War, OpenClaw and CEOs — Dasheng’s Calligraphic Comments on Current Affairs

The Other China

 

Liu Chan 劉蟾, who also goes by the pen name Dasheng 大生, is a writer, scholar and calligrapher. Born in Shaanxi, he lives in Beijing where he edits The Chinese Study 中國書房. We have frequently featured Liu’s work in The Other China (for details, see below).

‘Dasheng’s Calligraphic Comments’ are an innovative use of an ancient art from. In them, Liu Chan uses a quasi-poetic couplet to sum up recent events in the news, often juxtaposing items that seemingly have little in common. In the colophons that he composes — they run vertically at either side of the lines of the couplet — the calligrapher elaborates on the news items that have been highlighted poetically.

Although he is relatively young, Liu Chan often affects the style of an ‘old fogey’, one that allows him considerable latitude in commenting on, and gently satirising, the welter of current affairs.

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China Heritage is grateful to Dasheng for sharing his recent work. Explanatory notes and other relevant material have been added.

— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
20 March 2026

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Liu Chan in The Other China:

Liu Chan’s work also features in:

See also:

A girls’ school bombed into oblivion and
Religious scholars wiped out en masse

The initial results of the latest military action by US-Israeli forces [in Iran] has been relatively optimal. Not only was Ali Khamenei killed, some fifty other high-level regime officials were also taken out. On 3 March [2026], eighty-six members of Iran’s Council of Religious Experts gathered to elect a new ayatollah. It too was bombed (the number of casualties has yet to be confirmed). May the US and Israel persist but spare the people of Iran from further slaughter.

Then, on 28 February, 165 people were killed when a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, was bombed. It is the sixth day of the war and it is unclear who was responsible for the attack. Although a good number of theocrats have been killed many civilians have also lost their lives. May Iran’s theocratic era end soon and be replaced by a modern polity.

(According to updated information, it seems more than likely that the American military is responsible for the bombing of the girls’ school in Minab. Absolutely horrific! Even more reason to emphasise the importance of democratic and transparent processes in the gathering of intelligence before hostilities break out. The ‘dirty hands’ of politicians are burden both by responsibilities and concomitant moral repercussions. One can only hope that people will be able to maintain a clear-eyed assessment of things and recognise the nature of the ‘dirty hand’ that is at fault. — colophon by Dasheng dated 12 March.)

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 5 March 2026

On Dirty Hands:

Trump’s strike on Iran, which killed Khamenei, did something many people would call a good deed. Yet the criticism has never stopped.

On the Chinese internet, some Trump supporters (“pro-Trump” voices) seem genuinely puzzled:
Trump wiped out Khamenei and did such a huge good thing, so why are people still picking him apart?

To answer that, we have to mention a very interesting idea in political philosophy — “dirty hands.” …

Every option has moral costs. In these situations, politics is not about choosing between good and evil, but about choosing between greater evil and lesser evil. People are forced to settle for the “small evil” that causes less harm.

This is the so-called “dirty hands” problem.

“Dirty hands” is a concept introduced by American political philosopher Michael Walzer (迈克尔·沃尔泽, 1935– ) in his reflections on political ethics. The idea is that, in special circumstances, in order to reach a just or legitimate goal, a politician may have to do something that is morally wrong.

A classic example goes like this: you capture a terrorist who plans to blow up a city, but he refuses to say where the bomb is. You are the one in charge. What do you do? Do you resort to torture?

It is clear that torture is wrong. But if you do not torture him and the bomb goes off, the consequences are even worse.

So actions like deception, lying, covert operations, even torture — all of which are wrong under ordinary morality — can, in extreme conditions, be choices that real-world politics forces on people as the “lesser wrong.”

The theory of dirty hands therefore makes a sobering claim: some political actions are both necessary and guilty at the same time.

If we are distant spectators in the Middle Kingdom, we should also keep a clear head. When we cheer that dirty hands have rid the world of a demon, we must at the same time clearly recognize that this is still a dirty hand — a hand we know all too well. Only in this way can we slowly spit out the wolf’s milk (狼奶), wash away the wounds burned deep into our souls, and raise the level of ideas in the Middle Kingdom.

History keeps warning us: once intellectuals begin to sing the praises of dirty hands, once religious figures use divine language to bless those hands, once dirty hands hide behind “great goals,” wrap themselves in the cloak of justice, and slip past the checks of law and public opinion — then humanity’s most dangerous, darkest hour is truly upon us.

— from Dasheng, Trump and “Dirty Hands” in Politics, China Thought Express, 11 March 2026

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Ukraine offers support to the US and Israel effort
Women’s soccer players seek asylum in Australia

On 9 March, Ukraine dispatched specialists in drone warfare to the Middle East to help deflect attacks by Iranian Shahed drones. After three years of bitter fighting, Ukraine has become a formidable military power in its own right. It is now evident that they ‘have cards’ in their hands.

