The Chinese Effort in Gravitational Wave Detection: The Bid for Leadership

Gravitational waves, as “ripples” of the space-time, were predicted by Einstein more than a century ago. As a new way of observing the universe, the detection of gravitational waves may unveil a lot of mysteries, such as the nature of spacetime and the properties of black holes. In 2003, when young Caltech Ph.D. Chen Yanbei went back to China to give a talk on gravitational … Continue reading The Chinese Effort in Gravitational Wave Detection: The Bid for Leadership

Truth, Happiness, and Understanding: Applying Traditional Chinese Thought to the Modern World

It is often difficult at first glance to see how the ancient thought of China is relevant to the vast, global metropolises that constitute China of the 21st century, and yet it is only through understanding a culture’s past that one can hope to understand its future. In addressing the question of historical progress, of what constitutes an enlightened and robust civil society, we must … Continue reading Truth, Happiness, and Understanding: Applying Traditional Chinese Thought to the Modern World

Taobao Villages: Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide

Chinese growth is perpetually a hot topic in the news: major newspapers are constantly packed with stories of China’s shift from labor intensive factories to advanced manufacturing and services. What these stories often miss, however, is that over 40% of China’s population is still rural — what goes on in the countryside remains a crucial part of China’s economic story. Chinese urban-rural inequality remains ever … Continue reading Taobao Villages: Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide

Chinese Cross-border M&A: Motivations and Reactions

After a record-setting 2016, Chinese outbound M&A slowed considerably in 2017. The world experienced a colossal -31% year-on-year decline in Chinese outbound investment. Fittingly, the most significant announced deal of the year— the $1.2bn acquisition of Moneygram by Ant Financial — was blocked by the US government in January of 2018 after failing to close in 2017, capping off an already disappointing year. A new … Continue reading Chinese Cross-border M&A: Motivations and Reactions

The Future of Hong Kong: Adapting to Political Challenges

Hong Kong has long been a particularly important meeting point of different cultures. It has been a bridge between East and West, between communism and capitalism, and in some cases between autocracy and democracy. This dualistic interpretation of the territory obscures its actual complexity, but at the same time highlights some of its most striking features and successes. Born out of the height of the … Continue reading The Future of Hong Kong: Adapting to Political Challenges

Xi’s Green Thumb: China’s Modern Environmental Leadership

At the 19th Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) unveiled its latest plans for China. Central to the CCP’s vision of modernization and harmonious coexistence is the role which China will play in climate change and pollution mitigation, both domestically and globally, perhaps in response to the controversial withdrawal of the United States from The Paris Agreement in June 2017. President Xi Jinping’s stance … Continue reading Xi’s Green Thumb: China’s Modern Environmental Leadership

How the US Lost: China’s Growing Foothold in Africa

Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has undergone extraordinary economic growth, transitioning from a low-income economy to an upper middle-income economy and maintaining its status as the largest contributor to global growth. Now the second largest economy in the world, China is playing an increasingly important role in the world’s economic affairs and development, not the least in Africa. While … Continue reading How the US Lost: China’s Growing Foothold in Africa

Stranger in His Homeland: Chinese Disdain for Ai Weiwei

A sea of sunflower seeds covers the floor, their grey-black millions blanketing the grand hall of the Tate Modern art gallery. Once, you could walk barefoot on the bed of seeds, the enormity of the 500 by 75 square feet Turbine Hall before you, as light filtered gently from the 524 glass panels above you. These are not your average sunflower seeds but “seeds” crafted … Continue reading Stranger in His Homeland: Chinese Disdain for Ai Weiwei

Commercial Films with Chinese Characteristics

“We have achieved great progress in the construction of ideology and culture,” President Xi Jinping declared in the opening speech at the recent Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress. “The main theme is louder, the positive energy is stronger, and the confidence in our culture is reinforced!” Such a claim might not be an overstatement of the Chinese Communist Party’s recent success in promoting its … Continue reading Commercial Films with Chinese Characteristics

Sowing Change in Chinese Produce

On any Saturday between 10am and 2pm, the basement of the Dreamport Shopping Mall in Haidian, Beijing is transformed from overflow space into Beijing’s only organic farmers market. Since the market’s founding in 2010, locals have filled the stalls searching for fresh fruits or vegetables, eager to eat produce grown locally and without additives or pesticides. In a country that has been rocked by a … Continue reading Sowing Change in Chinese Produce