Engaging & appreciative review at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social of two works of literature from the Ming era lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-t... cc @chowleen.bsky.social @bairuiwen.bsky.social @spoem.bsky.social

Adding to the thread about my forthcoming book with a link to a new piece on Thailand I wrote for @asia.nikkei.com asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/The-...

I'm trying to build a feed that highlights the diverse voices in the literary world, particularly those involved in literary translation (all language combinations). So, #literarytranslators out there, help me complete this #starterpack and let me know if you'd like to be added. go.bsky.app/SurjbAj

#台灣 #短篇小說 集 ── 我推薦的五部傑作。🀄📚

"The marketplace of ideas doesn’t reward credentials. It rewards perceived authenticity, preternatural confidence, and the ability to perform." — Brian Morrissey www.therebooting.com/r/138db64f?m...

"Short #Stories from #Taiwan" 🀄📚 My @fivebooks.com recommendations for #Chinese -language fiction in English translation. Link: fivebooks.com/best-books/s...

"The rightwing movement against #empathy seeks to dismantle & discredit one of the essential tools for any society – our capacity to recognize & respond to #suffering. We should see the campaign against empathy . . . for what it is: a flashing red light warning of #fascist intent." @theguardian.com

It's like clockwork - the attack on Harvard being a case in point. I've been reading about fascist trade policy. Trump's latest moves are like a carbon copy of the 1930s: the need to build domestic production for national 'strength'; fear of being taken advantage of; fear of external dependence...

There used to be a social democratic faction in the CCP. Time to rehabilitate that tendency, introduce welfare to put a floor under wages, discourage excessive saving and increase consumption.

* #Chinese #Literature: A Very Short Introduction* 🀄📚 * The most accessible guide to Chinese literature available––compact but textured & far-reaching. * Serves as a window on Chinese culture from a philosophical, comparative approach. "a marvel of economy, substance, and style."

" #Journalists are first, but everyone else is next." With "lawsuits against 'the enemy camp,'" #publishers, #writers & academics are first. "Doctors, teachers, accountants will be next." " #Authoritarianism is as predictable as a Swiss train." @carolecadwalla.bsky.social @theguardian.com

Created a Taiwan Studies Starter Pack for folks coming from Twitter. Let me know if you ought to be on here! go.bsky.app/TG2GBbz

One of my current projects explores #non-Han #fiction & #poetry. On the former, I wrote an article for *World #Literature Today*. I've given talks on the broader project. I'm open to giving more. 🀄📚 www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2022/january...

I need to pick a couple of these up! Five Books: Short Stories from Taiwan, recommended by Sabina Knight fivebooks.com/best-books/s...

I would not have predicted that large universities would show more courage than either Big Law or corporate media. Good for them.

We are now at the point where the AP can write this as if its a simple background fact and it sparks no outrage: "Trump has made no secret of his plans to use the power of the federal government to target domestic political adversaries."

#friends (#quaker) Retreat Center Pendle HIll suffered "devastating damage" in a storm. Consider #giving a donation to repair the damage done to the land and buildings. @pendlehillusa https://pendlehill.org/donate/

In #China, gov legitimacy depends on economic stability. Econ uncertainty threatened CCP legitimacy until Trump's #tariffs & trade war. Now the Party can blame econ troubles on U.S. "efforts to contain China -- rather than bad governance," as @chinalawtranslate.bsky.social writes on @nytimes.com:

"600 million #Chinese take home less than $140 a month and have minimum social benefits, a major reason they save so much and consume less than the #economy needs." –– Li Yuan @nytimes.com

Update: I've submitted multiple appeals. No answer. Can anyone help me reverse X's #censorship? ( #Chinese #dissidents and others still use X. )

Never met Prof. Gregory in person, but I’ve learned so much through his books, especially _Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism_ and _Sudden and Gradual _. All students of Chinese Buddhism in the anglophone world live in his shadow. The end of an era.

Q: Why do I want my "suspended" X account back? A: Expressions of concern matter. My @SangBina #X account is my only way to reach many vulnerable #Chinese, #Uyghur, & #Tibetan individuals & orgs. I want to ask them how they are doing. I want to ask them what I can do to help.

NEW: The great Trump-Musk crackdown is coming. And it will hit hard & fast. Journalists will be first. But everyone else is next. I urge you to read my 20 lessons in How to Survive the Broligarchy, inspired by & featuring the great @timothysnyder.bsky.social 1/ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#History of the #Holocaust A project connecting "the microhistory of the Holocaust and the transnational history of #migrations." Bridging these two #historiographies, the project mitigates the "tendency 'to sequester the Shoah'." @lubartworld.bsky.social: lubartworld.cnrs.fr/en/what-is-l...

Noncompliance is a powerful weapon! Czechoslovakia’s velvet revolution, after Soviet invasion in ‘68 When a Soviet comes to you 1. Don’t know 2. Don’t care 3. Don’t tell 4. Don’t have 5. Don’t know how to 6. Don’t give 7. Can’t do 8. Don’t sell 9. Don’t show 10. Do nothing.

