China and the West - a note on the importance of dates in comparative history

There is a common view in China and the West that Chinese history is ancient compared to that of Europe. This is both true and false.

If we compare the broad sweep of Chinese history with that of Western Europe following the fall of Rome, then its true. However, if we compare China with the broad sweep of western history including the ancient world, then it is not.

I make this point because I was surprised at just how recent much Chinese history is. Recent is, of course, a relative term in itself. However, I thought it might be interesting and helpful in any posts on Chinese history to provide comparative material on the position in Europe at the time.

Visiting China 2 - musings on social and economic change in modern China

Continuing my China trip, this post focuses on social, economic and cultural perspectives.

Just to set the scene, China like Australia faces a problem in getting professionals to go to the country. Kids come to the big metro centres for their education, then stay. To help overcome this, the Henan Agricultural University announced a degree (China Daily quoting the People's Daily) in rural development and management during our visit.

All this was very familiar, although I was surprised that the Henan degree was reported to be the first in China. I have been writing on these issues in an Australian context for some time. Indeed, while I was away the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a report on regional, rural and remote health pointing to continuing problems in this country.

However, in reading the story I was rather struck by one paragraph. I quote in part:

In recent years, more than 5 million students have been graduating annually, equivalent to the population of a provincial capital city.

Think about it, five million graduates annually. Note, too, that in population terms Sydney as Australia's largest city ranks at best as a Chinese provincial capital. Compare this to Shanghai's 23+ million people. Now you get a feel for real power rankings.

I make this point because I think that we in Australia sometimes have an inflated idea of our own importance. We prognosticate and expect the rest of the world to listen. Our own self-image blinds us to the reality of our position.

In similar vein, our news access in China was limited to CNN and BBC World plus the Chinese English language dailies. Here Australia attracts very little coverage outside sport. The change in the opposition leadership was picked up, but that was about all. More negatively, Australian domestic reporting and navel gazing on race issues in particular carries over into Chinese perceptions of Australia.

As an aside, measured by frequency of comment, Kevin Rudd's fluent Manadarin clearly did have an impact during his visit, attracting many Chinese.

Australia's economic influence is somewhat greater.

The Australian dollar is one of a relatively small number of currencies that the major hotels list on their currency boards for exchange into yuan (RMB). In Shanghai, the large commodity trade and associated shipping requirements generate substantial professional services demand in areas like shipping law.

However, we should not assume that the present commodity demand and associated price rises will continue. As a simple example that I have not seen reported in Australia, the Chinese car industry is presently reporting lower sales - something that is new - because of price hikes flowing in particular from higher steel costs, as well as softer economic activity due in part to reduced international demand for Chinese products.

In the longer term, economic development in China will underpin demand for our mineral products. This does not mean, however, that there will not be short term fluctuations, nor does it mean that the currently favourable terms of trade will continue. As global demand softens, the Chinese will be in a much better position to demand more favourable prices for our commodity exports.

I found the patterns of generational change in China absolutely fascinating, although my understanding is obviously far from perfect.

I have the clearest picture of middle class China. While large in absolute terms, the middle class is still a relatively small slice of 1.3 billion people of whom 800 million are rural. There is a huge gap between urban and rural poor and the bling bling of Beijing's middle class young with their love of Karioke and bars.

Further, even in middle class China there are two key variables not present in Australia.

The first is the opening of China from 1978 after the end of the Cultural Revolution. This was a key defining event.

Those who went through the Cultural Revolution were marked in ways that we can barely understand. I have always wondered how China survived this experiment. Now I have a feeling that the country survived because many people simply tried to keep things going by working round official positions.

Take medicine as an example. Apparently, medical training was cut back to three years. This was too short a period for proper training, so new doctors were required to do another year under direct supervision in hospitals before being allowed to practice, essentially maintaining a four year pattern.

