O Caminho para Casa

Do pequeno romance "Wo de fu qin mu qin" de Shi Bao, em inglês "Remembrance", saiu um filme delicioso (1999) realizado por Zhang Yimou, que só muito recentemente tive a oportunidade de ver. Vale a pena!

Sobre o filme:

Yusheng (Sun) regressa a casa, na aldeia de Sanhetun, junto às montanhas, para o funeral do seu pai. A mãe, Di (Zhao), insiste para que se cumpra a tradição local de carregar o caixão desde uma cidade próxima, onde o marido faleceu, até à pequena aldeia, para que ele não se esqueça do caminho até ao local onde deu aulas durante 40 anos. Enquanto Di tenta persuadir o filho, embarcamos numa viagem pelas suas memórias, até 1958, quando Luo Changyu (Zheng), com 20 anos, chega à aldeia para assumir o posto de professor da pequena escola primária e conhece Zhao Di (Zhang), dois anos mais nova, a sua futura mulher.
A simplicidade da história deste filme de Zhang Yimou é inversamente proporcional à sua eficácia dramática. Com menos de 90 minutos, consegue contar uma história em dois tempos diversos, passado e presente, sem pretensões épicas. Aqui não há lugar a surpresas: somos apresentados às personagens principais, Di, em redor de quem tudo se desenrola, e Yusheng, o filho, o elemento estranho de fora, que transporta, afinal, o nosso olhar. Somos confrontados com a morte do pai, no primeiro minuto do filme.

Sobre o livro (nota de um tradutor para língua inglesa online - parcial):

I'm happy to provide all Ziyi fans out there with a translated portion of the book "My Father & Mother," written by the mainland Chinese writer, Bao Shi (full text in Chinese, located here).One thing that you guys may have noticed is that, well, the translation is not complete (approximately one quarter of the novel [9 out of 41 sections] was translated).This is something I will address later, but for now, I think the best way is to think of the text as a supplement for those that already watched the movie.It is NOT meant to be a substitute for the script or novel.With translations, one thing that you must keep in mind is that the words are coming through the voice another person.So ultimately, what I present here is only one of many interpretations.

I tried to the best of my ability to preserve the structure and content of Bao Shi.He is mainly a very descriptive writer, and it's really hard to portray the vocabulary he uses.Most of his words in Chinese are fairly straightforward (and thus, translated simply), but sometimes I'd use some big words for the sake of word choice.The paragraph format is copied directly from the Chinese text, and it's not unusual for some paragraphs to be a single sentence.The style of dialogue is also put in a form that most English readers would be familiar with.For example: "He ran away," she said; when in the novel, there'd usually just be an exchange of dialogue, without benefit of describing who said it in the first place.All in all, the text was written in an informal narrative style, which actually didn't exist in China until early in the 20th century.

I think that the novel gives a pretty good impression of the characters, the settings, and in particular, a feel for the country. There were many terms that I was not familiar with, and I actually ended up just making up my own appropriate words. For terms that had no English equivalent (example: kang), I would leave the Chinese word in pinyin. As for the characters and the story, I think Zhang Yimou made the best out of the material in the movie adaptation The Road Home, and this is actually one of those few cases in which the movie succeeds on more levels than the book itself.The book seems to have a more prolonged beginning and ending, but aside from that, the material remains mostly the same.Zhao Di's bowl and hairpin still play prominent roles in the book.The son is also still involved in the ending, much to my surprise.



Um excerto:
"Chapter 1

Part 1

As I neared San He Tun, my heart tightened in anticipation. Without one word, the driver cautiously navigated the car around the twisting mountain road. It was not a comfortable drive, and the rocky ground caused the car to jump -- making my heart skip a beat, while giving a sensation of weightlessness.

This morning at 6 'o clock, the village head, Da Ye, called me at the dormitory. For a short period of time, I didn't even recognize who he was. Once I realized it was him, I knew immediately that my father had passed away. Mr. Luo had died. Heart disease. And that was it. In a rough voice, Da Ye told me that I should return home.

