July 11, 2008 5:17
Dissidents: Pesky, Prickly Characters
A strong piece by Jill Drew in the Washington Post (here)
about how Beijing is silencing dissidents ahead of the Olympics by arrest and intimidation. Like all good stories of this kind, it's strength comes from telling the story of one dissident, Fu Pei. He and several others have been raising the "sensitive" issue of the tofu schools that collapsed in the Sichuan quake. His description of his experience is bizarre. He was kept in a hotel room for 12 days and forced to watch an endless looping video of heroic rescue efforts so as to correct his incorrect views. Several of his companions are still in custody and he was warned strongly not to tell anyone about his experience. He did of course and no doubt will suffer for it. I have always been fascinated by the courage of people like Fu and his friends, who often persist in their work when it has been made crystal clear to them that doing so will essentially ruin their lives. Fu's companion, for example, was divorced by his wife. Whether in China or elsewhere, this breed of activists stand apart from everyone else and can seem prickly, obsessive characters. Some of course will turn into the Nelson Mandelas and Kim Dae Jongs of their countries, praised for their steely wills. Many others will end their days broken, impoverished and alone. Much of the efforts of the state security apparatus consists in reminding people like Fu of that fact and trying to prevent them from doing their work. Oddly enough, they'd much rather not have to detain, torture etc.They want the minimum trouble and fuss but these pesky activists just won't shut up and do what's good for them. I recall hearing the 80 year old AIDs activist Dr. Gao Yaojie describe how her eldest son got down on his knees and begged her to stop, even saying that her stubbornness was ruining not only his life but that of his children. She didn't pay any attention, of course.
July 11, 2008 2:09
The Mess in My Neighborhood: a Follow-Up
When my septic tank overflowed and caused a toxic mess in the Beijing courtyard where I live, the last thing I expected was that it would bring a measure of notoriety to my humble neighborhood. So I was a little surprised to walk out of my door the other day to be confronted with this question from my neighbor Feng: “Shuangzhou, we know you write lots of reports, but did you happen to write something about the ‘wastewater incident?’”
I told Feng that indeed, I had described the saga on TIME’s China Blog. Then another neighbor, Jinke, said they already knew. His brother had been reading “Reference News,” the popular Chinese newspaper that translates stories from the foreign media, and came across a short item about a courtyard in Beijing with a resident named "Jinke" and foreign reporter with a problematic toilet. For all the headaches and stench it has caused, that toilet has also made us famous. When the paparazzi decide to stake out our alley, at least I’ll know how to flush them out.
About The China Blog
Simon Elegant was born in Hong Kong and since then China has pretty much always been at the center of his life. Read more
Liam Fitzpatrick was born in Hong Kong and joined TIME in 2003. He edits Global Adviser for TIME Asia. Read more
Ling Woo Liu worked as a television reporter in Beijing and moved to Hong Kong to report for TIME Asia. Read more
Bill Powell is a senior writer for TIME in Shanghai. He'd been Chief International correspondent for Fortune in Beijing, then NYC. Read more
Austin Ramzy studied Mandarin in China and has a degree in Asian Studies. He has reported for TIME Asia in Hong Kong since 2003. Read more