David Hockney passed away last week one month shy of 89 years old. In 2023 a friend of mine wrote an article about Mr. Hockney, inspiration, and what he meant to her. What raced through my mind was “I know Hockney. He went to China a long time ago.” His book on visiting China in 1981 was on my bookshelf a few years before I first went there in 1986. Inspiration here takes on a new possibility in hindsight. In memory of this renowned artist, below is the article I wrote at the

According to Dr. Benjamin Wang (Stanford University), the debate in China today is not about China catching up with the world, but rather about China “ bringing its own sense of the world [to the world], not slotting into the western sense of the world. ” Global academics and intellectuals recently presented and debated social and political theory in China at the 2026 Telos-Paul Piccone Institute China Initiative Conference, “The Chinese New Leviathan: Cultural Subjectivity

“ I will faithfully fulfill my responsibilities bestowed by the Constitution, with the nation’s needs as my mission and the people’s interests my yardstick. ” 1 China today is a reinvigorated successor to its “ Hundred Schools of Thought ” ancestors. Though China defies easy labeling, the melded legacy of the early Confucians and Legalists courses through Chinese society. We see this in statements such as that of Chinese leader Xi Jinping above and his overseeing of strict ru

“‘ The tendency of human nature to do good is like that of water to flow downward .’” 1 This 2,300-year-old statement by Mencius, second only to Confucius in the Confucian pantheon, would have been relatable, yet not, to Daoists Laozi and Zhuangzi who believed that the Way of nature is balanced. This distinction is representative of the freewheeling philosophical “Hundred Schools of Thought” discourse for hearts and minds that blossomed in the Chinese heartland during the hal

“Promote Civility and Cultivate New Social Norms” (Zhengzhou, China) “A successful society is one that is supported by a majority of the people.” This comment during a recent conversation led us down a new path. I would add that a successful society is also one in which the people are proud, confident, and satisfied with their place in the world. By this metric, the People’s Republic of China is currently more successful as a society than the United States of America. In othe

The China Chronicle China’s healthcare revolution lives and breathes on data. Part One of this series explored how China transformed its domestic healthcare system. Part Two looked outward at how China is growing and reshaping global healthcare norms. This Part Three examines governmental collection, management, and control of personal information in China’s healthcare model and why this unnerves America. Data Banks in Guizhou Province, China (www.asiatimes.com) Information

Andrew Singer Talks About China and America Central China’s Henan Province is a national breadbasket and a hi-tech hub, helping to...

(image by www.royalmint.com ) The Lunar New Year is today, January 29, 2025. It is the Year of the Snake. This begins Spring Festival...