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May 11th, 2007
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Peru: Border Issues with Chile, Reliving the War of the Pacific
Peru's fluctuating relationship with neighboring Chile is conflicted. One day, the Presidents of the two countries are shaking hands like great friends. Then, the following day, there's news about an incident on the border, or something that affects (as we see it) the peaceful coexistence between the two countries. We discussed this subject in an article (ES) in February, but it might be time to revisit the issue.
A little over a month ago there was some commotion related to a documentary titled Epopeya, about the war in 1879 between Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. Before it was shown on Chilean TV, it got pulled. Blog del Morsa, (ES) republishes an interview with a Peruvian sociologist in The Peru Chile conflict according to Sinesio López. Sinesio López, among other interesting things, says:
¿Tan frágiles son las relaciones entre Perú y Chile como para que nuestro embajador haya solicitado la suspensión de un documental sobre la Guerra del Pacífico?
Ahí hay que diferenciar algo. Lo que los peruanos tendríamos que reclamar es la devolución de todo lo saqueado por Chile durante la Guerra del Pacífico. Por ejemplo, el patrimonio bibliográfico documental que estaba en la Biblioteca Nacional, el cual constituye la memoria del Perú.
Eso deberíamos reclamar y no la suspensión de documentales.
Claro. Tengo la impresión de que lo que se quiere es defender a una élite incapaz y corrupta que no supo construir acá un estado-nación, que mantuvo al indio excluido y que no pudo, incluso, organizar una Fuerza Armada institucional para enfrentar una situación como la guerra de 1879.
Is the relationship between Peru and Chile so fragile our Ambassador requests the cancellation of the transmission of a documentary on the War of the Pacific?
Something needs to be pointed out. What we Peruvians need to demand is the return of everything looted by Chile during the War of the Pacific. For example, the documents and bibliographic cultural heritage, the memory of Peru, from the National Library .
That's what we should be demanding, not pulling a documentary off the air.
Of course. I get the sense what is being defended is a useless and corrupt elite who didn't know how to create a nation-state here, who excluded the Indian, and who couldn't even organize institutional Armed Forces to confront situations such as the war of 1879.
The post ends with a link to a video of the documentary, also seen here.
Bloguiarquía (ES) writes about the subject as well. In As a result of Epopeya and the Peru-Chile problem, he discusses comparison of this conflict with the one between France and Germany and their current good relations.
El objetivo de este post era señalar que una comparación entre ambos casos no era el más adecuado, ya que se ignora sus diferentes antecedentes, que conllevaron consigo distintos incentivos para cooperar. Deseo que los problemas con Chile se acaben, sea o no necesario llegar a los niveles de integración de la UE. Los incentivos a la integración en el caso europeo costó millones de vidas humanas.
The objective of this post is to point out that comparing both cases doesn't make sense, since it doesn't take into account the different origins [of the conflicts]. In turn, they had different incentives for cooperation. I want the problems with Chile to end, with or without reaching the degreee of integration as in the EU. The incentives for European integration cost millions of lives.
Another interesting post on the subject, not just regarding the documentary but how Peruvians view this war, is Peru, Chile, and the legacy of the War of the Pacific written by Martín Tanaka on his blog Virtù e Fortuna (ES). He analyzes what historians in both countries have to say on the matter, and discovers those versions aren't necessarily in keeping with the version of the war taught in schools.
Cada país cuenta la historia de la Guerra del Pacífico a su manera. Por ello, un buen punto de partida es leer qué dicen los historiadores latinoamericanistas más serios. … ¿Qué es lo que vamos a encontrar? Para mí, lo más importante es que la idea de que Chile, para la década de 1870, era un “Estado nación consolidado”, con instituciones fuertes, con una clase “dirigente, no sólo dominante”, un país integrado dentro de un gran proyecto nacional, sin conflictos internos mayores, es simplemente falsa. Diría que esa es la imagen que la historiografía nacionalista chilena ha construido como parte de su “versión oficial” (no es lo que dice la historiografía chilena más seria) y que absurdamente los peruanos repetimos, creo que por ignorancia y porque empata muy bien con nuestra “idea crítica nacional”, la del mendigo sentido en un banco de oro, sometido por poderosos intereses extranjeros y por unas élites indolentes, del que todos se aprovechan.
¿Por qué perdimos la guerra? Yo no creo que haya que rebuscar en explicaciones alambicadas y poco sustentadas sobre la constitución nacional de los países. Si bien soy sociólogo, creo que las explicaciones sociológicas deberían venir después de las militares, si y solo solo si es que resultan insuficientes. Creo que la explicación es simple: las fuerzas armadas chilenas eran más profesionales y estaban mejor equipadas, punto. Y esto era consecuencia de su mayor desarrollo relativo. No tiene nada de raro que el más fuerte venza en una guerra.
Creo que nuestra autoestima nacional quedó mellada porque, en vez de pensar que perdimos porque el otro ejército era superior, nos quedamos con la idea de que perdimos porque fracasamos como Estado nación, porque no estábamos integrados, todo por culpa de unas élites irresponsables, sin considerar que en Chile la situación no era tan distinta, en realidad. Lo que pasa es que este discurso servía bien como crítica a las élites oligárquicas tradicionales, es decir, era un argumento político. … Estas ideas me parecen importantes para no estar “acomplejados” frente a los chilenos. De hecho, a pesar de que nos ganaron la guerra, el Perú se recuperó rápidamente a inicios del siglo XX. Y si miramos varios indicadores de cómo estábamos a inicios de la década de los años setenta, estábamos a la par, un poco por debajo, pero no mucho.
