International Relations Commons^™

Beijing Olympic Faq #1: Politics And The Olympics

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last year the International Olympic Committee (IOC) invited me to write an essay on the Beijing Olympics, and “The Beijing Effect” was published in the July-September 2006 issue of The Olympic Review. At the end of that essay I wrote, “China hopes that it will change the Olympic Games, but is the West really open to that possibility? Are we truly ready for ‘One World, One Dream’?” Since that article appeared in the official magazine of the IOC, it is not implausible that Beijing decided to answer my question. On August 8, 2007, Beijing marked the one-year countdown to the …

This Day: The Nanjing Massacre, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On January 25, 1938, The New York Times ran a single piece about the on-going occupation of the Guomindang capital, Nanjing, by Japanese troops. Hallett Abend wrote for the Times:

“Stripping away all the Japanese excuses about military necessity…the stark fact remains that the conditions in Nanking one month and ten days after the victorious Japanese Army crashed the gates of China’s former capital are so lawless and so scandalous that Japanese authorities continue to refuse permission to any foreigners except diplomatic officials to visit the city…Again on Jan. 7 Japanese authorities apologetically admitted to the writer that conditions in …

Daily Reads—The Sequel: Five Valuable More-Than-Just-China Asia Sites

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last week, our blog-list focused on sites specifically devoted to the PRC or Taiwan, but astute commentaries on and information related to China Beattopics sometimes shows up other kinds of places on the web. With this in mind, we’ll be doing at least two sequels—this one on sites we value that have an Asian focus but are not China-specific, then another later on that deals with sites that have a global purview (but periodically have insightful things to say about Chinese themes).

1. Japan Focus

Since this site’s editor, Mark Selden, is the author or co-author of several important books …

5 Good Short Reads On China Beat Topics–All By People Who Aren’T China Specialists

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Academics focusing on China, like other area specialists, tend to place a high value on formal training in the language and culture of the place we’ve devoted ourselves to teaching and writing about. We think (and I’m no exception) that most of the best scholarly work on Chinese issues has been done by people with this kind of training. And the people outside of the academy that we pay the closest attention to—journalists, free-lance writers, business commentators, policy analysts, etc.—tend to be those who have had some training in Chinese studies, or know the language and have demonstrated a primary …

Taelspin For Monday, January 21, 2008

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This past Christmas, AIDS activist and new daddy Hu Jia was arrested by Chinese authorities. He is currently in detention and his lawyers have been denied access, while his wife and newborn son remain under house arrest with extremely tight security. This month a You Tube video appeared, filmed by Hu and his wife last year, that can only be described as “Reality TV for Those Under Government Surveillance.” Rebecca MacKinnon, one of the best bloggers on the media and China today, gives a searing analysis of the situation. For more on Hu Jia, the blog Black and White Cat …

Taelspin For Sunday, January 20, 2008

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Taelspin will glean the best of the China blogosphere for your reading enjoyment. Suggestions and comments on blogs or posts we missed are always greatly appreciated.

This has been rumored for awhile here in Beijing, but the Angry Chinese Blogger gives the lowdown on the decision by some of the top Olympic teams to avoid staying in Beijing during the games. Reportedly, teams from Europe and America are making arrangements to stay and train in (and this is sure to be particularly galling to the Chinese) Japan out of concerns for pollution, food safety, and other issues. No idea how …

Following A Recipe: When Op-Ed Pieces On China Go Wrong

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is visiting Beijing and the Daily Telegraph has a dour op-ed piece written by Bruce Anderson in today’s edition. Anderson argues that China’s reemergence as a great power is not nearly as worrisome as the prospect of China’s failure.

“If China succeeds, there will be a price. The West would lose power. But Chinese success is much the lesser evil. Imagine what would happen if that huge and powerfully armed nation became a failed state.”

Fair as it goes. China is a large, powerful, and nuclear-armed nation. A collapse of the Chinese state would likely …

Why China’S Dollar Pile Has To Shrink (Relatively Soon)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

James Fallows has a piece in the February, 2008 Atlantic on what he calls “The $1.4 Trillion Question” – why China continues to accumulate $1 billion a day in relatively low-return American assets (mostly Treasury bills), why this can’t go on forever, and what it could mean if this pattern of investment ends abruptly rather than slowly. On the whole, it’s a good introduction, with some useful background on the people responsible for making the central government’s investment decisions. (The point that one of the two key figures, unlike his counterparts almost anywhere else, has never invested for himself, or …

Self-Promotion Saturday: China’S Brave New World

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

My latest book—and my first that is virtually free of footnotes, includes lots of first-person anecdotes, and has some chapters that combine equal parts historically informed analysis and playful musings—went into production a year ago. At the time, I didn’t realize quite how much of a “best of times, worst of times” year 2007 would turn out to be for the appearance of a work like China’s Brave New World—And Other Tales for Global Times, which strives to offer an alternately serious and whimsical look at ways the PRC and the world at large have been changing.

