The face of real democracy now

I have been following the news on Greece the last week all too closely. Way too closely. And I want to argue that we are witnessing the true face of democracy worldwide.

Beginning Monday, Papandreou (GAP) announced a referendum soon after European leaders had agreed on a new, hopefully final, plan to make Greek debt sustainable.

A large number of Greeks have been demonstrating on the streets against the austerity measures for two years. They think the austerity measures are unfair, that the people are not to be blamed for the problems. They blame the politicians. They think the austerity (imposed by the IMF/EU) are a means of the capitalist world to oppress the people. They also have the objection that Greece's supervision implies no sovereignty.

Polls had shown that the majority of Greeks are against the austerity measures.

You might agree or disagree with them. I always felt I had no right to talk about the protestors. I have not lived in Greece the last decade and cannot have a say. But still, I have an opinion as most would. My opinion is that the protestors are irresponsible in their demands. They should share responsibility. But, bear with me, they have no real power, and the so-called indignation is an expression of their feelings. And it is a legitimate feeling. The thin line between these legitimate demonstrations and their possible meaning in politics can be a matter of debate.

Then comes GAP announcing a referendum. His real motives are unknown, but I see no pettiness. The week before, Greeks boycotted a national parade and invaded the space of VIPs. They booed the president of democracy, a figure whose role is largely symbolic. The picture two weeks ago showed signs of a society collapsing. So, I will take his motive of calling a referendum to be this: he wanted to proceed with the austerity measures with the people's agreement. Giving the people a true voice - real power - he hoped the austerity measures and Europe's aid would be accepted by the populace. It would resolve a nation-wide conflict and make things clearer.

Note that polls had shown that the majority are against the measures. But it is taken for granted that they are for remaining in the EU and the euro zone. So his gambit was to realise a reconciliation of the two. One cannot remain in the union without agreeing to the measures imposed by the rest. The realm of the social sphere is fluid and dynamic. It is self-referencing and renewing. The agreement or disagreement of the people is tantamount to their say having any consequence.

Were they to say "no", it would be their choice.

Also note that, a part of the demonstrators have been calling for a referendum for a long time. This never included the communists, who believe that referendums do not resolve anything. To them, only elections (and mass protests) do and that will bring radical change.

The call for a referendum didn't last for long. The main players in Europe's pact, Sarkozy and Merkel, were caught by surprise. They summoned GAP to the G20 for an explanation. Merkel declared unilaterally what the referendum's question would be. The Swedish Foreign Minister said, what would the people be asked? "Do we want to be saved or not? Is that the question?". But it went further. The Japanese minister said it was a bad move. Hu Jin Tao hoped the European leaders would call Greece out of it. China giving lessons of democracy.

The vast majority of media around the world, and people's opinion around the world (expressing it via their media) were against the referendum. Excusing their objection either by a) it is legitimate but the wrong time b) the Greeks' decision would jeopardise the economy worldwide so they should have no say.

At that moment, I felt proud to be Greek and that this is a monumental moment for democracy worldwide.

Let's take China for a moment. A development project does not need the people's concession. They are asked to be moved. Provisions are given. But are they to object, they are moved by force. This has happened many times throughout its history. More recently, a recurrent scandal is the imprisonment of petitioners in Beijing. Most Chinese, the ones not involved in the area of protest, are convinced that China's rise should not be impeded by the protests and so, the government is doing the right thing - the best for China.

China has always hated referendums abroad. And elections. When in 2004, the independence party in Taiwan was seen to win the coming elections, China was bombing the Taiwan strait. It was a message to the electorate. In the case of Greece, what would the world do to ensure the required outcome of the would-be referendum?

And my thoughts of Greece vs Taiwan were moved by the idea of referendum and sovereignty. Accepting any of the following implied accepting the rest

1. do you want to pass the new austerity measures by the EU?
2. do you want to stay in the euro zone?
3. do you want economic supervision and forfeit that sovereignty?