The generation immediately following the Cultural Revolution - those who did their schooling in the late seventies and early eighties - gained from the new freedoms, but still lived in the Revolution's shadow. They appear to see a clear difference between their and subsequent generations with their more individualistic focus.

If we think of an individualistic-collectivist spectrum, the US has traditonally been at the individualistic end, China at the collectivist end. Australia sits more towards the middle, individualistic, but with continuing collectivist elements. Now the Chinese young have moved towards individualism. A story to illustrate.

Coming down in the lift from dinner, the lift stopped at KTV, what appeared to be an entertainment venue. Three girls around 20-23 got in. One smoking, one texting, all three talking loudly, they ignored the rest of us while planning the next stage of their night on the town. With the exception of smoking in the lift, they could have been in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. Downstairs, they joined a throng of young people heading in a different direction.

When I asked about them, I was told that KTV was a popular Karioke spot. My comment on the comparison with the Sydney equivalents led to a discussion on generational change, tribalism and individualism. There are common themes. However, and as I will outline in a later post, the similarities should not be overstated.

The second key variable not found in Australia is the one child policy. I have discussed this before in the context of demographic change. However, it has had social effects that were unclear to me.

One theme in the commentary that I have read has been the common suggestion that the overwhelming focus on individual children has in some senses created a pampered, indulged, generation. I have no idea whether this is true or not. However, what I had not fully realised was the nature of the pressures placed upon the kids themselves.

Chinese society appears competitive and stratified. Parents' hopes for their children are bound up in single individuals, the child who will carry the family forward, who will better the family position. China's long exam tradition also carries forward through the schooling system. Parents make great sacrifices to give their children the best opportunity. The pressures on kids to perform appear enormous.

In Shanghai we went to a confucian temple and school. The temple itself has wall after wall recording exam success over multiple dynasties. Attached to trees in the courtyard by red ribbons are many hundreds, thousands, of cards seeking gifts from the gods. Our tour guide, himself a child of the immediate period after the opening, read some of them out. Pleas for exam success dominated.

Speaking personally, I can only begin to imagine just how this type of pressure affects kids and parents.

Australian Foreign Policy Documents - a great historical resource: update

Thomas kindly pointed out to me that I had failed to insert the relevant link in Australian Foreign Policy Documents - a great historical resource. I have now done so.

Return from China

Well, back from China this morning. I am still very tired, but have begun the process of catching up on domestic issues.

This was an incredibly packed trip. Just as an example, in our last full day in Beijing we drove to and then walked up one part of the Great Wall, visited the Olympic site, went to a silk market and then a little later took our Chinese hosts out to dinner. Then we did some late night shopping.

Switching the TV on on our return to the hotel, we found in breaking news that a bombing had just occurred in Islamabad and sat there watching the fire engulf the hotel in real time. Not really the type of thing to watch just before going to bed.

There is so much to write about and across several blogs. For someone like me who is fascinated by the way societies work, this was a great trip. I found it especially useful in taking me outside my immediate Australian pre-occupations.

I am not sure that my observations and conclusions are very profound. However, they are interesting to me. So I am going to spend the next couple of days writing things down before they all blur together in my memory.

Postscript

One thing that was nice while I was away were the number of comments I received on various posts. I tried to respond, but I found it a little difficult because of the combination of time pressures and internet access. I will do so properly over the next day or so.

Saturday Morning Musings - the complexity of modern Australian society

Thursday night before going away I got to watch part of an episode of the The Circuit, a court room drama set in WA's Kimberley region.

Helen was fascinated, she had not seen it before. Then we had to turn it off after Clare came home from hockey training because she wanted to watch a birthday present DVD and it was her birthday.

The program reminded me just how complex Australian society has become in ways that many of us barely perceive. In saying complex I am not talking about the complexity of current life, we share that with many other countries, but the complexity of society itself.

