China Un-covered



“…and he had once famously dined with a warlord in Yantai while the blood of his recently executed enemies dripped from the floor above into his noodles and shredded beef’’ _ Through the Looking Glass: China’s Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao, by Paul French.

I have been posted to cover China more than a century too late. This realisation dawned while I was perched on a high stool in a modern-day Irish pub in Beijing, listening to analyst and historian Paul French discuss a sword duel between two foreign editors in long ago China.

Swords? I cannot properly brandish a pair of chopsticks.

As French discussed his latest book, nothing dripped from the roof on his snug audience of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, but a seemingly lost Mumbai monsoon splattered Beijing.

“China in my period (1820s to 1949) was more of a story than the China in your period,” said the Shanghai-based author about his exhaustively researched book on the colourful — spies, concubines, opium-addicts, newspaper wars — and dangerous history of China’s earliest foreign press corps. In his words, covering today’s China is comparatively ‘tame and safe’.

Okay, so should I go home before I get a complex?

I have to hide this book from my editors or they will immediately start telling me I have it so easy. There is no opium war, no Shanghai war, no rebellion, no pillage, no burning Summer Palace (the only blaze I encountered was a burning five-star hotel) and certainly no warlord to interview at the risk of never going home at all.

Headlines those days screamed ‘all foreigners in Peking dead,’ though, as French narrated, the forces sent out to avenge the headline landed up to find most of the foreigners were actually alive. “They weren’t infallible; they got the story completely wrong as often as they got it partially right,’’ he wrote.

Somebody asked French how the journalists were trained before coming to China. I nearly fell off my perch. My office forgot to do that. I just showed up in Beijing with my notebook, spices, tea bags, set of forks…

French said the old hands were not fluent Chinese speakers because the dialect of each region varied drastically. But one chap knew eight dialects. I still forget how to order tomato ketchup in Chinese. When I say in perfect Mandarin — I would like to interview you — many Chinese say no anyway.

But something in common — they didn’t have local story fixers, and journalism didn’t pay even then.

Finally, French gleefully discussed how several of the old-timers died ‘horrendous’ deaths. Many were creatively tortured in a Shanghai prison, tortured by a warlord, stabbed on the street or succumbed to malaria. Unlike several foreign journalists in today’s China, I have not been detained, interrogated, had my camera smashed and cell phone confiscated. Malaria is nearer home. I could report the sighting of space-age Chinese mosquitoes orbiting outside my 21st floor window.

Had I really been posted to cover China over a century ago, I would be a footnote in French’s book as the vegetarian correspondent who had quickly starved to death.

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  • http://www.cellphonesgiant.com Eric Lee

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    [Reply]

  • Serwat

    I love it! This post is fabulously entertaining with my Monday morning cup of java. I’d point out a favorite line or two, but for the fact I’d be cutting and pasting 75% of your post into this comment.

    [Reply]

  • http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/expletive-deleted Kushal

    Falling about laughing!

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  • Marisha

    LOL!
    love this post, girl!

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  • vikram

    hey ..some time back there were these headlines in Indian news about the Chinese threat and how the common people there consider us to be their enemies..is that true …

