Calvin Quek

@seankidney is a genius!

Love the wire China. Great opportunity here

I’ve been spending a bit time recently reading about 张雪峰. There’s been a huge outpouring of grief for this brilliant education consultant. His life is truly fascinating. From a basic engineering background, he found his calling helping students and parents navigate the Chinese exam system. He died tragically of a heart attack at 41, leaving behind thriving education empire. I’ve watched his videos on Weibo, and he comes across as charismatic, insightful and refreshingly blunt. weibo.com/7583989521/528…

Thanks so much for highlighting this. I listened to the discussion and it’s really good. A couple key points that came out for me. 1.) China huge domestic box office so commercial pressure dominates and studios want to thread carefully. Iran - smaller market. There less pressure to make money and more freedom for creativity. 2.) Overall, China directors started creatively but then moved to commercial ventures and started to stagnate. For example - Farewell my concubine to Wuji by Chen Kaige (a “milestone” to a “tombstone” 3.) Iran has clearer red lines so artists know how move to around them, and creatively use allegory to express ideas. China, the rules are less clear, so they avoid making any mistakes completely. 4.) Iran films rely on international festival and critics to do well. China not so much.

It’s a good question indeed

“The human sense of reality demands that men actualize the sheer passive givenness of their being, not in order to change it but in order to make articulate and call into full existence what otherwise they would have to suffer passively anyhow.”

Happy sweet 16 - Sinica is the best. Definitely subscribe

"China’s focus on harmonious outcomes may be the most significant point of dissonance with that of governance in America. While we object to the results of this in China when it conflicts with our ideals, and not discounting that there are those in China who are themselves not satisfied, such governance is how China has managed its enormous population and complex society for-almost-ever."

"Proponents of the main early schools, Confucians, Daoists, Mohists, and Legalists, each wanted this. Terms such as harmony, peace, and stability have long been common in China. They are metaphors for order. They foreshadow that the ultimate measure of good governance in China to this day is positive outcome, not process."

This interesting and new to me. A two part essay by Andrew Singer discussing the key Classical Chinese Philosophies and how they are influence China's governance today. andrewsinger.substack.com/p/on-being-chi… open.substack.com/pub/andrewsing…

Nice optimistic take on AI. I kinda needed this! Social media is populist and polarising; AI may be the opposite via @FT ft.com/content/388017…

Good piece by @damienics . I like the framing of extensive versus intensive growth, and this idea of end of 25 year of expansion to the next 25 years of value creation. 25 years out from now roughly aligns with the 2049 centenary of the PRC and the goal of reaching a “modern socialist country”. But to reach this goal requires a global political order that China is now shaping. The Xi Doctrine Zeros in on “High-Quality Development” for China’s Economic Future carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2026/…

A morbid but interesting read - The decapitation dilemma via @FT ft.com/content/36b4e6…

@michaelxpettis Thank you. This is interesting

5/5 It's a fascinating topic for those interested in the history of sovereign debt restructurings, a topic which is likely to become more important in the next few years as debt levels rise globally. For those who care, I found the two articles linked above the most interesting.

4/5 There were 18 other creditors, mostly European, but also Canada, Ceylon, Iran, Pakistan, and South Africa. Among the European creditors, interestingly enough, was Greece, the memory of which helped spice up the post-GFC discussions on Greek debts to Germany and the EU.

Sinica Face Off High Capacity Pekingology The Asia Chess Board The China Global South Podcast China Power The Little Red Podcast China in the World The Wire China Environment China And now the Beijing Brief by Brookings Am I missing any?

Central inspection report (March 19) blames Beijing's air crisis on: • Widespread construction dust with no controls • Unsealed factories emitting excess pollutants • Truck testing loopholes • Weak waste incinerator standards • Illegal dumping City ordered to fix within 45 days sthjj.beijing.gov.cn/bjhrb/index/zt…

@Trinhnomics Well, another thing it produces a lot of is photovoltaic solar. And wind turbines. Puzzling why the air's been so good until just this week.

I apologize for bringing the pollution back to Beijing with me. I can think of no other explanation for this run of crappy air days.

@KaiserKuo @SinicaPodcast @adam_tooze can't wait for this!

Tooze Nooze: Recorded a great convo for the @SinicaPodcast with @adam_tooze yesterday in Beijing, and am going to hear him in conversation with the brilliant Wang Hui (汪晖) this afternoon. Got the skinny on Adam's not-so-skinny new book. Show drops next week.

Global carmakers retreat en masse from electric vehicle plans ft.com/content/119886… via @ft Good article but it misses a couple of important points, which a friend (who works in the car industry in China), shared with me below. 1.) Majority luxury brands retreating from EVs because of lack of customer demand, but also because there are no profit to be made. 2.) The EV scaling back is mainly in EU & NA American market; China was the one and only battle ground for NEV cars. 3.) In China, foreign brands have been losing ground in NEV Market over here due to the fact their EV cars were mainly developed from global view, and product developed in overseas for global market does not meet Chinese consumer demand in terms of functionality and features 4.) For foreign brands, the overall development cost wise is also too high, no foreign brands can compete with Chinese local brand from cost and efficiency aspect. Hence foreigns brands lose money on every single car developed & not sold. 5.) Compared to foreign brands, China OEM is running really lean and also gain absolute advantage from raw materials BOM (Bill of Materials). Therefore all foreign brands lose market shares in NEV market in China, despite of heavy investment spent overseas. 6.) Also, Chinese workers were pushed into 996 working style with little pay, while Germans vacationing enjoy their martini & colada by the beach. 7.) Cars developed in Germany for global market emphasis on performance and build quality, it does not come with “sofa + large TV + fridge” build into the car, but the Chinese consumers have been brains washed by OEMs and so the mindset is for a car with all the so called “third living space”, hence was all those useless features with arguably less focus on safety & performance, which is the very fundamental of any vehicles. German auto exports to China plunged by a third in 2025, economic institute says autonews.com/manufacturing/… 8.) Broadly speaking though, there are multiple reasons for the EV retreat. Germans and Americans are scaling backwards a little bit, but the Persian golf war may change Europeans view on BEVs a little bit due to energy crisis.

@LiuXininBeijing Totally agree.

George Yeo, former minister of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Singapore warns the world is stuck in zero-sum thinking. At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026, the focus is on cooperation. He believes that if China and Southeast Asia stay peaceful for another 20 years, the transformation could be huge. #BoaoForum2026

Malaysia steel overcapacity comes from several factors: 1.) End of China steel consumption growth 2.) Chinese investment in Malaysian steel capacity (which was welcome by local government) 3.) Trump Trade Tariffs

Steel industry players blame China for excess capacity | FMT freemalaysiatoday.com/category/natio…