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Posted September 8, 2001
Falun Gong
Just a quick note to say that the addition of Sascha Matuszak's column has made your site more enjoyable and more interesting. I particularly enjoyed the piece on "Free Markets vs. Supermarkets" [August 14] as it gave me a new perspective on the markets in my local Chinatown.
Perhaps Sascha could devote a column to the Falun Gong in the near future? I'm suspicious of the western coverage on the issue and would like to know what his local buddies think. Is it really a crackpot sect or is the crackdown an excuse to remind the population who's in charge?
Sascha Matuszak replies:
Thanks for the love.
The Falun Gong is probably a little of both -- crackpot and example. What amazes me the most is the success of the example part with the people I know. I'll flesh it out soon enough.
Go?
Sasha Matuszak's ... column [of August 28] "China's Expansionism" is about as thought-provoking piece on China as I have read in some time. Especially so was the mention of the "no strings attached" gifts to developing nations.
I had been wondering to myself why, though clearly threatened by Western powers, China does not seem to have any apparent global strategy to protect itself.
The article reminded me of a book I read in college: "The Protracted Game: A Wei-Ch'i Interpretation of Maoist Revolutionary Strategy" by Scott Boorman. This book describes the strategy of Mao and the CCP as a giant game of go. (A synopsis of this theory can be found on the web [here]. In a nutshell the CCP, like any go master, started play by capturing the "edges" of the board (in this case by winning the support of the peasants in the hinterlands), and then very patiently worked "inward" toward larger goals like major cities or direct confrontations with Nationalist armies.
It strikes me (I am no China-hater or conspiracy-theorist) that in building good relationships with the "peasants" of the world, like Papua New Guinea and Pakistan, China may be embarking on a similar strategy on a global scale (likely in the interest of their own security).
Andean Disaster
[Regarding Alan Bock's column of August 29, "Sticking with an Andean Disaster":]
I
think we should keep in mind how ... most of this so called aid is
spent. It's not like we take a box of money to Bogotá, on the
contrary we take a box
of money to US defense contractors, you know, ... the big time
campaign contributors, the future fellow board members. The little
money (relatively) that actually reaches Colombia is quickly snatched
up by the same corrupt oligarchy that put Colombia in this position
in the first place.
The
idea that we, the U.S., are defending democracy is laughable. There
is no democracy in Colombia and here hasn't been anything like it
since Gaitan,
and it cost him his life. The only other time they even approached
the possibility was in the eighties and that resulted in a few thousand
dead candidates and officeholders at the hands of U.S.-backed death
squads. The Colombian and US idea of democracy is to keep Colombia
from falling into the hands of the Colombian people and keep the world
safe for the multinationals.
The drug thing is just a ... convenient excuse.... The original "Andean Initiative" was a product of the Shrub's daddy, it was he and his gang that set up the formal linkage between the paras and the military (order 200-5/91) It was the Israelis that trained them. It was Ambassador Patterson who insisted that Pastrana raise the bar on the ELN a few weeks ago and crush the possibility of peace inadvertently breaking out.
...Who
do you suppose set up the "suspected
IRA bomb-makers" stunt? Christ, they even tested them for
residue at the US embassy, how convenient.
Caspian Oil
I had dinner with a man who works for one of the oil companies involved with this pipeline (to carry oil from Kazakhstan). He was talking about the Chevron line opening and I mentioned that I understood that the oil field turned out to be so large that the Chevron pipeline could not carry enough of the oil, that a new pipeline was being built which would pass through Kosovo.
His answer surprised me. He said, That's right, that was one of the reasons (for the war).
The reason it surprised me was that I hadn't mentioned anything about the war and hadn't intended to, because it was a business dinner and I didn't want my husband to kick me under the table, again.
~ Eva