China – Pike & Hurricane

The China Dream – A Utopia of Chinese World Hegemony?

Franziska Fink — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 16:08:28 +0000

These days it is easy to fall into a bad – or even a hopeless – mood. One just has to open a newspaper to be immediately reminded of the desperate state our world is in. Michail Schwanetzkij, a Russian satirist, famously coined the phrase “Crisis is our normal state”, and, unfortunately, he was not joking for once.

Trade wars, the Taliban in Afghanistan, a rise in populism, Covid-19 – to name a few – the worsening of the climate crisis lingering in the back… The world as our parents used to know it, is falling more and more apart at its seams. The postulation that each kid will once have a better life than their parents, a premise long uncontested, does not hold validity anymore these days.

But there is another promise, another vision of world order – pledging peace, prosperity and harmony – this time coming from the East. China has ambitious plans to restructure the world as we know it. Recently, the voices of Chinese politicians have become louder and adopted a more assertive tone, in propagating a promising new world, with China at its centre. Xi Jinping does not leave out any opportunities to proclaim the realization of the “China Dream”: “We must make persistent efforts, press ahead with indomitable will, continue to push forward the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and strive to achieve the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Xi’s ideas are often said to be associated with the book China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-America Era in 2010 by Liu Mingfu, a retired Chinese colonel. In his best-selling book, Liu tells the story of how China will reassert its righteous place as the world’s dominant power and what life under Chinese hegemony would look like.

The “China Dream” and the possibility of a global Chinese hegemony could sooner turn into reality than one might think. China has been consistently and carefully rising among nations in the past thirty years. Starting in the 1990s, China began experiencing double-digit GDP growth. Even at its lowest GDP growth of 2,3% in 2020, the year of the Covid-19 related financial crisis, the Chinese economy is still expanding, making it one of the only G20 countries to not go into recession. By comparison, while the USA still has a higher GDP than China, its annual growth rate has been unstable and never exceeded one digit. The latest estimation is that the Chinese economy is on course to surpass the GDP of the US by 2028 or 2029.

Drawing on its economic advantage, China is developing and modernizing its military. By 2049, right on time for the 100th anniversary of the PRC, the People’s Liberation Army should be transformed into a “world-class” military.

All of these ambitious goals strive towards one thing only – the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Among Chinese decision-makers, the Western discourse of “China’s rise” is a sensitive issue, because in their eyes, China is not “rising”. It is simply reasserting its rightful place as a major power, as it used to be centuries ago. This narrative is derived from China’s past, ancient texts and cultural virtues. Texts by philosophers like Confucius and Mencius introduce the possibility of a different model of leadership, that of ‘true kingship’ or ‘humane authority’, known as Tianxia. It is a form of leadership that does not rely on hard power, but rather on cultural attraction and “winning the hearts of the people”, as well as on voluntary submission. So when Chinese politicians and key strategists speak of the world’s and China’s future, they are often referring to this narrative reassuring that China’s rise will not threaten the stability of the existing international system and in fact, will actually lead to greater global stability. This is because China will behave very differently than the US, as it will mainly rely on political power that is rooted in virtues and personal morality of the leaders.

However, Chinese officials are often accused of “selectively remembering” Chinese history to serve their political objectives and that they purposefully reconstruct China as an overly benevolent center of East Asia. Adversaries, such as scholar Teufel-Dreyer claims that “supporters of the revival of tianxia as a model for today’s world are essentially misrepresenting the past to reconfigure the future, distorting it to advance a political agenda that is at best disingenuous and at worst dangerous”.

Leaving all of this aside however, if it came true, what would life under the Chinese Dream look like? Amongst the consequences of the rising China narrative is a view on ‘Otherness’ that advocates conversion rather than coexistence. The best way to understand the establishment of a harmonious world is with the Confucian idea of “cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state, and pacifying the world”. This means that a wang ruler (sage king) “brings peace to the world” by first “cultivating his own moral value”, then the moral values of those he rules over.

Another influential ancient philosopher, Mozi, presents an even more radical approach, based on his notion of universal love. Mozi notes that all people have different opinions; therefore, when individuals act purely out of self-interest and rulers act only in the interests of their own nation, conflict arises. The emperor, if benevolent, unifies the opinions of state leaders and through them all the people. Yet, this involves not just a radical reordering of people’s preferences but the construction of new identities, such that all become part of “one world, [with] one dream”. This process of “harmonizing the world”, requires hence the complete erasure of difference in the world. It requires the creation of new identities such that all belong to the new harmonious world order, leaving little room for those who may not wish to belong.

By Franziska Fink

Related articles:

A Vision for the World with Chinese Characteristics

One Belt, One Road – China’s Path to the West

Photo credits:

“Xi Jinping at the EP” by European Parliament is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

US National Archives & DVIDS – GetArchive | PH1 WINSTON C. PITMAN, USN, Credit: U.S Navy

“Confucius” by JayPLee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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The Battle of the Grandmasters

Franziska Fink — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:10:56 +0000

Whilst reading a newspaper, one will often stumble upon catchy headlines such as “What Is the End Game of US-China Competition?” (The Diplomat), “Russian lawmaker on US-China power game: Don’t play us ‘as a card’” (Nikkei Asia) or “Erdogan’s great game: The Turkish problem on the EU’s doorstep” (The Financial Times). Each of these examples makes use of a metaphor depicting politics as a game of some sort. Of course, those headings are phrased as enticing as possible to win the reader’s interest. But by the same token, they subtly (and, most likely, unintentionally) reveal a core feature of political theory and practice.

