Chinese students are not machines

(edited by UPIasia.com)

The problem of China’s education is so deep and broad that it would be difficult to document all its flaws. But to normal people and students, how could they have enough time to read those profound and lengthy articles? What Chinese want to know is how to spend the least money to get their children a relatively good education—being very practical, although they don’t expect free compulsory education for the time being—, while their children have a long-term interest and enjoyment in what they study. This request seems easy to fulfill, but in China, there is a huge hindrance coming from various aspects of society currently, with roots in the drawbacks of our education system.

The defects in our current education is obvious; that is, students are shaped to be exam machines, having too many exams. Millions of families, as well as the whole society, are overwhelmed by the exam-oriented education. Complaints can be heard from many families, and grumbling can also be heard among people within the education system, such as teachers, school principals, and educational officials. Everyone is discontent with the current exam-oriented education. It is unbelievable that it is so difficult to reform an education system that all are extremely unsatisfied with, pointing to the likely fact that those complaining have yet to effectively work together for their common interest. It is really strange!

This strangeness stems from a lack of alternatives to our current education system. There is no room for non-governmental education, meaning that there haven't been private schools that could effectively compete with public ones, from elementary schools to universities. Due to a lack of good competition, inequity has been pervasive in the education process, resulting in relatively fixated classes. An old Chinese saying illustrates this, saying, a dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix to a phoenix, and a rat to a creature able to dig holes. 

In the meantime, the system of the national unified college entrance exam, which decides the fate of students' lives, also contributes to the strangeness. The fundamental education surrounding the entrance exam, and the exam itself, offers an abnormal amount of pressure to students. Consequently, the situation gives an enormous mental burden to both students and their parents.

What gets attention when teachers praise students is their final grade instead of their progressive performance; what gets focused on when principals praise teachers is the proportion of students entering higher education and the percentage of those who passed and whether or not they reach the mark. And what is valued when education officials evaluate school principals is whether they are obedient on top of the above-mentioned achievement of reaching the mark, and also whether they can create an elegant outer semblance of their work—education for all-around development is shown on the outside, while exam-oriented attitudes remain inside—to win many honors, in order that both of them can get credit, and ultimately receive rewards and promotions. 

It’s been long-recognized by people of good sense that this layered series of relationships, students-teachers-principals-education officials, makes the students the victims of the exam-oriented education system, because their right to learn happily is at risk. Students are at the base of this complex pyramid, and thus are the most pressured and suffer the most, with the potential for things to erupt at any time. 

Concurrently, education in China means how much capital parents must invest in their children. Therefore, besides students, the family will also suffer from exam-oriented education. Many rich families can send their children abroad to receive “free” education—one reason for China’s reluctance to reform education—so that those who are left to suffer are the children of ordinary people. While it might be too strong to assert that the desires of the general public are considered “crap” by an unmonitored, unconstrained government, they have very limited usefulness due to the extreme impuissance of the people.

Education officials should consider the extent to which students suffer from exam-oriented education. But only blaming the officials does not reveal the whole root of the problem. Eight years ago, I wrote an article for the South Weekend (a famous review newspaper in China) entitled "China’s education system must be reformed," accentuating the necessity of reforming the education system. Without question, the current education system is no more than a sub-system of the political system; thus, substantial amelioration of the education system won’t be achieved unless the political system is moved towards freedom and democracy. Other than this, there is no way out. 

Is China made of Tofu residue?

Yunfei Ran

Jerry-built schools were collapsed in the earthquake last year, mine disasters happen all the time, problems of food safety penetrate into every area of our lives, the officials are corrupted unscrupulously and telling lies in public unblushingly, conflicts between the people and government get severer and severer; just as I said before, China has already been a society of mutually jeopardizing. The biting and bitten system in China possibly enables all the people to be both victimizer and suffer.  Accordingly, they are trapped in a Mobius circle in which they could not resist biting each other, rendering them upset, disappointed and even desperate.  These feelings seem ridiculous in the backdrop of the current economic crisis, and appear even more preposterous in the shouting for encouragement and positive while flaunty and vain promulgation by government, who has been cheating for decades from the perspective of people.