🧵2/ #China & #ForeignPolicy expert @tom-kellogg.bsky.social on @profsaunders.bsky.social's overview. - Lasting policy's reliance on rigorous domestic debate - GOP's turn away from expertise - Rise of hyper-partisanship - long, slow decline of Congress (as an institutional player) - . . . Tom's 🧵:

🧵1/ #US #ForeignPolicy " #Politics Can’t Stop at the Water’s Edge: The Right Way to Fight Over Foreign #Policy " by Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social @foreignpolicy.com March/April 2024

Would also add that the risk often isn’t from the state itself - at least not at first Authoritarianism = the ruthless thrive and the principled get capped early. Be very careful who you trust. And don’t expect anyone to stand by you if things go wrong (nor be surprised if they don’t/won’t/can’t.)

Advice-wise: Don't think "what risks am I willing to take," think "how willing am I to put the person I'm talking to at risk?" Lines shift unpredictably and you cannot accurately model the threat to you, the other guy, or the people in your contact lists. Don't fuck things up for other people.

I'd add: Authoritarianism doesn't always look like you think it does. The image is a public constantly straining under the chains of oppression, but it is very possible for the majority to enjoy comfortable, affluent lives while freedoms like speech are eroded, and others face blunter oppression.

There was a lot of rhetoric on Capitol Hill this week about the so-called AI race with China. This particular utterance from former Google CEO and billionaire investor Eric Schmidt during a House Energy & Commerce hearing on AI and competition stood out.

This @ncuscr.bsky.social PIP program transformed my career. My #PIP #training and #community allowed me to leave my tenured, full professor position to work as a writer and public intellectual.

This @ncuscr.bsky.social PIP program transformed my career. My #PIP #training and #community allowed me to leave my tenured, full professor position to work as a writer and public intellectual.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/09/r... Astonishing death rates and brutal abuse have not kept troops from following orders.

🌎 🇺🇸-🇨🇳. BREAKING: Trump🇺🇸🇷🇺 threatens China🇨🇳 with new additional tariffs of 50%. He will impose additional tariffs on China from tomorrow, if Beijing does not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariffs on the US. The additional tariffs on Beijing would be of 50%, Trump says. www.bbc.com/news/live/ce...

🌏 China🇨🇳 has 1.400.000.000 people, the US has 350.000.000, China is four times bigger. Trump-friend Russia + US would be mere 490M. How Trump is planning still to keep the status of the US high, when all the global billionaires smirk & buy flat cheap 🌎 stocks? #FollowTheMoney #BillionaireGame

I, for one, look forward to Trump's MAGA base trying to grow coffee beans in the United States. 👍

Is the U.S. set to lose the "great power competition" with #China and #Russia? Yes. One key indicator = the *dismantling* of gov-funded media outlets vital to US #journalism & intelligence: @voanews.com.web.brid.gy, @radiofreeasiapr.bsky.social & @rferl.org.web.brid.gy.

"Boycotting the grocery store until they start buying an equivalent volume of groceries from me." –– @gloomfather.bsky.social "Je #boycotte l'épicerie jusqu'à ce qu'ils commencent à acheter un volume équivalent de produits d'épicerie chez moi."

Boycotting the grocery store until they start buying an equivalent volume of groceries from me

#X offered no explanation at all. I submitted appeals, both through their online form and via email. No reply at all. This suspension is #censorship, not moderation.

#BuddhistStudies We are saddened to learn that Professor Peter Gregory (1945-2025) passed on March 19th, after a heart attack. Peter made the world of a better place. May his memory be a blessing. ____ Madhyamaka & Methodology Symposium @smithcollege.bsky.social youtu.be/AGNYS7-TRRY?...

Donald's babysitters must have been *extra-busy* today keeping that thin-skinned toddler from seeing pics of all the thousands of people throughout America taking to streets to say they are OVER Trump and Musk and the chaos/destruction they bring.

These are the signs of the times — as demonstrated in today’s Hands Off! WE ARE THE OPPOSITION!!

The Encounter By Abdurehim Otkur Loose #translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I asked her, why aren’t you afraid? She said her God. I asked her, anything else? She said her People. I asked her, anything more? She said her Soul. I asked her if she was content? She said, I am Not. #poem

The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Thailand for repatriating 40 Uyghurs to China, stating it violated international law and put them at risk of detention, torture, and human rights abuses. www.rfa.org/english/uygh...

In this article we place the growth of tech in China and the reshaping of class forces and the state. We move away from a focus on tech policy or elites to place developments in the US and China in the broader context of capitalist crisis. madeinchinajournal.com/2025/03/20/e...

🧵 Yes! More space would allow for more discussion. The quoted ¶ addressed the risk that my article's title might obscure the fact that #Uyghurs and #Tibetans are not "minority #Chinese." A term such as "non-Han" would have put off many readers, so I went with the title as is. As I develop . . .