On the plus …

Frivolous Friday

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Rachel DeWoskin’s Babes in Beijing is only one example of an increasingly frank discussion over the past few years of the experiences of foreign women in China. Anna Sophie Loewenberg, a journalist and filmmaker, has been making videos about her life in China (with particular focus on love) for the past year or so under the title Sexy Beijing. You can find more, including contemporary news briefs, at the Sexy Beijing YouTube page or homepage.

The popular American television show, America’s Next Top Model (hosted by Tyra Banks), took its final episodes to Shanghai and then Beijing last fall. Below, …

Our Daily Reads: Best Of China Blogs

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The contributors at The China Beat read a lot of China blogs. Here is a primer of a few of our collective favorites. We welcome you to add your own must-reads (or plug your own blog) in the comments section.

Best One-Stop Source of Information: China Digital Times

Best Media Blog: A tie between Danwei and China Media Project

Best Industry Blog: China Law Blog

Best News Blog: Beijing Newspeak – Written by Chris O’Brien, a language polisher/rewrite artist for Xinhua, a fascinating and frequently hilarious look behind the scenes of Chinese media.

Best Issue Blog: China …

In Case You Missed It: They Chose China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the opening scenes of Shuibo Wang’s 2005 documentary, “They Chose China,” American soldiers dressed in the long, padded winter coats of the Chinese military cluster around a microphone to explain the international threat posed by McCarthy’s witch hunts and U.S. intolerance for freedom and democracy. The documentary tells the story of these twenty-one American soldiers, held as POWs by the Chinese during the Korean War, who refused repatriation after the 1953 armistice.

Through a mix of archival footage, Chinese and American TV clips, and contemporary interviews with one of the few surviving defectors, Wang tries to unearth why the …

Five Good Short Books On China: A Guide For Readers With Limited Attention Spans

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This list is for an imaginary couple who are about to take their first trip to China and have made it clear to me that they only have a limited amount of time to spend reading up on the country in advance. Or, perhaps better yet, they’ve been honest enough to tell me that they won’t start to read up on China until their plane actually takes off, and they want some ideas of what to cram into the limited space of their carry-on bags. Though busy, these imaginary friends (I do have real ones, but none that have asked …

On The China Beat

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China has been looming ever larger in the global economy and the global imagination in recent years, and the international chatter about the country hit a crescendo last year with reports about things like lead paint, moon shots, an architectural face-lift in the capital in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, high growth rates, a rising middle class, and ever sharper divides between haves and have-nots. As China draws more attention from the Western media and its readership, the need for storytellers and interpreters of China has also grown. As China scholars and writers who are concerned about the way …

After The Avalanche

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Most Taiwan observers expected a convincing KMT victory in last Saturday’s Legislative Yuan elections, perhaps even a landslide. What we got was an avalanche, with the KMT garnering 81 of 113 seats (71.68%), as opposed to a paltry 27 for the DPP. The scale of the rout was unprecedented, especially since the KMT ended up with just over 51% of the popular vote, as opposed to approximately 37% for the DPP, numbers that do not differ that dramatically from those of past elections.

A wide range of factors contributed to the DPP debacle, including profound concerns with the slow pace …

Anniversaries: The Rise And Fall Of Wang Mang

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We subscribe to an online encyclopedia to help one of my sons with homework, and because I placed the order, their “This Day in History” feature comes to my inbox. China rarely figures, which isn’t that surprising. After all, they need brief, punchy items that will catch readers’ attention, and that means items familiar enough to a general audience that a five word title is understandable, and that only three sentences are needed to remind us of what happened and why we should care. So I’m not crusading for “1644: Manchus enter Beijing with the help of Wu Sangui” to …

The Doha Round - 2004 Version, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Thank you, Sherman Katz. It is a pleasure always to participate in this CSIS Seminar, which is becoming an annual reunion for former USTRs. Trade is always on the front burner of world affairs, but that burner is especially hot at the moment! And it is as hot here in the U.S. as it is anywhere. So let's turn to the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, and see where we stand.

The Doha Round: Comin' Allve?, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

May I first pay compliments to the leadership of the Asian Development Bank for hosting this seminar. Asia has a huge stake in the success of the WTO generally, and the Doha Round specifically, but not everyone realizes that. So seminars of this _ nature are terribly important in providing focus to the Doha Round, encouragement to the negotiators, and in building public support for this endeavor. Let's hope we can accomplish those objectives here in Osaka.

The World Food And Agricultural Situation - A U.S. Perspective, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is a pleasure to be here in Minnesota at this year's Global Food and Agriculture Summit. And it is a special pleasure to share the podium today with lots of long-time friends, many of whom have forever been associated with American agriculture. would like to focus today on what kind of future might be ahead of us all as we contemplate the excitement of entering a new century. As we look back, we can only conclude that the 20th century was mighty exciting too, and assuredly challenging from an agricultural policy standpoint.

