TOM PLATE WRITES – I wouldn’t mind being 20-Something again. It was the only time in my life that I had not yet made blunders of which I was aware, and – as best as I can recall – it was the only time I felt sure I knew just…
Month: June 2020
VIETNAM: SPIKE LEE’S MOVIE ‘DA 5 BLOODS’ IS OUT OF SYNC WITH THE COUNTRY IT PORTRAYS
CHARLOTTE TRUONG, WHO HAILS FROM VIETNAM, WRITES — Recently, Netflix has stepped into the Asian movie market through collaborative works such as Kingdom of Korea and The Victim’s Game of Taiwan. Among them, Da 5 Bloods (Vietnamese title: 5 Chien Huu) is a film directed by Spike Lee, filmed in…
ASEAN VISION 2020: TIMES UP, WHY DON’T WE SEE CHANGE?
LIAM ROGERS WRITES — On December 15, 1997, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced their ASEAN VISION 2020, which outlined different goals for the countries of ASEAN (Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Republic of the…
CHINA AND INDIA: THE STICKS AND STONES WAR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES – When Albert Einstein warned about the danger of nuclear weapons, he famously said: “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Recently, tensions between Chinese and Indian…
DIVORCE, NORTH KOREAN STYLE
(This is the fifth in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea whose work has started to reach English language readers via superb translations.) ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Thirty-eight years. That’s how long it took for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to approve, for publication in…
BEIJING AND SEOUL: OPENING UP SCHOOLS DURING A PANDEMIC
WILLIAM LIGHTHART WRITES — For almost every elementary school, secondary school, and institution of higher learning around the world, the last 4 months have been comprised of exclusively online instruction. Schools at all levels of education are attempting to create systems so that students can return for at least partial…
FROM TIANANMEN TO MINNEAPOLIS AND BEYOND: HOPEFUL FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
ASSOCIATE EDITOR CAMILLE BRYAN WRITES — Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so why are we surprised that after thousands of years of colonialism, those failed by the system are rising up? How could a nation expect to keep such tight control over marginalized communities and expect them…
‘YELLOW PERIL SUPPORTS BLACK POWER’: RECLAIMING THE WORD ‘YELLOW’
JOSEPH LITTAUA WRITES — “Yellow Peril.” When I first found out about the phrase, it was on my own, doing research for a social studies class in middle school. I don’t quite remember the reason for the research, but the phrase stuck with me. Why would anyone be okay with…
US PROTESTS: CHINESE FOR BLACK LIVES
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Just weeks into the protest of “Black Lives Matter,” a movement among young Chinese people is starting to grow as they shout out their support for the cause. “Chinese For Black Lives,” founded by feminist activist Xiaowen Liang, has been seen organizing…
TRUMP AND XI: THE ERA OF NON-MAGICAL THINKING
TOM PLATE WRITES — Lockdown. Many of us have just been through it; others of us are still stuck in it. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the term usually meant the kind of harsh confinement that befall inmates of a penal institution in the wake of a prison riot. Slight…
ANGLO-CHINESE RELATIONS: WHY IS RAPPROCHEMENT UNLIKELY?
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Just last week, Chinese Sukhoi-30 advanced fighter jets briefly entered Taiwan’s airspace. It happened as Taiwan announced that its largest annual live-fire drill would be held next month. At the same time, news about British ministers considering plans to support Taiwan were…
BOOK REVIEW: A SOUTH KOREAN AUTHOR TELLS A UNIVERSAL TALE
(This is the fourth in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea whose work has started to reach English language readers via superb translations.) ANDREA PLATE WRITES — “Fitting into middle class society is getting harder and harder for the younger generation.” So says Kim Sagwa, author…
CHINA: UNCERTAIN COMMITMENT TO COVID-19 STIMULUS PACKAGE
SARA SHARPE WRITES — Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries have been scrambling to create effective and realistic economic stimulus packages. China has promised a year-long fiscal stimulus package amounting to 3.6 trillion yuan ($500 billion USD) in an attempt to continue its strong rate of economic growth,…
VIETNAM: HAPPY LIVING POST-LOCKDOWN
CHARLOTTE TRUONG WRITES – Since the end of December 2019, in the center of Wuhan city (China), the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great damage on a global scale in virtually all areas: economics, politics, society and tourism. Although Vietnam is China’s neighbor, and had early cases of infection, the country…
LOVELL IN ‘MAOISM’: MAO’S INFLUENCE THEN AND NOW
ASSOCIATE EDITOR CAMILLE BRYAN WRITES — A true revolutionary dedicated to avenging colonial invasions, Chairman Mao would delight in seeing today’s uprising in the West: the burning courthouses, destroyed storefronts, street rampages — all in demand that the world hear those formerly silenced. In his own country, the Chairman legitimized…
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: IS TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE BOGUS?
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH, WILLIAM LIGHTHART WRITE – The race for a COVID-19 vaccine has become intense, as countries continue to bear economic damages of lockdown extended into June. According to Nature, more than 90 vaccines are in development and a U.S. biotech company, Moderna Inc., has emerged…