US Diplomacy: Bomber Over China

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It’s Not A New Cold War, But How Do We Call This One?

BEIJING – If you haven’t followed the entire development of the Senkaku/Diaoyu island conflict in the East China Sea you should link in NOW.

It’s about some uninhabited rocky islands which are claimed by China and Japan but have been acquired by Tokyo in September 2012 from a private owner. China retaliated with the biggest anti-Japanese movement since its boycott of Japanese products back in July 2012 (when Japanese former prime minister visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine and prayed for Japanese “war heroes” which China says also includes WW II criminals).

Since the US is the military overlord over Japan’s pacifist defense forces, it is bound to side with Japan should there be any military escalation of the island conflict in the future. When China announced the air above and around the islands as its new ‘Air Defense Identification Zone’ on November 23, Washington responded by sending two (unarmed) B-52 bombers right through China’s “new” airspace, thereby demonstrating that the US does not formally recognize China’s new expansionism.

Beijing responded on November 29 with sending its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, accompanied by missile boats, through the Taiwan Straits. Tokyo issued a statement the same day that it will respond firmly to China’s air zone issues, while Beijing announced further deployment of warplanes.

Observers are now waiting for next Monday, September 02, for new reactions.

Image credit: MATEUS_27:24&25/Flickr

Peking University Cracks Down On Dissidents (R-rated)

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Thorsten Pattberg (D.Litt.) is a German writer, scholar, and cultural critic.

Peking University Cracks Down On Dissidents (R-rated)

This article is about Corruption in Higher Education and is rated ‘R’: Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Reader.

By Thorsten Pattberg

BEIJING – It is hard to be a democrat in an authoritarian society. China’s flagship of higher education, Peking University, has once again ministered to that reality by debunking yet another of its liberal voices – Xia Yeliang.

Normally the removal of its internal critics goes unnoticed. Yet, Xia Yeliang, an economics professor who is a signatory of Charter 08 calling for democracy (he also spent some time at Stanford University and UC Berkeley), decided to fight injustice and go public.

The university last month terminated his employment, claiming this was based on low evaluations student complaints. Media reports say some complaints concerned “anti-Party and “anti-socialism” speeches to students.

Xia Yeliang in 2010 (PhotoCFP)

Xia’s beliefs in fairness, freedom of speech, and transparency have obviously ruined his academic career (for now). However, after the spectacular fall of the Bo Xilai clique, Xia’s case offers yet another, far more heartbreaking detail about China’s corruption: its universities are in it too.

In a report and rare interview with The Wall Street Journal, the newspaper details how Xia last year “helped start an online petition demanding an investigation into the suspicious death of democracy activist Li Wangyang, and more recently he has taken to Weibo (China’s Twitter) to criticize new President Xi Jinping and his signature “Chinese dream” vision of party-led national greatness”.

Xia in the interview celebrates his personal judgment day with Peking University, detailing how misconduct at Chinese universities works. Apparently, many of the Chinese sages do not do “research” but tour the country and sometimes the globe, attending lavish banquets, irrelevant conferences, often sponsored by the government or foreign investment.

Graft at Chinese universities is common. Recently, leaders at Wuhan University and Zhanjiang Normal University were sacked for accepting bribes. Moreover, Chinese academics often hold shadow position elsewhere, collecting empty posts like “director of something”. Phantom “institutes” or fake “centers” exist solely for the distribution of money and titles.

There is also rampant nepotism. One known patriarch has put his third wife in charge of two new institutes, including finances – she lives in the US.

Other Chinese are famous for simply being a professor at Peking University, and nothing else beyond that. As Xia explains: “Because in Chinese universities we don’t have real freedom of academic research, so there’s no way to train great masters. Whether it’s in science or in humanities and arts – no way.”

As for the majority of academics, few Westerners realize that China has no concept of “full salary” as in the West or Japan. Chinese “salary” is only symbolic and artificially low so that public employees, like little children, have to stay close to the mother lode. In the past that was the emperor, today it is the Party.

