Not your grandfather's Chinese laundry
At Newsweek's China Calling blog, Nick Mackie writes about riverside clothes washing in Wanzhou and the niche businesses that have sprung up to serve the needs of washers.
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February 28, 2009
"Hide and seek" death actually a beating
While the Chinese media has been fascinated by the Internet representatives invited to investigate an unusual death at a Yunnan detention center, local prosecuters have been conducting their own investigation, with a good deal more success. They now say that Li Qiaoming was beaten to death by prison bullies who used "hide and seek" as an excuse to beat him up.
The China Daily reports that six prison and public security officers have been punished or dismissed. Xinhua has a report as well.
China's giant water scheme opens torrent of discontent
Chris Buckley writes for Reuters about people displaced by the massive South-to-North Water Transfer Project:
In the decades before and after the dam was finished in 1973, 436,000 villagers were forced to move, often in hurried, unplanned evacuations for meagre compensation, say historic records.
In 2002, when the government announced the central canal for the project would be built, villagers were told to prepare to shift again. They have been waiting ever since as scheduled completion of the canal has been pushed from 2008 to 2010 and now 2014.
"We're locked in a room and can't see or hear what's happening to us," said Zhao Jingming, a 63-year-old farmer in Shizigang with a hoarse bellow that silenced his neighbours.
Related articles: China farmers recall bitter days of famine for dam about the 1959 move, and a Reuters blog post about the feature.
February 27, 2009
The best commuter in Beijing
On The Beijinger Blog, an excerpt from the Insiders' Guide to Beijing 2009 about the best way to get to the Drum Tower from the CBD out of seven.
Chinese history for freedom
Gady Epstein of Forbes Beijing bureau starts a new column, Beijing Dispatch, today on the Forbes website. The first topic takes inspiration from Pierre Berge's remark that he would return the bronze animal heads of Yuanmingyuan in exchange for Tibet's freedom:
This week's Yves Saint Laurent auction, of all things, offered an oddly appropriate epigraph for one of China's sensitive anniversaries this year: the 50th anniversary this March of a failed Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule and the flight of the Dalai Lama into exile in India.
Annual human rights tiff
From China Daily:
"We urge the US to examine its own human rights problems and not use human rights as an excuse or publish human rights reports in order to interfere with others' internal affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular briefing.
The China Daily article also links to the "Human Rights Record of United States in 2008" full text. Shanghai Daily also has the following article: China hits back with report on US human rights record.
For another foray into China's defense of its human rights record against the U.S., see this China Daily report, China foils US' human rights motion again, from 2004.
From the International Herald Tribune: China assails U.S. report on human rights.
Jackie Chan steps into debate over sale of bronze animal heads
From The Guardian
Chan, who collects and has in several cases donated antiquities, said he was to start filming a movie next year about the search for, and return of, treasures from the palace. "But now we have lost two more pieces. This has made me really angry," he said, adding that the sale was "shameful".
China's global spending spree
Peter Ford at The Christian Science Monitor examines China's purchase of stakes in French, Canadian, and Australian firms this month.
Translating the Economist
Waxy looks at a translation team made up of Economist fans who translate every issue of the magazine into Chinese. From the site's about page:
"Like the forum name says, producing a Chinese version of The Economist is our goal. But we're still young and immature; very amateur, not professional. So what? Because we are young, we have the fervor, the enthusiasm, the passion. Because we are amateurs, we'll double our efforts to do our best. As long as we wish, we can be successful and do a good job!"
via Sinosplice. See also: Time Weekly, a blog of Time magazine translations.
February 26, 2009
Guangdong official sacked for expenditure over Africa and Middle-East trip
The sacked official was Tan Rigui, deputy Party secretary of the Duanzhou district of Zhaoqing city in Guangdong. He led the group of 13 abroad. From China Daily:
The committee has asked all members of the tour group to accept responsibility and repay the cost, estimated at more than 450,000 yuan ($65,800).
News of the trip was made public last week when a citizen from Luoding in Guangdong posted a 17-minute video on the Internet.
The 17-minute interview, not all of it interesting, can be seen via The Shanghaiist.
Bush maize
From Sun Bin, which links to a funny advert from Green Foods (绿色食品) in China.
Different versions of New Year
Yesterday was the start of the Tibetan New Year festival, which lasts for 15 days. Nearly all major Western and Chinese media have reported on Losar, but with varying angles.
From Geoff Dyer at The Financial Times:
Diplomats and reporters who have recently visited Tibetan areas say there is some support for the boycott, although there is also plenty of opposition, including from shops and other service businesses for whom the holiday season is peak business.
Reports are being made by The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, amongst the foreign press.
About how China is handling Losar, see China Daily's report as well as the wealth of pictures in the Chinese papers.
China's attorneys
Peter Ford at The Christian Science Monitor's China bureau writes about the recent forced closure of the Yitong Law Firm, and the range of legal activists who have in the past been detained:
The closure order, which activists here say is unlikely to be overturned at the hearing, is part of "a wider effort to stifle and intimidate lawyers who aspire to defend human rights and the public interest," says Albert Ho, chairman of the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group in Hong Kong. "This is really a very serious matter."
February 25, 2009
A slice of traditional life in Beijing
At Language Log, Victor Mair introduces a music video of Zhang Bohong's "Native Beijinger," along with a transcription and translation of the lyrics.
Who looted those French-Italian animal heads?
Richard Spencer at the Telegraph blogs about the history of the bronze animal heads up for auction in Paris:
According to [Jasper Becker], quoting the British writer Hope Danby who visited in the 1930s, studied the site and spoke to descendants of the contractors who built the fountain (among other researches), the empress of the Daoguang emperor took such a passionate dislike to the fountain (whose heads are, in fact, rather crude in my view, and not as fine as genuinely Chinese bronzes of that or any other period) that she had the animals torn down around 1840.
