New podcast #40 and this week's China news brief
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Podcast
The latest episode of the podcast was released on Tuesday. In it we discuss the Socialist Education Movement (1962-66), Mao’s abortive attempt to rejuvenate the revolution in the countryside by reminding everyone what it means to be a good communist.
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News
NYT, A Top Virologist in China, at Center of a Pandemic Storm, Speaks Out: I’ve noticed a trend recently of US media basically backtracking on their position of just a few months ago, which held that there was no way that Covid could have come from a lab leak. Now, suddenly, a change in administration and an acceptable neo-liberal government means that Covid could have come from a lab leak. This article doesn’t really add any new discourse, I’m more interested in it as evidence of the media not holding themselves accountable for perpetuating the idea that turning a blind eye prevents racism when they say it does, but is suddenly not OK. Whatever. I' have already ranted about this on Twitter. (Paywall)
Forbes, The sad end of Jack Ma: Forbes seems to think Jack Ma has died (or may as well be dead) because the CCP doesn’t really like him anymore. To be fair, the party is taking a particularly heavy-handed approach to dismantling Ma’s empire, the details of which you can read about in the article.
SCMP, As China draws millions to Tibet, herders turn hoteliers and culture becomes a tourist attraction: Will the promotion of Tibet into a tourist attraction erase the cultural heritage of the roof of the world? As more and more locals learn Mandarin in order to cater to mainland tourists, people worry about who will do the herding and farming. As always, you are advised not to read the comments.
Reuters, 'Xi Jinping is my spiritual leader': China's education drive in Tibet: An overview of how the Chinese government is increasing its political education drive in Tibet as it celebrates 70 years of control over the territory. There’s a nice, short, awkward video to go along with it too. It’s interesting how Xi is also imitating Mao’s old tactic of ‘pics of me everywhere’.
HKFP, ‘We have more stability’: Alibaba co-founder says security law needed as Hong Kong was lost in Opium War: Mandarin-speaking billionaire afraid that students will mug him in the streets because they’re worried about freedom of speech. Also Jack Ma is fine, he’s painting now.
I’ve discovered another substack newsletter called Chaoyang Trap, which is like a group chat of deep dives into modern Chinese internet culture. It seems very hip and cool, basically the opposite of what I offer. I liked their recent entry on masculinity discourse in China, which covers what constitutes the Chinese version of Joe Rogan, and how Jordan Peterson has influenced some of the top masculinity gurus on the Chinese internet.
Have a great week everyone!
Edi