Author: Andy Yee

China’s hukou system, adopted in 1958 to control population movement, has long been criticized for tying the population to their place of origin. With the mass migration of rural workers to China’s cities and coastal regions, the system is under the spotlight as it means that these migrants suffer discrimination vis-a-vis urban residents in public services such as education, housing, healthcare and other social protection. The debate reaches a new height following a joint appeal to abandon the system by thirteen Chinese newspapers to the National People’s Congress earlier this month.

Could reforming the hukou system bring better lives to migrant workers? Wang Xiaodao, who calls himself a ‘second generation migrant worker’, airs in his blog the grievances and doubts which are representative of this special group in China. Compared with the first generation, this second generation migrant workers face fewer opportunities. Competition is fierce in many occupations. After working for more than seven years in the cities, he has many doubts. Perhaps some doubts could be answered by a hukou reform:

我不明白，在上海，与上海人在同一家事业单位干同样的工种，为什么他每月就比我多五六百块？经理说他是上海人，有福利保障和各种补贴，我不明白为什么他有，我就没有？我们不都是中国人吗？难道中国城市是分等级的，中国人也是分等级的?

I don’t understand why, in Shanghai, I receive 500 to 600 yuan a month less compared with other workers, who are doing the same kind of job in the same unit. The manager said because he is Shanghaiist, he can enjoy various social benefits and subsidies. I don’t understand why he can have it, but I cannot. Aren’t we both Chinese? Is it true that Chinese cities are hierarchical, and Chinese people are hierarchical too?

我不明白，我堂哥在城市打工十几年了，侄子现在在城市读书，为什么我侄子要缴比城里孩子还高的学费？为什么城里人却不让他们的孩子与我侄子同桌？为什么我侄子在学校会受到孤立和排挤？

I don’t understand why, with my cousin having worked in the cities for over ten years, his son still needs to pay higher school fees than urban children. Why do urban residents not allow their children to share the same table with my nephew? Why is my nephew being isolated and discriminated?

But the above are only parts of the problem. Many more difficulties, such as lack of reasonable safeguards of rights and interests of workers, and unaffordable housing, cannot be solved merely by reforming the hukou system:

我不明白，我们民工用血汗，甚至用生命在城市建设了那么多高楼大厦，可建一辈子房子，却买不到哪怕一间厕所？这跟种一辈子地却没粮食吃异曲同工

I don’t understand why, having spent their lifetime constructing many skyscrapers, migrant workers couldn’t even buy a toilet. This is the same as farmers who spend their lifetime growing crops but could not even feed themselves.

我不明白，为什么南方那么多工厂，就是找不到一家八小时工作制的呢？最低工资标准，意思应该是工资不低于那个标准吧？为什么我们的底薪就等于最低工资标准？为什么辛辛苦苦一天工作十四五个小时，一年下来只够买几包化肥？是工资低了，物价高了，还是我们生活太奢侈了？

I don’t understand why, with so many factories in southern China, I could not even find a single one with an eight-hour work day. Minimum wage means that the salary would be above a certain standard, right? But why are our salaries merely equal to that standard? Having toiled for over 14 hours a day, a few packs of fertilizers are all that we can afford at the end of the year. Is the wage too low and the price too high, or are we too luxurious?

我不明白，为什么我们干了活，可以不给我们工钱，不是说“一份耕耘，一份收获”么？为什么找相关部门解决总那么难，总把我们当球踢，当猴耍？为什么会出现跳楼讨薪，开胸验肺？

I don’t understand why, having worked so hard, the managers dare to withhold our salaries. ‘You get what you give’, isn’t this what they say? Why are the relevant departments finding it so difficult to solve it, kicking us around like footballs? To fight for missing salaries and compensation, some go so far as to threaten to jump off from the building, and voluntarily ‘opening their breast’ through a surgical operation to prove that they’ve developed pneumoconiosis from their workplace.

How about going back to the countryside and be a farmer? He has though about it:

城市，已没有我们安家之所，而农村呢，我们怎么回去？像一个逃兵一样？又有何面目见江东父老？回去之后，会种地吗？愿意种地吗？其实我本人是赞成回农村种地的，毕竟我们国家还得需要人来种地，但怕父母从此在农村抬不起头来，被其他村民嘲笑，尽管其他村民的孩子们也在城市流离失所。在他们看来，战死在城市，也比做一名逃兵好。

The cities have no place for us, how about the countryside? But how can we go back? Like a deserting soldier? Do we have the ‘face’ to see the villagers again? After returning, do we know how to farm? And are we willing to farm? Personally, I’m actually in support of returning and becoming a farmer. After all, the country needs someone to be farmers. But I’m afraid that my parents will be laughed at by other villagers, though their children are also suffering in cities. In their eyes, dying in cities is better than being a deserting soldier.

