By Jian Junbo SHANGHAI – Nationalistic sentiments in China have grown quickly in recent years along with pride as the country’s fast-paced economic development encourages talk at home and abroad about China’s rise and the United States’ decline. Excitement about the Middle Kingdom’s ascendency, expressed online by the ranks of anonymous netizens and by ordinary people on the streets is growing. As it spreads, a number of Chinese intellectuals and strategists are pressing the government to change its foreign policy accordingly. This school of thought is well represented by at least two books.China Is Unhappy, by several Chinese young journalists … Continue reading China’s footloose climb to the top

China’s rail goals raise regional doubts By Roman Muzalevsky Beijing’s plan to build a high-speed railway network across Asia and Europe through Central Asia is its key project for the continent. A reflection of the rise of China on the global stage, the proposed network will connect 17 countries and comprises three major routes linking Kunming in China with Singapore via South Asia; Urumqi in northwest China and Germany through Central Asia; and Heilongjiang in northeast China with southeastern Europe via Russia. The implications of such undertakings are more than substantial for Eurasia. From expanded trade and economic development, to … Continue reading China Railways from East Asia to West Europe?

Not all sex workers are victims New laws on prostitution are sexist – being paid for sex does not objectify me any more than working in a low wage job did <!–Topsy–>  Thierry Schaffauser guardian.co.uk On the 1 April 2010, the Policing and Crime Act became effective. We are facing not a feminist measure, but an ideology that sees women as unable to be sexually independent and free of their own actions. Anti-sex-worker laws are sexist. They are essentialist, paternalist and reinforce the division of women. It is an essentialist conception to consider sex work as always a violence whatever … Continue reading Laws on prostitution are sexist?

My search for the real Robin Hood Ridley Scott claims his new film starring Russell Crowe will be the most historically accurate ever. But what do we actually know about the real outlaw and his merrie men? Stephen Moss The Guardian Stephen Moss as Robin Hood. Photograph: Martin Godwin ‘Robin Hood was almost certainly a pedestrian,” David Crook, the retired former assistant keeper of public records at the Public Record Office, tells me over tea one afternoon at his home in Grantham. Robin, in other words, had no horse. This is significant, because, as I settle down to try to … Continue reading Ridley Scott rapes Robin Hood on the altar of Ticket sales!

VIEW: Extremism: too late to contain it? —Yasmin Ali The Taliban would come to Swat residents’ houses and ask able-bodied men of the family to join them. The ‘pay structure’ then ranged from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000. The atmosphere of insecurity has diminished whatever little opportunities they had of earning a decent livelihood. Are we pushing the locals of Swat to support the Taliban by closing the doors to gainful employment in their area? Extremism, fundamentalism, militancy — these are terms used and heard every day. Are they the same, or are they different? Is a fundamentalist an extremist … Continue reading Extremism: too late to contain it?

analysis: Power and responsibility of the media —Iftikhar Ahmad An adequate response to the moral panic created by the foreign media, for example, about Pakistan’s nuclear assets has to come from our own media to help restore people’s self-confidence and their trust in the ability of the nation to protect its strategic assets and sovereignty From the viewpoint of the power and influence of the media (press, radio and television) in world politics, crises and conflicts, there is a need to consider the issue of moral panic, biases, media representation and the need to make media contents and presentation balanced … Continue reading Power and responsibility of the media

WASHINGTON DIARY: The politics of power —Dr Manzur Ejaz The end of the PPP government will come due to its outdated approach to contemporary Pakistan and not just because of Zardari’s corruption cases Most of the so-called media- forecasting gurus have been proved wrong with the passage of the18th Amendment in the National Assembly. Once again, it has been proven that inside knowledge of governing groups or institutions may be good for individual careers or personal grandeur but it is detrimental to being able to look beyond the obvious and immediate. In Pakistan, where all the major institutions are in … Continue reading The politics of power

COMMENT: Wishful soliloquy —Munir Attaullah India, along with China, is the economic engine that will drive global economic growth for possibly decades to come. The whole world is keen for a slice of that action. Are we — who ironically are best placed to take advantage (both directly and indirectly) — to be the only ones to reject such a golden opportunity? Many readers are probably watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches these days. Like it or not, the event is now firmly established, is clearly a big success, and likely to go from strength to strength in the … Continue reading India/China stuff…

VIEW: Religious bigotry and the UN — I —Peter Jacob If the Resolution on Defamation of Religions was so important and yet needed to be passed annually in the past 12 years, it is nevertheless a contradiction in terms. Why is the UN allowing a resolution to be passed over and again? The United Nations Human Rights Council in its 13th Session passed a resolution called ‘Combating Defamation of Religions’ in Geneva on March 25, 2010. Interestingly, this was not the first occasion a UN body had gone about this exercise, it was rather the 12th time. The Resolution on … Continue reading Religious bigotry and the UN

Pakistan anti-Taliban push effective: US officials dawn.com dawn.com CAMP WILDERNESS, Afghanistan: Pakistani offensives against Taliban bastions have stemmed the flow of fighters into Afghanistan, according to a US general, but local officials want further action. Pakistan last year embarked on a series of ambitious offensives to evict the Taliban from their rugged and isolated northwest sanctuaries. The army went after fighters who swept through the Swat valley perilously close to the capital, moving on to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan heartland South Waziristan and other tribal districts that hug the Afghan border. “I think overall the effects that we see is that it … Continue reading Pakistan anti-Taliban push effective?