Blogs

When tanks trundle down the expansive Chang'an Avenue near Beijing's stately Tiananmen Square, as happened one famous night in 1989, the rumble reverberates around the world.

In barely a few hours from now, just such an earth-shaking event will unfold in Beijing, but this time the mood will be festive: China will showcase an event, complete with tanks, missiles and air force jets piloted by female aviators, to mark the 60^th anniversary of its founding as a modern nation-state. There will also be floats commemorating China's successes in many realms - and cultural festivities. It promises to be a grand spectacle. (More stunning pictures here.)

Any way you look at it, the past 60 years have been a remarkable period in China's modern history. As I noted here, on China's 60^th birthday, the industrious Chinese people have much to be proud about: their country has been dramatically transformed by their blood, sweat, toil and tears. And, in turn, China is influencing and transforming the world in many ways. The near-unanimous verdict appears to be that China will inevitably "rule the world" someday soon.

Today, August 31, is Malaysia's Hari Merdeka (Independence Day), when the multi-racial, muti-religious country of 28 million celebrates its coming into being as a modern nation-state.

That project - of building a modern nation-state - is, of course, far from complete. I have in the past written extensively on the racial and religious divisions that have tormented this country and its beautiful people. (For my efforts, I was denounced publicly by the then Malaysian Prime Minister and the then Malaysian Trade Minister, at press conferences at which they brandished copies of DNA, but that's another story...)

The 'Made in China' label can today be found everywhere, including increasingly in your life. But what do we know of how these products are manufactured, how safe they are - and how Chinese factories are able to make them so cheap?

These aren't just academic questions: in extreme cases, they could make the difference between life and death! As my colleague Poornima Swaminathan reports in today's edition of DNA (here), that made-in-China facemask you're wearing, which the report says is one of millions that were "manufactured in small illegal factories in China and shipped all across the globe", may not protect you from an H1N1 flu infection. Poor quality, made-in-China goods are literally 'in your face' these days...

Also in today's edition is an interview that I conducted with someone who has intimate knowledge of the China manufacturing industry, and therefore has answers to these troubling questions.

It's been a busy season for Sino-Indian war-mongering, as I noted here, but earlier this week, the news cycle spun completely out of orbit, demonstrating just how much of a "trust deficit" exists between the two countries, how inflamed passions can get, and just how easily the media can get sucked into a whirlpool of sensational headlines...

It all started with the publication of a Chinese-language "essay" (here; English translation and analysis by D.S. Rajan of the Chennai Centre for China Studies here).Mr Rajan is an acknowledged "old China hand" who speaks fluent Chinese, and I have personally profited from my many interactions with him, during which he generously shared his informed and nuanced perspective born of years of 'China-watching'.

On Friday, the 13^th round of border talks between India and China got under way in New Delhi. (Friday the 13^th? Now, there's a propitious sign!) As always, given the secrecy surrounding the talks, not much is known about how they are proceeding, and whether any progress is being made. But strikingly, these talks are being held in an atmosphere of overheated 'war' rhetoric - from India as well as from China.

From the Indian side, there have been articulations by defence analysts about the inevitability of an attack by China on India by 2012 (report here).