Misunderstanding A Nationalist Cause,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Misunderstanding A Nationalist Cause, Angilee Shah
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The plight of Uyghurs in China entered U.S. consciousness after 9/11. Since 2002, 22 migrant Uyghurs were detained at Guantánamo Bay after being turned over to the United States by bounty hunters in Pakistan. By 2008, the men were no longer considered enemy combatants. Seventeen of them have been released to Switzerland, Palau, Bermuda and Albania. The United States so far has not accepted any of the innocent detainees, nor is the State Department willing to send them back to China where they would likely be persecuted as separatists.
Reading Round-Up: February 8, 2011,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up: February 8, 2011
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• The Philadelphia leg of the “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit, which has already made stops in Orange County, CA and Houston, was abruptly canceled last week. Why? At Far West China, Josh Summers explores several theories regarding the reasons behind this decision.
What China Can Teach Us About Tucson,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
What China Can Teach Us About Tucson, Peter Vernezze
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
From 2006-2008, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, teaching oral English at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu. During this time, I drew on my previous life experience as a philosophy professor to hold a regular philosophical discussion group with Chinese undergraduates. Twice a month we met for ninety minutes to debate the status of truth, the meaning of life, and the reality of fate, among other topics. I believe their deliberations on timeless topics contain a very timely message for America today in the wake of January’s tragedy in Tuscon.
More To Come, But For Now …,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
More To Come, But For Now …
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
While we usually take off the last two weeks of December, we’re delaying our break a little bit due to the momentous events of the past week: recent protests in Wukan, the death of Václav Havel, and now the announcement that Kim Jong Il has also passed away.
How China Says No: Thoughts On Being Blacklisted By
China,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
How China Says No: Thoughts On Being Blacklisted By China, Dru C. Gladney
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
China can say no, as was once declared in the title of the popular 1990s Chinese book. A sovereign country, China has every right to admit or exclude those who seek permission to enter. That it has chosen to exclude a group of scholars who contributed to an edited volume on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, now known as the “Xinjiang 13,” should not and will not elicit much concern in the wider academic world, despite a slew of recent articles in Bloomberg, the Washington Post, the New York Times, blog fora like China Beat, and on listservs such as …
The Prc And Pr: Baffling Messages In Times Square?,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Prc And Pr: Baffling Messages In Times Square?, Christopher C. Heselton
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Amid all the fanfare and fear-mongering over President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States last week, the Chinese government has also launched an advertising campaign to enhance its national image in America. The campaign includes a 60-second ad showing on a mega screen at Time Square, New York, a 30-second segment at Gallery Place, Washington DC (DC’s “Chinatown,” though it’s a rather small one), and a series of 15-second advertisements airing on several news networks over a multi-week period. A host of Chinese celebrities, models, entrepreneurs, astronauts, and other household names appear in these advertisements, standing and smiling at …
“The Rise Of The Hans”: A Critique,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
“The Rise Of The Hans”: A Critique, Thomas S. Mullaney
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“Rise of the Hans,” by Joel Kotkin, is a troubling article to find published in a high-profile venue such as Foreign Policy. It reinforces misleading ideas about China and is problematic for a variety of specific reasons, the biggest of which has to do with Kotkin’s use of key terms.
