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Comments (7):

1. Sceptic says:

   November 24, 2007 at 2:11 am

   Oh, how marvellous! Another in the long series of articles by gullible westerners who want to be told that China (or the Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany, or any other large country not their own) is wonderful, even though the gudging concession that “Chinese statistics are notoriously unreliable” undermines every single statement in the entire piece.
   As for the earnest musings about democracy versus dictatorship, please, spare us. It’s been common knowledge for decades that many western intellectuals fear and despise democracy, and prefer societies where intellectuals at least get a show of respect, and it’s very boring to find it being indulged in yet again.
   Here’s an idea for a radical new approach: publish an article that admits that China really is Hell on Earth for most of its population, and that its leaders are lying Stalinist bastards. You might get fewer invitations to Embassy receptions, and the bien-pensant fools who admire China from a distance but would never dream of living there might write you some sniffy letters, but at least, for once, you’d be telling the truth, instead of buying into the latest lazy consensus.
2. Mudslinger says:

   November 24, 2007 at 4:29 pm

   I agree with Sceptic on most counts; the democracy vs. dictatorship musings smack of Rousseau’s ‘noble savage’ observations, i.e. romanticising what is in effect blatant repression, but attractive because it’s different, exotic. This article reads more like a travel piece, minus the lyrical descriptions of picturesque vistas. It’s also, quite frankly, condescending. And is it necessary for all writers to make fatuous comparisons, ‘China’s Silicon Valley,’ etc. Newsweek and Time do enough of that. The ‘I’d prefer the sweet & sour pork to the biryani’ is insulting, as if Chinese or Indian peasants (or of any nationality) have a choice, and the Western writer attempting to put him/herself in their shoes is pathetic. His moniker as ‘he who writes things down’ and makes the writer brim with smug pride obviously doesn’t include ‘think before writing down,’ and said writer also assumes that, as an ‘expert in the field,’ has an authority to not only write about a place but assume, quite unjustifiably, that ‘nobody in the West has heard about’ such place. Such statements make the writer’s opinions about as ‘notoriously unreliable’ as the Chinese government’s figures.
   However, I disagree with Sceptic that ‘for decades Western intellectuals have feared and despised democracy.’ Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that intellectuals, as well as sane human beings, distrust democracy, which is not the same as despising it. Several Western governments chose to send troops to Iraq despite the fact that the majority of their electorate did not support such an action. In the light of the ensuing massacre, democracy as trumpeted in the West doesn’t appear to be all it’s cracked up to be.
3. All Roads says:

   November 27, 2007 at 3:24 pm

   While I am far from the same line of thinking as Sceptic and Mudslinger with regard to China, I will say that I am a bit surprised by this article given the 20 years of experience the author has.

   From the industrial angle, anyone who has been here that amount of time (I have been in China 6) should know by now to take nearly everything the local governments say with a pinch of salt. that is not to say that the officials in Hefei don’t have the goal of developing China’s next Silicon Valley, but with Suzhou, Xi’an, Tianjin, and Chengdu already billions from IBM, GE, MSFT, and Google… 10-15 years from now is a long time if you are not attracting talent and investment today.

   Second, the comparison between being a peasant in India vs. a peasant in China is ridiculous and I cannot blame the chef for not wanting to have a discussion with him. the thought that someone would pick Hefei given any other alternative, and then have some foreign journalist ask him if his opportunities back home as a peasant are better than the meager life he has etched out for himself in Hefei is insulting.

   No doubt, china has a long way to go in terms of balancing out its economy and social stability. 5 year plans are developed at the national level, and their policies are supposed to be carried out on the local level. Sometimes things go astray, sometimes people get the short end of the stick, but managing 1.3 billion people is not a simple task in general and it will require many approaches and thoughts to get the job done in the end.

   All the best to Hefei in their pursuit of becoming the Silicon Valley of China. I would have looked towards other focuses, perhaps Biotech or renewable energies, but all the best at any rate.

   If anyone is interested in learning more about China’s second tier cities, I invite you to my blog All Roads Lead to China. I have already profiled about 15 cities from a macroeconomic and investment angle, and I look at the potential for each in the future.

   r
   http://www.allroadsleadtochina.com
4. Ernie says:

   November 28, 2007 at 10:50 am

   Back in the tank, Septic. Everyone’s government is a bunch of lying bastards, and life is Hell for people with Hell inside them, like yourself. An integrated personality can choose his attitudes. Does the average Chinese have less than the average Westerner? Undoubtedly so – less junk, less liberties, less entertainment. Nonetheless, even agenda -obsessed folk who can’t see anything remotely objectively [nudge nudge, wink wink] realize after enough time in China that the Chinese are just like everyone else, and then some. I’ve been here four years, and I know spoiled juvenile playboys, webgeeks, corporate drones, the gamut. Of course there’s grinding poverty all over the place. But I’m more likely to get a smile from an apple vendor on the street than from a guy driving an Audi A8, and there are millions of both here. Your certainties are cramping your style, Sceptic. But please do come to chinaexpat.com, read my blog, and tell me how Mary Poppins I am.
5. CHifan says:

   November 28, 2007 at 5:37 pm

   I know Hefei well, having lived here for many years. Gifford has parachuted in for a day or two and reports with an authoritative voice which should be questioned. His report qualifies as nothing but the ramblings of a well-fed tourist.