It is not by a whim of nature that state leaders, transnational corporations and even whole nations are repeatedly referred to as “players” within the discourse of global politics. There is even an entire political and economic theory which is built around the analogy of politics as a game, the classic game theory. Scholars of International Relations, for example, make frequent use of this theory to showcase how international conflict and other political phenomena occur as a result of decisions made by people.

This politics-as-a-game allegory is even further underpinned by one of the oldest and most successful games known to humankind. Chess, which used to be especially popular among the Shahs of Persia and has since enjoyed great renown as a sophisticated leisure time activity of known politicians and state-leaders (Napoleon, Queen Elisabeth II, Willy Brandt and Jimmy Carter to only name a few), is currently enjoying a revival even outside political circles (which, to be fair, might have to be accredited to the less sophisticated leisure time activity of us mortals watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, an exceptionally well-made show that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy, Elizabeth Harmon, during her quest to become the world’s greatest chess player).

Chess is often described as a battle-game, during which both players are attempting to beat their opponent by taking down the king. But the king is of course very well protected and in order to get him into a position from which he cannot flee anymore (to put him in checkmate), you need to move around your pieces on the board tactically and follow a thought-through strategy. It is important to think long-term and often it is an enduring, nerve-racking process during which many victims and losses will occur.

Basically, chess is a miniature version of world politics. This might explain its frequent use among journalists, since the usage of chess terminology is an easy yet helpful way of breaking down complex events into vivid game metaphors. This comes in especially handy when trying to make sense of geopolitical issues.

Even though the Cold War was officially frozen for good by 1991, a new tension between the East and West has become more and more visible. With the difference however, that the Soviet Union has now been replaced by the new warily observed opponent of the US: China. Since 2013, China has massively invested into the establishment and expansion of its intercontinental trade and infrastructure networks. Within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative (BRI), China is subtly yet determinedly reaching for a shift in the balance of power among the world’s political players in its own favour. What on the surface seems to be nothing more than an infrastructure project, is actually an immense use of soft power executed by the Chinese state.

To translate this into the world of chess: If the US hegemony was the black king on the chess board, even though still well-protected by its many pawns of economic and military superiority, the white army, China, would be bringing its figures in a seemingly innocent, yet threatening position …

One of the many “points of attack” of the BRI that China is working on can be found in Nicaragua. Through a country that is rather rarely mentioned in the major international headlines, China is building a canal with the purpose of connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. This is neither a new nor a groundbreaking project, since it has already been realized in close proximity to Nicaragua. The Panama Canal has the exact same purpose and has furthermore already been in place since 1914. Why are the Chinese building another one, you ask? Remember: in chess, no unnecessary moves are made. They all have a purpose and follow a grand strategy. In this case, it is to pose a direct threat to the US which is a great ally of Panama. Together, the American and Panamanian marine are securing the Panama Canal. So even though the canal itself is an internationally neutral corridor, its passage depends on the benevolence of the US.

Of course, as an ambitiously ascending superpower, China does not put up with that and instead simply builds its own canal.

Yet, Central America is not the only arena where the two world powers are settling their disputes. China’s massive BRI investments in Africa, for example, have been given much more attention in the international press coverage. It is nevertheless crucial to maintain a global perspective, in order to keep track of all the moves the two grand masters are making during this enthralling game of East versus West.

Related articles:

A game of chess at the Greek-Turkish border

Between waters: the dilemma of the Nicaragua Canal

Photo credits:

Putin vs Obama by Svenn Sivertssen (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-76052-0335 by Ulrich Kohls (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

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Vaccine Diplomacy Clouds Over Southeast Asia

Carl Widegrip Dominguez — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 20:10:06 +0000

On January 20th, Thailand’s government filed criminal charges against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 42-year old politician, for alleged violations of a draconian lèse-majesté law which protects the monarchy from insult or defamation. The offense carries harsh penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

What, then, did Mr. Thanathorn do to prompt such heavy-handed punishment?

Two days earlier, during a Facebook livestream, he expressed concerns over what he felt was an opaque procurement and distribution vaccination scheme laid forth by the Thai government. Additionally, he questioned why the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca had granted exclusive local production rights of their proprietary COVID-19 vaccine to Siam BioScience, a biopharmaceutical lab wholly owned and managed by the Crown Property Bureau. The bureau itself is a quasi-governmental agency dedicated to managing the assets and property of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Like all affairs of the Thai Royal family, the bureau and its subsidiaries remains bereft of public scrutiny.

