Africans In China

By Suzanne

Considering that this post has been written quite long time ago, considering that the traffic of blog-hopping is so vigorous these days, considering that your post is quite an interesting topic to read on, I was wondering why nobody would leave a comment here just to answer your questions or voice out their opinions on this issue?

Anyway, I’m here to do you a favor by replying your confusions. I grew up in a typical Chinese family in Malaysia and I’m very familiar with all the Chinese values, mindsets and principles. Furthermore, I have been discussing this issue with my family and friends since I have discovered the Chinese attitude towards Black people, exactly the same issues you have pointed out. Based on this, I think I’m in a good position to give my humble opinions.

First of all, Chinese don’t hate Blacks. I guess this is because we have no reason to hate them. And we don’t really mix with Blacks too. Based on the history, China and Africa countries didn’t really have such ‘connection’ back in those days like the Americans did. So, majority of the Chinese people, never live with Black community. As far as everyone knows, the Chinese has very strong community-based lifestyle. We stick together as a group within our Chinese community. So if I had never been to an international college, I wouldn’t have make friends with people from other nations. The first foreigner I met was my housemate from Philippines. That was before the Indonesian housemates became to take over. Anyway, i digress. Based on this, the only perceptions we know about the Blacks, we learn them from the media. YUPE. How the media portraits the Black, we take it all in, as we have not really met one ourselves. My parents do not encounter Blacks in their whole life and I do not have a Black friend who grew up with me. Okay, so what we have learned from the media about the Black? Well, correct me if I’m wrong but generally, the Blacks have always been the violent gangsters, if they are not wearing a sunglasses, they are fooling around doing ’stupid’ stuffs on the shows. Our parents just couldn’t take it, either their violence or their humor. So much of disrespecting, I rather say that most of the Chinese are intimidated by the Blacks, considering that most of them have huge muscles and fierce-looking faces. Everything else aside, the Chinese just could not compete with them, i mean physically.

Secondly, the Chinese do not really have a racial issue with the Blacks. We are discrimination towards the color ‘Black’. The Chinese believes that Black represents ‘bad luck’. Call us superstitious but we felt paranoid when we see black cats loitering around our garden, crows flying around our neighborhood or even receiving present that is wrapped with black papers. We don’t wear black on any festivals/ celebrations. Unlike the Western world that sees black and white as the colors of glamor and prestige, the Chinese choose to believe that it’s the color of Devil. Well, at least that’s what the older generation believes. Nowadays, youngsters don’t believe in all the superstitious shit, I don’t believe those things either, but to not offend our parents or grandparents for that matter, we’ll do what they said. And when they specifically told us not to date a Black man/ woman, we listen. Or rather, we had been brainwashed since young.

So, I don’t know whether this is racism or just lack of knowledge, understanding or misconceptions. Or just purely Chinese supremacy. As my mom once confess, they don’t want our next generation to be a mixed blood, be it white or black or brown, just pure Chinese will do. Since Chinese has this strong community mindset going on, don’t be surprise if they even request something more ridiculous. Don’t forget that we have a history of arranged marriage, when only the parents get to choose the bride/groom. Now it’s getting better that we get to choose our spouse BUT with certain ‘requirements’.

The rest of the analysis, I’ll leave it up to you. ^^

Seriously. We have an economy that’s crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush — who is currently on a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks — hasn’t got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world’s most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism.

Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing.

As a bonus, the Pelosi presidency would put a woman in the White House this year after all. On the downside, a few right-wing talk-show hosts might succumb to apoplexy. That would, of course, be terrible, but I’m afraid we might have to take the risk in the name of a greater good.

Can I see a show of hands? How many people want George W. out and Barack in?

A great many Americans have been counting the days all year on their 2008 George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendars. I know a lot of this has been going on because so many people congratulated me when the Feb. 1 Bush quote turned out to be from one of my old columns. (“I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth from the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.”)

This was not nearly as good as Feb. 5 (“We ought to make the pie higher”) or Feb. 21 (“I understand small business growth. I was one.”) But we do what we can.

In the past, presidents have not taken well to suggestions that they hand over the reins before the last possible minute. Senator J. William Fulbright suggested a plan along those lines when Harry Truman was coming to the end of a term in a state of deep unpopularity, and Truman called him “Halfbright” for the rest of his life. Bush might not love the idea of quitting before he has a chance to light the Christmas tree or commute the execution of one last presidential turkey. After all, he still has a couple more trips planned. And last-minute regulations to issue. (So many national parks to despoil, so many endangered species to exterminate … .) And then there’s all the packing.

