Word: communist
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...inner exuberance demonstrates, it still pays to be careful. Beijing's attitude has been described as a Triple No policy: no approval, no disapproval, no promotion. That hands-off approach - a sort of commercial don't ask, don't tell policy - is emblematic of the delicacy with which the Communist regime is learning to deal with many of the issues concerning personal liberties that are increasingly being raised by its burgeoning middle class. For their part, homosexuals in China seem perfectly happy to pursue their lives within the broad boundaries allowed by the government, albeit not without the occasional snipe...
Once upon a time, the Communist government strictly enforced draconian laws against homosexuality, imprisoning and even executing those convicted. As China's economy opened to the world, so did the authorities' stance soften, with gay communities springing up in the larger coastal cities that benefited most from the boom such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It's a process that had been accelerating along with the economy so that recent years have seen the sort of advances that allow young gay men like Xiao Wang the confidence to be blissfully ignorant of past problems the community has faced...
...then there was all that confusion about Tenzing getting on top first. When we got back to Kathmandu Valley, we were met by Communists - there was quite a strong Communist movement on the mountain and in the villages. Now, I'm not anti-communist by any manner or means, but there was no question they felt that it was most important that they should stress that Tenzing had got to the summit first. Whereas to the ordinary mountaineer, of course, it's a matter of complete indifference. So they got Tenzing aside, and they really batted away...
...reconciliation ever be achieved? Beijing first needs to give Tibetans, in exile and in Tibet, at least a hint of mutuality in their relationship. China could start by listening to Tibetans like Phuntso Wangye. He founded the first Communist Party in Tibet in 1940, which he merged with the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, and then helped lead Chinese troops into Tibet in 1951. Mao Zedong trusted Wangye so implicitly that he selected him as the translator for his 1954-55 meetings with the Dalai Lama. Today, the 85-year-old Wangye lives in Beijing. He believes that those Tibetan...
...from just 300 seats at the cheapest price (380 renminbi, or close to $50, a considerable amount for most mainland Chinese) to 122 VIP seats (at 2,008 renminbi, or $250, each). Liu believes that most of the seats in the best section were set aside for government and Communist Party officials, who he says were among the quickest to vacate them at the intermission. "I think only 10% of the audience are true music lovers," said a man surnamed Song, an amateur vocalist who hovered around the theater in freezing temperatures hoping to find a cheap ticket from...