The Useless Tree

Politics

  • What’s Next for Chen Guangcheng?

    Wow.  Interesting turn of events.  So, Chen is out of the US embassy and, after a quick medical check at a local hospital, has been released.  He plans to stay in China.  The US government statement on the matter tells… Continue reading

  • Stand with Chen Guangcheng

    Chen Guangcheng, the courageous human rights lawyer in China, who has been subjected to brutal "house arrest" for years, has escaped his captors and is apparently in hiding, perhaps in the US embassy, in Beijing.  Here's what I blogged five… Continue reading

  • Bo Xilai: The end of elite political unity in China?

    The news last night of the rather abrupt political demise of Bo Xilai has set the world of Chinese political analysts alight.  What can it mean? I think this point is well taken: For 20 years, says Peking University politics… Continue reading

  • Confucius is Politically Bolder than Wen Jiabao

    Chinese Premier,  Wen Jiabao, gave his last NPC press conference in his official capacity.  His term of office, and political career, is winding down.  Next year another, most likely Li Keqiang, will be in the seat, taking questions from the… Continue reading

  • A Confucian Critique of Santorum’s Environmental Denialism

    Rick Santorum, who somehow is being taken seriously by Republican primary voters, rejects the idea that global warming is a real phenomenon and that it is connected to human activity on the planet.  He castigated President Obama for having a… Continue reading

  • Mao and Confucius

    A nice little piece by Didi Kirsten Tatlow on "Mao's Spell and the need to Break It" in yesterday's NYT.  She focuses on Robert Bellah, the venerable sociologist of religion (see review of most recent book here), and his thoughts… Continue reading

  • Sunzi and Soft Power

    I guess when you get quoted in The Economist you should post a link to the story.  And so, here it is: Sun Tzu and the art of soft power. (I don't appear until about 2/3 of the way down).… Continue reading

  • Yan Xuetong, History and Philosophy

    Sorry for the blog silence – lots of work and distractions.  But I'm back now… Yesterday's op-ed in the NYT by Chinese international relations academic, Yan Xuetong, has sparked a great deal of discussion on listservs and web sites.  Manyul… Continue reading

  • Mencius in Libya

    The rather gruesome public death of Muammar el-Qaddafi, dictator of Libya, has caused some upset in more comfortable political quarters.  And this was the topic of a historically well-informed op-ed in today's NYT by Simon Sebag Montefiore.  He draws comparisons,… Continue reading

  • Why Confucianism will not provide “soft power” to the PRC

    Last year I wrote a paper, and presented it at a couple of think tanks in China, entitled, "Confucianism as Soft Power."  The text has been sitting in my computer ever since; so I have decided to post it here… Continue reading