Beijing is regaining its position of China’s spiritual universe, writes author Ian Johnson of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao in the New York Times. While much of its past has been destroyed, the city where Johnson lives is now regaining its position of China’s spiritual capital. A struggle between commerce, communist and traditional values.Read More →

China is inching up as a world power, and author Howard French of Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power finds it about time to dive deeping into what moves the country’s political thinking, says the Irish Times in a review. French: ” “China will wish to restore itself to the pinnacle of affairs in East Asia.”Read More →

South-Korea was the latest country to suffer from economic boycott measures from China after it deployed THAAD missiles on its soil. Tourism backed out and Korean factories suffered surprise inspections. A standard procedure, says business analyst Shaun Rein to CBS. Norway, France, Japan, Taiwan and other suffered from similar boycotts.Read More →

China’s emerging religious experiences have often been misunderstood by the West, says author Ian Johnson of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao in an interview with the New York Times. “I think the government is happy to see these things grow—almost as a form of stability.”Read More →

Zhang Lijia, Ian Johnson and Howard French made it to the top-25 of China books of the Signature website of the US literary agency with the same name. The authors are praised, as they help to move away from the classic monolithic picture the West had from China.Read More →

The internet in China has become the country’s public sphere, says China watcher Kaiser Kuo, former Baidu communication director, at the Paulson Institute. Despite blocked websites and government control, it is the place where netizens express their opinions and discuss.Read More →

Journalist Howard French’s book Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power is reviewed by the Globe&Mail. Key argument: French counters the Chinese narrative of a benevolent force, unlike the greedy Western colonizators. And on Trump: “When two emperors appear simultaneously, one must be destroyed.”Read More →

China annual political meetings passed without any great upheaval, but not all is well for president Xi Jinping, writes veteran journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao in the New York Review of Book. No legal reforms, no successor, and then there is the economy.Read More →

On one hand China tries to embark with “One Belt, One Road” on a massive global expansion. But financial limitations on the outflow of capital go against that. Those conflicting messages makes business people worried about what road to take, says business analyst Shaun Rein to the South China Morning Post.Read More →

South-Korea is not the first country to see China can fight an argument without sending the army in: Japan and France are just a few examples where tinkering with economic power was more effective, for example by redirecting its tourists. It is easier to bully South Korea than Japan,” says business analyst Shaun Rein in the South China Morning Post.Read More →

While religion is getting more leeway in China, the opposite is happening for the Tibetans and Uighur, says journalist Ian Johnson, author of the upcoming book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao in the Globe&Mail. Just last week Xinjiang, home to the Uighur, saw a strong increase in security forces.Read More →