On Chua, Chinese Mothers, and Educating Our Daughter in Shanghai

Recently a Yale Law Professor named Amy Chua published a piece in the Wall Street Journal on raising her children, called provocatively “Chinese Mothers are Superior.”  The title is ambiguous.  What are these “Chinese mothers” superior at doing?  Denying their kids the basic rights and freedoms of childhood?  Forcing them to endure grueling hours of practice on their instruments?  Making sure they get “perfect” grades in school and perform at Carnegie Hall, and humiliating and shaming them if they do not?  All of the above it seems.

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A Message to China: Stop Eating Shark Fin Soup! 鱼翅汤背后的成本：鲨鱼可能消失

For some years now, ocean scientists and many other concerned citizens around the world have been aware of the danger that shark finning is bringing to the world.  Sharks are being consumed by the millions, just for their fins.  After being brutally definned, their bodies are tossed back into the ocean to die.  This is going on in support of a multi-billion dollar industry surrounding the purported benefit of shark fins for human health—a completely unsubstantiated belief.  China is especially guilty of contributing to the extinction of sharks worldwide.  Here in China, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy, and people pay a premium to consume it. 

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Tintin in the Land of Snow: Tibet, China, and the West

Ah, Tibet.  Land of the high plateau, the monstrous snowy peaks, the lofty lamaseries, and the mysterious Yeti.  When I was a child, I devoured the Tintin books.  The story of how Tintin and Captain Haddock bravely rescue the Chinese boy Chang after Tintin has a premonitional dream of his friend surviving a plane wreckage somewhere in the mountains of Tibet—what an epic tale!  Who could forget the surly Nepalese porter, the wonderfully humane Abbot who harbours Tintin and the Captain after their near death, the levitating seer, the heroic struggle and refusal to abandon their Chinese friend despite all the dangers, and of course, the loveable and misunderstood Yeti?

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Nile Perch and Blue Jeans: Videographing inequalities in globalized labor in China and Africa

Anybody concerned with globalization and the inequalities it produces ought to be aware of where the clothing and food he or she consumes on a daily basis comes from and who made it.  Yet when it comes to the labor that goes into producing our consumables in the modern industrial world, as Karl Marx understood so well, we are too often in the dark.  Enter two filmographers who have managed to shed some light on the globalizing forces of labor and production.

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Public Manners in China and the Case of a Korean Blogger

Recently the Asiatimes published an article on a Korean journalist who wrote a rather unfriendly blog about the lack of public manners in China. The blog elicited a range of comments from other Koreans, many of whom felt that the blogger was being unduly racist towards his Chinese brethren. This is a discussion that most of us involved in the China field have been having for years and that will continually resurface. It always seems to come down to this: "the Chinese have private hospitality and personal warmth but lack public consciousness, while Westerners and Japanese have public consciousness but lack private hospitality and personal warmth."
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China and Genocide in Darfur vs. America in Iraq

An interesting discussion has developed on the listserve Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (MCLC) run by Kirk Denton. Last week I posted an article from the Village Voice about the attempt by certain influential Hollywood types and others in America to label Beijing 2008 Olympics the "Genocide Olympics". Another list member named Henri Day countered that the "g" word is often used for dubious political purposes, and noted that America's war against Saddam Hussein's regime and subsequent occupation of Iraq has also resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Why should the events in Darfur be qualitatively different, was the question raised. He also pointed out that only the US government has officially declared the events in Darfur to be an act of "genocide" (I cannot confirm or deny this--others might know better).
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An Interview with Peter Hessler

Peter Hessler is a best-selling author and journalist. He has published two books of non-fiction on China, _River Town_ and _Oracle Bones_. He has also written feature articles on China for _the New Yorker_, _National Geographic_ and other magazines. Last November I met Peter in Beijing while he was researching an article on my friend David Spindler and his Great Wall project. This article was published in the May 21 2007 issue of _the New Yorker_ magazine. After meeting Peter, I was inspired to read his book _River Town_, which recounts his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer and English teacher in Fuling in 1996-7. I found the book to be an honest, perceptive, and insightful account of what it's like to live in China as a foreigner.
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Final Remarks on the Usage and Abusage of "Laowai"

It appears that the H-ASIA thread on "laowai" may be finally drawing to a close (I may be speaking too soon--Ryan may still be holding a few posts in his mailbox).  As one of the editors of this list, and also as the person who inadvertently started this conversation by using the term in an unrelated discussion, I thought it might be a good idea to summarize the gist of the conversation we've had.  Basically, the discussion has revolved around the meaning and usage of the term "laowai" in China today.  

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Chinese Doublethink: The New Media Rules

According to a recent news item, as reported in the Asia Times, in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2008, the Chinese government has relaxed its grip on foreign reporters in China.  Time can only tell whether or not this will lead to freer reportage in practice.  It is one thing for the central government to issue such a proclamation, and another for officials on the local level to honor it. 

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Democracy in China?

Will China eventually become a democratic country?  How long would this take?  These are two questions often in the minds of Western journalists in China.  In a recent podcast interview with China Digital Times, New York Times journalist Howard French was asked what question he would most like to ask Hu Jintao if he was granted an interview.  He responded that he would ask him about China's democratic future. 

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