For his indiscretion, the former political opposition leader now finds himself staring down a lengthy prison-sentence, which may be compounded further if he’s found guilty of multiple counts of lèse-majesté or of the notoriously vague Computer Crime Act.

Yet Thanathorn’s case is merely the tip of the iceberg in a region-wide struggle which pits public safety against political interests.

In what can only be described as vaccine diplomacy, governments around Southeast Asia appear to be favoring unmonitored bilateral relations for political support and economic gain over effective and affordable treatment for their citizens.

Beyond the gaffe between AstraZeneca and Thailand, Southeast Asian nations have struck a string of questionable trade deals on vaccine imports and production. That the vaccines have been commodified for negotiations does little to alleviate the woes of international supply shortages and a near-complete lack of local production capabilities in a time of dire need. Of all the major vaccines available on the market, the biggest player on the Southeast Asian negotiation table is China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Foreign interests and domestic oversights

The public concerns over inadequate transparency surrounding the vaccine rollouts in Thailand are not unique to the nation, but rather endemic of a larger trend of foreign appeasement present among all member states of the chief regional intergovernmental organisation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Over the past decade, growing Chinese influence in the region combined with low levels of domestic accountability has created a precarious political climate.

Prior to the pandemic, China accounted for the largest single group of international visitors to Southeast Asia. This large presence provides a substantial source of tourism revenue, which certain areas are completely reliant upon. Moreover, China has poured in foreign direct investment into Chinese tourism hotspots such as Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia and Hat Yai in southern Thailand, and a myriad of large-scale joint infrastructure developments has been initiated as part of their Belt and Road Initiative, as well as multiple massive hydropower dam constructions on the Mekong River in Laos.

This asymmetric economic dependence is reflected both in political culture and foreign policy. The negative agricultural impact and environmental degradation stemming from the Mekong River projects have been tacitly accepted. China’s expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea are mostly quietly brushed aside. And when China comes knocking for a show of public support, the ASEAN members are usually happy to oblige them.

Nam Gnouang Dam on a tributary of the Nam Theun River in Laos.

So before many prominent vaccine manufacturers had even published reliable data from their late-stage clinical trials, many Southeast Asian nations had already decided to go with Sinovac as their premier choice.

Indonesia is one such example. After vocalizing early support, authorities signed an agreement with Sinovac as far back as August 25th, 2020—just two weeks after the launch of an Indonesian clinical trial—to import three million doses from China by January 2021 and to later initiate the localized production of at least 40 million additional doses via an Indonesian biopharmaceutical company.

First in line to receive the shot was Indonesian President Joko Widodo on January 13th. In a public display of cosy Indonesia-China relations, a broadly televised event showed President Widodo receiving the initial dose live, along with close-up shots of the Sinovac boxes.

The date is of note, too; two days earlier, on January 11th, Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority reported their interim findings of the aforementioned clinical trial and claimed the vaccine was 65.3% effective, and was granted emergency use authorization. The next day, Brazil’s local production partner of Sinovac, Butantan, determined the general efficacy of the vaccine at just 50.4% in their late-stage clinical trial.

So while still technically fulfilling the vaccine guidelines set out by the World Health Organization of minimum 50% efficacy, one might expect such low figures to cast the televised publicity stunt into question, or cause some trepidation in the subsequent mass rollout. However, the Indonesian government proceeded with their plan unaltered, and health authorities defended the move citing an urgent need to protect its health workers.

Indonesia is not alone in this regard. Negotiations for the import of hundreds of millions of Sinovac vaccines in aggregate across Southeast Asia have already concluded. The Philippines committed themselves to 25 millions doses due for import in February, at allegedly dubious price mark-ups. Vietnam is primarily looking at importing the AstraZeneca vaccine, but is still in discussions regarding possible Sinovac additions. Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand each had millions of Sinovac doses slated for delivery, but all deals are currently on halt pending more clinical trial data from China after Brazil’s disappointing findings.

Laos and Myanmar, two of the region’s poorest nations, are both notable cases of vaccine diplomacy. Labelled “priority” recipients by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, the two nations’ low bargaining power and weak international clout render them especially susceptible to foreign interests.

Laos is one of the few nations set to receive the Russian-made vaccine Sputnik V, but is concurrently in talks to supplement national rollout with Sinovac.

Local publication Myanmar Times reports that a multitude of behind-closed-doors bilateral talks between Myanmar’s Ambassador in Beijing and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs resulted in an agreement to ship the Chinese vaccine to Myanmar by early 2021. In order to secure the deal, Wang Yi sought the support of Myanmar’s ruling military junta for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor—a localized subsection of the larger Belt and Road Initiative.

The afflictions of politics

While negotiations for the right product at the right price occurs all over the world, Southeast Asia’s propensity for non-transparency in foreign affairs create distinctive issues. There are many economically impaired areas in the region without access to adequate healthcare and which lack a strong international voice to bring attention to any shortcomings of governance. Putting the lives and safety of these peoples and front-line workers at risk, to employ under-the-table dealings to cement diplomatic allegiances is unethical at best and possibly devastating at worst.

As mentioned at the start, not only does this secrecy create civil and legal issues for people who dare to ask the tough questions—as for Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit—but create far reaching public safety issues as well.

