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Columns & Interviews Politics & Society

A bite-sized meal

Rana Mitter proves that you don’t have to trudge through hundreds of pages to gain a nuanced view of China’s place in the current global milieu. His Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, is 140 pages (not including the index and other material) but packs more information and insight than many grander volumes. Mitter sets […]

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Politics & Society

US probe over official's copied laptop

US authorities are investigating whether the content of Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez’s laptop computer was secretly copied during his visit to Beijing last December, AP reported. The copying is believed to have occured when Gutierrez left the computer unattended, according to anonymous sources. It is not clear what information on the machine might have […]

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Politics & Society

Quake victims consider legal action

Parents of children killed when a school in Dujiangyan collapsed during the May 12 earthquake may pursue legal action against local officials they believe are responsible for the school’s sub-standard construction, the Financial Times reported. Parents at Juyuan Middle School on the outskirts of Dujiangyan, where 289 students and teachers died, have pooled money to […]

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Politics & Society

Mainland, Taiwan agree to resume dialogue

President Hu Jintao and Kuomintang chairman Wu Poh-hsiung said that semi-official talks between Taiwan and mainland should be revived as soon as possible, the Financial Times reported. During a live televised meeting in Beijing Wednesday, the two leaders agreed to work to resume dialogue between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across […]

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Politics & Society

VP: Earthquake won't hinder Olympics

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping hailed earthquake relief efforts in Sichuan as a "great success" and said Beijing would be ready for to host the Olympics in spite of the disaster, the Wall Street Journal reported. Xi, who is widely tipped to succeed Hu Jintao as president in 2012, made the remarks at an Asia […]