"Who is the hero? It's you, who is visiting this blog."
Welcome to the Daily Report! In this blog, I will try to cover the interesting and funny stories happening around the world. Moreover, I will focus on the elections around the world since this is the one thing I'm extremely obsessed with.
You guys have your own distinctive experience and knowledge, so I'm imploring to hear your perspectives.
Nothing can stop me from writing here. Not the government, not the readings.
In a new ranking of gender equality published by World Economic Forum, South Africa jumped from number 22 to six place, overtaking Denmark and Ireland. It shows the improved labor force participation of women in that country. Moreover, there are more women members of parliament and cabinet after the election earlier this year. It seems to be a huge achievement of this country 15 years after the beginning of racial equality.
But some facts shocked me and forced me to doubt how much this ranking means. It is reported one in four South African men admitted to have raped women. This proportion is not far from the Rape of Nanking. And the new South African Jacob Zuma is famous for his disdain of female politicians. It’s still to early to judge his ability to lead this country, but his notoriety of practicing polygamy inevitably hurts his country.
If they really want to reach a gender equality, either one quarter of the South African women should do the same to their male compatriots, or the government and society should start thinking about how to deal with the raping problem.
This is the exam which called "Life and Death test" since it will literally determine your future. If you are from a village and fail to pass the university line, you will have to go back home and become a peasant for your life. I took it in 2005. Fortunately, I was able to go to the university I liked.
An intern journalist's article was used in a reading comprehension in the Chinese test in National College Entrance Exam. But when he tried to do the questions about his article, he only got 1 out of 15 points. Probably, the examiner understood the article much better than he did.
This news once again ridiculed the current system of entrance exam. Many people claimed this exam is the only way to ensure the fairness against the corruption and nepotism. But the negligence of practical abilities is the destroying generations of Chinese people, including myself.
You can do well in English test without being able to speak English. You can do well in maths and physics but not knowing how to apply them to life or to the further study on science. For social science, especially literature, we know there could be different understandings of one thing because of the different backgrounds and mentalities of people. Sticking to one way of thinking only restricts students' intelligence, constraining creativity. People can work like machine but not innovate. I believe this would have a huge implication on Chinese future unless the government makes some changes immediately.
President Karzai finally accepted to participate in a run-off after a deeply fraud first round. Many people believed, with good reason, he had confidence to win, with or without the help of rigging, before being willing to back down after declaring the previous result of first round is legitimate.
Unpopular and corrupt as his government is, Karzai is still the favorite for America. His reelection seems best for the sake of stability in that shaken countries. Abdullah Abdullah isn't a majority Pashto, but a Tajik, which seems to be harder to win support over Pashto Taliban.
But what if there is widespread fraud in the second round? Some suggest forming a coalition government would be a wise option. Due to the fact that it's hard to hold a free and fair election under this harsh condition, we have adequately good excuse for picking this third way out of the dilemma. This also has been proved to be partly, though not totally satisfyingly, successful after similar cases in Kenya and Zimbabwe (incumbents rigged to close victory, but conceded to form coalition with opposition thanks to immense international and domestic pressure). Incumbents staying as president and opposition leader becoming prime minister seems to be a solution for future election controversy.
But since the incumbent will stay in the power anyway, why not just hold a prime ministerial election to share limited power with opposition? Why bother rigging the election to merely 51% and then shamefully giving in to pressure? We have only one answer: they are simply farces. If that also happens to Afghanistan, United States would even lose the last moral high ground.
Election Watch:
In Botswana, one of the Africa's best managed countries, the ruling party, which has been in power since the country's independence in 1965, once again renewed its mandate, in a seemingly free and fair election. The biggest opposition suffered a big blow, reducing from 12 seats to 6. The third party has gained ground, but the conflicting opposition cannot find a way to challenge the incumbents, making Botswana a Type-2 error in democratic statistics. Replying on the abundance of diamond resource, this country is successful and stable according to African standard. Voters feel no reason to change the status quo, which is totally understandable. But without a challange from the opposition, the ruling party will be hard to prevent from self-damaging with corruption and nepotism. A credible opposition should be the future if Botswana wants to become an example of whole sub-Sahara Africa.