   His contention that Hefei is unheard of is bizarre. If Gifford actually resides in China, he would know that USTC is located there. Stories about the city appear in Xinhua and China Daily on a regular basis. Hell, even the City’s weather report is featured every night on CCTV 9 English Language weather.

   Note that he is quite straightforward about meeting with the local Foreign Affairs Waiban. But perhaps something is missing in the details. Seems strange for someone who has traveled around China freely, that he would specifically report to the FAO. Was he seeking just access or favors.

   Knowing well how Hefei officials crave to improve the image of their City, I would aver that Gifford was probably “comped” for most of his stay. If he wasn’t wined and dined at least one time, and given some mementos during his stay, I would be very surprised.

   Gifford, for someone who claims to have all those years of experience in China, seems to be unable to delve further into details about Hefei than what the officials want him to know. Maybe he is too careful in what he is reporting. Perhaps he is fearful of losing his J1 visa standing, or jeopardizing his ability to stay in the country and continue to report in some way.

   He has missed much about the city. So he went jogging. So he may have seen the Hi-tech zones around the city and seen the flashy buildings.
   He even talks about the peasants in the countryside surrounding Hefei. No where does he mention how the transformation of Hefei into a high-tech center has completely changed the character of the city or its people in the past five years as hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes to make way for those new buildings and new roads. Nowhere does he mention that the city currently looks like half a war zone as old buildings and neighbourhoods are bulldozed and the inhabitants relocated to new homes in the suburbs, while the other half looks like a developer’s wet-dream as construction cranes build ever more vanity towers on the land where flourishing communities in the city once existed.

   And of note in his article, Gifford reports in talking to the Chef at the Holiday Inn restaurant:

   “Second, the comparison between being a peasant in India vs. a peasant in China is ridiculous and I cannot blame the chef for not wanting to have a discussion with him. the thought that someone would pick Hefei given any other alternative, and then have some foreign journalist ask him if his opportunities back home as a peasant are better than the meager life he has etched out for himself in Hefei is insulting.”

   I have met the manager. He is a gentleman, and well paid for his services at the hotel. His life in Hefei is no way “meager”. In no way would he be a peasant back in India. The comparison is untrue, rude, ignorant, and insulting to the manager. No wonder he didn’t want to talk to such a journalist who made such assumptions.

   This piece says more of Gifford’s biases than it says about Hefei.
6. Gwydion M Williams says:

   November 29, 2007 at 8:24 pm

   ‘Sceptic’ should check his facts before disbelieving eye witnesses. Take a look at Angus Maddison’s studies of the growth of the world’s economies in the 20th century, for instance. China under a Western-style Republic stagnated and achieved nothing. China under Mao doubled its population and tripled its economy – something that Gifford does not allow for, crediting all of the gains to Deng.

   From the 1950s onwards has been consistently richer and safer than the Republic of India, which itself has been a considerable success story.

   Regarding the Nazi comparison, the existence of Dachau concentration camp was no secret. Nor were laws that deprived Jews of civil rights, equivalent to the former apartheid of South African and segregation of blacks in the US South up to the 1960s. Before 1939, there was very little happening in Nazi that wasn’t public knowledge. Before 1939, the Nazis had killed a few thousand people, mostly committed enemies and far less than Franco had killed in Spain. It is a sad truth that few people in Britain or US were put off by Nazi Germany as it was at the time. Quite a few were enthusiasts, until it became clear than Hitler was going to be a competitor for global power.
7. Wolfy says:

   December 2, 2007 at 11:44 am

   “it [Chinese govt.] can still engage in a murderous campaign to suppress a relatively harmless spiritual group such as the Falun Gong.”

   This made me laugh. Yes, the F, Ļ; Ģ have never harmed anyone except advocate that their members drink hydrogen perxoide to bleach-out their impurities. . .

   They also preach, among other unwholesome ideas, that mixed race marriages are inherently evil and that mixed race couples can never be together because heaven is split into black, white and yellow parts!

   I’ll bet people like Septic, who make comparisons between China and Nazi Germany from their isolated armchairs in America are probably great supporters of poor ‘murderously’ persecuted groups like the F, Ä»; Ä¢. Oh the irony….