March 2012
CHINAVASION
INTERVIEW EATING BABIES Ten misconceptions about China
“Mao was immune to loss of life”
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CREDITS Editor-in-Chief Anouk Vleugels Executive Editor Mark Fonseca Rendeiro Editorial Jaime MenchĂŠn Carian Thus Elke Weesjes Design Michelle Halcomb Advertisement Send an e-mail to advertising @united-academics.org Questions and suggestions Send an e-mail to redactie @united-academics.org Address Warmoesstraat 149, 1012 JC Amsterdam Website www.united-academics.org
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ANOUK VLEUGELS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LINSANITY He seemed to come out of nowhere, an overnight basketball legend- Jeremy Lin. A name that apparently begs for countless manifestations of wordplay, especially in media headlines: “Everybody Loves a Linner!” “A Linderella Story.” Or, a bit riskier: “Lin-glorious Bastard.” What is interesting about the Jeremy Lin narrative, is the immediate racial discourse that came with it. Because of his Taiwanese-Chinese heritage, American-born Lin quickly became “the Asian basketball player,” in the United States, while China simultaneously tried to claim him as their long lost child. “He is Chinese no matter what,” said Wang Dong, a Shanghai-based sports commentator for Dragon TV. “He is associated with China and our culture, he knows the language -- though not fluent.” Ice cream producer Ben & Jerry’s also attempted to get a piece of the pie, by creating a frozen yoghurt with the name “Taste the Linsanity”. The flavour: lychee swirls and crumbled fortune cookies. Especially the latter were considered to be offensive to the Chinese community, and Ben & Jerry’s had to apologize for their actions. The fortune cookies have since been removed from the recipe. Another incident took place on ESPN, a American
sports network that ran a headline about Lin finally showing signs of weakness by using the phrase “chink in the armor.” As the word “chink” is regarded as a racial slur in the US, the headline sett off a firestorm of criticism. The news editor responsible, Anthony Frederico, was fired straight away, and ESPN was forced to kowtow. On its website, ESPN wrote: “We apologize, especially to Mr. Lin. His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN.” Frederico responded saying the headline was in no way intended to be a racist pun: This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny,” he said. “I’m so sorry that I offended people. I’m so sorry if I offended Jeremy.” Was the headline, and this is softly put, ill-chosen? Yes. But still, it is more likely that late-shift editor Frederico unintendedly published a racist headline than deliberately risking social - and career- suicide. And did Mr. Lin care? Of course not. His reaction: “I don’t think it was on purpose or whatever, but (at) the same time they have apologized. And so from my end I don’t care anymore.” And he shouldn’t. Interpreting this mistake as an act of racism trivializes acts of real, authentic racism against Asian-Americans. 3
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HISTORIAN FRANK DIKÖTTER
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EASY MONEY, EVIL MONEY
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FEATURES
TEN MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT CHINA
“I received hate mail”
China’s unwanted foreign aid
No, they will not try to rule the world
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BY ANOUK VLEUGELS
“The Chinese eat everything with four legs, except tables; and everything that flies, except airplanes” is often said to describe China’s – not so selective - eating habits. One glimpse at Google Suggestions shows many people share that belief. Dogs, cats… the Chinese eat anything they can get their hands on, don’t they? Further down the list: babies. Clearly it is time for us to do some research. First, we are safe to assume China will not allow its citizens to eat babies (they already have a onechild-policy to control population growth) so there’s no need to go there. Dogs however, are a different story. Dog meat has been considered food in some parts of China since 500 BC, and is still on the menu today. Thought to have medicinal properties and overall good for your health, such meat is especially popular during winter time. There are special dog restaurants, where one can pick from
an extensive menu, including dog soup, dog steak, dog with tofu or a dog hot pot. During the last decade, however, a movement against the consumption of dog (and cat) meat was born and has been growing ever since. Since January 2007, more than ten Chinese groups have signed an online petition against the consumption of cat and dog meat. Supporters of the petition have vowed to forever avoid eating cat and dog meat. This online protest received more than 42,000 signatures from the general public, and has been circulated throughout the country. On 26 January 2010, the first draft legislation was introduced at a national level in China, supposedly to protect the country’s animals from mistreatment, including a measure to jail people who eat dog for up to 15 days. However, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the law prohibiting cat and dog meat could take as long as a decade to pass. Until then man’s best friend can still be on the menu, fresh from the pound.
