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This is an incredible article. You will read it breathlessly. And it ends with a staggering revelation about how China´s immigration policy will evolve – taking effect within years.
Only One Foreigner will Stay Forever
Chinabounder "provoked a firestorm", says the Guardian. Well. No real one. Only virtual. But as firestorms breathe a lot of hot air, a lot of people could conveniently use it as an air cushion to fly on in the internet. Professor Zhang Jiehai, for example. And countless bloggers who speculated about who Chinabounder might be, where he might be, and that his cover was – maybe – blown, but then again, maybe not.
Such virtual (don´t worry, they do no harm) firestorms are the essence of the blogosphere. It keeps the birds moving. But the topics are mostly gossip, with some intermittent bragging or intimidation sessions. Then again, sometimes, the English-language China-related blogosphere is almost as fascinating as some dim youngsters kicking it at their village’s bus stop after school.
Somehow, blogging seems to bring childhood back. Long-gone sensations are unpacked again.
But there are other sensations, too. Sensations that touch us because they touch our life. Or our lives´ locations. The current changes in China´s visa procedures, for example.
Stratfor.com has shown how to make the most of it. "China, the Olympics and the Visa Mystery". It´s an article that "may be forwarded or republished on your website with attribution to www.stratfor.com."
To the author, the only explanation for the current Chinese pattern of behaviour is that "crisis is looming". He cites a number of good reasons for that, but none that would be good enough to avoid the conclusion that "after each major revolution or crisis, China eventually has recovered". And he quickly switches from economics to rumours of a more political nature: a power struggle between the provincial (and lower) levels of the cadres, and the center in Peking.
When reading the article rather cursory, one can get the impression that China is going through upheavals the world has never seen before – only one sentence, the one about "China eventually" recovering every time.
This article fits into the mainstream now, even though it would have been just as true four years ago. China was a hype until last year. Now it is becoming a target for playing dart.
China may become more choosy in whom it is going to allow in from outside. Globalisation is taking a break everywhere. China´s answer, like that of Europe and North America, may be more regionalism than before. After all, it finds complementary economies to its own just next door, to the South and the East. And whenever foreign investment is in Peking´s interest, they won´t be bitchy about the visa that it takes to keep it coming.
Last but not least, China is no immigration country. It is hard to see it will ever be one. After all, it is hardly the world’s most foreigner friendly country. Never been. That´s no sensation either. Noone of us laowais is in China to stay forever.
With the possible exception of Lisa Carducci.
For humanitarian reasons. Because if she had to leave China, she would die.
Maybe.
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