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  • Manu Sharma

    I really feel sad when i listen to somebody praising China. Some mite think that i am a wee bit jealous of their progress but surely this jealosy part is untrue. China is oaur enemy and woyld always remain one.
    Read on to know my true opinion and as to why i think so. Donot forget how many of our country men have died at their hands and how much of our territory we have lost to theme. This is begening of a new threat and surely not its end.
    China is clearly the most dangerous present danger to us and the World. I have written the Chinese threat in a novelistic best seller fashion. The language is simple for the reader to understand the threat as it is.
    Sepoy Karnik singh was a worried man. He had noticed lot of troop movement at the Chinese posts in the last 24 hours and he was reporting each and every movement to his platoon commander on the hour. The Sniper Bullet hit him from nowhere and then there was nothing he could feel or see but Blackness.
    Captain Roop Kumar could sense the fear and anxiety everywhere on the border amongst his troops, the civilians and even his Kachars as they had been unusually silent as if sensing some future mishappening. The sense of fear had been so contagious that it had sent cold shivers down his spine not just once but many times as he saw many a new Chinese faces on the streets of Arunachals remote border town, his Town. It seemed that their population explosion had taken a major quantum leap just over night. He knew at heart that these were Chinese agents posing as traders with a plenty Indian Currency and ID. He was in the market square when he saw some Chinese soldiers coming towards him, he was surprised as there had been no prior information of any such party on Indian soil. He saw one Chinese loosen his pistol and fire at him with a smile on his face, he could feel the bullet hit him somewhere near his heart with a thud. He tried to go for his revolver but there was no movement of his hands towards the holster, he seemed to have lost all control over his body. He was numb all over and he could feel blackness closing upon him as if day light had turned into a silent Night.
    Trader Denzong was not a happy man though his sales were robust and lot of money was flowing in. There were more and more Chinese buying and trading in his small town than a week before. Trade had been brisk. His reason for worry had been buying of local businesses by the Chinese origin men for the last three months. He had observed many such suspicious movements of strange men moving about in even stranger circumstances at odd hours. He could feel his community getting a lot closer together since the Chinese onslaught. There was knock on his door, he was in a wistful sleep as his apprehension of some great calamity on the anvil was always troubling his normal balance of mind. He got up and moved towards the door, the slight Knock now became frantic and the door seemed to shake on its hinges. He opened the Door and saw a smartly dressed Chinese soldier dressed in Green with gleaming Red stripes at this door. He could see he was armed and his gun barrel aimed at his brisket. The Chinese spoke in his tongue and told him that he was now a Chinese citizen and he was to cooperate with them now onwards. He was to evacuate his home as it was now to be turned into army barracks for his platoon. He was ordered to surrender all food and essential items to the Chinese army and to move back behind the Chinese lines with his fellow men to safer distances from the Indian positions. There was nothing to do but obey.
    Sailor Vishwanathan could sense some urgency in the orders being given to him on INS New Delhi in the South eastern waters for the last few shifts at watch. The Officers had been quite tight lipped and there were many meetings in the war room than usual. He could feel tension everywhere on the deck in his bunkers and in the sea. They had sighted many Chinese ships crossing the Indian waters from time to time and had seen lot of Chinese Ships moving towards the Indian Ocean from time to time. They had been at sea for some weeks now and nobody was talking about going home. There was a slight disturbance in the waters some far off on the leeward side of the ship, he could see the waves taking up peculiar formation as the waters were being dissected by a sword. A cold chill went down his spine and the last words he could scream were “Torpedo!” and after that everything vanished in a flash of light.
    Wing Commander Sachin Sharma was on a routine sortie somewhere in the eastern sector. He was always happiest and at home in his cockpit. He always believed that Life is always best at supersonic speed both in his carrier and in family life. The plane an Su 39 handled very well and he could take on any enemy or foe in the air. He was jolted out of easiness into seriousness as the red light with the all too familiar warning beep sounded in his years of an approaching missile. He quickly thought was this an exercise? He was not briefed about it in his pre flight plan or was it a surprise exercise to check out his alertness?
    He pressed the button to release flash flares to thwart the missile from its track but failed to notice the many black dots on the horizon and on his radar screen. The missile got deflected with his quick act but he turned cold to see the hundreds of J7 Chinese Fighters approaching him. There was no time and he was unarmed except the guns as his was a normal routine sortie in peaceful circumstances .He knew that now this was it, the moment for which he had been trained .This was the moment he had been born to act upon .He also knew there was no turning back for him now, he selected the nearest fighter and went for him with his guns blazing with at least twenty of his similar prey after him.
    The BSF man never realized what had hit his camel as a bullet had already splattered his brains in the sand. He was crushed under the tracks of the Abraham tanks flying the Pakistani flag moving towards Bikaner churning the desert sand as the local chakki grinded the wheat in his village.
    The CRPF jawan Hemant kumar was a happy man as he was going to get his stripes today and he was looking forward to the celebration with his chums with rum and chicken specially arranged by the Sarge for his most promising soldier that night. He was smiling to himself and was humming his favorite bollywood tune. He never would hum that tune again as the AK 47 burst took him point blank along with the men at his post. There were hundreds of Taliban type fighters moving in towards his post.
    This was the Day when China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Srilankan forces attacked us. This is not a dream but a ground reality today.
