Tibetans and the Chinese state
Tibetans and the Chinese state
No power to pacify
More discontent on the plateau, despite strong economic growth
BEIJING
|
IF ONLY, Chinese leaders might be thinking, Tibetan medicine
had the power to pacify. In recent years rural incomes in eastern areas
of the vast Tibetan plateau have been soaring, thanks to a surge in
Chinese demand for Tibetan herbal remedies. But in late January the same
region experienced the biggest outbreak of violent unrest since a surge
of Tibetan discontent across the plateau in 2008. Police have shot dead
several demonstrators. There is every sign the unrest could spread.
The shootings follow on from the self-immolation of 16 Tibetans,
including monks and nuns, over the past year, some of them fatal. Now
security across Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas of neighbouring
provinces has been tightened in an effort to stop protests—including
self-immolations—from spreading. The violence has so far been limited to
Tibetan-dominated areas of Sichuan province, to the east of Tibet
proper (see map). But the recent shootings of unarmed demonstrators are
bound to arouse powerful emotions elsewhere on the Tibetan plateau.
Modest Mario
The euro crisis
by J.O. | LONDON
GREECE
was the word on everyone’s mind as Mario Draghi, president of the
European Central Bank (ECB), sat down to his regular monthly press
conference on February 9th. Mr Draghi was quick to say he had only just
taken a telephone call from Lucas Papademos, Greece’s interim prime
minister, who confirmed that an agreement had been struck on a new
bail-out package for his beleaguered country. The ECB (though not a
party to negotiations) had also picked up “vibrations” that suggested
Greece was close to a deal with its private-sector creditors, too.
Further details are likely to emerge after a meeting of the euro-zone
finance ministers later today.The long road to Damascus
Syria’s crisis
There are signs that the Syrian regime may become still more violent
DAMASCUS AND DERAA
|
US ‘creative destruction’ out of steam
In 2008, that business died too, after the market became fully electronic. But today, the Minneapolis exchange is far from dead; this year, its floor was taken over by CoCo, which lets out space to freelancers and small businesses. Among the ghosts of 19th century farmers, there are new companies catering to mobile advertising, iPad apps, business-to-business online networking, and other niches that the old grain traders never imagined.
Can America regain most dynamic labour market mantle?
By Edward Luce
Last week, Barack Obama went to Osawatomie,
Kansas, to kick off a more populist phase in his 2012 re-election bid.
“This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” declared the US
president, who chose the same venue that Teddy Roosevelt used in 1910 to
call for a new progressive era. “I believe that this country succeeds
when everyone gets a fair shot.”
In Part One of the series examining the US jobs crisis, Edward Luce says that fears persist it cannot be fixed
The risk of a Syrian massacre. by Gideon Rachman
I wonder whether that may be too optimistic?
The reports from Syria are certainly alarming. Refugees flooding across the Turkish border. And the citizens of the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shugour, bracing themselves for a full-scale assault by the army.
I think the idea that the Syrian army could not simply kill thousands of their fellow citizens was based on two assumptions – or, perhaps, hopes. First, that in the internet age, it would be impossible to carry out bloody repression on this scale, without immediately provoking a paralysing international outcry. Second, that the development of the international doctrine of a “responsibility to protect” brutalised civilians – even within the boundaries of a sovereign state – would make Assad junior stay his hand.
The reports from Syria are certainly alarming. Refugees flooding across the Turkish border. And the citizens of the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shugour, bracing themselves for a full-scale assault by the army.
I think the idea that the Syrian army could not simply kill thousands of their fellow citizens was based on two assumptions – or, perhaps, hopes. First, that in the internet age, it would be impossible to carry out bloody repression on this scale, without immediately provoking a paralysing international outcry. Second, that the development of the international doctrine of a “responsibility to protect” brutalised civilians – even within the boundaries of a sovereign state – would make Assad junior stay his hand.
Keep taking the testosterone
High T: Lionel Bissoon (above) has seen a rise in demand for testosterone from Wall Street workers.
False dawns and public fury: the 1930s are not so far away
Obama Budget Again Skips Making Hard Choices
On Monday, President Obama is scheduled to release his
proposed budget for the coming year. If his past three budgets are any
indication, it is unlikely anyone outside of the White House will take
this budget seriously.
That's because past Obama budgets have been long on empty promises and short on real solutions. This president has consistently ignored Washington's crushing debt and passed the real costs on to future generations.
The administration has already signaled that this year's spending plan will offer more of the same: a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much.
That's because past Obama budgets have been long on empty promises and short on real solutions. This president has consistently ignored Washington's crushing debt and passed the real costs on to future generations.
The administration has already signaled that this year's spending plan will offer more of the same: a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much.
The Producers
The decline of marriage and male wages is a problem of equality, not inequality.
By JAMES TARANTO
Former Enron adviser Paul Krugman has expanded the blog post we criticized Wednesday into a full-length column, and in doing so made explicit a predictable fallacy in his thinking. To review, Krugman's argument is that the sharp decline in marriage rates among less-affluent white Americans, documented by Charles Murray in his new book, "Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010," is "mainly about money" as opposed to "morals." Here's the meat of Krugman's argument:Journal Columnist Jeffrey Zaslow Dies at 53
By STEPHEN MILLER and DOUGLAS BELKIN
Wall Street Journal reporter Jeffrey Zaslow
was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Friday. Kelsey
Hubbard spoke to Deputy Managing Editor Mike Miller about the beloved
journalist, whose work touched and inspired millions of people around
the world.
