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LEWISBURG, Pa. — Welcome again to "Ask the Experts," a regular web feature that highlights the expertise of various Bucknellians in a range of topics related to current news events and other timely subjects. || Ask the Experts archive
This week, Zhiqun Zhu, an associate professor of political science and international relations and the MacArthur Chair of East Asian Politics, is asked about U.S.-China relations.
Q: Why have U.S.-China relations taken a turn for the worse lately?
A: After a few smooth years, a spate of recent events — from Google's dispute with China to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and President Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama — led to a downward spiral of the bilateral relationship.
Google complained that its search engine had been hacked and the e-mail accounts of some human rights activists had been compromised. The U.S. government intervened and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded a full explanation from China. The Chinese consider the Google case a business dispute and oppose the U.S. government's involvement.
The Google issue is minor compared to Taiwan and Tibet, which China considers its "core interests." The U.S. does not support independence for Taiwan or Tibet, but it has huge stakes in the two regions. President Obama announced the sale of $6.4 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, which had been approved earlier by President George W. Bush, and met with the Dalai Lama in the White House despite stern warnings from Beijing. By doing so, China feels that its sovereignty is not respected and U.S. actions may be sending a wrong message to supporters of Taiwanese and Tibetan independence. Many Chinese thought President Obama was pro-China - after all, he was the first U.S. president to have traveled to China during his first year in office. They felt frustrated and betrayed by recent U.S. moves on Taiwan and Tibet.
In addition, the U.S. has renewed calls for China to appreciate its currency so as to reduce America's trade deficit with China. President Obama unveiled an ambitious plan in his State of the Union address to double U.S. exports in the next five years. The U.S. will put more pressure on China to revalue the yuan so that the U.S. can export more to China.
In a matter of weeks, all the red lights in U.S.-China relations have been turned on. No wonder the relationship is experiencing a very difficult period now. In the short term, the relationship will remain strained.
Q: The three T's — Taiwan, Tibet and trade — have been among the thorniest issues, but is there more to the situation?
A: Taiwan, Tibet and trade are traditional stumbling blocks, but the root of the conflict is structural. China's rapid re-emergence as a great power is not a prediction anymore; it is a reality. Even during the current global economic downturn, China's growth continued to impress the world. China has become an increasingly proud, nationalistic and confident nation. This growing confidence is reflected in its foreign policy. It expects its core national interests such as Taiwan and Tibet to be respected.
What the U.S. faces today is a more powerful and more assertive China. Washington can no longer dictate this relationship. China may still be decades away from the U.S.in economic and military strength, but it is quickly narrowing the gap. The unprecedented challenge for the two countries is how to adjust to, and cope with, the global power restructuring peacefully.
Q: China is a major holder of U.S. debt. How does that figure into the relationship?
A: China is the first major economy to have rebounded from the global economic crisis. Though it attempts to diversify investments, China still holds more than $750 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds. The U.S. continues to borrow money from China, Japan and others to keep its economy running.
Many in China are aware of the U.S.'s reliance on China and feel very proud that even Uncle Sam has to borrow from China. Some Chinese have become extremely confident, assertive and even overbearing. As a result, China demands more respect from others, especially the U.S.
On many occasions, the U.S. has been deferential to China. For example, the Chinese government stage-managed President Obama's visit to China last year without much complaint from Washington. While some are disappointed that the Obama-Dalai Lama meeting was low-key — the meeting took place with no media access in the Map Room and not the Oval Office in accordance with the Dalai Lama's status as a religious and cultural leader and not a political leader — President Obama did this ostensibly to downplay the significance of the meeting and to avoid further offending the Chinese.
In addition to seeking China's help to prop up its economy, the U.S. needs China's cooperation on key international issues such as imposing tougher sanctions on Iran, resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff and forging a new global accord on climate change. The U.S. is simply not in the position to dismiss China's views on bilateral disputes. While the U.S. will not kowtow to China, it certainly does not want to jeopardize the relationship with one of its largest creditors.