Helen found The Circuit episode fascinating because it exposed her to some of the complexities of an area and of the Aboriginal people in that area, bringing alive some of the things that she had read about or heard on TV. She also found a problem in reconciling the simple black/white images presented in the eastern states' media with the sheer complexity of the on-ground problems shown in The Circuit.

Australia could not and will not survive without common patterns and understandings. Yet we should not under-estimate the difficulties involved in maintaining national coherence. A key need, at least as I see it, is the need to recognise and accept difference. If we ignore or, worse, suppress these, we will all suffer.

Some of our Muslim citizens would like to see elements of Sharia law applied. Some of our Aboriginal citizens would like to see more recognition of customary law. Others in the Australian community reject both outright, still others want customary law recognised but also reject Sharia law.

The starting point in managing difference is not an un-thinking imposition of uniformity or rejection of alternative views. The starting point is to understand and delineate the points of difference, the underlying principles, so that we can address the issues. Without this, Australia will move from global success to global failure as a nation.

Postscript

Pretty obviously I wrote this short post in advance of my departure. It has been interesting watching economic developments - the only English language TV we have is BBC World, CNN. This means little on Australia, but constant economic coverage. Very frustrating for a blogger with my interests not to be comment! 

Visiting China 1 - Initial Impressions

This internet connection is free. But I am standing up and have a twenty minute window. Still, I thought that I might record some initial impressions before running out of time. And before things blur! You know how it is when traveling.

Impression one. The Chinese are incredibly courteous, marked by kindness and good manners. I am sure that there are exceptions, but I have not found one so far.

Impression two. Size. The sheer press of people can be quite overwhelming, especially in Shanghai. It is hard for an Australian, at least this Australian, to come to grips with population numbers greater than Australian crammed into a single urban area. This is a BIG country.

Impression three. Safety. At no time whether on the street or in the metro have I ever felt threatened. Again, I am sure that this is not universally true, but it is nice.

Impression four. Complexity. This is a remarkably complex society for a country lad like me to come to grips with.

Out of time. More later. 

challenge to legal Eagle - when is it right to legislate?

In response to a post by Legal Eagle I wrote Round the blogging traps - Legal Eagle on the common law.

We both agree that the proliferation of formal legislated law has become a problem. Now I want to issue a challenge to LE.

LE, can you define just what principles might be used to determine just which issues are suitable for treatment by legislation, which should be dealt with by other means?

Australian Foreign Policy Documents - a great historical resource

In searching around for my post New England Story - The life and death of the mysterious Harry Freame I found a very interesting source, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade historical record series.

The specific document I looked at was a secret cable from Sir Thomas Inskip, U.K. Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, to Sir Geoffrey Whiskard, U.K. High Commissioner to Australia dealing with the proposed Australian Legation in Japan. From my viewpoint I found this fascinating because of the insights it provided on the way things worked.

This cable is one document in one volume of a twenty volume series. Those that are interested can find an entry point here. You can follow them by clicking backwards and forward. Do have a browse!

By global standards, Australia is NOT a racist country

I have mentioned before that I watch with dismay the constant stream of searches on Australian racism. The latest was a search on "why are Australians so racist" from someone in Arlington Virginia.

Running the same search again, I noticed a pattern. There are mainly two types of posts. The first are posts from Australia saying that we are. Just two quotes:

• Australia is a backwater, a racist and inward-looking country - from an on-line opinion article
• White Australia was founded upon invasion, theft, and genocide. It was subsequently shaped by social inequality - from a South Australian organisation.

Then we have overseas posts or articles that largely reflect Australian stated views back to us.

In the middle are a group of posts and stories that try to redress the balance - if australians are all racist how come I see so many black africans with white women girlfriends and white men with asian girlfriends read one.

Those inwardly focused Australians, and I include the media in this, who for a variety of reasons stereotype Australia as racist, or who are so concerned to fight against racism that they make race issues central regardless of other things, are doing this country a great dis-service.

