given we have already altered our environment in ways that may be viewed as unethical by universalist ETI, it may be prudent to avoid sending any message that shows evidence of our negative environmental impact. The chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere over recent time may be a poor choice for a message because it would show a rapid accumulation of carbon dioxide from human activity. Likewise, any message that indicates widespread loss of biodiversity or rapid rates of expansion may be dangerous if received by such universalist ETI. On the other hand, advanced ETI may already know about our rapid environmental impact by listening to leaked electromagnetic signals or observing changes in Earth’s spectral signature. In this case, it might be prudent for any message we send to avoid denying our environmental impact so as to avoid the ETI catching us in a lie.

Ironically, reports of UFO activity in China have caught the attention of global news outlets this month, from an “unusual cloud”  in Chongqing resulting in the shutdown of Jiangbei International Airport to a super colossal sphere of light seen from Shanghai to Beijing. Even a few days ago- after cheering on Joe Biden’s caravan as it sped through Jianguomen- I gazed up at the night sky to witness two multi-colored triangular shapes hovering overhead. “Military intelligence? Spy technology? Alien armchair politicians? A sale at Uniqlo?” I pondered. “Just a few kites,” I was told. Still, I wonder… After spending the past week in Beijing, unable to run outside or breathe through my nose or open my eyes all the way without crying, I suspect that- given this scenario analysis is correct and ETIs do in fact exist (and we’d be arrogant to think that they don’t)- China will be their first stop on Earth once they figure out how to navigate through the dull gray scourge that blankets it. Disclaimer: I had not been back to Beijing since Nov. 2002- not since that fateful day when I’d abruptly decided to leave my home in Shandong for my home in New York. Beijing is not China to me. Beijing is the headliner for horror stories- the black jails and bird flu and that unknown incident in a famous square. And on a personal level, Beijing is a dream derailed and a relationship soured; I’d stayed South ever since. My return was thus laced with a small dose of PTSD and my expectations- save for a trek on the Great Wall- were quite low.

And so, I should not have been surprised when- after going through immigration at Beijing Capital Airport, past all the signs reminding me that I too am an alien, and emerging into the dusk- I instantly felt a grip on my lungs. All the air quality index tweets and blog photos of pollution stew could not have prepared me for this. Was I having a panic attack? Were past memories triggering a physical meltdown? Nope. Just a concoction of oxides, compounds and particulates asphyxiating my life force, suppressing the most important activity we humans do every single second of every day. Breathe. This simple oversight- never mind all of the other issues that China now contends with- makes mention of China as a “developed country” laughable. Thankfully, as an alien, I have the option of leaving when I want to, when my body breaks down and demands clean air. The vast majority of the residents of Beijing- the children especially- do not. A city can have all of the Bugatti dealerships and Gucci stores it desires, but if it cannot provide its populace with clean air to breathe and safe food to eat, then its leaders aren’t doing such a great job.

This brings me back to the ETIs. As a guilt-ridden American expat in Asia, I have generally tried to be sensitive about openly criticizing a government which is not my own. And yet, when an issue directly impacts the future of this planet- a planet that we have to share whether or not we agree with each others views- that issue (severe pollution and global warming in this case) becomes collective business independent of politics, citizenship or race. The NASA scenario analysis goes on to state:

“Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilizational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions, which therefore changes the spectral signature of the Earth. While it is difficult to estimate the likelihood of this scenario, it should at a minimum give us pause as we evaluate our expansive tendencies.

Instead of waiting for an intergalactic savior or foe to intervene, perhaps it is time to take a good, hard look at what development and nationalism actually mean in the face of a planet that we all rely on for the continuance of our own species. That said, if a UFO does decide to make an appearance on the ground anytime soon, my official bet is on Beijing… the roads are wide and Tiananmen would make a great landing field.

Do you think that the global community has a right to put more pressure on China for its environmental situation? Where do the boundaries lie? If aliens did invade our planet and threaten to destroy us if we did not clean up our act, would we? Have your say in the comments section.

