Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Did Hu Jintao preach Buddhism in Tibet?
Tsering Tsomo
A popular columnist at Saipan Tribune believes so. (yes, it took the wind out of me!)
On February 25, Jaime R. Vergara, a columnist at the daily wrote a lengthy piece on the “peaceful harmonious” diplomacy of the Chinese president Hu Jintao in an article titled “The Diplomacy of Harmony” (http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=97486&cat=3). In it, he said Hu Jintao not only preached Buddhism in Tibet for three years but also “honed his skills at resolving conflict through peaceful means”.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Not being a member of the Shanghai ‘mafia’ of the Communist Party, Hu’s meteoric rise to leadership included stints in Guizhou (south of Sichuan, and north of Yunnan) and Xizang (Tibet) - the hinterlands, where he honed his skills at resolving conflict through peaceful means. In the ‘60s, Hu followed Buddhism, even preaching the Buddhist principle in Tibet for three years.”
Another misinformed intellectual is Shelley Hawks, a “China expert” and assistant professor of social science at College of General Studies in Boston University. In a February 22 interview (http://www.bu.edu/today/2010/02/19/why-dalai-lama-s-visit-angers-chinese) with BU Today, Hawks said Hu Jintao received promotion for his “handling of student demonstrations in Tibet”. She did not mention that Hu as the party secretary in Tibet Autonomous Region was responsible for the year-long martial law in Tibet and the violent crackdowns on Tibetan demonstrations during 1988, 1989 and 1990. Many died from gunshots and many more were detained and tortured. How could she? She just transplanted Tiananmen Square from Beijing to Lhasa. The BU Today did not allow my comment on the article.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
China’s intellectuals and the quest for an independent identity
In short, an intellectual is an irritant, who doesn’t fit in anywhere, who questions all aspects of society, for he is full of doubts and skepticism. Whatever views he has, it is his own and not influenced by anyone. Every civilized and developed society has an independent space for the intellectuals; they have an independent identity whose work is to question and challenge the authorities with their alternative viewpoints. As governments tend to lie to hold onto power, it is the intellectuals who keep it under the scanner by scrutinizing its works and policies, making sure that they are constitutional and serve the larger interest of the society. For instance, in the United States we have people like Noam Chomsky who tirelessly scrutinize the policies of the American government, exposing the excesses committed by it, both domestically and internationally. Most of the time, views of intellectuals like Chomsky are at odds with those of the government, so much so that he is often referred to as ‘anti-American’ or ‘pro-communist.’
Such an independent space and identity is not available to the Chinese intellectuals. Since the Chinese civilization began, many philosophers, poets, writers, scholars have emerged, and they all have associated themselves with the state. They saw their roles as serving the state in making sure that it carries out its policies to serve the welfare of the Chinese people. They have never considered themselves as anti-state. They have always looked upon themselves as useful and honest servants of the state. Their duty is to make sure that the state or the emperor doesn’t violate the mandate of heaven. If they did so, the intellectuals had not shied away from reproaching them. At times many intellectuals lost their lives for criticizing the government. But, as mentioned earlier, the Chinese intellectuals didn’t have an independent identity of their own. They always searched their identity within the state apparatus, serving as official-bureaucrats or advisors to the emperors.
This situation continued and became worse when Mao’s communist revolution triumphed and the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. As early as in the late 1930s, Mao outlined clearly CCP’s polices towards the intellectuals, of what kind of roles should they play in the newly established communist society. He said that the role of poets, writers, novelists and scholars was to serve the Chinese communist revolution, which basically meant that intellectuals could not have an independent existence of their own. All forms of art that expressed a modicum of independent thoughts were suppressed as bourgeois counter-revolutionary tendencies. Intellectuals especially had a terrible time during the so-called Great Leap Forward Movement and the Cultural Revolution. Many of them were brutally tortured and killed for expressing their conscience. As a result, Chinese intellectuals were completely alienated from their state and government. They began to have doubts about communism (which they wholeheartedly supported in the initial period of liberation), as can be gauged by the fact that some intellectuals believed alienation to have been existed in communism as well. The state of intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution can best be described by the “three belief crises” that circulated among them: crisis of belief in Marxism; crisis in faith in socialism; and crisis in trust of the Communist party.
