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26 April Hounded by heparin, protests and CNN? China looks for new moves, and maybe a few good PR flaks.So China has this big, face-loosing mess on its hands that threatens to get worse until it explodes at its big Olympian debutante party.
Modern China has never been particularly sure of its newfound place in the international order, never quite confident it understands the ways the rest of the world works. It hasn't been so long, and the country and its people have not yet shaken off the idea that they are victimized members of a developing country, and just can't wait to prove that they are not. National pride is at stake. If taken moderately, there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone has the right to want to be proud of his country.
But Beijing may be doubting its backfiring tactics, and secretly shameful of some of its own citizens' behaviour. (You know something is up when you see Chinese guards cracking down on pro-China protests; or when even Communist Party members writing for Mainland newspapers are getting death threats for being too "moderate" towards foreigners.) In the past, when it looked like it was all going wrong, Beijing would call out the tanks. But that iron fist thing is so Soviet-era 20th century. Now, they bring in the PR flacks. Or at least this is what commentators are suspecting, with a sneer about the Bohemoth Chinese media / propaganda onslaught that will soon (or is already) being let loose on the world. One source told me they have recruited professors from the country's journalism schools to help them with a better "media strategy" on Tibet. (How about not kicking out all the media?) I have no problem with PR flacks helping the world's biggest Communist nation. But if they are indeed there, they are not doing a very good job. Recently, China's image has gotten worse, and it keeps having more problems. Interpol today had a sharp warning about possible terrorists attacks, saying that the risk had been increased by the whole Tibet / Olympic flame conflict. A poisonous medicine scandal has hit, reportedly in 11 countries. A villager was shot dead in a rural protest. Rice prices keep soaring. A political prisoner in Inner Mongolia got the word out through an NGO saying he had been tortured. New visa rules have angry businesspeople, tourists and expats banging on China's door. The pollution is still there. The Japanese flame rally has been moved from a venerable Zen temple to a parking lot. And now it seems like protesters will broaden out from complaining just about Tibet to other issues, like the sending-back of North Korean refugees. Of course, there is bad news being reported all over the world, not just in China, but that is not how some Chinese bloggers see it. These items may seem unrelated, but they will only put more pressure on China, and increase the belief domestically that the Western media is out to dredge up whatever awful Chinese news they can find. What to do? Where are those marketing experts? Now, Beijing has done something of a volte face.
First, under foreign pressure, it pulled back on delivering arms to Zimbabwe, one the last places on earth that really needs more weapons. Then, it said it would meet with the Dalai Lama's envoys. Critics could not jump on this fast enough. Were they being sincere, or was it a PR trick? Is it odd that they specified envoys, not the Dalai Lama himself? Surely, given that he's been asking for talks since time immortal, he would quickly stop charming foreign dignitaries and celebrities, put down that shiny new Paris key that Delanoe so unwisely gave him, and jump on a plane.
Is Beijing really going to sit down for talks? No real details have been announced. Does "envoy" mean some local pre-approved Buddhist official from Tibet? If they really do meet with him, will it be a real and fair negotiation, or will they just try to threaten him to help calm down some of the anger?
Finally, to stem unhappiness about Mainland stock markets, it announced a trade tax cut that made sent indexes soaring and made headlines around the world -- never mind that it just reversed a decision from a little less than a year ago to increase this tax that it just decreased. There were also new trading rules announced, though I don't know if this solves the problems with corruption, state-reliant enterprises and "stir-frying". **** So what do people think out there? Are China's new attempts to appease -- as opposed to just crush -- real? Will they work? Will the Olympics go smoothly? Will the economy crash this summer? TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://joycelau1.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DFE95C9AB5B43908!733.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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