The sports of China is like her GDP, competing in the very top level. But China's national football team is still in the same level of GDP per capita, wandering outside top 100.
Recently, several politburo members met with veteran football stars and FA officials. They intelligently noticed the terrible status and demanded them to spare no efforts to satisfy the numerous football fans in China. Yesteryda, Hu also stepped into this campaign.
Football is beautiful because its diversity. People from different countries have their own advantages. However poor a country is, its national team could never be written off easily. Iraq won the 2007 Asian Cup, and North Korea qualified for 2010 World Cup.
But why can't China do well? The government has already spent plenty of resources into it. The obstacles are the corrupt professional league and lack of support for youth training. However well Chinese athletes do in the Olympics, without a national support for basic sports facitilies for general population, those results are useless. And football, is just a parometer of this.
Without a reformed league, Chinese football will never have a bright future. Corrupt and bureaucratic as the political system is, please leave football alone.
If you have read my recommended articles, you would know this news.
Selling sex may be the oldest profession in history, but selling virginity? That's new. Chinese naughty toys company Gigimo (motto: Let's play!) has advertised an artificual hymen kit throughout the Middle East that has sparked controversy in Egypt.
It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins — culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and broken. In a country and a region where pre-marital sex is so taboo it can even lead to a woman's murder, the debate over the virginity-faking kit has revived Egypt's constant struggle to reconcile modern mores with more traditional beliefs — namely, that a woman is not a virgin unless she bleeds after the first time. Egyptian lawmakers officially banned the product, but its availability was made public when a reporter from Radio Netherlands aired an Arabic translation of a commercial advertising the product. Gigimo currently still offers shipping to Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, and promises "no side effects, no pain to use, no allergic reaction."
Personally, I fully support China in this issue. It helps give more personal freedom in those closed society. But even today, this traditional obsession of virginity till wedding is still influential in China. If we really want to liberate women, the society should be transformed.
China, again, became the debacle of international effort to punish Iranian regime by threatening to veto any new severe sanctions. The strong ties with Iran, especially the import of oil, are the reasons.
But since China is doing business with Sudan and Myanmar despite the international outcry, and benefiting a lot from the lack of competition from other countries, China should staunchly support all the sanctions against any dictatorship (of course not include any country in East Asia), and ignore it anyway. This could provide China a even better trading condition, helping her find the resources she urgently needs.
Welcome to The Things You Should Know About China series on Daily Report. Many people told me China is going to rule the world. So you'd better start studying and trying to know more about China before Chinese come kick your ass. Is this a good insentive for study? For those guys who want to find a girlfriend or boyfriend from China, work harder!
If you want to know more about China, you should know its long history. If you wanna know more about its history, you should know some of the most famous emperors! So our first series are about the emperors you have to know.
How many Chinese emperors do you know right now? None? Ghengis Khan? No, he doesn't count! That's not good enough. To accomplish this course, you need to know at least 30-50, out of more than 300 of them, so it's not hard, is it?
Many people say China has a history of 5000 years civilization. I always doubt this number. Undoubtedly China has a long history, but the few evidences of written texts and records being recovered can only extend it to barely over 3500 years. The number 5000 years was based on legendary stories in historical records, but some of the rulers lived for more than 120 years, which was extremly unlikely for a society with average age of 25. This doesn't mean there wasn't neolithic society in China, especially along the Yellow River, there were many. But they were still behind their counterparts in other parts of the world, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The thing in which Chinese history is distinct from others is its consistency. Egytian and Mesopotamian cilivization ceased to exist after foreign invasion, but China is still standing. All the foreign invasion resulted in invaders being assmiliated (Mongols, Manchus, etc), not the other way around, and the pillar of Chinese languages, confucionist philosophy, centralized imperial system and ancestral-worshipping traditions, sustained.
