Vapen utan gränser

Amnesty International rapporterar att delar av bl a amerikanska, kinesiska, grekiska och ryska vapen hittats hos rebeller i Demokratiska Republiken Kongo. Detta trots att landet står under ett vapenembargo i FN:s regi. Amnesty uppskattar att 3,9 miljoner människor har dött till följd av stridigheterna sedan 1998. För fyra år sedan skrev de stridande parterna under ett fredsavtal, men med hjälp av utländska vapen har våldet därefter enbart fortsatt.

Sverige har ingalunda ett rent samvete i frågan om internationell vapenhandel. Under perioden 1996 - 2003 importerade Sverige vapen för 90 miljoner kronor från Europas sista diktatur - Vitryssland [uppgifter hämtade från Svenska Freds]. Under samma period uppgick det svenska demokratibiståndet till Vitryssland till 60 miljoner kronor.

Ökat fokus på demokrati och MR är angeläget inom den svenska biståndspolitiken. Men så länge olika politikområden tillåts gå stick i stäv kommer den svenska rösten för demokrati förbli svår att ta på allvar.

Legitimerat förtryck #2

Nättidningen Svensk Bokhandel skriver om min rapport "Beijing 2008 - Spelet om de mänskliga rättigheterna", utgiven av KIC.

I rapporten skriver jag att ett av målen inför OS bör vara att få svenska journalister att gräva bakom de välputsade fasaderna när de är på plats i Beijing. Om alla journalister hade samma kunskap om och intresse för den politiska situationen i Kina som Svensk Bokhandels skulle den svenska Kina-journalistisken inte längre utgöra en del av själva legitimeringen av den kinesiska regimen.

Tyvärr handlar de flesta rapporter om Kina om ekonomi, och inte politik - som om de två saknade samband. När ekonomi och politik berörs i samma nummer är det ofta i skilda bilagor av tidningen.

Kan dock rekommendera att följa DN:s Torbjörn Petterssons nyanserade rapportering från Ostasien och framförallt Kina.

Stockholm har mycket, men saknar...

Maddes felaktiga slutsatser

Oktobers läs-projekt består - förutom uppsatslitteratur - av Madeleine Albrights fascinerande självbiografi, "Madame Secretary". Jo, jag erkänner - det är andra gången.

Men Albrights erfarenheter och tankar tål att läsas mer än en gång. Genom att varva reflektioner över personliga maktstrider och intriger inom Vita Huset med överskådliga och oftast knivskarpa analyser av världspolitiska skeenden i skuggan av Kalla Kriget, får Albright mig inte sällan att glömma bort både tid och rum.

Ofta delar jag många av hennes slutsatser - framförallt synen på vikten av en aktiv amerikansk utrikespolitik för mänskliga rättigheter och demokrati, såsom den fördes under hennes tid som amerikansk utrikesminister under Clinton.

Hon är en konsekvent försvarare av liberalismens upplysningsideal och tron på öppenhet, handel och dialog genomsyrar hennes tankar. I vissa fall lite för långt.

Clintons politik gentemot Kina kännetecknades av handelsliberalisering och dialog, och byggde på tanken om "constructive engagement". MR-villkor kopplades bort från handelsavtal. I samma veva som hon försvarar en öppnare handelspolitik gentemot Kina konstaterar Albright:

"At an Internet Café in Beijing, I saw young customers ordering how-to books on almost every conceivable subject. Knowledge, once it beings to be disseminated freely, is hard to fence back in."

Det är svårt att bestrida hennes tro på kunskap som en källa till reformer. Men problemet i Kina är snarare att ekonomisk utveckling inte per automatik leder till kunskapsspridning. Internet är inte per automatik ett demokrativerktyg. Idag fungerar det lika mycket som regimens vapen för ökad kontroll. Ett vapen som tillhandahålls bland annat av västerländska IT-företag.

För en intressant och insiktsfull analys av Internets politiska betydelse i ett växande Kina kan jag rekommendera Dr Johan Lagerkvists avhandling: "The Internet in China - Unlocking and Containing the Public Sphere", utgiven av Utrikespolitiska Institutet.