After being alerted of the legal charges the Thai government levied against Mr. Thanathorn, AstraZeneca may be showing signs of reconsidering their partnership with Siam BioScience, as a planned news conference on the authorization of the vaccine was abruptly cancelled on January 22nd. The fear of getting dragged into political hot waters may be an understandable disposition for AstraZeneca, but it also means that 50,000 doses that were scheduled to be administered in February might now be in jeopardy.

With the Sinovac rollout now also being temporarily suspended, uncertainty looms large over Thailand’s vaccination scheme. With a population of nearly 70 million, and with no available vaccines at the ready, more victims and economic hardships are sure to follow in the wake of callous vaccine diplomacy.

Related articles:

Unheard South Solidarity: The Asian-African Conference

One Belt, One Road – China’s Path to the West

Photo credits:

“Wat Pho. Bangkok.”, by Adaptor- Plug on flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0

“Nam Gnouang Dam (60MW), on a tributary of the Nam Theun River in Laos”, by Eric Baran, via WorldFish on flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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A Vision for the World with Chinese Characteristics

Emilie Yung — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:20:46 +0000

When Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), began to speak of ‘the China dream’ in 2013, many were unsure as to what exactly this dream encompassed. Some understood it to be anything that comes to mind. Studying hard, working hard, doing something good for the country. The nationalist undertones were exactly what many thought to be the goal of the China Dream; to raise the popularity of the CCP amongst the broad population and strengthen nationalism whilst ensuring internal stability and political legitimacy. In other words, it was believed to be a ruse, a simple propaganda campaign to solidify the Communist Party’s power.

The rise of China

Since 1979 East Asia has experienced massive economic growth and the region has since become the core junction of the global economy. The international market and politics have now pivoted to East Asia increasing the tension between key actors; China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan. The region is ripe with territorial and maritime disputes, military arms’ races and concerns of North Korean activity, all factors that might punctuate the equilibrium. Especially noteworthy is that the rise of China has enabled them to challenge the US-led international order and position themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Not only does the rise of China’s economic and military power upset the global power balance, but leaves us with no choice other than to pay close attention to whatever political vision they bring forth for the world.

A unique hybrid

A main priority for the CCP is to maintain the rapid growth they have seen in the last decades. Continued growth will ensure domestic stability and broader geopolitical stability, making economic growth a prime object to fulfill in various aspects. It has long been argued by political scientists and Western scholars that sustained economic growth would eventually lead to political realization – and sustained economic growth, in fact, required the latter. So, for China to have kept their one-party rule system for so long, while developing their economy, has been quite surprising. For a long time, the United States’ policy towards China was to induce change, to give economic benefits to China with the belief that China would open their economy and allow for democratization. Despite such expectations, China has stayed on its own course, and has undertaken political and economic reform via bureaucratic means, reaping the benefits of democratization while simultaneously tightening its grip on the state-led economic model.

Hence, China has in fact become an authoritarian capitalist machine and “ha[s] created a unique hybrid: autocracy with democratic characteristics” (Ang, 2018, p. 39-40). China has utilized economic growth as a means of securing the legitimacy of the Communist Party while avoiding the luring possibility of political liberalization.

The Xi manoeuvre

In the obvious power vacuum created by the U.S. President Donald Trump after withdrawing from essential political goals such as the Paris Climate Agreement and the exit from the World Health Organization in one of the most trying times – you know, with the raging pandemic and all – China has been welcomed onto the world stage. The United States’ withdrawal from multilateral partnerships has left a wound to be tended to, one in which Xi Jinping has happily emerged as the new global protector. At the UN 75th Annual General Assembly, Xi Jinping presented the Chinese vision for the world. He pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation, ensure global public health, and distribute Chinese-developed vaccines to the Global South. Covid-19 has shown itself to be the perfect opportunity for increased Chinese-led leadership, however, it is not the only seized opportunity. Global governance reform, continued globalization and the climate change challenges were important talking points and Xi Jinping seemed to desire to take up the mantle. In direct opposition to President Trump’s political vision of putting America first, China wishes to strengthen multilateralism and live up to their responsibility as a powerful nation underpinning their slogan “community with a shared future”. The China dream manifests, for Xi Jinping at least, as the global technological, military, cultural and economic power to be fully realized in 2049. It is the population’s ultimate reward for keeping the Chinese Communist Party in power.

The Chinese dream has caught on and the promise of a great future has allowed for certain political manoeuvres within the CCP. The term limit of two consecutive presidencies, put in place as a precaution by Deng Xiaopeng in 1982, was removed by the CCP in 2018 allowing Xi Jinping to rule until his death (allegedly with broad popular demand despite no evidence released on the matter), much like the infamous Mao Zedong – and the similarities do not end here. Xi Jinping has had his own political philosophy added to the constitution and with his position as president, head of the CCP, and head of the military, he may just be the most powerful political Chinese leader since Zedong’s rule – possibly even in the world.

A vision or a nightmare?