I heard Da Ye's words, and felt suddenly disheveled. When I saw my father at this year's Spring Festival, he was still... still in good health. So, how could of this come to pass? Actually, I can't believe that I'm saying this. This wasn't true at all.

I lost no time in giving my friend a phone call. In due time, I borrowed his car and went off to to go to San He Tun that very morning.

As we came in front of San He Tun, I could see the simple rural homes of the village approach through the windshield. We were quickly drawing close, so I told the driver to stop.

"We're here." I told the driver.
"I'll take you to the gate." he replied.
"No need." I said. "This far is enough."
"Alright, then take care."

I opened the car door and stepped out. The driver added: "Tell your village chief that when I come back, I'll have to thank him again."

And then the car drove off. With long strides, I entered the village and walked towards my home.

I approached the entrance of the courtyard. My heart pounded heavily, and it felt as if I had been shot in the chest. I then thought about my mother. How was she? How would she get through all of this? I paused slightly before I walked through the trees of the small courtyard.

Fontes:

Terra Cinema

Cinedie Asia

IMDB

Remembrance

Foi-se o homem, ficou o choque

O politólogo norte-americano Samuel Huntington, autor do conhecido ensaio “Choque de Civilizações”, morreu na véspera de Natal, aos 81 anos, anunciou hoje Universidade de Harvard, na sua página oficial.

Antigo professor desta prestigiada universidade da Ivy League, Samuel Huntington leccionou até 2007, abandonando o ensino “após 58 anos de bons e leais serviços”, lê-se no comuinicado divulgado hoje.

Huntington, que faleceu na sua residência em Vineyard, no estado do Massachusetts, foi autor, co-autor e editor de 17 obras e 90 artigos científicos sobre política norte-americana, democratização, política militar, estratégia e ainda sobre política de desenvolvimento.

Nascido a 18 de Abril de 1927, em Nova Iorque, Samuel Phillips Huntington licenciou-se na prestigiada Universidade de Yale, começado a ensinar em Harvard aos 23 anos.

Apesar da sua vasta obra, o nome de Huntington é sobretudo associado à teoria do choque de civilizações, formulada num ensaio publicado em 1993 na revista e "Foreign Affairs" e desenvolvida, três anos mais tarde, num livro que viria a ser traduzido para 39 línguas. Para o politólogo, no mundo do pós-Guerra Fria, os conflitos não oporiam mais os Estados-nações, mas nasceriam das diferenças culturais e religiosas existentes entre os povos.

Fonte: Público





Foreign Affairs

Pacific Currents: The Responses of U.S. Allies and Security Partners in East Asia to China's Rise

By: Evan S. Medeiros, Keith Crane, Eric Heginbotham, Norman D. Levin, Julia F. Lowell, Angel Rabasa, Somi Seong

China's economic, military, and diplomatic power has been on the rise, and many worry that it is nudging aside U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region. To explore this issue, the authors examined six specific U.S. allies and partners — Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. From extensive in-country interviews, trade and poll data, etc., they examined the responses in each nation to China's rise and assessed the implications for U.S. regional security interests. The six nations see China primarily as a source of economic opportunity, but many have concerns about China's regional goals. They want China to be engaged regionally in productive ways but do not want to allow it to become dominant. They find U.S. security commitments reassuring, bolstering their ability to engage China with confidence. The six nations clearly want U.S. involvement in the region to continue — but sometimes only in certain ways, at certain times, and on particular issues. Thus, they are pulling China closer for the economic opportunities it offers and the United States closer for the general reassurance its long-standing power and influence provide.


Pacific Currents

Rand Corporation

Sociedade das Nações: 30 anos de reforma e abertura

A China assinalou esta semana o 30º aniversário da política de "Reforma Económica e Abertura ao Exterior". No espaço de uma geração, as reformas de Deng Xiaoping transformaram o país numa potência económica. Nos últimos trinta anos a China transformou-se numa nação dinâmica e moderna, protagonizando um verdadeiro milagre económico.

