- Much ado about abang: about.com is launching a Chinese version called abang.com, bang as in 帮. Read Thomas Crampton's interview of Matt Roberts, the founder:
But 1) 一帮人的帮 or bang as in "group" connotes to me a "group" of hoodlums rather than "group" of people who help (帮助） each other. 2) If only they unblocked it, Wikipedia would totally serve the purpose of a go-to online encyclopedia. It allows for a true marketplace of ideas where facts are up for revision and debate by the community as opposed to written by a few salaried "experts".
- This story of suicide was sad because it is both so common and almost always unheard. But in a country full which silences students from talking about their broken-hearted or stressed-out frieds who resort to taking their lives, maybe we need to read a few of these stories for it to hit home, just how precious life is.
- I wrestled with the Danwei question on how to translate "cheng guan" (城管) for awhile. The Chinese in the office thought "city administrative official" was appropriate, but in light of recent stories about just how out of hand their "administrative" duties can be (See beating death story of blogger Wei Wehua also linked in Danwei), maybe "municipal officer" would be more fitting. See comments for even harsher titles.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
How Humane
As part of a recent reexamination of the death penalty in China from the return of death penalty review to the Supreme People's Court last year to calls for more sparing usage of the death penalty, China recently announced it is changing over from gunshots to lethal injection as the preferred method for executions.
- In the China Daily article, Jiang Xingchang, VP of the Supreme People's Court is quoted as saying that lethal injection, "is considered more humane and will eventually be used in all Intermediate People's Courts". Although there is no timetable for this changeover, "The SPC will help equip intermediate courts with all required facilities and train more professionals, particularly in the central and western regions," ...sounds like an involved process, whereas I guess all the relevant authorities were familiar with death by firing squad already. The China Daily article then quotes SPC Chief Justice Xiao Yang about the future application of the death penalty:
This is a non-response for 2 reasons: 1) Even strict retributive logic would be hard-pressed to justify the death penalty for non-violent crimes such as embezzlement or drug offenses or some of the 68 total ways one can receive the death penalty. 2) There's no justification of the state's right take away life, just a general assumption to maintain the status quo. But who should be the ultimate judge? Nearly four millenia after Hammurabi, Ghandi responded, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind".
Click on the China Daily link for the picture.
- The AP, and Reuters, didn't have too much to say about this yet since they were all working off the same China Daily report. BBC was a little better offering a comparison with the US:
And then some statistics:
---
For comparison, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 36 states plus the military and federal government in the US maintain the death penalty and around 1100 people have been executed since the Death Penalty was brought back in 1976. For most states, lethal injection is the sole option, and while Idaho and Utah still allow death by firing squad, it is only offered to inmates who chose it before it was eliminated through legislation. More gruesome statistics here.
---
Beyond being seen as humane, is lethal injection (legalized in 1997, but not really used until 2000) also possibly considered a more expedient solution? The end of a BBC article from 2000 writes:
There are certainly concerns over implentation of the death penalty in China and not just from the outside. The Duihua foundation translated an editorial from The Beijing News on the SPC being flooded with death penalty cases to review and resorting to using lesser qualified judges to review them.
---
While on this topic, pictures from the last hours of a Chinese death penalty inmate, originally from daqi.com
- In the China Daily article, Jiang Xingchang, VP of the Supreme People's Court is quoted as saying that lethal injection, "is considered more humane and will eventually be used in all Intermediate People's Courts". Although there is no timetable for this changeover, "The SPC will help equip intermediate courts with all required facilities and train more professionals, particularly in the central and western regions," ...sounds like an involved process, whereas I guess all the relevant authorities were familiar with death by firing squad already. The China Daily article then quotes SPC Chief Justice Xiao Yang about the future application of the death penalty:
Though the country retains capital punishment, it should be applied only to "an extremely small number" of serious offenders, said Chief Justice Xiao Yang in a separate interview with China Daily, adding: "Each death sentence has to stand the test of time."
Xiao said abolishing the capital punishment or strictly limiting the use of the death sentence are a global trend and "China is also working toward that direction."
He, however, stressed that the goal cannot be achieved overnight.
"We cannot talk about abolishing or controlling the use of death sentences in the abstract without considering ground realities and social security conditions," Xiao said.