Today, I'm gonna talk about the first emperor in China. Though maybe you haven't heard his name, you should have known something about him. If you have watched the movie "Mummy 3", the antagonist in this movie is based on this emperor. Most of the facts I shared about are common knowledge to majority of Chinese people, so they are quite important.
Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇)
Name: YING Zheng （嬴政)
Dynasty: Qin Dynasty (秦朝)
Time of reign: 246 BC - 210 BC (from 221 BC, he claimed to be the emperor of whole China)
Famous indicator: 100
Importance indicator: 100
Governance indicator: 60
Birth and taking power
Ying Zheng was born to Master Yiren, later King Zhuangxiang of Qin. At the time of his birth, because born to a concubine of the crown prince, his dad was a hostage prince living in the state of Zhao. (that was very common at that time to ensure peace between two states) But a merchant named Lü Buwei, using his wealth and wisdom, manipulated in the power struggle to make Master Yiren the successor of his dad, later King Xiaowen of Qin. Soon after this, Ying Zheng's greatgrandfather, grandfather and father died in 5 years (many believed those as result of conspiracy plotted by Lü Buwei). The young Ying Zheng became the king of Qin. Because of his young age, it was Lü Buwei, who proclaimed to be regent, controlled all the state affairs. When Ying Zheng got older, he became more suspicious of Lü Buwei, and finally purged, executed him and took over the power.
"Do You Know" Because Ying Zheng was born to a concubine of Master Yiren, who used to be a servant of Lü Buwei, many folklores claimed his biological dad was actually Lü Buwei. That makes Ying Zheng a patricide murderer.
Unify the country When Ying Zheng became king, there were 7 strong states in China. But after several successful reforms and decisive military victories, Qin had stood up as the strongest. After foiling the attempt of other six states to form an alliance, Qin started the campaign of annexation. From 230 BC to 222 BC, the army of Qin crushed the other six states, Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi.
Jing Ke's assassination During the unifying campaign, the prince of Yan knew his country had no chance to stop Qin. So, he sent a professional assassin, Jing Ke, to conduct a suicide mission to kill Ying Zheng with a dagger. He pretended to present a map of several cities, which was supposedly to accede to Qin. When he slowly unfolded the map, he picked up the dagger in the map, but he failed to kill Ying Zheng and was killed by the guards.
First emperor Being the first ruler of unified China, Ying Zheng coined a new title for himself, "Huang Di", which was tranlsated into emperor. Therefre, he was called Qin Shi Huang, which means the first emperor of Qin. His empire has covered most areas along the Yellow River and Yangtze River. He also standardized the measurement system and introduced a nation-wide currency. During his reign, the country was in constant fighting with tribes in the south, and the territory of the empire was expanding.
Burn books, bury confucionists In order to prevent the scholars to compare his dynasties with the previous ones, he demanded all the books should be buried. This was a huge destruction of Chinese culture and made the historians much harder to understand how China was before his reign. Many historical texts were lost forever. In addition, he also asked his soldiers to bury many scholars alive because they secretly owned books.
Building of Great Wall In order to defend against the northern nomadic tribes, Huns, Qin Shi Huang order to build and rebuild the Great Wall, link the previous great walls built by other states together to defend his empire. Great Wall was renovated and rebuilt again and again in the following 2000 years, making it one of the greatest constructions in the world. But those heavy construction became a suffering for the people.
Death The emperor died during his tour to Eastern China. But the prime minister, Li Si, decided not to announce it for fear of uprising. After two months' trip back to the capital, his second son Ying Huhai, with the help of Zhao Gao, grasped the power thanks to the absence of will by Qin Shi Huang. But his son proved to be incapable of this job, and the dynasty ended in his hand.
"Do You Know" Qin Shi Huang was famous for his obsession of immortality. He believed in those fables and once sent 300 people to Eastern Sea to find an immortal living there. They were believed to arrive in Japan. It is also believed that his death was a result of consumption of an alleged elixir.
