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| © The Guardian 2013 |
We live in strange and really entertaining times. Everything seems to be turned upside down. Friends suddenly becoming not so friendly. Shifting power relations between whole continents and nations.
Starting with the sudden appearance of the former NSA consultant Edward Snowden. Evidently, he's had enough of spying for the NSA, CIA or FBI and decided to tell the world about it, vividly describing the totalitarian scope of spying activities in the US, Great Britain, France, Germany (and maybe elsewhere) by NSA and other spooks.
Firstly, he popped up in a Hong Kong hotel claiming to be in possession of extremely sensible data. Then a freelancer for The Guardian and a film team entered the scene helping him to reach his intended audience (governments and citizens all over the world).
A few days later, Mr Snowden popped up at the International Airport Sheremetyevo in Moscow again, desperately trying to find a state willing to shelter him from all-American rage. He is still stuck in Mr Putin's empire (who really wants to be dependent on his mercy?).
A few days later, Mr Snowden popped up at the International Airport Sheremetyevo in Moscow again, desperately trying to find a state willing to shelter him from all-American rage. He is still stuck in Mr Putin's empire (who really wants to be dependent on his mercy?).
A new phase in a global power play has begun and it's not finished yet as governments around the world are so afraid of the US that only a tiny minority of Latin American presidents had the courage to say 'No!' to Mr Obama and his spying agencies.
As far as I know, Mr Snowden is still trying to find a safe passage out of Russia to one of the countries that promised to give him shelter (namely Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia).
As far as I know, Mr Snowden is still trying to find a safe passage out of Russia to one of the countries that promised to give him shelter (namely Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia).
Now, let's talk about the PR China.
Time and again in the last three decades, I had to read in Western newspapers, magazines or academic articles that the PR China is bad. Really bad.
A totalitarian (or authoritarian, at least) state. A state that is suppressing its own citizens and especially its own whistleblowers (the courageous people called 'dissidents' in Western media outlets) without mercy. A state and a society that is infected by endemic corruption and official as well as private greediness.
A country that is ruled by the iron fist of an anachronistic Communist Party, a shadowy and powerful People's Liberation Army, a secretive security apparatus and a corrupt court system that all work together to deny Chinese citizens basic human rights, such as the right to voice their anger and desperation publicly, the right to vote and the right to establish political parties or independent labour associations outside the system.
Striking hard against 'normal' criminals, but also against real and imagined political adversaries, such as desperate petitioners seeking justice denied to them in the local court system, outspoken opponents of the policies of the CCP or the ruling elites in general.
A totalitarian (or authoritarian, at least) state. A state that is suppressing its own citizens and especially its own whistleblowers (the courageous people called 'dissidents' in Western media outlets) without mercy. A state and a society that is infected by endemic corruption and official as well as private greediness.
A country that is ruled by the iron fist of an anachronistic Communist Party, a shadowy and powerful People's Liberation Army, a secretive security apparatus and a corrupt court system that all work together to deny Chinese citizens basic human rights, such as the right to voice their anger and desperation publicly, the right to vote and the right to establish political parties or independent labour associations outside the system.
Striking hard against 'normal' criminals, but also against real and imagined political adversaries, such as desperate petitioners seeking justice denied to them in the local court system, outspoken opponents of the policies of the CCP or the ruling elites in general.
But the PR China is also a country - in my view, at least - where a distinct version of socialism with capitalist characteristics (nowadays, rather the other way round) was established after the demise of radical Maoist policies and the return to the global centre stage.
China's leaders didn't envision a 'big bang' to an alternative modernity, but tried to slowly transform a largely agrarian and very poor country into a more modern, prosperous and powerful nation-state.
A state where new markets blossomed after Deng Xiaoping decided to lead China into a new era following the death of the 'Great Helmsman' and the defeat of the infamous 'Gang of Four'. In the 1980s, the Central government still favoured a hybrid economic system to gradually transform a socialist country into a more advanced version of itself.
China's leaders didn't envision a 'big bang' to an alternative modernity, but tried to slowly transform a largely agrarian and very poor country into a more modern, prosperous and powerful nation-state.
A state where new markets blossomed after Deng Xiaoping decided to lead China into a new era following the death of the 'Great Helmsman' and the defeat of the infamous 'Gang of Four'. In the 1980s, the Central government still favoured a hybrid economic system to gradually transform a socialist country into a more advanced version of itself.
Nowadays, the PR China is an economic powerhouse where goods (or copies of everything precious and held dear in Western societies at different times in modern history) are produced in enormous quantities for export markets around the globe. But the famous Pearl River Delta or the Yangzi Delta in the East and South are not the preferred destinations of international corporations any more.
