Merry etc…

Standard editorial asks why few Japanese tourists come to Hong Kong any more. It’s not just that the city is expensive…

…it is thought that news reports – like the one concerning a Hong Kong youngster jailed for making seditious social media posts after returning from Japan where she had been studying politics – don’t help the situation.

Then, import bans maintained by the SAR on seafood from certain Japanese prefectures due to nuclear wastewater discharge may have contributed to the perception.

The government has invested tens of millions of dollars in a rebranding program to relaunch Hong Kong.

If the investment has failed to change how the Japanese think about the city, could it have also failed to improve how other nationals perceive it?

The Yuen Ching-ting case. Agnes Chow is also popular in Japan. Here’s something else: Marilyn Tang, the sister-in-law of jailed activist Lee Cheuk-yan, is given six months in prison for ‘perverting the course of justice’. After her sister was arrested on NatSec charges, Tang visited the apartment and removed her sister’s phone and laptop, which was potential evidence. But in fact, police later found no evidence she had tampered with the devices, nor found anything incriminating on them.

Some holiday reading and viewing…

China File on how Hong Kong bolsters China’s arguments at international forums like the UN…

Where once HKSAR delegates to the UN sat silently through meetings and offered only brief replies to direct questions, they now serve as proactive cheerleaders for Beijing. The tone and substance of their contributions largely echo those of the PRC, effectively endorsing the PRC’s values, language, and behavior.

From last week – Asia Sentinel reports that some 70 officers in China’s rocket force might have been arrested, and Qin Gang might have been executed. (Might – but how much would you bet otherwise?)…

Since China’s missile secrets have fallen into Washington’s hands, it will cost trillions of yuan (hundreds of billions of dollars) for the Chinese government to reconfigure its missile system, another analyst said. This huge amount of money could have been spent on improving the Chinese people’s livelihood, said the analyst who declined to be named.

…Two sources told Asia Sentinel that Qin was executed a few months ago, but we have been unable to verify this. In addition to these two sources, a professor believes Qin is either executed or serving a life sentence in prison.

“We may never see old Qin and his lovely girlfriend again. Sad. They will serve at least life in prison,” a professor said.

Michael Pettis in the FT on why China’s debt is a symptom, not a cause, of the country’s economic problems…

the losses associated with the misallocation of investment over the past 10-15 years were capitalised, rather than recognised. In proper accounting, investment losses are treated as expenses, which result in a reduction of earnings and net capital. If, however, the entity responsible for the investment misallocation is able to avoid recognising the loss by carrying the investment on its balance sheets at cost, it has incorrectly capitalised the losses, ie converted what should have been an expense into a fictitious asset.

The result is that the entity will report higher earnings than it should, along with a higher total value of assets. But this fictitious asset by definition is unable to generate returns, and so it cannot be used to service the debt that funded it.

China Books Review’s best of 2023.

Translated by Geremie Barme – a learned conversation on the meaning of China’s ‘blank paper’ protests just over a year ago.

From Asia Nikkei, more on Chinese officials’ attempts to alter a French museum exhibition on the Mongols, resulting in a boost in Mongolia’s ‘soft power’ and in Franco-Mongolian relations…

“They told us, ‘Don’t use the words Genghis Khan, don’t use the words Mongol empire. You’ve used the phrase Yuan dynasty (which ruled China for a century from the time of Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan) — don’t use it.’ Well, that’s difficult. You can’t have an exhibition about Genghis Khan without mentioning Genghis Khan.”

…the planned French exhibition coincided with a Chinese crackdown on Mongol language and culture, the latest phase of a drive that had already suppressed Tibetans and Uyghurs in western China and was designed to emphasize the dominance of the majority Han people as part of a campaign to impose the idea of a continuous Chinese history over five millennia.

The fact that China was conquered by the Mongol empire under Genghis Khan and his successors was an inconvenient truth that did not fit into this simplified version of the country’s history.

…The government of Mongolia … offered to step in with newly unearthed artifacts from its own museums … The museum and Mongolia are now considering mounting a traveling exhibition that could reach as far as the U.S. and Australia.

…The text that the Chinese wanted to accompany the Genghis Khan exhibition denied the Mongol emperor’s record in linking East and West and preparing the ground for a Pax Mongolia in Eurasia, according to Guillet. Instead, the Chinese proposal “gave us nomadic tribes who benefited from the great culture of China, who were Sinocized and came under the sway of Han culture — and we said ‘No.'”

‘Han-centric nationalism and revisionism is a sign of a cultural inferiority complex.’ Discuss.

Some light viewing on YouTube…You’ve heard the song (Hump, Mireille), now see the movie: Les Bicyclettes de Belsize – a sort-of-cult swinging 60s short (25 mins) film that vanished soon after its release. Not exactly riveting (maybe fast forward through some of the singing), but some nice camera work.

Two special Christmas gifts. An outstanding seasonal song by Scott Walker if you click on the pic above, celebrating an event I saw on CNN at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou at Xmas 1989. And no link, but a short extract from a piece titled 不断构筑中华民族共有精神家园（深入学习贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想）–理论-中国共产党新闻网: CCP theoretician Pan Yue on building a shared spiritual homeland…

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: ‘Culture is the soul of a nation, and cultural identification is the root of national unity.’ ‘We should focus on building a modern civilization of the Chinese nation and continuously construct a shared spiritual homeland for the Chinese nation.’ General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourse points out the direction and provides the fundamental guidance for us to do well in the Party’s work on ethnic affairs in the new era. We must deeply understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishes’, enhance the ‘Four Consciousnesses’, strengthen the ‘Four Confidences’, and achieve the ‘Two Upholds’. We should deeply study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, fully implement and execute General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important ideas on strengthening and improving work related to ethnic groups. Centering on forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, focusing on building a modern civilization of the Chinese nation, we should advance the construction of a shared spiritual homeland for the Chinese nation.. 

The outstanding innovativeness of Chinese civilization has shaped the creative spirit of reform and innovation of the Chinese national community. The Chinese nation has always created its material, spiritual, and political civilizations with the spirit of ‘renewing daily, renewing endlessly’, standing as the most prosperous and powerful civilization in the world for a long period of history. The innovativeness of Chinese civilization has always been the internal driving force of historical development, allowing the Chinese nation to continuously renew and innovate. As the faithful inheritors and promoters of Chinese excellent traditional culture, the Communist Party of China, with the light of Marxist truth, has activated the genes of Chinese civilization, promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture. The Chinese nation has continuously achieved new accomplishments in economic development, institutional construction, cultural construction, social governance, and technological transformation..

There’s more…