“Catching that Pepsi Spirit” was posted this time last year on the China Beat (back when that site was still blocked), but it’s worth reading if you missed it. Anybody who wants to understand the twisted intersection of attitudes regarding self, other, ethnicity, and advertising in the PRC today needs to check out this twisted saga [...]
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Letter in the WSJ today claims to shed light on the mystery of the gold the Generalissimo smuggled out of China as he prepared to retreat to Taiwan. (HUGE tip of the hat to Michael Turton at View from Taiwan.) Regarding Melanie Kirkpatrick’s review of “The Last Empress” by Hannah Pakula (“China’s Mystery Lady,” Bookshelf, Nov. 4): [...] Perusing the papers this morning, I learned from the Financial Times that “India is rapidly losing one of its clear economic advantages over China, with the number of Chinese able to speak English on par with its neighbour and rival,” only to click ahead and discover from Reuters that, “A lack of proficiency in English has [...] Now mocking Chinese state media for breathless and brainless historical hyperbole is a bit of poor sport, but this little bit from the ChinaTibet portion of the People’s Daily website seemed even more breathless and, if possible, brainless than usual. The article, in theory, is about the opening of a Museum of Chinese Characters in Anyang. So [...] It’s November here in Beijing. Three weeks ago, before the snow really started to fall, we took the plants in from our garden. A week later, as we were looking out at our small patch of bamboo bending under the weight of the snow and ice, we decided that it was unfair that it [...] Yesterday’s post comparing the maps of Patrick Chovanec and William Skinner has garnered many responses, not the least of which from Patrick Chovanec himself. We have been exchanging emails this morning, and a brief summary of our discussion can be found below. It was great to talk with you earlier today concerning the points you [...] There’s a map, first posted by the Atlantic Monthly this week, that’s been making the rounds. This interactive map, credited to Beijing-based academic Patrick Chovanec, explores China’s diversity by dividing the PRC into discrete “nations.” It’s an interesting project, especially because it shows how different regions have their own internal socioeconomic logic and that “China” as [...] James Lilley, who was US ambassador to China during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, has passed away. He was 81. Born in Qingdao and a longtime China hand, both in the CIA and as a diplomat, Ambassador Lilley defined old school. His book China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia is part memoir [...] It’s a sunny day in the hutong, cold outside but the sun is shining nicely off the snow packed on the roof of our kitchen and bathroom and reflecting brilliantly into the living room. We moved our plants inside two weeks ago and they are enjoying the sun bath almost as much as the two cats, [...] Things read and noted: In the WSJ, Melanie Kirkpatrick reviews Hannah Pakula’s new biography of Song Meiling: The Last Empress. Given that the only other major work to focus on Madame Chiang Kai-shek is Sterling Seagrave’s wretched Soong Sisters you gotta figure that there’s no where to go but up for Ms. Pakula. On a side note, [...] I’ll admit it. I’ve been remiss about writing. Just know that my time has been well spent teaching history and writing dissertations. But when historians go on blogging vacation, it’s history that suffers. Really. In the US we have the wingnut brigade comparing President Obama’s health care reform plan to the Nazi Holocaust. Not to be outdone, PRC [...] |
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Karl Eikenberry and the lessons of Vinegar Joe
President Obama is flying to Asia this week with much on his mind: Should the US commit another 40,000 troops to the war in Afghanistan as stories of official incompetence and political corruption leak daily from the capital of Kabul?
If Britain’s curse was her imperial ambitions, the United States has its hegemonic aspirations. We are once [...]