Author: Wang Gungwu, National University of Singapore

China’s economic reforms since 1978 have been unprecedented.

They have followed no specific model and have proceeded very much as Deng Xiaoping said: crossing the river by feeling for the stones. Read more…

Author: Wang Gungwu, NUS

There are so many levels of fascination in what is happening in the Arab world today. Expectations of revolution, fear of instability, the survival of secular governance over theocracy, the future of democracy, the power of Facebook and Twitter  — the list is long. Media reports have been excitable and it is too early to digest all the implications of the historic event.

One aspect of the reports deserves attention: These noted that China’s media kept its reporting of the events in Cairo low-key and that the word ‘Egypt’ was kept off the internet. Ever since the middle of last month, when the Tunisian president fell, the Western media has noted what the Chinese press has failed to report. Read more…