ARTICLES
“IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM, I’D BE CORRUPT TOO”
Interview with 79-year-old political reformer Bao Tong in the New York Review of Books blog. Bao is a funny, engaging gentleman with insights into China’s problems of corruption and political reform.
POLITICS AND CHINA’S AIR QUALITY
A short, fun interview with Jeff Wasserstrom about the upcoming Asia Society event.
Is China Stable?
For friends in the NYC area on June 21, I'll be speaking at the Asia Society with Orville Schell and Rod MacFarquhar, hosted by the New York Review of Books' Hugh Eakins.
FINDING ZEN AND BOOK CONTRACTS IN BEIJING
Not all books in China are pirated, thanks to China’s growing middle class. A good example is the American translator of Chinese poetry Bill Porter (Red Pine) who has become a mini-celebrity in China for his books on Chinese culture. A profile here in the NYRB.
CHINESE MURDER MYSTERY
Paywall alert, but if you’re a subscriber, I have a piece in the current issue of the NYRB about the Bo Xilai scandal.
CHINESE OFFICIALS WIRETAPPING EACH OTHER
Most attention has focused on the death of a British businessman as the trigger for China’s ongoing political, but in this article in the NYT a colleague and I posit that it was also due to leaders’ penchant for wiretapping each other.
DEBACLE IN BEIJING: THE BLIND LAWYER SAGA
What’s the best course for the blind lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, and what can western countries do when human rights are violated? I take a skeptical look in this New York Review of Books blogpost.
“WORSE THAN THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION”
If you’re interested in the destruction of Chinese culture, this interview with one of China’ top cultural bureaucrats might be of interest. .
THE MOON YEAR
What do Bo Xilai and hibernating insects have in common. I try to figure this out in this blogpost in the New York Review of Books. .
BO XILAI’S CHONGQING
I took a trip to Chongqing for the New York Times to see what was up with the scandal around Bo Xilai's top cop, Wang Lijun.
LEARNING TO ARGUE: RAN YUNFEI INTERVIEW
A hilarious, wide-ranging interview with writer and blogger Ran Yunfei, here on the New York Review of Books blog. .
IS DEMOCRACY CHINESE? NYRB BLOG
One of China’s best-known journalists, Chang Ping, is in quasi-exile in Germany. In this interview in the NYRB Blog, I talk to him about democracy and growing up as a small child in the Cultural Revolution.