It’s a bit like employment in feudal Europe before the French revolution – servants at the courts weren’t free but their expenses and families were covered. Certain key positions must be bought. Thus, many big professors turn into entrepreneurs. Their main income derives from the accumulation of perks and holding multiple positions while receiving free governmental housing, subsidized meals, taking bribes, or exchanging favors.

“The nature of the scientific research in China is just unbearable,” explains Xia. “We expend huge expenditures for scientific research, but there’s very little real scientific research done. Some 70% of research funds go to personal use – travel, hotels, meals, computers, mobile phones, iPads, printers, all things you can imagine – and professors routinely falsify invoices.”

Xia refers to the “fapiao“, a ticket for reimbursement by which experienced government cadres pay their business travels, books, furniture, gifts, dinners with friends, dating with mistresses, and even toys for the kids.

Most students and faculty members at Peking University are Party members, or otherwise since their undergraduate years are affiliated with the Chinese Communist Youth.

Even the leader of Peking University, as Xia observed, is not its president, at present Wang Enge, but its party secretary and chairman, currently Zhu Shanlun. So, the liberal democrat Xia cannot expect any support from this communist university.

Because the free Western media came to his support, and because of China’s rising nationalism, Xia is now widely seen as defector to the West – a hanjian or “traitor”.

To make things complicated for Xia, few Western universities dare to cut ties with Peking University, let alone with the Communist Party. They would be “bendan” (slow-witted eggs) to do so: “Those guys, when they come to China, sometimes they are treated as honored guests. That includes fat speaking fees, grand banquets and five-star accommodations.”

Peking University’s 5-Star Lake View Hotel

Peking University even sports its own five-star Lakeview Hotel (with no view of the lake), accommodating multi-billionaires, celebrities, and academic superstars from around the globe.

The university’s administration is fully supporting this strategy of “prestige seeking” over research. Instead of paying adequate salaries to China’s own talents, some greedy top leaders would rather spend their school’s budget on inviting, say, Bill Gates, David Beckham, the crew of the United Nations, or the entire Harvard University faculty three times over. Yes, prestige is big business.

Xia was not able to pinpoint any particular abuse of power simple because the entire political class seems molded into nepotism, patriarchy, and abuse of officialdom. Li Keqiang, the new premier of China, recently admitted that much. Xia’s colleagues at Peking University know this too and ship their offspring to America. Even President Xi and his disgraced former rival, Bo Xilai, chose Harvard for their children.

Wellesley College in the United States recently offered a two-year fellowship to Xia Yeliang, as it feels “sorry for his family members”.

Peking University hosts Wellesley faculty members and students at Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing

The problem for him is that Wellesley College and Peking University entertain rather one-sided “leadership” ties (mainly through the Albright Institute for Global Affairs, the name!). So, if Wellesley College doesn’t play it smart or gather support from US senior politicians, the Chinese side could easily cut ties and may choose from a hundred other US dwarfs, or even European ones, that would love to come to the Chinese capital and be treated as if they were important.

So now we know that China’s elite universities need to reform. Did his fight for right help Xia personally? Certainly not. As one anonymous official at Peking University pointed out to him, as reported by the Wall St Journal, Xia could have made “suggestions and recommendations and we can send that to the leaders, but you don’t have to say it this way in public.” That’s just fat in the fire.

A slightly modified version of this article was first published online in Asia Times, on Nov 19, 2013 (c) Pattberg

Thorsten Pattberg is a German writer, scholar, and cultural critic. He received his PhD from Peking University, spent time at Tokyo University and Harvard University, is a former research fellow at The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University and is the author of Shengren and The East-West Dichotomy.

The Art Of Guanxi: Gary Locke, US Ambassador to China, to quit Beijing in 2014

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Gary Locke with Mona Locke Ambassador Quits Beijing (c) East-West Dichotomy

BEIJING – The textbook ambassador, here in picture with his Miss Asian-American wife Mona Locke, announced that he would step down from office in 2014, stating “personal reasons.” After only 2 1/1 years in office in China, Gary Locke leaves a nation guessing at his ultimate motive for leaving his precious post .

