Podcasts about zhao ziyang

When we talk about the making of modern China, no name looms larger than Deng Xiaoping. But despite the heavy media bias and weighty political legacy China's architect carries, he did not build modern China alone. In fact, he cannot claim sole responsibility for coming up with the most iconic ideas that shaped China's future, like Special economic zones and new systems of economics. Some of the credit belongs to a much less well known figure: Zhao Ziyang. Removed from power after clashing with the elders of the CCP over the Tiananmen Square Incident, Zhao was crucial to forming some of the ideas that would shape China in the 1980s. A reformer and open minded man, Zhao tried his best to avoid politics, but having been forced to take up a position he didn't want, had to come face to face with his beliefs, which ultimately led to his downfall. This is also a sort of 80s Chinese politics recap episode, as we didn't cover that period in the history episodes at all. Hopefully we can cover more topics from this period over time!Chapters (00:00) Introduction(03:50) Biography of Zhao Ziyang(09:13) Deng Xiaoping vs Hua Guofeng(18:35) Zhao Ziyang Thought(24:32) Social, economic and political tensions of the 1980s(32:35) The dismissal of Hu Yaobang(40:50) The events of 1989(51:50) Zhao's Downfall(55:20) Zhao's plans for the futureSeeking truth from facts translation: https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/hu-fuming-author-of-mind-opening-guangming-daily-commentary-practice-is-the-only-criterion-of-truth/Support the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by Jonathan Chatwin, author of a new book about Deng Xiaoping's "Southern Tour" of early 1992 — a pivotal event that renewed a commitment to economic reforms after they'd stalled following 1989, and seized the initiative from conservatives in the Chinese leadership. The book is called The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future.2:10 – Why Jonathan focused on the Southern Tour, and the narratives surrounding it in China7:19 – How the events of '89 influenced Deng's thinking 11:08 – How the political fates of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang affected Deng's planning 14:31 – The reformers' path to victory from the second half of '89 to January of '9220:32 – Deng's vision of opportunity in the face of communism's apparent global retreat24:53 – How Deng's personal experiences shaped his policy decisions 27:07 – The strategic signaling and risky timing of the Southern Tour 34:07 – The influence of the Chinese horoscope, and “The Story of Spring”37:33 – Shenzhen speed 40:57 – What Jonathan learned about Deng Xiaoping 45:00 – Jonathan's recommendations for learning more about Deng Xiaoping and the post-Mao era 46:18 – Xi Jinping, the “end” [not sure how to phrase] of Deng's reform and opening era, and the [parallels with the?] Chinese economic situation today RecommendationsJonathan: China's Hidden Century, edited by Jessica Harrison-Hall and Julia Lovell, produced to accompany the British Museum's exhibition by that name; and the app Voice Dream, a text-to-speech reader Kaiser: Andrea Wulf's Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self, a book about the group of German Romantics gathered in Jena, Germany See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's subject? The President's diplomatic efforts with China in 1984. Yes, in those years, there were positive diplomatic efforts. In fact, the administration developed a relationship with Ziyang who was a reformer, in office from 1980 to 1987. Shortly after George Shultz became Secretary of State, he completed an initiative with Ziyang in August 1982, […]

Today's subject? The President's diplomatic efforts with China in 1984. Yes, in those years, there were positive diplomatic efforts. In fact, the administration developed a relationship with Ziyang who was a reformer, in office from 1980 to 1987. Shortly after George Shultz became Secretary of State, he completed an initiative with Ziyang in August 1982, that arranged for acceptance of a joint US-China communique that limited US arms sales to Taiwan in exchange for a vague pledge by the Chinese government to strive for “peaceful unification of the Motherland.” While many criticized Reagan for supporting this, knowing of his staunch support for Taiwan, it was a sign of reciprocity. Ultimately, Ziyang lost power because he criticized the government's handling of the Tiananmen Square protests and empathized with the students. He believed China should become a liberal democracy and was placed on house arrest until his death in 2005. So let's get started by listening to an excerpt from the President's welcoming remarks.

The Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China in 1989  is one of the most important, noteworthy tragedies in modern Chinese history. It was the biggest protest against communism rule in over sixty years. But thanks to the consistent suppression and propaganda of the modern Chinese government…  many if not most Chinese citizens today...don't even know it ever happened. Why is the communist regime in charge of China so insistent on erasing the history of this event? What IS the history of this event? I learned so much about communist China's history this week and now really fully understand why the Tiananmen Square  protests occurred, and why they were violently ended. I hope you learn a bunch too and get some laughs in as well. Hail Nimrod! Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camps are ON SALE!  BadMagicMerch.com Bad Magic Productions Monthly Patreon Donation: We will all be donating this month to Teach For America (amount TBD) - a diverse network of leaders who work to confront the injustice of education inequity through teaching. An awesome group of meatsacks doing their best to make sure poor kids - not just middle class and rich kids - also get a good crack and going to a good college to help improve their futures. You can learn more about Teach for America or get involved by going to teachforamerica.org Get tour tickets at dancummins.tv Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1AgOQxbDDcIMerch: https://www.badmagicmerch.comDiscord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard?  Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcastSign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

No fim da década de 1980, os estudantes universitários de Pequim, na China, foram responsáveis por liderar o maior protesto da história da cidade. Apenas no ano de 1988, mais de 210 protestos estudantis ocorreram por toda a China. Eles reivindicavam maiores investimentos na educação, exigindo o fim da alta inflação e da corrupção, tanto na área pública quanto privada. Os estudantes de Pequim estavam inseridos em um ambiente acadêmico que propiciava o surgimento de manifestações: a maioria das 67 universidades de Pequim estavam próximas umas das outras. Essa proximidade facilitava a difusão de ideias, pautadas nos dormitórios estudantis e espalhadas até as ruas de Pequim. As principais mobilizações ocorriam em uma icônica praça no centro da cidade: a Praça Tiananmen, a Praça da Paz Celestial. A maioria dos estudantes de Pequim dividiam-se entre a ala da esquerda, críticos ao regime de Mao e outros mais à direita, inspirados por pensadores liberais dos EUA. Embora fossem separados por diferentes princípios, os estudantes eram unidos devido às suas ideias não-conformistas, pois ambos estavam insatisfeitos com o rumo do governo na última década, encabeçado por Deng Xiaoping. Após sucessivos protestos iniciados por estudantes liberais em 1985, 1987 e 1988, em 1989 o movimento cresceu e foi apoderado por vários setores da sociedade chinesa. Ao longo dos meses de abril e maio de 1989, mais de 1 milhão de pessoas protestaram na Praça Tiananmen : não apenas estudantes, mas operários, políticos, policiais e até membros do exército chinês. Muitos integrantes do Partido Comunista Chinês, abriram o diálogo com os estudantes, apoiaram o movimento e até o financiaram. Por exemplo, o Ministério da Cultura da China foi responsável por doar 360 yuans aos estudantes; um vice-comandante de divisão do Exército de Libertação Popular da China, doou mil; o presidente do Partido da Democracia Progressiva da China, Lei Jieqiong, doou outros mil yuans. Organizações trabalhistas também entraram no movimento: os Trabalhadores da Companhia Têxtil Geral de Pequim doaram dez mil. Enquanto isso, a Federação Chinesa de Sindicatos e o Comitê de Angariação de Fundos da Loteria de Bem-Estar Social da China doaram 100.000 yuans cada. Em 1989, foi registrado que quase 60% da população chinesa apoiava o direito dos estudantes de protestar, com apenas 10% se opondo e 30% sem opinião concreta sobre o movimento. Em determinado momento, os protestos não estavam mais em Pequim: tinham se espalhado por toda a China: em 19 de maio daquele ano, mais de 400 cidades chinesas estavam envolvidas com os protestos de uma forma ou outra. O Secretário Geral do Partido Comunista, Zhao Ziyang anunciou que os protestos eram legítimos e as demandas dos estudantes deveriam ser levadas em consideração. Entretanto, a ala conservadora do Partido Comunista Chinês pensava diferente. Liderados por Deng Xiaoping, que tinha iniciado suas reformas de liberação econômica, o movimento foi rotulado como burguês e contra revolucionário, encabeçado por alguns estudantes liberais. De fato, o movimento foi iniciado pelos liberais, mas mais tarde, foi adotado e reconduzido por muitos estudantes de esquerda, que iniciaram uma greve de fome na praça. Entretanto, aquelas semanas de demonstração popular terminaria de forma diferente do que muitos estudantes imaginavam. ____________________ Se curte o conteúdo do Geo, agradecemos quem contribuir com nossa campanha mensal no: Picpay: https://picpay.me/geopizza Apoia.se: https://apoia.se/geopizza ou Patreon: https://patreon.com/geopizza Confira a Geostore, nossa loja do Geopizza

China's population is ageing. It's estimated that a quarter of Chinese people will be elderly within three decades. The relaxing of its one child policy – first to two children in 2016 and then to three last year – hasn't stimulated fertility rate, which is still stagnant at 1.7 births per woman. In November last year, nappy producers supposedly pivoted their marketing towards elderly clients over parents of babies. Demographers and economists warn about the problems that an ageing – and eventually shrinking – population will cause, in China and elsewhere. On this episode, I speak to the demographer Wang Feng, Professor of Sociology at University of California, Irvine, about what awaits China. For Professor Wang, care of the elderly will soon become an issue, with more than 365 million over 65s expected by 2050. The Chinese welfare state is minimal (ironic given its socialist pretensions), something of a ‘postcode lottery', I put to Professor Wang. He says that ‘China has already missed the time window for establishing an equitable national social security system' – it has already become too expensive, too fast.  We also discuss the one child policy at length – its logic at the time, whether Communist leaders foresaw the problems it would cause for their successors and, fascinatingly, whether there was any opposition within the Chinese Communist Party to the policy (the answer is yes ­– and if you caught my episode on the legacy of Deng Xiaoping, you will not be surprised to learn that the resistance was led by Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang). Professor Wang points out that one of the reasons why the policy took so long to go even as China liberalised relatively in the 1990s and 2000s, under the helm of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao: ‘They were people who grew up, like myself, at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Their knowledge of population was all learned from the time when China implemented the one child policy, when there was so much propaganda about how population would be the root of all problems for China. I think that generation of leaders were deeply intoxicated by these teachings'In a way, there's poetic justice for a government who thought that, in Professor Wang's words, ‘you can just plan [births] and constrain them as you would grow trees or wheat'. Today's China, regardless of the loosening of the one child policy (to two in 2016; and three last year, which I wrote about at the time), is just not having babies. For the Professor, there's a fundamental truth: ‘The ageing society is not something that China, or any other country, can reverse'. The crux lies in how to adapt society to be better prepared – fixing the welfare state, the healthcare system, and maturing the financial system so the ageing population can invest for retirement.

China's population is ageing. It's estimated that a quarter of Chinese people will be elderly within three decades. The relaxing of its one child policy – first to two children in 2016 and then to three last year – hasn't stimulated fertility rate, which is still stagnant at 1.7 births per woman. In November last year, nappy producers supposedly pivoted their marketing towards elderly clients over parents of babies. Demographers and economists warn about the problems that an ageing – and eventually shrinking – population will cause, in China and elsewhere. On this episode, I speak to the demographer Wang Feng, Professor of Sociology at University of California, Irvine, about what awaits China. For Professor Wang, care of the elderly will soon become an issue, with more than 365 million over 65s expected by 2050. The Chinese welfare state is minimal (ironic given its socialist pretensions), something of a ‘postcode lottery', I put to Professor Wang. He says that ‘China has already missed the time window for establishing an equitable national social security system' – it has already become too expensive, too fast.  We also discuss the one child policy at length – its logic at the time, whether Communist leaders foresaw the problems it would cause for their successors and, fascinatingly, whether there was any opposition within the Chinese Communist Party to the policy (the answer is yes ­– and if you caught my episode on the legacy of Deng Xiaoping, you will not be surprised to learn that the resistance was led by Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang). Professor Wang points out that one of the reasons why the policy took so long to go even as China liberalised relatively in the 1990s and 2000s, under the helm of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao: ‘They were people who grew up, like myself, at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Their knowledge of population was all learned from the time when China implemented the one child policy, when there was so much propaganda about how population would be the root of all problems for China. I think that generation of leaders were deeply intoxicated by these teachings'In a way, there's poetic justice for a government who thought that, in Professor Wang's words, ‘you can just plan [births] and constrain them as you would grow trees or wheat'. Today's China, regardless of the loosening of the one child policy (to two in 2016; and three last year, which I wrote about at the time), is just not having babies. For the Professor, there's a fundamental truth: ‘The ageing society is not something that China, or any other country, can reverse'. The crux lies in how to adapt society to be better prepared – fixing the welfare state, the healthcare system, and maturing the financial system so the ageing population can invest for retirement.