Q: Is China here to stay as a major world power?
A: China is one of the great powers today, but it is premature to claim that the 21st century will be the Chinese century. China faces tremendous domestic challenges such as a growing income gap, a deteriorating environment and a graying population. These daunting challenges will keep China from developing its full potential as a great power.
China is a country full of contradictions and contrasts. There are, in fact, two Chinas today: coastal, or capitalist, China, represented by modern cities on the east coast and where the nation's wealth is concentrated, and western, or socialist, China, where tens of millions of Chinese still live below the poverty line. These two worlds reflect the country's paradoxes as it moves up the ladder to prosperity: rising living standards and uneven development, luxury apartments and filthy shantytowns, shining futuristic infrastructure and serious environmental degradation, and, most glaringly, increasing economic choices and limited political freedom.
While the outside world considers China to be already a major global power, China itself seems more cool-headed and regards itself as a developing country. It is ambitious to become a global power, but it is not willing to pick a fight with the U.S. China will selectively be more active in international affairs and even play a leadership role on certain issues, but it is reluctant to take up too many global responsibilities. There is a long way to go before China will become a truly respected and responsible global power.
Q: Where does the relationship go from here?
A: The relationship has entered a cooling period for the time being, but its foundation remains solid. The two powers will weather this storm like they did in the past.
U.S.-China relations have never been smooth due to vast differences in history, culture, political values, national interests and levels of development. In fact, it is normal that the two countries disagree on many issues. As the two countries become more interdependent and interactive, more frictions are expected.
Foreign policy is the extension of domestic politics. President Obama needs to appease domestic critics, jump-start the economy and prepare for the mid-term elections. He cannot afford to appear weak in foreign affairs even if he needs help from China. On the other hand, the Chinese public has become increasingly nationalistic and vocal. To maintain social stability and political legitimacy, the Communist Party has to answer the public call to stand firm when China's national interests are challenged. Domestic politics has made the U.S.-China relationship more complicated and has become the most difficult factor to manage. In addition, the media on both sides have produced more heat than light in reporting the latest developments in the relationship.
The U.S. and China are joined at the hip now. They have to focus on the broad picture and put differences aside. Whether they like it or not, they will coexist in the 21st century as two leading powers. They have a vested interest in a constructive, stable and mutually beneficial relationship.
New editions of "Ask the Experts" will appear on the Bucknell website on most Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters and on occasion throughout the summer. If you have ideas for future questions or are a faculty or staff member who would like to participate, please contact Sam Alcorn.
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News Feature
Originally published in Island Ad-Vantages, January 3, 2013 and The Weekly Packet, January 3, 2013
Continuance granted in pedestrian fatality case
by Jessica Brophy
On Friday, December 21, Kimberly Phelan of Deer Isle had her first court date since being charged with the manslaughter of Andrew Ray on Friday, November 30.
Phelan was granted a continuance, and will next appear in court on Thursday, February 21 at 1 p.m. She remains out on bail.
Phelan is charged with manslaughter, aggravated criminal OUI and reckless conduct.
Phelan struck Ray with the couple's 2003 Pontiac Aztek on Saturday, September 15, around 4:30 a.m., according to information provided by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. Ray later died at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital as a result of those injuries. According to court documents, Phelan had a blood alcohol content of .15 percent at 6:38 a.m. that morning.

subset: commoncrawl


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Scan the Lancaster High School football roster and you won't find the name Yarborough among the list of LHS players.
That wasn't the case from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s when three Yarborough brothers – Dave, Bill and Thomas – played football for LHS.
Dave was the oldest and handled the center duties for Dalton Rivers' Blue Hurricanes in the mid-to-late 1960s. Bill followed in the late 1960s and graduated in 1971. Thomas rounded out the trio with his final season in 1976 under the late Marv Maxwell.