That of course doesn't answer the question of what happened after that or how they got out of China. The obvious guess is that they were stored somewhere in the Palace gardens, and were indeed looted after the Palace was set on fire. Danby thought they had been melted down - though that is clearly wrong.
Three set themselves on fire in Beijing
From Reuters, via The New York Times, about the incident this afternoon where three people in a car set themselves on fire near Chang'an Avenue, Wangfujing:
Police also removed piles of blankets and cans from the back seat of the car, said the witness, who was passing by on a bicycle and stopped to see what a crowd of around two hundred bystanders were looking at.
By 5:30 pm the area had returned to normal.
Xinhua English news had a report about a hour and a half after the incident, which was updated. There is no statement from Chinese Xinhua at time of writing.
Some photos on the Fengniao forum － before it gets taken off by the Net Nanny.
Update: That post has been taken down. The photos are now circulating online bearing various watermarks; the originals, by user "zxx402502" on the Fengniao BBS: Photo 1, Photo 2.
What plagiarism was not
Via IP Dragon, a paper by Charles R. Stone on traditional Chinese attitudes toward intellectual property, published in the Marquette Law Review.
In this paper Charles makes it plausible that the classical Chinese authors expected their readers to be erudite enough to know what and when they quote and how to interpret these often substantial quotes within the rest of the text. By comparing Chinese classical texts with a legal text that includes references to Supreme Court opinions and quotations, Charles gives his readers (especially the ones with a legal education) the chance to actually experience that the process of interpreting a legal text has in a way many similarities with interpreting a Chinese classical text, which is of course only possible if you have had a classical Mandarin education.
Bronze animal heads appeal blocked
From Maureen Fan at The Washington Post:
... After a cultural group led by a Chinese lawyer who has previously represented Chinese state interests appealed to stop the auction, a Paris court rejected the case and fined the plaintiffs for holding up the sale, which started Monday.
Also from China Daily: fights to stop sale of looted relics.
Beijing's same-sex 'happy couples'
Tania Branigan at The Guardian's China bureau reports on the changing attitudes to homosexual relationships in China, prompted by a Valentines Day demonstration in Beijing.
February 24, 2009
An unprecedented investigation or an unprecedented propaganda stunt?
David Bandurski at the China Media Project explains why the netizen investigation of a prisoner's death in Yunnan is not a step forward for transparency and public oversight:
If you look carefully at the language Wu Hao and others use to talk about this "unprecedented" event, you'll notice it is not at all about more transparent governance, how to better handle policy or law enforcement issues, or how to ensure greater responsibility and oversight.
Let's look again at Wu's now famous line to explain his handling of the "eluding the cat" case:
"As for online public opinion, it is best resolved by the laws of the Internet itself."
As this sentence should make patently clear, Wu's objective is not to "resolve" the investigation into the "eluding the cat" case, to make it fairer or more transparent. His objective is to "resolve" the problem of online opinion itself.
Officials trained to handle social unrest
From the Associated Press:
More than 3,000 county-level public security directors from across the nation will be trained in Beijing by mid-June to improve the response to threats to public security in the provinces, a statement on the Ministry of Public Security's Web site said.
H.S. Liu talks about Chinese media
Well-known photojournalist H.S. Liu recently joined the Modern Media Group. In this interview with Danwei he talks about bringing his international experience to the company, skewed foreign reporting on China, and life in old Beijing.
A brief visit with Jimmy Lai
CNN talks to Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai:
Hailing from southern China, Lai's family was wealthy but marginalized by the communist government. After working as a railway porter boy, Lai dabbled in the black market before being smuggled into Hong Kong when just 12 years old, taking a job as a child laborer and earning just over $1 a month.
"You know I was free. I was full of hope. When I saw people in a Rolls Royce, in a Mercedes Benz, there was no envy, there was no jealousy, there was just hope that one day I was the one that will sit there," he told CNN.
China Daily USA edition
China Daily, everyone's favorite state-run English-language newspaper, launched its American edition with Deputy Editor-in-Chief Qu Yingpu ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ:
"The US Edition is focused on meeting ever-increasing demand for information on doing business with China," says Qu. "NASDAQ's community of technology, business and finance is the perfect place to celebrate this launch."
Targeted at North American businesses and observers of China's changing economic, cultural and political landscape, the U.S. Edition will feature reports of local events related to China in the U.S. It will also have analysis and opinions from American and Chinese thinkers and business leaders, and personal profiles of noted contributors to China and America's growing understanding of each other.
February 23, 2009
The end of a sordid expat episode
A British business consultant in China 'quoted' a government official on the yuan dollar exchange rate, causing strong denials from Chinese government organizations, condemnation by expatriate bloggers in China, and finally his resignation from the company he started.
Update (2009.02.24): It may not be entirely over. The Beijing News reports today that China Briefing may be an "illegal publication" and thus subject to GAPP controls. That's not a completely airtight allegation because the magazine is free and may not actually fall under GAPP supervision, but it is interesting to see a major mainland newspaper following up on the story.
Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust
Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times writes about the empty buildings of Beijing, after its Olympics-related architectural boom:
By Rodman's calculations, 500 million square feet of commercial real estate has been developed in Beijing since 2006, more than all the office space in Manhattan. And that doesn't include huge projects developed by the government. He says 100 million square feet of office space is vacant -- a 14-year supply if it filled up at the same rate as in the best years, 2004 through '06, when about 7 million square feet a year was leased.
74 killed in Gujiao coal mine accident
In a surprisingly frank article, China Daily reports on the explosion at Tunlan Coal Mine, situated in Gujiao city, 60km west of Taiyuan:
A total of 57 rescuers, some from other places including Taiyuan, were involved in the rescue operation, a local police officer said.
