ARTICLES
“MY PERSONAL VENDETTA”
As part of my ongoing series of Q&As with Chinese intellectuals and writers, I interview the Hong Kong publisher Bao Pu about his movtivation for tackling some of China’s most sensitive issues.
THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA
On Jan. 15 and 16, The New York Review of Books, Hong Kong University and several other groups are hosting a conference named after Xi Jinping's book on Chinese politics.
JOURNOS AND ACADEMICS TALK RELIGION
New York University's Center for Religion and Media is launching a new fellowship program to bring journalists and academics closer together.
KUNG-FU, FACE MASKS AND TECHNOCRATS
Why did Beijing issue a “red alert” for smog this week when it has seen far worse days? I explore the implications of Chinese society’s growing environmental awareness in this short NYR Daily blogpost.
ONE FAMILY’S NIGHTMARE
Behind the ubiquitous China Dream campaign is one family’s real-life story of death and tragedy. My article in the NYT.
MOSQUE IN MUNICH IN CHINESE
In this interview with Beijing Youth Daily, I talk about the upcoming publication of A Mosque in Munich in China, the Paris talks, and accessing US archives.
XI’S APOGEE OF POWER
In this piece for the New York Review of Books Daily, I take issue with the idea of Xi as a strong leader, instead seeing him as hobbled by the same problems facing his predecessors.
OUP ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF CHINA
I'm very excited that the Oxford Illustrated History of China has a pub date: Aug 2016
OLD MEDICINE, NEW DEBATE
Awarding the Nobel Prize for medicine to a researcher in traditional Chinese medicine has rekindled a century-old debate over whether the practice is superstitious nonsense or a valuable contribution to the nation’s future. My take in the Sunday New York Times.
HOPES OF A 3RD-TIER CHINESE CITY
In this “Journal” for the New York Times I look at the strange fate of Baoding. From provincial capital, it declined to a backwater, and now hopes for a revival under the Jing-Jin-Ji urbanization plan.
“I TRY TO TALK LESS”
My Q&A with Ai Weiwei and Liao Yiwu in the NYRB, discussing Ai’s new-found desire to keep a lower profile, the role of history and so on. You can read it here.
SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA’S “FORGOTTEN PEOPLE”
My NYT Sinosphere blog Q&A with writer Nick Holdstock on his new book on the Uighurs of China’s far-western Xinjiang province.