Esta semana no Sociedade das Nações(passa hoje na SIC Notícias) , o embaixador da China em Portugal comenta os resultados económicos conseguidos com as reformas de Xiaoping. Gao Kexiang reflecte ainda sobre o processo político na China.

O impacto da crise financeira na economia chinesa, as relações bilaterais com a Rússia e os Estados Unidos da América e os Direitos Humanos são outros temas em destaque no programa desta semana.

Postal Ilustrado

Marinheiros de um navio chinês preparam cocktails molotov para repelir eventuais ataques de piratas no Golfo de Áden (Somália)

Mail online

Para não esquecer o frango que não quer assustar os macacos

Recentemente correu na China a notícia da emissão e circulação na internet da “carta 08” (charter 08), uma declaração com vista a assinalar o 60 º aniversário Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, muito inspirada na "Carta 77", elaborada por um famoso grupo checo.

Entretanto, a carta foi retirada da internet e Liu Xiaobo, o seu principal mentor, foi preso de forma a seguir a máxima política e jurídica chinesa de "matar o frango para assustar o macaco".

Ainda assim, foi possível encontrar uma versão traduzida para inglês. Aqui vai:

VOLUME 56, NUMBER 1 • JANUARY 15, 2009
Charter 08Translated from the Chinese by Perry Link

The following text of Charter 08, signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and translated and introduced by Perry Link, Professor of Chinese Literature at the University of California, Riverside, will be published in the issue of The New York Review dated January 15, which goes on sale on January 2.
—The Editors
The document below, signed by over three hundred prominent Chinese citizens, was conceived and written in conscious admiration of the founding of Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia, where, in January 1977, more than two hundred Czech and Slovak intellectuals formed a
loose, informal, and open association of people... united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world.
The Chinese document calls not for ameliorative reform of the current political system but for an end to some of its essential features, including one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights and democracy.
The prominent citizens who have signed the document are from both outside and inside the government, and include not only well-known dissidents and intellectuals, but also middle-level officials and rural leaders. They have chosen December 10, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as the day on which to express their political ideas and to outline their vision of a constitutional, democratic China. They intend "Charter 08" to serve as a blueprint for fundamental political change in China in the years to come. The signers of the document will form an informal group, open-ended in size but united by a determination to promote democratization and protection of human rights in China and beyond.
On December 8 two prominent signers of the Charter, Zhang Zuhua and Liu Xiaobo, were detained by the police. Zhang Zuhua has since been released; as of December 9, Liu Xiabo remains in custody.

—Perry Link
I. Foreword
A hundred years have passed since the writing of China's first constitution. 2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China's signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy student protesters. The Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.
By departing from these values, the Chinese government's approach to "modernization" has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse. So we ask: Where is China headed in the twenty-first century? Will it continue with "modernization" under authoritarian rule, or will it embrace universal human values, join the mainstream of civilized nations, and build a democratic system? There can be no avoiding these questions.
The shock of the Western impact upon China in the nineteenth century laid bare a decadent authoritarian system and marked the beginning of what is often called "the greatest changes in thousands of years" for China. A "self-strengthening movement" followed, but this aimed simply at appropriating the technology to build gunboats and other Western material objects. China's humiliating naval defeat at the hands of Japan in 1895 only confirmed the obsolescence of China's system of government. The first attempts at modern political change came with the ill-fated summer of reforms in 1898, but these were cruelly crushed by ultraconservatives at China's imperial court. With the revolution of 1911, which inaugurated Asia's first republic, the authoritarian imperial system that had lasted for centuries was finally supposed to have been laid to rest. But social conflict inside our country and external pressures were to prevent it; China fell into a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms and the new republic became a fleeting dream.
The failure of both "self-strengthening" and political renovation caused many of our forebears to reflect deeply on whether a "cultural illness" was afflicting our country. This mood gave rise, during the May Fourth Movement of the late 1910s, to the championing of "science and democracy." Yet that effort, too, foundered as warlord chaos persisted and the Japanese invasion [beginning in Manchuria in 1931] brought national crisis.

