Snowden Press Review – VoA Chinese: a Super-Charged Stink Bomb / “Global Times”: no Face-Losing Outcome for China

Several hundred Hong Kongers held demonstrations during the weekend, demanding that Edward Snowden should not be extradited, and that the SAR government should protect him, Xinhua reports. (The South China Morning Post, SCMP, reported on Saturday that members of the League of Social Democrats marched from the HSBC headquarters to the U.S. consulate on Friday, and Xinhua’s report may refer to this demonstration.) According to opinion polls quoted by Xinhua (via SCMP), half of Hong Kongers opposed the idea of repatriating (遣返) Snowden, and only 17.6 percent supported the idea. A Ming Pao editorial of June 16 is quoted as calling on America to account to Hong Kong.

The Ming Pao article is behind a paywall, but the teaser refers to Snowden’s interview where he had said that the University of Hong Kong, officials, business people and even students had been targeted. Given that Hong Kong was not considered an enemy of the United States, and that it was no base area for sheltering terrorist elements, the SAR government had good reasons to lodge a protest with the American government and to make solemn representations. The American government must account to Hong Kong’s relevant parties, concerning the intrusions into Hong Kong computers.

Xinhua quotes the Voice of America (VoA) as saying that Snwoden had exploded a super-charged stink bomb (爆炸力超强的臭气弹), tainting Western companies, governments and officials with with a foul smell that would be hard to remove.

The main damage, the actual VoA online article (published on Friday) says, is political – so far, the NSA director, president Barack Obama, and congressional supporters of the existing laws and regulatons from both political parties hadn’t found a convincing response to the critics.

According to Xinhua, sympathy for Snowdon in the American media is declining rapidly – he was being criticized there for harming the national interest, and for having no professional integrity (批评其危害国家利益、没有职业道德的声音激增).

It’s a different story in Hong Kong, writes Xinhua, quoting “a page-spanning” SCMP headline  on Sunday, saying that according to opinion polls, Hong Kongers don’t want to hand Snowden over to America (民调显示，香港人不愿把斯诺登交给美方). 49.9 percent of those polled opposed or strongly opposed the idea. The survey had also found that 33 percent of the polled found that Snowden was a hero. This seems to be an accurate rendition of the actual SCMP article.

Xinhua’s press review is much longer than these excerpts, but at least in its first paragraphs, there seems to be no twist in its account.

The English-language “Global Times”, owned by the China-Daily Group, writes that extraditing Snowden would be a face-losing outcome for both the Hong Kong SAR government and the Chinese Central government. It would also be a disappointment for expectations around the world. The image of Hong Kong would be forever tarnished.

Snowden Case Press Review: Paranoia and Repression

China’s domestic radio network quotes from a foreign-minstry press conference of today. (The radio network, Central People’s Broadcasting System, is also known as “China National Radio”, CNR).

Central People’s Broadcasting System (CPBS), June 14 — According to the Foreign Minstry of the People’s Republic of China (FMPRC) website, FMPRC spokesperson Hua Chunying said on a press conference that China is one of the countries suffering most from cyber attacks, and that China firmly opposes all forms of hacking attacks. It was hoped that the relevant parties would take practical measures, strengthen mutual trust and cooperation between all parties, and jointly protect peace and security in cyberspace.

中广网6月14日消息 据外交部网站消息，外交部发言人华春莹今日在记者会上表示，中国是遭受网络攻击最严重的国家之一，中方坚决反对一切形式的黑客攻击。希望有关方面采取切实行动，增进各方互信与合作，共同维护网络空间的和平与安全。

Question: According to media reports, America has, for many years, invaded Chinese networks all along, but accused China of conducting cyber-attacks against America. How does China plan to react?

有记者问：据媒体报道，美方多年来一直入侵中国网络却指责中国对美进行网络攻击。中方打算如何应对？

The indirect rendition of Hua Chunying‘s answer contains the same wording as the CPBS report’s first paragraph, plus three more sentences.

