May 2, 2008 5:19

Wok the Vote

I’d like to address the question of Western bias, but not in the area of news or politics. I speak, instead, of the far more pressing issue of fine dining.
Last year, the editors of the so-called World’s 50 Best Restaurants list included just one Chinese restaurant in it (see my piqued post about it here, but you’ll have to scroll down almost to the end). It wasn’t even a proper Chinese restaurant—it was the heavily Westernized and rather silly Hakkasan in London’s West End.
This year, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list blanks not only China but the entire region—an affront that has left many Asian gourmands aghast. However, the Singaporean media consultant Aun Koh—who authors a well known food blog—has decided, quite sensibly, that there’s no point in Asians getting upset at being left out of Western lists when we can create our own instead. To that end, he’ll be launching the Miele Guide in October 2008. I can’t recall any previous publications that attempted to rank the region’s restaurants in a credible manner, so Mr. Koh could be onto something of a first.
The methodology involves submissions from Asian food critics and anonymous restaurant reviews, but the public also has a say. I draw your attention to the polls that will soon be held at mieleguide.com. This is a chance to vote for the best restaurants in China, Hong Kong and further afield, and if, like me, you feel that Western critics have been pronouncing pompously on Asian food for far too long, you’ll be eager to make use of it.

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May 2, 2008 1:20

Beijing and Dalai Lama Reps to Talk this Weekend?

Negotiations about where to hold the resumed talks between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama (or more accurately, talks about resuming the meetings that were held from 2002 until 2007 when Beijing canceled after the DL was awarded the Gold Medal by the U.S. Congress) have been going on in recent days with the aim of getting together for two or three days starting Saturday or Sunday. After the first talks we should have a slightly better idea if there have been any real changes in Beijing's attitude because of the events of March 14 which, whatever else you say about them, were a wake up call that the way the region has been administered in recent years was not working. On the evidence of the continuing arrests, imprisonments, ongoing unrest and the huge "patriotic education" campaign, there's little reason to suspect there will be any change in attitude. The patriotic education campaign is particularly odd. From a public order point of view it is logical enough from the point of view of officialdom to round up suspects and imprison ringleaders to prevent further trouble. But to try and use old fashioned Communist propaganda techniques of mass campaigns, self criticism and forced denunciation of the Dalai Lama seems totally counterproductive. When I was in Xinjiang (story here for background) I talked with Uighurs there who had to sit through up to six hours a week of such campaigns (though milder than that current being conducted in Tibet) and they unanimously said that having to mindlessly parrot the Party line on East Turkestan Independence, the March 14 troubles etc. etc caused those opposed to Chinese rule to become even more set against the Chinese administration and pushed those sitting on the fence in the same direction. Surely the same thing must be true in spades in Tibet, where (admittedly partisan but as we aren't allowed in to Tibet, its hard to confirm anything) reports by activists such as the International Campaign for Tibet (link here but those inside China will need a proxy) say that there have even been suicides by those traumatized by the desecration of the Dalai Lama's image. These old habits are rooted, I believe, in the fact that many of the officials now senior in the Tibet administration came of age during the Cultural Revolution and can't shake the mindset or the idea that highly aggressive campaigns and intimidation can win hearts and minds.

Clearly, though, the Chinese government's attitude to the Tibet issue--and the conclusions drawn after 3.14--are not monolithic. On the one hand there's the conciliatory tone of Premier Wen Jiabao in Laos at the beginning of April and the offer to hold talks. On the other there's patriotic reducation and the endless stream of denunciations like that in the China Daily saying today that the DL is "spewing lies" and other familiar calumnies. We'll have to wait and see who wins the argument.

Incidentally, both President Hu Jintao and the Dalai Lama made the 2008 list of Time's 100 most influential people in the world, published this week. Link here to see Henry Kissinger on Hu and Deepak Chopra on the DL.

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May 2, 2008 12:38

Inflation and Playing the French Card

A fresh perspective, as ever, from Access Asia and a timely reminder of the puzzle of why France was singled out rather than Britain or the U.S. Anyway, it's clear now that as expected a firm hold has been placed on protests by the government, as well as other nationalist activity, especially yesterday when protests in front of various Carrefours in China were fairly tame.

But inflation is still out there. We've heard the murmuring about hoarding in the last few days, too, particularly rice, and the concurrent worries it is already creating:

Thank Heavens for the French At least that's what the Communist Party is saying these days. China is united in its dislike of the French - surely a sign that China is now fully part of globalized populist public opinion. All this focus on the perfidious French is very handy - nationalism as a way of directing disgruntlement where you'd prefer it to go - i.e. away from you. Just prior to the outburst of anti-Frenchism, the government was seriously worrying about growing disaffection and social disharmony around the issue of food inflation and supply. Some have suggested, and we agree, that we might be getting close to people starting to hoard food - something we haven't seen since the price reforms just prior to Tiananmen Square in 1989. Then price rises and hoarding (usually by corrupt government officials) fed into the anger that erupted in June 89. TV, radio and the papers were, just prior to the anti-French campaign, all sternly announcing the official government line that everything was under control and the government would ensure food supplies of staples and enact measures to control prices - a sure sign that things weren't under control at all, and that the Party feared problems ahead. While they could and would subsidize basic food costs, they naturally feared that, at that point, hoarding could start on both a small (i.e. housewives) and large scale (i.e. organized Party officials with access to warehouses, etc). Nervousness at the top is bound to trickle down and exacerbate public concerns that have been building since late last year.

Then along came the French to the rescue and the government has been able to switch focus and channel anger and discontent towards Carrefour and Louis Vuitton - inflation has of course not gone away, but has taken a back seat in public discourse. A win for Party Center without a doubt, and at little or no cost. But food price inflation hasn't receded and will return and outlast any dislike of the French. We are in a critical period at the moment - one that could very easily escalate into the hoarding and worries of the late 1980s, which would be a serious dent in the Party's social harmony agenda and one that can't be so easily blamed on those currently useful French.

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