Palaces and bridges for Africa, but at what cost   22 Feb 2009

Chinese President Hu Jintao’s charm offensive in Africa has been hailed a resounding success and it is easy to see why. In the past, China has responded to accusations that it is only interested in Africa’s resources by rejecting this notion outright and insisting they’re a true friend of Africa’s.  

Their association with resource-rich countries like Angola and the rogue regime in Sudan remains controversial. But this time, when some African leaders defended China by proclaiming that China wasn’t simply after Africa’s resources, the extent of China’s soft power over Africa became readily evident. Chinese leaders no longer need to defend their overtures if their African hosts are ready to do it for them with alacrity.  

Of course when someone is building bridges and sporting facilities in your cities, and coming up with all manner of aid and loan deals, it’s difficult not to see such initiatives as anything but friendly. This trip was cleverly timed to fill the perceived imminent gap as Africa’s traditional allies in the west retreat in the face of a worsening recession. In future, when Africans dare criticize China for anything, be it human rights abuses or perceived unfair trade practices, China can say, hang on guys, didn’t we stand by you when your western friends deserted you?  

The suggestion that the countries favoured with the presidential visit this month are not part of the traditionally resource-rich partners China has been courting ignores the fact that they are well-established producers of minerals like gold and iron ore. With all global currencies on a permanent roller-coaster ride today, gold’s traditional role as a store of value is reasserting itself, and the Chinese are well aware.  

Therefore we should treat with caution the claim that this trip isn’t about courting resource-rich African countries. There is no such thing as a free Chinese takeaway. China understands that African leaders are just as anxious to receive handouts of any type as they are to cede the national heirloom. In short, much as they would love to deny it, African leaders are generally seen as easily bought.  

It is an enduring characteristic that the west has exploited throughout Africa’s history, from the earliest days when chiefs were persuaded to sign off large swathes of their territory for cheap trinkets and cowrie shells, to the ludicrous deals they are constantly signing for everything from the provision of outdated technology to the financial scams Kenya is embroiled in. They never learn, and their citizens cannot hold them to account, because the rule of law is suspect and the judiciary is often implicated in selling the national treasures.  

I don’t blame the Chinese for looking after their own national interests - I expect nothing less from a responsible leadership – but I wonder whether African leaders who are the recipients of Chinese largess are scanning the small print and  driving a hard bargain as they pat themselves on the back and savour the glory of being China’s special friends while grinning smugly for the cameras. While Mali’s president Toure waits to step into a new presidential palace built by China, will he be asking too many questions as an army of Chinese workers and engineers descend in the country to build hospitals and bridges?  

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The Rohingya boat people issue won’t go away. These unfortunate stateless tribesmen that no one wants remain caught in a time warp, tossed about by an abhorrent Burmese junta, subject to abuse by an undiplomatic diplomat and made the object of a tug of war between the Thai prime minister who claims he can (but will he) punish errant militia who maltreated the boatpeople and a military colonel who insists he did nothing wrong.  

While media reports claim the Rohingya were set adrift on unpowered vessels to a certain death with the full knowledge of top military brass, Colonel Manat insists all he did was give them water and food. As far as he’s concerned, the media are fabricating these stories to smear Thailand and embarrass the Thai people.   

These accusations and counter-accusations are merely heightening tensions and until a full investigation is completed, there’ll be nothing but acrimony and nasty exchanges. So far, all we’re hearing from the officials are denials and claims that the Thai military would never maltreat these people because ‘Thai people have generosity and kindness’.  

Such platitudes divert attention and come no closer to shedding light on a saga which entered a sad yet farcical stage when the Burmese Consul to Hong Kong General Ye Myint Aung dismissed the Rohingya as ugly ogres. The fellow had the audacity to describe himself as handsome and a typical example of a Burmese ‘gentleman’. It’s not clear what school of diplomacy this fellow went to. Suffice it to say that his views smack of the arrogance and insensitive character of a regime that has absolutely no regard for human life.  

Interesting things happen in the name of culture and tradition. Last week, nothing beat the marriage of a toddler to a dog in India to ward off bad luck and the risk of a tiger attack. One can only hope that when he comes of age and tells people he was once married to a bitch, no one will think unkindly of him.

