Taiwan, China, and other things. Recovered from the defunct TypePad platform.
So the CCP goes on a soft power offensive, producing a movie on the Rape of Nanjing. "China is a victim," goes their carefully-cultivated narrative.
Then the Communist Party shoots itself in the foot with the sort of reflexive petty tyranny for which it is justly well-known:
One step forward.
Now, two back…
And don't forget to blame whitey for all the bad publicity.
Moammar Gaddafi announces his desire for a Tiananmen Square Massacre he can call his very own.
Now, it could be argued that in this particular case he's outdone his kindred spirits in Beijing (if such a thing is possible) by ordering air strikes against Libyan civilians and importing African mercenaries to do his bloodletting for him.
But it just goes to show: Some guys'll do just about ANYTHING to get nominated for one of China's prestigious "World Harmony Awards"…
Another review of a Taiwan-related book from David Frum at the National Review:
It all started in China. It was here in the 1930s and 1940s that the United States was first presented with a dilemma that has recurred again and again over the decades since: a strategically important country; a tradition-minded authoritarian ruler, at the head of a corrupt and incompetent government; a violent insurgency led by a totalitarian and anti-western movement. What to do?
This question, so haunting and difficult, is well illuminated by Jonathan Fenby’s fine Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the China He Lost.
In China, the US never could quite make up its mind, and Fenby helps us to understand why.
[…]
Understandably, the Chiang problem flummoxed the Americans who had to deal with him. While a few Americans (Edgar Snow, John S Service, John K Fairbank) disgraced themselves either as apologists for Mao or as easy dupes, most of the US government and military badly wanted to defeat Mao – but were absolutely baffled by the problem of how to do it. Arm and aid Chiang? And when Chiang allowed his family and friends to steal the arms and aid and then begged for more – what then?
Fenby raises one interesting historical might have been. The US never seriously considered intervening against Mao on the ground: US military forces were fully committed to the defense of Europe. But as late as May 1949, the Chinese Nationalists securely held the territory south of the Yangtze, including the cities of Shanghai and Canton. What if the US had used air and naval power to prevent the Communists from crossing the river? The richest parts of China might have joined South Korea, South Vietnam, and West Germany as one of the divided nations of the Cold War.
Interesting counterfactual there. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Just saw the 1963 movie on DVD. I may comment on it later, but here are a few quotes which caught my interest:
Dowager Empress: The colonel’s death is of no consequence. But his life has set my prince against my general. And this disturbs the tranquility of the morning. Let him die for this offense.
Major Lewis: (to his troop of soldiers) Remember, it’s just the same here as anywhere else in the world. Everything has a price. So pay your money, and don’t expect any free samples.
(As one commenter at IMDB notes, "you can bet the commodity he is referring to isn’t pork fried rice.")
Maj. Lewis: (tossing 6 months of mail into a wastebasket) Open a letter, you have to read it. Read it, you may have to answer it.
Baroness Ivanoff: Are you always this direct?
Maj. Lewis: I’m a marine, ma’am. I don’t have much time.
Baroness Ivanoff: Have you found this approach very successful?
Maj. Lewis: Not really, no. But it’s the only one I know.
Baroness Ivanoff: (about sharing a hotel room with Maj. Lewis) It’s a very small room.
Maj. Lewis: Well, I’ve been in tight places before.
(Pretty racy for 1963!)
Sir Arthur: If all Hell is going to break loose, it will not be because we have provoked it. So we’ll all just…walk softly, and hope for the best.
Maj. Lewis: Even if we walk on our knees, we can’t stop this.
Sir Arthur: The Boxer bandits have been with us for years, major. It could be that you’re unnecessarily alarmed.
Maj. Lewis: Well, the next time I see some…bandits murdering an English priest, I’ll try not to be alarmed.
Prince Tuan: You must be the American who had the unfortunate encounter with the Boxers this morning.
Maj. Lewis: I’m afraid it was the British missionary who had the hard time, sir.
Prince Tuan: The Chinese government is most distressed, but you must not conclude that all Boxers are bandits. Most of them are harmless vagabonds. Entertainers in the marketplaces (nodding toward Baroness Ivanoff) – much like the gypsies in your country.
Sir Arthur: You must forgive us, your highness, but the major does not seem to understand that here, we must play the game according to Chinese rules.
Maj. Lewis: I apologize, Sir Arthur, but I don’t think his highness came here tonight to play games.