For those of you that have come here to read my blog over the last eight months or so, know that I have never written an outright political blog. I have at times sprinkled in my own little antic dotes, but never have I come right and wrote solely about the political events in any country. I have held off for as long as I possibly could. But after a conversation last night with a good friend here in China, I have to say something. No this blog will not be about the current abysmal state of American politics, birther claims, Paul Ryan's pathetic attempt at a budget proposal, the Republic's field for 2012, or even President Obama's seeming inability to be a strong leader. Instead this will be about how I have had the chance to befriend a strong Chinese political activist while here, and this has meant many nights of discussing Chinese politics, the lies, unlawful arrests, and the absolute rejection of opposing voices inside the Middle Kingdom.
With the Arab Spring having consequences both in the Arab world and outside, governments around the world have been responding in numerous ways. Ranging from abdicating their power to cracking down on protestors and in some cases even paying citizens to hold pro-government rallies. Some governments have been very good at realizing their time in power is up, realizing that the forces of public protest, political unrest, and international pressure may just be too much for them to deal with while still being able to come out on top in the aftermath. Yet, the Chinese government has held steadfast. Any calls for political reform, the removal of corrupt officials, or even the whereabouts of detainees has been met with resistance. The government has arrested political dissidents, built construction sites over night to prevent protests, and is more than likely seeing the Great Firewall of China work harder than it ever has. That was all before the Chinese government pulled out a huge move and arrested the man who was probably the most internationally recognized artist and dissident not in prison. That was of course is Ai Weiwei. Since his arrest on April 3rd, his home has been raided by the police, whom have taken computers, hard drives, and notebooks. All while his family has not been made aware of his location, and numerous people linked to Ai have also been arrested or have disappeared.
When a government goes ahead and commits an act such as this it is done to have far reacting affects and done to quiet the masses. When you can arrest your most politically and internationally recognized citizen on "economic charges" you have just sent the message to your entire population that no one is immune. No amount of international approval will absolve you from arrest. That is a strong political message. Perhaps even stronger than actions taken in Northern Africa and the Middle East over the first few months of 2011. That is a deliberate tactic to remove dissidence from the conversation-whether that conversation is taking place on the internet or through the arts is irrelevant. Not only is this arrest along with all the other detentions and arrest frightening, but is also against the rule of law inside China, as well as international rule of law. As one foreign ministry spokeswoman in China recently said "Don't use the law as a shield." Things have taken a turn for the worse.
Last night while talking to my friend about how no one still really knows the whereabouts or conditions in which Ai Weiwei is currently being held and the numerous other political activists, lawyers, and journalist that have been disappearing in China at a dramatic rate, I could not help but see the sadness and disappointment in his eyes. The tone of his voice changed the longer the conversation went on, you could tell frustration was building and that helpless feeling we all come across when we don't know what we can do to help was seeping in. When the basic freedom to say what you like or have an opposing view is seen as increasing threat and creating problems for China, then where does that actually leave us? And I do mean us. I don't just mean where does that leave the Chinese. We have seen support-granted not unanimous or even equal support-for protestors throughout the Jasmine Revolution. But when will enough be enough for the international community? When will the citizens and leaders of the developed world come to aid and support of the activists inside China? Granted countries have raised concern over his case and Angela Merkel of Germany has made a personal statement to the Chinese government over the release of Ai Weiwei, which is all well and good. However, making this call is simply not enough.
China is in a unique position were very few international cries for change will make a huge difference. The likelihood of some western leader calling for the government to step down or make room for necessary changes is unlikely. The vocal support we saw for the removal of leaders like Murbarak and Gadhafi simply cannot be stated publicly because of China's role in the global economy. Yet, this does not mean we can simply tolerate this type of behavior-this goes not only for China but all governments. Your position in the world does not free from your duty to upholding and preserving the rule of law within your borders.
