Here's Jackie with his son, Jaycee.  Jackie Chan set off a hail of critcism recently by saying, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled," during an economic conference on Hainan Island.  "If we are not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."    
Jackie Chan Strikes a Chinese Nerve   According to The New York Times, the comment was considered extremely insulting in Hong Kong and Taiwan, especially, but also on mainland China.  A spokesman for Jackie insisted the comments were taken out of context.

I wonder.   

He's an avowed patriot.  He sang at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and denounced the protesters who interrupted the torch relay.   No doubt he's brown-nosing the Chinese authorities.  Democracy is not on the government's near future agenda.  Economic growth and continued power are.  I also heard from my students in China that too much freedom is not a good thing, leading to disharmony and instability.  Same as stated in the NYT article. 

I also wonder at the outcry against his comments.  They really surprise me.  Of course the NYT article mostly quotes sources in Taiwan and Hong Kong.  Taiwan is a democracy and Hong Kong, though controlled by China, has more freedom than mainland China.  Here in the west, we often don't distinguish between these Chinese places, though they are separate entities and vastly different. 

Neither in my time in China, nor in later internet comments from young Chinese have I heard demands for democracy.  The young demand respect from the West for China; they demand the West stop using democracy as a standard for good government; they state that China will have its own system of government that will be distinctly Chinese. 

Yes, there are those on the mainland who long for democracy, but realistically, I expect only a few will risk instability for it.  And frankly, if life keeps improving, as it has for the Chinese over the last two plus decades, why make a change? 

        

Europe and the U.S. have abandoned Africa.  China has swiftly moved in with financial aid.  In return?  Read the following article.

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from a peace conference in Johannesburg this week, hoping to keep good relations with trading partner China but instead generating a storm of criticism.

Friday's peace conference was organized by South African soccer officials to highlight the first World Cup to be held in Africa, which South Africa will host in 2010.

But because the Dalai Lama isn't being allowed to attend, it is now being boycotted by fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President F.W. de Klerk as well as members of the Nobel Committee.

"It is disappointing that South Africa, which has received so much solidarity from the world, doesn't want to give that solidarity to others," Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad told The Associated Press in Oslo, referring to the decades-long fight against apartheid.

An eclectic mix of Nobel laureates, Hollywood celebrities and other dignitaries are coming to discuss issues ranging from combating racism to how sports can unite people and nations.

But Thabo Masebe, spokesman for President Kgalema Motlanthe, said a high-profile visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader would have distracted from the conference's focus.

"South Africa would have been the source of negative publicity about China," he said Monday. "We do value our relationship with China."

China's largest trading partner in Africa
South Africa is China's largest trading partner on a continent in which China is heavily and increasingly involved.

Tamu Matose, a spokeswoman for Tutu, told the AP that Tutu would not attend "because of the Dalai Lama issue." Tutu was quoted Sunday as calling the barring "disgraceful."

"(South Africa) should admit anyone with a legitimate and peaceful interest and should not take political decisions on who should, and who should not, attend," de Klerk said Monday, announcing he also would skip the conference.

The Norwegian government said it "regrets" the South African decision, and was considering whether to withdraw.

However, the South African Communist Party backed the move, saying March was a particularly sensitive time for a visit.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of anti-government riots in Lhasa, Tibet's regional capital, and 50 years since the Dalai Lama escaped into exile in India after Chinese troops crushed a Tibetan uprising.

China claims Tibet as part of its territory, but many Tibetans say Chinese rule deprives them of religious freedom and autonomy. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence and fomenting anti-Chinese protests.

South Africa decided last month to refuse to issue an official invitation, without which, Masebe said, the Dalai Lama cannot visit.

Masebe said the spiritual leader had been welcomed twice previously in South Africa and would be welcome again in the future — but "not now, when the whole world is looking at South Africa."     for the entire article: S. Africa bars Dalai Lama from peace forum

        

I recently finished a book proposal for my manuscript I Ran Away to China: Three Years in the Next Superpower.  I needed to make a list of the competition - nonfiction books about China that indicate there is a reading public for my book.  I have been reading everything about China that I can get my hands on for several years, so I was astonished to find many recently published books I  hadn't heard of.  And I was pleased.  American publishers are "catching the wave," to use a phrase popular with my Chinese students in 2001.    