On 2 March, members of the Iranian women’s soccer team refused to sing the national anthem before their match against South Korea. Tehran immediately labelled them as ‘wartime traitors’ and they were openly threatened by the Revolutionary Guard. This focussed international attention on their plight. On 9 March, five members of the soccer team sought political asylum in Australia. Out of concern for their families, other members of the team decided to return to Iran. One can only hope that the people of Iran will be able to enjoy peace and safety as soon as possible.

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 11 March 2026

Update:

The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from ​Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there.

Australia ‌had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.

— Reuters, 18 March 2026.

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Old Trump takes to praying before battle
Young Khamenei ascends amidst chaos

On 3 March, in a controversial move, Donald Trump invited a group of Christian leaders into the Oval Office to pray for US Army forces engaged in the Iran conflict. The gesture was widely mocked although there were those who saw it as a sincere expression of faith. It wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad thing if Trump actually believed in something, although it’s ridiculous to depict this military conflict as a ‘religious war’. That will only lead to endless contestation and make a ceasefire and peace talks even more difficult.

On 9 March, even as the American-Israel air onslaught continued, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the dead supreme leader, was elevated to lead Iran. This did not portend well; one can only pray for a resounding victory for the US-Israeli forces, otherwise there will be hell to pay in the future.

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 9 March 2026

Note:

The ‘laying on of hands’ of pro-regime Christian leaders in the Oval Office was widely mocked on Chinese social media:

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The people’s representatives put on a show
as the nation fed their OpenClaw lobsters

Representatives have gathered in congress over recent days. Some have even spoken out honestly, for instance those concerned with the retirement benefits of agricultural workers. A number of short videos of some speeches appeared online, although many of these were comically performative. It remains to be seen what action is actually taken.

At the same time, popular interest in OpenClaw reached fever pitch. This autonomous artificial intelligence agent is an advance on existing AI programs although, as it is still a first generation program it has its drawbacks, in particular regarding cost. In China, OpenClaw was an immediate, and somewhat unseemly, hit. An obsession with ‘nurturing lobsters’ [養龍蝦] was also immediately accompanied by wisecracks and jokes. One can’t help but marvel at it all. The pressure was on and one could only hope that the fashion was more about popular demand than manipulation, in which case it might not be such a bad thing.

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 12 March 2026

Note:

OpenClaw is known as ‘lobster’ 龍蝦 in Chinese. Installing and using the program is referred to as nurturing, raising or feeding ‘the lobster’ 養龍蝦. See China Is Embracing OpenClaw, a New A.I. Agent, and the Government Is Wary, The New York Times, 17 March 2026.

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CEO Dong Mingzhu sweats the small stuff while
Pang Dong Lai showers its employees with riches

A few days ago, during a media interview Dong Mingzhu [CEO of Gree Electric and a People’s Representative] observed that although a twenty yuan increase in farmers’ pensions didn’t seem to be very much, like bonuses paid by big corporations, it added up to a heft amount. Dong’s absurdly inapposite comparison was widely mocked.

Then Pang Dong Lai, a supermarket chain based in Henan province that boast four billion yuan in assets, announced that it was issuing major bonuses to its employees — franchise managers will be paid two million yuan, while a average employees will receive 200,000 renminbi. There’s speculation that this has something to do with deflecting from the delay in the opening a major new retail outlet at Xinmen in Zhengzhou. Regardless, the bonuses reflect the company’s values and longstanding system of rewards. Hopefully, Pang Dong Lai will weather the present storm without further incident.

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 15 March 2026

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The dragon slayer is agèd
and he is a wicked worm

The US-Israel onslaught on Iran has scored significant successes and there are indications that it has resulted in fissures within the country. That would be excellent and one can only hope that the Revolutionary Guard will lose its ability to oppress the people and maintain its resistance so that a more moderate faction can take control. Regardless, many of Donald Trump’s actions are as controversial as ever — in particular, his decision to relax sanctions on Russian oil and his attempt to enlist the aid of other countries to open the Strait of Hormuz. The NATO countries have simply refused to participate.

As usual, opinions on the Chinese Internet are starkly divided. People of my vintage, however, are quite capable of celebrating the attrition of the Iran regime while remaining on high alert when it comes to the behaviour of the Trump administration. Taking a more structuralist view of history, we can put aside simplistic expectations about winning and losing as well as all that talk about heroes and villains — although such a way of seeing events is deeply entrenched in China.

— Dasheng Liu Chan, 17 March 2026

Note:

In Chinese culture, there is endless debate about whether dragons 龍 are little more than glorified insects 蟲.

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