Film Followers

As Li Duoyu, editor-in-chief of The Centennial of Chinese Cinema, puts it: Chinese film was born bright and precocious, grew to be a pas- sionate and ambitious youth, but suffered setbacks in adulthood. Movies constituted one of the Chinese people's few forms of public recreation as well as their only contact with the outside world for several decades. Per- haps for this reason, Chinese filmmakers have constantly experimented with concepts of genre and approach in an attempt to widen their …     

Symbolic or Substantial?

Economists say the central bank's latest attempt to cool down China's red hot economy will do little to rein in lending and the runaway growth in fixed asset investment From August 15,the required reserve ratio of state-owned and joint-stock commercial banks with the central bank will be further increased by 0.5 percentage points to 8.5 percent, the     

Make or Break?

Although the UK officially left the EU on January 31,2020,it was until December 31 of the year when thetransition periodwas set to expire.     

Recession or Not?

Economists are at odds over whether the United States has entered an economic recession,although several factors appear to indicate it has During the latter half of the year 2007, bad news about the U.S.economy would not stop coming.The sub- prime mortgage crisis appeared to     

Burden or Catalyst?

正The Belt and Road Initiative,since its proposal in 2013,has boosted regional investment and benefited countries along the routes.Among the investment,capital from China has the largest share.Statistics from China Banking Association show that loans from China's government and banks to countries and regions along the Belt and Road have reached$200billion.Nevertheless,the Chinese investment,which is     

Terror or Timidity?

The United States faces serious challenges in ongoing anti-terror campaign The United States temporarily closed 21 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa on August 2 after a warning about a possible Al-Qaeda terrorist attack. Shortly afterwards, Britain, Germany and France announced two-day closings of their embassies in Yemen. While the reason for the embassy closings remains controversial,     

Carrot or Stick?

Six nations offer Iran a package of proposals to resolve its nuclear issue. Will Iran accept it? After months of disagreement and negotiations, the five permanent members of the UN Security CouncilA—the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China—and Germany came up with a package of proposals in early June to induce Iran to give up its nuclear activities, a mark of     

Inflation or Not?

China is taking measures to cope with inflation pressures caused by soaring food prices Financial data released in August has created worry among the Chinese public about inflationary pressures confronting the economy.     

Bullets or Ballots?

“I pray to Allah that at11p.m.tonighta complete and gen e r al truce would start inor der to devote our time to our mostim p o r tant jobs and look into our affai r sand our future,”pledged MahmoudAb bas,Palestinian Aut h o r ity Pres i d e n t,after hi…     

Once or twice?

A film that prompts me to see it a second time is rare indeed. Other than the WW2 thriller, The Great Escape, there had only been Liza Minelli in Cabaret,and Christopher Reeve in Somewhere in Time, which cap-tured my interest. That was until Swimming Pool came along.Ever since I read professional reviews in late 2003 when itwas first screened, I had the feeling this movie was one I hadto see. My preference for viewing is a DVD in the comfortof my living-room where I can react, speak o…     

Cooperation or Competition?

<正>U.S.President Joe Biden recently delivered his second State of the Union(SOTU) address to Congress after taking office in January 2021.During the February 7 speech,he said the U.S.seeks “competition,not conflict” with China,but also stressed that “winning the competition with China should unite all of us.”     

Hullabaloo or Harmony?

Even after over two years as an English instructor in north China,my five senses still get over-loaded,sometimes pleasantly and sometimes appallingly.Edward T.Hall,a renowned anthropologist,defined cultureby what we pay attention to and what we     

Writers or Celebrities?

Benefiting from the commercialization of the publishing industry, some writers in China have gained both fame and wealth A list of the wealthiest writers in China was released by a Beijing-based media outlet last December, making this group a hot topic again. Famous writer-scholar Yu Qiuyu, who currently hosts a cultural program called Travel of the Millennium on Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, tops all others with an estimated annual income of 14 million yuan.     

Competitors or Enemies?

Beijing Review: In your book, you wrote that if both China and the U.S. were to fo-cus on improving their peoples' wellbeing, they would find no contradictions in their long-term strategies. It seems that China has been doing so, but the U.S. seems to be preoccupied with retaining its global domi-nance. What's your take?Kishore Mahbubani: I'm glad you raised a very critical point that I made in my book: the U.S. should not engage in a contest for su-premacy.Yet unfortunately, it would be difficult to change the views of many Americans, because their strategic thinking is still stuck in the 19th and 20th centuries. When you had this zero-sum games between great powers, this was the day when European powers used to fight and go to war with each other. But we no longer live in that world. We now live in a very small, interdependent world where we have many common interests and challenges to deal with.     

Boom or Bust?

China has become the largest cotton importing country in the world, while its own industry has atrophied With Chinese textiles widely sold around the world, raw cotton, has become the most salable agricultural product in China. Today, the country is the biggest cotton buyer in the world, and the United States has become the biggest supplier of cotton to China. According to U.S. official statistics, China imports half of America's     

Daughters or Just Victims?

The east Indian province where I grew up held many taboos.For a widow to remarry was frowned on,divorced women were dimly regarded,and girls were discouraged from wearing trousers.As a result,we do not like bans.Therefore,I was against the Indian Government’s decision to ban India’s Daughter,a documentary by British filmmaker Leslee     

Danwei or My Way?

A nthropologists define culture using basic factors:language,food and behavior.But in China these three criteria certainly confuse foreigners.First,