I've read some of these books.  For the books that I haven't read, I gleaned descriptions from reviews.  There is a fabulous array, from humorous travel stories to indepth journalistic reports to academic discourses.  I've divided them into two categories, the first are books about China in general, the second are about Xinjiang province and Uyghur people, my special interest. 

An Abbreviated Bibliography on China 

        

In Shanghai, Malcolm Moore writes for The Telegraph on Nov. 7, 2008  Chinese entrepreneurs get Obama-mania

China's state media has been exuberant about Barack Obama's victory in the US Presidential election.

China's State Trademark Bureau has received official applications from 16 companies so far, keen to exploit Mr Obama's popularity both in China and abroad.

Polls in China before the election found overwhelming support for Mr Obama, and the state media has been exuberant in the wake of his victory.

"We are elated at the landslide victory," said an editorial in China Daily, the state English-language newspaper. "We wish him all the best in re-energizing the world's largest economy with his brand new ideas and vision," it added.

T-shirts emblazoned with the three Chinese characters for "Obama" sold briskly before the election and factories have already started producing a range of Obama merchandise.

In the famously entrepreneurial and cut-throat coastal city of Wenzhou, a trademark application was made by an unnamed shoe manufacturer in March, according to the Oriental Morning Post newspaper. The paper quoted employees who said the idea came from their boss "who believes there is great market value in the name".

The company asked for the right to emblazon "Mei Obama", or "American Obama" on belts, jackets, children's clothes and shoes.

In Guangzhou, a pharmaceutical company was the first to register "Obama" in February as a brand name for its lines of iodine, surgical spirit and traditional medicine. Meanwhile, requests for "Barack Obama" have come from companies producing instant noodles, coffee and even wooden logs.

None of the applications has so far been approved, and the likelihood of success is slim: all politician's names are censored in China. To get around the block, some companies are already producing clothes marked "Aobama", which is phonetically similar in Chinese.

Mr Obama's half brother, Mark Ndesandjo, lives in the southern Chinese city of Shenzen, where he runs an internet company that promotes cheap Chinese exports to the United States. The company, called Worldnexus, helps Chinese companies set up websites for foreign customers. Mr Ndesandjo is the son of Mr Obama's late father and his third wife, Ruth Nidesand.

Meanwhile, there was also some evidence that the drama of the American election had electrified certain segments of Chinese society to push for a democratic process of its own. Wu Xinbo, vice president of the Shanghai Institute of American Studies, said the result sent "a very encouraging signal to the world". He added: "In many regards, the US represents more progressive ideas which China could learn from. China should have its own traditions, its own ways, but should not view this [democratic] system as alien to its own cultural values. It should be open-minded."

        

Here in America, I am ecstatic!  We have weathered through an 8 year nightmare of failed policies instigated by authoritarian leaders who hated democracy.  Nonetheless, democracy has saved us!  Barack Obama is pragmatic, thoughtful, smart and honest. 

Below is a report from China that I have reprinted from Reuters http://ww.reuters.com

By Emma Graham-Harrison

BEIJING (Reuters) - China welcomed Barack Obama as a youthful president-elect with the energy to tackle the financial crisis now threatening its economy and an ethnic heritage that could help America reach out to the rest of the world.

Excitement about the billion dollar race filtered down to the streets of Beijing on Wednesday, where ordinary Chinese citizens who have never voted themselves and some who could not even name the candidates embraced Obama's message of change.

"The black guy is a good choice, he has so much more energy than the other one, who was far too old," said Han Xue, a new father who runs a small cigarette and alcohol store and followed the results on a television behind the counter.

The dramatic victory, in which Obama carried some states that had not voted for his Democratic party in decades, was a major boost to America's reputation.