    The Chinese threat is now real and they would be striking us anytime starting today and within the next two years or so. We are the only roadblock in the world which is offsetting Chinese plans of becoming the world’s most powerful nation. China feels that we are weaning away much of the FDI from its shores necessary for its development. We Indians also are considered an extra burden on all of Earth’s natural resources as and when we become a fully developed nation by the Chinese as it has to compete and fight with us for such scarce and precious resources in the near future. They also consider us the only buffer between their military supremacy where the rest of the world is concerned. There also is another reason, however remote and that is ours successful Democracy as an example to its citizens craving for freedom from iron shackles. Our Rupee is a strong contender for its place in the world of economics as a much better option than the Yuan or the much touted single Asian currency or ”Asian”
    China cannot be ignored as it has made its permanent mark on the world map with a much flaunted positive image after the Beijing Olympics. They have accomplished marvels in their infrastructure development which are incomparable the world over. They have built the best railway & road systems, dams and bridges in the world some to the highest point in the world “Tibet” hence strengthening their positions both militarily and economically and posing a real threat of sorts to us as there road to Karachi is also a distant possibility. Their enviable infrastructure can now support its frenzied industrial growth for the next 200 years whether it’s housing or industry at a phenomenal rate of 10% per annum unless it chooses on the contrary. China has built shanghai comprising of 30,000 high rise buildings which dwarfs our infrastructure and related modern city development parameters and achievements to nothing. Chinese Central government and their provincial governments are no more bound in red tapism or lack the motivation and zeal in providing any kind of help in wooing their national interest with an excellent Foreign, economic or military policy in place. India and the rest of South East Asia were supposed to be taken over by either the Russians or the Chinese or both of them together. This strategy was defined in the early years of of the Chinese revolution when Russian support was driving the formation and the foundation stones of the Modern Communist China were being laid. Under this strategy both the countries wanted the red revolution to spread to all the countries and when such was established throughout Asia then a single call for unification would unite the entire Asia into a single communist entity. Though the Russians failed but the Chinese did not and the glaring example of their success is Nepal. A peaceful take over by way of the would work in a country like India, Nepal, Cambodia Vietnam, Myanmar etc. An exception is Tibet. We are progressing but at a snail’s pace as compared to the Chinese ascent but ours is much more balanced growth, as all sections of our society are moving forward with genuine adaptation of the economic boom and reaping its benefits, a fact not liked by China at all. The most dangerous is the Chinese total control on the ancient SILK ROUTE. China is planning its foray into central Asia and the Arabian Sea to extend her Economic, military and political clout. This is dangerous for all NATO, CEATO, SANTO( now Russian controlled or its allies and NAM nations).
    China is a significant Military threat. Their Military dwarfs our military prowess where the number game is concerned both in conventional and nuclear atmosphere. Their designs on our North East are too well known and within next 2 years I presume they will annex Nepal, India’s North East and Myanmar without anybody batting an eyelid. They might even take over the Moon and Mars planets in the near future. Hence we have to design our Foreign policy keeping all of the above in mind. We seem to be treading on a new front altogether like “conquest of Africa”. Land is being purchased in a big way in this region by many countries including us along with commercial investments with an eye on Africa’s natural resources and deep markets.
    The Chinese Plan
    1. They have started creating red states all around our nation. The red web is slowly but factually isolating us as a hunter isolates its prey before the kill. These are none other than our once friendly neighboring countries. These countries are now all too ripe for China to take in their umbrella with or without ours or their consent. These countries have no or little option but to pull the Chinese band wagon as dictated. They have created a Red army in Nepal, Burma, Tibet and our North East. These Countries today have Chinese basis on their soil with road links to mainland China. Tibet and Nepal offer 8 lane highways and rail links to our remote borders with full energy pipelines supplying oil, electricity and water.
    2. The war would be just a surgical strike in Arunachal, Bhutan and Sikkim by the Chinese. The Pakistanis would enter Kashmir and Bangladesh some parts of our disputed borders and might close the chicken neck. The war would be stopped by Massive international intervention within a day or so to avoid any nuclear flash point. The element of surprise in the attack would be crucial for the Chinese led onslaught and victory.
    3. The Chinese are supporting the Maoists in India much on the platform of the Taliban created by the US to counter Russia. This Red army will become active during the Chinese aggression internally and would be in direct command of the Chinese forces. These Maoists would be our undoing.
    4. Srilanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh would fully support the Chinese aggression because of their vested interests. These countries are already military and economic strategic partners with China. The Chinese have already started upgrading their armed forces for the ultimate Day of aggression against us. Srilanka is flushed with Chinese armed support and funds which had ultimately led to the defeat of LTTE by the Lankans. A Chinese base is now a reality in Sri Lanka.
    5. The ASEAN countries are happy under the Chinese economic and military umbrella and want to have one ASEAN currency. China has already weaned them away diplomatically from us over the years.
    6. The terrorists from Pakistan are fully supported both logistically and financially by China as another front.
    7. The Expansion of Chinese armed forces is the biggest threat. The biggest advantage they have is that they are designed and built on mainland China without any external dependency for spares or technology. To counter it we will require the following:
    a. Indigenously built 2000 multi roll Jet fighters.
    b. We require 300 Nuclear Submarines.
    c. We require 5 Nuclear powered Aircraft carriers
    d. 200 destroyers of INS New Delhi Class
    e. 2000 Tanks
    f. 4000 boffor guns positioned in layers around the Chinese and other borders
    g. Satellite warfare technology
    h. Computer warfare battalions.
    i. Build highway, rail links and supply pipelines to our borders.
    j. Red alert for this attack

