中国大好き

photo by Sara Bernal

Chat with an old friend in Beijing who works in Chinese media. Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 7:50 am GMT

hello dear

bonjour. 早上好。

how are you ??

還可以
你好嗎？
空氣很臭嗎？

feeling nauseated, pollution is above maximum level again
855 right now

他們兩會喘氣一點也好

disgusting

+o(

you know the article i translated a few days ago to tackle the pollution? they want to forbid the barbecues !!

*^o)

like 羊肉串?

dui !!

太可笑

可悲

the state of the air is the state of the art of ruling the country. we had a guy from shanghai here at the university yesterday, there is a un conference on middle east in the city, and he is a chinese expert on jews in china and relations to middle east. very pragmatic, realist guy, sounds like some of his israeli friends. we don’t want another libya chaos, so we veto.

😐

but who are they defending in the security council? sudan was massacring their own people. China supports any regime that suppresses their own population by military means.

yeaah, so now it is too late for the international community to shine, and the ones who help in Syria are the radical islamist, Al qaida etc..

exactly.

when the war will be over, do we really want an other country ruled by Al Qaida, because china did not want chaos ?
such short term vision
lets not forget the dearest firend poutine
such a nice guy to help his economy by boosting the weapons and jets industry

yes. the chinese love to cooperate on weapons with israel and do all sorts of research. he likes to talk about such things. but nobody asked tough questions. stephane hessel died two days ago in france, wasn’t it? the old guy who survived the nazis and inspired recent civil movements. it’s not easy. arab spring was risky. doesn’t look good now, on the whole.

yes, he passed away, just learned about it a few minutes ago, i just cried watching the news

every revolution takes time, the french one lasted more than 20 years
to really settle down

the name arab spring comes from prague spring 1968. there are always risks with popular movements for democracy from the bottom up. participation, human rights, civil rights, civil society.

but the good thing in the chaos in egypt and algeria and tunisia, is that now, people know they can make a difference, and wont take bullshit and abuse like sheep

so, all those who just had personal ambitions are aware that they too can be put down by civilians if they don t act according with the will of the people.

yes. two and a half years ago it looked like mubarak and gaddafi etc. would rule forever.

it will take time, but in the end, we, the basic people all want the same: quiet, freedom, work, and education for the kids

it was more convenient for everybody to support the status quo.

for us, china, eu, diplomats….

you are right. to be left in peace by the government, to have basic rights and freedom, to have work, and education for the kids. in tibetan. in mongolian. in uighur. etc. not very difficult.

你好吗？

不怎么好

头疼 头晕

那今天好好休息。。。

空气怃然挺厉害

没有办法休息没

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_68d111990101afbr.html

https://erguotou.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/lilis-story/

i was horrified by the story of Lili

i sent it to my friends and colleagues

it’s very disgusting. the poem is from last october. it didn’t look as if she would get justice. remarkably well-written report in the newspaper when you follow the link., very detailed.

my chinese is too bad to understand the original text, but i will have some of my colleagues help me understand. I am getting ready for the NPA and CCPPC. 3 weeks with no day of for this occasion.

at austrian PEN-club they have a special activity Time To Say No. Started after Malala was shot in Pakistan. I am helping them with Chinese texts. http://www.penclub.at/

One Chinese writer who lives in Canada sent a much more horrible poem than Lily’s Story. Very good poem, too. Her name is Sheng Xue 盛雪. I can send it to you, if you like. Women’s day on March 8 is a good occasion to pay attention to the real world.

yes, please, it is always good to make people aware of these facts

too many people with power still think they can get away from their acts, thank god internet is there so nobody forgets

寄給你 8:22:16 AM Sending of “Sheng Xue.doc” http://blog.boxun.com/hero/201202/shengxue/7_1.shtml

Oh my god, that’s awful

i can’t stand injustices like that

i can’t stand that these murderous pigs can get away with it !!

i am not for violence, but sometimes i think …

:@

please send it around, if you like.

i will

the english translation is not bad. but the original is even better.

or worse, of course.

i passed them around

what are your colleagues saying? Maybe they know some of the names in the poem by Sheng Xue. I didn’t know the names, but it sounds very real.

i did not hear anything from my colleagues

i guess many chinese just prefer to ignore that kind of things

like the ostrich digging its head in the sand

at least one or two of the names in the poem by Sheng Xue would get results even in English at Google or Baidu. Lily’s Story was reported in China. Even in newspapers, though not very big.

i think the more they hear about this kind of things, the more rebellious they will be towards those jerks

yes. but it isn’t big news every day. the pollution is. that’s the good thing about it. easy to say for me when I don’t smell it right now.