The chief justice has also said it is unrealistic for China to abolish the capital punishment - even for non-violent criminals - in the short term because of the strong belief among people of the concept "an eye for an eye and a life for a life".
This is a non-response for 2 reasons: 1) Even strict retributive logic would be hard-pressed to justify the death penalty for non-violent crimes such as embezzlement or drug offenses or some of the 68 total ways one can receive the death penalty. 2) There's no justification of the state's right take away life, just a general assumption to maintain the status quo. But who should be the ultimate judge? Nearly four millenia after Hammurabi, Ghandi responded, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind".
Click on the China Daily link for the picture.
- The AP, and Reuters, didn't have too much to say about this yet since they were all working off the same China Daily report. BBC was a little better offering a comparison with the US:
In recent months, the lethal injection has become a subject of much debate in the US.
The US Supreme Court is currently considering a case brought by two death row inmates who say the method inflicts unnecessary pain and suffering.
And then some statistics:
China does not release official statistics of its executions.
Rights group Amnesty International says that based on media reports an estimated 1,010 people were executed in 2006 - more than 60% of global executions - but it described this number as only the tip of the iceberg.
CHINA'S DEATH PENALTY
China is believed to execute more people than rest of the world combined
Non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and embezzlement carry death penalty
Other crimes include murder, rape, robbery and drug offences
China does not publish official figures on executions
Many cases are based on confessions and trials often take less than a day, observers say
---
For comparison, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 36 states plus the military and federal government in the US maintain the death penalty and around 1100 people have been executed since the Death Penalty was brought back in 1976. For most states, lethal injection is the sole option, and while Idaho and Utah still allow death by firing squad, it is only offered to inmates who chose it before it was eliminated through legislation. More gruesome statistics here.
---
Beyond being seen as humane, is lethal injection (legalized in 1997, but not really used until 2000) also possibly considered a more expedient solution? The end of a BBC article from 2000 writes:
There have also been concerns expressed that execution by lethal injection might be used to aid the harvesting of transplant organs from executed prisoners, although officials deny using organs from executed criminals without their permission.
There are certainly concerns over implentation of the death penalty in China and not just from the outside. The Duihua foundation translated an editorial from The Beijing News on the SPC being flooded with death penalty cases to review and resorting to using lesser qualified judges to review them.
---
While on this topic, pictures from the last hours of a Chinese death penalty inmate, originally from daqi.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Links for 1/2/2008
Happy 2008 everyone!
Just some links from the last week:
- LATimes' article on blacklash of the new China Law Labor that went into effect on the 1st.
- Fake baozi BTV producer Hu Ziwei strikes back at husband at CCTV Olympics unveiling ceremony.
- LATimes' article on Wen Jiabao wife's bling.
Just some links from the last week:
- LATimes' article on blacklash of the new China Law Labor that went into effect on the 1st.
- Fake baozi BTV producer Hu Ziwei strikes back at husband at CCTV Olympics unveiling ceremony.
- LATimes' article on Wen Jiabao wife's bling.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Mama Gump ...Censored!
This makes me so ANGRY!
Who doesn't love Sally Fields (aka Tom Hank's mom as my mom calls her)? Well she just won an Emmy - yay! that's the good part. She looked fabulous all night in a magenta strapless gown and perfect skin even at 61!?!
This year, Fox aired the Emmy's for the first time, hired insipid Ryan Seacrest as host, used a stupid round stage making it all the polish of a bad reality show.
Sally Fields starts giving an emotional acceptance speech for her Best Actress Emmy and totally gets bleeped out (at least the 3rd instance that night)
See from 1:55-2:10:
http://www.youtube.com/v/m0Ftq9N4fzo
Here's what Fields was trying to say:
"Surely this belongs to all the mothers of the world. May they be seen, may their work be valued and raised. Especially to the mothers who stand with an open heart and wait..wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm’s way, and from war. I am proud to be one of those women..let's face it, if mothers ruled the world" [silence, cameras dramatically pan away]...if they only let her finish, she was trying to say: "there'd be no goddamned wars in the first place."
Is that so earth shattering? Isn't the complete screw up of the "war" common knowledge by now...hence troop withdrawals finally? eugh
Note to Facebook: Please don't go the way of Myspace and get bought out by Rupert Murdoch* ...EVER!