Each country tells the history of the War of the Pacific their own way. Because of this, a good starting point is to read what the most serious Latin Americanist historians have to say [on the matter]. What will we find? Most importantly for me is the notion that, by the 1870s, Chile was a “consolidated nation-state” with strong institutions, a “leading, and not only dominating,” class, an integrated country with a great national vision, and without major internal conflicts, is false.
I would say this is the image painted by nationalist Chilean historians as part of the “official version” (it is not what the most serious Chilean historians have to say) and Peruvians absurdly repeat it, due to ignorance I think, and because it ties in very well with our [own] “national critical idea,” that of being the poor man seated on a bar of gold, dominated by powerful foreign interests and lazy elites, the one everyone takes advantage of.
Why did we lose the war? I don't think you have to seek flowery and poorly-based explanations regarding the national constitution of both countries. Although I'm a sociologist, I believe sociological explanations should come after military ones; if, and only if, those are not sufficient. I think the explanation is simple: the Chilean armed forces were more professional and better equipped, period. And, this was a result of Chile's relative greater development [at the time]. There is nothing odd when the stronger opponent wins the war.
I think our national self-esteem was wounded because, instead of realizing we lost because the other army was better, we got stuck thinking we lost because we were a failure as a nation-state, because we weren't integrated –all the fault of some irresponsible elites–without considering that in Chile the situation was not really so different.
This discourse served well as a criticism of the traditional oligarchical elites; that is, it was a political argument. …These ideas seem important so we don't have so many “complexes” with regards to Chile. In fact, despite their winning the war, Peru quickly recovered at the beginning of the 20th century. And, if we look at various indicators of how we were doing at the beginning of the 1970s, we were [almost] equal; a little below Chile, but not by much.
I quote extensively in this article because it summarizes many ideas that are the bases of how we perceive our neighbors to the south, and vice-versa. It is difficult to construct a relationship between both countries when the perception of “loser and winner” is floating around. It is also difficult when other interests are at play, as the blog marcayuq - crónicas desde un avispero (ES) mentions in Enough historical manipulation!!!!!.
¿Cuál es el interés en todo ello? Movilizar la atención de la ciudadanía, quienes hinchados de torpe nacionalismo se dejan llevar tal cual corderitos. Felizmente no son todos… Evidentemente, para nadie de la prensa se le escapa la idea de que hablar de la guerra del Pacífico siempre aumenta el rating. … Lo más interesante es darnos cuenta, quiénes están detrás de todo esto, como para que el tema estalle y cree de la nada una crisis política en ambos países. Lo que
sucede en el Perú es que el tema de la Guerra del Pacífico se ha convertido en un evento comercial y político, altamente beneficioso para quienes lo utilizan. … La guerra del Pacífico no fue más que una guerra de intereses económicos en pos del salitre peruano, boliviano e incluso, chileno. La post guerra con Chile, que parece nunca acabar, es también otra guerra de intereses económicos y políticos. No nos dejemos engañar.
What's the purpose of all of this? Grab the attention of the public who, tired of clumsy nationalism, allow themselves to be led like sheep. Fortunately, not everyone. …Clearly, no one in the media misses the point that talking about the War of the Pacific boosts ratings. …More interesting is finding out who was behind all this so it exploded, creating a political crisis in both countries out of nothing. In Peru, the War of the Pacific has become a complete commercial and political event, highly beneficial for those who employ it. …The War of the Pacific was nothing more than a war of economic interests for Peruvian, Bolivian, and even Chilean, nitrates. The seemingly never-ending post-war with Chile is another war of economic and political interests. Let's not allow ourselves to be fooled [otherwise].
All this psychosocial manipulation has to have some real basis, and sometimes the things our neighbors do are, to put it mildly, very curious. Those who are distrustful have taken to wonder what lies behind all these small acts and attitudes. In his post Chile back on attack in Actualidad Económica del Perú (ES), Alan Fairlie Reinoso tells us:
El Canciller chileno Foxley vuelve a la carga, amenazando y señalando de manera impertinente que si el gobierno peruano nocumple con su compromiso de congelar el tema de límites marítimos, no habrá un avance en los vínculos económicos y de migraciones.
La actitud no sólo refleja soberbia, sino un reclamo explícito a un compromiso que habría adquirido el gobierno peruano y esta incumpliendo. Demuestra que la creación de la Región Arica – Parinacota desconociendo no sólo el problema de límites marítimos, sino de los límites terrestres definidos en el Tratado del 29, no era un hecho aislado. A la actitud cordial y concesiva del Perú, se ha respondido con desplantes, y con una actitud agresiva del que habiendo recibido todo lo exigido, quiere
más.La reacción del Canciller peruano es correcta, pero insuficiente. Esta muy bien que se recuerde que no habrá futuro armonioso en el siglo XXI sin la solución de los límites marítimos. Pero, se debe dar una respuesta digna que acompañe esa declaración, y no poner de nuevo la otra mejilla.
Chilean [Minister of Foreign Relations] Foxley is back on attack, with impertinent signals and threats to the Peruvian government that if Peru doesn't follow through on its committment to freeze the maritime boundary issue, there will be no advances in economic and immigration matters.
This attitude is not only haughty, but there's an explicit demand the Peruvian government comply with a commitment it supposedly made and is not carrying out. It demonstrates the creation of the Arica-Parinacota Region [in Chile], which ignored not only the issues with the maritime boundaries but also those with the land boundaries as defined in the Treaty of 1929, was not an isolated incident. Peru's cordial and conciliatory attitude has been met with rudeness and an agressive attitude by one who, having received everything demanded, wants more.
The reaction of the Peruvian Minister is correct but insufficient. It's good to remember that, without solving the maritime boundary [dispute], there will be no harmonious future in the 21st century. A fitting response accompanying that declaration should be given, instead of once again turning the other cheek.
