Iran: China squashes US hopes for tough UN sanctions

Evelyn Leopold, 01.05.2010

Veteran reporter at the United Nations

UNITED NATIONS - Without hesitation the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations announced Beijing was not ready to impose additional sanctions agains...

elBulli in Beijing

Roseann M. Lake, 01.05.2010

Shows you the best of Beijing from the back seat of her electric scooter.

Adrià describes his ten days in Beijing as a period of perpetual curiosity during which he attended meals with fifty different dishes, each unique, and some, even to him, entirely unidentifiable.

Green News Report -- January 5, 2010 (Audio)

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen, 01.05.2010

Co-Hosts, Green News Report

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Baby, it's cold outside! Record cold and storms in U.S. and Europe -- but the hottest decade on record Down Under; Water sh...

New Year's Resolutions for the U.S.-China Relationship

Julian Baird Gewirtz, 01.04.2010

Student, founder of the U.S.-China Youth Forum.

The year 2009 could have been a decisive one for U.S.-China relations. But coming out of this year of expectations, concrete results are hard to find.

The Big Thing in the New Year? It's in Asia

Kevin Holtsberry, 01.03.2010

Editor, Malaysia Matters

Mostly ignored by the media and unknown to the public, the inauguration of the Free-Trade Area between China and ASEAN nations is perhaps the biggest geo-strategic development of our young century.

Challenges and Opportunities in the Coming Decade

Sidney Blumenthal, 01.03.2010

China has no "soft power," not just because of the coarseness of its supposed diplomacy, but because its cultural appeal does not travel. China forces its way through coercion of one sort or another.

Sunday Roundup

Arianna Huffington, 01.03.2010

"This will be a great decade," said Bill Maher at midnight on New Year's Eve as we were toasting the arrival of 2010 at a friend's party. Then, with a wry grin, he added "...for China." We laughed but I was immediately reminded of a fascinating article by Michael Wines I'd just read in the New York Times. It lays out how China is spending billions of dollars in Afghanistan securing raw materials for its voracious economy while America is spending hundreds of billions in Afghanistan fighting an unnecessary war of choice... even as the fight against terrorism has moved on. So China is mining copper and coal in Afghanistan -- and earning tremendous goodwill -- and we are squandering our young, our treasure, and any goodwill we had. Meanwhile, 1,700 miles away, al-Qaeda is training terrorists in Yemen to attack America.

Time to Rethink Afghanistan

Robert Greenwald, 01.02.2010

Filmmaker and Political Activist; Founder, Brave New Films

The war in Afghanistan continues to escalate, and more are killed each day. While the United States spends billions the Chinese are building industry, jobs and good will.

Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet, 01.01.2010

Editors of Simple Intelligence

This Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: Iran Rallies, Counter-Rallies, and a Deadline Passed This week saw the continuation of another wave of m...

Land Grabbing Leads to Imported Aid, Exported Crop

Craig and Marc Kielburger, 01.01.2010

Co-founders, Free The Children

As food aid stamped with the World Food Programme's logo is shipped to Sudan, thousands of tons of wheat and rice are shipped out -- to Riyadh, Beijing and Seoul.

China: The Harmony Express, Human Rights and Humiliating Obama

Nathan Gardels, 01.01.2010

Editor, NPQ, Global Services of Los Angeles Times Syndicate/Tribune Media

While the Harmony Express, the world's fastest train, streaked from Guangzhou to Wuhan in less than three hours, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison for merely signing a petition.

The Earth's Decade

Glenn Hurowitz, 12.31.2009

Author of Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party, environmental advocate

This decade will be remembered and felt for its impact on Nature: the species that were saved and those that were lost; the heating of the planet; the forests cut down and those that continue to provide oxygen to our children's children.

China's Execution a Subtle Power Play

Ben Cohen, 12.31.2009

Editor of The Daily Banter.com

The execution of Akmal Shaikh was another use of indirect aggression, showing the West that China doesn't care what it thinks and will do what it wants.

Here's to the 2010s

Joseph Nye, 12.31.2009

Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and Author

The 1930s were once described as "a low dishonest decade," and we could apply the term to the past ten years.

Nine Ways Our World Changed During the '00s

Sarah van Gelder, 12.31.2009

Co-Founder and Executive Editor of YES! Magazine

What was the decade of the '00s about? The following nine trends are a snapshot of some of the driving forces we're dealing with now at the turn of the decade.

Reviving Confidence in the American Economy: China, Investment and the Deficit Hawks

Rob Johnson, 12.31.2009

Director of Economic Policy, Roosevelt Institute, NewDeal2.0

The retrenchment of the American consumer blows a chill wind over the sentiments of consumers and business investment. Only the Obama administration's fiscal stimulus resists the decline of demand.

Shaikh Case Illustrates Need for Sanctions

Sarah E. Jones, 12.30.2009

Freelance journalist based in Ohio

The execution of Akmal Shaikh, a heroin smuggler who suffered from bipolar disorder, raises questions about China's treatment of mentally ill prisoners.

Letter from Taiwan: 100 Million Manufacturing Employees Next Door

Gilbert B. Kaplan, 12.29.2009

Former Deputy Assistant and Acting Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Department of Commerce

It probably will not take 50 years for China to take over Taiwan, and China would probably not put up with the situation for that long.

Ring Them Bells

Jeffrey Abelson, 12.28.2009

Writer, Documentary Filmmaker, Civic Apathy Buster

A disturbing story out of China compels me to resolve that when critiquing the state of American democracy, I will always bear in mind how fortunate I am to have been born in the U.S.A.

Solar Made in China -- Opportunity (Not Crisis) for American Solar Industry

Mike A. Hall, 12.28.2009

CEO and board member, Borrego Solar Systems, Inc.

There is an incredible opportunity to create domestic jobs, lower carbon emissions and lessen our dependence on foreign energy by stimulating the solar industry. We have the financial and solar resources to make it happen.

A Buddhist Skateboarding Monk: A Contradiction Or A Product Of The Modern Age?

Deborah Jiang Stein, 12.28.2009

Chief Mutt Correspondent

Is the quiet meditative expectation for a monk really in contradiction to a skateboard ride? Maybe outsiders don't understand the life of a monk in our contemporary world.