Category: Stephanie Sy | Main

STEPHANIE SY

Asia Correspondent

Stephanie Sy is ABC News’ Asia Correspondent and is based in Beijing. Before her assignment in Asia, Sy was a New York-based correspondent. She joined ABC News in 2003. Sy has covered major international stories including the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. She was embedded with the Navy and Army in Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq during major combat operations, and later covered Saddam Hussein’s trial.

View the latest blogs from Stephanie Sy below:

---

The Battle for China's Human Rights

December 10, 2008 11:02 AM

By STEPHANIE SY, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

Chinese citizens and journalists took bold new steps this week to assert their right to free press, assembly and expression.  Today, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, two dozen people protested in front of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. Most of them were petitioners, people who come to Beijing to plead redress for grievances they have against local officials. A few of them held up banners, one of them in English, reading, “Safeguard Human Rights.”

One protester named Zhang Zhenxin told The Associated Press Television, “Beijing's petitioners are planning to submit to the Chinese government an agreement on protecting human rights."

It isn’t clear how these protesters were organized, but a few days before, Chinese authorities reportedly arrested a well-known Tiananmen-era dissident named Liu Xiaobo, presumably because they thought he might do something to mark the anniversary of the UDHR. He and more than 300 other scholars, journalists and activists had recently signed a petition called Charter 08, calling for constitutional reform and more democracy. While Liu’s arbitrary detention under the dubious charge of “inciting state subversion” may show how far the Chinese government has to go to tolerating political dissent, another incident this week illustrates how more Chinese are holding local government accountable.

Earlier this week, the Beijing News published a hard-hitting investigative report that revealed petitioners in a Chinese province had been forced into mental institutions by local authorities and told they would not be released until they signed pledges to drop their grievances. The ill treatment of people who dare to challenge local governments and property developers is no secret, but the aggressive reportage of a state-owned newspaper on such a controversial issue may herald fresh courage among Chinese journalists. Even more telling is that the story was picked up by China’s other major state newspapers, including the Web page of the People’s Daily, the traditional Communist Party mouthpiece, and the state news agency Xinhua, which followed up on the original story and reported that an investigation had been launched. The English-language China Daily even published an editorial in light of the report, saying the actions of the town government were “barbaric,” “unlawful,” and “inhuman.”

Reports on government and corporate corruption, product quality and such formerly taboo subjects as the AIDS epidemic have seemed to increase in recent years. But rarely do papers cover the plight of petitioners, whom you often find standing in front of government complaint offices, documents in hand, and ready to plead to anyone who will listen to their problems. Often, the petitioners are seeking compensation for unlawful deaths, forced evictions or land seizures. Some of them may indeed be mentally ill.

Wu Yuzhu, the director of the Xintai Psychiatric Center, which was implicated in the report for admitting patients and forcing them to take drugs, said all the patients were accompanied by relatives and local officials with documents verifying their mental illness. Wu also told ABC News he was not aware that any of the patients named in the article were petitioners until after he read the Beijing News.

But the story has spread rapidly in China’s increasingly active online community and drawn fire from citizens, perhaps used to being shielded from such news. One post reads, “The story made me shiver. How hideous. Where is the justice?” Another reads, “It’s the same everywhere across the nation…the local governments don’t govern for the people. They don’t solve the people’s problems…”

The anonymity of online forums allows Chinese to vent opinions and feelings they’d be unlikely to feel comfortable expressing to, say, a foreign news organization. But slowly, critical voices are moving into the mainstream media, too. Journalists are taking risks, and some have paid for it. Jiang Yiping, a veteran newspaper editor of the Southern Metropolis Daily, was recently demoted after several controversial articles were criticized by the provincial propaganda department. It is unclear if the writer of the Beijing News investigation will also be part of a “personnel reshuffle” or if China is ready to allow its journalists the freedom to do their job.

