On The Turning Away

“If the twentieth century was the American century, then the twenty-first century belongs to China.” A phrase that has been repeated so often that it has almost become a truism. Ironically, it’s rather appropriate for the blurb of a book whose author calls himself the world’s worst market timer.

That author is none other than Jim “China bull” Rogers. Back in January 2006, Rogers told the New York Times that China would “fully float its currency” in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing - a prediction that’s increasingly unlikely to materialize, according to received wisdom.

But the occasional shooting his mouth off apparently doesn’t deter many China enthusiasts from braving the cold for his autograph at the Barnes & Nobles in midtown Manhattan yesterday evening.
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Samuel Johnson famously defined the pleasures of urban living in the 18th century, “When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Three centuries after his birth, the same can be said of New York, London - if not more - of the New World. At a time when the financial world is mired in what will surely be known as sub-prime crisis 2007, what better distraction than a showcase of Asian contemporary artists at Pier 92?

The Asian Contemporary Art Fair, launched last Thursday with a gala opening and closed yesterday, is billed as the first of its kind. Although it featured over 70 exhibitors from 10 countries, the elephant in the room is (greater) Chinese art. Korean artists dominated the rest of the display.

If there is a celebrated leitmotif in contemporary Chinese art scene of recent years, it’s cynical realism, a style brought by the collision of post-Mao communism and capitalism. “Cynical realism” was “the intelligent man’s best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation” to British novelist Aldous Huxley who coined the phrase; in today’s China, it perhaps best encapsulates the Zeitgeist of a country undergoing an unprecedented modernization.
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This week, C-Span broadcast President Hu Jintao’s speech at the Chinese Communist Party’s five-yearly Congress, in its Foreign Legislature program. It’s also worth mentioning the sheer number of foreign reporters - 1,133, no less - or one for every two party delegates, who descended on Beijing to cover the Congress. It’s a sign of coming of age for the Chinese leadership, given not long ago party delegates had to play hide-and-seek with foreign media.

The foreign press were blessed with “glorious blue skies” and the usual traffic snarls. However, if Forbes is any guide, foreign correspondents were fed with more than a dollop of news: group presentations by local delegates and Q&A on the spot, group interviews of party delegates in the business faction (such as Zhang Ruimin, founder and CEO of Haier Group), real-time broadcast of speeches delivered by party heavyweights (such as President Hu Jintao) with English translation, let alone free coffee and snacks and a 24-hour cafeteria.
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Last month, “Currency Wars”, billed as a “discussion of global banking and its effects on China, by a veteran of the US financial sector”, made it to the top ten list on Douban.com, a popular book review and recommendation site in China.

The book has become a surprise hit not the lease because its author, a Chinese native who has lived in the US since 1994 as an “IT consultant and amateur historian”, was hitherto little known. But his controversial claims that disparate historical events spanning the last two centuries can largely be attributed to the “control of money issuance by the Rothschild banking dynasty” have catapulted him to the limelight as an authority on financial markets.
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Ever the self-appointed warrior for the working man, Lou Dobbs has had a field day with China this summer. Predictably, he ratcheted up his China-bashing rhetoric as temperatures went up. In the end, we were not sure which was more menacing, the ostentatiously outraged Dobbs shouting “red China” or the maelstrom of Mattel’s toy recalls.

The latest twist in this summer of discontent for the “made in China” label is the highly publicized apology Mattel offered to “the Chinese people”. You could be forgiven for scratching your head over Mattel’s volte-face. That toys manufactured in China got the bad rap is one thing. It’s quite another for Mattel to come clean in an “unusual” PR move to salvage its business relationship with China.
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Earlier this year, Beijing-based Soho China, a property developer, reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and HSBC to revive its IPO, shelved in 2002 amid market slump. Now words come out: the company plans to sell about 31% stake and raise as much as $1.65 billion in Hong Kong.

Mainland Chinese developers are tapping the Hong Kong stock market to fund new projects amid the mad dash to build offices and homes as Beijing prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Chinese government has cut back bank lending to the industry on the mainland.

Soho was founded by Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin - the subject of my “little red book” - in 1995. The couple ranked 237th on Forbes’s list of 400 richest people in China last year.
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According to The Economist’s man in Beijing, one of the bons mots he heard is a definion of a happy man: “Japanese wife, English house, Chinese cook.” The validity of the last two maybe up for debate but the sought-after Japanese wives? Is it because Japanese women who, until recently, largely consume Western brand shampoos from Unilever and P&G?

That fashion houses like Vuitton, Dior and Gucci are extremely popular in Japan is well known. Dana Thomas, author of “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster”, argues that Asian fetish for Western luxury brands, e.g. “40% of all Japanese own a Vuitton product”, may have been attributed to the downward spiral of the quality democratization of those products.
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Perhaps not surprisingly, no fewer than five Chinese Twitter clones have been launched in the last few months. To anyone with a modicum knowledge of China’s digital landscape, or the Chinese brand of innovation, if you will, the Twitter look-alikes simply follow in the footsteps of Sohu.com, sina.com, and Baidu.com, to name just a few examples.

Although China’s web culture - linguistic and social differences - and regulatory regime remain very different from those of the US, local entrepreneurs seem to jump at the first opportunity to replicate whatever hot across the Pacific. The very fact that China’s best and brightest are so closely attuned to the buzz, ephemeral or otherwise, validates America’s market dominance.

However, being just a Chinese knock-off of American giants is far from enough. Alibaba’s success can testify to the pivotal role of tweaking, if not altogether transforming, of foreign business models to cater to indigenous culture.
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Strolling past Time Warner Center last night, we noticed hordes of Asian-looking people camping out. Perhaps early birds for the Grand Hallows Ball at Borders on July 20 for the release of the last hurrah of Harry Potter? But they looked too mature to be Potter fanatics. Maybe a limited edition of Nano iPhone for those who missed out on the party on iDay?

The answer, of course, is none of the above. As fashionistas would say, if you had to ask, then you’re sooo out of it: the fashion accessory du jour, “I’m not a plastic bag” canvas tote, was launched this morning at 8am at Whole Foods in New York area. We heard similar reports on Asians huddling up outside Whole Foods at Bowery last night.

Their zeal for the designer tote both obscures and begs the question: are Asians more environment fashion conscious than other ethnic groups, or there’s more of a herd mentality on display?
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At a time when China is in the glaring spotlight for everything tainted, FDA data show that India (black pepper) and Mexico (crabmeat) are no less culpable than China. In fact, in the last year more food shipments from these two countries have been stopped by federal inspectors.

For now, FDA import alerts include “Mexican cantaloupes and basmati rice from India”, among others.

“Salmonella was the top reason that food was rejected from India,
and it was found in products like black pepper, coriander powder
and shrimp. “Filthy” was the primary reason food was stopped
from Mexico, and the rejections included lollipops, crabmeat and
dried chili. Products from the Dominican Republic were mostly
stopped because of pesticides.”

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