Right after art collector and connoisseur Cai Mingchao announced to the world that he was the successful bidder of the bronze heads of a rat and rabbit, China praised him, with newspaper headlines saying "Patriotic bidder thwarts relics sale".
The government went on to warn Christie's that there would be trouble if the auction house was caught with any Chinese relics in its possession in China.
And a former foreign minister jumped into the fray, saying the auction of the two "stolen relics" would not bring any glory "to the homeland of the auctioneer."
"No matter which country one is from and what he does, he needs to consider not hurting his country's reputation," Li Zhaoxing said earlier this week.
But now in the latest twist of this ongoing saga, China now says it denies being involved in any way in the bidding for the two bronze heads.
"The bidding was completely a personal behaviour," Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage told Xinhua.
Shan said the cultural department had no idea that Cai was bidding until he revealed himself on Monday.
It's interesting to see the government distancing itself from Cai... does it now realize what he did was a major loss of face for the country, or that it was a failed attempt to whip up frenzied nationalism to distract people from their economic woes?
It looks more and more like the bronze animal heads will be returned to Pierre Berge who will probably relish having them back in his possession, as he did with the unsold rare Picasso.
Seems that people are much more focused on China's economy and their own wallets to worry about items that were looted over 150 years ago in the imperialist era.
Hopefully this will be the end of the publicity stunt to try to get "stolen cultural relics" back for free.
Everything has a price.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Grandpa Wen's Amazing Talent
Premier Wen Jiabao delivered his 2008 work report to the National People's Congress this morning just after 9am.
After he bowed to the NPC deputies and members of the State Council, Wen began reading his 35-page report that everyone else was following word-for-word in booklets in the Great Hall of the People with a giant red star in the centre of the ceiling.
He warned this year would be the most difficult for China in the new millennium, and pledged that the government would do its best to stimulate the economy, continue steady and rapid development and maintain stability.
Wen believe that the country would be able to reach 8 percent growth in 2009 despite the global financial crisis and he outlined a series of stimulus plans:
- Some 908 billion yuan will be spent on low-income housing, education, health care, energy conservation, environmental protection, technological innovation and earthquake reconstruction.
- The government will allocate 293 billion yuan to fund social welfare projects, such as pensions, medical insurance, unemployment insurance and allowances for low-income groups.
- A bit more detail was revealed on the long-awaited health care plans, where governments at all levels will contribute 850 billion yuan in the next three years, with the central government kicking in 331.8 billion. There will be more regulation of health care costs, particularly medication, and more medical clinics built.
- And to stimulate employment, the government will put in 42 billion yuan into small-and medium-sized enterprises, as well as labour-intensive and services sectors.
- Agriculture will also receive a big boost with 716.1 billion yuan to maintain steady development and increase farmers' incomes. It's probably a relief to those who have been suffering a painful drought this year.
While the numbers are mind-boggling, and economists will be number crunching to see if the money is enough or doable, there are other pressing concerns.
Wen spoke for just over two hours non-stop -- how does he do that?
My colleague told me that last weekend when Wen participated in an online webchat with Internet users, he didn't stop talking for two hours either.
Those posting messages would ask him periodically, "Premier, please drink some water!"
Their pleas went unheeded as he continued "chatting".
And now "Premier, please drink some water!" has become a new online catchphrase.
But really, how does he do it?
After he bowed to the NPC deputies and members of the State Council, Wen began reading his 35-page report that everyone else was following word-for-word in booklets in the Great Hall of the People with a giant red star in the centre of the ceiling.
He warned this year would be the most difficult for China in the new millennium, and pledged that the government would do its best to stimulate the economy, continue steady and rapid development and maintain stability.
Wen believe that the country would be able to reach 8 percent growth in 2009 despite the global financial crisis and he outlined a series of stimulus plans:
- Some 908 billion yuan will be spent on low-income housing, education, health care, energy conservation, environmental protection, technological innovation and earthquake reconstruction.
- The government will allocate 293 billion yuan to fund social welfare projects, such as pensions, medical insurance, unemployment insurance and allowances for low-income groups.
- A bit more detail was revealed on the long-awaited health care plans, where governments at all levels will contribute 850 billion yuan in the next three years, with the central government kicking in 331.8 billion. There will be more regulation of health care costs, particularly medication, and more medical clinics built.
- And to stimulate employment, the government will put in 42 billion yuan into small-and medium-sized enterprises, as well as labour-intensive and services sectors.
- Agriculture will also receive a big boost with 716.1 billion yuan to maintain steady development and increase farmers' incomes. It's probably a relief to those who have been suffering a painful drought this year.
While the numbers are mind-boggling, and economists will be number crunching to see if the money is enough or doable, there are other pressing concerns.
Wen spoke for just over two hours non-stop -- how does he do that?
