Melancholy and sadness

This picture by A. Durer depicting a melancholy emersed angel is one of my favourite works of Art. It was on my wall in my Beijing dorm for some time (after I bought a small poster at a British Museum exibition in Beijing)...It is a very beautiful image.

My current emotional condition is actually really not good. I feel very depressed, disheartened, sad. I lack any motivation to do anything.
After a very improved emotional condition in August, during which I felt full of motivation and ability to be organised and constructively being able to do many things, now I feel completely exhausted even since waking up in the morning and feel completely disheartened...

It is really not good, but I see no way to cope with it, currently that's how it is..

Yesterday afternoon I went to see an exhibition about Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) at the Museum of Kyoto in an attempt to go out of my room and do something meaningful. (The exhibition was actually somewhat disappointing.)However, at one point I remembered my first encounter with ikebana which was long time ago. I think I was 10 or 11 then. Our school (as any school in the country at that time) each year had something like a knowledge competition day in which students would prepare for and be a day of competition on very broad fields of knowledge, from science, history to art and culture. Students from various grades and classes will compete in different fields of knowledge participating in various types of competitions in which they would demonstrate their knowledge or skill in the filed of knowledge. It is actually a very interesting paradox about the then education. Although we were heavily politically brainwashed, the education was actually very comprehensive and definitely good, and did not made us culturally ignorant. I remember that among other things I participated in an ikebana competition (I really don't know how ikebana was even a part of the Soviet-style competition), but I remember I won it. Of course I didn't receive any training or instruction on flower arranging, I just used my intuition.

Yesterday, while walking through the museum exhibition I remembered this childhood memory and it really deeply struck me again how deep and long-standing is my connection to Japan and East Asia. And here I am now, having realised my childhood and adolescent dream, due to my melancholy and very low spirits I fail to actually enjoy it and use this great chance creatively and constructively...

Just as the depressed angel in Durer's picture, sitting dejected and melancholy...

world new geo-political realignment?

This Monday was the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, undoubtedly a most significant watershed in the modern Europe and World history, an event that had great impact and started a process of great change and a big shift in the world political alignment with huge consequences for many nations, including my home country.
Currently with the economic rise of China, and with the help of its favourable position as a UN Security Council, China's political influence grows each day and we are actually currently witnessing a new looming realignment of power, a shift that for now remains quite unpredictable, but which will no doubt have big consequences for the world.. I've been following this process as closely as I can, trying to understand and see beyond headlines. Especially as regards human rights, cultural issues and other human values I am actually very concerned and sceptical about China's growing clout and influence.
A possible new power shift of influence will have great impact.

The US President, Mr. Obama is going to make his first presidential visit in China next Monday as part of his Asia presidential trip which started on Friday. This visit is actually at a very significant moment, and can prove determining as to how the future geo-political alignment is. It remains to be seen how he handles it. I am mostly very interested how he will (and if he will) handle the political, ethnic and human rights issues.

Late on Friday, Mr. Obama landed in Tokyo, Japan for a very brief visit as the first stop of his Asia tour.

Obama Lands in Japan Seeking to Reassert Role in Asia http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20091113/pl_bloomberg/aidgvlwdg0zq_1

Notable from the first hours of his Asian trip was his speech in Tokyo yesterday, in which much attention was given to the rise of China, and to the assertion that the USA intends to actively participate in the region as a full member Pacific nation. In his speech he did mention human rights, but it was either vague and unspecific, or when it was more specific it was aimed at the military totalitarian regime of Myanmar (Burma), which by the way authoritarian China supports. In short, if I can judge from his speech, when he actually lands in China, human rights issues will be just mentioned on the go and briefly. The reasons for that are complex, major one is that China is de facto the US creditor, and as such has huge leverage.
And this is very very significant and at least at the moment plays a significant role in shaping the relationship. In a way, it hard not to say that US world leader status is in decline...
Empty talk about "American values" do not impress the Chinese...

I understand the need for pragmatism and for seeking Chinese cooperation on important issues (such as the economic crises, climate change and nuclear proliferation) and being very careful to avoid confrontation so as not to alienate the Chinese, BUT this will give the Chinese authoritarian government exactly what it wants - freedom to gain more world influence not based on values, but solely on money and pragmatic interest.
Maybe we are witnessing the emergence of the first Empire that has no value system or beliefs which it wants to spread, a spiritually empty Empire based on materialism and profit only.

I don't mind if somebody challenges the US world leader position, but I strongly mind and feel concerned that the country whose influence grows only based on economical and military reasons and has no deeper value system than materialism to offer to humankind which China is now, is emerging as a "world leader", because at least to me China definitely does NOT qualify to be a world leader at all.
So that's why human rights and other universal values are so important...

It is crucial how the US handles the relationship with China, so let's see...I'm kind of sceptical about President Obama and his new administration's ability to address this huge (and definitely very difficult) challenge...

Full text: Barack Obama’s Asian policy speech in Tokyo 14 Nov. 2009 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9e985a46-d0c2-11de-af9c-00144feabdc0.html

articles on Obama's China visit:

When Obama Goes to Beijing
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/09/when_obama_goes_to_beijing
Obama to raise human rights with China's Hu: official (AFP)http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091109/pl_afp/uschinarightsobama_20091109232126
Obama confronts an Asia reshaped by China's rise (AP)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_re_as/as_obama_asia_3
Obama Walks a Delicate Tightrope on His 1st Trip as President to China (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/business/global/14yuan.html
China’s Role as U.S. Lender Alters Dynamics for Obama (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/world/asia/15china.html


Rights groups urge Obama to press China
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/294178,rights-groups-urge-obama-to-press-china.html
China Focuses on Territorial Issues as It Equates Tibet to U.S. Civil War South (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/world/asia/14beijing.html

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Also somehow related and connected is the effort and attention China (CCP) is obviously paying recently of expanding its "soft power", or in other words the strategy of internationalising its propaganda and brainwashing trough "public opinion channelling".
Very insightful are China Media Project articles and analysis on the subject, the most recent is:

Is China’s new communications worldview coming of age?http://cmp.hku.hk/2009/11/12/2926/