June 25, 2008 8:38

Spit and Polish or a Wing and a Prayer?

I am just back from a trip to the United States. I usually try to do all I can to avoid getting inside the domestic airline system there and more or less succeeded this time, taking trains up and down the east coast. I have spent a great deal of time flying within two large nations in the last decade, China and Indonesia and, in terms of convenience, comfort and punctuality at least, have always felt that I would prefer to fly in those countries than the continental U.S., which is a horror show of delays, cancellations and cramped limbs. The U.S. safety record has always been its standout characteristic, though. Indonesia is still a very dangerous place to fly. China, through dint of enormous effort gets safer every year despite the enormous increase in traffic. But the U.S. is still well amazing, considering the volume of flights. You can't help wondering, though, particularly if you are a white-knuckle flyer like me. American airlines always seem to be on the brink of bankruptcy and the current record oil prices are pushing them to the wall again, which is no comfort to a troubled mind. United and Air China code share, so I went out on the former and came back on the later. Remembering that most crashes are caused by pilot error, I have always consoled myself that the one thing American carriers have going for them is experienced pilots and good maintenance. But sheer age is a factor, too. At an average of around 12 years old, United's planes are about twice as old as Air China's. That was vividly illustrated for us on the journey out, when I noticed that the United 747-400 we were to board had areas of exposed metal on the fuselage. Not just flaking paint mind you but huge patches five or six feet across missing paint altogether and showing the aluminum skin. When I asked the stewardess (an extremely exasperated person, even by United standards: the plane was delayed a full day, something that clearly didn't make the crew any happier than the passengers) she told me that these models were " due to be retired in October" so weren't being kept up. I am the last person to be obsessive about spit and polish, but I was inordinately happy to board the Air China plane (also a 747-400: paint intact) on the way back.

June 24, 2008 11:55

Ask John Woo

Are you a John Woo fan? Now's your chance to ask him anything you want. Legendary film director Woo is known for Hong Kong action classics such as The Killer and A Better Tomorrow, as well as Hollywood blockbusters Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II. His latest film, Red Cliff, is the most expensive movie ever made in Asia. Click here to submit your questions for John Woo, then look for the upcoming interview in TIME Magazine’s Asian edition.

June 24, 2008 7:00

China Sports in TIME's Summer Journey Issue

The theme of TIME's Summer Journey issue this year is sports and games, and there are some China-related stories worth checking out. Hannah Beech writes about China's sports schools, Bill Powell looks at street basketball and Hugh Porter examines the country's fascination with snooker.

June 23, 2008 10:13

On Chinese Patriotism

In last week's issue of TIME Asia guest writer Jiajia Liu, who was born in China and now lives in London, wrote about her feelings of pride for her homeland.

I left China in 1989, just after Tiananmen, when I was 7. My mother and I traveled to London to join my father, a Ph.D. student sponsored by the Chinese government. I grew up in London, and studied as an undergrad in the U.S. before going to Paris for a master's degree. My international education was a product of curiosity and restlessness. I am essentially a Westerner. Yet China has a special place in my identity — and in my heart.

When I first came to London, even the most pro-China overseas students denounced the Chinese government. I quickly swapped my faith in Chairman Mao for a conviction that the West would help the Chinese people advance to liberation and happiness. In school, I was taught to critically examine everything I was told. But I became perplexed by the behavior of the supposedly neutral media. No report of China was ever complete without a mention of Tiananmen; no Chinese interviewee ever had anything positive to say about his or her life. It seemed to me that Western media were exclusively highlighting the worst side of China.

The essay has been translated into Chinese and received a fair amount of attention on the Chinese Internet, though this translation differs from the original. It drops mentions of Tibet and Tiananmen. And this line: "The Western press and public opinion are filled with condescension toward China and the attitude that the West alone knows what is best for all peoples," is changed. In translation it becomes, "The Western press and public opinion are filled with condescension toward China, and this is the only attitude the West knows and the attitude that most fits all (Western) people."

June 23, 2008 3:45

A Gas Price Hike and Pain For Some

One of the big questions emerging out of Beijing’s decision to hike fuel prices last week is what effect it will have on inflation in China. Inflation has been a consistent headache for Chinese authorities over the last year. The rising price of food, particularly pork, has been the biggest contributor to rises in the consumer price index. Now fuel prices increases of 17% for gasoline 18% for diesel have been thrown into the mix.

But economists have downplayed the risk of fuel prices playing a big role in inflation. The increases will raise the CPI by less than one percent, RBS economist Ben Simpfendorfer wrote in a research note. It’s food that really matters. “The price of pork is more important to the average consumer than the price of gasoline,” he wrote. “Lower food inflation, and base effects, will temporarily cut CPI inflation by up to 2.0 percentage points in the next two months.”

With oil prices at record levels, the country’s refiners were facing severe losses selling gasoline at the below market rates mandated by the government. A move that will ease the pain of Sinopec and PetroChina will hurt the nation’s growing legions of car owners. But their numbers are still small, just 30 out of 1,000 in China compared to 450 per 1,000 in the U.S., according to Simpfendorfer. Cab drivers and farmers have been promised compensation for the added expenses they’ll face. But for factories that are already facing a tight squeeze in the weakening global economy and growing pressure from cheaper competition in Southeast Asia, the rising prices are yet another cause for worry.