Does a much talked about "letter" suggest Thailand is headed for where China went in April 2008?
Perhaps.
Perhaps.
Nikkei bans links
GV reports on bloggers' reaction to Nikkei's decision to "ban links" -- as if that's even possible.
NY Times describes the situation:
NY Times describes the situation:
Links to Nikkei’s home page require a detailed written application. Among other things, applicants must spell out their reasons for linking to the site.I wonder what genius came up with that policy?
Anwar al-Awlaki, the muslim American Obama has sentenced to death
President Obama has taken it upon himself to order the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who happens to be an American citizen. When a US president orders the killing -- without trial -- of an American, he crosses a line.
More here.
More here.
China executes Japanese man for drug smuggling
Nikkei: "China carried out the death penalty imposed on convicted Japanese drug smuggler Mitsunobu Akano on Tuesday, the official Xinhua News agency reported." According to NHK he was carrying 2.5 kg of "stimulants".
It's "China's first execution of a Japanese national since the two nations normalized diplomatic relations 38 years ago" according to UPI.
Mitsunobu Akano is at least the second foreigner China has executed so far this year. Earlier, a UK citizen was put to death.
Four more Japanese are slated to be executed in China. Prior to the execution, Yomiuri Shimbun warned of a backlash among the Japanese public.
On the other hand, the Japan Times notes,
It's "China's first execution of a Japanese national since the two nations normalized diplomatic relations 38 years ago" according to UPI.
Mitsunobu Akano is at least the second foreigner China has executed so far this year. Earlier, a UK citizen was put to death.
Four more Japanese are slated to be executed in China. Prior to the execution, Yomiuri Shimbun warned of a backlash among the Japanese public.
On the other hand, the Japan Times notes,
China announced last week it had detained a man for allegedly poisoning frozen dumplings that sickened 10 people in Japan between late 2007 and early 2008.You have to wonder whether the "suspect" or anyone accused of anything in China will receive a fair trial.
According to sources close to both sides, Beijing conveyed its decision to Tokyo three days after informing the Japanese government that a suspect had been apprehended in the dumpling-poisoning case. "The timing makes it difficult for Japan to object," one of the sources said Tuesday.
Did China cause the Mekong River droubt?
When will China realize that a lesson it learned during the 2003 SARS crisis has broad applicability?
Continued...
Continued...
Why are China's captive Siberian Tigers dying?
BBC reports that 11 captive Siberian tigers have died in China over the past 3 months:
A local wildlife protection official, Liu Xiaoqiang, is reported to have said that malnutrition was one cause. The tigers were apparently fed cheap chicken bones.The story gets more disturbing:
Mr Liu also said that the tigers had been kept in very small cages, restricting their movement and lowering their resistance to disease.
A manager at the zoo, which is currently closed, said the animals simply died of various diseases.
The BBC recently found that the Siberia Tiger Park, based in Heilongjiang Province in the northeast of China, is selling a "tiger bone wine" that contains three small tiger bones.Some way to celebrate Year of the Tiger.
Team Japan at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
日本選手のバンクーバー冬季五輪の開会式に行進する。
Team China at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver
中国运动员进军冬奥会的在温哥华开幕式。
Chinese athletes march into the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Comparison: China's high speed rail plans Vs Obama's for America
Here's one critical difference between the US and China -- and Obama touched on it in his "State of the Union" speech: Whereas increasingly, the infrastructure of China is sparkling and new, the infrastructure of the United States is crumbling and old.
What has China been up to with respect to high-speed rail? And how does Obama plan to close the "rail gap"?
The answer might astound you.
What has China been up to with respect to high-speed rail? And how does Obama plan to close the "rail gap"?
The answer might astound you.
Google and China-US relations
James Fallows, having recently returned from China after a long stay, has blogged a particularly interesting post concerning Google's decision to pull out of China. Fallows points to a string of recent developments that give the appearance that China is entering a particularly antagonistic -- but not threatening -- phase with respect to its relations with the outside world:
But there are also reasons to think that a difficult and unpleasant stage of China-US and China-world relations lies ahead. This is so on the economic front, as warned about here nearly a year ago with later evidence here. It may prove to be so on the environmental front -- that is what the argument over China's role in Copenhagen is about. It is increasingly so on the political-liberties front, as witness Vaclav Havel's denunciation of the recent 11-year prison sentence for the man who is in many ways his Chinese counterpart, Liu Xiaobo. And if a major U.S. company -- indeed, Google has been ranked the #1 brand in the world -- has concluded that, in effect, it must break diplomatic relations with China because its policies are too repressive and intrusive to make peace with, that is a significant judgment.I should add that Fallows recent posts concerning the Copenhagen negotiations have provided rare glimpses of the Chinese leadership in action. The accounts were weird enough to make me wonder whether China might be experiencing some serious internal conflicts. Of course, no one seems to be talking this way. But as Xiao Qiang asked some journalists gathered in Helsinki, what makes us so sure the experts have China right?
Will consumer demand in China rescue the world economy in 2010?
Is Gillian Chung pictured in my photo?
A reader looking through some old photos on my blog swears I accidentally captured Gillian Chung Yan-tung, the famous Hong Kong actress and singer. Take a look for yourself.
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