly, show me the events and move on. Show me some table tennis, some badminton, some field events ( The Hammer throw is AWSOME!! Show it).
What I have read, and posted here, is that I would like to see more coverage of The Games. Not just sports that the US is expected to medal in. Before the Genocide Olympics you neo-cons kept going on and on about how the Olympics were not about politics, but about sports.
Which is it? A celebration of US athletes, or a celebration of athletic competition among the athletes of the whole world?
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 10:03am
End crabwalk spamfest.
Very interested to see the neo-cons defense of communist socialist torturing China...
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 10:05am
oops, forgot to respond to this moron..
[Because NBC decided to broadcast the games instead of a protest by 7 Americans over Tibet? Get a life Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 08/15/2008 @ 11:25am]
ibet Protests Turn Violent By Stephanie Ho Beijing 14 March 2008
Violence is being reported in Lhasa Friday and fires have broken out in the center of the city, amid a week of protests against Chinese rule in Tibet. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing that rare street protests in the province appear to be gathering pace.
Eyewitnesses report flames engulfing at least one market on Lhasa's Barkor Street, near the Jokhang temple, which Tibetan Buddhists regard as one of their most sacred sites.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing has sent an advisory warning Americans to stay away from Lhasa, because of gunfire and other violence.
Tensions in the Tibetan capital have increased in recent days, as thousand of police and armed soldiers sealed off the city's three biggest monasteries. The largest anti-Chinese demonstrations in Tibet in 20 years began Monday, when monks tried to stage a march to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Jan Willem den Besten is with the Europe office of the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group. He says the recent violence may be a sign that a growing number of Tibetans are unhappy with Chinese rule.
"It's a reflection of people's despair and the fact that people are aware the eyes of the world are on China in the run-up to the Olympic games. So, people use this opportunity to vent their frustration with the situation in Tibet, which has been very, very strict over the last 10 years in particular," said den Besten
"Obviously, we are very afraid that there will be a harsh clampdown on the demonstrators.
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 10:10am
This is what USC1, LIVER, and DARIN are defending... (too rich for words)
Posted by crabwalk at 08/16/2008 @ 09:09am
Crab, you know better. I have stated to you several times that I was against the MFN status for China. Having lived in Taiwan during the 1990's, I saw up close how realistic is the fear of the Taiwanese and others in the region as to the threat posed by China.
And as a Christian pastor who has supported the underground church in China for nearly 30 years, I am painfully aware of their persecution and torture of Christians.
I have been to China twice. I love the people of China. I remain hopeful that they will one day be liberated from the tryanny they currently are enslaved under. Things have improved there, but on a much smaller scale than is satisfactory.
The Chinese have long suffered from corrupt and oppressive governments. They have yet to enjoy true freedom. Even Chang Kai-Shek and the KMT were nothing but thugs and mobsters. Chang himself rose up as a hitman for the Soong family and their Mafia like crime syndicate (Green Gang). Chang made the most of it by marrying Charlie Soong's youngest daughter (Mei-Ling) and thus ensuring his rise to be one of the most corrupt leaders in China's history.
I recommend if you really want to know modern China and how Chang's corruption allowed Mao to come to power, read the exellent book;
Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave. It is must reading for anyone who really wants to understand modern China.
http://tinyurl.com/6gucxm
BTW, it will also provide a very different insight into Dr. Sun Yat Sen. His reality was something very different from that which was presented to me in junior high and high school.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/16/2008 @ 1:02pm
I think there's a very interesting irony in Crabwalk's recent posts. His excerpt talks about the oppression that goes on there and contends that it is our obligation to stand up against those kinds of abuses. Somehow, though, this also means that we can actually act to CORRECT the abuses of an insanely oppressive government (which Saddam Hussein's government beyond any shadow of a doubt was), somehow that's wrong because it's us "imposing our ideals on someone else."