« Suivre le Parti, pour toujours », c'est le slogan officiel des festivités qui se tiendront en juillet pour célébrer le centenaire du Parti communiste chinois (PCC). Cet anniversaire s'accompagne d'un retour aux sources maoïstes avec une mise en valeur de la révolution culturelle, quitte à tourner le dos à la vision de Deng Xiaoping qui avait su allier ouverture économique et maintien du monopole du Parti communiste. Une réécriture de l'histoire à l'initiative de Xi Jinping qui provoque crispations et critiques feutrées.    Entretien avec Alex Payette spécialiste du parti-État chinois, co-fondateur et PDG du groupe Cercius, une société de conseil en intelligence stratégique et géopolitique RFI : Dans quelles dispositions, le PCC fête-t-il ses 100 ans ?   Alex Payette : Si on regarde ce qui s'est passé depuis 2013, on peut dire que le parti a eu des jours un peu plus ensoleillés, dirons-nous. Actuellement, avec le renouveau de la campagne anticorruption et son lot de purges, la lutte des factions autour de la personne de Xi Jinping, les conditions ne sont pas réunies pour une célébration. Le parti va chercher à masquer cela durant les festivités au cours du mois de juillet.   Que veut cacher le Parti communiste chinois ?   Ce sont des problèmes de famille que l'on essaye toujours de mettre sous le tapis. Le souci c'est que l'on fait face à une situation qui ne s'est pas présentée depuis longtemps : absence de succession, retour d'un discours plus idéologique que l'on essayait pourtant d'éviter depuis la période de Deng Xiaoping et même de Jiang Zemin qui s'étend jusqu'à 2015. Des références plus fréquentes à la révolution culturelle et aux années maoïstes que certains ne voulaient pas voir ressurgir et qui créent un malaise au sein du parti État. Malheureusement, cela isole encore plus un Xi Jinping déjà très seul au sommet du parti-État et interroge sur la réaction qui pourrait être la sienne. Cette réorientation idéologique en faveur de la révolution culturelle (1966-1968) se fait à l'initiative de Xi Jinping ? Oui, en grande partie à l'initiative de Xi Jinping, mais ce n'est pas nécessairement lui qui a mené la réflexion, même s'il avait envie d'un virage à gauche, vers des idéaux maoïstes. Il faut plutôt regarder parmi les gens qui ont écrit les discours de Xi Jinping depuis les années 1980-90, comme Wang Huning et Li Shulei. Wang Huning c'est l'actuel idéologue du Parti communiste et architecte des idées qui sont déployées à l'intérieur du parti. Il fait partie de ceux qui ont structuré le virage vers la gauche, remis au goût du jour des discours qui rappellent ceux des années 1960 et 1970, une période romantique dans l'esprit de certains. Le PCC a connu des périodes de rupture au fil de sa longue histoire, avec par exemple la révolution culturelle, la combinaison ouverture économique et maintien du monopole du parti par Deng Xiaoping. C'est la révolution culturelle qui est aujourd'hui mise en avant. L'objectif est-il de donner une vision cohérente et unifiée de l'histoire du parti ?  C'est certain qu'à l'aube du centenaire, il faut absolument recentraliser l'histoire du parti, réunifier autour d'un seul narratif. Contrôler son histoire c'est extrêmement important, car ça permet d'exclure ceux qui ne sont pas d'accord, d'identifier de possibles poches de résistance à l'intérieur du parti. Mais le problème c'est que ce retour aux idées maoïstes est plus présent dans les discours que dans la réalité. On ne reverra plus aujourd'hui quelqu'un avec la prestance d'un Mao. Xi Jinping n'a pas le panache pour cela. Donc la révolution culturelle est mise en valeur, idéalisée dans les discours, mais sans concrétisation réelle, car la situation sociale a complètement changé. C'est en raison de ces tiraillements que la publication par l'ancien Premier ministre Wen Jiabao d'un article intitulé « Ma mère », a été tant remarqué ? Wen Jiabao est pourtant un retraité de la politique qui a perdu de son influence, mais l'article publié à Macao a été censuré à Pékin.  Pour faire court, les tensions entre Xi et Wen Jiabao datent de l'entrée de Xi au Politburo en 2007. Les deux hommes s'affrontaient déjà sur l'interprétation de la révolution culturelle. Dans son article publié le 25 mars dernier, Wen Jiabao raconte ce que sa mère et son père ont dû subir pendant la révolution culturelle. Certes, la critique est indirecte, mais quand il écrit qu'il n'est pas d'accord avec le style de leadership, avec les idées véhiculées, entre les lignes, c'est une critique de la révolution culturelle et il vise directement Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping ne peut admettre que d'anciens membres du Politburo se mettent soudainement à critiquer la direction du parti et même le parti lui-même. C'est inacceptable pour lui.   Dans cette lettre, Wen Jiabao écrit « la Chine devrait être un pays rempli d'équité et de justice, où l'on respecterait la volonté du peuple ».   Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il le dit, il l'a déjà fait, je pense, en 2010 et même en 2012, avant de quitter la politique. Ce sont les idéaux d'anciens réformateurs, qui ont connu des gens comme Zhao Ziyang, d'anciens Premiers ministres tels que Hu Yaobang, des responsables des années 1980 qui étaient à Tiananmen, qui ont fait partie de la frange des réformateurs. Pour Wen Jiabao, c'est naturel de revendiquer des valeurs plus universelles, mais le simple fait de l'écrire signifie, si on le prend au premier degré, que les préoccupations de lutte anti-pauvreté, de lutte pour l'équité sociale revendiquées par Xi Jinping depuis 2013 ne sont que de l'affichage. La Chine a été présentée comme une menace, à plusieurs reprises ces derniers jours, à l'issue du sommet de l'Otan, de la réunion du G7, notamment. Pékin a riposté en affirmant que la Chine n'était pas la menace décrite. Ce qui est en jeu, c'est l'image de la Chine à l'extérieur. On a relevé les propos prononcés le 1er juin par Xi Jinping. Il a appelé de ses vœux « une image fiable, aimable et respectueuse de la Chine ». On s'est interrogé sur le sens de cette déclaration. Faut-il y voir une remise en cause de la diplomatie des « loups combattants », la politique étrangère agressive en vigueur depuis environ 4 ans ?  