A Mysterious Puff of Smoke Takes Attention Away From China’s Annual Congress
Could it have been an attempted self-immolation in the heart of Beijing, just as the Communist Party’s top brass were listening to one of the Premier’s key speeches?
Articles from Contributor
North Korea Releases Australian Missionary
After a year of saber-rattling, North Korea may be adopting a softer tone
With Missile Tests, North Korea Makes a Statement, Not a Threat
Lobbing missiles may appear belligerent, but Pyongyang can’t afford hostilities
What It’s Like to Meet a Brother You Haven’t Seen in Six Decades
Koreans from North and South can only meet at sporadic official reunions, where numbers are strictly limited. At each bittersweet gathering, family members ponder the historical forces that tore them apart
North Korea Detains Another Christian Missionary
A 75-year-old Australian missionary has been detained in Pyongyang—his wife believes the arrest is due to the religious pamphlets he carried into the country
North Korea’s Kim Spending Big on Cars, Cognac, Pianos
State spending on luxury items rose from an average of $300 million a year under Kim Jong Il, to $645.8 million in 2012
Florida Man Deliberately Smashes $1M Vase by Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei
Artist Maximo Caminero apparently dropped the paint-dipped vase to protest the fact that Pérez Art Museum Miami features international, not local, work
China Launches Anti-Vice Campaign, Putting Sex Workers at Risk
The latest crackdown will hurt prostitutes, but will not change the system
Chinese Singles Buy Movie Tickets So Couples Can’t Sit Together on Valentine’s Day
Take that, love
Got What It Takes to Be a Corrupt Chinese Official? Take This Quiz to Find Out
Scholar interviews 47 Chinese prisoners and analyzed the results of 200 surveys to get a better sense of what leads officials astray
Seoul: South and North Korea to Hold ‘High-Level’ Meeting Wednesday
News comes a week after the two sides agreed to hold family reunions at a resort in the North
China and Taiwan Are Having Their Highest-Level Meeting Since 1949
Things are warming up across the Taiwan Strait
In China, Police Raid on Notorious ‘Sin City’ Greeted With Ridicule
The latest “crackdown” is about shaming sex workers, not stopping the trade