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GRE
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MAO'S
BY ELKE WEESJES
EAT FAMINE Last year Frank Dikötter won the prestigious BBC Samuel Johnson prize for his book ‘Mao’s Great Famine’. The jury was impressed yet stunned that they didn’t know the full scale of the atrocities committed during the Great Leap Forward. Dikötter knocks Mao off his pedestal and reveals what he really was; a brutal and violent dictator. After the publication of his book the author received daily hate mail for over a year. In our interview he explains how his opponents’ arguments are the same used to deny the Holocaust. Revolution is not a dinner party In 2008, almost twenty years since the partial opening of the Soviet Communist International's archives, a new law in China quietly opened up large sections of the Chinese Communist Party (CPS) archives, offering a chance to see the Maoist era from a whole new perspective. Frank Dikötter seized the opportunity and dove into those archives. Several years of hard work and dedication accumulated into the book ‘Mao's Great Famine’- a detailed chronicle of the Great Leap Forward - China's experiment to make the country into a industrial world power. It describes the near collapse of a social and economical system on which Mao had staked his political reputation. Dikötter's account of the famine caused by this economic and social
campaign is not only original and valuable because he used previously secret information, but also because it links what happened in the CPC headquarters with the everyday experiences of ordinary people. Therefore his study can be considered the first social history of the Great Famine. 45 Million Deaths Compared to Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, Mao has undeservingly benefitted from a less evil reputation. Mass killings, terror, coercion and systematic violence weren't usually associated with 'the Chairman'. In fact, many western dignitaries who were making escorted tours through China during the famine reported that communism was working and that the country was making great progress. In ‘Mao's Great Famine’, Dikötter ends this widespread misconception. Previously, historians and demographers have used official census figures to estimate that some 15 to 32 million people died as a result of the Great Leap Forward. Based on new evidence, Dikötter demonstrates that at least 45 million people died unnecessarily between 1958 and 1962. Six to eight percent of these victims were tortured to death or summarily killed. Others were deliberately deprived of food and starved to death. Walk on Two Legs The Great Leap Forward was rooted in Mao's ambition to show the Soviet Union, after years of be-
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ing ignored and patronized by Stalin and Khrushchev, that China was more than capable of being the leader of the communist world. China would 'walk on two legs', simultaneously developing industry and agriculture. The campaign started with the collectivisation of agriculture and large scale irrigation projects. Farmers had to break down their houses and were forced to melt their pots and pans for steel, whilst frantically slaughtering their cattle before it was confiscated by authorities. Determined to overtake Britain in fifteen years, Mao saw a key to rapid industrialisation in the substitution of labour for capital; "the masses were the country's real wealth, and they should be mobilised during the slack winter season, before the spring ploughing, to transform the countryside. The plans which weren't thought through, backfired and the first signs of famine were visible as early as 1958. But Mao persevered, ignoring these first indicators that his campaign was flawed. When things escalated even further, China refused food aid. A humanitarian disaster followed. War on People and Their Environment Besides showing that previous estimates were woefully inadequate, the book also discusses the scale of destruction, from agriculture, industry, trade and housing to the natural environment. The Great Leap Forward was not only a war on people, but also a war against their environment. Up to 40 percent of all housing was turned into rubble, waste developed and corruption flourished. People were desperate to survive even if this meant turning on one another: 'As the famine gained ground and hunger gradually eroded the social fabric of everyday life, people turned away. Everything was on sale. Nothing escaped the realm of trade, as bricks, clothes and fuel were bartered for food'. People were so 10
desperate that they ate mud, stones and in some cases, each other. When they didn't die of hunger, they died of diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, typhus or leprosy. Many lost their minds and committed suicide. In the countryside people sold their children for next to nothing. Children in the communal nurseries and kindergartens, which were set up all over the country allowing women to join the Great Leap Forward, were victims of abuse, neglect, hunger and disease. Death rates were high and the majority of children suffered from hunger oedema, hepatitis, diarrhoea and food poisoning. The elderly suffered the same fate as the children. They were seen as dispensable and were often starved to death. In some regions they were forced to work long days; slackers were tied up and beaten. Although in a slightly better position than children and the elderly, women all over China were sacraficed in the interest of male survival. In a country where famine had eroded the moral fabric of society, women were marginalised, raped and assaulted. The Great Leap Forward can easily be called the most devastating example of a utopian plan gone horribly wrong. ‘Mao’s Great Famine’ is fascinating, incredibly detailed and leaves the reader with a sense of disbelief. Not that its content should be doubted, but it is unbelievable that these atrocities on such a large scale have happened right under the noses of the Western powers, and nothing was done about it. What is also unbelievable, is the fact that this catastrophe has not even made it into our history books. As Dikötter makes so painfully clear in his chronicle of this event, it is about time The Great Leap Forward and its barbaric consequences become part of the world’s recollections of the twentieth century. 11
