Showing 51 - 60 of 68
Trump is right about America's 'third world' airports
News, Adam Minter, Published on 07/10/2016
» It's the one opinion that Donald Trump and his opponents seem to share: America's airports are so bad, it's like "they're from a third world country", as Mr Trump said in the first debate. Vice President Joe Biden said the same of New York's LaGuardia two years ago. Much of the flying public seems to roughly agree.
Ocean gold rush will scar sea life
News, Adam Minter, Published on 16/08/2016
» While commodities traders still work their way out of a historic slump, Japan is looking ahead to the next boom. According to Bloomberg News, next year a group of Japanese companies and government agencies will start mining minerals at a site about 1,600km southwest of Tokyo -- and 1.5km beneath the ocean's surface. It will be the first large-scale test of whether mineral deposits can be mined commercially from the seafloor.
A city of 50 million? And China wants three of them
News, Adam Minter, Published on 30/08/2016
» By any measure, Shanghai is one of the world's biggest cities. It's home to more than 24 million people. Its subway system is the longest ever built, extending to its rural limits. Crowds are so thick that burly "shovers" get paid to help pack the trains. Now the local government is saying enough is enough: documents released this week reveal that Shanghai intends to admit a mere 800,000 new residents over the next 24 years, on its way to becoming an "excellent global city".
Despite anger, Beijing isn't in the mood for protests
News, Adam Minter, Published on 15/07/2016
» Chinese didn't waste any time venting their anger at The Hague's ruling against their country's territorial claims in the South China Sea. Within minutes of the news, Chinese social media was flooded with thousands of comments parroting a testy, often profane nationalism.
Beijing could use a stronger, more connected Taiwan
News, Adam Minter, Published on 14/05/2016
» Next week's inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen as Taiwan's new president has got China agitated.
China should care about privacy
News, Adam Minter, Published on 18/05/2016
» For a few days last week, China appeared to have its own, slow-motion Wikileaks. Via Twitter, someone using the handle @shenfenzheng leaked personal information -- such as home addresses and ID numbers -- of some of China's most powerful commercial and government figures, including Alibaba's Jack Ma, Wanda Group's Wang Jianlin and Tencent's Pony Ma.
Chinese company wants to turn the world's lights on
News, Adam Minter, Published on 05/04/2016
» China's State Grid Corporation, the world's biggest power company, is on an impressive buying binge. As Bloomberg News reports, the company is "actively in bidding" for power assets in Australia, hoping to add them to a portfolio of Italian, Brazilian, and Filipino companies. The goal isn't simply to invest, however. State Grid's Chairman Liu Zhenya has a plan that he believes will stall global warming, put millions of people to work and bring about world peace by 2050.
Why China muzzled an internet sensation
News, Adam Minter, Published on 26/04/2016
» Last autumn, Papi Jiang, a 29-year-old graduate student in Beijing, began posting short, satirical and occasionally profane monologues about daily life in urban China to social media. Within a couple of months, she'd racked up tens of millions of views, earned nearly US$2 million (70 million baht) in private funding and raised hopes that online celebrities might offer a new revenue stream for China's internet companies. Then, last week, it all ended: Papi Jiang's videos abruptly disappeared.
How to fight Asian slavery, one supplier at a time
News, Adam Minter, Published on 23/12/2015
» As you dig into your shrimp cocktail this holiday season, spare a thought for the men and women who peeled those tiny crustaceans. According to a six-month Associated Press investigation, there's a chance the workers were modern-day slaves in Thailand, exploited by shadowy suppliers who have been linked to some of the biggest US supermarket and restaurant chains, from Wal-Mart to the Capital Grille.
Why China's glass ceiling is harder than Taiwan's
News, Adam Minter, Published on 14/01/2016
» If, as many expect, the Democratic Progressive Party's Tsai Ing-wen is elected as Taiwan's next president this weekend, she'll become the island's first female leader. Given that Taiwan granted suffrage to women less than a decade before the 59-year-old Ms Tsai was born, that in itself would be a remarkable achievement. What's equally striking is the contrast to mainland China, which regards the island as a renegade province. Not only has modern China never had a female leader, but unless deeply ingrained cultural and bureaucratic barriers are lifted, it's also unlikely ever to do so.