In Xi Jinping’s closing statement at the 75th Annual General Assembly, he praised values of freedom, democracy, peace and justice and encouraged to show support for a new international order built on such values. Despite the promising and intriguing nature of such a statement, not least in the light of a crumbling United States, let us not forget the authoritarian tendencies that operate within the political decision-making in China. The unique hybrid, that is China, can leave many confused with the true nature of Chinese rule and obscure present actions and future intentions. The China dream does certainly not apply to all peoples of the world. The arbitrary detainment of Uighurs (a religious minority living in the Xinjiang province) in internment camps where they are ‘schooled’ can only be seen as modern ethnic cleansing and so it seems that self-determination and acceptance of minorities are, as a matter of fact, not included in Xi’s vision. The words uttered at the General Assembly and the human rights’ abuses within Chinese borders are best described as paradoxical.

So, what is in fact the China dream and Xi’s vision for the future? It is not yet clear whether an expansionist agenda to safeguard internal rest and economic growth (that will undoubtedly stir up tension in the East Asian region) and the increasing human rights’ abuse led by the CCP will prevail or if China will commit itself to international cooperation, peace, tolerance and security above all else. The China dream’s ambiguity is evident and we may not know its true meaning until we face 2049. However, it cannot any longer be viewed as a ruse to legitimize the CCP’s power since global leadership is without a doubt pivoting to China. It seems only one person carries the answer and he is setting the tone for the global future. To that we should all pay close attention.

Image: 9-COP21_Xi Jinping, Presidente de China, by ConexiónCOP Agencia de noticias, CC BY 2.0

Related articles:

One Belt, One Road – China’s Path to the West

The “Boiling Pot” of Identities

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Death and Moving On: Dictating the Afterlife

Julia Glatthaar — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 12:56:12 +0000

Everybody will die at some point. Some people die young and others manage to live through a whole century. Some people die naturally, and others have their lives taken by force.

The essence is, and I think all of you will agree, that our days are counted and that sooner or later we will pass away. What humans fail to agree on, is the question of what comes next. And this creates tension. Because our beliefs in different hereafters impact our behavior, our attitudes and actions towards others, and in that sense it also shapes the way others see us and what they see in us.

When looking at some answers of the main religions the afterlife is used as the carrot and stick that motivates us to do good deeds during our time on Planet Earth. For instance, whilst Christianity and Islam focus on the soul that enters one’s body when being conceived and returns to their god when one dies, Buddhism revolves around the concept of reincarnation. So in this article, we will take a closer look at the cycle of life according to the concept of reincarnation, and talk about one of the most famous recurring souls of our time and his squabbles with China.

Reincarnation

The basic idea of reincarnation or rebirth is a central point of Buddhism, as well as many other religions. It is based on the concept of mortality and immortality of the soul. Hence death, until the soul reaches Nirvana, only precedes another reincarnation. Which means that when your body, the current host of your soul, gives out, your soul will go on a journey and settle in a new body.

On closer inspection, different people express different opinions on how exactly reincarnation can and should work. Some people believe that reincarnation is not strictly reserved for humans, but that you could also be reincarnated into animals. Others believe that reincarnation is not bound by the fixed chronology of timelines. This makes for an interesting thought experiment because it would mean that you could meet “yourself” at some point in life. Or even that every single living being on this planet shares the same soul being reincarnated time and time again…

One of the most important, if not the most important, souls in Buddhism, when it comes to reincarnation, is that of the Dalai Lama. So let’s grab a cup of tea and look at what makes this person and his reincarnations so important.

The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama represents a soul from the 14th century and has been the symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet. Currently, this particular soul is occupying its 14th home, the now 83-year old body of this guy:

The basic idea is that this is the soul currently experiencing its 14th life. It was first born in 1391. Therefore, this soul has witnessed over 630 years, or around 224 280 days. It is safe to say that it has experienced quite a lot. Which brings us to the next point: why is it so important for this particular soul to be passed on and, throughout the centuries, collect even more experiences and wisdom?

The Dalai Lamas are sacred to Tibet, and they are key to Tibetan national identity. It all started in 1913 when the 13th Dalai Lama took to the political stage announcing Tibetan independence and starting to meddle with the political system. Since Tibet is not recognized by China, it is too dangerous a place for the Dalai Lama which is why he has been living in exile in India for the past decades.

Today, the struggle for autonomy is still ongoing as the Dalai Lama pointed out during his visit to Malmö University: “I’m happy to meet you all here today, Tibetans and our friends and supporters. I often point out that since the cause of Tibet is a just cause, Tibet supporters are not so much pro-Tibet as pro-justice. We continue to keep up our struggle based on non-violence. Since 1974 we have not been seeking independence, but we have been seeking the rights mentioned in the Chinese constitution, the rights to be implemented on the ground, not only in the Tibet Autonomous Region but in all Tibetan areas, to preserve Tibetan language and culture.”