Mausoleum and Terracota Warrior His son ordered a huge construction project to build a mausoleum for Qin Shi Huang. The result was the great Mausoleum with the Terracota Army, which wasn't found until 1970s. Most parts of it are still untapped because an extremly high level of mercury was detected. It showed the unbelievable level of technology at that time. But it also contribute to the end of that dynasty because people couldn't bear the burden of rocketing tax and hard labor exploitation.
This is the end of Lecture One. I hope it is helpful. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Before the next lecture, there will be a quiz about this one. So, study hard! Haha.
Everyone knows it's hard to become a cabinet minister. But it's even harder in Maldives. At least you should know how to dive. (President of Maldives)
President Mohamed Nasheed, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed and 11 cabinet ministers donned scuba gear and submerged 4 meters below the surface of sea to hold the world's first underwater cabinet meeting, in a bid to push for a stronger climate change agreement in the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen.
“We are trying to send our message to let the world know what is happening and what will happen to the Maldives if climate change isn't checked” said President Nasheed, speaking to the press as soon as he resurfaced from underwater.
“What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world. If we can't save the Maldives today, you can't save the rest of the world tomorrow”, said President Nasheed further.
During the 30-minute meeting held in the turquoise lagoon off Girifushi Island, with a backdrop of corals, the President, the Vice President and eleven other Cabinet ministers signed a resolution calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.
In order to raise the world awareness of global warming, Maldives held its cabinet meter underwater. This coral reef nation is in danger if there is any rise of sea level, while the upcoming Copenhagen conference still looks unlikely to solve this global environmental issue.
Mongols destroyed so many states on their way to Europe, but Maldives and other island nations could fall victims to the inaction of the world. But at least history will always remember this historic cabinet meeting.
It's reported that the only reason why the Afghan region occupied by Italian troops were so peaceful was because Italian government bribed the Taliban tribal leaders. What's more astonishing was Italy didn't pass this secret tactic to French troops, who are currently responsible for this area. Their failure to pay angered Taliban, leading to a false assessment, resulting in huge casualties for France. (The Times)
Once again, Italian troops showed they are the descedents of great Roman army. The humiliated victory in World War I and the even more humiliated loss in World War II (probably Germany could have won the war if they were wise enough to make Italy ally with England) reminded us of their great history. They even couldn't defeat the Ethiopian troops using swords and arrows, until they introduced mustard gas into battlefield.
But we should understand Italy's tactics. The enemy they were facing was ruthless. They really threatened a Pakistani newspaper that if they continued to call them terrorists, they would bomb the newspaper headquarters. Sounds like exactly what terrorist means, doesn't it?
PS: I'm going to start a series about China's history! If you are interested, please keep coming~ The first series would be some interesting facts of many Chinese emperors. There were really so many of them.
What is the best way to shake North Korean's totalitarian regime from within? Like Berlin Wall, those regimes always worry about defection. If we can boost up the defection, North Korean will collapse from within.
But the fate of many defectors in South Korea are quite miserable. Especially for North Korean women, they are diligent and persevering. But it's hard to find a job in a new environment. Many of them have to earn their livings as a prostitute or hostess in bar. The way to improve their lives is to find them a South Korean bachelor.
Financial Times has reported a new matchmaking service in South Korea. It's a good idea, isn't it? Finally we find a better way to deal with Kim than sanctions.
Every Chinese were taught that China sacrificed a lot in building a railway between Tanzania and Zambia, which is a display of Sino-Africa friendship. It was the biggest foreign aid of China at that time when millions of people were starving domestically. This railway built by sweat and blood should make China forever a popular friend in Africa.
Mostly, it is still the case now. The Sino-Africa Summit a couple of years ago attracted more than 40 heads of states and governments and representatives from all African countries. But today, China is no longer attractive because its moral high standard in international relations with Third World countries or its Maoist ideology, but for its gigantic economic power (though sometimes it is not that good, such as scandal in Namibia).