After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping came to power and tried to restore the bond between the state and intellectuals broken during Mao’s rule. Deng Xiaoping rehabilitated many of the intellectuals who were either imprisoned or sent to forced labor during the Cultural Revolution. A relative freedom ushered in for the intellectuals, and they tried to experiment themselves with varied western thoughts. Western artistic movements and philosophies became fashionable among the Chinese intellectuals. They read a wide range of western philosophers such as Nietzsche, Satre and Sigmund Freud etc. Search for roots also began among the intellectuals, as they felt China’s backwardness perhaps might lie in its own history and culture. Deng Xiaoping’s Four Modernization theory signaled that reform and opening up would continue. During this period, intellectuals still associated themselves with the state, searching their roles and identity within it. They were, in other words, establishment intellectuals or state builders. It was only Wei Jiesheng who was an out and out dismantler of the state with his calls for Fifth modernization: western style democracy. But he was the lone campaigner and didn’t have support from other intellectuals. As a result he had to suffer in prison for decades. But all the literary engagements carried out during this period were suppressed by the Deng regime as an impending threat to the CCP rule. As a result, intellectuals started to have doubts about the feasibility of repairing the state.
The complete break of bond between intellectuals and the State began during the late 1980s. The immediate cause was the sudden purge of Hu Yaobong who was the liberal face of the CCP and some of the intellectuals associated with the state, and whose goals were to repair and reform it. Their dismissals came at a time when China was facing severe crisis of corruption and maladministration, which made the situation worse. The intellectuals finally started questioning about whether progress can be made by serving within the state. For the first time they felt the root of the problem lies with the state/party itself, and that real progress and freedom for China is possible only by dismantling the current regime and replacing it with a new one. The two prominent intellectuals who represented this view are the astro-physicist Fang Lizhi and the radical intellectual Liu Xiaobo. They advocated that only a western style free democracy would usher in real freedom and democracy in China.
Then came the Tiananmen student protests of 1989 against government corruption and demand for greater freedom and democracy. Slogans during Tiannamen Demonstration in 1989 were ‘we love our country, but we hate our government,’ a clear demarcation between the country and government/party. As Merle Goldman, Perry Link, and Su Wei said, it ‘reveals the radical change in outlook of China’s student and intellectual community since the end of Cultural Revolution... and that patriotism had come to be defined as loyalty’s to one’s society and country, as distinguished from loyalty to party-state and its leadership.” For the first time in Chinese history, intellectuals from various backgrounds participated in that protest, which was brutally massacred by the Chinese Communist Party.
The massacre of peaceful protests proved beyond doubt for Chinese intellectuals that real reforms and democracy for China is not possible as long as the Chinese Communist Party is in power. It became clear to them that only by dismantling the current state ruled by the CCP, could China achieve its dream of freedom and liberty. Since the protests, many scholars, poets, and intellectuals who were repairers of the state have changed their position and moved to the sides of dismantlers of state like Fang Lizhi and Liu Xiaobo. For the first time in Chinese history, intellectuals are speaking from their own independent viewpoints, and are thus creating an independent space for themselves, challenging the dominant ideology of the state and party apparatus.
Although Jiang Zemin strengthened the market reforms and embraced the capitalists as new members of the Communist Party, signaling that opening up and reform would stay forever, China is mired in official corruption and arbitrary rules, which can be resolved only by establishing an independent judiciary. As of now, intellectuals who are openly challenging the Communist Party by calling it to step down from power and initiate multi-party elections are slowly but surely increasing. For instance, in 2008 a group of more than 300 intellectuals, journalists, rural activists and artists publicly signed Charter 2008, calling for a free and democratic China where human rights, democracy and the rule of law shall be paramount. Most of these intellectuals, including the leading figure, Liu Xiaobo, have been imprisoned by the Chinese government.
Another important change that occurred is that intellectuals are also openly speaking against Chinese government’s misguided policies in the so-called minority regions, especially in Tibet. Some of them, Liu Xiaobo including, are even calling for the Chinese government to hold peaceful dialogs with the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama to resolve the long-simmering issue of Tibet. For the first time in Chinese history, the intellectuals are calling for the rights of ‘minorities’ and questioning the Chinese government’s treatment in these ‘areas.’ It remains, however, to see when these intellectuals will realize and speak out the true colonial nature of China’s rule in ‘minority regions.’
Chinese intellectuals’ journey from being pro to anti-establishment has been long and troublesome. Their efforts to create an independent existence/identity for themselves seem to have yielded result finally. Although they are being harassed and denied free movement and expression, the intellectuals are strongly asserting themselves as free spokespersons of the society, as indicated by the signing of the Charter 08. It remains to be seen how far their influence will reach within the mainstream Chinese society, so that a real mass-based challenge could be mounted against the ruling Communist party, eventually leading to the establishment of multi-party democracy in China.
EARTHQUAKE IN TIBET: CAUSES, AFTERMATH AND DEBATES
In 2008, Sichuan quake caused 69,181 known deaths, 18,498 people are listed as missing, and 374,176 injured as reported by the Chinese state medias. The most affected was the collapse of schools which led to the death of thousands of children. If we look at the school casualties, In Mianyang City, seven schools collapsed, burying at least 1,700 people. At least 7,000
school buildings in Sichuan Province collapsed. Another 700 students were buried in a school in Hanwang. At least 600 students and staff died at Juyuan Elementary School. Up to 1,300 children and teachers died at Beichuan Middle School. It was a devastated earthquake, which crumpled Sichuan into dust and debris. Multiple of complaints were launched by the distressed local parents on the weak structures of school buildings which were collapsed, but the authorities stood off and remained silent. Later, Tan Zuoren, a Chinese activist who investigated the deaths of children in schools that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake was jailed for five years for subversion. Many of his supporters felt that the authorities detained him because of his investigation on Sichuan quake.This year, similar quake with the magnitude of 6.9 hits Kyegudo, Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, which was traditionally Kham region of Tibet. It was initially reported that around 400 people died of quake but the death toll drastically jumped to around 1,400 within a week. On April 18, Xinhua News Agency reported 1,706 death, with 256 missing, and 12,128 injured, out of which 1,297 of them severely injured. But exiled Tibetans estimated that around 10,000 Tibetans feared dead.
CAUSES OF YUSHU QUAKE:
Geologists are looking into the causes of the recent Quake and somehow considered that it was not linked to 2008 Sichuan quake. Dr David Rothery of Open University in Milton Keynes, UK says "It’s not the same fault, it’s a consequence of the same bit of global tectonics, which is the collision of India with Asia. That’s the only link I’d make". he also mentioned that the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake resulted from a thrust fault, which happens frequently in the region near the Himalayas where India and Asia collided long ago. But the recent quake was a strike-slip event, which happens when there is sideways movement along a fault line. That’s the type of event that caused the January earthquake in Haiti.
According to the United States Geological Survey, "In the region of the April 13 earthquake the Tibetan Plateau is extending and translating east-southeastward within a larger zone of generally north-south convergence. Based on the location, depth, and moment tensor of the event, the Qinghai Province earthquake likely reflects the interplay amongst these major tectonic forces, dominated in this location by southeastward translation. The eastward motion of Tibet with respect to Eurasia further north is accommodated in part by the large intra-continental Altyn Tagh and Kunlun strike-slip fault systems. Several large historic events in the Qinghai Province have occurred on the Kunlun fault, which runs west-east approximately 300 km to the north of the April 13 event."