But Gujiao residents said the number was not enough.
"The rescue team here with the mine is severely understaffed as the headquarters is based in Taiyuan," Kang Changqing, a former Tunlan miner who lives nearby, told China Daily.
What the Chinese want from Obama
From New York Times' Room for Debate blog, Michael Meyer, Daniel A. Bell, Andy Xie and Zhang Haibin air their views on what the Chinese people are expecting from the new administration, following Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit.
Mark Kitto's China Cuckoo
Interview with Mark Kitto, whose struggles with his that's magazine publishing partners have been widely reported. Kitto has authored a book, China Cuckoo.
National security in China's Special Administrative Regions
At China Elections, Suzanne Pepper writes on the Protection of National Security bill that will probably be approved this month:
The great irony is that while many concerned Chinese are looking forward to a day when progressive change can bring an end to such constraints, Macau and Hong Kong are being forced to move in the opposite direction. They will be subject to the same kinds of laws that are a constant threat to all forms of critical political expression elsewhere in China. Hence for Macau and Hong Kong, the price of patriotism has suddenly grown much heavier than the 50-year guarantee of political protection originally implied because the local way of life will have changed irrevocably long before that guarantee has expired.
A book doctor at the National Library
Xinhua talks to Du Weisheng, a book repair specialist at the National Library of China, about the past and future of rare book repair:
"Now, universities teach book repair courses. That's good because students can learn the whole set of skills systematically," he said.
"An apprentice will inherit both skills and flaws from his teacher, even a bias against other schools of repair techniques," Du said. "It's best to get systematic training in a school and then follow a master for further education."
February 22, 2009
Internet investigators visit detention center
Global Voices Online translates some online postings regarding the group of Internet representatives recruited to investigate a detention center where a prisoner died, reportedly from injuries sustained during a game of "eluding the cat". They haven't been too successful:
The deputy of the investigation team "marginal citizen" said, members wanted to see Pu and other detainers who were in the jail with Li Qiaoming, but the deputy chief justice in the county said that according to the law, such kind of interview is not procedural and rejected their demand. The committee also requested to see the Close circuit television, the government said that they could disclose whether such tapes exist or not, according to regulations and non-disclosure principle, what they are demanding is not within the law.
Meanwhile, other Internet users suspect that the representatives are part of the system they are ostensibly investigating - they are all current or former media professionals. The representatives have denied being part of a conspiracy:
As for the selection process, Tail End of the Wind has his own speculation: "If the active netizens in Yunnan are not selected and only a few netizens whom nobody has ever heard of are chosen instead, this netizen investigative team would be subjected to even more doubts. The netizens would say that these are sock-puppets from the publicity department."
February 20, 2009
Photocopying punk art in Beijing and California
When Pierre Fuller went to Kinkos in Beijing to photocopy some CD jacket art from a punk show, the reaction from the staff was "political"; when he tried in California, the reaction was "illegal":
The attendant lifted the thing to her face and, yes, things got uncomfortable. There was no mistaking the message on the graphic's palace backdrop to the Chairman: fanzui xiangfa, pohuai (criminals minds, destroy). And I felt a bit awkward walking in as an American with this suggestive graphic...
Thanks Paul for the tip.
Beijing Sanlitun drugs seizure results in proprietors' arrest
From China Daily's round-up of news from the north (China Scene: North):
Seven bar and cafe bosses from Beijing's famous Sanlitun bar street got 12 or 36 months in prison for allowing drug use on their premises.
Liu Hailiang and six other managers of the bars were found guilty of turning their bars into drug-use places for patrons, including foreigners, for about a year.
Acting on a tip, the police raided the bars where more than 2,400 grams of heroin and marijuana were seized, along with 36 drug users, including some foreigners suspected of drug trafficking and other related crimes.
The original Chinese article, from China News, ran with the headline "Seven managers sentenced after allowing Westerners to take drugs".
China's biggest car-maker launches first hybrid, second in China
Reuters and the International Herald Tribune reports that Chery Automobile has debuted a new plug-in hybrid model, the S18, the second hybrid launched in China. From the IHT:
The state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily cited an unnamed company official as saying that Chery will first supply the vehicles to government agencies for trial use and then introduce them to the retail market within a year.
The Reuters report, Chery Auto unveils first self-made electric car, can be found here.
Baidu: In search of profits amid China's slowdown
Forbes discusses Baidu's woes:
Baidu is slowing down, dogged by a loss of unlicensed advertisers and China's rapid economic deceleration. Coming down from its meteoric profit growth, the Chinese search giant will now likely cast a more stringent eye on costs as it pursues global ambitions beyond traditional search, extending its purview to online gaming and shopping.
Loyalty amid growing social discontent
John Chan at the Fourth International's World Socialist Web Site discusses recent military and economic moves made by the Chinese government:
The state unions, which police workers on behalf of the government, once loudly proclaimed that they would enforce the new labour law. Now the unions have changed their tune. In November, Kong Xianghong, the vice chairman of the Guangdong branch of the All China Federation of Trade Unions declared: "Since most companies are having a tough time at present, we will temporarily stop collective bargaining. It will be resumed depending on the economic situation." In other words, when it is most needed, the unions have declared their willingness to abandon any legal restriction on capitalist exploitation.
An interview with Lai Changxing
Southern Weekly interviews notorious fugitive Lai Changxing, who has just been granted a work permit in Canada. Dylan at the China Student Blog translates:
He can say that for his continued existance, it was hard work every step of the way. This perhaps is what his lawyer has taught him. No one suspected that Lai Changxing's could make it to this point, except for his money. But China has not been able to get past his formidable lawyer, David Mateas, known in Canadian legal circles as perhaps one of Canada's number one human rights lawyers, recently decorated by the Governor General, receiving the highest honor a Canadian resident can be granted -- the Order of Canada.