Also within her answer:

We will work with the relevant parties and continue a constructive dialog and cooperation about the issue of cyber security. We affirm the international principles laid down in the framework of the United Nations, and we have put forward specific proposals.

我们将与有关各方继续就网络安全问题开展建设性的对话与合作。我们主张在联合国框架内制定相关国际规则，并提出了具体倡议。

Hua Chunying sums her reply up with a specific remark about relations with America:

In the framework of strategic security dialog, China and America have workgroups concerning the internet, and China will, within this framework, conduct in-depth communicaton with America.

中美在战略安全对话框架下建有网络工作组，中方将在有关框架下就有关问题与美方进行深入沟通。

On Thursday, China Media Project (CMP) in Hong Kong published an overview of how Chinese coverage on the Snowden case had developed since June 10. The CMP post suggests that commercial media in China are allowed to cover the case, or that coverage by commercial media is tolerated.

CMP also points out that extensive use of foreign media as sources for their own coverage deviates from restrictions issued by Chinese authorities only in April this year.

Chinese propaganda has made efforts in the past to portray Chinese online censorship as “normal”, and as something that was practised in many other countries, too. In 2010, And in 2010, a report by CPBS’s channel Zhongguo zhi Sheng focused on Australian internet censorship. And in April 2011, Guangming Net informed its readers that in recent years, Japan has continuously strengthened supervision of the internet by means of legislation.

Edward Snowden‘s escape to Hong Kong is probably many times as good for Chinese propaganda to this end (“they do it, too”), than country reports like the two cited above. But the idea that American or Western criticism of Chinese censorship (or hacking attacks, for that matter) were hypocrisy has apparently become a wide-spread view among Chinese citizens long before. The turning point seems to date back some five years. Back then, CCP propaganda, rather than being defensive and bashfully silent about human rights violations or censorship, began to harness nationalism in a more systematic way, integrating parts of the blogosphere and nationalists. Censorship was, at times, actively advocated.

My impression is that many Chinese nationals simply became tired of questioning their own political system, or their culture. If propaganda served them with reasons to make themselves content, they leapt at them (Chinese growth and Western economic crisis being some of these reasons).

But a similar phenomenon appears to be going on in America. The way Snowden is frequently vilified in mainstream media, even by “liberal” columnists and commentariat, seems to suggest that even those who once hoped Obama would rid America of its “security” bureaucracy are resigned – and that they are willing to leap at any alleged inaccuracy in the coverage on Snowden’s NSA leaks.

The motors of progress are spluttering. Paranoia and repression have become acceptable replacements for progress – in Western countries, too.

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Related

» Banned from flying to UK, BBC, June 14, 2013
» Ai Weiwei on abuse of power, The Guardian, June 11, 2013

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The Essence of Big-Power Relations: the Chinese Definition in short

The BBC‘s monitoring service has a Chinese press review on the summit between U.S. president Barack Obama and Chinese party and state chairman Xi Jinping.

The Xinhua review linked by the BBC review actually goes somewhat further than the BBC’s account of it: the summit had designed (or drafted) a roadmap for a new era of Sino-American relations (为新时期中美关系的发展规划了蓝图). That said, two sentences further down, the Xinhua review kind of counterbalances this with a much more vague notion that a consensus between the two leaders on making joint efforts to build a new type of relations between big powers, to show mutual respect, and to cooperate in a mutually beneficial way, thus benefitting the people of their two countries and the people of the world. China and America, facing rapid economic globalization and the objective requirements of countries being in the same boat, should be able to take a road different from the history of great powers – a new road without clashes and antagonism. The Xinhua review the notion that China is the biggest developing country, and America is the biggest developed country. Facts had shown that cooperaton was mutually beneficial. Even if the political systems and development patterns were different, countries could set a good example of  peaceful coexistence and harmonious relations. All the same,

it cannot be denied that differences in terms of societal system, development stage, history, culture and tradition do exist between China and America, which make the relationship between the two countries exceptionally complex. This is exactly why chairman Xi Jinping says that the establishment of a a new type of relations between big powers is unprecedented and for generations to come [this should be the correct translation if 后起来者 is meant - I'm not sure about the actually used term 后启来者].

