| | |
|
04 Jan 09
|
|
(Letter) China rattled by Sun King attack An entry by Steve in late December discussed a petition signed by over 2000 Chinese people calling for democracy and human rights in the PRC. At least some of these prominent citizens were subsequently arrested, like Liu Xiaobo
What is interesting is how... |
|
04 Jan 09
|
|
(Letter) What if the Dalai Lama returned to Tibet as a private citizen? Some details … In a recent letter, I wondered aloud if it might be possible for the Dalai Lama to retire from politics and return to Tibet as a private, nonpolitical citizen. Is it possible that the goodwill created by such a move could prove more productive in the... |
|
03 Jan 09
|
|
As Trade Slows, China Rethinks Its Growth Strategy A recent article in the NY Times with excerpts below, talks about the continued deepening of China’s economic slowdown. When calculated in China’s own currency for a true local effect, the situation is worse than expected even a few sho... |
|
31 Dec 08
|
|
Hu Jintao Urges Closer Ties with Taiwan Yesterday’s Associated Press article featured below might indicate movement between China and Taiwan in terms of closer military cooperation and inclusion in some international organizations. The language seems softer than in the past and no da... |
|
26 Dec 08
|
|
China’s Charter 08 Recently, over 2000 Chinese citizens signed the document below, released on December 10th, calling for human rights and democracy with an eventual end to one party rule. I’ve used the translation from the New York Review of Books with sections of... |
|
24 Dec 08
|
|
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan Arrives in Taiwan! Yesterday, the pair of Giant Pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan finally arrived in Taiwan. More than just normal “diplomatic pands,” Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan’s represents the culmination of much political wranglings between the Mainland an... |
|
24 Dec 08
|
|
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I almost forgot: it’s already Christmas Eve in much of Asia - so here is “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” for everyone at Foolsmountain!
A little Holiday Treat:
And if you don’t believe in Christmas? ... |
|
23 Dec 08
|
|
Chinese Crew Fights Off Pirates From the Times Online website with thanks to FOARP:
The crew of a Chinese ship have described how they used beer bottles and water cannon to fend off a pirate attack off the Somali coast before they were rescued.
Zhenua 4 was one of four vessels seized... |
|
20 Dec 08
|
|
China’s 30-Year Journey of Reform and Opening Up China’s journey of reform and opening up over the last the last 30 years have definitely been, if nothing else, colorful and eventful. Last week, Chinese officials marked the 30 year anniversary of China’s reforms and opening up with a serie... |
|
18 Dec 08
|
|
(Guest Post) Can China Save American Automakers? No, China will not buy GM, Ford or Chrysler. But there is another way - a scheme of division of labor in which the U.S. will focus on design and innovation while China on manufacturing efficiency.
The big three automakers are dead businesses not worth... |
|
16 Dec 08
|
|
(Guest Post) A country’s hurt feelings Chinese Foreign Ministry recently described French President Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama as an act that would “gravely hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.
It is the kind of phrase you are looking for in every Chinese... |
|
15 Dec 08
|
|
The Princess Tai Ping Crosses the Pacific Ocean And now for something completely different!
After sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a 15th century Chinese junk, Captain Nelson Liu and his crew of seven on the Princess Tai Ping spent their last few days at the San Diego Maritime Museum befo... |
|
13 Dec 08
|
|
Is there a moral crisis in Mainland China? On my trip to Mainland China a couple of weeks ago, I happened to run into an old family friend who used to be my mom’s acupuncturist (who has since retired). Despite having emigrated from the Mainland to the U.S. almost forty years ago, she stil... |
|
11 Dec 08
|
|
The Xintai Mental Institute Scandal A couple of days ago, the Beijing News reported how local officials in Xintai - a city in the eastern province of Shandong - locked up citizens in mental hospitals to prevent them from making journeys to Beijing to complain to officials of the central... |
|
09 Dec 08
|
|
Translation: I am sorry, but I am not boycotting French goods Note: This is a translation of an essay published in the Chinese Youth Online (中青在线). This translation is meant to bring to readers’ attention some of the diverse opinions publicly expressed in today’s China. I came across it becaus... |
|
09 Dec 08
|
|
Something to chuckle about #1 Well, in an effort to introduce something lighthearted as far as China is concerned, I would like to start the first of a (hopefully) long list of humorous/amusing items. Andy Borowitz had just written a funny piece titled “China Buys Naming Rights... |
|
07 Dec 08
|
|
The Partnership between Africa and China - a Force for Good or Evil? We’ve had impassioned discussions about Tibet this year. But the controversies surrounding China has not just been about Tibet - they have also been about Africa.
