Guessing Games: “Don’t wait for Beidaihe”

— Note: the following is old news: it’s about articles that appeared during the past two weeks and a half. —

Big sensation? Or was the Xinhua article, published on August 5, making fun of the international press in general, or the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in particular? The headline read Liao Wang Think Tank: Don’t wait for it, Beidaihe won’t happen, and it seemed to refer to an article in Hong Kong’s English-language paper, published on July 30.  The headline, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that the near-tradtitional gathering of China’s top leaders has been cancelled. But it does suggest that Beidaihe is no longer the place where the big decisions are made: after all, Chinese politics had gradually become more transparent and “regular”, especially after the 18th National Congress of the CCP (i. e. the election of the current leadership) and the Eight Provisions (or Eight Rules). Hadn’t the politburo met on July 20 and 30? One could well expect that issues like the 13th 5-year plan, economic policies, striking the tigers (打老虎, put into quotation marks in the article, and referring to the ostensible fight against corruption among leading cadres) had been discussed there time and again – so what would be the use to go to Beidaihe? “Is it necessary? Is it likely [to happen]?”

Obviously, Beidaihe doesn’t need to be the place where big decisions are made. But it may still be the place. While the CCP is indeed fairly transparent when it comes to the publication of its final decisions, the decision-making process remains as murky as ever.

Maybe that’s why the Xinhua/Liaowang author found speculation about the time and agenda of the Beidaihe meetings so funny. The Economist also got a mention for suggesting that [n]ormally the meetings start in the second week of August and run for seven days or so. This year they started a week early […]. However, the Xinhua article didn’t mention that the Economist referred to reports in overseas Chinese media.

And, as usual, the sources weren’t specifically mentioned, either, let alone linked to, its sources, even though both the SCMP and the Economist article were available online. Maybe they were running counter to the Liaowang author’s message to his readers that Chinese politics had become “more transparent”.

Summer Vacation

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An (unkept) promise of rain.

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Temperatures are alright by sunset …

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But at daytime …

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…  only the coolest place in the house is good enough.

Before Sunrise

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Summer: Walled Little World

Good weather conditions so far – mostly a good mix of sun, rain and overcast skies. Everything is still lagging behind schedule by a few weeks, as the warm season started late.

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Small grapes, great expectations

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Some of the crops are growing on mini-terraces as the slope would make watering wasteful otherwise.

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Lavender and potatoes

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potato blossom

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Tobacco – only a few rows so as not to exceed the legal limit.

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Related

Summer Observations, July 12, 2011
Rain at last, June 19, 2011

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“China is Alright”: a Summer Camp for Overseas Chinese students from Laos

China Radio International‘s Mandarin service renders a newslet by China News Service (中国新闻社), China’s second-largest state-owned newsagency after Xinhua, on the field of public diplomacy.

Original title: Ethnic Chinese Laotians go to Yunnan to experience Chinese culture

CRI Online news: according to China News Service, the “2013 China is alright – the perfect Yunnan summer camp” has started in Kunming, with fourty campers and group leaders from Chinese schools in Laos. It is scheduled to go on for ten days. Apart from developing [an awareness or knowledge of, apparently] Yunnan ethnic culture, knowledge of China, and exchange, the overseas Chinese students will also experience Yunnan province’s local conditions and customs.

国际在线消息：据中新社电，“2013中国文化行—完美云南营”4日在昆明开营，来自老挝华文学校的40名营员和领队将开启为期10天的“中国文化之旅”。除了开展云南民族文化、中华知识学习和交流外，海外华裔学生还将体验云南的风土人情。

With Chinese-Laotian cooperation growing closer and the surging “Chinese language fever” in Laos, more and more ethnic Chinese and Laotians want to understand the Chinese way of life and traditional culture. Luo Bailan, a teacher and group leader with the camp, says that the Chinese schools in Laos are continuously adjusting their educational methods, to allow the students to learn by experience.

随着中老两国合作日益密切，老挝掀起了“汉语热”，越来越多的华裔和老挝人希望了解中国的生活方式与传统文化。老挝领队老师罗白兰表示，老挝的华文学校在不断调整教学方式，让学生们进行体验式教学。

Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China deputy secretary general Li Xianguo says that “China is alright” is an important part of the foundation’s “Young Ethnic Chinese Chinese Culture Heritage Project”.