Prof. Brahma Chellaney however linked the previous quake with the recent one by saying that, "China's manmade quakes: After 2008 quake caused by dam pressure on geological fault line, today's quake hits Yellow river origin, cracks dam." The Changu (or Thrangu in Tibetan) hydropower dam was reported to have damaged by the earthquake. There is an overwhelming fear in
Yushu that the nearby dam situated in Pathang in Kyegudo could burst any time, which might result to a huge loss of lives.Independent researchers have found out about existence of 14 dams (constructed or under construction) in the area. International Rivers, an agency based in California reported that China plans to build at least 81 large dams on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Salween rivers in Qinghai Province and Tibetan Autonomous Region. Since Yushu County is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it becomes a cradle for building dams.
Soon after quake hits Yushu, chaotic atmosphere ran high among the public without proper facilities to help rescue people from the debris of earthquake remnants. Many buildings were collapsed, schools were toppled, power supplies cut off, and roads were blocked. Remoteness of area, high altitude and sub minus degree temperature added difficulties in the rescue operation.
Thousands of People’s Liberation Armies (PLA) were deployed in the affected areas but were mostly concentrated in the main town, leaving far away remote areas without any significant help. Even in the town, the rescuers were seen manually using spade and hands, digging the debris without proper machineries. However, the swift rescue operations were carried out instantly which deserves appreciation. But, one may wonder a presence of thousands of uniformed PLAs in the rescue operation. Since Yushu is predominantly a Tibetan populated area, due to the brobdingnagian nature of 2008 demonstrations inside Tibet, large military convoy were deployed in an attempt to crush the demonstrations to maintain stability in the region. Yushu is also known to be close to Tibet Autonomous Region, that helps the Chinese authorities to swiftly deploy the armies whenever TAR is in need of army, whether to control the instability, or in safeguarding the borders.
Aftermath 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chinese leaders learnt a lesson on how to handle disastrous calamities. Premier Wen Jaibao visited Yushu to inspect and to console the bereaved family members. He assured of any necessary helps from the authorities. Chinese top brass leader, Hu Jintao shortened his scheduled visit to Brazil for the BRIC summit because of the earthquake and later visited the affected area. His Holiness the Dalai Lama applaud the Chinese authorities, monastic institutions and individuals who came forward to help with the relief work. Hu Jintao during his scripted trip to Yushu, inspected the situation and categorically emphasized on four priorities; rescue efforts, providing basic necessity (food, clothes and shelters), speeding up infrastructural construction, and the resumption of schools.
THREE DEBATABLE ISSUES:
There are three things which needs to observe carefully about Yushu Earthquake. First, like Sichuan Earthquake, many schools in Yushu collapsed due to the defective constructions of school buildings. Since many of the hinterland, like TAR, Qinghai and Sichuan are politically under a strict vigilance of Central Government. But on the infrastructural level, CCP is comparatively less bothered due to a prevalence of rampant corruptions and a culture of nepotism. Individuals contractors with a high level network constructed sub standard buildings by earning a hefty amount of money, which were never been scrutinized by the government. Collapse of schools in Sichuan was a clear example of Government hiding the facts from public eyes. Mohan Guruswamy in my facebook commented, "I am sure that, like in Sichuan earlier, most of the deaths would have been caused by poor construction by well connected contractors. But then this will be a state secret."
Secondly, the Chinese state media reported that the magnitude of the recent earthquake was 7.1, but the United States Geological Survey pointed with 6.9 magnitude. USGS considered Yushu earthquake as one of the largest known historic earthquakes within several hundred kilometers of its location. But Kevin McCue, director of the Australian Seismological Centre, said: "It doesn't qualify as a major earthquake even though the result may be a major disaster." Chinese government made some revisions on the earthquake parameters but still sticks to 7.1 magnitude. So, the debate of whether this earthquake is prominent or not is a matter of how the Chinese government percieve it. With the dubious recording of high 7.1 magnitude, what will the Chinese government get and gain? Is it purposefully done to generate more international relief funds and donations, or does it means to get more International sympathy and consolations? Else, the geological department of China is apparently not qaulified enough to scientifically monitor the earthquake.