Victory over Japan in 1945 offered one more chance for China to move toward modern government, but the Communist defeat of the Nationalists in the civil war thrust the nation into the abyss of totalitarianism. The "new China" that emerged in 1949 proclaimed that "the people are sovereign" but in fact set up a system in which "the Party is all-powerful." The Communist Party of China seized control of all organs of the state and all political, economic, and social resources, and, using these, has produced a long trail of human rights disasters, including, among many others, the Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957), the Great Leap Forward (1958–1960), the Cultural Revolution (1966–1969), the June Fourth (Tiananmen Square) Massacre (1989), and the current repression of all unauthorized religions and the suppression of the weiquan rights movement [a movement that aims to defend citizens' rights promulgated in the Chinese Constitution and to fight for human rights recognized by international conventions that the Chinese government has signed]. During all this, the Chinese people have paid a gargantuan price. Tens of millions have lost their lives, and several generations have seen their freedom, their happiness, and their human dignity cruelly trampled.

During the last two decades of the twentieth century the government policy of "Reform and Opening" gave the Chinese people relief from the pervasive poverty and totalitarianism of the Mao Zedong era and brought substantial increases in the wealth and living standards of many Chinese as well as a partial restoration of economic freedom and economic rights. Civil society began to grow, and popular calls for more rights and more political freedom have grown apace. As the ruling elite itself moved toward private ownership and the market economy, it began to shift from an outright rejection of "rights" to a partial acknowledgment of them.
In 1998 the Chinese government signed two important international human rights conventions; in 2004 it amended its constitution to include the phrase "respect and protect human rights"; and this year, 2008, it has promised to promote a "national human rights action plan." Unfortunately most of this political progress has extended no further than the paper on which it is written. The political reality, which is plain for anyone to see, is that China has many laws but no rule of law; it has a constitution but no constitutional government. The ruling elite continues to cling to its authoritarian power and fights off any move toward political change.
The stultifying results are endemic official corruption, an undermining of the rule of law, weak human rights, decay in public ethics, crony capitalism, growing inequality between the wealthy and the poor, pillage of the natural environment as well as of the human and historical environments, and the exacerbation of a long list of social conflicts, especially, in recent times, a sharpening animosity between officials and ordinary people.

As these conflicts and crises grow ever more intense, and as the ruling elite continues with impunity to crush and to strip away the rights of citizens to freedom, to property, and to the pursuit of happiness, we see the powerless in our society—the vulnerable groups, the people who have been suppressed and monitored, who have suffered cruelty and even torture, and who have had no adequate avenues for their protests, no courts to hear their pleas—becoming more militant and raising the possibility of a violent conflict of disastrous proportions. The decline of the current system has reached the point where change is no longer optional.

II. Our Fundamental Principles
This is a historic moment for China, and our future hangs in the balance. In reviewing the political modernization process of the past hundred years or more, we reiterate and endorse basic universal values as follows:
Freedom. Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom, China will always remain far from civilized ideals.

Human rights. Human rights are not bestowed by a state. Every person is born with inherent rights to dignity and freedom. The government exists for the protection of the human rights of its citizens. The exercise of state power must be authorized by the people. The succession of political disasters in China's recent history is a direct consequence of the ruling regime's disregard for human rights.
Equality. The integrity, dignity, and freedom of every person—regardless of social station, occupation, sex, economic condition, ethnicity, skin color, religion, or political belief—are the same as those of any other. Principles of equality before the law and equality of social, economic, cultural, civil, and political rights must be upheld.

Republicanism. Republicanism, which holds that power should be balanced among different branches of government and competing interests should be served, resembles the traditional Chinese political ideal of "fairness in all under heaven." It allows different interest groups and social assemblies, and people with a variety of cultures and beliefs, to exercise democratic self-government and to deliberate in order to reach peaceful resolution of public questions on a basis of equal access to government and free and fair competition.
Democracy. The most fundamental principles of democracy are that the people are sovereign and the people select their government. Democracy has these characteristics: (1) Political power begins with the people and the legitimacy of a regime derives from the people. (2) Political power is exercised through choices that the people make. (3) The holders of major official posts in government at all levels are determined through periodic competitive elections. (4) While honoring the will of the majority, the fundamental dignity, freedom, and human rights of minorities are protected. In short, democracy is a modern means for achieving government truly "of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Constitutional rule. Constitutional rule is rule through a legal system and legal regulations to implement principles that are spelled out in a constitution. It means protecting the freedom and the rights of citizens, limiting and defining the scope of legitimate government power, and providing the administrative apparatus necessary to serve these ends.

