ARTICLES
THE TAO OF THE WEST
In my latest for The New York Review of Books, I look at Taoism: how it moved westward and created a new religion; as a green religion; and how western universities systematically ignore Chinese and other non-western philosophy.
FROM MONTREAL TO BEIJING
Parlez-vou 中文？How growing up during Montreal’s language wars made me a China watcher In this piece for China Heritage‘s “Watching China Watching,” I talk a bit about myself, and how growing up in 1960s and ’70s Montreal made me focus my China watching on language.
DEMOLITIONS AND DIPLOMACY
Christians in China have faced two very different challenges: naked state violence and state diplomacy. In this article for the New York Times, I explain how they’re related.
#METOO IN THE MONASTERY
The downfall of China’s most prominent Buddhist monk raises questions about the religion’s path. In this New York Times article, I look at the implications of the fall of the Venerable Xuecheng, and Buddhism’s status as China’s “national religion.”
BACK IN THE CENTER OF SOCIETY
As a follow-up to a talk I gave this past spring, the Steyler Missionaries' China Zentrum in Sankt Augustin, Germany, asked me to write a piece on religion in China--a big question...
BREAKING EGGS ON ROCKS
Suddenly articles are appearing again...this time in The New York Review of Books.
ZURÜCK INS ZENTRUM VON POLITIK UND GESELLSCHAFT
For German readers here’s a piece I did for china heute on the future of religion in China. In the next issue (in a few weeks), the magazine will publish the English version. I’ll add the link to this post when it appears.
THE MAN WHO STAYED
On Friday night in Berlin, about 500 people came to the Gethsemane Church for a service to commemorate the anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's death and to give thanks for Liu Xia's release.
“THE PARTY NEEDS RITUALS TO RULE”
Read the latest in my eight-year series of interview with Chinese thinkers about problems facing their country.
THE ETHICS OF LOOTED ART
How one of the most important documents in Chinese history ended up in Washington's Smithsonian museum.
AFTER-SHOCKS
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, a time when it seemed like civil society in China was taking off. What went wrong? For a discussion, please see my essay in the NYR Daily.
THE BISHOP AND THE BIBLE
Is the Chinese government preparing a crackdown on Christianity in China? And does it have to do with a boom in religiosity?