Mr. Locke is immensely popular with the majority of the Chinese people (he is an American-Chinese) for his down-to-earth life-style, (be buys coffee at Starbucks himself, like a civilian), his love for family (itself a Confucian value), his holding up the principles of human rights and democracy in China (it’s called integrity), and his great services to the Chinese middle class (shorten US visa-application procedures for them, etc.).

It is unclear whether his Chinese ethnicity made things in China easier for him, or more difficult for the United States. That’s because China officially categorizes its overseas diaspora as ‘Chinese,’ regardless of their birthplace or chosen nationality [Read Frank Ching on ‘Who Is A Chinese?’]. It’s easy to see how Chinese elites expected some race-royalty of Gary Locke, a loyal US citizen, where obviously there (officially) cannot and (diplomatically) must not be such kin service.

Locke was criticized in 2013 by Chinese commentators over his handling with the Wang Lijun affair which ultimately led to the fall of the Bo Xilai clique, and the Chen Guangcheng affair (the blind dissident), both of which almost seriously threatened Sino-US relations (in the end, they didn’t).

Gary Locke and his wife Mona Locke are famed celebrities in China, known for their kindness and goodwill, always close to the people, and were key figures in bilateral political, cultural, and business ties between China and the United States. Although there are many speculations as to why they couple quits Beijing (Air pollution, political weather, plans for running for president, an extramarital affair?), the Lockes said they just wish to rejoin with their family in Seattle.

Despite his official departure, Locke is expected to visit China frequently in the future. Nothing is as important in the Chinese universe as maintaining one’s priceless ‘guanxi’. [HOW I MET GARY LOCKE]

东风与西风:一个德国人眼中的中西方文化 (裴德思)

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NEW The East-West Dichotomy manifesto available from Foreign Language Press: Amazon.cn

The East-West Dichotomy by Thorsten Pattberg; 东风与西风:一个德国人眼中的中西方文化 (裴德思)

东风与西风:一个德国人眼中的中西方文化

East Wind and West Wind: A German’s Meditations on the Differences between China and the West

A UNIVERSE of differences separates the two hemispheres made up of Eastern and Western cultures. Yet even in our so-called ‘multicultural world’, the dominant West wind dominates in the East. Can the West wind prevail forever; or will once more a powerful East wind emerge in the world? Is it possible that the two great cultural systems of China and the West synergize? German scholar 裴德思 (Pei Desi) [dt: Thorsten Pattberg] began writing about the East-West dichotomy in 2009. His in-depth analysis covers philosophical, aesthetic and sociological aspects and informs us about cultural comparative studies from Zhuangzi to Jackie Chan, from Plato to Copernicus, from Confucian concepts such as ‘Heaven and People are One’ to modern Olympic slogans of ‘One World, One Dream’. The author uses vivid language and peculiar examples that focus on similarities and –even more so- on the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. His writings have stirred great interest abroad, especially among internet users from the United States, where The East-West dichotomy had been viewed and downloaded over 144,000 times. –Foreign Language Press Co. Ltd, Beijing, China

Read what world leading cultural masters say:

TU Weiming (Harvard University): “The difference between the East and the West has been a fascinating subject for comparative studies. In a thought-provoking and pioneering attempt, Mr. Pattberg illustrates a few highly significant philological and philosophical issues in the history of the two great cultural systems – when they harmonize and when the clash. This is a tour de force that should excite interest in a wide readership.”

Daniel A. Bell (Tsinghua University): “An intriguing and historically informed work on the origin, evolution, and justifiability of the dichotomy between East and West.”

Roger T. Ames (University of Hawaii): “A truly ambitious monograph.”

GU Zhengkun (Peking University): “I have read The East-West Dichotomy with amazement and an impulse to recommend it to everyone I meet. It is the most interesting and insightful exploration of the East-West cultural differences. The author indeed has done a magnificent and extremely important job in the field of comparative culture.”