Days ago, when President Kagame of Rwanda spoke to a German press, he declared African countries needed and liked Chinese aid. Of course, a deal without precondition of domestic political change is attractive to anyone. Today, China signed a huge mining and oil deal with Guinean authorities only days after a massacre by the military government. (BBC)
While many people still believe this Guinean government has no legitimacy to sign on trade deals, the Guinean government official claims that this deal will only benefit the innocent people. It sounds reasonable. Is it really true?
Kagame said African governments prefer to have trade instead of foreign aids, for this is the only way for them to develop themselves. In this aspect, China is doing still the right thing. It is the only way for Africa to go out of the malicious cycle to have a sustainable progress.
You can say that because corruption is rife, those trades can never make a difference. This is not true. Even 80% of the trade went to the pockets of the corrupt officials, people can still benefit from the 20%, which is much better than nothing (Western sanction).
The only thing is this would help those dictators to maintain their power. That's true, but history tells us sanction is not an efficient way to end dictatorship. Knowing this, trading with this country should be a dominant strategy.
But how on earth can we transition African countries into democracies? I believe communication, not isolation, would be the only way. Only after people are exposed to the fact that democracies are more prosperous can they really support this movement. Isolation will only lead to starvation, forcing people to support whoever can provide them food. Western countries should change their mindset on how to deal with Africa if they don't want China to take control.
President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, surprising everyone in the world, especially for himself. People around the world desribed this from an achievement, a controversy to a joke. Does Obama deserve this award? I don't know. But I think Taylor Swift deserves it as much as Obama does. Here's why.
Both Taylor Swift and Barack Obama are successful. Young (relative to their field) and cute, they both inspried many people by using their mouth and voice. They bring hope and a fresh image to people by cleaning up the previously tainted one by George Bush and Britney Spears relatively.
Just see the albums Fearless released by Taylor Swift in November 2008, you will hear a song called "Change". Who was shouting this word at that time? Another song was called "White Horse". I believe this was just a typo. Don't you think there is some connection?
Many said Obama won it because the Nobel Committee wanted to console him for the humiliation by Copenhagen's International Olympic Committee's decision. But if the Nordic people really want to make up for their mistake, the one who needs consolation is definitely Taylor, who was hurt by Kanye West on the MTV Award, as everybody knows. And her kindness for accepting apologies from him shows the character of a Nobel Peace Laureate as President Obama showed when he accepted the apology from Congressman Joe Wilson.
p.s.: I hope my friend Nick can recover from the illness soon!
People without a family would do anything. Rape, murder, suicide, or... work against the government. For the sake of a harmonious society, end the "One Child Policy"!
Dalai Lama is in the United States. But President Obama refused to meet him in DC, which is totally different from all his predecessors. Of course, this doesn't mean he won't meet him at some point in his tenure, but appeasing to China before having a state visit in one month is quite significant, but also understandable.
But his State Department spokesman didn't do a good job in that.
Kelly denied that the president's refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama today was a signal that the administration is taking a hands-off approach to confronting the PRC on issues such as human rights and Tibetan autonomy. "I think these are two separate issues, the president's decision to meet with the Dalai Lama and the path that our relationship with China is on," Kelly said.
It seems that he meant Tibet and China are sepapare issue, which supports the Tibetan separatist movement. It's a catch, ah ha!
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between communist China and communist Korea, Premier Wen Jiabao is in a three-day visit in North Korea.
This visit caught eyes of the world because the reportedly dying dictator Kim Jung-Il greeted the coming Chinese leader at the airport, which is extremely rare for him. Many predicted that it was a sign of willingness to restart six-party talks.
