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May 10, 2008

Skin-deep translation may mislead

Does Guo Jingming deserve to be hailed as "the most successful writer in China"? Raymond Zhou clears up a misunderstanding in Chinese reports on a recent New York Times feature that offered four other book reviews alongside a profile of Guo:

None of the Chinese commentators mentioned any of the four book reviews. Through endless copying and reposting, which is the pillar of Chinese website management, the point has been hammered home that Americans, for whatever unfathomable reason, favor China's most ridiculed literary pretender as their favorite Chinese writer.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:19 PM |

May 9, 2008

News reports with errors also need "breathing space"

At the China Media Project, David Bandurski translates beleaguered journalist Chang Ping's latest op-ed:

It should be pointed out that the CCTV case has not been widely affirmed on the Internet, but instead has met with much suspicion. This is because CCTV, as a state media organization, is invested with government authority. [This raises the question of whether] the core of the case is about media reporting on matters of public interest, or about government authority in a standoff with private interests. More importantly, in many cases concerning government authority and incidents [or matters] of public interest, not even a drop of the spirit of the Sullivan decision is evident. In the April 28 railway disaster, for example, a Web user from Shandong province was detained by police for five days for posting inaccurate information (exaggerating the number of dead).

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:02 PM |

Song Qingling memorial

A video on Shanghaiist:

Song Qing Ling Memorial (宋庆龄陵园), a little known cemetery in western Shanghai home to the remains of Song Qing Ling, numerous other Chinese personalities -- and scores of foreigners who came to Shanghai mostly during its early boom years in the mid-1800s and early 1900s, some identified by simple gravestones, and some anonymous.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 11:57 AM |

Lupine lactose intolerant

Linda Jaivin reviews Wolf Totem, with a critical introduction by Geremie R. Barmé.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:30 AM |

Disclosing the "1984 secret"

JDM080509hujintao.jpg
During Hu Yaobang's 1983 state visit to Japan, he invited 3,000 young Japanese to visit China. The Beijing News looks back at that visit and reveals that one-third of those visitors now head Sino-Japanese Friendship Associations.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:16 AM |

The Olympic effect: anthropologist conference cancelled

From GoKunming.com:

The International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences ... has been notified by the Chinese organizers of the 16th IUAES World Congress that the event, originally scheduled to be held July 15-23 in Kunming, had been postponed.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:56 AM |

So Clinton was right about Beijing and jello

Richard McGregor in The Financial Times:

The conventional wisdom in recent years is that Beijing's internet police have been more successful than anyone could have imagined in controlling the spread of political ideas in cyberspace. Bill Clinton's famous remark in the late 1990s, that such efforts were doomed and akin to 'nailing jello to a wall', is now considered wide of the mark.

It turns out that the former US president was right, but not in the way that he thought.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:45 AM |

3 Chinese workers kidnapped in Nigeria

From The China Daily:

Three Chinese workers were abducted by unidentified kidnappers on Tuesday in Calabar, the capital city of Nigeria's southern Cross River State, company sources told Xinhua here on Thursday.

The workers, all employees of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, were seized near the company's compound in Calabar, according to a company official.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:33 AM |

May 8, 2008

Korean and Chinese hackers arrested

Korea-based blogger Marmot's Hole translates from the Korean press:

Chinese authorities have arrested three accomplices involved in the January hacker attack on popular Korean auction site 'Auction,' the Korean subsidiary of eBay.

Meanwhile, Chinese and Korean authorities have identified the actual hackers, a Korean and a Chinese, and are looking for them now, an unnamed Korean police official said.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 11:52 AM |

Japan and China make nice

Hu Jintao is in Japan, offering pandas and being very friendly with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. This links to a Xinhua report that gives the Party line.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:42 AM |

Olympic torch on Everest summit

09:11 am Beijing time: Most Chinese TV stations have been broadcasting live coverage of the summit ascent of the Olympic Torch (as interesting as watching paint dry), and Xinhua has been publishing regular updates.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:39 AM |

May 7, 2008

Real estate developers lose interest in Beijing

From Caijing's English website:

A cloud has been hanging over Beijing's market for undeveloped land since the beginning of the year. Statistics from the Beijing Land Arrangement and Reserve Center shows the Chinese capital has closed deals on only six plots of land for industrial use since February. And only one plot successfully traded hands in April.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 3:53 PM |

Tudou fined 50K for 'Crazy Stone' uploads

From Pacific Epoch:

Shanghai-based user-generated video site Tudou.com has been ordered to pay RMB 50,000 to Beijing-based Xin Chuan Advertising Company for hosting links to the film 'Crazy Stone', reports Chinacourt.com...