Policy Perspectives And Future Directions: A View From A Former U.S. Trade Representative, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Tom Donahue expressed very well where we as a nation and we as a world should go on the worker rights issue. I'm going to spend most of my time focusing on how we get there, if we really want to accomplish something. Many countries would prefer not to have worker rights in the GATT at all. When we went to Punta del Este in 1986 to begin the Uruguay Round, the United States was a minority of one in trying to get the worker rights issue on the agenda in any way, shape, or form.

Statement By Former U. S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

When the Uruguay Round was launched in 1986, those of us who were present expected it to be completed in four years. Regrettably it took seven. The delay reflects the turmoil and disruptions of a global recession, termination of the Cold War, and political turnover among some of the major trading nations. But persistence paid off, this very ambitious Round is now successfully concluded, and the world will be better off for it.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery By Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter To The American Chamber Of Commerce, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Most Americans won't ever forget -- and I certainly won't -- the news photos taken of the destruction of the Berlin Wall. But even as this political wall was toppling, other walls were going up, ever higher, around the world. I am talking about economic walls -- the subsidies, import bans, price supports, and other policies - which are distorting, and threatening to destroy, the world's agricultural trade.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The Journal Of Commerce And The National Foreign Trade Council's Uruguay Round Conference By Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutier, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is time to quit pretending that supply management works as a farm income enhancement program. It may in the short run; it doesn't in the long run. It is time to stop pretending that protectionist trade policies help America's agriculture. They may in the short run; they don't in the long run.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development Ministerial Meeting By U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeuiter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

This is a particularly important time for us to be gathering for this Ministerial meeting. The Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is entering a crucial period. It is imperative that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) make a strong statement of support for freer and fairer trade in all fields, including agriculture. The nations of the world are looking to the OECD to clearly point the way toward an improved world trading system.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The International Office Of Epizootics By U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is a pleasure for me to be with you today at the annual meeting of the International Office of Epizootics. I would first like to congratulate the recipients of your gold and silver awards, which I am sure are well-deserved. I also want to state how much the United States has appreciated the efforts of Director-General Blajan. Although we have only been a member of OlE since 1978, we have developed great respect for this organization. OlE is held in high regard throughout the world, and the firm and competent leadership of Dr. Blajan has been a major reason …

Cb President Bush's "America The Beautiful Initiative" At The White House Remarks By President Bush And Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

SEC. YEUTTER: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this auspicious tree-planting ceremony. We're delighted to have you all here. That's quite a tree that we're going to be planting. I'm not sure we're going to get that job done with two shovels, but maybe that depends on how fast people shovel. At any rate, we'll give you some experience in that regard very shortly. As we begin the program, I'd like to spend just two minutes giving the essence of what the morning's activity is about. Then, I'll introduce some of our special guests here, and then, of …

Clayton Yeutter Secretary Of Agriculture Before The Senate Committee On Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry February 7, 1990, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I welcome the invitation to appear today to discuss the 1990 Farm Bill. The making of farm policy in 1990 will be truly historic. The road that we take over the coming months will be vital to u.s. farmers, the American public, and, in fact, the world. As you know, we have been working very hard at the USDA and within the Administration for many months to develop proposals that we believe will best serve our nation's food and fiber industries and all Americans. Yesterday we unveiled our ideas. This morning, I would …

Remarks Prepared For Delivery By Clayton Yeutter Secretary Of Agriculture To The Chicago Farmers, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It's a great pleasure for me to be back in Chicago, especially when it means seeing so many friends and acquaintances. I'd like to thank The Chicago Farmers for extending to me this invitation to talk with you today about America's agricultural future. As you know, Congress is struggling to resolve differences between their respective versions of the 1990 Farm Bill. What you may not know -- and what I'd like to discuss with you today -- is that in several notable instances neither version reflects what America's farmers have asked for, nor what America's farmers, as well as America's …

"Trade Reform, The Key To The Future Of U.S. Farming", Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

I have been asked innumerable times why world agricultural trade reform is so important to U.S. farmers. Some of the people doing the asking are often afraid of what such reform might mean to U.S. agriculture. A question I occasionally ask back is, "What is there to fear?" If we are the efficient agricultural producers we say we are -- and I believe we are - then the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) offers American farmers an unprecedented opportunity to gain market share in the growing world markets for food. American agriculture has not …

Excerpts Of Remarks By Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter At His Swearing-In Ceremony In The Usda Patio February 16, 1989, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen. It's a marvelous privilege, pleasure and opportunity for me to be here this morning. As I look out over this audience I see a multitude of long-time friends and I am so pleased and gratified that all of you were willing to take time out of your hectic and demanding schedules to be here and share this occasion with us. I am not going to make any profound policy pronouncements this morning. I'd like to basically concentrate in my very short time with you on some comments about people.