Searching For Influence And Persuasion In Network-Oriented Public Diplomacy: What Role For “Small States”?,
2011
University of Bath
Searching For Influence And Persuasion In Network-Oriented Public Diplomacy: What Role For “Small States”?, Ivaylo Iaydjiev
Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy
The discipline of public diplomacy has recently given rise to the concept of network-oriented public diplomacy. The purpose of the essay is twofold: first, to explore the idea and the underlying assumptions of this "new" public diplomacy; second, to ask whether public diplomacy could be an effective tool for "small states" since most of the scholarship is written from the viewpoint of a great power. To this end, this work is proceeding in three main parts: First, the notion of network-oriented diplomacy is examined by contrasting it to traditional diplomacy and traditional public diplomacy. Second, the essay demonstrates how the …
Stretching The Parameters Of Diplomatic Protocol: Incursion Into Public Diplomacy,
2011
Independent University
Stretching The Parameters Of Diplomatic Protocol: Incursion Into Public Diplomacy, Shahidul Alam
Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy
The end of the Cold War saw the United States retrenching its public diplomacy program. However, as the sole remaining superpower, it saw the opportunity to spread its values and ideals – particularly those of liberal democracy, human rights, and the free market economy – to those countries that were lacking in them. Paradoxically, intense public diplomacy efforts were required in pursuit of that objective. Traditional diplomats then began to take on public diplomacy functions, but, in so doing, often violated Article 41 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. They were mostly from the United States, while the …
The Internet And China’S Response To The Japan Earthquake,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Internet And China’S Response To The Japan Earthquake, Daniel Knorr
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
A few days after the Japan earthquake last month, the high school student I tutor asked if I had considered leaving Beijing with my wife. I had been keeping up with the news about the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, and to the best of my knowledge there was no real threat to us in Beijing so I was a little surprised by his question. Even though I assumed the nuclear plant was the source of his concern, I asked what he was referring to. (Honestly, part of me was a little afraid that he knew something I didn’t.) …
Frivolous Friday: In Praise Of Jianbing 煎饼,
2011
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Frivolous Friday: In Praise Of Jianbing 煎饼, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Wednesday morning began like any other. I poured some cereal, made a pot of coffee, and flipped open my laptop to catch up on what had filled my Google Reader and Twitter feed overnight. One of the links I clicked on took me to Evan Osnos’s Condé Nast Traveler article about the ongoing “creative destruction” of Beijing, where my morning routine ended as soon as I read this paragraph:
A Quick Q & A With Tom Scocca–Author Ofbeijing
Welcomes You,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A Quick Q & A With Tom Scocca–Author Ofbeijing Welcomes You, Jeffrey Wasserstrom
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Tom Scocca’s engaging new book, Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future, which explores his experiences in China during its pre-Olympic and Olympic moments, has been getting enthusiastic reviews, includingone by Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post and one that yours truly did forTime. Seeing references online to the author giving talks about his book at various East Coast venues, I decided to send a few questions his way on topics ranging from the reaction he’s getting from audiences to how he keeps up with Chinese events now that he’s based back in the US. He readily …
Dalian’S Past, Dalian’S Present, Part 2,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Dalian’S Past, Dalian’S Present, Part 2, Miriam Kingsberg
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The tens of thousands of Dalian residents who gathered this weekend to demand the relocation of a chemical plant were responding to a contemporary situation. Their protest, though, reflected a complicated relationship among the people, the state, and the environment that was inscribed in the city from the very moment of its founding.
Screening Tiananmen,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Screening Tiananmen, Chris Berry
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Recently, I’ve been spending a lot more time in Shanghai than in Beijing. This is because of a research project comparing moving image screens—mostly Lighting-Emitting Diode (LED) screens—as part of everyday culture in public places in Cairo, Shanghai and London. (If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.) But in the meantime, I had heard about the Jumbotron screen installed in the middle of Tiananmen Square. So, when I made it back to Beijing for the first time since just before the 2008 Olympics to do a bit of teaching at the Chinese Film summer school organized by …
Reading Round-Up, 1/11/11,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 1/11/11
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• When a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings was canceled in late December due to heavy snow in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was not pleased. Calling the United States “a nation of wusses,” Rendell went on to say
The Man In The Picture,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Man In The Picture
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Earlier this week, we published Alice Miller’s post on what wasn’t new about Hu Jintao’s recent comments on human rights; at about the same time, Time.com posted a commentary by China Beat consulting editor Jeffrey Wasserstrom that listed other things that weren’t novel about the recent summit.
China Events In Southern California, February 8-22,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
China Events In Southern California, February 8-22
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
China Beat readers living in and around the Southern California region might want to check out one or more of these events in the upcoming weeks:
Reading Round-Up: Richard Mcgregor’S The Party,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up: Richard Mcgregor’S The Party
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Financial Times journalist Richard McGregor is this year’s recipient of the Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Book Award for his 2010 investigation into Chinese leadership, The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. If you haven’t caught up with McGregor’s book yet, here are a few links about it to whet your appetite:
Harbin’S Past, Modern Style,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Harbin’S Past, Modern Style, James Carter
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Historical preservation in China’s ever-growing cities is a challenge. Transformations to Beijing and Shanghai are best documented (for example, as evocatively narrated by Michael Meyer in his Last Days of Old Beijing), but dozens of cities, up and down the coast especially, are witnessing historically rapid change, and a rapid change to their histories.
Factories Without Smoke: Wang Jia Yi And Gao Tian Ci,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Factories Without Smoke: Wang Jia Yi And Gao Tian Ci, Chris Cherry
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Wang Jia Yi and Gao Tian Ci, Dalian to San Li Village, Anhui Province