不可否认，中美之间存在社会制度、发展阶段、历史文化传统等差异和政治经济上的纠纷，使得两国关系具有前所未有的复杂性。正因如此，才如习近平主席所说，中美建设新型大国关系“前无古人、后启来者”。

The talk about unprecedented (tasks) preceded the summit – Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai was quoted with quite the same wording ahead of the summit.

The People’s Daily editorials or commentaries linked by the BBC can’t be loaded at the moment. However, there seem to bee different opinions among People’s Daily’s editorialists – one suggesting that this was the beginning of a new era, and one (in the overseas edition) suggesting that building a normal relationship among major powers wouldn’t be easy, and one without distrust would be impossible (unless the U.S. changed their ways, that is).

Chinese coverage – before and after the summit – seems to suggest that the summit was a stage in a Chinese initiative to win America over to a constructive role in building a more harmonious world. Obviously, this would mean that a “failed” summit would be a loss of face for Xi Jinping – although there would have been ways to sell this to the Chinese public reasonably successfully, as a failure of the usual American suspects.

What seems to support the perception of the summit as the result of Chinese efforts is that the Chinese side came with a “vision” – Obama came with issues, such as cyber attacks. Chinese core interests (such as Taiwan or the South China Sea) don’t feature prominently. But there would be no American-Chinese summit without such issues – that they aren’t in the headlines for the sake of “atmosphere” does not mean that they were absent in the talks. But at least to the public, they were communicated rather low-key on this occasion.

Hong Kong’s Phoenix/Ifeng television and media company quotes the Beijing News (新京报) as saying that Xi addressed the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyutai) and the South China Sea issues as well as the “Taiwan issue”, cyber security and the Korean nuclear issue. There are excerpts from a press conference (or briefing, 吹风会), too, held by former Chinese foreign minister (until March this year) and current secretary of the Foreign Affairs Leading Small Group of the Communist Party of China Yang Jiechi (Yang apparently made his statements the Hyatt Hotel, where the Chinese side stayed during the summit):