Example from the International Search & Rescue Incident Database
Distance from the search starting point within which lost hikers are found in 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% of the cases
Frank Dikรถtter is Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong and professor of the modern history of China on leave from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published seven books that have changed the way historians view modern China. 12
BY ELKE WEESJES
Q&A Q : Your book, which is based on recently opened archives, has been called a part of a developing trend in Western understanding of Chinese history. When you were studying these archives, did you find evidence that other chapters of Chinese history, besides the Great Leap Forward, needed serious revision? "The entire ten years before the famine, the whole period of so called liberation - from the establishment of agricultural collectives to the campaigns against intellectuals when half a million people were shipped away to the Gulags - is extremely interesting. The archives throw a lot of light on them and that is what I've been doing since I finished my book on the famine. Currently I am writing up a sequel and it is quite extraordinary to see how quickly
munist rule after 1949. So that is very definitely a period that will benefit from new scrutiny on the basis of party archives." Q : What is the impact of this newly available information on the people of China, where the official view is that Mao was 70 percent good and 30 percent bad? "In China, there are so many restrictions when it comes to publication that many Chinese historians decide to publish in Hong Kong instead. So much work based on new sources might never appear in print in the People's Republic of China. I think it is quite clear that there are now sizeable sections of scholars who are deeply aware of the disaster that was the Great Leap Forward. They are quite disil-
“Mao did not care. H e w a s i m m u n e t o l o s s of l i fe � the communists managed to impose their rule after 1949. One of the striking discoveries I made in the archives was the role of fear and violence in com-
lusioned. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of these sentiments are rather informal. What is lacking, as you can imagine in a one-party state, is real official 13
encouragement for people to remember their own history. For historians to go out there and do real critical work." Q : Some people say Mao can't be compared to the great dictators of the twentieth century. They agree with you that Mao's policies were the main cause of the famine, but that the catastrophe was not a deliberate act of mass murder like the holocaust. They feel it was the result of policy failures from a governance system based on the control of ideology and information. What is your take on these views? "Firstly the idea that Mao didn't know is absurd. Mao, like Stalin, had been building up a spy network for decades. He had his own personal investigation teams. They had a whole structure set up to make sure that they knew exactly what was happening on every single level. Secondly thanks to the opening of the archives we now know that Mao was informed all along. Ordinary people wrote to him, big shots wrote to him and pointed out what was happening. Mao himself sent people out to the
starved to death, by punishing them, by banning them from the canteen is an act of murder. When this happens on a mass scale this constitutes mass murder. Mao actually said, ‘It is better to let half of the people die so the other half can eat their fill'. That’s exactly what happened, they took food away from categories of people who seemed to be more disposable than ers. Take away the food from the country side to feed the city. Take away food from poor people to export it abroad. Mao made it clear that one has to make sacrifices in order to achieve the communist realm. If you actually look at law, the fact that somebody is aware of loss of life but doesn’t care, actually constitutes criminal negligence. So it is not enough to say that Mao did not intent to kill these people.” Q : Your book which has been a great success, also received some damning criticism. How do academics like yourself deal with these negative reviews? “I remember being a PhD student at the School of Oriental and African Studies. The director at the
“ I r e c e i v e d a s tr e a m of h a t e m a i l ” country side to investigate, who wrote detailed reports. The point really must be that Mao did not care. He was immune to loss of life. It is interesting that holocaust deniers like David Irving have long insisted the exact same argument that Adolf Hitler didn't really know and that he never issued an order to exterminate the Jews." Q : So you don't agree with the argument that Mao, unlike Hitler, didn't want to lose any lives? “We have to keep in mind that food was used as a weapon to punish people. In other words, we must make a distinction between people starving to death and being starved to death. The latter, being 14
time told us not to be too afraid of criticism. He used a sentence I carried with me ever since; 'The dogs bark but the caravan moves on'. This is what I think of every time I read reviews. You have to stay true to your vision and your values. Some of the criticism can be very helpful, but a lot of the apologists take cheap shots. I, for instance, received a stream of hate mail. After I had just published my book there was a period where not a day would go by without me receiving insulting emails. The whole hate campaign lasted pretty much all year. But I guess that when you piss off the right people you have done a good job.” Mao’s Great Famine is available in the UA Bookstore.
