When the official China Daily reported that a scandal like Harvey Weinstein’s sexual escapades could not happen in China, many raised their eyebrows. Author Zhang Lijia, of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, sets the record straight for AFP.Read More →
China’s leadership is gathering this week in Beijing to prepare another five-year plan, and affirm president Xi Jinping for another five-year term. Journalist Ian Johnson looks for the New York Times at the new role China is playing in the world. “His China could become a model for digitally driven authoritarianism around the world.”Read More →
Chinese companies are running for cover as president Xi Jinping’s powerplay is also hitting the economy. China regularly pulls the reins, when too much financial power is flowing outside the state economy, says renowned economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® in the Financial Times.Read More →
Unlike the remembrance of the former colonial forces in Africa, China’s current geopolitical adventures into the continent “Africans’ view of China “is still positive, but not as exuberant as it was”. says Howard French, author of China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa to Today Online.Read More →
Commentator Dan Southerland of Radio Free Asia is clearly touched by the moving book Lotus: A Novel by Zhang Lijia on the life of prostitutes in China. “An uplifting book on a sad subject,” he says about the book.Read More →
China´s powerful families use so-called “bag men” to deal with their wealth. The disappeared billionaire Xiao Jianhua was such a bag man, according to China rich list producer Rupert Hoogewerf, including the family or president Xi Jinping to the Financial Times. Finding information on Xiao had been tough.Read More →
Billionaire Xiao Jianhua suddenly disappeared this week from Hong Kong, triggering off rumors of him being kidnapped into mainland China. The South China Morning Post says it received confirmation. China´rich list expert Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun gives in AP some background on this business partner of some of Xi Jinping´s relatives.Read More →
Author Zhang Lijia of the recently published Lotus: A Novel is a native from Nanjing, but writes in English. Writing in her chosen language makes her feel more free, she explains in an interview with Mengfei Chen of the LA Review of Books.Read More →
Social mobility between the generations in China has stalled, argues author Zhang Lijia, even more than elsewhere. While she moved herself from factory worker to a social commentator, and recently wrote Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, most Chinese are currently stuck socially where they were born.Read More →
Politics under president Xi Jinping has certainly become more exciting than under his predecessors, says political scientist Victor Shih in the Policy Forum. But Xi´s push for his China dream getting realistic approaches to achieve that goal have become, and might curtail his ambitions.Read More →
China´s campaign against corruption is no longer limited to state-owned companies and organizations, but increasingly turns against private companies too. A logical development, tells China rich list founder Rupert Hoogewerf in the Financial Times in an article about Fosun founder Guo Guangchang.Read More →
Guo Guangchang was the latest of China´s tycoons to get in trouble with the authorities. But the number of billionaires getting into the anti-corruption net is actually pretty low, says Hurun China Rich List founder Rupert Hoogewerf to Reuters. Lower than the number of government officials.Read More →