On the other hand, he might want to consider his legacy, such as it is.

In happier days, Bush may have nurtured hopes of making it into the list of America’s mediocre presidents, but somewhere between Iraq and Katrina, that goal became a mountain too high. However, he might still have a chance to avoid the absolute bottom of the barrel, a spot currently occupied by James Buchanan, at least in my opinion. Buchanan nailed down The Worst President title in the days between Abraham Lincoln’s election and inauguration, when the Southern states began seceding and Buchanan, after a little flailing about, did absolutely nothing. “Doing nothing is almost the worst thing a president can do,” said the historian Michael Beschloss.

If Bush gives up doing nothing by giving up his job, it’s possible that someday history might elevate him to the ranks of the below average. Better than Franklin Pierce! Smarter than Warren Harding! And healthier than William Henry Harrison!

The person who would like this plan least probably would be Barack Obama. Who would want to be saddled with the auto industry’s problems ahead of schedule? The heads of America’s great carmaking corporations are so dim that they couldn’t even survive hearings run by members of Congress who actually wanted to help them. Really, when somebody asks you exactly how much money you need, the answer should not be something along the line of “a whole bunch.”

An instantaneous takeover would also ruin the Obama team’s plan to have the tidiest, best-organized presidential transition in history. Cutting it short and leaping into governing would turn their measured march toward power into a mad scramble. A lot of their Cabinet picks are still working on those 62-page questionnaires.

But while there’s been no drama with Obama, we’ve been living a Technicolor version of “The Perils of Pauline.” Detroit is tied to the railroad tracks and the train is coming! California’s state government is falling into the sea! The way we’re going now, by the time the inauguration rolls around, unemployment will be at 10 percent and the Dow will be at 10.

Time for a change.

(nytimes)

One : Don’t miss the boat.
Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three : Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four : Stay fit When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five : Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six : Build your future on high ground.
Seven : For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
Eight : Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine : When you’re stressed, float a while.
Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting…

By Sam Akaki

Thanks to the dwindling primary natural resources, oil and gas, the West is hounding Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Sudan’s al-Bashir, and heaping blame on Russia and China for protecting them; thus setting the stage for a new Cold War to be fought in Africa.

The last Cold War saw the savage murder or violent overthrow by the British, Americans, Belgians, French and Portuguese of nationalist African leaders including Patrice Lumumba, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Luis Cabral, Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Marcel, Milton Obote, Hamed Sekou Toure, Gamel Abdel Nasser and Ahmed Ben Bella who were dubbed terrorists or Russian and Chinese sympathizers.

The lucky ones — Jomo Kenyatta, Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela were given long prison sentences from which they were never expected to come out, alive. Today, Mandela’s statue stands as a monument of British cynicism, in Parliament Square, London. The statue stood there for three years until last week when the USA finally removed Mandela’s name from the list of international terrorists!

The human, social and economic wounds inflicted on Africa by the last Cold War are still very raw. Mozambique, Angola and Namibia are littered with millions of land mines and other unexploded military ordinances, which will kill people for centuries to come. Algeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda are fighting self-destruct wars, while Somalia ceased to be a state in 1992, thanks to western weapons.

“China is financing infrastructure projects in more than 35 African countries.”

Overall, the last Cold War left Africa on the life-support machine of western food aid administered by the World Food Program, while their leaders pay lip service to cure the patient.

Recently, the Africa Progress Panel (APP), headed by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, issued a report, “Africa Progress Panel responds to the G8 Summit in Hokkaido” which said:

“G8 countries have done little to show how they will fund the shortfall of U.S.$ 40 billion in programmable aid and debt relief identified by the Africa Progress Panel last month…The G8 has yet to present clear timetables outlining future aid provision or to provide increased transparency required to improve the quality of aid.”

On “Global food crisis”, the report said, “The Panel welcomes the commitment of U.S.$ 10 billion to support food aid and measures to increase agricultural input as a necessary first step… More needs to be done, however, to increase the supply of food to the world’s most vulnerable citizens, and immediate measures must be taken to relax export restrictions on commodities such as rice”

On trade, it said “The Panel welcomes the G8 leaders’ commitment to the conclusion of an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive Doha agreement… As WTO negotiations enter this crucial period, all parties need to understand that the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals rest in large part on the ability of the continent to trade its way out of poverty.”