This new generation of migrant workers is a generation with dreams bigger than money. As Prof. Xie Jianshe, a specialist on migrant worker studies, commented:

They are more attached to cities, rather than rural villages. They are eager to blend into cities, but they are unable to break through the barrier of system and culture. When they go back to the the countryside, they find themselves unable to do farming.

When wealth, houses, cars and a good life are distant dreams, he sees no future, only doubts, illusions and frustrations:

人呐，其实就像种子，最重要的是看你被撒在什么地方，撒在城市，再劣质的种子也能茁壮成长，撒在农村，你再优良也得拼命挣扎才有出头之日。

Human beings are like seeds. What matters is where you are dropped. Dropped in the cities, the worst quality can still grow and be strong; dropped in the countryside, you really need to struggle before you can be strong, even if you are of the best quality.

我们的明天，该何去何从？我不知道。只能像一个无根的浮萍，随波逐流。我曾经说只有猪才是最幸福的动物 […]真的，我真喜欢做一头猪，没心没肺，有吃有喝，也不会去想劈什么柴喂什么马，呆在猪圈里，不知道天高也不知道地厚，就这样迷糊至死。

As for my future, where should I go? I don’t know. I can only be a piece of duckweed, floating along with the waves. I once said that pigs are the luckiest animals […] I would really like to become a pig, without any worries and feelings, only eating and drinking. They just stay in the pigsty, not knowing the world around them, until they die.

现在基本上也不怎么存钱了，因为存了也没用，有钱就花掉，今朝有酒今朝醉，做一天和尚撞一天钟，说我们消极也好，说我们破罐子破摔也好，都无所谓。因为积极奋斗也只会更加头破血流，因为就算是一只好罐子，也卖不出好价钱。消极，更让我释然，日子也过得更轻松。

Now I basically don’t think about saving, because saving is useless. I spend all I earn. You can say I am too negative. But striving for a better live will only lead to blood, sweat and toil, and no more. A good vase cannot be sold for a good price. This loss of hope makes me feel better and easier to pass the days ahead.

Lian Yue, an ex-teacher and ex-procurator and now a famous blogger and political commentator in China, announced on his blog that he is starting a novel, entitled 2020, on twitter this month. According to the blog, the novel will last until 2020.

As far as I can tell (and please correct me if I am wrong), this is the first Chinese novel to be released on Twitter. Matt Stewart is said to be the first writer to release a full-length literary novel, The French Revolution, on Twitter. He decided to do so after failing to find a publisher for his ‘risky’ novel. But for Lian Yue, his motivation is quite different. Here is why:

这跟在浴室唱歌同一个道理。人在放松自由的时空里，你会想到娱乐自己，你有创造与表达的热情。浴室歌声无法发行，偶然听到的人也许耳朵要受罪，可是那个在水雾中温暖松弛的家伙，他无法控制自己啊。

This is like singing in the bath. When you are relaxed, you will entertain yourself; you have the passion for creativity and expression. Bathroom singing could not be published. Those who happen to hear it may suffer. But for the guy who is enjoying himself in the misty bathroom, he could not control himself.

在极端严酷的环境中，创造力将逐渐消亡，文字的多义和暧昧，可以任意引申为犯罪的故意，创造等同于自杀，于是再也没人做了，文字只残存标准化的批判与审判。

In an extremely harsh environment, creativity will gradually die. The ambiguity and polysemy of words mean it could easily be twisted as evidence of crimes. Because creativity is equivalent to suicide, no one is devoted to it. Words have degraded to become standardized criticisms and judgments.

气候稍稍回暖以后，不必穿得那么厚，泥土也变软了，友好地保存你的鞋印，就像苗要从缝里钻出，创造性在这个阶段也是靠它的多义与暧昧甩掉追踪的尾巴，面对指控也可以自我辩护，好比巧妙的示爱，遭拒后并不丢脸。

The weather is warmer; we no longer need to wear so thick. The soil is softer; your footprint could be preserved. It’s like seedling coming out from the crack. At this stage, creativity depends on its ambiguity and polysemy to escape accusations and defend itself. It’s like expressing your love to someone else in such a way that you will not feel ashamed if you are rejected.

