Wo Bu Zhidao

Not Again

Last year the SARS media frenzy shutdown China. It looks like people are warming up to do it again this time with the Asian Bird Flu. I don't think that reporters are putting alot of thought into what happens when they continue to hammer the fear button of the American psyche. This unreasonable fear is created by people looking for readers. Unfortunately not much thought seems to be given to the side effects caused by this.

The Chinese government reported that SARS did not harm the economy that much. Sure large multinational corporations weathered the shutdown but what about the small business owners. I know from first hand experience that it was devastating. My in-laws had to close their restaurant due to SARS. When your 1 year old restaurant has almost no customers for close to 4 months it is a little hard to remain open.

Hopefully most people will only pay attention to the beginning of the post I linked to and not the updates. In addition, I hope we don't see the pop culture feeding frenzy for the sake of self promotion that was in evidence last time around.

Answering SARS (washingtonpost.com) New disclosures

Answering SARS (washingtonpost.com)

New disclosures by the Chinese government have heightened the world community's sense of alarm over the spread of SARS

What new disclosures? Apparently the Washington Post doesn't know either as they have none only a shortcut to a gallery of pictures which were all taken in April. I guess, "Look at our old pictures from China," doesn't get the advertisers attention. (The text and link is located at the bottom right corner of the page.)

Modern technology makes rumours more

Modern technology makes rumours more powerful. SARS rumours spread at the speed of light thanks to text messaging.

Happy news today in Shijiazhuang.

Happy news today in Shijiazhuang. Five SARS patients were released with a clean bill of health. I don't think patients normally receive bouquets from the staff when they are released but makes for a nice photo here.

I wonder if Berkeley has

I wonder if Berkeley has heard about this and changed their policy accordingly. No students from Canada or Tennessee.

Unveiling the newest SARS fashion

Unveiling the newest SARS fashion and gear. This type of story is becoming more and more common in Chinese newspapers. As you may have noticed the paper that I am reading most often is Hebei Ribao (Hebei Daily News). Although it is no surprise that the news would have many articles about the positive aspects of the fight with SARS, there is one facet of this that I find to be very interesting. I have been trying to read the newspapers but to be quite honest browsing the headlines would be a more apt relation of what I do. My Chinese still is not at a sufficient level to really read a newspaper. Consequently I spend alot of time looking at pages like this. Recently there has been a change on the front page of the paper. Just below the picture there is always the box full of links to stories that you would click daily. Until earlier this week the first link always led to the daily SARS statistics. This has changed in the last week though and now if you click the top link you are taken to this page. That page is an honor roll of what companies and groups have donated the most to the fight against SARS.

The honoring of those who have donated is not just limited to the Hebei Daily. I have talked to some of my Chinese friends and they say that they have begun to see many stories appear in all of the Chinese newspapers they read. So why is there a big focus on these donations? I mean if the Chinese government wishes to show that it is doing all it can it could, and does, publish countless stories about the heroic efforts of the government to fight SARS. I do not know whether this type of thing happens in American media during an ongoing natural disaster or not. The only times I have lived through natural disasters were in Houston when I was very young. I think that it is a sign of the new direction that communism has taken in this country.

When I first arrived in China I heard that the CCP had anounced that businessmen were in fact part of the proletariat. When I first heard this news I was floored. By definition how can businessmen be proletarians? This recent development in Chinese media shows that the party is approaching business through the media in just such a fashion. Businessmen truly are part of the Chinese proletariat. I think these articles are a subtle type of Stakhanovism. I think that party is reminding the private entrepeneur and businessmen that although they have been allowed free reign in the marketplace there comes a time when they must remember their responsibilites to the party, state and society.

Of course I could be completely wrong and the Stakhanov tactic may have been heisted from the Chinese by the Russians. I have noticed that at traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies it is loudly proclaimed who gave how much. A list is even made and posted so that it is the first thing that is seen when entering the courtyard of a house. So this new thing could be an unconcious attempt by the merchant class to move up to the level of literati in a re-emerging Confucian social structure. Just another lesson for myself, I will never fully understand China. Luckily I really enjoy trying, and I am holding out for my 60th birthday when Confucious assured me that it will all come clear.

If anyone has any insight into this particular problem please send me an e-mail and enlighten me.

I hope that this story

I hope that this story starts to have an affect soon.

Interesting development at Berkeley. I

Interesting development at Berkeley. I wonder if it was money or alumni that allowed this select group in. The article notes that they must provide information attesting to their good health but it doesn't note that anyone travelling from anywhere in China must provide this same information just to board a train or plane. They only allow as many people from SARS affected regions as they can handle in quarantine but fail to mention if those students are from Canada then as many as want to can come.

Moms in quarantine get good

Moms in quarantine get good wishes and presents from their families who miss them. It is particularly hard for many families because many of the children are now not in school while their parents are being held in quarantine.

Great! Lisa Rose Weaver is

Great! Lisa Rose Weaver is apparently allowed to write about China and broadcast it to the world and yet she incorrectly identifies the capitol of Hebei province. THE CAPITOL OF HEBEI IS SHIJIAZHUANG NOT BAODING. I am guessing she is not from Des Moines.