Read more blogs by Stephanie Sy

Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff

December 10, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Buddhism Inc. in Capitalist China

November 27, 2008 9:42 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

When I visited the famed Shaolin Temple in China's Henan Province with my producer a few months ago, I naively hoped to find a mystical place where peace-loving monks solemnly practice their ancient martial arts form beneath the shade of bodhi trees in between doing other monk-like activities, such as prayer and meditation. I have clearly watched one too many Jet Li movies. Who was I kidding? It was a tourist trap. In order to see any kung fu, we had to buy tickets for a performance, which took place in a nondescript, modern auditorium nowhere near the temple.

Afterward, our driver was able to get us onstage to take silly photos with the monk. The driver hinted that he’d prearranged some kickback for this special treatment. I was confused—were they monks or paid performers?

In capitalist China (or maybe anywhere), anything can be bought, and in a country with very little religion, very little is sacred. 

So it came as no surprise to me when I read reports in the Chinese press this week that the head abbot of the 1500 year-old temple, Shi Yongxin, has ambitious expansion plans. After all, not everyone can make it to remote Song Mountain in Henan. I was only in the region because my producer begged me to accompany her to watch her personal trainer’s fitness competition (but that’s a whole other blog). Why not have offshoots, or as one critic described it, “franchises,” in other provinces?

“Our management model centers on culture, martial arts, education, charity, and Zen Buddhism,” Shi told the Xinhua news agency.

But few doubt that Shi’s real motive is profit, and the abbot-cum-CEO is drawing fire from Chinese netizens, who increasingly seem to view themselves as guardians of morality (and sometimes vigilantes).

On web portal sohu.com, one post reads, “The holy place of Buddhism is now flooded with the stink of money.”

Another person writes, “Shaolin Temple has always attached importance to profit. From the money and fortune they cheated from tourists we can see that they're already a bunch of robbers cloaked in Buddhism.”

Under abbot Shi, “Shaolin” has become a brand—consisting of modern marketing strategies, international performance tours and online merchandising.

Shi’s supporters say he is taking necessary steps to preserve Shaolin kung fu and culture, but it’s just as likely that Shi is cashing in on the current hype. With popular movies like “Shaolin Soccer,” “Kungfu Hustle” and, more recently, “Kung Fu Panda,” Chinese martial arts have a higher global profile than at any time since Bruce Lee. And China’s first production to hit Broadway, “The Soul of Shalin,” will be on show early next year.

Back on Song Mountain, when we finally reached the actual Shaolin Temple, there was hardly a monk in sight. Our guide told us they no longer use the Temple for kung fu practice or prayer. But for the tourists milling around, the 1,500-year old temple was empty.

Read more blogs from Stephanie Sy

Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff

November 27, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

China's Richest Man Goes Missing

November 25, 2008 11:47 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

It isn’t clear when China’s richest man was last seen, but he was reportedly detained Nov. 19, nearly a week ago. Huang Guangyu, the founder and head of Gome Electrical appliances, is one of the most well-known businessmen in China, but even the state-run media are having a hard time confirming his whereabouts.

If more transparency and accountability is the government’s goal in investigating the business practices of men like Huang, it certainly doesn’t seem to be the policy of the powerful Ministry of Public Security. Days after it was first reported by the respected investigative magazine Caijing that Huang had been detained for questioning for “share price manipulation,” ministry officials are refusing to confirm whether this is true.

This has led to sensational headlines such as, “Chinese Billionaire Vanishes” (Sydney Morning Herald). For those of us who regularly cover China, the “disappearance” of someone being questioned by police is quite common, but usually occurs in the context of someone being investigated for something like “subverting state power” i.e. political dissidents.

According to Caijing, Huang, whose name is also spelled Wong Kwong-yu, is under investigation for reported links to his big brother’s company, which has seen a peculiar pattern in share price in the last year. Other media reports speculate that he is accused of corruption. All of it reeks of something resoundingly familiar to journalist-turned-businessman Jim McGregor, author of “One Billion Customers.”