In anticipation of a series of posts on Africa, I thought I would put a few feeler... |
|
06 Dec 08
|
|
Shanghai’s Tower of Babel This is the latest of a series of entries about the Crisis and Chinese politics that I’ve posted this week on CHINAYOUREN. I am crossposting to try to get some more feedback from all the people in this forum who know China well. The objective is to... |
|
02 Dec 08
|
|
(Letter) China Punishes France and EU French President Nicolas Sarkozy saw it coming because the Chinese told him what would happen if he meets the Dalai Lama.
He plans to go ahead anyway. China thus canceled the China-EU summit in France.
Some called it “crazy”, others called... |
|
27 Nov 08
|
|
Remember the adage: “never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence”? In keeping with the theme of amusing news, let’s take a look at the translation provided in ESWN of a poem written by Chen Shuibian’s to his wife from prison, after he was detained for allegedly (with his entire family) laundering bribes and... |
|
27 Nov 08
|
|
Psst, Tim, it would catch more eyes if you claim China engineered the financial crisis I just found out, via Andrew Sullivan’s blog, that Tim Butcher had penned a rather interesting article at the Prospect Magazine accusing China for provoking a new cycle of violence in Congo. Now, before people jump up and throw charges at me (i.e.,... |
|
22 Nov 08
|
|
Chen Daojun sentenced to three years of international fame Chen Daojun (陈道军) was sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting subversion of state authority” (煽动颠覆国家政权罪) yesterday. Thus the Chinese government, quite rightfully described as clumsy and self-defeating in... |
|
22 Nov 08
|
|
State media is now allowed to report bad news According to Reuters, China is relaxing restrictions on the media to report “negative” news promptly and without clearance from the top. Could it be that some in the authority read what Roland had to say at ESWN regarding the pointlessness of... |
|
19 Nov 08
|
|
Be aware of the danger of a foreign language When one deals with a foreign language, there is always a chance to produce (sometimes hilarious) errors. This blog has cautioned readers against the danger of relying on automated translation services. Now it seems consulting with a human expert does not... |
|
17 Nov 08
|
|
Update: Exiled Tibetans from Around the World Meet in Dharamsala for Six Days Exiled Tibetans from around the world are gathering in Dharamsala for their largest political conference in nearly 60 years. The Dalai Lama has called for the six-day meeting, which begins Monday, after failing to make progress in negotiations with China.... |
|
16 Nov 08
|
|
Time for a More Equal Economic Partnership Between the U.S. and China? Since China opened to the world some 30 years ago, China has witnessed unprecedented economic development and growth. However, the economic relationship China has with the West has been a decidedly subservient one.
In the global economy, China woul... |
|
14 Nov 08
|
|
Tibet: Turning over a new page I’ve been resisting writing anything on Tibet recently because I think we’ve had more than our shares. But I think the time may be right on this board for one small, limited discussion.
In case you have missed it, the Chinese government an... |
|
13 Nov 08
|
|
Quiet Reflection of the Sichuan Wen Chuan Earthquake When historians look back to 2008, they may well consider China’s response to the 8+ magnitude Wen Chuan Earthquake as a key defining milestone in China’s long road to modernization.
2008 by all accounts would be a big year. Not only woul... |
|
13 Nov 08
|
|
A reconsideration of “grand democracy” of the CR, theory and practice Something no less significant than the country’s rapid economic growth of past three decades is that a group of brilliantly independent-thinking intellectual elites came into being with growing public impact, thanks to a relatively more relaxed era. Whi... |
|
09 Nov 08
|
|
China announces agressive stimulus plan I have expected some major efforts by the Chinese government to encourage internal economic development and consumption in the face of the global meltdown. In particular, I thought it would be the time to spread the benefits of infrastructure and its... |
|
08 Nov 08
|
|
The Indie Music Scene In China Chinese culture has undergone tremendous change in the last 20 years. We tend to notice the big events: Massive new skyscrapers, world class airports, new symphony halls, the Olympic Games, 5 star hotels and restaurants, etc. But what we might not see is... |
|
07 Nov 08
|
|
Is China An Inclusive Society? With its recent election of an African American president, the United States has continued to evolve into a more inclusive society. One of the reasons is that being “American” means buying into a set of ideas rather than belonging to a particular r... |
|
05 Nov 08
|
|
Obama Wins the U.S. Presidency! Ok - this is not exactly about China. But heck, it’s been a big night! What are your thoughts about the election? Want to offer your predictions for the next four years (or eight if you are that high?) - esp. in terms of the global econo... |
|
04 Nov 08
|
|
How Can China Learn from India? Recently we have had several good, vigorous debates on the proper role of human rights in the International Order - including in China in particular. For example, in a recent thread, I argued in the comments that the Chinese government is right to focu... |
|
30 Oct 08
|
|
(Letter) China: Internet censorship tightened As Beijing Olympics closed, the Internet censorship in China further tightened. Undeniably, this deterioration has affected and frustrated an increasing number of netizens in China.