Thirdly, the underestimation of death tolls by the Chinese government is something which China often does in the past. But in this case, it may be due to the fear of an eruption of social instability and political trauma in the region where majority of the inhabitants are Tibetan. As of 18 April, the Chinese state media reported about 1,706 dead but the exiled community reported an overwhelming record of 10,000 dead tolls.
Photo credits:
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
DIRTY HANDS OF CHINA: CYBER ESPIONAGE
Complex cyber espionage network - Documented evidence of a cyber espionage network that compromised government, business, and academic computer systems in India, the Office of the Dalai Lama, and the United Nations. Numerous other institutions, including the Embassy of Pakistan in the United States, were also compromised. Some of these institutions can be positively identified, while others cannot.
Theft of classified and sensitive documents - Recovery and analysis of exfiltrated data, including one document that appears to be encrypted diplomatic correspondence, two documents marked “SECRET”, six as “RESTRICTED”, and five as “CONFIDENTIAL”. These documents are identified as belonging to the Indian government. However, we do not have direct evidence that they were stolen from Indian government computers and they may have been compromised as a result of being copied onto personal computers. The recovered documents also include 1,500 letters sent from the Dalai Lama’s office between January and November 2009. The profile of documents recovered suggests that the attackers targeted specific systems and profiles of users.
Evidence of collateral compromise - A portion of the recovered data included visa applications submitted to Indian diplomatic missions in Afghanistan. This data was voluntarily provided to the Indian missions by nationals of 13 countries as part of the regular visa application process. In a context like Afghanistan, this finding points to the complex nature of the information security challenge where risks to individuals (or operational security) can occur as a result of a data compromise on secure systems operated by trusted partners.
Command-and-control infrastructure that leverages cloud-based social media services - Documentation of a complex and tiered command and control infrastructure, designed to maintain persistence. The infrastructure made use of freely available social media systems that include Twitter, Google Groups, Blogspot, Baidu Blogs, blog.com and Yahoo! Mail. This top layer directed compromised computers to accounts on free web hosting services, and as the free hosting servers were disabled, to a stable core of command and control servers located in the PRC.
Links to Chinese hacking community - Evidence of links between the Shadow network and two individuals living in Chengdu, PRC to the underground hacking community in the PRC.
At present, China has 384 million internet users under the watchful eyes of cyber police. Tens of thousands of Internet police, undercover and volunteer security guards were installed to monitor the internet after the cyber revolution hit China. In 2007, BBC reported that virtual officers were sent to patrol the internet and even the internet users can report illegal activities on the Beijing's Municipal Security Bureau's Internet Surveillance Centre. These cyber police not only act as patroling unit but also as a monitoring agent to intrude inside the personal informations of internet users.
During the 19th penal session of the 9th Standing Committe of the National People's Congress (NPC) of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 28 December 2000, decisions on Internet security was adopted whereby the Article 1 clearly mentioned invading computer information system, producing and spreading viruses, and interrupting normal network operation shall be considered as commiting crimes. But the Chinese government themselves are vigorously and secretly engaged in state cyber crimes by intruding into the systems of pro democratic activists and other vurnerable elements, and thus imprisoned them regularly.
In March 2010, Reporters Without Borders issued its latest list of Enemies of the Internet. China remains on the top with 72 of cyber dessidents including Tibetans languishing in prisons who were mostly charged with "divulging state secrets abroad."
In February 2010, with the mounting international pressures, China's Hubei Police seized the country's biggest hacker training website 'The Black Hawk Safety Net', established in 2005 and headquartered in Xuchang of the central Henan Province, which had more than 12,000 VIP members. Many more are still working undercovered within the paradigms of PRC which are literally protected and synchronized under the command of Chinese Communist leaders.
Over the years, China is notorously accused of hacking many governmental websites of countries around the globe which China still denies. Websites of prominent institutions, multinational companies and organizations are also not spared by the Chinese hackers.
