Jottings from the Granite Studio

I have a new post up at The China Beat on Chinese reactions to foreign criticism, “Prejudice Made Plausible: Foreign Criticism and Chinese Sensitivities.”
Why does concern about the Olympics, criticism of Chinese government policies, or even a news story about the effect of air pollution on athletes, provoke such a visceral response from many Chinese?
Obviously [...]

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“People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.” - Somerset Maugham
“As a scientific truth, Marxism fears no criticism.” - Mao Zedong
Like so many other shotgun marriages, by 1956 the relationship between Mao and the Party had begun to suffer from a seven-year itch. Still only in their first decade of rule, the CCP were [...]

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