The uncertain future of the Dalai Lama

This split is apparently one of the worst fears of the Chinese government who are still occupying Tibet to this day. The Communist Party’s representative summed up China’s stance in a meeting, where he declared that the Dalai Lama was no longer a religious leader after he left Tibet in 1959 and that if he wanted to return to China he must acknowledge that Tibet is an inseparable part of China, with the People’s Republic of China being the only legitimate government, hence, the Dalai Lama must give up on “Tibetan independence”.

Moreover, as to not give any support or approval to the Dalai Lama living in exile right now, China recently passed a law that requests all Buddhas to be registered. This has already led to China announcing their own Buddhas, that now compete with their equivalents in Tibet. Hence, many fear that the Republic will “choose” the next state-conform Dalai Lama.

So, this cookie-eating guy from the picture has raised several possibilities of what might happen after he dies. From choosing to being reincarnated as a woman, appointing his successor whilst still being alive, being incarnated outside of Tibet in a free country, or not to reincarnate again. Many scholars believe that whilst this Dalai Lama does not have the power of stopping the reincarnation, he will pass on to one of the 130,000 Tibetans living in exile.

It will be very interesting to see what the future holds. But it is very likely that we will experience an age of two Dalai Lamas, one in China, and one in India. Or maybe even in Sweden.

Written by Julia Glatthaar

Photo Credits

The Dalai Lama @ The Vancouver Peace Summit (1), Kris Krüg, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Dalai Lama @ The Vancouver Peace Summit (2), Kris Krüg, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Brass 1, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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The Umbrella Revolution

Nina Kolarzik — Thu, 16 May 2019 11:13:34 +0000

About some revolutions we are informed quite well, others I have rarely heard about. The French Revolution was perceived a theme every year at school. The spirit of civil disobedience seems to still be with the French, but yellow is not only the signal colour of the current Gilets Jaunes protests, but also of the Umbrella Revolution.

The Umbrella Revolution?- never heard of it, even though it was relatively recent, only five years ago. A good reason to engage with it, since this uprising is a good example of resistance against governments authority, that reveals interesting about the special government structure of Hong Kong.

The beginning of an Uprising

In 2014, in the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, was in the international news for an uprising taking place on the streets and public spaces of the city’s central business district.

Triggered were the protests by new election guidelines from the National People’s Congress and lasted for 79 days. They demanded what was originally promised until 2017: free universal suffrage for the elections of the chief executive.

The candidates for this highest political post in Hong Kong are selected by a 1200-headed Chinese nominating committee, who can choose through the reform only two or three suitable candidates. This makes the people in Hong Kong worried that they will be able to choose only from pro-Beijing candidates who would serve as a marionette of China instead of having the interests of Hong Kong and its people in mind. No one, they would actually choose if they had a free choice would become state leader. Which is not a free democracy.

In between revolution and movement

Initiated was the movement by two university professors and a Baptist minister from the civil rights movement Occupy Central with Love and Peace after protesting students were attacked by the police. They used the energy of the following outrage. Students did boycott classes. They formed the heart of the protests, but people from all other ages and social groups joined in. They occupied central places in the financial and political centers and roads of the city, forcing public life and work to stop.

The protesters were using non-violent methods, the police threw tear gas. That was one reason to use umbrellas, which became the symbol of the movement: to protect themselves against the teargas and against rain, sun and all other weather.

Impressing is not only the peacefulness, but also the support and ethical behavior among the protesters, in terms of supporting each other and dealing with the circumstances and organization of a civil disobedience action.

Apropos, this article actually might not fit perfectly into this edition: the protesters dislike the term “revolution” and prefer to be called “Umbrella Movement”- foreign media where the ones who labeled it a revolution. “We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy!”, is the message of student leader Joshua Wong. They seek real reforms, therefore, as great as it is, all the international attention also worries the movement leaders. It makes it seem like the students want to challenge China’s status quo – which can lead to the big state refusing any pragmatic political conversations. It is a risk to stand up openly against the big power. The movement wants to preserve the rights that were promised and not change the system, as a revolution is defined.

The Special Administration Region Hong Kong

The background of the dissatisfaction lies deeper in the political structure of a Hong Kong and its relationship to China.

Hong Kong is a former British colony that is governed these days by a principle of “one country, two systems”. What it means? What it means is that Hong Kong is officially autonomous and self-governed in many sectors, it is economically and judiciary independent, while its foreign affairs are managed by the Chinese mainland. How strong the autonomy of the smaller island state really is, is although questionable, as this incident showed.

For China, it is a signal not only to Hong Kong, but to every corner of its wide, contested nation. With Taiwan and Tibet sitting on their edge, the People’s Republic does not allow any independence movements. China did not step back- pragmatic protesters were aware of that.

The relations between Hong Kong and China are not only playing a role for the next elections, but for the general economic, political and social future of the island state. It is a struggle about the future status of Hong Kong- staying semi-autonomous or becoming as free as the younger generations demand.

It is not over yet

The consequences are not over- the Umbrella Revolution or Movement has been recently in the news again. Charges are pressed against the leaders of the demonstrations. They are now sentenced to possibly up to seven years in prison, based on a (internationally highly criticized) law from colonial times, for disturbing public order. Other movement participants, who wanted to go into politics after the protests ended, faced problems on their own way.