 

When everywhere is full of jerry-built constructions, when the system is so bad that people are barely ashamed of corruption, government of the country is already weak enough to be comparable to Tofu residue. The nature of the government’s weakness—Tofu residue—is certainly attributed to its poor tolerance for listening to different expressions, for accepting different opinions regarding political reform, and is also because of the severest attack on those expressing critiques and different opinions it succeeds through such laws like “Subversion of the National Security”. However, fancying this attack sufficient to hinder the people’s will/volition for freedom is obviously an underestimate of the confidence that people hold for defending their rights and dignity. Yesterday, some reporter asked the spokesman at Foreign Affairs Ministry, Qin Gang, about his opinion regarding China’s blocking of Youtube; whoever sees his response will learn the degree of their threatening in manner but cowardliness at heart reaches a ludicrous extent.

 

“Chinese government is never afraid of the internet, and we have three hundred million netizens and one hundred million bloggers.” The logic Qin Gang held appears so fake and ridiculous in front of the fact that tons of websites have been blocked or shut down and the so-called Gold Shield project was constructed to vague people’s right to know, and in addition, the resulting wasting of taxpayer’s money. Even incapable of making a decent lie, he was actually asking for an expected insult. Is Chinese government really not scared of the internet? Is it really not terrified with more truth revealed to the people? If it were, please call off the gold shield project, please respect and safeguard people’s right to know; can Chinese government make these? Anyone who knows and respects truth understands the fact that it’s impossible to assume the position of spokesman if he/she is unable to tell lies in public. A government who is really not scared of the internet will not at all let a spokesman to express the fact that it fearlessness; the more it fears the more it will keep up the appearance and say there is no fear. If China had any positive reputation left, it’s totally messed up with little remained by such public cheaters like the spokesman.

 

On the one hand the government alleges they don’t fear the internet, while on the other they suppresses expression of different opinions, seen by them as blocking of unhealthy information.  Are they really taking pains to block unhealthy information? All countries in the world are facing the same problem that internet might have adverse effects on teenagers, but do the means that they adopt resemble that of the Chinese government (by which they do one thing under the cover of another)? After the movement of eliminating porno and illegal publications in China, many porno webs are still accessible; whereas what really got shut down are those relating to expression of different opinions, which were either blocked or distorted—regulated—beyond recognition.

 

Elimination of porno has always been a mask under which the government attempts to purge of “illegal publications”; it is merely a gee-string for clearing away different opinions. Meanwhile, many times the so-called unhealthy information blocked by government is depicted for protecting teenagers, but actually the target is the adults’ right to know. In another word, they are doing the things on purpose such as encroachment of the demand of adults for diverse information as well as obstruction of the truth people need to know, under the cover that is alleged as protecting the healthy growth of teenagers.

The better the information proceeds without hindrance and the more affluent the information is, the more the people will know of truth, and the less easy it gets for the government to realize exploiting of and competing with people and for malfeasants to levy exorbitant taxes and corrupt everywhere; which is the primary reason for their suppressing different opinions. As a matter of fact, in order to protect the teenagers from unhealthy information, lots of democratic governments across the world have a good and feasible approach. It’s not something abstruse, nor is it of high technology; why could not the Chinese government take it and use it to partition the differing demands that adults and teenagers have for information? That is only when harnessing the cover of protecting teenagers could the government earn applause and support from those still innocent of the real reason (or masked by truth), thus enabling the government to realize its real goal at the basis of public support to some extent. 

 

The government easily blocks the “unhealthy” information, to demonstrate its deprivation of people’s right to know, and suppression of the validity of different opinions. Although protection of teenagers from unhealthy information is a technique question easy to handle, the problem is WHAT IS UNHEALTHY INFORMATION? And who gets right to interpret and define “unhealthy”, government? Government has no right to define what is unhealthy, unless it is authorized through passage of laws. Our government is a regime without constraint, meanwhile self-interest and aggressively competing with the people, any regulation the government sets up shows a strong propensity to benefit itself; thus if government is the judge of what is unhealthy information, it will be very dangerous. In reality, it is exactly because of the government being the judge of unhealthy information, it doesn’t publicize the news adverse to corrupted governors which would be blocked whenever discovered, and it keeps as state secret the accurate casualty of students in earthquake. Will a normal and civilized government take as state secret the casualty caused mainly by natural disaster? It can be only interpreted indirectly that the government admits the element of anthropogenic factor in the disaster, that’s why the casualty needs to be concealed as a secret. When a government pockets the mistakes it has committed as state secret, not allowing the people to know or criticize, the legitimacy of its governance will naturally and gradually decline until eventually disappear.

