Tibet, Chinese Law and My Blog

The Internet is a place where ideas float around like dust particles: hanging in the air, waiting to be inhaled and breathed out somewhere else.

I sometimes track which pages on the Internet are exhaling my content to their audiences. Recently, I noticed that a China Law Blog made reference by link to a book review I wrote on Peter Hessler's River Town, a fascinating journey about Mr. Hessler's two years teaching English in a small city called Fuling on the Yangtze River, near the sprawling metropolis of Chongqing (home to 31 million people).

Interestingly, this site was referencing Mr. Hessler for what he wrote about Tibet nearly a decade ago, using one of his articles to give insight into how the Chinese view the Tibet situation. I thought this article and the link to my blog were particularly timely, considering the nasty circumstances on the ground in Tibet and the fact that I, pondering the importance of investigating China from a variety of perspectives, recently finished reading a book from more than 10 years ago and was preparing to write a review about it.

The China Law Blog refers to the importance of reading about the groundswells of a situation and researching what was written on a subject long before it occurs. Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, heard the rumblings of the continued Tibet conflict (and others) in China Wakes, last published in 1995. The husband-and-wife team of New York Times reporters is particularly qualified to make prognostications about the state of repression in China, as their reporting of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 landed them a Pulitzer Prize.

For insightful reporting from around the world, check out Kristof's blog: On the Ground. Just reading his bio will get your blood pumping (especially if you're an aspiring journalist with an international bent).