Huff, puff and bluff on Dispute over Diaoyu Islands

Japanese completed the purchase of Diaoyu Islands from a private owner a few hours earlier at 11:00am today despite China's huff, puff and bluff. If Chinese government's words were to be taken seriously, then today would be marked as the official date China lost the islands forever.

The writing had been on the wall in days. Xinhua News, the official national mouthpiece warned the Japanese government to 'rein its horse at the edge of cliff'. Premier Wen Jiabao vowed China would not back off from territorial dispute, whatsoever. President Hu Jintao met Japanese PM at the APEC to deliver China's determination. The People's Liberation Army made solemn declaration of its intention to fight. The current Crown Prince Dr. Xi Jinping aborted a prearranged meeting with visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, alleged to show a gesture of anger over US's military support to Japan.

There was a famous joke which was often attributed to former Chinese premier Chou Enlai. At a recession of the NPCC, he told a joke to the representatives. 'Long long ago, there was a eunuch', where he made a suggestive long pause. 'Go down the story!' curious audience demanded loudly. 'There's nothing down there', replied Chou.

Common people would not want to be associated with an eunuch, but CCP was no common people. And this was not the first time it would act one.

After the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed by the US on May 7, 1999, Mr. Hu Jintao, as the official crown prince, read an announcement on the national TV to declare the bombing was a deliberate attack by the US government, rather a human mistake as US had explained. And that's pretty much it. The US never apologized as it insisted it was an error made by a few guys on the battlefield in a blink of eye. And that's pretty much it.

A another few years earlier, on the eve of Taiwan's first democratic presidential election, China threatened people on the island not to vote independent-leaning candidates with missile launches to areas east, west, north and south to it. Half million troops were mobilized, but no action took place when the result of the election came exactly as CCP had warned against.

Hours before the Japanese Government and the private owner of Diaoyu Islands sealed the deal, China announced two ocean surveillance ships had arrived the area as a display China's sovereignty. Several hours after the signing ceremony, Japanese government said it still had not found any Chinese ships in the disputed water, when asked by reporters.

Any small time crook on the street would tell you that one has to follow up his word, otherwise he's doomed. China's handling of international dispute always starts with big words, and that's all of it.

One would be naive to draw a conclusion that the CCP does not have street smart. They do. The truth is that they really could care less on pretty much anything, with the only exception to maintain their ruling inside China. The huff, puff and bluff are just enough to fuel its propaganda machine to keep the Chinese people in place, for now.

The Marathon Meter

Celebrity Marathon Meter

	Name	Race	Year	Known as
2:03:38	Patrick Makau Musyoki	Berlin	2008	World Record
2:46:03	Alan Turing	Amateur Athletic Championships	1947	Mathematician
2:46:42	Lance Armstrong	NYC	2007	Cyclist
2:50:53	David Petraeus	Omaha	1982	Commander in Iraq
3:01:18	Max Baucus	Governor's Cup	1982	Senator, Ambassador to China
3:16:00	Harry Reid	Boston	1972	Senator
3:30:18	John Edwards	MCM	1983	Senator
3:31:00	Michael Dukakis	Boston	1951	Governor of Massachusetts
3:38:01	Edward Norton	NYC	2009	Actor
3:44:52	George W Bush	Houston	1993	43rd US President
3:52:57	Hilary Tsui	Hong Kong	2015	Entertainer
3:55:46	Edison Chen	Hong Kong	2012	Entertainer
3:56:12	Will Ferrell	Boston	2003	Actor
3:58:44	Eliot Spitzer	NYC	1983	Governor of New York
3:59:36	Sarah Palin	Humpy's	2005	Governor of Alaska
4:01:25	Paul Ryan	Grandma's	1991	VP Candidate
4:10:17	Haruki Murakami	NYC	2005	Writer
4:26:05	Mike Huckabee	Little Rock	2006	Governor of Arkansas
4:29:20	Oprah Winfrey	MCM	1994	Talk Show Host
4:34:18	Lisa Ling	Boston	2001	TV Host
4:45:36	Jennifer Amyx	Johnstown	1975	5 Years Old
4:54:36	Bill Frist	MCM	1997	Senate Majority Leader
4:58:25	Al Gore	MCM	1997	Vice President
5:29:58	Katie Holmes	NYC	2007	Wife of Tom Cruise
5:40:03	Fauja Singh	Toronto	2003	92 Years Old
6:06:00	David Paterson	NYC	1999	NY Governor, legally blind