I will not go into the creation of the nation-state and the notion of its sovereignty. But what I know firsthand (we all do) is the rise of the global market. It is here more a matter of the Greek economy being intertwined with the rest of the global economy. Is sovereignty compatible with globalism? And is democracy compatible with this capitalism?

The forefront of the battle between the global markets and sovereignty was to be given in Greece in 2011 CE. The rebirth of democracy in the same place where it was first born. Note how ancient Athenian law was born out of Solon's laws. Back then, many had opted in borrowing and couldn't pay back. The contracts they had signed made the borrowers into real slaves. One of Solon's laws was to abolish this, and write off all debt (σεισάχθεια).

Or, Greece was to be the place were democracy and sovereignty, the right of the Chinese residents of X place to object the state, the right of a country to object its real or symbolic enslavement, ... would be lost.

I am not saying that the Greeks did not borrow money. I think they are directly responsible for the debt. I am not saying they wouldn't be punished for it. If they remain in the euro zone they would go through austerity. If they leave, then they would go through the austerity that follows bankruptcy. I am defending their right to decide themselves.

It only lasted 24 hours. It was farcical. The first to denounce the prime minister was his own finance minister. The main opposition party asked him to resign, while they accepted the new deal. When only a few weeks ago they didn't! The whole political spectrum showed its hypocrisy and inconsistency (with the exception of the communist party that remained self-consistent). The Greek media were against GAP. The people asked on the streets were also against it, saying GAP's actions had put Greece in danger.

And everyone implied that the people are too stupid to decide for themselves.

I feel embarrassed to be a member of this group. The group? Greece? The world? I feel Greece might be on the brink of economic bankruptcy. The whole world, Greece nonetheless, is already politically bankrupt.

Taiwan's name on the arXiv

Update: I received the following email from tha admin:

Dear George,

Thank you for your comments. After careful consideration we have decided
to override the default IANA name to just "Taiwan".

Story ended with a happy end.

I am now a postdoc in NCTU, a university in Hsinchu Taiwan. I’ve been in Taiwan for almost a year. My first impressions of the academic environment were very good. Not least to say so because there is free coffee in the common room. The quality of life is also pretty good compared to what I know elsewhere.

What has been on my mind lately is the astonishing finding that on my arXiv user account I can only select the country “Taiwan, Province of China”. This is not how it was previously this year. And I find this provocative and absurd.

In a nutshell, the national party of China (KMT) lost in 1949 the civil war in China to the communists. They then fled to Taiwan where they continued the "real" Republic of China. This was not a democracy until the late 80s, with elections and other political freedoms, the lift of the second longest military law in world history. So since the 90s Taiwan has enjoyed a real democracy. The legacy of all this is the Republic of China.

Taiwan is called the Republic Of China, but only in Taiwan. China and the rest of the world have never accepted this and so, Taiwan is not even a memeber of the UN. For that matter, I know of no world organization that recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign country. But it has been a de facto independent country for the last 60 years.

What is worse is the following. Although there is a fraction of Taiwanese society that want a “Republic of Taiwan”, an actual division of the society, there would be problems with this. Besides the Republic of China naming issue, China maintains that Taiwan is a renegade province in any case. A province that should rejoin the mainland. Any official decleration of independence can result to war.

On the other side of the strait, Taiwanese society might be ambiguous on their identity and lineage. A recent poll shows however that only 6% consider China as their homeland. The question of national identity is still different. And yet different is the actuality that Taiwan is not a province of China. The threat of war and the legacy of KMT's governance impede the question of independence. To the point that it cannot develop naturally unless one is ready to... literally die for it.

China’s international influence has had Taiwan been called by the UN list of names for statistics purporses as “Taiwan, province of China”. And this is the main reference to Taiwan on international paper. So, the ISO-3166 code of names for countries (uk,tw,cn,it, etc) has refered to the UN report. The Internet Asigned Numbers Authority uses the ISO code of names. Which brings us to the arXiv, because the arXiv uses the IANA list of names.

Some time in 2011, the IANA and the arXiv automated their system of importing the names of countries. I have contacted both to know details of what has changed. The replies by both have been unhelpful. My orginal question has  been partly answered by a www cache. It shows that curiously the IANA did once in 2011 call Taiwan as Taiwan.

