Faces of China

When China wakes, it will shake the world – Napoleon Bonaparte

When I was in Cuba in 2004 I recall commenting on the difficulty of
understanding the culture and mentality of a people living in one of
the last remaining communist strongholds of the world. On the one hand
individuals would glance around skittishly when confronted with
questions about their impressions of ‘El Hefe’ (the boss) for fear of
being overheard of saying something that might be construed as
anti-social behaviour, whilst on the other hand the masses would chant
‘Fidel’ with almost religious fervour at the many gatherings and
protest marches led by Castro annually.

Over three years later, and thousands of kilometres removed from Cuba,
China is likewise proving to be an equally perplexing jigsaw puzzle of
paradoxical dualities. Despite its economic ‘opening-up’ to the rest of
the world, something which has arguably improved the living standards
for many, China remains a communist state. People now have the
possibility of purchasing the latest laptop computers, but are
restricted in which websites they can visit. The most expensive
European fashion labels have opened boutiques in downtown Beijing and
Shanghai, however it would take a worker earning an average wage years
to purchase the most affordable shirt at one of these outlets.

Perhaps China is simply living up to its name as the ‘Middle Kingdom’
by playing not only an increasingly influential and central
geo-political role in the world, but also inheriting and integrating
the disparate modes of Eastern (Chinese) and Western economic
organisation: overtly state controlled on the one hand and
capitalistic, market-driven on the other. China’s rapid development in
recent years has been such that equilibrium between these conflicting
systems has had little chance to establish itself. It will be most
interesting to observe how China manages its emergence and transition
towards becoming the new world economic and military superpower.

In an attempt to bring some balance back into the overall picture, the
concept of building a ‘harmonious society’ was introduced by President
Hu Jintao in 2005, a society that would be governed and guided by the
virtues of democracy (yes, you read right), the rule of law, equity,
justice, sincerity, amity and vitality. All very valiant notions,
however a part of me cannot help but wonder how much of this is pure
political rhetoric and a mass public relations campaign to keep Human
Rights Watch at a manageable distance. Many would suggest that some
things are best left unsaid, and that rather than spending time and
energy in trying to get my head around these issues, one should simply
appreciate the differences for what they are. The fact that I am
thinking twice about sending this email however proves that the state
mechanisms of control are alive and well in China and that I do not
need to be Chinese to understand this element of their society.

Let me tell you what inspired me to tread down this somewhat
treacherous path of enquiry. A couple of days ago I ventured into
downtown Beijing to witness the one year countdown celebrations
designed to demonstrate to the world Beijing and China’s readiness to
host the Olympics next year. Hailed as the ‘Olympics of the People’,
I was looking forward to participating in a mass celebration with
young and old in eager anticipation of one of the biggest events of
the decade. As soon as I emerged from the subway outside Tiananmen
Square it became apparent that what I was about to encounter would be
distinctly different. Fences had been erected everywhere making it
impossible to cross the street, let alone gain access to Tiananmen.
Police were out in full force herding people away from direct vantage
points of the square.

The point is this: if one of the three key national themes of these
upcoming Olympics is ‘the People’, shouldn’t the people have had the
opportunity to partake in the celebrations instead of needing to watch
from a heavily guarded street corner over a kilometer removed from the
proceedings while 10,000 privileged elites bask in the limelight? What
does this mean for the other key themes of the ‘Environment’ and
‘Technology’? Technology will likely be strongly pursued regardless
because of its connection to the economy, but the environment…

Now it is time for me to go and catch the last rays of sunshine of
a beautiful day. Apparently they shot Russian rockets into the sky to
clear the clouds (and smog) for the Olympic celebrations. If days like
today are the result then perhaps they should hold these celebrations
more often after all, and instead of going into town and getting
crushed by the masses I will find myself a quiet spot by the lake with
a cold drink and a good book.

Sam Berlioz,
Beijing
2008