Slutsatsen är att Internet är en teknisk lösning, som kan associeras med både auktoritära och demokratiska krafter. Lagerkvist distansierar sig från "teknikoptimismen", en ideologi som bygger på att teknisk utveckling i sig genererar politisk liberalisering.

En sund inställning, som manar omvärlden till ökad handling inför Kinas MR-kränkningar. I USA pågår nu debatten för fullt kring de amerikanske IT-företagens roll i att förse den kinesiska regimen med tekniska lösningar för att behålla kontrollen över dissidenter. Inte minst konkressledamöterna Tom Lantos (dem) och Christopher Smiths (rep) ihärdiga kritik visar att efterfrågan på en mer nyanserad hållning gentemot Kina är partiöverskridande. Albrights övertro på tekniken som MR- & demokrativerktyg under sin tid som utrikesminister fick sannerligen inte stå oemotsagd.

När får vi en liknande debatt i Sverige?

Minnen från Kulturrevolutionen

Var på "måndagsföreläsning" den här veckan, anordnad av Östasiatiska Institutionen på Stockholms Universitet.

Författaren och MR-förespråkaren Chen Mai-Ping talade om sina minnen från den kinesiska Kulturrevolutionen, 1966-76.

En liknande föreläsning hade varit otänkbar i Kina än idag. Fortfarande är Kulturrevolutionen ett tabubelagt samtalsämne. Unga kineser växer upp utan kunskap om vad som hände deras föräldrar under detta mardrömslika decennium. De äldre generationerna har tvingats förtränga snarare än bearbeta sina minnen.

Röster som Chen Mai-Pings är därför värdefulla. Hans skrivna ord är kanske än viktigare. Exil-kinesers berättelser kommer kanske vara det enda spår som finns kvar om 30-40 år, när det inte längre finns några vittnen kvar i livet.

Kan tipsa om ett besök på hemsidan för Independent Chinese Pen Center, där Chen Mai-Ping är generalsekreterare. Organisationen arbetar för att stärka och försvara frispråkiga kinesiska författares rättigheter, runtom i världen.

Förväntningar

Var på mingelfest arrangerad av Taiwans representationskontor i Stockholm häromdagen. Vad som firades: Taiwans nationaldag.

Moderate riksdagsmannen Gunnar Axéns tal ingav stora förhoppningar om att den nya regeringens utrikespolitik kommer att styras av en tydligare moralisk kompass än den förras. Mer specifikt genom att utgöra en stark röst för demokrati framför diktatur - inte minst i relationen till Kina/Taiwan.

Moderaternas flathet inför frågan om EU:s vapenembargo mot Kina skulle slopas, när frågan var uppe senast 2005, ger dock stora skäl till tvivel. Likaså den nya regeringsförklaringens alltför enkla fras: "Sverige bör stärka relationerna med Asien, inte minst med dess stora och växande ekonomier."

Handel och MR tycks fortfarande ses som två helt skilda politikområden. Trots att det råder en bred enighet i riksdagen om Sveriges Politik för Global Utveckling (PGU) och ambitionen att låta MR-perspektivet genomsyra alla politikområden.

Kuba och Vitryssland nämndes i regeringsförklaringen i förbifarten, i samband med ambitionen att stärka Sveriges röst för demokrati i världen. Frågan återstår om ambitionen enbart gäller små länder, som inte är strategiskt avgörande exportmarknader för svensk industri.

Jag väntar med både hopp och tvivel på att Bildt ska staka ut en ny väg för svensk Kinapolitik. Och att vi får en handelsminister med ett sinne för affärsetik - på både det personliga och det politiska planet.

Legitimerat förtryck?

Den 21 september publicerade Amnesty International en uppdatering av MR-situationen i Kina, med anledning av att det nu bara är två år tills de Olympiska Spelen hålls i Beijing. Slutsatsen är - föga förvånande - att den kinesiska regimen misslyckas med att hålla sina löften. Faktum är att den politiska kontrollen över media och internet inte minskar - utan ökar, allteftersom OS närmar sig.