Recently, thousands of people went protesting on Hong Kong’s streets again, against extradition laws that degree more involvement of China in the internal affairs of Hong Kong, then many want. The fight about the country’s political future has also not seen its end.

by Nina Kolarzik

Photo Credits

“31th Day Umbrella Revolution”, Studio Incendo, CC BY 2.0

“Tents”, qbix08, CC-BY-SA-2.0

“Fist”, qbix08, CC-BY-SA-2.0

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China and all things ungood

Oliver Ösmark — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 14:57:21 +0000

Something is amiss in China. It has become a place that is the proof every paranoiac dreams of. Flocks of robotic doves surveil, and concentrate over, regions home to suppressed minorities. One of China’s most prominent movie stars is missing since 1 July after allegations of tax evasion as well as earning a 0 out of 100 on an annual “Social Responsibility Report”. Abusive crackdowns on religious practices have intensified and declarations that religions in China need to be “Sinicized” and have their foreign influence purged have been put into action; Muslims are banned from letting their children attend religious activities and are being forced—an estimated 1 million people—into “reeducation” camps; Catholic churches have been forcibly vacated and leveled by bulldozers; authorities have put up QR codes on homes in minority communities and employ high-tech mass surveillance systems, such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, phone spy ware and big data, and encourage people to spy and report on each other.

Chinese democracy

In 2014, China’s State Council formulated a plan for the implementation of a Social Credit System. This system is set to be fully standardized by 2020. The system is set to assess citizens’ and businesses’ economic and social reputation, or “credit”, where the score is based on a combination of factors drawn from thousands of items of information collected from nearly 100 government agencies—among these are medical, financial and legal records.

Ant Financial, the finance arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, launched a product called Sesame Credit in 2015 that was China’s first effective credit scoring system functioning as a loyalty program but also as a social credit scheme. Scores are increased by so-called “positive acts”, such as paying bills on time, engaging in charities, separating and recycling rubbish, obeying traffic rules and, in some places, donating blood. A wide assortment of benefits can be reaped with a high Sesame Credit score—ranging from 350 to 950—such as no-deposit apartments, bicycle rentals, favorable rates on bank loans, free gym facilities, cheaper public transport, shorter wait times in hospitals, more matches on dating websites.

The government has clearly taken an interest in this. For example, the Chinese Supreme court shares a “blacklist” of debt defaulters and punishes them by lowering their Sesame credit scores. The courts can also introduce a recorded message on mobile phone numbers to strongarm them into paying their fines; when someone calls one of the debtors they first hear a recorded message telling them that the person they are calling has been put on a blacklist.

The harsh consequences of a low credit score are vast and serious. Millions of people have already been blocked from buying tickets for domestic flights. People who have refused to carry out military service have been barred from enrolling in higher education. People who buy too many, and spend too much time playing, video games; engage in excessive splurging or posting on social media; or—unknowingly or deliberately—spread “fake news”, can all have their internet speeds throttled. Public shaming of blacklisted citizens is also a common practice online, with several provinces taking this to the next level by using TV and LCD screens in public places to expose people. This “IT-backed authoritarianism” is unlike anything seen before.

The stories we [they] tell ourselves

Today, access to inexhaustible amounts of information has made it difficult to know where to turn to for credible news. A survey conducted in 2017 showed that 67% of Americans reported that they get at least some of their news on social media; with 20% doing so often. Of these, 45% get their news from Facebook. Facebook is known for categorizing users by political preference. Such data has been used to manipulate people and tip the scales in elections and referendums by specifically targeting people with misinformation customized to fit their profile; Cambridge Analytica was reportedly involved with the pro-Brexit campaign and Trump’s 2016 US presidential campaign. And it works.

Almost all aspects of people’s lives in China are monitored and recorded by the State. No one, who is a registered citizen, is anonymous and content is spun so that it falls in line with the sensibilities of the Communist Party. Much like how the news feeds of Facebook are personalized based on a person’s past clicks and like-behavior—effectively tailoring news stories to your biases and political leanings—China streamlines information by elimination, and this goes beyond online social media and into everyday life.

With the Chinese State’s monopoly on media distribution, it has become a case of where the exclusion of diverse sources of information and perspectives is the standard. Where liberty is concerned, disobedience and public dissent are constitutive. The freedom of the press and the state of a functioning free democracy are known to be strongly correlated. When dissidence and access to free, reliable media are heavily suppressed, the resulting vacuum becomes breeding ground for propaganda, falsehoods and hearsay.

The Agonist

George Orwell wrote in his essay “The Freedom of the Press” from 1945, “The enemy is the gramophone mind, whether or not one agrees with the record that is being played at the moment.” If one doesn’t know, or can’t know, what one doesn’t know, how susceptible do we become to the whims of those who would abuse their power? The glaring and perhaps demoralizing response to this can be met with yet another question: Who, then, is best equipped to carry the burden of proof? With the proliferation of misleading or completely fabricated information disguised as news distributed and shared on a mass scale, the role of the independent news institutions becomes even more important. If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. Even if it’s dangerous.