My colleague told me that last weekend when Wen participated in an online webchat with Internet users, he didn't stop talking for two hours either.
Those posting messages would ask him periodically, "Premier, please drink some water!"
Their pleas went unheeded as he continued "chatting".
And now "Premier, please drink some water!" has become a new online catchphrase.
But really, how does he do it?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Painful Reality
The National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) are sitting these few days to figure out how to get the country out of the economic doldrums.
The biggest headache is unemployment and many ideas have been batted around.
There's a government policy to open more spaces for undergraduates to study graduate programs in order to avoid the unemployment crunch, but really that's just delaying the inevitable for another two to three years.
One NPC Deputy, Zhang Xiaomei who is also apparently a well-known businesswoman in China's beauty industry, has proposed a 4.5 day workweek to help employ more people and also help workers have a better quality of life.
She reasons that in the course of a work day, 2.4 hours are wasted and a shorter work schedule would encourage people to work more efficiently.
However, it if entails smaller salaries, some people might not like the idea, whereas others think half a day off doesn't really help that much.
Why is the government looking at bandaid solutions when the crux of the matter is consolidation?
Now is the best time for the country to make some real, definitive reforms to stay afloat. But they would have to be radical, free market changes.
For example, China has 80 car manufacturers. Yes, that's right: 80.
Does the country really need all of them? The United States has the Big 3 and some Japanese carmakers like Honda and Toyota. That's it.
And the Chinese car companies are partially state-owned , with the heads running these firms as if they were their own personal fiefdoms thanks to guanxi.
If the market were less government controlled, then these automakers would have to sink or swim, thus quickly consolidating them into one-third or even one-quarter the total. From there, these mergers and acquisitions can pool together their collective brain power and start creating innovative designs and environmentally-friendly cars.
The same goes for food production, steel, energy, textiles... the list goes on and on.
China should really stop coddling its industries and let them stand on their own.
That's the only way they'll know how good their brands are compared to the rest of the world, and how they are going to improve their quality and competitiveness that would make Chinese people proud to buy domestic instead of imported.
But no, in these anxious economic times, the government would rather have stability over painful reforms.
And as a result, it has given rebates, cut taxes, handed out coupons, ordered companies to retain staff even if they financially can't, and made universities open more classes for unemployed fresh graduates.
In the short term, the numbers will make China's economy look good, but in fact, it will become even more bloated than it already is.
And eventually, it won't be able to take it anymore and perhaps will implode.
Is that worse, or cutting the apron strings worse?
The biggest headache is unemployment and many ideas have been batted around.
There's a government policy to open more spaces for undergraduates to study graduate programs in order to avoid the unemployment crunch, but really that's just delaying the inevitable for another two to three years.
One NPC Deputy, Zhang Xiaomei who is also apparently a well-known businesswoman in China's beauty industry, has proposed a 4.5 day workweek to help employ more people and also help workers have a better quality of life.
She reasons that in the course of a work day, 2.4 hours are wasted and a shorter work schedule would encourage people to work more efficiently.
However, it if entails smaller salaries, some people might not like the idea, whereas others think half a day off doesn't really help that much.
Why is the government looking at bandaid solutions when the crux of the matter is consolidation?
Now is the best time for the country to make some real, definitive reforms to stay afloat. But they would have to be radical, free market changes.
For example, China has 80 car manufacturers. Yes, that's right: 80.
Does the country really need all of them? The United States has the Big 3 and some Japanese carmakers like Honda and Toyota. That's it.
And the Chinese car companies are partially state-owned , with the heads running these firms as if they were their own personal fiefdoms thanks to guanxi.
If the market were less government controlled, then these automakers would have to sink or swim, thus quickly consolidating them into one-third or even one-quarter the total. From there, these mergers and acquisitions can pool together their collective brain power and start creating innovative designs and environmentally-friendly cars.
The same goes for food production, steel, energy, textiles... the list goes on and on.
China should really stop coddling its industries and let them stand on their own.
That's the only way they'll know how good their brands are compared to the rest of the world, and how they are going to improve their quality and competitiveness that would make Chinese people proud to buy domestic instead of imported.
But no, in these anxious economic times, the government would rather have stability over painful reforms.
And as a result, it has given rebates, cut taxes, handed out coupons, ordered companies to retain staff even if they financially can't, and made universities open more classes for unemployed fresh graduates.
In the short term, the numbers will make China's economy look good, but in fact, it will become even more bloated than it already is.
And eventually, it won't be able to take it anymore and perhaps will implode.
Is that worse, or cutting the apron strings worse?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A Sign of Things to Come
Today I went to see some colleagues who work on another floor and then spied one of the women wearing a smock.
In China, it's the sure sign she's pregnant.
She confirmed she was due in mid August.
How did you know? she asked.
