Lasting Flow In
Watering Festival
Lotus Rain
Picking Pepper
Picking Lotus
Early Autumn
Voices of the Mountains
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Paintings of Zhu Xunde
Prelude to Spring
Lasting Flow In
Watering Festival
Lotus Rain
Picking Pepper
Picking Lotus
Early Autumn
Voices of the Mountains
Lasting Flow In
Watering Festival
Lotus Rain
Picking Pepper
Picking Lotus
Early Autumn
Voices of the Mountains
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
China's population to reach 1.5 billion after 2033
BEIJING, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - The population of the People's Republic of China will reach 1.5 billion people not earlier than 2033, a government official said on Thursday.
China is the world's most populous country, with over 1.3 billion people, or one fifth of the global total. India takes second place, with 1.1 billion.
"In the next few decades the population of China [excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan] will grow on average by 8 million annually, and may reach 1.5 billion by 2033," the China News Service quoted the National Population and Family Planning Commission director, Li Bin, as saying.
The official said China enjoys a favorable demographic situation, "which has created a good atmosphere for the country's fast and fruitful socio-economic development."
However, Li said China would maintain its family planning policies "to maintain low birth rates and control population growth."
China has had a one-child policy since 1979, and is expected to maintain the restriction for at least another 10 years.
Since 2000, China's average life expectancy has risen from 71.4 to 73 years.
link
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Mysterious hanging coffins of China
Most ancient civilizations buried their dead under the ground, a few burned them on pyres. But there are some that placed bodies of the dead in coffins and hung the coffins on a precipice.
Examples of the latter can be found in many locations throughout China. Some of those are placed on wooden beams projecting out from rock, others are on the rocks themselves. Still others are merely placed in caves high up a cliff face. Some were even suspended on wooden stakes above the ground or stuck into the cliff face.
Coffins have been found from 18 counties in various provinces, some containing hundreds of samples. The age of some preserved artifacts ranges over 13 centuries from the Jin Dynasty (265AD-420AD) to the Ming Dynasty (1368AD-1644AD). But the practice dates much further back. Archaeologists have found hanging coffins in Wuyi Mountain from as far back as the Zhou Dynasty (1027BC-777BC).
One of the most well-known examples are the Ba Hanging Coffins of the Three Gorges. Some of these are - or soon will be - lost forever as the waters of the river rise. That change was brought about by the Three Gorges River dam project which is flooding sections that were previously high above the river's surface.
Most of these contain the remains of Ba peoples, an ancient ethnic Chinese group centered around what is now Yibin City. When buried, the wooden coffin - many containing weapons, food containers and decorated with Tiger carvings - would be placed high up the cliff face. These people are believed to be among the original engineers and workers of China's famed Silk Road.
Preserved examples of the coffins can be found in various museums around the country. Dozens are housed in the Yibin Museum in Gong Xian. Others can be seen in Wuyi in the Fujian Province. Still more are stored in Yingtan City in Jiang Xi. And, for a while, viewing the Ba Hanging Coffins of the Three Gorges is possible as part of one of the many tours down the river.
The Ba culture survived for over 3,000 years but the last known descendant is believed to have died out as recently as 400 years ago though the funeral practice ended centuries earlier. The earliest known example of their funeral practices is believed to be one dating 2,500 years ago found at Three Gorges.
Why this ancient people began this practice, or what significance it may have had for them, is not known. Some believe that suspending the body high above the ground confered honor. It isn't even known with certainty how they achieved some of the engineering feats involved in placing coffins so far up a cliff, distant from the top of the mountain.
But whatever the answers to these questions are, the Ba Hanging Coffins continue to fascinate visitors to China generation after generation. Come find out why.
More information about:Ba Hanging Coffins
link
The Tibet Card
During the Vietnam era, the United States eagerly supported the brutal regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, a man who brutally oppressed the Buddhists; yet today our government has risen in defense of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. Has our sordid history finally led to compassion for the people of Tibet? One must wonder which people we want to protect for there are 41 races in Tibet, including Tibetan, Menpa, Luopa, Han Chinese, Hui, Sherpa, Deng, and so on; although by far, the majority are Tibetans. Perhaps the U.S. is reaching out to the Dalai Lama - again?