As I've had some time to reflect and think about the conversation I had last night and that desire to do more, I'm left with my own puzzling question: What can we do? The only answer I can think of is keep pushing. One of my Chinese co-workers and fellow professors made an interesting remark to me the other day when he said "Chinese history is a series of dynasties brought to an end through revolution." The comment stayed with me for awhile as I flipped through various Chinese history books I have here. Whether or not he was making the subliminal point that the CCP is simply another dynasty is unknown to me. All I can hope for is that through the continued efforts of dissidents and activists within China, they change and restructuring they desire comes to fruition. Charter 08 and the Nobel Peace Prize going to Liu Xiaobo were promising steps. Let's just hope that China's own attempt at the Jasmine doesn't come up empty handed.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Hippy in China? Impossible
Once again I have become negligent in my updates with the blog. Over a month has gone by since my last entry and that is in part due to that fact that how do I follow up an entry about two months of traveling and adventures? Well, I think I may have the answer with a few stories that have come up over the first six weeks of the new semester. In the last six weeks I have had to remove several students from class, rip a students attempt at a homework assignment up in front of him, defend my showing of a documentary as nothing more than an aid to a lesson, and start teaching a class full of Ph.D holders. Life has been good lately. On the bright side I have had a lot of free time since my lesson plans have been done way ahead of class and this has allowed me to watch documentaries that I would classify as horror films if I owned a Blockbuster and finish several books-including a re-reading of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, why I thought this was a good idea I have no idea, South Park really describes the book for you in about twenty seconds. I've also had plenty of time to read the news which my students hate since I insist on bringing up current events in class-if you've ever wondered what pulling teeth is like, welcome to my world when we discuss current events.
This semester I inherited a new set of students on Wednesdays and Fridays, along with being selected to co-run an English course for professors on campus hoping to teaching in America in the future. I kept my same freshmen students on Mondays and once again they nothing short of spectacular, they follow my limited set of rules and participate, cannot ask for anything else. However my new group of students have a very hard time showing up for class on time, which is my only real rule in class that I strictly enforce. After the same set students showing up late several classes in a row I started the lock the door as the bell rang. Now when they show up late not only cannot they not figure out why they cannot open the door but I've also seen a few walk right into the door expecting it to open up. All in all I've received a good laugh from this a time or two. It is like watching a bird slam into a window and we all know that never gets old.
With these new students I am suppose to cover a certain set of chapters in a horrible book given to me and all my students. In this book one of the lessons I am suppose to cover is on environmental protection. I decide one day that instead of doing listening activities and group work that we will watch the documentary The 11th Hour. We spent two periods watching the film and then discussing it. However during the course of watching this movie I had several students falls asleep. Now before every film I show in class I remind my students that if one of them falls asleep they ruin the movie for the entire class because I turn it off and give a test instead. With this film since it was being incorporated into a larger lesson I couldn't really do that. Instead I had to assign two page papers to the students who fell asleep and a seven page paper to a student who didn't learn his lesson the first time. This same student also came back to the next class without his paper, was kicked of class and told to come back when he had the paper finished. I expected him to come back the following week. But this is China after all. He showed up about half an hour later with a seven page paper, which had the first two sentences consisting of "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YEA, YEA, YEA." And it was written in size twenty font. I laughed at as I flipped through the pages, ripped it up and told him to stop being a child, stop wasting my time and go write an actual paper. I'm blown away at times over here by the childish behavior of some of my students. They are very smart at times and wonderful students for the most part but at other times I just want to shake them and ask them how old they are. I can never imagine at any point in my high school or college years where I would've had the balls to do what some of these kids do. In that regard, I give them the tip of my hat, but then in reality I have to teach them some very basic lessons at time that I never should.
In the follow up discussions about The 11th Hour I realized how environmental protection and raising awareness was something that my students had never really spent any time on. A majority of my students were glad I had shown them the film, one called me a hippy-which I didn't even think they knew about-and a few seemed to think I was standing a pedestal and preaching to them about a developed verse developing world issue. I tried to tell them that I wasn't doing this at all, that I was merely attempting to raise awareness and get them to see one of the big issues facing our generation. It was really sad to see how many students thought the things in the film and what I was talking about were made up-I had no clue Fox News was broadcasted in China-and some of them just have no real concern over the issue at all. Activism has a long way to go over here still. Which is why my Final Jeopardy question this week during class has been in regard to the resent arrest of one of China's most prominent international artists. I ask the students who co-designed the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest? Then I tell them to look up more of the work that Ai Weiwei has done, knowing that their search results will lead them to articles about his recent arrest. Someone has to stir up the pot a little I think.
