Gu Kailai, the wife of disposed leader Bo Xilai, was the last woman in a Chinese tradition of so-called dragon ladies. Historian and author Paul French puts her in that tradition together with empress Cixi, Jiang Qing and many others in Foreign Policy. Read More →
The US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 started to change the life of rock musician Kaiser Kuo, then part of the famous band Tang-dynasty. In “Americans in China” he explains how he became an American in Beijing, and spokesperson of the country’s search engine Baidu.Read More →
How can the West or China support South Sudan? That question has become urgent, now the country is heading for another crisis and in The Atlantic, former Africa and China correspondent Howard French looks at what China or the West can do.Read More →
As a first sign Europe might be turning away from its weapon embargo against Taiwan by deploying three Eurocopter EC225 helicopters, sending a message to Washington, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.Read More →
Former China-correspondent Howard French wonders what the US is fighting for in Africa in The Atlantic, responding to a Washington Post article. “If Washington really wants to promote African democracy, why is it partnering with the continent’s autocrats to create military spy programs?”Read More →
The US embassy in Beijing and US consulate in Shanghai tweet regularly their measurements of the pollution in those cities. No allowed, said a representative of the environmental authorities in China this week. Denying the problem is not going to help, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in Marketplace.Read More →
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia of “”Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China” recalled yesterday at her weblog the dramatic events of June 4, 1989, and looks ahead at the future of China in the years to come.Read More →
France is the top destination of luxury traveler, followed by the US and Australia. The Maldives, Switzerland and Dubai are the fastest growing, tells Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the rich list in the Shanghai Daily.Read More →
On Thursday 31 May the Beijing-based author Zhang Lijia will answer questions on political reform in China in an upcoming Hangout-on-air. Are we seeing merely window-dressing, or are there real options for change. Basis will be her opt-in in the New York Times, where she sounds rather pessimistic.Read More →
Cheap labor has made the country into a source of deflation for global consumers, but as Chinese wages go up, consumers in Wall-Mart and elsewhere better prepare for higher prices, tells the author of The End of Cheap China Shaun Rein an in interview with the BBC radio.Read More →
Every successful author needs to have his next book ready before the previous book is out. Celebrity author Paul French of Midnight in Peking has two in the making, while he is touring to promote his latest book, he tells The Scotsman. Read More →
Former colonial powers have been anxiously watching how China has been entering Africa. While it is too early to give a final verdict, former foreign correspondent in Africa and China Howard French sees more positive than negative effects, he tells in AllAfrica.Read More →