mistakes on the english map of china

as promised, my communist student, tang, came through. today, before class (yes, not even after class, before class!) i was presented with a copy of the anti-secession law in english. one country, two systems. i was also provided a white rabbit, which is like a tootsie roll, except made out of the same cream filling in bull's eyes. i was worried that my democratic tendencies seemed to be up for sale for delicious treats, but i decided it was just a gift.

after class, tang informed me that the english map of china that he gave me last week was incorrect. the english map said that qumanglang feng was the tallest mountain at 8848 meters high. in fact, qumanglang feng was the tallest mountain at 8844.48 meters high. the discrepancy had not bothered me by that point, but there is no doubt it would have eventually. what really bothered me at this point was that he had spent time scouring both maps simultaneously for mistakes. i decided that this couldn't be the case, and this fact had been found out some other way. either way, i'm reading up on the npc's decision, and i'll get back to you about how i feel.

the anti-secession memo

on the first tuesday i taught, i was asked by a student what i thought about the taiwan-china issue. skillfully dodging the issue, i told the class that i was not supposed to talk about politics during class. he asked once more during class, and i gave the same answer. he then approached me after. "so what do you think about taiwan?" "well, i guess i feel the same way most americans do." he was not satisfied. i think he wanted me to actually say it. so i did. "i think that taiwan is okay the way it is right now." he started to go on to the history of the issue, and began to try to convince me. i did not have time, as i had to go to class.

two weeks later, today, after class, he approached me again. he gave me two, in his view, correct maps of china, one in chinese and one in english. it was then i noticed that he was wearing a communist pin. i then realized that this smart kid was most likely a party member. he also gave me a dense (at least to me) document which he told me was the anti-secession doctrine. it was written chinese, but he assured me that he would provide me with an english translation of it next week.

he asked me to read it and "bring [his] message to the west."

so i am.