Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

It is common logic that laws are only enforceable where individuals can be tracked down when crimes are committed. The ability to identify and track down the criminal is perhaps the most factor preventing more people from harming others for personal benefit. Seriously, if one knows that one is guaranteed that one cannot be found by the law-enforcement agencies, where is the risk for doing something illegal? In the modern world, this sort of "disappearing criminal" logic still works in two circumstances: international relations and the cyberspace. As for international relations, I don't need to elaborate. A country can easily make up some bullshit reasons to invade another in the name of "justice." And domestic laws can easily be overridden when foreign fishermen are concerned. The logic is clear, the criminal with more power, as defined by greater technology, greater economic strength , and even greater size becomes good enough reason to replace the bound

After looking at the ongoing boat row as a financial damage to Japan and as a personal experience of getting negative treatments in Japan , it is perhaps necessary to look at the whole reason why border disputes between nations are so hard to resolve. Some tend to argue that the issue is largely economic. The whole reason there are disputes over Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is over the seabed oil fields nearby, and the whole reason why Japan still argues over islets with Russia and Korea is also over fishing fields and trade routes. According to these arguments, somehow Japan's economy/economic security can be greatly boosted through control over a few islands. But aside from a few decades of cheap fish and oil, the short term benefits are just as hard to establish as long term strategic interests. An essentially Euro-centric Russia sees no reason for war in sparely populated Far East for further expansion, and Japan should not see itself powerful enough to go at it with nuclear Russ

So it seems these days when Chinese walks around in the streets of Tokyo. Of course, unless we open our mouths, no one would know, but public opinion is public opinion after all...just seeing the guy next to you on the commuter train reading a newspaper article titled "China's Ambitions to Take Over the East Sea" can't possibly be very pleasing for myself and millions of other Chinese who are in this country. And then comes the news that Japan rejects Chinese demands for apology and in exchange issues a demand for financial reparations. I really wonder if the government is heeding the call of the people on this particular issue, on both sides. There are few bilateral economic relationships as close and interrelated as the one between Japan and China, with goods and personnel constantly crossing the borders. As much as citizens on both sides have certain negative images about each other, no one, even on the extreme right, can deny the existing benefits of economic c

Finally, today, I sent my grandmother back to Nanjing, ending my pretty much self-imposed three-week house arrest. Watching my grandmother behave in public for one last time (in a long long while, at least) as we head our way by train, it still makes me think how older people behave in China. Maybe a lot of what I say here is peculiar to my grandmother, but basically, all the social vices we perceive that Chinese people have are incredibly prevalent among elders. For instance, cutting in line is normal (quite humiliating for me to watch when my grandmother does it because I can't follow her in that particular act). Also, for her, words like "Excuse me," "Thank you," and "Please" are never to be used in public toward strangers (even customer service people)...and, smiling toward others is just not something to be done logically. Ironically, when foreigners first think of Chinese elders, bearded wise smiling old men (like Confucius) are probably the