Tianyu M. Fang
on May 31, 2019
Tianyu M. Fang is a freelance writer focused on international politics, technology, and culture. His writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, RADII, Sixth Tone, South China Morning Post, SupChina, TechNode, and other publications. He was born in Harbin, China and spent his formative years in Beijing and Massachusetts.
What Exactly Is the Story with China’s Rare Earths?
A ChinaFile Conversation
on May 31, 2019
Deng Xiaoping reportedly said that while the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths. On May 29, Communist Party newspaper the People’s Daily warned of the United States’ “uncomfortable” dependence on Chinese rare earths: “Will rare earths become a counter weapon for China . . ? The answer is no mystery.” And on May 20, China’s Chairman Xi Jinping visited a rare earths facility in southern China, signaling that Beijing may strategically restrict its exports of rare earths to the United States. What does this mean for U.S. industries, and how should American policymakers respond?
Taiwan and Hong Kong Have a Stake in Mainland China’s Political Development. They Should Act on It.
on May 31, 2019
A range of observers and experts predicted that mainland China’s rapid economic modernization since the early 1990s would lead to social and political liberalization. Needless to say, that has not come to pass. The mainland’s economic reforms have neither led to liberal democracy nor social equality, nor have they enhanced transparency and accountability. Still, I am more optimistic when it comes to the potential for mainland China’s society to outgrow authoritarianism in the medium to long run. Here’s why.
What Are We Getting Wrong about the Trade War?
A ChinaFile Conversation
on May 30, 2019
Since the collapse of trade talks in mid-May, voices from both sides have warned of the economic havoc their side can unleash while boasting of their economy’s resilience. Academics in China speak about weaponizing the country’s foreign exchange reserves by selling off some of the roughly U.S.$1.1 trillion China holds in U.S. treasury bonds. Donald Trump says trade tariffs enrich the U.S. government. And countless articles in English and Chinese have argued that one country’s economy—because of the size of its exports or imports, or its government’s ability to plan ahead, or its GDP growth numbers—is better suited to withstand the trade war than the other. What do observers from both countries get wrong about the economics of the trade war?
Four Is Forbidden
Finding My Way to the Truth about Tiananmen
on May 30, 2019
Liusi. Six-four. The two-syllable word, spoken nonchalantly by our teacher, was a stone cast into the tranquil pond of a classroom. From each ripple rose a gasp, a murmur, or a perplexed face, with only one or two enunciating the question on many of our minds, “What is six-four?” It was the summer of 2002. I was 12 years old. At the extracurricular English course my mother enrolled me in, most of the students were college-age. Fresh off a growth spurt and buoyed by an English proficiency that exceeded that of most of my peers, I took great pride in blending in with the adults.
PLA Troops on Chang’an Avenue, 1989
on May 30, 2019
People’s Liberation Army troops march down Chang’an Avenue, firing indiscriminately to clear the street of citizens, as the army faction occupying the center of Beijing prepares for the rumored arrival of opposition troops converging on the city, Beijing, June 5, 1989.
The Real Influencers
on May 30, 2019
Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos
on May 29, 2019
Harvard University Press: Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos places the institution of pre-mortem shrines at the intersection of politics and religion. When a local official left his post, grateful subjects housed an image of him in a temple, requiting his grace: that was the ideal model. By Ming times, the “living shrine” was legal, old, and justified by readings of the classics.
Sarah Schneewind argues that the institution could invite and pressure officials to serve local interests; the policies that had earned a man commemoration were carved into stone beside the shrine. Since everyone recognized that elite men might honor living officials just to further their own careers, pre-mortem shrine rhetoric stressed the role of commoners, who embraced the opportunity by initiating many living shrines. This legitimate, institutionalized political voice for commoners expands a scholarly understanding of “public opinion” in late imperial China, aligning it with the efficacy of deities to create a nascent political conception Schneewind calls the “minor Mandate of Heaven.” Her exploration of pre-mortem shrine theory and practice illuminates Ming thought and politics, including the Donglin Party’s battle with eunuch dictator Wei Zhongxian and Gu Yanwu’s theories.
Why We Remember June Fourth
on May 28, 2019
Some people recently asked, “Why must you remember June Fourth? Thirty years have gone by. It is history. Get over it. Move on.” A simple question, but there are many answers. No single answer is adequate, and all of the answers together still leave the question hanging in mid-air, asking for more.
