“A threat wherever they are”All of the US presidential candidates, according to Amy Goodman, are too hard-line on the growing arms race: “I asked (Hans) Blix what is the single most important thing the U.S. could do to support world peace. Sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, he said.” John McCain says as president he would “begin a dialogue with China on strategic and nuclear issues,” though Bush has already done so, to limited effect. Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund and author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, says McCain “tries to take a plank from Kissinger, and a plank from John Bolton and build a nonproliferation deck, but it is wobbly, full of gaps.”
China’s Himalayan neighbor Nepal abolishes its 239-year-old constitutional monarchy and declares itself a republic. AFP calls it a “triumph for the ultra-leftists.” The leader of Nepal’s Maoists, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, is known as Prachanda, which means “awesome.” ❑ Filed In Week In Review // On May 30, 2008 //Sharon Stone eats her words and apologizesChristian Dior throws Sharon Stone under the bus and says “We absolutely do not support any remark that hurts the Chinese people’s feelings.” [Read] By Kenneth Tan // At Shanghaiist // On May 30, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 30, 2008 // Under Feelings , Earthquake (May 12, 2008)Sharon Stone boycottThe front page of China’s Information Times blares “Sharon Stone is an enemy of the whole nation” and says the anti-Sharon Stone movement started “spontaneously.” [Read] By Eric Mu // At Danwei // On May 28, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 30, 2008 // Under Feelings , Earthquake (May 12, 2008)The Face of China’s Olympic Hopes Is SmilingDespite carrying a greater mental weight “than any Olympic athlete,” hurdler Liu Xiang says the Olympics will be “just another race in my life.” [Read] By Abigail Lorge // At New York Times // On May 29, 2008Filed In Articles // On May 30, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , Human InterestTerrorism and the OlympicsChina does its dirty work under the guise of anti-terrorism. Nicholas Kristof travels to Kashgar, Xinjiang and finds the West partly to blame. [Read] By Nicholas Kristof // At New York Times // On May 29, 2008Filed In Articles // On May 29, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , TerrorismChina’s Olympian ChallengesHuman Rights Watch media director Minky Worden says Beijing’s promise to improve human rights got it the Games, but “those promises are not being honored.” [Listen] By Jayshree Bajoria // At Council on Foreign Relations // On May 19, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 29, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , Human RightsFalse Summit: China, the Olympic Torch, and the Politics of Climbing EverestThis year, for the Olympic flame’s assured ascent, all the rules changed on Mt. Everest, “where enough money, and a willingness to sacrifice a few ideals along the way, can buy you a place at the top.” [Read] By Freddie Wilkinson // At Huffington Post // On May 27, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 29, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , CensorshipOnline lynch mobs find second post-quake target; Liaoning girl detained by the police“As for that old lady who’s been lying over there for over 100 hours? Why haven’t you died yet?” Netizens want their pound of flesh from a young girl whose video diary insulted quake victims. The next day, she’s arrested. [Read] By Kenneth Tan // At Shanghaiist // On May 28, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 28, 2008 // Under Censorship , Human InterestSoftening ‘Em UpA US DOJ report reveals that Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay were sleep deprived for the benefit of Chinese interrogators, either by US soldiers or by the Chinese themselves. [Read] By Michael Manning // At The Opposite End of China // On May 23, 2008Filed In Blogs // On May 28, 2008 // Under Military , Terrorism- Next |
