Voice of Germany: Probe still in Progress?

Zhang Danhong, former deputy manager of the Voice of Germany‘s Chinese department (but still working for the Chinese department, I thought), wrote an article the day before yesterday, about a press conference with Frank Appel, chief executive of the Deutsche Post. That’s no China-related topic, and I’m wondering if she has been transferred to a different department within the Voice (Deutsche Welle), or if this article is just by the way. In December, she interviewed Hu Xingdou (胡星斗), professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Matthias von Hein, formerly head of the station’s Chinese department, reportedly was to change his job and switch to the central editorial department “this year”. So far, the station still refers to him as head of Deutsche Welle’s China Service.

It’s guessing work for me – can’t find a great deal of information on the internet in general, or on the station’s website in particular. As for the investigation work on the Chinese department’s past records, I see no information either. Possibly, all parties have come to the conclusion that the station wasn’t Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece after all – but if so, I can only find a statement by parliament’s Social Democrats who actually made a – more or less final – statement in the Voice of Germany’s favor.

My impression (but that’s a vague one) is that neither the critics of the Voice of Germany, nor its defenders, neither the German, nor the Chinese media are still too interested in the story. That said, China Radio International (CRI) still conveys the image of an impeccable Chinese journalist who was attacked by German sectarians, although the Chinese foreign broadcaster does so rather by the way. In an article on the latest novel by Günter Grass earlier this month, CRI also refers to his support for Zhang Danhong.

For the Voice of Germany itself, this was or is an important process. One can think of it as a quality test.

Open communication is the best foundation for trust – and an international radio station needs the trust of its audience. Mrs Zhang’s personal rights – legal matters of privacy for example – may sometimes be more important than openness. But whereever possible, the Voice of Germany should let us know the decisions it takes, and for which purposes it takes them. The Chinese official media won’t stop building legends, and the Voice of Germany’s listeners in China understandably will have questions.

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Related: Zhang Danhong remains in the News, Mar 14

Voice of Germany – Zhang Danhong remains in the News

Zhang Danhong (张丹红) remains in the news in China, though in a new, lower-profile context. On March 4th, China Radio International (CRI) published an online article on the latest book by German author Günter Grass – Unterwegs von Deutschland nach Deutschland: This globally respected Nobel prize laureate who kept asking himself and his country hard questions, once again reflects deeply on Germanys unification process and its political and social implications.

The CRI article also refers to the authors Danzig Trilogy (Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse, Dog Years): with the trilogy, Grass researched the underlying roots of Nazism and Fascism brought about by German nationalism.

After a reference to the views of Günter Grass on the potential of a reformed enlightenment movement and the role enlightenment should play in countering the current dominance of neo-liberalism, the CRI article comes to the point which really seems to matter: Grass’ views on China. And, just by the way, on the Voice of Germany and the Zhang Danhong case.

Last year, when Zhang Danhong, in charge of the Voice of Germany’s Chinese service, took a neutral stance concerning the case of Tibet and was blamed by many people and was then dismissed by the Voice of Germany, the VoG’s Chinese service also came under review. Some well-known Germans who felt with Zhang Danhong then wrote an open letter to parliament in support of her. Grass was one of them. It is said that he looked into the case very carefully and only signed the open letter after careful consideration.

The CRI article contains inaccuracies, beginning with the description of  Zhang Danhongs position as in charge of the Chinese service (she was in fact deputy manager), to her “dismissal” (she was suspended for days or weeks, and lost her position as deputy manager, but she wasnt fired). But what strikes me as most weird is how CRI is making a connection between poetry, enlightenment, Günter Grass and Zhang Danhong. Mr Grass may have some personal flaws of his own, and he wasn’t always accurate in the account of his own past, but if  he wanted to publish an interview with himself, he would probably inform us readers in advance.

After all, he is a professional.

Why Can’t Humans Fly? Scientific Answers

Hermit the Taoist Dragonfly

Well, whoever had this question and found these pages with the a/m searchword combination, I hope that my little scientific treatise has been helpful. I strongly advise you never to practise Falun Gong stuff. It has been the ruin of many-a poor Granny.

And flying like them is not scientific!!

Hermit

Wen Jiabao: Dalai Lama no Normal Religious Figure

[Press conference after the closing of the NPC annual session this morning, Wen in reply to a question from a Figaro correspondent]

1.