February 19, 2009
Ship sinks, Chinese sailors lost in Russian waters
From China Daily:
Seven Chinese sailors are missing after a Chinese cargo ship sank in Russian waters near Japan on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday...
The Global Times, a Chinese language newspaper based in Beijing, said yesterday the ship was fired on by the Russian navy before it sank, citing a Russian newspaper.
The Xinhua report of the story details that it was a Sierra Leone flagged ship, and the report from Global Times (Chinese) which says that "the warship shot at least 500 rounds onto the ship and forced it to sail back toward the port in force 6 winds."
Call for direct elections in Lawyer Association may close Yitong law firm
Oiwan Lam at Global Voices Online summarizes lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan's activities over the past two days in relation to the Justice Bureau of Haidian district:
Beijing blogger-lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan has been harassed by authority due to his involvement in the call for direct election of the Beijing Lawyer Association...
According to Liu's blogpost yesterday (17 of Feb): two days ago, 16 of February, the Justice Bureau of Haidian District issued a notice to Liu's Law Firm, stating that there are "personnel who haven't required lawyer's license providing service".
Looting in 1860 and 1900
The Edge of the American West, which has been running a series of posts about the Boxer Rebellion, comments on the looting of Chinese treasures by western forces, in light of the upcoming auction of two bronzes taken from the Old Summer Palace in 1860:
Interestingly, the Chinese today may be on firmer legal ground demanding the return of looted objects from 1900 than from 1859-60. There was, as far as I know, no international prohibition against looting in the earlier war, while the Hague Convention of 1899 (to which all the western powers in China were signatories) had outlawed the practice.
Did "pure fabrication" move the yuan market?
The chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission reportedly revealed in a recent interview that the RMB may weaken against the dollar. However, that interview apparently did not actually take place. China Law Blog comments:
There are a number of very basic lessons to be learned from all this:
- Tell the truth.
- If you are going to report on a conversation with a Chinese government official, make sure you have permission to do so; if you do not have permission, do not make any attributions to a particular person and keep the statements at least somewhat vague.
- If you are going to issue a story with such clear potential to move markets, make sure you have your facts straight before doing so.
- If you are going to issue a story with so much potential to move markets and then your facts get questioned, hire a top level PR agency.
February 18, 2009
A Tibetan slap on the bum
On the Reuters China blog, Emma Graham-Harrison describes some encounters with Tibetan traditions.
Who stabbed ProState in Flames?
ProState in Flames, a widely-followed blogger who reposts fascinating articles, was stabbed after a February 14 book talk. Bloggers react.
Snags in China's new ISBN allocation system
Under a new GAPP system for assigning book numbers, Guangdong starts the year unable to legally publish books.
A Yangtze River trip during the economic slump
An interview with Telegraph journalist Malcolm Moore, who is travelling through Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Trade union official warns against "hostile forces"
Reuters summarizes a report on ACFTU vice-chairman's Sun Chunlan's remarks during a teleconference:
Sun Chunlan, vice-chairman of the state-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions, said that police taskforces had been "rushed" to all regions to "understand the situation with regional social stability," the Beijing News paraphrased him as saying during a teleconference with officials.
Authorities needed to rigorously guard against "hostile forces within and outside China using the difficulties of some enterprises to infiltrate and bring trouble to rural migrant workers," Sun said. He did not elaborate.
Blogger Lian Yue posted a link to the Chinese-language article, pairing it with a recent report accusing major IT companies of using sweatshop labor in Dongguan (related article in English).
Eluding the cat
A prisoner dies after playing hide and seek, or "eluding the cat." ESWN translates the police explanation and the ensuing online meme.
Earlier on Danwei: Let's play hide the cat
February 17, 2009
Culture important for ties
China brings its culture to Mauritius as President Hu Jintao visits:
Janice Adelaide, 22, has been learning Chinese dance there for three years. The marketing salesperson with Emcar Co loves the art more than local dances.
"Chinese dances are more graceful, and the teachers are nice," she said.
A Chinese couple from the China National Dance Troupe has been teaching since 2005. The pair went back to China six months ago, but found they missed Mauritius.
"My wife missed the girls so we came back," Geng Jun said.
Jackie Chan film too violent for mainland
From the Associated Press:
Hong Kong director Derek Yee... considered toning down the violence in "Shinjuku Incident" so it could pass censorship in China, but decided not to because he thought it would hurt the integrity of the movie...
"We tried to cut the violent scenes to meet the requirements of the Chinese market, but producers I invited to watch that version thought it was incomplete," he said.
Yee said Chan, who invested in the movie, agreed with his decision.
Zen and the art of online data
Michael Rank writes for The Guardian about the Dunhuang Project, a large computer database that collects Buddhism-related materials:
The International Dunhuang Project (IDP), based at the British Library in London, is an ever-growing digital assemblage that makes it possible to study online around 160,000 images of 80,000 objects dug up in the deserts of Chinese central Asia and now in institutions across Europe, Asia and North America.
But China never invaded any country
This week marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Sino-Vietnamese War. Jeremiah Jenne at Granite Studio notes this, quoting also from The Guardian:
On this date in 1979, the PLA launched a massive invasion of Vietnam with 200,000 troops supported by artillery, and armor.* The assault was an attempt by Beijing to punish that country for toppling the PRC-backed Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia, developing closer ties with the Soviet union, and the treatment of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam.
February 16, 2009
Comic reduplication meets historical reduplication
Sinosplice introduces a traditional iteration mark and an interesting contemporary variation.
Jail terms for online sports gambling racket
Xinhua reports that a Shanghai court has handed down jail terms for twenty people involved in a "1-billion U.S.-dollar online soccer gambling case":
"This is possibly the country's biggest online gambling case," said Zhang Minxian, spokesman for the court.
