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“The Lobster Sex Guy” and “Sushi Concierge” are TradeMarks of Trevor Corson.

China

Although best-known for his books The Secret Life of Lobsters and The Story of Sushi, Trevor has lived in and written extensively about East Asia as well, and has been a frequent commentator on China.
Trevor began the study of Mandarin Chinese at the age of 15 and continued to learn and use the language for the next decade. He spent two of the most formative years of his life, from age 18 to 20, living in China as a university student, immersing himself in the daily life of the capital city of Beijing, as well as in the study of China’s tumultuous history and rich philosophical traditions. He experienced a pivotal episode of China’s tumultuous history first-hand, when his classmates took to the streets in Beijing in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square protest movement and subsequent military crackdown.


Informally, Trevor began his journalistic writing career in China—he penned a series of dispatches about his day-to-day encounters that circulated widely among family and friends, and which he subsequently edited into a self-published book. He went on to study Chinese politics, economy, and both classical and modern language at Princeton University and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
In 1998-1999 he served as executive editor of Harvard China Review, a magazine based at Harvard University that covered current developments in business, technology, economics, and politics in China. China remains one of Trevor’s primary interests.
 

TREVOR CORSON

Topics

Lobsters       Sushi       China       Japan

Selected Writings on China

by Trevor Corson



What Tiananmen Crushed in Me

As an American student in China, I saw idealism bloom—then get trampled.

Christian Science Monitor, June 12, 2008


Strait-jacket

December elections could edge Taiwan closer to a symbolic declaration of independence—and the United States toward military conflict with China. There’s one way out.

Atlantic Monthly, December 2004


China: New Ally or Old Foe?

China is suddenly our strategic partner in the “War on Terror”—or is it?

Christian Science Monitor, October 26, 2001


Bush Got One Right

After a U.S. reconnaissance plane was forced to land on Chinese soil and the crew was captured, George W. Bush—for once—did the right thing.

American Prospect, June 17, 2001


Backing Beijing into a Corner

Ganging up with Russia against China may seem like smart geopolitics. But do we really want China pointing more nuclear missiles at Los Angeles?

New York Times, March 12, 2001


Ang Lee’s Chinese Martial Arts Epic Doesn’t Deserve an Oscar

If you know much about Chinese cinema, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is—yawn—kind of a bore.

Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2001


Chinese Water Torture

The Three Gorges Dam will flood 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,300 villages. One and a half million people will have to be relocated, while 265 billion gallons of raw sewage will back up in the dam's reservoir every year. Is it worth it?

American Prospect, September 25, 2000


Monster Mao

China’s revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong, caused the deaths of more of his own people than any other leader in the history of any country in the world. It’s a number that has been exceeded only once: by all the dead of
World War II.

Boston Book Review, March 1, 2000


China’s Blue-Collar Blues

Top-down economic reform in China has triggered protest from its victims—a classic Marxist proletariat.

Atlantic Monthly, February 2000


Can China Become a Democracy?

China is rising. Should the U.S. try to engage or contain it? And which approach has a better chance of steering the world’s most populous nation toward democracy? Six new books on China provide some surprising clues.

American Prospect, December 20, 1999


US Nuclear Strategy on China Needs Update

The claim that China has endangered American security through the alleged theft of American rocket and warhead technology is bogus.

Christian Science Monitor, April 12, 1999


Stuck in a Mao Jacket

A thoughtless wardrobe selection one morning leads to embarrassing political theater.

Christian Science Monitor, September 25, 1998


Model Minority or Yellow Peril?

Michelle Kwan’s successes—American gold medalist!—and Democratic National Committee fund-raiser Maria Hsia’s shenanigans—Chinese spy!—are evoking some nasty stereotypes.

Asianweek, March 5, 1998


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