AsiaPundit has killed every house plant that he has ever owned and the desiccated husk of a cactus adorns the desk at his office. Ergo, even though a plant with jellyfish characteristics is inherently creepy, he welcomes this Singaporean invention.

There are fish that glow in polluted water, fluorescent pigs (and rabbit?)… now students at Singapore Polytechnic have created a plant that can communicate with people by glowing when it needs water.

The students have genetically modified a plant using a green fluorescent marker gene from jellyfish, so that it "lights up" when it is stressed as a result of dehydration.

The light can be seen using an optical sensor developed in collaboration with students at Nanyang Technological University.

The development of such plants could help farmers to develop more efficient irrigation of crops.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, singapore, southeast asia

Curzon at Coming Anarchy is running a series of maps illustrating the gap countries, those are not within the globalized core. Not surprisingly, most of Asia is part of the globalized core while the Middle East and Africa are dominate the gap countries.

Curiously, by one measure, the highly globalized Singapore and Malaysia lie among the gap countries. Both states still retain anti-sodomy laws, although Malaysia is far more likely to enforce them.

In a 2000 speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Robert D. Kaplan said that in evaluating a developing nation’s government, we should focus not on elections but freedoms. Hasty elections in impoverished nations often results in anti-democratic totalitarians taking power, whether it be Germany in the 1930s or Algeria in the 1990s. He listed China as one example of an authoritarian state that is liberalizing in a good way. “It may not be a democracy, but it’s got a predictable tax system, gay and unmarried couples can live together, and so on.” He’s right—China repealed its sodomy laws in the early 1990s.

Tolerance of homosexuality is a side effect of modernization. England repealed anti-homosexual laws in 1967; France in 1982; Germany in 1994; and in the United States, 46 out of 50 states repealed anti-homosexual conduct laws and 36 repealed sodomy laws before the remaining were invalidated by the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas.

What countries still have laws outlawing homosexual conduct? It turns out those countries are almost the same thing as Barnett’s gap.

Curiously, the map on war risk insurance premiums also puts Southeast Asia amid the gap (though this is almost entirely due to piracy risk around Indonesian waters).

For more details see Curzon’s prelude.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, malaysia, northeast asia, singapore, southeast asia

The Development Bank Research Bulletin compares the 2006 economic forecasts on India and China by the three major investment banks that cover both countries.

Deutsche Bank always has no preference!

Deutsche Bank forecasts that China’s GDP will grow at 9% in year 2006, while India will grow at 6.9%. This creates a 2.1% growth gap. Both numbers are almost the same as the consensus in the industry. This is not the first time; I have to mention that last year DB did the same thing. DB always agrees with the consensus view!

Citigroup loves Indian foods!

Citigroup however thinks the gap should be smaller. Citi predicts that China will grow at 8.7%, while India at 8.1%, which produces a merely 0.6% gap compared to DB’s 2.1%. I have to mention that Citi’s 8.1% forecast of India GDP growth in year 2006 is the highest among all major forecasters. Their forecast of 7.5% for last year was also the highest. Citi does love Indian foods!

Morgan Stanley does not like Asian foods!

Interestingly, Morgan Stanly is very pessimistic about both India and China. Morgan Stanley thinks China will grow at only 7.8% while India at 6.6%. Among all major forecasters who have released numbers for China and India, Morgan Stanley’s forecast is the lowest. Last year MS also was the most pessimistic about the two countries, and missed the target by wide margin. They must have some private information and hard evidence backing their persistent opinion. I will try to find it out and share with readers in the next weeks.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, economy, india, northeast asia, south asia

In spite of complaints of redirection at Peking Duck and Boing Boing, Google has not started to redirect Mainland Chinese users to its censored service. Further, AsiaPundit has not noticed any redirection on the Great Firewall side.:

Both Google.com and the can be reached from various locations in Beijing. The above image shows search results, conducted from a Beijing IP address on the censored and uncensored versions.

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, china, east asia, , northeast asia

Via the Acorn, a look at the way the Subcontinent’s nationalist sentiments play out in real time.:

Officially it was to save daylight. But the standardisation of time is just another way in which the countries of the subcontinent seek to assert their distinct national identities. Start with India, which in a style befitting the character of its polity, centralises its reference meridien by splitting the differences, ending up five and a half-hours ahead of UTC. That makes it inconvenient for many people, not least the makers and users of traditional world-time clocks and watches: Karachi and Dhaka are marked out as they are conveniently a whole number of hours ahead of UTC. That’s changing now with the proliferation of palmtop computers and mobile phones that can put up with Indian idiosyncracies much better.