Q:		What’s at the core of the new type of big-power relations between China and America? 中美新型大国关系的核心内涵是什么？努力方向是什么？
A:		Yang Jiechi said that the two leaders agree to making joint efforts to build big-power relations of a new type between China and America, with mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. This is an important consensus reached by both sides, with their minds set on the international situation and the future development of Sino-American relations. This represents [the fact that] the two countries don’t take the road of history, with clashes and antagonism, but initiate a new model of big-power relatoins, a historic undertaking of  political wisdom. 杨洁篪说，两国元首同意，共同努力构建中美新型大国关系，相互尊重、合作共赢。这是双方着眼世情国情以及中美关系未来发展达成的重要共识，体现了中美两国不走历史上大国冲突老路、开创大国关系新模式的政治智慧和历史担当。 Yang Jiechi said that as chairman Xi pointed out, China and America are the world’s most influential countries, and should therefore set an example of how to handle big-power relations. President Obama said that America welcomes China as a great power that continues peaceful development, and that a peaceful, stable and prosperous China isn’t only beneficial for China, but also for America, and for the world. America hopes to maintain strong cooperational relations with China, in an equal partnership. 杨洁篪说，正如习主席指出的，中美都是对世界有重要影响的国家，理应在处理大国关系方面发挥示范作用。奥巴马总统表示，美国欢迎中国作为一个大国继续和平发展；一个和平、稳定、繁荣的中国，不仅对中国有利，对美国、对世界也有利。美国希望同中国保持强有力的合作关系，做平等的伙伴。 Yang Jiechi said that three lines by chairman Xi during the summit provided an incisive summary: 杨洁篪说，关于中美新型大国关系的内涵，习主席在会晤中用三句话作了精辟概括： 1. No clashes, no confrontation. Treat each other’s strategic intentions objectively and reasonably, maintain partnership, not rivalry, handle contradictions and differences by dialog and cooperation, and not by clashes and confrontation. 一是不冲突、不对抗。就是要客观理性看待彼此战略意图，坚持做伙伴、不做对手；通过对话合作、而非对抗冲突的方式，妥善处理矛盾和分歧。 2. Mutual respect. That’s to respect each other’s chosen societal system and development path, each other’s core interests and major concerns, to seek common ground while reserving differences, show tolerance and learn from each other, and make progress together. 二是相互尊重。就是要尊重各自选择的社会制度和发展道路，尊重彼此核心利益和重大关切，求同存异，包容互鉴，共同进步。 3. Mutually beneficial cooperation. That’s to abandon zero-sum concepts, take the other’s benefit into account while seeking your own benefit, advance common development while pursuing your own development, and keep deepening the beneficial integrational pattern. 三是合作共赢。就是要摒弃零和思维，在追求自身利益时兼顾对方利益，在寻求自身发展时促进共同发展，不断深化利益交融格局。 Yang Jiechi said that concerning the implementation of the spirit of the new type of big-power relations, chairman Xi had advanced a four-point proposal: 杨洁篪说，关于如何将新型大国关系的精神贯彻到中美关系的方方面面，习主席提出了四点建议： 1. To raise the level of dialog and mutual trust, multilateral forums such as the G-20 meetings and APEC and all the other more than ninety inter-governmental forums should be used skillfully. 一要提升对话互信新水平，把两国领导人在二十国集团、亚太经合组织等多边场合会晤的做法机制化，用好现有90多个政府间对话沟通机制。 2. New fields of cooperation should be initiated. America should take active measures to ease restrictions on high-tech exports to China, to promote the structures of trade and investment between the two countries into a more balanced direction of development. 二要开创务实合作新局面，美方应在放宽对华高技术产品出口限制等问题上采取积极步骤，推动两国贸易和投资结构朝着更加平衡的方向发展。 3. To establish a new methodology of interaction between big powers, the two sides should maintain close coordination and cooperation on issues like the situation on the Korean peninsula, Afghanistan and other international and regional hotspot issues, and strengthen cooperation in combating sea piracy, transnational crime, peacekeeping, disaster relief and prevention, cybersecurity, climate change, space security and other fields of cooperaton. 三要建立大国互动新模式，双方应在朝鲜半岛局势、阿富汗等国际和地区热点问题上保持密切协调和配合，加强在打击海盗、跨国犯罪、维和、减灾防灾、网络安全、气候变化、太空安全等领域合作。 4. Explore new ways of managing and controlling differences, and actively build a new military relationship that corresponds with the new type of big-power relations. President Obama responded positively and said that America attaches great importance to American-Chinese relations, and that America wants to build a new pattern of cooperation between countries on the foundation of mutual benefit and mutual respect, and to jointly respond to global challenges. 四要探索管控分歧新办法，积极构建与中美新型大国关系相适应的新型军事关系。奥巴马总统对此作出了积极反应，表示美方高度重视美中关系，愿在互利互尊基础上与中方构建国与国之间新的合作模式，并共同应对各种全球性挑战。 Yang Jiechi said that in short, China hopes that China and America will make joint efforts to firmly and unwervingly advance the building of a new type of big-power relations, along the lines designated by the two countries’ leaders. 杨洁篪说，总之，中方希望中美双方共同努力，沿着两国元首指明的方向，坚定不移地推进新型大国关系建设。

Seasons: Gaokaos and Translator Tests

Saturday was gaokao day in China again, the nation-wide national higher education entrance examinations. More than nine million Chinese teenagers sat down and took a test that would determine much of their future lives.

But there’s an alternative, according to the Guardian – British qualification tests can be taken at Chinese schools, too. (Not sure if that’s true for all Chinese schools.)

