On May 17th, the United States Department of State sent out a policy directive to American universities sponsoring Confucius Institutes. It states that Chinese academics teaching grade-school levels at institutions without the proper accreditation are violating the terms of their visas and must leave the country at the end of the current term. more ›

"Minor axis of evil" -- an elliptical (pun intended) statement by which we really mean China consorts with terrorists. Yes folks, this is what the US State Department spokesman implied through his comments regarding Iran's presence at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting. According to this spokesman, inviting Iran over casts doubt on the SCO's self-proclaimed mission of combating terrorism and extremism in the region. more ›

The week starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. more ›

When the US State Department’s purchase of 16,000 desktop PCs from Chinese manufacturer Lenovo ran into a chorus of naysayers in the Congress, Shanghaiist chimed in. more ›

While the CNOOC/Unocal mess is still fresh in our minds (by “mess” we mean a resounding victory for those that have American interests at heart), another Chinese company, it seems, has found itself in the crosshairs of US law makers. Lenovo, a Chinese PC manufacturer, has raised a few eyebrows among congressional leaders with its impending sale of 16,000 desktop PCs to the State Department. more ›

Shanghaiist can remember our first glimpse into the general issue of human rights in China back in freshman year of college. We are certainly not going to get into a debate about the state of China’s progress on the matter, or how accurate or overblown or underreported the situation may or may not be. We just know that our first look came from a very thick 2000 US State Department annual human rights report on China … and it was not a pretty picture. more ›