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Q: What current events in China affect foreigners most?
The 18th Party Congress? Bo Xilai? Gu Kailai? Chen Guangchen? China's "aircraft carrier?" Something else?
I'm not really interested in how many women you have bedded, or having some wu mao ram the party's line down my throat. I'd just like to know how the events in China affect the foreigners who live here.
The question goes past the limits under which we are allowed to operate here in China. The OP surely must have known that. It is needlessly provocative and surely destined to attract the attention of the censors.
Its addresses a mindset of a certain group that I find lamentable. We are in China; we know the restrictions placed upon us; we may not like them, as I am sure that many do not, still there is not one user on this board that has the power to change them. In the end, the damage that results from questions and topics that the Chinese perceive as being ultra vires could be as little as having the remarks eviscerated or having the Board shut down (it happened to www.eslcafe.com about six years ago as well as to www.raoulschinasaloon.com at one point) or in a worst case scenario the actual poster being invited in for a little chat. I am not saying that I agree with any of this -- I am only saying that it totally futile to go through the effort of lighting a match and then pouring petrol on it. Whom does it benefit in the end? The alter-ego of the OP?
A macho kind of self-gratification?
Traveler:
981. As I said, I'm not interested in the party line being rammed down our throats. To take it the further step and threaten to shut down the website or have a little chat is way beyond your capacity, or what your superiors would actually do.
981977405:
Traveler, read carefully what I wrote in rather straightforward English. Frankly, you are not enabled, I do not believe, to speak for the "we" on this board. No one is. I am simply urging common sense instead of cheap, street-trick macho testosterone in one's dealing with the PRC. Wild-west Billy-the-Kid antics serve no purpose here -- we are not in control of the situation.
Traveler:
Nevermind. It's the party line to submit. You will also notice I was admonished for using the collective "our," but it is OK for 981 to use the collective "we" when steering foreigners on the path of righteousness.
mattsm84:
A reminder to stay in your place backed by thinly veiled threats. The next time the topic of bullying comes up somebody should post a link to this answer.
mArtiAn:
What you say makes sense to me. Right or wrong (and i'd have to say wrong) there are powers beyond this wee site that, if provoked, could well put an end to our little pow-wows. Do I think one should accept the uninvited push of another's hand? Nope. But like the song goes, I fought the law and the law won. Anyone under the illusion that they are here making a difference...............truly has my sympathy.
Traveler:
Martian. I think Answers does make a difference to the people posting here. It is difficult to explain to people "back home" what China is like, because nobody ever believes the things that happen here. So talking to others in the same situation is a way of letting things out. Like therapy.
It is unlikely that the site is going to be blocked, and it would be futile anyway (except for a few, including wumaos). Most of us use VPNs for Facebook, so would do the same for this site. And let's not forget that the biggest part of this site is the classifieds, especially teacher advertisements and the dating ads. Too much money involved for Chinese officials.
As I said elsewhere, the Answers section is just a comparatively small part of the site, and they are not going to block the whole site just for a few foreigners discussing the news. On my blog site, there are 45 contributors that discuss and speculate about Tibet, corruption, the Senkakus and all sorts of supposedly "forbidden" things. The wumao have a shot at it now and then, but they are easy to get rid of, and it has never been blocked.
Sites are usually only blocked in China to eliminate the competition, or as tit-for-tat to the US government in the case of the NYT blocking. The Answers section is really not big enough to warrant blocking the entire site, and I am not even sure that it is possible to block just one part of a site.
mArtiAn:
Well I do hope you're right about that Traveler, and in fact I think it does matter what people say. Every word has its rippling, butterfly effect, i'm sure of it. As for this site getting closed for touching on taboos, I don't believe it has a big enough voice to be deemed a threat. It'd be a shame to see it go.
Tough to say really. The congresses and national days obviously increase security and traffic, but I wouldn't say they affect foreigners more than anything else.
i'd say the economy and housing prices hit us the most.
Oh, you mean the daily lack of civility,arrogance,stupid and/or childish comments,rude staring,etc.? It's gets pretty old!! :( How's that for "current events"? * Thank God for the nice Chinese that act normal and respectful..and are helpful and kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The biggest? Right now, it's a few rocks in the Pacific ocean.
