Obituary: Stéphane Hessel, 1917 – 2013

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Main Links:

» Stéphane Hessel, gentleman indigné, Le Monde, December 23, 2011 / February 27, 2013
» 《愤怒吧！》： 93岁愤怒战士一夜爆红, Beijing News, April 11, 2011

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

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Hessel was born German, grew up French, and became a French citizen in 1939. He took part in the formulation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and never stopped promoting its values, Le Monde wrote in December 2011 (article updated on February 27, 2013).

He had joined the résistance in 1941. He had been arrested, tortured, and survived the Buchenwald concentration camp.

And his hope was contagious (Le gentleman indigné, dont l’espérance est contagieuse).

He was also a diplomat. Compromise was hardly something foreign to him. But to react to wrongs seems to have been second nature to him.

On October 20, 2010, on his 93rd birthday, his booklet “Indignez-vous”, Time for Outrage, was published in France, with more than two million copies sold in France, and almost two million more in the rest of the world. He published another edition soon after, describing his admiration for Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indignez-vous was followed by “Engagez-vous”, Get involved, came next.

Counter-espionage was Hessel’s job from 1941, when he followed General de Gaulle to London, a correspondent for Beijing News wrote  from Paris, in April 2011, six months after “Time for Anger” had been published:

In March 1944, he was assigned to organize the resistance network in Paris, and to gather intelligence for the allied troops as they prepared to enter continental Europe. Named “Ge Like”, he secretly entered France, but was soon betrayed and then arrested by the Gestapo. Neither punishment nor lure by promises led to the results [his captors] desired, and Hessel was then transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp on August 8, 1944, only days before the liberaton of Paris. He later wrote a detailed description of these experiences, in “Danse avec le Siècle”.
1941年，他为追随戴高乐将军来到伦敦，从事反间谍的侦查行动。1944年3月，他受命组织联络巴黎的抵抗网络、为盟军登陆搜集情报，化名“格里科”秘密潜入法国。由于叛徒的出卖，他很快便被盖世太保所捕获。刑逼利诱毫无收获后，8月8日埃塞尔被押解往德国布痕瓦尔德集中营，而这仅仅就是巴黎解放的前几天。之后他在自传《世纪之舞》中对这段经历有着详细的记述。

His narrow escape from death – by obtaining the identity of a fellow inmate who had died of typhus – inspired him.

Just as Hessel said: “this kind of leap from death, back into life makes him the more determined to enter the enthusiasm of global politics” (正如埃塞尔自己所说的：“这种死里逃生经历更加坚定了他介入世界的政治热情”).

The article’s description of Hessel’s post-war life included his co-authorship of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

To help this document of tremendous historic value obtain acknowledgment as [a set of] universal values, Hessel and his colleagues went to great pains to make it suitable for East and West, for ideologies, and the different situations of countries and nations.
为了使这份人类历史上极为重要的文件获得公认的普世价值，为了能使其适应东西方、意识形态、国家种族不同的状况，达成一致的认同，埃塞尔和他的同事们费尽心机，奔走疾呼。

There was nothing new in the novel, “Time to get Angry”, and it provided neither a logical analysis of the problems faced by humankind today, nor practical methodology for dealing with them, the Beijing News author quoted Hessel, in 2011, and added that its fascination was to be found in the emotions it stirred, and the lesson it taught: not to allow evil to repeat itself.

An initially small, unobtrusive book, written without much preparation, of only some thirty pages including footnotes and a postscript, but inevitable content, unexpectedly led to this kind of reading, discussion and dissemination. (Frequently, customers went to a bookstore and bought ten or more copies for their families and friends). While many publishers call this a coincidence, many others explore the reasons for the book’s strong sales. There is this global upheaval, and worried people are seeking some relief. This small book is just right in its simplicity, legibility, its sentiment and excitement, and its catchiness. […] And secondly, the author’s personal charm adds an envelope of respectability and trustworthiness to this small book. It seems that only with the historical experience and the energetic and passionate involvement of this 93-year-old warrior, a man may be qualified to appeal to public enthusiasm.
一本事先毫不张扬，也无甚精心企划的小书；一本加上注释和后记才三十多页，内容无可避免的略显单薄的小册子，竟然引发了如此的阅读、讨论和传播（经常有顾客到书店一买十多册赠与身边的家人朋友）。在大多出版界人士大呼偶然的同时，也有不少人研究它畅销的必然所致。首先，世界局势的动荡，对未来的担忧让人们急需找到一个释放内心情绪的出口，而这本小册子正好简单、易懂，情绪激昂、朗朗上口。 […] 其次，作者的个人魅力无疑为这本小书笼罩了一层令人尊敬和信赖的气场。似乎，唯有这种经历过历史，并以自身全部的精力和激情投入其中的长者（93岁的老战士）才有资格以这种语气号召起大众的热情。

