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”
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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”
One of the People
遭遇深圳 By Bruce Humes “You’ll have to excuse us, Bruce. We’ve always looked after you as a guest,” said longtime friend Liu Jie, pausing delicately. “But yesterday we treated you like one of our own.” Indeed. My reception the previous night at the emergency room of this People’s Hospital in Shenzhen, just north of Hong … Continue reading One of the People
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
非漂 [Fēi Piāo] 本周精彩语录: 论四川话
Sichuan Hua (四川话) sounds like a remote mountain primate attempting rap-opera (As uttered by rock musician and peripatetic travel writer 小飞, aka Thomas Bird)
Mandela: “Dare Not Linger” Launched in English, as Weibo Bans Search in Chinese
The long awaited second volume of Nelson Mandela’s memoirs — Dare not Linger — has just been published. Left unfinished at his death, it has been completed by South African writer Mandla Langa, who reportedly worked from the partial draft, Mandela’s own notes and private archives. I am interested because I’d like to know if it … Continue reading Mandela: “Dare Not Linger” Launched in English, as Weibo Bans Search in Chinese
非漂 [Fēi Piāo] Quote of the Week: “An Expanded Capacity for Empathy”
. . . I began thinking one of literature’s tasks was to give voices to the voiceless, and to humanize people . . . so my first book of stories, The Refugees, worked exactly in that register, trying to humanize the Vietnamese people. But eventually I realized that this was a task that was doomed … Continue reading 非漂 [Fēi Piāo] Quote of the Week: “An Expanded Capacity for Empathy”
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