CALL FOR PAPERS
United Academics Journal of Social Sciences ‘RHYTHMS OF REBELLION’ May/June 2012 Issue UAJSS is a refereed online journal which publishes new research by post-graduate and (post) doctoral academics. Deadline: 15 May 2012 See our journal for submission guidelines
Email: elke.weesjes@united-academics.org
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Easy M Evil M
It may seem hard to remember a time where China wasn’t looked at around the world as this rapidly expanding force of nature that can out manufacture and under price most any other nation. Wherever you sit at this very moment, chances are something within reach says “made in China” on it. The news media produces consistent China reports with the same reoccurring theme, China is on the rise, they are the future, and anywhere you look in the world, the Chinese money, labor, and know-how is probably involved – especially in the developing world. Last month the story broke that 29 Chinese workers who had been kidnapped in Sudan had been released. Days later the new African Union headquarters opened in Addis Ababa, an $200 million dollar gift designed and built by China. As each story is told, a powerful idea comes along with it: Chinese aid is underhanded, having many strings attached and little moral criteria; it is Rogue Aid. As powerful as the myth of China as a renegade aid source, what do the available facts and statistics tell us about the reality? Is there something so fundamentally different from the United States, the European Union, or any other nation, in terms of the money, choice of projects, and political implications surrounding Chinese aid? Would the truth challenge or reenforce this movie-like villain screenplay starring the world’s fastest growing economy? 16
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao embraces a local chief during a visit to Accra, Ghana, in 2006. Photograph: Li Xueren/AP
BY MARK FONSECA RENDEIRO
Money,
Money
To begin with lets dissect the idea that because China over the past 10+ years has had tremendous economic success, it now uses its aid program to support this newfound hunger for resources and influence. What is rarely looked at or discussed in terms if history, is that China has actually been a major aid giver globally since the nation was founded in 1949. In those days the nation might not have been wealthy or a world power, but the government made international aid an ideological imperative, resulting in low interest loans particularly for communist North Korea. By 1956 China began to engage in aid projects in non-communist nations, including Africa, which would eventually be drastically increased in the 1970’s when Mao Zedong sought a leadership role among developing nations of the world. By the 1980’s market forces had been introduced in China, and aid began to take this into consideration, a more cautious but still very active approach. Following the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, the aid program became a means to improve damaged relations around world, which gave way a decade later to an era that still continues today- the era of joint ventures and a focus on mutual benefits for recipients as well as the donor nation. Mongolia needs roads and infrastructure that China can build, China benefits by having roads that can efficiently transport extracted resources like Coal and Iron into its borders – this is the quintessential way Chinese aid functions. 17
A look back at historical data reveals that the idea of Chinese aid as a new phenomenon is incorrect, the 21st century is not the first era where China becomes a global leader in aid allocation. But what about the qualification that Chinese aid comes with a great deal of political and economic motives and very little in terms of ethical considerations? According to researchers Axel Dreher and Andreas Fuchs, Chinese aid is quicker and has less conditions than western aid. Criteria such as good government policies, democratic principles, or human rights conditions are not linked to qualifying for aid from the Chinese government. This leads many to conclude that Chinese aid helps support corrupt governments and stifle democratization. Over the past two decades, Chinese support through aid projects in Zimbabwe and Sudan, both often seen as rogue nations, are two examples of such a-moral activity. But when comparing activities by other donor nations like the Netherlands or the United States, it turns out those nations are just as likely 18
as China to give aid to dictatorships or corrupt leadership. (Dreher & Fuchs 2011) So it turns out that aid from China is neither new, or so ethically different from most other aid giving nations. One area where researchers have found they are different is when it comes to transparency. According to the Chinese government, between 1949-2006, the nation spent $5.6 billion on aid projects in Africa. China scholars argue that this number is too low, using additional data they calculate that number is between $8 and $9 billion. (Davies 2007) (According to the Financial Times, China outperformed the World Bank as the world’s largest provider of overseas loans to developing countries through its China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank amounting to at least US$110 billion in 2009 and 2010. ) The limited amount of information available and unwillingness to fully disclose the details of how aid is allocated is a major factor that makes studying Chinese aid difficult for researchers. It also
Number of aid projects completed (% of China’s total aid, 1996-2005)
serves to perpetuate the image that something very underhanded or secretive is going on in Beijing. The significantly quicker speed with which aid from China goes into effect and the low amount of requirements for receiving have led to a unique reputation among recipient nations. Chinese aid is seen as an alternative to former colonial powers and all the proselytizing and conditions they typically demand. At time where debt relief is a major objective for struggling nations, China has actually taken the lead in forgiving debt among African nations, writing off $1.2 billion in 2000 and $750 million in 2003. (Woods 2008) Actions that could actually make some vested interests in the western world, quite nervous. This alternative to the west represents another widely held image, at least in the developing world, of what China represents as a global power. (Mohan, Giles and Power, Marcus 2009) The clash between fact and image indicates that there are actually two China’s when it comes to