It seems that the U.S. government excels at propaganda for it continues to win over the very people it has betrayed and caused to be killed; buying their trust, it offers a friendship that is only self-serving. Oblivious to the past havoc wreaked by the CIA in Tibet, the innocent gather around the storm, stare into the eye, ready to be sucked into it. Not too long ago, the Truman administration attempted to use the young Dalai Lama against China's new Communist regime. The CIA offered to provide him financial support as part of the deal. Its subsidies to the Dalai Lama lasted, at an unspecified level, until 1974. However, the CIA officials seem to have misled the Tibetans into thinking they had American support for the establishment of an independent Tibet[i]. They did not.
Once again, the Tibetans are thinking they have the support of the United States. It should be mentioned that such names as Tom Lantos (a Holocaust survivor) endorsed the promotion of a free Tibet. He also promoted the International Campaign for Tibet, a campaign which receives grants from the National Endowment for Democracy – a State Department operation which engages non-suspecting NGOs to openly do what the CIA did/does. Neoconservative queen, Jean Kilpatrick was pushing The Committee of 100 for Tibet with artists such as Richard Gere as unsuspecting fronts[ii]
What is the reason behind America’s sudden interest in Tibet, the Buddhist ideology of 1649 Dalai Lama preserving animal and nature (we certainly could be preserving nature at home) or is it what is under nature? Tibet has the world’s largest reserve of uranium, and in addition to gold and copper, large quantities of oil and gas were discovered in Qiangtang Basin in western China's remote Tibet area[iii]. A friendly Dalai Lama would help reimburse the CIA subsidies, and much more.
There are other more important factors. Israel’s interest is undeniable. In fact, they have been helping this ancient green land with ‘agriculture techniques’ in recent years[iv]. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, is recruiting fellow Nobel winners to press China on Tibet. Other notables such as Spielberg have already cooperated, and Sarkozy is considering boycotting the Olympics. One has to ask why these humanitarians are not concerned with the well-being of 1.4 million Palestinians described by the UN and the ICRC as being subjected to worst possible human disaster witnessed.
China has always shown reluctance to impose sanctions on Iran. From an Israeli and American perspective, China became a veritable short-term liability (versus a long term power challenging the U.S.) when Iran and China engaged in talks to allow for a military base for China in one of Iran’s Persian Gulf ports. This was in response to Sarkozy making an announcement that France and the UAE were negotiating a deal in which France would have a small base in that region. Such a cooperation between Iran and China would make Iran less vulnerable to an attack by Israel and/or the United States.
Engaging China in a Tibet uprising, threatening the public image it has worked so hard to build around the world (China has far surpassed the United States in Public Diplomacy. During the G.W. Bush presidency, while the world watched in dismay an do-it-alone America that made a blunder at every turn, China, in spite of human rights issues that remain to be resolved, has won ‘hearts and minds’ in South America, Middle East, and Africa. It is attempting to win over its regional neighbors by developing economic, political, and diplomatic relations, and exercising skillful diplomacy) would distract or dissuade it from building alliances with Iran. Iran must be kept isolated at all costs.
Tel-Aviv hopes that Cheney will push Bush to launch a military attack on Iran, just as he persuaded Bush to attack Iraq. Given that the Iraq tactics are old, new ones have to be sought. As such, many experts suspect that a false flag operation would be required to launch an all out war. In October 2006, when Anti-terrorism officials conducted a helicopter survey of New York City's radiation sources in preparation for a so-called "dirty bomb" attack, they came across an unexpected radiation hot spot which has been kept out of the media as it is a political hot spot – A strong radiation spike from the area of the Israeli Embassy. Officials would not comment on why they thought that particular area showed such a stunning peak in radiation[v].
Can America afford another war? Will the world withstand another assault on humanity?
In 1787, George Washington said: “The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can, and undoubtedly will, be recalled.”
Let us recall our servants who do not represent us, who do not serve our interest, and who are killing in our name.