只不过，这场游戏不是爱情，谁也不知道哪块肉里有刺，不小心碰到了就痛得发火。创造力还是佯狂装醉，这对思维照样有害。李白与怀素不敢喝醉，只能在微醺中算计，这对他们来说，就失去了一切活力。

However, this is no love affairs. No one knows where the sting lies. If you are careless, you will be hurt. But if you just pretend to be mad and drunk, this will be bad for your artistic thinking. If Li Bai and Huai Su [ancient Chinese poet and calligrapher] dared not to be drunk, they will lose their vitality.

假如一个人在受酷刑，头被摁在水里，快要憋死时，可以探头吸一口气，此时呼吸是唯一主题。而到了正常呼吸的时候，呼吸却被忽视了，这个人就会去找一些别的事情消磨时间。在twitter上就是这种感觉，有创造力的新人们，在那里相会吧。

Suppose one is being tortured and pressed into the water. When he is suffocating, but has the chance to take a breath, breathing would be his only concern. When he can breathe normally, breathing would be neglected. He will look for other entertainments. Being on twitter gives me this feeling. For the creative and entrepreneurial ones, let’s meet there.

If you can read Chinese, you can follow the novel on twitter.com/lianyue (hashtag #ly2020).

This month, on the occasion of the Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year), the most important time for family reunion in China, Duting (杜婷) interviewed the wives of China’s prisoners of conscience. They are Liu Xia, Ceng Jinyan, Wang Qinghua and Ceng Li, respectively the wives of Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia, Tan Zuoren and Huang Qi.

Liu Xiaobo, an intellectual known for initiating Charter 08, calling for greater freedom, human rights and elections, was sentenced to 11 years in December 2009. Hu Jia, whose work focused on China’s democratization, environmentalist movement and AIDS advocacy, was sentenced to 3.5 years in April 2008. Tan Zuoren, an environmentalist and writer known for his investigation into shoddy schools following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, was sentenced to 5 years in February 2010. Huang Qi, a webmaster and human rights activist known for setting up the Tianwang Center for Missing Persons, was most recently sentenced to 3 years in November 2009.

Below are translated extracts and quotes from Duting’s interview report.

Liu Xia: when the thought that I cannot touch him for 11 years strikes me, my heart collapses

This was her twitter comment after Liu Xiaobo’s trial of second instance, on charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power.’

A few days after the verdict, Duting tried to have a chat with Liu Xia, who agreed to do so but later prefer to write down her feelings:

两个人这些年风风雨雨走过来，那么多的事情一 时很难用语言表达清楚，与其有一句没一句地说，还不如我自己零敲碎打地写出来。我这个人嘴挺笨的，一向不善于口头表达，这也不是我的风格，还是文字比较适 合我。

The two of us came from these stormy years, and it’s difficult to express all these matters clearly in words. Rather than saying it sentence by sentence, I prefer to write it down, in piecemeal scripts. I am ineloquent, not good at expressing with my mouth, which is not my style. Written words suit me better.

Ceng Jinyan: there are just too few people at the reunion dinner. I look forward to preparing a real reunion dinner some day

She made this comment on the eve of the Chinese New Year while preparing the traditional family reunion dinner. Ceng was married to Hu Jia in 2006. Hu was detained since 2007, and sentenced to three and a half year in April 2008 on charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power.’ This is the third time Ceng spent the Spring Festival without her husband.

Taking care of their two-year old daughter was her major task. Hu was detained one month after the baby was born. Though it was painful and sad, Jinyan tried to control her emotion, creating a safe and warm home for their daughter:

我把我和胡佳的合影贴在床头，告诉宝宝这是爸爸，去探望胡佳的时候也都尽量带她去，现在她已经知道怎么去监狱，坐什么车了。每次见到胡佳宝宝都很开心，又唱又跳的，把平时我和她做的游戏做给胡佳看。

I put my photo with Hu Jia on the bedside and tell the baby that this is his father. I will also bring her with me when visiting Hu Jia. She now knows which bus to take to go to the prison. Every time she sees her father, she would be very happy. She will jump and sing, and show the games that I play with her to Hu Jia.