III. What We Advocate
Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world; in China, too, the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving everywhere for citizens to be masters of states. For China the path that leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the authoritarian notion of reliance on an "enlightened overlord" or an "honest official" and to turn instead toward a system of liberties, democracy, and the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness of modern citizens who see rights as fundamental and participation as a duty. Accordingly, and in a spirit of this duty as responsible and constructive citizens, we offer the following recommendations on national governance, citizens' rights, and social development:

1. A New Constitution. We should recast our present constitution, rescinding its provisions that contradict the principle that sovereignty resides with the people and turning it into a document that genuinely guarantees human rights, authorizes the exercise of public power, and serves as the legal underpinning of China's democratization. The constitution must be the highest law in the land, beyond violation by any individual, group, or political party.

2. Separation of powers. We should construct a modern government in which the separation of legislative, judicial, and executive power is guaranteed. We need an Administrative Law that defines the scope of government responsibility and prevents abuse of administrative power. Government should be responsible to taxpayers. Division of power between provincial governments and the central government should adhere to the principle that central powers are only those specifically granted by the constitution and all other powers belong to the local governments.

3. Legislative democracy. Members of legislative bodies at all levels should be chosen by direct election, and legislative democracy should observe just and impartial principles.

4. An Independent Judiciary. The rule of law must be above the interests of any particular political party and judges must be independent. We need to establish a constitutional supreme court and institute procedures for constitutional review. As soon as possible, we should abolish all of the Committees on Political and Legal Affairs that now allow Communist Party officials at every level to decide politically-sensitive cases in advance and out of court. We should strictly forbid the use of public offices for private purposes.

5. Public Control of Public Servants. The military should be made answerable to the national government, not to a political party, and should be made more professional. Military personnel should swear allegiance to the constitution and remain nonpartisan. Political party organizations shall be prohibited in the military. All public officials including police should serve as nonpartisans, and the current practice of favoring one political party in the hiring of public servants must end.
6. Guarantee of Human Rights. There shall be strict guarantees of human rights and respect for human dignity. There should be a Human Rights Committee, responsible to the highest legislative body, that will prevent the government from abusing public power in violation of human rights. A democratic and constitutional China especially must guarantee the personal freedom of citizens. No one shall suffer illegal arrest, detention, arraignment, interrogation, or punishment. The system of "Reeducation through Labor" must be abolished.

7. Election of Public Officials. There shall be a comprehensive system of democratic elections based on "one person, one vote." The direct election of administrative heads at the levels of county, city, province, and nation should be systematically implemented. The rights to hold periodic free elections and to participate in them as a citizen are inalienable.

8. Rural–Urban Equality. The two-tier household registry system must be abolished. This system favors urban residents and harms rural residents. We should establish instead a system that gives every citizen the same constitutional rights and the same freedom to choose where to live.

9. Freedom to Form Groups. The right of citizens to form groups must be guaranteed. The current system for registering nongovernment groups, which requires a group to be "approved," should be replaced by a system in which a group simply registers itself. The formation of political parties should be governed by the constitution and the laws, which means that we must abolish the special privilege of one party to monopolize power and must guarantee principles of free and fair competition among political parties.

10. Freedom to Assemble. The constitution provides that peaceful assembly, demonstration, protest, and freedom of expression are fundamental rights of a citizen. The ruling party and the government must not be permitted to subject these to illegal interference or unconstitutional obstruction.

11. Freedom of Expression. We should make freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and academic freedom universal, thereby guaranteeing that citizens can be informed and can exercise their right of political supervision. These freedoms should be upheld by a Press Law that abolishes political restrictions on the press. The provision in the current Criminal Law that refers to "the crime of incitement to subvert state power" must be abolished. We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes.