 

Criticism of government is seen as subversion of country is a way of arrogation and unscrupulousness in which the alternating forces (government) treat the iron pan (country). China’s history of several thousand years has shown that even though the governments and dynasties are replaced many times the country still exists, mirroring the actuality that we could change the government ( but, now, we should make it using the current civilized means—ballot ). The government is only a form of flowing soldiers; even if it goes off the stage and leaves away, the iron pan will still be here, thus taking criticism of government as subversion of country is ridiculous and contemptible. Taking blocking of the tunnels through which the people could touch truth and more information as consideration of national security, isn’t this country—China—made of Tofu residue and vulnerable to subversion?  In fact, it is nothing but the government that cannot stand subversion, cannot bear opposition and cannot tolerate democratic election uses the conception of “subversion of country” to replace that of “subversion of government”.  . 

Public suggestion letter concerning prohibition of the phenomenon of the bullies in jail in China

Yunfei Ran

By author: this is a proposal initiated by my friends concerning prohibition of the phenomena such like the previous occurrence in which a criminal was killed by a bullies in jail, I express my admiration to their advocacy and endeavor. Only when such efforts of small steps, such propels of drops and such persistent struggling from each of us happen will our society improves. Don’t count the promotion of our rights on the good will of the government which is barely under real supervision and constraint (the facts in the past decades have demonstrated they have no such good will), otherwise it is tantamount to following a entirely wrong direction. Before the establishment of a relatively complete system of democracy and freedom, the right of each should be pursued by every single person via struggling, whereas the “smart” thought of free-rider will have little benefit to us, our family and friends, and our society. Everyone can do whatever within his/her reach to propel the improvement of our society with the consideration of his/her own safety; the good things that benefit both him/her and the society, don’t entail a tremendous courage and wisdom that might cause dangers.

Why is it a gospel to the whole society that we should advance the development of human rights through everyone’s endeavor, perseverance and progress? That’s because the society doesn’t belong to any small portion of us, the country is not owned by any part; it is in contrast owned by all of us, thus we ought to make our own change as well as make an effort for the progress of our society and development of our country, which is in line with our self-interest and also not contrary to the society’s overall interest (the governors are no exception). Based on this, today we are signing up altogether on this suggestion letter concerning completely prohibition of the bullies phenomena in jail, a bit of corresponding effort in order to ameliorate the environment of our living, we wish you could support us. Because of a paralyzed system/institution, hardly could anyone claim that he/she is out of the danger of being jailed, even though he/she is now in a position of power. The goal that we advocate this suggestion letter is to respect our constitution that safeguards the freedom of human rights, in order that the people are prevented from unexpected misfortune such like the criminal that was killed in jail.

The following is the content of the suggestion, your signature is welcome and please forward and reproduce it elsewhere.

March 20, 2009

Public suggestion letter concerning prohibition of the bullies phenomena in jail in China

Unquestionably, in the past three decades, the situation of human rights in China has improved, which is a fact obvious to all; the progress we have made, however, could not be any excuses that prevents us from moving further forward, since we cannot float outside the mainstream of the current world civilization. Therefore, we hope our government could immediately get down to bettering the situation of the people in jail, and let them enjoy the standard of what our current laws guarantee for the ordinary people, and meanwhile gradually get close to the one that United Nations have set up for the imprisoned regarding their treatment.

February 12, 2009, Qiaoming Li was accidentally dead in the jail in Ji Ning, Yun Nan Province. In the first place, the jailers actually claimed to the public that Li was killed in a game called “peekaboo”! Thereafter, along with the persistent enquiry and unveiling by news media and netizens, Yun Nan province censorate and police got involved in the investigation, and finally made it clear that Li was beaten to death by some bully in the same room.

