Personal reflections on 14 days in China
17 November 2010
BY FR JOHN KORAN
WE KNOW THAT Chinese belong to Asia and share in the Asian way of life. They are a close-knit society. Family is the fundamental unit and relationships are important in all dimensions of life. Chinese succeed and excel in life not as individuals but as a family, community and society.
Bougainville also has its stories of origin. We have our own cultural background and others can identify us and describe our character and the way we behave and organise. We belong to the Melanesian cultures. The basis of our existence is family and community. Relationships are very important, maintained through tribal and clan ties.
The invasion of China and the revolution it caused arose from a stage of curiosity in the world. Different peoples became explorers, trying to understand the world as a whole. In the process they discovered wealth and resources which they obtained and exploited for their own gain.
The exploitation was done unjustly and the Chinese did not benefit. In the end, the Chinese people revolted against the exploiters to get them out of their country.
After the economic revolution, the cultural revolution began. Tribes and groups with a certain philosophy of life came into confrontation. This divided the nation. China closed its doors to the outside world. In the end there was no development.
Bougainville was colonised by outsiders who indiscriminately exploited its wealth and resources. The people did not benefit much and the foreign businesses did not make a difference in the lives of the people. In the end the people rebelled and the foreign investors left, but the cultural revolution began soon after.
Thirty years ago China moved into a new level of organising its life. It had a new leader whose dream was to open China to the world. The open-door policy resulted in the economic reformation which continues today. The four pillars of development were high technology industry, modern logistics, finance and service industries, and cultural development.
Bougainville is now in the process of reforming its life: politically, economically, socially and culturally. Bougainville needs a vision, mission and goals to move forward.
In these 14 days the questions that kept on coming into my mind were:
1 - Where do they get this energy to continue developing and changing China?
2 - What are the fundamental values that enable them to achieve so much in a short period of time?
China has a philosophy or spirit that enables the Chinese to be committed to a common purpose. That is, they have a common vision of life. I would describe this as to create a harmonious society and a peaceful environment.
In order to create this harmonious society and peaceful environment there must be respect and trust. The people of China are committed to acquire greater quality of life and improve their standard of living.
I got the impression that they are united to achieve these goals and seem to have the following strategy:
1 - China operates from the solid bases of families and communities that try to share all their resources among themselves. This enables them to economise and use their resources wisely to acquire basic human needs and social services. This enables each family and community to live a better life.
2 - These communities are connected to the districts and then to the counties. The counties are connected to the provinces that are finally connected to the nation as a whole. Each district plans its development according to directives from the counties and the province. Each province has its own approach to achieving goals. So the province determines its own development strategies but is always connected to the national vision, mission and goals.
To acquire the fundamental services, there was a need to have an effective financial strategy. Socialist societies such as China have a social structure which assists them use their wealth and resources to build up each community.
Initially China had a closed-door policy. It chose not to deal with other nations. It looked inward and was not able to move forward and progress.
Thirty years ago China adopted an open-door policy. Entrepreneurs from outside were invited to invest in China. China learnt from them and is now leading the world in economic development.
Fr John Koran was a member of a recent Bougainville delegation to China. This is an edited version of an article on the New Dawn on Bougainville website
I believe the questions should not be so much about the Chinese and their culture, but about some PNG politicians' seeming infatuation with them.
You must ask "Cui bono" - who benefits? Do the people of PNG? Or do certain leaders who encourage Chinese investment and immigration?
Who is helping the cholera victims of Daru? Who helped the flood victims in Oro? The tsunami victims in Aitape? Who provides the majority of AIDS welfare?
When the floods occurred in Oro four years ago, Somare was out of the country. His deputy at the time Puka Temu called in Australian help.
When Somare returned he rebuked Temu and said 'Why did you do that - why do we need their help?
So ask yourself - "cui bono?
I remember seeing the Aussie Hercules transports bringing in aid supplies to help the Oro flood victims at Jacksons four years ago.
I met some of the Aussie defence force personnel and asked 'Why are you here?" One reply I remember was 'Because these are our brothers and sisters. We must help them as they helped us in WW2.'
An old feeling but a good one.
Posted by: Peter Kranz | 18 November 2010 at 03:57 PM
Bernard's comment has been relocated here....
http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2010/11/nationalism-confucianism-are-chinas-keys-1.html
Posted by: Bernard Yegiora | 18 November 2010 at 04:57 AM
The good reverend has some very fine points. I for one admire the Chinese for their family oriented existence and I count many Chinese amongst my close friends.
But there is a country mile between the populace and the ruling class. The reverend was not feted by members of the populace. He was feted by the ruling class.
He was smart enough not to bring up Chinese history as he tucked into a delicious meal of Peking Duck and rice wine, provided by the ruling class. And who would want to ?