12. Freedom of Religion. We must guarantee freedom of religion and belief and institute a separation of religion and state. There must be no governmental interference in peaceful religious activities. We should abolish any laws, regulations, or local rules that limit or suppress the religious freedom of citizens. We should abolish the current system that requires religious groups (and their places of worship) to get official approval in advance and substitute for it a system in which registry is optional and, for those who choose to register, automatic.

13. Civic Education. In our schools we should abolish political curriculums and examinations that are designed to indoctrinate students in state ideology and to instill support for the rule of one party. We should replace them with civic education that advances universal values and citizens' rights, fosters civic consciousness, and promotes civic virtues that serve society.

14. Protection of Private Property. We should establish and protect the right to private property and promote an economic system of free and fair markets. We should do away with government monopolies in commerce and industry and guarantee the freedom to start new enterprises. We should establish a Committee on State-Owned Property, reporting to the national legislature, that will monitor the transfer of state-owned enterprises to private ownership in a fair, competitive, and orderly manner. We should institute a land reform that promotes private ownership of land, guarantees the right to buy and sell land, and allows the true value of private property to be adequately reflected in the market.

15. Financial and Tax Reform. We should establish a democratically regulated and accountable system of public finance that ensures the protection of taxpayer rights and that operates through legal procedures. We need a system by which public revenues that belong to a certain level of government—central, provincial, county or local—are controlled at that level. We need major tax reform that will abolish any unfair taxes, simplify the tax system, and spread the tax burden fairly. Government officials should not be able to raise taxes, or institute new ones, without public deliberation and the approval of a democratic assembly. We should reform the ownership system in order to encourage competition among a wider variety of market participants.

16. Social Security. We should establish a fair and adequate social security system that covers all citizens and ensures basic access to education, health care, retirement security, and employment.

17. Protection of the Environment. We need to protect the natural environment and to promote development in a way that is sustainable and responsible to our descendents and to the rest of humanity. This means insisting that the state and its officials at all levels not only do what they must do to achieve these goals, but also accept the supervision and participation of non-governmental organizations.

18. A Federated Republic. A democratic China should seek to act as a responsible major power contributing toward peace and development in the Asian Pacific region by approaching others in a spirit of equality and fairness. In Hong Kong and Macao, we should support the freedoms that already exist. With respect to Taiwan, we should declare our commitment to the principles of freedom and democracy and then, negotiating as equals, and ready to compromise, seek a formula for peaceful unification. We should approach disputes in the national-minority areas of China with an open mind, seeking ways to find a workable framework within which all ethnic and religious groups can flourish. We should aim ultimately at a federation of democratic communities of China.

19. Truth in Reconciliation. We should restore the reputations of all people, including their family members, who suffered political stigma in the political campaigns of the past or who have been labeled as criminals because of their thought, speech, or faith. The state should pay reparations to these people. All political prisoners and prisoners of conscience must be released. There should be a Truth Investigation Commission charged with finding the facts about past injustices and atrocities, determining responsibility for them, upholding justice, and, on these bases, seeking social reconciliation.
China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of the UN Council on Human Rights, should be contributing to peace for humankind and progress toward human rights. Unfortunately, we stand today as the only country among the major nations that remains mired in authoritarian politics. Our political system continues to produce human rights disasters and social crises, thereby not only constricting China's own development but also limiting the progress of all of human civilization. This must change, truly it must. The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer.
Accordingly, we dare to put civic spirit into practice by announcing Charter 08. We hope that our fellow citizens who feel a similar sense of crisis, responsibility, and mission, whether they are inside the government or not, and regardless of their social status, will set aside small differences to embrace the broad goals of this citizens' movement. Together we can work for major changes in Chinese society and for the rapid establishment of a free, democratic, and constitutional country. We can bring to reality the goals and ideals that our people have incessantly been seeking for more than a hundred years, and can bring a brilliant new chapter to Chinese civilization.
—translated from the Chinese by Perry Link

Fonte: The New York Review of Books

Outras fontes: Asia Times

Telegraph

A ASEAN de olho na China

ASEAN tightens up to ride China's rise
By Brian McCartan

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched a new joint charter on Monday that establishes mutual rules and commitments, moving the 41-year-old grouping one step closer to becoming a unified economic bloc.

