Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Image by Wolfgang Staudt on Flickr
Everything you need to know about the rising power. Original interviews with experts such as Richard Baum, Isabel Hilton, and Xinran - and the books and articles they recommend
Rare look inside the Central Organisation Department, which controls appointments, promotions—and thus the Party itself
A nation with split-personality disorder: China is by turns reasonable and aggressive. Essential reading if you want to understand the bullet points of US-China relations, and the consequences of China's rise
Wonderful piece on China's race to lead in green technology. They started in 1986 and in many areas are more advanced than the US. What's at stake isn't just the environment - it's dominance of a new economic model
Twenty years on, China's rulers have more to fear from the economic crisis than they do from democratic dissidents. Simple argument, simply stated, from a writer who has earnt his Asian chops
American experts have predicted for decades that China would liberalise as it prospered. It hasn't and it won't. Nor does it want to join a US-led world system. So live with it. We can still do business
How the 2010 US midterms used Chinese growth to scare the electorate and scapegoat the opposition. Video clips of the adverts in question below the fold - 'Chinese Professor' is especially worth watching
A worthwhile and off-the-beat-and-track article on Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace price win. Compares him to three previous winners, in Germany, Poland and America. Also fascinating on the botched 'Confucius prize'
From China, terrific murder-and-extortion story in which everybody, except possibly the corpse, is double-crossing. Even the crime scene is illegal
The title is advice to America from Gao Xiqing, the man who oversees $200 billion of China’s $2 trillion in dollar holdings. Rare interview with a genuine player, in a country usually shy to give such access
Respected foreign policy expert proposes a new thesis: China's growing sea power will be the decisive factor in the battle for dominance in South East Asia. Powerfully argued and a real eye-opener
A treat from one of Britain's best writers on Chinese history. Carefully observed profile of Soong Mei-ling, Chiang Kai-shek's wife and one of the most important female figures in the creation of modern China
![Kashgar streets [1] by pollenoid](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2175/2198356318_03d3236461_s.jpg "Kashgar streets [1] by pollenoid")
A report from China's troubled far West, focusing not on the political tensions of Xinjiang but it's collateral damage on the region's historical buildings and character. Travel reportage with a heart
Very readable travelogue of a 3,000-mile trek through Western China. Xinjiang and Tibet are China's poorest and least Chinese regions in character. But Beijing is doing everything it can to change that
Profile of Li Yang's manic attempts to teach English to China in rock-gig like shouting sessions. Long, fun, packed with character and detail - just what you want and expect from the New Yorker
A rare treat for the old China hands. TNR reprints a first-hand report of Nixon's 1972 state visit to China, written by one of his retinue. Gripping even in its mundaness
China wins by offering better terms. It makes cheaper loans, builds infrastructure, transfers low-end technology. It deals with dictators, but so does the West
Veteran writer takes on the latest yellow peril - cyberwar. China still lags behind America in military techonology and organisation, but it doesn't take much to launch an attack, and it's happening already
Fascinating profile of Hu Shuli, a Chinese magazine editor pushing the boundaries of what can be publish. Says she has 'flourished', but not long after this article came out she was fired for going too far
Superb review tackles the big hitters on modern China. First two paragraphs noteworthy for their potted history of Orientalism. 'History can henceforward simply be divided into BC and AC: Before China and After China'
Extraordinary critique from Chinese communist official, close to Zhao Ziyang, disgraced after Tiananmen
Yuan undervalued 40% against dollar. Blatant protectionism. China subsidises exports, penalises imports, exports unemployment. International action needed through IMF, WTO
Commentators say Google 'wimped out' by staying in China. Far from it. A little wonkish, but otherwise an excellent insight into the complexities behind this oversimplified story
The Olympic games meant so much to China because they're insecure about their nation's 'century of humiliation' and want to show they've risen from the ashes. Excellent on the character of modern Chinese nationalism
Succinct review of one of the most fascinating biographies on Mao to have come out in the last thirty years - the memoirs of Mao's personal doctor, who describes his imperial luxuries and serial womanising
How can a nominally communist nation be compatible with the Confucian ideas it once condemned? Thought-provoking perpective from Beijing-based American scholar, published in one of the best respected blogs about China