    The Prelude to Attack:
    1. The Chinese will position their navy in Indian Ocean ( Srilankan waters), Bay of Bengal( Bangladesh and Burmese waters)and Arabian sea ( Srilankan and Pakisani waters)
    2. The Chinese will openly start operating their Basis in Srilanka, Bangladesh, Nepal. Burma etc.
    3. The Chinese army will buffer their forces on our actual borders with massive infiltration of their agents in our North east. They will economically and politically take unofficial control of these areas.
    4. They will start anti India propaganda and try to isolate us internationally.
    5. They will have Pakistan pressurize USA to give in to their Demand of Kashmir.
    The attack
    6. The Chinese will destroy our satellites and the battalion of hackers will kill our computer supported E Governance and financial systems along with civil communications etc. There are already bugs fitted in all our countries electronics which can operate on mare radio signals at a particular frequency to jamming waves or internet based software commands
    7. The Pakistani and Bangladeshi Jihadists will start massive operations against us. The Pakistani and Bangladeshi armies will attack us and enter our soil as soon as the Chinese army enters North East. The Chinese will enter north east, The Pakistanis will enter Kashmir till Jammu and Bangladesh will give support to Chinese aggression and may or may not directly attack us.
    8. The Hindu muslim communal riots would be sparked of just in time of attack to create more confusion. The ongoing Kashmir agitation will end up on the D Day.
    9. The Chinese removal of the pacific naval fleet towards Indian ocean and Bay of Bengal is a sound indicator.
    10. This operation of actual assault will be over in one day or so.

    Post attack or Aftermath.
    The World will step in and stop the attack within a day or two. I feel that all the countries in the world will be happy to see our demise. The Chinese will become the superpower ruling whole of Asia and we Indians will cry over our mistakes and start a national debate on blame game. The select group of politicians, beaurocrats and businessmen will defect to the west in the coziness and comfort of their Swiss banks accounts and would surely know when the attack would come. We would be a nation without Kashmir and North East with a shattered and battered economy with rampant food riots and end up like Ethiopia or Darfur. This defeat would finish us a nation.
    Though we have always come forward to help China in Crisis as during the earthquake in 2006.
    We seem to be treading on a new front that is “conquering of Africa. Land is being purchased in a big way in this region by many countries including us. The Chinese are way ahead in the economic investment scene in the region as we have an investment of about 10000 crore or so rupees and China is having somewhere 20 billion USD.

    [Reply]

  • Govind

    Hey…That’s enough…somebody give this guy a single malt whisky on the rocks otherwise he just might get nervous breakdown and actually start a war with his lathi on some poor neighbour’s dog.

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    vivek Reply:

    ha ha ha

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    always wrong Reply:

    no that man is right!