...Xin Chuan began its case against Tudou asking for RMB 150,000 last summer. Xin Chuan purchased its online broadcasting rights for 'Crazy Stone' from China Film Warner Hengdian Media Group.

Why Tudou and not the other video sharing websites? Probably because Tudou has a widely publicized boatload of cash.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 3:43 PM |

Google revealing state secrets?

Richard Spencer in the Telegraph reports that China is investigating online map providers suspected of violating state secrecy laws:

According to Min Yiren, vice head of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, authorities hope to get rid of online maps that wrongly depict China's borders or that reveal military secrets, the People's Daily said.

No fewer than eight ministries and bureaus are to examine online maps to see whether they breach laws or undermine the country's "territorial integrity".

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 3:18 PM |

May 6, 2008

Sacked for a wardrobe malfunction

China Machete's not at all upset that Tu Jingwei, co-host of the nightly movie report on CCTV6, may have been sacked for a "nipple incident":

I have maintained a healthy dose of loathing for Jingwei and her co-host Miaomiao for a long time, mostly because of the lightweight content that their show offers. The show pretty much provides blanket positive reviews for any blockbuster Chinese film, and the two hosts never fail to suck up to the big names. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li are all readily adored. I will never forgive the show for not preparing me for the wreckage that was Chen Kaige's Wu Ji - Jingwei and Miaomiao's constant praise failed to mention that it was the worst movie of all time.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:50 PM |

Former propaganda head on free speech

ChinaElections.net has published a translation of an article by Zhong Peizhang, former Chief of the News Bureau at the Central Publicity Department of the CPC. He discusses 'three essential points of gradual reform':

1. Emancipate our minds

...In order to emancipate our minds, we first need to thoroughly destroy 'capitalist phobia'...

2. Earnestly advance government system reform

...we must earnestly make the legislature and judiciary independent...

3. Guarantee free speech and set up community oversight

...The issue lies in choosing to expose weakness and resolving contradictions or choosing to shut the lid, allowing problems to intensify and moving towards corruption and break down.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 3:12 PM |

Digesting China

At the Christian Science Monitor, Kendra Nordin reviews Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China, by Fuschia Dunlop:

Dunlop, now a food writer and twice-published author on Chinese cuisine, began her 15-year culinary adventure during a visit to China in 1992. Later, while a foreign student at Sichuan University, Dunlop found herself bored by government restrictions that limited her research on China's ethnic minorities. So she instead spent her days haunting street markets and befriending cooks.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:12 PM |

Paul French is wrong about China (and Tom Doctoroff)

JWT head Tom Doctoroff responds to a video recently featured on Danwei called 'Why Tom Doctoroff is wrong about China'.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 1:06 PM |

China visa confusion

Xiao Mo attempts to clear up some of the confusion surrounding F, X, and Z visas and semi-legal foreign residents.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:03 PM |

The text message as satire

Iacob Koch-Weser relates some SMS jokes adapted for the anti-Carrefour protests.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:02 PM |

Mirrors of history

Geremie R. Barmé comments on the 2005 anti-Japan protests in light of similar movements over the past century.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:00 PM |

How I got here...the long short version

Matt Schiavenza explains how he came to reside in Lianyungang, northern Jiangsu:

I thought of holding out for something in a bigger city, like Shanghai. I spoke to my recruiter, who discouraged that idea. "If you go to Shanghai, all you'll end up doing is getting drunk with other foreigners. Go to the smaller place, you'll have a more authentic experience."

These words elicited a romantic series of imaginations, and I excitedly saw myself tilling rice fields while listening to old men swap stories from the war. This would be great. I said "what the hell" and agreed.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 12:52 PM |

Sing song diplomacy

The Guardian uses a peach of a headline:

China employs sing-song diplomacy

It may sound more highbrow than ping-pong diplomacy, but China hopes that an orchestral performance at the Vatican tomorrow will be as effective in thawing frosty relations.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:30 PM |

Torching the relay

Geremie R. Barmé discusses the torch relay and Chinese nationalism in an interview with the Woroni, reposted at The China Beat:

Many Chinese writing on the net, or who I have encountered since March (I was in Beijing during the original Lhasa disturbances, and have travelled to a number of cities in China since then on a second trip--for reasons unrelated to these issues) also point out that they feel that China is not given due credit for the extraordinary changes that have swept the nation in recent decades that have seen the mass alleviation of poverty and the rapid modernization of the largest nation on earth. However, while conspiracy theories make for good copy, they don't help us understand the situation, or the long-term causes of the present rhetorical extremes both in China and elsewhere. Indeed, I would hasten to point out that media paranoia and hysteria is hardly something limited to China, and it would appear that many commentators and opinion-makers internationally have joined in the fray with enthusiasm.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:38 AM |

Chinese firms bargain hunting in U.S.