The arxiv admin also tells me I should take matters to the IANA. The IANA admin tells me they are following an international standard by ISO. I admit the ISO standards should be taken with respect. But in this case, the ISO-3166 is rightly described as a virus that propagates the biased view of China. And besides all this, the arXiv has no reason to stick with the IANA list per se.

I find the change in the arXiv intrusive. I can imagine it to be more intrusive to Taiwanese researchers. It should not be considered a political question. Taiwan might have been or might become one day a province of China. Taiwan might or might not have the right to call itself the ROC. This is not for me to decide as I am not Taiwanese. But calling Taiwan a province of China is simply a fallacy. And even more, it is politically biased and unfair to the people of Taiwan. It is only slightly less absurd than calling China a province of the ROC.

On the other hand, the name "Taiwan" is apolitical. Or, the arXiv country input field should be non-obligatory. To which suggestion the arXiv admin replied that it would be inapporpriate.

Strange people approaching you at tiananmen

My sweet blog, how could I have neglected you! Three weeks ago Giorgos came to visit me and after that I was pretty busy. In the meantime many things have happened, and then again nothing really important. When a professor asked me "so how is your life" and then with a friendly smile adding "a bit boring" I agreed. But on the other hand, my uneventful life in Chinese is still very exotic and exciting. In the past 20 days I have eaten "the best duck" in Beijing (thanks to Giorgos' best guide book!), experienced Chinese style massage (without the sex..), played a hug 1-2-3 people game and spoke to a Norwegian nut about his UFO experiences (shamefully),...

I had many interesting conversations with Giorgos. Unfortunatelly, due to work, I didn't do as many things as I wanted to with him. Many of our conversations had to do with the Chinese. But I am not much wiser than him on the matter. What I claimed though is that there is often misunderstanding about many things. A tourist might think there is something fishy about someone friendly coming up to you at tiananmen asking if you are american.

Last night I met with a Greek woman from the embassy's cultural section. She has lived here six years. She very often repeated "no matter what you have heard before..". And at some point she said Chinese might approach you at tiananmen to practice their english and make friends! To be honest, I wish it was more like that everywhere, since I rarely go to tiananmen!

food adventures no. 31, 18 and 34

Yesterday night after having finished my noodles. I wave to the waitress. She says something incomprehensible that leaves me wondering. Nevertheless I nod confidently. And that is how I pay the bill ;).

Today at the student cafeteria, I ask
- what is this?
It looks yummy. It is in the delicatessen section. Perhaps some part of duck? I had spotted it already yesterday.
- rou, zhu rou
ok got it. Pig, but let me double check first. Better safe than sorry.
- shi zu rou ma?
- erduo de
erduo.. i would have gotten this anyway, but she flapped her ears before that. My answer was
- oh thank you.
What I really felt like saying to her was "thank you my daughter (κόρη μου/bint...), may god bless you and your family". I felt very humble and god-fearing listening to her.

A moment later, still feeling confident, I decide to be adventurous. I go to the same restaurant day after day because it is close to the department. The student restaurants here are like market places. They remind me of stock markets. They are extremely busy and different cooks try to win you over. But I am a bit bored of the tastes in this one. So I will go for something unusual. Now that looks interesting. It's definitely meat but has some small brownish balls inside. They look like some sort of fruit. I try to find the end of the stem. I can't but the shape is definitely that of a small fruit. Meat with prunes, wouldn't that be wonderful? I also thought maybe an egg, but these are too small for chicken eggs. But what if they are part of a dead animal's male distinctives? Do Chinese eat testicles? I ask "what is this?". Yes, I can do that part well. Chou rou is the answer. OK this is roast meat. It can't be testicles. How wonderful, maybe even prunes? Leaving the vendor I decide to try one before I actually sit down and rest. It is slippery but now I am getting anxious! I manage to hold one. Bite. Not what I expected! Not bad either. They are soy eggs of some bird - I guess maybe... duck?