Rajiv Malhtora, Author of ‘Being Different’: “This book is an important contribution to the East/West debate, which is critical and urgent in the radical shifts under way. While the West has dominated the discourse on the history and philosophy of civilizations for the past few centuries, the earlier domination by Asia is in the process of returning on the world stage. Pattberg’s contribution deserves a seat at the table of this conversation.”

Chandra Muzaffar (University of Science, Malaysia): “As global economic and political power shifts from the West to the East, it is so important for intellectuals everywhere to develop a profound appreciation of some of the underlying philosophical and cultural currents that may shape the emerging universal civilization. Thorsten Pattberg’s book offers extremely useful insights that are not readily available elsewhere.”

Iain McGilchrist, Author of ‘The Master and his Emissary’: “A highly original and stimulating take on East-West cultural differences. Though impressionistic and controversial in its style, it is a lively and thought-provoking book, full of material that was new to me. In particular it will intrigue those who are interested in attentional and cognitive differences between Westerners and Far Eastern peoples.”

Biography:

Thorsten Pattberg, 2013

Thorsten Pattberg (D.Litt.) studied at Edinburgh University, Fudan University, Peking University, Tokyo University, and Harvard University. In 2004, he became a disciple of Ji Xianlin and studied Ji’s thoughts and writings. He is a former Research Fellow at The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University. Dr. Pattberg has written and published extensively about Global language, the Competition for terminologies, and the End of translation. He is also active in promoting Confucianism, in particular Chinese terminologies, on a global scale. Dr. Pattberg is the author of four monographs: The East-West Dichotomy, Shengren, Holy Confucius, and Inside Peking University. His articles on Comparative Cultural Studies have been published in China Daily, Global Times, Shanghai Daily, Asia Times, German Times, Japan Times, Korea Herald, China Today, South China Morning Post, Taipei Times, Straits Times, Southern Weekly, People’s Daily, Diplomat Post, Asia Pacific World, Corbett Report, Global Research, and Big Think. Dr. Pattberg also wrote the essays “Language Imperialism – ‘Democracy’ in China,” “Long into the West’s Dragon Business,” “Chinese Concepts Lost in Translation,” and “The End of Translation.”

Pattberg, Thorsten (2013), The East-West Dichotomy, Foreign Language Press Co. Ltd, Beijing, China
ISBN 978-7-119-08582-1 [Available in book stores and at Amazon HERE]

YANG Rui: On Foreigners in Wudaokou, Western Media, and China as Superpower

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YANG Rui at Peking University Nov 2013

YANG RUI – Famed Journalist, CCTV Host, and Political Commentator

BEIJING – No other media figure has helped to accommodate –if not shape- China’s rise more in the recent decade than YANG Rui, the famed CCTV International Presenter and host of ‘Dialogue’, an English-speaking political TV program.

The Larry King of China

Mr. Yang has been called the Larry King of China, and his show ‘Dialogue’ is watched –apart from the foreign expat community- by millions Chinese in the country who adore his boldness and head-on style, and who are eager to practice their English listening skills.

Back in 2012, however, Yang Rui drew heavy criticism in particular for his anti-foreign, xenophobic remarks on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. He demonized drinking and partying foreigners and their illegal activities in Wudaokou (and Sanlitun in Chaoyang district, but we leave that now), the famed university district in Beijing, China’s political and cultural capital:

“Behead the snake heads [human traffickers], the unemployed Americans and Europeans who come to China to make money, trafficking in people, misleading the public and encouraging them to emigrate. Identify the foreign spies, who find a Chinese woman to cohabitate with, while their job is to collect intelligence, drawing maps and perfecting GPS [coordinates] for Japan, Korea, Europe, and America under the guise of being tourists.” –YANG Rui

Mr. Yang urged local authorities to clean up the place. This was followed by a huge wave of discontent in the foreign community in Beijing in general. Meanwhile, a crackdown started on drug-dealers, prostitution, and illegal employment in the district. Mr. Yang was blamed and criticized by members of the foreign community – in particular the blogger community – in Beijing and elsewhere for stirring up anti-foreign resentment in a country where nationalism is already boiling dangerously high. Some even asked CCTV to dismiss Yang. Immediately, national newspaper such as Global Times jumped to his defense, although they, too, condemned his insensitive comments.

