Ryan Pyle Blog: The Right to Write

Hello.

Politicians are usually the target of untold numbers of unauthorized biography's. They are public figures and often have their lives open to critical interpretation; that is what comes with the territory. Not so in China. The top 8 law makers in the country that effectively govern the entire country are complete unknowns. Sure, brief bio's can be found online or in government controlled newspapers. They all went to University in China, they all studied in disciplines like engineering and political theory; they all seem common enough.

But who are China's leaders really? How did they come to power? Who helped them? Who made enemies along the way? What do their wives and children do? Do they have siblings? Little is actually known, and the Communist Party prefers it like that. So when an author tries to piece together the history of Wen Jiabao, the current Chinese Premier, to produce an unauthorized autobiography, one might expect trouble. And that's exactly what happened to Yu Jie.

Little is known about Wen Jiabao. His history, rise to Premier and family ties are murky; and yet he comes across in a carefully managed PR campaign as being a "Man of the People". Is that the truth? Can he be trusted? Can years of bitterness and writing in a threatening environment make Yu Jie a creditable source of information? Can any writer in China who lives under constant threat be objective?

The current system is so confused and it leaves everyone strained. Below is a New York Times article about Yu Jie's efforts to publish his unauthorized autobiography on Wen Jiabao.

Original LINK
Copyright: New York Times
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Author Is Threatened Over Book on Chinese Premier
By MICHAEL WINES
BEIJING — A best-selling Chinese author and democracy advocate detained by security agents on Monday said Tuesday that the agents threatened to imprison him if he proceeded with plans to publish a book criticizing Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister.

The author, Yu Jie, said in a telephone interview that he still intended to publish the book, titled “China’s Best Actor: Wen Jiabao,” by autumn. Because his books are banned in mainland China, Mr. Yu said, he is negotiating with a Hong Kong publisher.

Mr. Yu, 36, said he was questioned for four hours on Monday by police officers and agents of Beijing’s public security bureau who specialize in dealing with political dissidents. One security agent “told me that Wen Jiabao is not some ordinary guy,” he said, “and my criticism against him will be considered as harming state security and the national interest.”

“ ‘If you insist on publishing this book,’ ” he said he was told, “ ‘you will probably end up like Liu Xiaobo, who suffered imprisonment of many years.’ ” Mr. Liu, another writer and rights activist, was sentenced last December to 11 years in prison after leading a public movement calling for democratic reforms and an end to Communist Party rule.

Mr. Yu, who was released Monday after the interrogation, said that he was uncertain whether the agents’ threat was serious, but that he willing to go to prison for his principles.

“As a writer, I consider freedom of speech an essential part of my life,” he said. “Without it I will be a walking corpse, with no meaning and no value.”

Mr. Yu, who has written 28 books, once was a best-selling writer in mainland China, but his political views have led to the banning of his works. His new book’s “best actor” title draws on a nickname — a sly reference to the Academy Awards honor — that critics have bestowed on Mr. Wen.

A populist style and expressions of concern for China’s people have made Mr. Wen by far the best liked of China’s leaders, but Mr. Yu and other skeptics contend that the image only masks the authoritarian bent of China’s leadership.
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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Ryan Pyle Blog: Moving Up the Value Chain

Hello.

According to the Economist, a few weeks back, China is moving up the Intellectual Property value chain. The article in question discussed patents and how Chinese companies have been rapidly increasing their applications for patents both in China and in western countries where they operate.

There were a few high profile cases of late where foreign companies had to pay out significant sums to Chinese companies for patent violations in China. It is a relatively new and novel idea in China that if you create something, and then someone copies or uses it for their own profit, that they'll need to pay you. In a country where everything is copied instantly, there has been little incentive for people to create anything unique; especially when a quick and comparatively easy profit can be made by copying someone else's work.

This stage we are in at the moment is, by all means, an education process for China. Patents were not officially allowed in China until the mid-1980s and even then they weren't ever enforced until 2006. And they still have a long way to go. But if there is a corner out there, they are beginning to turn it.

For years us China watching folks have talked about China's need to beef up IP law to save the domestic music, movie and software industries; the three industries that suffer the most from IP infringement. Stricter IP laws will add value to the production of higher end products; so that China can move away from the low-tech manufacturing that migrates from poor country to poor country in search of low production costs; today it's China. Tomorrow it's Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Does that mean that China will completely move away from low end jobs, such as the image above of a young man working in a toy factory in Dongguan, China? Absolutely not. There are still millions of people in China willing to work for next to nothing, and that will never change. In a country of 1.3 billion people there will always be people to do low paying jobs. In saying that, China will slowly over time become known for not only the label "Made in China" on your sneakers or tee shirts, but also for that same label on your computers, servers, routers, telecom equipment, mobile phones and electric cars; and the companies making these products will not just be western firms exploiting low production costs in China, they will be Chinese companies producing domestically and exporting to global markets. Mark my words, I am an optimist, China will go up market in a very big way. Companies like Lenovo (Computers) and Huawei (Telecom Equipment) are setting the pace already. And with more IP law the future could look very bright indeed for innovative and creative individuals and firms in China.

As an aside, one question that hasn't really been answered is how much as the lack of IP protection cost China? Well, that is a riddle I would love to see someone, much smarter than me, solve. The government always stands by the official line that you have to copy before you can learn. But it is clear that this prolonged period of copying has stunted intellectual, artistic and innovative development inside the country. Why write a book, that is widely read and enjoyed, if you can't feed your family from the sales because it's been copied and widely distributed? Why write a song, if it will be enjoyed by millions, and you still can't afford to pay your children's school fee's? I'm not saying that we create only for profit, but creation needs to, in this modern day and age, cover our basic costs; especially if you have a family or other dependants to provide for. This is simply a fact of life.

China's laid back attitude towards IP has annoyed the more mature economies in Europe and North America. But as the Economist article points out, in the 18th century a very young United States of America copied just about everything they could get their hands on, mainly machines from England and Germany, in an effort to industrialize and become a manufacturing powerhouse. Everyone has to start somewhere, it's just rough luck for China that we live in a world of instant information and communication; it makes these growing pains much more public, painful and embarrassing.

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Ryan Pyle Blog: New Work: Fake Cell Phones

Hello.

I just wanted to make you all aware of some new work that I've completed on the fake cell phone market in Shenzhen, China. The work was with David Barboza and the NYT and you can see the article HERE. There are entire 6 floor markets selling fake iPhones and they even have branded phones like Gucci and LV, which don't even exist. I saw 4 different sizes of iPhones, again offering models that don't even exist. It was like existing in a parallel universe. A strange place indeed.

To add to the strangeness it was a tense place to shoot in as well. Not very camera friendly to say the least, and the word on the street was a Chinese photographer was harassed, and had his gear smashed, in this exact market about 1 month ago. I was pushed and harassed a bit when trying to get some shots and also got some mean looks as well. I suppose being a foreigner managed to save any serious harassment. That's one of the benefits of having a white face, and being over 6 feet tall helps a little too, I suppose.

On a passing note, stories like these are difficult to shoot. When you get a call from an editor looking for a story like this I think you know it won't be very visually rewarding, but stories like this are tough to shoot, and the situations you find yourself in with a camera around your neck are never advantageous, and yet at the end of the day you have to deliver something that illistrates the story; and that can be published. Never easy.

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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