Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. Today's Regional Briefing focuses on China, courtesy of Adam Morris in Tianjin.

Today's Topics Include: Chinese labour standards as a U.S. political issue; China on Iraq; China & North Korea; Stories from Taiwan; Talkleft on Shanghai; Jokes & drink names in Chinese; Asians' view of USA stems more from local politics than policy issues.

INTERNATIONAL

• Kerry is criticizing Bush for not doing enough on China, and the AFL-CIO's petition (which Bush rejected) was the center of it all. The unprecedented appeal that argues that China's labor standards harm international trade undergoes severe criticism by a scholar/blogger who was quoted in the petition itself. Stephen Frost has a followup here.

• Willy Lam chimes in with an extensive discussion of China's reaction to America's Iraq Imbroglio. Like a good scholar, he provides lots of ammunition for whatever political framework you come from.

• Beijing and Pyongyang's relationship seems to be Beijing heavy lately, as they've rejected requests by Kim Jong-il for high-tech jet planes.

• A Better Tomorrow rounds up some of recent stories floating around Taiwan that you probably never heard on CNN.

OTHER

• Conrad the Gweilo also does a good job at criticizing a Talk Left comment on Shanghai.

• John of Sinosplice takes on the art of telling jokes in a foreign language, educating us all on what it takes to make Chinese laugh. Sinosplice is one of the many blogs that come from the perspective of looking at China as a "study in life," and his site, as well as the blog, contains lots of sections that are pretty interesting, including one on Chinese words for spirits and drinks.

• Although this isn't about China specifically, there's a very interesting article on how Asians' view on America depends more on local politics and a country's self-esteem than policy issues.