Do unto others?

Why is China policy so hard? Any policies hard for that matter?

Our inboxes, online web resources, and printed materials (for those dinosaurs who still adore them) are replete these days with stories about China. Bill Bishop’s (today’s edition below) renowned Substack, ‘Sinocism’, reflects decades’ study of language, culture, history, as well as any and every piece of writing time allows him to translate. It’s worth every single penny l invest since he became Substack’s first pay-for-content writer in 2017 or so. Bishop is measured, states what he knows and what he merely speculates or even doubts, and what he hears as ‘rumint’ (rumor intelligence) from within China. I am not saying he is 100% correct as none of us are but he is certainly well respected by scholars, most of whom tend too often to whine about others’ works rather than celebrate them.

Then there are think tanks broadly construed that seem to churn out weekly analyses that too often rehash what has been rehashed for a long while. Think tanks, of course, rely on donations, grants, and endowments to sustain their work so the repetitive hits on Threads, Twitter (I am a purist on names and ‘X’ is just plain silly to me), or the ever more ubiquitous LinkedIN become too often the measures of relevance rather than quality of content. This pushes think tankers to produce ever more frequently since visibility of the institution probably correlates with revenue to sustain the place. Even the oldest of policy think tanks, such as the Brookings Institution, have expenses. Publications and policy-focused events, whether for a not-for-profit, a government entity, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDCs), for profit consultancies, or traditional academic institution, raise the visibility of think tanks so the works are highly desirable and usually essential to keep the researchers paid.

All of these scholars and analysts, differentiated generally between having a doctorate or a lesser degree, churn out works of varying usefulness based on how long it takes to write the study, how rigorously it is assessed (if at all, seemingly) before publication, and a number of other factors. It is a competitive environment with high expectations.

A few publications merely describe a particular question while many offer detailed descriptions and prescriptions for addressing the associated threat. The reports or task forces often attract considerable attention upon publication, then fade into obscurity within a couple of weeks.

Why?