Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Chinese People's Liberation Army revolutionary movie lipsynchs Waving Flag by K'naan

This is very disrespectful to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, or Jiefang Jun, and will probably get censored within China very soon, but is very funny. Since I am in Toronto, Canada, getting Toudou video is difficult. The original source is from Chinasmack. Thankfully others have uploaded Tudou video to Youtube. These are old videos of PLA plays, video mixed to modern songs. Though the lipsynching is not great, the whole video does pull it together.

Waving Flag by K’naan
Beat It, MJ
Madonna Feat Justin Timberlake

Lest we forget, China is a communist country in Asia, very different in history and culture from North America. One would think that such a statement would be blatantly obvious to all and therefore unnecessary, but it needs repeated highlighting. Here in North America I meet many who are taken by the Chinese propaganda machine into thinking that China is almost as advanced as North America, that we share the same ideals and we are all humans, so we must be very similar. An article in the Toronto Star outlining the persecution of unregistered religions brings this contrast to the fore. China is very different and should be treated as such.

If you have not heard about a Doju, this is unsurprising. This small creature roams through China and Asia, aimlessly walking in no certain direction, and getting into trouble as he goes. The Doju walks at different speeds, contemplating life as he goes. Small and hairless, people and other animals, for some reason, do not bother it and certainly would not try to eat it. This is a good thing for the defencless Doju is actually quite tasty.

China News services such as Xinhua and China Daily are renown to bend news to favour China in all cases. These two news agencies are controlled directly by the Chinese government, so this should be unsurprising. How they treat foreign news depends on China’s relations with the countries concerned. I am happy to read that coverage of Toronto’s G20 riots were reported factually and very measured by both news agencies.

Xinhua photo of playful and peaceful Toronto G20 demonstrators

Wu Yuren, husband of Canadian Karen Patterson and daughter Hannah

No doubt about it, I am Canadian, and for a short time, I lived in China. Thinking that the Rule of Law in Canada is interpreted the same in China would seem logical but incorrect. Just because there are laws on the books, decreed by the government, similar in both countries, is insufficient to take the Canadian view of law and apply it to the People’s Republic of China. A case in point is Karen Patterson’s Chinese husband, Wu Yuren, who offered moral support for a friend and ended up beaten up and detained, with little access to his family or lawyer. He is still detained. His case is a good lesson to both Chinese and foreigners that China’s legal system works differently from Canada.

I used to joke that after living in China and Japan for a couple of years, returning to my home city of Toronto was a non event. It was literally a non event because nothing really changes in Toronto. Sleepy and a tad boring, Toronto seemed to always be the same stable environment. I have come to change my viewpoint now because of the startling and sudden infringement of human rights and the rule of law that has occurred due to the G20 summits that are now being held in Toronto. With law enforcement ballooning to 14,000, imported from all police departments throughout Canada, police decked out in full riot gear, secretly enacted laws of search and arrest (Ontario’s Public Works Protection Act, specifics for the G20), without public debate nor following the proper procedures of the courts, Toronto has degraded from a sleepy democracy to a communist country or a police state. Startling is how fast my city degraded to a police state, catching all of us by surprise. I expect this while living in China but I did not realize that democracy can be so easily overturned by so few.

So pathetic are the driving standards in China that there are a huge number of crashes. China is a world leader in vehicular crashes per capita. If only there were some rules that everyone followed. I propose simple ones such as drive/ride on the right side of the road and stop at traffic lights. It seems like total chaos if there are not enough police around to hand out and collect tickets. I find this video quite amusing, but should not, because people in the video get seriously hurt and cars and bikes get damaged. It is funny because sadly it does reflect what we saw on Chinese roads when we visited China.

McDonalds recalls Shrek glasses over fears of toxic cadmium levels

Fear not the monster Shrek, for he is not to blame. But if not Shrek then whom? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned consumers early Friday to immediately stop using the glasses available for purchase from McDonalds, on concerns about toxic levels of cadmium. Twelve million glasses are recalled. Who is to blame? There are at least three parties involved: McDonalds, ARC International, of Millville, NJ, and presumably the Chinese factory that produced the glasses. So common is the fact that China makes most of our products and the fact that so many toxic products have been traced back to China in the past makes this a very good educated guess.

Surviving Beijing fengsha: This woman has it right. Cover your whole head with a scarf.

Sandstorms or fengsha are common each spring in Beijing. Of the many things I learned while living there was how to survive the onslaught. The sand is so fine as to permeate every nook and cranny of your clothes, windows and food. The best thing to do is to get a fine scarf and wrap it around your head in order to protect your eyes. If you usually wear contact lenses switch to glasses. Clean and reclean everything. Try to keep your food air tight. Don’t worry, it will be over in about a month.

Google's China specific search engine is gone, ending self-censorship

You have to admire Google for standing up for its corporate philosophy. I could not see how Google could continue to self-censor its content in China while continuing to uphold its corporate values. I also could not see how Google even agreed to enter the Chinese market in 2006 on the condition that they self-censor. Today Google will dismantle its China-specific search engine and redirect queries to its Hong Kong based site. Of course the Chinese government was outraged, as expected. I believe that for the internet as a community, something was lost today, though I am unsure what. Was it possibly a global sign that we can all get along?