“This is a very dangerous place to be rich,” McGregor said. “When they first came up with the ‘rich list’ here, they started calling it the ‘death list’ because about five years ago the top people on the list all ended up in jail.”

It is taken as a cynical but probably accurate assumption that the most successful private entrepreneurs in China must have the right relationships, or “guanxi,” to make it in the Wild West of China’s rough and tumble economy.

“This guy is in the consumer-goods business, a brand-new business in China,” McGregor said. “You can imagine all the opportunities there are for kickbacks and corruption in all those suppliers to all those stores, and something he may have had nothing to do with, but it’s just part of the business landscape.”

But it is a landscape that is changing rapidly, and businessmen who are used to business as usual are experiencing rude shocks. On Friday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced it is cracking down on “malpractice” in stock trading. At the same time, the commission announced big fines for individuals and companies accused of price manipulation and violating information disclosure regulations. Whether Huang was caught up in this dragnet is unclear, but his apparent arrest shows that authorities may be catching the big fish to warn the small ones.

“They’ve got some real difficult parts of their economy that the arrest of the richest man in China illustrates,” McGregor said. “This is a rough economy that needs regulation, rule of law, and hopefully this will help move them toward that.”

Read more blogs from Stephanie Sy

Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff

November 25, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Tibetan Exiles at a Crossroad

November 21, 2008 11:20 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

While hundreds of Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala debate whether to continue the “middle way” or embark on a full-blown independence movement, in China the strategies are one and the same. 

The Dalai Lama continues to espouse his “middle way” policy, but it seems to  fall on deaf ears in China (and among an increasing number of young Tibetans). When the Dalai Lama said he did not support the violent riots in Lhasa nine months ago, the Chinese accused him of inciting them. When he said he supported China hosting the Olympic Games, the Chinese accused him of supporting activities to disrupt the Games. When he says he is not seeking full independence and recognizes China’s sovereignty, the Chinese accuse him of activities to split China. The Dalai Lama is not trusted by Beijing. The Chinese hold the Dalai Lama responsible for everything that Tibetans and non-Tibetan activists do, including the “violent terrorist activities” of the Tibetan Youth Congress and protests by foreigners during the Olympics. 

Lately, a bad relationship has gotten worse. 

During the latest round of talks, the Dalai Lama’s representatives presented a memorandum of requests that the Chinese official Zhu Wei Qun said was a call for “independence in a disguised form.” The document calls for “genuine autonomy” for Greater Tibet, which encompasses a quarter of China’s territory. Instead of serving as a jumping off point for negotiations, the memo was entirely rejected and drew a heated response. “We will never make a concession,” Zhu said to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua. 

China seems aware that Tibetans have lost leverage. Before the latest round of talks, the British Foreign Minister David Miliband issued a statement clarifying a formerly gray area of U.K.  policy toward Tibet, saying, officially, that Tibet falls under Chinese sovereignty. A few weeks later, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang seemed to nod at this, saying, “The so-called Tibet government-in-exile is not recognized by any government in the world.”

After the riots in Lhasa last March, and with the approach of the Olympics, the Chinese agreed to more talks with the Dalai Lama’s envoys. Many experts saw it as the best opportunity for Tibetans to gain some concessions from the Chinese, but from recent statements, Beijing is not planning to budge. While it continues to face pressure from pro-Tibetan and human rights groups, now out of the world spotlight that the Olympics brought, it seems comfortable taking a less conciliatory stance.

There are strong emotions on both sides. The Chinese are fiercely protective of their sovereignty in Tibet. The Tibetans  believe increasing Chinese influence in the Tibetan autonomous regions is forcing the extinction of their culture. It’s not hard to see who has the upper hand. As China becomes an increasing economic and military power, fewer governments seem willing to openly push China on the Tibet issue. The only advantage the Tibetans have is the sway of world sympathy, and their will.

