China : Comment
"Japan's natural disasters and the Chinese people's reflections" - Mar 20, 2011 - 10:42:42 AM
Chaos and turbulence show the character of a society. The magnitude 9 earthquake in Japan caused huge losses, but also gave hundreds of millions of Chinese who understand nothing about Japanese society a chance to see that society's huge capacity for self-help.

China : Comment
The Stage - Apr 27, 2010 - 5:32:54 AM
A Chinese blogger combined pictures of pre-quake Yushu with this article by Ai Mo艾墨 "The Stage" that appeared recently in Hong Kong's Mingbao newspaper. The full text of that short article, which did not appear on the Ming Bao website, is copied below, after my translation.

This story points out the great cultural gulf between Tibetans and Han Chinese and the difficulties of doing culturally and religiously sensitive relief work.  Probably because of some ethnic chauvinism and perhaps because some think it will affect the Chinese-ness of Tibet, many Han Chinese find it hard to appreciate the profound cultural differences between the Han Chinese and the Tibetans. Well, many Chinese Buddhists understand, but the mainstream media doesn't reflect their views much and the Chinese government strives to prevent the thousands of Chinese Buddhist who want to study in Tibetan monasteries from doing so.

China : Comment
The China Model and Ponzi Schemes - Apr 9, 2010 - 8:32:07 AM
The ��Observer�� column in the current Economic Observer is entitled ��How to approach the ��China model��.��** I did a quick search on ��China model,�� coming up with over 1,200 hits.

The model has again become a subject of media speculation because many people have been puzzled, unable to find a satisfactory and convincing explanation for China��s economic growth over the past three years.

China : Comment
Beware Urban Dinosaurisation! - Apr 9, 2010 - 8:28:02 AM
The document now facing me, from the Kunming City Planning Commission Office (no. 1 for 2010) is worth a read. It’s “damn exciting!” to use a modish phrase. It states that in project planning for residential apartments up to 40 stories in downtown Kunming, “approval in principle is no longer required except as regards urban landscape considerations, requirements for aircraft clearance and controls on land construction sites ...... detailed plans for ‘urban village’ remodelling will in line with this undertake a comprehensive sorting-out (shuli).”

China : Comment
Only Protecting Rights Can Protect Stability - Apr 9, 2010 - 8:25:05 AM
The legislation changing "re-education through labor" into "education and correction for illegal acts" was not passed in the 10th National People's Congress, as some had hoped. The 11th Congress just held its third session, and again a draft proposal was put forward. Public debate has been unceasing. There is a saying that the difficulty with this law is in reconciling two interests: that of "protecting the lawful rights and interests of those subject to re-education through labor," and  "to let the RETL system play its role in protecting social order and stability." They may be labeled as "parties to re-education" or in other places are labeled as those stripped of their liberty "in order to protect the rights of the great majority" or those who have their rights "controlled" or "cut down" (克减). But are protecting people's rights and preserving social stability really in conflict?