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…
Full Article TRUMP AND XI: THE ERA OF NON-MAGICAL THINKING
SARAH SHARPE WRITES — The coronavirus, recently named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, has completely dominated international media outlets and caused hysteria and travel paranoia. The fast-spreading virus has been documented in countries beyond China such as Japan, Germany, and the U.S. With (at this writing) more than 1,000 reported…
Full Article CORONAVIRUS CHINA: THE GREATEST CHALLENGE CHAIRMAN XI HAS FACED
PROF TOM PLATE WRITES – It’s not easy being a superpower, and whoever would imagine such might be the case? Sometimes one almost feels an odd twang of sympathy for the leaders of China and the U.S. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown of the superpower. Could any…
Full Article HONG KONG: UNEASY LIES THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN OF THE SUPERPOWER
TOM PLATE WRITES – Hong Kong is exceptional, of course. It is an object of desire worldwide — a known global gem, a gold-medal metropolis. It attracts not just business people but holiday seekers. It has glamor. It has an amazing film industry. It probably has more raging shopaholics per…
Full Article HONG KONG: XI JINPING GOVERNMENT MAKING THE WRONG ENEMIES
Pix shows author and Harvard Fellow William H. Overholt at an LMU reception for his book at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Los Angeles. TOM PLATE WRITES — The American general and statesman Colin Powell, at his secretary of state confirmation hearing years ago, bluntly told Congress: “China is…
Full Article HONG KONG: THE COLD WIND IN THE EAST PREFIGURING A NEW COLD WAR
ASIA MEDIA WRITES — President Xi’s two-term limit has been abolished, meaning he might be President of China indefinitely. As the news sets in, Chinese citizens take to social media to express their mixed emotions. Following these reactions, the Chinese government were quick to crack down on Chinese netizens, banning…
Full Article CHINA: ANONYMOUS NETIZENS TAKE TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO KNOCK PRESIDENT XI’S ABOLISHMENT OF THE TWO-TERM LIMIT
PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – Years ago, Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew would needle me, in all seriousness, about the time and effort we silly journalists invest in seeking to lay out a leader’s personal traits. This dynamic man dubbed our penchant for such detail “the Western journalist’s exaggeration of…
Full Article COLUMNIST’S VIEW: ALL THE HOT RUMORS ABOUT THE BOSS OF CHINA
AMI FOUNDER TOM PLATE WRITES – Last week the 45th President of the United States paid proper tribute to the People’s Republic of China – which, by the way, would have been a whirlwind week for the Trump Administration even without the big-deal dinner for leader Xi Jinping. And though…
Full Article CHINA-US: A COLUMNIST’S VIEW OF THE SUMMIT
AMI EDITOR IN CHIEF TOM PLATE WRITES – Mutual trust offers priceless value. In the second term of the Clinton presidency, during the reign of Jiang Zemin/Zhu Rongji, when both sides privileged economic engagement over geopolitical jiu-jitsu, the level of trust between the governments appeared on an uptick. When China…
Full Article CHINA U.S. SUMMIT: THE ABSENCE OF SOLACE
SHANGHAI: China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing’s largest TV network, said it would launch a new global media platform on New Year’s Day to help re-brand China overseas. The new multilingual operation will have six TV channels and a new media agency, the network said on its website on Friday night.…
Full Article SHANGHAI: CHINA TO COME OUT SWINGING WITH ‘SOFT POWER’ RE-BRAND
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR SPENCER H. KIM WRITES FROM SEOUL — Just as we often need Ministers of Bad News, we also need Ministers of Good News. As anyone who knows me knows, I love the book by former U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, “The Arrogance of Power.” The title grabs you,…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: THE GOOD NEWS IN THE BAD NEWS
MARY GRACE COSTA WRITES – The Philippines and the United States have enjoyed a decades-long marriage, but there’s trouble brewing in paradise. Many people didn’t take Philippine President Rodrigo “Rody” Roa Duterte seriously when he said he was considering cutting ties with America and cozying up to Russia and China.…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: DEAR AMERICA, IT’S OVER, SINCERELY DUTERTE
TOM PLATE WRITES – These are times that try one’s pro-American soul. To succeed Barack Obama as president, the fight looks to have come down to a duel between know-nothing and a know-it-all – between a candidate who has never held any political office, and one who has held only…
Full Article CRAZY U.S. ELECTION: WHICH CANDIDATE MIGHT BE BEST FOR CHINA, JAPAN?
ASIA MEDIA WRITES – Orville Schell has been writing about China for decades and is not viewed in the West as a China-basher by any means. But in the current New York Review of Books, the former dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism offers a rigorous recounting…
Full Article CHINA: A PESSIMISTIC VIEW OF XI JINPING
BRADLEY JAMES CAVANAGH WRITES — In central Shanghai, a two-story building has been plastered with images of Xi Jinping, as if to protect it, and – through this attempted power of symbolism – granted a short reprieve from demolition. Pictures taken of this building went viral on social media, prompting…
Full Article CHINA: Shanghai Building Owners Protest Demolition with Xi Jinping Posters.