BEIJING - While the world's number one and number two economic powers, the United States and China, meet in Washington on January 18, the rest of the world will be watching intently over a summit that will impact everybody. As many analysts [1] have pointed out, the success of American-led globaliza...
BEIJING - Matthias Du Jiang of the diocese of Bameng (Shaanba) in Inner Mongolia was officially proclaimed bishop of the Chinese Catholic Church on Sunday April 8. He had been appointed bishop in 2004 but for six years was "underground". That it is to say, he was one of those bishops loyal to the ...
BEIJING - Let's be fair. The issue is so real that it is puzzling to us even now: how can one be both Christian and Confucian? In the 16th and 17th centuries, at the time when the West was torn by cruel wars between Catholics and Protestants, Jesuits - the Catholic soldiers of Christ - fought blasph...
BEIJING - The headlines in many Chinese newspapers are about the agreement on climate change reached in Copenhagen. Papers displayed a photo of Premier Wen Jiabao returning from Denmark stating that "China made unremitting efforts at the UN conference" and that China would keep its commitments, no m...
BEIJING - In 1942, with the fate of World War II still uncertain, the Shoah (Holocaust) was in full swing, the winds of neo-anti-Christian ideology were blowing strong from both the Nazi and fascist front and their communist enemies. At this time, Italian liberal and non-religious philosopher Benede...
BEIJING - The day before the start of the strategic dialogue between China and America, on July 27, Beijing released the news that President Hu Jintao had sent his Taiwanese counterpart, Ma Ying-jiu, a telegram applauding his election as the ruling party (Kuomintang, KMT) chief. It was the first dir...
BEIJING - The dust has mostly settled in Georgia, although Russian troops remain in the country after intervening in defense of the mostly Russian-speaking breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. The global geopolitical consequences are still unfolding, though, with much talk of a new cold war....
BEIJING - Depending on one's geostrategic outlook, the dream, or nightmare, of a China-India axis - complete with 2.4 billion people - is a step closer with the recent announcement that the two countries will for the first time ever hold joint military maneuvers. The head of the Indian army, Genera...
BEIJING - At a recent conference in Indonesia, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized to Asian countries for his country's invasions during World War II. It was certainly a positive gesture, but it is unlikely to appease the Chinese government totally. The Chinese government does not ...
BEIJING - The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never stood in an election, so can it now learn to take part in a democratic process and, of course, emerge the victor? This is the real prize and was the challenge in Nanjing last week in the meeting between Jia Qinglin, chairman of China's People's P...
BEIJING - One can read it as a story of blunders and bullying on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and there was an abundance of both follies in the lead-up to passage of the anti-secession law by China's National People's Congress. Yet the law adopted Monday served a higher purpose for Beijing: i...
BEIJING - Professor Francesco Giavazzi has been arguing recently that, "The amount of money spent every year in industrialized countries to subsidize agriculture is larger than the total GDP [gross domestic product] of sub-Saharan Africa. Every cow raised in the European Union receives more cash tha...
BEIJING - Despite world headlines indicating heavy pressure, US Treasury Secretary John T Snow in his visit to Beijing last week actually pressed the yuan-revaluation issue quite softly. He returned to the United States with a promise of a future liberalization of exchange rates and with a cut of ta...
BEIJING - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has thrown a wrench into Washington's careful plans, furthered last week by Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Brunei, to shore up Asian commitment to its war against terrorism - ie, to make sure Asian countries would support the coming attack on Ira...
BEIJING - They are scattered all over the world but prefer Europe and China. They have turned their back on their own country, while waiting to be summoned home, and until then learn sciences that will not improve the well-being of most of their fellow countrymen, but only of a few satraps. They ar...
BEIJING - If India and China see the logic of stronger bilateral ties, the United States will have to face the possibility of these two Asian giants adopting an anti-American stance. Washington could avoid this by building a new long-term commitment in Asia, while considering the region as a whole a...
BEIJING - The renewed tension between India and Pakistan, even if it is short of war, as now seems the case, is likely to remain for some time and further complicate the process of finding new political stability in the area. Despite the fierce military build-up on the two sides of the border, as da...