The event of “peekaboo” protrudes the problems of the judicial administration in the issue of the bullies in jail, which has long existed as one of our social blind spots. It becomes rapidly so hot a topic in the public affaire that even vice attorney general at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate says candidly: we have to admit that “the bullies in jail” has been there for a long time. National ministry of justice has revealed that in China there are some 2.3 million criminals under arrest, in reeducation through labor, and in jail as suspect (see: Around 1.56 Million Criminal in Chinese Jail, Hong Kong, accessed at www.takungpao.com, 01.20.2007), thus the threat of violence lurking long there will directly or indirectly inflict the human rights of these 2.3 million Chinese citizens at any time; the phenomenon of this encroachment of rights mirrors a severe shortage of human rights security system in China.

The phenomenon of the bullies in jail is the product under the system of old times in which human rights were disrespected, it has a long history. In the age of autocracy, one that without awareness of human rights, jails were taken as tools that the state use to punish and fight crimes, wherein the bullies in jail, seen as the power of blackness and terror, became part of means that jailers relied heavily on, because of the enormous and extensive psychological fear among the people generated by them.

Along with the popularity and development of human rights, comprehension of the societal functions of the prison has changed; the jail should neither only or mainly be the tool of punishing crimes, it is also supposed to be responsible for portioning between crimes and the healthy society and, more important, necessary to be taken as a special community in which remediation and education of criminals take place. Therefore whoever is in this community should also enjoy the rights of safety and personality that are kept from violation. The behaviors that the bullies in jail do are prohibited by Regulations of the Minimum Standard regarding Treatment of the Jailed, Declaration on Prohibition of Excruciation, International Agreement on Prohibition of Excruciation, and suchlike human rights literature and international laws by United Nations. China also passed and issued the Prison Laws of the Republic of China on 29^th December 1994, pronouncing that “personality of the criminals should not be insulted, their personal safety, legal property as well as that the rights of defending, stating, suing, informing and suchlike which are not legally disfranchised or limited should not be infringed.” In order to keep the jailers from encroaching them, the law also specifies some binding and warning regulations on jailers and judicial department. As early as in 1998, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued a notice, requiring a complete ban on “the bullies in jail”.

To our disappointment, the notice has been issued for some 20 years, today the ugly historical vestiges of the bullies in jail has not disappeared, they are, instead, even more flourishing in some of our prisons, and even worse in the houses of detentions or prisons under administration of the public security. In many a prisons, they are working as a sub-regulation that is unscrupulously trampling on the rights of personality and safety of the criminals and suspects. For the past few years, individual cases uncovered by media and netizens have been still occurring in which criminals and suspects suffered beating and beating to death; right in the midst of drafting of this public letter, such abnormal deaths as “peekaboo” have successively happened in Hainan, Hunan and Shanxi provinces. In so short a time that this type of occurrence appears one after the other, it, on the one hand, proves that our government and media are resolved to meet the problem head on, and, on the other, tells as well how popular and normal the phenomenon has been.

In the houses of detention the imprisoned are mainly those have yet to be officially sentenced, they are not criminals, and meanwhile, even though those with officially sentence are supposed to be protected from the illegal punishment and excruciation. Because it is the minimum of human rights protected by our government, and it is also far already acknowledged by the current laws. “The bullies in jail” infringing on the imprisoned for long has not been checked so far, it is, indubitably, an ugly phenomenon with root in our system. It also slabs on the face of both the judicial system and the “public security organs, procuratorial organs and people’s courts”, and confronting the fact, we have to concede: the phenomenon of the bullies in jail has been an institutionalized stain of human rights in China.

On account of relating to special location and special people, the phenomenon of the bullies in jail has been overlooked long by media and society. Facing a succession of the tragedies, we should meet this stubborn and chronic illness head on. As a matter of fact, however, not only is the phenomenon of the bullies in jail a result of the passive nonfeasance of our law enforcement agency and judicial authority, but also a result of the attitude of acquiescence and blindness that the people hold in looking at it, which is also the deep-seated reason for the long existence of this negative legacy in history. Consequently, we, as the people, should also reflect on the existence of the problem, and immediately shouldering the collective responsibility that should have been there.