中国华文教育基金会副秘书长李献国表示，“中国文化行”是中国华文教育基金会“华裔青少年中华文化传承工程”的重要组成部分。

Chinese fever – click pictdure for China News Service coverage

The State Council Information Office (SCIO) is more elaborate, adding that most of the students haven’t been to Yunnan before. Even though it has been rainy for days, and temperatures in the spring city [i. e. Kunming] are a bit low, this hasn’t affected the campers’ high spirits in the least. They are reading the course schedules of the camp reader, excitedly discuss the coming lessons and the tourist attractions. A student tells the SCIO reporter that he is most interested in poetry recital and calligraphy, and in touring the Stone Forest, the birthplace of Ashima:

“We also want to experience the culture of national minorities in the Yunnan Nationalities Village I don’t know a lot about national minorities and hope to experience a lot of interesting things”, Lin Yingcai says in fluent Chinese.

“我最期待看石林的奇山怪石，听说那里是阿诗玛的故乡，我们还要去体验云南民族村的少数民族文化，我对少数民族了解不多，希望能体验很有意思的东西。”林英才用流利的中文说。

Many Laotians and Burmese and Cambodians and North Koreans see China as a promised land, Joshua Kurlantzick wrote in his 2007 book Charm Offensive (p. 137). And America, he warned, had earned itself a bad image in the past, and was still doing so:

For decades, the United States still did not grant Laos normal trading relations, though Laos’s human rights record was no worse than the record of China, with whom America traded vigorously. American sanctions on Laos infuriated Lao officials, who didn’t understand why such a big country like the United Stateswould punish a minnow – especially since during the Vietnam War, America had dropped more bombs on Laos than it dropped on Germany and Japan together during World War II, leaving Laos riddled with unexploded ordnance.

(Kurlantzick, p. 59)

Jiang Zemin visited Laos in November 2000, reportedly the first visit by a Chinese head of state. In November 2006, Jiang’s successor Hu Jintao followed up, and moved China Radio International (CRI) one step ahead of the BBC and the VoA, by pushing a button for a rebroadcasting FM station – the inauguration ceremony was reportedly broadcast live, as the rebroadcaster’s first program ever:

So, Vientiane listeners, for the first time, clearly and vividly heard the the warm voice of state chairman Hu Jintao, a visitor from a friendly neighbor.

万象听众第一次如此清晰真切地听到了来自友好邻邦——中国国家主席亲切的声音：

[…]

A CRI official said that the friendly relations between China and Laos created good conditions for CRI’s operations in Laos. According to the official, the Laotian government’s approval of CRI’s Vientiane frequency was one of only few. Before, the BBC and the VoA had applied for frequencies to the Laotian government, but had received no approval.

中国国际广播电台一位负责人说，中老两国的友好关系为国际电台节目在老挝落地创造了良好的条件。据这位负责人透露，国际电台在老挝调频落地是老挝政府已批准的为数不多的落地项目之一。之前，英国广播公司、美国之音等广播电台，均向老方提出过调频落地申请，但老挝政府未予批准。

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Related

Branding China, May 18, 2008
Meeting the Volunteers, CRI, Nov 21, 2006

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Seasons: Cool May, some Rainy Days in June

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This could become a rather wet summer.

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Make rain your friend …

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… not your enemy.

Shortwave Log, Northern Germany, August 2012

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Voice of Korea

The Voice of Korea (VoK), previously known as Radio Pyongyang, is the international broadcasting service of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. When I listened to the station in the 1980s, you got the national anthem at the beginning, and following that, some frequency announcements and the news. Since then, two not-so-collective leaderships, i. e. Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, have died, and all VoK programs begin with the national anthem, a song for Kim Il-sung, and another for Kim Jong-il (both military marches). But there’s still space for the news, readings from the works of Kim Il-sung, and a mixture of military marches and folk music (the latter of which is occasionally quite nice, but more frequently kitsch, sometimes with apparent Swiss characteristics).

Radio Pyongyang – renamed Voice of Korea since -, QSL card, 1989.

There is currently no interference on 13760 kHz at 13:00 GMT (click here, or picture above, for a digital recording), but the Chinese program, although more silently than the scheduled English program, can be heard in the background, too. It is probably on the same feeder between the studios and the shortwave transmitters.

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Recent Logs

Thanks to long vacations, it’s a pretty big list for August.

International Telecommunication Union letter codes used in the table underneath:
AFS – South Africa; AIA – Anguilla; ARG – Argentina; ASC – Ascension Island; CHN – China; CLN – Sri Lanka; CUB – Cuba; IND – India; IRN – Iran; ISR – Israel; KRE – North Korea; MNG – Mongolia; PAK – Pakistan; RRW – Rwanda; RUS – Russia; SYR – Syria; THA – Thailand; TIB – Tibet; UAE – United Arab Emirates.

Languages (“L.”):
C – Chinese; E – English; Fa – Farsi; G – German; H – Hebrew; K – Korean; Pa – Pashto; Th – Thai; R – Russian; T – Tibetan.