The gang started its business in the summer of 2006, when the soccer World Cup was held in Germany.
The trio of Qian, Zou and Liu opened accounts on several overseas gambling websites and began to develop a network of agents and gamblers.
"We've heard some villages are messy"
For McClatchy Newspapers, Tim Johnson writes about the status of low-level democracy in China, which can be spun in a number of different ways:
"Nowhere else have people in China tasted or tried electoral competition except at this level," said Liu Yawei, director of the China Program at the Carter Center, the nonprofit Atlanta-based group founded by former President Jimmy Carter.
Even reports of vote buying hold a measure of encouragement, Liu said.
"If you look at the ferocity of campaigning - even candidates paying 50 yuan (roughly $7) per vote - you see this intensity of participation," Liu said.
Working at a Chinese import store
Jeff Keller, a freelance Chinese translator living in the US, writes about working at a seasonal store selling Chinese-made products:
I also liked the store because the owner spends a lot of time getting to know his customers and what they want. At first when I was unpacking the boxes I thought "oh no, more cheap Chinese crap that nobody here really needs." Now it's true that nobody here really needs most of the stuff, but I was completely blown away when during the first week everyone kept talking about how beautiful everything was and how great the store was.
February 15, 2009
Blogger/journalist stabbed in Beijing
Following a book lecture at the One Way Street bookstore yesterday, Xu Lai, a journalist for The Beijing News who keeps a popular links blog under the name ProState in Flames, was stabbed by two unknown assailants. Black and White Cat translates a report from Southern Metropolis Daily:
Xu Lai's wife later told Guo that after the talk, two men forced Xu Lai into the mens toilet. She felt something was wrong so she pushed her way in to see what was going on and discovered the two men were attacking him. One was holding a vegetable knife, the other holding a dagger. One of them was preparing to hack Xu Lai's hand with the vegetable knife. Having been discovered, the two men rushed out of the shop and ran in the direction of Chang'an Avenue. They were chased, but they got away. Someone at the scene took a blurred picture of the attackers and there's a cctv camera on the street so it should be possible to obtain a true likeness of the attackers.
Xu's life is not in danger. There's a lot of discussion among netizens about whether the attack could have been motivated by something he posted on his blog.
Driven mad by the Chinese education system
The Carter Center's China Elections website translates a complaint by a senior high student (by Zhang Rui, originally published in Southern Weekly, translation by Heather Saul):
One day I brought in a book, The Collected Stories of Guy Maupassant, and it was confiscated. The head teacher said this book was useless in improving my grades and that these kinds of books only lead students into decadence and depravation. The next day after class I was flipping through a book of short essays and it too was confiscated. The head teacher would not even let me write small articles on my own because she believes that it is a waste of time to write anything unless it is required by the literature teacher.
The head teacher called my parents and told them to come to the school. She told them that the headaches were because I read too many books.
February 14, 2009
Witchcraft: Blizzard
The Chaile blog translates an article that appeared on China Court Online about the problems gaming company Blizzard has encountered while trying to bring Starcraft: Ghost to China:
About the rejection, SAIC gave us a reason that "STARCRAFT:GHOST comes under the kind of words that tend to produce negative influence, for containing the meaning of astrology and spirit, which are overtly against socialist moral standards.
The "ghosts" of Blizzard's new game are psychic espionage operatives, not the undead.
Netizens enchanted by obscene beasts
The Grass Mud Horse (草泥马) is the most famous of the Ten Legendary Beasts of Baidu, fake encyclopedia entries that pun on dirty words. Also, the story of ideological hero Wei Guangzheng, a hoax entry of a different sort.
Conversations in Chongqing
Xujun Eberlein records a conversation with a Chongqing taxi driver, and with a migrant worker:
Me: Shifu, you seem to be in a bad mood.
Driver (upset): I just got fined! The police fined me for tailgating his car! But there was a private car between me and him. What the fuck! Why did he skip the private car but take on a taxi? Some sort of revenge?
Me: Didn't you reason with him?
Driver: What's the use! They don't care!
Media reform in China by the end of 2010, says GAPP
Startling news, if true:
Today's China Youth Daily reports that the General Administration of Press and Publication, the national media regulating body, has declared: "By the end of 2010, all for-profit news media and publishing entities will be decoupled from the government institutions they are affiliated with and transformed into separate companies. The government will no longer place restrictions on them in terms of ISBN numbers, publication licenses, and content."
February 13, 2009
Choosing a household registration
Chris at the bezdomny ex patria blog translates an article about a family who encountered problems when trying to get a rural registration for their child:
Villager Mr Sun of Liqiao Township, Shunyi District called this newspaper's hotline saying that he and his wife both had Beijing agricultural residence registrations, and wanted their child to enter an agricultural residence registration. When they went to the township Family Planning Office to undertake the procedures last week, a worker informed them that according to the rules the child's residence registration could only be entered as non-agricultural, otherwise it would not be processed.
Home-buying tours continue
This AP article is the latest in a series of reports about Chinese investors touring the US in search of cheap real estate. The tours, organized by SouFun Holdings, have brought more than 100 prospective buyers to the US since the end of 2008.
An article about the tours that ran in the Los Angeles Times in December put price targets between US$200,000 and $300,000; the AP article reports that this tour will look at properties "foreclosed properties priced at $300,000 to $800,000."
See also: The Chinese Are Coming, Part XVII on the China Law Blog.
The real Nu River story
At China Dialogue, Ding Yuanfang picks apart a one-sided CCTV documentary on the controversial Nu River hydroelectric project:
The programmes claimed the dams would do nothing more than bring bridges and roads, create jobs, improve housing, provide water and electricity, increase tax revenues, relieve poverty and bring economic development.