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is an Iranian-American studying at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She is a member of World Association of International Studies society, Stanford. Her research focus is U.S. foreign policy towards Iran, Iran’s nuclear program, and influence of lobby groups. She is a peace activist, essayist, radio commentator and public speaker.
countercurrents.org
It seems that the U.S. government excels at propaganda for it continues to win over the very people it has betrayed and caused to be killed; buying their trust, it offers a friendship that is only self-serving. Oblivious to the past havoc wreaked by the CIA in Tibet, the innocent gather around the storm, stare into the eye, ready to be sucked into it. Not too long ago, the Truman administration attempted to use the young Dalai Lama against China's new Communist regime. The CIA offered to provide him financial support as part of the deal. Its subsidies to the Dalai Lama lasted, at an unspecified level, until 1974. However, the CIA officials seem to have misled the Tibetans into thinking they had American support for the establishment of an independent Tibet[i]. They did not.
Once again, the Tibetans are thinking they have the support of the United States. It should be mentioned that such names as Tom Lantos (a Holocaust survivor) endorsed the promotion of a free Tibet. He also promoted the International Campaign for Tibet, a campaign which receives grants from the National Endowment for Democracy – a State Department operation which engages non-suspecting NGOs to openly do what the CIA did/does. Neoconservative queen, Jean Kilpatrick was pushing The Committee of 100 for Tibet with artists such as Richard Gere as unsuspecting fronts[ii]
What is the reason behind America’s sudden interest in Tibet, the Buddhist ideology of 1649 Dalai Lama preserving animal and nature (we certainly could be preserving nature at home) or is it what is under nature? Tibet has the world’s largest reserve of uranium, and in addition to gold and copper, large quantities of oil and gas were discovered in Qiangtang Basin in western China's remote Tibet area[iii]. A friendly Dalai Lama would help reimburse the CIA subsidies, and much more.
There are other more important factors. Israel’s interest is undeniable. In fact, they have been helping this ancient green land with ‘agriculture techniques’ in recent years[iv]. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, is recruiting fellow Nobel winners to press China on Tibet. Other notables such as Spielberg have already cooperated, and Sarkozy is considering boycotting the Olympics. One has to ask why these humanitarians are not concerned with the well-being of 1.4 million Palestinians described by the UN and the ICRC as being subjected to worst possible human disaster witnessed.
China has always shown reluctance to impose sanctions on Iran. From an Israeli and American perspective, China became a veritable short-term liability (versus a long term power challenging the U.S.) when Iran and China engaged in talks to allow for a military base for China in one of Iran’s Persian Gulf ports. This was in response to Sarkozy making an announcement that France and the UAE were negotiating a deal in which France would have a small base in that region. Such a cooperation between Iran and China would make Iran less vulnerable to an attack by Israel and/or the United States.
Engaging China in a Tibet uprising, threatening the public image it has worked so hard to build around the world (China has far surpassed the United States in Public Diplomacy. During the G.W. Bush presidency, while the world watched in dismay an do-it-alone America that made a blunder at every turn, China, in spite of human rights issues that remain to be resolved, has won ‘hearts and minds’ in South America, Middle East, and Africa. It is attempting to win over its regional neighbors by developing economic, political, and diplomatic relations, and exercising skillful diplomacy) would distract or dissuade it from building alliances with Iran. Iran must be kept isolated at all costs.
Tel-Aviv hopes that Cheney will push Bush to launch a military attack on Iran, just as he persuaded Bush to attack Iraq. Given that the Iraq tactics are old, new ones have to be sought. As such, many experts suspect that a false flag operation would be required to launch an all out war. In October 2006, when Anti-terrorism officials conducted a helicopter survey of New York City's radiation sources in preparation for a so-called "dirty bomb" attack, they came across an unexpected radiation hot spot which has been kept out of the media as it is a political hot spot – A strong radiation spike from the area of the Israeli Embassy. Officials would not comment on why they thought that particular area showed such a stunning peak in radiation[v].
Can America afford another war? Will the world withstand another assault on humanity?
In 1787, George Washington said: “The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing; and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can, and undoubtedly will, be recalled.”
Let us recall our servants who do not represent us, who do not serve our interest, and who are killing in our name.
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is an Iranian-American studying at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She is a member of World Association of International Studies society, Stanford. Her research focus is U.S. foreign policy towards Iran, Iran’s nuclear program, and influence of lobby groups. She is a peace activist, essayist, radio commentator and public speaker.
countercurrents.org
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