437 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2017
    1. Compared to 2005, in 2012, the PR principle failed to track sectoral CO2 flow, and embodied CO2 in import and interprovincial export increased, with manufacturing contributing the most; manufacturing should take more carbon responsibilities in the internal linkage, and tertiary sectors in the net forward and backward linkage, with sectors enjoying low carbonization in the mixed linkage; inward net CO2 flows of manufacturing and service sectors were more complicated than their outward ones in terms of involved sectors and economic drivers; and residential effects on CO2 emissions of traditional sectors increased, urban effects remained larger than rural ones and manufacturing and tertiary sectors received the largest residential effects.

      This is interesting!

    1. Now, on to my third problem: I think Angus Maddison may be doing things wrong. I realize this is a rather presumptuous thing to say, but I think it's true. Specifically, the assumption that GDP before 1700 was proportional to agricultural productivity seems to me not to be a good one. The reason is that even in a non-industrial society, there is a potentially huge source of GDP increases: trade. Remember, in a world where output is mostly in the form of commodities (i.e. no increasing returns to scale), the old Ricardian theory of trade makes a lot of sense. Stable ancient empires that could act as free trade zones were probably capable of dramatically increasing their per capita GDP beyond the base provided by the productivity of their land. This is the finding of Ian Morris in Why the West Rules For Now. He constructs a "social development index" that includes things like urbanization and military capabilities, and probably correlates with an ancient region's per capita GDP (it is hard to build cities and make war without producing stuff). He finds dramatic changes in this social development index over the course of the Roman Empire; at its height, Rome seems to have been extremely rich, but a couple centuries earlier or later it was desperately poor. Morris corroborates this index with data on shipwrecks, lead poisoning, and other things that would tend to correlate with output. Basically, Rome saw huge fluctuations in per capita GDP. But it is unlikely that Rome's agricultural productivity changed much over this time. Instead, what probably happened was the rise and fall of cross-Mediterranean trade. If trade could make Rome dramatically richer, and its absence could make Rome dramatically poorer, then Maddison's data set is wrong. Just because most people in 100 AD were farmers does not mean that most people were subsistence farmers. And frankly, I'm not sure how people use Maddison's data set without noticing this fact.

      Trading is very important. The West advantage over China in the past.

  2. Oct 2017
    1. Americans have been left to ask: What did we do wrong? What has caused the leaders of Southeast Asia to turn away from Washington and toward Beijing? It is tempting to look for the answer to these questions in the policies of the Obama or Xi administrations, or blame it on shifting fortunes in the balance of power. But focusing on the spectacle of Sino-American rivalry masks the dozens of smaller dramas and power plays that usually escape the attention of Western observers. Often it is these smaller conflicts of interest that drive lesser powers into the arms of the great ones.
  3. Sep 2017
    1. Those distinctions belonged to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and Shanghai was sometimes called “Little Su” or “Little Hang” to flag its lowlier status

      Actually Shanghai was the least evolved cities compared to Suzhou and Hangzhou

  4. Jul 2017
    1. Plucker recently toured a number of such schools in Shanghai and Beijing. He was amazed by a boy who, for a class science project, rigged a tracking device for his moped with parts from a cell phone. When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker says. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’ ”
  5. Jun 2017
    1. he Chinese Government had asked for several amendments to the report. That request had not been taken into account. In his conclusions, the Special Rapporteur had criticized several detention cases of criminals which amounted to overcoming its mandate and breaking the principle of sovereignty. China would not tolerate that the human rights banner could be used to cover activities that would go against public order.
    2. appreciation for China’s comment that parts of the report were fair, but rejected the concept of “judicial sovereignty” which would lead a Special Rapporteur not to reflect on human rights violations. He reiterated his concern for the treatment of Jiang Tianyong. Regarding Mauritania, he noted that his visits had covered most of the population of a vast country. The Government had suggested he had not met with a wide range of non-governmental organizations; in fact he had met with over 50 of them. The main challenge in Mauritania was to recognize the distinctions which took place on the basis of ethnicity. The Government would be better served if it disaggregated data based on ethnicity. He called for the Government to release the two “IRA” representatives who were still imprisoned.
    3. China said it was undergoing a judicial reform to improve judicial independence.  China was committed to eliminating violence against women and had in place a system for the legal protection of women based on the Constitution and about 100 implementation laws. 
    4. China, speaking in a right of reply, said some non-governmental organizations had made accusations against China which were rejected strenuously.  China had made efforts to improve welfare in Xinjiang, and the GDP of the province had increased to over $ 900 billion.  China’s constitution provided that Chinese citizens had the freedom of religious belief, and normal activities were protected.  The Government sent students and teachers of religious institutions to Egypt and other countries, and in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, the Government understood the religious sentiments of the people and their needs for non-interference during periods such as Ramadan.
    5. China noted that discussions under item 4 should be held in line with the principles of objectivity, constructive dialogue and cooperation.  Unfortunately, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany attacked other countries, staining the Council’s work.  Their own human rights records did not look good, with xenophobia and violence against refugees and migrants increasing.  They turned a blind eye to their own problems while criticizing others. 
    6. hina would not allow for any possibility to challenge the basic political system of the State.  China reiterated its call to stop the politicization of human rights issues by some Member States of the Council.
  6. May 2017
  7. Apr 2017
    1. Taiwanese identity grew more distinct from Mainland China