As citizens of the country, we are facing the chance of being put into jail—including the house of detention—for carefulness and unluckiness. This chance of reality resides objectively in the probability of criminal negligence, and also we might step into the gate of prison for defense of rights, petition, revelation of the crimes committed by state personnel, or for enjoymeng of the right of freedom bestowed by the 35^th item in national constitution, and countless suchlike. Therefore, the situation of human rights of the jailed stands together through thick and thin with that of the outsiders.

In 2003, after the event of Zhigang Sun, burning were the inquiring and scolding by net and media, and the tide of prohibition request rose as another fell down; the Law of Collecting and Sending back by Force was eventually abolished by the State Council. That unforgettable public affair became a milestone in the road of forwardness of legal institutions and human rights in China, which was not only the progress of the state, the government, the society and also of all the Chinese people. The furtherance of human rights is not solely steered by government; it ties up tightly with the positive cooperation of every single citizen. For this reason, we initiate this public suggestion letter concerning prohibition of the bullies in jail, as being the owners of the county, we require all undertake the responsibility and obligation to advance the progress of human rights:

1. We appeal to a thorough investigation by relevant department in the rooted crux of long existence of the phenomenon, meanwhile welcome media with free report;

2. We appeal to a system of health, civilized, humane administration of the prison: having the house of detention administrated by judicial organs which don’t undertake the function of investigation;

3. Re-discuss the necessity of establishing a house of detention in every county, in order for an appropriate redistribution of resources;

4. The right of being visited by families could not be hindered in the mist of investigation and detention, free the chance for organizations, NGOs to carry out relevant work of societal care and love, and to visit as well;

5. Allow the presence of layers during interrogation, and the record should be signed by lawyers which otherwise could not be used as valid evidence. Cases with absence of layers should be filmed and sound-recorded, as being basis for court hearing, which otherwise would be seen as flawed, thus invalid to be used as evidence.

6. Investigate into current cases of the jailed, and tackle the criminal and administrative responsibility that state personnel are involved in strictly in accordance with the law. We are convinced, a far ranging participation of the people will draw the attention of the state legislative branch; and the human rights of each of us will be further protected; while the tragedy of Qiaoming Li will not happen again.

Respected citizens:

You could support our movement by the following means:

1. Sign on this file with your real name or your usual pen name,
2. The format of signature: Name (city and occupation).
3. Signature email addresses：antiduomaomao@gmail.com
yubalaotou@gmail.com
laotouyuba@gmail.com
4. Distribute this file by any means

My blog blocked again

Yunfei Ran

My blog blocked again

Yunfei Ran

How many of my blogs were shut down and how many times were blocked by the government seem in need of a careful enumeration. Since I started at Park De-sci (http://www.de-sci.org/blogs/top.php), within three months my blog has already been blocked twice. It is reasonable to claim with confidence that I am probably setting another Guiness World Record concerning the times of being blocked by Chinese government, which can hardly be realized in a free speech environment. I have to, as a result, express my gratitude to those who shut down or block my blog. Freedom of speech, or expressing ideas in public, is a means of freedom at any time, and it is what we should strive for in a society short of freedom.

Before 1949, there was no internet or blog, but the supervision over news by the Nationalist Party was far looser than that of today. They might seal up your newspaper, but you could apply and register for a new one the next day, reflecting a passage in a Chinese Poem: “the wild fire is unable to burn out those growing along with spring wind.” But after 1949, the Chinese Communist Party, who once published lengthily and tediously on newspapers of Liberation Dailyand Xinhua Daily to fight for speech freedom, who once chanted hurrah for American democracy, knows that freedom of speech is adverse to totalitarianism, thus it kills the freedom of speech and throws pressure on news and journals in such an extreme and extensive way that the Nationalist Party could barely dream of then. Even today in 21^st century, the extent to which these dictators still attempt to close down and blockade the news adverse to their ruling, in order to exploit the maximum interests from the people, is startling.