Note, list updated with Paul Ryan's 1991 personal record (PR). Ryan claimed he ran close to 2:50, but was caught cheating before his next blink, unsurprisingly. Runners are extremely sensitive to their own PRs, as well as others'.

John Kerry stumbled in his presidential campaign when he told reporters that he had run (along) Boston marathon, but forgot his result. The problem is that a runner never forgets his results.

Overall, Democrats are faster (John Edward) and tougher (David Paterson), while Republicans score on diversity (Sarah Palin).

The Other Side of the Coin in the Golden Rice Scandal

Firstly, a short summarized update of progress in this fomenting scandal:

• The experiment violated Chinese laws and regulations. China requires all gene-related human research approved by provincial-level Department of Agriculture. In this case, Department of Agriculture of Hunan Province flatly denied it ever received an application for the experiment, nor did they approve any other experiment in its nature.

• The experiment failed to follow protocols and ethic standards recognized by the scientific community. Children were required to participate a state government sponsored subsidized meal plan. New Capital Daily located several kids and their parents and guardians, none had ever been told it was an experiment. Furthermore, none had ever heard the word 'gene' or 'Golden Rice'. Simply put, subjects were not informed.

  other miscellaneous issues

  • The Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Department of Agriculture of Zhejiang Province deliberately ordered abortion of the experiment in question after tipped by the Greenpeace, but the experiment was carried on in remote Hunan Province.

  • The Ministry of Agriculture specifically banned import of Golden Rice for this experiment, but it was smuggled in China by Tufts University.

  • The US Embassy in Beijing recommended US institutions not to conduct human experiment in remote poverty areas in China, out of concerns that subjects's interests could not be effectively protected. The recommendation was triggered by an incident where Harvard University researchers were found to use local communist officials to force uninformed farms into a human experiment. The memo was passed to the NIH, which in turn forwarded to all institutions which conduct such research in China. Tufts experiment in Hengyang was a defiant without any argument on the basis of its decision to go against the recommendation.

  • The second and fourth authors flatly denied ever heard of the 2012 paper, and never signed the consent form for its publication.

  • Dr. Tang wrongly cited an approval from the IRB of the Zhejiang Academy of Medical Science on this experiment, while the approval had already expired before the experiment in Hunan even started. This ethics review was mandated because Dr. Tang's role in the experiment was connected to her appointment at the Zhejiang institution.

Now, the other side of the coin may present a most miserable researcher under the sun, who voluntarily did all labors for work of other people without money nor accreditation, and wronged for mistake committed by those who she had helped but had to keep it a secret. That person would be Dr. Guangwen Tang, if we give her all the benefit of doubt. That is all the benefits of doubt, whatsoever.

Admittedly, Tang committed serious academic misconducts. Based on the findings of official investigations conducted by the Hengyang municipal government, Department of Agriculture of Hunan Province, the Chinese CDC and the Zhejiang Academy of Medical Science, as well as interviews conducted by newspapers including the People's Daily and the New Capital Daily, there is simply no plausible explanation can be derived. Dr. Tang can only be on the wrong side, one way or another.

Having said that, there is a chance that Dr. Tang's crime might not be as horrifying as it originally appeared:

• According to the third author Mr. Yin of the Chinese CDC, the Hengyang experiment was headed by Yin, funded by Yin's grant from the Chinese NSF, organized, executed and monitored throughout the duration by Hunan CDC. Therefore technically Tang was not in charge of anything.

• According to the third author, the experiment funded by the Chinese NSF was designed by Tang, the material was provided by Tang, the serum were read by Tang, and data was analyzed with Tang's help. In fact, Tang completed the entire Chinese project with no pay and no credit.

