“To wish China away will be… suicidal”

To further strengthen the bilateral relationship between South Africa and China, a two-days strategic dialog will take place in Pretoria from Thursday, Channel Africa reported today. The meeting is set to deepen the mutual trust in politics, enhance the strategic partnership and to increase high-level bilateral relations. [Africa Digest, Channel Africa, September 16, 2009]

But I’m not sure if South Africa’s ambassador in Beijing, Ndumiso N. Ntshinga, meant to be harmonious: 
“You cannot deny the importance of China in world politics or in the world economy”, he told the radio station’s correspondent John Bailey. “Actually in the world economy more than anything, you can’t just deny it. To wish China away will be… I don’t know… will be a suicidal thing to do. You can’t wish them away.”

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Related: “Forging Africa’s Strategic Partnership”, Jamestown Foundation, June 24, 2008

German Press Review: Ai Weiwei Operation

Ai Weiwei underwent surgery in Munich’s Großhadern Hospital on Monday night, reports Die Zeit. Großhadern is one of the Ludwig-Maximilian University‘s two campuses. Two holes were drilled into his skullcap to reduce pressure.

Ai has recorded more than 5,000 children in Sichuan so far who were killed in collapsing schools, writes Die Zeit. He does research on children killed by collapsing buildings in the Sichuan earthquake last year.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung‘s, Henrik Bork, Ai said that he suffered from constant headaches after police had headed him off on arrival in a hotel on August 12 in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and hit him hard on his head. As the pain intensified after his arrival in Germany last weekend, he had a check-up, and then the operation.

Hamburg’s weekly Der Stern quotes surgeons as saying that coma had been imminent. Ai hopes to be able to attend the opening of his show at the Haus der Kunst on October 12. He is scheduled to be on the Frankfurt Book Fair, from October 14 to 18.

CNN! CNN! Beijing or Chengdu?

Forums at Die Zeit have seen a vivid discussion routine about China during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, and it still seems to be far more impassioned than before 2008. At least some pro-Beijingers and China experts who arguably only came to the forums for debates before the Olympics last year originally, have remained faithful readers nevertheless – of the online edition, anyway. Commenter 56 nationalities (“54 Völker)” asks if Ai is a medical miracle – travelling by plane for eleven hours, for surgery in Germany.

A more matter-of-fact commenter advises Die Zeit that the subtitle says that Ai was beaten by police in Beijing, while the article itself refers to Chengdu.