This is Part 2 of my pre-visit thoughts on President Obama’s visit to China next week. In Part 1 I focused on issues, but here I want to talk about why I think that Obama will get a very warm welcome in China next week (despite some Chinese English publications such as this one trying to tone down his overwhelming worldwide popularity).
First of all, lets face it, Obama is cool. Most likely the coolest president ever. He’s a rock-star, etc., etc. China’s citizenry is just as susceptible to coolness as every other citizenry in the world, and if for no other reason than his coolness and his personality, Obama will be very well received. Ok, enough scientific analysis. Continue reading “Expect China’s Citizenry to Embrace Obama”
President Barack Obama will make his first trip to China as president on November 16-18, first in Shanghai and then in Beijing. He is the first president to make the trip in his first year in office, and follows on the heels of earlier meetings this year with Hu Jintao in Italy and at the United Nations. Beyond the standard US-China relations issues – human rights, Tibet, Taiwan, currency valuation (which is becoming more internationalized, see below) – Obama will also need to discuss a number of worldwide issues with his Chinese counterpart, and probably to an extent that no other US President has before. Beyond that – and although the Chinese press is trying to downplay it – the reaction that Obama will receive in China is going to be very interesting. Part 1 here will focus on the issues and in Part 2 I’ll talk about how I think Obama will be received in China and how he’ll approach Chinese domestic affairs. Continue reading “Obama in China, What to Expect – Part 1″
Everyone goes back to work today in China after 7 days of forced vacation known as a Golden Week, this one for the October 1 National Day (the other two being the first week of May and Chinese New Year). To cut right to the quick, the Golden Weeks simply have to go, and China should use the 60th anniversary as a turning point where they say that this will be the last one.
The debate over whether to end the Golden Weeks has gone on for some time within China, and to be fair, it is a complicated issue. Here are the three main reasons usually given in support of the holidays. Continue reading “When will China’s Golden Weeks End?”
Ok, now I’ve done it. After 15 years of being involved in China one way or another – including living there for 7 years – I’ve finally decided to open up the cupboard, pull out the wok and all the spices, get some fresh leafy veggies and pork knuckles from the open air market and start blogging about China. I find myself for the first time in those 15 years with enough time on my hands (big thanks Wall Street and Main Street) to finally devote an hour or so a day to blogging about what 1/5 of the world’s population is up to (don’t worry, I’ll cover every single one before I’m done, I swear).
Many people that I really respect already write some pretty amazing blogs on China (see Top Chefs in the sidebar), and I’ve been following them for years. Over the last two years I’ve been interacting and commenting on China memes through Twitter, and I will continue to do so, but I’ve decided that I need more than 140 characters to ramble. While I already have a fully functional website/blog at chadcatacchio.com, it’s too scatterbrained an effort for anyone who is only interested in China discussions to follow, so Stir Friend China is born.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Yeah, yeah, swell, but what are you going to write about?”
Well, I’m pretty interested in the Internet, so there will be regular posts on what I hope you’ll find to be interesting news about what is going on on the web in China. I’m also pretty interested in everyday life in China, especially how the poor and emerging middle class deal with the slew of challenges they’re presented with day in and day out. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit, the world is my oyster, etc., – i.e. anything could happen. If anyone has any interest in any of this, or would like to hear about other topics, please let me know and I’ll try to get the first real post up here asap.