Read more blogs from Stephanie Sy

Read more more blogs from the ABC News Staff

November 21, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Beijing’s Post-Olympic Identity Crisis?

October 17, 2008 8:13 AM

By STEPHANIE SY, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

Beijing-based journalists heading into work this morning might have considered the heavy smog outside their cab window a sign of things to come -- I certainly did. Today, rules introduced ahead of the Olympics allowing foreign journalists to report more freely in China were allowed to expire, leaving us to wonder whether the next time we interviewed a villager or a university professor or a restaurant owner, we’d have to get permission from the local “waiban” (foreign affairs office) or risk arrest.

The more liberalized reporting rules allowed us to interview consenting parties without first receiving government permission. But instead of outright renewing the rules, which in democratic societies would fall under the basic rights of a free press, Foreign Ministry representative Qin Gang said this week, "China will continue to follow the opening-up policy and to facilitate the work of foreign media and journalists in China.” I guess we’ll figure out whether he means it the next time we try to shoot an interview in Tiananmen Square.

The reporting rules weren’t the only things that had a post-Olympic expiry date.

The restriction banning about half of cars from Beijing’s streets expired after the Paralympics Sept. 20. On Sept. 22 – the first workday after the ban was lifted -- traffic was a nightmare. Not only was the ban lifted, but apparently all rules governing traffic. These days, it is each driver for himself and it’s a fight to the death to make a left turn at a green light. For a passenger, even one who grew up riding on Southern California freeways, it is terrifying. It’s like all the drivers who missed out on getting behind the wheel during the Games are saying, “Ha, ha! I can drive! And I can drive with complete disregard for any other driver, walker or biker on the road!”

The ban on construction, which was put in place to reduce airborne dust and particles, also expired. For the last few weeks, I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of jackhammers, clanging metal and migrant workers yelling orders at each other. Beijing’s building boom has resumed, and it is on 24-7. 

The last holdout was the blue sky. For the last few weeks, seasonal winds have reduced pollution and produced wonderfully clear days, despite the return of 3.3 millions cars to Beijing’s streets. Today, with no pleasant autumnal breezes, the smog returned with a vengeance. Air like this during the Olympics would have raised alarms and may even have triggered a few asthma attacks. But days with this kind of choking pollution were not allowed during the Games. The government did everything in its power to make sure eye-stinging smog was kept at bay during those precious weeks when the world’s attention was focused on Beijing. It cut traffic in half and closed hundreds of polluting factories. It shot silver iodide particles into the sky to make it rain at the right times. Note: The government has complete dominion over earth and heaven in China!

Besides the smog, traffic, all-hours construction and lack of journalistic freedom, there are other signs that Beijing is returning to its old self. The 40 million flowers planted around the city before the Games are starting to wilt. You no longer hear the words “Welcome to Beijing!” It’s quite the opposite at times. … The other night, a very rude young Chinese man flung the butt of his still-burning cigarette at me and my camera crew as we filmed outside of a Starbucks. The act was made more vile by him saying “Why don’t you (bleep) foreigners go back to where you came from?!” -- so much for “One world, One dream,” huh buddy? Cabdrivers who wore nice, clean uniforms and pledged not to smoke in their cars during the Olympics have gone back to their chain-smoking, pickled-garlic breath ways. The good-manners campaign developed by the Beijing Civilization Office may have won the battle during the Games, but it is losing the war. As the smog has returned, so has the disgusting spitting, nose-picking and public flatulence that the campaign led by prim Miss Manners tried so hard to exterminate. On the smog-filled cab crawl to work today, the driver ducked his head out the window twice to loudly cough up and expel gobs of phlegm. And as we approached the well-manicured embassy district, I spied not one but two mothers lifting their babies’ bottomless pants so they could defecate right onto the sidewalk. (Yes, in China, it is quite common for un-potty-trained babies to wear split-bottom pants, instead of diapers.)

