I came across an article in Asia Times on Japan's WWII surrender that I thought was very well written. It is important because within that surrender lay the seeds of today's historical revisionism. But more important than that, it is a good case study on what Japan is NOT. Too often, many in the West think of Japan as this enlightened, modern, forward-looking, peace-loving … [Read more...] about The Mirage that is Japan …
freedom of speech
US professors urge Western universities to end ties to China’s Confucius Institutes
Xenophobia and myopia knows no bounds, especially in America's highly politicized and ideological and indoctrinating universities. This has now manifested itself in AAUP's call for American universities to end or modify their sponsoring of Confucius Institutes in the U.S. In a statement, the AAUP said: Globalization has brought new challenges for the protection of academic … [Read more...] about US professors urge Western universities to end ties to China’s Confucius Institutes
Chinese Government Tightens Constraints on Press Freedom
Oh no ... the Chinese government is at it again. The New York Times is running on its front page today an article with the ominous title "Chinese Government Tightens Constraints on Press Freedom." Here is the full text of the article. HONG KONG — China introduced new restrictions on what the government has called “critical” news articles and barred Chinese journalists from … [Read more...] about Chinese Government Tightens Constraints on Press Freedom
Tiananmen and Freedom of Speech
In the lead up to the "25th Anniversary" of the Tienanmen Square Incident of 1989, we are hearing everything again of how a great sad chapter of Chinese history has been - and continue - to be covered up. A politically activist museum even opened in Hong Kong earlier this month. Old, tired politically activists are freshly interviewed by the major Western media outlets again … [Read more...] about Tiananmen and Freedom of Speech
Shadows of Censorship? Really???
Two weeks back, Russia Today broke a story with the title "China employs 2 million analysts to monitor web activity." From that, we get a plethora of dark articles about how bad the Chinese government is. For example, from the BBC, we get an article titled "China employs two million microblog monitors state media say": More than two million people in China are employed by … [Read more...] about Shadows of Censorship? Really???