And in conclusion, Mr. Annan declared “The success in supporting African development will not only result in tangible benefits for her people but ensure a more secure and prosperous future for the world. For G8 leaders, helping Africa to help itself is not a question of altruism; it is a matter of self-interest.”

The July 11 UN resolution accused Robert Mugabe of “killing 100 opposition supporters and displacing 2,000”, and called for punitive sanctions including imposing an arms embargo, a clear signal for attacks on Zimbabwe. Thankfully, China and Russia, which were not at the Berlin Conference, rejected the resolution, saying it would “open the way for interference by the Security Council in internal affairs of Members States, which is a gross violation of the UN Charter.”

To disorganize the AU, the International Criminal Court (ICC), is planning to arrest Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, for “leading a campaign of murder, rape and mass deportation in Darfur”. The plan is advancing despite the AU statement, which “reiterated the AU’s concern with the misuse of indictments against African leaders.”

“The Western ruling groups are conceited, full of themselves, ignorant of our conditions, and they make other people’s business their business.”

Incidentally, the conflict in Darfur started 18 years after the one in northern Uganda which killed over 300,000 civilians, caused the abduction of 20, 000 children and drove 2 million into concentration camps. Yet, the ICC never investigated the role of the Ugandan troops in these atrocities, leave alone issuing an arrest warrant for Museveni.

That is not surprising. The West is less interested in human rights in Africa than in justifying and setting the stage for a new Cold War. The BBC reported on 13th July it “has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan’s government militarily in Darfur.”

Yet, China’s real crime is its dominating investments in Africa which now exceeds British, USA, European Union, World Bank and IMF aid budgets, combined.

A recent World Bank confirmed that China is financing infrastructure projects in more than 35 African countries with Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Nigeria, the Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe among the biggest recipients. In the DRC, China has agreed to build thousands of kilometers of roads, several hospitals and three universities. Unlike the West, China gives Africa quality projects on time and much more cheaply.

In their most direct statements yet recorded, African leaders made their views about the West clear during the Chinese Africa summit, held in Beijing in November 2006. Speaking to Lindsey Hilsum of British Channel Four television, former president Festus Mogae of Botswana said, “I find that the Chinese treat us as equals. The West treats us as former subjects (read slaves). Which is a reality. I prefer the attitude of the Chinese to that of the West.”

For his part, President Museveni who is seen as a darling of the West said, “The Western ruling groups are conceited, full of themselves, ignorant of our conditions, and they make other people’s business their business. Whereas the Chinese just deal with you, you represent your country, they represent their own interests, and you do business.”

And Russia is an enemy because it is sitting on huge gas and oil reserves, and opposing not only the expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to its borders, but also US plans to build Missile Defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Given the devastation of the last Cold War, won’t a new one be a double crime against humanity exceeding not only the massacres by the Germans of 6 million Jews, but also the genocide committed by Belgians in Congo in the last centaury, and the slave trade?

Aren’t African leaders facing a simple choice: stand firm and tell the west not to touch al-Bashir, or keep silent and wait to be picked off one by one?

Sam Akaki is Executive Director, Democratic Institutions for Poverty Reduction in Africa (DIPRA).
(The African Executive)

Hello from Daniel

Thanks God, I have finally decided to lunch this blog. After years of hesitations.

This blog which is officially lunched today (5th July 2008 ) will be a place where I will be sharing every moment I m spending on this planet with you and the generations to come. I’ve had wonderful moments with friends or alone with my computer or in that adoration room at Saint Peters Church room 111. However, I’ve been keeping all of it in myself and now can’t take the risk of exploding with it any more. I’ve decided to share it with u guys.

My blog will be in English and some Kirundi maybe in case my mom would ask. No French please. I have an English key board and after six years far from french accents, writing french with my english keyboard is a nightnmare and I m not going to complicate my life because of that.

I don t also care of my english syntax, as long as u can understand what I write, it’s ok for me. This blog is not a good reference for those who want to improve their english.

My articles will be covering my daily life and my opinions about what I see here and there.

Thanks and many thanks for reading my blog