Given its position almost bisecting India’s east-west expanse, it was natural for Sri Lanka and India to adopt the same standard time. But in 1986, Sri Lanka decided to move the clock forward one hour ahead and then, on second thoughts, back half-an-hour to, well, save daylight. But the Tamil Tigers cried foul, and refused to tweak their watches. The politics of standard time kicked in, as the difference no doubt helped set their own ‘nation’ apart. The Sri Lankan government finally gave in and has decided to set the clock back again, to five and half-hours ahead of UTC. Astrologers, airlines and Microsoft Windows users are among those who need to make necessary adjustments.

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But it is Nepal that wins the prize for asserting a distinct national identity. It is five hours and forty-five minutes ahead of UTC, or 15 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time.

Technorati Tags: asia, india, nepal, sri lanka, south asia

Judging from the prison treatment being received by two of Indonesia’s biggest celebrity inmates, smuggling pot is a much more serious crime than assassinating a Supreme Court judge.

Indcoup notes that imprisonment hasn’t prevented Tommy Suharto from living the high life.:

Money goes a long way in Indonesia - even if you’ve ordered the murder of a Supreme Court Judge.

Tommy Suharto’s original prison sentence for this indefensible crime was 15 years (why wasn’t it life?), but through some unseen magical forces it has now been cut down to just seven years.

He’s even had his cell in Batu prison spruced up a bit: cable TV, private fishponds and badminton court, as well as special quarters to receive his many girlfriends.

Not that Tommy’s often there to make use of these facilities however.

An astonishing report published yesterday reveals that this arsehole spent 13 days in Jakarta over the last one month:

In the records showed to Detik.com, Tommy obtained permission to go to Jakarta between February 8-13 and February 17-22. Earlier Tommy had also been given permission to leave between January 25-30. In total, Tommy has been able to enjoy freedom for 13 days in a period of just one month. …

But what’s really incredible is news that he’s been staying at his luxury villa in the outskirts of western Jakarta, rather than in the VIP suite at Gatot Subroto hospital!!!

Meanwhile celebrity Australian prisoner Shapelle Corby is seemingly not just stuck in prison - she’s now become a zoo attraction.:

My name is Eddie Hutauruk and I have been running tours in Bali for over 8 years. Schapelle Corby Tours is our latest venture, and is fully respectful of Schapelle and her situation.

For further information or suggestions, email me at:

Shapelle Corby is a convicted Australian drug runner, and my tours allow people to see Schapelle in her cage at Kerobokan Prison in Bali. Tours can be arranged for most days of the week and pick-up is possible from most Bali hotels.

Friskodude adds:

Some Balinese guy (at least I think he is Balinese, but he might be Javanese) has been running tours of Bali for many years, and he’s just started a "prison tour" of the island, where you can meet-and-greet with some of Bali’s most famous expats now serving time in Kerobokan for those ridiculous charges. Pot? Twenty years. Heroin? The Bali Nine will ALL be killed or incarcerated for the rest of their lives for a foolish mistake.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Islamic country, whips women in the town square. What else do you expect when religious fundamentalists get to take out their sense of justice on Western culprits.

Technorati Tags: asia, coruption, east asia, indonesia, shapelle corby, suharto, southeast asia

Jeremy at Danwei reviews two very different China-focused cover stories from Time and Newsweek and notes, the revolution will not be blogged.

While Western commentators, including yours truly, love to get excited about censorship and freedom of expression in China, the future happiness of a fifth of the world’s population is likely to depend on a much more basic right: the definition and protection of private property, and especially the when it comes to usage and ownership of land in rural areas.

In which light it is worth comparing recent cover stories of the Asian editions of Time and Newsweek.

The Newsweek cover story about bloggers, by Sarah Schafer, is not bad: Blogger Nation: A proliferation of voices is slowly dismantling the status quo in China.

The cover is reproduced above; note the cover lines: Beijing vs. bloggers.

It’s a shame that whoever wrote and designed that cover decided to go for such sensationalistism.

When you consider that Massage Milk, the star blogger of the piece, continues to says that the recent shutdown of his blog was a joke directed against Western media, you realize that it’s not exactly Beijing vs. bloggers here.