‘Look east’ becomes a refuge for African depots     15 Feb 2009 

The story that Mugabe’s daughter is studying at Hong Kong University might never have attracted any media attention had the strongman’s wife not got into a bit of a scuffle with a British photographer. The fellow says he was savagely beaten up by Grace Mugabe while her aides held him down.  

Strangely, although he said his face was streaming with blood because she was wearing diamond-encrusted rings, he only reported the matter to the police two days later, during which time the woman had quietly left Hong Kong. She obviously travels on a diplomatic passport, so the Hong Kong police were probably glad they didn’t have to do anything after all, although of course they would issue the standard reply: investigations are under way. 

It would have been interesting to see how they would have reacted, given the freedom Mugabe and his family enjoy in the east. Unlike many other Africans who only play economic lip service to the ‘look east’ policy, Mugabe and his henchmen find they have little choice.  

For rogue politicians warned not to attempt to land in Europe and north America, the east offers a welcome refuge. If you have money to spend, and don’t kick up too much of a fuss, Asia will welcome you. It’s called Asian pragmatism. Western reporters staking out Mugabe’s family claimed they were trying to draw a sharp contrast between the lifestyles of the first family and those of millions facing police brutality, starvation and cholera in a country that has gone to the dogs. While the government claims cholera has been contained, independent reports suggest they couldn’t be farther from the truth.  

When reporters started asking what these two were doing in Hong Kong, that was when it transpired that the young lady was studying under an assumed name. Using an alias was in itself a precautionary measure either for her own safety or because of the potential political fall-out. The revelations caused a bit of a stir but nothing like the hue and cry you would have expected if it had happened say in Europe, or Australia for that matter, where the children of Mugabe’s associates were recently expelled because of the crimes of their fathers. 

Hong Kong University issued a statement saying they believed in equality of opportunity, and that children shouldn’t be denied an education because of the politics of their parents. It’s a fair statement on one level. But, does it mean the iniquities of the world’s dictators will not be visited upon the children hiding away in Asia to the third and forth generation as we read in the book of Exodus?  

It has been an interesting debate. There are those who argue that the university is right to see, hear and speak no evil, and simply take the fees from any qualified applicant who comes along. Others suggest that Bona Mugabe isn’t just an innocent victim of political correctness, not because she has played no role in creating a privileged lifestyle for herself while the majority suffers under her despotic father’s rule, but because she is known to have actively campaigned her him.  

There are photographs of her on the internet on the campaign trail in a Vote Mugabe t-shirt, waving a clenched fist in the air. So, it is one thing to plead you’re an innocent beneficiary who didn’t ask to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth. It is quite another to campaign actively for your father knowing very well what his politics are doing to the country.  

Getting involved in politics comes with responsibility. This is why I was amused to read one commentator’s view that young people should be allowed to visit and study in ‘democracies’ so they’ll learn and not repeat the mistakes of their fathers. For starters, Hong Kong isn’t a democracy. Though you can vote in regional and functional constituencies for a Legco which is all bark and no bite, the top honcho is selected by a small circle committee of the rich and powerful.  

More importantly, this view seems to imply that you can wean dictators of their bad habits simply by sending them to the west to clean their minds, civilize them, so they return singing democracy, human rights and free market forces. It is of course doubtful whether the west is all that well-equipped to teach this mantra to the rest of the world. Secondly, many of the worst dictators that have surfaced in Africa and Asia spent years studying or training in military colleges in the west at some point in their career.     

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The trial Chen Shui-bian and family is becoming something of a media circus. So far, the wife, son, daughter-in-law and brother-in-law have all pleaded guilty to money-laundering. Mister Chen himself maintains his innocence, and claims that his wife was making illegal funds transfers without his knowledge. Could it be he was too busy running the country to take any interest in what those closest to him were doing? Was he aware and simply turned a blind eye or did the family take advantage of their privileged first family status to engage in corrupt practices knowing the president would protect them? The coming months are keenly anticipated as the trials get under way. There will be drama a-plenty.

Censor finds it hard to keep up with the internet     8 Feb 2009

If you want to post comments on blogs and websites in China, they had better be positive otherwise they are liable to be deleted and woe betide you if they track you down.