*Did you know Murdoch married some golddigging Chinese woman half his age who convinced some nice unassuming English teacher to sponsor her back in the 80s, only to run off with the nice teacher's husband whom she divorced promptly after the 2 year wait for her visa. Now onto her second geriatric marriage, she's part of a huge media conglomerate and quite buddy buddy with the Chinese govy which Fox is desperate to mollify - shameful really. Right you probably didn't know all that - Murdoch has very successfully surpressed profiles of his wife from being published.
Ironically I'm citing a China-based blog for info censored elsewhere: http://www.danwei.org/media_business/murdochs_wife_censored_profile.php
Right so this post was about Sally Field. I'm pissed!
Thankfully I'm not the only one: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/16/fox-censors-sally-fields-anti-war-speech-at-emmys/
Who doesn't love Sally Fields (aka Tom Hank's mom as my mom calls her)? Well she just won an Emmy - yay! that's the good part. She looked fabulous all night in a magenta strapless gown and perfect skin even at 61!?!
This year, Fox aired the Emmy's for the first time, hired insipid Ryan Seacrest as host, used a stupid round stage making it all the polish of a bad reality show.
Sally Fields starts giving an emotional acceptance speech for her Best Actress Emmy and totally gets bleeped out (at least the 3rd instance that night)
See from 1:55-2:10:
http://www.youtube.com/v/m0Ftq9N4fzo
Here's what Fields was trying to say:
"Surely this belongs to all the mothers of the world. May they be seen, may their work be valued and raised. Especially to the mothers who stand with an open heart and wait..wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm’s way, and from war. I am proud to be one of those women..let's face it, if mothers ruled the world" [silence, cameras dramatically pan away]...if they only let her finish, she was trying to say: "there'd be no goddamned wars in the first place."
Is that so earth shattering? Isn't the complete screw up of the "war" common knowledge by now...hence troop withdrawals finally? eugh
Note to Facebook: Please don't go the way of Myspace and get bought out by Rupert Murdoch* ...EVER!
*Did you know Murdoch married some golddigging Chinese woman half his age who convinced some nice unassuming English teacher to sponsor her back in the 80s, only to run off with the nice teacher's husband whom she divorced promptly after the 2 year wait for her visa. Now onto her second geriatric marriage, she's part of a huge media conglomerate and quite buddy buddy with the Chinese govy which Fox is desperate to mollify - shameful really. Right you probably didn't know all that - Murdoch has very successfully surpressed profiles of his wife from being published.
Ironically I'm citing a China-based blog for info censored elsewhere: http://www.danwei.org/media_business/murdochs_wife_censored_profile.php
Right so this post was about Sally Field. I'm pissed!
Thankfully I'm not the only one: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/16/fox-censors-sally-fields-anti-war-speech-at-emmys/
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Vietnam to Cambodia
How'd those sanddunes turn out at 5am in Mui Ne? GREAT! Too bad I can't post the picture of me after I totally flipped over on my plastic sanddune sheet and literally ate it..hard. Took a whole day to get all that sand out ... of my ears! [The whole situation was almost as hilarious as when during Senior Olympics in college I spent virtually the entire dizzy bat race on the ground...at least there was just me and the wide expanse of sand to witness my fall.] I blame our pushy little kid who tried to charge us like $3 for a $1 operation (a rip off if you're as el cheapo as I am, and definitely a rip off in SE Asia). He pushed me really hard, before I was ready, and sent me hurtling down a 40 degree incline on a white sand dune and no way of breaking. It was beautiful though, and before 9am, not super hot. We confirmed our suspicions that the little kid was muttering swears at us the whole time when he said the same things in front of a Vietnamese adult and was rewarded with a smack upside the head. Our next set of tour guides (ie. kids out to make a buck) took us to Fairy River - this stream carved into red sand dunes that look like canyons, sure beat the fish sauce in huge clay vats operation that led up to it. Fish sauce is great, especially on things like bun (cold vietnamese noodles) but it's definitely one of those things that you have to be eating to enjoy and if you're not eating it then it there, the anchovy smell is just overpowering!