Pas nécessairement. Quand on fait face à une structure aussi imposante que l'État léniniste, ou ce que l'on peut appeler le parti-État chinois, il faut comprendre que lorsqu'on lance un programme, on ne peut pas faire marche arrière. En raison de cette lourdeur, aucun discours de Xi ne pourra être suivi d'un changement drastique. En revanche, il faut s'intéresser aux mots prononcés. D'une certaine façon, il dit « on a fait du bon travail en défendant la Chine, mais on est allés trop loin ». Il explique que l'on pourrait faire mieux en aidant les gens à comprendre le parti, le modèle chinois. Mais de là à dire que c'était trop, qu'il faut s'excuser, ça, ce n'est pas envisageable. Donc, il y aura peut-être des ajustements pour apporter un autre type de narratif sur la scène internationale, mais pas de changement soudain de cap… ce serait étonnant.   Mais la diplomatie des « loups combattants » ne fait pas l'unanimité au sein des diplomates chinois.   En effet, mais encore une fois les diplomates sont des cadres du parti de troisième zone, si je peux m'exprimer ainsi, qui relaient les éléments de langage qui leur sont fournis. Qu'ils soient d'accord ou non, la structure et les mécanismes de promotion font que la loyauté s'impose autrement les chances d'avancement diminuent. Au sein du Politburo, c'est certain qu'il y a des membres qui ne sont pas d'accord et qui pointent du doigt Wang Huning. Par exemple, lors de la guerre commerciale avec les États-Unis, il a été critiqué pour son manque d'expérience concrète en matière de gestion, d'administration du politique. Sa légitimité a été mise en cause. Ce genre de discours flotte encore aujourd'hui. Au sein du ministère des Affaires étrangères, un certain nombre de diplomates se rapprochent de l'âge de la retraite. Il faut s'attendre à des changements prochains ?  La guerre commerciale avec les États-Unis a brouillé les cartes de la transition au sein du ministère des Affaires étrangères. Décision a été prise en période de tension de conserver en place les gens détenteurs de la mémoire institutionnelle, considérés comme plus aptes à régler les dossiers. Le souci c'est que les choses ne se sont pas déroulées comme prévu. Avec la diplomatie guerrière, le virage à gauche, la transition Trump-Biden, il est certain que le parti a été pris de court, n'a pas eu le temps d'effectuer les changements envisagés. Ces promotions qui n'ont pas eu lieu provoquent un embouteillage. On s'attend à une transition soit un peu avant le congrès de l'automne 2022, car ça pourrait faciliter des promotions au Politburo, soit en mars 2023, date du grand remaniement ministériel. Mais il y a des embouteillages, des gens qui devaient être promus, qui ne l'ont pas été et ça provoque des tensions. Vous y faisiez référence, le congrès du PCC est prévu à l'automne 2022 et provoque déjà des crispations. Pour Xi Jinping, le choix qui s'offre à lui est triple : prendre sa retraite, renoncer à l'un de ses sièges ou accepter un troisième mandat ce qui serait inédit. Un dilemme, car chaque choix présente son corollaire de difficultés.    Tout à fait, s'il reste, il bloque le système, provoque le déraillement de tout le mécanisme de promotion, et mécontente ceux en attente d'avancement, même au sein de son entourage proche. S'il venait à se séparer d'un seul siège, ce qui est possible, ou même de deux, il pourrait soit garder la commission militaire centrale, comme Jiang Zemin ou même Deng Xiaoping, ce qui serait peut-être l'idéal pour lui, ou bien garder le siège du parti et confier les autres postes à Li Qiang ou Chen Min'er (chef du Parti communiste de la ville-province de Chongqing) considérés comme des successeurs potentiels. Mais dans le même temps, est-ce qu'il peut tout quitter d'un coup ? La réponse est non, car la campagne anticorruption a suscité du mécontentement. Or, pour partir l'esprit tranquille, il faut s'assurer que les gens ne sont pas trop fâchés contre vous. Dans le cas présent, on comprend bien que Xi Jinping se retrouve dans une situation délicate. S'il part, les mécontents pourraient provoquer un retour de balancier, s'il quitte partiellement ses postes, ceux qui vont assurer la transition pourraient être victimes des tensions internes au parti ou bien pas suffisamment forts pour tenir la ligne. S'il décide de rester, il suscitera des tensions au sein du parti qui seront autant de mises à l'épreuve de ses relations avec son entourage. On voit déjà des ballons d'essai avec des informations qui surgissent de nulle part qui concernent l'entourage de Xi, mais aussi Liu He et son fils. Mais ses choix sont limités par ceux qui ont été faits dès 2013, donc il se retrouve prisonnier de la structure.   La volonté de Joe Biden de convaincre les alliés des États-Unis d'adopter une ligne dure à l'égard de la Chine constitue-t-elle un autre facteur de tension ?   Il est certain que si les Européens venaient à constituer un front uni avec Joe Biden cela deviendrait encore plus compliqué pour Xi, d'autant qu'il n'y a pas de consensus sur la ligne à tenir. Donc les uns sanctionnent les autres et vice versa, on appelle cela « le tango des offusqués », qui a pour conséquence d'isoler de plus en plus la Chine.  

Deze aflevering van Tegenspraak gaat over Tank Man - die ene man tegenover de tanks, op het Plein van de Hemelse Vrede in Beijing. En over de woorden die achter dat iconische beeld in de vergetelheid zijn geraakt. Van die enige machthebber, die het in 1989 aandurfde om te luisteren naar protesterende Chinese studenten en arbeiders. En over het lot dat hen beiden trof: doodgezwegen in eigen land, maar beroemd in de rest van de wereld.