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Related

Hessel dies at 95, The Guardian, Febr 27, 2013
A Resistance Hero Fires up the French, NYT, March 9, 2011

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“Greetings, and Nothing Particular to Say”: Lien Chan’s China Visit

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Nanfang Weekly (南方周末), February 25, 2013 —

At nine a.m. on February 25, CCP central committee secretary general Xi Jinping met KMT honorary chairman Lien Chan in the Great Hall of the People. Lien Chan had come to Beijing on February 24 as head of a delegation and is scheduled to return to Taiwan on February 27. The visit’s theme is to enter spring and revisit the past (走春访旧 – apparently a variation of 走春迎新年 – to greet the new year. Another way of putting it might be a nostalgic, yet forward-looking journey). Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou had asked Lien Chan to greet secretary general Xi Jinping.

2月25日上午9时许，中共中央总书记习近平在北京人民大会堂会见中国国民党荣誉主席连战。连战于24日率团来京，预计27日返台，此行定调为“走春访旧”。台湾地区领导人马英九请连战代为问候习近平总书记。

China News Service, on February 25, quoted Xi Jinping as saying that this was the first time since he took his new office that he met with Taiwanese friends. Xi Jinping said that when he worked in Fujian for many years, he had been in contact with Taiwanese issues almost every day, frequently met Taiwanese compatriots, and made many Taiwanese friends. It had been quite the same when he worked in Zhejiang Province and in Shanghai.

中新网25日消息援引习近平的说法称，这次是他担任新的职务之后，第一次会见台湾朋友。习近平称，他在福建工作多年，现在想起那个时期，他几乎每天都要接触有关台湾的事情，要经常会见台湾同胞，也结交了不少台湾朋友。到浙江、上海工作，差不多也是这样。

Xi Jinping particularly pointed out that “I and Chairman Lien got to know each other in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, when we met in April and in November 2006, and I vividly remember the circumstances and our conversations, and one can say that with this memory on mind, I and Chairman Lien are old friends. Ever since I left Fujian, I have paid attention to the situation in T the Taiwan Strait, hoping for continuously improving cross-strait relations.”

习近平特别提到：“我和连主席相识于浙江杭州，在2006年4月、11月两度会面，当时的会见情景，谈话情况，我现在记忆犹新，可以说当时情景历历在目，我和连主席是老朋友了。我离开福建到现在始终关注着台海局势，期待两岸关系持续改善。”

Xi Jinping also said that the new generation of collective CCP central committee leadership will continue to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and peaceful unification.

习近平还表示，中国共产党新一届的中共中央领导集体，将继续推动两岸关系和平发展，促进两岸和平统一。

Quoting China News Service (中新网) and CCTV with reports of February 24, Nanfang Weekly mentions some members of Lien’s 30-plus member delegation¹⁾, such as KMT vice chairman Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), think-tank director Tsai Cheng-wen²⁾, Radio Taiwan International  CEO Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭)³⁾ and New Party chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), plus representatives of public opinion (民意代表), business, farming and fishery, culture and education, the press, and religion.

Lien Chan said that this trip’s purpose was to enhance exchange, to exchange views with [people from] all walks of life, to look at the past and to look to the future. Lien Chan said that this was also the first time after the establishment of the new leadership by the 18th National Congress that he talked with mainland China’s leaders face to face, having the opportunity to listen to their views, thoughts and to the things they focused on. He could also exchange views with them about his understanding of the Taiwanese situation.

连战称，此行宗旨为增进彼此交流，与各界交换意见，看看过去，展望未来。连战表示，这也是中共十八大新领导班子成立后，第一次与大陆领导人面对面会谈过程，可以听听彼此的意见、思维与关注的焦点，他也会把他所了解的台湾情况，与对方交换意见。

According to CCTV reports on February 25, Lien Chan met with KMT chairman and Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou on February 22, ahead of his trip. Local media said that Ma Ying-jeou had nothing special to say [or to account for, 交待], only that he asked Lien Chan to greet secretary general Xi Jinping. A speaker for Ma Ying-jeou’s office said that the key point of the coming three years was to broaden and deepen cross-strait exchanges, and that therefore, Lien Chan’s visit to the mainland, in his private capacity, was viewed with optimism.

