A highly ambitious ASEAN wants to create a genuine integrated market much like the European Union (EU) – but it has some way to go, according to Southeast Asia expert Hans Vriens.

Hans Vriens shared his expert knowledge of ASEAN with FCC members and guests. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

Despite its aim to build a single market that would see the free flow of goods, investment and skilled labour, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will face challenges for a variety of reasons, many of them governmental, said Vriens, whose club lunch on May 4 sought to answer the question of whether ASEAN was an economic powerhouse in the making, or back to being tribute states of China. The answer, he concluded, was yes and no.

“Not a single government leader in the ASEAN is pushing for this,” he said, adding that member states were not yet serious about giving up their sovereignty.

Vriens, Managing Partner of Vriens & Partners, outlined the major differences between ASEAN’s Economic Community (AEC) and the EU, including that currently there was no parliament, no ASEAN law, a myriad of political systems, and no plan for a monetary union.

“So do not be misled by talk about an ASEAN Economic Community,” Vriens, a past president of the FCC, said.

ASEAN was formed in August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It was later joined by Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Further regional integration saw the creation of ASEAN Plus Three to include China, Japan and South Korea. Much like the EU, it aims to encourage economic growth among its members, as well as social progress. The AEC was established in 2015.

Another reason why regional harmony was not yet in ASEAN’s grasp was China’s growing influence in the region, and in particular the fierce competition between China and Japan over railroads. The Philippines and Vietnam were also involved in disputes with China over sovereignty in the South China Sea, Vriens said.

While ASEAN was diverse with an emerging middle class and relatively low GDP per capita, it faces big challenges, said Vriens. Poor education and infrastructure, coupled with low quality universal healthcare and poverty, were hurdles to overcome, he said.

Vriens examined political developments in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and the Philippines. The rise in populist presidents like the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte could be positive because “they want to build to show progress”.

The journey from journalist to film producer to environmental crusader was the subject of a talk by Paula DiPerna, who spoke (through an intermediary) about working with legendary filmmaker and ocean explorer, Jacques Cousteau.

Despite losing her voice, Paula DiPerna managed to communicate her life story to FCC members. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

Unfortunately, DiPerna, a visiting fellow of the Civic Exchange who has been in Hong Kong for eight weeks giving talks, had lost her voice by the time she arrived for her April 25 club lunch appearance. Joyce Lau, the Civic Exchange’s Communications Director, stepped in to read out her speech and DiPerna managed to whisper answers to questions from guests.   

The documentary maker’s story began as a New York high school teacher with a burning passion to write stemming from an “early fascination with books and the stories my mother would make up and tell me when I was little”. An opportunity to indulge her yearning came when the city, facing bankruptcy, decided to axe the schools budget, “including letting go the teachers with least seniority, meaning me and my peers”.

“I found that so short-sighted and detrimental to the city’s welfare, and was burning to tell the story,” DiPerna said.

And write about it she did, albeit a first attempt described by Village Voice editor Ross Wetzsteon as “too boring… a perfect example of an interesting story that turns boring on the page”.

Despite her underwhelming start in journalism, DiPerna kept writing and eventually took a role as a volunteer editor on a book called The Cousteau Almanac. “I volunteered, thinking it would be a good way to learn about ocean science although at that time I had no interest in the environment per se,” she said.

But an interest in the environment did develop through her close working relationship with Cousteau himself, whose pioneering TV series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau was watched by millions, and who co-invented the the breathe-on-demand valve for SCUBA diving. Her work with Cousteau took her into film production and narration, and together they traveled the world to highlight environmental issues.

“Cousteau was so famous he could secure a meeting with anyone, and we worked closely with Heads of State and just about anyone he wanted to meet wanted to meet him.  So we had fantastic access to the top and I began also to see how big decisions get made – quickly very often,” she said. “Although to avoid inertia, implementation is key and that was my key role for Cousteau on the policy side. To implement the big ideas he was launching to this or that high level person.”

