Must-read China news by Danwei

Update: Could it all be just a malicious rumor? ESWN translates the latest reports, which quote Fang Jing denying that she was a spy, or that she was detained.

The China Daily previously reported in a now-deleted article that Fang Jing (方静) had been taken away by public security forces for espionage charges (for Taiwan):

Sources with CCTV also confirmed Thursday that Fang had been "taken away for a possible spy probe".

She was rumored to have been seduced by a man from Taiwan who was "eight years younger than her" and to have received money from him, the sources said.

Fang had been member of the all-star line-up at some of the largest live broadcasts in CCTV history, including the three-day live coverage of the return of Hong Kong to the mainland in 1997 and live coverage of the millennium celebrations.

She started working for CCTV in 1994 after graduating from China's top school for broadcast journalists and spent four months at Harvard University in Boston as a visiting scholar.

Zhou Yijun (aka Ah Yi) posted an oblique reference to Fang's arrest on his blog, but that's been called into question now.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:22 PM | Permalink

From the Global Times:

"It looks like the local government still think it's too early to have such fans' things," said Professor Mao Shoulong, associate dean of the Academy of Public Policy in Renmin University of China, Beijing. "They may still worry about some radical comments and reactions of fans on the Internet will endanger the stability of local society."

Said Professor Liu Qinglong of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, "A site based on pure grass roots usually lacks efficient management, and communication can easily get out of control.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:32 PM | Permalink

A second letter to James Fallows about flu quarantining hysteria, this time from the daughter of a Chinese-American who tested positive for the virus:

My mother is now racked with guilt for having inconvenienced so many people but she is also feeling somewhat betrayed. A seemingly innocuous visit to her office has now been labeled as an "incident" by the government (murder would also be placed in the "incident" category). Everyone who works for the institute has to attend a meeting to learn about H1N1 prevention and the heads of the institute have been summoned to report to officials in Beijing. We didn't know any of this was happening in the outside world but one of mom's co-workers called to tell her. In that same conversation, he not so subtly suggested that my dad, who is still in the US for a conference, should voluntarily quarantine himself for a week upon his return to China.

A picture of my mother in her hospital bed was taken and released to the media without her permission. Although they have not gone as far as to reveal her name, they have released enough personal information (including where she lives and works) to have made it very easy to identify her.

Previousl: A mediation on the threat of swine flu by James Fallows, and a letter from a Chinese-born American citizens on being forcibly quarantined in Shanghai for being on the same plan as a swine flu carrier.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 2:33 PM | Permalink

From Boston.com:

You've heard a lot about Tiananmen Square lately, since Thursday was the 20th anniversary of the Chinese government's brutal crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators.

What you might not have heard about is how a leader of that crushed movement is trying to put the boot into a pillar of democracy right here in Boston.

The comments thread is worth a read too.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 11:20 AM | Permalink

The China Daily reports that China will not so much be affected by flu outbreak as by the pact on import/export and tourism after the WHO declared an epidemic last night:

The fragile recovery in the Chinese and global economies has been dealt a blow with the H1N1 flu outbreak declared a pandemic Thursday night.

Analysts and experts in China said the announcement would have a significant impact on the country's travel, tourism and foreign trade sectors.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 10:45 AM | Permalink

Footage on Youtube: Kim Jong Il's son's Kim Jong Nan denies he has defected from the DPRK and talks about his father's succession plans -- "My father ... does not need to talk to me".

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:17 AM | Permalink

Quirky Beijing blogs about one of the novel amenities provided by Orange Hotels.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:45 AM | Permalink

From Shanghaiist:

Up until yesterday, it'd been smooth sailing for Shanghai's first Pride week. But as of Wednesday afternoon, the festival, a celebration of gay pride and social tolerance, ran into some problems with the authorities.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:03 PM | Permalink

ChinaSMACK translates more Internet reactions about the Green Dam project from forums, with an especially disturbing images distorted from the front page of the Green Dam download site.