Related articles:

Your Privacy on Sale – the Commercial Spyware Market

Photo Credits:

Surveillance Cameras, Jay Phagan (CC BY 2.0)

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Falun Gong: No End in Sight

Michael Schätzlein — Mon, 02 May 2016 13:16:05 +0000

When the People’s Bank of China announced that it would switch its 1 yuan notes for coins back in January, it did so not only to increase durability and recyclability of the money, but allegedly also to counter the spread of subversive comments criticising the government written on the low-value notes. The move is believed to target Falun Gong, a spiritual group that has been persecuted for almost two decades now and whose members are said to be behind the reactionary messages. It is one of many attempts in a seventeen-year campaign of the Communist Party at curbing the movement’s influence and wiping them out.

Falun Gong, often also referred to as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice based on qigong, which sets it apart from other persecuted groups like the Tibetans and the Uyghurs, who are defined by their ethnic belonging and political aspirations. It first emerged in 1992, during the so-called “qigong fever” of the 1980s and 1990s, when public practices of qigong became a mass phenomenon in China.

Qigong combines conscious breathing, posturing of the body and movements with meditation, and has its roots in traditional Chinese culture, spanning back thousands of years. It is praised by its practitioners for its recreational and spiritual value, but is also used in medicine and martial arts. Attempts at formalising and grouping the various qigong schools were first made under Mao Zedong at the end of the 1940s. After Mao’s death in 1976, the practice became ever more popular, and an estimated 60 to 200 million Chinese were avid followers of qigong at its peak.

The Chinese government, wary of movements that might undermine the Communist Party’s rule, set up a regulatory body in 1985. However, Falun Gong proved elusive from the start: since it does not require formal membership and membership fees are non-existent, the practice was harder to control than other schools of qigong. Apart from that, its sheer size – it had an estimated 70 million practitioners by the end of the 1990s – meant that the movement could prove to be a challenge to the Chinese government itself.

Chinese governmental pressure increased, which was answered in turn with resistance from the Falun Gong community. Since Falun Gong is more spirituality-oriented than other schools of qigong and its followers are thus more invested in it, attempts to curb the influence of Falun Gong were met with staunch resistance. In April 1999, ten thousand of the estimated 70 million practitioners of Falun Gong demonstrated peacefully in Beijing, demanding an end to persecution. Two months later, the Party initiated a large-scale crackdown on Falun Gong and other qigong schools, imprisoning thousands of Falun Gong members and closing qigong clinics and research institutions.

While some of the schools were allowed to continue their practice under increased government oversight, Falun Gong and the related school of Zhong Gong were banned. Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong members were sent to labour camps, while others were detained in prisons, psychiatric clinics, or extrajudicial black sites, often living under grave conditions and usually having been sentenced without due judicial proceedings. The goal is re-education: Falun Gong inmates are to renounce their beliefs and to promise that they would never contact the movement again. By 2009, more than 2,000 deaths resulting from physical abuse and torture had been recorded. While the labour camps were officially abolished in 2013, they continue to exist under a different guise.

In 2006, allegations were made that the Chinese government was harvesting organs from Falun Gong prisoners, often said to be good donors due to their healthy lifestyle. The Kilgour-Matas report, written by former Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas, came to the conclusion that there was no source for more than 40,000 organs that were transplanted between 2000 and 2005 in China. Also, the waiting time for a new organ was deemed suspiciously low – about two weeks as compared to 32.5 months in Canada, indicating that organs were procured on demand. The publication of the report caused widespread alarm among the international community. While China denied the allegations, it also could not provide a satisfactory answer to the claims.

In response to the crackdown, the Falun Gong movement went underground, continuing to maintain its presence through the distribution of Falun Gong materials among the Chinese population. Those who fled abroad founded a healthy exile movement that soon became enmeshed with other opposition groups of the Chinese diaspora, challenging Chinese state media through own newspapers, TV and radio stations, and providing tools to those whose who stayed behind in order to circumvent government censorship. Further, foreign members of Falun Gong, now mainly living in the USA and Taiwan, initiated a veritable flood of lawsuits against Communist Party officials, and the movement is today reported to have filed the highest percentage of all human rights lawsuits in the 21^st century. The Chinese government has responded by tapping the diaspora’s communication channels and employing diplomatic pressure to disrupt Falun Gong members’ activities.

All attempts to curb the influence of Falun Gong over the last seventeen years seem to have failed at eradicating the movement. Their numbers are still believed to be in the tens of millions, although gauging the amount of members has proved difficult. The consistent failure of anti-Falun Gong policies thus begs the question why the Communist Party continues its campaign of persecution. The explanation is simple: the Communist Party has made the case of Falun Gong a vital matter to the nation, and it is so deeply invested in the movement’s persecution that admitting a failure of its policies would deal a severe blow to the government. The price both in terms of resources and political prestige would have been lower if it had it backed down earlier, but that moment is long gone.

Photo credits:

Picture 1: Tom Waterhouse, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Picture 2: ep_jhu, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Picture 3: longtrekhome, licensed under CC BY 2.0

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