Till now we have had no chance to run our own newspaper, nor do we have A chance to open our media, but we have to break through from the internet and persevere IN our effort and struggle. Now that we are encountering THE era of internet, we are supposed to make the most of it and live up to what it means to us. We are supposed to draw on such truth-propagating tools like internet, in order to make unremitting effort for our own interests and dignity, without any compromise. We should make the dictators understand clearly that they should never underestimate a heart with ardent love for freedom. Freedom is the best state of human beings, and also based on which the dignity of human beings is realized and secured. So as to obtain our freedom, one of our principles we persistently hold is to bring the facts and reasons after breaking through all levels of blockade and close-down.  Now we have the internet, we have the blog; each of us could be a promulgator of information and truth, promptly and extensively disseminating all the news blocked by authorities, this is what everyone could be. If we become the promulgators of truth, the blockade of authorities will become ineffective and clumsy, and they will eventually lose all their legality as a consequence.

We should not be discouraged, nor should we deal with it—blocking of truth—with an attitude eager for quick success or instant benefit. Instead we should embrace such a posture like that of the constant dripping of water being able to wear down the stone, to further the progress of our society. Yesterday, I attended a small gathering of a NGO. Their effort of dribs and drabs is indeed moving that in future I will have to give a deeper explanation in particular on this topic. The effort we dedicate ourselves to the aims at realizing a society governed by the people, rather than ruled by those being being not really elected, and through governance by people, ultimately to achieve a state in which the people could enjoy what they have; to which, I keep my unchanging faith. I have no clue when China will be democratic, but I believe without a shadow of doubt that it will eventually get there. My creed is, even if we have to wait five hundred years to realize this dream, I will still devote my own effort to fighting for democracy and freedom. 

The following are all my blog addresses, hope you could disseminate. I will update them every day, please pay attention.

De-sci Part: A pack of gangster’s talking, http://www.de-sci.org/blogs/tf

1510: A pack of gangster’s talking,http://www.my1510.cn/author.php?ranyunfei

Independent blog,http://ranyunfei.org.cn/

International Bullogger: A pack of gangster’s talking,http://www.bullogger.com/blogs/ranyunfei/

(these links are in Chinese)

 

Ran's Review of Newsweek (100)

Yunfei Ran

 

1. Mayor in Zhejiang fired for spending public funds on massages; local governors object to termination. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-03-12/080317391284.shtml  Bureaucrats shielding one another, nowadays, has become a state of transparency; frankly speaking, concerning these governors innocent of basic politics, what they are doing everyday is nothing but laying down coffins for the current regime, and overusing the little rationality kept by the current regime. Furthermore, many governors are presumptuous and aggressive, with an awareness of bureaucracy deep enough to take people as trivial as crap; consequently the conflicts between the regime and common people will get more and severer. Wasting of the money of tax payer such as misusing of public funds is an open fact now; yet some governors are actually expressing a grievance, including the previous event in which Gongcheng Liu covering up Jiaxiang Lin. All these things are what extremely irritate the people. If the government authority allows its governors to talk nonsense, it thus means they are taking advantage of the little-left credence that government possesses to pay for their own interest. This behavior equaling to kidnap and overuse the credibility of the government is something greatly impairing the rationality and legality of the regime, as well as, undeniably, something trampling on the public will. 

 2, National Industrial and Commercial Association claiming half profit of the real estate exploitation flowing in government in 9 cities, http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-03-06/024015263210s.shtml  Regarding the price of real estate stays high, there are many reasons, but the salient one is the collusion between government and land-agent and the resulting distortion of the estate market. The largest beneficiary of high price real estate is the government who monopolizes many factors including land, the second largest is land-agent, and ultimately all of costs are paid by consumers. I perceive the jeopardy induced by malformation of the real estate market will gradually unfold and come to be clear in the prevailing economic crisis. Under insubstantial supervision, the government, who monopolizes everything, being player as well as referee, competing with the people for profit, will undoubtedly bring about disastrous effect to the society.  Many complain the price is too high, but the government will still sustain the running of real estate locally, alleging it for local fiscal revenue. It is actually the room created for rent-seeking for many governors, the main factor of official-merchant collusion. All in all, malformation of the real estate will continue fermenting, and will produce great negative impact on China’s economy.

