Return To Dust What a joy to watch a decent Chinese film, a rare joy! Time and again, I am disappointed in one Chinese film and then another. But not this one. Return to Dust is not one of those. It is a gem, a beauty and it is quietly powerful. It is a heartbreaking… Continue reading Movie Return to Dust
I had an interview with Chartist, Labour Party’s magazine – well, George Orwell used to write for the publication. It is about China’s rise and what should the West do. This is the first time I have been described as a ‘leading activist’. Interesting! https://www.chartist.org.uk/dont-overreact-to-china/
I had a busy day yesterday. At 2 pm, I had an interview with the BBC at the Broadcasting House in central London about the Party Congress, then I rushed back for Chicago Council on Global Affair’s Weekly World Review panel discussion and podcast, scheduled at 4 pm. But the taxi from the BBC’s broadcasting… Continue reading Party congress interviews
Has China’s handling of Covid-19 increased the government’s popularity or decreased it? I find the question fascinating and confusing. Here’s my commentary piece exploring the theme, using the idea of social contract. Yesterday I wrote to my oped editor, asking to add the protests reported in Lhasa, Xingjiang and Zhengzhou, but the piece had just… Continue reading My opinion piece on zero-Covid and citizens support for the government
Once again, I found myself marching in central London. This time, it was for ‘rejoining EU’. I took part in all the major anti-Brexit marches before. Today’s was the first major one since 2019. Tens of thousands people turned up. In the warm sunshine, protesters sang, danced and chanted, while holding flags or placards bearing… Continue reading Re-joining EU march
活到老，学到老，never too cold to learn, goes the Chinese saying. This summer, I took a six-week intensive course to study international relations titled China, Russia, the US and the Future of Geopolitics, run by the Economist. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a monumental event that has shaken the old world order, inspired my interest in geopolitics. I… Continue reading a course in geopolitics
Indian writer Pankaj Mishra is an amazingly talented writer ‘whose magic pen can produce flowers’, as the Chinese would say. Run and Hide is his second novel, after a 20-year break, and I loved it. With his poetic prose and his insight into the Indian society, it is a deeply satisfying novel about the new… Continue reading My Review of novel Run and Hide
The Coming War on China In 2016, award-winning journalist John Pilger made a documentary titled ‘The Coming War on China. I was one of the ‘talking heads’. In this documentary, Pilger, a rather radical film maker, explores how two military and economic superpowers, the United States and China, may be on the road to war.… Continue reading The Coming War on China
I am saddened to hear about the passing of Gorbachev, the reformist Soviet leader, and one of the towering figures of the 20th century. He helped to end the Cold War and had a significant role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Chinese media reported his death, describing him as ‘the tomb digger… Continue reading Gorbachev, Xi and China’s Current Situation
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