Category Archives: China General

Anchluss or ANZAC? – A Solution for Taiwan

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Thor

In the minds of China's rulers, past and present, there has only ever been one possible view about the future of Taiwan. For a multitude of reasons – strategic, economic, ethnic, linguistic, historical and sentimental – they have believed that … Continue reading →

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Snow Flower & The Secret Fan

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Thor

Snow Flower & The Secret Fan  comments by Thor May When Wendi Deng from China magically fell into the pan-national world of international business and married the media billionaire Rupert Murdoch, (who had abandoned Australia for the same stateless realm … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye China

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Thor

Farewell speech – Zhengzhou, China – December 2010 – Thor May Forty years ago I was working in a large government office in Sydney. There were many desks in the room, and my desk was the least important. At the … Continue reading →

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Somebody Else’s Problem

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Thor

~~~~ odd man out ~~~~ Once long ago I was interviewed for a job as language director of the Defence Cooperation Language School in Melbourne, Australia. (The place pretends to teach English in three months or so to exchange military … Continue reading →

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The Big Parade At Dragon Lake

Posted on October 24, 2009 by Thor

The deal was 8am. I’m a just-in-time guy, but here she was knocking on the door at 7:15. Jeez. Can I offer you some breakfast? We sat looking at each other across a big wooden coffee table, the golden drapes … Continue reading →

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The Cigarette

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Thor

Winter morning light had broken clear and cold, so early that night’s shadows were still about and a wispy moon hung in the sky. A small collection of street food vendors had already parked their hand carts by the college … Continue reading →

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Mind Games Under Heaven

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Thor

All the world art mad but thou and I. So it seems. The collective mind of peoples as nations expressed either through the ballot box or by the voice of the emperor ( L’Etat c’est moi) seems erratic at best … Continue reading →

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Choose Your Game

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Thor

On the wrong side of the railway tracks in Zhengzhou city, central China, you can find some ugly old concrete classrooms built around a small paved sports ground. It is a railway technical college to train nurses and logistics students, … Continue reading →

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Australia Blue (cheerfully ripping off Mao Zedong, “Snow”)

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Thor

Centre country scene: A thousand miles of desert, Ten thousand miles of shimmering heat. In and out the Dead Heart, Only one great vastness; Up and down the Diamantina, Sand torrents stopped and stilled. Hills dance like rainbow serpents, Mirages … Continue reading →

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The Earthquake

Posted on May 14, 2008 by Thor

The earthquake: I was running back to my apartment from the classroom for something, and didn’t feel a thing. The other foreign teacher here staggered out of her apartment and said she thought she was dying. I told her to … Continue reading →

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