Cult Killings at McDonald's in China: Killer claimed she was an "evil spirit" (Video)

Woman killed in a McDonald's in China by Cult member Zhang Lidong who claimed she was an "evil spirit"

A nation sees its public morals dwindling:

ZHAOYUAN – Six people, four of them related, have been arrested for assaulting and killing a 37-years old woman at a McDonald's in China, Shandong Province, on May 29th.

As of May 30th, little details are known,* and there are conflicting reports (some say the woman was in her 20s; and that she “spurned his advances”) about the perpetrators (allegedly members of a Christian cult). A quarrel insured. The victim is said to have refused to give her phone number. What is undisputed, however, is the crime itself which was video-recorded. In addition, images from what looks like a security camera footage were broadcast on the province's TV.

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Net citizens (China has over 600 million internet users) were outraged at what presents itself as yet another instance of complete moral failure of this pseudo-harmonious nation: The McDonald's was apparently jammed with customers and staff workers who either quickly left the scene, stood by and watched, or (helpful for police and investigators -it needs to be said), even filmed the gory incident: YOU WILL BE ASKED TO VERIFY YOUR AGE FOR THIS VIDEO FOOTAGE:

Some commentators searched China's soul to blame -they quickly compared it to the case of Yue Yue, a two-years old Chinese girl that a few years ago was run over by two cars in daylight and in a busy place and left to die by at least 18 passers-by.

“Why is nobody helping this poor woman?!” Someone posted, angrily. In addition to the exceptional barbarity of the murder, the case is likely to stir up the debate about widespread violence against women.
Finally, the incident happened at a time when a spell of killing rampages and mass stabbings at train stations and public spaces (often in open daylight) has gripped the nation's psyche, leaving ordinary citizens indeed fearful of meeting with random meaningless death.

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To show some leniency for the frightened observers (and staff members) in the video: The action escalated rather quick, and savagely, and after just 2 minutes or so, and after a bullish thug bashed the victim’s skull with what looks like an iron bar, the woman died on the spot. Having said that, in the end it all feels like some form of collective failure to render any assistance to that poor lady.

Chinese society may be harmonious and peaceful and all; but have them watch a stranger suffer pain and injustice… Holy Laozi, you can hear the callousness crackling.

*On May 31, CCTV published this interview with Zhang Lidong in which he said the killed the woman because she was an evil spirit:

Image credits: hz1188.com

Cross-posted at Dragons and Pandas, Big Think.

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With friends like that we don't need enemies: US targeted German chancellor's mobile phone

BERLIN - Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in an interview with BILD, Germany's leading tabloid newspaper, accused the USA of impudence towards its allies and friends. He went as far as using the word "disrespect" towards the "sovereignty of his country." Mr. Schröder said he expected a political backlash when he declined to go to war against Iraq during his time as German Chancellor, but he never thought that America would go so far as to spy the phones of European leaders. Background of this story is the NSA's global espionage activity that wiretapped Mr. Schröder's phone and the mobile phone of his predecessor Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Schröder showed especially discontent over the US's reluctance, if not outright dismissal, of Europe's proposal for a future 'anti-spy-agreement.' The US ignored such a proposal and continues to eavesdrop on all German communication regardless of German laws and the constitution.

Read at Spiegel Online English Version: Iraq War Critic: NSA Targeted Gerhard Schröder's Mobile Phone

Image credit: GlynLowe/Flickr.com

Pattberg in Wall Street Journal: Gewaltenteilung wird nicht gewährt

„Wir brauchen Transparenz. Wir brauchen eine Aufteilung der Macht", sagt Thorsten Pattberg, der als Wissenschaftler an der Peking-Universität zu Ethik geforscht hat. „Es sieht so aus, als ob sie die schwarzen Schafe bestrafen. Sie erneuern nicht das System." --The Wall Street Journal
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Mehr Einzelheiten zur Korruption in China: The East-West Dichotomy (Englisch).

