标签：commentary

“Passing the Buck” Is the Greatest Danger Exposed by the He Jiankui Incident

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.04
“Passing the Buck” Is the Greatest Danger Exposed by the He Jiankui Incident
The Chinese Science News commissioned this piece, which was published on December 4, 2018, on page 1, “Top News”. At the time of publication, the title was changed to “Who Should Bear Responsibility for the He Jiankui Incident,” and the content was also somewhat polished. I am posting the original draft here. Recently, the birth of two gene-edited babies has shocked the world and brought the issue of science-and-technology ethics into the public eye. In recent years, China’s scientific and technological development has been rapid, and in many fields it has already caught up with the international standard, even reaching world-class levels. But as the He Jiankui incident has exposed,…
China technology commentary tech ethics
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2018年12月4日
Balancing Fairness and Efficiency—Can Smart Cities Solve Beijing’s “Hard Stations”?

Culture & Public Commentary2018.08.14
Balancing Fairness and Efficiency—Can Smart Cities Solve Beijing’s “Hard Stations”?
This article was a commissioned piece, published in the 7th edition of China Science Daily on August 13, 2018, with the title changed to Where Does Governing Beijing’s “Hard-to-Get-to” Stations Become Difficult?, with slight revisions. The original draft is reproduced below: Recently, both CCTV and People’s Daily reported that Beijing South Railway Station had become “Beijing’s hard-to-get-to station,” focusing on issues such as the prevalence of illegal taxis and the difficulty of hailing a cab, which sparked heated discussion. Those who took the high-speed rail had already arrived in Tianjin, while those dropping people off were still standing in line waiting for taxis. Such poor service conditions obviously do not…
China technology commentary public sphere
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2018年8月14日
On Shanzhai: On the Advantages of Being a Latecomer

AI & the Future of Technology2018.08.07
On Shanzhai: On the Advantages of Being a Latecomer
Recently, Pinduoduo, which bills itself as a platform for “consumption downgrading,” went public and stirred up plenty of controversy; I also said a few things on Weibo. It is not the case that anything with market demand is worth doing. For example, what is equally hard for city people to understand is that in China there are widespread customs such as abandoning baby girls and trafficking in people. Should there then be an app for human trafficking to serve them? If this app were hugely popular, should we then educate those city people who are thunderstruck that you just don’t understand China? Nonsense! Everyone knows that the lower strata of…
China technology scholarship commentary
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2018年8月7日
On Sexual Harassment

Culture & Public Commentary2018.08.01
On Sexual Harassment
Me too Movement Recently the Me too movement has swept into China, and that is an encouraging thing; I only hope it won’t die young. As for Me too, I mentioned it in passing on Weibo, but Weibo’s limitations make it hard to fully articulate a point of view. I hope my remarks will not be too hastily interpreted as a rejection of Me too. In fact, of course I welcome Me too with both hands; even though I have raised the need to be wary of a Chinese-style slippery slope, in fact, even if it really did develop into some kind of “overdone” state, that would still be better…
culture freedom commentary pluralism
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2018年8月1日
The “Entrepreneurial Spirit” That Breaks the Balance

Culture & Public Commentary2018.01.29
The “Entrepreneurial Spirit” That Breaks the Balance
This article was published in China Science Daily (January 29, 2018, p. 1, major news). When it was published, a few sentences were deleted, but the key content was all retained. The reason I framed it around the report to the Nineteenth National Congress was that this was required by the commission, but I can accept this kind of accommodation; especially since my final paragraph was not cut, the critical stance remains quite clear. [caption id="attachment_7189" align="alignnone" width="212"] China Science Daily[/caption] The report to the Nineteenth National Congress proposes to “stimulate and protect entrepreneurial spirit, encouraging more social actors to devote themselves to innovation and entrepreneurship.” In this way, “entrepreneurial…
China technology commentary economy
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2018年1月29日
The “Entrepreneurial Spirit” that Breaks the Balance

