Must-read China news by Danwei

From CBS News / AP:

A Zimbabwe-registered cargo plane crashed when taking off at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 8:12am today, killing three foreign crew and injured four.

The MD11 aircraft, heading to Kyrgyzstan, overshot the runway and burned when departing. The fire was put out at 9am.

Four crew aboard were rescued by 10:53am and three others were confirmed dead in the crash.

Note: This post was updated; it previously cited reports that were no fatalities.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:51 AM | Permalink

The New York Times has published a profile of artist Ai Weiwei, who is currently being subjected to increasing harassment by police in Beijing:

“He has never done anything illegal,” said his lawyer and friend, Liu Xiaoyuan. “But if he continues on his current path, getting involved in some very high-profile cases, I will get worried. Some government departments are already very annoyed about him.”

Mr. Ai says he is ready for whatever comes. “I came to art because I wanted to escape the other regulations of the society.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:35 AM | Permalink

Blogger and activist Zhai Minglei's new book Bold Blogging (中国猛博) has been published in Hong Kong. The Global Times reviews the book and discusses freedom of expression.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 1:50 PM | Permalink

The LA TImes' special correspondent Lauren Hilgers writes about Zhou Libo (周立波), the Shanghai comedian who uses his regional dialect in his shows:

In one of his most famous skits, the comedian does an impersonation of China's premier, Wen Jiabao, with arched eyebrows and slow, high-pitched speech. "Wen Jiabao is my favorite government leader," Zhou declares, just before launching into his routine -- an impression of Wen at the scene of a natural disaster.

"Premier Wen finds the dirtiest person available to shake hands with," Zhou says, and then turns to his audience, eyebrows high, face serene. He slowly mimes a handshake. "My friend," he says in his slow, reedy Wen Jiabao voice, "we have come too late."

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

The China Daily reported that carbon intensity targets of 45% set out by China will be carried to Copenhagen by Wen Jiabao (note: carbon intensity means carbon relative to economic growth):

China said Thursday it was targeting a hefty 40-45 percent cut in carbon intensity by 2020 and Beijing also announced Premier Wen Jiabao would lead the nation's charge for real climate change progress at the Copenhagen summit.

The announcements came one day after the US declared it would cut carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level. Washington also said President Barack Obama would take part in the opening of the two-week UN climate change conference.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 10:02 AM | Permalink

For the Wall Street Journal Real Time blog, Sue Feng writes about the TV series "Dwelling Narrowness" (蜗居):

Over the past month, the TV drama has drawn a great deal of attention from young Chinese who discuss the program online. Many argue that Shanghai’s rising property prices are at the root of the tragic events in the storyline, and the term “house slaves” ((房奴) has become a popular slang term to describe people like Haiping.

In a recent (unscientific) survey by Chinese Web portal Sina.com, more than 60% of 15,000 voters agreed with the statement that “the drama reflects the public’s sentiment on house slaves.” Another poll by Tencent drew more than 360,000 votes, with most agreeing with the statement that “happiness is closely related to owning a home.”

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:20 PM | Permalink

The AP reports:

A court in northern China has sentenced five leaders of an unauthorized Protestant church to prison terms of up to seven years on charges including illegal assembly, rights groups reported Thursday.

The sentences are among the harshest in recent years for members of so-called "house churches" — congregations that refuse to register and accept the authority of the government's Religious Affairs Bureau.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:16 PM | Permalink

Michael Rank on North Korean Economy Watch:

China is planning a major new development zone along the North Korean border aimed at boosting trade with its reclusive neighbour and throughout northeast Asia, a Chinese-language website reports.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Noted translator, scholar of foreign literature, and poet Yang Xianyi passed away on November 23 at the age of 94.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Xinhua reports that porn crackdown will extend to mobile WAP sites:

Latest statistics showed 1,179 people have been detained and 6,972 websites and online columns have been shut down. Among them,586 were porn mobile WAP sites and columns.

During the campaign, authorities in Shanghai detained seven people for profiting from lewd items through mobile WAP sites. The authorities in neighboring Zhejiang Province busted a ring specializing in spreading porn content via more than 100 WAP sites and arrested 38 suspects.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 10:50 AM | Permalink

Global Voices Online writes about child workers:

On November 12, several days before the International Children's Day, an explosion erupted in an illegal fire cracker factory in Guangxi which resulted in 2 children workers dead and 11 others injured.

According to the Southern Weekend's report, these children victims were left behind by their parents, who are migrant workers and have to work in cities all year long to earn money and support their families. They lived with their aging grandparents and struggled to work before and after school time to earn some pocket money for snacks.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 10:46 AM | Permalink

From The China Daily:

The vice-foreign minister said the RMB rate's flexibility may widen, echoing the nation's central bank a month ago.

The announcement by Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun comes after the People's Bank of China, which has the power to oversee the yuan and financial institutions, said it was in the process of reforming the exchange rate system.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:13 AM | Permalink

From the Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine

When your assignment is to drop a live nuclear bomb, you’d better not return to base with it. But that’s just what happened in 1971 to Yang Guoxiang, a pilot with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, who told his harrowing tale to Bob Bergin, a former U.S. Foreign Service officer who writes about the aviation history of Southeast Asia and China.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 7:47 AM | Permalink

From The People's Daily:

The rules about who can and cannot get permission for a sex change operation has been changed.