Separate Mop image here.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:10 PM | Permalink

Reuters reports:

Li Fangping, a Beijing human rights advocate who often embraces controversial causes, has asked the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to allow hearings on the "lawfulness and reasonableness" of the demand, which takes effect from July 1 and was publicized only this week.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 2:53 PM | Permalink

From Xinhua:

Starting this weekend, archeological workers will dig through the northern section of the number one pit, most of which has been excavated during the previous two efforts. The upcoming excavation will cover an area of two hundred square meters. The dig is expected to make new discoveries about the imperial life of more than 2,200 years ago.

The site of the terra cotta warriors was discovered by local farmers in 1974. The first excavation was carried out between 1978 and 1984. Covering some 2,000 square meters, it unearthed more than a thousand terra cotta soldiers. In 1985, the second effort began. But it lasted only one year because of a lack of advanced technology to carry out the challenging task.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 11:24 AM | Permalink

Josh Summers at Far West China translates a notice informing the public of complications, ranging from decreased vigor to deafness, that may result when certain everyday foods are eaten together.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:37 AM | Permalink

The Economic Observer discusses cyclic attitudes toward private investment in the public sector:

In the good years, few people care about private capital, and calls to tear apart monopolies are overwhelmed by the huge profits generated by giant state-owned enterprises.

Private capital is considered a trouble-maker and each time it tries to break through the limits surrounding a particular market, it's met with a barrage of regulatory controls.

While in the bad times, when nobody is willing to invest, everyone pins their hopes on private capital stepping in. This cycle has repeatedly gone on.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 4:35 PM | Permalink

Some of the seventeen Uighur detainees may be transferred from the Guantanamo prison to Palau, a North Pacific archipelago, reports the New York Times:

The president of Palau, Johnson Toribiong, said his government had "agreed to accommodate the United States of America's request" to "temporarily resettle" the detainees, members of the Uighur ethnic group, "subject to periodic review." Palau, the president said, would be "honored and proud" to take them in a "humanitarian gesture."

No other country has been willing to take the men from the US, which is seeking to relocate detainees so it can close the Guantanamo prison. Palau promises a warm reception:

"What they will encounter in Palau is paradise," said Stuart Beck, an American lawyer who is Palau's permanent United Nations representative. "From the time the first British vessel hit a reef in Palau in 1783, it has welcomed refugees."

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:53 PM | Permalink

Chris at the Shanghai Eye presents images from a 1971 publication he calls a "CCP corporate identity book" -- "essentially an instruction booklet for painters and sign makers on how to create acceptable slogan posters, etc, for party use."

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 10:21 AM | Permalink

At China Elections and Governance, Sam Verran writes about health care reform in Shenmu County, Shanxi Province:

Despite omissions, the Shenmu pilot initiative has already enabled many patients to obtain medical care and it does mark a potentially meaningful change in healthcare policy. Since the inception of the initiative individuals have flocked to village, township, and city medical facilities. On the 22nd of May county officials reporting on the status of the initiative after its first two months of operation reported that in March and April the number of inpatients reached its pinnacle of 30% more patients than the same time the year before. During this time and government subsidies reached 9.6 million Yuan in March, and 12.7 million in April.

Also on the same site: Shenzhen's use of "Socialism with Chinese characteristics"

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:35 AM | Permalink

ESWN translates some complaints that Chinese netizens have voiced about the Green Dam filtering software, which is set to be made mandatory for all new PCs sold in the country as of July 1.

Also, Rebecca MacKinnon suggests that industry opposition will ultimately scuttle the project.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 7:36 AM | Permalink

A rundown of the essay prompts given to test-takers across the country. In Beijing, students had to respond to I have a pair of invisible wings, a line from a popular song sung by Angela Chang.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 5:29 PM | Permalink

The China Daily has announced a date for the launch of Yinghuo-1, and the test of 8.8 hours when it will see no sunlight for generating power:

China's first Mars probe will have to stand the test of nearly nine hours in the freezing, dark shadow of the red planet during its one-year mission - the longest such period in exploration history - the scientist in charge of the probe's design has said...