It would seem however that this is mainly providing kids with rather wealthy backgrounds with an alternative to the usual procedure.

About two weeks earlier, exams on a smaller scale took place: the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters [全国翻译专业资格（水平）考试]. The accreditation test website also contains some information in English.

Not so xiandai anymore: JR’s dictionaries

That one was also conducted on a weekend, of course, on May 25 and 26. On all other days of the week, people have to study. In Beijing, the tests included spoken translation on Saturday, and written translation on Sunday Saturdays.

The test material is published by the Foreign Languages Press.H/t to this post by Huolong (who is somewhat critical of the material).

Xi Jinping arrives in California: “an unprecedented common cause”

Xinhua, via Enorth (Tianjin), June 7, 2013

The following blockquotes are excerpts from the Chinese press. Links within blockquotes added during translation.
Xinhua, viao Enorth (Tianjin), June 7, 2013

Chinese state chairman Xi Jinping arrived in the U.S. state of California on June 6, for talks with American president Barack Obama from June 7 to June 8.

中国国家主席习近平6日抵达美国加利福尼亚州，于7日至8日同美国总统奥巴马举行会晤。

This Sino-American summit will be held in the Annenberg Estate in California. Xi Jinping is going to have broad and deep communications with Obama on strategic issues of mutual concern to deepen understanding, to enhance mutual strategic trust, practical cooperation, to make guiding suggestions for building mutual respect, mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership, and  structures for a new type of relations between big powers.

这次中美元首会晤将在加利福尼亚州安纳伯格庄园举行。习近平同奥巴马将就双方共同关心的重大战略性问题进行广泛深入沟通，加深相互了解，增进战略互信，推进务实合作，为中美共同建设相互尊重、互利共赢的合作伙伴关系，构建中美新型大国关系提出指导性意见。

This is the first meeting between the two top leaders after the changes of governments, and highly meaningful for strengthening strategic communication, mutual strategic trust, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, building effective management of disagreements, promoting the development of a Sino-American partnership of cooperative relations, and  structures for a new type of relations between big powers.

这是中美两国政府换届后两国最高领导人之间的首次会晤，对中美双方加强战略沟通，增进战略互信，深化互利合作，有效管控分歧，推动中美合作伙伴关系发展和探索构建中美新型大国关系具有十分重要的意义。

Xi Jinping travelled to California on a special plane after winding up state visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

习近平是在结束对特立尼达和多巴哥、哥斯达黎加、墨西哥三国国事访问后，乘专机从墨西哥梅里达抵达加利福尼亚州的。

Huanqiu Shibao quotes China People’s Broadcasting Service (CPBS):

[...] Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, has previously said in Washington D.C. that this is the first summit meeting between the two heads of state [Obama and Xi] after the changes of governments, a strategic and historic summit.

[.....] 中国驻美国大使崔天凯此前在华盛顿表示，这是两国政府换届后中美元首首次面对面接触，是一次战略性和历史性会晤。

Cui Tiankai said: “Along the main line of building a new type of relations between big powers, deep discussions about matters concerning the big issues in the future development of relations will be held.

崔天凯：“两国领导人将围绕构建中美新型大国关系这一主线，就事关两国关系未来发展的重大问题进行深入沟通。”

Cui Tiankai pointed out that the foundations of Sino-American relations have become more solid, and the support from the people of the two nations has also become broader. While the two sides focus on mutual benefit, there can also be effective control and management of differences (管控和处理分歧). China and America should take the road that corresponds with the development requirements of the times to develop their big-powers relations.

崔天凯指出，中美关系的基础比从前更加稳固，两国民众的支持也更加广泛。双方在聚焦于共同利益的同时，也能够有效地管控和处理分歧。中美应该走出一条适应时代发展要求的大国关系新路。

Cui Tiankai said: “This is a common cause for the two countries, unprecedented and for generations to come [this should be the correct translation if 后起来者 is meant - I'm not sure about the actually used term 后启来者]. It will lead Sino-American relations to enter a new development stage, and it will also open a new chapter in international relations.”

