Month: June 2008

  • ABC's Efforts to 'Laugh With' an Imaginary Version of Japan

    The things I miss living outside the United States. New last week from ABC, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, has gone to work reinforcing the “odd Japanese” trope with laughter directed at the unsuspecting nation. David Marx writes at Néojaponisme: ABC producers went all the way to Japan to make their own TV program,…

  • The Lost Island 'Atlantis' as a Reference to Japan?

    Strange Maps, the source of much cartographic delight, features an overlay of the real “new world” and what Columbian era transatlantic explorers expected to see on their way to Cipangu, which is what the Portuguese were calling Japan at the time. Among the many “phantom islands” that turned out not to exist is Antilla. Here,…

  • Cuba–China Ties in Focus as Standing Committee Member Visits Fidel

    Fidel Castro met with He Guoqiang, a member of China’s powerful Politburo Standing Committee, for more than two hours yesterday, discussing numerous and diverse topics such as Tibet, Taiwan, food prices, the Olympics, and Fidel’s health (He conveyed President Hu Jintao’s wish for Castro’s speedy recovery). Earlier in the week He met with Cuban President…

  • China's 2008 Labor Law: Does It Work, or Is It Just a Financial Burden?

    Our friend Lyle Morris has a well-reported piece at YaleGlobal on China’s new labor law, which went to effect at the beginning of this year. Under the law, which affects both domestic and foreign companies operating in China, workers will see increased protection from labor unions and significant overhauls in policy ranging from contract formation…

  • Venezuelan–Chinese Investment and an Industrial Showcase

    Lest a week go by without new evidence of strengthening ties between China and Venezuela, a massive trade show featuring Chinese companies and products opens tomorrow in Caracas. The fair includes more than seventy Chinese firms from numerous industries, ranging from porcelain to automobiles. The fair, organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, is an…