A time of flux in China

BEIJING—Even as I write this, the “umbrella revolution” in Hong Kong is continuing, with crowds still filling up the streets, the footage in CNN an eerie reminder of the scenes on Edsa, although most Chinese refer to another event: the student gathering at Tiananmen Square that ended in bloodshed.

But people are saying—and, I daresay, hoping—that the Hong Kong demonstration will end much more peacefully and with far less violence (although some have been reported injured). Over lunch, CNN’s Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz said Chinese officials here in the mainland are mainly keeping a “wait and see” attitude. Officially, the authorities are saying that they are leaving it up to Hong Kong administrators to deal with the protesters. But I gather from FlorCruz that Beijing’s officialdom is weighing its options, not wanting to inflame international passions already stirred by this show of Hong Kong “people power.”

The Hong Kong protest comes at a time of flux for China’s leadership. Zhou Xinzheng, deputy secretary-general of the China Association for International Friendly Contact, our host for this visit, acknowledged that at this time China is undergoing “challenges”—in economic policies and strategies, social issues, relations with its neighbors. But he asserted as well that China is “married” to the socialist system, and that adherence to its principles will not waver.

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Many of those we met, including our guides, were “on message” with the Filipino journalists. Foremost on their minds is the current state of Filipino-Chinese relations, rather nettlesome at the moment due to the conflict over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

But to many observers, the “contested area” is not just a few specks of land in the ocean (and the reputed riches beneath them) but an even bigger issue: the loyalty and friendship of the Philippines to two dominant powers in our corner of the globe.

The Philippines, in the view of many Chinese (and even Filipino-Chinese), is firmly on the side of the United States, of American interests. President Benigno Aquino III’s fighting rhetoric on the issue, to them, is just an echo of America’s own assertion of hegemony in this part of the world.

Lu Dezhi, described as a “philanthropist,” a former provincial governor who left politics to set up one of China’s biggest private foundations (with some financial support from the State), acknowledged that “China should not bully its smaller brother, the Philippines.” But, he said blandly, if the Philippines insists on provoking China confident of US support, “China is not afraid of any country.” And with a population of 1.3 billion, China has “three times the US population.” And if—and it’s a big if—American forces are to face off against the Chinese, “even if every American soldier would die, there would still be two Chinese soldiers left standing.”

China and the Philippines, Lu asserted, are “very good friends,” and even between brothers “disputes are normal.” At the political level, he pointed out, “China has done enough to set aside the dispute and promote just development. There is no need to fight. Confucius, you must remember, has always promoted harmony.”

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Lu’s Huamin Charity Foundation is housed in a compound that used to be the residence of the imperial doctor. Stepping through the wooden doorway from an alley off the main road, one enters an older, quieter world.

The outer courtyard is connected by a narrow corridor to the inner courtyard bordered on four sides by pavilions. One pavilion houses an antique crystal carving of the Buddha that is supposed to have once belonged to an empress. The pavilion directly across it has a small altar devoted to Lu’s great-grandfather, who had been a provincial general with Sun Yat Sen’s anti-imperialist forces that set China off on the road to freedom.

And yet in the main central pavilion, where visitors are received, the reception room is dominated by a large bust of Chairman Mao. The arrangement appears to be a testament to the Chinese ability to live with contradictions, to reconcile even seemingly impossible concepts. Maybe that’s why to the Chinese, the Philippine government’s hostility over the disputed territories is puzzling. “They have always advocated joint development” is one Chinoy businessman’s analysis. “So they are wondering why all of a sudden we have become so hostile.”

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One Filipino businessman who can attest to the wisdom of cultivating working ties with Chinese authorities, other businessmen and consumers, is Carlos Chan, “Chairman Emeritus” of Liwayway Group of Companies that began as the family-owned enterprise repacking gawgaw or cornstarch but has now branched out into various food-related products.

In the Philippines, the group is known best for “Oishi,” its brand of potato chips and other snack products, and it markets its products in other countries, including Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and India. But its biggest market is China, where it sells its snack foods under a brand that translates, roughly, to “good food.”

Having entered the China market soon after liberalization, Liwayway now has factories across China, although its executive offices are in Shanghai. Chan himself commutes regularly between the Philippines and China, although his son Larry now looks after the China end of operations.

The Chans are a testament to how mutual cooperation and trust can benefit both sides of a transaction. And for them the partnership with the people of China is a decades-long collaboration that has served all of them well.