In the posts, Peru-Chile: Dangerous back and forth and Our assymetries with Chile: What are we gaining Mr. Minister? (ES) the same author delves more deeply into the subject from the economic and commercial exchange perspective, without setting aside the political backdrop.
Joan Tincopa of the blog Población, Desarrollo y Ordenamiento Territorial (ES) republishes an editorial which appeared in the Lima daily El Comercio and in her post dated April 22, gives us the historical counterpoint of the situation:
Ha sido muy oportuna la acción de la cancillería peruana de enviar a la ONU la Ley de Líneas de Bases de Dominio Marítimo, saliéndole así al frente a las pretensiones chilenas de apropiarse indebidamente de territorio que, sin lugar a dudas, le pertenece al Perú.
No solo intenta apropiarse de un área de terreno equivalente a cuatro manzanas a orillas del mar, sino también, siguiendo la línea del paralelo, proyectarla 200 millas mar adentro, con lo cual el área se incrementa exponencialmente. En el documento presentado a la ONU se precisa que la frontera con Chile es el Punto de la Concordia y no el Hito 1 como pretende nuestro vecino del sur. Para ello han venido creando confusión al mezclar dos asuntos que corren por vertientes
separadas: la frontera terrestre y la marítima.El límite terrestre está perfectamente delimitado por el Tratado de Lima de 1929, el Protocolo Complementario y las actas de la respectiva comisión bilateral demarcatoria de 1930. Hay incluso croquis y mapas firmados por el jefe de la delegación chilena, Enrique Brieba, que no admiten cuestionamiento ni discusión (ver mapa 1).
Sin embargo, Chile pretende establecer que el límite no empieza en la orilla del mar y desconocer lo que firmó en las actas de la comisión demarcatoria con referencia al Punto de la Concordia: “Este punto de intersección del arco trazado con la orilla del mar será el inicial de la línea divisoria entre Perú y Chile” (El [enfasís] es nuestro). Y claro, si ambos países llegan al mar, el límite tiene que empezar en su orilla. Pretender soslayarlo es contrario a toda lógica y no podría tener otro sentido que el de aprovecharse de la situación.
The sending to the UN [of the issue regarding] the Maritime Domain Base Lines Law by the Peruvian [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] was a timely action. This way, Peru meets head-on Chilean pretensions of improperly trying to appropriate territory that, without a doubt, belongs to Peru.
Not only does [Chile] attempt to appropriate territory on the coast equivalent to four [square] blocks, but also, to project itself 200 miles into the ocean by following the line of latitude, thereby increasing the area exponentially. In the UN document, the border with Chile is fixed at the [marker known as] the Point of the Concord and not at Marker One, as our southern neighbor contends. As a result, they've been creating confusion by mixing two issues that flow along separate courses: the land border and the maritime one.
The land boundary is perfectly fixed by the 1929 Treaty of Lima, the Complementary Protocol, and the acts of the 1930 Bilateral Commission on Demarcation. There are even sketches and maps signed by the head of the Chilean delegation, Enrique Brieba, that prevent questions or arguments (see map).
Nonetheless, Chile contends the boundary doesn't begin on the coast, and ignores what it signed to on the Commission on Demarcation documents with regards to the Point of the Concord: “The point where this sketched arc intersects with the coast will be the beginning of the dividing line between Peru and Chile” (The [emphasis] is ours.) And of course, if both countries meet on the coast, the boundary has to begin there. To pretend otherwise goes against all logic and couldn't have any purpose other than of taking advantage of the situation.
Those who desire can read more articles about the border problem by different Peruvian columnists in the abovementioned blog.
When former [Peruvian] presidential candidate Ollanta Humala supported a protest march to the border with Chile, it created even more controversy about these issues. Fernando Obregón writing in Pospost (ES) did not view this turn of events with a positive eye. In Ollanta Humala seeks a psychosocial war with Chile (ES), he doesn't mince words:
Cual integrante de una barra brava, piensa ir con la casaquilla nacional y buscar camorra en el hito que divide el Perú con Chile, justo en visperas de que se cumpla un aniversario más de la
guerra que ambos países sostuvieron hace casi 128 años. El acto, es un sicosocial que busca echar sombras contra el próximo encuentro que sostendrán el presidente de Perú, Alan García y la presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet y ya es motivo de preocupación por los medios de ambos países.
Like a member of a gang of hooligans, he plans on going [wearing] the national jersey to look for trouble at the marker that divides Peru from Chile, precisely on the eve of the anniversary of the war both countries fought 128 years ago. This psychosocial act seeks to cast shadows on the upcoming meeting between Peruvian president Alan Garcia and the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and is already a cause for concern in both countries' media.
This position created a debate with Carlos Quiróz in the comments section of his blog, Peruanista (ES/EN), who in Why I support the March to Tacna expressed his support for Humala's attitude and towards the march as an act of civic protest:
Un partido político de oposición ha organizado y apoyado este evento cívico (el Partido Nacionalista y su líder Ollanta Humala), y es por eso que el gobierno peruano les ha dado la espalda. Una jueza peruana ha prohibido a Humala a que se una a la marcha y varios miembros del gobierno de Lima, -incluyendo el mismo canciller- han criticado esta acción, por el hecho de ser organizado por un partido de oposición. No solo se oponen a la marcha, si no que acusan a los activistas de irresponsables, permitiendo que el gobierno de Chile se dé el lujo de advertir a los peruanos que no marchen hacia la frontera.