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CHICAGO — Godspeed and good luck to the Wal-Mart workers who are protesting the inexorable "Black Friday" creep — in the form of 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day store openings. It's just a pity that their efforts are for naught.
These employees — as well as workers at Target, Sears and other retailers — believe that their crusade to save a sliver of holiday family time is a stand against heartless corporate behemoths who care more about profits than about their workforce.
Unfortunately, it's not. The grand foe of workers who are putting their family's financial well-being on the line by participating in pre-Thanksgiving walk-outs or Black Friday strikes is not corporate greed. It's the ravenous desire of consumers for stuff.
These cravings are the same ones that result in news headlines such as those from Thanksgiving night last year when a California woman, with her two children in tow, used pepper spray to attack her way to the front of the line at a Wal-Mart in order to grab a super-discounted Xbox 360 video game console.
Twenty customers were injured just in that one incident on the first night retailers opened before midnight — as were others reported across the nation in the early hours of Black Friday last year and in previous years — and for what? To get a good deal? To bring joy to children's Christmas morning festivities? Nothing as noble as that, in my view. Simply mere bargain-hunting blood lust, a gluttony that is hyped ever-earlier by retailers trying to cash in on consumers' worldly desires.
RELATED: Walmart workers plan large protests on Black Friday
And those desires are not overwhelmingly of the giving variety. Though it's comforting to imagine that the post-Thanksgiving throngs are populated by kind, modest souls who really are relying on their competitive shopping wiles to affordably make a loved one's holiday special, such thinking is probably a stretch.
When Consumer Reports surveyed holiday buyer motivations in 2009, a full 66 percent of Americans who had said they planned to shop in stores or online over the Black Friday weekend reported that they would be shopping for themselves.
"More consumers want a tablet for the holidays than want even money or world peace, according to this year's Consumer Electronics Association holiday survey," reads the introduction to one Consumer Reports retail forecast for Black Friday. Kind of says it all, doesn't it?
This fits in with the general "me-me-me, I am the very center of the universe" attitude that has infected our society. It posits that spending time with family — not all of whom are necessarily a pleasure to visit with — is a chore that deserves to be rewarded with a trip out to score a discounted indulgence.
Last year Consumer Reports magazine's "Holiday Jeer" survey found that "35 million Americans actually despise 'having to be nice' during the holidays." One in four said they dreaded traveling to attend holiday parties or visit loved ones.
Wal-Mart, Target and the rest of the retailers who are demanding that their employees rush their turkey and cranberries aren't exactly the bad guys — they're corporations out to make money. If those workers want to be angry at anyone for cutting into their holiday respite, they should get mad at the boors who happily ditch their own families in order to lock in some deals.
I hope when these workers are out there in front of their respective stores, they have the good sense to shame consumers on their way in to shop. Here are just two suggestions for picket signs: "You're happy leaving your in-laws at home, but I ACTUALLY wanted to spend the evening with my family" and "Dear shoppers: Thanks a lot for taking me away from my children on our only national family holiday."
Yet even the idea of publicly shaming the hordes of deal-seekers seems like over-optimism. We're talking about people who think nothing of stepping over the dying bodies of those trampled in the crush of shoppers — as happened to an employee at a Valley Stream, N.Y., Wal-Mart in 2008 and a Target shopper in Buffalo in 2010 — in order to snag discounted merchandise.
It's all terribly sad. Let us give thanks that this spectacle only comes once a year.


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By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan 27 (Reuters) - It may be January, but Southern California beach-goers could be forgiven for breaking out the marshmallows early, as lawmakers moved to protect a classic rite of summer - the seaside bonfire.
Under a new anti-pollution measure adopted last year by regulators in charge of air quality for Los Angeles and Orange Counties, fire rings on beaches near houses or in places where air quality was low would have to be removed.
The measure prompted outrage from across the political spectrum in the coastal state, with Republicans railing that unelected bureaucrats were destroying the California way of life.