In his defense: fact is that Wudaokou –during the last ten years maybe- has changed dramatically. A decade ago Huaqing Jiayuan, a posh living complex just across Wudaokou metro station, was family-friendly and open for the public. Back in those days, foreigners were mostly highly selected exchange students (many who were serious about studying, mind you), well-paid expats or visiting professors. Foreigners were highly respected. This isn’t always the case now.

Today, Huaqing Jiayuan is a fenced community, most families have left. Its high rising apartment buildings resemble student dormitories. Bars and nightclubs in this area have tripled. Young locals have adopted a Western life-style of going out, dancing, drinking, and having fun. Beijing is swamped with all kinds of foreigners now: adventurers, thousands of language learners, jobbers, but also unemployed risk-takers, backpackers, prostitutes, drug dealers, and people who left their countries because there were no opportunities for them back home. Naturally, many don’t want to leave Beijing, even after their visa long expired. So, Yang Rui and many other xenophobic observers saw the danger of ghetto-building in Wudaokou. When the crackdown on illegal immigrants materialized during 2012, the Beijing’ authorities insisted it had nothing to do with anti-foreign sentiments. Few believed this.

Western Media Bias Against Russia And China

YANG Rui at Beijing Forum 2013

Yang Rui recently attended the Beijing Forum 2013 and joined a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, a United Nations think-tank. In a brief speech, he described to us China’s rise from the point of view of journalism and the media world. For example, he noticed that US media constantly pointed to Mr. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, past employment as KGB-man. So when Westerners see Putin on TV, they think KGB. When it comes to US presidents, however, the US media would always refrain from calling former US president George H. W. Bush a CIA-man. More examples could be given. Obviously, Western media was and still is preoccupied with negative images of Russian, but also Chinese top leaders, who it perceives as threat to Western global hegemony.

Mr. Yang Rui argues that China should be presented in a more positive way, and the Chinese government and the Chinese people should be more respected by international journalism. He sees the role CCTV in conveying a more realistic China image from the point of view of the majority of the Chinese, which is naturally very different from how the West depicts China.

Yang Rui agrees with the general mood and spirit in his country that China will eventually become the leading economic and political superpower of the 21th Century. [SEE YANG RUI AT CCTV]

The Economist: Robert Lane Greene writes ‘Me-too’ article on Chinese Words

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Robert Lane Greene and Thorsten Pattberg – On Chinese Terms

The Economist: Robert Lane Greene writes ‘Me-too’ article on Chinese Words

Dear Robert,
My writings came before your blog post, do you acknowledge this simple fact of life?

Dear Thorsten,
Of course. Best, Lane

ON JUNE 6th Robert Lane Greene from The Economist published a ‘Me-too’ article ‘Why so little Chinese in English?’ that resembles previous publications by Dr. Pattberg.

Mr. Greene’s posts coincided with dozens of articles published by Dr. Pattberg just months, weeks, and days before in Asia Times, Japan Times, Korean Times, Straits Times, South China Morning Post, German Times, Shanghai Daily, Asia Pacific World, Big Think, and so on.

Robert Lane Greene cited as his single source of inspiration a tweet (!) by his twitter friend, who later was identified as a blogger at Big Think, apparently posting left and right of Dr. Pattberg’s own big think entry on –you guessed it- Chinese words and their absence in the English language.

Robert Lane Greene shrugs off the idea that he, as a journalist, by definition covers the ideas of others; should do proper research etc, instead he referred in an email to the generality of this story (everyone could have had this idea) and that he just had the same idea independently of Dr. Pattberg (who publishes about it for years).