When she was young, Jinyan had serious Myocarditis, which would have prevented her from taking the university entrance exam. But she took medicines to cover up the symptoms, and successfully entered the China Renmin University to study economics. Because of her first hand experience, she knows a person’s smallness and helplessness when facing sickness and death. She therefore became a volunteer for an NGO tackling AIDS problem, and met Hu Jia there. At the time, Hu Jia has long been involved in AIDS and environmental issues, and was a ‘politically sensitive person’ in the authority’s eyes. The public security told her to cut the relationship with Hu, but:

也许是因为身体的缘故所以我看得比较开吧。人总要经历各种苦，有些人终其一生都无法遇到自己爱的人，我很幸运遇到胡佳。虽然选择和他在一 起就注定不会有稳定的生活，但这是我必须承受的。

Perhaps it’s because of my experience of sickness, I’m not easily upset. People have to endure different kinds of pain. Some are destined not to find their other half, but I am lucky to meet Hu Jia. Although choosing him means that a stable life would be a luxury, I am prepared to endure it.

Jinyan said that 2005 and 2006 were the difficult years, when Hu Jia was always missing. When the 2008 verdict was out, she was angry and sad, but at least it was a certainty. Commenting on the fact that 26 June 2011 would be his day of release:

最糟的时候已经过去了，胡佳现在比较平静，我的焦虑感也就随之降低了。但我也知道他回来之后的生活会是一个巨大的挑战。之前胡佳每次 失踪回来后的头几天对我和他来讲都非常痛苦，他潜意识中会把对抗的情绪带回家，把我当做反抗的对象，虽然他并不想如此。阿兰牧师曾说过『对于一个囚犯而言，真正的监狱是在他走出监狱的那一天才开始的。』

The most difficult moment has passed. Hu Jia is now calmer, and I’m less worried. But I know that when he returns, there would be challenges for us. In the past, every time he returns after missing for a few days, he would tell me that he feels miserable, and he brings a sense of antagonism back home, treating me as a target, though this was not his intention. Pastor A Lan said, ‘to a prisoner, the real jail starts on the day he walks out of the prison.’

Wang Qinghua: I am his comrade. We are on the same boat

A few days before the Spring Festival, Wang’s husband Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years. Wang said

已经是第2个春节不在一起过了，去年的时候他去灾区，其实那个时候更担心他，怕他出事。现在他在看守所，至少人是安全的。

This is the second Spring Festival that we could not be together. Last year he was in the [Sichuan] earthquake zone. Actually, I was more worried about his safety back then. Now, at least he is safe in the detention center.

When Wang met Tan, he was working as an anesthetist in a hospital.

他当时在华西医科大学附属医院，是成都很好的一家医院。后来离开是因为六四。六四时他去了北京，回来后知道 肯定没办法再在医院工作下去，就辞职了。

At the time, he was working at the Western China Medical University Affiliated Hospital, a very good hospital in Chengdu. He left because of the 1989 Tiananmen Incident. He went to Beijing during the incident, and knew afterwards that it would be impossible to continue his career there.

He ran a business for several years in Shenzhen. A friend of his persuaded him to get involved in environmental protection, which was his interest. Tan then returned to Chengdu, setting up the NGO ‘Green Rivers’, ‘visiting every corner of Chengdu’s countryside, writing articles and providing suggestions to the government whenever he sees a problem.’ These years, Tan did not have a stable income, and the family’s livelihood depended on Wang:

他总和朋友们说对不起我，我就很生气。我和他讲『这个家也是我的家，我不觉得一定要男人来 养家。我们分工不同，你做的事情我做不了，那我来养家好了。

He always told friends that he did not treat me well. I would be very angry. I told him, ‘this family is also mine; I don’t think that a family must be supported by a man. We do different things. I cannot do what you do, so let me support the family.

Though Tan thinks that his works are not risky, he had a premonition of what eventually happened:

国保经常找他谈话，软的硬的，那时候他就感觉到可能要出事。他和我谈过几次，当时他就说 如果做这些事都能被抓那就让他们抓吧。所以那时开始我们就常和两个女儿讲，爸爸做的事情是对的，但可能会有危险，让她们也有个心理准备。我是没什麽想不开 的，我一直是个挺洒脱的人。之前他正常做事的时候我是他的妻子，我支持他。他一旦有了危险，那我就是他的战友，我们早就在一条船上了。

The state security always had discussions, hard and soft, with him. This made him felt that something might happen. He talked to me several times, and said that if doing only these things would still result in an arrest, so be it. From that time onwards, we told our two daughters that their father’s works are correct, but dangerous. This prepared them psychologically. I’m not easily upset by minor things. When he did these things, I was his wife and I supported him. When he is in danger, I’m his comrade, and we are on the same boat.