崔天凯：“这是一项两国共同的事业，是一项‘前无古人、后启来者’的事业，将引领中美关系进入新的发展阶段，也将为国际关系开启新的篇章。”

Cui Tiankai (崔天凯), a man who knows how to drive a tractor, had been vice minister of foreign affairs from 2009 to 2013, and assumed office as ambassador to the U.S. in April, 2013. He is the Chinese diplomat with perhaps the deepest knowledge of the United States, Jane Perlez wrote in the New York Times, on Thursday. The idea that Xi and Obama should meet outside either Washington or Beijing has been attributed to Cui.

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Related

» Cui Tiankai on South China Sea, June 24, 2011
» Vivid Microcosms, Jan 21, 2011
» Three Eight Hundreds, Apr 19, 2009
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Obituary: Chen Xitong, 1930 – 2013

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Chen Xitong

Former Beijing mayor Chen Xitong (陈希同) died on Sunday. HK China News Agency (HKCNA, a branch of mainland Chinese China News Service) broke the news on Tuesday, reportedly in a rather scant bulletin.

Chen was born in Sichuan Province, in 1930, and died aged 82, 83, or 84, depending on how you count the years. He was seen as a staunch supporter of the Tian’anmen massacre of June 4, 1989. In 1992, he became a member of the central committee’s politburo, and party secretary in Beijing. In turn, he ended his mayorship after some ten years in office.

His career ended in 1995, when he faced corruption charges. In 1998, he was sentenced to sixteen years in jail, but was released on medical parole in 2006.

According to sources beyond HKCNA – quoted by the Voice of America -, Chen Xitong’s relatives released a bulletin of their own, too. Chen Xitong’s son, Chen Xiaotong (陈小同),  thanked those who had helped the family during the illness of his father. Chen Xitong reportedly died from cancer.

Yao Jianfu (姚监复), a former researcher at the state council’s rural development research center, met Chen Xitong several times after Chen’s release in 2006. In June 2012, he had his accounts of their discussions, Conversations with Chen Xitong, published in Hong Kong.

Chen is said to have contested the notion that his role in the Tian’anmen massacre had been crucial. Deng Xiaoping had had his own sources to make his decision (i. e. didn’t depend on information from the Beijing mayor).

In June 2012, on the occasion of the publication of the Conversations, the Washington Post quoted Chen Xitong as having referred to the 1989 demonstrations as an American-backed conspiracy orchestrated by a “tiny handful of people”  at the time of the movement, 24 years ago. Chen, in his rather recent conversations with Yao Jianfu, is also quoted as comparing his political fate (concerning the corruption charges in 1995) to that of Bo Xilai.

Some allegations against Chen Xitong, regarding his role in 1989, are based on the alleged diary by then chief state councillor Li Peng. But some allegations appear likely, such as Chen having been in charge of the headquarters that oversaw the crackdown. Either way, he certainly played his role well enough to get promoted to the politburo.

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Candellight Vigil in Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers attended a candellight vigil in Victoria Park on Tuesday night. William Chan, a Youtube user, wrote:

Hong Kong made me proud today. A big crowd braved heavy rain to attend. This was the moment when we all put down our umbrellas to raise our candles. The chants at the end are “Vindicate June 4th!” and “Never give up!”

The erhu music performed is called 江河水 [River Water].

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Related

» Ma Ying-jeou’s June-4 remarks, Taiwan Today, June 5, 2013

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Blockupy Frankfurt: The European Union in the Streets

Heavy rains further south make the river swell – this is the first time that I can see the river from this neck of the woods, as it has flooded all the planned areas, and possibly somewhat beyond. But the flood might be receding now.

