The Economic and Strategic Rise of China and India: Asian Realignments after the 1997 Financial Crisis by David B.H. Denoon
BRUCE DALBRACK | 29 February 2008India and China will be the story of the twenty-first century.
Through, among other things, odd combinations of geography and history, these giants squeeze in a generous third of the world's population (37% to be precise: China's 1.3 billion plus India's 1.1 billion out of 6.6 billion worldwide). In comparison, Europe and North America, the two ebbing concentrations of power, look puny. Despite hosting... [ more ]
The Analects of Confucius by Burton Watson (trans.)
BRUCE DALBRACK | 29 October 2007Burton Watson's translation of THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS covers all the traditional sayings and stories of Master Kong. It's juicy source material. Where Christians have the Bible and Muslims the Koran, Taoists and Chinese philosophers have the Analects of Confucius. Written approximately 2400 years ago, the Analects remains the backbone of Chinese philosophy. The longevity is all the more remarkable given its brevity. Master Kong's... [ more ]
Lust. Caution by Eileen Chang / Wang Hui Ling / James Schamus
BRUCE DALBRACK | 05 October 2007Two fluffed assassinations, two cities, one death. This is the skeleton of Eileen Chang's LUST. CAUTION.
The opening failure happens in Hong Kong. It's the late 1930s and the British colony is still free, just, but under pressure from Japanese garrisons in Guangdong. Visiting mainland student Wong Chia-chih falls in with radical actor sorts, led by militant K'uang Yu-min, and an assassination plot. Japanese... [ more ]
Fair Trade For All: How Trade Can Promote Development by Joseph E Stiglitz and Andrew Charlton
BRUCE DALBRACK | 05 February 2006This comprehensive plea for fair trade closely follows Hong Kong's WTO conference of December 2005. The appeal is timely and convincing: rich countries must allow poorer countries to exploit their natural assets and, particularly, cheap labour. Deny this chance and shocking development injustices will continue.
The authors make one accusation crystal clear. The odious and enduring crime committed by... [ more ]
Accidental Occidental by David McKirdy
BRUCE DALBRACK | 28 August 2005As a fellow Scot who has spent many years away, it is easy to appreciate where David McKirdy is coming from: born... [ more ]
The Jade Garden: New and notable plants from Asia by Peter Wharton, Brent Hine, Douglas Justice
BRUCE DALBRACK | 08 July 2005This is a nifty and highly recommended book for plant and garden enthusiasts wishing to expand their knowledge of Asian greenery. The three authors are curators from the Botanical Gardens at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and traveled widely... [ more ]
Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China by Gray Tuttle
BRUCE DALBRACK | 28 June 2005One for plucky little Tibet, this book is not. The title is a bit misleading as it covers neither Tibetan Buddhists standing against Communism nor how modern China -- which is to say atheist China -- might have been influenced, for Professor Tuttle halts at the 1950s. This is puzzling and I'm not sure if the period... [ more ]
National Security and Fundamental Freedoms: Hong Kong's Article 23 Under Scrutiny by Fu Hualing, Carole J Petersen and Simon N M Young (eds.)
BRUCE DALBRACK | 12 May 2005Post-1997 Hong Kong cannot be understood without understanding the Basic Law's Article 23. So contentious was the legislation and so massive the public response that at the time of writing, mid-2005, the law remains only a possibility. That's two years on, during which time Beijing "resigned" the Chief Executive who proposed it and made it so central to his administration.
