There is a current within the recent debate over Google and China that many Chinese observers are overlooking. Both Michael and I feel agree that the reaction to Google’s opposition to Chinese censorship rules and the company’s threat to withdraw entirely from the China market are misunderstood. It is easy to take this one dispute and examine it in a vacuum. By itself, this controversy can be seen as a human rights issue/information imperialism/a Google business failure/control over the internet and the list goes on and on. While those are all valid filters to explore this issue, none of them adequately explain the overwhelming public support that Google is receiving in the United States for its decision to challenge the central government. Americans are rallying behind Google in this dispute because we, as a culture, as a people love to challenge authority:

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun’s recent visit to the Rwandan-DR Congo border region removed any lingering doubt, if there was any, that Beijing’s interests in the region extend far beyond natural resource extraction.   Zhai …

The April 2009 street unrest in Guangzhou where dozens, possibly a hundred, African immigrants rioted through the streets to protest against the PSB’s more frequent visa checks brought to light the presence of the growing …

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Zogby International was commissioned by CNBC to poll of likely voters regarding their economic outlook and opinion about various policies that could be adopted. The poll is notable because it included questions about perceptions towards China – parsing out correlation between economic views and views toward China is a key point of interest these days.

Atlantic Monthly correspondent James Fallows has coined a wonderful expression to summarize a series of controversial Chinese decisions over the past year: the new “Bush-Cheney Phase.” The stunning news that Google and China are about …

Too many people focus on the same 15-20 China analysts for their insights on Sino-U.S. relations.  Elizabeth Economy, Nicholas Lardy, Jonathan Spence and Orville Schell among others are all extremely learned and no doubt represent …

Before I moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo, someone asked me if I was going to learn the local language.  I replied that “I already do speak the local language there… Mandarin.”  Obviously, Mandarin …

The Chinese appear to be using the same strategy in the DRC as they are in other countries by offering low cost loans and high
profile development projects in exchange for access to the raw materials …

In so many ways, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is ground zero for China’s Africa strategy.  The DRC is a veritable supermarket for China’s mineral and natural resource needs: gold, coltan, zinc, lead, copper …