development aid: there’s the China the world thinks is out there being more evil and crafty than anyone else, and there’s the actual China that does pretty much what most aid giving nations do, only with the added bonus of a growing reputation as a viable alternative. Is there a lack of transparency – yes. Have there been and are their currently cases of China giving aid to so-called Rogue nations – yes. But is China so far beyond the aid practices of the UK, US, or any other wealthy nation in this world? - the answer is no. Yet despite the telling conclusions research has provided, in the end myths are carried on in our minds and in the media, and even in this modern age of information, its hard to dispel a myth. Rogue Aid Development assistance that is nondemocratic in origin and nontransparent in practice; its effect is typically to stifle real progress while hurting average citizens. -MOISÉS NAÍM, FOREIGN POLICY, MARCH 1, 2007 19
Ten Misconceptions About China CHINA PUTS THE ECONOMY BEFORE THE ENVIRONMENT After years of ignoring the negative effects China’s rapid economic development had on its environment, the country is currently implementing a hands-on policy to protect its natural heritage. In 2006, China put into place “The Renewable Energy Law,” to change the structure of its energy supply. In addition, with the help of state subsidies, in 2009 Chinese companies became world leaders in solar cell production. On top of that, new targets for reducing carbon emissions have been set for 2020, which could make China a global leader in the race to slow global warming. While new policies are adopted, China’s forests have been growing rapidly over the past 20 years, making them the fastest growing forest resources in the world, according to an assessment published in BioScience in 2009. However, China is not quite there yet, say the authors, “China still faces grave challenges in pollution control and biodiversity conservation. The next decade is a critical period for China to engage all stakeholders in protecting its rich and unique biodiversity.” Read study (open access) 20
BY ANOUK
CHINESE IS THE HARDEST LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD If we were to believe Chinese Studies Academic Director David Moser, learning Chinese for a native English speaker takes about the same effort as, let’s say, learning to kill goats by staring at them. One of the difficulties lies in the fact that it’s a tonal language. “How is it possible that shùxué means “mathematics” while shūxuě means “blood transfusion”, or that guòjiǎng means “you flatter me” while guǒjiàng means “fruit paste?” Moser wonders about this and more in his article ‘Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard.’ The fact that Chinese language has a huge number of characters doesn’t help either. Nor that it’s a lot less phonetic than most Western languages. However, without downplaying the difficulties associated with learning Chinese, it is not the hardest language to learn; that dubious honor goes to Japanese, with its 94 Hiragana, Katakana, and auxiliary symbols, Japanese also has Chinese characters each of which has more than one reading.” According to a recent study rating most difficult non-Latin alphabet languages, Chinese came in third. So is Chinese hard to learn? Most certainly. But the hardest language in the world: no. Read study (open access) 21
THE COMMUNIST PARTY CONTROLS CHINA’S INTERNET. Yes, China’s Internet-filtering technology is probably more sophisticated than those of other authoritarian regimes. The “Golden Shield” project, for example, that was implemented in 1998, is still in place. Nicknamed the Great Firewall of China, its main function its to censor and control the internet. A special Internet Police Force was also created to keep Chinese citizens from going to the wrong websites. However, a recent study shows that anti-internet propaganda is actually a more successful method of censorship than these fancy technologies and special forces. Currently, most people who do not trust the the web are also non-users. The amount of internet-users, on the other hand, is growing rapidly, as even China’s propaganda machine is not immune to the effects of mass communication and globalization. “Cover-up” incidents that were revealed by the internet, such as the melamine milk scandal, caused the Chinese to become more sceptical of their government and more aware of its control over information. Whenever there is breaking news — a serious public safety incident or a big anti-government demonstration — the Internet is quickly filled with coverage and criticisms of the government. By the time the censors restore some control, the political damage is done. Read study (open access)
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CHINA’S ONE-CHILD POLICY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS GENDER IMBALANCE It’s nothing new: China is dealing with a severe gender imbalance. Normally, about 105 boys are born for every 100 girls (boys are more likely to die before reaching a fertile age; this is nature’s way of keeping the balance). Today however, 121 boys are born for every 100 girls. Currently most scholars believe that culture, as opposed to nature, is responsible for this gender gap. In other words: China displays a cultural preference for boys. Add this to the country’s one-child policy, and a connection between the two seems to make perfect sense. A recent study shows, however, that although China’s OCP is party responsible for its gender imbalance, it is definitely not the only culprit. The researchers examined the son-daughter ratio among ethnic minorities in China, for whom the fertility restrictions are less stringent. They found that these minorities also produced significantly more sons than daughters. Other studies show that the phenomenon is also visible in countries such as Vietnam and India, and even in some Asian-American populations in the U.S. So although China’s COP does make matters worse, gender inequality remains the biggest problem in the matter. Read study (not open access) 23
CHINESE PEOPLE ARE HARD-WIRED TO BE HARD WORKERS The stereotype has been around for a while – as early as 1894, missionary Arthur Smith wrote about the Chinese work ethic in his Chinese Characteristics, describing all Chinese –men, women, rich and poor – as extremely diligent. To some extent, this is true. Due to historical and cultural reasons, most Chinese do tend to view ‘working hard’ as a virtue. A 1985 study that seeks to explain the Chinese work ethic states that “Chinese will work hard when they see possible long-term benefits, in terms of improved material conditions and/or security, for a group with which they identify.” However, Chinese diligence is only part of the story. There is another reason why Chinese work hard: because they have to. More and more often we hear about Chinese factory workers being exploited by large multinationals, working under terrible circumstances. Last year, China Labor Watch investigated ten electronics factories located in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces. At every factory, over thirty workers were interviewed. The results: All of the factories’ overtime hours were between 36 and 160 hours per month. Moreover, in nine factories the minimum wage does not meet the living costs of its workers. “The pay is the biggest issue. Based on our investigation, most workers have signed a labor contract so there is some improvement,” says China Labor Watch founder Li Qiang in an interview with the NY Times. “They [the electronics industry] think about how many products they can produce, not about giving the workers a rest.” Read report (open access) 24