据中央电视台25日报道，连战行前在22号下午与中国国民党主席、台湾地区领导人马英九见面。当地媒体称，马英九并没有什么特别交待，只是请连战代为问候习近平总书记。马英九办公室发言人表示，扩大与深化两岸交流，是未来三年的重点工作，因此对连战以民间身份访问大陆乐观其成。

Lien had declined to go into detail about his scheduled meeting with Xi before leaving Taipei on Sunday night, the South China Morning Post‘s (SCMP) Taipei correspondent wrote on Monday.

But the SCMP also quotes Su Chi (蘇起), a former Taiwan National Security Council secretary-general, as saying that the new mainland leadership is expected to touch on more sensitive issues like political dialogues with Taipei.

Lien’s delegation spokeswoman was quoted as saying that Lien would meet outgoing state chairman Hu Jintao on Tuesday (i. e. on February 26).

Lien Chan was accompanied by his wife, Lien Fang Yu, and his son, Sean Lien (连胜文).

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Notes

¹⁾ According to the Taipei Times, Lien’s delegation included several business tycoons, such as Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Ruentex Group chairman Samuel Yin (尹衍樑).

²⁾ Tsai Cheng-wen is the National Policy Foundation’s (NPF) president. The NPF is a KMT think-tank.

³⁾ At an earlier trip to China, with a Taiwanese delegation to the Baoao Forum on Hainan in 2012, Chang Jung-kung was scheduled to be the delegation’s spokesman.

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Related

» Journey of Peace, SCMP, April 26, 2005
» United Front Doctrine (Democratization in Taiwan, ed. Steve Tsang, Houndmills, New York, 199

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BBC Statement accuses China of Jamming

On Mondaqy, the BBC accused China of jamming its Mandarin English-language service on shortwave. However, it also added that it wasn’t poossible to determine exactly where the blocking was coming from. Not at “this stage”, anyway.

On Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesperson claimed not to understand the situation, and a media commenter, Michael Anti, apparently presented himself as a nerd (quoted by The Guardian):

I doubt there is anyone listening to the BBC English radio in China.

Anti should know better – there are even Chinese online discussions about foreign broadcasters on shortwave. Not to mention that only every second Chinese citizen is a regluar internet user so far.

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Update / Correction (Febr 26, 2013):

the BBC statement is about jamming of its shortwave programs in English.

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The following is a recording of a Falun-Gong-leaning station, the Sound of Hope (希望之声) being jammed.

You can hear the jamming station’s output rise after 35 seconds into the recording, and the “alternative” program, Chinese folk music known as “Firedrake” (火龙干扰) sets in after one minute. (Recorded in June, 2011.)

It appears that regular Chinese domestic programs on shortwave are also at times used to interfere with undesired foreign broadcasters, as they go on air along with them, and off air once the undesired broadcasts are over.

click picture for source.

That’s a lot of time and effort for nothing, if nobody in China actually listens.

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Related

» Always with you on Shortwave (Chinese blogpost translation), March 17, 2012
» Radio jamming in China, Wikipedia, acc. 20130226

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Outline of National Tourism and Leisure (2013 – 2020)

Main Link: » 国务院：2020年将落实带薪休假 探索学生春秋假, Febr 18, 2013

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Red Tourism: Don’t be a Maybe (click picture for source).

Enorth (Tianjin) / China News Service (CNS), Febr. 18, 2013 —

To all the Provincial, Autonomous Regions’, and Municipal People’s Governments, to all the Ministries and Commissions of the State Council, and to all Agencies directly under the State Council:
The “Outline of National Tourism and Leisure (2013 – 2020)” has been approved by the State Council and is now printed and distributed to you. Please implement them and carry them out conscientiously.

State Council General Office, February 2, 2013

CNS quotes the China National Tourism Administration‘s (国家旅游局) website with (apparently) the full outline.

The gist, according to CNS:

The outline says that by 2020, the paid annual leave system will have been basically implemented, with substantial increases in the comsumption levels of urban and rural residents.