After the meeting, the two leaders jointly announced that the two countries' will continue their close friendship "for the generations to come". Clearly, Kim is preparing for his youngest son's succession. Kim Jung-Un, his 24-year-old, Switzerland-educated, son, has been reported to be named as his successor since his two elder sons are not fit for the job. (One is sick and the other has been caught using fake passport to visit Disneyland in Japan)
China has been the staunchest and possibly, only ally of North Korea. But in recent years, Kim has apparently tried to break out of this hoop by talking to U.S. directly, thus abandoning the six-party talks model which was proposed and held by China. But U.S. is reluctant to anger China and reward the dictator by agreeing to his terms.
So, what he can do is introduce his son to China. What he can hope right now is the Chinese government will support his son in the glorious cause to totally destroy his country.
(BBC has a cool video shot in North Korea recently. Please have a look. Pay attention to the North Korean who accused the BBC journalist of secretly shooting videos. It's like a teacher criticizing a first-grade student. It's really funny.)
The election in Greece has put Socialist Party back to power, in a stunning defeat for the government. Winning 160 seats out of 300 in the parliament, the Socialist can now have a stable government to drag Greece out of the recession. Right now, this stability seems more important than who wins. The inauguration of George Papandreou continued the political dynasties in this country. For the outgoing Prime Minister Karamanlis, I still remember his tears when Greece beat Portugal in the final of Euro 2004, three months after he came to power. 2004 was a good year for his country, but 2009 seems to be totally different. Sorry!
I finally finished the paper for Globalization. Feeling relieved a bit, two exams and tons of readings and homework is waiting for me. Oh, gosh.
The magnificant parade on Oct 1 in Tiananmen Square impressed a lot of people (I'm not one of them). Though Hu's the speech was as boring as always. Yawn! It seemed the government spent more effort on enforcing the 125 km pigeon ban than on his speech, which was supposed to exhibit China's determination to lead the world.
The new uniforms made the goose steps as attractive as ever. High tech weapons displayed China's military prowess. But the longest part of the parade was the allegedly civilian groups. The exhibition cars showing the development in all the provinces and the huge achievements under four generations of communist leadership. Everything seemed as normal as the Mao suit Hu wore on that day when he was inspecting the troops.
But news came out that the car group for Mao era wasn't in the plan until the politburo decided to put it in on September 22, only 8 days before ceremony. It showed a failed attempt of "shaving" (because Mao in Chinese means body hair, shaving means eliminating Mao from the history), indicating the conservative force in the party is still influential.
However, this was still unexpected. Probably now it's time to bet on whether picture of Mao will be shown in the parade in ten years' time. If not, the future of China could be less dim.
Olympics will finally go to South America. I feel a bit sorry for Tokyo and Madrid. They are both well-prepared, and I believe they can hold the best Olympics. But Brazil's development really deserves this recognition. Nowadays, sports is inextricaby connected with politics. Rotation of continents make sense, and giving it to a rising power who hasn't held any should never be a bad idea.
Chicago doesn't deserve this Olympics, for none of the candidate cities would have this kind of opposition from their citizens. It's funny to hear the CNN's anchor screaming "what" when he heard the name of Chicago as the first one to be eliminated. For Obama, it's pretty tricky. Republicans are now attacking him leaving when there is such an important debate. But if he didn't go and Chicago lost anyway, he would be criticized of not supporting the city enough. According to game theory, going is a dominant strategy, isn't it?
It's great to see a city, even a country, celebrating every two years for their success in getting the privilege to hold a global sports event. But the way of deciding which city to host it should be more transparent.
Another big news is Irish voters finally support the Lisbon Treaty. Now, no one could be to blame for any failure of further integration. Who can become the new President of European Council as well as the High Representative of Foreign Affairs would be a very interesting topic, and I believe there will be some very fierce discussion on that.
Election watch:
In this month, no important elections will be held. The elections in Greece and Uruguay could be the focal points because of their intensity. The Greek government is expected to lose according to the polls.
October 4, Greece, Parliament October 16, Botswana, Parliament October 20, Niger, Parliament October 25, Tunisia, President and Parliament October 25, Uruguay, President and Parliament October 28, Mozambique, President and Parliament
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