• According to the fourth author, Ms. Wang, Wang as well as other Chinese researchers received financial support from the Tang team. Wang stated she did not have any role in Tang's experiment, not even show up in Hengyang, but still received all the benefits.

Then, the million dollar question only Tang knows the answer: why did she do that? Was that her malpractice insurance premium?

What Happened to Xi?

US delegation was notified around 11:00 pm Tuesday, that China's Vice President Xi Jinping would not be able to meet with visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as previously scheduled on Wednesday. Xi's two other meetings with foreign visitors, including Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong, were also cancelled.

Xi is due to become the fourth 'core' of the CCP upon the opening of the now postponed 18th National Congress of CCP, following steps of Chairman Mao, Designer Deng, Explorer Jiang and current core Mr. Hu Jintao. With airtight media control, little more is known except words from the US delegation, 'scheduling change due to a back injury.'

There had been uneasy suggestions that Xi might be sacked, based on some unexpected move in Beijing:

• 8/31/2012 Professor Deng of the Party School headed by Xi published a review of Hu's 10 years tenure as the core. The paper harshly criticized Hu's rule with a list of 'ten big blunders'.

• 9/1/2012 Li Zhanshu replaced Ling Jihua as CCP Central Committee's chief of staff. Ling is believed to be Hu's henchman, while Li is believed to be close to Xi. It is reported that Hu's Plan B to promote another henchman (Hu Chunhua) to Ling's place also failed.

• 9/1/2012 The National Congress keeps former Chongqing Party Chief Bo Xilai's membership after a validation process where four others were removed from the Congress. As a member of the Congress, Bo would not be subject to being arrested under Chinese law.

• Unverifiable sources said Xi called two meetings with military brasses without notifying Hu while Hu was away visiting Hong Kong in July.

• Back injury? Perhaps Xi was stabbed by a hit man of his political rival; or maybe nationally famed singer Peng Liyuan (Xi's current wife) had demanded too much on bed the night before.

Some read the sudden change of schedule as a gesture of protest on US's support to Japan's claim of Diaoyu Islands. Japanese government formally included the disputed islands into its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), overlapping with Taiwan's ADIZ.

Some agreed with the Diaoyu Islands theory, but pointed to an opposite direction. Xi avoided showing a stiff face to US as the next core as he would have to under the intensified situation over Diaoyu Islands dispute.

Is Xi's absence a drama, suspense, thriller, adventure, action, romance or a comedy? Regardless, without a free media, citizens have to speculate all possible scenarios with help of some wild imaginations.

Call for AJCN to Withdraw Tang Paper

September 1, Hengyang government's official investigation rejected suggestion of any GE product had been used in the experiment described in Tufts University Professor Tang's Paper in the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition: β-Carotene in Golden Rice is as good as β-carotene in oil at providing vitamin A to children, Am J Clin Nutr 2012;96:658-664.

Reporters from the People's Daily conducted face to face interviews on September 3 and September 4 with all Chinese co-authors of the aforementioned paper. All flatly denied any involvement in the paper. As a matter of fact, second author Hu Yuming of Hunan Provincial CDC, third author Yin Shi'an of Chinese CDC and fourth author Wang Yin even denied any knowledge of this paper. Three researchers acknowledged the experiment, but said that it was for a different test with no GE products involved.

Reporters also interviewed employees at the school cafeteria. During the experiment, all children ate a peach fragrant rice produced by Jinjian Rice Co. of Hunan Province. A chef told the reporters he never saw rice with yellowish color. For the experiment, rice, cooking oil and spices were ordered by CDC from Bubugao Supermarket in Hengyang. Meat and eggs were purchased by the school from markets in Jiangkou Township.

Time has come for an immediate editorial retraction by the AJCN. Nevertheless, Tufts University has a duty to thoroughly investigate allegations of academic misconduct and violations of research ethics. In particular, Tufts University must make available the content of the consent forms allegedly signed by parents of children who were involved in the experiment, and work along with Chinese authorities to authenticate signatures on those forms.

China, Call An Ambulance

What an English speaking foreigner in Shanghai actually said around 10:30 in the morning of August 10, 2012 was, 'fuck you Chinese, call an ambulance.'