之前我不太关心他做的那些事，我只是和他一样是个见到不公平的事就要站出来说话的人。现在他被抓，那我就要代他去参加这些活动，然后，等他出来。

In the past, I did not care that much what he did. We are only of similar personalities, speaking up against unfairness. Now that he is arrested, I will continue his works, and wait for his release.

Ceng Li: I am only doing what I think is right. I though it was correct. I now still think it is correct.

Ceng said she is already used to Spring Festivals without her husband. In 2000, Huang Qi was arrested on charge of ‘inciting subversion of state power’, and, 3 years later, was sentenced to a 5-year term. He was released in 2005, but was arrested again in 2008 on charge of ‘illegally possessing state secret documents.’

之前黄琦做生意，我在机关工作，那时候我什麽心都不操，一点压力都没有。这些年就完全不一样了，所有的事情都要一个人来承担。05年黄琦出来的时候说『你怎么完全变成了另外一个人』，他希望我还是之前那个无忧无虑，什么事都依赖他的小女人。

In the past, he was a businessman and I worked in the government. I did not need to worry about anything. These years, it is totally different. I have to endure everything by myself. When Huang was released in 2005, he asked me, ‘why have you become a totally different person?’ He still hoped that I was the carefree little woman of the past.

In 1998, Ceng and Wang used their fortunes from business to start the ‘Tianwang Center for Missing Persons’, helping parents to find their lost children.

有政府支持，有媒体宣传，一切都挺顺利。后来在做的过程中渐渐接触到许多上访者，许多弱势群体，就想尽量帮帮他们，于是我们99年就做了网站，希望能提供一个平台。

With official support and propaganda, everything went smoothly. Later on, we got in touch with some petitioners and disadvantaged groups, and wanted to help them. In 1999, we started a website and hoped to provide a platform for them.

Apart from people search contents, there were some political commentaries on the website concerning Falun Gong and Rabiye [Xinjiang businesswoman and dissident], which got them into troubles.

最初完全没有想到做这个会有风险，只是觉得顶多是往里贴钱，偶尔也会因为经济上的问题和黄琦抱怨。但那种不快很快就会被看到父母找到失踪儿童后一家人团聚的 喜悦所取代，那种幸福感和满足感很难用语言去表达，就是你实实在在帮到了别人，别人从中受益，这是一种很难得的体验。

At the beginning, we don’t think that it is risky at all, at most needing to pour some money into it. We argued a little bit on economic issues. But when seeing parents finding their lost children, complaints would be washed away by happiness which could not be described in words. This is helping people realistically, which is a very precious experience.

After Wang was released in 2005, he restarted the website, this time turning it into a human rights website.

他更坚定了，也没有了之前的顾虑，还能怎么样呢？大不了再进去吧。但这一次他就不让我参与了，和之前不同这次他知道风险性，再说总要有个人打工挣钱，孩子要读书，大人要吃饭。

He was more determined, and without previous worries. What else can happen? The worst is to be imprisoned again. But he did not allow me to participate this time. He knew it is risky. After all, one person needs to earn a living to pay for children’s education and feed the adults.

After Wang’s second arrest, Ceng resigned from her job in Beijing to take care of their parents and children.

难是难，但也挺坦然的，我只是做了我认为正确的事情，当时我觉得那是对的，现在我依然这么认为。

It is difficult, but I’m undisturbed. I am only doing what I think is right. I though it was correct. I now still think it is correct.

Reading these stories of wives, mothers and freedom, and of resistance, wait and hope, Lan Xiaohuan (兰小欢) quoted Pulitzer-winning American author Annie Dillard on what could possibly keep them going:

Dedicate (donate, give all) your life to something larger than yourself and pleasure to the largest thing you can: to God, to relieving suffering, to contributing to knowledge, to adding to literature, or something else. Happiness lies this way, and it beats pleasure hollow.

Every year new words are invented, mirroring new trends in our societies. For example, ‘unfriend’ was voted the 2009 word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. It comes from the practice of dropping a contact from Facebook, and reflects the popularity and ever-changing nature of internet social networking.