Manners are culturally relative, so I’ve always been careful not to be too critical in that regard. I’m only attempting to paint a picture about what I think is Beijing’s post-Olympic identity crisis. For two months, Beijing put on its shiniest, smiling-est, most smog-less face to host one of the greatest Games ever, but now that the party’s over, what does China have to show for itself besides a bevy of gold medals and some truly stunning architecture? For those of us who live here, post-Olympics Beijing is a rude awakening. For two months we were spoiled with less traffic, less smog and less spitting, and then –poof!--it was gone in a gray haze.

It’s true that, environmentally, further steps are being taken to limit pollution in the center of Beijing. New, complicated, license-plate-based car restrictions will limit the number of cars on the road at any one time. Still, with an average of 1,000 more cars on the capital’s streets every day, it’s a losing battle. Facing an economic slowdown, Chinese authorities are more likely to focus on maintaining growth than on programs to make growth greener.

As for fundamental human rights, China’s Foreign Ministry may pay lip service to allowing foreign reporters to report openly, but without officially renewing the rules, China could cite us for “illegal reporting activity” just for doing our jobs. Domestically, Chinese reporters still face the censorship and restrictions that they did before the Olympics. As for the jailing of political and religious activists, China continued to do that in the lead-up to the Olympics, with disregard to international criticism, and it has even less impetus to reverse its stance on the primacy of state stability over individual rights now.

My producer Beth Loyd pointed out a few plusses in post-Olympic Beijing. For example, she said brightly, we are now able to get fresh coconuts and salad at our Thai place again because import restrictions that were in place for security reasons have been lifted! But, then again, she always sees the glass as half full.

Read more blogs from Stephanie Sy

Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff

October 17, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Spacewalk Accomplished, China Sets Sights on the Moon

September 29, 2008 7:56 AM

By Stephanie Sy, ABC News Correspondent in Beijing

China has three new heroes and another reason to proclaim itself a rising world power.  Three Chinese astronauts received a heroes’ welcome Monday in Beijing after completing a mission in space that saw the nation’s first spacewalk.

Each step of the three-day mission was broadcast live on state television and viewed by millions of Chinese, who cheered when they saw Col. Zhai Zhigang step out of the hatch of the Shenzou 7 space ship for his 13-minute spacewalk.

U.S. and Russian astronauts had pulled off the same feat four decades ago, but that took none of the shine off China’s stroll in space. The Chinese called the successful spacewalk a “major breakthrough” toward their goal of building a space lab within five years.

In the view of many Chinese, the space agency’s strides symbolize China’s increasing dominance on the world stage, just as hosting the Olympic Games did. Seeing Zhai wave the Chinese flag as the Earth hovered below will continue to be a source of pride for many Chinese. The image appeared on the front page of every major Chinese newspaper the next day.

Chinese government officials and state-controlled media have focused on the fact that Zhai wore a Chinese-made spacesuit during the spacewalk. Indeed, experts say China’s Shenzou 7 spaceship was developed from homegrown technology, although with the benefit of studying the U.S. and Russian models that came before it.

“After we have successfully completed these three steps, we will go to even more remote areas,” said Wang Zhaoyao, deputy director of the manned spaceflight, to the Associated Press news agency.  “As long as we can make further progress…China will achieve the target of putting a manned spacecraft on the moon in the near future.”

It is China’s talk about putting a man on the moon that has NASA officials in the United States nervous. Chinese officials have said they will attempt a manned mission to the moon between 2015-2020, the same time frame President Bush has laid out for U.S. astronauts to return to the moon.

Of course, the United States is the only country to have put men on the moon, but that was nearly four decades ago, and it hasn’t repeated the feat since.

With China emerging as the U.S. largest economic rival, inevitable questions are arising about a future Cold War-style space race. That kind of talk may be premature. At face value, China’s space program seems eons away from rivaling NASA’s, but like its economy, its space ambitions have grown in leaps and bounds. And without the funding constraints that dog NASA, the Chinese Communist-controlled government could decide to pour more funds into the program at any time.

