Economist, June 28

(posted Saturday, June 28)

An optimistic cover editorial says that Hong Kong may take over China, rather than vice versa. Hong Kong has inspired capitalism in China--60 percent of Chinese investment is routed through it--so perhaps it can inspire political freedom there too. Hong Kong could serve as China's political "laboratory," proving that free elections and the rule of law are not destabilizing. A related article speculates that Hong Kong is safe from excessive Chinese meddling: China doesn't want to alienate Taiwan or the international community, and Tung Chee-hwa is making sound, relatively liberal decisions. A story on the world environmental summit says that developed nations are breaking their promises to curtail emissions of greenhouse gases. And they can't agree on how to do better. A piece on Bosnia says there is a teensy, tiny bit of hope that new economic laws will help unify the three feuding ethnic groups.

New Republic, July 14 & 21

(posted Friday, June 27)

TNR finds a new angle on Hong Kong. The cover article, "Hong Kong Is in Worse Trouble Than You Think," warns that the colony's "triad" gangsters have forged an alliance with Chinese officials. China will let the triads extort, smuggle drugs and arms, pander, and counterfeit. The triads, in turn, will maintain order in Hong Kong and may act as the de facto secret police. Several tycoons with ties to the triads and Beijing are investigated. Also, philosopher Amartya Sen argues that the idea of "Asian values"--collective identity, absence of individual rights--is bunkum. Asia's authoritarians are wrong: Freedom, tolerance, and respect for individual rights are integral to the Confucian, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions.

NewYorkTimesMagazine, June 29

(posted Thursday, June 26)

The diary of a breast-cancer patient takes the cover. The piece's main themes: the writer's fear that she won't be able to have children, anxiety about the appearance of her breast, and gratitude toward her husband and her cancer support group. After a lumpectomy and radiation, she has an excellent prognosis. A story sings the praises of the federal Legal Services Corp., describing how one of its lawyers has served a poor Appalachian town devotedly for 25 years. The message: Conservatives in Congress should think twice before defunding the program. A piece chronicles the struggles of Firefly, a tiny Internet startup: Its "agent" software, an artificial-intelligence program that helps consumers choose and buy online, may be the Net's next killer application, but only if Microsoft or another software giant doesn't create a knockoff first. Also, an elderly widow writes about rekindling a sexual affair with her first lover, a man she slept with 50 years ago.

Newsweek and Time, June 30