In The News

Muslim Nations Told To Help Uighurs

Ary Hermawan July 10, 2009
China’s Uighur population may now have a new ally in its struggle against the Chinese government; Islamic groups within Indonesia are calling upon all Muslims to set aside ethnic differences and aid the Uighurs, scores of whom have been killed in recent clashes. Several organizations within Indonesia have already called upon the Chinese government to stop the violence and have urged international...

Tear Down This Cyberwall!

Nicholas D. Kristof June 23, 2009
As the election-related violence in Iran continues, help for some opponents of the current regime has come from an unlikely source: China, or more accurately Chinese living abroad. “Censorship-evading” software that helped the Falun Gong movement to spread its message is being used by close to 400,000 Iranians wishing to inform the rest of the world about the crisis currently gripping their...

Coping With Digital Revolution: China Offers Green Dam, Iran Faces Neda

Guobin Yang June 23, 2009
The global response to China’s filtering software Green Dam Youth Escort and the Iranian election are not only proof of the power of the internet as a democratic form of communication, but also as a lever for democracy itself. Columbia Professor Guobin Yang shows how. The Green Dam software program that the Chinese government is requiring all computers to carry starting July 1 is facing intense...

Fermenting a Taste for Kimchi

Lee Eun-joo April 23, 2009
The Korean government is trying to promote globally the taste for kimchi, a cabbage-based spicy side dish. Part of this promotion includes creating the International Kimchi Association, set to discuss the history, culture, and industry of kimchi as well as expediting distribution and sales of the food. Currently, close to 90 percent of exported kimchi goes to Japan. And although exports posted a...

A Wild Cossack Rides Into a Cultural Battle

Ellen Barry April 14, 2009
Art is often said to imitate life, but in the case of a recent Russian film on Taras Bulba, a 15th century cossack glorified by Urkainian novelist Nikolai Gogol, it seems to imitate politics. In the current instance, it is Russia’s on-going struggle to restore special ties with the Ukraine, a former member of the Soviet Union. The movie, which took three years to make and was funded by the...

Book Rallying for Social Change Fails to Inspire the Masses

Fu Qi March 26, 2009
A book published in China criticizes the country's foreign policies, suggesting the country could do more to shake off western influences, report Fu Qi and Li Huizi for Xinhua News Agency. The five authors of “Unhappy China” argue that "the current financial crisis reflects an overall corruption of the American society” and that stern, even punitive, foreign policies could provide...

Population: Some Boom, Some Decline

Joseph Chamie March 18, 2009
World population nearly quadrupled during the 20th century, and in early March, US National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that by 2025 it could grow by another 1 billion people. That would put pressure on the global environment as well as on food, water and energy supplies, setting up the potential for conflicts over resources. While...