Amnestys rapporter om det fortsatt stränga politiska klimatet i Kina är en påminnelse om att Kinas integrering i världsekonomin inte har en odelbart positiv effekt på respekten för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Krasst uttryckt finns det inte mycket fog för antagandet att demokratiska värderingar och respekt för mänskliga rättigheter följer med konsumtionen av en Big Mac eller införskaffandet av ett modem. Snarare har den auktoritära regimens legitimitet kommit att vila på en ständig tillväxt och en stigande levandsstandard för den genomsnittlige kinesen. Så länge det går bra för landet lyckas regimen bevara kontrollen.

Hur ska vi som konsumenter, sportfanatiker, politiker och företagare ska förhålla oss till att nästa sommar-OS kommer att hållas i världens största diktatur? Det är en fråga som kommer att beröras löpande på denna blogg under den närmaste tiden.


För den som vill läsa mer på en gång, kan jag tipsa om en rapport jag skrivit för KIC (Kristdemokratiskt Internationellt Center) på ämnet: "Beijing 2008 - Spelet om de Mänskliga Rättighetera: Legitimerat Förtryck eller Öppning för Reformer?". Kan beställas på info@kicsweden.org.

Back in the middle #2

Once again, I am back in the Middle after a long period of absence. After having been emerged in Swedish politics during the past six months, I am more ready than ever to delve back into the Hong Kong and Chinese political scene - albeit from a distance.

The result of my two months in Hong Kong this past spring can be found here.

Or, if you want 36 pages summarized - despite Chinese dominance, the Hong Kong political party system is evolving and constantly expanding in terms of dimensions and issues. In fact, there are many similarities with the Swedish party system. More about this next later on.

Until then...joi gin!

Leaving Poplar Street

The day has come for me to wrap up, reach a conclusion, pack my bags and head on. Summarizing two months in Hong Kong is not easy, so I will not even try. Physically leaving Hong Kong for now does not mean that the city is no longer a part of my life - the politics of HK will be a continuous theme here on my blog.

Generally, I am not a list person. Well, actually, in real life, I am a whole-hearted list person - but what I am trying to say is that my thoughts usually do not appear in structured form. Perhaps that is exactly why making lists does me good. Anyhow, I compiled a list of Hong Kong spots that make we want to come back to the city - for one reason or the other.

10. The Legislative Council building. To discover that all seats are popularly elected 6 years from now.


















9. Ka On Building, Flat 7 B, Poplar Street. The ultimate Hong Kong flat experience. And the ultimate flat mates Marcos & Lucrecia. Thanks for teaching me what maté is all about...
















8. The Peak. To discover that the air has cleared (www.cleartheair.org.hk) and that you can actually see Kowloon.

7. The MTR. I have always been a fan of public transportation. The HK MTR makes me go wild!

6. Kowloon City. For the best Thai food I have ever had. Sorry, Bangkok!





















5. Civic Exchange, the think tank where I did my internship. Most places I have visited as an intern/worked at have made me think: "Never again!" With Civic Exchange, it was the opposite.


















4. Hong Kong Film Archive. I discovered it only a week ago, watching a HK classic Nong Kgee movie. It definitely made me want to see more!


3. Hing Fat restaurant, Tai Po Road. For the best Saturday brunch deal in Prince Edward. And the best egg tarts in town.





















2.Tamar Site. To discover that the HK government has listened to public opinion and used the spot for a good cause - which does not necessarily mean building government offices.

1. A random alley. To be surprised by something new...

Back in the Middle

For everyone who has been wondering - no, I have not contracted the bird flu. Nor have I escaped city life for the Yunnanese forests, choosing to devote my life to rural pleasures. Marlene is back in the Middle, back on track, awake and alert and ready as always to provide the latest reflections on China, Hong Kong, personal and political matters - you will find it all here.

Today, however, you will have to settle with a few snapshots to cover the events of the past few weeks. Zai jian!

The Culture of Giving

Attended an interesting symposium/grant making ceremony yesterday, and learned more about a topic which is quite foreign to us Swedes: philanthropy (let's see if I get any comments on this one...!). In Hong Kong, private and corporate giving is a field of study - and a culture - in itself.

Is there a link between a large welfare state and a marginalized culture of giving? If our money disappears in the form of paid taxes instead of through private donations, do we tend to care less about the cause for which it is intended? Perhaps not necessarily, but it is still interesting to reflect on how West European countries could encourage an increased sense of social responsibility on the individual level, while maintaining a net of social security on the societal level.