 Earlier in the week, someone posted comments urging readers not to forget the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The thought police are normally very efficient in trawling through the internet and expunging politically controversial postings. They have a sense of humour too. Messages that are ‘ironic’ don’t survive. You can’t play with words or try to sound clever. 

I’m reminded of South Africa during the apartheid era. A journalist friend told me they faced serious sanctions by leaving blank spaces to avoid mentioning banned topics and names of banned activists. It must have been the only place in the world where you could be fined or jailed for what you did not publish, for failing to exercise a twisted freedom of expression that was in fact denied.  

The Tiananmen posting survived a longer than normal spell, possibly because the usually hawk-eyed officials were on Chinese new year holiday. When the cat is away, the mice will play. But when the cat returns, hungry and spiteful, he pounces on the hapless mice with a new vengeance. With close to 300 million web users, there’s no shortage of jobs for computer-savvy individuals keen to pursue a career as internet police. 

The Falun Gung sect which was banned ten years ago have also re-emerged during this new year break with a new strategy, printing messages on bank notes. But it’s doubtful how effective it is as people who come into contact with the banknotes are afraid of being accused of belonging to the banned sect and facing the full wrath of the law. Those who try to return the notes to the banks find that the banks aren’t all that keen to replace them, arguing that there’s nothing wrong with the notes.  

Surprisingly, China Central TV did not fail to report on the incident in which someone hurled a shoe at the Prime Minister as he gave a speech in Cambridge. No doubt the man was inspired by the incident in December when an Iraqi hurled shoes at outgoing US president George Bush.  

In Iraq, throwing shoes at someone is a well-established sign of contempt. Given the strength of feeling surrounding America’s controversial involvement in Iraq, the media buzz surrounding the George Bush incident was always going to be phenomenal. Seizing a rare opportunity, shoe manufacturers who claimed they made the shoe couldn’t pass up on a chance to cash in.  

So far, the response to the Wen Jiabao shoe incident has been somewhat muted. Perhaps pro-Tibet demonstrators reckoned the incident couldn’t usefully be milked for political mileage. Still, the relatively mild response isn’t proof of any apathy toward China-related issues that the prime minister waded into on his trip to the UK, if the demonstrations that dogged him are anything to go by. Wen and Bush should count themselves lucky they’re only having to dodge worn leather shoes. 

Interestingly, CCTV didn’t actually show the man hurling the shoe. The cameras stayed on the Prime Minister. But whereas in the past they might have edited his response altogether so that viewers wouldn’t have any idea such a thing did happen, this time they showed his defiant response. 

It seems they’re finally realizing that they’re fighting a losing battle against the might of the internet, because these reports end up showing up on the internet sooner or later. Their approach, if the shoe missile is any guide, now seems to signal a departure from a complete news black out to a careful manipulation of the message. Comments that condemn the barbarians who acted disrespectfully toward the dear leader are left intact.  

Those that praise him or draw any favourable comparisons with the Bush shoe missile are immediately excised from the internet. By so doing, the political thought police succeed in neutralizing accusations that they are stifling freedom of speech and at the same time stoke vitriol against foreigners, a xenophobic strategy that has worked well in the past whenever the threat of internal dissent loomed.   

And now for some stories about that much desired commodity which some consider the root of all evil. The story of a Japanese business executive who buried his life savings in his backyard is an interesting statement on the dormant Japanese economy, especially its banking sector. For decades, this obviously educated fellow who once served as a corporate board member burrowed his money away in his garden because he wasn’t moved by the low interest rates paid in the bank. The last time he checked, he had about $4 million. Unfortunately, someone exhumed his money and two months later, he died. He was in his eighties. A connection between the two events can’t be ruled out.  

And as for that 99-year old Chinese man in Beijing who is being charged with swindling an American of more than $100,000 claiming he could help release funds frozen in 1949, I can only say, I don’t condone crime, but if you’re going to be swindled by a man who’s almost a hundred years old, you should shut up in shame and let him keep it.

Captain Haddock and the Eastern Fleet         1 Feb 2009

It is rare to see events in Africa impacting so profoundly on constitutional policies anywhere in the world, and more so in Asia.  

