The Berlinzoo

Joint Press Conference Double Speak

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:47:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Because of the disjointed setup with respective language translators, President Obama's joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao was often interrupted for translations of remarks and questions into both English and Chinese. But it also allowed an opportunity for bilingual speakers to pick up nuances from the original remarks. Hu, true to...

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UConn Women Not Rivaling UCLA's Streak

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:34:00 +0000

(From RealClearSports) The UConn women’s basketball team isn’t going to top UCLA’s 88-game winning streak. The Huskies can beat Ohio State on Sunday, Florida State on Tuesday and then win their next 100 games for all I care, but John Wooden’s Bruins will still own the longest winning streak in history. The longest winning streak in men’s basketball history, that is. UConn will have the longest winning streak in women’s basketball. And before you get your PC undergarment all twisted up in...

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The Shocking Discovery of Media Bias

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:41:00 +0000

About a decade ago, while attending graduate school and serving as a teaching assistant, I was asked to deliver a lecture to about 400 students. I happily obliged until I saw the lecture notes: "Conservative Bias in the News Media." Huh? No kidding. And this was at one of the nation’s most prestigious public universities. Let’s just say it’s known by its four-letter name and proximity to Hollywood. I called an audible, opting for my own notes and delivering a polemic on media bias in the...

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Tom Friedman Is Right About China (and U.S.)

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:38:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) It's not everyday that I agree with what Tom Friedman says about China. Typically, he goes there, gets starry eyed, and starts extolling all the virtues of the Chinese Communist Party. His column today wasn't quite that. And he was 100 percent correct on why China gets things done whereas the U.S. no longer does. This was right on the money: Studying China’s ability to invest for the future doesn’t make me feel we have the wrong system. It makes me feel that we are...

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Top 10 Most Significant Sports Owners

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:21:00 +0000

By Samuel Chi Special to Page 2 George Steinbrenner's reign as the New York Yankees' owner came to an end with his death Tuesday. He's being eulogized as one of the most successful -- and controversial -- owners in all of sports. While the Boss was obsessed with winning, he was also a bombastic showman until his final years. In Steinbrenner's honor, Page 2 presents our list of the most significant owners in sports history, all of whom won on the field and made more news off it: 10....

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Spain's Top 10 Moments in Sports History

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:19:00 +0000

By Samuel Chi Special to Page 2 Why did Spain's players stubbornly refuse to sing their national anthem before taking the pitch against the Netherlands in the World Cup final? Because the famous Marcha Real, perhaps the oldest national anthem in the world, has no words. The joke is that, had there been lyrics to the melody, gunfights might break out over the singer's preferred regional language. But Sunday's overtime victory has made Spain whole; it's now one nation under...

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Tiger Should Just Get a Divorce, Now

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:37:00 +0000

(From RealClearSports) Dear Tiger: Some of your celeb friends are worried about you. They're wondering if you're getting sound advice. Well, we know we can reach you even if you turned off all your phones - because you're gonna read this. So here's the best piece of advice for you: Get a divorce, now. (And come back play some killer golf.) Your marriage is beyond saving. There have already been reports that Elin wants to end this thing. You should agree with her and let her go. She's...

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Top 10 NFL Quarterback Busts

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:16:00 +0000

(From RealClearSports) "Don't f***ing talk to me! Knock it off!" - Ryan Leaf to San Diego Tribune's Jay Posner It was the defining moment and the epithet on Ryan Leaf's unfulfilled NFL career. It was replayed on TV, over and over again, even a decade later, long after Leaf has departed the scene, having moved on to the coaching staff of West Texas A&M and perhaps, jail, in the near future.By all accounts, Leaf is the gold standard of pro football busts. Drafted in 1998 by the San Diego...

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Best Athletes Who Don't Play in America

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:32:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Many of the world's best athletes - and the best paid ones - make their living in the United States. Some play in the big four North American sports leagues, such as baseball's Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), basketball's Yao Ming (China) and numerous Swedes and Russians in the National Hockey League. A few others make many appearances in the U.S. as individuals, for example, tennis greats Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (Spain), and U.S. Open golf champions Geoff...

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Chen Shui-bian Gets His Just Desserts

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:08:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) There was a time when Chen Shui-bian was a rising political star of Asia. He was a masterful campaigner, an astute politician and viewed by some as the champion of the oppressed. Twice, he won the presidency of the Republic of China, against the better-funded, more-organized Kuomintang (KMT) despite long odds. In 2000, he led the upstart Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) into power in the...

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When Will China Learn to Grow Up?

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:51:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) When in doubt, throw a temper tantrum. It matters not that China has the world's third largest economy, perhaps the second-most powerful military and is the only potential global rival to the hegemon that is the United States. You can still count on China acting like a third-rate despot with all the delicacies of a bull in a, well, china shop. So the Dalai Lama decided to visit Taiwan, in an oh-so transparent political maneuver designed to poke and get a rise out of...

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Q&A with Michael Auslin

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:40:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Michael Auslin is the Director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, he has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund, and a Fulbright and Japan Foundation Scholar. He’s the author of Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy (Harvard University Press, 2006) and Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907-2007 (Japan Society Gallery,...

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Congress Can't 'Fix' the BCS

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:25:00 +0000

(From BCS Guru) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) made a lot of noise earlier this year about reforming the BCS. He even wrote an op-ed in Sports Illustrated. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) went as far as introducing a bill to ban the use of "national championship" by the BCS. Even President Barack Obama (D-World) has promised (or threatened) to "throw his weight around a little bit." But don't hold your breath. The BCS isn't going anywhere and it's not going to change much. And that's a good thing in...

