During the weekend of November 25-27, protests broke out in many Chinese cities, immediately lighting up the China Twittersphere and leading to endless speculation about threats to Xi Jinping’s authority or the prospect of a violent crackdown like the one carried out on June 4, 1989. Chinese government authorities quickly quashed the demonstrations, but theContinue reading “Protests in China: Read, Listen, Watch”
Category Archives: China
In Memoriam — But Not Yet
Six years ago, I spent the evening of June 4, 2014 in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. Rain-heavy clouds had hovered over the city earlier in the day but then moved on without bursting; by the time I arrived at the park around dinnertime the night was clear, though muggy and hot, as is typical forContinue reading “In Memoriam — But Not Yet”
Bookshelf: The Scientist and the Spy
Ask me about places near my house that might be likely targets of industrial espionage operations and my mind would turn south. Head down Nixon Road and follow it a mile or so; at the second roundabout hang a right onto Huron Parkway, then start looking for the sign announcing the entrance to Ann Arbor’sContinue reading “Bookshelf: The Scientist and the Spy“
Reading Round-Up: China, Coronavirus, and Quarantine Theater
For most of us who work in the China field, there’s a lull at some point in January or February as the entire country takes an extended vacation to celebrate Chunjie, or the Lunar New Year. Factories shut down, foreign correspondents and businesspeople go on home leave, and the streets of Chinese cities are uncharacteristicallyContinue reading “Reading Round-Up: China, Coronavirus, and Quarantine Theater”
Screen: Angels Wear White
Pouring cups of tea and speaking in the practiced staccato common to tour guides and salespeople across China, a young woman wearing a nurse’s uniform outlines the advantages of hymen-reconstruction surgery. Lily, a newly single hotel receptionist in her early twenties, listens nervously. The nurse ends her pitch with the assurance that Lily will findContinue reading “Screen: Angels Wear White“
May Fourth at 100: A Reading Round-Up
On May 4, 1919, university students gathered in the center of Beijing to protest the Treaty of Versailles. China had sent 100,000 laborers to Europe in support of the Allies during World War I*, and many in the country had expected that in return the postwar negotiations would deliver German concessions on the Shandong PeninsulaContinue reading “May Fourth at 100: A Reading Round-Up”
Weekly Wanderings: Still Wrapping Up 2018 Edition
■ I have a minor flurry (a squall?) of new pieces to share this week, as several things I wrote in late 2018 got published all at once: At Dissent Magazine (subscribe!), I have a long review essay about new books by Carl Minzner (End of an Era) and Elizabeth Economy (The Third Revolution) thatContinue reading “Weekly Wanderings: Still Wrapping Up 2018 Edition”
Further Reading: Three 2018 China Books to Check Out
Readers of the third edition of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know will have seen the extensive “Further Resources” section that Jeff Wasserstrom and I included at the end of the book. In that section, we recommend many dozens of books and articles that interested readers should seek out for moreContinue reading “Further Reading: Three 2018 China Books to Check Out”
Looking Back, Moving Forward
Happy New Year! January 1, of course, is a day traditionally spent thinking about the year that has just ended and making plans for the one that lies ahead, and I have been doing exactly that. I feel like 2018 was several years crammed into one: both in my own life and in the worldContinue reading “Looking Back, Moving Forward”
Learning from Lei Feng in the Shanghai Metro
Historians usually do most of their research in libraries and archives, but sometimes you stumble on material in unexpected places. Like, for example, a subway station. As I was making my way to Shanghai Disney at the beginning of this month, I had to switch metro lines at the Oriental Sports Center station, a largeContinue reading “Learning from Lei Feng in the Shanghai Metro”
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 