During the talk, DiPerna showed photos of her expeditions with Cousteau to Antarctica and Alaska, among other far-flung places. But perhaps one of their most important trips was to Cuba, where they helped secure the release of 50 political prisoners being held under the Castro regime.

“Suffice it to say here that no three people were ever less destined to meet than me, Jacques Cousteau and Fidel Castro, and yet not only did we meet, we got along well enough to develop a trust that enabled Castro to release these prisoners as a token of his respect for Cousteau, and for me to able to work with the US government – when we had no official diplomatic relations – to get entry visas for the prisoners – all men,” DiPerna said.

Having developed the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the first integrated cap-and-trade system in the world that handled all six greenhouse gases; and subsequently the Tianjin Climate Exchange, the first of China’s seven pilot carbon markets; DiPerna now spends her time promoting the concept of making pollution more expensive than not polluting.

“So now, today, I try to pull all the threads of my life together wherever and however I can, giving talks (too many I guess given the state of my voice) and writing and affixing myself to strategic organisations such as CDP and Civic Exchange,” she said.

The Chinese government and private companies must end gender discrimination in job advertisements, said Human Rights Watch as it launched a new report such behaviour on the mainland.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, unveils a report on gender discrimination in job ads in China. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

Kenneth Roth, executive director, revealed that well-known companies including tech giant Alibaba were guilty of gender discrimination in their recruitment practices, adding that this facilitated the creation of workplace environment conducive to sexual harassment.

The 99-page report, Only Men Need Apply, analysed more than 36,000 job advertisements posted between 2013 and 2018 on Chinese recruitment websites and social media. It found that in many cases, ads specified a preference for men. Other ads required women to look a certain way even though it was irrelevant to the job. One posting sought ‘fashionable and beautiful high-speed train conductors. Other companies used the physical attributes of female employees to attract applicants.

“In a moment of #MeToo, I want to say I too am worried about gender discrimination,” said Roth as he called on the Chinese government to enforce laws preventing gender discrimination, rather than wait to act – inadequately, he added – on complaints about it.

Roth said gender discrimination was ‘rampant’ among China’s private companies, where some ads called for a ‘trim figure’, or for the applicant to be ‘aesthetically pleasing’. He said China was falling behind the rest of the world when it came to gender discrimination, particularly in its attitude towards enforcing the ‘very vague’ law. In some cases, companies would be told to remove the offending material, and in rare cases a firm would be fined.

More worryingly, the report found that in the 2017 Chinese national civil service job list, 13 per cent of the postings specified ‘men only’, ‘men preferred’, or ‘suitable for men’.

Roth said the findings of the report were sent to the government and all companies highlighted. However, only one company had responded.

Shanghai in the lead-up to World War Two was a hotbed of writers and journalists covering an infinitely bigger China story than is being covered today, according to the author of a new book about the city during that time.

Acclaimed writer Paul French recounts tales from old Shanghai at the FCC. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

With more trade coming out of Shanghai before the Japanese invasion of 1937 than comes from the entire country today (depending on how you calculate it), it was not only the big global story of the day, but it was being read around the world by those watching the build-up to World War Two, said Paul French.

Award-winning author French shed light on a lawless city, partitioned into various international settlements, that was a haven for outlaws from all over the world – larger-than-life characters who, due to the lack of immigration control at the time, were able to reinvent themselves and make their fortunes. Some ran casinos in the Shanghai Badlands, others brothels.

And there to capture it all was the foreign press corps, itself leading a fascinating existence in the so-called Paris Of The Orient, many being freelancers reporting for major international newspapers including the New York Times, Reuters and the Times of London. And in contrast to freelancers today, they made a significant amount of money that afforded them a lavish lifestyle in the city.

Broadway Mansions, home to the Shanghai FCC during World war Two. The club later became the Hong Kong FCC. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

French told of writers Edgar and Helen Snow’s sumptuous hutong courtyard home where they had seven servants and a racehorse; The New Yorker’s Emily Hahn and her stylish Shanghai apartment; and the city’s largest private library, owned by Times of London correspondent George Morrison, aka Morrison of Peking.