CHINESE MEN HAVE SMALL PENISES This misconception does not just exist for the Chinese; supposedly all Asian men do not measure up in the penile department. A tenacious stereotype, considering the fact that no trustworthy study confirms it. There are three reliable penile size studies commonly quoted in literature; none of which even attempt to correlate size with race. The problem with most other studies is that they were based on questionnaires “How long is your penis?”, a question that, even anonymously, most men tend to answer less than truthfully. This explains, for example, why condoms manufacturer Durex revealed that the average is 16cm (6.29”), based on an internet survey held among 2936 men, while a study from the University of California lowered this figure to only 13cm (5.11”). What remains unclear though, is why there still isn’t any satisfying data to put the whole thing to rest. How hard can it be to conduct a cross-cultural study, that makes use of a significant amount of men from different countries, who’s penises are measured –flaccid and erect- by a team of objective (perhaps female) researchers? We will have to keep waiting for that day to come. 25
CHINA WILL RULE THE WORLD “The China Threat.” “Chinavasion.” As China has shown enormous growth over the last decades, statistics show that at this pace, China will surpass America’s economy within the next twenty years. Martin Jaques, author of ‘When China Rules the World’, claims that China will become the world’s first superpower: “Of course China will not rule the world any more than the United States has ruled the world for the last 60 years, or Britain before. But I think China will, in time, become the most powerful and influential country in the world, and that’s what I mean by ruling the world.” Most experts, however, disagree with Jaques. Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s international affairs program, points out that the fragile state of the Chinese political system, the growing inequality between the rich and the poor, the lack of freedom of speech, and the bursting of the real estate bubble will disrupt China’s growth. In addition, Dr. Edward N. Luttwak, strategist and historian, adds that China could even become weaker because of its own rising strength. China could become a global strategic power, if it would implement more conciliatory and unassertive foreign policies. History shows, however, this will not be the case. As it goes against human instinct and common sense to become more humble when one’s power is increasing, a rising world power such as China will not lower its guns, thereby ruining its chances of becoming global number one. 26
CHINESE WOMEN ARE INFERIOR TO MEN “A woman without knowledge is a woman of virtue”, was once a pretty popular proverb in China. Back in its imperial days, and also in the decades that followed, Chinese women were held under the dominance of a man at every stage of their lives: fathers, husbands and sons. Then along came Mao Zedong, saying things like “women hold up half the sky,” as he understood China’s women were necessary to realize his Cultural Revolution. Today, most scholars agree that although Mao’s revolution inflicted enormous suffering upon society, it did have an upside: Women were encouraged to participate in the workforce and became more equal to men. In China today women hold 34 percent of senior management positions, compared with 20 percent in America and 12 percent in the EU countries. In addition, 19 percent of these female senior managers are CEO’s. This doesn’t mean, however, that Chinese feminists can lean back; gender discrimination is still prevalent among low-end job holders (the so-called “sticky floor” phenomenon). Women working in factories tend to make less money than men doing the same job. According to economists Li Bo and Chi Wei, who studied the problem, education is the solution: “at the primary-school and middleschool level, we hope compulsory education can change the tradition in the countryside, where women are regarded as inferior to men.” Read study (open access) 27
CHINA IS A BUDDHIST COUNTRY For most people, when thinking about religion in China, Buddhist monks come to mind. Although Buddhism is still an important religion in China, with around 19 percent of the population adhering to it, it is not the largest. Shenism-Taoism is China’s first religion, with over 30 percent of the population adhering to it. Still, the questions of what should be called religion or religious in China is up to debate. Some scholars argue that both Buddhism and Shenism-Taoism should be defined as “thought systems” instead of religions. What is considered a “real” religion in China, one very much on the rise, is Christianity. Although it is hard to give an exact estimate, it seems clear that the numbers are growing. The government says that China has 25 million Christians (18 million Protestants and six million Catholics). However, according to the CIA World Factbook, this number is about 47 million. In “Jesus in Beijing”, journalist and historian David Aikman states that at current growth rates, another 300 million may be added to the Christian fold over the next three decades, making China one of the largest Christian countries in the world. According to Aikman, Christianity flourishes in China “because of the ethics of a faith based on a profound hope in the future and a belief that history was not cyclical, as Buddhism and even Confucianism proclaimed, but linear, and with a specific end goal.” 28
MAO WAS NOT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CHINA’S GREAT FAMINE Although the numbers still differ depending on the source, currently it is estimated that China’s Great Famine between 1958 and 1961 led to somewhere between 20 to 43 million deaths. But who was responsible for these years of mass starvation? According to the official explanation by the central government, it was the lack of experience with socialist construction, leftist mistakes and the weather that can be held accountable for the failure of the Great Leap Forward, and indirectly, the famine. Mao’s role in the famine, and whether he was aware of it during his reign as chairman, remains unclear. In ‘The Great Famine’, Frank Dikötter argues that Mao indeed deserves all the blame. Quoting a Chinese document that was recently declassified, Diktötter states that in one of his speeches, Mao said that “It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill.” “Mao was sent many reports about what was happening in the countryside,” Diktötter states in his article in the New York Times, “some of them scribbled in longhand. He knew about the horror, but pushed for even greater extractions of food.” Read study (open access) 29