Some days earlier, being scared by one of Fatima's emails, I ask my catholic friend about balls, ears, hearts and staff. Can I find them here? Not that I wouldn't try them one day, but at least I should know what I am having. He said they are delicacies and he later showed me some chickens' hearts. Chickens' hearts are much smaller than I expected. He asks me why I am weary of such food. He says they are "delicious". I start with an admittedly flawed example, and on the way I even decide to drop some details (in brackets) to make the English conversation smoother.
- (let's say that) in Greece we eat monkey's eyes!
- really?
- (well not really but) would you try them if I cook them for you?
- but you can't find them here.
- no no, I have found a place to buy them. Would you like to try them?
- Yes I would!
I knew it was wrong to count on (the existence of) universal yacks. Eating human parts maybe? There is a Chinese film about human parts and eating. Feces maybe but children adore them or so says Freud. Monkeys in Greece? Was he on to me? :D

hard rain's a-gonna fall

Today was not a very smooth day for me. I remember the phrase Sunil taught me "another day another dollar"! As you know the pollution in China can be very big. So far I have seen some clear skies. But not today.





I live on the 6th floor and the flat is very spacious and nice. The key is a magnetic card (the bills are also payed by inserting a card at different slots in the house). There is a large double bedroom, a rather large lounge or office, large bathroom and kitchen. Here you can see my not so large bike that I was swindled into buying for ~35pounds (a second hand one would cost maybe two pounds?). My bedroom has a wide glass window but today I decided to draw the curtains. The reason is that whereas I usually wake up with some nice bright sunlight, today the sun hid pale behind the opaque polluted atmosphere. It was very futuristic and I could stare straight at the sun. It had lost its mite and I found the sight pathetic. So I thought I'm better off with some privacy from the outer world.

At the office I tried something stubborn like attending an apparently interesting group meeting held in Chinese. Depressingly today's highlight was simply eating the Wednesday free lunch. Somewhere midways my lunch I thought of showing you what it looks like (in case you are wondering it is, like most food here, delicious).

I couldn't do any work at the office and around 6pm I called the day off. Perhaps some Chinese lessons would do me good, so I took a walk listening to my audio book until the recently bought Duracell batteries (from Jialafu=Carefour) went dead. I entered a gym that I might join, but I felt the presence of the smog indoors too! Back at home I will take my daily evening shower and maybe do some work. On my way I was already planning this post!

There are many things I want to share with you. But for now, here are some pictures.

The first two are just random angles from downtown Beijing. The crowded room is one of the many student restaurants. The street photo wanted to capture some bicycle mayhem. There are no rules for when to cross, or ride. Generically cars can bully the pedestrians and cyclists.



Finally there is the detail of the famous "no name" lake in Peking university. The word famous in Chinese literally means "have name" while this lake, although famous, is called "no name". I thought of this pan myself 有名的为名湖:P

First post

Three weeks have passed since I arrived in Beijing and I am ready for my first post. My first post ever! Will I grow to become a big Beijing blogger? Will the first post lead the way? Well I can either start abruptly or modestly. Maybe modestly and I will skip the manifesto part. This blog though is for my friends, so they can keep in touch with me no matter how far.

Today I visited for the first time down town Beijing with the friendly guidance of a colleague. My favourite line of today is about the bridges connecting tian an men with the forbidden palace. His English is not too bad, which means we can exchange the essentials. So I usually expect him to tell me things that are more important than random talk:
- there are 5 bridges altogether!
- ah that sounds interesting, so why exactly is that?
- there are 5 gates on the other side..
I started laughing. I was expecting some symbolic explanation and he did please me a bit, explaining how 5 is not too much and not too little.

Later on I asked him if he knew of the famous photograph with the tank and the protester. Yes, he did. He found wrongs on both sides concerning the incident. He excused himself for not speaking good enough English to talk about a complicated matter. He is right that his English (or my Chinese) would be a problem.

I also succeeded for the first time to pay the bill. Usually this involves some arguing, but I was determined to pay for once.