 Wil je weten over Zhao Ziyang en zijn geheime dagboek? Ze zijn uitgegeven onder de titel ‘Staatsgevangene nummer één’ (Engelse uitgave: Prisoner of the State). En wil je meer lezen over het China van nu? Lees dan het boek China en de barbaren van Henk Schulte Nordholt. Veel dank aan Max Dohle, die met zijn tip het verhaal van deze aflevering helemaal rond maakte. Tegenspraak is een podcast over de kracht van woorden. Met verhalen over sprekers die de moed hadden om tegen de stroom in te gaan. Gemaakt door Jan Sonneveld (https://byspeech.nl). Muziek: Unicorn Head - Beach Walk (Youtube Audio Library)

As the year slowly slips away and the autumn leaves remind us of our inescapable mortality, it's time for another episode of Nerds Amalgamated.First up this week, Valve is leaking and blowing off some steam. The entire source code for TF2 and CSGO has been leaked, and Valve News Network's source has some interesting rumours about Half Life 3.The PS5 finally has a release date and a price. It's finally time to move to the next generation of consoles, but don't make space in your TV cabinet just yet.More anime is becoming live action. Because that's exactly what everyone was begging for. This time it's Cowboy Bebop season 2 and One Punch Man.But in another nightmare, your Ego has a big part to play in the frequency of nightmares. Is self-affirmation a more effective dream weapon than Freddy Kruger's claws?This week, Professor went Old Skool and played Objects in Space, a modempunk space adventure. DJ chose a demolition derby to knock out some stress and Dev-i isn't ready to leave the VR Chat world just yet.Come back next time for more Nerdy News.Valve is leaking- https://twitter.com/CSGO/status/1253075594901774336- https://www.zdnet.com/article/valve-says-its-safe-to-play-csgo-and-tf2-after-source-code-leaked-online/- https://www.newsweek.com/valve-source-code-leaks-online-developer-says-no-reason-alarmed-1499628All things PS5 including production and release date- https://www.notebookcheck.net/PlayStation-5-mass-production-to-begin-in-June-with-simultaneous-global-launch-planned-PS5-reveal-event-could-land-in-late-May-or-early-June.462066.0.html- https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/1271365/PS5-reveal-date-and-price-latest-Sony-has-good-news-and-bad-news-for-fansAnime turning into live action- https://observer.com/2020/04/netflix-cowboy-bebop-season-2-live-action-john-cho/- https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sony-film-manga-one-punch-man-venom-writers-1234585282/Nightmare on Ego street- https://www.psypost.org/2020/04/new-study-finds-ego-strength-predicts-nightmare-frequency-56488?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-study-finds-ego-strength-predicts-nightmare-frequency- https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-74996-001Games PlayedProfessor– Objects In Space - https://store.steampowered.com/app/824070/Objects_in_Space/Rating: 4/5DJ– KillSteel - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1269550/KillSteel/Rating: 3/5Dev-i-Boy– VRChat - https://store.steampowered.com/app/438100/VRChat/Rating: 4/5Other topics discussedValve source code comment- https://i.redd.it/chodbngq4fu41.jpgSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate - E3 2018 - Nintendo Switch- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83oHunt Down The Freeman (Half-Life 2 fan-game that was developed and published by Royal Rudius Entertainment and released commercially on Steam on February 23rd, 2018)- https://store.steampowered.com/app/723390/Hunt_Down_The_Freeman/Cremator (The Cremator, also known as the Combine Janitor, is a passive enemy cut from Half-Life 2.)- https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/CrematorAxel Gembe - The Half Life 2 hacker- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-21-the-boy-who-stole-half-life-2-articleFacebook hires hacker who started Sony war- https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-hires-hacker-who-started-sony-war-2304075.htmlWhite hat hackers (The term "white hat" in Internet slang refers to an ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who specializes in penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the security of an organization's information systems. White hat hackers may also work in teams called "sneakers",red teams, or tiger teams.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hat_(computer_security)PS5 controller: the DualSense- https://www.gamesradar.com/au/ps5-controller-dualshock-5/Xbox Series X logo reveal- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-04-22-heres-the-xbox-series-x-logoVidal Sassoon logo- http://logok.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Vidal-Sassoon-logo-300x220.pngXbox Series X- https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/p/xbox-series-x/8wj714n3rbtl- https://www.xbox.com/en-AU/consoles/xbox-series-xXbox 360 technical problems (The Xbox 360 video game console is subject to a number of technical problems and failures that can render it unusable. However, many of the issues can be identified by a series of glowing red lights flashing on the face of the console; the three flashing red lights (nicknamed the "Red Ring of Death" or the "RRoD") being the most infamous.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problemsDenis Villeneuve Explains Why ‘Dune’ Will Be Split into Two Movies- https://collider.com/dune-two-movies-sequel-explained-reason-why-denis-villeneuve/J.J. Abrams Developing Remake of Japanese Hit ‘Your Name’ With Paramount- https://variety.com/2017/film/news/j-j-abrams-your-name-remake-paramount-1202574994/Popeye (Popeye was a cancelled 2016 film based off the Popeye cartoon characters)- https://cancelled-movies.fandom.com/wiki/Popeye_(2016_animated_film)Objects In Space – Build Your Own Control Panel- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I270vSrTIukClose Encounters of The Third Kind - Ship In The Dessert- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTcKFCw2MO0Absolute Beginners ("Absolute Beginners" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Beginners_(David_Bowie_song)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Beginners_(David_Bowie_song)#Production_creditsFrank Herbert's Children of Dune (Frank Herbert's Children of Dune is a three-part science fiction miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert%27s_Children_of_DuneDune (Dune is a 1984 American epic science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch and based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)The Loch Ness Monster: The Story of The Surgeon’s Photograph- https://www.donttakepictures.com/dtp-blog/2017/4/19/the-loch-ness-monster-turns-83-the-story-of-the-surgeons-photographThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Private_Life_of_Sherlock_HolmesThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Nessie prop found- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36024638Dell : We just have better computers…- https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17226064/dell-china-laptop-pubg-cheatingTroubling Issues (TNC podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/troublingissuespodcastThat’s Not COVID (TNC podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/thatsnotcovidpodcastShout Outs15 April 2020 – Brian Dennehy American actor of stage, television, and film, passed away at 81 - https://variety.com/2020/film/news/brian-dennehy-dead-dies-tommy-boy-first-blood-1234582309/Brian Dennehy, the winner of two Tonys in a career that also spanned films including “Tommy Boy,” “First Blood” and “Cocoon,” and television roles including “Dynasty” and “Death of a Salesman,”. His daughter, actress Elizabeth Dennehy, tweeted on Thursday, “It is with heavy hearts we announce that our father, Brian, passed away last night from natural causes, not Covid-related. Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud and devoted father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife, Jennifer, family and many friends,” The actor made his TV and feature debut in 1977, from that point he maintained a heavy work load for decades. In 1982 his profile increased significantly thanks to his effective performance in the role of Teasle, the sadistic small-town police chief who is Sylvester Stallone’s lead adversary in “First Blood.” One of Dennehy’s most memorable film roles came in Alan J. Pakula’s 1990 adaptation of Turow’s bestselling novel “Presumed Innocent,” starring Harrison Ford as the Chicago assistant district attorney on trial for the murder of a co-worker with whom he had an affair. Dennehy played his boss, who’s up for re-election and has multiple divided loyalties, with a subtlety that was necessary. He died from sepsis in New Haven, Connecticut.15 April 2020 - Allen Daviau, American cinematographer passed away at 77 - https://variety.com/2020/film/news/allen-daviau-dead-dies-e-t-empire-of-the-sun-1234582518/Cinematographer Allen Daviau, a five-time Academy Award nominee for films including Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” and “Empire of the Sun”. Food editor and writer Colman Andrews wrote on Twitter that Daviau had died of coronavirus at the MPTF hospital. “RIP Allen Daviau, my friend of almost 60 years, cinematographer and bon vivant, five-time Academy Award nominee, dining companion extraordinaire, pure soul, who left us last night at the MPTF Hospital, his longtime home, after contracting COVID-19. Salut, mon ami.” Daviau, a New Orleans native, was nominated for best cinematography Oscars for Spielberg movies “The Color Purple,” “Empire of the Sun,” and “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” — along with two Barry Levinson films, “Avalon” and “Bugsy.” He also shot the Gobi desert sequence for Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” In 1983, he talked to American Cinematographer magazine about prepping the “E.T.” shoot, “We sat down with Steven and started screening movies together. This is the best way I know to get started, watching our own movies and other people’s movies, discussing them, evolving the style we want. We watched Night of the Hunter, Alien, Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris — I forget what all.” Daviau described his favorite scene in “E.T.” to the magazine: “It would be the one in which the youngster [Henry Thomas] says, ‘I’m keeping him.’ The little girl [Drew Barrymore] walks forward, there are highlights in E.T.’s eyes, no detail in the face, and the light is yellow, the effect is very much that of a Maxfield Parrish painting.” He died from complications of COVID-19 in Los Angeles,California.16 April 2020 - Gene Deitch, American animator & filmmaker passed away at 95 - https://news.expats.cz/weekly-czech-news/american-animator-longtime-prague-expat-gene-deitch-passes-away-at-age-95/Gene Deitch was an American Oscar-winning illustrator, animator, film director and producer, he directed 13 episodes of “Tom and Jerry” and also some of the “Popeye the Sailor” series. As an animator, he got the Gold Medal of the New York Art Directors Club for the best commercials twice at end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s. These works of his were the first to enter the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Deitch said he loved Prague, where he had shot 70 animated films and seven TV series and was very happy there. He won the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime contributions in animation in 2004, which he appreciated more than the Oscar, he admitted in one of his interviews. He died from cardiac arrest in Prague.17 April 2020 - Matthew Seligman, New Wave Bassist For The Soft Boys And David Bowie passed away at 64 - https://variety.com/2020/music/news/matthew-seligman-dead-dies-coronavirus-bassist-david-bowie-1234584453/Matthew Seligman, was a member of The Soft Boys and the Thompson Twins, and was a sideman for Thomas Dolby. Seligman was also a member of Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club and The Dolphin Brothers. Seligman joined Bowie during his 1985 Live Aid performance and played bass on the soundtrack for his 1986 film “Labyrinth.” His longtime friend and fellow musician Thomas Dolby shared details about Seligman’s death in a Facebook post, saying he suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke on Friday. He had also been in an induced coma for two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus in St. George’s University Hospital in London. Dolby posted a photo of Seligman with lyrics from his song “I Love You Goodbye.” “Some words are sad to sing. Some leave me tongue-tied. But the hardest words I know are I love you goodbye,” he wrote. He died from complications of COVID-19 in London.Remembrances21 April 1965 - Edward Victor Appleton - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Victor_AppletonEnglish physicist, Nobel Prize winner (1947) and pioneer in radiophysics. He studied, and was also employed as a lab technician, at Bradford College from 1909 to 1911. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 for his seminal work proving the existence of the ionosphere during experiments carried out in 1924. Appleton had observed that the strength of the radio signal from a transmitter on a frequency such as the medium wave band and over a path of a hundred miles or so was constant during the day but that it varied during the night. This led him to believe that it was possible that two radio signals were being received. It was sensible to suggest these variations were due to the interference of two waves but an extra step to show that the second wave causing the interference (the first being the ground wave) was coming down from the ionosphere. The basic idea behind Appleton’s work is so simple that it is hard to understand at first how he devoted almost all his scientific career to its study. Thanks to Appleton’s research, the periods when these would occur could be predicted and communication could be switched to wavelengths that would be least affected. Radar, was one that came about thanks to Appleton’s work. On a very general level, his research consisted in determining the distance of reflecting objects from radio signal transmitters. This is exactly the idea of radar and the flashing dots that appear on the screen scanned by the circulating ‘searcher’ bar. This system was developed partly by Appleton as a new method, called the pulse method, to make ionospheric measurements. It was later adapted by Robert Watson-Watt to detect aeroplanes. Nowadays, ionospheric data is important when communications with satellites are considered. He died at the age of 72 in Edinburgh.21 April 2016 – Prince - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)Prince Rogers Nelson, American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, and filmmaker. A guitar virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist known for his eclectic genre-crossing work, flamboyant and androgynous persona, energetic live shows and wide-ranging singing voice, in particular his far reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, Prince is regarded as one of the greatest, versatile and most successful musicians in the history of popular music. His innovative music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, psychedelia and pop. Prince pioneered the late 1970s Minneapolis sound, a funk rock sub genre drawing from synth-pop and new wave. He sold over 100 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He was also honored with special awards including the Grammy President's Merit Award, American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, and the Billboard Icon Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2016, he was posthumously honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Minnesota. Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He died from accidental overdose of fentanyl at the age of 57 in Chanhassen, Minnesota.21 April 2018 - Verne Troyer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verne_TroyerAmerican actor, comedian, and stunt performer who played Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was 2 ft 8 in (81 cm) tall. Troyer first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series, Myers was impressed with Troyer's performance, rewriting the script for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me to give Mini-Me more screen time and remove the character's death. Troyer reprised the role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember, and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru. After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed the goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and played the role of Percy in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He died from suicide at the age of 49 in Los Angeles,California.Famous Birthdays21 April 1816 - Charlotte Brontë - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%ABEnglish novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. In 1839 she undertook the role as governess for the Sidgwick family but left after a few months to return to Haworth where the sisters opened a school, but failed to attract pupils. Instead, they turned to writing and they each first published in 1846 under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. While her first novel, The Professor, was rejected by publishers, her second novel, Jane Eyre, was published in 1847. The book's style was innovative, combining naturalism with gothicmelodrama, and broke new ground in being written from an intensely evoked first-person female perspective. Brontë believed art was most convincing when based on personal experience; in Jane Eyre she transformed the experience into a novel with universal appeal. She was born in Thornton.21 April 1915 - Garrett Hardin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_HardinAmerican ecologist and proponent of eugenics who warned of the dangers of human overpopulation. He is most famous for his exposition of the tragedy of the commons, in a 1968 paper of the same title in Science, which called attention to "the damage that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment". He is also known for Hardin's First Law of Human Ecology: "We can never do merely one thing. Any intrusion into nature has numerous effects, many of which are unpredictable." In 1968, Hardin applied his conceptual model developed in his essay "The tragedy of the commons" to human population growth, the use of the Earth's natural resources, and the welfare state. Hardin blamed the welfare state for allowing the tragedy of the commons; where the state provides for children and supports over-breeding as a fundamental human right, Hardin stated in his analysis of the tragedy of the commons that "Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all." He was born in Dallas, Texas.21 April 1979 - James