If only that were true. The series was not objective and the viewer was not presented with all the facts about the Nu River debate. The information was filtered selectively, and no consideration was given to long-term development or the environment. Its stance was in complete agreement with the interests of the local government and dam developers. How credible is a journalistic voice when it speaks solely for the interests of political or business groupings?
February 12, 2009
Twelve detained, angry reactions online
From the Economic Observer Online, Nicholas Ray and Liu Peng cover the twelve that have been detained for the TVCC fire, and outlines angry online responses.
Bird flu: outbreak in Xinjiang
Josh at the Far West China blog highlights the threat of a potential bird flu outbreak with one death, 519 culled chickens, and 13,000 more birds killed in Xinjiang province.
Determining the prosperity level of the people (part II)
ESWN translates from China National Radio about telephone polls in Qidong, Haimen, Tongzhou and other districts of Nantong city in Jiangsu province asking about the prosperity level of the people:
Local cadres asked the interviewees to use previously distributed standard answers. Many elementary and secondary schools even had a day off so that the students can memorize the answers and "assist" their parents to deal with the telephone poll.
Earlier at Danwei, a post on the people of Shiqiao, a town in Nanjing's Pukou District, who received a list of sixteen questions and answers before phone-calls inquiring into their happiness levels.
Chinese footballers now can transfer, finally
China Sports Review notes the Chinese Football Association's response to Zhou Haibin's transfer from Shandong Luneng FC to the Dutch squad PSV Eindhoven: where CFA rules conflict with FIFA, the international body's regulations prevail.
They're the ones who need to learn the law
Chris Buckley reports on China's "black jails" for Reuters (via the International Herald Tribune).
February 11, 2009
Chinese publishing industry bullish for 2009
China Daily discusses the state's effort in boosting its publishing sector, and hot stocks as a result.
March 14 riot participators sentenced
The China Daily reports, alongside with AP, about the recent sentencing in Tibet:
Courts in Tibet have so far meted out sentences to 76 people involved in the March 14 riot last year in the capital city of Lhasa, a senior Tibetan official said.
Civil servants paid in coupons to go shopping
A sign that the Chinese government is encouraging domestic spending in the face of the economic recession? From China Daily:
Civil servants in Hangzhou are to receive part of their wages in shopping vouchers, the city's Party chief Wang Guoping said on Monday.
"About 5 to 10 percent of their salaries will be paid in the form of consumption coupons," Wang was quoted as saying by the Metropolitan Express.
Reporting on the CCTV fire
A collection of netizen and mainstream media coverage of the fire that broke out in the TVCC building in the new CCTV complex on Monday night.
Live on the Net: Beijing's big fire
Juliet Ye at the Wall Street Journal China Journal tracks a cross-section of online reactions during the TVCC blaze, including a translation from Pan Shiyi's blog, as well the role of citizen reporting during the fire.
TVCC was never a very lucky building
Bert de Muynck, architect writer and co-director of MovingCities, writes for the Arbitare website his afterthoughts on the fire.
February 10, 2009
CCTV's own fireworks to blame in CCTV fire
Xinhua reports on a mid-day press conference about last night's fire that gutted the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the new CCTV complex:
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space....Four camcorders recorded the fireworks display and the entire ignition process, [Fire Control spokesperson] Luo said.
He said these fireworks were much more powerful and explosive than what was available at roadside stalls during the Spring Festival and therefore needed approval from the municipal government before being allowed in the downtown areas.
"Owners of the property ignored policemen's warnings that such fireworks were not allowed," Luo said.
CCTV has issued a statement:
CCTV is deeply distressed over the great loss of state assets this fire has caused, and it sincerely apologizes to people in the surrounding area for gridlock and other inconveniences this has created.
Reading the "feng shui index" in Hong Kong
In the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Cheng writes about predictions for the Year of the Ox from some of Hong Kong's fengshui masters:
"The incoming U.S. president and [Treasury] secretary were both born in the Year of the Ox," said one client. "Is that a problem?"
Mr. Yeo's answer: Yes. The pair of oxen in charge of the U.S. economy could be an accident waiting to happen. Hold out until after January 2010 before investing in the U.S., he advised.
Five-year-old news about film ratings
A Beijing newspaper quotes Tong Gang, the head of the Film Bureau, about an upcoming ratings system. Unfortunately, the quote was lifted from an interview done in 2004.
Gordon, Boris, and Jiabao
Chen Taihe, who writes on the law blog provider The Lyceum, discusses the Wen Jiabao shoe throwing incident.
Chinese art to be tax free?
From Art News via Shanghai Eye:
A Shanghai government backed company has established a special center for tax free trade in artworks in the Waigaoqiao special trade zone. Waigaoqiao is a large bonded area, home to more than 150 large corporations, who use the area to manufacture industrial products, predominantly for export. Ren Yibiao, Chairman of OICT, the company in charge of the new center, and also CFO and vice President of Jinwin Investment, a large Shanghai government backed investment group, in an exclusive interview with Art Newspaper explained that the Shanghai government has created a series of new regulations relating to tax refunds and tax free incentives especially for the new art trade center. Its formal English language name is the "Shanghai Oriental International Cultural Service and Trade Platform" (OICT).
February 9, 2009
North building of CCTV complex catches fire
The northern building of the new CCTV complex, which houses the future Mandarin Oriental Hotel and TVCC offices, caught fire on Monday night at around 9:00; click for video.
Douban cleans house
At Global Voices Advocacy, Oiwan Lam translates a list of Douban discussion groups that have been shut down in recent days during an "anti-vulgarity" campaign that is targeting much more than plain smut.
Deletion notices are being collected at the Douban Delete blog.
Shenzhen knock-off phones in the mainland
Gady Epstein reports on China's shanzhai culture, especially shanzhai phones, for Forbes magazine:
Regardless of the state of the global economy, one robust sector that adjusts as efficiently as any other in the world is the Chinese black market. Despite years of official rhetoric about cracking down on pirated products, the urge to make a quick buck through imitation remains so entrenched in China that it has matured into a celebrated culture of its own.
