First, let me emphasize that I don’t believe or even suspect the 800m freestyle Olympic gold medal winner Kathie Ledecky is doping. Yes, she came from nowhere (ranked #55 in 2011) and had a huge one-year improvement (4.2%), but these aren’t unheard of for teenagers. For example, the 2004 200m backstroke gold medal winner, Zimbabwean Kristy Coventry had the similar trajectory … [Read more...] about Ye Shiwen follow-up: media scorecard (BBC & New York Times)
media bias
The Tragicomedy of Errors: China, British Imperialism, and the Opium Wars
Julia Lovell, in her new book The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China, finds something funny in the tragedy Great Britain has many reasons to feel great about itself. Its empire was the largest in history and covered over a fifth of the world's population. It had more Asian and African colonies than any other European power. It came, it saw, it divided, and it … [Read more...] about The Tragicomedy of Errors: China, British Imperialism, and the Opium Wars
An irony for Asia Society
An Asia Society piece here with three experts weighing in on the 15th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong. Winston Lord, Orville Schell, and Jeffrey Wasserstrom are all individuals we can respect. What struck me really, really hard was that they were talking about press freedom. Wait a minute! How about adding a Chinese perspective there, say, from Eric X Li? Then, … [Read more...] about An irony for Asia Society
The New Yorker throws stone in a glass house
In this recent article at the New Yorker, Evan Osnos insinuates Chinese companies ultimately cannot be trusted because their relationship with the government cannot be known for certain. His entire article basically boils down to the following: Part of the complexity about being a big Chinese company is that it’s not clear what information related to your relationship with … [Read more...] about The New Yorker throws stone in a glass house
American Public Media’s Marketplace casts doubt on China’s investment in Mongolia, what about America’s in Canada?
In this American Public Media's Marketplace report (which I heard on NPR yesterday), reporter Rob Schmitz casts some doubts about China's investments in Mongolia (podcast segment starts at 10:40 mark), especially with respect to recently discovered coal deposits. Of course, this is the same Rob Schmitz who exposed the Mike Daisey lies about working conditions at Foxconn. … [Read more...] about American Public Media’s Marketplace casts doubt on China’s investment in Mongolia, what about America’s in Canada?