30/9 One Happy the Other Sad Media Mum on Flashpoint

May God bless you all.

Beijing High 1090 Feet or 330 Meters

Reality or Mirage: The So-called McMahon Line

Digest from Premier Chou En-lai (Zhou Enlai)'s Letter to Prime Minister Nehru (8, September, 1959)
"The so-called McMahon LIne was a product of the British policy of aggression against the Tibet region of China and has never been recognized by any Chinese Central Government and is therefore decidedly illegal. As the the Shimla Treaty, it was not formally signed by the representative of the then Chinese Central Government, and this is explicitly noted in the treaty. For quite a long time after the exchange of secret notes between Britain and the Tibet local authorities, Britain dared not make public the related documents, nor change the traditional way of drawing this section of the boundary on maps. This illegal line aroused the great indignation of the Chinese people. The Tibet local authorities themselves later also expressed their dissatisfaction with this line, and, following the independence of India in 1947, cabled Your Excellency asking India to return all the territory of the Tibet region of China south of this illegal line (the so-called McMahon Line). This piece of territory corresponds in size to Chekiang (Zhejiang)Province of China and is as big as 90,000 square kilometers. Mr. Prime Minister, how could China agree to accept under coercion such an illegal line which would have it relinquish its rights and disgrace itself by selling out its territory--and such a large peice of territory at that."

Raksha Bandhan and Hindi

In my eyes, Raksha Bandhan is like sisters and brothers festival. It falls on 24 August. Yesterday I met my daughter's friend, Sania's grandpa,another Mr. Singh, a very kind and learned gentleman. He said,traditionally it is a Hindu festival. Only sisters tie Rakhis to their brothers and wish them healthy and good luck. During the Muslim rule in India, women also tied Rakhis to the Muslim kings. I think at those good days,different religions were harmonious.

At first, I mentioned Raq Sha Bang Dan to Mr. Singh, he had no idea what I was talking about. Seeing I circling my wrist wih another hand, Mr. Singh immediately pronouced"Raq Cha Bang Ten", which relieved me a lot. Yes,it's a Hindi term. The"ten" sound is like the eruption of a vocano and I think the Hindi speaking Indians must have healthier lungs. This also made me thinking of another encounter. The other day I met an American women who came to India to work as a financial consultant 5 weeks ago. After chatting for a while she suddendly asked me with curiosity "can you understand their (Indian) English". Hearing this I was surprised because she is from an English speaking country. I had to encourage her to learn the abc of Hindi in order to better understand Indian English. I also told her if she goes to West Bengal or Kerala, she can understand their English better because those people speak Bengali and Malayalam. Their English is not shadowed by Hindi.

Nuclear Liability Bill and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill was passed by Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India in the evening of 25 August. It's not until now did I realize why the opposition parties spared no efforts in churning around the Bhopal gas tragedy. There are really masters behind the messy and noisy scences. The past served the present well.

China is not far ahead of India

Look at the UNDP human development index, you will find the truth. China and India lags far behind most G20 countries. We both have a long way to go to catch up with some of them. There is no reason for China and India to show their mascular power now. The more disturbance in the South China Sea, in the Indian Ocean---, the happier the US will be. It has always become richer after the wars, say WWI,WWII. Now its military factories are in full swing to feed those mad counties' needs of sophiscated and small arms. You poor countries are helping the NO.1. Great.

18 August, India National Pavilion Day in Shanghai World Expo