When asked how journalists of the time could afford such lavish lifestyles, French said: “There were so many journalist jobs – everybody had two or three jobs.”

He said writers were often stringers for international newspapers but would also get jobs on local English-language newspapers in Shanghai. The world was fascinated by what was happening in the cosmopolitan city pre-1937, particularly as the Battle of Shanghai kicked off fighting between China’s National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

“China was such a bigger story then that it is now,” said French, adding that far more column inches were given to coverage, whereas now China’s economy is the only story being covered by the international media.

The colourful characters of the time are brought together by French in his soon-to-be published book, City Of Devils: A Shanghai Noir, a painstakingly researched novel about a now vanished old China.

French’s talk on April 19 included photos of the old Shanghai FCC building in Shanghai’s Broadway Mansions, which would later become to the FCC Hong Kong when, in 1949, its president, Clyde Farnsworth, moved the club to the city after the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan and Mao’s Communists created the PRC.

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A tendency towards skirting around the real issues in China rather than talking about the problems the country suffers is the reason China watchers get it so wrong, says the author of a new book pointing out what he sees as the deep flaws in Chinese culture.

Author Paul Midler aired some grievances about the way the Chinese do business when he appeared at the FCC. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCC

The frustration of doing business in China was a particular area of focus for controversial author Paul Midler, who took aim at the nation’s penchant for long and drawn out negotiations, combined with a frustrating lack of openness, when it came to striking deals. In fact, this procrastination was probably the reason why the Chinese were to blame for the Opium Wars, he said, to the dismay of at least one guest who made it clear she was offended by the comment.

“Part of the trouble is we don’t have a vocabulary to discuss the sort of shenanigans that pass for business-as-usual in China,” said the American.

According to Midler, the over-politeness now employed when talking about social and business issues in China stems from post-World War Two liberalisation. Prior to that, he said, the conversation was inspired by social Darwinism, allowing debates on what made certain populations around the world more successful than others. Midler called the 1920s and 1930s a ‘golden era’ for China watching due to its ‘very frank’ discussions about what was and wasn’t working in China.

But things are improving, he conceded, in that China’s big fails – pollution being one example – are being openly discussed globally and positively responded to by Beijing. But he said the general conversation around China remained largely focused on economics because it relieved us of the burden of having to discuss the real issues that are more painful.

Midler went on to explain that the media-projected image of Chinese people being ‘wholly innocent’ hostages to the Communist Party was ‘fiction’, and in fact 95% of the Chinese population freely supports the government.

“The reality is China watchers walk on egg shells,” Midler, who was promoting his latest book, What’s Wrong With China, said.

However, the era of Donald Trump and his incendiary approach to diplomacy is changing the conversation. “I think we’re getting closer and closer to people expressing what they actually mean,” Midler said.

Watch the video of the talk below.

The international news wire Agence France-Presse is looking for an enterprising Anglophone correspondent to join its team in Beijing, covering a wide range of issues in China for a huge global audience.

The role includes covering daily breaking news and writing longer, more in-depth analyses and features, involving some travel around China. The bureau also covers Mongolia.

This is an opportunity for a journalist who wants to develop his or her own story ideas and play a significant part in reporting developments in Chinese politics, sports, society, economics and culture for a major news agency.

AFP is looking for a native English speaker with the ability to speak and read Chinese.

The ideal candidate must have strong knowledge of China and have shown an ability to develop sources, break news and produce original stories. Compensation package commensurate with abilities and experience.

Please apply with CV and cuttings to Asia Regional Director Philippe Massonnet at [email protected], Chief Asia Editor Giles Hewitt at [email protected], Beijing Bureau Chief Patrick Baert at [email protected] and Deputy Bureau Chief Laurent Thomet at [email protected]