An L.A. Times article looks at privately-owned Chinese companies that are aggressively expanding into the U.S., where the economy means prices are low.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:02 AM |

May 5, 2008

Kill splittists for prizes

The Cold China blog describes a new monster named "Concealing Dangerous Drugs" in the online game QQ Huaxia that is a homophone for "Tıbetan Independence" (藏独):

"Zang-du" (藏毒) is uncannily similar to "Tıbetan Independence". ("Conceal" shares the same character as "Tıbet", while "dangerous drug" shares the same pronunciation as "independence".)

And did i mention you get a "certificate of patriotism" for killing one?

Surprisingly, the game makes the connection explicit:

This time, QQ Huaxia stands up!...We're supporting the Olympics with our unique anti-Tıbetan Independence online game content

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 5:44 PM |

Bus explosion in Shanghai kills three

Shanghaiist has the latest updates on an explosion on a bus in Shanghai's Yangpu District.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 3:40 PM |

Chinese youth not all strident

The Countdown Beijing blog talks to university students who aren't angry, and posts the results:

In recent weeks, shrill voices of Chinese youth criticizing the West have dominated headlines. But more moderate, thoughtful young Chinese are beginning to speak up. Here are some insights into a number of quieter -- but arguably just as important -- conversations with Chinese students, from Zhong Menglu who teaches at a prestigious Beijing university:

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:27 PM |

"Tibet of China, Past and Present"

James Fallows visits the newly-opened Tibetan history exhibit at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities:

Let me just say: if you want a quick but thorough immersion in the prevailing Chinese view of this issue, you could do far worse than to spend an hour or two here.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 10:38 AM |

May 4, 2008

CCTV doesn't like the Super Girls

As it's done in the past, CCTV once again shoots around the Super Girls and Happy Boys in its broadcast of a song and dance spectacular. ESWN translates:

On a program built upon the concept of "one dream, one Olympics" and in front of the Grand Temple where 2,000 young people were assembled to pay tribute to their ancestors, I implemented out a specific order: No close-ups of Happy Boy Su Xing or Super Girls Zhou Bichang, Li Yuchun, Zhang Liangying and Ji Minjia. You can hear their voices, but they are invisible!

What is more shameful than this public boycott in the name of the harmonious spirit of the Olympics? Do they want to become an even bigger laughing stock in the world?

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 2:51 PM |

A Chinese student's interview with the Dalai Lama

CDT translates a write-up by a Chinese exchange student in the US who interviewed the Dalai Lama:

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a press conference on April 8: "The Dalai Lama is the head representative of the serf system, which integrated religion with politics in old Tibet. The 'middle way' approach that the Dalai Lama is pursuing is aimed at restoring his own 'paradise in the past', which will throw millions of liberated serfs back into a dark cage." So do you seek theocratic serfdom? He answered, smiling: "I think since many years, as everybody knows, that we never aim to restore the old system, and even the Dalai Lama institution, as early as 69, I made clear that this institution should continue or not is up to people."

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 2:44 PM |

China, Dalai Lama envoys in talks

Reuters reports on the long-anticipated talks:

The Dalai Lama's special envoy, Lodi Gyari, a veteran of previous talks with the Chinese government, travelled with his assistant to Shenzhen in south China on Saturday.

He will meet senior officials from the ruling Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which has a vague but wide-ranging remit to "contain separatist forces".

"This is an informal meeting," said Mr Chhoekyapa [a spokesman for the Dalai Lama]. "The main thing is to calm down the situation in Tibet and Tibetan areas and to release those arrested, or give them a fair trial or fair treatment."

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 10:10 AM |

Hong Kong media on the torch relay

At the Zhongnanhai, Cam comments on an IHT piece describing the reaction in Hong Kong to the Olympic torch relay:

Reviewing Hong Kong's torch relay coverage should also lay to rest the hollow conflict that has been created in the minds of China's restless fenqing: that it's the world vs. China, and the Chinese people need to rally together to protect their pride and fend off the hypocritical foreign barbarians. The fact that Chinese people on Chinese territory in the Chinese media also have problems with Beijing's policies speaks volumes. At the very least, one hopes this will make the patriotic Carrefour-boycotting masses wonder if they're getting the full story in the mainland press.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 9:45 AM |