The same could be said of China, albeit with a heavier meaning. The National Language Resource Monitoring & Research Centre (Network Media), the Commercial Press and sina.com have co-organized an online campaign to select a Chinese character and vocabulary each to describe China and the world in 2009. After one month of recommendations, expert appraisal and voting, the results were released earlier this month, reflecting the views of over 200,000 voters.

Character of the Year: Bei 被

The character bei (被) was selected as the character of the year to describe China. Technically, it is a preposition, and has to be used in conjunction with some other words. In English it means ‘be xx-ed’. To give some examples, in an attempt to boost graduate employment statistics, some graduates were told by their universities to put stamps in fake contracts to prove that they have gained employment. In the process they ‘were employed’ (被就业). Figures released by the Statistical Bureau showed the average salary of urban workers increased by 12.9% during the first half of 2009, leaving many netizens in disbelief. Many said their salaries ‘were increased’ (被增长). The Bureau admitted later that the survey suffered from a too narrow scope. Netizens said they ‘were represented’ (被代表) by the Bureau.

Below are some comments selected from a sohu forum after the announcement of the results:

野猫佐罗第二  (2010-02-07 03:21:15):  一个“被”字，包含了善良的百姓多少无奈，多少心酸，更有多少压抑和郁闷。公信力在一个“被”字之下，更显得无比的苍白与虚无。

How much helplessness, sadness, repression and depression were represented in the single word bei. Under this word, credibility seems so pale and empty.

七剑下珠峰 (2010-02-08 03:23:59): 国企改革工人被下岗了；教育改革孩子被辍学了;住房改革老百姓的房子被强拆了！医疗改革患者没钱就被放太平间了……..

Workers were unemployed under state-owned enterprise reforms; children were dropout-ed under education reforms; ordinary citizens’ houses were demolished under housing reforms! Those unable to afford medical costs under the health care reforms would be placed in the mortuary……

limingyukorea@sohu_NEW (2010-02-07 04:25:04): 最根本的是我们的各种被！是怎么形成，没有公开 没有民众参与 没有百姓发言 我敢说就连新闻的某些话都是被出来！简单的工资我们基本工资北京850怎么被统计局统计那么高？？加班？？国家不是说加班只允许38小吗？有超的吗？算违法吗？等等好多数据不知道统计局怎么收集的！

The fundamental issue is how all kinds of bei were formed! No transparency, no public participation, no freedom to express opinions. I dare say that some news reports also had the element of bei! How could our basic Beijing salary of [RMB] 850 be reported so much higher by the Statistical Bureau? Overtime? Doesn’t the government say that overtime is limited to 38 [hours]? Is the limit exceeded? Is the law being broken? We just don’t know how the Bureau collects all those statistics!

Vocabulary of the Year: Min Sheng 民生

The vocabulary of the year is min sheng (民生), meaning ‘people’s livelihood’. It reflects various concerns that ordinary people face, ranging from employment, housing, social security to environmental conditions. In many ways, these issues are connected with lack of public participation and official accountability. Wang Chuantao (王传涛) wrote in a commentary:

… 被”和“民生”分列国内字、词的第一，反映了网民对当下情势的心态。

其实，早在2008年“被××”就已经出现在报纸和网页了，只不过仅仅局限于“被自杀”和“被增长”两三个概念纠结的语境之中，我国网民还没有将之于“时代”挂钩。刚刚过去的2009年，正因为有了太多与“民生”有关的被动语态，“被时代”和“民生”二字才最终结合，并双双成了最具影响力的网络流行语。

… The fact that bei and min sheng are selected as the character and vocabulary of the year shows the current mood of netizens.
In fact, bei started to appear in newspapers and websites as early as 2008, though netizens just linked them to standalone cases such as ‘were suicided’ and ‘were increased’, rather than giving it the significance of an ‘era’. However, because too many min sheng related events with an element of bei happened in 2009, ‘the era of bei’ and ‘min sheng’ has combined to become the most influential internet catchphrases.

But he is optimistic about the future:

但是，我们更应该说，2009同样也是中国公民、中国网民对“被时代”的“觉醒时代”。权利的缺少甚至于被剥夺固然可怕，可最为可怕的远远不是缺少或剥夺这种现象本身，而是一种对这种权利现状的麻木或习惯——还好，中国公民、中国网民没有“被习惯”、“被麻木”，相反，却代之以伟大的调侃。

But we should say that, for Chinese citizens, 2009 is also an ‘era of awakening’ in response to the ‘era of bei’. The lack of rights, or worse, being exploited, is horrible. However, the most horrible of all is that people become insensitive or used to the situation. Luckily, Chinese citizens and netizens are not ‘accustomized’ or ‘insensitized’. Rather, they make a great, black humor out of it.

