Hart vs. Heartless

爱国爱港

http://hk-magazine.com/city-living/column/hart-vs-heartless

By Chip Tsao | Sep 12, 2013

Visiting old temples, sipping Chinese tea in casual wear and meeting with local legislators: Clifford Hart, the new US consul-general, has caused a round of furious gun shots to be fired from Beijing.    There was another Western Hart who was widely worshipped by common people in China but deeply hated by Chinese officials. His name was Robert Hart, a British vice-consul in Ningbo who was appointed to the post of Inspector-General of China’s Imperial Maritime Custom Office in Shanghai. Hart was appointed in 1863 to collect customs duties for the Qing government, as local Chinese officials were considered to be hopelessly addicted to bribery and embezzlement. As an English gentleman, Hart tried to help the Chinese to integrate into modern civilization by insisting on high standards of efficiency and honesty in the handling of money. Hart’s advice imported a taste of integrity into a proud but nervous and corruption-stricken China. He has been hailed as one of the few Westerners to have influenced the course of China’s modern history, on the scale of Flash Gordon.    A US consul-general with the same surname, cynically chosen by the White House, means that the baton has been passed from a declining Britain to America. With these old wounds opened, no wonder that Beijing—with its long memory—has screamed. The déjà-vu of herb-tea-drinking, mooncake-eating and handshaking PR stunts on the streets made Beijing uncomfortable. They smelled a storm gathering: much-missed British governor Chris Patten had cooked up much the same PR in 1992 before launching his new democratization reforms.    Worse, Beijing had been shouting at pro-Beijing political parties to stay away from Hart’s temptations—but its political siblings, including Regina Ip, could hardly resist a flirt. Not only does a cup of tea with the American consul-general, if publicized, boost public image; it is a more relaxingly human encounter than being summoned to the dragon’s den by grim-faced humorless masters, once famously described by Prince Charles as a gallery of “waxworks.”   China is deeply worried that from the smile on Garden Road will blossom a revolutionary spring starting on Queen’s Road Central, when the Occupy Central campaign is at full throttle. And so troops of thugs wielding their fists and yelling abuse at protesting democrats will be unleashed, making Hong Kong look stricken with a zombie pandemic as in the latest Brad Pitt movie, “World War Z.”   Beijing has issued its stop-making-trouble warnings to the Harrison-Ford-lookalike diplomat but there is no law banning a gweilo visiting temples and food stalls in Mong Kok for some English-Cantonese language interaction. The scene of a native-worshipping crowd buzzing around Indiana Jones deeply worries Beijing, which is nervously scared of the quick draw of a whip and a revolver that turns into a stampede. Until then, Hong Kong people are happy to see the return of a Hart—although at least the late Qing government was wise enough to know: in a rotten time, China badly needed a new Hart.

DinC

他们的行为是比较有意思。高调逛街喝茶? 和中共贪官高调巡视有一比。有点煽动人们仇官的意思。中国的进步还是要靠自己，任何有外国背景的组织都有洋奴的嫌疑。人家出钱当然要参加意见。

future123

DinC 发表于 2013-11-22 07:10
他们的行为是比较有意思。高调逛街喝茶? 和中共贪官高调巡视有一比。有点煽动人们仇官的意思。中国的进步还 ...

没有一次是靠自己的,以后也不可能脱离世界环境

DinC

future123 发表于 2013-11-22 07:38
没有一次是靠自己的,以后也不可能脱离世界环境

76,84,89都是自己干的。

future123

DinC 发表于 2013-11-22 09:24
76,84,89都是自己干的。

所以没成功

DinC

怎么叫没成功? 人们只是要更好的生活，自由的空间，并没有要改变政权。

future123

诉求没达到,就不能算成功