3, NPC members from Shandong attacking the bureaucracy (official standard) in university, bolstering professors in charge of university //www.china.com.cn/news/txt/200903/07/content_17393432.htm Bad performance of education, corruption in colleges and universities with rampant bureaucracy has far already constituted a ruined state hard to clear up. The current school authorities take hold of too many interests, harming drastically those of teachers and students. A section chief in charge of scientific research, for instance, can be a least achieved tutor of Ph.D student, and can also be an official in school taking charge of a great amount of research fund and leading recklessly in research of garbage; this type of official being popular in school is one salient feature of our disappointing education. Flooding bureaucracy in universities, along with massive production of garbage published papers, relates to government’s intentional purchase of the schools in late 1990’s, but is rather more deeply relevant to the Party ruling schools and partied or “partinized” education in China. Generally speaking, without resolving the problem of how the Communist Party should retract its talons from schools, without reforming in education system, only bolstering managerial alteration will not succeed in checking the rampant bureaucracy in universities, which seems impossible. But I still appreciate the advocacy of professor managing the university by some representatives.

 4, Briefing of People’s Political Consultative Conference (PPCC) showing absence are more of those committees in economics and literature and arts, http://news.dayoo.com/china/200903/11/53868_5452744.htm Some friends and media misunderstand this piece of news as that there were 301 committees refusing to participate in PPCC, activity similar to cheating as reckoned by them. Personally I think this is a one-side perception originated by them hoping for a reform in PPCC and NPC. Problems in NPC and PPCC have been so for quite a long time: first, Party members and governors are too many, almost becoming the majority; second, there has been no fair and transparent process of voting for representatives and committees, what has been done so far is more like rubber stamp that has little and substantive help to the people’s interest; third, both PPCC and NPC are temporary meeting without any full time members, nor, as a result, is there a long-run investigation of in-depth in some field, therefore no decent and rational proposal could be put forward, unlikely to enhance the people’s livelihood as a result. The only “benefit” the two conferences bring about is fooling the people and squandering the money from tax payers as inappropriate subsidies for government. These absent committees are not as clear and brave as imagined by us, hardly could they voluntarily reject to cooperate with the current authority.

 5, governmental prodigality of medical care at public expense larger than recreational activities using public funds, http://zhouqiren.blog.sohu.com/35251320.html As a matter of fact, all people are tax payers, hence a national health care security should be something every single person could benefit from, but the government escapes the duty unnoticed, not responsible for the people without competitiveness, rendering them never beneficial of any welfare from medical care. But on the other hand, they have enjoyed intensely the privilege in medical welfare by dividing the people into various grades, making the practical benefit flooding everywhere brought about by “official standard”. For the time being, many ordinary people could not afford for medical care, as opposed to the fact that every year many governors squander the money in medical care at public expense; the huge contrast or inequity from both sides, further explicates the increasing gap and conflicts within our society. Therefore, I offer my high recommendation for this article authored by Qireng Zhou, so as to prove to all of us how governmental wasting of money from tax payers is astonishingly everywhere.

 6, the supreme vice president of court: first check negative news when starting to work, http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-03-10/115517376335.shtml I’d love to see our governors act like this vice president, rushing for negative news before working in order to explore the situation of the people. Of course, I think governors should embrace an attitude of solving the problems, instead of trying to closing down the news concerning people’s will. Otherwise, they might look into the negative news, with the will to kill it in the cradle, instead of actually get down to coping with the problem; in this case, rushing for negative news per se will also be a piece of “negative news”. It’s righteous to look at the negative news, but what’s more important is to have a just and legal system of institutions addressing people’s will, which could count on some single governor’s good will. 

7, the first representative conference of Chinese Alliance of Grievance held in Hong Kong, http://www.bullogger.com/blogs/fayanl/archives/284359.aspx There are laws we don’t follow, there are petitioners put into jail; not only are petitioners willing to swarm into Bei Jing, but also inclined to safeguard their rights outside the border. People able to defend their rights overseas are those of capability and with tunnels, and people like them all complain about their limited room for help domestically, thus, clutching at straws, they choose to ask for help outside, in the hope of drawing government’s attention. Having had tried to petition for years, but encountered many insults, the relatives in the event of Fu Qing explosion in Fu Jian Province had to demonstrate in front of Chinese Embassy in Japan via the assistance of their friends in Japan. But the Chinese Embassy expressed such an extreme apathy that even the Japanese police felt incredible. The Alliance of Grievance in Hong Kong came to being under such condition, and this representative conference was carried out during the period of “harmonious” two conferences, manifesting the extent to which impairment of the people’s interest has become too grave to be ignored. Its own people, whose interest get impaired, could not defend their rights domestically, instead can only do it in the places like Hong Kong and Japan; this must greatly embody the so-called superiority of socialism chanted loudly and hollowly by the authority.