Mr. Greene admitted in an email – posted to the Economist comment section – that Dr. Pattberg’s writings and publications on this topic pre-dated Mr. Greene’s article; a fact this was reinforced by Tom Standage, the editor-in-chief of Economist.com, who confirmed that Dr. Pattberg’s articles indeed were first published, before Mr. Greene’s article appeared.

Having said this, it is absolute fantastic to see The Economist magazine value Dr. Pattberg’s research so much; It’s evident because the magazine had Mr. Greene writing about the same idea. Robert Lane Greene makes a fine and distinguished ‘Me-too’.

In the end, it doesn’t matter that The Economist chose Mr. Robert Lane Greene’s article (and paid him for it and earned him all the credits for his ‘Me-too’ article), because Dr. Pattberg’s research is out there:

There are many more Chinese words that have the potential to enter the English language.

[Read more on Chinese terminologies in Japan Times, Nov 17, 2011] [in China Daily, Jan 16, 2012] [in Korea Herald, April 30, 2012] [in Asia Times, Sep 29, 2012] [Read 'Global lexicon needs Chinese concepts words', Feb 20, 2013].

President of Peking University on University Rankings: We Will Contribute A Verse!

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Thorsten Pattberg with WANG Enge, President of Peking University

“The global play goes on: together we will contribute a verse.” –WANG Enge: May you lead in interesting times

BEIJING – Peking University is the leading institute of Higher education in China, and, because of China’s superpower ambitions, probably one of the most intellectually stimulating and busy places in the world right now, only comparable, perhaps, to Harvard University in the USA.

Under its former president, ZHOU Qifeng, Peking University already rolled out its ambitious plan to focus on prestige seeking activities. Its new president WANG Enge explains that “an ambitious plan is being charted to make Peking a hub for eminent international scholars, investigators, developers and students.” Several hotels and restaurants were erected, among them 5-star Boya Lake View Hotel, a beautiful museum restaurant, and Zhongguan Global Village, a living complex with suites, apartments, dormitories, cafeterias for its thousands of international faculty, visitors, and students each year.

Part of the ‘Chinese Dream’ is to produce world-class universities, said ZHOU Qifeng. For now it seems that China is getting there.

[Read about the competition between Peking University and Tsinghua University HERE]; Read about the World’s Leading Universities HERE]; Read WANG Enge’s thought HERE]. Read INTERVIEW ABOUT CHINESE HIGHER EDUCATION].

Ban Ki-moon, United Nations: Good morning, Beijing! (Beijing Forum 2013)

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UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon is addressing the Beijing Forum 2013 (c) East-West Dichotomy

General Secretary of United Nations Ban Ki-moon is addressing the Beijing Forum 2013 via podcast.

BEIJING – The UN Secretary General is the world’s leading diplomat. He lends his wisdom and great spiritual support to Beijing’s ambition of becoming the next superpower through peaceful development. The “rise” of China (if that’s a good word, since it provokes resentment, even angst) now seems almost inevitable, hardly irreversible. At least if current world affairs drag on “harmoniously” – the 21st Century’s slogan of the Communist Party of China. Hence the motto of the Beijing Forum: ‘The Harmony of Civilizations and Prosperity for All‘. The first day of the Forum was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse (not linked to the Diaoyu Islands), the second day on the campus of Peking University, China’s leading institutions of higher education.

UN Alliance of Civilizations: His Excellency Mr Nassir Abdulaziz Al Nasser with Dr Thorsten Pattberg

Secretary-General of Beijing Forum is YAN Jun, who is Deputy Director at the Office of International Relations, Peking University. Distinguished guest speakers were ZHU Shanlu, Chairman of Peking University Council; Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group of South Korea; WANG Enge, President of Peking University; His Excellency H. E. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, UN High Representative for Alliance of Civilizations; Kishore Mahbubani, Author of ‘Can Asians Think?’; Park In-kook, President of Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies; and Malcolm Grant, Chairman of National Health Service England. Distinguished panel speakers were YANG Rui, famed CCTV presenter; Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister of Australia; Jean-Christophe Bas, Deputy Director, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations; TU Weiming, the leading Confucianist scholar; and Esko Aho, Former Prime Minister of Finland, and many more.

