"they ordered the Chinese edition of China Development Brief to cease publication"

the ngo's website (english and chinese version) is still alive.

isn't this post's title inappropriate?

We all read it. No one has a comment. Wild animals in Beijing? That's safe, blog on! Keep picking up your state-controlled copies of That's, which adds pro-government 'quotes' into their stories, and enjoying your "Nide zhongwen hen bang!" bromides. That's what they've reduced us to. Thank god those fools in the US and UK rejected us so we can feel the real China. Can't wait to read our insightful books. What a joke.

This is depressing.

CDB is one of the best website resources in China and the world. China should be proud of it. It's a place where Chinese and foreigners meet and discuss solutions to problems. You'll never find so many interested and helpful people -- Chinese or foreign -- as you will via the various communities of do-gooders who use CDB's resources.

My goodness, it seems really difficult for any foreign media to do anything good in China. Once a foreign publication gets successful, the inevitable result is shut-down or take-over. This pattern repeats again and again and again. I wonder if this particular case might be addressed in any of the WTO agreements?

My opinion is that someone made a pretty dumb calculation, and that this kind of case once again sends the message: It is almost impossible to do business in China without fearing that one's business will get raided by.

The precedent set here with this 25-year-old statistics gathering law, if appplied equally would shut down most of the foreign publications in China.

Don't Time-Out, That's Beijing, City Weekend do unauthorized surveys? (Favorite bar? Best Peking Duck?) [Oops: I forgot: Thats Beijing is no longer foreign-owned; that formerly British-owned mag already had its "locks changed."]

You know, there's a very valid question implied here, concerning statistics-gathering: Should the thousands of foreign journalist who cover the Beijing Olympics be issued a handbook about proper and legal statistics-gathering methods? Indeed, there is no event in the world so heavily dependent on statistics as the Olympic games, and I personally think that any reporter daring to narrate an Olympic sporting event's numerical results should first read through that nifty 1983 law and make sure she isn't committing a crime worthy of deportation when she writes that so and so came in first place.

When "laws" like this are used to squash good people doing good things, the real loser is the law itself.

Time Out publishes illegally AND does unauthorized surveys as well; China Development Brief is a million times more useful, but I think the devastating reality is that they are going to have to be made an example of. I wonder if the government taking control of their content is even a viable option.

Lao she - thanks for your insights. I thought I was losing it for a moment. Your observations have brought me back from the brink. How could I not be interested in something I have no interest in? What a fool I was to be interested in something else. You are right: what a joke. (Just waiting for the punchline though).

In spite of sucking up to the CCP, they still zapped him.

There's a lesson here. Don't be so f*c*ing naive. The CCP will not change.

This is their ballgame, and we're playing with their ball on their field. They reserve the right to stop the game at any point and say "gimme back my ball," and suddenly you're walking off the field with your glove under your arm, muttering obscenities and shaking your ahead, telling yourself, "damn, they did it to me again." No matter, take a breather and come back to play tomorrow. Bring the glove. The field and ball will still be there and available. It's all part of their game.