Chinese officials have repeatedly described their space endeavors as peaceful, seeking natural resources on the moon, for example. But regional powers such as India and Japan are also watching the space strides warily -- India, because, with the world’s second largest population, it may also want to mine the moon one day, and Japan, because it is worried about China’s military ambitions in space.

All of this cynical speculation is lost on the Chinese people. For a few days, people here can forget about the milk contamination scandal that has dominated the headlines, and stare in awe at their television screens—seeing their fellow countryman and comrade leave their footmarks on the final frontier.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

September 29, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)

'Food Crisis' At The Olympics?

August 11, 2008 8:55 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Asia Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

I attended my first event last night - the much-hyped basketball game between the US and China.

It was an exciting first quarter, kicked off with a three-pointer by Yao Ming, which got the Chinese fans into the game, loudly cheering “Jia You! Zhonguo!” the ubiquitous cheer which literally means, “Add Fuel! China!”

The Chinese team had clearly run out of gas by the second half and Wade, Lebron, and Kobe started slam-dunking like it was going out of style. I’m going to leave the rest of the sports analysis to our friends at ESPN. I’ve got another observation to make on this, my first blog entry of these Olympics.

Given the gravity of these controversy-laden Games, you might think this a trivial matter, but as an occasional sports fan, I proffer this - there is a snack crisis under way at the Olympic venues. Seriously.

Last night, my friend and I hadn’t had dinner when we arrived at the Games, and figured we’d just grab something at the game. I was looking forward to what Chinese snacks organizers might have thought up - steamed buns? Corn on the cob? Scallion pancakes? Chicken wings? Yum-so many options.

But as I approached the barren, lineless snack counter, my spirits sank, and my stomach recoiled. On the menu, a hodge-podge of items - sausage, noodles, yogurt, and beer, which listed all together made my stomach turn in the way it does when I’ve eaten an incongruous combo of peanut butter, Red Vines, and Peking duck (yes, I’ve done that…and regretted it later).

But the execution was even worse than the idea. I ordered the noodles. Turns out they were selling packets of dried ramen without the boiling water required to reconstitute the noodles into something vaguely resembling a hot meal.

Here, at an Olympic venue which cost $95 million dollars to build, we were being sold the same snack that was distributed en masse to stranded truck drivers during last winter’s snowstorm in Southern China. And even they, having not eaten in days, had complained about them.

My friend went the sausage-route. Now, anyone who knows me knows that despite a generally healthy diet I have a real weakness for processed pork products, especially hot dogs. But these “sausages” were, well, they were slight, sad-looking, glorified Slim Jims really. They seemed of the vacuum-packed variety, except they’d taken them out of their plastic casing and warmed them a little on a grill that wasn’t actually a grill. One oily-sweet taste of my friend’s, and I knew I wasn’t going to get the snack-food fix I so desperately needed.

Why did I need this fix, I asked myself? Besides not having eaten dinner? I guess because when I was growing up, going to Dodgers and Lakers games always involved a feast. I was really too young and disinterested to understand the games, but I loved the peanuts, hot dogs, nachos, and pretzels - and how you didn’t even have to leave your seat to get them!

As I looked around at the Chinese spectators around me, begrudgingly slurping my peach yogurt, I realized we were the only ones snacking. This was one of those cultural relativist moments when I realized that not everyone snacks while watching athletes sweat. Still, with all the efforts put into these games, the excruciating attention to detail, I sure wish the Beijing organizers had given sports-fan sustenance a bit more thought.

I’m not the only one complaining. “Horrible chips last night at basketball. Horrible,” e-mailed another friend of mine who went with one of the seemingly safe options at the game-a Chinese brand of potato chips.

This is the same friend who attended the opening ceremony with his 3-month pregnant wife, only to find that the food selection was limited to “random danishes” and warm beer. Where’s that peanut butter when you need it? After sitting in the Bird’s Nest for six hours, it was them that needed to jia you.

August 11, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)