Aug 29
Donald Gallinger: “Memoirs of China”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:culture |
5 Comments » newest
Donald Gallinger was an English high school teacher in New Jersey who spent September 2004 through July 2005 in China with his wife. He kept a meticulous journal which is the basis for his “Memoirs of China.” Imagine an intelligent and eloquent American from the Midwest who has no exposure to China is suddenly plucked from his home and planted inside China. This was essentially the case with Gallinger. He is genuinely interested in learning everything that is China. His memoir is a fun read. I highly recommend following the link above. Here, I took the liberty of copying one of his entries: Continue reading »
Aug 28
minipost-Opinion:On Dalai Lama’s Upcoming Visit to Taiwan
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, Analysis, aside, culture, General, News, politics, religion | Tags:dalai lama, dpp, KMT, Morakot, taiwan, tibet
65 Comments » newest
65 Comments » newest
Dalai Lama is set to visit Taiwan next week. The Dalai Lama has been invited a group of local DPP officials representing several southern counties – where DPP support is especially strong.
The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan twice, once in 1997 and 2001. However, soon after Ma took office on a platform promising to amend ties with the Mainland, a request for the Dalai Lama to visit was turned down by Ma, citing the timing as not proper. A Dalai Lama visit then could have derailed Ma’s plan for closer ties with the Mainland – and still has the potential to do so the same.
Continue reading »
Aug 27
minipost-In Glorious China We Trust?
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, Analysis, General, politics | Tags:china's peaceful rise, chinese nationalism
189 Comments » newest
189 Comments » newest
We’ve had many discussions here on Chinese Nationalism. Last year, Chinese nationalism was stoked in the aftermath of the West’s response to the riots in Tibet and in the lead up to the Olympics. Many in the West chided China on a host of issues – from domestic human rights abuses to China’s policies in Africa. Many viewed with wary eyes the rise of Chinese nationalism, with some depicting Chinese nationalism as a force for instability in the world – some going as fars as comparing Chinese Nationalism to Hitler’s Naziism. Many painted the notion of Chinese Exceptionism (the vague idea that China occupies a special place in history and has a special role to play in the world) in dark, ominous terms. Continue reading »
Aug 25
Rural “share genius” with only 3 years of schooling becomes a millionaire through stockmarket
Written by: dewang | Filed under:economy, General |
11 Comments » newest
In 2007, China had 20+ million new brokerage accounts opened in that one year. Total stock accounts topped 100 million that same year. Also, around 2007, China had roughly 80 million middle class citizens. While this extrapolation is not scientifically based, I would venture to say that the number of Chinese investors in 10 years time will be staggering. My assumption is that the number of Chinese citizens continue to graduate into middle class will be proportional to China’s GDP growth. The number of middle class income earners will likely be equal to number of investors.
Aug 21
“Former vice-chairman of county-level political congress executed for rape of 24 female students”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:News |
81 Comments » newest
Courtesy of China News Wrap‘s translation of a Chinese language article from Pepole’s Daily, titled, “Former vice-chairman of county-level political congress executed for rape of 24 female students.”
Aug 20
minipost-Hu Jintao meets with delegation of Taiwanese minorities, pledges further disaster support
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, aside, culture, Environment, General, News, politics | Tags:Disaster Relief, taiwan, Taiwanese minorities, Typhoon Morakot
20 Comments » newest
20 Comments » newest
President Hu recently met with a delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan, and pledged further support from the mainland for whatever help Taiwan may need. Ethnic minorities in southern Taiwan, living often in remote villages, were the hardest hit group in Taiwan by the recent typhoon. Here is a translation of a story on the People’s Web by China News Wrap:
Hu meets delegation of ethnic minorities from Taiwan
Aug 18
minipost-Letter:Why is western democracy fundamentally wrong ?
Written by: Wahaha | Filed under:-mini-posts, media, politics |
132 Comments » newest
This post is not a comparison between the system in China and western democracy. It doesnt in any way imply the system in China is a better system, either economically or politically.)
Recently, there is “war” in USA about obama’s plan of healthcare reform. It has become an issue of if government should be allowed to butt into the private business of healthcare insurance. I am not here to judge which way is better, but after reading most media reports, it seems to me that media is trying to make it a conflict between government stand and public opinions; to make it an issue if government should have such power (or do you want socialism in US?).
Continue reading »
Aug 17
minipost-Can Ma Ying-jeou Weather the Storm?
Written by: Steve | Filed under:-mini-posts, Environment, media, natural disaster, News, politics | Tags:democracy, environment, government, media, politics, taiwan
50 Comments » newest
50 Comments » newest
From August 6-9, southern Taiwan was hit with the worst typhoon in 50 years. Per the Associated Press story:
“Morakot dumped more than 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people. The storm destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of 50 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.5 billion), Ma told the security conference.”
Aug 17
It’s not often a guy working on his PhD in theoretical computer science is also one of the hottest Chinese DJs in North America, but there’s always an exception and Louis Yu (余雷) fits that role. Originally from Guilin, China, he’s currently in Vancouver, Canada studying at the University of Victoria while also doing a weekly podcast featuring world indie music.
And where can you find his 30 minute weekly podcast? It’s right here on www.wooozy.cn where you can catch this week’s show plus access the archive for all previous editions once you’re hooked. The difference with Louis’ show is that all the introductions are in Mandarin rather than English. It’s his way to bring a new style of music to an audience more familiar with Asian pop in a easy to digest manner. Starting in September, he’ll be switching to a show highlighting an equal balance of both Western & Chinese music.