No por atacar la posición política de Humala y los nacionalistas, se debe ignorar que esta marcha es un acto positivo de acción cívica, y por ello merece el respaldo de todos los peruanos quienes deberían unirse en bien de protejer sus intereses, en vez de continuar atacándose unos a otros. El reclamo por un poco de mar no es simplemente una acción revanchista, sino una acción honorable que hace justicia a tantos que murieron defendiendo la integridad del territorio peruano, el cual es una de las bases de la institucionalidad de Perú como país.
An opposition party (the Nationalist Party and its leader Ollanta Humala) organized and supported this civic event which is why the Peruvian government has turned its back on it. A Peruvian judge has prohibited Humala from joining the march and various members of the government in Lima –including the [Minister of Foreign Affairs]– have criticized it, [solely] because it is organized by an opposition party. Not only are they against the march, but they also accuse the activists of being irresponsible, allowing the Chilean government to give itself the luxury of warning Peruvians from not marching to the border.
While attacking Humala and the Nationalists' political positions, one shouldn't ignore the fact this march is a positive civil action, and as such deserves the support of all Peruvians who should unite to protect their interests, instead of continually attacking each other. The demand for a bit of ocean is not merely a vengeful action, but an honorable action that brings justice to so many who died defending the integrity of Peruvian territory, which is one of the bases of the institutionality of Peru as a nation.
In another post titled, One Piece of News, Two Versions (Regarding the March to Tacna), Carlos includes two videos of the march in question, one from Peruvian, the other from Chilean, television. For his part, Javier added some of his photos related to the march in Tacna at Flickr.
Finally, Amanda Ortíz (ES) writing in Tacna. A March for Peruvianism, provides a chronology of the events that took place during the march. And while this subject won't end here, this post will. Until next time.
The image illustrating this post is from Javier.
Article translated by Alejandro García.
Chilean Ethnic Groups: Development Against Native Rights?
Chile's native ethnic groups have been here long before the Spanish occupation, and since then, they have been defending their rights in different areas. Today they defend the lands that they have occupied for centuries from the country's development that may threaten their way of life.
Víctor Toledo (ES), from the Centre of Public Policies and Native Rights posts an entire case of this situation. Lleu-Lleu is a location, where 17 Mapuche families will be affected if the government decides to activate a mine, which is still a project under economic evaluation. He argues that the government doesn’t respect indigenous rights, who are not even safe on their own land, which by doing so, is one way to maintain the native peoples' integrity. Also he remembers that indigenous communities are protected by law, but goes looks at the deeper issue: the role of the government.
“Las comunidades mapuches del Lago Lleu Lleu, sur de Chile, con la denuncia de un proyecto minero, han puesto en la agenda pública, y a su modo, un asunto de fondo: la contradicción entre la obligación estatal de protección de las tierras indígenas, y la inadecuación de la institucionalidad y legislación sectorial minera ante esa obligación. Más allá de sus detalles, el caso de Rucañanco- Lleu Lleu es un conflicto que encuentra sus causas y responsabilidades en las antinomias e incumplimiento de obligaciones del propio estado chileno.”
The Mapuche communities from the Lleu-Lleu Lake in southern Chile, with their complaints about the mining project, have placed the underlying issue on the public agenda: the contradiction between the state's obligation to protect the indigeous' lands and the inadequacy of the institutional and legislative mining sector of completing this obligation. In addition to the details, the Rucañanco- Lleu-Lleu conflict's causes and responsibilities can be explained by the non-fulfillment of the Chilean state's obligations.
Another case is the construction of the Ralco dam by the Spanish company Endesa, where 381 indigenous families were relocated from an area that is now flooded. All of the cemeteries and ancestral ceremonial sites were lost. A Spanish producer made a documentary about these events that explains step by step how the government and the company acted in order to make the project a reality. Under the title “ A documentary that shows the genocide of the Mapuche people by Endesa” the Spanish blog Teruel (ES) recounts the situation in the area.
A national network called” Action Network for Environmental and Social Justice” (ES) works to educate and inform about environmental rights and indigenous rights. The majority of the national organizations are registered there, and most do not have websites or blogs and many do not appear in the local newspapers.
Mapuexpress (ES) is a page where you can find all the news and about the concerns of Chilean indigenous communities, especially the Mapuche.
China: Time for a net video tv channel?
There was a proposal put forth recently at one collective of Chinese to English translation bloggers for people to consider making use of Dotsub.com to subtitle cell phone and digital camera-shot video posted online. What would people outside China be interested in seeing? Something with action? How about protest? Is there enough self-shot footage online at this point to support a Chinese protest net channel? A spur-of-the-moment search for the word ‘protest' (kang yi/抗议) on Youtube and one of its Chinese counterparts, Tudou, quickly brought up the following results, among many others:
Uploaded on May 7 by an anonymous user and dated April 5 is video of the ruckus ensuing after someone has been apprehended at a department store in an unspecified city, and security guards of various sorts have been called in. The majority of the dialogue is in the local dialect, but standard Mandarin is spoken in several parts. At 2:50 one sees what this Tudou user has labelled a thief splayed out on a sofa and not moving, and someone says ‘let's take him to the hospital to get checked out.' At 4:00 someone suggests the police be called in to control the situation. At around 5:00 the woman sitting on the floor can be heard yelling quite angrily. When one security guard can be seen giggling a few seconds later, she yells “what are you laughing at?” By 6:00 what appear to be police—one filming the scene with a camcorder—and a doctor have appeared on the scene and at 6:57 the immobile thief is carried away on a stretcher. The clip ends with the person filming the event's recording device having been turned upside-down.
Do you recognize the dialect? The only other indication as to the location is a news report from a television station in Xiamen, Fujian province, uploaded by the same anonymous user.