Is there racism in Australia, yes. Is racism in Australia bad by global standards, no. Is Australia a racist country, no.

Many years ago when I was co-editor of a university student newspaper, we deliberately ran two stories together in the one edition, one on racism in the Soviet Union, the second on racism in China. Our intent then was to redress what we saw as an unbalanced local debate.

The position today is no different. Should we fight against racism, yes. Should we recognise the errors and mistakes from our own past, yes. Should we so obsess with our sins that we forget the broader picture, no.

In a sad way, the worst culprits in all this are those in Australian society who feel most strongly about past injustices. In their desire to set things right, to stop things happening again, they are doing the country great harm.

Postscript

In a comment, rummuser said...

I came here by accident while surfing and felt that I should share my two bits for what they are worth. I have visited Australia and have had some wonderful experiences with Australians. I am an Indian and did not experience the slightest racism, overt or covert, that I did experience in some European countries and in the USA. I have close relatives who are Australian citizens who do not experience any racism and would not live any where else. I may be an exception, I do not know. My personal experiences however should give some support to your own conclusions.

Nice to hear from you, RM.

A pause

We are going to the airport in an hour and I have suddenly realised that I will nor be able to complete the things I want to complete.

In Shanghai my wife has a conference. I am hand bag. I go on the accompanied persons' tours. This may sound dumb, but what I really to do is create a picture - sight, smell, feel - of what S. might have been like in the 1930s. Later I want to be able to shut my eyes and bring back the feel of the place.

I was very lucky to go to Singapore before it was modernised. Shanghai is exploding, more people already live there than live in Australia. BurtI think that the colonial quarter and old city still survive.

In Beijing we are lucky enough to have a local to show us around. I won't go into the connection, at this point, but we are lucky.

Time to give up on all the things I wanted to achieve before we left. Now it's time to go with the flow!

Time to sign off! By all.

Belshaw and China

I leave for China this evening for a bit over a week. We are going first to Shanghai and then Beijing. This is the first time that I have been and I am really looking forward to it. I will be taking detailed notes and, hopefully, some photos for later use.

I have a few posts that should come up while I am away just to keep regular readers interested. However, beyond this, I will not be able to post or respond to comments. Do feel free to comment. I will respond when I get back.

Scattered Friday Thoughts

So much to do today, so this post is limited to some very scattered thoughts, really notes to myself.

In a comment to Anon on New England Story - The life and death of the mysterious Harry Freame I mentioned that I was wondering about who else I might write about. I really do enjoy writing these biographical posts, although they take a lot of time, time that I do not always have. They also get a good response from readers.

I especially like subjects whose lives interact with different worlds, who illuminate a different aspect of life or history. There is a powerful addiction here because of the excuse it gives me for going in a variety of different directions. While I love ideas, I am also curious about people and the detail of life.

There are a lot of people I could write about, especially people who have become submerged with the passage of time. Here the hardest ones are the lesser known because they are far less likely to have on-line material that I can draw from, amplify as required. Yet these are some of the most fascinating stories. Life is not just about the famous, but about all those who have done different things.

So who do I write on next?

I must say that I am pleased with the recent performance of this blog, although I do not understand it. After a slow period, the blog is showing an upward trend in visitor numbers and page views. I cannot explain this. The stats packages I have do not provide any clue. Obviously I am not complaining, I would just like to understand.

The New England, Australia blog is also on an up. I have a better understanding here. Part is due to the Higher School Certificate exams bringing people through to posts such as those on Judith Wright. Part is due to click-throughs from this blog, something that obviously pleases me. Part is simply due to more regular posting.

I remain dissatisfied with the standard and focus of some of my posts. I was thinking as I responded to a comment from Bob Q on Uniformity and the tyranny of the majority that I really wasn't getting this quite right. There was a muddiness in my own thinking.

All this has been a somewhat introspective post, as I am sure that you will agree. Still, I did say that they were really notes to myself!