Download the Handbook HERE.

Is China’s Mistress Culture a Role Model for the West?

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Is China’s Mistress Culture a Role Model for the West?

A Hong Kong man with his mainland “girlfriend” checking into a hotel.

BEIJING – China is discussing its booming Mistress culture. Wherever two adults agree and reach mutual consensus on sexual relationships of any kind, third parties should have no business and moral preachers should remain silent or impartial. Having multiple partners is simply a “private matter”, no?

Yes, but what if (so the critics ask) the magnitude and sheer scale of adultery, promiscuity and polygamy is  affecting the housing market and consumption for luxury goods of this nation of 1.3 billion, (possibly, but not proven) destroying families, exploiting women, encouraging prostitution, and leaving tens of millions of financially frail men without marriage prospects?

China’s mistress cultures has in many ways grown out of proportion, so much that not only millions of wealthy Chinese keep mistresses (qing ren), but also tens of thousands of influential Taiwan Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Korean and Japanese businessmen and not a few Western visitors now entertain some “Second wives” (er nai) or “Little thirds” (xiao san) in mainland China. In China’s megacities like Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenzhen, and Nanjing so-called ‘Mistress Villages’ exists, often luxurious, guarded apartment complexes where wealthy party officials and businessmen “park” their conquests and shower their mistress with gifts and perks.

What has only recently been seriously questioned in Western societies, namely whether monogamous relationships are an out-dated social construct (in world history, apart from the Caucasian race, other civilizations rarely practiced monogamy, so the social theory) and do not reflect human nature and inherent tendency for promiscuity, in China that question seems to have been answered already: quite a few women and certainly most men (if they are able and capable) seem to be happy to have multiple partners for sex, romance, and love.

In China at least it has become (again) social norm and prescription for powerful men to maintain mistresses on the side, and for beautiful and strong women to become the playthings of such men. It is simply an exchange of services and beneficial for both parties. Meanwhile, their legal marriage partner will almost inevitably be someone else. Is this ‘Mistress culture’ the model for the future that Western countries will be following on?

Read article at Big Think

Image credit: dcmaster/flickr.com 

The Coming of Post-Translational Society and The Rise of Chinese Terminologies

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公开讲座：后翻译时代的到来以及中文术语的崛起

裴德思 博士 （Pattberg，Thorsten）: 后翻译时代的到来以及中文术语的崛起, 主办方: 云英语

The Coming of Post-Translational Society and The Rise of Chinese Terminologies

【主　题】后翻译时代的到来以及中文术语的崛起

【主讲人】裴德思 博士 （Pattberg，Thorsten）

【时  间】2013年10月19日（周六），下午15：00-17：00

【地  点】云英语，北京市海淀区五道口华清嘉园商务会馆801

【工作语言】英文/中文

【主办方】云英语

讲座文章摘要

The English language is rich of foreign loanwords. Some languages were traditionally more welcomed than others. There is a plethora of words from the Sanskrit, Persian, and Japanese traditions in the Oxford Dictionary, but comparatively little Chinese terms. Why is that? One of the main reasons for the lack of Chinese expressions in the English language is the European tendency for translating the Confucian tradition into convenient biblical and philosophical European vocabularies. That is the reason why even China’s most important key concepts like ‘shengren’, ‘junzi’, or ‘ren’ are largely unknown to even educated Westerners. If China were to promote her own socio-cultural originality and inventiveness to the world, the author argues, she would have to promote her own key terminologies on a global scale. This would greatly impact the future of global language and the way we go about translation of invaluable cultural artifacts –China’s names.