A user with a keen interest in coastal Chinese shopping malls, it seems. An 8.5 minute-long clip was uploaded the same day and labelled the evening of April 23, shot from within a near-empty department store. One's left wondering why no comments have been left explaining the situation. A large group of security personnel are standing around. Just after 4:00, someone says, “let's go, let's go,” followed shortly after by a “be careful.” The short appears to have been filmed surreptitiously, perhaps by one employee at the department store. At 6:35, one security guard looks to be staring straight at the camera and takes a step closer, but then turns away. A pan shot at 8:00 shows one woman standing in a dark corner touching her face. Applying make-up? Crying? The same Tudou user has uploaded a news report on the story from a television station in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province which features interviews from shop owners at the shopping center who say they came one day to find the building locked tight and all their merchandise in with it.
Two more clips also uploaded May 7, from April 24, one showing the post-demolition interior of the shopping mall and another purportedly from that evening which shows a wreckage crew of migrant laborers being escorted out of a rubble-filled department store by baton-wielding police. Again, no explanation provided.
Also from the same anonymous Tudou user is a video uploaded May 4 which seems to be of the May 1 Labor Day opening at the newly-renovated Dongbai department store in Fuzhou, Fujian province. Again, no additional information is provided. Lots of police and various types of security guards can be seen. A smashed glass display case. At 3:30 one sees a middle-aged woman lying unconscious on the floor with four other visibly-upset women. The next scene shows a group of women—shoppers?—arguing heatedly with what could be department store management and many shoppers, security guards and police standing around watching, with at least one filming the proceedings. At 4:30 a woman's voice can be heard saying someone had no reason to have hit her—the woman knocked out cold on the floor?—and towards the end the crowd's anger turns to one of the members of a group of young men in white shirts coming down a flight of stairs.
Prior to all those, though, and carrying on with the shopping mall theme are three shorts from Tudou user ‘I'm a shopowner' simply labelled ‘April 13 Conflict,' uploaded April 17, parts 1-3. Which department store these concern is not made readily clear. The first short shows a large crowd trying to force its way into a shopping mall. In the second a white banner of some sort is tied to the door, and police can be seen standing inside. In the third, one's left waiting for the conflict suggested in the title to appear; police can be seen leaving and the crowd seems light-hearted enough, joking in the local dialect that the security guards remaining inside can't understand what people are saying to them. The only clue to the location, aside from the April 17 upload date, comes near the end with the words ‘Jin Ying' seen on a ripped poster.
Which ties in to the last two clips, dated April 17, uploaded by ‘I'm a shopowner', of a protest by business owners at the Three Gorges shopping plaza in central China's Chongqing Municipality.
The first clip shows 36 people carrying a long banner and others handing out printed information, yet others leading the procession in protest chants. The banner reads:
金鹰女人街，我们要吃饭，我们要生存，依法维护我们的共同权益，坚决不拆场，强烈抗议中飞公司为私利单方终止合同，破坏稳定和构筑和谐社会的恶劣行为。
There's at least one blogger who was inspired to write about it, Sina blogger 99YangYang who on April 8 wrote that the shopowners claim their rental agreement has been altered prior to its January 30, 2008 expiry date, and that word on the Jinying Women's Street is that they're all soon to be evicted to make way for a Metersbonwe outlet.
99YangYang's photo from the steps of the Jinying Women's Street
The other clip from the Women's Street, whose title suggests the shopowners are being paid no attention, shows the banner now having been stretched out front of the city government building and a second banner, which reads:
严惩黑势力打人凶手，维护社会公平正义
Murder, even. But how to verify?
Did Zola, China's first citizen blogger, since turned full-time investigative independent blog-reporter [zh], piggy-backing off the intense nation-wide attention being paid to The Nailhouse bring independent media consciousness into the second-tier Chinese city? It used to be that video of this sort could only found having been shot along the coast in places like Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.
Now the most effortless of searches on Youtube brings up a short snippet from a protest by 500 coal mine workers having taken to the street, banner and all, in Nanchang, capital of the economically-weak Jiangxi province, dated May 9. No further information provided, however.
Same with the video shot of residents of the Wuhanhua building in central-southern China's Changsha, capital of Hunan province, fending off the guards sent to forcefully evict them, uploaded April 16.
Or the stirring music video with the Soviet feel of Chongqing cotton mill workers having come out en masse to protest the government's arrest of those bargaining on their behalf, sure to gain at least a few viewers in the West if it just had English subtitles written onto it:
Bahrain: The Never-Do-It-Yourself Culture
We start this week with politics, an ever popular topic in Bahrain. Babbling Bahrania takes issue with what she feels is the woeful state of Bahraini politics:
As usual, we quabble over peanuts whilst the powers that be enjoy the meat and potatoes. Those who chose to participate in the government-scripted political production, demonstrate naivety at best, stupidity at worst, claiming at the outset that it is better to have peanuts than nothing at all. Must we always go through this arduous political ding-dong? We just keep waiting for the next blunder, make a little hoo-ha, pundits spew the same articles, and the people continue to live in stagnation.
Manaf Almuhandis is concerned with possible corruption in the government's Traffic Directorate. He describes an incident after a short drive to his local gym:
When I pulled over at the gym's car park, another car, which was following me pulled next to me. The driver got out and walked towards me. He said hello, I greeted back. Then he said that a pebble flew from my rear tire and hit his windshield, cracking it. And now he wants me to pay for it!
To be frank, I don't know if he was telling the truth or lying. I heard many tales of guys with cracked windshields doing this to strangers trying to guilt them into paying for the repairs. Even if this did happen, it's not really my fault, I cannot control pebbles in the road nor do I know of anyone that can. I abided by the traffic laws in my 3 minute drive and that's it.
I told him I can't help him and he said he'd complain to the traffic police. “Suit your self,” I said. I didn't think the police would be interested in such a trivial complaint. Boy was I wrong!