"Because you're wearing one of these things!" I exclaimed, pointing to her navy blue smock that's sleeveless and with pleats at the chest to create more room for her soon-to-be bulging tummy.
She explained that pregnant women wear these anti-radiation aprons especially when doing office work. "It helps to cut down on the amount of radiation exposure we get from the computer and cellphone," she said. "The manufacturer says it cuts it by 30 percent."
I asked her if she knew for sure this piece of clothing would really help, but she shrugged and said, well it's to protect the baby.
Then I retorted we should all be wearing these anti-radiation outfits. I also added I'd never seen any pregnant woman with these smocks on. You'd think North America would be leading the way in anti-radiation to protect unborn fetuses... or is this something the Chinese know and we don't?
Months ago I saw another female coworker, in her mid 20s wearing a smock too while she was working in front of the computer.
"You aren't pregnant, are you?" I demanded.
She affirmed she was not, but said she wore the apron to protect herself from the computer radiation.
However, the slim, trendy young woman only wore it a few times and since then I haven't seen her wear it.
In China, it's the sure sign she's pregnant.
She confirmed she was due in mid August.
How did you know? she asked.
"Because you're wearing one of these things!" I exclaimed, pointing to her navy blue smock that's sleeveless and with pleats at the chest to create more room for her soon-to-be bulging tummy.
She explained that pregnant women wear these anti-radiation aprons especially when doing office work. "It helps to cut down on the amount of radiation exposure we get from the computer and cellphone," she said. "The manufacturer says it cuts it by 30 percent."
I asked her if she knew for sure this piece of clothing would really help, but she shrugged and said, well it's to protect the baby.
Then I retorted we should all be wearing these anti-radiation outfits. I also added I'd never seen any pregnant woman with these smocks on. You'd think North America would be leading the way in anti-radiation to protect unborn fetuses... or is this something the Chinese know and we don't?
Months ago I saw another female coworker, in her mid 20s wearing a smock too while she was working in front of the computer.
"You aren't pregnant, are you?" I demanded.
She affirmed she was not, but said she wore the apron to protect herself from the computer radiation.
However, the slim, trendy young woman only wore it a few times and since then I haven't seen her wear it.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Good Effort, But is it Enough?
The National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress are starting this week.
And one of their major achievements so far is passing the food safety law earlier this weekend. It finally answers concerns of the public especially after last year's tainted milk scandal, but there are still many loopholes.
Five years in the making, the law encompasses a number of aspects of food quality and supervision over China's 450,000 food producers.
One of the key elements of the new law is that no additives are allowed to be added to food unless proven both necessary and safe.
But how can government departments make sure every container of milk is melamine free without objectively testing it themselves or inspecting the factories and milk collection points everyday?
While a company could prove that a certain additive is necessary, the food producer could substitute it with something else in the actual production process.
It's a huge challenge to watch, especially when of the 450,000 companies that produce food products, 350,000 of them are small ones with 10 or less employees.
The new law also says if offenders know they are selling sub-standard food, they have to compensate the consumer 10 times the price of the product. So if something costs 5 RMB... and someone gets really sick, they'll only get 50RMB back? That hardly covers the cost of seeing the doctor, let alone the medicine.
A State-level food safety commission will also be set up to avoid a bog down in bureaucracy, as currently some 10 government departments are involved in food safety, causing lax supervision or lack of consensus on issues.
Finally, the law stipulates that celebrities will be held legally responsible for the food products they endorse.
They must shoulder "joint liability", which means if the food product is considered unsafe, consumers will have the right to demand compensation from the company and the celebrity involved.
Looks like no singers, actors or athletes are going to endorse any food products from now on. Who wants to shoulder such a heavy responsibility?
How were the stars who did advertising for Sanlu to know that melamine was added to the milk?
There goes that lucrative contract.
In the meantime, this will make it more difficult for food producers to promote their products.
Gone are the days of making a fast buck in the food industry.
In the Name of Patriotism
Today it's been revealed the successful bidder of the two animal bronze heads, a rat and a rabbit, won't pay up.
Cai Mingzhao said he made the more than $35 million total bid to protest the sale of the looted items.
''What I need to stress is that this money cannot be paid,'' Cai told a news conference in Beijing. ''At the time, I was thinking that any Chinese would do this if they could ... I only did what I was obliged to.''
What?
Cai is an art collector, expert on relics and owner of Xiamen Harmony Art International Auction Company in Fujian Province.
He is also adviser to the Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Program, a nongovernmental group that seeks to retrieve looted items.
So if he or the group will not pay, what happens next?
According to Christie's, usually the buyer and the seller are encouraged to come up with some kind of settlement. But if nothing is resolved, the unsold items go back to the buyer, in this case Pierre Berge.
The Frenchman had taunted the Chinese earlier by saying that he would only give the heads back if it would "observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama."
Doesn't sound like an amicable agreement will be reached.