Should anything go wrong, the orbiter could become "frozen" - like the United States' Phoenix Lander, which froze on the surface of the planet.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:03 PM | Permalink

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the body of Wade Johnson, missing since May 20, was found buried by an avalanche on a peak in southwestern China:

The Chinese rescue team had been scouring Mount Gongga in Sichuan Province for the missing U.S. climbers after the first body, that of Jonathan Copp, was found Saturday. The third climber, Micah Dash, 32, who like Copp is from Boulder, remains missing.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:41 AM | Permalink

Close to the bus incident in Sichuan comes this hijacking episode where one hijacker was killed. From Chris at Gokunming:

An attempted robbery on a passenger bus traveling from Pu'er to Kunming was repelled by bus passengers resulting in the death of one of the two thieves while the other clings to life in a hospital, according to local media reports.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:44 PM | Permalink

Current TV journalists sentenced to twelve years in jail in North Korea for working around its China border, from the New York Times:

North Korea on Monday sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor in a case widely seen as a test of how far the isolated Communist state was willing to take its confrontational stance toward the United States.

The Central Court, the highest court of North Korea, held the trial of the two Americans, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, from Thursday to Monday and convicted them of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry," the North's official news agency, KCNA, said in a report monitored in Seoul.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:39 PM | Permalink

ESWN points out how the game has incorporated something very unique to China.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:20 AM | Permalink

Loretta Chao reports for the Wall Street Journal that Chinese authorities have mandated that all PCs sold after July 1 come with site-blocking software:

The software's Chinese name is "Green Dam-Youth Escort." The word "green" in Chinese is used to describe Web-surfing free from pornography and other illicit content. Green Dam would link PCs with a regularly updated database of banned sites and block access to those addresses, according to an official who tested the product for a government agency.

The May 19 Chinese government notice about the requirement says it is aimed at "constructing a green, healthy, and harmonious Internet environment, and preventing harmful information on the Internet from influencing and poisoning young people."

The software was developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co., with input from Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy Co.

Bryan Zhang, founder of Jinhui....said his company compiles and maintains the list of blocked sites, which he says is limited to pornography sites. He said the software would allow the blocking of other types of content, as well as the collection of private user data, but that Jinhui would have no reason to do so. He also said the software can be turned off or uninstalled.

One small comfort: "The software needn't be preinstalled on each new PC -- it may instead be shipped on a compact disc -- giving users some choice."

Update: Rebecca MacKinnon analyzes the report and the company's press release.

Update (2009.06.09): Also from Rebecca MacKinnon, the original document concerning the mandatory nanny software, which she interprets as demanding that it be preinstalled.

Update: (2009.06.10): China Daily runs an article claiming that the "Green Dam" software is not sophisticated enough to be used as "spyware".

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 10:45 AM | Permalink

From The Shanghai Daily:

George Soros, the world-famous investor and currency speculator, said yesterday he believes China will be the first country to recover from the global financial crisis.

"I believe China has been recovering and its pace of recovery will be faster than the rest of the world," said Soros in a speech at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:19 AM | Permalink

From The Financial Times:

China's advertising market is defying the financial crisis but companies are guarding their budgets warily in a clear sign that confidence in a global economic recovery is still lacking...

...Domestic brands increased their ad spending by 22 per cent in the first quarter, while foreign brands only added 1 per cent," said Shenan Chuang, chief executive in China of Ogilvy & Mather, the advertising agency.

There are also some one-off factors at work, such as government orders to local milk brands to restore public confidence with large-scale image campaigns following last year's melamine scandal.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:22 AM | Permalink

MSNBC.com reports that New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, famous for telling U.S. president Bush and the federal government to "get off your asses" in a radio interview after hurrican Katrina, has been quarantined in Shanghai:

Nagin, who traveled on Friday to Shanghai, China on an economic development trip, was placed in quarantine Sunday after Chinese officials found another passenger on his flight to have signs of the swine flu.

That passenger was undergoing quarantine and treatment. As a precaution, the mayor, his wife and another member of the Mayor's Executive Protection Unit were also placed in a designated quarantine location in Shanghai

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:10 AM | Permalink

Cfensi gives a run-down of the highlights of the field of 300 contestants for this year's Super Girls competition.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:59 AM | Permalink

Luo Jing (罗京), who co-anchored CCTV's Network News program for two decades, passed away on the morning of June 5 at the age of 48.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:42 AM | Permalink

For Children's Day, four Chinese authors recommend reading material.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:39 AM | Permalink

The May issue of Art & Design showcases and interviews the architects and planners on if their designs are contrary to tradition or "rebellious".

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 10:40 AM | Permalink