      Taiwan and its attempts to legitimise itself as a sovereign state seperate from china -

      "Trump infuriated China’s leadership when he spoke to Tsai on the phone and later made separate comments questioning the longstanding “one China” policy, under which the US notionally accepts Beijing’s view that Taiwan is part of China. The US does not officially host Taiwanese leaders. Taiwan has been self-governing and de facto independent since the end of China’s civil war. Beijing regards it as a renegade province".

  8. Mar 2017
    1. 텐센트를 모바일 왕좌에 앉힌 주역 '쟝샤오룽' : 텐센트에서 위챗을 만든 쟝샤오룽에 대한 글이다. 이전에 폭스메일을 만들어서 매각하고 텐센트에서 QQ 메일을 만들면서 위챗을 만들어서 성공하기까지의 과정이 나와 있다. 중국 서비스의 흐름은 잘 모르는 터라 재미있게 읽었다.(한국어)
  9. Jan 2017
    1. Obama to Urge Protection for Chip Industry

      Finally, the free traders are beginning to understand how China has been using a pretense of "free trade" in its effort to dominate the world. It is almost certain that China will become more powerful than America. The only questions is whether America and western democracies can remain relatively strong enough to resist Communist China's domination. And to do this we have to prevent China from dominating electronics, computing, cyber, and artificial intelligence.

  10. Nov 2016
    1. En el plano internacional, la incertidumbre sería absoluta, lo único que se podría esperar sería que los asesores presidenciales le disuadiesen de tomar decisiones impulsivas, como iniciar una guerra comercial con China o cambiar alianzas estratégicas que desembocasen en un acercamiento a la Rusia de Putin y un alejamiento de sus aliados tradicionales y las políticas de la OTAN.
  11. Oct 2016
  12. Jun 2016
    1. The respondents also de- scribed a creative person as one who has a collectivistic orientation, such as one who "inspires people," "has contribution to the progress of society" and "is appreciated by others." These descriptions, found in this sample of Chinese people, did not occur in U.S. investigations (Rudowicz et al., 1995

      Chinese conceptions of creativity include collectivistic aspects of inspiration.

      Authors indicate these did not come up in U.S. studies, but these could be artefacts of design method.

  13. Apr 2016
    1. “dead malls,” and you’ll find photo after photo of tiled walkways littered with debris, untended planters near the darkened rest areas for bored dads, and empty indoor storefronts—the discolored shadows of their missing lighted signs lingering like ghosts.

      Here is an interesting mega-mall i have found in china that is now deserted because of online shopping. The plans have even started taking back its land.

  14. Dec 2015
    1. gives Chinese exporters a huge advantage

      Contrasting:

      "Some economists, such as Paul Krugman, argue that Chinese currency devaluation helps China by boosting its exports, and hurts the United States by widening its trade deficit. ... Krugman has suggested that the United States should impose tariffs on Chinese goods"

      vs.

      "Greg Mankiw, on the other hand, asserts that U.S. protectionism via tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy far more than Chinese devaluation. Similarly, others have stated that the undervalued yuan has actually hurt China more in the long run insofar that the undervalued yuan doesn’t subsidize the Chinese exporter, but subsidizes the American importer."

      [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_intervention#Chinese_Yuan Retrieved December 9, 2015]