The river, getting near the railway construction site, east of Verden, May 31, 2013

A flood of a different kind was stopped in Frankfurt on Saturday. According to a blog on German newspaper Der Freitag, 400 protesters were closed in by the police, allegedly for being “masked”. The “Freitag” blogger asked police for the reasons to close in on the demonstrators, and was told that disguises were the reason. A reporter with the Hessian state broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk asked if the two or three maroons from within the protesters were the reason and was told that the police were not aware of maroons. Shortly after, however, the maroons had been cited as the main reason for closing in on the demonstrators. They’ll always find a reason, the blogger concludes.

German television’s channel 2 (ZDF)  had some pictures (apparently on Saturday night, will be taken down after five to seven days), and here are some by Russia Today/Novosti.

A commenter thanked the Freitag blogger for his first-hand account from Frankfurt. She had googled for critical coverage for hours, and had found very little, she wrote. Even umbrellas – symbols for the eurozone bailouts – had been counted as illegal ways of disguise: I cannot tolerate that my taxes are used to interfere with my right to demonstrate, the commenter wrote.

The protest was stopped after a few hundred meters, writes Neues Deutschland:

One doesn’t have to agree with every demand from the Blockupy movement to understand the enormous political dimension expressed by the police approach. People who have to define umbrellas, sunglasses and small banners as “passive armature” so as to stop a peaceful demonstration, can’t rely on a claim of having safeguarded some kind of public order.

Man muss nicht mit jeder der Forderungen der Blockupy-Bewegung übereinstimmen, um die enorme politische Dimension zu erkennen, die in dem Vorgehen der Frankfurter Polizei zum Ausdruck kommt. Wer Schirme, Sonnenbrillen und kleine Transparente zu „passiven Bewaffnungen“ erklären muss, um eine friedlichen Protestzug zu stoppen, der kann sich nicht darauf berufen, irgendeine öffentliche Ordnung gewährleistet zu haben.

Even the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) doesn’t suggest that there had been violence – there had, however, been members of radical groups (Anhänger radikaler Gruppen) within. And FAZ quotes observers: the police approach had been completely disproportionate.

The Frankfurter Rundschau reporter found it difficult to judge the situation – the Blockupiers had refused to name a responsible or speaker and to discuss the route of the demonstration – some “paint bombs” (Farbbeutel)  had been thrown, and at least some bank employees had been stopped from getting to work.There was a European dimension to the protest, with people from other European countries taking part.

Many reactions, even far away from Frankfurt, are very ntural: reactions from people who speak as parents and friends of those affected by the crisis, who begin to see the shattering power in the youth unemployment statistics elsewhere in Europe, and their relevance to Germany itself.

That’s a very different European union from the one we used to know from the media. It may become the union of the future.

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Related

» Clashes at Blockupy protest, The Guardian, June 1, 2013
» Plus ca change, plus c’est Franco, November 17, 2012
» German army’s crisis role, BBC, Aug 17, 2012

Press Review: Li Keqiang in Germany, and the only Disharmony

Xinhua, via Enorth (Tianjin), May 27, 2013 —

Chief state concillor Li Keqiang met with German president Gauck on Sunday.

国务院总理李克强26日在柏林会见德国总统高克。

Li Keqiang conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes from chairman Xi Jinping. Li Keqiang said that current Sino-German relations were continuously reaching new developments on a high level, with both countries facing rare opportunities. With Merkel, we have deepened the Sino-German strategic partnership, and we held talks about strengthening cooperation in all kinds of fields. The two sides have issued a press communiqué, clearly stating the key areas and the direction of cooperation for our two countries. China is looking forward to strengthen dialog and exchange with Germany on the principles of respect and equal treatment, to enhancing understanding and mutual trust, to jointly cope with challenges.

李克强转达了习近平主席的亲切问候和良好祝愿。李克强说，当前中德关系在高水平上不断取得新发展，两国合作面临难得机遇。我同默克尔总理就深化中德战略伙 伴关系、加强各领域合作举行了很好的会谈，双方发表联合新闻公报，明确两国重点领域合作方向。中方愿本着相互尊重、平等相待的原则，同德方加强对话交流， 增进了解和互信，共同应对挑战。

Discussing China’s development and domestic situation, Li Keqiang said that all along during the past thirty years, China had moved forward, and the economy had achieved huge successes. Construction of a democratic legal system and the cause of human rights had constantly progressed. As a big developing country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, China’s path towards modernization was still long. We are acting from our own country’s national situation [国情, guóqíng, also translated as national characteristics or national circumstances sometimes], adhere to the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and at the same time, we want to draw on the civilizational achievements and experiences to achieve comprehensive development even better.

