I’ll just leave you a paragraph from a Washington Post article regarding the proposed talks between China and the Dalai Lama. It came from a Chinese online forum:

“This shows the government is soft,” one person wrote. “It sends a very clear signal to the outside world that if you have power overseas, then you can come to China to mastermind a riot.”

It’ll be interesting to see if this opinion becomes more popular when a date for the resumption of negotiations is set.

I’ll save the tearful reminiscence for now but working at Xinhua has been a lot of fun, incredibly frustrating at times but always fascinating. This blog has certainly sustained my interest in the job - and indeed placed it at risk on a few occasions. I suppose Beijing Newspeak will now lose its competitive advantage but I see no reason not to carry it on. I’m hoping to persuade a friend of mine to produce more regular translations from Chinese media, similar to the one about Burma that caused a stir in October, and of course I still have my cameras cunningly dotted around a certain news agency. That was a joke, Mr President, no need to revoke my visa …

I return home with low expectations of gifts that await me. Surely nothing will be able to compete with the gem already given to me by one of my finest polishing comrades: a calendar of the PLA’s military totty in full uniform. “Qingxizhonghua” as its says on the cover. Literally meaning, “Your affection is attached to the country” so probably “Love The Country!” I particularly like Nero-esque Miss October, who is fiddling (yes, playing a violin) in front of a fighter jet while Taiwan is presumably burning. I believe it was purchased from the Military Museum here in Beijing if anyone’s interested. As my comrade said, “When the Chinese are allowed to do proper porn, it’s going to be pretty scary stuff.” On that note, have a propaganda-filled Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Shameless Plug No. 1: Beijing Playhouse is putting on a production of Guys and Dolls every Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 7-30. Actually Xinhua and Beijing Playhouse have enjoyed sound bilateral relations and a healthy strategic partnership of cooperation in recent months. A former polishing comrade of mine played Scrooge in A Christmas Carol last year, which enabled the rest of us to enjoy a lot more night shifts in his absence. We received free tickets in return and I’m still wondering if we were robbed. Amusingly, the Ghost of Christmas Future from the same production came for an interview at Xinhua a couple of months ago to replace Scrooge. Well, this time I also have a free ticket because my girlfriend Nina is playing one of the lead roles - a “mission doll” called Sarah, who falls for gambler Skye Masterson, played by Marlon Brando in the film version. This means I have to watch Nina kissing another man on stage - three times. Actually the jealousy has subsided. She has already kissed him 85 times in rehearsals and he doesn’t look like Marlon Brando. Ticket details are on the website if anyone is interested.

Shameless Plug No. 2: Asia Weekly magazine. There are reasons why I am recommending the purchase of this publication other than the fact my housemate, and friend since school days, writes for it. Er … Living or traveling in Asia? Asia Weekly briefs you on everything you need to know, from politics to property, in a concise and easy read. Ok, that was just lifted from their website. Seriously though, this magazine is a damn good read, a slick round-up of all the goings-on in East Asia from the previous week. It is based very closely on the British current affairs magazine The Week and brings together all the opinions from English-language media on the main issues in Asia. It even quotes Xinhua sometimes so you can’t knock its pledge to be unbiased. Apparently you can order three free copies by going here. Even better, stop by Bayley & Jackson Medical Center, where my girlfriend works - apparently their coffee tables are buried in copies of the magazine. My god, I think that counts as a third shameless plug.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/20/content_6404122.htm

In the first line, please replace “is seeking” with “urgently needs”. Two of my foreign comrades departed the battlefield recently which has left two of us drowing in news stories and features about the People’s Liberation Army’s 80th anniversary. Due to the shortage in manpower, we are currently working alternate night shifts, which start at 6pm with the sight of 15 stories that have piled up throughout the day. This is unpleasant. And in case people are doubting the strength of their career prospects after working at Xinhua (ahem), one of my former colleagues left to star in a Chinese drama series opposite Ni Ping and the other is being showered with yuan as general manager of a management training company.

As this is a promotional piece, I see no problem with only listing the positives about being a sub-editor at Xinhua. (You will notice that the word “polisher” is absent from the job advert in an attempt to make the position sound more important. In fact, here me out on this one, the job is indeed a sub-editing role - with the power to reject stories or recommend stories to be written. Stop scoffing at the back. Still like to use the term “polisher” though - sounds like a relaxing pastime.)

1) After two weeks, you will notice a newfound ability to reel off a series of impressive statistics on an eclectic range of subjects such as the number of visitors to Tibet in the first quarter, domestic car sales and foreign direct investment. Seriously though, knowledge of China grows quickly.

2) Rejecting (or asking for improvement in) stories that writers have spent a couple of days working on develops your diplomacy skills.

3) (If I can be sentimental for a second …)  Opportunity to work with some great people (I don’t mean myself).

4) Chance to wave pay check in the faces of China Daily employees (while conveniently forgetting that China Daily is an infinitely more efficient operation).

Don’t all rush at once.

I have no idea where this blog is heading but I just want to clarify one point. This blog is not a Xinhua News Agency dirt-disher. I won’t be going through TCM’s rubbish bin or following him to the nearest dumpling bar to find out his favourite filling. I would like to try to go some way in dispelling the myth that Xinhua only (there is real emphasis on that word - more than can be conveyed through italics) reports exactly what the Chinese government wants it to. For every senior editor who is terrified of truthful, analytical stories, there is a Xinhua journalist capable of writing an excellent critique - in their second language - of an aspect of Chinese society. Take this article about the Chinese health sector for example - although the writer was asked to add more positives towards the end of the story because its release coincided with the October National Holiday and people don’t like reading bad news when they are on holiday. Apparently.

Xinhua’s marketing publications display the glorious catchline: The World of Xinhua, Xinhua of the World. Well, for health reasons, I sometimes need to escape that often bizarre world so this blog will also talk about Beijing bumf and inanities.

In the meantime, here is a taste of Chinese media in New Zealand, as emailed to me by New Zealander Jonathan Dow with the line, “It’s no wonder I get weird questions about Beijing from folk back home.” I’m pretty sure the street in the photograph is not Chang’an Jie…