China; taking our breath away...

WHAT could be more unsettling than the thought that a 'Communist' totalitarian superpower may actually posses military hardware to match that of the democratic countries of 'The West'?

Obviously with such ongoing critiscism of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that may be a controversial opening in itself, but nobody can deny the increasing relevance of China's military in the asia-pacific region and indeed in the world today.

It is highly illegal to photograph military hardware in China,
 but a leaked photo made the world aware
of the Chinese J-20 prototye

When Hu Jintao finally admitted that China was indeed developing their own stealth fighter- the J-20 (seemingly named after a soft drink), alarm bells rang for many around the world. Although it was well known that the Chinese were actively pursuing their first aircraft carrier - something which would give them considerable bargaining power in their constant maritime disputes and border clashes - the thought that something as advanced and 'American' as a stealth jet was being built by them hadn't even entered the West's collective mind.

It wasn't long, however, before fingers were pointed and the familiar cry of 'knock-off' could be heard. China's reputation for copying successful products, illegally manufacturing them and selling them domestically is well known, and it seemed this wasn't just limited to shanzhai ipods and dodgy clothes brands. Soon came claims that the technology behind the Chinese J-20 Stealth was stolen from a US F-117 stealth jet which was shot down over Serbia. Of course the Chinese rejected these claims, as they always do, but it is not difficult to imagine Beijing going out of it's way to acquire the wreckage for their own ends.

And today, a rather humourous chapter is added to the ongoing coverage of China's air force. The hilarious news that China's state-run broadcaster- CCTV -  has tried to pass off scenes from the 80s movie 'Top Gun' as video footage of their own air force have done little for their credability on the world stage.

The Wall Street Journal has compared the 'news' footage with the movie scene in question:




So, as China seeks the attention of the rest of the world, trumpeting their advances in technology and military might, it is rather unfortunate for them to be caught attempting to pass off Hollywood movie footage from 30 years ago as footage of their own air force.

Beijing often utilises it's air force in displays of power - hoping that the sheer scale and noise of the jets will impress and intimidate the people enough - it is a tactic they employ on a daily basis too. It is not uncommon to be forced to stop a conversation in Shanghai's city centre and wait for the deafening noice of a fighter jet, passing overhead, to fade.

The military maintain a constant presence over

 cities such as Shanghai - Footage by Joe Briscoe, 2010



The oppressive 'big brother' in the sky is something that most city residents are used to, hardly noticing the warplanes circling above. But the younger generation seem to be more than aware of it.

One student I spoke to in Shanghai, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It always comes over in the class time. So many times we have to wait for it to go over so we can hear the teacher. It's so unnecessary I think. Are we at war with someone?"

But how important does this 12 yr old think it is to have such a rapidly expanding military?: "China needs to be strong" he said, "but so many poor people are more important I think. Give them a house and doctor first, then we can spend on other things."

Fighter jets constantly circle heavily populated areas of China - 

an ominous reminder of power to the people below.

- Footage by Joe Briscoe, 2010

So while the country continues its long quest for an aircraft carrier and presses forward with designing it's own fleet of stealth jets, it seems that the sharp-eyed youth of today who spotted the cinematic addition to their news report and the students who grow tired of the military presence interrupting their classes are less than excited by the prospect of more money being spent on airborne machines of death.

Even if Tom Cruise is, unknowingly, the posterboy.

Chinese New Year 2011

Year of the Rabbit

As Chinese New Year approaches, Portsmouth is preparing it's own celebrations. But many are critical of the lack of council help with the festivities.

Video Report by Joe Briscoe

The Life and Death of Qian Yunhui.

And so, another tragic blow is dealt to Chinese 'people power'.
Yet, the resulting fury has highlighted how such movements, existing in cyberspace, are gathering astonishing momentum...

by Joe Briscoe

QIAN YUNHUI was not a man most people in 'the west' would have heard of.


In fact, he was not even a person that most people in China would have heard of.
Until he died, in a most terrible way, on Christmas day.


A shrine to Qian Yunhui



He was, by all means, just a 53-year old guy from Yueqing - a small village in Eastern China, who back in 2004 encouraged villagers to stand up against the local government.

