My election campaign hibernation

04 September 2013

I am one of those Australians who tends to go into hibernation during election campaigns. So where better to be last week than in China. No democracy here, no electoral lather to worry about.

On arrival, the pollution knocks you over and building cranes span every urban horizon — the opportunity to view some of the results of Australia's iron exports and to breathe the byproducts of Australia's massive coal exports. A lingering cough is a constant reminder of the damage our global commitment to economic development is doing to the planet.

Visits to the terracotta warriors (pictured) and to the Xian Museum housing over 4000 ancient calligraphy stones provide the opportunity to see the Chinese relishing their history and distinctiveness. The 6000 terracotta warriors were entombed in Emperor Qin's mausoleum in 210BC. Mr Yang, one of the farmers who discovered the warriors when digging a well in 1974, is on hand to sign my copy of The Qin Dynasty Terracotta Army of Dreams. He never knew how to write before President Bill Clinton asked for his signature on the 1998 presidential family visit.

One of the calligraphy stones dating from the Tang Dynasty in 781AD tells the story of the arrival of Christian Nestorians in China in 635AD. This helps explain the remark of the late Bishop Aloysius Jin SJ from Shanghai — that he did not want there to be the need for a fourth beginning to Christianity in China, following upon the Nestorians, then the Jesuits, then the evangelisation following the Opium Wars and Unequal Treaties in the 1830s.

These historical backdrops help the foreigner to understand something of China's isolation and sense of identity.

It's seven years since I last visited China. The urban growth has been phenomenal. While Australian politicians in election mode talk yet again about the idea of one very fast train and amorphous ideas for future growth, I catch the regular train service from Shijiazhuang to Beijing traveling at over 300kmh, across land every inch of which is dedicated to agriculture, industry or urban development. Without democracy, you can get a lot done.

Over an outdoor meal with church members and local party officials (each part of both!) in a small village outside Xian, a local asks after Lù Kèwén (Kevin Rudd). He had heard that Mr Murdoch was being very tough on him! This unsurprisingly is the only mention of Australian politics the whole week. But they were

AUSTRALIA

My election campaign hibernation

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