[This is translation was published to Chuangcn.org on January 10, 2022.] Just as 2022 began, the world received news that delivery worker and organizer Chen Guojiang, known as Mengzhu (??), had been freed after nearly a year in detention. But Mengzhu’s release by no means signified the loosening of control
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Kersplebedeb: Every weakness is claimed as strength: Chuang’s ‘Social Contagion’ is critical proletarian research for our catastrophic present [Lausan.hk]
[This review of Chuang’s Social Contagion and Other Writings on Microbiological Class War in China (2021) originally appeared on Lausan.hk on November 4, 2021.] By JN A “SARS outbreak” on the mainland was first reported by media in Hong Kong on December 30, 2019. For those living in or involved
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: World’s top movie not what you might think
It may come as a surprise to Canadian film fans, but the top box office movie in 2021 is not James Bond’s No Time to Die or the legendary sci-fi Dune. It’s the Chinese blockbuster The Battle at Lake Changjin. It has some Hollywood elements, for instance heroic soldiers overcoming
Continue readingThings Are Good: Big Box Stores Remove Products Used to Violate Human Rights
Two of the largest retail chains in the United States have stopped the sale of Chinese-made surveillance products used by the Chinese government to violate human rights. This move to ban the sale of particular Chinese surveillance goods is a direct reaction to those companies benefiting from the ongoing Uyghur
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Big climate promises at the UN … but
The United States and China, rivals on the world stage and also the two biggest economies and the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases made some big climate promises at the UN this week. Chinese president Xi Jinping promised China will stop building coal-fired power plants abroad, a big deal
Continue readingKersplebedeb: Struggles from Below in the People’s Republic of China: An Interview with Ralf Ruckus, Author of “The Communist Road to Capitalism”
Onlookers watch cars burning after hundreds rioted in Xintang town, a district of Guangzhou, on June 12, 2011. Hong Kong television on June 13 showed scenes from the previous night of cars engulfed in flames and police out in force to quell rioting . The riots were reportedly sparked by
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: If You Are Going To Vote, Read This
Things are changing rapidly in the world, but as of this moment, we can say a few things about the major political parties of the Western world, with reasonable certainty. It is now undeniable, that by their actions, the major parties of the Western world, including the Democratic party of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The door remains open a crack for Canada to act in the interests of its citizens, including the ones jailed in China
Canada ignored the lifeline China threw us last spring, when a Chinese court adjourned the trial of Michael Spavor without a verdict. The implication at the time was clear: Let Meng Wanzhou go and we’ll give Mr. Spavor and Michael Kovrig back. Meng Wanzhou (Photo: Huawei Technologies). Pleading not very
Continue readingKersplebedeb: China and the U.S. Left: A Dialogue Between Critical China Scholars and Spectre Journal
This exchange was originally posted on the Spectre Journal website on July 17, 2021 It is no secret that the US left is confused about how to respond to the rise of China. There is broad and justified opposition to Biden’s continuation of Trumpian efforts at containment, most obviously represented
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: China—Lying flat confronts consumerism … and Communism?
Young people in China are channeling the 60s and it worries their Communist overlords. They are rejecting consumerism, hard work and all that other middle class stuff. They are lying flat. Literally. A story in the New York Times describes how youth in China are rebelling against the country’s work
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The China dilemma—global warming or human rights?
If anything scares China’s formidable president, Xi Jinping, it’s probably democracy. The idea of the Chinese people choosing their own president must be nightmarish to the new emperor. His current suppression of democracy in Hong Kong is testament to his intolerance of any such notions among the masses. Indeed, he
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Biden-led U.S. to power global economy
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Covid shrunk the global economy by 3.3 percent in 2020, the worst downturn since 1980. Almost 100 million people slipped into severe poverty. The only major economy that didn’t shrink was China’s with growth of 2.3 percent. The IMF predict it will be
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Conspiracy Theory Revisited
We should remember that the cult of authority, the cult of obedience, and the cult of conformity, are profoundly anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-empirical, and anti-democratic, as well as extremely dangerous. And these three cults now reign supreme across the Western world, as Western societies close down, having imported the authoritarian model
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Do we have a prime minister or a mouse? Canada doesn’t need U.S. permission to call China and bring the Two Michaels home
It appears China has thrown Canada an unexpected lifeline, offering us a chance to redeem our relationship with the world’s No. 2 economy and save the Two Michaels. Is Justin Trudeau up to the challenge? Canadian Michael Spavor (Photo: Facebook). On Friday, the Chinese government put Michael Spavor on trial
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canada has only a few hours to play the only decent card it holds to free the Two Michaels – but that would take courage
News media reported yesterday China has announced the espionage trials of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor will go ahead swiftly this week and next leaving official Canada with only a few hours to play the only decent card it holds to free the unfortunate pair. Unhappily for the Two Michaels,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why did China’s government pluck the Two Michaels from among 300,000 Canadians in China?
Soon after Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Vancouver two years ago at the behest of U.S. authorities, Chinese state security officers arrested two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. It was clear from the get-go the arrest on Dec.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canada should quit stalling to let the U.S. save face and send Meng Wanzhou home now
Anyone who still imagines the Trump Administration’s partly successful effort to get Canada to seize and extradite Meng Wanzhou to the land of chaos and COVID had anything to do with “the rule of law” needs to consider the implications of yesterday’s report in the Wall Street Journal that the
Continue readingNorthern Currents: A New Wave of Hate: Anti-Asian Sentiment on the Rise
Share this article: The second wave of Covid-19 is here in Canada and many questions loom as to how the future of the pandemic will play out. One thing that is for certain, though, is that a new wave of hate has spread throughout Canada. This is a wave that
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: China has a soft power shortage
Now would seem to be the moment for China’s star to shine. It has gained control of the coronavirus pandemic rapidly and effectively, and it is the only member of the G20 whose economy is expected to grow this year. At the same time, its major rival on the world
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Mother Mushroom, blogging and freedom of speech
As I post pearls of wisdom on my blog, including righteous criticism about this country’s follies, I rarely stop to think how fortunate I am to be able to do so freely and fearlessly. How fortunate I am to be doing it in this country. Every once in a while
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