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Category Archives: History
Understanding the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender.
There has been a lot of press coverage about the military parade China held to mark the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender that ended the Second World War, sometimes referred to as the Second Sino-Japanese War, and known in … Continue reading
Posted in History, International Relations, Politics
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Hong Kong Demonstrations
Having recently read an article in ForeignPolicy.com on the demonstrations in Hong Kong the issue of over-simplification of issues, and stark black and white judgements, often casting China in a villainous role prompted me to write the following comment on … Continue reading
Posted in History, International Relations, Politics
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If beer could talk!
If you have ever had a glass of China’s most famous beer, Tsingtao, you may have wondered how it is that such an accomplished beer has been brewed in China for over a century. The answer is intriguing, and, recalling … Continue reading
Posted in Community, History, International Relations
Tagged Chinese labour Corps, WWI
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Chinese community to urge remembrance
Today marks the 97th anniversary of the death of 543 Chinese labourers, killed when the SS Athos was torpedoed en route to the Western Front, carrying (amongst others) 900 members of the Chinese Labour Corps. This act would eventually lead … Continue reading
The Taiwan Question
Representatives of China and Taiwan formally met today (11th February 2014) for the first time in 65 years. It is an historic occasion, a pragmatic (if difficult step) in the ever-closer relationship between the mainland and Taiwan. But what is … Continue reading
China’s Apartheid
In an article in the People’s Daily, China’s ambassador to South Africa between 2001 and 2006, Liu Guijin, is quoted as saying of Nelson Mandela, “He once told me that when he was in prison he and his fellow inmates … Continue reading
China offers combat troops to UN Peacekeeping
News that is a significant development in the development of China’s foreign relations. Since Premier Zhou Enlai’s development of the Five Principle’s of Peaceful Co-existance in 1954, the Five Principles- 1. Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, … Continue reading
Posted in History, International Relations
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Unrest in Xinjiang
The Times reports that 17 people were killed by rioters in Lukqun, Xinjiang Province, before police opened fie on the rioters and shot ten of them dead. The notion of China as a nation state is a very recent – … Continue reading
Anti Japanese protests
Back in 1998 Emperor Akihito of Japan made a state visit to Britain. As the BBC reported, the trip was marred in protests: PoWs [Prisoners of War] symbolically turned their backs on Emperor Akihito as he was taken by the … Continue reading
Posted in History, International Relations, Politics
Tagged Anti Japanese, Rape of Nanking, War Veterans, World War
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Chinese Taboos
There are somethings which are better left out of any polite conversation with your Chinese colleagues. Politics isn’t necessarily one of them, unless you mention one of the two T words – Tibet and Taiwan. Both these issues hit at … Continue reading
Posted in History, International Relations
Tagged Century of Humiliation, Dalai Lama, One Country Two Systems, Taiwan, Tibet
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