June 08, 2008
Introduction
Dear all,
As my first entry for the Watsonblog community, I feel it is appropriate that I provide a brief introduction of myself and what I hope to bring to the blogging community to keep things fresh, fun and fulfilling. This will be the only post where I will not focus on any specific topic, region, theme or event, but I hope this will shed light on things to come.
Born in China, immigrated to Canada at the age of 10, then to the United States at the age of 14, my politics and worldview are mostly shaped and affected by what I see and whom I have met, but rarely by what I've grown up hearing from my family. Having traveled to places that can be considered at least uncomfortable if not hostile for a Chinese national (i.e. Japan, Tibet, Xinjiang) and having worked for almost three years for a long-time Chinese political dissident who was imprisoned for 16 years, my views hardly resemble what you may get from a typical Chinese-American youth but there are certain elements of my belief that are shaped by the simple fact that I am an ethnic Chinese, and I have no intention of shedding these elements for they are an integral part of my identity.
It should be no surprise that the majority of my posting will focus on East Asian affairs, for I have a strong personal affinity to the region and a natural linguistic advantage that allows me to access more materials. However, I do intend on covering all major regions of the world. My interest in international affairs is truly global, and through blogging, I hope to motivate myself to learn more about parts of the world that I am unfamiliar with. I hope my friends and readers of this blog will keep me disciplined and accountable to my commitment.
I will try my best to compose high quality entries, with concise, pointed and insightful analysis of world affairs and avoid aimless rambling. However, I do not intend to keep my political and personal views consistent for the sake of uniformity because I am still in the process of shaping my perspectives, and it is important for me (and for everyone) to reserve some space for intellectual flexibility. Through blogging and interacting with your (hopefully constant, provocative and profanity-free) comments, I hope to wrestle with many different ideas that will eventually help me develop a sensible understanding of the world and myself. One thing is for certain, I will not blindly adhere to any ideology for the sake of consistency and belonging. My goal is to synthesize ideologies and theories with realities and, most importantly, common sense, in order to interpret the events and trends of our world in a way that offers optimism and opportunity for the advancement of human civilization.
I appreciate your time and consideration, and I look forward to many scintillating discussions in the future.
KX
Posted by Kevin Xu at 12:45 AM | Comments (2)