China 1949: Fixing a Broken Society. The West’s false understanding of ‘Normal Politics’. How the Kuomintang failed to develop anything much during their period of rule. How they failed to confront Global Imperialism, and then were very slow to resist Japan’s expansion into Chinese territory. Also an interesting account of the first years after 1949, by a Christian missionary who stayed in China when most Westerners left or were expelled. And how Edgar Snow was well aware of the crisis after the Great Leap Forward, but noted the unusual weather and did not class it as a famine.
Why China’s ‘Blue Republic’ (1912-49) Achived Nothing. How China’s ‘Blue Republic’ lasted from 1912 to 1949, and achieved nothing. It achieved nothing because it was trying to erect a copy of the complex political structures of the USA or Western Europe on top of a society that had very different value. (The entire article, since it was published more than a year ago.) Also available as a PDF, Problems 22_China’s Blue Republic
Why it was hard for Traditional China to modernise. (The entire article, since it was published more than a year ago.) Also available as a PDF, Problems 21 – Imperial China
Hong Kong shanghaied. The true history of the ‘opium city’ created by Britain when it broke open China and forced it to accept Western values.
How Tibet Emerged Within China. The complex history, which involved Tang Chinese, Mongols and Manchu, but always within the context of the Chinese state and the power-struggles of those who wished to rule it.
Why the West should not be encouraging Tibetan separatism. Including the errors in the film Seven Years In Tibet.
The Tibetan Race Riots of 2008. Details of how ordinary people were attacked. And how the BBC was highly biased in its reporting.
Tibet and International Law. The solid legal basis of its status as part of China.
The truth about the Dalai Lama. The discreditable history of this office, which is either a real-life miracle or a deliberate fraud practiced across centuries. And how the current Dalai Lama has repeatedly been foolish.
How Mao Modernised Chinese Thinking. In many ways, Mao was following the standard Western methods of industrialising an agricultural society. All over the world, the process of nation-building normally includes at least one charismatic leader and a period of ideological fervour. And with descriptions of the process by a Westerner who stayed in China and saw the early stages of the transformation.
China’ ‘Three Bitter Years’, 1959 to 1961. The defects of Jasper Becker’s Hungry Ghosts : China’s Secret Famine, the standard Western work about what the West calls the ‘Great Leap Famine’.
China under Mao – a period of great advance, when the economy tripped and life expectancy increased markedly. Also available as a PDF, Problems 17-18 – China’s Maoist Foundations
Why The Ming Sea Voyages Led To Nothing. How China was content with its own culture, while Europe was not.
For more see More on China and Tibet
From two magazines, Problems and Labour Affairs., with other old articles on the website.
Long Revolution 