Likewise, some Democrats complained that removing the fire rings would eliminate an inexpensive and beloved summer ritual for people who can't afford to live in expensive beachfront communities.
Freshman Republican assemblyman Travis Allen, a surfer whose district south of Los Angeles includes several beach communities, took on the issue as one of his first efforts.
His bill, which gives the California Coastal Commission authority over fire pits, passed on Monday in the state Assembly on a vote of 64-0.
One of the few Republican-backed measures to make it through either house of the Democratic-controlled legislature this session, the bill will now go to the state senate, where supporters say they also expect it to pass.
"Everybody loves a beach bonfire," Allen said in an interview at his Capitol office. "It's a safe, fun activity."
Last July, the South Coast Air Quality Management District ruled that beach bonfires send harmful particulates into the air and should be removed if they are within 700 feet of homes.
The agency also said that the pits should be removed from beaches that measure poorly on its air quality index.
"One fire pit in the evening emits as much fine particulate pollution as one big-rig diesel truck driven 564 miles," the agency said in a report announcing the new rules.
But Allen contends the move to ban some bonfires grew out of efforts by wealthy residents in Newport Beach to make the beach near their homes less attractive to party-goers, rather than a geniune concern for the environment.
"This is a beach access issue, masquerading as an air pollution issue," Allen said.
In California, state law is clear that the beaches are public property, and lawmakers tend to err on the side of protecting the rights of all residents to go enjoy the coastline, he said. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Ken Wills)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Man finds solace learning about father's fate
Mike Kadow grew up hearing stories about a father he has no memory of.
The Craig Kadow he knew was shot to death in a remote Jefferson County cabin before he was 3 and what he knows about him he learned from his mother and grandmother. There was little emotional attachment, but a lot of curiosity.
So last summer when Jefferson County Sheriff's cold case investigator Cheryl Moore came to his Littleton house and apologized that the investigators had failed to investigate the man who shot his father he wanted to learn as much as he could, even though they were terrifying details about his father's last moments alive.
Mike Kadow wanted to read a description of why his father was killed and a point-by-point explanation of what happened. The explanation is cold. Edward Kelly Russom talks about carrying his father's body around like it was a hazardous bag of garbage he couldn't wait to discard.
Yet, as terrible as the circumstances are it adds to the meager details Mike Kadow ever knew about a father he can't picture in his mind.
When asked, Mike Kadow also said he wanted his father's cremated ashes.
Since he received them he has been on a mission to leave his father's ashes in cairns across the state on trails leading to 14ers.
"It's a tribute to my dad," he said. "Some of the cairns save people's lives."
And for him it's the first memories he's had of doing something with his dad.
You can read a transcript of a taped interview in which Kelly Russom confessed to his role in the murder here, and read my full story about the lapses in the investigation of this murder on DenverPost.com.


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No job will ever be as good as my first one. When I was in sixth grade, I became a carrier for the Rockford Register Star.
I wanted to become useful to society. There was no better way, in my mind, than being the guy who delivered the news to people. Perhaps I was influenced by the character Henry Huggins, a boy carrier featured in a series of novels.
I got up at 4:30 every morning. I loved the smell of the freshly printed bundle of newspapers. I still like that scent. The one thing I didn't like were the centipedes on the driveway as a folded the papers. I still hate centipedes.
Recently, I interviewed LaRue Plog, an 87-year-old who lives in Milledgeville. She delivered the Daily Gazette in her later high school years in the 1940s. She got the Milledgeville route from Jewel and Janet Hawkins, whose mother was a reporter for the Milledgeville Free Press. She inherited a bicycle from the girls, so she could deliver her newspapers faster.
Back then, subscribers couldn't pay at the office. The carrier had to collect payment from each one.
Plog remembers everyone taking the paper. In the days before TV – and, of course, the Internet – people had no other way to get the news besides word of mouth.
Plog has remained a loyal subscriber of the Gazette, but that doesn't mean she's always happy with it.
