– Analysis & opinion
A song and dance in China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. July, 2011 What can we make of the reappearance of Maoist-era revolutionary rhetoric in China? This recent phenomenon was first noticed in Chongqing, China’s gateway to the west which is situated on the Yangtze River upstream from the Three Gorges Dam. This is the heartland of China. A […]
Will the real China please stand up
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. September, 2010 On September 23, 2010, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Premier Wen said that China was a peace-loving nation and a responsible member of the international community. He pledged that China would firmly take the road of peaceful development. He also advised the […]
Watching China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. August, 2010 Recently, a two-star Chinese General, Liu Yazhou, warned the Communist Party and his People’s Liberation Army colleagues that, “China must either embrace US-style democracy or accept Soviet-style collapse.” He continued: ”If a system fails to let its citizens breathe freely and release their creativity to the maximum extent, and […]
DPRK: mixing sport and politics
Brian Hennessy, An Australian in China. June, 2010 Despite their government’s public expressions of fraternity towards the dangerously troublesome Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), these days Chinese people are more switched-on to the reality of life in the Hermit Kingdom. It is perhaps an uncomfortable reminder of what life used to be like in […]
China: on mercantilism.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. February 5, 2010 On an accusation of mercantilism Mercantilism and China? I have to say that the term, now used to describe China’s commerce with other countries, is pejorative. England and Holland were mercantile trading nations during the industrial revolution and their time as exploiting colonial powers. Japan and […]
The law: soldiering on in China.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. January, 2010 I am an Australian Vietnam veteran. I have a friend here in China who is also a Vietnam veteran. Whereas I fought local Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army regulars in South Vietnam 1966-67, he fought North Vietnamese troops along the China-Vietnam border in 1979. The law: […]
China and greatness
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. October, 2009 China is carrying a lot of excess baggage on its journey to greatness. This nation’s nagging fear however, is that although it may be big, it suspects that it may never be great. Powerful? Yes. Great? I’m not so sure – let’s wait and see. China […]
Culture, Philosophy, and Government.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. October, 2009 No matter how much Westerners may dislike the Communist Party and its tentacles which infiltrate almost every aspect of daily life in the Middle Kingdom, China’s rise confronts us with an inconvenient truth: maybe this is the best system for governing China at this stage in her […]
Chinese Peoples Political Consult Conf.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. October, 2009. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was formed on the 21st September 1949, and was meant to be composed of people who represented the various sectors of Chinese society. The original aim was for it to be an instrument cooperation and political consultation led by the […]
Chongqing: the big cleanup.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. September, 2009 Chongqing has the potential to become a hub for tourism in the greater southwest region of China. However, this potential is not being realised. Tourists don’t stay in Chongqing for long. They just regard Chongqing as a place to board a vessel for their trip down through […]