McAvoy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McAvoyScottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in The Near Room (1995) and made mostly television appearances until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes the thriller State of Play and the science fiction miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. He has performed in several West End productions and received three nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, and has also done voice work for animated films including Gnomeo & Juliet, its sequel, Sherlock Gnomes, and Arthur Christmas. In 2003, McAvoy appeared in a lead role in Bollywood Queen, then another lead role as Rory in Inside I'm Dancing in 2004. This was followed by a supporting role, as the faun Mr. Tumnus, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His performance in Kevin Macdonald's drama The Last King of Scotland garnered him several award nominations, including the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. The critically acclaimed romantic drama war film Atonement earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination. He later appeared as a newly trained assassin in the action thriller Wanted. In 2011, McAvoy played Professor Charles Xavier in the superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix. In 2016, he portrayed Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 23 alternate personalities, in M. Night Shyamalan's Split, for which he received critical acclaim, and later reprised the role for the sequel Glass. He was born in Glasgow.Events of Interest21 April 1918 – German flying ace, “Red Baron,” killed in action - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/red-baron-killed-in-action-2In the well-trafficked skies above the Somme River in France, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as the Red Baron,” is killed by Allied fire. On April 21, 1918, with 80 victories under his belt, Richthofen led his squadron of triplanes deep into Allied territory in France on a search for British observation aircraft. The flight drew the attention of an Allied squadron led by Canadian Royal Air Force pilot Captain Arthur Roy Brown. As Richthofen pursued a plane piloted by Brown’s compatriot, Wilfred R. May, the Red Baron ventured too far into enemy territory and too low to the ground. Two miles behind the Allied lines, just as Brown caught up with Richthofen and fired on him, the chase passed over an Australian machine-gun battery, whose riflemen opened fire. Richthofen was hit in the torso; though he managed to land his plane alongside the road from Corbie to Bray, near Sailley-le-Sac, he was dead by the time Australian troops reached him. Brown is often given credit for downing Richthofen from the air, though some claimed it was actually an Australian gunner on the ground who fired the fatal shot; debate continues to this day.21 April 1934 – The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax) - http://www.myday.si/index.php?c=events&view=detail&id=450&d=21&m=4The "Surgeon's Photograph" purported to be the first photo of a "head and neck". Dr. Wilson claimed he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, so grabbed his camera and snapped five photos. After the film was developed, only two exposures were clear. The first photo (the more publicised one) shows what was claimed to be a small head and back. The second one, a blurry image, attracted little publicity because it was difficult to interpret what was depicted. Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to it being called "Surgeon's Photograph". The strangely small ripples on the photo fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analysis of the original uncropped image fostered further doubt.21 April 1989 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chinese-students-begin-protests-at-tiananmen-squareSix days after the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party, some 100,000 students gather at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate Hu and voice their discontent with China’s authoritative communist government. The next day, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen’s Great Hall of the People was broadcast live to the students. General secretary Zhao Ziyang delivered the eulogy. The funeral seemed rushed, and only lasted 40 minutes, as emotions ran high in the Square. Students wept. Security cordoned off the east entrance to the Great Hall of the People, but several students pressed forward. A few were allowed to cross the police line. Student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng. The larger number of students still in the Square but outside the cordon were at times emotional, shouting demands or slogans and rushing toward police. The Chinese government refused such a meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms.IntroArtist – Goblins from MarsSong Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJFollow us onFacebook- Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/- Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/440485136816406/Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamatedSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrSiTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rssInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/nerds_amalgamated/General EnquiriesEmail - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.comRate & Review us on Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/nerds-amalgamated-623195

This week on Sinica, China-watching wunderkind Julian Gewirtz joins Kaiser and Jeremy to chat about his recent paper on the American futurist Alvin Toffler (author of Future Shock and The Third Wave), who found a surprisingly receptive audience in the China of the early 1980s. His ideas on the role of technology in modernization were widely embraced by leaders of China's reform movement — including both Dèng Xiǎopíng 邓小平 and his right-hand man, Zhào Zǐyáng 赵紫阳. Julian describes how Toffler came to the attention of the reformers, and discusses the lasting impact of his influence. 11:51: As the Cultural Revolution ended, Chinese officials and intellectuals began to look for ideas that could breathe new life into the Chinese intelligentsia and bureaucracy. A translator named Dǒng Lèshān 董乐山 went to the United States, repeatedly came across The Third Wave, and subsequently invited Toffler to come to China. And so he did, with many copies of his book. One thing led to another, and Toffler’s work came under the gaze of the State Council and Zhao Ziyang himself. Jeremy reflects, “This is, in some ways, a story of China for foreigners in the 1980s and 1990s — you could have any shtick if you were a hustler. You could arrive in Beijing with your books and hand them out. The next thing, the Politburo is listening to you. Those days are long gone.” 15:35: In writing his first book, which focused extensively on economists, Julian came across Alvin Toffler’s name repeatedly. Upon delving further into research for his paper on Toffler, he got a bit more than he expected: “To be totally frank, I did not expect, when I started looking into it, that I would end up finding a story, from the Chinese perspective, of very significant interest that was more than just an intellectual craze or fad, but that really connected to fundamental questions about technology policy, how the Chinese state should support new technologies, and in a sense, the future that the Chinese leadership was envisioning for China itself.” 22:31: Technology policy, and mastering the implementation of such policy, has been a focus for Chinese leadership stretching to the beginning of reform and opening. Julian explains the importance of science and technology policy as China opened to the world: “We see a global information technology revolution occurring, and worry among Chinese leaders that, just as they’re opening to the world, just as China is beginning its process of catching up, maybe they’ll be left behind again. And the impetus to try to get ahead of the information technology revolution, which is one of the central goals that Deng and Zhao work on together, is, I think, a crucial aspect of the 1980s that we haven’t really understood so well thus far.” 32:21: Science and technology are venerated in China in a way that draws a stark contrast with the United States. “The nerds are the jocks in high school,” says Jeremy, to which Kaiser remarks, “Exactly. But they don’t ride by in the Camaro and shout, ‘Jock!’” Julian explains what this means on a broader scale: “We need to begin by looking at [Chinese technology] on its own terms, before we import our own ideas onto it. The reason that studying the transnational flow of ideas, someone like Toffler becoming big in China — the reason that can be so revealing, I think, is that it allows us to accentuate dimensions that differ or are unusual, or are surprising to observers from outside, again centering on that Chinese perspective, the Chinese leadership’s view of these things, and how certain ideas play there in a different way than how they play in the United States.” Recommendations: Jeremy: A 2006 People’s Daily interview with Alvin Toffler, who, contrary to popular belief, has some interesting ideas. Julian: Poems by W. S. Merwin, “The Hydra” in particular, and Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of China, by Xiaolu Guo. Kaiser: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, by Steven Pinker, and “The Two Cultures,” an essay by C. P. Snow.

