Learning to Speak Lingerie: Chinese Merchants and the Inroads of Globalization

By Peter Hessler on August 7, 2015

All told, along a three-hundred-mile stretch, I found twenty-six Chinese lingerie dealers: four in Sohag, twelve in Asyut, two in Mallawi, six in Minya, and two in Beni Suef. It was like mapping the territory of large predator cats: in the Nile Valley, clusters of Chinese lingerie dealers tend to appear at intervals of thirty to fifty miles, and the size of each cluster varies according to the local population. Cairo is big enough to support dozens. 

Business, Society
Egypt, Immigrants, Commerce, Globalization, Undergarments

China’s Liberal Academics Fear Growing Censorship

By Tom Phillips on August 7, 2015

“It is getting worse,” said Qiao, 45, whose public advocacy of western-style democracy and civil rights made him a thorn in the government’s side. “Since [Xi] came to power the government has placed tighter controls on ideological research and education. It’s like a minor cultural revolution.”

Politics
Censorship, Higher Education, Xi Jinping

Here’s What’s Wrong With Most Commentary on the Beijing 2022 Olympics

By Taisu Zhang & Paul H. Haagen on August 7, 2015

Upon hearing that Beijing would be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, we wondered what the Chinese government was thinking. The decision seemed counterintuitive, to say the least: For one thing, it barely snows in Beijing, or even in Zhangjiakou, the city to the northwest of the capital where the most snow-intensive events will be held. Artificial snow would have to be created in huge quantities, yet North China is unusually water-scarce. The ecological impact was potentially devastating.

Should the U.S. Extradite Chinese Wanted by Beijing?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Jerome A. Cohen, Chen Weihua & more on August 5, 2015

This week, The New York Times reported that Chinese officials have asked the U.S. government to help in apprehending Ling Wancheng, a wealthy Chinese business man and the brother of one of the highest-level officials to have been targeted in Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, and who the Times reports is living in the U.S. Should the U.S. cooperate in helping China hunt down and return alleged fugitives?

High-Ranking Retired Environmental Protection Official Mired in Corruption Probe

on August 5, 2015

Retired Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) Vice Minister Zhang Lijun has run afoul of the ongoing corruption crackdown, becoming the highest-ranking environmental official yet to be investigated.

On Thursday, China’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), announced details of the probe.

“Zhang Lijun, former Vice Minister for environmental protection and member of the ministry’s Party group, is under investigation for serious breaches of discipline and law,” the CCDI said on its website.

Beijing’s Winter Doldrums

Chinese Are Far Less Excited About Beijing 2022 Than They Were About 2008

By Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian on August 4, 2015

On July 31, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing, the arid northern capital of a country with little tradition of winter sports. Beijing will be the first city in history to host both the winter games and the summer, the latter of which it held to much fanfare in 2008.

Paul H. Haagen

on August 4, 2015

Paul H. Haagen is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International Initiatives at the Duke University School of Law. He is Co-Director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke Law, Faculty Director of the Asia-America Institute for Transnational Law, and the former chair of Duke University’s China Faculty Council. Haagen has acted as a consultant to professional and international athletes, national and international sports federations, and American professional sports teams. He a member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Sports Studies (Italy) and the Sports Law Reporter (U.S.).

Haagen received a B.A. from Haverford College, a B.A. in Modern History and an M.A. from Oxford University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Princeton University, a J.D. from Yale Law School. He clerked for the Honorable Arlin M. Adams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and practiced with Dechert Price and Rhoads (now Dechert).