But having watched the war against terror from the sidelines for so long, it seems both the Chinese and Japanese are anxious to flex some muscle on the world stage. But what a stage it is. It’s a far cry from the treacherous desert and mountain terrain of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. 

We’re talking seas that are typically so calm and serene under azure skies you would think you were holiday-bound, except for the seemingly irritating presence of bare-footed, miraa-chewing, swashbuckling, gun-totting, untrained, sea bandits, clambering up your deck demanding money, fuel and shoes.  

The mighty armies of the two most powerful nations in the east have studied this major twenty first century challenge and decided here’s a chance, at last, to prove they too are a force to reckon with. It’s a reincarnation of the Eastern Fleet warships led by the British Royal Navy in World War II. 

For Japan, this decision marks a major departure from the post world war constitution which severely restricts military activity except for peace keeping. Technically, Japan isn’t going to war against pirates. They will, presumably, be protecting ships in the Gulf of Aden and threatening pirates with fire and brimstone.  

The brave warriors will eventually go back home and boast about having seen action ‘in Africa’. They’ll be welcomed with bouquets and feted like heroes. If it sounds too much like Captain Haddock and the adventures of Tintin, it’s probably because the exaggerated heroism of modern armies scaring wild-eyed, hungry-looking pirates away is just as comical. 

Take the case of Captain Peng Weiyuan whose crew saw off a pirate attack in December and have returned to China as national heroes. Armed with little more than petrol bombs made from beer bottles, the brave crew locked themselves up in a cabin and waited for the Somalis who were armed to the teeth to wear themselves out.  

The pirates only left after they were palmed off with shoes. These guys were armed with assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but they didn’t have shoes. They couldn’t get money from the Chinese, so they settled for shoes, and fled, when they heard that a warship was on the way. The captain is reportedly ready to retire in glory.  

The Somali pirate threat is not to be trifled with. These guys mean business, but it seems bizarre that such a relatively minor phenomenon should prove so difficult to contain, especially by those countries closest to the action, that it should require a multinational force more suited to a world war. 

It’s just a bunch of pirates for goodness’ sake, it’s not exactly up there with Al-Qaeda and suicide bombers. If the German, British, US, French, Korean, and now Chinese and Japanese ships ‘protecting’ these waters aren’t up to the task, it’s time to call in the humorous crew of Tintin, Captain Haddock and good old Snowy to the rescue.  

My one and only visit to Somalia was two decades ago. There I found the city of Mogadishu steeped in trade, a city as vibrant as Ibn Battuta found it six hundred years ago. The Somalis of that era now lost in the mists of history were an enterprising lot, and the city was a veritable metropolis and regional centre for commerce. It is yet another tale of an ancient civilization unable to rise from the ashes of squandered glory.  

What has happened there in modern times is just tragic. The piracy is symptomatic of what is wrong with large swathes of Africa, from Zimbabwe to Sudan and Somalia, where deep-seated problems fester for years while the world watches, and countries only take action when their interests are threatened or when the problems morph into that unspeakable abomination, terrorism.

Tuyo is a common meal in the Philippines. It’s dried, salted fish generally consumed with sinangag, garlic fried rice and a fried egg. It’s delicious, and, not surprisingly, cheap and very popular. It’s one of those dishes that the Filipino will go to great lengths to savour, no matter where they live in the world, if they can find it. It’s a bit like nyama choma for Kenyans.  

The only problem is, like most other fried, salted dried fish, this tuyo comes with an incredibly strong smell that lingers in the air long after the meal is gone. This can be a challenge for those whose haven’t quite acquired the taste. In New York, a Filipino family have been taken to court because neighbours can no longer stand the smell of their cherished tuyo. Some claim the smell is like that of rotting meat, or even a dead body.  

It reminds you of stories one hears in Hong Kong about prospective Indian tenants being turned away because of the smell of their curries. Ironically, those refusing to have such tenants are actually rather partial to curry. They simply don’t want it in their building. 

With the world now a truly global village, the clash of cultures and, increasingly, exposure to supposedly exotic foods, it is sad and ironic that unfamiliarity continues to breed so much contempt and intolerance.