More on this later. And for now, a link to the organization sponsoring the event: HER Fund Hong Kong - kindly introduced to me by my "boss" Yan-yan Yip of Civic Exchange.

Mr. Li goes green

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing captured the essence of environmental protection and the mutual benefits of trade in one sentence, in a speech at the National People's Congress currently going on in Beijing:

"You may know that many American households celebrate Christmas with artificial Christmas trees manufactured in China and this helps promote environmental and ecological protection in the US."

[from article "US urged to rein in Taiwan radicals" by Cary Huang and Shi Jiangtao; South China Morning Post, Wednesday March 8 2006]

It seems that relations between the two superpowers are warming up. Nothing that a little global warming can't defrost...

A voice, then bread and peace

[originally published on the Civic Express blog, www.civic-express.com, March 7th 2006; Picture shows Legco (Legislative Council) Building, Hong Kong]

89 years ago, a group of Russian women went out on the streets of Moscow in strike, opposing political leaders who had failed to deliver what was most urgent at the time – bread and peace. However, as the women's action show, in order to obtain these goals, they were in fact demanding a third – political participation. The women's persistence and co-operation eventually contributed to the czar's abdication and the women were granted the right to vote by the following provisional government.

Approaching March 8th, named International Women's Day after the Russian women's success, Hong Kong women are also seeing the need for unity. During Saturday's symposium organized by the Women's Foundation, research was presented confirming the notion that Hong Kong women are underpaid and discriminated against in the labor market. It also revealed perhaps the most urgent insight about women's situation in Hong Kong: the lack of research and just how little we actually know!

Underlying the gross inequalities in social and economic fields is a fact which brings us back to the Russian women in 1917: Hong Kong women lack a voice in politics. And Hong Kong politics lacks the skills and talent of a huge proportion of the population. According to the report presented at the symposium, since the establishment of the HKSAR, fewer than 20% of political candidates and elected officials on the Legislative and District Councils have been women.

I am always a bit skeptical towards the notion that women contribute by adding a “softer” or more “feminine” touch to politics. Women are not needed because they are different, but because they are the same. And thus have the same right to participate. Nevertheless, women have experiences which differ from men's due to gender segregated occuption and processes of socialization - experiences which will not be included in the political equation until women have a voice to forward their concerns.

The Women's Foundation's report reveals shocking inequalities in many areas. However, limited resources and the limited attention span of the Hong Kong community makes it impossible to deal with them all at once. If one single issue is to be prioritized – let it be increasing women's political participation – a step will which have a multiplier effect on raising women's concerns in other spheres of society as well. First a voice – then come bread and peace.

Dragons, gorillas and cowboys

Ang Lee has done it again. Directed a great movie, that is. And the Taiwanese director finally got the Oscar he so well deserves. Lee has gracefully swept through the genres with some of my personal all-time favorites: Taiwanese culture indulgences such as "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" and "The Wedding Banquet", the American 70s low-key satirical drama "The Ice Storm", epic Chinese tale "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and now the cowboy love story above all; "Brokeback Mountain".

"The Ice Storm" still stands out as my own favorite. Not surprisingly, it did not draw nearly as large crowds as the more action-packed Chinese martial arts movie. Considering his broad repertoire so far (he also directed The Hulk in 2003 although I choose to disregard this blunder...), wonder where Lee will end up next. I am sure he has a futuristic vein somewhere - combined with his passion for tragedy, perhaps it is time for a dystopian tale of the future? I am already standing in line for the tickets...

The limits of internationalism...

...are reached in karaoke bars in Mongkok, Kowloon. And I have a sore throat to prove it. An evening which started off with a buffet dinner and a cheery mood turned into a war between nations. Our group of twelve nationalities beamed with openmindedness and international solidarism as we entered the little window-less compartment, where we (little as we knew) were to spend the next five hours in agony and bitter contestation.

