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Blogging FOR China

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

New blog out there of which CLB readers should be aware. It's called Blogging for China and it usually takes a decidedly pro-China view on most issues. Though pro-China, it is not at all ridiculously so and that means it puts forth very well reasoned and thoughtful arguments and is duly respectful of opposing viewpoints. Pro-China, but not strident or jingoistic. In particular, it has written often and well on T1b*t, and I particularly urge anyone who thinks this is a simple issue to read those posts. Blogging is at its best when it creates a true marketplace of ideas and, without exception, all the top China bloggers who take on the tough issues (blogs like The Peking Duck, Image Thief, Danwei, Shanghaiist, China Hearsay, Cup of Cha, Mutant Palm, and Zhongnanhai succeed both because they strongly express their own views and because they are respectful of (and I suspect even sometimes impressed with) the views of those with whom they diverge. Though none of these blogs are lacking in forceful opinions, their strength comes from focusing on quality and import, not on relentlessly pounding out an ideology. The bloggers for whom I have no time are those who believe they have a lock on the truth and any deviation from their truth is an abomination. I will refrain from mentioning those blogs because the last thing I want to do is drive traffic to them, particularly since, as far as I can tell, none of them get more than a few viewers a day, and (judging by the comments) those few viewers seem to consist of the already anointed. These are the blogs written by "ends justify the means" type zealots who purport to have the answer to every question regarding China and believe any blogger who does not enthusiastically toe their line on every single China issue deserves vilification. To quote Ali G. "There is so little respek in the world that if you look it up in the dictionary, then it's not even there." One of the things that has surprised me about this blog (China Law Blog) is how seldom people seek to take us to task on our blogroll. If I were a reader, I would have long ago complained about our failure to include China blogs with more of a Chinese perspective. My explanation is that I tend to be pretty intolerant of blogs that are not well written and, let's face it, it is very difficult to write well in a foreign language. Blogging for China is an exception in this regard because it is plenty well writtten. From whence do its writers come? Do check it out and let us know what you think.

Full post as published by China Law Blog on May 19, 2008 (boomark / email).