He was part of a delegation discovering the positive aspects of the ruling class, not the peasantry who have to endure the poisonous ruling class.
Did he visit any of the peasant class, and listen to their views? If he did, surely as an honest man, he would let us know those views.
Would he, for instance, bring up the subject of the inquisitions and the child abuse by Catholic priests while taking communion with the Pope. If he would, there goes that promotion to Bishop.
The man is not stupid. He knows what side of the communion bread has the butter on it. We should give him a break and hope he enjoyed the Peking Duck, and pray that his moral soul will be saved.
Posted by: Peter Warwick | 17 November 2010 at 06:22 PM
China is an emerging power in today’s world, and the attention of all the countries in the world are now drawn towards this nation.
I guess Rod Everett and Ed Brumby might have been living back in the world of 1960s and 1980s, in the era where China was perceived and regarded to be one of the darkest and most hated countries in the world, because of the dark side of the Communist governing system.
China in today’s world is growing into a nation that the USA, France, England, Russia, Australia and Canada are really admiring and at the same time envying the style and progress that China has made in the world.
Many countries are trying to emulate some of the Chinese ways of managing its affairs. There are many good things that other countries have to learn from China.
PNG no doubt should learn and get something good out of China. Not that PNG will become a Communist country, but PNG [ABG] should focus on learning the new economic strategies as well as the social and the political strategies used by China to shape its positive progress to where it is now in the world in this time.
Certainly Fr John Koran's reflection is perceived on that line of thought and understanding. John Koran is a moralist and a historian, he is well versed with the political history of China, as many Catholic priests were killed and expelled from China during the revolt period.
Fr John knows that; however he is part of the ABG delegation that is trying to learn the good side of the Chinese people, their way of living and their way doing business.
Thus his reflections show the positive side of China. In PNG we have learned all the bad things about China and we never had a chance to learn some of the good side of the Chinese people.
Surely John Koran's story is only a reflection of the positive side of China. It's not analytical writing of what he sees of China.
Posted by: Gerald Tananu | 17 November 2010 at 12:11 PM
Enough of being just negative here, Rod.
Apart from seeing the negative side of China, which I am sure Father Koran is fully aware of, The good Father is trying to see where positive inroads can be made back home.
The Autonomous Bougainville administration under President John Momis can certainly use some fresh new development strategies to improve the lot of its Bougainville people.
Posted by: Reginald Renagi | 17 November 2010 at 10:35 AM
We can appropriately take a leaf out of China's experiences and try to adapt them to our local context.
This can be achieved in future, but without the violence and abuse of our people's human rights.
PNG must learn from other countries good and bad experiences so far as growth and progress are concerned.
The government must take only the good aspects of development to design its own political and government system for its people in the national interest.
Posted by: Reginald Renagi | 17 November 2010 at 08:19 AM
I would recommend that the Reverend John read Richard MacGregor's acclaimed book: "The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers" for another explanation of China's recent development.
Jonathon Fenby's "History of Modern China' will provide other valuable insights.
It's a shame, too, that the good reverend did not mention the appalling disparity in living conditions between Chinese city folk and the 'masses' in the vast non-urban areas of China - or the treatment of Tibetans and Uighurs ....
Posted by: Ed Brumby | 17 November 2010 at 07:52 AM
I am afraid I must take issue with Fr Koran's brief reference to China being invaded and mounting a revolution to throw out the exploiters.
In fact China had been wracked by internal divisions and civil wars between competing warlords and political factions for a century and a half, causing the deaths of upwards of 60 million people. This is separate from the deaths resulting from the Japanese invasion which preceded WW2.
The parallels with Bougainville are not comfortable.
The last traditional dynasty - the Qing - saw civil wars between competing ethnic groups and warlords resulting in the deaths of more than 20 million people.
These include the Taiping Civil War (1851-62), Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–67), Nien Rebellion (1851–68), Muslim Rebellion (1862–77), Panthay Rebellion (1856–73) and the Miao Rebellion (1854–73).
After the Republic of China was established in 1912, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally recognised but virtually powerless national government in Peking (Beijing).
Warlords in various regions exercised control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control but met increasing opposition from Communist forces.
Then came the the Sino-Japanese War of 1937–45, which forced an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists and caused around 20 million Chinese civilian deaths.
After the defeat of Japan, the Chinese civil war was resumed between Nationalists and Communists, resulting in millions of further deaths.
Mao Zedong gained control of most of mainland China and, in 1949, established the People's Republic of China as a Socialist state headed by a "democratic dictatorship".
In the 1950s, Mao instituted the Great Leap Forward continuing into the 1960s with the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward resulted in an estimated 30 to 36 million deaths.
Posted by: Peter Kranz | 17 November 2010 at 06:24 AM