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Just a follow-up with this topic of democracy and how much happiness it actually provides: An article in Foreign Policy by Eric Weiner, Will Democracy Make You Happy?, shows that while democratic countries enjoy a higher degree of comfort and happiness than non-democratic countries, it isn’t democracy that gives people happiness but rather the […]

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Original Post
DJ, thanks for the link.

I asked my girlfriend, who took the gao kao (college entrance exams), about the results and how they determine your future. She did fairly well on the exam and received the results in the following format. It’s a number, like the SAT, but on a different point scale of […]

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Original Post
I get a lot of feelings of incredulity, anger, and frustration when I see this story. I’m sure government censorship isn’t uncommon, just look at the numerous conspiracy theories in the US. I do not know for certain if the students are so unknowing about their own history. I suspect that they do know […]

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Original Post
I get a lot of feelings of incredulity, anger, and frustration when I see this story. I’m sure government censorship isn’t uncommon, just look at the numerous conspiracy theories in the US. I do not know for certain if the students are so unknowing about their own history. I suspect that they do know […]

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Original Post
The WSJ has an article up on polluting factories and their fate in the hands of the communist government. They are actually shutting down factories in preparation for the Olympics. This is their solution to a possibly embarrassing problem. Although it’s not a terribly creative solution, it will clear up a lot of the […]

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China is changing incredibly quickly. From reading about the migrant workers and disgruntled villagers, as well as the issues with the media censorship and false reporting, it is clear that China faces many legal and ethical problems. However, this is not something new. Corruption is, again, part of the history of China. It is […]

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I think China will stay a communist (if you can call them that) state. However, I do think that they will become more communist in nature. China, as a communist state, does not officially embrace capitalism. However, we see more and more that they are embracing it in spirit. They call it “Socialism with […]

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Book: The Search for Modern China
Author: Jonathan D. Spence (Ph.D. in History, Yale 1965)
ISBN: 0-393-30780-8
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Pub. Date: October 2001
Pages: 876pp
 
Review by: Simeon Trieu
 
Synopsis
The Search for Modern China is about the journey the Chinese have taken throughout history. Although Chinese history spans thousands of years and ranks among some of the oldest […]

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After reading this article and Ashley’s commentary, I must comment on a few critical points. First of all, Chinese schools do not teach much about teamwork. From an early age, they are taught to achieve much.. but as an individual, not as a group. Although, there is a strong sense of community and […]

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