China’s Boom: The Dark Side in Photos

By Orville Schell on October 29, 2009

I have seen some woeful scenes of industrial apocalypse and pollution in my travels throughout China, but there are very few images that remain vividly in my mind. This is why the photographs of Lu Guang are so important. A fearless documentary photographer who lives in China’s southern province of Zhejiang and runs a photo studio and lab that funds his myriad trips around China, Lu photographs the dark consequences of China’s booming but environmentally destructive economic development in ways that stay with you.

The Enigma of Chiang Kai-shek

By Jonathan D. Spence on October 22, 2009

Back in 1975, when he died in Taiwan at the age of eighty-seven, it was easy to see Chiang Kai-shek as a failure, as a piece of Chinese flotsam left awkwardly drifting in the wake of Mao Zedong’s revolutionary victories. Now it is not easy to be so sure. In today’s China, the transformational political visions of Mao seem to have little resonance, as the country faces up to its new global responsibilities, including its potential financial leadership.

China at 60: Who Owns the Guns

By Perry Link on October 7, 2009

The most striking feature of China’s October 1 celebration of sixty years of Communist rule was the spectacular and tightly choreographed military parade in the center of Beijing. The display of crass militarism—paralleled only by parades in Pyongyang or, a few years ago, Moscow—cannot have done much for China’s image around the world, but China’s rulers may not have cared about that or even been aware of it. They no doubt had a domestic audience in mind.

Identifying Near-Term Opportunities for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in China

By Jingjing Qian, George Peridas, Jason Chen, and Yueming Qiu on October 1, 2009

To avoid the worst consequences of global warming, the world must limit average temperature increases by significantly reducing carbon emissions by 2050. Achieving the urgently needed emission reductions will require efforts beyond first-resort measures such as energy efficiency, conservation, and enhancement of natural carbon sinks. Given the world’s current heavy reliance on fossil fuels, nations must pursue a wide range of carbon mitigation strategies that includes Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). China is well-positioned to be a global leader in the development and deployment of CCS technologies that—with broad support and engagement from the international community—can be an important tool for reducing carbon emissions as the world transitions to truly clean energy technologies.

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Sara Segal-Williams
Topics: 
Energy
Keywords: 
Environment
Pollution
Organization: 
Natural Resources Defense Council

“We Are Afraid to Even Look for Them”: Enforced Disappearances in the Wake of Xinjiang’s Protests

on October 1, 2009

In the aftermath of the July 2009 protests in Xinjiang province, which according to the Chinese government killed at least 197 people, Chinese security forces detained hundreds of people on suspicion of participating in the unrest. Dozens of these detainees, and likely many more, have since "disappeared" without a trace. The Xinjiang protests marked one of the worst episodes of ethnic violence in China in decades, and were largely a response to the government's longstanding discriminatory policies toward the Uighur minority of that region. This report documents for the first time the enforced disappearances of at least 43 Uighur men and teenage boys who were detained by Chinese security forces in the wake of the protests. Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese government to immediately stop the practice of enforced disappearances, release those against whom no charges have been brought, and account for every person held in detention.

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Topics: 
Politics
Keywords: 
Detention
Protests
Xinjiang
Organization: 
Human Rights Watch