 

He protested against the unfair seizure of their land and was subsequently imprisoned twice, only to continue the protest upon his release. Travelling to Beijing, he even attempted to petition the central government.

Mr Qian was, by all accounts, a good man. Someone who knew right from wrong, and stepped forwards when others stood still. A conscience that had the courage to speak out when others weaker than himself remained silent.


Although Christmas is not generally celebrated as a particularly meaningful festival in China, there is growing awareness of it's significance as a time for those who are inclined, to celebrate the birth of their religious saviour.

Christmas morning 2010 saw not the birth, but the death of a true Chinese hero. Not a decorated war veteran, nor a celebrated government elder. And not a Chinese olympic champion sporting a gold medal. 


For figures such as these,  thrust upon the people, are but products of deceitful and manipulative propaganda.

Mr Qian was the rarest of things. A true, honest to God Chinese person. One who is unable to watch inequality and abuse, unable to wait while others around are walked over. One who was not content to be kept down.

And, in the true style of 'Modern China', he was murdered for this very reason, by those around him who call themselves Chinese but are in fact barely human.

This Christmas day, the mystery surrounding the death of Joanna Yeates was the top news story, and yet, on the other side of the world, a larger, more rotten web of lies and evil was being spun around the grisly corpse of Mr Qian, which was photographed mangled beneath the wheels of a truck in Yueqing village.


Official government versions of how Mr Qian came to meet his end under the vehicle describe an unfortunate accident. Eyewitnesses however, claimed that it had been no such thing. Huang Deyan, 黄迪燕 claimed she saw four uniformed men with gloves struggle with Qian and then put his body under the front tire by force. The driver of the vehicle, Fei Liangyu (费良玉) was detained by the police, for questioning the investigation and even Qian's daughter was taken away.


But the mystery and suspicion surrounding the case refused to go away. The photos which were taken at the scene showed Qian in his last position, clawing his way out from under the giant tyres. Hardly the actions of a man who was hit by a truck at speed.


Decide for yourself.



Photos taken at the scene have been removed from
search engines such as Baidu, but some websites still
carry them... Click here.


The online furore of Chinese netizens has kept the case of Qian Yunhui very much in the public eye, investigating in a way that journalists in China are unable to.

Wu Gan, a rights activist told CNN: "This death really shows that the bottom line of what is intolerable keeps getting lower," he said.

A bookstore owner holds up the first and only issue
of Han Han's 'Party' Magazine.

On the credibility of the official government statements, blogger Ran Yunfei writes, “Be careful when you claim that your result is the truth. Basically truth cannot be found in our repressive society, which is full of information control, corruptions and vested interests of the government. The so-called truth as told by the government has little credibility.”

As if to confirm the statement, just a few days after the incident happened, news came that a magazine published by influential cultural icon Han Han - known for his subtle critiscisms of China - had been shut down after only a single issue.

And, at almost the same time, it was reported on the BBC that China had accepted the problem of corruption among it's officials to be "still very serious". The government acknowledged that tacking it would be a very difficult task, but cited an official report, published on the xinhua website that since 2003, 200,000 cases of corruption had been investigated.

Of course, a realist such as myself would then wonder how much the officials had needed to pay to have the investigations called off(!) 



While there is truth to the much repeated soundbite that "attitudes in China are changing", unfortunately the cruel willingness among those with power to kill and abuse their own people continues. And lest we forget, these people, the ones limiting the information and crushing good men under heavy vehicles, are themselves Chinese.

When the problem exists within the people themselves, how does one begin to solve it?

The story of Qian Yunhui can be found on CNN and, with all original images, on ChinaSmack.

राज घाट - A moment of peace in India's Raj Ghat

Delhi has problems. Nobody can deny that.


It is not only dangerous, but feels dangerous too. While recently announced figures show that the crime rate in Delhi in 2010 was down compared to 2009, the number of cases nevertheless remained high at 48,161.

The quality of life for thousands living there is unacceptably poor, the noise and pollution is oppressive and those not used to the city will likely find little to recommend it, either as a backpackers stop or a holiday destination.

But there is a place in Delhi where the constant noise gives way to silence. The countless tourist scams are respectfully left outside and the unfaltering tide of traffic leaves this oasis - tucked against the banks of the river Yamuna - in relative seclusion.

