Keep calm. Don’t resist. Believe the government. July 24, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Commentary , trackback
The piece of advice that provides this post’s title is not a quote from Orwell’s 1984. It comes from an anti-terrorist attack manual provided by the Chinese government in advance of the Beijing Olympics (from BBC reporter James Reynolds’ excellent China/Olympics blog). The manual also includes sage advice for detecting terrorists like the following (all translations are provided by Reynolds and his “Chinese colleagues”):
Terrorist suspects won’t put a sticker on their faces to say they are terrorists. However they will have some abnormal behaviour that can make us alert, such as:
- Those who look panicked and strange in their words and behaviour
- Those who dress in clothes that don’t fit their identity or the weather
- Those who pretend to be close friends, and flatter
- Those who refuse to do security checks, and sound arrogant
- Those who frequently appear at big event venues
- Those who frequently appear around security areas
- Those who look like wanted suspects
I had assumed that the “wanted suspect look” was something most terrorists would try and avoid/disguise.
I have really enjoyed some of the Chinese government propaganda machine’s attempts to prepare for the upcoming Olympics (mostly in a bitter and angry way). They have had a number of slogans and initiatives that are alternatively hilarious or heartbreaking. For example, the following gem: “It’s civilized to queue, it’s glorious to be polite” - a slogan which encourages people to form orderly lines when waiting for subways etc. (You can read Reynolds’ description of Beijing’s “Queue Day,” held on the 11thof each month, here). There have also been campaigns against public spitting, littering, public smoking, and an intriguing project called “The Beijing Workers’ Civilization Cheering Squad.” I have no idea what the Workers’ Civilization Cheering Squad is supposed to accomplish but it brings to mind the image of construction workers breaking into coordinated bursts of applause and gymnastic routines while chanting praise for “Give Up Your Seat Day” (another initiative) - which would definitely impress me as a first time visitor to China.
“Welcome the Olympics with orderly civilized action.”
It’s all part of a campaign of behavior modification to encourage Beijing residents to be on their best (western) behavior when the world comes to visit for the Olympics. There is even a ”civic index” that measures the success of these initiatives. And, happily, queue jumping has dropped from 6% in 2006 to 1.5% in 2008. I describe this campaign of civilizational change as alternatively hilarious and heartbreaking for a couple of reasons. The hilarious aspects of Queue Day are reasonably obvious as one considers the immense amount of bureaucratic energy and resources that have gone into producing pamphlets and posters that address such superficial elements of behavior. A recent poster campaign encourages citizens to avoid ”using phrases such as ‘it’s up there’ when talking to anyone visually impaired…It recommends comments such as: ‘You are really great’” (from a recent article in the Guardian).
The heartbreaking aspects are also relatively apparent when one thinks about the effort the Chinese government has exerted to control and clearly define the everyday behavior of ordinary Chinese. The very superficiality of what is being controlled and defined speaks to the degree of influence the government expects to have in its citizens’ lives. While I’m all for some cultural education (ie. most visitors from the U.K. or North America will probably appreciate the adoption of orderly lines outside venues), that such a significant attempt has been extended to control and define basic conversational interaction (such as the “8 Don’t Asks” poster campaign), speaks to the degree of power and influence the Chinese government extends. While the goal of the campaign has been to present Beijing’s best face to the world, the blatant and obtrusive propaganda tends to sour the first impression.
And since the goal of campaign is to present China’s best face to the world the superficiality of what is being presented is especially hard to swallow. The ruling Communist Party is performing a sort of a street performer magic show: trying to distract us with colorful balloons (ooh! balloons!) while punching our sub-Saharan African friend repeatedly in the groin and taking all his oil and minerals…er…money (really it is more of a sort of back alley magic show). The ability to point to the improvement of the civic index provides an opportunity for the Chinese government to trumpet the positive changes it has made to accommodate western desires while continuing to spread money and arms indiscriminately in its desire for access to natural resources in Africa. While an attempt to accommodate western manners is appreciated by western visitors, an attempt to act with a greater sense of justice and respect for human rights both inside and outside its own borders would go much a longer way to improving the world’s perception of China and its relationship with the west. While Chinese officials are worried about the embarrassment of disorderly crowds in front of ticket booths I think most observers would prefer that they focus on the embarrassmentthat is Chinese domestic and foreign policy - which unfortunately cannot be corrected with a series of posters and slogans.
Beijing sees the Olympics as an opportunity to showcase its virtues to the world, and in the mass of propaganda and government paranoia that surrounds the event they certainly have revealed some core values. With its campaign for the adoption of better manners when interacting with visiting westerners the Communist Party is changing behavior, just not any behavior that really matters. Anyone have any clever slogans out there for the encouragement of improved Party policy? Maybe something like: “It’s civilized not to indiscriminately supply arms to corrupt regimes, it is glorious allow your citizenry basic human rights.”
Oh yeah, I could totally be a pamphleteering propagandist…
Comments»
It will be interesting to see how the olympics go! How’s your job search?
It will be interesting to see how they go. I’m a little conflicted about the Olympics as an opportunity for (my) critique of Party policy…it has a bit of a celebrity benefit concert feel to it - trendy, shallow and easily forgotten once the event has passed. Perhaps this is the reason for so much focus on China-Tibet (more trendy, more easily categorized and defined) in the western media as compared to China’s decidedly shady and destructive policy in Africa?
I’ve been doing some temporary work as of late - nothing too exciting - just some basic administrative work. I’ve had some interviews recently for some promising jobs so we’ll see what comes of them - maybe I’ll hold a blog celebration if something exciting comes through…
I just wanted to say this is one of you posts in the last little while. Great thoughts and clarity you brought to the issue. Capital my good man…capital.
I was just reading my comment and realized it lacks both thought and clarity…sorry about that.