Petitioning the Government in China

I have got to see this..

From the New York Times,

“…The right of the people to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” as the First Amendment to the United States Constitution phrases it, would seem to be a basic feature of the relationship between citizen and state. Even nondemocratic systems acknowledge the principle that the rulers should listen to the complaints of the ruled. Zhao Liang’s “Petition,” a brave and wrenching new documentary from China, takes a bottom-up view of the cruel and absurd ways that lofty ideal is put into practice on the streets of Beijing.

“Where is Petition City?” a man asks early in the film, which was made over more than a decade, culminating in the ambiguous civic triumph of the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is referring to the maze of tents and shanties that house temporary migrants from the provinces who have come to the nation’s capital to appeal for help after encountering indifference, intransigence or outright abuse from the local authorities. The petitioners, some of whom have spent years away from home, tell tales that are sometimes confusing and often horrific. They carry bundles of evidence and write down painstaking accounts of unjust incarceration, bureaucratic bullying and worse. There are reports of beatings and torture, confiscated land, even murder at the hands of powerful and unscrupulous officials.”

continued here

Spider Man in China

This guy is obviously not worried about his safety, he’s Chinese window washer.

Ancient Chinese Beliefs

The Civilization of China (Herbert Allen Giles) man named Lao Tzu, which may be approximately pronounced as Loudza (ou as in loud), and understood to mean the Old Philosopher. He was a very original thinker, and a number of his sayings have been preserved to us by ancient authors, whom they had reached by tradition; that is to say, the Old Philosopher never put his doctrines into book form. There is indeed in existence a work which passes under his name, but it is now known to be a forgery, and is generally discarded by scholars. The great flaw in the teaching of the Old Philosopher was its extremely impractical character, its unsuitability to the needs of men and women engaged in the ordinary avocations of life. In one sense he was an Anarchist, for he held that the empire would fare better if there were no government at all, the fact being that violence and disorder had always been conspicuous even under the best rulers. Similarly, he argued that we should get along more profitably with less learning, because then there would be fewer thieves, successful thieving being the result of mental training. ========== The Civilization of China (Herbert Allen Giles) Among his quaint sayings will be found several maxims of a very different class, as witness his injunction, “Requite evil with kindness,” and “Mighty is he who conquers himself.” Of the latter, the following illustration is given by a commentator. Two men meeting in the street, one said to the other, “How fat you have grown!” “Yes,” replied his friend, “I have lately won a battle.” “What do you mean?” inquired the former. “Why, you see,” said the latter, “so long as I was at home, reading about ancient kings, I admired nothing but virtue; then, when I went out of doors, I was attracted by the charms of wealth and power. These two feelings fought inside me, and I began to lose flesh; but now love of virtue has conquered, and I am fat.” ==========

Buying a Train Ticket in China- Lots of Chinese

from the chinadaily

People trying to buy a ticket home crowd the railway ticket hall of Xi’an Railway Station in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, Jan 5, 2011. Although the peak travel time for Chinese railway doesn’t start until Jan 19 this year, people who’re eager to get a seat on the train have already started their struggles. During the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, from Jan 19 to Feb 27

Four Chinese Go to Jail for Forcing the Blind to Beg

File this under “Sad and freaking absurd”
In the snippet below, four Chinese are being punished for forcing blind people to beg in the streets in China. Good for the communists for punishing them, but check it out. This infraction, forcing people to beg in the streets, has only been illegal in China since 2006- WTF? China is 5000 years old, and you mean to tell me that its just been within the past 5 years that they made such a heinous act illegal?

excerpt:
“The four reportedly became the city’s first to be prosecuted for organizing disabled people to beg since the crime was included in the country’s Criminal Law in 2006.