After a fun night checking out nightlife in Ho Chi Min City (ie. Jo & Jia going to bed after 10pm for once on this trip) we got up at the crack of dawn again to set off towards Cambodia. After a bus, boat, bus, ferry, bus, boat, bus, boat trip (did you get that straight?), we finally arrived in Phnom Penh. I've pretty much taken all forms of transportation in Vietnam (train - seat and sleeper, bus, minivan, Soviet-era looking jeep, plane, boat - small rowboat and motor-propelled wooden one) ... except for public buses. But nothing compares to the dozens of vans and buses we passed on the road in Cambodia today which saw people and luggage stacked up on the roof of the vehicle! With how small people are here, they can fit a guy and 3 girls on a motorbike too. I'm sure the driver (male) felt pretty pimp.
On the way to Cambodia while still in Vietnam, we stopped by a floating village (village on stilts) outside Chau Doc, a border town where one fishery house can fit over 80,000 fish! We also went to a Cham village, the Cham people are Islamic, once ruled a whole kingdom in Southern Vietnam and are thought to come from Malay stock. There was a guy who made iceys and made a whole village of children happy with his handmade crushed ice + syrup concoctions. Sadly, I also saw a young child who looked very sickly and malnourished with spindly legs and a vacant expression. I watched his mother spoon congee (apparently sounds similar in Portuguese as well!) into his mouth. She patted his head to indicate some kind of head injury perhaps. We also saw 2 young kids massaging a grandpa on his bed. Even though this village regularly entertains tourists, there were few signs that tourism was leaving behind any real benefit to its inhabitants. Our Vietnamese guide encouraged us not to give money to the children who begged as it is "not good for them", Pringles were a hit as a gift though!
I was sad to leave Vietnam where people had been so nice to me. This was a point our Vietnamese tour guide from last night wanted us to hit home as well. He explained that he found Americans especially wary of Vietnam because of the legacy of war (um, which we fought on someone else land and sprayed napalam and dioxide on civilians harming Vietnamese for generations). He kept repeating, "I don't know what Americans teach in schools, but we Vietnamese are friendly...please tell your friends!" It made me sad that this proud man was almost begging us to tell our friends that Vietnamese no longer held hard feelings after the US had waged such an atricious war it really didn't need to out of strategic interest. It also says something about how important foreign tourism is becoming to the economy and I think reflects a continued paranoia of the US towards communist states (China, Vietnam, Cuba). Most people who go to China tell me that they did not envision communism/socialism/maoism to look like this. These countries are changing at a lightening pace and a single politically loaded term cannot encapsulate them. Sure China (and I assume Vietnam) have loads of problems and frustrations (corruption, lack of transparency, lack of free and widespread elections, arbitrary laws) but so many of these issues plague other developing nations that call themselves free and democratic it's no sense discriminating based on a name.
Back to travel notes, just cruising along the Mekong was beautiful though! Lots of waving children (forget split pants, kids don't seem to be fully clothed until 5 or 6), fields of sugar cane, palm trees, and lush vegetation. Crossing over into Cambodia there were rows of ominous storm clouds but the patches of rain in the distance were very distinct and isolated. When it rained on our little boat, the sun was still bright out. Makes for very changeable weather.
One clear sign of poor management in Cambodia is the lack of drainage in the roads. It rained moderately today and when we drove into Phnom Penh, the streets were completely flooded. Walking around the block required wading through foot deep water ... so like playing in the rain but much dirtier. The Lonely Planet guide lists uncovered manholes as a danger in PP, especially with how few street lights there are at night and the deep cess pools of germy water currently covering the streets. We did happen upon a great supermarket today - Lucky Supermarket which had Milanos, gummy bears, and cereal! at cheaper than US prices Who woulda thunk in Cambodia? Also did you know that you can use US dollars pretty much everywhere in Cambodia (even more widespread than in Vietnam)? The AZN Bank ATM I went to only dispensed in USD and the supermarket listed all prices in dollars. Will RMB ever make it this big in its asian neighbors?
Tomorrow, we will go to the Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh which thanks to the Khmer Rouge killed nearly 2 million (or a whopping 25% of the population?!?!) Then we will return to the glory of Angkor tomorrow by heading up to Siem Reap. Also did you know that Thai boxing and dancing actually come from the Khmer civilization in Cambodia? Right, more surprising facts to come!