在谈到中国的发展和国内情况时，李克强表示，中国过去30多年一直在改革开放中不停顿地前行，经济社会发展取得巨大成就，民主法制建设和人权事业不断进步。中国作为一个拥有13亿人口的发展中大国，要实现现代化还有很长的路要走。我们从本国国情出发，将坚持走中国特色社会主义道路，同时愿借鉴人类社会的文明成果和有关发展经验，更好实现全面发展。

Gauck welcomed Li Keqiang to Germany and asked him to convey his cordial greetings to Xi Jinping. Gauck said that Germany and China both had a long history and magnificent cultures, and relations between the two countries had developed fine in recent years. Germany admires the achievements of China’s economic and social development and wants to strengthen cooperation and dialog with China in politics, economics, the humanities and other fields, and to promote further development in the relations of the two countries.

高克欢迎李克强访德，并请转达对习近平主席的亲切问候。高克说，德中都拥有悠久历史和灿烂文化，两国关系近年发展良好。德国钦佩中国经济社会发展取得的成就，愿同中方加强政治、经济、人文等领域的合作与对话，推动两国关系取得新发展。

Li also met with Brandenburg’s minister-president Matthias Platzeck in the regional capital Potsdam, next to Berlin. In Potsdam,visiting Cecilienhof Castle there,

Rheinische Post (RP) onkine, May 26, 2013 —

Li Keqiang re-emphaszized his country’s claim on an uninhabited group of islands in the East China Sea. Japan had to hand the territories back to China. “This was a hard-earned fruit of victory”, Li said, pointing to international post-war agreements. The islands, contested between the two countries, had once been stolen from China by Japan.

Li Keqiang bekräftigte in Potsdam den Anspruch seines Landes auf eine unbewohnte Inselgruppe im Ostchinesischen Meer. Japan müsse die Territorien an China zurückgeben. “Das war die Frucht des Sieges, der hart erkämpft wurde”, sagte Li unter Verweis auf internationale Abkommen der Nachkriegszeit. Die zwischen beiden Ländern seit langem umstrittenen Inseln seien China einst von Japan gestohlen worden.

Märkische Allgemeine, May 26, 2013 —

In front of the castle [Cecilienhof], some flurry arose when two Tibet activists wanted to register a spontaneous demonstration. Security forces stopped the protest “along the route of protocol”, as a police spokesman told the MAZ [Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung].

Vor dem Schloss kam kurz Unruhe auf, als zwei Tibet-Aktivisten eine spontane Demonstration anmelden wollten. Sicherheitskräfte unterbanden jedoch den Protest “entlang der Protokollstrecke”, wie ein Polizeisprecher gegenüber der MAZ sagte.

Platzeck, whose heart beats for Dortmund, revealed that the Chinese guest was a soccer fan and that they had talked about the game [between Borussia and Bayern], too. It had turned out that Keqiang had more been in favor of Bayern Munich. That, however, had been the only disharmony between the two politicians, Platzeck assured.

Platzeck, dessen Herz für Dortmund schlug, verriet, dass der chinesische Gast ein Fußball-Fan sei und man auch über das Spiel am Vorabend gesprochen habe. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass Keqiang eher für den FC Bayern gehalten habe. Dies, so versicherte Platzeck, sei aber die einzige Disharmonie zwischen den beiden Politikern gewesen.

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Related

» Merkel vows, Bloomberg, May 27, 2013
» Industriousness and Wisdom, Jan 9, 2011
» Full of Vitality and Vigor, July 16, 2010

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