It was at a busiest corner, intersection of W Huaihai Rd and Xinhua Rd, in downtown Shanghai. An old man was lying on the sidewalk unconsciously. By-standers passing by, some stayed away out of a perimeter of at least 10 yards. It looked weird and creepy.

Before jumping on your moral judgement of what's in the mind of hundreds people who passed by that morning, it helps to travel back to a case dabbed Calabash Monk Case of Nanjing, where a Judge Wang Hao famously asked a young man who tried to help an old woman, 'had you not caused her problem, why did you attend a stranger on the street?' The young man was ordered to pay the old woman's medical expenses, only because he was stopped to help.

China is always proud of its long history of culture and social orders, a comfort zone Chinese can always refer to when frustrated by aggressive cultural invasions from the western world. Although often humbled by the whites, Chinese never let go a chance to discriminate on blacks. But one black student from Central Africa put many Chinese in shame, by being the only one who dare speak honestly.

August 29, 2012 at Luogang Airport in Hefei, Anhui, a traveler and his wife, drunk, and having made the entire flight waited, got on the airplane with tons of bags and suitcases. The couple beat up a flight attendant and threw suitcases at her. The flight attendant did nothing but fled to the end of the plane and cry. The attendant later described the incident on Weibo, which generated a public outcry. When the flight touched down in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, it turned out the traveler was an army officer Col. Fang Daguo. Col. Fang summoned a truck load of soldiers to the police station at the airport as back up. When the air at the police station heated up, the Weibo post went viral across China, calling for official investigation.

The official investigation vindicated Col. Fang. The police announcement stated there was an altercation between the flight attendance and Col. Fang's wife. It also denied the rumor of truck load soldiers summoned by Col. Fang, disregard pictures of the vehicle with license number posted by concerned citizens online.

There are over 100 passengers, in additional to the flight crew on board, but news media can't find any Chinese witness. Days later, reporters exhausted the list, and went down to the bottom, a black international student named Princelione Doubane. Doubane is the only passenger who is willing to testify. Doubane told reporters he saw the entire incident. He saw Col Fang grabbed the flight attendant, and he saw the marks on the girls body. He also testified the flight attendant did not try to fight back or defense herself.

When Doubane's testimony was published, the government agreed to suspend Col. Fang for further investigation.

Before jumping on your moral judgement of what's in the mind of a hundred passengers on Flight CZ 3874, it helps to read on some notes posted by the reporter on this case. Several passengers were willing to give their account, but dare not reveal their names, thus their words can't be used in the newspaper. One brave sole who did not reside in Guangzhou decided to come forward anyway, but then was threatened by the government and went hiding.

Der Fatherland has been paralyzed by a deadly virus called communist regime. China, Call an Ambulance!

Chinese in Science, the Golden Dragon Battery

The 'Golden Dragon Battery' has a very specific meaning in Chinese Sci-Fi literature, but that's the other story for another day. For now, Chinese should celebrate a breakthrough in battery technology progress from Georgia Tech for very good reason: all developers are Chinese. As a matter of fact, the first author Dr. Xinyu Xue is a visiting scholar from Northeast University in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.

Unlike all batteries ever known to man, this battery can convert mechanical energy directly to chemical energy, utilizing nano technology. By skipping indeterminate electricity stage, the battery promised higher efficiency and versatile applications - an achievement indeed something we Chinese should be proud of.

What else is a better way to use the Golden Dragon Battery than in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)? Unlike US drones which are controlled by buttons, switches and joysticks, a quadcopter drone developed by Zhejiang University is driven by the pilot's brain.

Although the show is more like a remix of prior arts, such as a $199 mind reading band on sale from the SkyMall and a $200 RC toy, the packaged demonstration is still an impressive show which deserves a standing ovation.

HCI has come a long way since three button mice. However, as everything else in the computer industry, it just exploded in 2005. From Wii to Kenect, it only takes a few years to reach the stage of mind-controlled games. Many early demonstrations, including mind controlled helicopters started emerging in 2011.