Unwritten in the charter's text are hopes a more unified region will improve its bargaining position vis-a-vis China, whose rising economic might and concentrated soft-power diplomacy in the region has relied largely on bilateral rather than multilateral deals and pacts.

The new charter establishes ministerial-level councils to consider and resolve substantive matters and the stationing of a permanent representative from each member nation at ASEAN's secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Designed specifically to strengthen regional integration, the charter moves ASEAN towards a more rules-based footing, although the grouping's famous policy of consensus-building has not been abandoned.

Greater regional integration is viewed as increasingly necessary to maintain global competitiveness as other regions of the world, including Europe and North America, have established coherent trade and investment blocs. The ASEAN charter significantly compels a regional recommitment to bring down trade barriers at a time when global economic turmoil threatens to spur a new era of global protectionism.

(...)

ASEAN's attempt to build a single market without an empowered central executive or a binding body of laws and mechanisms for dispute settlement will inevitably lead to problems of non-compliance, critics contend. There has long been an institutional reluctance to strengthen or establish either, due to the grouping's enduring commitment to non-interference and consensus in its dealings.

The tension between the perceived need to integrate to remain globally competitive and attract foreign investors who prefer the economies of scale opportunities in larger destinations such as China or India, and a reluctance to yield national sovereignty, will likely hinder the realization of the AEC's full promise.

At the same time, governments will remain free to pursue bilateral trade and investment deals independent of ASEAN, which trade analysts note has the potential to undermine ASEAN's goal of increasing its collective bargaining power with regard to bigger trade partners, including China.

China's emergence as an economic superpower has served as both an incentive for ASEAN to integrate to remain competitive in luring foreign investments as well as impetus for policies of nationalistic self-interest. Analysts believe that China's participation in more institutional frameworks for regional economic integration - such as ASEAN+3, which also includes Japan and South Korea, and the East Asia Summit, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and ASEAN - will over time only lead to greater economic and political interdependence between China and ASEAN nations.

The theoretical upshot of the new charter and its envisioned integrated regional economy through the AEC would be a stronger collective bargaining position vis-a-vis China than possible as individual nations. China's much ballyhooed "soft-power" initiatives towards the region, combined with ASEAN member states' residual preference for national policies over regional ones, could still make the AEC a non-starter.

Deft deployments

China's deft deployment of bilateral aid, loans, investments and trade deals has become an integral part of Beijing's broad strategy to create a regional structure in Southeast Asia that is more in line with China's strategic interests. While the United States still bases much of its regional engagement through security mechanisms aimed at containing China's supposed threat, many in the regional now view Beijing as a power that needs to be courted rather than repelled.

Indeed, many ASEAN countries remember that China resisted devaluing its fixed currency during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, allowing regional countries to depreciate their local units and export themselves back to financial health. The gesture was in sharp contrast to Western governments' approach, including demands for economic and financial reforms to pave the way for greater foreign participation in their debt-ridden economies.

China's foreign policy towards the region has often played on this sympathetic theme, presenting itself as a willing provider of no-strings-attached assistance, while the West appends conditions of democracy, rapid economic liberalization and good governance on its aid. China's outright donations are still small compared to many Western donors.

But when its wide range of assistance, including low-interest loans and trade and investment privileges are taken into account, Beijing is one of the largest bilateral donors to the region. It has also generated much goodwill throughout the region with symbolic assistance, in the form of financing Chinese-language schools, scholarships to study in China, study tours for government officials and frequent well-publicized diplomatic visits by ranking officials.

Artigo completo no Asia Times

Novos links entre a China e Taiwan

A new raft of shipping and air services pacts established between Taiwan and China officially went into effect Saturday, setting the stage for the historic Dec. 15 launch of direct shipping, air cargo charter and daily passenger charter services across the Taiwan Strait.

