Skip to main content

Ma Jian

Ma Jian

12 commentaries

Ma Jian is the author of the novels Beijing Coma, The Noodle-Maker, and The Dark Road. He is currently a visiting fellow at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Berlin.

Sort by: Show:
  1. A Life Lived in Truth
    Liu Xiaobo Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images

    A Life Lived in Truth

    Jul 21, 2017 Ma Jian examines the work and legacy of his friend and fellow dissident, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo.

  2. A Son of the Cultural Revolution
    ma11_Ben_Pruchnie Getty Images Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images

    A Son of the Cultural Revolution

    May 10, 2016 Ma Jian draws chilling parallels between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong.

  3. Bo Xilai Between the Dragon and His Wrath
    pa3963c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Bo Xilai Between the Dragon and His Wrath

    Aug 7, 2013 Ma Jian

  4. China’s Show Trial of the Century
    ma9_Feng LiGetty Images_gu kailai Feng Li/Getty Images

    China’s Show Trial of the Century

    Aug 20, 2012 Ma Jian sees the Bo Xilai/Gu Kailai affair as evidence of a fractured Chinese leadership.

  5. Britain’s Cultural Kowtow
    2fe3180246f86f6c0d039800_jo4000c.jpg

    Britain’s Cultural Kowtow

    Apr 12, 2012 Ma Jian

  1. skidelsky200_Getty Images_speech Getty Images

    The Language of Political Control

    Robert Skidelsky views recent linguistic innovations as manipulative efforts to compel “correct” thought and perception.
  2. basu101_Alfonso Sangiao iStock  Getty Images Plus_voting Alfonso Sangiao/iStock / Getty Images Plus

    Globalization vs. Democracy

    Kaushik Basu highlights the contradictions and vulnerabilities inherent in the current international order.
  3. coyle36 Alishia AbodundeGetty Images INFRASTRUCTURE Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images

    The West’s New Infrastructure Imperative

    Diane Coyle explains why a broader conception of the term could reflect a renewed interest in investing in the future.
  4. bp iran israel Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images

    An Iran-Israel War?

    Iran’s mass ballistic missile and drone attack on Israel last week raised anew the specter of a widening Middle East war that draws in Iran and its proxies, as well as Western countries like the United States. The urgent need to defuse tensions – starting by ending Israel’s war in Gaza and pursuing a lasting political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – is obvious, but can it be done?

  5. nasheed3_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_georgieva MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

    What a Climate-Aligned IMF Would Look Like

    Mohamed Nasheed & Rakesh Mohan explain how the managing director can fully position the institution to help the most vulnerable countries.
  6. ghosh76_Kristin Palitzapicture alliance via Getty Images_afrigen Kristin Palitza/picture alliance via Getty Images

    The Key to Transforming African Health

    Jayati Ghosh highlights efforts to foster scientific innovation and drug manufacturing on the continent.
  7. op_roach3_ Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china lagging consumption Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    China’s Rebalancing Imperative

    Stephen S. Roach

    The most successful development stories almost always involve major shifts in the sources of economic growth, which in turn allow economies to reinvent themselves out of necessity or by design. In China, the interplay of mounting external pressures, lagging household consumption, and falling productivity will increasingly shape China’s policy choices in the years ahead.

    explains why the Chinese authorities should switch to a consumption- and productivity-led growth model.
  8. castaneda88_GERARDO MENOSCALAFP via Getty Images_latin america safety GERARDO MENOSCAL/AFP via Getty Images

    From Welfare State to Safe State in Latin America

    Jorge G. Castañeda & Carlos Ominami

    Designing a progressive anti-violence strategy that delivers the safety for which a huge share of Latin Americans crave is perhaps the most difficult challenge facing many of the region’s governments. But it is also the most important.

    urge the region’s progressives to start treating security as an essential component of social protection.
  9. ocampo57_Celal GunesAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_imf Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    The Urgency of Sovereign-Debt Restructuring

    José Antonio Ocampo highlights the need for a comprehensive mechanism to deliver relief to low- and middle-income countries.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.