The Hong Kongers only wanted to sing Andy Lau. The Europeans ganged up (not without intra-continental rivalry, of course) as we united our forces in old Beatles hits. And a Swedish duet was supported by a Norweigan choir in performing Abba classic "Dancing Queen". After a few hours of Asian-European-Asian-European rotation in choosing songs, our ideals of fairness and equal opportunity were replaced by intercontinental warfare. Microphones were thrown across the room (sorry, box). Performers were interrupted in mid-vibrato as enemies took control of the music switchboard. I admit, even I contributed to the hostilities by hiding the Cantonese songbook for a while.

So what to learn of this violent episode? That we need to promote inter-cultural exchange and understanding? Perhaps, but more urgently - Hong Kong has a huge surplus of sappy love songs, but a shortage of upbeat rock tunes. You do not have to be an economist to see the logical solution here. I just hope something happens fast, before I drown in a sea of mushy ballads...

Blog # 2

During the next couple of weeks, I will be making "guest appearances" on the HK Civic Express blog - commenting on local issues related to democratization and the political parties in Hong Kong.
Stop by and delve into the issues currently facing this pseudo-democracy with Chinese characteristics...

Gao Zhisheng

For those of you who understand Swedish out there, I warmly recommend an interview with Chinese lawyer and human rights activist Gao Zhisheng, in today's edition of Dagens Nyheter.

Gao is one of the most outspoken Chinese dissidents and has increasingly been subject to government persecution since he wrote a letter of protest to Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao in September last year. In today's article he wonders why the world isn't doing more when the facts about China's human rights violations are widely known. Ironically, Gao is doing more from Beijing than Sweden is from its safe haven thousands of miles from where the persecution takes place...

Good night, work hard!

I am currently in one of the few cities in the world where it is forbidden to "meet friends" in the subway. People standing around, being idle, would be too much of an interruption in the steady, rythmic flow of thousands of people rushing through every second. It is also one of the few cities where "work hard" is a more common goodbye phrase than "take it easy"; where "chilling" usually means taking a walk on Nathan Road, one of the most crowded and densely populated streets on earth.

Office culture is a world in itself. As I checked out of the office at 7pm Friday night, wishing everyone a good weekend, I couln't quite work out the weird looks I was getting. It wasn't until the week after, when my co-workers started talking about phone calls they had received during the weekend, that I understood that I had actually missed a day of work - the six-day work week is as established a phenomenon here as "elvakaffe" is in Sweden.

Hong Kong may be the height of efficiency (there is actually an outdoor escalator up the hill to my office), but the work-hard mentality comes with a cost. The link between a 70-hour work week and so called "political apathy" (which by my judgement is a myth) is not too hard to figure out. If people barely have time to meet their own family, who would expect political activity to flourish? I get the sense of that for many people in HK, the struggle against time is the biggest struggle of all - trying to make ends meet at the end of the week, with one's sanity intact.

A new proposal of implementing a five-day work week within the civil force is without a doubt a step in the right direction. The economic effects are not necessarily negative (in fact, there is much to indicate that productivity would increase with a shorter work week), while the benefits for society as a whole exceed a purely economic calculation. More time for civic engagement, more time for the family. And with less inclination to choose a "fast-food lifestyle", there are environmental benefits as well. Anyone who has seen the overflowing trash cans outside a Hong Kong Island fast-food joint around lunch hour knows what I am talking about.

Sitting at a 24-hour internet cafe at 2 am writing about the benefits of a slow-paced lifestyle may seem a bit hypocritical, I admit. Probably time to go to bed...

Hold your breath

After a weekend in the mountains, I am ready to hit the pavement again, no longer singing the country blues. A ten minute metro ride from Prince Edward Station and I was standing in the middle of nowhere, breathing (relatively) fresh air and slowly awakening from the dreamy carbondioxide haze I had been in for the past week. Suddenly I understood how Hong Kongers survive in the urban jungle - the area is actually so small that you always can see where it ends in the horizon. Though after a year in Beijing, I have yet to figure out the survival techniques during its days of mid-winter smog.

On a more serious note, pollution in Hong Kong is a problem growing with an alarming rate. And if not even politicians dare to handle the sensitive issue, then who will? Today, according to an article in the SCMP, even funding for long-term research on the effects of pollution on the health of citizens is an issue causing great controversy.

The death of a participant in the HK marathon last week has triggered a public debate on the effects of increasing pollution. I do not want to start speculating on what it will take for politicians to resort to some action!

No sitting