It seems that very, very few people are blogging for revolution or radical change in China.



The real revolution?

Time’s China zeitgeist cover tackles a different issue: the problems of the rural poor. The story, by Hannah Beech, is titled Seeds of fury.

The basic premise is stated in the last line:

    "The entire village is doomed anyway. We have no money, no job, no land. There’s nothing left to be scared of." If angry farmers truly lose their sense of fear, it may ultimately be Beijing that is running scared.

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, china, coruption, east asia, economy, northeast asia

As noted earlier, China’s bogging foreign correspondents are having tremendous fun at the National People’s Congress. But while AsiaPundit, Running Dog and Lalaoshi are in hell, AP is pleased to note not only that local reporters feel essentially the same about the event, but also that the local reporter behind Non-Violent Resistance has managed to escape the assignment.:

Been pretty busy lately. I was in a gym on the jogging machine one afternoon a couple of days ago and watching the Foreign Minister’s press conference on TV. Saw quite some familiar journalistic faces in there, and I wondered at my own luck not having to cover this. To me, the NPC/CPPCC annual affair is the most tiresome, boring stuff to cover for a journalist. Fortunately I never really have to do much about it. When I saw economist Justin Lin Yifu mobbed by what looked like a hundred journalists waving recorders and shotgun microphones with that look on their faces that said “whatever you say is news to me!”, I knew it would be exactly the same old s***. OK, I know I am being extreme — there is extremely valuable information one can get from these conferences, but I am just incapable of extracting it from all the sound and fury. One very important journalistic skill missing.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, media, northeast asia

In China private-sector initiatives are often put out of business by other local projects that have tighter connections with authorities - especially state-owned enterprises. Could the same be happening to blogs? Lets hope not.

Danwei reports that three of the top Chinese-language blogs vanished today.

Let’s start with a quote from Liu Zhengrong, deputy chief of the Internet Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information Office, recently published in the China Daily:

Liu … also said Chinese people can access the Web freely, except when blocked from “a very few” foreign websites whose contents mostly involve pornography or terrorism.

This morning, three of China’s best blogs, obviously written by terrorists and pornographers, were deleted.

Two of the disappeared blogs are Massage Milk and Milk Pig, hosted on Yculblog.com. Both blogs currently display the following message:

Due to unavoidable reasons with which everyone is familiar, this blog is temporarily closed.

However, blogs by state-approved NPC delegates have been launched and will surely replace the biting commentary of the now-deleted sites. Here’s an excerpt from an NPC delegate’s blog, it’s not for the faint of heart:

I’m very happy to be able to communicate with internet users through the People’s Daily ‘Strengthen the Country’ blogging platform. As a CPPCC committee member, one must always remember one’s historical responsibility to reflect the interests of the people, to enlighten the people, and to try one’s utmost to promote economic development, fairness and rectitude, and societal harmony.

AsiaPundit is also noticing that China Digital Times is currently unavailable.

Technorati Tags: censorship, china, east asia, northeast asia

Imagethief notices the similarities between the Oscars and the National People’s Congress.:

• Both take place in March in an ornate, gilded hall
• Both feature faux suspense when everyone knows all the important decisions have already been made (and can generally predict what they are)
• Both have an assortment of cataclysmically dull speeches
• Neither is democratic in any real sense of the word
• Each has a cast of glittering stars, also-rans and hopeful wannabes
• Each features highly standardized formal dress punctuated by completely wacky costumes
• Both are tedious beyond measure, and yet generate vast quantities of press coverage
• Participants in both events live in worlds completely removed from those inhabited by their intended audiences
• The calm pronouncements camouflage bitter politics, betrayal and backbiting
• Both are hosted by Jon Stewart

Mr Thief’s observations are astute and, as he notes, the NPC could be dramatically improved by adding Stewart.

As an second-time observer of the NPC, and one who is helping to generate the vast quantities of press coverage, AsiaPundit hopes that the NPC take a few other cues from Hollywood.

Firstly, put a time-limit on the speeches. AsiaPundit had to endure three and a half hours of talk today on building a “harmonious society” and “new socialist countryside.” A two-minute rule would be appreciated. Musical guests are a must, AP didn’t catch the Oscars this year, but he recalls quite solid performances by the White Stripes, OutKast and a great tribute to Joe Strummer the last time he view the event.