只要有“拒绝麻木”的精神，我想，至于接下来的2010，就是值得期待的一年。那些“被捐款”的职工、那些“被就业”的大学生、那些“被幸福”的市民、那些“被小康”的城市……就有权利表达出自己的愤怒来，继而引起媒体关注与热议，再逐步走向问题的解决和落实，相信也不是什么难事。

I believe that, with the spirit to refuse being ‘insensitized’, 2010 is a year worth looking forward to. For those employees who ‘were donated’, graduates who ‘were employed’, citizens who ‘were blessed’, cities which ‘were harmonized’…… they would have a chance to express their anger, raising media and public attention. It will then not be difficult to lead to real resolutions and improvements of the situation.

In the same campaign, fu (浮, meaning a state of drift), and jinrong weiji (金融危机, meaning financial crisis) were selected as the character and vocabulary describing the world in 2009. They represent the states of instability and uncertainty brought about by the financial crisis during the year.

In an afterword to the 2006 edition of The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama depicted a possible scenario of world politics: the victory of an authoritarian type of capitalism over liberal democratic capitalist states. While this is not his preferred destination, it is moving in that direction.

The West seems to be annoyed by a series of events: China’s cyber attacks on Western computer networks, disputes with Google, crackdowns on human rights activists, execution of a British citizen, and its unhelpful role ranging from the climate change talks to Iran’s nuclear program. The list goes on. Pundits point to the increasing threats posted by an increasingly self-confident China.

But before going on criticizing China, let’s view the matter from another angle: The West’s response to China’s economic reform and opening. It plays an important part in fuelling China’s self-confidence, one of the key themes discussed in posts by Chinese scholar Zhu Xueqin (朱学勤) on BBC Chinese Web and Lu Di (芦笛) on Bullogger.com.

China’s great gamble

Deng Xiaoping, China’s legendary reformist leader, once said, ‘no matter black or white, it is a good cat as long as it can catch a mouse.’ It is this pragmatism that underlies China’s economic reform in 1978 after the disastrous decade of Cultural Revolution. China’s embrace of capitalism, as Zhu Xueqin likens it, successfully turns itself into a cat that catches many mice, or Western capitalist democratic nations:

小平投注的是猫，猫鼠联姻，被吃的是鼠，不是猫。

Xiaoping placed a bet on the cat. In the marriage between cat and mouse, the one being eaten is the mouse, not the cat.

Even at the most dangerous moment of the gamble, the Tiananmen Incident of 1989, China’s authoritarianism steered itself out of dangers, thanks to Western capitalists:

世纪豪赌最危险的时候，是1989至1991那三年。坦克一上街，所有的老鼠都吓得屁滚尿流，外资大撤退，内资亦不继，GDP直线下降，中国面临崩盘，真可能玩完。小平同志跑到南方画一个圈，说一句“不问姓社姓资”，招商引资，春雷滚滚。

The dangerous moment of the gamble is between 1989 and 1991. With tanks on the streets, all mice were scared. Foreign investments retreated, GDP nosedived, and China faced imminent collapse. Comrade Xiaoping, during his Southern Tour, said ‘I don’t care if it is socialism or capitalism.’ With one strike, he reopened the floodgate for foreign investments again.

亏得小平高瞻远瞩，还能“不争论”，带头招商引资，引无数老鼠竞折腰。让一点市场，撒几把米粒算得了什么？资本家，资本家，我就不信资本家来了，资本家的政府不来！果然，西洋各国寻米而来，争抢中国订单，哪一国总理订单要少了，回去还有受民主舆论的喝斥。经济制裁是这样打破的，政治制裁则不消说，强虏烟飞灰灭，1989政治危机就是这样度过的。

With Deng’s far-sightedness and welcoming of foreign capitals, the mice just could not resist. What tiny cost it is just to open up the market a bit! Capitalists, capitalists, I don’t believe that once capitalists come to China, their governments would not follow! Indeed, Western countries come in one by one for Chinese contracts. What’s more, those governments which secured too few contracts would be criticized by its own constituencies and media. The economic sanction was broken in this way, not to mention political isolation. The crisis of 1989 was resolved.

