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China invokes spirit of humble soldier in effort to improve social harmony (The Guardian)
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China invokes spirit of humble soldier in effort to improve social harmony (The Guardian)Lei Feng, who apparently wrote diaries praising Mao, is promoted by officials as paragon of selfless socialism Tania Branigan in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 March 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/04/china-humble-soldier-social-harmony When China's most powerful men gathered for the start of its formal power shift last November, six names merited a mention in the outgoing leader Hu Jintao's work report. Five were obvious choices, identified by their philosophical legacies and contributions to the Communist party: Marx, Lenin, Mao and Hu's predecessors Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. The sixth was a man unknown before his untimely death and celebrated not for leading the way but obediently following: Lei Feng. The humble soldier and Mao-era icon popped up again just before Tuesday's opening of the National People's Congress, which will complete the leadership transition. On Friday the ideological chief Liu Yunshan urged people to learn from Lei's example, strengthening their love for party and country and helping to build "the socialist core value system". Tuesday is the annual Learn from Lei Feng day and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first such campaign. Propaganda chiefs said his inspirational diary was discovered after his accidental death at 21, though others are sceptical about its veracity. Through its dissemination, he began an afterlife as the epitome of selflessness, socialist spirit and devotion to Mao. Children and adults across the country were urged to emulate his deeds, such as sharing meagre savings with the needy or gathering dung to use as fertiliser. Since then he has been used by authorities with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Tao Dongfeng, professor in cultural studies at Beijing Normal University, said his latest resurgence reflected growing concern about disintegrating social bonds. In the work report, he was hailed in a new section on improving civic morality. "From the top to the bottom of society, we all feel morality has declined," said Tao, citing the public despair last year when a video showed passers by ignoring a two-year-old who had been crushed by a truck. "They hope to change the situation through Lei Feng." The senior engineer who died after watching the jet fighter he had developed land safely on an aircraft carrier was "in step with Lei Feng" in his devotion to duty. A policeman believed to have drowned this week while attempting to save a tourist's life was described as a modern Lei Feng for his altruism. In recent months Lei has been invoked in schools across the country and has gazed down on Guangzhou's glitziest shopping street from an electronic billboard. Over the years there have been Lei Feng video games and (without official endorsement) even condoms. These days he is glossed by state media as a depoliticised Good Samaritan. But Tao pointed out that the first campaign began as Mao faced growing criticism inside the party over the disaster of the Great Famine. The most important feature of Lei is that he "absolutely obeys the party, and Mao Zedong … He lacks independent thinking and reflection," said Tao. Fuller reading of the diary also shows that "he divided the people into different classes: revolutionary, anti-revolutionary; class friends or class enemies … Some of his words are very dirty and brutal." Even the softer side of Lei can be a hard sell to younger generations. Famously, he said his only ambition was "to be a rustless screw" in the revolutionary cause – an odd sentiment in an individualistic age. "Of course, times have changed. We cannot require young people to darn socks as Lei Feng did [for his comrades] or simply help the old to cross the road," said Tan Huangfang, who spent 26 years as a guide at the Changsha Lei Feng museum and said the soldier had inspired her throughout her life. "However, we can require young people to be warm-hearted, honest people." But others, like Tao, say civic education is a better basis for social morality than ideology. Some are simply turned off by the glaring discrepancies in the official account – such as the numerous, professional-quality photographs that mysteriously captured every good deed by a then anonymous soldier. "A couple of years ago, I read something online and realised some of the Lei Feng story was fake or made up by the propaganda people, so in my mind the credibility of those heroes we studied in school declined," said Chris Liu, a student in Beijing. "Nowadays, Chinese people are very selfish. It's good to promote this spirit to keep society harmonious … I just don't like how the Communist party promotes him as propaganda." Online China Backs Tortoise in Race to Protect Endangered Species (THE WSJ CHINA REAL TIME REPORT BLOG)March 4, 2013 http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/03/04/china-backs-tortoise-in-race-to-protect-endangered-species/?mod=WSJBlog China has long been a major consumer of wild animals, fueling the international trade in ivory, tiger parts and shark fin. But at this year’s meeting of the 177 countries that have signed the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), a group that meets every three years to restrict or ban the trade of endangered animals, China has cast itself in the unfamiliar role as a champion of conservation. Of the roughly 70 animal species that have been nominated to receive greater protection under the convention, 40 are on the list as a result of proposals submitted jointly by China and the U.S. What creatures have mobilized China’s diplomatic energies so earnestly? Freshwater turtles and tortoises. “In many ways I think China is almost the centerpiece of this meeting,” said Teresa Telecky, director of wildlife at the Humane Society International, prior to the forum kicking off on Sunday. “Firstly China has all these turtle and tortoise proposals. But it’s also a consumer of so much illegal trade. China will be on everyone’s lips.” China has made proposals to CITES in the past, albeit never on such a scale. At the last three meetings China hasn’t made any wildlife proposals. In 2002, like this year, it moved to protect several species of turtles and tortoises. Why are turtles and tortoises at such risk? Because an increasingly affluent China is eating more and more of them. According to the joint China-U.S. proposals, China’s farms produce hundreds of millions of turtles for consumption, but that’s proving not to be enough. “An analysis of turtle import and export data by China shows a shift from net exporter to net importer, which indicates either domestic demand is increasing or the domestic resource is decreasing or both,” said the proposals (pdfs here and here). That demand has helped deplete turtle populations not just in China but throughout Asia, and as far away as the U.S. according to Ms. Telecky. “Trade in Asian turtle species continues to follow a boom and bust pattern in which exploitation and trade shift from one species to another when a species becomes so depleted or rare that it is no longer commercially exploitable,” the proposals said. But while China sees the value in protecting turtles and tortoises by regulating their trade, it’s been less willing to take on the hot button issues that dominate the global debate on animal conservation. China’s turtle proposals are “certainly a welcome event,” said Ms. Telecky. “But China has a history of digging in its heals” on other issues. Last year CITES awarded a “certificate of commendation” to the Chinese government agency tasked with wildlife law enforcement for work to stop the illegal trade of animal parts. But a CITES study last year also found that China is the only country in East Asia where demand for ivory is still expanding in line with household incomes. China still permits the legal harvesting of bile from moon bears, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine, but is a painful process for wild bears typically kept in extremely confined spaces. And a recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency says that the trade of farmed tigers, which is legal in China, provides cover for the trade of wild tiger parts. China’s State Forestry Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This year’s bevy of CITES proposals might be an attempt by China to be a more responsible stakeholder in the international system, cooperating with other governments on an issue that’s neither politically sensitive nor likely to generate much opposition. And clearly the frogs and tortoises of the world need someone to protect them from…well, China. But there’s a number of other wild animals that need their main consumer to embrace their plight if a win by the tortoise is to signal a fundamental shift in the country’s attitude toward animal protection. – Dinny McMahon Directory: 2013 2013 -> Annual InStructional unit plan 2013 -> The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine 2013 -> #1 a lifesafer of virginia inc 2013 -> Name(s): your name here team or Group #(if applicable): Professor’s name 2013 -> Alcott Local School Council (lcs) Meeting Minutes 2013 -> Table Of Contents introduction 2 2013 -> Supplemental demographic information 2013 -> 【Education&Working Experience】 Download 404.14 Kb. Share with your friends:
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