The outline is meant to meet the continuously growing demands by the people and the masses on holiday and leasure, to promote the healthy development of the tourism industry, to promote the construction of a socialist-with-Chinese-characteristics citizen tourism and leasure system, and in accordance with the Opinions of the State Council on accelerating the development of Tourism (国务院关于加快发展旅游业的意见), document no. 41, 2009.

Besides technical considerations (or ahead of them), the document refers to the Deng Xiaoping Theory, Three Represents (Jiang Zemin), and Scientific Development (Hu Jintao) as its guiding ideologies. Hence, attention is paid to keeping entrance to public museums, memorial halls and patriotism education bases (爱国主义教育示范基地, example here) free of charge. Issues of cheating tour guides etc. are also addressed.

Patriotic enough? The “Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet” (click picture for source).

The authorities are advised to bring “labor unions”, the Communist Youth League of China, the All China Women’s Federation and other mass organizations and trades into play.

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Related

» Linking Cultural Industries to National Economy, Jan 14, 2012

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World Radio Day 2013: Authentic Experience, enhanced by Listening Live

If shortwave had been discovered today instead of eight decades ago it would be hailed as an amazing new technology with great potential for the world we live in today.

This is how former BBC World Service managing director John Tusa is quoted on the pages of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Radio Prague QSL, December 1985

February 13 was World Radio Day (yours truly wasn’t aware on Wednesday, either). One of the UNESCO articles,  Shortwave Broadcasting – Challenges and Opportunities -, written by Oldrich Cip,  the High Frequency Coordination Conference (HFCC) chairman, makes quite a case for shortwave radio. Excerpts:

The prospect of rising affluence in many world regions creates an increasing opportunity for this specific delivery platform. Three billion people – or 50 per cent – of world population lives below the poverty line on less than 2.50 USD a day.1 Their first choice of communication devices will be a mobile telephone, a radio or both. For most, listening to a local FM channel, a community station or an international broadcast is still more affordable than a computer, a television or other electronic devices.
[…]
Reduced interest and funding of shortwave broadcasting, including the dismantling of infrastructure, will make shortwave broadcasting during humanitarian disasters more difficult or even impossible.

Cip also advocates Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM): Given the dramatic improvement in sound quality over present analogue AM broadcasting, it is anticipated that DRM will soon become the preferred technology for shortwave radio.

Discussing Shortwave Broadcasting and Internet Applications – Competition or Synergy, Cip comes across as somewhat ambivalent (and in favor of shortwave, in case of a doubt):

The presence of broadcasters across all distribution platforms is important for effective worldwide delivery. Audiences are able to personalize their listening experience.

But:

There is evidence that radio is best for live listening —- especially for news, current affairs and sport programmes. Authentic experience is enhanced by listening live to long-distance shortwave radio stations and their programmes.

And:

Radio has a strong emotional appeal. People listen regularly to one or two radio stations only. This appeal of radio has been even more typical in shortwave broadcasting. Enduring bonds and contacts between listeners to shortwave stations and broadcasters have existed long before the advent of social media.

“New delivery platforms” and social media could do a lot to enrich shortwave broadcasts and help collecting user-generated content, writes Cip – but to him, a world without shortwave appears to be unthinkable.

Maybe the emotional-appeal argument is strongly tinged with nostalgia, but I doubt it. I’m much younger than Cip, and many stations have dropped from my map since they went off air.

In his capacity as Radio Prague‘s frequency manager, when asked in 2006 if he was afraid there could perhaps be a loss of political will to continue with shortwave international broadcasting, Oldrich Cip chose a rather diplomatic reply:

Yes, I think that is a preoccupation not only of myself but of other international broadcasters and of people who work in this field. But at the same time I am confident that some form of international broadcasting will survive, and will continue throughout this millennium.

Whatever “some form of international” broadcasting meant. When Radio Prague went off the air (or shortwave, but heck, where’s the difference?) in 2011, Cip was more explicit:

[…] The delivery methods of international radio have diversified, with the internet and satellites, but shortwave has some specific properties, and it is my very strong belief that there will always be a specific segment of the audience that prefers shortwave broadcasting from terrestrial transmitters to other delivery methods. I am afraid that some of the decision makers in some of the big organisations may cause a domino effect, whereby when they start reducing then the smaller ones follow suit. So I am afraid that the reduction of shortwave broadcasting around the world was made quite hastily and is not a good development.