China has turned it into a giant unnecessary face issue, and now there is no backing down.
You see, the Japanese government really couldn't do anything with the islands, because they were privately owned. So the government bought them. This COULD have been a good thing, simply because under government control, the Japanese then had the ability to negotiate, create a free trade zone, or just keep them. Doesn't matter, its all speculation now. China turned it into a giant "face" issue to "smooth over" the government transition by getting people riled up with nationalism.
Now, it's a face issue between the two countries, and neither can do anything peaceful without losing face and appearing weak.
My bet: China, sometime in December - after the "elections" but prior to Chinese new year, will try to do something - land troops there, fire on a Japanese ship, etc. Hoping that it will be calm enough (Christmas) to go slightly unnoticed - and then sort of forgotten about by CNY (in the Chinese public's eyes). That way, they can say they did something (save face) and try to let it cool down because of the holiday.
The kicker is, they will probablydo something stupid and cause the US to get involved.
This is what will effect foreigners the most.
Traveler:
Yes. And I dread the anti-foreigner sentiment if America gets involved.
bill8899:
Spot on. I hope it simply passes but BBC says China navigates through the area daily.
Again, I hope nothing happens but I'm prepping for fallout if things go wrong.
current events that effect foreigners the most, china's territorial disputes, and story about a foreigner misbehaving, any story about a politician saying something that the gov finds offensive, anything involving spying, military intervention by western or nato countries in any war torn area.
Any event which is blown out of proportion to incite the masses and buttress the "us (China)" vs. "them (everyone else)" mentality. It's a constant shell game of "pick and choose," depending on the auspices of the Glorious Leaders.
mArtiAn:
Hey Jihad, good to have you back. I thought you'd disappeared.
You mean actually affected me personally? "Current Event" sorts of things have really only disrupted my life twice. The first was late last summer when a rumor circulated that the local authorities were going to conduct checks on small shops and stores in the city and issue heavy fines to business that were found to have violated some rule or another. The City did this because they were having money problems. Apparently they' re hosting some kind of major sporting event and they needed to do a number of repairs that they really didn't have the money for. The idea was to make up the budgetary short fall by issuing fines and penalties on local businesses. When word of this got out the whole city shut down for something like a day and a half. Almost nothing was open. It was surreal. The second was earlier this fall when a crowd of Chinese protestors occupied the space between me and the grocery store that I had intended to go to. I could have tried to go around or even walked through it but I thought it better not to chance it. Now both of those are really only small things, but they're a reminder that things could go bad pretty easily, and I might end up having to leave sooner than I might like, although I hope that doesn't happen.
Seems like environmental related protests are becoming more and more common. The central business district of Ningbo was pretty much shut down the other weekend due to an organized protest about some chemical plant expansion. All the buses from surrounding areas going to and from Ningbo were shut down, and the main roads leading into the CBD were cordoned off as well.
But I agree with the above...the international disputes will affect foreigners living in China in a more widespread, universal way. Get ready...be careful.
Japan is on the downturn ..... created this incident ...power is not a good thing for them to pretend to have these days.......... ego .. the flipping islands are practically downtown Taipei ... so why be silly.
China trying to buy Canadian oil is big ..... think they already own the big mines in Australia..... now buying Canada ..... believe me it is like buying Canada, by buying the oil sands, and right under Romney's nose as he tries to get that oil to Texas (Keystone pipeline)
my real wish is that chinese money goes down in value, not up like the usa wants... means my income is worth more here ...really all I care about, my moneys value!!
Traveler:
In 1895, China conceded Taiwan and the Senkakus to Japan, after surrendering to Japan following their loss in the First Sino-Japanese War. It was 75 years later, after valuable resources were found there, that China decided it wanted the Senkakus back.
China refuses to take any of it's claims to the International Court for consideration, preferring to individually bully countries it perceives as weaker.
I think all the scams in this country affect us the most junior since they take money out of our wallets! There seems to be new ones popping up every month and they are getting harder and harder to notice.
Highschool kids getting jobs instead of college graduates...that to me affects a lot. I think it has to do with organization so not sure who to blame on this call.
Traveler:
That really doesn't affect foreigners, but affects you because you are Chinese.
there is no current event that affect foreigner in china. Everything happen on political agenda .