FROM OUR BLOG
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REMARK ABLERESEARCH MOST REMARKABLE
BY JAIME MENCHEN
Austrian Felix Baumgartner Will Be Jumping from the Edge of Space The record for the highest, fastest and longest skydive was set on August 16, 1960, by Joseph Kittinger, as part of the United States Air Force Project Excelsior. He jumped from a height of 31,300 meters (102,800 feet), reaching a maximum speed of 988 km/h (614 miles per hour). The free fall until he opened his parachute lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds. It’s amazing to think that this record has never been broken in more than 50 years. This may change, however, due to Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans for this year. It is expected that this week it will be announced the specific date and place for the jumping to take place, but it is assumed that it will occur this August, probably over New Mexico. Sponsored by Red Bull, Baumgartner will fall from a height of more than 36,500 meters (120,000 feet), thought to break through the sound barrier in 35 seconds. He wants not only to break the record for the highest parachute jumping, but also those of longest distance travelled in freefall, speed record, and highest manned balloon flight. Over the year he will jump two times, from a height of 18,288 meters 30
(60,000 feet) and of 27430 meters (90,000 feet), in order to test the equipment and his own skills. Felix Baumgartner is a well-known skydiver and BASE jumper, being the first person to BASE jump from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and from the Millau Viaduct in France, among other records. His experience and skills in this field may be helpful for this event; among the risks he is facing, there is the chance to go into a spin and consequently to blackout. Source: Telegraph
MOST POPULAR
BY CARIAN THUS
Massive “Prawn” Found in the Deep An expedition led by scientists from the University of Aberdeen and National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has resulted in the discovery of a supergiant amphipod in the deep waters north of New Zealand. The newly captured crustacean measures 28 cm – more than 10 times the normal size of related species. “We pulled up the trap, and lying among the fish were these absolutely massive amphipods, and there was no inkling whatsoever that these things should be there,” said Alan Jamieson, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and leader of the expedition.
crustacean was caught on camera. A size far bigger than ever thought possible, according to the scientists. Mysteriously, the strange creatures vanished just as suddenly as they had appeared. When the expedition returned to the same spot a week later, there was no sign of the giant amphipods. Source: University of Aberdeen Photo via Oceanlab / University of Aberdeen Huge Personality Differences
Equipped with specially designed ultra-deep submergence technology, the original purpose of the expedition was to recover the rare deep sea snailfish – sampled once before in the 1950’s. Instead the scientists brought back seven giant crustaceans glimpsed only a few times in human history. The pale specimens were found 7 kilometers down in one of the deepest trenches on earth, the Kermadec Trench. Beside the captured amphipods, another 34cm 31
MOST CONTROVERSIAL
BY MARK FONSECA RENDEIRO
Are You Born With Your Political Outlook? If you’re anything like me you believe that people are born as a blank slate when it comes to politics. Sure, genetics have plenty to say about a long list of aspects of how someone will turn out to be, but who would have thought – people are actually born with a political pre-disposition!? According to research recently published by the Royal Society, the way people vote is connected to evolutionary functions known as “appetitive” (desire for food and attachment) or “aversive” (defensive) systems. Although they originate with aspects of survival of the species in the wild, studies show that people exhibit signs of either one when it comes to choosing to vote left or right on the political spectrum. Those that are more “aversive”, fearing being harmed, are more likely to vote for right wing parties. While those who focus less on the fear and more on having experiences and contact with new people, tend to vote for parties on the left. This study is not the first to look into the issue of voting and inherent personality traits, previous studies had made connections between aspects like having a high level of empathy and voting for left wing parties, or those having what is known as very strong threat/disgust reflex being more prone 32
to voting right wing. Perhaps most interesting, the study indicates that those with a high level of defensiveness and disgust, are also more likely to focus and obsess on whatever it is that digests them. Hence, classic examples like those individuals who are angered by gay marriage and then dedicate all their energy to stopping it and talking about it. Source: Guardian Dodd, M., Balzer, A., Jacobs, C., Gruszczynski, M., Smith, K., & Hibbing, J. (2012). The political left rolls with the good and the political right confronts the bad: connecting physiology and cognition to preferences
MOST ORIGINAL
BY THERESA PATZSCHKE
Art reflects Grammar The sin – that’s no question in Germany – is a woman. The mostly very attractive but nefarious broad is subject of numerous German artworks. The Russian painter Repin was baffled about the resoluteness of the German artists in this case. Why not personify the sin as a man? Looking at Repin’s artistic confusion in a multidimensional context, we understand that it might come from a grammatical matter: The noun ‘sin’ is feminine in German (die Sünde) but masculine in Russian (rpex). Discussions of this kind lead to the old question of the relation between linguistic structure and patterns of thought. Does language influence our way of thinking? Or does our particular perception of the world shape the grammar? Regarding the direction of this relation, it is quite impossible to give final answers by now. But the psychologists Segel and Boroditsky proved the connection between a small quirk of grammar (the gender of nouns) and an aspect of culture (personification in art) on the basis of a quantitative analysis.