In 2011, Cip was right. And it seems to me that Radio Prague – different from other European station who has signed off as a radio broadcaster in recent years – was quite explicit in acknowledging that they were going to lose listeners:

[…] To those of you who will be unable to listen online, it has been our great pleasure and privilege to offer you this service. From all of our staff, thank you very much for listening, and goodbye.

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Related

» Weltrauschtag, Gustlik/DFC, Febr 13, 2013
» VoR terminates shortwave for Europe, Dec 31, 2012
» BBC: Taking back their Gift, Nov 4, 2012
» DW Chinese: Sad Responsibility, Oct 27, 2012
» Radio Canada International Retired, April 9, 2012
» DW, End of the Radio Era, Jan 2, 2012
» Why limit yourself, Chris Freitas, July 27, 2011
» Radio Netherlands: anticipatory obedience, June 10, 2011

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German Press Review: Kim’s Sugarcubes, and the “Battle of Opinion”

The actions of the North Korean regime are not incalculable, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung‘s (Munich) Reymer Klüver, the paper’s U.S. correspondent until summer last year, and now with the foreign-politics department at Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Kim clan’s provocations were actually quite calculable in its provocations which served only one goal: to show the world and its own people its power. The regime in North Korea doesn’t act incalculably. It acts irresponsibly.

The message is aimed at the Obama administration, believes Klüver, as the test was conducted on the day when the American president delivered the agenda for his second term in office, and at South Korean president-elect Park Geun Hye is about to take office. The reactions, too, were calculable: the US would demand stronger sanctions, China would agree after some hesitation, and basically, the response wouldn’t be different from the one to the previous nuclear test. Even if a bomb of the same explosive power as the previous one was indeed smaller than before, and therefore more suitable to be fitted to a nuclear missile, North Korea remained far from being a threat to America.

What makes the test dangerous all the same would be that Kim might gamble away, and that his provocations could spin out of control. A conflict on the South Korean border could lead to just that kind of scenario. Even worse, non-proliferation might be used to earn some badly needed foreign exchange. There was speculation about North Korean cooperation with Iran on its third test. What would keep a gambler like the dictator in Pyongyang to sell Iran or others his knowledge and even material?

China could influence North Korea, if it wanted to, writes Klüver, but it didn’t want to use it. 90 percent of North Korea’s oil imports depended on China. But China’s calculations could be shifting, Klüver adds: a Peking government paper had mentioned a “high price” that North Korea would have to pay in case of a nuclear test. The Chinese, Klüver recaps, needed to take responsibility for their irresponsible neighbor.

Der Spiegel (Hamburg) chooses the tabloid approach, as far as its choice  of stock photo material is concerned. Underneath a video link photo (from Reuters) that shows Kim Jong-un in flames, the headline is North Korean nuclear power messes with America (Atommacht Nordkorea legt sich mit Amerika an). Der Spiegel’s Andreas Lorenz points out that this could start an arms race, with the US, Japan and North Korea beefing up their missile defense. Xi Jinping acted hardly differently from his predecessor Hu Jintao, Lorenz notes, as he criticizes Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear tests, but also trying to soften international sanctions. North Korea is an important supplier of commodities to China. And the encapsulated country serves China’s military as a strategic buffer zone between China and the other East Asian states and the US.

Lorenz also quotes the English-language party mouthpiece “Global Times” as suggesting that there was no need for China to placate angry feelings about its role. And Lorenz quotes US expert Siegfried Hecker with concerns that North Korea could sell its atomic-bomb know-how, to Iran, for example.

Die Welt (Berlin) suggests that Kim had thrown the Chinese sugar cubes (i. e. sweetened the third test).

Namely, the third test was preceded by several sessions of North Korean security panels on which Kim ostensibly emphasized the leadership role of his Communist Party. For the first time in the regime’s history, these sessions were made public, writes die Welt’s Torsten Krauel. Kim thus signaled that the third test was controled by the civilian leadership and not, as it had been previously, as an – intransparent to the outside world – decision between an ailing dictator and an incalculable army. (Dem dritten Test gingen nämlich mehrere Sitzungen nordkoreanischer Sicherheitsgremien voraus, auf denen Kim demonstrativ die Führungsrolle seiner Kommunistischen Partei hervorhob. Diese Sitzungen wurden erstmals in der Geschichte des Regimes publik gemacht. Kim Jong-un signalisierte damit, dass der dritte Atomtest unter der Steuerung und Kontrolle der zivilen Führung stattfand und nicht, wie beide Male zuvor, in einer nach außen unklaren Entscheidung zwischen einem kränklichen Diktator und einer unberechenbaren Armee.)