Capitalism and universal values

Reflecting on Zhu’s article, Lu Di is not so sure whether Western civilization could insist on the universal values of justice and freedom in face of China’s capitalism:

其实列宁早就发现这点了。还在西方文明世界封锁苏俄时，他便断言，甭看帝国主义跟咱们貌似势不两立，贪婪是资本家的本性，因此他们迟早要来和我们做生意，帮助我们把国家弄得强大起来。老邓之所以在中国翅膀未硬前，便敢冒全世界之大不韪血洗北京城，也无非是吃透了西方的道义高调是假的，再“义薄云天”，最后还是得为铜臭弯腰钻狗洞，虽则可能是掩着鼻。

Actually, Lenin discovered this long ago. When Western civilization was boycotting Soviet Union, he judged that greed was the nature of capitalists. Sooner or later, they would come and do business with Soviet Union. The reason that Deng decided to bloodily suppress the Tiananmen protest of 1989, at a time when China was weak, was that he saw the hypocrisy of the West. No matter how noble or just your cause is, you just could not resist but bend down for coins.

He discussed his views on a number of recent cases:

谷歌与雅虎的区别，说起来也很可怜：雅虎完全接受后面这一条，甚至向中国政府提供异议人士的通信内容，导致师涛被重判，而谷歌本已同意中国政府有权管制资讯，只是实在难以同意中国政府有权窥探公民隐私。区别也就只在这点上而已。就连这最后的底线，谷歌能否最后守住，也还在未定之天。

Talking about Google and Yahoo, it’s sad to note about their difference, which is tiny: Yahoo completely accepted [Chinese government’s intrusion on privacy], and supplied communications information of dissidents, resulting in the heavy imprisonment of Shi Tao. Google had in principle accepted Chinese government’s right to control information, and only did not accept intrusion on privacy. This is the only difference, and it is uncertain whether Google could keep to this bottomline.

不难看出当局为何敢重判刘晓波：第一，他们吃准了鬼子为了钱不敢作声，顶多只是不疼不痒地咋呼两声，但经济制裁之类的凶器是再也没本事亮出来了。第二，他们吃准了“民心所向”，知道大部份或起码是相当大的比例的精英出于自家利益反对“普世价值观”，因此无论他们怎么胡作非为，都不会引起国内舆论民情强烈反弹。

It is not difficult to see why the Chinese government dared to heavily imprison Liu Xiaobo: First, they knew that Westerners, for the sake of commercial interests, would control their reaction, at most mumbling a word or two. Economic sanction is a weapon the West no longer posses. Second, they knew that domestic elites would oppose to so-called ‘universal values’ out of their own interests. Therefore, no matter what the government does, there would not be strong backlashes.

这说明了什么？道义在金钱面前的脆弱。普世价值观再崇高，也抵挡不住银弹攻势。自由世界不怕苏联的核弹，但在我党的糖衣炮弹面前只能乖乖投降。

What do these show? The weakness of justice in front of money. Universal values could not survive the ‘money offensive’, no matter how noble they are. The free world is not afraid of Soviet nuclear bombs, but has no choice but to surrender under China’s sugar-coated bullets.

Goodbye Google

Is the West’s hope that engagement with China economically will lead to political reforms merely wishful thinking? Zhu quoted some philosophical reflections on the relationship between capitalism and authoritarianism:

市场经济与现代宪政并不具有必然因果关系，前者是后者的必要条件，而不是必要充分条件。也就是说，无市场经济必无宪政民主，有市场经济则不一定必有宪政民主，两者之间还要有其它条件。

Market economy and modern constitutionalism do not necessarily have causal relations. The former is a necessary condition for the latter, but by no means a necessary and sufficient condition. In other words, without market economy, there is no modern constitutionalism. But market economy does not imply modern constitutionalism. Other conditions must exist.

Zhu ended his article with a pessimistic note:

中国猫完成了转基因，输血者恰是被食者，自然界多了一种新物种。内鼠也好，外鼠也罢，总有一天都会噬脐莫及。硕鼠硕鼠，适彼乐土，回你的美国老家吧，别了，司徒雷登，别了，谷歌搜索！

The China Cat has transformed its DNA. Those which feed it are also those being eaten. The world now has a new species. Whether the mouse is within or outside it, they will all be eaten. Big mouse, Big mouse, this land does not suit you. Go back to America. Goodbye John Leighton Stuart, goodbye Google!