From a federal penitentary in Florida, Conrad Black weighs in with his opinions about China’s rise.

My favourite passage from the article:

“China has a centrally directed economy, and calculates growth rates as a func…tion of production, not spending; and production is deemed to occur when it is commissioned by the state. Thus, all Chinese predictions of economic growth are self-fulfilling: The central economic leadership orders production of toasters or submarines and announces construction of roads and sports stadiums, and the anticipated costs are added to the GDP at once.”

Evan writes about the sudden disappearance of civil rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong.