International and Area Studies Commons^™

Learning From Lai Changxing?, Jeremy Brown, Xian Wang

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last year, Angilee Shah wrote a review at China Beat of Oliver August’s Inside the Red Mansion. The review inspired Simon Fraser University Professor Jeremy Brown to assign the text to a class and he recently invited the book’s protaganist, Lai Changxing, to join his class for a day. Brown and one of his students provide an account of the day’s visit below (for a write-up in Chinese, see this report at The Global Chinese Press).

A few days before National Day, Lai Changxing joined our fourth-year Chinese history class at Simon Fraser University. For almost three hours China’s most …

Chinese History Readings

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A hodgepodge of historically or (historian-) relevant readings from the last few weeks…

1. Of greatest interest to the historians around here (particularly those of us who don’t make it to Cambridge regularly), Harvard and the National Library of China have signed a deal to digitize Harvard’s collection of 51,000 rare Chinese books:

Once completed, these images dating as far back as the Song ynasty in 960 AD, will be publicly available for free on the Web to scholars in China and elsewhere.

“We need to change the mindset that rare materials must be kept behind closed doors,’’ said James …

The Great Wall Parade, Alex Pasternack

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

My second day back in Beijing, and I was already under house arrest.

It was a sensitive time — the day before China’s 60th birthday — and I found myself stuck inside the gates of the city’s oldest diplomatic compound, where many foreign newspapers and television stations now have their offices.

Granted, this was partially of my own accord. The compound sits near the eastern end of the parade route, on the city’s legendary Chang’an Jie (Avenue of Eternal Peace), and a friend’s balcony offered a good vantage point. But because of high security, I had been told that if …

Patriotism

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Peking University students queue to see the jingoistic new film ‘The Founding of a Republic’. In the screening, the young audience seemed more interested in the Chinese movie stars who appear in the film than they were in the historical content itself. Real footage of Chairman Mao in 1949, however, drew enthusiastic applause. Peking University students queue to see the jingoistic new film ‘The Founding of a Republic’. In the screening, the young audience seemed more interested in the Chinese movie stars who appear in the film than they were in the historical content itself. Real footage of Chairman Mao …

Kabul Times (Jan. - Mar., 1968), Afghanistan

Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection

Kabul Times, January - March, 1968

Around The Web: China’S National Day Celebration

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Now that the celebration is over and China has celebrated its 60th anniversary, we thought we would point out some of the National Day media coverage that caught our eye:

1. China Digital Times directed us to The Guardian, which posted this wonderful time-lapse video of the parade in Beijing; watch the day’s highlights in under four minutes!

2. Yale University’s Kang Zhengguo wrote this piece for the New York Times op-ed page, in which he reflects on his own National Day experiences over the span of five decades. While Kang marched as a Young Pioneer in the 1959 National …

Islamic Fundamentalism: An Ignored Specter In The Xinjiang Riot, Liang Zheng

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It’s been three months since the city of Urumqi was plunged into chaos and terror by the deadliest ethnic bloodletting in the history of the People’s Republic. The riot on July 5th this summer erupted right after a mostly peaceful demonstration organized by Uyghur youths in Urumqi called to demand the government thoroughly investigate a brawl in southern China, which had left two Uyghur workers dead and dozens more injured. At that point, no one anticipated the demonstration would be followed by a horrible massacre in Urumqi that took at least 197 innocent lives, most of them members of the …

The Future Of Japanese-Chinese Relations Under Japan’S New Government: An Expert Weighs In, Elizabeth M. Lynch

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The United States was not the only country that voted for change this past year. On August 30, 2009, after fifty-four years of essentially one-party rule, the Japanese people voted overwhelmingly to usher in a completely new government and a new way of thinking. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which ruled Japan since 1955, was completely rejected. Obtaining only 119 out of 480 seats of the House of Representatives (the lower Diet), the LDP took a second seat to the younger and fresher Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ won 308 seats in the House, ensuring that their leader, …

Repression And Punishment In North Korea: Survey Evidence Of Prison Camp Experiences, Stephan Haggard, Marcus Noland

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government’s response to the country’s profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other …

The Ethnicization Of Discontent In Xinjiang, Rian Thum

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of many disturbing long-term effects of the recent violence in Urumqi is an increased ethnicization of anger on all sides. Ethnic tensions are of course nothing new in Xinjiang, and ethnically targeted state policies have long made it difficult to distinguish between anti-government and ethnic discontent, but until now Uyghur resistance has been aimed at the state. The recent Urumqi uprisings represent a significant redirection of anger along more clearly ethnic lines.

The interactions between Uyghur and Han citizens vary with the uneven demography of Xinjiang. In the provincial capital, Urumqi, Uyghurs are a minority. This means that Urumqi …

A Study Of The East African Slave Trade In Bagamoyo, Jake Salyers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of my study was to learn about the east African Slave trade and its relationship to the town of Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo was an important trading town on the coast of Tanzania during the peak of the Arab run slave and ivory trade. Slavery was only abolished in Tanganyika in 1922, so there are still many monuments and memories remaining in the town concerning the slave trade. I had two main methods of collecting information about the town, interviewing the descendants of slaves and slave owners and researching the history of Bagamoyo. I was able to get three different …

Wmu International News Fall 2009, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

WMU's Confucius Institute offers educational/business links to China

Chinese linguist named director of WMU’s Confucius Institute

Kim and crew on task planning cultural, recreational entertaining events

Fashion learning in London takes the runway in Kalamazoo

French immersion points Michigan native to ESL career

The Elusiveness Of Light: The Difficulty With Harnessing The Omnipresent Solar Energy In Africa, Hai-Vu Phan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The world is currently facing an energy crisis. Our dependency on oil and natural gas has led to many global problems, such as OPEC’s oil hikes which have disrupted economies everywhere and caused oil dependent countries to suffer. Our huge consumption of oil has also led to the global warming catastrophe that we currently must combat. The world must find a new energy source soon, or more environmental, political, social, and economic problems will occur. Solar energy’s potential has been recognized for many decades, and its abundant and limitless supply makes it the perfect new form of energy. Solar energy …

Islamic-Catholic Relations: A Local And Global Comparison, Matthew Hoppler, Jennifer Bell, Ruth Donaghey

Global Studies Student Scholarship

In our modern world, religion remains one of the most important aspects of an individual’s life, no matter what faith they choose to celebrate. Given the world’s increasing interconnectedness and continuing globalization, members of different faiths are becoming more exposed to communities of one another. In modern times, the disagreements between faiths continue just as they have in the past; however there are more efforts on each side to overcome differences and establish a peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding. Two of the most prominent faiths in today’s world are Catholicism and Islam, which have many differences between them. As Americans, …

Contributors Around The Web, Ii

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

1. Leslie T. Chang has been recognized by PEN with a 2009 Literary Award for research nonfiction for her book, Factory Girls.

2. Jeffrey Wasserstrom has a new piece at Foreign Policy, “The Autocrats’ Learning Curve“:

It’s impossible to pinpoint when, exactly, the CCP went from looking like it was on its last legs to looming as a global force majeure. But in fact, the mistaken predictions of my generation may have had much to do with it — and with events in Berlin as well.

I learned why a decade ago, at a Budapest conference devoted to revisiting the …

From Economic Crisis To Reform: Imf Programs In Latin America And Eastern Europe By Grigore Pop-Eleches (Book Review), Aleksandra Sznajder Lee

Political Science Faculty Publications

Grigore Pop-Eleches’s book on the interaction of international and domestic determinants of IMF-style reforms in developing countries makes a significant contribution to international and comparative political economy literature. His effort to capture the dynamics of the contentious and complex relationship between the IMF and developing countries/emerging markets inLatin AmericaandEastern Europerepresents mid-range theorizing at its best. The author combines insights from international and comparative political economy literatures to pursue complementary questions. From the international effect perspective: what role do economic crises play in the initiation and implementation of IMF-backed economic reform? Is the IMF impartial in its policy and financial support …

Review Essay: Johann P. Arnason, Civlization In Dispute. Historical Questions And Theoretical Traditions, Toby E. Huff

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Analyzing And Forecasting Business Cycles In A Small Open Economy: A Dynamic Factor Model For Singapore, Hwee Kwan Chow, Keen Meng Choy

Research Collection School Of Economics

A dynamic factor model is applied to a large panel dataset of Singapore’s macroeconomic variables and global economic indicators with the initial objective of analysing business cycles in a small open economy. The empirical results suggest that four common factors – which can broadly be interpreted as world, regional, electronics and domestic economic cycles – capture a large proportion of the co-variation in the quarterly time series. The estimated factor model also explains well the observed fluctuations in real economic activity and price inflation, leading us to use it in forecasting Singapore’s business cycles. We find that the forecasts generated …

Madrassa Education In Pakistan: Assisting The Taliban’S Resurgence, Nicole M. Warren

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

The education received in madrassas located in Pakistan is contributing to the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan.

Patriotic Cosmopolitanism: China’S Non-Official Intellectuals’ Dream Of The Future, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

One of the fascinating things about China today is that it is a country in flux. With each turn along China’s path of rapid economic growth, a new set of political, economic and social questions arises. Hence it is very difficult to understand what is going on in China – not only for outsiders, but also for the Chinese people themselves.

Wissen Und Entwicklung In Singapur: Trends Und Thesen / Knowledge And Development In Singapore: Trends And Propositions, Thomas Menkhoff, Solvay Gerke, Hans-Dieter Evers, Yue-Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper addresses the question how knowledge is used to benefit the economic development of Singapore. The country has followed strict science policies to establish knowledge governance regimes for a knowledge-based economy. On the basis of empirical studies the authors show, how cultural diversity and social capital impact on the ability to develop an epistemic culture of knowledge sharing and ultimately an innovative knowledge-based economy.

Monetary Policy And Asset Prices In A Small Open Economy: A Factor-Augmented Var Analysis For Singapore, Hwee Kwan Chow, Keen Meng Choy

Research Collection School Of Economics

The ongoing global financial turmoil has revived the question of whether central bankers ought to tighten monetary policy preemptively in order to head off asset price misalignments before a sudden crash triggers financial instability. This study explores the issue of the appropriate monetary policy response to asset price swings in the small open economy of Singapore. Empirical analysis of monetary policy based on standard VAR models, unfortunately, is often hindered by the use of sparse information sets. To better reflect the extensive information monitored by Singapore’s central bank, including global economic indicators, we augment a monetary VAR model with common …

Rocker

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

eijing’s new generation of rockers is beginning to attract

international notice. At a much hyped rock gig at the venue

Yugongyishan, lead singer of student band ‘Mr Graceless’ bawls

gracefully, while just in front of him is an all-Chinese mosh pit.

Rocker

Beijing’s new generation of rockers is beginning to attract international notice. At a much hyped rock gig at the venue Yugongyishan, lead singer of student band ‘Mr Graceless’ bawls gracefully, while just in front of him is an all-Chinese mosh pit.

–Alec Ash

Super-Size Me: More National Day News

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Regular China Beat readers might have noticed that our posts suggesting articles and links to check out online generally take the form of a feature we call “The Five-List Plan.” Today, in recognition of the massive coverage of the PRC’s National Day and 60th anniversary celebration, we’ve decided to super-size this post. There are simply so many wonderful and fascinating things being written, spoken, photographed, and filmed in connection with the October 1 extravaganza that we couldn’t stop at five. Below, ten items worth checking out as the festivities get underway:

1. One of the persistent myths surrounding October 1, …

From The Invisible Commemoration Of Tiananmen To China’S Festive 60th Birthday, François Lachapelle

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This essay originally appeared on David Ownby’s blog, China at Our Gates, in June. It is reposted in full here with the permission of that site.

2009 is no piece of cake for Chinese officialdom. Having survived the invisible torment of the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen they turn now to the preparation for the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic. Despite daily high temperatures in the 30s in North China, one wonders if Peking bureaucrats might be suffering from cold sweats.

Certain early indicators indicate that the event is being taken seriously. Visas are being restricted, as they were in …

Around The Web: China’S National Day Preparations

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

With the PRC’s massive National Day and 60th anniversary celebration now just days away, we wanted to spotlight some of the major stories — as well as a few interesting images — that have been circulating recently. Here are several fascinating links that have caught our eye in the past few weeks as preparations for October 1 reached a fever pitch:

1. Fans of the Jackie Chan song “Country” (国家) and its music video should check out a new amateur version that went viral soon after its posting online (hat tip toShanghaiist for the video link). The video features a …

Wolf Totem’S “Rational Exploration” Of Civilization And Barbarians, William A. Callahan

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China Beat has examined the bestselling novel Wolf Totem (Lang tuteng) from a number of different angles, including reviews (by Nicole Barnes and Timothy Weston) as well as several cultural critiques of the book and its media coverage (by Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Haiyan Lee). Now, on the eve of China’s big anniversary, and in a moment, simultaneously, when ethnicity is a crucial flashpoint in the PRC, William Callahan reflects on what the book tells us about China’s nation-building ideology.

The fantastic success of Jiang Rong’s Lang tuteng [Wolf Totem] shows how notions of Chinese identity and culture are moving in …

The Frankfurt Book Mess, Nicolai Volland

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), the largest trade show of its kind, turned messy this year before it had even started. At the center of the brouhaha: China, the official guest of honor of the book fair 2009. Or, to be more precise, the row over the revoked invitation of two Chinese “dissidents,” Dai Qing and Bei Ling, to a symposium in the run-up to the Book Fair. The incident had an air of tragicomedy, and turned into a public relations disaster for the organizers as well as an embarrassment for about all those involved. In a larger sense, …

Contributors Around The Web

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few pieces that have appeared recently that feature the work of China Beatcontributors…

1. Ken Pomeranz was interviewed earlier this month for this NPR Planet Money feature on medieval China (jump to about minute 4 for the beginning of the interview).

2. Xujun Eberlein’s book, Apologies Forthcoming (which Jeff Wasserstrom mentioned in this review essay), was reviewed at China Geeks. Charles Custer writes, “Apologies Forthcoming is not perfect, but parts of it are. Florid praise draped over the back cover as it is, I think I shall put it more simply: it is a book you should read. Eberlein …

Events: Bay Area

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We noticed several Bay Area events involving China Beat-related folks in the coming days and weeks, and wanted to alert readers to them.

1. The Center for Asian Studies at Stanford will be hosting the first “Sino-US Literature Forum” beginning tomorrow. The event is open to the public and will be mainly conducted in Chinese. Haiyan Lee and Jeff Wasserstrom will both be presenting at the conference.

2. Jeff Wasserstrom will be giving a talk on “China’s Mania for Mega-Events: Thinking About the Beijing Games and the Shanghai World Expo” at Stanford on September 28 at noon.

3. A conference …