While big business helped push America and Europe into accepting China into the WTO, now, rankled by China's increasingly unfriendly economic policies, its withdrawing its support. At least that's what it looks like, according to Daniel W. Drezner at Foreign Policy. China's grown strong, but is now using its strength while "frittering away its geopolitical advantages," and the rest of the world, especially its businesses, are taking note. more ›

Graffiti and urban art have always, at their cores, been intimately tied to the human condition. Today, in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, bids of “it’s time to go” are scrawled on buildings near the dictator’s home. In tattered Lebanon, chimera-chasing artists spray images of carefree children flying kites on Beirut’s bombed walls. In Northern Ireland’s blood-bathed tug-of-war, both Republican and Loyalist camps produce iconographic murals to mark their territories. Even in politically stable climates, urban art is telling of present social reality. After all, art pursued purely in aestheticism’s noble name is an indulgence afforded only once certain degrees of social, economic and political comfort have been met. more ›

Last Friday, Shanghaiist attended a conference which was, for all intents and purposes, about how to push products to the Chinese populace and maximize profits in this gold rush. Weasely marketing types abounded, frantically and forcibly pelleting their business cards upon us whilst spewing their “bottom-line is king” rhetoric. Every other word out of their mouths was either ‘opportunity’, ‘growth’, ‘potential’ or ‘profit’. Scary stuff. more ›

China may have found the oft-discussed "next Yao Ming." Of course he is only 13 years old, so we'll have to wait a while to find out. But according to the Wenhui Daily, Tian Yuchen is already 205 cm tall -- that's almost 6-foot-9. When Yao Ming was 13, he was "only" 197 cm. Tian is from Changchun in Jilin province and he's already a member of the Shanghai Sharks youth team, the same place Yao got his start. The paper said Tian is considered the "secret weapon" for the Sharks' much-needed CBA turnaround (they are currently 3-5 and dead last in the CBA South Division standings). Tian is actually being trained to play as a guard and he's already signed an endorsement deal with athletic apparel brand Li Ning. more ›