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Freedom of the P

Is it really serious if the (Canadian) Government wants to change the rules on the Prime Minister's press appearances, and control who asks questions rather than having the press community do so itself. This is the nasty question brought to my mind by a perusal of this morning's news. Granted today is a budget speech day, so that the ability to question leaders is a more or less important subtext concern. But the implication from the media standpoint which presents us with this information is that the freedom of the press is somehow at stake. Is this serious.

My personal answer is - and I think many will agree with me - that it would be serious if the press were doing their job. One can have different views on that and the joke, from the point of view of the government, is precisely that: those jokers are wasting our time, we can do a better job and as elected representatives, nothing says our view of the matter is not the better one. Are we being robbed blind, kept in the dark, exploited and ignored, and left for dead by our government. Probably a lot of us are. This press corps isn't about to do much about it.

At least, we could press the government for answers, retorts the Press, if something really important cropped up, like the Prime Minister becoming improperly involved - this sort of thing happens in the U.S., you know - or if the Civil Service handed us a hot file.

Alright, I am cynical about the whole thing. In effect, freedom of the press is as much of a manipulated question for us as any other. There are rules and boundaries but no overt political prisoners or victims. It is also what makes events such as Tiananmen Square in China poignant. Violent confrontation is also about innocence (and sobriety).

The Chinese word Tian means god or deity (from Wikipedia). It is a terrible image. All sources agree that there is web censorship in Asia. I don't feel too bad about it; it probably means a lot of teen-age Chinese will not waste their time on glittery and repetitive nonsense (not to mention the SPAM, which we agree collectively to control). Then again it might not. There are more computers in China than in the U.S. but that represents only a small penetration rate. It probably means that there are fewer hits on decadent clothing sites. I am innocent; they are blocking pornography!!

So my advice to the Press Corps is accept the new digs but keep control of the event. We want to hear from you, as long as we know who you are. The real battle is on the Web and the issue is knowledge.

China Story

Thierry Wolton's journalistic book on China "Le Grand Bluff Chinois: comment Pékin nous vend sa révolution capitaliste; Robert Laffont, Paris 2007, 182pp" is built around a thesis. The West may believe that China is opening itself to capitalism and its practices but the country is actually more communist than ever. He then uses this idea to present various facets of recent western experience in "the kingdom of the Middle" as China has long dubbed itself. Such a perspective is helpful, he contends, because when all is said and done the numerous western players currently in China are not really making much money there, or finding the investments opportunities the large and growing population seems to promise. Everyone is trying to position themselves for a tomorrow that may never materialize.

China has more and better statistics on its economic performance than any other country on earth. As a communist country, there is rigorous reporting from educated bureaucrats. Such figures may not be accurate in the western sense of the word because there is a built-in advantage to producing reports that show growth. 7% annual growth may be the floor under which employment deteriorates - something like 3% growth in the U.S. - and because China is a third world country in absolute terms, the upcoming catch-up with the West is probably illusory.

Public property is inviolate, by the terms of the constitution. What privatisation is tolerated is on a 70-year lease model.

American pensions fund investors looking for opportunities were shown a panoply of outdated manufacturing facilities: this is a by-product of communist planning which, when the decision to invest is taken, pours a lot of money into a certain model of equipment which all falls apart at the same time.

There are huge inventory surpluses of shoddy goods.

China has been very cautious about allowing foreign banks into the country.
It has to, to satisfy world regulatory bodies but even so, an individual would need to deposit 120 000 dollars just to open an account in one. The default rate on lending is outrageously high.

...And so on, some of the documention on these assertions from anglophone sources. Putting it all together, as it were.

What struck me on reading this book is that the demography of China is still delivering massive increases in the population. Currently at 1.3 billion people. Immense cities everywhere. Mr Wolton seems shocked by the view China has of itself as the center of the world, by the idea within China that the country is hard at work to forge itself a position of world leadership.

I have a different view on this, and it also comes from France. I am an avid reader of a genre novel particular to Europe, the works of Paul-Louis Sulitzer. He writes popular books, each based of what is happening in various hot spots on the planet, meant to give Europeans - and in particular women - an idea of what is going on. A sort of catalogue of planetary angst. A current work on China "L'Empire du Dragon" shows that it is the urge to be creative, in fashion, in architecture, in cuisine that is forcing the society open. There is censorship on the Internet but it is all of a piece with drug lords, industrial espionage and profiteering bureaucrats and ultimately irrelevant. A lovely young woman commits suicide because her western husband is friends with another woman; and her family understands. China is ever itself.

Alien 1