讲座人介绍

裴德思（Pattberg, Thorsten）、德国籍、语言学者以及作家，北京大学高等人文研究院研究人员(Research Fellow)。北京大学文学博士。专攻中西方比较文化与语言文学。北京大学、东京大学，哈佛大学的校友。

关键词

Global Language, Translation, Chinese, Comparative Studies， 翻译，中华文明，语言，中文，汉语，中外交流

The Future of Global Language and the Rise of Chinese Terminologies

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北京大学高等人文研究院讲座：未来的全球语言与中文术语的崛起

The Future of Global Language and the Rise of Chinese Terminologies

【主讲人】裴德思 博士 （Pattberg，Thorsten）

【时  间】2013年10月17日（周四），下午15：00-17：00

【地  点】高等人文研究院，北京大学守仁国际研究中心

【主办方】北京大学高等人文研究院


讲座文章摘要

Chinese words are underrepresented in the English language for a variety of reasons but mainly because –commencing from the 17th century – the entire Confucian tradition has been meticulously translated into convenient and familiar European vocabularies. For example, China’s single most important archetypes of wisdom, the ‘shengren,’ have been rendered as “saints,” “philosophers,” or “sages;” likewise the Confucian ‘junzi’ have been called “gentlemen,” “superior personalities,” or “noble people;” and so on. It will be argued, however, that the original terms and correct names should matter to the Chinese world, especially in today’s age of knowledge, branding and intellectual property rights, which surely extend, or should extend, into the realms of Culture. Henceforth, this talk supports the notion that more Chinese key concepts should be adopted into the future Global language.

讲座人介绍

裴德思（Pattberg, Thorsten）、德国籍、语言学者以及作家，北京大学高等人文研究院研究人员。北京大学文学博士。专攻中西方比较文化与语言文学。北京大学、东京大学，哈佛大学的校友。 

Pattberg writes “Global Times Self-Parody” –Edward Wong, New York Times

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Edward Wong and Thorsten Pattberg – The Future of Global Language

Pattberg writes “Global Times Self-Parody” –Edward Wong, New York Times

“The West only sees China through often biblical and philosophical European translations, and because all European vocabularies look familiar to Westerners, it has often been concluded, prematurely, that China was some place of zero originality. As if the Chinese people for the last 3,000 years didn’t invent a thing.” –Thorsten Pattberg (July 2, 2013, Global Times)

NEW YORK/BEIJING – The Global Times piece in question –syndicated throughout East-Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, etc.)- is about the End of Translation and the Rise of Non-European Terminologies (especially Chinese vocabularies) and the Future of Global Language. Global Times, of course, is an English-language publication that by definition undermines to some extend the Chinese language (foreign expats in China famously get by without studying the Chinese language at all), all subsidized by the Chinese government. If China wanted, however, it could use the English language as a medium to promote more Chinese loanwords like kungfu or fengshui to its readers, which it does, albeit not quite enough, I believe.

Luckily, Global Times contributors (as well as writers to China Daily, the flagship English publication in China) now use Chinese words in their English reports more frequently already. Apart from place names and brands like weibo, sina, and xingxing, etc., promoting more Chinese key concepts like Zhongguo meng, daxue, wenming, junzi, shengren, datong, xuetang, xiao and so on will inevitably heighten China’s sense of cultural self-worth, self-esteem, and reason-to-be, as the Middle Kingdom’s originality may finally enter World History on the correct Chinese terms. Chinese artists, writers, and journalists have finally become aware of the power that comes with using their correct Chinese terminologies (instead of duplicating more Western translations). It’s like a New Enlightenment.

Needless to say, liberating Asian words isn’t always easy, as Edward Wong (a famed American journalist of Chinese ethnicity) may well know – his employer, The New York Times, like most prominent Western publications such as The Economist or The Wall Street Journal or Science Magazine, adheres to a strict language policy (pure and clean English, please!). Using Chinese words is apparently still a taboo for the New York Times, even in reporting about China, even in this age of cultural pluralism and language multitude. [This is about to change, but slowly]. Best luck and much success! [GO TO ARTICLE]