Due to steadily rising labour costs, new labour laws and the gradual phasing-out of generous preferential policies for global players, the caravan of international profit-seekers is moving slowly further inland where labour costs are still low and local governments still eager to attract Taiwanese, American or European capitalists.
The central government in Beijing tries to gradually replace dirty export-oriented light industries with capital-intensive, cleaner and more sophisticated industries in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
Due to steadily rising labour costs, new labour laws and the gradual phasing-out of generous preferential policies for global players, the caravan of international profit-seekers is moving slowly further inland where labour costs are still low and local governments still eager to attract Taiwanese, American or European capitalists.
The central government in Beijing tries to gradually replace dirty export-oriented light industries with capital-intensive, cleaner and more sophisticated industries in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
But the PR China is also a country with an enormous military apparatus. The People's Liberation Army has incredible manpower by now, and also owns the latest technical gadgets, fighters, ships, planes, helicopters, missiles and what not.
The cyber warriors of the Chinese government are responsible for large-scale hacking attacks. The 'Dark Guests' (hei ke, in Chinese), as these cyber warriors are commonly called, wage a war that few adversaries can counter. The different spy agencies of the Chinese army as well as other state spooks in the PR China use sophisticated cyber weapons to shut down foreign servers, spy on new technologies or hack into government web sites.
The cyber warriors of the Chinese government are responsible for large-scale hacking attacks. The 'Dark Guests' (hei ke, in Chinese), as these cyber warriors are commonly called, wage a war that few adversaries can counter. The different spy agencies of the Chinese army as well as other state spooks in the PR China use sophisticated cyber weapons to shut down foreign servers, spy on new technologies or hack into government web sites.
The Chinese leadership made sure that their spooks were provided with all the necessary tools, gadgets, software and hardware spooks of every denomination and nationality need to do their job efficiently and successfully. Yeah, spies spy - that's their job. No surprise there. With every means at their disposal. Violently or not so violently.
Everywhere in the world. Waging full-fledged war on real or imagined adversaries has indeed become a lot easier (e.g., drones), less time-consuming and comfortable (you don't have to see all the collateral damages, such as bloody remains of small children and decapitated foes) in these times.
Everywhere in the world. Waging full-fledged war on real or imagined adversaries has indeed become a lot easier (e.g., drones), less time-consuming and comfortable (you don't have to see all the collateral damages, such as bloody remains of small children and decapitated foes) in these times.
After the public release of incriminating data by ex-NSA and CIA consultant Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, nobody can deny the totalitarian tendencies of all (big) global spy agencies (be it the American NSA and CIA, the British GCHQ or other paranoid spooks) any more. And I immediately had the strong urge to cry out loud: No more China bashing from European or American politicians and governments, old or new media or so-called experts! Welcome to the 21st century!
From now on, no politician or government based in the 'free' West has the right to accuse other sovereign states such as the PR China of their (many, in the case of China, I am the first to concur) shortcomings or ideological preferences.
From now on, no politician or government based in the 'free' West has the right to accuse other sovereign states such as the PR China of their (many, in the case of China, I am the first to concur) shortcomings or ideological preferences.
The courage and very old-fashioned belief in values such as freedom of speech, democracy or solidarity of a single American citizen (denounced as a traitor by most Western politicians) has to produce a seismic shift in perceptions of the old world order, international relations and excessive data mining by states, governments or international corporations.
A shift that must be recognized by all governments and also by the citizens of every single nation, for what it is: A not so brave New World. A new world order that came into being much earlier than dumb (or naive) people governed by arrogant, ignorant or just greedy leaders would have thought. Hey, this is the last wake up-call, citizens of the world!
A shift that must be recognized by all governments and also by the citizens of every single nation, for what it is: A not so brave New World. A new world order that came into being much earlier than dumb (or naive) people governed by arrogant, ignorant or just greedy leaders would have thought. Hey, this is the last wake up-call, citizens of the world!
And, by the way, I surely won't suppress my own anger and fury:
Shame on you, Germany (for violating the constitutional rights of your citizens since the end of WWII), shame on you, European Union (for not even trying to give Mr Snowden a chance out of fear the US would retaliate and cancel this or that treaty) and shame on every single state in the EU that forced the plane of the Bolivian president, Mr Evo Morales, to stay put at Austria's Capital Airport because the Big Brothers in Washington were suspecting Mr Snowden might be hidden in the plane.
Thank you, Mr Snowden, for your courage!
If the dust has settled in a few weeks, as it surely will, one important insight will be left: We are all governed by political elites that have no scruples to spy on us or even to betray us to others.
Interview of Edward Snowden in Hong Kong,
Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras for The Guardian
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