links for Oct 10, 2007

Theme: threats
Military:

China Announces Gains in Air Defense

The blanket of China’s air defense radar now almost matches similar networks in developed countries, state media reported today, in an announcement that coincided with Taiwan’s first National Day military parade in 16 years.

Taiwan Plans Missiles Able to Hit China

Faced with a threatening military buildup by China, an [...]

links for Oct 08, 2007

Two articles from the Washington Post:
On the environment:

In China, a Green Awakening

For almost three decades, the city had welcomed some of the world’s biggest polluters. Churning out paper, photographic film, dye, fertilizer, cement and other products for the global marketplace, the businesses helped make Wuxi into one of China’s wealthiest industrial cities. They also poisoned [...]

Links for October 5th

I’m proud to say that I traveled to Brown University to join the student protest for Burma. Xu Wenli, a co-founder of the Chinese Democracy Party, gave a great speech, as did the former president of Brazil Fernando Cardoso.

Read the Brown Daily Herald article about the protest

Hundreds of students dressed in shades of red and [...]

Chinese attacks in cyberspace

Today’s Financial Times contains two (here and here) very interesting articles on the People’s Liberation Army’s increasingly frequent attacks on US government networks. One attack in June successfully breached a system connected to Defense Secretary Robert Gates computer.
According to the articles, because of their unprecedented sophistication, these attacks are beginning to seriously worry government officials.
I [...]

Olympic athletes with serious la duzi and Beijing’s not so safe cha shao bao

I love eating cha shao bao, but after this was turned up by an investigative journalist, I’ll be a little more careful next time I eat cha shao bao here in Beijing:
Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns [...]

Confucius Institutes and China’s Soft Power

A classmate of mine just had his article on China’s Confucius Institutes published in Asia Times. It’s well written and I’m very impressed. Read it here.

Do the Wall Street Journal’s Portraits of Democratic Presidential Candidates Reflect Paper’s Bias?

The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal has an article entitled “Democratic Candidates’ Fortunes May Rely on Long-Term Iraq Plans,” which includes three portraits of the leading Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama.
Unlike the portraits of John Edwards and Barack Obama, Hillary’s shows her face at profile. Not a big [...]

Weapons Engineer Is Set for Trial in Secrets Case

“Prosecutors say a top engineer for a major American military contractor worked for the Chinese from 1983 until his arrest two years ago…As a top engineer for a major American military contractor, Chi Mak helped develop some of the most advanced naval technology in the world, including silent-running propulsion systems that can make submarines virtually [...]