More importantly, the NPC needs more cleavage. The Oscars has lots of it!:

AsiaPundit would have better endured agricultural vice-minister Yin Chengjie’s 20 minute speech today on raising grain production if he had the distraction of a few provocatively dressed starlets.

(And unfortunately GZ, the Hall of the Great People does not have wi-fi. and AsiaPundit understands that )

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, media, northeast asia, npc

AsiaPundit has been covering the National People’s Congress this week and can report that he is satisfied with China’s political system. It’s a fine thing that China doesn’t have a fully functioning Western-style democracy.

Under China’s current system, parliament only meets 10 days a year. If it were any longer than that it would be even more unbearable. Today was day three, and AsiaPundit is practically ready to retire.

While AsiaPundit would usually complain that Chinese government figures and leaders of state-owned enterprises are not accessible enough to the media, he is reconsidering that position.

After sitting through Ma Kai’s press conference yesterday, AsiaPundit is now thinking that it may be a good thing that officials rarely engage the press - it preserves the sanity of both sides. The officials aren’t prepared to address the media and clearly don’t enjoy it. Foreign hacks have to endure 20-minute prepared answers to planted questions asked by state media, all the while fighting off the urge to sleep as the CCTV cameras pan the audience.

Fellow Shanghai correspondent Running Dog is finding the experience equally as rewarding.:

Stumbling up the steps of the Great Hall of the People, caked in sweat after wandering desperately around Tian’anmen Square on an unseasonably warm March morning as he searched for a gap in the police cordon, Running Dog realized that journalism, as such, wasn’t really for him. After three hours of twitching and mumbling grumpily to himself during the opening speech of the National People’s Congress by Premier Wen Jiabao, quickly followed by the sight of various media comrades, holding their mikes and notepads like knives and forks and pouring enthusiastically out of the Great Hall’s doors in order to rugby-tackle, head-lock and in at least one case paralyze fleeing delegates in the search for the all-elusive Golden Quote, Running Dog was even more convinced that he ought to change his profession.

Beijing reporter Lalaoshi is having equal amounts of fun.:

In the spirit of scientific policy-making in China, I give the National People’s Congress and its advisory body "3 F’s" for their performance during the 2006 annual plenary session so far this month.

F1. FLAKING: Delegates know what the top Party leaders will lecture them on during formal sessions and know they get no chance to comment on the content, so why bother entering the great lecture hall inside the Great Hall of the People? Best to hang out in the anteroom drinking tea and posing for photos or stand on the Great Hall steps (see photo evidence above) giving interviews to China Central TV reporters, who will air whatever you say.

F2. FLEEING: When approached by foreign journalists, basically anyone with a notebook, a savage white face and a press pass emblazoned with the word "Japan," turn your back with a sheep-like smile that says FEAR FEAR FEAR in nonverbal Chinese and walk away. If the journalist persists, have your aide stick a hand in the journalist’s face. Foreign journalists: Do the same when approached by local TV reporters who want sound about "democratization" in China.

F3. FIGHTING: Whoever you are, delegate or journalist, live by your barnyard instincts and block others to compete for scarce resources. Delegates, strong-arm past reporters and one another to get into the lecture hall (or the tearoom) on time. Delegates must also use giant swathes of the steps and the tearoom to set up posed photos. Journalists, shove one another to get interviews with the delegates scrambling to get avoid you and mob security check so you can hustle copies of the government work report before the help desk stops handing them out.

AsiaPundit is set for seven more days of listening to officials talk about the "harmonious society" and the "new socialist countryside." Should he survive this, he is looking forward to Shanghai and his usual beats of tech companies, MNCs and investment banks.

Normal posting should also return at that point.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, northeast asia, media

AsiaPundit admits to being a bit of a bear on China. It’s not that China’s economic growth is a myth. The ‘miracle’ is very measurable. However, anything that can be measured cannot be called a miracle.

There will be a crisis, it could be sparked by bad policies at home or abroad. A collapse of US housing markets, for instance, could easily plunge the Middle Kingdom into despair. When the crisis happens, the interesting thing will be how it plays out socially and politically.

The US tends to solve its problems quickly and has the political flexibility to dismiss bad administrations by ballot. Japan’s biggest crisis sparked a decade of deflation. After the Asian crisis Indonesia emerged a democracy, the Philippines never really found its feet, while South Korea made a wonderful transformation.

Perhaps a European historian can tell us what happened when the Weimar Republic collapsed, European history isn’t one of AsiaPundit’s areas of expertise.

