China's Pollution Quagmire
on July 15, 2015
China’s efforts to reduce air pollution could be negated by its unregulated and unmonitored burning of petcoke, a fuel dirtier than coal, an expert on Chinese climate and energy policy said.
Scientists Call for More Emission Cuts
on July 15, 2015
It is still possible to limit average global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius (2˚C) and avoid catastrophic climate change, but the remaining global carbon budget—the amount of carbon that can be safely released into the atmosphere if this limit is to be met—is rapidly diminishing.
Eva Pils
on July 14, 2015
Eva Pils is Professor of Human Rights Law at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), where she holds a Humboldt Professorship, and a member of the FAU Research Centre for Human Rights. She studied law, philosophy, and sinology in Heidelberg, London, and Beijing, and holds a Ph.D. in Law from University College London. Her research focuses on autocratic conceptions and practices of governance, legal, and political resistance, and the dynamics of complicity with autocratic practices. Before joining FAU in 2024, she held professorial positions at the Faculty of Law of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at King’s College London. She is also a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary University of London School of Law, a non-resident affiliated scholar at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute of New York University School of Law, and an Affiliate of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. She is the author of China’s Human Rights Lawyers: Advocacy and Resistance (Routledge, 2014).
China’s ‘Rule by Law’ Takes an Ugly Turn
A ChinaFile Conversation
on July 14, 2015
Yet another crackdown has begun under Chinese President Xi Jinping. This time, the target is so-called “rights lawyers,” loosely defined as those who defend unpopular or dissident clients, or bring cases against the state that rest on claims of individual rights. In recent days, according to U.S.-based nonprofit Amnesty International and other overseas sources, over 100 Chinese rights lawyers have been detained, questioned, or reported missing.
Uber CEO Enjoying a Fast China Ride
on July 14, 2015
Demand for cross-town transportation is at the heart of an urban lifestyle that is defining modern China. It is also giving the American car-hire service Uber Technologies Inc. an incredible ride.
Few are enjoying the ride more than Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, a 38-year-old entrepreneur and billionaire who started the fast-growing global app business with co-founder Garrett Camp in 2009.
Since expanding into China in early 2014 under the name Youbu—a Chinese transliteration of the English Uber—the business has been growing rapidly.
Lawyers and Activists Detained or Questioned by Police Since 9 July 2015
on July 14, 2015
Amnesty International has compiled this list of Lawyers and Activists in China who have been detained or questioned by police since July 9, 2015. The list was collated based on various sources. Amnesty International attempted to confirm all information, however verification remains difficult and not all the information may be up to date.
Organization:
Amnesty International
China’s Rapidly Changing Views on Wildlife Conservation in Africa
A China in Africa Podcast
on July 14, 2015
A dramatic shift in Chinese public opinion about animal welfare and global wildlife conservation appears to be underway.
Megacity Chongqing Now
ChinaFile Presents
on July 14, 2015
Earlier this month, photographer Tim Franco visited Asia Society to show his work from Chongqing, a city of more than 25 million where he has been reporting since 2009. Many of the images Franco showed appear in his latest book, Metamorpolis (Pendant Ce Temps, 2015), a culmination of his years photographing the people, landscape, and explosive construction of Chongqing.
Nancy Tang
on July 13, 2015
Nancy Tang is a Beijing native who now works at a Washington, D.C. think tank.
Good Riddance, Monsieur Epstein
A Sinica Podcast
on July 13, 2015
The hosts of the Sinica Podcast are not surprised that Gady Epstein is moving on. We used to buy the papers for his “Telegrams from the Orient”, but then he took that Economist gig and his productivity plummeted and it has become hard to even remember what his writing is like anymore. “When are you going to come out with something new,” we’d needle him over Chinese Twitter, only to be met with the vague insistence that he was “working on something,” or “rushing to press,” and “stop bothering me please.” And then not a single byline for months...
