The bus now, en route
out of Hong Kong. I could never drive in
Hong Kong. I don’t mind the insanity of
Beijing. I’ve driven for days on the
wrong side of the in Ireland. But Hong
Kong is like an aggressive corporeal system pulsing at the highest speeds
imaginable. Capillaries into an artery
system that is all fast, assumed and backward.
I still marvel at how people pause and yield when they do to dotted lines, which I think I would ignore to great consequence.
Off to the right, this time is the infinite pier. The photo I included yesterday of rail cars
and rail cars and rail cars stacked at containers, off loading equipment. Is this the biggest port in the world or is the
one next door in Shenzhen or Guangzhou or is it the one up in Shanghai that claims the mantle? Certain there is more activity here, in the
Pearl River Delta, and now, along this coast, in total, than any other port or
series of ports in the world. Up an over
this bridge that was built during the time I lived here. Apartments that ring the mountains and fill
up all the available space with increasing density. Seen from the sky though, the SAR still has a remarkable amount of park space.
It’s the second time now we’ve had the message on the bus
intercom informing us that to bring any more than two cans of powdered milk up
across the boarder is a crime, punishable by 500K HKD. Once again, Mainland Chinese demeaned. The
urge couldn’t be more reasonable. No
snake-oil-salesmen, please. People want to
secure safe powder for their children.
That or they want to bring safe powdered milk to people who want to buy
it at a premium. Reasonable,
surely. I wonder how long the line will
be heading back in to China? Somehow it always seems faster. The pier just goes on and on and on wherever
the land meets the sea. There is a boat
down there that says: “China Tanker.”
Following from yesterday’s bit about airspace, in an
interesting turn of events, the U.S. has now said that U.S. airlines should
announce their flight plans heading through the contested air space that China
now claims and wants to patrol. The two
Japanese major airlines initially did the same, but then the government told
them not to. China’s objective, as
explained by the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) was to force Japan
back to the negotiating table. I think
my earlier thesis holds, that the CCP are not afraid to look silly and are
prepared to advance carefully, methodically to disrupt the status quo. Now, suddenly, despite the frustration of
South Korea and Taiwan, and others, about the claim, it is essentially Japan
that looks isolated. Japan and the U.S. wants the status quo. So does the U.S. But China does not and is prepared to disrupt
things. How much friction is possible
with out an overhaul? Disruption by a
rising power will either be gracefully accommodated, or it won’t be. But disruption, will be.
And as it concerns Hong Kong, my thesis in “7DS” was that
greed was an outdated assignation for the city.
Greed, effective realization of greed, wealth, and then the
disappointment as others got wealthy and wealthier, this is the limited narrow
circle of activity left when your ability to rule and provide defend and
determine your fate, is removed from you as a people. Hong Kong was a colony. Hong Kong remains a colony. But if Beijing continues to allow the
development of a Special Political Zone,
(SPZ) as opposed to simply having Special Economic Zones (SEZs), there are some
interesting things that could happen. If
Beijing allows Hong Kong to be the first part of the PRC under Beijing jurisdiction
to choose its political head, regardless of all the other compromise, that will
be a huge step for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP.) The CCP is
not supposed to solicit input and tolerate dissent publicly. If they allow elections they will. It will be
compromised and flawed just like nearly every American election, particularly
when our representative democracy was young.
But the experiments almost necessarily must proceed slowly. Cautiously.
And in doing so, I imagine the Central leadership’s dialogue with the
population of Hong Kong, in almost Confucian terms. A sage “population” having the courage to
tell the “emperor” who has power, but conditional power, through the mandate of
heaven what their sage counsel is. "We
want this. We don’t want that." 2017 isn't far off.
Well. Slowing. I think we are getting close to the
boarder. Time to bid Hong Kong
farewell. Let’s see how long it takes,
this time.
Right. The crossing
on the way back took three minutes. The
one on the way over takes 93 minutes.
Why? Isn’t there some way to
staff up to handle the volume? How does everyone return if not by this method?
Now we’re crossing the river. It
must be 70 yards wide. There’s a bridge
required to pass. “Rivulet” from
yesterday, is too disparaging. Maybe not
full on brine but there’s some thing to it this channel. You could drown. You could not make it. We’re across and at the Chinese boarder crossing now. Maybe there is still a long line to deal
with? I doubt it though. See you back in a bit.
No. No line at
all. Returning is a breeze. Is there a time when returning to China from
Hong Kong is congested? Is it later in the day? Is it early in the morning? Have the authorities 朝过夕改[1]?
No. Heading over to Hong
Kong by any physical means, seems always to be atrocious. Coming back seems always easy. People continually pouring into Hong Kong
must come back somehow or do the just keep flowing out into the world?
Hours later we’ve flown up and through the new, benchmark of
modernity the Shenzhen airport. They keep learning. It is perhaps the best looking "new airport yet." I actually like the ceiling.
We’re in
the car now, in Beijing. Colder of
course, but not atrocious. Dusty out
there, but it’s not so bad. Smoke from a
fire. Dust kicked up by a truck going
the wrong way down the street.
Definitely back in the country of tawny blowing earth. Anita O’Day on the car vocal. A nice track with Oscar Petersen on the
keys. “Anita Sings the Most” from 1957
this is. The cover couldn’t be more
dusty.
Back home. Stop the
press: A five cars derailed and flipped
on the Hudson Line south of Spuyten Duyvil on the train
down from Poughkeepsie. That’s my
ride. Yipes. I can’t imagine being on that train and
winding up in the Hudson, or worse. I
wrote about that ride in “7DS.” I sure
hope everyone is OK and the injuries are modest if there were some and that no
one was seriously hurt. One could imagine
the reaction if a train derailment had happened here in China.
[1] zhāoguòxīgǎi: to correct in the evening a fault of the
morning (idiom) / to quickly amend one's ways
No comments:
Post a Comment