This kind of moral isolationism makes no sense. It's not like the alternative to their position has to be the imposition of a three-branch, federal system that appoints judges, elects a President every four years and has a House and Senate. Why can't the US take (and act on) the bold stand that acts of oppression and brutality are wrong, and that where possible, we should act against them BOTH at home AND abroad. The idea of "protect/provide for America first and worry about others later" seems extremely problematic morally, and serves as a nice excuse for helping ourselves at the expense of the rest of the world.
Even more morally dubious is "if they aren't revolting, surely they're OK with the regime." One, regimes can be very good at cracking down both on revolts and on information about revolts. Two, the lack of revolution is not an excuse for oppression (which is where this argument basically leads, because it implies that lack of active revolt implies that the regime really does have the consent of the people). It may be better to work with revolutionary (or potentially revolutionary) groups than to just go in ourselves, but having to wait for a revolution would allow Hitler to continue the Holocaust as long as he wanted. This position is simply a nice masquerade for moral cowardice.
Posted by Thrawn at 08/16/2008 @ 3:10pm
I have been to China twice. I love the people of China. I remain hopeful that they will one day be liberated from the tryanny they currently are enslaved under. Things have improved there, but on a much smaller scale than is satisfactory.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/16/2008 @ 1:02pm
amen!
don't forget to say a pray for the baiji, too.
(i hope you recieved my apology. i meant nothing personally. i've don't recall you ever being racist here and my comment wasn't directed at you.
even though i think your politics are loco, i still would enjoy seeing your garden.)
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 10:30pm
Posted by Thrawn at 08/16/2008 @ 3:10pm
of course one must be nice to our fellow humans.
i think priority numero uno is to SET the example.
then, fair trading practices much be encouraged.
here,
i think you'll like this:
http://ethique-economique.net/IMG/pdf/INTERVIEW-2.pdf
"Now, there is a very old and conventional distinction in moral philosophy between positive and negative duties. When the conduct of one person is causally related to the fate of another person, then philosophers distinguish between two different ways in which that relation might exist. In the first case, a person actively does something that causes harm to another person. In the second case a person merely fails to do something he could have done to prevent something bad form happening to the other person. For example, you might throw a baby into the water and as consequence the baby drowns, or you might fail to rescue a baby already in the water with the result that this baby dies. Philosophers believe that this distinction between the negative duty not to harm and the positive duty to help is morally significant. In the context of understanding what human rights are it is a very important distinction. In my view, somebody is a human rights violator only when he or she actively harms others or contributes to harming them. Human rights, this very minimal notion of what human beings owe one another, do not require that people benefit or rescue or protect each other. They merely require that we do not harm others. However, with regard to poverty, even this very minimal demand is arguably widely unfulfilled today, since the rich countries and their citizens collectively harm many in the poor countries through the global economic order they impose."
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 10:37pm
two years, ten months, and twelve days.
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/17/2008 @ 12:27am
There's no document of civilization that isn't also a document of barbarism.
Genocide Olympics, that's practically redundant. China spent more on the games than on healthcare. So inspiring, really.
The games are just an ideological screen these days for the neoliberal destruction of the public sphere and degradation of the environment. A feel-good corporate jamboree to praise the cult of narcissistic individuality. Include me out.
See, boys and girls, competition is good and winning feels good. Now, go work in your service sector nowhere job without benefits. Life is just a race until you die and those who die with the most toys win. Take your marks.........
Posted by tnathant at 08/17/2008 @ 01:33am
Posted by Thrawn at 08/16/2008 @ 3:10pm
I have never called for an purely isolationist attitude toward China, nor have I stated that they need a tricamural system of government. All I ask is that 1: they not receive MFN status, 2: they be sanctioned for imprisoning and torturing their people, poisoning our/their/everybodies air and their water If they want to trade under those conditions then we should do so. But, to stand there and take their cheap labor while apologizing for their abhorrent human rights and environmental record, or hoping they will change of their own accord in the next ten years, is a form of moral cowardice paid for with greed.
