I mentioned a few days ago a new opportunity that has come my way through this blog.  Today, I can say that I have been asked to be a weekly columnist for China Daily’s, "Beijing Weekend" section.  An editor there read the blog and approached me a few weeks ago.  My first offering ran today, July 14th, in Beijing.  The link on their web site is not functioning as of now, but here it is (click on "Finding the ‘Way" in modern times."

      Needless to say, this is an interesting and, perhaps, fraught opportunity.  On the one hand, I am happy to have the chance to take my interest in modern applications of ancient Chinese philosophy to a Beijing audience.  I can imagine that there are people there, and in China generally, who share my passion for the subject.  The column is in English, but it will be available to Chinese people in the capital and, perhaps, beyond.  I am looking forward to connecting with more people who read and think about what that classics might mean now.  My email address will be published each week.

    On the other hand, as a student of Chinese politics, I am well aware of the political limitations on the press there, and that the Party is in the midst of a notable crackdown on independent journalism.  With the new column, I am now being paid (though not a whole lot) by the Chinese government ; so, it is fair to ask if this job might compromise my analytic independence.

    It will not.  I will obviously not take up certain subjects or make certain statements in the column.  My purpose in writing it is to talk about ancient Chinese thought in modern life.  As this blog attests, that project sometimes brings me into opposition with the PRC government.  And I will continue to follow those lines of thought to wherever they take me – critical of whatever government – on this blog but not in the column.  I see no good purpose served in using the column for focued political critiques that might lead to its demise.  I want to establish and develop it as a forum for exploring some, though not all, ideas about how the ancient might provide insight into the modern.  Suicidal political arguments will only end the conversation.

     I am, of course, always open to challenges on ethical grounds.  If anyone feels that my presumed division of labor between blog and column – with the former being unconstrained politically and the latter limited in political content – is fundamentally flawed, please let me know.  At present I think the blog allows for my continued public engagement in the full range of contemporary political implications of the ancient texts.  The column, for obvious reasons, cannot function that way, but it can push the discussion into new territory.

     By the way, the blog address will not be published at the end of the column with my email address, which is fine.  If someone wants to learn more about my writing and search me on the web, they will find the blog.  No need to wave it like a red flag (wow, that has a double meaning here doesn’t it!) under the noses of the censors.

     I am hoping that I will be able to move back and forth between blog and mainstrean media without ethical compromise.  We’ll see how it works.  As somebody once said: "Practice is the sole criterion of truth." At the very least it will give Roland something to think about: instead of a blog post (like his!) being published in China Daily, now a blogger is being published.

     And, finally, the mere fact that I was asked to do this might tell us something about the media environment right now in China.  A Chinese editor is willing to have me – a non-Communist (no, I am not, nor have ever been…), liberal, American academic – write a weekly column.  There is some element of risk in this: what if I write something politically incorrect?  This risk can be minimized by the one week lead time between submission and publication (unlike, say, the LA Times where lead time for the Sunday opinon section is one day or so).  But if something happened, in the old Communist China, someone could get into serious trouble.  In the new Communist China, maybe that risk has decreased some.  If I write something "wrong," they just won’t publish it; no Cultural Revolution will ensue.

    For the time being, I will just have to navigate as best I can.  And I can always fall back on my favorite question: what would Chuang Tzu do?