Predicting when a crisis will occur is a crap shoot, although there are indicators that can provide warning signs. Guessing what happens after a crisis hits in next to impossible.

China Law Blog earlier this week posted a response challenging Minxin Pei’s doom-and-gloom article on China’s problems. Today Dan Harris, the blog’s author, notes that Tom Barnett and James Na have replied.:

I blogged a few days ago about a recent article by Minxin Pei predicting China’s enivitable fall. At that time I talked about the article having generated "quite a bit of buzz in the blogosphere."  The buzz is even louder now.   

I posted Dr. Pei’s article because I found it thought provoking, but I did not sign on to its pessimistic conclusion.  I suggested that those interested in these sorts of "big idea think pieces" on China should read "big idea" bloggers like James Na, Dan Drezner and Tom Barnett, whose views range all over the China optimist-pessimist map.   

Barnett and Na both took me up on my suggestion and both ran posts on the Pei piece.  Na liked Pei’s thesis.  Barnett did not. 

Separately, Tyler Cowen adds.:

I will go on record in agreement (with Pei). More specifically, how about a bone-crunching, bubble-bursting, no soft landing, Chinese auto crash-style depression within the next seven years? This is also my biggest worry for the U.S. economy, I might add.

If you are not convinced, raise your right hand and repeat after me: “China in the 20th century had two major revolutions, a civil war, a World War, The Great Leap Forward [sic], mass starvation, the Cultural Revolution, arguably the most tyrannical dictator ever and he didn’t even brush his teeth, and now they will go from rags to riches without even a business cycle burp.” I don’t think you can do it with a straight face.

Making a guess on when the crisis will occur, AsiaPundit will agree with Gordon Chang that China will collapse in 2005. That is inaccurate, but it does put AP in good company.

Speaking of Mr Chang, AsiaPundit will take this opportunity to gripe that he will miss one of Chang’s speaking engagements in Shanghai due to a scheduling conflict caused by the National People’s Congress. Worse still, AP will miss Tiara Lestari’s photo exhibit in Bali because of those darned ‘commies.’ Tiara had even offered an invite to AP.

China should collapse. It deserves it. The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party has - by refusing to reschedule its silly parliament - prevented AsiaPundit from meeting a really hot Indonesian model and former Playmate. This is personal.

Oddly, Mrs AsiaPundit doesn’t seem upset with the CCP over this latest outrage.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, economy, indonesia, northeast asia, tiara lestari, puppy

AsiaPundit has been busy in Beijing and has not had time to update. Plus, the internet connection in the hotel is even less satisfactory than his dismal home connection in Shanghai. Still, the room does have some perks. For instance, AsiaPundit can get a package of herbal Viagra for 58 kwai!

AsiaPundit generally doesn’t trust Chinese herbal medicine, so he will not be purchasing the packet. He does, however, trust alcohol-based medicine. Hot toddies are a favorite for dealing with the common cold.

With that, as soon as he returns to Shanghai he will be checking into the only restaurant he has found that serves all-you-can-eat sashimi plus decent dark lager.

As well as the medicinal benefits of the tasty raw fish, the lager will provide AP with all the male hormones needed for a society of business.

Hams brewery is owned by Japan’s Ashai. AsiaPundit cannot verify whether the Engrish can be attributed to the Chinese or Japanese side.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, japan, northeast asia, engrish

What do gay marriage, the one child policy and edible toothpicks have in common? All are being discussed at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress.

As well proposing that the cadres lose weight, the experts attending and advising China’s largely symbolic parliament are putting forth more proposals that will not be debated. Topping the list of doomed proposals for today, we have an attempt to legalize gay marriage.:

Sociologist calls for legalizing same-sex marriage

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhuanet) — A famous Chinese sociologist said on Friday she will submit a proposal on same-sex marriage again to the annual session of the country’s top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Li Yinhe, a member of the CPPCC National Committee, said the legitimation of same-sex marriage is an effective way to help eliminate discrimination against homosexuality.

This will be the third time for the expert on marriage and sex studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to submit a similar proposal.

Admitting she is aware it is unlikely for her proposal to win approval, the sociologist said she still feels it her duty to help the country’s gays and lesbians win favorable living environment.

While Li acknowledges that this will get no traction in China, it should be noted that the gay marriage proposal would unlikely fly in most of Asia.

