🇨🇳 The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform, by Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian. China’s incredible progress since the 1960’s and the Cultural Revolution has turned a dirt-poor country into an economic superpower that is now America’s chief rival. How on earth did this happen in a country that not so long ago was so profoundly backward and hobbled by a completely dysfunctional ideology? Westad and Jian tell the tale, and it really has been a “great transformation.” Read this terrific book to appreciate the mechanics and twists and turns of this transformation. Probably the best single volume on this amazing stretch of Chinese history.
Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian chronicle how an impoverished and terrorized China experienced radical political changes in the long 1970s and how ordinary people broke free from the beliefs that had shaped their lives during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. These changes, and the unprecedented and sustained economic growth that followed, transformed China and the world.
In this rigorous account, Westad and Chen construct a panorama of catastrophe and progress in China. They chronicle China’s gradual opening to the world—the interplay of power in an era of aged and ailing leadership, the people’s rebellion against the earlier government system, and the roles of unlikely characters: overseas Chinese capitalists, American engineers, Japanese professors, and German designers. This is a story of revolutionary change that neither foreigners nor the Chinese themselves could have predicted.
☢️ “Lasers, hypersonic missiles and the ‘nuclear triad’: China flexes its military muscle,” by Kathrin Hille. Speaking of China, Xi Jinping recently put on a strutting display of his nation’s military might, showcasing a host of new weapons with the capacity to launch nuclear weapons by air, land, and sea. The parade also featured new autonomous drones, as described by the Financial Times:
Among the biggest weapons unveiled at the parade was the HSU-100, a 20-metre long black cylinder resembling a submarine. Introduced as an uncrewed submersible, the drone boat is believed to be intended for collecting intelligence or targeting an enemy force at long distances in the ocean. It was one of many new autonomous weapons shown at the parade. Together with the HSU-100, the PLA introduced the AJX-002, which was described as an uncrewed mine-laying submarine—a weapon that could be used to enforce a blockade of Taiwan or to seal straits in east Asia in a wider war. A range of aerial drones for attack and surveillance were also on display, and many of the ground forces that participated in the parade had autonomous elements in their gear, such as small surveillance drones mounted on tanks and robot dogs carried on the back of electronic warfare equipment.
🎾 U.S. Open Women’s and Men’s Finals. The final Grand Slam tournament of the year concludes this weekend with two great matchups at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows. American Amanda Anisimova takes on no. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, followed by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner battling it out once again on the men’s side Sunday. Tune in on ESPN and ABC.
🏈 NFL 2025 Season Kickoff. It's been a long six months, but football is finally back! Thursday night kicked off the start to the new National Football League season, with the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated division rival Dallas Cowboys 24-20. This was followed by the first international game of the season, a showdown in Brazil between another pair of divisional rivals, the Chiefs and Chargers, which L.A. won 27-21.
This Sunday, fans can settle in for the first full day of games. Some of the most intriguing matchups include the Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams, and easily one of the most anticipated matchups of the season: a playoff rematch between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills. Capping things off on Monday night is a divisional battle between two teams with sophomore quarterbacks in the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.
You can find your local game listings here. We wish all the teams a healthy season, but especially the Ravens and Broncos!
🎸 Straight Line Was A Lie, by The Beths. Auckland indie pop greats The Beths are out with their fourth full-length album on ANTI- Records, featuring ten catchy and melodic songs. The Beths are about to embark on a major European and U.S. tour over the next few months. See them live if you can; the band always puts on a fun and high-spirited show that will make you smile. (The band’s bassist, Benjamin Sinclair, also writes a regular tour diary that is worth following if you wonder what life on the road is like for a New Zealand indie outfit.)
Here’s the title track from the album, “Straight Line Was A Lie.” Enjoy some American football and tennis along with some Kiwi pop!
As I’ve said before, the great development that few in the West are writing about is the fact that China has already pulled ahead of the U.S. (although *some* are trying to sound the alarm: https://archive.ph/VwbCe) It now leads in R&D and technological innovation in 2/3 of advanced industries; and as the leader of the BRICS, it has more geopolitical pull than any Western nation.
It will go down as one of the greatest ironies in modern U.S. history that a leader and a movement claiming to ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘beat China’ will turn out to have been perhaps the single biggest catalyst to Chinese global supremacy and American technological and geopolitical decline and subordination.
Good to know that China is no longer "hobbled by a completely dysfunctional ideology."