Lou was kind enough to share his thoughts on China’s current music scene. As he is a Chinese expat very familiar with indie music throughout the world, I felt his opinions would be a nice contrast to the western voices we’ve heard reporting from China.
Aug 17
minipost-Typhoon Morakot Aid Fund for Taiwan victims
Written by: dewang | Filed under:-mini-posts, natural disaster |
No Comments » newest
Information on charity assistance to Typhoon Morakot victims in Taiwan (from TECRO forwarded by Charles Liu):
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Aug 16
the China Lightroom blog: “Made in China”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:culture, Environment, General, media, music, video | Tags:children
14 Comments » newest
14 Comments » newest
Aug 14
Samah El-Shahat, Al Jazeera’s resident economist: “China puts people before banks”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:economy, General |
32 Comments » newest
It was not that long ago the “Western” media constantly talked about how insolvant many of China’s banks were, and that they were choked full of bad loans. Obviously, the irony of it was they were talking about their own banks! Continue reading »
Aug 13
Now that many non-Chinese have moved to China and many native Chinese live throughout the world, cross cultural dating has become far more common. For someone leaving mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore and moving to a western country, what are some of the cultural pitfalls and traps you need to avoid and adjustments you need to make? For someone moving to any of those four areas, the same questions apply. Are the “rules” different for Chinese women dating outside their culture as compared to Chinese men doing the same?
My direct experience isn’t too pertinent since I met my wife in Phoenix and she had already been living in the States for nine years, but there were still many adjustments we (mostly I) had to make. She was the first Asian woman I had ever dated so I didn’t fall into the “yellow fever” category. However, when I was living in mainland China and Taiwan, I had a chance to observe, ask questions and learn more from others involved in cross cultural relationships.
Aug 12
minipost-Tibetan Chinese singer, Kelsang Metok (格桑梅朵): “Falling in love with Jiuzhaigou”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, Environment, media, music, video |
26 Comments » newest
Few years ago I visited Chengdu and drove all the way to Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟). I got a chance to see the pristine side of Sichuan province and a number of local performances. I stumbled upon this music video by Tibetan Chinese singer, Kelsang Metok (格桑梅朵), “Falling in Love with Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟).” It gives a great intro to that region and reminded me of many things I saw during that trip.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Aug 11
The majority of Chinese people believe that prostitutes are more trustworthy than Communist Party and government officials according to a Xiaokang survey
Written by: Allen | Filed under:General | Tags:corruption, government credibility, government officials, Xiaokang survey
14 Comments » newest
14 Comments » newest
Well … we’ve had several discussions (in the comments section recently) on political reform and the CCP. Here is an interesting article I ran across today at Asia Times on people’s perception of government officials in China:
Aug 08
Where in China is Xu Zhiyong?
Written by: Raj | Filed under:General | Tags:China, corruption, human rights, NGO
117 Comments » newest
117 Comments » newest
(Hat-tip to Richard on the Peking Duck for writing on this last week.)
According to reports last week, the legal school and legislator Xu Zhiyong was led away by Police sometime on the morning of Wednesday 28th August. His whereabouts still seem to be unknown – his brother said that he had been charged with tax evasion.
It is hard to see how this isn’t linked to Xu’s work in helping people the State would prefer carried on with their lives like good little citizens, rather than pursue legal recourse against some sort of injustice/embarrassing matter that officials or local/central government would prefer to see the back of. But whatever the reason, this is not good for China’s future. Continue reading »
Aug 05
The mathematics of 10,000 disappearing Uighurs: refuting a refutation of Kadeer’s claim
Written by: DJ | Filed under:General | Tags:media, Rebiya Kadeer, uighur, xinjiang
154 Comments » newest
154 Comments » newest
In recent days, there have been widespread and unchallenged reports of Rebiya Kadeer’s accusation in Japan that 10,000 Uighurs disappeared overnight in Urumqi on July 5. I can not find a transcript of Ms. Kadeer’s press conference speech. The following, from the Guardian, is one of the more detailed and also seemingly the most critical account of her accusation:
“Almost 10,000 people attending the protests in Urumqi disappeared in one night,” Kadeer, president of the pro-independence World Uighur Congress, said. “Where did they go? If they died, where are their bodies? If they were detained, where are they being held?”
It was unclear where Kadeer got her numbers from.
Aug 03
minipost-“Family asks Rebiya Kadeer not to organize violence, undermine harmony”
Written by: dewang | Filed under:-mini-posts, politics |
81 Comments » newest
According to an article on Sina.com, Xinhua reported Rebiya Kadeer’s family in Xinjiang province has officially asked Kadeer to not organize violence: “Family asks Rebiya Kadeer not to organize violence, undermine harmony.” Continue reading »
Jul 28
minipost-Can Economic Sanctions Drive Democratic Change in North Korea?
Written by: dewang | Filed under:-mini-posts, General, politics |
52 Comments » newest
Few threads ago, I brought to FM readers attention that WSJ had held a “debate” between two Indian nationals (college-age students in fact) on whether economic sanctions can drive democratic change in China. The “debate” turned out to be pretty ignorant – so WSJ essentially pushed it aside (I think that was their reason) – WSJ readers bashed the debators – and – handful of FM readers (those commented anyways) agreed that the debate was indeed ignorant. Continue reading »
Jul 28
First U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue of the Obama Administration Underway
Written by: Allen | Filed under:General | Tags:China, global financial crisis, global warming, terrorism, u.s., U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue
19 Comments » newest
19 Comments » newest
Today marked the beginning of the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue under Obama Administration. The meetings are considered to be important even though they may not yield immediate results. Continue reading »
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