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Concentration of power

Opinion | Press Notes
2011-7-26

IT'S not surprising for the spokesman of the Ministry of Railways to claim on Sunday that the train crash in Wenzhou on Saturday might have been the result of bad weather. Similar excuses abounded for other accidents...

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Inertia and irresponsibility

Opinion | Press Notes
2011-7-26

THIS seems to be a season of accidents. This month alone witnessed numerous deadly accidents, from mine and bridge collapses to car and train collisions. On July 23 (Saturday), the day when two bullet trains...

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Catastrophe a 'risk capsule'

Opinion | Press Notes
2011-7-26

IT'S false to blame lightning for the tragic train crash in Wenzhou on Saturday. Indeed, how can we blame the bad weather and technological loopholes for a tragedy of such magnitude? The railway authorities...

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DaVinci scandal exposes tacky Chinese nouveau tastes

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-26

DAVINCI Furniture has recently come under fire for a series of misdeeds including false advertising, sub-standard production, and shipping domestically manufactured items to the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone then "importing"...

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Train crash preventable

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-26

WHILE the railways departments are investigating the cause of the high-speed train collision near Wenzhou on Saturday, it is reasonable to assume that when lightning disabled the D3115 train, the signaling system and...

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Many former medalists fall on hard times

Opinion | Chinese perspectives
2011-7-25

CHINA'S basketball giant Yao Ming announced his early retirement last Wednesday, a decision that saddened many fans. But with all he has achieved over the past decade, Yao can bow out with his head held high....

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Begging by ex-athlete raises queries of morality and sports system

Opinion | Chinese perspectives
2011-7-25

TEN years ago when Zhang Shangwu made headlines, he was a rising star gymnast, winning two gold medals at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing. Now he has returned to the spotlight - not with pride and glory...

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Beware of flattery as tool in game of office politics

Opinion | Book review
2011-7-23

MY father used to tell me how much he admired the American way of competition, that is, one gets ahead by doing well and doing good. In China, my father would say, too many people get ahead by spreading gossip...

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Business Books TOP FIVE US

Opinion | Book review
2011-7-23

1.THE Thank You Economy If your firm isn't already using social media, it clearly doesn't care about its customers. Gary Vaynerchuk | Copyright @ 2011 by Gary Vaynerchuk Published by arrangement with HarperBusiness,...

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Most US prisoners are not real bad guys

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-23

IF there was any doubt about the broken state of our American prison system, recent news should put it to rest. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, made up of former presidents and other luminaries from the...

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Eastern girls seek stability, Western gals love

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-22

HAVING spent nearly one-fifth of my life in China, I am still continually fascinated by cultural differences. A couple of days ago, I was having lunch with a new friend and generally talking about cultural differences...

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Icon Yao Ming projects China's soft power in global arena

Opinion | Chinese perspectives
2011-7-22

WITH 26 screws inserted in his left foot, world famous NBA player Yao Ming said farewell to the basketball courts at 30, an age when a man is at his prime. On Wednesday, Yao announced his retirement because of...

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Europe needs political unity in federation 'lite'

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-21

THE euro contagion triggered by Greece's sovereign-debt crisis has now infected Italy. In the absence of a strong EU-wide commitment to stop the contagion, other eurozone countries hit by the sovereign-debt crisis...

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Forget stress tests: Most banks insolvent

Opinion | Foreign perspectives
2011-7-21

NEWS reports at the end of last week informed the financial markets that the European Banking Authority (EBA) failed only eight of the 90 banks examined in the most recent round of stress tests. These eight unfortunates...

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Bullet train on wrong track loses touch with reality

Opinion | Shanghai Daily columnists
2011-7-20

LAST Saturday my sister came to Shanghai from Beijing for a business trip, traveling on the newly christened gaotie, the latest bullet train. Like dongche, another kind of bullet train, this much-hyped gaotie is...