In fact, at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, राज घाट, - or Raj Ghat - is the closest you will find to absolute serenity inside Delhi.



 When Mahatma Gandhi died in 1948 he was cremated on this site, and it remains to this day an undulating, joy-filled park with a majestic central walled enclosure into which people are drawn for peace, contemplation and solace.



A black marble platform marks the spot of Gandhi's

cremation on 31 January 1948

Photo by: JOE BRISCOE



Indeed, gently strolling around the mini-mecca, it is difficult not to begin pondering the important questions in life.

As you stand there, staring into the eternally flickering flame which marks the spot where the father of modern India became one with the world around him, the world around you stops and time itself can pass you by. The utmost respect is seemingly demanded by the very stone walls which encircle the centrepiece, and an atmosphere of forgiveness and acceptance fills the air between those wandering around.

The very principles of Gandhi himself seem to have been contained in this rather special place.

One wishes they could be amplified and beamed from here around the rest of the world.



 राज घाट - The eternal flame provides comfort
 to people from all over the world.
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE

 The flame, which is never extinguished, repeatedly draws a hushed reverance from those who peer into it - eyes which are shown countless shapes dancing and leaping within the glass.

The day of Gandhi's assassination remains the country's 'Martyr's Day', and the day of his birth, known as Gandhi Jayanti, is a nationwide holiday - but it is here that one is truly able to marvel at what the man achieved. To still be bringing calm and quiet to a corner of a city as noisy and harsh as Delhi, 63 years after his death, is a miracle itself. One which plays as a fitting and continuous epitaph to the effects that a single man had on a nation.



"...we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow.."   - Jawaharlal Nehru 

 And while Nehru, in his radio address to the country, told the world of India's loss and it's inability to any longer go to Gandi for solace, it is worth remembering that even today, Gandhi and the simple, peaceful oasis of Raj Ghat continues to provide that tranquility for those who visit it. 

 Visit it, as everyone should.



Nowhere does a sunset say as much as it does at Raj Ghat.
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE



Hardly a Photographer, but... 5

Permit me to share more of the photographs which for one reason or another, are significant to me.
____________________________________
LOCATION:     YEAR:
India, 2009

I was recently asked by a special someone I met last year in Asia what the most cherished moments of my time travelling were. I can only reply that on each and every occasion where I met someone new I was the lucky recipient of such warmth and kindness.

On many occasions I was able to stay in touch with the people I met, thanks to the wonders of the internet - and yet there were many more times where the people I was fortunate to spend time with, or travel with did not have internet access, or didn't even own a phone.

In these cases when you say goodbye to them, you know it really is goodbye. Forever, most likely.

Some I have pictures of, some I don't.



"Don't break my little heart"
Photo by: JOE BRISCOE



For me, this picture represents that final image of a person that you have in your mind - the one that stays with you after you leave and always pops into your head when you think about them.

And then you think...

I wonder what they are doing now...

Hardly a photographer, but... 4

Permit me to share more of the photographs which for one reason or another, are significant to me.
_______________________________________________________________________________
LOCATION:     YEAR:
Malaysia, 2010


MALAYSIA is incredibly diverse. Staggeringly so. You can, at any time, have a conversation with a native Chinese person about the Chinese new year celebrations, you can discuss mis-representation in government with ethnically India Malaysians, and you can bump into anyone else, from literally anywhere else on the planet and no topic is ever off the cards.

When travelling from China to Malaysia, this all comes as something of a refreshing shock - one minute you are in a country where the range of conversation topics is troublingly small and anyone who isn't Chinese gets mercilessly stared at, and then suddenly you are in Kuala Lumpur, where the more dangerous the conversation, the more they want to have it with you. And people will only talk to you if you are from another country.


Kuala Lumpur's Petronas towers, reflected in the side of another building.
Picture by: JOE BRISCOE

 This photograph is not symbolic, doesn't represent this glorious diversity in any way and was not taken with any skill at all. It is simply the glittering reflection of KL's most famous landmark in the side of another building. Anyone who was there could have taken this picture. Point and shoot.

I was just lucky enough to be there.