Google's attempt of withdrawal from China in the recent past was not only about the issues of censorship within the terms of Chinese Communist Government in filtering Dalai Lama, Falun Gong and Tiananmen Square massacre, but more so with the infilteration of Chinese hackers into the Google network. The case of Tenzin Seldon's google mailing services in January 2010 was a clear example of Chinese high handedness of third party intrusion.
This current report of highlighting Chinese Cyber espionage is widely circulated and India significantly became a victim of Chinese menace, which was pressumebly targeted at India's defence shield.
Soon after the report came out, Prof. Brahma Chellaney instantly made his classic remark by saying, "While the Indian government sleeps, foreigners uncover China-based cyber spy ring that has stealing classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of the Indian Defense Ministry."
Strangely as usual, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswomen Jiang Yu denied the accusation by refering to the Report as "I don't know what evidence these people have, or what their motives are". She added that "Our policy is very clear. We resolutely oppose all internet crime, including hacking."
Reference:
1) Shadows in the Cloud: Investigating Cyber Espionage 2, by Information Warfare Monitor and Shadowserver Foundation, 06 April 2010
2) The Current Situation of Cybercrimes in China by Zhang Jianwen
Lecturer National Prosecutors College, Beijing, China, November - December 2006
Monday, April 5, 2010
Issue of Tibet: A post modern perspective!
There was a time when reality was considered absolute, not just in physical sciences but even in social sciences as well. The evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin in natural sciences, and that of Karl Marx in sociology in the way societies develop in linear fashion from stages of primitive, to feudal, to capitalist, to socialist and finally to communist states are the two prime examples. Such a predominant and single conception of an ultimate reality created its own share of human tragedies on our earth, as is evidenced by the massive destruction of World Wars I and II and more so in its aftermath in so-called communist states.
Then came Albert Einstein, who changed the dynamics of scientific reality - the way we look at and perceive it with his theory of relativity. According to him, even physical reality can be multiple depending on the observer’s physical context.
Einstein’s conclusion about reality is similar to the one propounded by post-modernist writers in literature and the arts. According to them there is no fixed reality, but multiple realities depending upon each individual’s perspective, and all these realities are valid and it can’t be scientifically proved that one conception of reality is better or worse than that of others.
This concept of multiple realities, all of which are valid, is extremely relevant in the kind of society we live in. Ours is a democratic society with different religious, cultural, social and political views. One group of people embraces a reality of interests, which is different from and at times contradictory to that of another group.
Such a post-modernist approach is also helpful in our efforts to resolve the issue of Tibet’s status. As we all know, Tibet is currently under the military occupation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and among the exile Tibetans there are basically two theories or realities in resolving the issue. The grand theory, as propounded by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and majority of exile Tibetans, is that Tibet must seek autonomy within the constitutional framework of the PRC. The other competent theory, as advocated by some of the intellectuals and young Tibetan exiles, is that Tibet should strive for independence. Both the proponents of these theories appear to be in conflict against each other, thinking as if one has the best solution/reality in solving Tibet’s issue. In other words, both sides reflect the classical view that reality is one, rather than the post modernist or Einsteinian view that realities could be different depending upon the observer’s physical context and that all these different perspectives of realities are valid scientifically.
In addition to this post-modernist perspective, we can add another strategy of what political scientists refer to as ‘cognitive dissonance’. And this cognitive dissonance can be added by bringing up another perspective, which is Tibet’s status quo. Indeed there are some Tibetans, both in and outside of Tibet, who are benefitting from the status quo.
Such a notion can be helpful, for at least, it will help the two seemingly conflicting sides to live in harmony and engage in lively debates rather than always ending up in acrimony whenever they meet and engage in conversation over the question of Tibet’s future status.
Furthermore, a single point perspective or reality concerning the ‘best’ solution regarding Tibet’s struggle, be it independence or autonomy, is reassuring, but it obstructs further discussion, debates and thinking, where as multiple perspectives of reality (independence, autonomy, status quo) will always leave room for us to have creative debates, perhaps resulting in a new and fresh perspective on Tibet!