Brandon

China’s Nonrenewable Energy and Water Supply

 Posted by at 10:12 am  1 Response »
Nov 132012
 

Here’s an interesting graphic I discovered in a recent article posted for the Telegraph.

Where major non-renewable energy production is high, water scarcity tends to become a much more severe threat. Generally, cooling energy production is a large burden on the specific region, a problem that exists even in the US.

“Some 65pc of China’s water use is for irrigation, and 23pc for industry – mostly in coal production. Notice how much of the coal industry is in areas with water troubles.”

As water supply changes, the economic and social costs will need to be accounted for. Water use could become more expensive, and that could have an effect on comparative advantage, especially in China, where production costs remain low. The author of the post says just that:

“I was told a couple of years ago by Cheng Siwei – then head of China’s green energy drive – that the country’s economic growth over recent years has been negative if you adjust for eco-damage and exhaustion of non-renewable resources. This will soon become a tangible cost.”

For what it’s worth, my city is in the Anhui province, which is currently a yellow zone, where ‘stress’ is currently applied to water supply.

Red Rising, Red Eclipse

 Posted by at 10:36 am  No Responses »
Nov 082012
 

We had some friends over for a Halloween party–most Chinese have never celebrated Halloween, but they’ve studied it in class. At the party, I introduced a few of my friends to a book called “Red Rising, Red Eclipse.” Its written by the Australian Centre for China in the World, and it covers the story of China from 2009 to 2012, using a combination of scholarly writings and miscellaneous news and blog stories.

One of the friends did a quick search on his phone for the book, but to no one’s surprise, it is blocked in mainland China. I said that was a real shame because the book is very compelling and shows that there are two sides to every story.

And it got me thinking about how lucky I was to live in the United States, where for the most part, we are free to say and write and organize about whatever we like. In fact, its the First Amendment, something that regulars to NPS and close friends know is near and dear to my heart.

China has a textbook example of the Chilling Effect. If you say something contrary to the interests of the government, your likely to have it censored, or worse. So most Chinese become apathetic to the idea, or in their words, they “don’t concern themselves with the actions of the government.” Its a tragic example of apathy in the face of a monumental burden, and I hope that change is on the horizon.

A Note on Chinese Academic Life

 Posted by at 10:35 am  5 Responses »
Nov 012012
 

My university, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), is a top University in China. It ranks somewhere between 3 and 5 in the country on most ranking systems, and its a member of the C9 League, a coalition of the top 9 Universities of China. By most accounts, its a top academic performer.

Still, since my arrival, I’ve found my academic life to be somewhat frustrating. There is little guidance, the degree has unclear requirements, and there are very few challenging academic objectives. In a brief conversation with another foreign colleague, I brought this up, and I specifically mentioned how I found it odd that our department office was empty more often than not. His response was so good it bears repeating:

“Having lived in this post-apocalyspe [sic] environment for six years, none of the things you said surprised me. The only things that would surprise me would be a) having guidance and b) having any actual work to do. If the office is empty and the only people who occupy it are those drinking tea, sleeping and using chatting tools to talk to their friends, then everything is normal and as it should be.”

There you have it. I haven’t spent enough time here to verify to accuracy of this account, but I found it humorous enough to warrant some thought. Certainly, I don’t want to insinuate that the students and employees are lazy, but I think there is an attitude of doing the work when there’s work, and not doing work when there’s not.

Tibetan Independence and Chinese History

 Posted by at 3:20 pm  2 Responses »
Oct 232012
 

This past week, I was having a conversation with a Chinese woman. She was in her mid-twenties, well educated and almost fluent in English; in fact, I gathered that she was a teacher, at some points using English in her classroom. By all accounts, it was very similar to any conversation I would have in the US (disregarding her accent).

However, there was one startling difference. We ended up discussing a book that my roommate had recommended: “The Art of Happiness”. She said that she had researched the book, but couldn’t find anything about it online. It didn’t exist on Amazon. For those familiar with the book, the reason becomes apparent. Its author, the Dalai Lama, has been exiled and denounced within the People’s Republic of China.

When we explained who he was and eventually used a VPN to find an online picture of him, she recognized him as a Buddhist from Tibet. “We have conflicts with those from Tibet,” she explained, “because they do not like our government.” She even went on to explain how Tibet is clearly apart of China, and had been since ancient times. (Later, she would also explain how Japan and Korea were part of Chinese ancient territorial claims, although she did not suggest that they belonged to China at the present.)

On the global stage, the autonomy of Tibet has long been an issue international civil rights advocates. Tibet.org, for instance, dedicates itself to the cause of Tibetan liberation. The Dalai Lama, the 14th in a line of those with the title, has been exiled from Tibet for over 50 years, and periods of significant unrest have occurred in Tibet as recently as 2008. Starting in February of 2009, a series of self-immolations have also brought attention to Tibetan sovereignty; up to June of this year, “thirty-seven people, mostly current or former monks and nuns in their early twenties, had set themselves on fire in town and villages all over the Tibetan plateau.” (Red Rising, Red Eclipse, 2012).