Following a series of phone calls from various people at the traffic department, trying to push him to pay a fine rather than go to court, Manaf wonders if there's something behind all this:
I started to think that this might actually be a scam. Someone with friends in the traffic department are scaring people for BD10 ($26) a pop. Good income. No paper work. Who'd know?
I am not saying that this is the case, but it makes you suspicious doesn't it?
Mahmood is also disturbed – and amused – at some official behaviour, after seeing a report in a local paper:
…a girl who attempted suicide has had her stomach pumped and rather than try to understand the problem so they can resolve it, their idea of a solution is to take her to a police station to sign a pledge to not attempt suicide again!
Yes, folks, that’s the deterrent which a girl intent on ending her life is going to pay heed to, a pledge not to do it again.
H. at The Straight Forward Times looks at Bahrainis' preference for paying other people to do small tasks for them:
No, we can't possibly be arsed to get off the excessively cushioned sofa to get ourselves a glass of water. Apparently, we cannot afford the blood circulation that comes with it.
Hiring maids is like plastic surgery. If it is for necessity, it is justifiable. If it is for vanity, it is totally uncalled for. But, it is really almost never of the former. We don't hire a “helping” hand, because that would imply us being involved in whatever that needs be done. We never, really, hire experts as advisers and novices as assistants. We hire them to fill in for our function and presumed purpose.
I am sure you all know what I mean. This, Never-Do-It-Yourself (NDIY) culture.
The Girl With No Face goes even further; she thinks Bahraini men are lazy and inconsiderate when it comes to their behaviour and physical appearance and yet have very high expectations of women:
me: “but guys go around proudly scratching their balls while farting!! with hairy, sweaty armpits, furry backs, hairy arms and legs and they don’t even bother to shave every other day all the while thinking they’re gods gift to women.. AAAAND they give us shit when we have one little hair out of place on our eye brows!!! and we are supposed to pretend that we don’t eat!! we never burp!! have naturally perfect eye brows, perfect skin, we never fart, we piss perfume and we don’t even have a friggin’ poop chute!!!!”
More from Bahrain in a week!
Hong Kong: Guilty for Hyperlink and for Sex Talk
The Hong Kong government is encouraging family to have three babies, at the same time, it is so keen on censoring away information concerning sex. Of course sex is not all about giving birth, but how can we have babies without sex? Guess the government will advocate test tube babies pretty soon.
The latest sex censorship is a case against posting a hyperlink to pronographical photos in the adult section of a BBS forum. The court found the defendant guilty under COIAO (Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance) and sentenced to $5000 fine.
Charles Mok is very worried about the the case:
I think it is uncalled for for law enforecement to bring the case to court. Apparently someone made a complaint to TELA. But they are probably definitely many more serious (worse) pictures being posted on forums, and why did the Police only prosecute this case? The fact that the law enforcement in Hong Kong seldom likes to use education first, but always want to test the limit of the court by bringing nitty gritty cases to test, this practice worries me a lot and I think it is unfair to the users because they are not warned ahead of the dangers (you can't just say, “you are posting dirty pictures so you deserve it”), and to the providers it is troublesome too. I clearly remember years ago as the Chairman of the ISP Association, TELA told me that they can't do anything about those hyperlinks even if the content behind them are child porn. When did that change!?
If hyperlinks are articles that can constitute as “articles” in COIAO, will it be a precedent case that others can prosecute people posting hyperlink for many other “crimes” in civil or criminal courts for all kinds of things, even subversion or libel? It is not right I think to judge hyperlink this way, because the link points to some place not controlled by this user making use of the hyperlink, and the content behind the hyperlink can change.
This will also have dire implications to search engines or even other web hosting companies or ISPs. Does the Hong Kong government want them to carry out self-censorship from now on, on even hyperlinks? Search engine companies may be the first to get into troubles. This has serious negative consequences for Hong Kong's IT infrastructure (which includes our legal infrastructure) and the reputation of having freedom of information. Should Google and Yahoo! get out of Hong Kong?
wanszezit is very angry and says he must have broken the law as well:
見此報道，第一個反應係「有冇搞錯」，香港幾時變了大陸？同埋，其實我係咪都已經犯左法？我好似曾幾何時，貼過比色情照片淫亂千百倍的色情YouTube條link喎？！
Plastichk finds the situation so ridiculous:
在「成人貼圖區」發佈成人照片，由發佈到觀看的，雙方都是成年人，…為何同一張相片，貼在美國的討論區則合法，放 server 在香港則否？但同樣觀看的人身卻在香港），對香港警方來說，這樣的行為又如何影響香港治安了？警力過盛嗎？…
In order to protest against this ridiculous and highly political case, I have put a nude photo (link from flickr) and a hyperlink to a sex blog at inmediahk.net to invite criminal charge from Hong Kong government. I have also invited other netizens to make it a collective legal action.
Fred Lam has echoed my call and posted all the links that he search from google under “sexy hot chick”.
如果貼超連結都有罪的話，請問為甚麼政府不起訴 Google，而起訴一個在成人貼圖區貼三級相片超連結的小網民？
This is not a single case, because a few days ago, the Chinese University Student Press is also under attack by the mainstream media because they have opened some sex columns at the student magazine.
According to an insider story (via inmediahk.net [zh]) from the Student Press, the mainstream media got some complaint letters from conservative religious groups, and within 12 hours, the story hit the headline of major mainstream Chinese newspapers. And the university administration made a statement that they would investigate the issue and consider to punish the students who are in charge of the magazine.
The obscene article is a questionaire about sex, including sex fantasy. Among the 14 sets of questions, two are about fantasy and attitude towards incest and bestiality.
