Foreign Donations are Insults to China

Vice-Chair of the Financial and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Mr. He Keng said foreign donors were evil minded to insult China.

The comment was made in the context of a joint mega yard sale organized by the foreign consulates, commissions and diplomatic agencies in southern city Guangzhou on Dec 9, 2012 for disabled local residents. The yard sale raised about RMB 330,000, or $50,000.

Mr. He posted on Weibo that official Chinese charities raised way more money annually inside China from Chinese people. Comparing to the amount Chinese government spent on disabled people, the $50,000 is not even close to pocket changes. Foreigners who donate to China are evil minded to shame Chinese people. Mr. He's exact wording is, quote: "the only intention of foreign missions was to ashame Chinese people. Those yard sale organizers are shameless," unquote.

Mr. He Keng is a member of the standing committee of NPC, and formal vice director of the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

To set the record straight, we, Chinese people welcome any help to our needs. As of today, we do not have a government that bothers to take care of regular people, who do not have a voice. We appreciate every penny and will put them into good use.

Update: Mr. He further justifies his accusation with more postings, in which he questions the necessity of holding such a yard sale to raise funds. "The US Counselor in Guangzhou earns more than $50,000 in 6 weeks. Why didn't he just donate his salary if he were sincere?' asked Mr. He.

Fun Congressional Motions and Resolutions

It's time again for the annual week long congressional session of the top Chinese political body in name. The Seagull will assemble a list of funny draft resolutions for the amusement of readers. Understandably, no representative would propose to end the Party dictation, so some opt to suggest something 'meaningful'. Readers are encouraged to submit nominations.

Senator Wang Ping suggested farmer's kids should not go to college. She is concerned that once the kids learned about the outside world, they would be less likely to return to their rural home in poverty areas. Thus, they wouldn't be able to inherit and maintain the culture of the poor. Senator Wang is the Chair of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Curator of the Beijing Chinese Museum.

Senator Wen Ximei suggested to dramatically increase the price of chemical chemica, pesticide and fertilizer, so that farmers will have to resort to organic alternatives. Wen claimed cheap chemicals made Chinese farmers lazy. Wen is the vice president of South China Agricultural University.

Being Cynical

People outside of China often puzzled at the cynicism attitude among elite Chinese. Indeed, it is not only an essence on issues of political significance, but abundant in trivial daily life. For example, many many years ago, faculty dinning room of Beijing University sold two kinds of buns, one made with regular (dark) wheat flour, and the other kind with bleached flour. The official name of the two, as referred to in the rest of the China, would be 'regular' and 'enriched'. However, intellectuals of the University rather used disparaged words, such as 'black' and 'white', and later 'pay-more', and 'not-pay-more' (the cultural backdrop: mentioning anything about money is historically despited for intellectuals). In another example, though many enthusiastically supported the student democratic demonstration on the Tian'anmen Square in 1989, once the military rolled tanks into Beijing, few dared murmur any objections. Quietly, on basketball fields on campus, a referee would proclaim 'martial law' in lieu of 'time-out'. They called the attention that they recognized the situation, without expressing an opinion of any.

What are the cowards afraid of? People living outside China often fail to understand that you could be throw into jail or killed even on a trivial gesture.

It couldn't be more clear from the threatens issued after the 1989 incident. The CCP claimed millions of communists sacrificed their lives in the wars and fights to established the current regime, therefore, if any students or anyone else wants to over throw the government, the CCP will behead ten million people first. (The logic was actually disputed by a number of old generation communists years later, where they argued, those who sacrificed their lives did that for a hope of a country where enjoy their lives, unlike the situation of current regime)

Even if you were not against the government, and even if it were a misunderstanding, you and your family could be ruined and buried forever. The communism enforces their rule by crushing any challengers mercilessly. It is also a highly efficient mechanism which always entices more followers by offering huge incentives and covering for their well beings with no limit.

With the knowledge, it's easier to decipher the behavior of elite of Chinese intellectuals after the Governor of Hubei grabbed a young female reporter and confiscated her recording pen at the National People's Congress in front of hundreds of other reporters.

Five days after the incident, many posters are praising the governor, while felt lucky for the reporter. The mainstream voice is that the reporter should count her blessing because had it happened in Hubei Province, she wouldn't have been able to walk out alive. Many expressed sympathy on the governor because had it happened in Hubei, police, military or even security would have handled the interruption perfectly for him. An untamed reporter would not even be able to get close to him within a 10 miles perimeters. The elite spread the incident at first time to check out the political wind. When they sensed the central government could care less even though it happened at the biggest annual political show stage, they backed from their initial demand of apology.

Yellow Dog Congresswomen

The Great Leader Chairman Mao has said, "it's not difficult for someone to do the right thing once, but it's a rare virtue for anyone to be doing the right thing in his entire life." Eighty years old Shen Jilan is exactly such a perfect person who has always been doing the right thing throughout her entire life.

Shen is the only representative who has stayed in the office from the 1st National People's Congress (NPC) to the 11th. She was interviewed during the 11th Congress which has been in session since March 5th.

Shen is deputy secretary of a local party branch of Changzhi, Shanxin. She had seen Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and President Jiang Zemin in her long political career. In the interview, she proudly exclaimed that in her 55 years tenure of national congresswoman, she had never voted against any bill. She is always supportive of goals and guidelines laid out by our Party.

We are proud to have our representatives so loyal to our Party. We love our Party. We love our Congress!