Chinese people are 2008 movers and shakers, says state
From China Daily:
Special Award for the entire Chinese nation, which showed determination, courage and wisdom in the face of disasters as well as victories [in 2008].
China's future: optimistic and riot-proof?
Mike at Shenzhen Undercover blog muses on the unemployment riots in the south, and whether the government successfully negotiated for economic stability with their people.
China's influence in Latin America
Tim Johnson at McClatchy Newspapers analyzes the trading relationship between China and Latin America:
Another sign of Chinese interest: Beijing has agreed to open branches of the China Development Bank in Mexico, Brazil and two other countries, a sign of intensified trade cooperation. My understanding is that this is a quasi-private bank.
Chemical cloud-seeding to fight drought
From the Associated Press:
Beijing has declared an emergency across China's north, where 4.4 million people lack adequate drinking water and winter wheat crops are withering...
Some areas got a sprinkling of rain and sleet Saturday and Sunday after clouds were hit with 2,392 rockets and 409 cannon shells loaded with chemicals, the weather bureau said.
February 7, 2009
Who should have rights to the City?
Shenzhen Noted muses about the hukou system and Shenzhen identity.
February 6, 2009
Foreign businesses closing down in Shanghai?
At his Telegraph blog, Malcolm Moore writes about foreign ventures that are bolting from Shanghai, leaving local staff in the lurch:
This is a scene that is being played out across China's coastal regions, as companies go bust without paying their staff. There have been reports that the police have had to frogmarch some bosses down to the local bank to force them to pay out.
...
But these cases tend to occur in low-cost factories. The difference this morning is that it was foreign owners who seem to have bolted, as their costs piled up.
Baidu's search functions: malpractice and shrinking shares
Bloomberg news' Mark Lee, John Liu and Joseph Galante reports:
Chen Chen was so disappointed when he learned that Baidu Inc.'s Web site led some patients to seek unlicensed medical care, he started making Web queries through Google Inc. instead.
An exploding cell phone, or a homemade gun?
Guangzhou shop assistant was killed when his mobile phone exploded. Or was he? New reports suggest he was carrying a zip gun that accidentally went off.
China doubles down in Africa
Evan Osnos, who is reporting for the New Yorker magazine from China, blogs about the relationship between China and Africa:
Though China's ties to Africa are sometimes overstated by political conservatives in Washington, its sponsorship and support has emerged as no less important to the continent than that of the United States.
Worst drought in 50 years
From China Daily:
The central government decided to earmark another 300 million yuan (US$44 million) as drought relief fund in additional to 100 million yuan already allocated. The fund will be used to buy agricultural machinery and other production materials.
Also from the Associated Press: Millions lack drinking water as drought worsens in China. Yesterday Xinhua reported that there has not been rainfall in Beijing for 100 days.
Japan told to keep away from Diaoyu islands
According to the China Daily, Japan has been anchoring vessels near the Diaoyu Islands (钓鱼岛), which lies between Taiwan and Okinawa:
"Any move by Japan to control the islands is violating China's sovereignty over its territory, (it) is illegal..." Jiang Yu told a regular briefing. "(Japan) should stop it immediately."
China's sovereignty over the islands is "beyond question", she said.
"TV" is against the rules
Nearly half of the country's satellite TV stations, including CCTV, have logos that include English-language abbreviations. This is against the law, says the Ministry of Education.
The Lenovo retreat
The Silicon Hutong discusses the lessons that can be learned from Lenovo, where Chairman and former CEO Yang Yuanqing is replacing Bill Amelio as CEO:
First and most important, as Chinese companies look to expand beyond the borders of the People's Republic, they should now see that mergers and acquisitions are no substitute for a global marketing plan. I am not certain what Lenovo thought it was buying when it purchased the IBM PC business, but if Lenovo thought it was purchasing a market position, it was wrong.
Shanghai Scrap also comments,
I have to think that the decision to dump its "international" CEO and return to its Chinese roots (despite its expensive int'l PC business) might be cause for a bit of buyer's remorse. Would Lenovo, if it could, make that acquisition, again?
February 5, 2009
Journalism training at a state-owned media startup
Son of Shenzhen Zen writes about how a crew of recruits at the People's Daily's new attempt to launch a competitor to the China Daily handled the Wen Jiabao shoe incident.
Top 10 Chinese singles
The Netease report on the Chinese Internet of 2008 has obviously made an impact. After linking to 56minus1 who talked about the "10 top tens" Ed Peto at OUTdustry has now provided a run-down as well as videos of the top ten songs searched for in 2008.
History is very dangerous
At the China Media Project, David Bandurski posts a translation of a Yanhuang Chunqiu article by Chinese scholar Zi Zhongyun, as well as an insight into the eradication of history in the Chinese media.
Danwei translated Zi Zhongyun's article, Realizing the Right of Expression Requires Institutional Guarantees, also from Yanhuang Chunqiu in May 2008.
Deadly drugs found in Sichuan
From China Daily:
The health authorities in southwest China's Sichuan Province have found 215 bottles of a counterfeit diabetes drug that last month caused two deaths and hospitalized nine others in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Wokai: Rural micro-credit for China
A Q&A with Wokai, a non-profit organization committed to enabling people in China to lift themselves from poverty.
February 4, 2009
Yuxi cholera outbreak 'under control'
From Gokunming.com:
Officials in Yuxi have announced that a previously unreported cholera outbreak that infected at least 47 people is now under control, with no deaths reported.
