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
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- Frog in a Well – The China History Group Blog
- Frog in a Well – The Japan History Group Blog
- Japan Focus
- RConversation
- The China Beat
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China
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- China and the World – Ella Chou
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- China Media Project at HKU
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- James Fallows
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Tag Archives: China
A great paragraph: Wen Jiabao as prodding CCP rule
At China Elections and Governance, Yawei Liu, head of the China program at the Carter Center, has an interesting read on CCP legitimacy and Wen Jiabao’s (self-serving) suggestion that even top leaders are helpless in the face of increasingly entrenched … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Carter Center, China, China Elections and Governance, legitimacy, Wen Jiabao, Yawei Liu
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Some notes on This American Life’s retraction episode #Apple #China
The U.S. public radio show This American Life yesterday announced it would retract its adaption of Mike Daisey’s storytelling show about Apple’s manufacturing operations in China. I’m taking notes while listening on WNYC to a broadcast of the show Retraction. The … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Apple, China, Foxconn, journalism, Labor, Media, Mike Daisey, NPR, radio, This American Life
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The rise and fall of a migrant food cart in China, from Tricia Wang
A few weeks ago, my friend Tricia Wang published an account of her fieldwork, which for about a week included living in an “inner-city” migrant enclave and working as a family (one member of which she’s known for three years) … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, fieldwork, migrant workers, migrants, That's Shanghai, Tricia Wang, Urban, water
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Also meet China’s next no. 2 leader, Li Keqiang
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping continues his trip to the United States ahead of his expected rise to the top leadership position after November’s party congress. Meanwhile, NPR’s Louisa Lim has a great radio story on the man expected to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, Li Keqiang, Liaoning, Louisa Lim, NPR, radio, succession, Wikileaks, Xi Jinping
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Xi Jinping thumbs nose at US anti-China populism
In written answers to questions from the Washington Post editorial board, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to take power as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party in November, implies that anti-China economic rhetoric is based in ignorance. As … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, China-U.S., populism, U.S. Election 2012, Washington Post, Xi Jinping
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Fallows lauds Obama’s China work. How to measure success?
James Fallows has published the capstone to his blog’s meditation on whether U.S. President Barack Obama is a chess master or a pawn—a long-game strategist with high tolerance for disappointment along the way, or a hapless newb whose ability to … Continue reading
Minxin Pei: Why economic reform is impossible with CCP rule
Minxin Pei, a political scientist known in part for his book China’s Trapped Transition, writes in the Financial Times that the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to maintain power are ultimately incompatible with economic reform. Pei writes: One may be tempted … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged CCP, China, Deng Xiaoping, Financial Times, Minxin Pei, reform
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Polluting in the new year!
First, of course, happy new year to all those greeting the year of the dragon this week. I, for one, am suitably stuffed. Second, via Angel Hsu, this image depicting what is most likely a huge cloud of noxious firecracker … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Angel Hsu, Beijing, China, Chinese New Year, data, Environment, holiday, Lunar New Year, PM2.5, pollution
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Sorting out a dubious report on China in Africa
Well, this doesn’t look good. American University Professor Deborah Brautigam has written a detailed criticism of a think tank commentary about Chinese agricultural investment in Mozambique, and if her conclusions are correct, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and its author … Continue reading