Just What Does A Spy Do, Anyway?
July 22, 2010The case of the Russian agents who allegedly spied for years but obtained no classified secrets may have convinced you that the Soviet Union’s last surviving idiots run Moscow’s security services. The Russian spymasters who reportedly wanted to keep tabs on American power brokers might have gotten more information, for a lot less money, by subscribing to The Washington Post. Instead, they dispatched a team of deep-cover agents who blended …
China’s Economy Starts To Grow Up
June 22, 2010China did its consumers a big favor yesterday by allowing its currency to appreciate against the dollar for the first time in two years. Having also tolerated a recent wave of strikes that pushed some wages sharply higher, the Beijing government finally seems to be ready to do some economic growing up. This is good news for us as well as for the Chinese. Over the past three decades, a …
Israel Joins The OECD
May 13, 2010In the interminable struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, any step forward by one side is automatically seen as a step backward for the other. Palestinians were, therefore, outraged this week when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development invited Israel to join. But Israel belongs in the OECD, and allowing it to take its rightful place there does not set back the Palestinian cause. The OECD, whose membership comprises an …
Meet China’s ‘Ant Tribe’
March 1, 2010China’s economic growth may hit 9 percent this year, but Guan Jian, profiled recently by the Los Angeles Times, is not feeling the benefits of his country’s rapidly expanding economy. Guan, 24, is a member of China’s “Ant Tribe.” Given their nickname by a recent book documenting their struggles, China’s estimated 3 million “ants” are young adults who have college degrees but remain unemployed or underemployed. Guan and his cohorts …
Time For A SecureNet
January 21, 2010On an early spring day in north-central China two years ago, the People’s Liberation Army held a ceremony to mark the establishment of an information warfare militia unit. Local dignitaries were invited, and the county government noted on its Web site that the militia’s peacetime mission would be to “extensively collect information from adversary networks and establish databases of adversary network data.” In wartime, the militia’s assignment would be to …
Showing China Some Love
November 23, 2009I get misty-eyed when I witness true love, whether it is between a grandparent and a new grandchild, a boy and his dog, or a banker and his biggest borrower. So I was touched by the warm greeting China’s leaders extended to President Obama last week, and by the almost Confucian respect that our young commander-in-chief showed his elders on the world stage. China’s rise is an achievement “unparalleled in …
Controlling The Weather — Or Not
November 20, 2009In China, the government controls just about everything, possibly including the weather. After Beijing was hit with a record snowfall last week, an unidentified official from the Beijing Weather Modification Office said the government was responsible. The Office also took credit for an earlier snowfall this autumn. Zhang Qiang, director of the Weather Modification Office, said that the 16 million tons of snow that fell on the city Oct. 31 …
Western Leaders Stand Together, Alone
September 28, 2009The leaders of the United States, France and Britain wanted to show strength and resolve Friday as they denounced Iran’s belated disclosure that it is building a second nuclear fuel enrichment facility. Instead, they showed just how isolated the Western industrial democracies have become. There were 20 prominent heads of state in Pittsburgh that morning, gathered for the G-20 economic summit. President Obama, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister …
A Promising Step In China
August 4, 2009With a recent exchange of telegrams, the heads of state in China and Taiwan communicated directly with one another for the first time in 60 years. Those may well prove to be the most important telegrams of the 21st Century. Chinese President Hu Jintao wrote to congratulate Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan on his election as chairman of Taiwan’s governing Kuomintang Party. While Hu addressed Ma solely in his capacity as …
Picking On Multinationals
July 27, 2009A supplier and its customer quarrel about prices. Secret meetings are followed by accusations of spying and attempted bribery. When these things occur in free societies, the disputes usually get resolved privately or in civil court. Sometimes, if there is evidence of crimes like bribery, law enforcement might get involved. The national security apparatus, however, is not drawn into the fray. Things are different in China. Four employees of Australia-based …
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