我們說達賴喇嘛不是一般的宗教人士，而是一個政治流亡者，是有充分依據的。他們設立在達蘭薩拉的“流亡政府”實際上是政教合一的，由達賴喇嘛直接操縱的非法“政府”。

When we say that the Dalai Lama is not a simple religious figure, and he is actually a political exile, this is absolutely justified. The so-called exile government situated in Dharamsala is actually a combination of politics and religion, and this illegal government is under the direct control of the Dalai Lama.

2.

達賴喇嘛在世界各國到處奔跑，頗能迷惑一些政界人士，西方一些國家也利用他。我在這裡隻舉一個例子來說明我們看待達賴喇嘛，不僅要看他說些什麼，而且要看他做些什麼。

The Dalai Lama has run around all over the world and he is quite capable of misleading some political figures in other countries. Some Western countries are also using him. I give you just one example here as to how we view the Dalai Lama, we do not only need to listen to what he says, but also watch what he does.

3.

就在前兩天，達賴喇嘛在所謂反駁楊潔篪部長的答記者問當中，提出他從來沒有說過讓中國的軍隊從西藏撤出去，讓漢人從西藏撤出去。這確實是蠱惑人心的。

Several days ago, the Dalai Lama, in a so-called rebuttal of what was said by the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi in his press conference, he said that he had never asked the central government to withdraw the Chinese troops from Tibet or to move the Han ethnic groups out of Tibet. This is really demagogic. [蠱惑人心 - gu huo ren xin: to confuse and poison peoples' minds, to excite popular feelings...]

4.

如果大家查一查1987年在美國達賴喇嘛發表的“西藏五點和平計劃”和在1988年在法國斯特拉斯堡發表的“七點新建議”，那裡都明確講到，需要中國軍隊和軍事設施撤離西藏，要立即制止漢人，他所說的中國人遷入藏區，已經進入的要撤離。

You may refer to the five-point proposal made by the Dalai Lama on peace in Tibet in the United States back in 1987 or the seven-point supplementary*) proposal he made in Strasbourg, France, in 1988. In those proposals, he made it very clear that he calls on the central government of China to withdraw the troops from Tibet and to remove the military installations. He also calls on the immediate halt for the movement of Han ethnic groups into Tibet. As for those Han ethnic groups who already live in Tibet, he asks for them to leave.

5.

白紙黑字，達賴喇嘛要糾正是可以的，但是要賴是賴不掉的。

It is in cold print. The Dalai Lama can put this right, but he can’t get away with it.

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*) The premier actually says “七点补充建议” (supplementary proposals, as translated during the press conference). The Lianghui website changes this into “七點新建議” (seven new proposals). The term new proposals seems to be in more frequent use in Chinese – and it arguably sounds more like inconsistent or unreliable.

As Wen Jiabao speaks slowly, this patriotic youtube video might be a good Chinese lesson. The translator tows the line of referring to the Dalai Lama as Dalai, while the premier himself uses the term Dalai Lama.

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BBC, Mar 13: Wen a bit worried about the safety of loans to U.S.

Hermit: The Stupid Little Mermaid

Hello Children,

Hermit the Taoist Dragonfly

it’s me, Hermit the Taoist Dragonfly, once again. Today I’m going to tell you a fairytale. Here goes…

Once upon a time, say, in the year of 2050, Nannymaid was on a routine patrol tour through the Channel, and somewhere West of Guernsey and Southwest of Land’s End, OK, in the middle of the Atlantic really, she met an attractive, beautiful little Mermaid with a Cool-Britannia T-shirt on that left her neat round hips naked, and with a button in each of her ears. Around her neck hung something like an i-pod, or whatever you’d call that in 2050. Anyway, Nannymaid made a heroic effort and chased the cute little Mermaid into the direction of the Channel, until the little Mermaid was somewhat out of breath, stopped and asked whassup.

You are navigating in Chinese Waters

“You are navigating in Chinese waters”, Nannymaid reprimanded her.

“Chinese waters?” The cute Mermaid giggled because she was stupid and didn’t know that any waters are Chinese once Chinese Nannymaids say so and produce ancient Chinese sea maps to prove it, even if the maps are drawn with a ballpen. “Chinese waters? This is the Atlantic, and the national waters closest to here are either Moroccan, Portuguese, Spanish, British, or French!”