Since 2009, a series a self-immolations have sought to bring attention to Tibetan independence

Some of Tibet’s ancient territorial rights are disputed, even by historians. The early dynasties likely had control of modern Tibet, but there were likely periods of autonomy during dynastic transitions. What is clear is that Tibet was its own sovereign nation starting in 1911. For almost 40 years, the 13th Dalai Lama (the predecessor to today’s 14th Dalai Lama) was ruler over present day Tibet.

In 1950, the newly formed People’s Republic of China under Communist Party rule incorporated Tibet. Following the 1959 Tibetan Revolution (an attempt at liberation that eventually forced the Dalai Lama into exile) and the Great Leap Forward (a Maoist initiative to industrialize the nation that eventually cost somewhere between 200,000 and 1 million Tibetan Lives), Tibet was completely merged under China’s government. The area remains the Tibetan Autonomous region in name only.

Today, separatist movements remain in Tibet and are championed by Tibetan exiles and human rights activists. Many outsiders have criticized the mistreatment and oppression of religion with the area, and even more have pointed to allegations genocide and infanticide in Tibet.

But you won’t find this information in a Chinese textbook. Our friend explained that Tibet is described as a land that has long belonged to China, and that proponents of Tibetan independence are separatist radicals. A common phrase among Chinese ‘patriotic youths’ is “Tibet is, always was, and always will be part of China.” There is no debate or discussion on the matter. A Google search will reveal none of this information, just as anything written by the Dalai Lama will not show up on Amazon.cn.

Our friend was willing to accept the possibility that the Chinese textbooks were misleading, or at the very least, incorrect. Such a view is refreshing and may indicate a change growing with the nation’s younger, educated population. But this remains one example of the skewed representation of historic events under the People’s Republic of China, an issue unlikely to change so long as the State remains insistent on pushing its views and denouncing the contrary.

The Leader of the Unfree World?

 Posted by at 10:02 am  No Responses »
Oct 202012
 

This week’s Time Magazine features a picture of the Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, along with the conspicuous title: “The Leader of the Unfree World”. It is an aggressive and unsubtle description of China’s power transition, and it accompanies the tagline “How China’s Xi Jinping will by the President who really matters”. Without reading the article (you have to be a subscriber to Time), I can say the title and cover speaks volumes.

The cover presents a brash view of Chinese governance, one that I found strangely at odds. In some ways, it is an unfortunately sensationalist tagline that fails to detect the nuances of Chinese life; most of the time, there is not a feeling of oppression or lack of freedom in this country. Yet in other ways, there is no denying the repression of certain free thought, particularly that which is critical of the government; it is no exaggeration to claim that Xi’s rise comes at a time when the world is watching as China addresses its civil rights issues.

Regardless of the cover’s mixed effects, I think its important to note that this leadership transition in China, which happens once a decade or less, is a pivotal moment in Chinese governance. In my conversations with politically informed Chinese, they commonly point to Xi’s reputation for being more liberal than the incumbent Hu Jintao. But will his leadership take action to address the necessary liberalization of free speech? Or will he follow his predecessors in puting a stop to any “disturbance” which is considered contrary to the interests of the Communist Party’s Politburo?

Even as I write this, there is the chilling effect of the ever-watching Chinese “Internet Police”, which are responsible for monitoring and censoring internet content which may hurt the State’s interests in maintaining social order. Many people know how Facebook and Twitter are blocked in Mainland China, and even the Chinese microblogging services, like Weibo, require registration using State-issued identification numbers so that writers can be effectively monitored. Its all a way that the state can push their agenda of a “Harmonious Society”:

“The expression ‘harmonious society,’ meanwhile, has been the dominant form of official rhetoric used by the Beijing authorities to bind fractured social relations in the decade from 2002 to 2012. ‘Harmonious society’ was formulated to deal head-on with the dramatic rise in social tensions triggered by China’s unprecedented and uneven economic development.” (Red Rising, Red Eclipse, 2012)

Much of the efforts to maintain a ‘harmonious society’ have come at the cost of civil liberties and free speech. In 2010-11 alone, there were approximately 100,000 mass protests against local abuses of power and injustices, and online dissent continues to grow. With this mounting unrest, its no surprise that the government has turned its attention to wei wen, or ‘stability maintenance’:

“Instead of addressing the problems and injustices, the Party leadership turned its focus on the protests and petitions these sparked among the restive masses themselves. It declared that people and groups who created social unrest, that is those who were protesting in increasing numbers against abuses of power and disparities in wealth, should be dealt with through socalled ‘stability maintenance’ operations.”

As the Chinese economic growth slows and as Chinese citizens and netizens become increasingly aware of their limited capabilities in a restricted society, it will be interesting to watch China’s approach to growing civil rights pressures. A few decades ago, the Communist Party and the central government–a dubious distinction–ushered in a revolutionary and transformative economic era by turning from traditional communist views in favor of the free market. Now, Xi Jinping faces a similar task, one that could be equally as transformative and no less revolutionary.

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