Xu Chang, March 16, 2009

 

 

 

Waving the red banner of Joseph Goebbels

Yunfei Ran

( edited by UPI Asia)

Taking the lead from Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi party leader, the reports by People’s Daily of China concerning National People's Congress are stunning.

It can often feel as if the rhetoric of the Chinese governments at all levels is so repetitive, so insipid and so ceaselessly fake, that it has become intuitive for us to know this. And this intuition is right, since what we often hear and see is always the same voice with an unchanging accent.

Nowadays, the number of government employees has rapidly exploded—in 2005 proportion between officials and civilians was 26:1, some 305 times higher than during West Han Dynasty, 35 times higher than during the late Qing Dynasty, and still much higher than 67:1 during the initial stage of reform and 40:1 in 1995 (the trend of which continues unstoppably)—so that even small county officials have secretaries. What the sectaries draft for their officials' lecture is all unoriginal, a mixture of fakeness, hollowness, and worthlessness.

Chinese officials’ rhetoric covers a covers “prosperity and joy everywhere” and “a bright situation” to “having accomplished many a remarkable achievements” and“great victories”, followed by naked self-praisse and gooseflesh-raising complements. The speakers portray themselves as saviors of the taxpayers, confuses right and wrong to an extent that maks one bristle with anger. Offcials, however, continue to speak with equanimity and grace, without any ashamedness or self-reflection that one should have had; in contrast, they treat wrong as right, and pursue their own interests in this turbid society.

Drawing on falsehood and asymmetry of information to break the truth down into fabricated lies, to enormously impair the people’s interests without compensation or responsibility, in order to plunder the people’s interests by force or trickeries; these are the government's achievements via propaganda. Someone with basic logic could break through the traps of lies set by the government.

When they exalt the superiority of the socialist system, for instance, one could thus easily ask, if that is so why we could not be informed of how the state revenue is used; if that is so, why we as taxpayers have no right to know how the money is used; if that is so, why is the truth always kept from us through government control of the media; if that was so, why we as taxpayers pay for the operation of the media whose reporting focuses on self-praising and confusing right and wrong, why is the free flow of information not allowed, and why don't we let the truth emergy through a debate of different ideas; if that is so, why does the land belonging to peasants get confiscated by force and why do the polices come to help suppress the people; if that is so, why does China still feel indignant when we have so many “superiorities” and when these unbearable “superiorities” are keep multiplying with greater momentum?

People are so discontent with the nonsense said by Chinese officials who are paid with taxpayers’ money that the complaints can be heard everywhere. But there is little sign that they are about to change, so the speeches that reflcect truth and of humanity are still as rare as the air above Mount Qomolangma. This is because our system of institutions is one that keeps depriving of the people’s rights and indignity dominant, one whose rule takes the form of lies and forces. Lies keep the people from the truth and also the fact that their interests are impaired; act of force makes the people too afraidto stand up and defend their own rights. Both lies and force, upheld by the dictatorial system, support the maximization of interests in favor of the officials in power.

As for the average person, he is undoubtedly incapable of analyzing qualitatively and quantitatively to inform the society of how the government lies. Besides, due to the lack of institutes or people supporting those, in order to dig out the truth, are investigating in the tools that the government uses to propagandize, any antipathy against the government’s fake propaganda stays at the level of intuition, far from convincing. Fortunately because of growth of internet that the awakened people are able to look at the assorted lies from different angles, making it easier to identify the ugliness and falsehood in governmental propaganda.

For example, there has been a recent prevalence of comments online that the front-page of People’s Daily on the two National People's Congresses in the last 6 years seem almost identical; this shows directly that the government is waving the red banner of what Goebbels said: lies repeated a thousand times becomes a truth. The similarity between communism and fascism, both as freaks of human history, is really easy to find out! Let us see how the government will improvise and make its greatness, and let us await to see the tune that our leaders are composing will be!

March 19, 2009