Jude Blanchette, the Senior Advisor and China Practice Lead at Crumpton Group’s China Practice, joins Kaiser and Jeremy for a live Sinica Podcast recording at Columbia University. Forty years after the policies of reform and opening up were adopted by the Communist Party of China, the three reflect on just how much the country has changed since 1978, and also restore figures like Zhào Zǐyáng 赵紫阳 and Hú Yàobāng 胡耀邦 to their proper place in the story of reform. Jude also talks about the conservative reaction to reform — the topic of his forthcoming book, Under the Red Flag: The Battle for the Soul of the Communist Party in a Reforming China. What to listen for on this week’s Sinica Podcast: 21:36: Jude discusses the roles of Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang in the context of reform in China: “I don’t know what any of you were doing when you were twelve, but [Hu Yaobang] joined his first revolution when he was twelve and ran away from home and joined the Communist Party when he was fourteen, and was one of the youngest members on the famed Long March.” 23:59: Zhao Ziyang’s central role as a reformer was often viewed as radical by many conservatives within the Party, particularly during his brief tenure as General Secretary after the ousting of Hu Yaobang. In 1987 he pushed for separation of the Party and the government (党政分开 dǎngzhèng fēnkāi), which was ultimately unsuccessful. “The Party is the owner of the restaurant, it can decide what’s on the menu, but the government is the chef in the back kitchen. It’s the one that is going to be actually making the dishes, we need to give them that latitude and leeway to do that.” 31:52: As China transitioned away from a reserved foreign policy of ‘hide and bide’ (韬光养晦 tāoguāng yǎnghuì) in the 1990s to more assertive approach of fènfā yǒuwéi (奋发有为). Jude elaborates on the transformation: “There’s also just the natural transition of a developing country to one becoming increasingly strong and articulating its own goals which diverge from that of the United States or other client states… we’re seeing now the full force of it coming out under Xi Jinping today. But I think the casting off of hide and bide, even as a cynical strategy we can see in retrospect was a catastrophic mistake by Xi Jinping.” 1:02:31: In the past few years, Deng Xiaoping has been written out of the history of Reform and Opening. Jude speculates on why: “As long as Deng Xiaoping and his legacy is around, that’s a cudgel that opponents can pick up… the more you allow the speeches of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang and Deng Xiaoping… speeches from Zhao Ziyang on political reform, speeches from Deng Xiaoping on separating the Party and the government. Basically, just Deng Xiaoping on [not having] a cult of leadership and how disastrous that is. Those are political weapons, so, clear them all away, get rid of them, burn the books.” Recommendations: Jude: Free Solo, a documentary of the climber Alex Honnold and his no-ropes climb up the 3,000-foot rock face of El Capitan. Kaiser: These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore, a historiographical account of the American experiment beginning in 1492. Jeremy: One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps by Andrea Pitzer. ---- From now until January 14, get a year of SupChina Access at 25% off for just $66!

In the critical period of China’s opening in the 1980s, Chinese policymakers invited Western economists to learn and debate the way forward for China, and that’s the subject of fascinating research by Julian Gewirtz in his book “Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China” Gewirtz is currently a Fellow in History and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He completed doctorate in history at the University of Oxford, and he is interviewed by Charlie Vest, a Master’s Candidate in Chinese Political and Economic Affairs here at the School of Global Policy & Strategy, and he is the Editor-in-Chief for the China Focus blog. This episode was recorded at UC San Diego Editor: Samuel Tsoi Production Support: Mike Fausner Music: Dave Liang/Shanghai Restoration Project

Margaret Thatcher hands Hong Kong back to China, effective 1997. Fearing an end to their freedoms and capitalist way of life, the six million residents of Hong Kong were hoping the British would leave them some protections when their lease for controlling the region expired in 1997. However, with few options available to her, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the joint Sino-British declaration with China’s Zhao Ziyang during a ceremony on December 19, 1984. China agreed that for the next 50 years, it would give Hong Kong “a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs.” The two governments established a principle of "one country, two systems" through which communist China would allow Hong Kong to continue its capitalist ways, also granting it a certain number of rights and freedoms. Already, Hong Kong residents had been flocking to other countries or securing foreign passports enabling them to leave if they later chose; that greatly increased after the declaration was signed. Even though the British had never given Hong Kong full democracy before the declaration, they introduced democratic reforms after the signing that rubbed the Chinese government the wrong way. Nevertheless, Hong Kong citizens celebrated the July 1, 1997 handover with huge fanfare as communist Chinese took control. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.