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BEIJING - Xi Jinping's Anti-Corruption initiative resembles more and more Mao Zedong's Hundred Flowers campaign. People are encouraged to speak up and against abuses of state power and corruption, only to find themselves facing trial and ending up in prison for subversion of state power or disturbing public order. Looks like Xu Zhiyong joins the ranks of famous dissidents like Liu Xiaobo (Nobel Peace Prize laureate), Ai Weiwei (a world renowned artist), and Dalai Lama (His Holiness). Protest from the US and Europe as usual, but business with China must go on.

Read it at Big Think: They did it again

5 Million People Visit Yasukuni War Shrine Every Year

TOKYO - An advertisement in Tokyo's Chuo Line, photographed on Dec 31, 2013. In Japan, visiting the Yasukuni (war) shrine is part of the Shinto tradition and a national ceremony, even a great family day (a War Museum is just around the corner). In the eyes of most Chinese and Koreans, however, the shrine is seen as a relic of Japan's Imperial past and a fetish and reminder of Japan's indifference toward the feelings of those East-Asian people and nations which suffered from Japan's war crimes during WW2. Hence the recent outrage over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yaskuni on Christmas, Dec 26. [Read at BIG THINK]

Thorsten Pattberg with YANG Rui, famed Chinese journalist and CCTV International Presenter

YANG RUI and Thorsten Pattberg, Beijing Forum 2013

BEIJING FORUM 2013 – No other media figure has helped to accommodate if not to shape China’s rise more in the recent decade than YANG Rui, the CCTV International Presenter and host of ‘Dialogue’, an English-speaking political TV program. Mr. Yang has been called the Larry King of China, and his show Dialogue is watched by tens of millions. He recently drew criticism in particular for his anti-foreign, xenophobic remarks on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, and in general for his aggressive personality and stance against foreign media that tends to report China in an unfavorable light. I met him at the Alliance of Civilizations meeting during the Beijing Forum 2013, where he shared his views on how China should be presented and respected by international media, and how especially CCTV tries to convey a China image from the point of view of the majority of the Chinese, which is naturally and often very different from Western-based media. Mr. Yang enjoys cult-status and has attracted a huge fellowship of Chinese students who regularly flock to his CCTV show(s) not only to student current international affairs and culture trends but also to study Political and Culture English. Among expats and foreign students in China, Yang Rui is known as probably the most international and recognizable Chinese media personality of the decade. [VISIT EAST-WEST DICHOTOMY]

Pattberg: Translations reduce the world to what we already know

Thorsten Pattberg, Peking University, 2013

This article appeared in Trouw, a Dutch newspaper, on Aug 17, 2013

Excerpt from Hans van der Gaarden's Blog post 'Ver-Taal'

"Translations reduce the world to what we already know" reads a provocative quote in a recent opinion article entitled ‘Learning about China using the correct words’ published by Trouw newspaper on August 17. The quote originates from the German linguist Thorsten Pattberg who works at Peking University. His plea to let some Chinese words untranslated is defended by the Hong Kong-based communications specialist Adrienne Simons. –Hans van der Gaarden

Excerpt from ‘Met woorden leer je China pas écht kennen’, Aug 17, 2013, by Adrienne Simons:

“China is unloved and unknown. This is primarily a communication and language problem. What the West sees in China, it often sees through English language glasses. That obscures the view more than we think.”

“Talking past each other results in a relationship based on misunderstanding, mistrust and removal. It’s no different between countries. But China has become too big and too influential to be kept at a distance.”

“This means that Asian academics, artists and journalists cultural should introduce Chinese concepts using the original terms, instead of thinking about how Americans would call those things. It also means that Western opinion makers should do likewise and make an effort to understand China in the future, and what better way is there than learning Chinese words.”

The original op-ed is written in Dutch. It can be READ HERE.

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Dr. Thorsten Pattberg RT TV exclusive interview (extract)

BEIJING/MOSCOW - Discussing geopolitics, military build-up and US containment strategy against China:

Recent contra-China developments in Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Russia, India, etc. (Aug 16, 2013) [Video extract]

Thorsten Pattberg with multimillionaire Karl Schlecht

Thorsten Pattberg with multimillionaire Karl Schlecht, industrial genius and founding father of the recently established World Ethics Institute Beijing (WEIB) that will help China to leap to the forefront of global business ethics.