For starters, she said, the newspaper emphasizes Dixon news.
"If it's not [Rita] Crundwell, it's something else," Plog said.
These days, the Gazette and the Telegraph in Dixon operate under the umbrella of Sauk Valley Media, just another example of the massive consolidation of the newspaper industry since the days Plog was a carrier.
Plog also said she disliked how the paper focuses on "negative things," which would be better on the second page, not the first.
Still, she looks fondly on her experience as a carrier.
"It was a good deal, and I got a bicycle out of it," she said.
David Giuliani is a reporter for Sauk Valley Media. He can be reached at dgiuliani@saukvalley or at 800-798-4085, ext. 525.


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Oley E. Rooker Library is located in the southwestern area of Little Rock. The 13,500 square foot building provides books, audiovisual, and electronic materials for children, teens, and adults, as well as public computers, wireless access, programs for all age groups, and a meeting room.
The library was named for Oley Eldon Rooker, an active advocate of the southwest Little Rock community for many years.
© 2018 Central Arkansas Library System. All Rights Reserved. Web Design & Internet Marketing by Aristotle.


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Billie R. Meredith, age 80, of Carmi, formerly of Crossville, passed away Saturday, March 23, 2013, at St. Mary's Hospital.
Billie R. Meredith, age 80, of Carmi, formerly of Crossville, passed away Saturday, March 23, 2013, at St. Mary's Hospital. She was born November 24, 1932, in Livingston, Tenn., the daughter of Jessie and Versie (Taylor) Stover. She married Calvin Zehner on October 2, 1952, and he preceded her in death in 1998. She then married Everett Marion Meredith on April 8, 2000, and he preceded her in death on May 2, 2002.
Mrs. Meredith was a homemaker and also worked at Wabash Christian Retirement Center. She attended Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in McLeansboro.
She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Bobby and Song Cha Zehner of Clarksville, Tenn.; two daughters and two sons-in-law, Jo Ann and Roger Meriwether of Crossville, and Sherri and Mark Whitehouse of Evansville, Ind.; a brother and sister-in-law, Ray and Lois Stover of Enfield; five grandchildren; 10 great- grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Calvin and Everett; a brother, Dolphis Stover; and two sisters, Ava Harland and Vickie Hutchison.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at Stendeback Family Funeral Home in Carmi. Pastor Robert Sefried will officiate. Visitation will take place from 4 until 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 in the funeral home. Burial will take place in Stokes Chapel Cemetery. Condolences may be left at stendebackfamilyfuneralhome.com.


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via Jury convicts Toronto man who slashed throat, stabbed wife – Toronto – CBC News.
A Toronto man who stabbed his wife and slashed her throat four years ago was found guilty of second-degree murder on Sunday.
Peer Khairi, 65, sobbed quietly with his head down when the verdict was read in court, days after the jury first began its deliberations last Thursday.
His wife, Randjida Khairi, died in March 2008. She was 53 years old.
Assistant Crown Attorney Robert Kenny said the jury heard four weeks of evidence during the trial, including three days of testimony from Khairi himself.
"We're very happy with all the hard work that the jury went through and with the way the evidence came out," he told reporters outside court on Sunday.
Kenny credited the investigative work that police did in bringing the case to court.
"They were the ones who actually got the accused to speak the night of the murder and actually got a lot of the details of what had happened…which is what allowed us to take circumstantial evidence and to be able to tell the jury our theory of what had happened," he said.
"And I think by their verdict, they accepted that."
Toronto police Det. Sgt. Michael Barsky, who attended the scene on the day of the killing, said he was pleased with the verdict.
"Obviously things went very, very badly in that household for this to happen in the first place and those frustrations must have come to a head on March 18, 2008," Barsky told reporters.
"But I think Mr. Khairi was aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it and as a result we have this verdict today."
Here is some background, Canada: Afghan Muslim slit throat, killed wife for being too liberal:
For those interested, video of the Peer Khairi police interrogation.