Gradualism
Read this very sensible commentary in today's IHT. The author, WeiWei Zhang, senior research fellow at the Modern Asia Research Center, Geneva, offers a good argument that the reform and opening of the last 25 years has "dismantled the economic and institutional foundations of totalitarianism," and that to describe China as having undergone economic reform without accompanying political change is inaccurate.
I've spent the last few days working with Brendan and Kun on translating scenes of a forthcoming TV serial which will be acted in English. It's apallingly jingoistic crap, to be honest: A prominent Chinese scientist is offered directorship of a genetics lab in the US, beating out an American colleague for the post, but turns it down after learning that he has to give up Chinese citizenship to take the job. He goes back to China against the wishes of his Americanized son and his faithless wife, who ends up seduced by the American scientist - a Ph.D. who somehow believes China to be a land of Mao suits and communist slogans, but who comes to China and discovers that its massive genetic resources can be exploited, its markets pried open. Worst kind of narrow-minded stereotypes: vodka-swilling Russian, lecherous, greedy and parochial American... Ugh. I feel dirty.
I've spent the last few days working with Brendan and Kun on translating scenes of a forthcoming TV serial which will be acted in English. It's apallingly jingoistic crap, to be honest: A prominent Chinese scientist is offered directorship of a genetics lab in the US, beating out an American colleague for the post, but turns it down after learning that he has to give up Chinese citizenship to take the job. He goes back to China against the wishes of his Americanized son and his faithless wife, who ends up seduced by the American scientist - a Ph.D. who somehow believes China to be a land of Mao suits and communist slogans, but who comes to China and discovers that its massive genetic resources can be exploited, its markets pried open. Worst kind of narrow-minded stereotypes: vodka-swilling Russian, lecherous, greedy and parochial American... Ugh. I feel dirty.