on China's multiple republics

'Is Taiwan a part of China', the standard make or break question that a lot of Han Chinese in the People's Republic of China ask the foreigner. I gave the simple diplomatic answer to a young Communist Party member who asked. I said 'yes, but it's not part of the People's Republic, it's part of the Republic of China, A.K.A Taiwan. This works as the slogan '1 Nation, 2 systems' appears in huge skyscraper high letters in Xiamen, across the Baring Straights from a Taiwanese controlled island and elsewhere. It satisfies the nationalism, but accepts that the 'nation' is not unified in practice.

My response was quite unfair on the indigenous people of the island of Taiwan who suffered the 'invasion' of the island by Nationalist Republic of China forces in 1945 and the relocation of their government following defeat to Mao's Communist People's Liberation Army in 1949. The Republic of China felt that they were rightful rulers of the 'Chinese' nation and this contention was not removed from the constitution of the Republic of China until 1971. Many Han Chinese in Taiwan still feel part of a greater nation in spite of the disparate regimes. For those that don't my response was unfair to them too.

I don't know what the indigenous Taiwanese think, and wonder if they have ever been asked. It is cowardly of me to ignore them in the grand geo-political debates in which those of us with the luxury to do so indulge. But in the interests of good relations I did.

I ignore many minorities in this way.

on Hot Springs

Hot springs. Its nice not knowing what to expect. Having only been to one before the mind was open, but the hopes  for stream rising out of a naturally occurring pool were unlikely to be realized in the most populus part of the most populus country on earth. Instead at the end of a bumpy road, there were a series of concrete huts and a reservoir. I thought the huts were for changing in, but each contained a bath with a hot tap from the spring and a cold one. On the bath they put a plastic sheet. The bed wetting and the front roms of those that cherish the clerics sprang to mind but their purpose was to have the opposite effect. I was assured that mine was new as opposed to the second hand ones that hung about the place and once again the environment suffered at the expense of my cleanliness. Even without the smack hot baths trends to be fin and fun it was. Would have been nice if the swimming pool was open but altogether good steam.


Its the kind of place you look at and think with a but of investment this place would be minting it. It won't be long now I suppose.

on entering China from Vietnam

Crossing the Vietnam China border at Dong Dang – Pingxiang is straightforward and normal. People do it all the time.  But when your bus arrives 2 hours late and your driver tries to convince you that its closed and you should stay in a hotel by refusing to drive up it can all be made a bit less amenable that you would think. But convincing person after person that you really do want to get across that night can get you on a bit of a roll. The Vietnamese guard was even happy to see me leave, shaking my hand and pointing in the direction of pitch black sent me on my way.

The unlit 200m walk had a bit of time for doubts to enter, and these were realised when I walked into an empty immigration hall and climbed over 3 gates saying ‘Ni Hao’ loudly enough for people to hear and surely get that I was not attempting the crossing in secret. They were friendly as when they came out but were clearly on their way home and I was the last one to be let across. Again the darkness, and I got vague directions from a guard to go through the gate. The gate is old style Chinese like the one at Tiananmen and well impressive in the dark but eery enough for the wanderer. Next I startle a singing guard, and am living large enough to get a light in my face. Its a curious thing when trying to look like you know what your’e doing actually has that effect, and I am waved on into the dark.

By this stage my bus was halfway on its way to Guangzhou and I hadn’t a notion what would need to be done next. but two people were standing at the bottom of the lane. One a driver for hire, the other as it turned out a driver. The boy points to his BMW and says sure him and his wife will drive me to Nanning (300km) and I can get a train from there. Nae bother.

Highlights of this were a trad Chinese orchestral version of the Raggle Taggle Gypsy at 150 clicks per hour and being told they were going to sell me to the ‘bad’ people.

Lowlight was sitting in an internet cafe in Nanning from 11pm to 5am waiting for the slow train to Guangzhou.

on the work Lunar New Year party

There are a number of interesting things that come with being the only foreigner in a Vietnamese organisation.


One is rarely knowing what is going on; meaning that getting on a bus to a restaurant on a lake an hour outside of Hanoi to be with ostriches and a fatted calf on the spit roast come as little surprise.


Another is not really understanding what is going on; meaning that despite learning passable Vietnamese, the 2 hours of speeches outlining the organisational plans (which I may well have written) are completely over my head and I spend the time reading news on the smartphone.


It gets interesting when we play a 'couples' game which involves dancing with a piece of spaghetti in the mouth, and that piece inserted into a straw in the mouth of another. Much hilarity ensued.


But the real joy comes in the 'khoai thai' turn to perform. (Khoai tay is the vietnamese for potato and is used as a slang for westerner; the word 'Tay' meaning west depending on the tone used.) I guess this is reasonably appropriate for someone from Belfast. So Farewell to Ireland was played on the tin whistle, and says I to myself that will do and went to sit down. But no a request came in for the vietnamese folk song Tron Com, that I learnt for a reproductive health gala last year. That done a karaoke request was put in for Neu Anh Noi, which a colleague kindly got up and sang with me.


Then came the kicker; 'say something in Chinese for us, it being close to 'Chinese New Year''. Now fans of cultural diversity might be keen to hear that the 'Lunar New Year' is celebrated in a number of countries including Korea, but this matters little when is comes to the relationship between Vietnam and China. The Vietnamese think the Chinese dump inferior goods on their markets and are attempting to control islands that belong to Vietnam. That said they do share a lot in terms of culture so the request was not out of place.


I began by saying in Vietnamese - 'we all know how much the Vietnamese love the Chinese'. I thought this was not so diplomatic, so I changed it to 'we all know how much the Vietnamese love the Chinese government'. Incendiary stuff, but it was met with laughter all round. I guess then that I have neither improved nor worsened relationships.


What followed was the usual drinking, eating, toasting and backslapping that is part and paracel of Vietnamese and Chinese meals. Most slept on the bus on the way back. I regaled the rest with pounding pounding traditional music on the tin whistle. They loved it, honest.