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Q&A with Frank Ching

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:30:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Frank Ching is a journalist and commentator who was Wall Street Journal's first China Bureau chief when China reopened to the West in 1979. He now writes a weekly column for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), China Post (Taiwan) and Globe and Mail (Canada). He's the author of three books - Ancestors: 900 Years in the Life of a Chinese Family (1988 and just re-released this month), China: The Truth About Its Human Rights Record (2008) and The Li Dynasty: Hong Kong...

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Q&A with Gordon Chang

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:19:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Gordon Chang is a columnist for Forbes and author of The Coming Collapse of China (2001) and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World (2006). He spoke with RealClearWorld about the escalating tensions with these two countries on the forefront of America's foreign policy agenda. RCW: What are the long-term consequences of China's ethnic crisis? Chang: The important aspect of the Xinjiang riots is that it shows the Communist Party doesn't have the ability to...

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Chinese Nationalism Begets Chinese Racism

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:55:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Call it ethnic cleansing, with Chinese characteristics. For the past two decades, China’s communist mandarins have sought the use of nationalism to offset their dubious legitimacy. In turning every Chinese misstep into a foreign affront, the regime has successfully created a sense of “China Uber Alles,” to borrow a phrase from a long-departed regime. The side effect of the newly fashioned Chinese nationalism is a virulent strand of Chinese racism. To be more exact, the...

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China's Other Powder Keg Erupts

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:16:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) The ethnic riots in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region has so far claimed 140 lives with 800-plus injured, according to official figures. In reality, those numbers could be much higher. The majority Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, in China's far-flung northwest corner, have resented the hardline rule of the Chinese Communists and the growing influx of ethnic Han Chinese since the People's Liberation Army entered the area in 1949. The latest incident began as a group of...

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Deng Xiaoping's Bloody Power Play

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:11:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) On the fateful days leading up to June 4, 1989, Zhao Ziyang frantically tried to halt a looming bloody crackdown. He sought an audience with one man, in whose hands the future of China’s liberalization teetered. But Deng Xiaoping wasn’t listening. He might’ve been nearly deaf, but at the age of 84, Deng understood how to keep the reins of power perfectly. Zhao, in his just-published posthumous memoir - Prisoner of the State – made it clear that the events on June 4 and...

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Ninety Years of Chinese Nationalism

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:52:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) The anniversary of June 4 will be closely observed by China watchers from around the world while it won’t be observed at all in China. But an event that's had far more lasting impact on modern China took place 90 years ago today, and it is this anniversary that should not escape unnoticed. On May 4, 1919, thousands of university students gathered in Peking in an angry protest over China’s treatment in the Versailles Conference following the aftermath of World War I. If...

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Most Disastrous Rescues

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:47:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) Last week -- in honor of Captain Richard Phillips' courageous naval rescue from Somali pirates -- the editorial staff of RealClearWorld featured the world's top five most daring hostage rescues. From the clever, bloodless rescue of FARC hostages in Colombia, to the daring Israeli raid of Entebbe, our staff's selections highlighted the kind of bravery and ingenuity often demonstrated by soldiers and civilians all over the globe. However, for every mission deemed a...

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Most Daring Hostage Rescues

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:44:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) When U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three Somali pirates and rescued Captain Richard Phillips on April 12, it was hailed as a great hostage recovery mission. It had all the elements of cunning, surprise and precision that such operations demand to be carried out successfully. Over the last half century, as terrorism has become a global plague, major governments have set up special forces to deal with just these kinds of crises. Highly-skilled and vigorously...

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World's Most Dangerous Cities

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:38:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) If last week's violent attacks in Northern Ireland reminded us of anything, it's that every corner of the world - whether it be in Baghdad, Iraq or Belfast, Northern Ireland - holds its own elements of danger and instability. The world has been consumed for several years by two wars, as well as recent violence in the Middle East and Sri Lanka. In determining the World's Most Dangerous Cities, the editorial staff at RealClearWorld instead decided to highlight some of the...

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High Stakes on the High Seas

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:11:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) The recent near-violent confrontation on the South China Sea between the Chinese navy and a U.S. navy reconnaissance ship brought back memories of the 2001 showdown over the crash landing of an American recon plane on Hainan Island. History has a funny way of repeating itself. The Chinese intention is pretty clear - it wants to test a new American president who is even more of a rookie at international affairs than George W. Bush was in April 2001. But more important,...

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The Last Best Chance for Tibet

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:58:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) On March 10, 1959, a violent uprising began in Lhasa - one that was orchestrated from the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party, namely Chairman Mao Zedong himself. Mao wanted an excuse to crush the Tibetans, send the Dalai Lama into exile and put the nominally-autonomous region under the CCP jackboot. All that was accomplished. And now, 50 years later, the Chinese government is at a loss on how to untangle this one last part of Mao's monstrous legacy. The...

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World's Most Influential Women

noreply@blogger.com (Samuel Chi) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:25:00 +0000

(From RealClearWorld) In 2008, the world saw two women assume positions of diplomatic power in the United States, as another battled for the premiership of her own country on the other end of the globe. The female chancellor of Europe's largest economy took center stage as the continent struggled to adapt to worsening economic conditions, as yet another woman fought to keep her premiership in a former Soviet republic. Coming up with a list of the Top 5 Most Influential Women in the World is a...

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