Chengdu
I'm at Discon III, the current World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon). One of the things we do at a Worldcon is vote on where the convention will be two years from now. It was announced today that Chengdu, China won the bid for 2023. It was not my first choice, largely due to the travel cost. The other bid was Winnipeg, Canada - obviously cheaper to get to from Chicago.
China rather obviously has human rights issues, and there are more than a few people who are rightfully concerned that they may be in danger of arrest if they visit mainland China. As a result, a number of people were vehemently opposed to the bid. I am of several minds about that. First, yes we should recognize the human rights issues. Second, we should recognize that no country is perfect.
The US has our own issues, from white supremacy to a bad track record of allowing Arabs in the country. I personally saw a Canadian writer of Lebanese descent get pulled aside for additional screening while re-entering the US on a cruise. Her mother (also a Canadian citizen) had been denied entry into the US prior to the cruise.
My third take is that we as a country have decided to engage in extensive trade and business with China. We as science fiction people claim to represent the world (see "World Science Fiction Convention.") If the bidder wins the bid via legitimate means, then they win the bid. If an individual or group doesn't want to attend, then they don't attend.
Lastly, there were a number of shenanigans during the bid process. This started with overheated announcements about the number of Chinese people registered to vote and ended with an attempt to implement a technical change to the way we count bids which seemed designed to toss out the Chinese bids. That last attempt obviously failed, but it did not cover the current convention with glory - rather the reverse.
Whether or not I actually go to China will depend on many factors, including budget, but they certainly have the right to host the convention.
This entry was originally posted at https://chris-gerrib.dreamwidth.org/765725.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
China rather obviously has human rights issues, and there are more than a few people who are rightfully concerned that they may be in danger of arrest if they visit mainland China. As a result, a number of people were vehemently opposed to the bid. I am of several minds about that. First, yes we should recognize the human rights issues. Second, we should recognize that no country is perfect.
The US has our own issues, from white supremacy to a bad track record of allowing Arabs in the country. I personally saw a Canadian writer of Lebanese descent get pulled aside for additional screening while re-entering the US on a cruise. Her mother (also a Canadian citizen) had been denied entry into the US prior to the cruise.
My third take is that we as a country have decided to engage in extensive trade and business with China. We as science fiction people claim to represent the world (see "World Science Fiction Convention.") If the bidder wins the bid via legitimate means, then they win the bid. If an individual or group doesn't want to attend, then they don't attend.
Lastly, there were a number of shenanigans during the bid process. This started with overheated announcements about the number of Chinese people registered to vote and ended with an attempt to implement a technical change to the way we count bids which seemed designed to toss out the Chinese bids. That last attempt obviously failed, but it did not cover the current convention with glory - rather the reverse.
Whether or not I actually go to China will depend on many factors, including budget, but they certainly have the right to host the convention.
This entry was originally posted at https://chris-gerrib.dreamwidth.org/765725.html. Please comment there using OpenID.