"After the Chongqing saga, I have been pondering whether there are actually real leftists in the academic sense in China. The ideas presented by those apparent leftists are -- from the academic point of view -- anti-constitution and anti-modernization. The so-called "rightists" in 1957 weren't rightists but pro-constitution advocates. Anti-rightism is in fact anti-constitutionalism. The debate between the left and the right is often quite simply a debate between tradition and modernism, or between dictatorship and constitutionalism." more ›

This latest piece of excellent work from Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera has some eye-opening footage of what life looks like in Nanjie village (南街) in Henan province, supposedly the last place in China that is run along Maoist lines, where everything has been renationalised and collectivised. The clip reveals that the "village" is really a town that doesn't look all too bad at all, but it also does leave us with a few questions in our minds because the last time Nanjie hit the news, it was said to have finally succumbed to capitalism after it was revealed by the Chinese press to have chalked up arrears of 1 billion yuan and went into bankruptcy. more ›

China commentary just took a new turn … well several twists and turns, followed by a rapid descent into a mind-bending ideological vortex. Confused? That’s the point. No, really. That’s the point behind Sp!ked Magazine’s campaign against China-bashing in the media. more ›