MetaFilter posts tagged with pakistan and China

The momentary madness of Mao's mangoes

filthy light thief — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:28:17 -0800

For 2,000 years, the peach was the iconic fruit of China, an auspicious symbol of good health and a long life (Google books). But from August of 1968 until roughly the fall of the following year, the mango was China’s most revered produce item, whose meaning was unwittingly bestowed upon it by none other than Mao Zedong. (via Presurfer) In the early years of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Chinese youth, known as the Red Guards, were a formative force in the uprising against the bourgeois. But different factions ended up competing against each-other, leading to violent clashes (Google books). On July 27, 1968, a Mao Zedong's thought propaganda team of workers entered Bejing's Tsinghua University to disseminate Chairman Mao's latest series of instructions, and to quell the fighting. The Red Guard was disbanded, due to the infighting and widespread chaos they caused. In an unrelated event, Pakistan's foreign minister and his wife met with Chairman Mao to pay their respects to their powerful neighbor. As a good-will gesture, a gift of mangoes were given to the Chairman. What followed was a re-gifting of unplanned significance. Apparently, Mao didn't like fruit, or at least he found mangoes to be messy and not worth the effort, so he sent the lot to the workers who had helped end the fighting at Tsinghua University. There, they were received as exotic gifts, and a sign of the Chairman's blessings on the workers, shifting prestige from the educated youth. Some groups tried to preserve their mangoes in formaldehyde or wax, and treated as though they were religious relics. And because you can never really get away from consumeristic tendancies, mangoes showed up on everything from pencil boxes to vanity mirrors, reliquaries for wax mangoes, plus posters and pictures a-plenty. But after a year, the mango craze faded, and most people tossed out their mango memorabilia.

Freedom From Famine - The Norman Borlaug Story

Blasdelb — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:58:24 -0800

A documentary film about Norman Borlaug, the Iowa farm boy who saved over a billion people from starvation. (1:06:47) Americans have little knowledge of one of their greatest sons. Why do schoolchildren in China, India, Mexico, and Pakistan know the name and work of Nobel Peace Prize winner [His speech] Norman Borlaug while so few of his countrymen have never heard of him? How did a dirt-poor farm boy from rural Iowa grow up to save a billion people worldwide from starvation and malnutrition and become the father of the Green Revolution? What were the inherited traits and environmental factors that shaped his astonishing journey and led to successes that surprised even him? What can we learn from his life and views that might help the human race survive the next critical century? Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity The downright adorable Norman Borlaug Rap (His Obit post previously after his death in 2009 at age 95)

Still a failed state

adamvasco — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:53:24 -0800

Ahmed Rashid writes about The Anarchic Republic of Pakistan as amid the flooding the CIA resumes its drone campaign and Pakistan is to clamp down on Islamist militant charities while the Chinese give Military Assistance. Maybe some humor is the only way to understand Pakistan. Robber: “Give me all your money!” Zardari: “Don’t you know who I am? I am Asif Ali Zardari.” Robber: “OK. Give me all my money”

In the Shadow of Lal Masjid

Abiezer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:22:40 -0800

The China Factor in Pakistani Politics "Pakistan’s alliance with China, which supports Islamabad’s confrontation with India and underpins its hopes for economic growth in its populous heartland, is probably a lot more important to Islamabad than the dangerous, destabilizing, and thankless task of pursuing Islamic extremists on its remote and impoverished frontiers at Washington’s behest."

"...as a Russian and Chinese-led alliance created to counter US hegemony"

delmoi — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:07:28 -0800

The Shanhai Cooperative Organization. ^[wiki] When Moscow and Beijing engineered the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) six years ago, I am not sure if they foresaw its emergence as an important actor in the international order. Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia, currently observers, are lobbying hard to get accepted into this club. The US request for membership was rejected two years ago.

They Will All Go Together When They Go

jfuller — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 06:24:03 -0800

The atom bomb is 60. It's very popular now and becoming more so daily. The most recent nuclear nation to threaten to use theirs is China. The U.S, Europe, and the U.S.S.R. got through a half century Cold War without immolating themselves. Will South and East Asia be as successful and/or lucky in the near future?

Mountain Voices

plep — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 12:10:47 -0800

Mountain Voices. 'This website presents interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change and development.'

Asia: Full of Grace

euphorb — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 01:42:15 -0800

Asia Grace