Therefore, Xi Jinping and (theoretically) Barack Obama, too, now had a a definite contact person, believes Krauel.

Alleged North-Korean cooperation with Iran has long been a leitmotif in Die Welt’s coverage, but while more moderate papers like Süddeutsche Zeitung are discussing these allegations too, this week, Die Welt goes one step further and discusses how America could conduct a war on North Korea. However, Krauel concludes that different from Iraq during the years after the Kuwait war, the United Nations weren’t in a state of war with North Korea.

Therefore, it seems to be inevitable to talk with each other in East Asia again, even with a dictator like Kim Jong-un – as unpromising and depressing this prospect may currently look. (Wahrscheinlich führt deshalb tatsächlich kein Weg daran vorbei, in Ostasien wieder miteinander zu reden, sogar mit einem Diktator wie Kim Jong-un – so aussichtslos und bedrückend diese Aussicht derzeit auch erscheinen mag.)

The German mainstream press in general has become much more supportive of militarization of politics than in the past. That is my rough observation, and not backed by statistics. But apparently for the first time, research has been published about how leading German press people – mentioned by name – are interlinked with think tanks, national and international forums, foundations, policy planning groups, etc.. And a presentation of this research also clearly quotes leading press commentators with statements like

Politics must not shun the battle of opinion on the home front if they are convinced of what they purport. […] The battle for the “hearts and minds” must be conducted among at home, too. (Der Meinungskampf an der Heimatfront darf die Politik nicht scheuen, wenn sie von dem überzeugt ist, was sie vorgibt. […] Der Kampf um die “hearts and minds” muss auch bei uns geführt werden.)

A newsman’s words, to be clear.

This should not lead to overreaching conclusions. The research does not suggest that everyone is in the boat of an extended security concept (erweiterter Sicherheitsbegriff, including energy and financial-industry issues). But among four leading journalists of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit and Die Welt, definitions of security and threat catalogs had been uncritically adopted (unkritisch übernommen).

There are papers with editorial managers not known for relevant networks – the left leaning Tageszeitung (taz) and Frankfurter Rundschau (FR). Some of their articles correspond with views among the elite, some sharply criticize the extended security concept, according to the report.

Here is another observation that disturbs me: My choice of press-review sources – Süddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel, Die Welt further above in this blogpost was spontaneous. My information sources of choice when it comes to North Korea’s nuclear test were just these papers. No taz, no Frankfurter Rundschau. However, there’s an excuse:

I thought the Rundschau was no longer online, as they filed for bankruptcy on November 12, 2012.

But in fact, they are still here.

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Related

» Questions Raised, November 10, 2012

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Whale Watching: Foarp is Back

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Winter keeps coming and going here – it’s by no means as cold and lasting as the two previous cold seasons, but whenever you start believing that the roads are safe now, there’s another instalment.

Intermittent showers

Still better than freezing rain, though. And the view is beautiful.

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Talking about beautiful views, and before this dear reader starts complaining about a missing picture, here’s another beautiful view:

It don’t matter if you’re black or white

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And there’s some whale watching been going on on the Pacific.

Just wondering if anything like that one was among them.

And Foarp is back with a new post, after four months of silence. I had almost stopped following his blog.

Collector’s Items: Kimjongilia on Display in Shenyang

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The dear leader who will forever be remembered for replacing nuclar wars with intelligent technology (click picture).

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1) Voice of Korea, German Service, February 9, 2012

On the Day of the Shining Star – the birthday of Kim Jong-il -, the General Association of Koreans in China held a Kim-Jong-ilia exhibition in the Chinese city of Shenyang on February 4. The General Association of Koreans in China chairwoman Choe Un Bok and her coworkers, the Korean compatriots in China, the Consul-General of the DPRK in Shenyang and his co-workers, the members of the branches of Korean companies in Shenyang as well as cadres of Chinese Liaoning Province took part in the exhibition. The participants abided silent commemoration of Kim Jong-il.

