The officials cancelled interviews with foreign journalists refused to discuss changes to the ballet and admitted that it was all too
The officials cancelled interviews with foreign journalists, refused to discuss changes to the ballet, and admitted that it was all too "sensitive" because of the show's links with the Cultural Revolution. "There are changes, but all have been for artistic requirements," was all one official would admit.In a country where all mention in the media of this year's 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution has been banned, it was left to the audience to show that some Chinese can adopt a more mature approach to recent history.Waiting for the theatre doors to open, Wang Lizhu, 41, said he had seen the White-Haired Girl at least three times during the Cultural Revolution. "At that time, there were not many artistic activities, and I and my friends thought the quality of the model works was quite high," he said. Would it be good for the moral education of his 12-year-old daughter, whom he had brought to the theatre? "Useless," Mr Wang laughed. "Children do not know anything about the exploitation of the old landlords or the oppression before Liberation.
As for students who are older, at high school and university, some thought that because Xi'er's father owed money to the landlord, he must pay. A debate on the morality of Chinese youth was sparked last year when an opera version of the White-Haired Girl was performed in Peking, and some young Chinese were quoted in the media as saying it was proper for the landlord to demand repayment of the debt. By then, such have been Xi'er's sufferings that her long black hair has turned completely white.The difficulties of theatre revivals are well known But this one poses extra challenges. As well as the ballet, there was the original opera, the film, and the folk dance interpretation. Yet on Tuesday, the first night of this Peking ballet revival, the house was packed, and only the ticket touts outside would have scandalised Madame Mao. The plot is straightforward. Xi'er, a peasant girl, sees her father beaten to death by the landlord because he cannot pay his debts. She is forced to work in the cruel landlord's home, runs away to the forest, and is rescued three years later when her village is liberated by Communist troops; the landlord and his henchman are subsequently executed.
As one of only eight "model" shows permitted by Madame Mao during the Cultural Revolution, it will have been seen by anyone over the age of 25 - and anyone over the age of 40 will have seen it many times. The return of the White-Haired Girl has proved an interesting barometer of con- temporary political correctness in Peking. The audience, nowadays keen followers of paramount statesman Deng Xiao- ping's edict that "To get rich is glorious", dutifully clapped at all the right places: when the evil landlord and his sidekick were beaten by vengeful peasants, when the heroine was reunited with her Eighth Route Army soldier, and as the symbolic red sun rose above the horizon. From the organisers' point of view, the timing of the applause was a potential political minefield. But as Peking this week hosted its first performance for two decades of the Cultural Revolution classic Chinese ballet, the White-Haired Girl, the authorities need not have been so uptight. In the US Jerry Lui, a former British American Tobacco executive in Hong Kong, is resisting extradition on the grounds that he "would be tried and punished by one of the most notorious, totalitarian, human-rights violators on the face of the earth", according to his lawyer.
In Canada a murder accomplice suspect, Chan Chui-mei, is using the "1997 defence" to appeal against an extradition order.Paul Harris, a barrister who leads the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor group, said: "It will be a very interesting barometer of the Hong Kong climate if these cases are upheld."He said China is infringing its new constitution for Hong Kong, and that with "every frightening statement by the Chinese, the day comes nearer when a court in Britain or the US says there is a risk someone won't get a fair trial".A spokesman for the legal department said that to date no court had found a change of sovereignty provided "circumstances which would prevent the grant of extradition".. In practice, this meant that Mr Milosevic would have to renounce any claim on Eastern Slavonia, an enclave in Croatia which was seized by the Serbs in 1991 and is the last piece of Croatian territory still in Serb hands.Eastern Slavonia is under a transitional UN administration but, in accordance with an agreement last year, should revert to Croatia's control by the end of 1997. Yesterday's announcement appeared to seal this agreement, dashing the hopes of Serbs in Eastern Slavonia that Mr Milosevic might absorb their region into rump Yugoslavia.An accord on mutual recognition was also held up by territorial disputes on the Adriatic coast between Croatia and Montenegro. Other problems, such as how to divide up former Yugoslavia's foreign debt among the five successor states, are gradually being solved.Yesterday's agreement may leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Serbs who thought the purpose of the Serb-Croat wars of 1991-95 was to protect Serb minorities in Croatia, or merge their areas into an expanded Greater Serbian state.As events turned out, Mr Milosevic's war brought not territorial gains but the almost total destruction of the centuries-old Serb communities of western and southern Croatia.Moreover, few expect the Serbs of Eastern Slavonia to stay when their region returns to Croatian rule. In New Zealand, a former Hong Kong public prosecutor, Warwick Reid, is fighting extradition for fraud and conspiracy charges on the grounds that he would not obtain a fair trial under Chinese rule. Mr Launder's lawyers argued that under Chinese rule he might face the death penalty if found guilty.The judge said Mr Howard was wrong to overrule Mr Launder's concerns about China's legal system, although Britain and China had agreed to preserve the system in Hong Kong. He said the Home Secretary's decision had been dictated by a collective cabinet decision, made "without regard to the consequent risks to his [Mr Launder's] life and liberty".Mr Howard is appealing to the House of Lords, while Mr Launder, who has been fighting extradition since 1993, remains on bail.At least three other extradition cases have been bogged down by the "1997 defence".
It also appears to be turning a blind eye to rulings in United States and Canadian courts which may also undermine the authority of the colony's judiciary.By coincidence, 11 foreign prisoners in Hong Kong jails yesterday asked Amnesty International to help them secure transfers to British prisons, as they fear their cases may be reopened under Chinese rule.Last year, a US court ruled that a negligence claim relating to events in Hong Kong could be heard in the US, because there was no guarantee that the colony's courts would function properly after 1997.However, the decision in the High Court is far more damaging, as it comes from the power that signed a treaty with China guaranteeing that Hong Kong's way of life would not change for 50 years after the Chinese takeover.Lord Justice Henry said the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, had misdirected himself when he ordered the extradition to Hong Kong of Ewan Launder, 60, a banker accused of bribery and corruption offences. It comes as a growing number of defendants overseas have started using the "1997 defence" to avoid being tried in Hong Kong. Yesterday, the Hong Kong government remained silent on Tuesday's High Court ruling, saying it had not yet studied the judgment. Hong Kong's judicial system has been undermined by a ruling in the London High Court which blocks an extradition to the colony on the grounds that its legal system may not remain intact after China takes over next year. But they are puzzled by the lack of initiatives from Mr Yeltsin's new national security adviser, Alexander Lebed, co-opted onto the Kremlin team after doing well in the first round of the presidential election and widely expected to come up with a fresh approach to Chechnya.Yesterday the retired general said only that the Chechen problem could not be solved "exclusively by coercive methods" and talked of "organising a congress of representatives of the Chechen people".. Yesterday President Yeltsin seemed interested only in the preparations for his inauguration on Friday.Ordinary Russians do not, perhaps, expect anything more inspiring from their ageing leader, who is said to have been exhausted by the election campaign. Fundamentalist Chechens, such as Salman Raduyev, who was believed dead but recently resurfaced after plastic surgery, will settle for nothing less than forcing Russia out of Ichkeria, as the separatists call Chechnya.The eruption of Russia's "internal Afghanistan" has left Moscow floundering. For days before their offensive, the rebels had been making no secret of their anger about Russian air raids on Chechen villages, which broke the peace deal Mr Yeltsin made to woo voters last month.Moderate Chechen leaderssay the latest assault is designed to force Moscow back to the negotiating table But Russian officials now rule out talks.
