About
Transpacifica is primarily written by me, Graham Webster. I'm an analyst, journalist, and consultant on East Asian politics and technology. Here, I write about East Asian politics mostly in China and Japan, the Internet and society, the environment, and contemporary art. Unavoidably, I sometimes veer off topic—even with a topic as large as the Pacific.
By day, I work at the EastWest Institute in New York City, but all opinions are my own and do not represent EWI or any of my other clients or employers.
Twitter: @gwbstr.
Website: gwbstr.com.-
Recent Posts
- Key U.S.–Japan meeting overshadowed by U.S.–China diplomacy
- ‘National interests’ and dealing with U.S.–China distrust
- A great paragraph: Wen Jiabao as prodding CCP rule
- Some notes on This American Life’s retraction episode #Apple #China
- The rise and fall of a migrant food cart in China, from Tricia Wang
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- China Rhyming
- Elite Chinese Politics and Political Economy – Victor Shih
- 花崗齋雜記 Jottings from the Granite Studio
- Frog in a Well – The China History Group Blog
- Frog in a Well – The Japan History Group Blog
- Japan Focus
- RConversation
- The China Beat
- YouMeiTi 有媒体 – Tricia Wang
China
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- China and the World – Ella Chou
- China Digital Times
- China Financial Markets – Michael Pettis
- China Law Blog
- China Media Project at HKU
- Dance to the Revolution – Ella Chou
- Danwei.org
- EastSouthWestNorth
- James Fallows
- Letters from China – Evan Osnos, The New Yorker
- See China
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- The China Tracker – Forbes
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Tag Archives: Barack Obama
Key U.S.–Japan meeting overshadowed by U.S.–China diplomacy
BEIJING — As Japanese Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko visited the White House Monday, the continued strength of the U.S.–Japan relationship was a central message. But this first Washington summit of U.S. and Japanese leaders since the Democratic Party of Japan … Continue reading →
Xi Jinping in Washington: A roundup/liveblog
This post will be was continually updated today as I find found good or interesting material on Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon. 4:00 p.m. Last update today. Off to … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Barack Obama, China-U.S., Media, roundup, succession, White House, Xi Jinping, Xi Zhongxun
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4 Comments
Asia and the world in the State of the Union
With a domestic economic focus expected to anchor the evening, the prepared text of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union speech (according to WSJ) is similar to last year’s in its emphasis on Asia. At least measured … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Asia, Barack Obama, State of the Union, U.S.-Asia
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Two plausible views of Xi Jinping’s rise prove we’re clueless
Is Chinese Vice President and presumptive next President Xi Jinping a hard-liner who will return China to confrontations with the west? Or could it be that only a hard-liner could convince domestic nationalists that a more cooperative stance is beneficial … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Barack Obama, Bruce Gilley, China, China–U.S., Daniel Drezner, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Pekinology, Richard Nixon, Xi Jinping
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Compassion and political advertising: the RNC’s new China ad
Evan Osnos pointed out a new advertisement that apparently marks the first use of China as a political tool in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. The advertisement imagines a future in which Barack Obama is reelected and paints a picture … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged advertisement, Barack Obama, Campaign 2012, China, China-U.S., compassion, Evan Osnos, humanism, politics, Video, Xi Jinping
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1 Comment
Asia in the State of the Union: Diligent competitors, trade partners
This post is based on the advance speech distributed by the White House and published on CNN.com. Over all, tonight’s state of the union speech appears to be light on foreign affairs. Here is a summary of the mentions of … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Asia, Barack Obama, China, India, South Korea, State of the Union
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5 Comments
Text of the U.S.–China joint statement
This idea stolen from Josh Rogin. I’m putting this here so I have it in the future. Source: White House. See also Rogin’s post on China bashing on Capitol Hill. The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate … Continue reading →
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Tagged Barack Obama, China–U.S., diplomacy, Hu Jintao, Josh Rogin
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Who is Liu Xiaobo, and what does the Nobel mean?
‘I have no enemies’ Liu Xiaobo in his own words from 2009, published at Foreign Policy (中文). This is published by Human Rights in China, headquartered in New York and Hong Kong. The scene outside Liu’s house. Used under Creative … Continue reading →
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Tagged Barack Obama, Evan Osnos, Gady Epstein, Jillian C. York, Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize
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Noted: No mention of China in Obama press conference
The headlines says it all, and I’m not motivated to speculate on what this means at any length, but I didn’t remember anything on China in the Sept. 10 presser and did a word search on the transcript. Nothing. I … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Barack Obama, China–U.S., election, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, U.S. Election 2010
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1 Comment
A reasoned response to China hysteria
Nina Hachigian, a former National Security Council adviser during the late ’90s, writes a conspicuously reasonable-sounding response to the U.S. media’s increasingly alarmist reporting on the United States–China relationship. The early stages of the U.S.-China relationship during the Obama administration have … Continue reading →
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Tagged Barack Obama, Center for American Progress, China-U.S., Media, Nina Hachigian
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