The case has raised concern from local homosexual and sex rights groups. As it is not the first time conservative religion groups make use of the censorship tool to silent sex talk.
As the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority will investigate the case and decide whether the student magazine has also violated the COIAO, a signature campaign has been launched at inmediahk.net to plead for not guilty.
Meanwhile, the university disciplinary committee has issued a statement saying that the student press “has passed the acceptable moral line” and will ban the publication of the sex pages and consider punishing the editor in charge as the publication has “affected the image of the university”. Plato questions whether the school administration body has the power to intervene into the student press' editorial policy:
請中大校長、中大校務會學生紀律委員會不要受傳媒一面倒的批評所影響，請你們自行閱讀問卷的問題和內容，倘若問卷的問題及答案有直接宣揚某類性行為，請清楚指出，我相信編輯同學欠中大學生一個解釋，但倘若沒有，請中大校務會學生紀律委員會發表聲明向中大學生報編輯道歉，而本人閱讀問卷的問題和答案後，並不覺得它有宣揚某類性行為的跡象，相反它只交待不同人對某些我們在日常社交中不敢宣諸於口的性幻想、性行為和性經驗。
我不知道中大校務會學生紀律委員會是一個什麼單位，它是否有權要求中大學生報的編輯停止刊登情色版的內容呢？
Amnesty International (Hong Kong) has also issued a statement to the University Administration. The organization expressed concern that the judgement of the discipinary committee will affect the freedom of speech and press in Hong Kong.
However, diumanpark criticises that the editors are not critical but follow the market logic.
但係今日做學生就已經冇晒火，識睇住個市場，或者製造市場，先至係叻仔。我哋以前做學 生，尚有幾分熱血，對於坊間以新聞包裝嘅色情，會抗拒和批評，今日世界唔同，一份學生搞嘅風月版，不單贏盡報紙做嘅，就連色情雜誌都輸埋。
Jim feels that the university students are just reflection of the society,
眾所周知，香港教育制度落後，性教育不足，雖說是大學生，性知識仍相當貧乏，滿腦子只裝滿了由互聯網和風月刊物所提供的毒素。因此，到有機會自己辦報時，欲以學術方式談性，到頭來又不是亂倫、人獸交等話題？這究竟是大學生的錯，還是社會的錯？
I have also signed the statement against the charge of COIAO, not that I enjoy reading the sex column in student magazine, but against the unreasonable censorship practice in Hong Kong that would eventually ruin the society.
Korea: Living as descendants of Japanese collaborators in Korea
On the second of this month, the Korean government decided to take over land belonging to the families of nine Korean collaborators of the Japanese during the Japanese colonization period (1910-1945). Their land, 255,000 sq.m, which is estimated at 3.6 billion won (4 million US dollars), will be taken from their descendants. The land that they obtained from 1904 (Russo-Japanese War) to 1945 (Independence Day of Korea) was investigated this time. The property will be used for financial support for independent activists’ descendants and events related to them. It is just 0.64 percent of the whole land that these nine collaborators owned at that time. In addition, other kinds of properties they obtained, such as cash and gold, were not included. This issue has been around for several decades but this was the first time that the court did not acknowledge the appeal of the Japanese collaborators’ descendants. The special inspection committee for this case plans to investigate more people who are on a name list.
A netizen, Cotone commented on this decision,
고작 36억!? 이건 도대체…-_-;;
Cheo0ho had a different view,
참 어려운 문제다.
이렇게 해서 민족의 정기가 바로잡히고 3.1운동의 헌법정신이 구현될 수 있을까?
그동안 그래 해방된지 60년 동안 이렇게 하지 않아서
민족의 정기가 바로 잡히지 않고 헌법정신이 엉망이 되었다는 말인가?
그렇다면 6.25전쟁을 일으키고 동족을 말살하려한 사람들,
이에 부역하고 동조한 사람들에 대하여도 이런 법률이 만들어져야 하는 거 아닌가?
임진왜란때 일본사람에게 부역한 사람은?
당나라와 원나라의 침공시 이에 부역한 사람은?
정말 어디까지 과거를 뒤집고 어디까지 밝혀야 된다는 것인가?
절대로 그들의 행위를 잊어서는 안되겠지만
이제 그만 용서해줄 때도 되지 않았나?
아니 아직 용서해주면 안 될지도 모르겠다.
그렇다고 하더라도 아니 그들의 자손들은 무슨 죄가 있다는 것인가?
Does this process really help to straighten our spirit and embody our constitutional principles of the March First Independence Movement?
We have not done this for 60 years since liberation. Has it really blocked our spirit and screwed up the constitutional principles?
Then, how about Koreans who massacred their brothers and sisters in the Korean War? Don’t we have to make the similar law for these people?
How about Koreans who worked as laborers for the Japanese during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592?
How about Koreans who served the Tang and Yuan Kingdoms of China when they attacked us?
How far do we have to look at the past and how much do we have to clarify?
We should not forget what they did, but isn’t it enough to forgive them? Or maybe we should not forgive them yet. Regardless of it, their descendants have not done anything wrong.
Some bloggers analyzed how major newspapers which have been regarded as having collaborated with the Japanese at that time deal with this issue from the 2nd, compared to other newspapers.
Blogger, Ganeun I:
신문들은 3일과 4일자에 걸쳐 이를 빠짐없이 보도했다. 3일자 경향 국민 한겨레 한국은 1면 머리기사 혹은 상단 기사로 편집하고 관련내용을 한 면 전체를 털어 보도했다. 서울과 세계도 1면 머리기사로 배치한 뒤 사설이나 칼럼으로 의미를 평가했다.