In the capital cities of the two most influential nations in the world, this type of production is a true favorite. Political theatre at its finest, there are the enigmatic and omnipotent villains, intensely blamed and yet never clearly defined. The rising action, with all its twists and turns, will have you transfixed right up to the climax, which clings to the precipice of misfortune or maybe, just maybe, redemption. And then, of course, there is the Great Denouement- what we often refer to as reality- of lives and livelihoods lost, of angered voices stilled. As much as the performance may suck us in, these tragedies are never about us- or our families, our health, our jobs, our safety, our bank accounts, our futures. And whether the stage is in Beijing or Washington, you can’t guarantee that we as the ticket holding audience will get our money’s worth. But, before you fill your bags with tomatoes, let’s clear up something: these actors, like any actor, are not evil aliens from a distant fiery planet. They are human beings. And like most human beings, they have good intentions based on a narrow and self-interested lens.

Say you’re an American spectator in China. After paying close attention to the actors, one of the first traits you may notice is that they almost never admit to their mistakes, even if that mistake has cost hundreds of lives. An admission of error would mean loss of face and confirmation of failure, which would be a sin against the parents and teachers who fully believed that their little stars would grow up to be the best in the world. One can assume then that those who rise to the top of the billing as government officials are the ones who have been pushed the most, who have trained the hardest, and who understand well what an incredible burden it is to be perfect all the time. For a character study, I recommend scanning the comment sections of articles pertaining to Amy Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, where you will find a fair number of high-achieving Chinese who convey that they are psychically wounded and unable to forge true bonds.

Similarly, a Chinese ticket-holder in America might notice how aggressive and flamboyant the actors are, placing style over substance much of the time. “Why does everyone need to be so individualistic?” the Chinese viewer may wonder. Just as perfection in the Chinese family is valued, many American tots are weaned on tough love and power from a very young age, with the struggle to be seen and heard commencing upon exit from the womb. The stage is distinctly USA, where divorce rates hover around 50 percent, child abuse is rampant, and drug and alcohol addiction seem to be the norm. But, no one needs to write a book on the outcomes of American-style parenting- the tabloids and headlines do a fine job already. Did you hear the news that Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are partying together again? And how many shootings in the US was there this week?

So, what if the roles were reversed? What if the troupe in D.C. had to address the high-speed bullet train collision (if the US actually had a high-speed bullet train) while those in Beijing tackled the debt debates (if China actually had these financial problems)? My guess is that China would never allow a potential default, instead collectively deciding behind closed doors to raise the debt ceiling far before the issue ever became public enough to impact national confidence. As for a train crash scenario in the US, it would have been handled in a manner that conveyed sensitivity and investigative thoroughness while fully acknowledging public grief. China and America have a lot to learn from one another.

We all grow out of childhood, but the personalities constructed during these impressionable years and the masks we wear thereafter are really what shape the “system” that we all tend to point our fingers at. And so, as I’ve watched the tear-jerkers in Beijing and Washington this month, I’ve focused not on the systemic problems themselves, but on the people behind them.
I watched Speaker of the House, John Boehner- the second eldest in a blue-collar family of eleven children who had to work his butt off from a very young age in order to make something of himself- tell his fellow conservatives, “get your ass in line!” I watched President Obama- a precocious third-culture kid from an intellectual, single-parent home- plead for assistance from his supporters. And then, I “watched” the officials from Beijing as they expressed calm power from behind a wall of faceless authority- behavior ingrained in the culture far before the Forbidden Palace was conceived. From this, I’ve concluded that the finale of any tragedy like the two I’m referring to are not dependent on what we the audience wants, but what they- the actors- are capable of showing us.

When the curtain falls, we are all just people. From a psychological standpoint, this means that our personality traits are pretty predictive by the time we’re out of diapers and have quit sucking our thumbs. Philosophically, it could also mean that, no matter what our station in life, we operate with our own interests in mind. Thankfully, humanity cannot be distilled down to simple philosophical and psychological perspectives. Our species is far too valuable, complex, and evolving. When we begin to design systems that serve humankind by internalizing the common bonds between all of us and appreciating what we can learn from one another, we will be on the right track. For the time being, maybe we should get to know the children we once were by playing nice, showing kindness, and opening ourselves up once again to all the wonders and possibilities of our world and each other.

