Last week, I was coming back from Chaoyang district when a friend asked our cab driver if he knew who Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) is. The driver told us he had never heard of the guy. While not exactly shocked, I was still intrigued by how this man had not heard of this story, which has been featured on the front of every news source I’ve seen over the past few weeks. Even before the Noble Peace Prize was awarded to Liu, he was known around the world as a political activist/dissident, sentenced to 11 years in jail last December for attempting to subvert the CCP with his Charter 08 proposal, which promoted political reform and democratization in China. Since the Peace Prize is usually an indication of one’s contribution to national harmony, this move in effect denounces China’s judicial system and has enraged the CCP, who formally demanded an apology to the nation.
Since then, I have casually been asking my cab drivers and other local Beijingers who work in/around my apartment building if they are aware of Liu Xiaobo's story. So far, only 1 out of 20 had heard Liu’s name, (that stat excludes my teachers at IUP). While I realize this number is not statistically reliable, I still feel the need to share my findings with you, as every single one of those 19 other “no’s” were fairly immediate and absolute, without any sort of clue to why I would be asking such a question. One cab driver pointed to my friend, who was sitting next to me in the cab, (keep in mind he is a white male from the US), and asked, “Is he Liu Xiaobo?" Another simply switched the radio back on after shaking his head no, without any interest in the reason for my asking the question. A few others asked me who he was, but even after I explained the Noble Peace Prize, they remained clueless. One lady who works in my apartment building had heard of the Noble Prizes, but not of Liu Xiaobo. A final cab driver muttered that the newspapers he reads hadn’t featured anything on him, as if to imply that it wasn’t an important enough of a story to make headlines.
My classmates and I brought the subject up in class last week, and my teacher, who happens to be a Party member, confirmed that she had heard of the story. She reminded us that she is part of the Party, and although that does not mean she advocates on behalf of them or in any way pushes their beliefs upon others, she still feels uncomfortable discussing this topic. (A lot of my teachers joined the Party for educational and employment purposes/关系, and have actually emphasized their political separation from the Party several times.) What this teacher did share, however, was that she believes this will not hurt China’s relations with Norway, or any other country for that matter; China simply has to save face, but will be able to move on from this debate in the near future.
Yet what I have read in the media is quite the contrary, with the CCP accusing the Nobel committee of provoking a “serious ideological clash” between Beijing and the West. Furthermore, more recent news articles confirm several of Liu’s close friends and fellow activists have been missing for weeks and believed to be taken into police custody. I have also heard that numerous overseas anti-government Chinese language websites have been hacked since Liu won the Noble Prize two weeks ago, and police have severely restricted people from celebrating.
A second teacher, while in 单班课 (dan ban ke, one-on-one class which I have for an hour each day), was a little more open about discussing this subject with me today. At first, he ranted about how disrespectful and ungrounded this award to Liu was. Then he stated that the Noble Peace Prize has become less and less credible over the years, reminding me of Obama’s award in 2008. He argued that the Peace Prize should have nothing to do with politics, and furthermore that these two men had not done anything noteworthy of receiving the prize. Valid argument – while the Science awards are pretty straightforward, with the winners having made tangible contributions to their fields, the Peace Prize seems to have taken on more of a political agenda in recent years. Coming from the viewpoint of my teacher and other Chinese people, I can see how the Noble Prize may seem like a tool of Western powers to push their agenda upon the East. After all, looking back at past recipients of the prize reveals a good number of prizes awarded to US politicians, and some to the enemies or dissidents of US enemies, but not to any, say, Latin American dissident of dictators in Latin America. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_Peace_Prize_laureates - yes, I know I just cited Wikipedia…) The exact motives of the Norwegians in this instance lead to a much more convoluted discussion involving the trade off between a civil society and one-party authority, and between economic development and protecting human rights. Nevertheless, what it comes down to is that I do believe peace and politics have an inherent connection that must be scrutinized, and applauded when activists such as the Dalai Lama and Liu Xiaobo made headway in a country such as China. (While I know this argument takes democratization as the end all and be all for the future of political reform in China, and I know this argument has flaws in it, the truth of the matter is, freedom of speech and several other democratic values are in need here.)
After I questioned my danbanke teacher on his beliefs on democratization in China, explained Charter 08 and Liu’s efforts as an intellectual and activist, my teacher quickly ended the discussion by saying something along the lines of, “I really shouldn’t say anything about this, my knowledge on this topic is quite limited.” Obviously, awareness of this story is related to one’s education level, but I am still surprised by just how few Chinese people have heard of Liu. And even those who have access to Western news sources, which are more likely to discuss the situation in detail, have not done their research. What’s more is that one of the main differences I’ve noted between the US and China is the extent to which commoners are aware of international news and foreign affairs. For the most part, and especially as far as cab drivers go, I am usually quite surprised by how much Beijingers know about the US. I’ve talked to them about various areas of our government, history, economy, and education system. They have told me their opinions on past, present, and future political situations. Their knowledge of international news, especially disseminated from the US, is far beyond what most Americans know about China. It’s very interesting that Liu Xiaobo’s name, however, is not included in their knowledge.
Ok, well I apologize for the long ramble on this matter, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I would love to hear your thoughts and responses!
2 comments:
A wealth of complicated debating points, but as a political reporter back here in the US, I am too often stunned by how many MOS (man on the streets) I interview are completely disengaged from the political process - even with our current unemployment rate, recession and public education dilemmas.
Very interesting stuff. My first question is whether or not many of those drivers were simply trying to avoid the discussion with you? Some of the behavior you describe indicates a level of discomfort, although you were there and would know.
Of course, even Obama was hard pressed to justify his award. What stands out, of course, is how generally unified China seems to be in "the script" on certain topics. One wonders if this is due to sincere belief, tight controls on education/news, nationalism ... a mix?
It strikes me that having dissenting views on almost everything (like we often have in the U.S.) suggests a certain luxury in social stability. China is inching that way, I suppose, but I read posts like this and see that it's a long, long way off (for good or for ill).
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