The FT yesterday published an extraordinary story about the World Bank covering up–at the Chine government’s behest–part of a study it did estimating that 750,000 people annually die prematurely thanks to this country’s horrific environmental problems.
The government worried that the publication of this estimate might cause “social …
Laws and the Real World
Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty
Two events last Friday worth mentioning. The the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, passed a new labor law whose aim, in part, was to improve conditions faced by the country’s 100 (or up to 150 depending on who’s counting) million migrant workers. roughly at the same time, a mob of hired …
‘The Shadow of the Black Umbrellas’
Human Rights Watch China researcher Nicholas Bequelin writes, “Over the past two decades, China’s Communist Party has progressively embraced the rule of law as its principal method to rule the country.” But the effort, far from creating the stability the government so desperately craves, is sparking the opposite, Bequelin …
English Spoken Here (Sort Of)
Last week, Hong Kong’s main English-language paper ran a story on the declining pass rates of senior high school English exams, which have hit a 12-year low, even if they are still in the region of 75%. It considered this news important enough for a front-page lead.
Whenever evidence has emerged of the declining use of English in Hong …
Viewing the Anniversary Party From Afar
A scholar in Guangzhou recently told me that 30 years ago journalists went to Hong Kong to try to figure out what was happening in Beijing, now you go to Beijing to figure out what’s happening in Hong Kong. I moved to Beijing last week, and I can say that that statement is far from true. But it does point to some realities, like how much …
Can Yi JIanlian Learn to Love Brauts and Beer?
I don’t want to say I feel sorry for Yi Jiianlian, the Chinese basketball star who was just the sixth pick in the NBA draft–the guy after all will soon be a multi, multi millionaire–but he’s obviously depressed at the thought of playing in Milwaukee for the Bucks, the team that picked him. There are apparently just 27,500 Asian …
Sleepless in South China
There is nothing so terrible as birdsong when you crawl home after a Friday night, wearing your liver on your hip and reeking of secondhand smoke. Nothing like a few sparrows to drive home the fact that morning, most awfully, has broken.
I mention this because tonight is Friday night, but my anticipation at the thought of a drink is …
A Drunken Walk Down the Bund
As the chart above shows, the Shanghai index has been gyrating particularly drunkely in the past few days, even by its own heavily inebriated standards. You know that something is fishy when a fall of 4 per cent becomes anodyne. Maybe that big shakeout will come earlier than I thought. The government is contemplating dropping an tax …
Dangeorus Memories
A reminder of Beijing’s reluctance to deal with China’s recent past…and how shopping can be dangerous for you. Actress Cameron Diaz (famous in part using for peculiar hair gel in There’s something About Mary) had to apologize to Peruvians after she was spotted at the famous Machu Picchu ruins carrying a army-style olivegreen handbag …
Out Of It
I will, in all likelihood, grab and shake hard by the shoulders the next person who refers to themselves as being out here. I mean, Hong Kong is one of the world’s largest financial centers, and a densely packed city in what is probably the most populous province of the most populous nation on earth, but you’ll still find middle …
China’s Food Cops and “The Wire”
Last night I was catching up on some old episodes of “The Wire,” the fabulous HBO drama about a sprawling drug investigation in New York Baltimore. One reminded me so much of the latest news on food safety in China that it seemed worth pointing out. Yesterday the official China Daily ran a story about an investigation that led to the …
Conversations With My Mother
If you want an idea of the success with which the Communist Party is inspiring a sense of Chinese nationalism, speak to my mother, who is ethnically Chinese but holds British, Irish and Australian passports. “I love the Communists,” she declared over a glass of rosé last Saturday night. “The Chinese were despised by everyone. Now …
China Learns How to Lose Friends
The latest Pew Global Attitudes survey is out, and it has some interesting numbers on China. The perception of China is still mostly positive, but the high support the country has enjoyed in recent years is softening. While majorities in most of the nations surveyed still say China’s economic influence is positive, there are doubts about …