Chinese, Muslim - and proud of it
At Inside Indonesia, Anne Dickson profiles a Chinese Muslim community in Surabaya:
Just a few years ago, public displays of Chinese culture were forbidden, and a celebration like this would have been unimaginable. But even in reformasi Indonesia, this was a Chinese New Year celebration with a difference. The Gala Dinner was hosted by the Chinese Muslim Association of Indonesia (PITI). An Islamic song or two featured alongside Chinese items. In a brief address, a leader of PITI wished everyone a happy Chinese New Year and thanked those who had donated to flood victims through the organisation.
Via the Islam in China blog.
China quake protester formally charged
From the New York Times via UPI:
The wife of jailed Chinese human rights activist Huang Qi says her husband has been charged with illegal possession of state secrets.
Northern China experiencing serious drought
From China Daily:
By February 2, 141 million mu wheat in six major grain production provinces, including Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi, were hit by drought, Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said at a video conference called to coordinate drought relief efforts.
Spring Festival greeting recession taboos
From City Weekend:
With the misfortune of the crisis touching China, China's 'white collars' are heading back to the office trying to avoid New Year's greetings that could be misconstrued as bad omens, changing long-held traditions.
As reported in the Guangzhou Daily, at least three common phrases are now on the way out because they sound similar to omens of layoffs and misfortune all to common amid the economic downturn.
February 3, 2009
The peaceful liberation of Beiping
According to The Beijinger blog, the PLA marched (peacefully) into Beijing － then Beiping － 60 years ago today. An anniversary to celebrate?
Hong Kong Govt adviser claims China has Bird Flu
From Bloomberg:
China has suffered an outbreak of bird flu among poultry even though the mainland government has yet to report such an incident, said Lo Wing-Lok, a Hong Kong government adviser on infectious diseases.
"There's no doubt of an outbreak of bird flu in China, though the government hasn't admitted it," Lo said in a telephone interview today.
Hu Jintao to travel to Africa and Saudi Arabia next week
Hu Jintao is now scheduling his overseas tour － announced after Wen Jiabao had a shoe thrown at him in Europe. From AFP:
China announced Tuesday that President Hu Jintao would visit Africa and Saudi Arabia in his first overseas trip of 2009.
Hu will travel to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius, as well as Saudi Arabia, from February 10 to 17, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
Netease's ten top 10s for 2008
56minus1 summarizes Netease's Chinese Internet top 10s from their "2008 China Internet Communication Report."
India bans toys manufactured in China for six months
From Asia Times Online via China Digital Times:
Significantly, the toy ban came a day after India expressed objections to Pakistan "outsourcing" its foreign policy to China, with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on January 22 giving China a "blank check" to negotiate with India in resolving the crisis in relations sparked by the November 26, 2008, terrorist strike in Mumbai.
China vows to avoid involving police in rural social unrest?
From People's Daily Online:
The government would not use police forces as the first resort to dealing with possible social unrest in rural areas this year, a senior Chinese official said Monday.
Fosun becomes Sina's largest shareholder
From Caijing English:
Fosun international has become Sina's largest shareholder after a share swap, raising concerns about a possible shareholding fight.
Shoe thrown at Wen Jiabao
Giving a speech at Cambridge University, a man threw a shoe that landed near the stage where Wen stood (video from Youtube).
Bob Chen at Global Voices translates some Chinese reactions.
February 2, 2009
Baldy Li, Little Butt-peeper, the King of Butts...
Yu Hua's novel "Brothers" will be appearing in an English translation this month. Author Ben Ehrenreich reviews "Brothers: A Novel", translated by Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Carlos Rojas, for the Los Angeles Times.
Sino-African trade in 2008: more than $100 billion
Xinhua reports:
Sino-African trade reached a 'historic' level of 106.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, China's Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.
Bilateral trade was 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 but has since grown at an average year-on-year rate of more than 30 percent, the ministry said.
China's cumulative investment in Africa from 2000 to 2008 was more than 5 billion U.S. dollars, according to the ministry.
Shanzhai Gala videos blocked
The Shanzhai Spring Festival Gala, a grass-roots alternative to CCTV's annual extravaganza, can't be found on major video hosts, and the show's name has become a "sensitive word."
Two steps forward, one step back
Ping Ke (平客) wrote an extensive review of Internet incidents in China for Southern Weekend, which was then translated into English by ESWN.
On the African community in Guangzhou
For The New Yorker magazine online, Evan Osnos "narrates an audio slide show about the economic, social, and religious life of African migrants in Guangzhou."
London interview: message from Wen Jiabao
The Financial Times' Lionel Barber, Geoff Dyer, James Kynge and Lifen Zhang have interviewed Premier Wen Jiabao in London, with a glossy image of a healthy radiant "mandarin":
An eclectic reader, Mr Wen says that when he travels he always carries a copy of The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith, the Scottish economist, which lays out the moral underpinnings for governing societies - and market economies.
A song about Zuola the Chinese citizen blogger
From the music blog, One Weekly Gun, which posts one original song per week, commenting on world news. Danish musician Peter Fritzen has decided that the Chinese citizen blogger, Zuola, is worthy of a song this week. Lyrics include:
"Mean little tweeta
Coming down to beat ya
Can't have no pioneer"
A background on the blog, from All Scandinavian, and a version of the post in Chinese (the song remains in English).
February 1, 2009
15 dead in Fujian fireworks blaze
From Xinhua:
Fifteen people were confirmed dead and 22 others injured when fireworks set fire to a bar in east China's Fujian Province Saturday night, the local government said.
A Latin-style bar and restaurant in Changle City caught fire at around 11:55 p.m., when about 10 young men and women at a birthday party set off fireworks on their table, a city government spokesman said early Sunday.
Liberal democracy traded in for cash?
Davesgonechina at the Mutant Palm blog covers misperceptions in China and the West of Charter 08. See also Planet China, Planet America, about how Chinese and Americans differ in what they see as the major issues facing China at the moment.