Be sure to jump over to the excellent bilingual website, edge.neocha.com for more. And, if you’ve seen an American take on US-China relations in art, please tip me off in the comments section.

If you’ve been following developments in the automotive industry and are in the Beijing area, I definitely recommend attending this lecture.
My interview with automotive industry expert, Bill Russo

About the Speakers

Bill Russo is the Founder and President of Synergistics Ltd. In his role as the first VP of North East Asia automotive operations at Chrysler, Bill successfully negotiated government approval for six vehicle programs within a three-year time period with three different Asian partners.  Bill oversaw the industrialization of the first Chrysler and Dodge-branded vehicles in Asia.  He holds a patent for his innovative efforts toward reducing automotive new product development cycle time, and he has helped shape a major business turnaround by strengthening operational transparency which was featured in leading business journals (Harvard Business Review, Controlling magazine).

Eduardo Morcillo has worked with China since 1998, in InterChina Consulting, a strategy and M&A advisory firm. He is a partner in the firm and worked in Beijing and Shanghai for eight years before returning to Europe to take over the representation of InterChina Consulting in Spain. He has been directly involved in more than 30 cross border acquisitions, representing both foreign and Chinese companies, during the last decade. At the same time, Professor Morcillo has been Chairman of the European Union Trade Working Group and Vice Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, before joining IE Business School, the third best business school in Europe (FT, Jan 2009) as Associate Professor.

Location:
Cheung Kong GSB 12/F Classroom, Oriental Plaza Tower E3, 3/F, Beijing
Date:
Wednesday March 25
Format:
Expert Lecture
Schedule:
12.15 pm: Registration and refreshments
12.30 Presentations
13.10 Q & A
Cost:
Free
RSVP:
HeatherMowbray@ckgsb.edu.cn before 10am Monday 23 March stating:
- Name
- Company affiliation

Started in 2008, the Cheung Kong Open Lecture Series is for the public benefit of Beijing’s international business community. With the support of Cheung Kong faculty and alumni, the series features local experts and global stars who bring insight into topical and essential business issues. Beyond the Open Lecture Series, Cheung Kong GSB offers exclusive graduate programs including the one-year English-language MBA, fully-employed Chinese-language EMBA, Country Managers Program and China from the Inside Program.

I’d been searching for HIV-related monitoring and surveillance data as collected by one of China’s larger GONGOS. After pounding out keywords for a few long hours, I came across the Chinese Association of STD & AIDS Prevention and Control, located in Beijing. It just so happens that also they recently received a $9,999,940 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Unfortunately, the Chinese Association of STD & AIDS Prevention and Control is publicly referenced in very few places and the URL given by the foundation is huai le.  Broken.  At this point, I’m wondering how they were able to lobby for nearly $10 million dollars…

It just so happens that there’s another Beijing-based GONGO called the Beijing Association of STD & AIDS Prevention and Control.  I don’t think they received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and I’m not even 100% sure that they’re a separate GONGO.  However, they did receive a plug on the UNAIDS website which lists their URL as http://www.bjaidsass.com.  It’s a hardcore porn domain… In light of the recent internet crackdown, this begs me to ask all my friends in China, what did you see when you clicked on it?

Sometimes an “org” makes all the difference in the world.  The correct website address is http://www.bjaidsass.org I’ve forwarded this information to UNAIDS.  If the HIV crisis is any indication, it might be a while before they fix it.

Update:  Following a bit of investigation, it looks like this porn domain link has been on the UNAIDS site for about ten months.  And, it’s still up today.   Also, thanks to Elizabeth Pisani for mentioning this post.  Her book, ‘The Wisdom of Whores’ is one of the best reads I’ve picked up in a long time.