반면 동아와 중앙은 1면 하단에 작게 보도하고 관련기사를 한 꼭지만 실었다. 중앙은 하루 뒤인 4일 뒤늦게 사설을 썼다.
조선은 1면 머리기사 옆에 1단짜리 박스로 실은 뒤 관련기사는 싣지 않았다.
However, DongA and JoongAng gave a small space for this news on the bottom part of the first page and JoongAng put an editorial on the fourth. Chosun used a small box next to the scoop on the first page and didn’t put any other articles.
Some bloggers put the politicians’ names which objected to this decision and especially marked the bold line of Park Geun-hye who is a previous representative from the Grand National Party and daughter of the dictator, Park Chung-hee.
A blogger, “Lady with two daughters,” elaborated on why this action is necessary.
이 글을 쓰면서 굉장히 흥분되고 화가 나니 글이 잘 전개가 안되네요…^^::
여러분들은 과연 어떤가요??
친일파들의 후손이라는것도 창피하고 국민과 나라에 반성하며 그때 받은
자기들의 조상들이 받은 재산을 자진으로 헌납해도 용서를 해줄까 말까하는
형편인데 오히려 법에 호소하며 그런 재산을 지키려는 후손들..
What do you think??
It is a shame to be descendants of Japanese collaborators. They could be considered forgiven if they had an attitude of feeling ashamed to be descendants of Japanese collaborators, reflecting on the country and the people, volunteering to donate the properties, and asking forgiveness. On the contrary, they appealed in court in order to try to keep their properties.
물론 그럴수도 있습니다. 후손들의 의지와는 상관없이 조상들이
잘못 판단해서 친일 행적을 했다고 말 입니다.
그렇다고 그 후손들에게 죄를 물을수는 없습니다.
그러면 사람이고 대한민국의 국민이면 그때 받은 재산은 사회에 환원하고
반성의 생을 사는게 올바른 길이라 생각 합니다.
국가는 그들에게 역사의 심판을 묻지않고 똑같은 대한민국 국민으로
대우하고 있습니다.
나라 팔아먹은 댓가로 받은 재산을 국가가 환수하는 것은 당연하다고 생각합니다
아니 지금도 시기상으로 늦은감이 있다고 생각합니다.
진작에 이런 조치가 취해져야 했습니다.
여기서 우려 할점은 무엇이냐면 법원 판결에 국가의 손을 들어준 경우도 있지만
반대로 친일파 후손들의 손을 들어준 경우도 있다는 것입니다.
글쎄요 과연 국가를 팔아먹은 사람들,그 당사자는 아니러다도 책임이
자유로울수 없는사람들에게 정상 적인 법 기준을 적용하는 것이 과연 옳을까요???
이런 사람들에겐 칭일파 특별법을 제정해서 그때 받은 재산을 모두 환수해야 합니다.
그런데 자기 이익을 위해 국가를 팔아먹은 사람들의 후손이
나라 판 돈으로 모은 재산을 지키겠다고 법에 호소를 한다???
아마 이런 사람들이 자유롭게 생활하고 자기 목소리 내는 나라는 전세계에서
대한 민국 뿐이 없을 것이라는 생각이 듭니다.
친일파 후손 여러분들….여러분들에게 죄를 묻지는 않겠습니다.
다만 조상들이 지은죄를 대신 반성하는 의미에서 조상이 나라 팔아먹고 받은 재산
국가에 헌납하시고 조용한 생활하시면 우리 국민들은 여러분들에게 손가락질
하지 않겠습니다.
The descendants of the Japanese collaborators! I won’t ask what crimes your ancestors committed. But on the respects of reconsidering what your ancestors have done, you should donate the properties that your ancestors earned through selling our country and we people will not point the finger of blame.
Links for Fri, 2007-05
Atanu Dey explains why liberalizing the education sector comes with many benefits. “The supply of educational services will increase, the quality will improve, and prices will come down. These are all everyday first-order efficiency effects of letting markets work. The second-order effects will be increased productivity, increased production, and better allocative efficiency within the sector. The third-order effects will arise from the increasing returns to scale associated with the production of education.”
Kafila points to the suffixes used with the word encounter in India. “So my plea is that we stop using the phrase ‘fake encounter’ because encounter will suffice. Fake encounters somehow seems to posit a difference between a real encounter (that’s the one in which the police go on an investigation and the assailants open fire and the police gun them down in self defense) and a fake one (that’s the one in which the police go on an investigation and the assailants open fire and the police gun them down in self defense).”
The Pakistani Spectator on why democracy is part of Islamic commitment. “Islam being the only religion teaches us about the rule of law & justice. People have the right to ask even the ruler (president or prime minister) about any issues related to the country, masses or the individuals. In teachings of Islam a leader should lead in Friday congregation so that he should mingle with the general public to hear their problems, views and take instant decisions for the betterment of the mankind around him.”
Metroblogging Islamabad on the transport crisis for commuters. “Commuters faced problems as traffic police in collaboration with the Regional Transport Authority started impounding vehicles across Punjab to meet the ruling party plan of taking some 500,000 people to Islamabad for the May 12 rally. According to Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, 60,000 buses, wagons and cars will head from Islamabad from 35 districts of the province.”
words of wisdom goes through photographs of Sri Lanka in flickr and is particularly struck by the work of one person. “When I looked at just one of his pictures it inspired me right away. Without doubt I think he has done of the best works in Sri Lankan photography. There are many people who have taken pictures of Sri Lanka but for some reason the way this special person took pictures and the way he looked at certain things in the country I still call home inspired me to a great extent.”
Great pictures and comment on May 9 in Moscow - at Darkness at Noon.
Belatedly, a link to the last week's Belarusian blogs roundup - at TOL's Belarus.
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