What should constitute a crime and why a criminal should be punished have defied universally acceptable answers. It is not a crime to kill thousands in an undeclared war in Iraq, Kosovo or Chechenya. Yet a 13-year-old boy spent five days in a US j... Continue reading
Lessons from the migrant worker mess
The much-maligned migrant worker lubricates the wheels of the Indian economy. We know his value when he is not available; then the machine grinds to a halt.
Estimates vary but their numbers could be up to 120 million, more than the populat... Continue reading
China’s aggression is a trap
Speculations are being made about the motives that have driven China’s recent actions on India’s borders. One view is that it is the continuation of that nation’s hegemonic belligerence towards its neighbors and half-brothers lik... Continue reading
China has become a fascist state
Fascism and Communism have much in common. Both have a totalitarian, single party regime headed by an all-powerful leader. The party is above the individual and any rights of the individual. For both of these ideologies, armed conflict is the mean... Continue reading
Law and (Dis)order in China
When Mao took over in 1949, his Red Guards had all the power and no responsibility. A person had to be only branded an enemy of the revolution and then the revolutionaries had the freedom to do what they liked with him. There were no trials and no... Continue reading
Investment fleeing China is not low-hanging fruit
China’s doomsayers have been gleefully forecasting an exodus of industries from China after the international virus outbreak from Wuhan. Various countries of the world have announced policies designed for attracting manufacturers seeking to... Continue reading
Why Xi Jinping launched the ‘clean plate’ campaign
A favourite theme of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Sinophiles is that China has lifted out of poverty 700 million of the 800 million poor people during the 40 years of reforms and opening up of the economy after Deng Xiaoping modified... Continue reading
Why Xi Jinping launched the ‘clean plate’ campaign II
In the first part of this article we analysed the reasons for increase in rural poverty in China relative to urban prosperity due to focus of the state on urbanization, urban infrastructure and industries and the service sector. This is not to bel... Continue reading
Why Xi Jinping launched the ‘clean plate’ campaign III
In the earlier two parts of this article we discussed the increasing relative poverty and wealth inequality in China. We also discussed the looming food shortage resulting in panic imports of grain. In the face of all this, Xi Jinping claims that... Continue reading
China and Indo-Pacific QUAD
What’s in a name? So mused the 16th century bard in Romeo and Juliet. There were no Communists in that age. To them, words are the essence of ideology and the tools of their dialectic. Even the word “dialectic” is a tool and Comm... Continue reading
The Great Wall and China’s historical introversion
All generalisations are suspect. Alexander Duma fils said, tongue in cheek, “All generalisations are dangerous, even this one.” Yet, we do have discourse on gross generalisations like “national character”. The dilemma is ap... Continue reading
The Hutongs and China’s introversion
In the first part of this article, we saw how the key to the building of the Great Wall of China lies in China’s historical introversion and xenophobia. The design of living spaces in China reflects the same desire of excluding the “ot... Continue reading