the personified gender with the grammatical gender of the artist’s mother tongue. This is, what they found out: Personified gender matched the grammatical gender in 78% of the cases – including the conflicting grammatical genders between the languages. In the end, this intercultural comparison shows how linguistic structures are not only reflected mentally but that they are also reified in the material world we create around ourselves. Moreover, it may give answers to German women who always have to wonder why southwestern European men are so much more charming: In Italiy, France and Spain the sin is a man. Source: Segel, E., & Boroditsky, L. (2011). Grammar in Art Frontiers in Psychology
They investigated 790 paintings of German, French, Italian and Spanish artists that represent a personification of abstract entities such as sin, love, time and justice. Afterwards they compared 33
BOOK & REVIEW Islam, Science and the Challenge of History
Ahmad Dallal It was back in the 14th century when Islamic historian Ibn Khaldūn wrote: “The intellectual sciences … are not restricted to any particular religious group. They are studied by the people of all religious groups, who are all equally qualified to learn them and to do research in them.” It might be hard to imagine now, but during those days, when Europe was still in stuck in the Dark Ages, the AraboIslamic world was where scientific activity flourished. In ‘Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History’, Ahmad Dallal, a historian at American University of Beirut, is examining this Islamic culture of science in relation to the social and cultural forces that have shaped Muslim societies in the last millennium. In addition, Dallal argues for a clear separation between science and religion or philosophy. He writes: “Yet while religion dominated the moral sphere and claimed a higher rank there […], it did not exercise an epistemological hegemony over science” “[w]hen Muslims were the main producers of science in the world, they did not advocate wedding science and religion”. 34
What Every BODY is Saying: An ExFBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People
Joe Navarro & Marvin Karlins
According to author Joe Navarro’s website, he “has been studying non-verbal behavior for the past 40 years. Twenty-five of those were spent catching spies for the FBI.” Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Body language tells a lot about someone’s inner life. For example when we lie, we tend to reveal ourselves through certain bodily behaviors, like scratching our neck or nose. Navarro goes into detail to explain how nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, touching, and even the tone, timbre, and volume of a person’s voice can predict human actions. Why would anyone that isn’t in the FBI need these specific body-reading skills? According the book, because “These skills will increase your ability to accurately assess moods, decode behaviors, anticipate problems, avoid hidden pitfalls, influence negotiations, and understand the secret motivations of those around you.” Good luck at the poker table.
EDITOR’S PICK: ‘ABUNDANCE’. “BECAUSE IN THIS DAY A TO READ SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR A CHANGE. THIS BO DOESN’T SAY THAT YOUR WHOLE GENERATION IS BASIC
Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think
What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite
Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler
David DiSalvo
“The Future is Better Than You Think”. It echoes a feeling of sheer optimism that makes it seem odd, and even unnatural. But according to authors Peter H. Diamandis (entrepeneurturned-philantropist) and journalist Steven Kotler, the best is yet to come. The writers point out how four “forces” - exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion—together will solve our biggest problems: “[These forces] are beginning to really make their presence felt in the world, but together should enable us to make the equivalent of 200 years of progress over the next 20 years,” they say in an interview with The Daily Beast. Healthcare, technology, education; all will change for the better. And the facts, they claim, are right there in front of us. “If you pull back a little bit from the sea of bad news that’s assaulting us these days, what you actually see is a preponderance of trends that are moving in a fantastic direction.”
AND AGE, IT’S REFRESHING OOK OFFERS A PERPECTIVE FOR THE FUTURE THAT CALLY FUCKED.”
In ‘What Makes Your Brain Happy’ science writer David DiSalvo attempts to explain why what our brain wants is often not what our brain needs. Why is it so hard for us to overcome addictions? And why do we insist on being right, even if we are presented with evidence to the contrary? DiSalvo points out that the theoretical mental structures our brains use to organize information, the so-called schemata, are responsible. A schema (singular form of schemata) is like a mental map of concepts which are connected by association. “Dog” for example, goes with “Barking” and “Pet.” As these schemata develop, the parameters for what information can be added tighten. This is especially true if this new information does not ‘fit’ the schema, the brain then reacts as if threatened. In order to overcome this paradox, DiSalvo argues, we should be more aware of our biased brain. “We need to accept that none of us has absolute truth and that we all see the world through our own imperfect lens, which is what allows us to engage in fruitful dialogue [...]”. 35
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