This also brings up the issue of how Cai was able to bid in the first place, as the auction house asks all potential bidders to disclose bank and credit information as part of the registration process.
“You can’t just call up and say, ‘I want to buy a $20 million Picasso,’ ” Kate Malin, spokesperson for Christie's said. “You have to provide satisfactory credit and bank information.”
This unexpected twist to the story must be even more embarassing for the Chinese.
How can the country say they don't have the money to pay?
While Cai might have thought what he did was a patriotic act, it was just a publicity stunt that gives serious Chinese art collectors and buyers a bad name.
Cai Mingzhao said he made the more than $35 million total bid to protest the sale of the looted items.
''What I need to stress is that this money cannot be paid,'' Cai told a news conference in Beijing. ''At the time, I was thinking that any Chinese would do this if they could ... I only did what I was obliged to.''
What?
Cai is an art collector, expert on relics and owner of Xiamen Harmony Art International Auction Company in Fujian Province.
He is also adviser to the Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Program, a nongovernmental group that seeks to retrieve looted items.
So if he or the group will not pay, what happens next?
According to Christie's, usually the buyer and the seller are encouraged to come up with some kind of settlement. But if nothing is resolved, the unsold items go back to the buyer, in this case Pierre Berge.
The Frenchman had taunted the Chinese earlier by saying that he would only give the heads back if it would "observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama."
Doesn't sound like an amicable agreement will be reached.
This also brings up the issue of how Cai was able to bid in the first place, as the auction house asks all potential bidders to disclose bank and credit information as part of the registration process.
“You can’t just call up and say, ‘I want to buy a $20 million Picasso,’ ” Kate Malin, spokesperson for Christie's said. “You have to provide satisfactory credit and bank information.”
This unexpected twist to the story must be even more embarassing for the Chinese.
How can the country say they don't have the money to pay?
While Cai might have thought what he did was a patriotic act, it was just a publicity stunt that gives serious Chinese art collectors and buyers a bad name.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
A Taste of the West
I have an American friend who constantly raves about Xinjiang food. He also raves about the place too which he visited in 2007.
So I took him and a couple visiting Beijing to a Xinjiang restaurant that's in the west side of town.
Every province and region has its own representative office in Beijing, and in these compounds or at least nearby are pretty authentic restaurants from those areas.
I'd been to this restaurant back in November when some friends drove me there so I was a bit worried about finding it again.
However, after getting off at Chegongzhuang on Line 2, we took the 701 bus westwards three stops and there was Sanlihelu, just the street we were looking for. And on the north west corner was the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region compound with a brass plate in Chinese and Arabic.
We wandered inside where there's a Xinjiang Hotel, the government offices, and a restaurant on the second floor.
I had tried to make a reservation for four, but the girl at the other end said they didn't take reservations for small parties, but if I didn't want to wait, I'd had to come before 6pm. We arrived around 5:30 and were seated right away, with more than half the restaurant already full.
By 6pm the place was packed and hungry diners were already waiting for a table.
The last time I was here, we had two large tables and ordered a whole roasted lamb. It came out, head included with a red bow on its head too. We ate so many different dishes, all of which I can't remember, except for eating lamb meat non-stop.
This time, however, we probably ate just as much with four.
We started off with baozi, or buns filled with bits of lamb and vegetable, a bowl of slightly sweetened yogurt sprinkled with sesame and pumpkin seeds.
Then we had a giant plate of braised chicken that was cooked in a spicy red sauce complete with the chillis and potatoes, with slices of naan bread underneath soaking up the sauce.
We also ordered roasted lamb legs which were delicious, seasoned with cumin and paprika. We grabbed the legs like Fred Flintstone, chewing on the large bones.
But that wasn't the only lamb we had -- we also had chuar, or kebabs, that were actually roasted on tree branches. Again very tasty, thick cubes of meat, with bits of fat in between for flavour.
Another good dish was stir-fried noodles, which were actually bits of cut dough, about 1cm long, stirfried with finely diced peppers, kale, tomatoes, Chinese celery and small bits of lamb. We also had a plate of naan, flat bread covered in sesame seeds.
Our only vegetable dish was stir-fried young kale with muyi, or wood ear fungus.
At first we were worried about not being able to finish everything, but eventually, with swigs of Shinjiang (Xinjiang) beer, we practically finished everything, save for most of the naan.
But that wasn't all -- we even managed to find room in our stomachs to try a dessert of red bean paste wrapped with pastry, that wasn't too sweet, and had crushed walnuts in the mix.
In the end our bill came to 239 RMB ($35) for four. And when we walked out of the large dining area, there were many people standing around the entrance, waiting to get their hands (and mouths) on some pretty authentic Xinjiang food.
Yisila Restaurant
No. 7 Sanlihe Road
Haidian District
Beijing
8683 2666
8617 5588
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