The next proposal could have a slim chance in China, but none elsewhere. This runs contrary to the teachings of Asia’s smartest authoritarian ruler Lee Kwan-yew, but it is largely in line with Asia’s biggest democidal dictator Mao Zedong.

Expert Calls for Strict Birth Control over Rich People in China

More measures should be adopted in addition to monetary penalty to prevent China’s wealthy people from having more children, which runs counter to the national policy of one child, a population expert said on Sunday.

Business tycoons and show business celebrities are joining rural people to challenge China’s family planning policy by paying the punitive “social maintenance fee” to have two or more offspring.

“Simply imposing fines or administrative punishments would not produce an ideal result,” said Yang Kuifu, vice chairman of the Committee of Population, Resources and Environment under the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is in a ten-day session.

Yang said he had presented a proposal to the annual session of the top advisory body, namely the CPPCC National Committee, to invite reasonable and effective ideas to tackle the problem.

Statistics showed that at least 84 multi-baby cases were registered between 2002 and 2005 among affluent citizens in Shanghai, China’s commercial hub. And there was a growing trend of the cases. In Shenyang, capital of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, 76 wealthy people were punished for having extra babies in 2000.

Singapore’s founding father and the People’s Action Party has long attempted to encourage the wealthy and well-educated to breed. Mao, meanwhile, brought us the ‘one child’ policy and tended to marginalize or murder the wealthy and well educated.

Both countries are of course facing a pension crisis - and to be fair most countries are - but AsiaPundit expects that Singapore will have much better luck managing the problem.

That said, AsiaPundit would not be willing to guess how either Lee or Mao would rule on edible toothpicks.:

Lawmaker Promotes ‘Edible’ Toothpick at Annual Session

When Nan Shunji brought a lot of toothpicks made in her hometown to the annual session of China’s top legislature, she meant to promote a concept of environment- friendly consumption.

The toothpicks of the deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC) are special not only in color, but also in raw material. They were made of corn flour instead of bamboo or wood.

The lawmaker from Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China’s Jilin Province, said she will share the new product with her fellow deputies, hoping they can help bolster environmental protection.

Following her call for a ban on disposable wood chopsticks at NPC’s annual session last year, she is focusing on wood toothpicks this time, Nan said.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, northeast asia

AsiaPundit has been out of service for the past three days, which adds inspiration to reactivating the group blog.

To explain the absence. AsiaPundit is pleased to report that the team of Running Dog and Mr and Mrs AsiaPundit team was finally triumphant at quiz night at the local pub on Wednesday. AsiaPundit spent a blogging-free Thursday with Mrs AsiaPundit ahead of leaving Shanghai on Friday for a 10-day visit to Beijing to cover the National People’s Congress.

This year, a heavy focus is expected on cutting rural poverty, which will likely mean increased outlays for social spending and transfers to the provinces. Still, a proposal has surfaced to cut some fat.:

An advisor to China’s parliament has called for the enactment of laws to control the weight of civil servants in a bid to rein in corruption.

The aim is to prevent the civil servants from squandering public money wining and dining, said Miu Shouliang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top advisory body.

Miu, a businessman coming from China’s southern booming city of Shenzhen to attend the annual session of the CPPCC National Committee that started Friday, did not elaborate on any details, saying that measures should also contribute to regulating their working styles and improving morality.

However, some experts doubted the scientific basis of such method.

"The motive is positive, but it sounds not so reasonable as it measures the civil servants’ performance by the standard of weight," said Zhou Zhiren, deputy director of the Institute of Government Management under the Beijing University.

Sources from Beijing municipal personnel bureau said weight standards have been imposed by some special organs in the enrollment of civil servants, but it is unwise to apply the method to a wide range, as weight is an indicator of health.

Although that proposal is unlikely to get anywhere, AsiaPundit thinks that Miu’s suggestion should not be dismissed so easily. Although the science is flawed, this is clearly an attempt by Miu to further distance China from Maoism, which would be welcome. To imply that ‘chubbiness equals corruption’ seems to AP to be a veiled attack on Mao, who was clearly the fattest leader in modern China.

While data on the waistlines of China’s leaders is a state secret, held more closely than the Party’s preferred brand of hair dye, photographic evidence would indicate that Mao was much fatter than Jiang Zimen,  Deng Xiaoping, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao (not to mention Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang).

Technorati Tags: china, coruption, east asia, northeast asia