Aside from these few issues, classes have been good. Life is good and I am enjoying the last few weeks I have here in Wuhan. I am planning on going to Beijing at the end of the month for a few days to see a concert and check another city off the list as well as the Great Wall. I will be home at the end of June. I believe Batavia will be holding a parade for the return of it's favorite son and the Chicago Cubs will be having me throw out the opening pitch at a game shortly after I return as well. One thing that I am going to be home just in time for is the Dave Matthews Band Caravan which will be in Chicago from July 8-10 and the official announcement of the location will be April 7th supposedly. The last thing I want to say before I sign off is, remember when the Packers won the Super Bowl? Wasn't that just the greatest thing ever?
This semester I inherited a new set of students on Wednesdays and Fridays, along with being selected to co-run an English course for professors on campus hoping to teaching in America in the future. I kept my same freshmen students on Mondays and once again they nothing short of spectacular, they follow my limited set of rules and participate, cannot ask for anything else. However my new group of students have a very hard time showing up for class on time, which is my only real rule in class that I strictly enforce. After the same set students showing up late several classes in a row I started the lock the door as the bell rang. Now when they show up late not only cannot they not figure out why they cannot open the door but I've also seen a few walk right into the door expecting it to open up. All in all I've received a good laugh from this a time or two. It is like watching a bird slam into a window and we all know that never gets old.
With these new students I am suppose to cover a certain set of chapters in a horrible book given to me and all my students. In this book one of the lessons I am suppose to cover is on environmental protection. I decide one day that instead of doing listening activities and group work that we will watch the documentary The 11th Hour. We spent two periods watching the film and then discussing it. However during the course of watching this movie I had several students falls asleep. Now before every film I show in class I remind my students that if one of them falls asleep they ruin the movie for the entire class because I turn it off and give a test instead. With this film since it was being incorporated into a larger lesson I couldn't really do that. Instead I had to assign two page papers to the students who fell asleep and a seven page paper to a student who didn't learn his lesson the first time. This same student also came back to the next class without his paper, was kicked of class and told to come back when he had the paper finished. I expected him to come back the following week. But this is China after all. He showed up about half an hour later with a seven page paper, which had the first two sentences consisting of "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YEA, YEA, YEA." And it was written in size twenty font. I laughed at as I flipped through the pages, ripped it up and told him to stop being a child, stop wasting my time and go write an actual paper. I'm blown away at times over here by the childish behavior of some of my students. They are very smart at times and wonderful students for the most part but at other times I just want to shake them and ask them how old they are. I can never imagine at any point in my high school or college years where I would've had the balls to do what some of these kids do. In that regard, I give them the tip of my hat, but then in reality I have to teach them some very basic lessons at time that I never should.
In the follow up discussions about The 11th Hour I realized how environmental protection and raising awareness was something that my students had never really spent any time on. A majority of my students were glad I had shown them the film, one called me a hippy-which I didn't even think they knew about-and a few seemed to think I was standing a pedestal and preaching to them about a developed verse developing world issue. I tried to tell them that I wasn't doing this at all, that I was merely attempting to raise awareness and get them to see one of the big issues facing our generation. It was really sad to see how many students thought the things in the film and what I was talking about were made up-I had no clue Fox News was broadcasted in China-and some of them just have no real concern over the issue at all. Activism has a long way to go over here still. Which is why my Final Jeopardy question this week during class has been in regard to the resent arrest of one of China's most prominent international artists. I ask the students who co-designed the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest? Then I tell them to look up more of the work that Ai Weiwei has done, knowing that their search results will lead them to articles about his recent arrest. Someone has to stir up the pot a little I think.
Aside from these few issues, classes have been good. Life is good and I am enjoying the last few weeks I have here in Wuhan. I am planning on going to Beijing at the end of the month for a few days to see a concert and check another city off the list as well as the Great Wall. I will be home at the end of June. I believe Batavia will be holding a parade for the return of it's favorite son and the Chicago Cubs will be having me throw out the opening pitch at a game shortly after I return as well. One thing that I am going to be home just in time for is the Dave Matthews Band Caravan which will be in Chicago from July 8-10 and the official announcement of the location will be April 7th supposedly. The last thing I want to say before I sign off is, remember when the Packers won the Super Bowl? Wasn't that just the greatest thing ever?
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