Red Star Over China

May 20

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Chinese PM vows to build trust with India -

Li Keqiang says choice of destination for his first foreign visit shows importance Beijing attaches to ties with Delhi.

It seems to be on monthly basis now that relations between nations in East Asia are built, strained, broken or renewed. Relations are extremely fluid to say the least with many of the East Asian nations and with recent territorial disputes spiking tension in the region China has been on the move militarily and especially diplomatically. Chinese leaders have a fear of the US’s new pivot towards Asia and how it will affect the area. So much so that many of the actions taken by the US have led many higher ups in the the Chinese leadership to believe that the pivot is really a move for containment. Now China is doing everything it can to not be “contained” and it is showing in its recent diplomatic ventures.

Geographically China has looked North and West for new allies. Xi Jinping’s first visit outside of the country was to Moscow to talk with Putin about everything from arms deals and economic ventures to an overall improvement of Russo-Sino relations. Then comes the new Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang’s first official trip outside of the country to India, which has been aimed at improving Indian-Chinese relations and making it clear the China is ready to shelve the territorial dispute between these two countries for the time being. 

To me it seems that the Chinese leadership has made priority one to reaffirm and further strengthen its Russian relations. However, in a close second place it has wanted to make the wild card (India), one of its numerous territorial disputes, much less wild. In an earlier post about India being a big part of the larger territorial disputes of China, it is made clear that Japan is more than eager to pull India closer to its camp. However, it seems with the high level visit from Li Keqiang that China also recognizes the importance India could play in the rise in tension in East Asia. If Chinese leaders could pull India into their camp or at the very least be assured that India will simply stay out of it, then they could put their full focus towards the territorial disputes in the East. 

For China the game of Wei qi continues and the stakes grow larger with each passing month.    

May 14

artapparent: Dope photography series “Hutong - Darkness Illuminated” by Christopher Domakis “Hutong” is the Chinese word for typical old town districts in Beijing. You’ll find many of them in the very center of the city. While Beijing is moving fast, developing new districts and constructing massive infrastructure projects, there are still some Hutongs which provide daily life which you would expect only in villages far away from modern metropoles as Beijing. The density and the warm and friendly atmosphere feels like entering a parallel universe. It’s dirty, dusty, quiet, there are no cars compared to outside of the Hutongs and the rush is gone. The fast growing urban area of Beijing is usually bright, noisy and more and more fancy with shopping malls, huge streets, light shows and many tourists walking around. In cold winter nights (as you can see below from january to april) most of the streetlife moves inside the small houses and behind closed doors but fortunately as a result of the high density, I was able to catch a glimpse now and then. Light is the biggest contrast to the “world outside” ….just because there’s none. Walking around in the middle of the night in one of the biggest cities on the planet in the very center listening to some people talking very quietly and some distant sounds far far away made me even more interested in these old districts of Beijing….surrounded by darkness and silence.

artapparent:

Dope photography series “Hutong - Darkness Illuminated” by Christopher Domakis

“Hutong” is the Chinese word for typical old town districts in Beijing. You’ll find many of them in the very center of the city. While Beijing is moving fast, developing new districts and constructing massive infrastructure projects, there are still some Hutongs which provide daily life which you would expect only in villages far away from modern metropoles as Beijing. The density and the warm and friendly atmosphere feels like entering a parallel universe. It’s dirty, dusty, quiet, there are no cars compared to outside of the Hutongs and the rush is gone. The fast growing urban area of Beijing is usually bright, noisy and more and more fancy with shopping malls, huge streets, light shows and many tourists walking around.
In cold winter nights (as you can see below from january to april) most of the streetlife moves inside the small houses and behind closed doors but fortunately as a result of the high density, I was able to catch a glimpse now and then. Light is the biggest contrast to the “world outside” ….just because there’s none. Walking around in the middle of the night in one of the biggest cities on the planet in the very center listening to some people talking very quietly and some distant sounds far far away made me even more interested in these old districts of Beijing….surrounded by darkness and silence.

A Hundred Flowers in a Beijing Hutong -

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Fantastic write up on hutongs and the rich history that surrounds them. The discussion on hutongs, for me, is a discussion on the price of modernization and urban development. While the benefits are obviously noticeable on the quarterly reports, profit margins and income averages, the cost digs into the massive history of China. Hutongs are apart of the famed 5,000 years of history that China regularly boosts. Obviously it is unrealistic to expect every hutong to be preserved for the sake of history and culture but I feel an effort should be made nonetheless.

Simplistic patriots like Mr. Pan are far and few between these days in China. The way he boiled down the succession of CPC policy since the Cultural Revolution  shows how the long winded rhetoric on ideology can be futile if the common themes are kept in place. These economic practices and ideologies are like the blink of an eye in the span history of China. As China changes on a daily basis it is good to see that there are still hutongs to remind us that somethings should be preserved and even after thousands of years hold value.

慢走 (manzou) readers.

May 09

Unrest in Beijing Over Mysterious Death of Young Woman -

A rare protest in Be

Creative neitizens trying to spread information and get past the heavy censorship taking place around this incident have provided an eerie parrelell for Americans. 

“Today, an incident took place in the southern Washington DC area, a woman from the state of Texas, named Liya Yuan, was pushed from a building to her death after a gang rape. Since the suspect has a powerful background, the FBI claimed that the surveillance system was not working and concluded that she committed suicide. The Texans got angry and protested. Washington DC sent armed police to maintain stability, including helicopters and traffic rerouting, and censored related posts on Facebook and Twitter.”

This put into perspective what is really happening in Beijing right now with this tragic case.

May 08

South Beijing Teeming With Police In Response To Massive Protest After Death Of Allegedly Gang-Raped Girl -

A massive police and paramilitary presence has descended upon Fengtai District around Jingwen Clothing and Apparel Shopping Mall, the scene of either a suicide or murder last Friday. On May 3, a young woman from Anhui province fell to her death from the

If these allegations are correct with the untimely death of this women, this protest is completely justified. However I feel that aiming the march towards Tiananmen will see a massive crackdown on this cry for transparency and justice from Beijing authorities. If you thought that Beijing authorities were lightening up on protests after the anti-Japanese demonstrations last fall, this is what their response really looks like when the aim of the protesters is a domestic target.

It will be interesting to see how far these Anhui native protesters are allowed to go and if their call for the truth will be given a government response. Most likely more to come.

May 02

Tea Time Chat — Can China’s Top Universities Compare With America’s? -

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Whether it be an escape from the  mandatory Marxist fluff, more open avenues for research or a better chance to pursue one’s passions, this write up covers the reasons why three Chinese students chose American universities over Chinese ones. Provides for an interesting perspective on these two systems of education.

May 01

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Apr 29

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Apr 27

(via brianstanley)