Beijing
The Korean War stopped for practical purposes in 1953, but technically, it never ended.
This is a matter of theory for most people around the world, but clearly for the North Korean leadership – and many of its brainwashed people – it’s a brutal reality.
This week’s shelling by North Korea of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong was just the latest illustration of this attitude.
Australian Ambassador to Japan, Murray McLean OAM, caught up with Thom Woodroofe at APEC this week and discussed the prospect of him moving to be our man in Beijing, and the behaviour of the Chinese at Copenhagen last year .
Reports in the Australian Financial Review last weekend suggested that Murray McLean is on the shortlist to be our head diplomat in Beijing.
While the job has been advertised internally in DFAT, the mandarin speaking Ambassador humbly brushed off the suggestion he was being considered for the shift to China. He says he will go “wherever the government wants him to go” when his term expires “sometime in 2011”, but he may be asked to pack his bags for Beijing before then.
Ambassador McLean has been our main man in Tokyo for almost six years now, a lengthy appointment by any measure. But his CV oozes China.
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BobbyDan says:
MarK, consider your wave has been returned with a nod from me. You are good at arithmetic too, nice! Read more »
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MarK says:
When i checked back here there were 9 posts. I was mine leaving 8. 3 were addressed at em - and were being nasty. It made me sad. Actually it didn’t 2 were accusing Thom of being self serving and self important that leaves ummmm 8 - 3 - 2… Read more »
Anyone in Beijing could not have missed the sticky blanket of smog that clung to the city early Wednesday, when air quality was regarded as “hazardous” for several hours.
At 6am I stood on the balcony of my apartment and could not see further than about 1km in the distance. The buildings that were visible appeared through a smoky haze and the air felt warm and thick on my skin.
In my ears was the constant hum of construction that hasbeen the soundtrack to my first Chinese summer.
Continue reading "Postcard from Beijing: I think that’s where I am" »
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iansand says:
I once had the haze in China (it is not just Beijing) referred to by a local as “the foggy season”, which seems to last from 27 May to 26 May every year. It is the only fog I have experienced that makes your eyes water. Read more »
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W says:
I lived in Beijing for 6 months over winter. The most common weather type on the weather website I looked at was “hazy” which meant you could look directly at the sun. While I never got a flu or any specific illness by the time I left I had a… Read more »
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