After a fun night checking out nightlife in Ho Chi Min City (ie. Jo & Jia going to bed after 10pm for once on this trip) we got up at the crack of dawn again to set off towards Cambodia. After a bus, boat, bus, ferry, bus, boat, bus, boat trip (did you get that straight?), we finally arrived in Phnom Penh. I've pretty much taken all forms of transportation in Vietnam (train - seat and sleeper, bus, minivan, Soviet-era looking jeep, plane, boat - small rowboat and motor-propelled wooden one) ... except for public buses. But nothing compares to the dozens of vans and buses we passed on the road in Cambodia today which saw people and luggage stacked up on the roof of the vehicle! With how small people are here, they can fit a guy and 3 girls on a motorbike too. I'm sure the driver (male) felt pretty pimp.
On the way to Cambodia while still in Vietnam, we stopped by a floating village (village on stilts) outside Chau Doc, a border town where one fishery house can fit over 80,000 fish! We also went to a Cham village, the Cham people are Islamic, once ruled a whole kingdom in Southern Vietnam and are thought to come from Malay stock. There was a guy who made iceys and made a whole village of children happy with his handmade crushed ice + syrup concoctions. Sadly, I also saw a young child who looked very sickly and malnourished with spindly legs and a vacant expression. I watched his mother spoon congee (apparently sounds similar in Portuguese as well!) into his mouth. She patted his head to indicate some kind of head injury perhaps. We also saw 2 young kids massaging a grandpa on his bed. Even though this village regularly entertains tourists, there were few signs that tourism was leaving behind any real benefit to its inhabitants. Our Vietnamese guide encouraged us not to give money to the children who begged as it is "not good for them", Pringles were a hit as a gift though!
I was sad to leave Vietnam where people had been so nice to me. This was a point our Vietnamese tour guide from last night wanted us to hit home as well. He explained that he found Americans especially wary of Vietnam because of the legacy of war (um, which we fought on someone else land and sprayed napalam and dioxide on civilians harming Vietnamese for generations). He kept repeating, "I don't know what Americans teach in schools, but we Vietnamese are friendly...please tell your friends!" It made me sad that this proud man was almost begging us to tell our friends that Vietnamese no longer held hard feelings after the US had waged such an atricious war it really didn't need to out of strategic interest. It also says something about how important foreign tourism is becoming to the economy and I think reflects a continued paranoia of the US towards communist states (China, Vietnam, Cuba). Most people who go to China tell me that they did not envision communism/socialism/maoism to look like this. These countries are changing at a lightening pace and a single politically loaded term cannot encapsulate them. Sure China (and I assume Vietnam) have loads of problems and frustrations (corruption, lack of transparency, lack of free and widespread elections, arbitrary laws) but so many of these issues plague other developing nations that call themselves free and democratic it's no sense discriminating based on a name.
Back to travel notes, just cruising along the Mekong was beautiful though! Lots of waving children (forget split pants, kids don't seem to be fully clothed until 5 or 6), fields of sugar cane, palm trees, and lush vegetation. Crossing over into Cambodia there were rows of ominous storm clouds but the patches of rain in the distance were very distinct and isolated. When it rained on our little boat, the sun was still bright out. Makes for very changeable weather.
One clear sign of poor management in Cambodia is the lack of drainage in the roads. It rained moderately today and when we drove into Phnom Penh, the streets were completely flooded. Walking around the block required wading through foot deep water ... so like playing in the rain but much dirtier. The Lonely Planet guide lists uncovered manholes as a danger in PP, especially with how few street lights there are at night and the deep cess pools of germy water currently covering the streets. We did happen upon a great supermarket today - Lucky Supermarket which had Milanos, gummy bears, and cereal! at cheaper than US prices Who woulda thunk in Cambodia? Also did you know that you can use US dollars pretty much everywhere in Cambodia (even more widespread than in Vietnam)? The AZN Bank ATM I went to only dispensed in USD and the supermarket listed all prices in dollars. Will RMB ever make it this big in its asian neighbors?
Tomorrow, we will go to the Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh which thanks to the Khmer Rouge killed nearly 2 million (or a whopping 25% of the population?!?!) Then we will return to the glory of Angkor tomorrow by heading up to Siem Reap. Also did you know that Thai boxing and dancing actually come from the Khmer civilization in Cambodia? Right, more surprising facts to come!
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