Among the ships scheduled to take part in the inaugural direct sailing Monday will be two vessels belonging to Evergreen Marine Corp. and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., respectively, both named "Taiwan." One will embark from Taiwan's Kaohsiung Port bound for China's port of Tianjin, while the other will set said from Keelung, bound for Shanghai.

The day will also see two Chinese vessels, each named "China, " put out from Chinese ports to make the direct crossing across the Taiwan Strait to ports in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the first direct cross-strait cargo charter flight will be provided by China Southern Airlines and is scheduled to take off at 3 p.m. from Guangzhou for the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, according to Civil Aeronautics Administration officials.

The earliest daily passenger flights available that day will be provided by Taiwan's TransAsia Airways and China's China Eastern Airlines and will take off 8 a.m. from Taipei for Shanghai and from Shanghai for Taoyuan, respectively.

Fonte: Taiwan Headlines

Leituras: História da China

Um livro de referência, agora editado em Portugal, escrito como um guião conciso de uma viagem desde os primórdios da formação do país até à trasformação em superpotência económica.

Stephen G. Haw começa por explicar as civilizações pré-históricas de há quatro mil anos atrás, seguindo para o desenvolvimento do comércio das sedas. Aqui encontramos a origem das principais invenções da era pré-moderna - o papel, a pólvora, a bússola magnética -, que seriam transmitidas da China para o mundo ocidental. Das gloriosas dinastias Tang e Song, durante as quais nasceriam as grandes cidades chinesas, passamos ao período de declínio e do esforço ocidental para dominar este território gigante. Finalmente, Haw percorre os anos conturbados e as vitórias da Revolução Chinesa, bem como as mudanças progressivas que foram ocorrendo desde os anos setenta até aos dias de hoje, nomeadamente a transferência dos últimos territórios sob controlo ocidental para o Governo chinês e o desenvolvimento fulminante da economia do país.

China lança “forte protesto” contra encontro de Sarkozy com o Dalai Lama

A China lançou hoje um “forte protesto” contra a França depois do encontro de ontem entre o Presidente Nicolas Sarkozy e o Dalai Lama na Polónia, anunciou hoje a televisão nacional.

“O vice-ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros, He Yafei, emitiu um forte protesto”, noticiou a televisão CCTV.

"O lado francês deverá tomar algumas acções concretas para corrigir os seus erros e prejuízos nas relações bilaterais China-França e nas relações China-União Europeia", comentou He Yafei.

Ontem, Sarkozy - cujo país assume a presidência rotativa da União Europeia - encontrou-se com o Dalai Lama e disse que a Europa partilha das preocupações do líder espiritual tibetano exilado sobre a situação na sua terra natal.

Por seu lado, o Ministério chinês dos Negócios Estrangeiros sublinhou que a iniciativa francesa "feriu gravemente os sentimentos nacionais do povo chinês. O Governo chinês expressa a sua firme oposição e forte desagrado por isso".

Antes do encontro na Polónia, a China multiplicou-se em manifestações do seu descontentamento em relação a este encontro.

Fonte: Jornal Público

'Roses' lost before translation in China

'Roses' lost before translation in China By Kent Ewing

HONG KONG - Can an aging American rock band bring down the communist government of China?

Based on all the sound and fury surrounding the release of Chinese Democracy, the latest album by hard-rocking Guns N' Roses (GNR), one might think so. The China National Publications Import and Export Group - the state-owned monopoly responsible for importing all music to the mainland - has instructed record stores not to bother ordering the eagerly anticipated and long-awaited album, GNR's first in 15 years and its first release of original material in 17 years.

Moreover, although Chinese fans can listen to Chinese Democracy on the band's Myspace page, the album's official website has been blocked on the mainland and the band roundly denounced in the press and on the Internet. One outraged netizen reportedly characterized the album as part of a Western conspiracy to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."

If that is the case and this album is the most potent criticism of Chinese rule that the West can offer, then the world can expect a glorious rebirth of totalitarianism in the 21st century.

Fonte: Asia Times