Category: Uncategorized

Naming Abudan’s Villagers with a Turkic Touch

The Audible Annals of Abudan (凿空)  is set in an imaginary village in southern Xinjiang, which has historically been largely peopled by Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim people. Although the word “Uyghur” never appears, it’s clear from several aspects of the tale, such as occasional transliterated vocabulary, that they speak a Turkic tongue.  It’s important to note … Continue reading Naming Abudan’s Villagers with a Turkic Touch →

Pic of the Week: Replacing religion with “faith in the state”?

This picture of a China propaganda poster uses the phrase for "have faith" -- 有信仰 -- in a way that I have always associated with religion, i.e., be a believer (in this or that religion). Perhaps I am wrong, but this feels like a new usage of the phrase. Odd for a Party that enforces … Continue reading Pic of the Week: Replacing religion with “faith in the state”? →

Quote of the Week: Xi Jinping’s Eternal “State of exception”

Political theorists in the early 20th century coined the term “state of exception” for an authoritarian state’s use of crises to normalize extraordinary extralegal measures — and keep them in effect indefinitely. In China, Mr. Xi first put Xinjiang in a state of exception, and more recently has used Covid-19 as justification to do the … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Xi Jinping’s Eternal “State of exception” →

Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Nobel Speech: “A kind of beauty”

. . . writing cannot be just about battling and polemics, however invigorating and comforting that can be. Writing is not about one thing, not about this issue or that, or this concern or another, and since its concern is human life in one way or another, sooner or later cruelty and love and weakness … Continue reading Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Nobel Speech: “A kind of beauty” →

Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary: Dissed for ‘Washing Dirty Linen’ before Foreign Eyes

家丑不传外 It was bad enough that author Fang Fang (方方) has regularly posted her popular Wuhan Diary (武汉日记) on China’s social media, offering her personal — and not occasionally, critical — comments on the effects of the deadly epidemic during the lockdown, penned at Ground Zero. Reports The Diplomat (Conscience of Wuhan): . . . … Continue reading Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary: Dissed for ‘Washing Dirty Linen’ before Foreign Eyes →

Baidu Baike: Bizarre Wikipediaesque Site with Beijing’s Big Brother Seal of Approval

In Fake Food, Fake News: On China’s For-Profit Version of Wikipedia, Chenxin Jiang introduces us to the wacky world of Baidu Baike (百度百科), Baidu search engine's politically correct, Chinese-language version of Wikipedia for the masses: But in many cases the misinformation on Baidu Baike cannot be attributed to commercial interests; much of it is bizarre or … Continue reading Baidu Baike: Bizarre Wikipediaesque Site with Beijing’s Big Brother Seal of Approval →

China’s “Stability Maintenance” Policy Goes Hi-tech in the Remote Far West

Over at The Diplomat, Mercy Kuo interviews Darren Byler, an anthropology doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, about how the PRC government is building a database on ethnic Muslim peoples in Xinjiang (Uyghur Biodata Collection in China): Briefly explain why China is collecting Uyghur DNA data, according to a recent report. The state is … Continue reading China’s “Stability Maintenance” Policy Goes Hi-tech in the Remote Far West →

Cartoonist Takes the Mickey out of China’s Africa Grab

In How a Lone Ghanaian Cartoonist Stood up to China just published in Quartz Africa, freelance journalist Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu profiles a young artist who has emerged as a thorn in the side of China as it works overtime to forge a friendly, ‘win-win’ image for itself as a partner to African business. Earlier this … Continue reading Cartoonist Takes the Mickey out of China’s Africa Grab →