[Life is just a race until you die and those who die with the most toys win. Take your marks......... Posted by tnathant at 08/17/2008 @ 01:33am ]
Sickening thought. Sickening to those that will come after and say "how did you use so much in so little time?" more than sickening, it could be catastrophic to the next generations. Replacing the word "greed" with the word "toys" is just so much hooey and self deception to make us feel good.
Posted by crabwalk at 08/17/2008 @ 11:31am
China is not the US and why we expect them to behave like we do is beyond me. They don't like foreigners unfurling protest banners about their internal affairs during the Olympics held in their capital city. Sounds reasonable to me. And by the way, there was just a protest in Hawaii by Hawaiians pissed off by the fact that we illegally annexed their country and deposed their legitimate government in 1898. What we did to Hawaii is very similar to what the Chinese are accused of doing in Tibet, but you never hear an outcry about our treatment of Hawaiians from those who are so concerned about Chinese treatment of Tibetans.
Posted by dae at 08/17/2008 @ 6:07pm
There is so much ignorance at progressive blogs about China that it sickens me. The blindly mouth the same lies and distortions that the right-wing has been peddling for decades. Anyone who looks at China from anything other than a preconceived negative perspective is dismissed out of hand. First off the cheap labor myth. Wages are low in China because prices are low. I know because I've lived there. Quality of goods. Everything I've ever purchased from China has worked fine. The HD TV I got for $200 has a better picture quality than the more expensive model I have that was made in Japan. Chinese prisoners? For god's sake we have 2.5 million people in jail under horrible overcrowded conditions the vast majority convicted of minor drug possession charges and given draconian prison terms. Why are they in jail? For being poor and black. Tibet? Have you ever said a word about what we did to Hawaii? All you progressive nitwits are goddamn idiots and racists. I'm so sick and tired of all your stupid bullshit. Get real and look in your own backyard for once in awhile.
Posted by dae at 08/17/2008 @ 6:23pm
Our whole culture is based on promoting false impressions and yet all we can do is ridicule some stupid Chinese beuraucrats for having a kid lip-sync a song. Oh come on people get real.
Posted by dae at 08/17/2008 @ 6:28pm
I've been in China every decade from the 70s through this year. I speak Mandarin I have life long friends who live and work in China. I've lived there for extended lengths of time. I've seen amazing changes take place there that are inspiring and heart-warming, as well as things that try man's soul. What's going on in China will define the world we live in for this and coming centuries. So get over your hidebound negativity. China will outshine the US in all respects by mid-century. I can assure you that China will be more democratic in 2050 than we ever have been. The vast majority of you so-called progressives don't know anything about China. Really. Sorry to say but you're all ignorant fools.
Posted by dae at 08/17/2008 @ 6:36pm
Sickening to those that will come after and say "how did you use so much in so little time?" more than sickening, it could be catastrophic to the next generations.
Posted by crabwalk at 08/17/2008 @ 11:31am
God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.
~Mohandas K. Gandhi
There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
~Mohandas K. Gandhi
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/17/2008 @ 6:51pm
Tibet, where is tibet? the state no 51? the U.S?
Slaves? Do you mean the people who asked as the misslie shield for the American? Are they still in Prague spring, or already winter?
Posted by poppy123 at 08/17/2008 @ 9:06pm
What is wrong with China?
The problem is the U.S. !
http://www.monthlyreview.org/0606jbf.htm
Posted by poppy123 at 08/17/2008 @ 9:30pm
When did we forget that the Chinese government, that this administration is fond of praising, is a controlled, communist country? Why are we so fond of the Chinese economy. is it because they can get away with paying their labor at sub human wages and creating large amounts of wealth for the few chosen ones in this country. Is it because they execute 10,000 people a year? Is it because they crush any decent from the people, like Tiananmen square?Is it because their some politicians in this country that want that for this country, a well behaved passive work force that asks nothing except subsistence before death? Are se becoming slaves to the corporate cult?
Posted by julien38 at 08/17/2008 @ 11:01pm
to dae: you live in a parallel universe. you must be a faucett salesman.
Posted by julien38 at 08/17/2008 @ 11:09pm