If there’s ever a doubt that the dollar carries more weight than the conscience, the global community’s good relations with China should put that doubt to rest.
This morning, as I read about the latest disgusting squeeze that the Chinese government is putting on their press (endangering lives as a bonus), I couldn’t help thinking about a former co-worker of mine named Hao Wu. I’ve been meaning to post about him for a while now.
Hao and I worked at the same company for a while, and worked together on a few projects. We weren’t close, but he seemed nice enough, bright enough, and he worked hard.
He ended up leaving, heading back home to China to make documentary films. He also became an active blogger.
I’ll link to his blog in a second, but let me point out that it stops on February 22nd. That’s because China’s State Security Bureau (official thugs of the regime) picked him up on that day and have kept him ever since.
The charge? Oh, they don’t bother with details like that. A lawyer? Well, they’ve reviewed the case and decided not to let him have one. Release date? Are you joking?
He’s apparently spoken with his family since he was picked up, but they say it’s clear that he can’t speak freely.
Which begs the question: can anyone speak freely in China? When you do speak freely, can you expect to be arrested and held, God knows where, for God knows how long?
Is he being tortured? Is he ever going home? Why doesn’t everyone hate the nasty, brutal dictatorship in China?
Long before I knew Hao, I took a very long train ride from Shanghai to the vast desert in the Chinese west. For hours, I killed time on the train chatting with students (and anyone else who spoke English). Across the board, though they recognized that China wasn’t free, they were satisfied with the pace that it was taking towards freedom. I’m not.
Hao’s blog (current until the day he was abducted by his own government)
UPDATE: Hao is on the front page of the July 3rd Wall Street Journal.
UPDATE AGAIN: He’s Free!
Yep, I’m baffled, too.
I like to think that at least the politicians aren’t 100% greedy and self-serving when they argue that trade opens barriers. As opposed to the businesses, which clearly are both.
You know, let’s keep trade without being nice to them.
Let’s say, “we’ll sell and buy, but not shake your hand. I’ll import your goods, but I won’t use kind words about you in my speeches.”
Mark Palmer wrote a book called (believe it or not), “Breaking the Real Axis of Evil.” The entire book is about how we can work towards ending tyranny and dictatorship. Sometimes he counsels war, and sometimes gentler diplomacy. One thing he says (though maybe not about China – I don’t have the book in front of me) is that dictators thirst for recognition.
He says not to give it to them. Why treat them nicely? In a social setting, treat them like the thugs they are. But yeah, ok, we’ll trade with them as well, in order to show the light to the Chinese people.
And if they say, “since you called me a thug, I won’t trade with you”? Then they’ll starve without world support. We’ll suffer some, too, though not as much as they will, but we’ll have right (and most of the planet) on our side.
Another point I might add is that the world turned against Taiwan in favor of China many years ago. What else can Taiwan do right in hopes of gaining an official place in the world? It doesn’t seem to matter much. Everyone’s afraid of offending China.
Being a bully has worked well for China on the micro and macro level.