Asia

China’s role in the “War on Terror” (WOT) has been among the murkier subjects of the last five years–not a lot of facts known about it. People tend to break into two camps: 1) China has used the WOT as an excuse to further clamp down on the beleaguered Uighers. 2) No, there’s a real issue there, just look at the geopgraphy and where …

As anyone remotely paying attention for the last two years could have told you, Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons now lies uncommfortably in the laps of Beijing and Moscow. It was as a sop to the United States and its European allies that both agreed to give Iran the 60 day grace period to come into compliance with the Security …

What’s the hottest place in China? Tibet, it seems. Last year officials predicted the number of visitors to the remote, mountainous region would rise by 44% over 2005. The reason is the rail line that was complete last year, the first to link Tibet to the rest of the country. Now it seems those debates about whether the train would bring …

A not bad piece on Xinhua about a growing problem for the Chinese leadership: college grads who either can’t find a job at all, or are severely underemployed. Ask yourself a question: if you’re sitting in Zhongnanhai, which is more likely to get your attention: brain dead protectionists in Congress in the United States (whose party now …

Just before Christmas I was hearing a lot of buzz in Washington from current and former Bush administration types about China playing a more forceful role in trying to get the Sudanese government to rein in the militias it continues to back. And as this WSJ editorial indicates, Andrew Natsios of the State Department was fairly upbeat …

As many of you know, Jim McGregor’s book, “One Billion Customers, Lessons From the Front Lines of Doing Business in China, ” is one of the best `China books’ of the past couple of years. Jim’s a former reporter–WSJ Bureau Chief in Beijing–who went on to bigger and better things. His book paid implicit homage to a memoir written by …

Two years ago the U.S. decided it didn’t like the idea of CNOOC, the oil company, buying L.A. based UNOCAL. What ARE the CHinese going to be allowed to buy…in the U.S. and the rest of the world? It’s a question the world better start asking, as this OP-ED piece in the Wall Street Journal suggests, because a wave of CHinese foreign …

We’ve mentioned a few Chinese New Year pastimes, like visiting family, setting off fireworks, battering your way through crowds, but have yet to touch on a granddaddy, the Spring Festival program on China Central Television. It’s a four-hour Busby Berkeley extravaganza of song, dance and comedy routines. Since its start in the ’80s it …

During Chinese New Year, Hong Kong does its best impersonation of a ghost town. Stores close, newspapers halt publishing and passengers can get a seat on the subway with ease. That’s not to say the city’s bustle disappears completely. More like its transferred to all things related to the New Year, like the Victoria Park flower market, …

After a week in bed with the flu, the festivities in my neighborhood for Chinese New Year’s eve were a rousing way to rejoin the living. This was the scene outside my front gate from about 10:00pm until 1:00am last night. Twelve hours later the air is still filled with sound and smoke.

I’ll be on the road for the next week, driving …

By any standard it was a pretty big scam. Wang Zhendong allegedly bilked investors of $380 million, and a court in northeast China sentenced him to death on Wednesday. What truly made the story unique was the nature of the fraud. It was an ant-breeding pyramid scam. The victims in this case were sold ants, which are used in Chinese …

Yes, it’s true, The Colbert Report has a special report on China. (Thanks to China Digital Times for pointing it out.) It includes an interview with Sheryl WuDunn and use of the word “frenemy” to describe the relationship between the U.S. and China. How are China watchers even supposed to compete?

I noticed a fascinating story about the confrontations between Japanese whalers and their opponents in the Southern Ocean. It occurred to me that this Antarctic battle could be the frontier in the clash over what degree of protection societies should give animals. After all, one skirmish ended with some anti-whalers mooring their damaged …