Culture & Public Commentary2018.01.29
The “Entrepreneurial Spirit” that Breaks the Balance
This article was published in Science and Technology Daily (2018-01-29, p. 1, News) and, at the time of publication, a few sentences were deleted, but the key content was retained. The reason I focused on the report to the Nineteenth National Congress was simply that the commission requested it, but I can accept this kind of accommodation; especially since my final paragraph was not cut, the critical stance remains quite clear. [caption id="attachment_7189" align="alignnone" width="212"] Science and Technology Daily[/caption] The report to the Nineteenth National Congress proposed to “stimulate and protect entrepreneurial spirit, encouraging more social actors to devote themselves to innovation and entrepreneurship,” thereby elevating “entrepreneurial spirit” for the…
China technology commentary economy
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2018年1月29日
Must Anti-Discrimination Be Scientific? — On the “Google Ideological Echo Chamber” Incident

Culture & Public Commentary2017.08.14
Must Anti-Discrimination Be Scientific? — On the “Google Ideological Echo Chamber” Incident
Recently, a memo circulating internally at Google was exposed. The author argued that the company’s gender imbalance was not a problem at all, because women are naturally unsuited to being programmers; and if one really wanted to promote diversity, one should promote “ideological diversity” rather than gender or ethnic diversity, because conservative ideology is currently suffering from discrimination. After the memo was exposed, public opinion exploded, everyone turned on the employee, and Google decisively fired him. At first I didn’t think much of it. Of course I do not agree with this male employee’s remarks, and Google had nothing to say for firing him. But then I read some rebuttal…
philosophy of science freedom commentary sociology
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2017年8月14日
The Blame for “Health” Scams Shouldn’t Be Put on the Audience

Culture & Public Commentary2017.06.25
The Blame for “Health” Scams Shouldn’t Be Put on the Audience
Yet another commissioned piece from *China Science Daily*. Last time, I finished the commissioned piece in half a day; perhaps that efficiency left a good impression on the paper. This time they came looking for me again to write something, and lately I’ve been so busy I’m almost falling ill. I had originally meant to refuse, but after taking a look at the topic and thinking I’d probably be able to dash off something fairly quickly, I tried writing it. In the end I finished it in two hours, meals included. It was, after all, just an essay, so the standards didn’t need to be too high, and that was…
China science commentary science communication
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2017年6月25日
On Political Correctness (I): Political Correctness and the God’s-Eye View

Culture & Public Commentary2017.02.10
On Political Correctness (I): Political Correctness and the God’s-Eye View
Trump, from the campaign to the inauguration, has been a hot topic in Chinese cultural circles, sparking countless polemics and splits. From the standpoint of enjoying a good spectacle, I actually quite welcome Trump taking office; after all, he has set off several fires just a few days into his term, and it’s been lively enough. Of course, I only want to watch the show; I do not want to take sides. If I had to say so, then from a personal standpoint I certainly look down on Trump as a person. The key issue is not so much his opposition to political correctness as his anti-intellectual tendency. But as…
culture freedom commentary value
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2017年2月10日
Technology and Exploiting Loopholes—On Alibaba’s “Mooncake Snatching Incident”

AI & the Future of Technology2016.09.17
Technology and Exploiting Loopholes—On Alibaba’s “Mooncake Snatching Incident”
Alibaba’s decision to fire five employees over the “snatching mooncakes” incident has sparked a great deal of discussion, so I’ll offer a few remarks of my own. First, I think Alibaba’s handling of this affair is utterly baffling. What the programmers did was write a script to replace manual clicking; they accidentally clicked too many times, and then, before any order was actually completed—meaning no actual loss had been caused—they proactively reported the matter, only to be swiftly fired within a few hours. Of course, many people also stood on Alibaba’s side and thought the firing was well deserved. But they were often mistaken about the basic facts. The most…
technology commentary innovation trust
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2016年9月17日