Zum Tag des Leuchtenden Sterns – Geburtstag von Kim Jong-il – veranstaltete der Generalverband der Koreaner in China am 4. Februar in der chinesischen Stadt Shenyang eine Kim-Jongilia-Ausstellung. Die Vorsitzende des Generalverbandes der Koreaner in China, Choe Un Bok, und ihre Mitarbeiter, die koreanischen Landsleute in China, der Generalkonsul der DVRK in Shenyang und seine Mitarbeiter, die Angehörigen der Filialen der koreanischen Firmen in Shenyang sowie die Funktionäre der chinesischen Provinz Liaoning nahmen an der Ausstellung teil. Die Teilnehmer verharrten in schweigendem Gedenken an Kim Jong-il.

The speakers emphasized that the merits of Kim Jong-il, who had made a great contribution to deepening and developing [DVJK]-Chinese friendship, would live forever. They emphasized that the Kim-Jongilia, the flower for the praise of Kim Jong-il, would bloom forever in full blossom as a world-famous flower in the hearts of progressive people of the world and among the Korean compatriots in China.

Die Redner hoben hervor, die Verdienste Kim Jong-ils, der durch die energische auswärtige Tätigkeit einen großen Beitrag zur Vertiefung und Entwicklung der DVJK-China-Freundschaft geleistet habe, werden ewig fortleben. Sie betonten, Kim-Jongilia, Blume zur Lobpreisung Kim Jong-ils, werde als weltbekannte und als berühmte Blume in den Herzen der fortschrittlichen Menschen der Welt und der koreanischen Landsleute in China ewig in voller Blüte stehen.

Voice of Korea (Stimme Koreas), 09.02.2013

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2) KCNA: Kimjongilia Show Held in Shenyang

Pyongyang, February 8 (KCNA) — A Kimjongilia show for celebrating the birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il (the Day of the Shining Star) was held in Shenyang, China on Feb. 4 under the sponsorship of the General Association of Koreans in China.

Present there were officials of the General Association of Koreans in China including Chairwoman Choe Un Bok, Koreans in China, the consul general and members of the DPRK consulate-general in Shenyang and officials of Liaoning Province, China.

Speeches were made at the show.

The speakers said that immortal are the feats of Kim Jong Il, who made great contributions to strengthening the DPRK-China friendship with his energetic foreign activities.

Kimjongilia, flower praising the great man, will shine as the famous flower in the world and bloom in the minds of world progressives and Koreans in China, they noted.

They expressed belief that the Korean people will achieve greater success in the building of a thriving nation under the leadership of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un this year.

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), February 8, 2013

An informal Chinese translation (or re-publication) of a KCNA news article:

朝中社平壤２月８日电 旅华朝鲜人总联合会４日在中国沈阳举办庆祝金正日总书记诞辰日（光明星节）金正日花展。
议长崔银福等旅华朝鲜人总联合会成员、旅华朝侨、朝鲜驻沈阳总领事和总领馆人员、朝鲜驻沈阳各办事处人员以及中国辽宁省官员参观了花展。
参观者首先悼念金正日，肃立默哀。
展览上多位人士先后发言。
各位发言者说，金正日以精力充沛的对外活动为加强和发展朝中友谊做出了巨大的贡献，这一丰功伟绩将永垂不朽。伟人之花将作为世界名花、花中名花放射光辉，永远盛开在世界进步人民和旅华朝鲜人心中。
他们强调，深信朝鲜人民今年将在敬爱的金正恩元帅领导下，在强盛国家建设中取得更大成就。（完）

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3) China News Service, February 8, 2013: Three Postal Stamps

North Korea issues postal stamps to commemorate Kim Jong-il’s birthday on the “Day of the Shining Star”.  This picture shows Kim Jong-il at his time as a student at Kim Il-sung University. According to KCNA on February 7, the North Korean Postal Stamps Publishing Office published new stamps to celebrate the “Day of the Shining Star”, Kim Jong-il’s birthday. They include two small and two individual stamps.

[…]

朝鲜发行邮票纪念金正日诞辰日“光明星节”。图为金日成综合大学时期的金正日。 据朝中社7日报道，为庆祝朝鲜已故领导人金正日的诞辰日“光明星节”，朝鲜国家邮票发行局推出了新邮票，包括2枚小型张和2枚个别邮票。 […..]

China News Service, February 8, 2013

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