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  • ABC

    The fact is that not all car buyers have same criteria Where Liva has a huge edge over any other hatchback (except Jazz) is the space inside…

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  • Abu Ahmed

    Since the last few years, I have read about several cases where violent and inhuman punishment meted out by a teacher resulted in death and severe injuries to school going children. Children are still petrified by the teacher though there is a big change in the behavioural pattern of today’s students vis-a-vis teachers. Political and economic empowerment are positive developments that are contributing negatively in the student-teacher violence. As report suggests, the victim teacher had reported 13 times to the parents of the culprit boy that got him so infuriated. Now reporting 13 times is really a bit too much – of course not enough and no justification at all to get murdered for that! Had the boy been a bit less moneyed and hence that much less empowered, he would have first of all improved himself and thats that.
    Thanks to the RSS shakhas, students are behaving more aggressively casteist. Not to speak of increasing communalism in society. There is more casteism at the school level – from seating arrangement in a class-room to the appointment of teachers in a school than ever before. When there is so much of hatred and negative energy in the adolescents of the country, can one dare to imagine what would be the future like?

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  • Probhat Sukla

    I fully agree with the author. Present day parents are responsible for the production of pansies from the school system. They fill their childrens’ pockets with cash, and teach them to behave impudently with good and strict teachers. Very soon India will be producing totally ignorant high-school graduates like the North American school system. Incidentally, in my opinion co-ed schools are also responsible for the low standards. Boys and girls should only have co-ed classes at the University level, when they are much more mature.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6T7JL6TUN22UAD7NSR774A44PQ Anonymous

    I do not agree to this. I’ve seen how we Indians behave meekly because of our upbringing. Our education system does not allow pupils to think of their own mind but to prepare them for rat race. How much innovation do we have in India? How many people think out of box to bring something on world stage? How many patents do we file? I do not think canning pupils brings discipline but fear. I was never canned but I still love my teachers. We need to let the children develop their own mind so that they can be different than us. We need to guide them with our experience but let them play with fire till then do not endanger themselves or others around it. The current anti corruption wave has lot of youngsters in it. This is only because this young generation has not followed us keeping heads down. @Abu lets stick to point.

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  • Vishal Kale

    Great point, Arnab. However, there is one additional consideration. There is a very material difference between now and 20 years ago: the social norms were different, the pressures on students and teachers’ alike were different, parents approach was different. This problem is more of a social problem than one relating to schools. Take me, for example: I would be very, very, very angry if corporal punishment was used on my child – I would definitely consider punitive action like complaining to the principle etc. But I am perfectly ok with other disciplinary measures being adopted. You have to understand that not every child reacts the same way, you have to understand the child and consider how will this punishment effect the behaviour we want to change? This requires parents and teachers as equal participants! Unfortunately, there is little parent – teacher interaction. And whatever little there interaction happens focuses on academics!

    Parents and Teachers alike do not understand that marks – especially in Nursery – 7/8th classes – are not the determinants of success. You should be focusing on the child’s behaviour, social interaction, participation, habits, fundamental understanding of the topic. But in place of this we place inordinate emphasis on marks, and neglect the first warning signals of problematic behaviour! This way, you can catch bad behaviour before they become a habit. What is required is proper training for teachers and re-invigoration of the system to reflect modern realities

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  • http://www.currency.com.pk/ Exchange rate

    haha, that is interestingly interesting, so true yet !!

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  • Abu Ahmed

    The Madrasa teaches theology, Quran, Science, Maths & English whereas the Shakhas teach how to kill Muslims thats the big difference, amongst several others, between a Madrasa and a RSS Shakha.
    You are hurt, for which I am sorry. Fact is the RSS is spreading militancy all over the country through their Shakhas and it is reflected in minor and major incidents of intolerance occurring everywhere.

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  • Plumbline

    We here in the west also deal with the cancer of political correctness, especially in the area of religion and morality. Kids are growing up without a sense of their Christian heritage here and have an entitlement mentality. They mock religion as they hear it mocked in the media and music. Morality among youth is very poor indeed. They are so wrapped up in thier iphones, ipads, and video games, that they have turned their ears away from the truth. Many have become insulent and arrogant, disrespecting parents and authority.

    2 Timothy 3

    Perilous Times

    3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

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