Jottings from the Granite Studio

Number four on Foreign Policy’s recent “Five Population Trends to Watch” list cites China and India as leading examples of the “Too many grooms, not enough brides” trend:
Military experts have a saying: Amateurs study strategy; professionals study logistics. When it comes to geopolitics, professionals study demographics…
In China, a strong preference for sons and the country’s [...]

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On this date in 1976 former Chinese leader and Granite Studio sympathy fave Hua Guofeng ordered the arrest of the widow Mao (Jiang Qing) and three other accomplices, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen–collectively better known as the Gang of Four (四人帮). The Gang went to trial in 1981, accused of trying to seize [...]

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It’s one of those perfect rainy days in Beijing…the kind where we don’t have to go anywhere. No being battered by hoisted umbrellas in the subway entrance. No taxi drivers deciding at the last minute that they can’t take you because “the road is too wet.” Just a great day to stay inside and get [...]

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