Unblogged Stuff: through her Teeth, Factions N & N+1, at the Grassroots

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Big flu – hence rather little blogging. What I might have blogged about otherwise:

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1) about Han Suyin

An obituary about Han Suyin, a Chinese-British writer who devoted her life to spreading Chinese culture and literature around the world, according to China Daily, or a cheerleader for Mao’s Cultural Revolution, according to the New York Times.

You’d have to subscribe for reading the rest there, but Peking Duck got there in time to provide a bit more from the NYT article – how Han Suyin “lied through her teeth” about the “great leap forward”, as she reportedly admitted later.

I’m not sure which verdict would hit me harder: to be referred to as Mao’s cheerleader by the NYT, or as a guy who spread Chinese culture and literature, by China Daily. Faced with only these two choices before passing the gate of reincarnation, would you want to be a blunt or a subtle propagandist? Would you want to be one who will say “I knew what I did”, or one who will say “I didn’t know” or “I had to make a living and couldn’t afford to take a closer look”?

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2) about the CCP’s 18th National Congress

What happens before such meetings matters more than what matters during them, but The Hindu shows that studying the peope who are raising their hands there can still make some sense.

Woeser wrote an article for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia (RFA) in April, describing Wang Lixiong‘s (i. e. her husband’s) views of how different factions in the party have been institutionalized – and why, in  his view, placing hopes on “inner-party democracy” is misguided.

German Fairy Tale Road (Bremen)

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3) about Neil Heywood

Granted, the headline  Beijing Cream chose is somewhat speculative, but that’s about as true for every bit I’ve read about the man’s life and death before.

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4) about the Chinese press

Thumbs-down on that one, Beijing Cream. The Global Times isn’t “the Chinese press”.  Or, if it is, “Facts about Germany” is “the German press”. (That’s not to say that the Chinese press would take a more benevolent view than the GT, though.)

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5) Etc.

Maybe I’d blog about the “100 reporters at the grassroots”, too.  But I suppose it isn’t really big news and can wait for a while.

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Related

» Old Friends of the Chinese People, April 27, 2012

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Tags: accountability, America, blogging, Bremen, Britain, China, China Global Times, Communist Party of China, democracy, Europe, Germany, ideology, image, international, journalism, literature, Mao Zedong, public diplomacy, soft power, totalitarianism