status: nervous. about becoming dad. again. and having to - at least for the time being - bring up two kids in China, which is more and more at the point of war with its neighbors. today's papers in China have only one cover story: control over the Diaoyu Islands, a piece of rock that not only China but also Japan and Taiwan claim sovereignty over. small rocks roughly 200 km north of Taiwan with massive natural resources underneath. China had similar conflicts this year with Vietnam, Philippines and Korea. But the Japanese are the favorite-hated nation to the Chinese. Like the Germans to the Dutch.
I ignore most reporting about these conflicts, like I did ignore reporting on the Balkans war in the 90ies or the continuous conflict in Israel and Lebanon. Bad vibes and no way to change anything for an individual outside of the combat zone. this time my family might be inside though. and I feel the fault lines open up during rare political discussions at work, where people you have thought to be on the same side with, are suddenly brainwashed nationalists, who don't seem to realize that their government plays an old trick on them: turn attention on enemies to cover up for own deficiencies.
I ignore most reporting about these conflicts, like I did ignore reporting on the Balkans war in the 90ies or the continuous conflict in Israel and Lebanon. Bad vibes and no way to change anything for an individual outside of the combat zone. this time my family might be inside though. and I feel the fault lines open up during rare political discussions at work, where people you have thought to be on the same side with, are suddenly brainwashed nationalists, who don't seem to realize that their government plays an old trick on them: turn attention on enemies to cover up for own deficiencies.
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