"I am very happy U.S. history was made. I think in a lot of Chinese people's eyes America was a racist country, even today the television said that white people wouldn't vote for Obama," said Li Nan, a student at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"I think that a lot of Chinese will change their mind now."

But gathering economic storm clouds, which threaten to undermine decades of rapid growth, mean the economic policies of the next leader of the United States are almost as big a concern in Beijing as they were in polling booths across America.

"Obama may be more ideological and that could be less good for China in terms of trade," said Wang Hongtao, an Obama supporter studying for a doctorate at the Central Party School in Beijing, and following the results at an embassy election party.

Belt-tightening by U.S. consumers as their economy flounders has hit Chinese exporters hard in the "factory of the world," even though strict controls have protected its banks from the worst of the financial tsunami swamping foreign competitors.

"Officials say there is no impact, but you only have to look around to see that the crisis is already affecting us," said retiree and firm Obama supporter Yu Ze, during a break from a ping-pong game in a Beijing park.

"It's better to have a young person with the energy to handle this. We are a little worried about his position on trade issues, but we think his vice-president really understands China."

Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, is a foreign policy veteran, chosen partly for his years of experience.

TREAT US AS EQUALS

Many Chinese hope Obama's message of unity and respect, and his promise not to demonise China, will usher in a new era for U.S. ties with the emerging Asian giant.

"Obama needs to treat China as an equal, he needs to respect what we are doing and what we have achieved. Bush was too pushy," said 24-year-old English teacher Wu Shan.

Chinese Communist leaders have long believed that the United States is determined to subvert and overturn its one-party rule, a theory reinforced by President George W. Bush's support for pro-Western "colour revolutions" in ex-Soviet states.

And many ordinary Chinese see Western criticisms of their country as a product of fear and envy over its rise, and worry they will try and hold back further development.

"The president needs to understand that China is still a developing country," said Guo Jie, a student of Japanese.

In general though, the outgoing administration is less unpopular in China than many other parts of the world.

"Actually, Bush's presidency was quite good for China in many ways," said street-cleaning supervisor Wang Erxiao, citing expanded trade and adding he would have been happy to see Republican candidate John McCain continue his party's free-trade legacy.

But in a country where getting involved in politics has long been a recipe for trouble, many ordinary Chinese were steering well clear of a vote taking place thousands of miles away.

"Politics gives me a headache," said taxi driver Li Hong with a grin. "I stick to entertainment shows on my radio."

        

Saturday, I went on the Lower Town Art Crawl.  I was with friends Shelley and Betsy.  I got waylaid by heated glass earrings and Betsy was grabbed by an artist's spinal xrays.  When we found Shelley, she was talking to videographer Mike Hazard.  He and Deb Wallwork have co-directed a film called Cold Mountain.  It will be released Fall 2008.

The film is about Han Shan, a famous Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty.  Mike writes:

Over a thousand years ago, a man laughed up and down the slopes of a cold mountain in China. He wrote poems on trees and walls of caves and on leaves. He limped. He sported a birch-bark hat, big wooden clogs, a patched robe, a pigweed staff and a demeanor interpreted by others as craziness.

He was Han Shan, and he wrote poems for everyone, not just the educated elite. A man free of spiritual conceit, it is unclear whether or not he was a monk, whether he was a Buddhist or a Taoist or both.

By great good luck, we flew to Japan and China to videotape a story about Han Shan, also known as Cold Mountain. We interviewed Burton Watson and Red Pine, two of his key translators. Then we recorded with Gary Snyder, whose Han Shan translations he published in his first book.

Mike and Deb's website is at: http://www.thecie.org/  Scroll down to Sept. 10, 2008 for Han Shan.

        

The resounding lesson from my travels in China and experiences with Chinese people outside of China are that Chinese people want to determine the future of China. 

Whether they support or object to the Chinese government, whether they long for democracy or distrust it, they resent Americans telling them things are wrong in China and China needs democracy and needs it now.  

Our road is democracy, the Chinese are on their own road.

        

        

#1  On September 3, 2008, Author Editor beryl knudson says: