Eight Plus Things to Read About China and Other Things, Part 2

This is part 2 of our new series on listing out eight+ things to read about China and a lot more. We constantly get emails from readers asking what to read on China and all sorts of things related and even barely related to China and the plan of this series would be to constantly and consistently answer this very question. We also have a few very loyal readers who often send us truly great articles on China (and other things). We owe these unpaid and truly superb researchers a big debt and this week’s post is dedicated to them!

As I said in our initial post on this, our plan is to list out eight (or so) articles we benefitted from reading and think you our readers would also benefit from reading, along with a very brief explanation why the particular article was included. More specifically:

The articles will likely include many on China and on Asia and a few on international trade, international politics, Spain and Latin America, economics and really just anything else we believe might benefit our readers or even that we just want people to read. We do not plan to choose articles that push our or any other political agenda or any other agenda for that matter, but having said that, we are not objective and our views may creep through. Our goal though is to focus on articles that are important or helpful or — most importantly — that make you think. Our posting of an article will NOT mean we agree with all of it or even any of it. Most of the articles will be from the week preceding the post but we will also sometimes throw in older articles (classics if you will) as well.

And though I have said this previously, it is important enough that I feel compelled to state it again: Please do not hesitate to comment at the end of this or any other post. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your comments, good, bad and indifferent.

Here we go, in absolutely no particular order.

1. It’s Not Entirely Up to School Students to Save the World. New Yorker. Because this paragraph brilliantly and concisely sums up what is going on in the United States: “The climate emergency, however, is deceptive. Unless it’s your town that day that’s being hit by wildfire or a flood, it’s easy to let the day’s more pressing news take precedence. It can be hard to remember that climate change underlies so many daily injustices, from the forced migration of refugees to the spread of disease. Indeed, the people who suffer the most are usually those on the periphery—the iron law of climate change is that the less you did to cause it the more you suffer from it. So we focus on the latest Presidential tweet or trade war instead of on the latest incremental rise in carbon dioxide, even though that, in the end, is the far more critical news.

2. Trump’s latest explanation for the Huawei ban is unacceptably bad. Vox. Is the Huawei ban for national security reasons or for trade reasons? These are obviously not the same thing and the American people and the world (even Huawei) deserve the truth.

3. Huawei’s Android and Windows Alternatives are Destined for Failure. The Verge. Because this is what pretty much everybody who knows is saying and just because Huawei (with its game face on) and a few ultra-Pandas are saying otherwise should not mean a thing.

4. The Wealth Detective Who Finds the Hidden Money of the Super Rich. Bloomberg Businessweek. Because his research shows that “the top 0.1% of taxpayers—about 170,000 families in a country of 330 million people—control 20% of American wealth, the highest share since 1929. The top 1% control 39% of U.S. wealth, and the bottom 90% have only 26%. The bottom half of Americans combined have a negative net worth.” Because I find inequality in the United States embarrassing and dangerous and an absolutely critical issue. See also this CNN article on how 40 percent of Americans cannot come up with $400 to cover an emergency.

5. The story of sriracha. South China Morning Post. Because it explains how to pronounce sriracha and because I divide the world between those who think sriracha is hot (as in spicy) and those who do not consider it the least bit hot (I vehemently side with the “do not” camp”). Is this a fair and helpful way to categorize people?

6.  What Reparations for Slavery Might Look Like in 2019. New York Times. Because too few Americans realize the lasting and pernicious economic impacts of racism (slavery and segregation and not hiring Black people and not paying Black people the same as whites). The same holds true for Native Americans. 

7. Game of Thrones fan pays to fly banner over Seattle asking for a redo. My Northwest. Because, let’s face it, we truly did deserve better.

8. From the editor: What I’ll remember most from my 32 years at The Seattle Times. Seattle Times. Because this sort of self-important and delusional thinking has helped make the Seattle Times (and dare I say it, most newspapers) irrelevant and on the verge of extinction. Because this particular newspaper can and should be read in 5 minutes or less on your iPhone, if at all. See also the Wall Street Journal article, In News Industry, a Stark Divide Between Haves and Have-Nots, on how local newspapers have failed and will continue to fail at a rapid pace.

9. The China trade war is leading to lower mortgage rates for American homebuyers. CNBC. Because it nicely highlights how complicated and far-reaching the economics from the trade war can and will be. See also this Bloomberg article on How This Trade War Will Remake the World and this SCMP article on how China’s ban on scrap imports revitalises US recycling industry and our own post, Who Pays the Tariffs on China Imports? President Trump vs. CNN and What YOU Can do NOW to Reduce Your China Prices.

10. Kylie Jenner Speaks Out on the Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson Cheating Scandal for First Time. People. Because …. Kardashians.

11. The 10 most beautiful villages of Asturias. El Pais. Because I love Asturias and beautiful villages.

12. Making your kids go vegan can mean jail time in Belgium. Quartz. Because this article epitomizes how differently Europe and the United States view the role of the state versus the role of its citizens/parents. My law firm’s European clients are constantly shocked at the lack of regulations in the United States and vice-versa.

Your thoughts?

We will be discussing the practical aspects of Chinese law and how it impacts business there. We will be telling you what works and what does not and what you as a businessperson can do to use the law to your advantage. Our aim is to assist businesses already in China or planning to go into China, not to break new ground in legal theory or policy.