“Stop giggling,” hissed Nannymaid. “Britain has been a tributary state of our Glorious Empire ever since 1793!”

The ignorant cute Mermaid giggled even harder, and Nannymaid became furious. “This is a very serious situation! What’s hanging around your neck there?!”

Sonar what?

“Oh, that’s an i-pod with some cool music”, replied the little Mermaid. “Want to have a listen?”

“Stay away from me! That isn’t music, that’s sonar equipment. You are spying on our Imperial submarines here!”

OK, children, here I should add for your better understanding that in 2035, in an almost bloodless and very humane coup, a Confucian gang brotherhood had restored the Chinese Empire and enthroned Liu Dehua (刘德华) as the first emperor of the Yellow-Face-Dynasty (黄色脸朝).

Anyway, “sonar what?!”, the cute but stupid Mermaid enquired. She had never done well at theoretical physics in school and didn’t even know how a so-called i-pod works.

“Don’t act the fool!“, bellowed Nannymaid. “Follow me to the examination rock!”

There on the rock somewhere within the Eastern Atlantic, without asking further questions, Nannymaid hacked the cute little Mermaid into many ugly, unattractive pieces and sent them back to the Empire in a tupperware box, with the next merchant ship, and in Guangzhou, they used the hamburger mermeat (the remaining bits of the t-shirt and i-pod included) to make baby food of it, because the baby food was still pretty much the same as half a century earlier. Of course, only the mothers who belonged to the Chinese superclass could afford such great quality, while all the other babies had sawdust instead. The maintenance of the Empire came at a price, but the common Chinese people happily paid it. Because like Confucius said, Imperial glory is better than a good individual life, and it doesn’t matter if you are bullied, as long as you are bullied by compatriots, not by foreigners.

And with these words of patrotic encouragement, let’s call it a day, children. Got to weigh anchor fly now.

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Related: U.S. vessel’s Standoff with Chinese Sub ‘Dangerous’, Analyst says, IHT, Mar 12

Related: The Hainan EP-3 Incident and what really happened, JR, Aug 8, 2008

Germany’s Latest Superstar…

… is Tim K. from Winnenden *). And now, “a town is seeking for explanations”. Well, not just one town. It seems to be all of Germany, nay, of Europe.  The SPIEGEL calls it a gun-frenzy. Maybe the previous Amok in Alabama inspired Tim K? His parents had a lot of weapons in their house. Or maybe it all happened because his girlfriend had left him? And his table tennis coach tells German television that this superstar was a bit aloof, but no superstar.

Germany is shocked. OK, we are easily shocked these days. Maybe that’s part of the explanation. A debate about school safety has already started. And demands for measures against future shooting sprees have been timely voiced.

Sorry, I’m Germany, too. And sorry, I’m not shocked, and I’m sure that many people here aren’t shocked, either. I don’t even think that the disaster is really that incomprehensible. If it was incomprehensible, media and politicians wouldn’t be so hasty with demanding measures. You cry for measures at once (even when a sorry event only repeats itself sporadically so far) when you refuse to actually look at a case before making decisions. You demand measures, because you know that you won’t like what you will see, if really looking into it with a bit of patience.

Looking a bit more closely before crying aloud might tell us more about the state of our society than we want to know. It might still give us a somewhat distorted picture (because fortunately, shooting sprees are still fatal exceptions), but it would give us a picture anyway.

But as patience isn’t my greatest strength either, here is my picture:

You either slog away on television and become a superstar after getting past Dieter Bohlen, or if you value life (that of others and your own) even less, you kill a number of people on a spectacular shooting spree before getting killed yourself.

The only bad thing: you usually won’t see yourself and your Beretta (or whatever gun you like most) on television after the shootout. But then, the experience of terrifying and killing others is probably even more… umm… intense?

*) As usual, only the name of the perpetrator seems to matter. Der SPIEGEL is still trying to get legal permission to print his full name, while the press abroad is already dong so.

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Related: Why are Mass Media Losing Relevance?

Quote

“I feel proud of being a CPPCC member to participate in the deliberation and administration of state affairs. I will fulfill my commitment with the joint effort with all the members.“

“I am so young that I need to learn first.“

Lu Liu Xiang, Anxious about CPPCC Debut »

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Related – Hermit: Delegates Make a Big Difference »

Quote

“There is no better way of insulting official Chinese media than to quote them.“

– JR