Frum in China

China Bound, April 12, 2010

I’m heading to China to deliver some academic lectures, courtesy of the U.S. Department of State. I’m told all lectures are open to the public. Here are the details.

Healthcare in Freedom Land, April 12, 2010

The new Heritage Freedom Index ranks Hong Kong #1 in the world for economic freedom. Yet the libertarian paradise also has universal, mandatory, single-payer health insurance, cushioned by flexible and widely available private insurance.

Freedom in China, April 13, 2010

I talked today to a local writer who had lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Mainland. Obviously, Hong Kong is the freest place of the three. But when I asked which was the least free, he surprised me: “Singapore.”

How Stable is China?, April 13, 2010

I put that question to a political scientist here, an expatriate North American who speaks fluent Chinese. “Never forget that the Chinese state laid off 65 million workers from state-owned industries between 1994 and 2000,” he answered. “So if the Chinese were going to rebel, you have to ask why they didn’t rebel then.”

China’s Real Estate Boom, April 13, 2010

The Chinese understandably take pride in their newly gained ability to buy expensive things. But the mainland’s mania for buying up Hong Kong real estate is not a sign of success — it’s a warning of the likely consequences of China’s imperfect transition from Third World to First World status.

Rating China’s Bureaucracy, April 15, 2010

Reach the head of the line at immigration at Beijing airport and you see something unexpected: On a little ledge just below the officer’s line of sight is a small machine showing an array of buttons. Atop the buttons is a legend inviting travelers to rate the work of the officer.

Taste Test, April 15, 2010

I’ve been savoring the air in Beijing for 4 hours and on balance I still have to award Kabul the prize for the worst I’ve ever breathed. Coal dust, diesel exhaust and industrial effluent are nasty, but there’s nothing quite like the smell of sun-based flakes of airborne human feces.

Hello Tweeps, April 15, 2010

Forgive the Twitter silence – Twitter is blocked in China, so can’t send tweets while in PRC. Where’s the comment box for THAT?

Beijing Vice, April 16, 2010

Number of English-speaking pimps and prostitutes working the two blocks between the Beijing Sheraton and the nearest subway stop at 10:30 pm on a Friday night: 5.

China’s Long March to Capitalism, April 17, 2010

Everything good that has happened in China over the past three decades has come from discarding and reversing Mao’s destructive legacy. Yet, the only stories the Chinese hear of their past are those that represent Mao as a hero and his revolution as a triumph.

Communism with Chinese Characteristics, April 17, 2010

One of the early surprises for an English-speaking visitor to China is how little enthusiasm for democracy – how much outright mistrust – is expressed by the highly educated, sophisticated, and globalized people he meets.

Chinese Nationalism, April 17, 2010

A veteran American China watcher assesses: “If they ever did have a free election here, the Chinese Communist Party would win 70% of the vote.”

At the Great Wall, April 18, 2010

I visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, super-scenic and very mountainous. The crowds at the entrance fell away as I climbed uphill. After passing a few overly restored guard towers, I came to a big warning sign: further entry prohibited.

Globalization in China, April 18, 2010

I just watched a swing dancing competition at the Great Wall of China. On the other hand, here’s something we should learn from them: favorite snack for teens at the ultra-touristy Summer Palace: baked sweet potatoes and grilled corn.

Beijing’s Mean Streets, April 18, 2010

At dinner Sunday night, two film makers passing through Beijing tell a shocking story: They had witnessed a woman collapse as she crossed an intersection. Nobody came to her aid.

Will China’s Rich Thwart Democracy?, April 19, 2010

My latest column for CNN.com examines the continuing support for Communist one-party rule amongst China’s rich and middle-class.

Scenes from China, April 20, 2010

China’s Rising Middle Class, April 21, 2010

An electric clothes dryer is seen as an outlandish almost outrageous luxury in China. But what happens to China’s power consumption and carbon output when 200 million middle-class Chinese decide a dryer is a necessity?

The Human Toll of China’s Economic Boom, April 21, 2010

China’s achievements are all very visible to the visiting eye. The costs are tucked away in places that Westerners tend not to go.

Confronting China’s Dark Past, April 21, 2010

Shantou City does have one remarkable local feature: a museum to the memory of the victims of the Cultural Revolution. Located within a local park on the edge of town, not marked in any way – but still: it exists and offers something closer to actual history than is usually allowed people here.

The Other China, April 21, 2010

To leave Beijing is to leave a city where Western-style affluence is at least everywhere visible for a nation where wealth is concentrated at specific points.

Can Chinese Free Themselves?, April 23, 2010

A reader sent in a comment about my post on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. He shared the life story of an academic colleague who survived the horrors of that time.

Is China Heading for a Rural Revolt?, April 24, 2010

If economic growth in China’s breadbasket falters though, could rural discontent spark China’s next revolution?

Welcome China Readers, April 25, 2010

Google Analytics tells me that FrumForum now has 1500 readers in China, 1000 of whom have visited the site more than once.

China’s History of Conquest, April 27, 2010

Again and again in China, I heard about China’s history as the only great power never to have invaded another country – a record unfavorably contrasted with the imperialism of the United States abroad and of course the genocide of Native Americans at home.