The power of a blank sheet of paper
Chinese protests, the World Cup and the fallacy of extrapolation
Notes to the Future 3 (week ending 3 December 2022)
The ‘A4 Movement’
In the very long run, the most important thing to have happened this week for Europe and the West may yet prove to be the protests that briefly spread across many cities in China. Although they were mainly against continued Covid lockdown, they segued remarkably quickly into broader protests against China’s digital censorship and one-man rule - and for freedom. The most moving and inventive symbol of this protest was people holding up blank sheets of paper (usually A4 white paper – hence known as the ‘A4 movement’). Interestingly, according to this report, this was inspired by a Soviet-era dissident.
One should have no illusions that this will change anything much in the reality of China’s neo-totalitarian regime in the short term, but it is a sign of something brewing underneath, in Chinese society. If we were wrong in the early 2000s to think that history would continue inevitably to go the way of freedom and democracy, we would be equally wrong in the early 2020s to assume that history will inevitably continue to go the way of the authoritarian regimes. Witness also the extraordinarily brave and persistent protests in Iran, led by the young.
I’m of course a complete amateur when it comes to China, but if you want to know more, let me recommend this LRB blog by my son Alec Ash, who has just returned to the West after a total of 12 years spent living in China: https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2022/november/blank-sheets-of-paper
Meanwhile, football …
Meanwhile, of course, what most Europeans have been talking about is the World Cup, and especially the exit of Germany. In its own way, it also illustrates the fallacy of extrapolation from past to future. That once seemingly invincible team…
I was interested to see on Friday morning in Bremen, where I had delivered a lecture the night before, these Japanese flags flying in the Rathausplatz. Was it a sporting tribute to the triumphant Japanese? Alas, no, apparently it was just because the Japanese ambassador was coming to visit.
…another long train journey…
This time 6 hours traversing Germany from north to south. Although I must say that whenever I tweet or talked enthusiastically about the German intercity trains I’m met by a chorus of scepticism from Germans about the service provided by the Deutsche Bahn. Still and all, I’d rather have a flourishing democracy than the trains running on time. (Apparently in Switzerland they have both).
…and for sheer beauty, beat this…
The Bavarian Alps, on the border to Austria. Some of you will know where I am, but I’m not letting on. Let’s keep this secret for ourselves.
PS Next week, d.v., I’ll be writing following a trip to Ukraine
and pre-order my new book Homelands: A Personal History of Europe…