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kHz	Station	Ctry	L.	Day	Time GMT	S	I	O
5960	PBS Xinjiang	CHN	C	Aug 2	23:00	3	4	3
7240	PBS Tibet	TIB	C	Aug 2	23:13	3	4	3
9330	Radio Damascus	SYR	G	Aug 3	18:00	2	3	2
15700	Voice of Russia	RUS	G	Aug 4	09:30	4	5	4
9430	China Radio International	CHN	C	Aug 4	14:21	4	5	4
6000	RHC Habana	CUB	E	Aug 5	03:00	3	3	3
6090	Caribbean Beacon	AIA	E	Aug 8	00:41	4	5	3
11540	VoA Radio Deewa	CLN	Pa	Aug 8	01:36	3	5	3
15850	Galei Zahal	ISR	H	Aug 8	02:55	3	5	2
6973	Galei Zahal	ISR	H	Aug 8	03:05	3	3	3
13850	KOL Israel	ISR	Fa	Aug 8	13:59	4	4	4
15760	KOL Israel	ISR	Fa	Aug 8	14:35	4	4	4
4920	Tibetan Radio1)	TIB	T	Aug 8	21:58	4	4	4
4800	CNR	CHN	C	Aug 8	22:28	3	4	3
15235	Channel Africa	AFS	E	Aug 9	17:00	3	4	3
11290	Royal Air Force Volmet2)	ASC	E	Aug 9	19:18	4	4	4
9490	Deutsche Welle Kigali	RRW	E	Aug 9	20:27	4	4	4
12010	Voice of Russia	RUS	G	Aug 11	15:55	4	3	3
9855	Radio Australia	UAE	E	Aug 12	23:20	3	4	3
17895	All India Radio	IND	E	Aug 13	10:00	3	4	3
15180	Vo Korea	KRE	E	Aug 14	10:00	3	4	3
17820	Radio Thailand	THA	Th	Aug 14	10:31	4	5	4
15275	Radio Pakistan3)	PAK	E	Aug 14	11:00	?	?	?
9805	CNR	CHN	C	Aug 14	23:00	4	5	4
11710	CNR	CHN	C	Aug 14	23:05	4	5	4
9325	Vo Korea	KRE	K	Aug 15	20:01	4	5	4
15345	RAE Buenos Aires	ARG	G	Aug 15	20:55	4	3	3
9680	Radio Thailand4)	THA	G	Aug 20	20:00	4	4	5
21590	IRIB Tehran 5)	IRN	E	Aug 21	10:28	4	5	3
12085	Vo Mongolia	MGL	C	Aug 23	10:00	2	4	2
9330	Radio Damascus 6)	SYR	R	Aug 23	17:24	3	5	3

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Notes

¹⁾ SIO 444 on parallel frequency 4905 kHz
²⁾ probably Ascension Island
³⁾ SIO = 3, but modulation as bad as usual.
⁴⁾ Interference from 9675 kHz, probably Radio Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Turkish-language program.
⁵⁾ SIO 454 on parallel frequency 21640 kHz
⁶⁾ Modulation as bad as usual, but the better reception than later in the evening (as usual in August).

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Related

» Previous Logs, August 2, 2012

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Alleged Joint Letter: Wen Jiabao subverts Socialist Market Economy

The BBC‘s Chinese website quotes Japan’s Kyodo News Agency as reporting that “conservatives” had written a joint letter to the central committee in July this year, demanding the dismissal of chief state councillor Wen Jiabao. The letter, written by more than 1,600 cadres, scholars et al had accused Wen of subverting the foundations of the socialist market economy. Accusations reportedly leaked to Kyodo and Yomiuri Shimbun suggested that Wen turned a deaf ear to state-owned enterprises’ staff, broke state enterprises up at his own discretion, and favored foreign investment, thus bringing around growing income disparities.

Wen was also accused of pursuing the goal of a multi-party political system – and of having ordered the closure of websites propagandizing Marxism and Maoist thought. This had been a serious violation of the people’s freedom of speech.

The letter had also requested leniency for former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai.

Among the signatories – again, reportedly and not verified, apparently – were former National Bureau of Statistics director Li Chengrui, and former state council economy, technology, and social development institute’s adviser Ma Bin. According to Yoimuri Shimbun, several Beijing University (Beida) professors were also among the signatories.

Kyodo and Yoimuri Shimbun apparently published their reports on Wednesday.

If such efforts stand any chance of success seems to be an idle question – Wen will retire early next year anyway. Rather than at the man and his top post, this kind of letter – if it actually exists – would be targeted at his and his allies’ supposed agenda. The letter would rather be a bit of applied “inner-party democracy”. A joint letter to the central committee is hardly the way CCP top brass would build alliances, or attack rival factions.

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Related

» China Shuts Down Utopia, Guardian, April 6, 2012

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