The Haidian district people’s court heard that the couples, both from Shangcai county in Central China’s Henan province, allegedly organized at least four blind men to beg for money in Beijing from early 2009 to April 30, 2010, when they were rescued by local police.”

also, the article begs the question…I wonder how those Chinese tourists got their money anyway…

The Communist Party and the Constitution in China

from The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers (Richard Mcgregor)

“…No legal obstacle is so great that the Party cannot brush it aside. For the security services, the single line in the constitution about the Party’s leadership role of the country has always been sufficient legal basis to arrest any critic. Hu Jia, one of China’s bravest dissidents, used to ask the plain-clothes police who waited on his doorstep to stop him leaving his apartment under what Chinese law he was detained. Hu Jia’s questions enraged the police. Some were so angry they beat him up. One day, he said, one of them finally responded to his question, blurting out the grounds for detention. ‘Under the preamble to the Chinese constitution!’ the policeman yelled, before dragging Hu away…”

Chinese and Standing in Lines

from factsanddetails.com
Chinese are not big on waiting in lines. People often butt in line or try to bully their way to the front or use contacts to get special treatment. There is often a great deal of pushing and jostling around ticket booths and bank clerks, where “huddles” rather than lines tend to form.

The Beijing Spiritual Civilization office launched “Learn to Queue Day” aimed at doing something about the mobs that developed around stopped buses and subways. The campaign employed teams of volunteers to teach riders how to wait in line at bus stops and let people get off subways before the begin crowding in.

Shanghai and Etiquette

from factsanddetails.com

An etiquette campaign launched in Shanghai called “Let’s Become Lovely Shanghaiese” produced a “Citizen’s Guide” that listed 100 ways that residents there could improve their manners in anticipation of the World Expo in 2010. Among the suggestions were: 1) “Don’t walk outside in pajamas or with a naked torso”; 2) “Trim your nostril hair short.” There was also advise on eating and politely using cell phones. The campaign was launched far in advance of the 2010 Expo in hopes that it would sink in by 2010. Shanghai has also passed law against swearing and smoking in public.

Cancer Increasing in Chinese Children 14 and Under- The Coming Crisis in China

It is no wonder all of the communist party members send their wives, and obligatory kid overseas, this place is a disaster. Cancer is the leading cause of death here, and this is mostly due to the fact that in a hurry to make money, they pay no attention to the safety of their brethren. While the chinadaily touts the number of Chinese purchasing ‘luxury goods’, they ought to focus on the paltry attention paid to the living conditions of the common person.
The snippet below discusses how cancer is on the rise in Chinese children.

Excerpt from the chinadaily:
BEIJING – Health experts have warned the public that pollution and environmental deterioration are behind rising cancer rates among Chinese children aged under 14. The Chinese mainland now has more than 32,000 children aged under 14 suffering cancer of various kinds

“Notably, the fatal disease, long considered a problem in senior years, is striking more and more children. Major risk factors include pollution and unhealthy lifestyles,” Zhang told China Daily at an awareness-raising event held on Thursday by sohu.com, one of the biggest online news portals in China.

The most common kinds of cancer among children are leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer, he said. The incidence of bone cancer is higher among teenagers than younger children, he added.

“Personally, I’ve seen more cases of children developing leukemia after home decoration,” he said.

“Long-term exposure to harmful chemicals from decoration materials would substantially raise the cancer risks, particularly for children,” he said.”

Battery Plant Poisons Children, Chinese Officials Punished

China loves to grow her economy. If growing the economy interferes with the lives of common folks then so be it, until today that is. Today I tip my hat to the communist party who is showing their softer gentler side. In the wake of the fact that it was discovered that a battery plant in anhui poisoned 200 kids, the top dog communists are punishing the little dog communists (see below). Although not specifically stated, it would appear that the punishment meted out to the lower level party members is that for one year they are only able to receive 50% of the bribes they usually could obtain. This will, in essence,will cut in half their respective take home pay.
xin ku le China!

HEFEI – Local officials have been punished after battery factory emissions sickened more than 200 children in East China’s Anhui province with lead poisoning, authorities said Thursday. Ten officials in Huaining county, Anqing city, received punishments ranging from administrative warnings to removal from office, according to a statement released by local government of Anqing.”