First, it is unlikely now to publish any contribution on state-run or... |
|
30 Oct 08
|
|
Obamania Seems to be Sweeping through China, too! As the U.S. Presidential Campaign reaches a climatic end, it is interesting to see that many Chinese, like others throughout the world, seem to have rushed aboard the Obama wagon. While pondering these observations, I ran across an interesting article on... |
|
29 Oct 08
|
|
(Letter) Crisis and The Great Wall of China During my travels these last weeks in Europe and Asia, and on my return to China, I have observed some rather striking contrasts. So much that they made me think a lot about the present state of Chinese economy, and here is a word about it.
Two different... |
|
25 Oct 08
|
|
An explanation for the financial crisis with a recycled joke A friend directed me to this joke today. I vaguely remember hearing something similar years ago, but this version is now much more interesting because of a new/amended moral of the story, which addresses the Chinese investors but is perhaps just as... |
|
24 Oct 08
|
|
(Letter) Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate 2001 in Economics, on China’s Economic Management In a Q & A with Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate in Economics 2001, on the U.S. economic crisis on Squawk Box at CNBC, Spence makes some notable comments on China’s management of its economy and its responsible actions on the global economic... |
|
23 Oct 08
|
|
Why are Taiwanese so violent??? Recently, DPP protesters attacked a Chinese envoy visiting a Confucius temple in Southern Taiwan, causing not only great embarrassment for President Ma, but also the entire Taiwanese people.
Fist fights, shouting matches, physical threats … and now... |
|
23 Oct 08
|
|
(Letter) The Fall Of CITIC Pacific CITIC Pacific is in big trouble and some market analysts say it’s finished.
Yesterday its share price fell by 55% and its valuation is down from HK$31 billion to HK$14 billion.
Today its market capitalization fell another 25% to HK$10 billion.... |
|
22 Oct 08
|
|
Do you like the comment highlights provided here at Foolsmountain in the last month or so? Many members of this blog have noticed comment highlights that have been provided starting a month or so ago. The feature was started by the admin in response to some of us editors linking “sample comments” up at the top of their posts to... |
|
19 Oct 08
|
|
On Human Rights, Intervention and the International Order The idea of “human rights” is neither new nor did it suddenly sprang into existence after WWII. It has arguably existed since the dawn of human existence, as portrayed in human stories and mythologies and exemplified throughout human history in m... |
|
18 Oct 08
|
|
Blue Sky in Beijing Last time I was in Beijing was two and half year ago. Beijing now is once again a very different city, the investment must have far exceeded $40 Billion.
The most impressive is the frequent return of blue sky in Fall Beijing, here are some evidences: |
|
17 Oct 08
|
|
Wang Yung-Ching (王永慶) - One of Taiwan’s Proud Sons - Passes Away… Wang Yung-Ching, founder of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group, has died at the age of 91 in his sleep while on a business trip to the United States. Wang died unexpectedly in his sleep while at his daughter’s home in New Jersey.
Known affectionatel... |
|
15 Oct 08
|
|
Oh ~ Black Blind Island, Welcome Home On October 14, half of Heixiazi Island (lit. black blind island) was transferred from Russia to China, completing the last piece of the border settlement pact signed by the two countries in the mid-1990’s. Back in the day, Jiang Zemin took a lot of... |
|
14 Oct 08
|
|
Are Chinese racist or simply politically incorrect? It’s common knowledge that when it comes to racial remarks, Chinese people (and perhaps Asians in general) are not the most politically correct people in the world. We’ve had extended discussions about “racism” in China (see... |
|
13 Oct 08
|
|
(Letter) A question for readers of Fool’s Mountain blog In his recent journalism book, “Out of Mao’s Shadow,” Philip Pan touched upon many problems in China, one of which is the heavy human cost resulting from cruel local implementations of the one-child policy. The author commented in the... |
|
12 Oct 08
|
|
Chinese Air Force Airline I think most of you have the experience with flight. Do you know the Air Force service is available in China? Part of the post is translated follow:
Captain in the intercom:”Comrade. Usually it would take more than 2 hours to Beijing. How... |
|
08 Oct 08
|
|
Lessons for China from the world financial crisis With Iceland close to bankruptcy and the world’s financial system going to hell, China stands somewhat apart in its relative isolation. Asia Times has an intriguing article on this:
“In the past, China has been blamed for the low-degree of... |
blogs
china
thailand
japan
technology