Only those 20 or above with documented psychological reasons will be allowed to become a transsexual. And only surgeons with at least 10 years of related experience in hospitals approved by health authorities may carry out such procedures, according to the new regulations unveiled by the Ministry of Health.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 7:45 AM | Permalink

Xinhua reports that two people have been executed for the Sanlu melamine milk scandal:

Zhang was found guilty of producing more than 770 tonnes and selling more than 600 tonnes of melamine-laced protein powder from July 2007 to August 2008.

Geng was convicted of selling more than 900 tonnes of milk tainted with 434 kg of protein powder to the now-defunct Sanlu Group, which was at the heart of the scandal, from October 2007 to August 2008.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 2:35 PM | Permalink

The Wall Street Journal Real Time blog translates an editorial written by Wang Boming, Caijing's long-time publisher, from the first issue after Hu Shuli's departure:

In nearly 12 years as editor-in-chief, I’ve never written any editorials, but now, sitting here in an empty office building, it’s necessary to pick up the heavy pen. I think back to the time when I was studying in the United States 20 years ago, when I was a reporter and an editor. I was inspired by the title of “uncrowned king” that the media held. I sought out social justice and journalistic truth, and I was excited by the progress of China’s reform and opening. Even now, all these old memories are still vivid in my mind, and the beliefs I’ve held have never changed.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:28 AM | Permalink

For The Guardian, Jonathan Watts covers the incineration project in Panyu and the street protest yesterday in Guangzhou:

The frustrated crowd surged into the municipal government office and demanded to be heard. They then occupied the city square, where they staged a peaceful sit-in. Wen Yunchao, a blogger and rights activist at the scene, told the Guardian by telephone that the number of protesters had swelled to about 800 as word spread by mobile phone and internet. The authorities declared the gathering illegal after the participants demanded the resignation of the city's deputy general secretary, he said.

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

From The China Daily:

The municipal government of Hangzhou, in east China's Zhejiang Province, stopped all natural gas supplies to entertainment businesses at the weekend to guarantee supplies to the city's 410,000 households.

The city government also cut gas supplies to hotels, office buildings and shopping malls by 20 percent.

Chinese cities are grappling for a second week with shortages of natural gas triggered by the unusually early winter weather.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 7:07 AM | Permalink

Scott Kennedy on The China Beat writes about the departure of editor Hu Shuli from Caijing magazine:

Caijing’s decade-plus run of investigative reporting and the starry lights of the annual meeting left me as surprised as anyone when I heard that an era had come to an end...

... Nevertheless, after some reflection, it is important not to misread what has happened. Caijing was not shuttered; its reporters were not arrested. Its editors left of their own accord before any crackdown occurred. Hu Shuli did not go into hiding. Her staff remained loyal and left with her, and investors have helped her finance a new media organization.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 6:52 AM | Permalink

From Beijing or Bust:

A tall Scandinavian-looking guy came and sat in the couch next to me. We stroke up a conversation about the newspaper story I was reading. Then he asked,

“Are you Chinese Chinese?”

Reflexively I explained that I had lived and worked in the US for many years. The Scandinavian guy then nodded, seemingly satisfied. “You don’t look very Chinese to me,” he said...

...Then what is this “Chinese Chinese”-ness that I am so obviously poor at grasping?

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 6:47 AM | Permalink

Big Brother Chang at Seagull Reference explores how subtle cues and codewords were overlooked by a mainland-based professor who received a lukewarm letter of recommendation from UIUC:

However, this is typical example of lost in translation (between eastern and western cultures). Had Professor had college experience in the west, he would be able to smell the clues. It's so stale that he did not even need to sniff. Actually the simple fact that the adviser did not voluntarily provide a letter was an obvious sign that was hard to miss. Not to say the wordings are so obvious that one should kick himself for failed to read the meaning/mood of the letter.

The professor has since taken down his original blog post complaining about the letter

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:32 AM | Permalink

From GoKunming.com:

Hundreds of angry shop owners brought traffic on Huancheng Nan Lu to a standstill Saturday morning to protest the pending demolition of Luosiwan market, according to a ChinaNews.com.cn report.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:22 AM | Permalink

From The China Daily:

The death toll from the deadly coal mine blast in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has risen to 104, said local authorities early Monday morning. Another four are still trapped in the shaft.

The blast happened at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the Xinxing Coal Mine under the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group's subsidiary in Hegang City. A total of 528 miners were working underground when the blast happened.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 8:11 AM | Permalink

At Variety, Clifford Coonan reports that Disney and Huayi Brothers are partnering to produce a mainland version of the smash hit High School Musical:

Reed said there were some similarities with the original "High School Musical," "but we wrote an original screenplay from the ground up. This is inspired by the spirit of the first one."

The localization process threw up some interesting developments -- when the Disney treatment swapped basketball for kung fu training in the school, the local Chinese pointed out that basketball was a much bigger deal in China's schools than kung fu. The basketball stayed, Reed said. "We made it more local by making it more American," he added.

Cfensi has some comments on casting:

Hua Yi president, Wang Zhonglei was at the production start ceremony held on Nov. 22nd. He said that despite the lack of many successful musicals in China (poor Le Huo Nan Hai!), he expects this to have a big box office when it arrives in theaters next summer. Usually I have more faith in his statements, because Hua Yi’s well managed and their success rate is high, but the casting of Zhang Junning perplexes me, and brings me even more apprehension than just the baseline idea of “Chinese HSM remake”. He’s hot, and can sing and dance pretty decently, but less charismatic of actor than either Zac Efron or Jing Boran from BOBO. Maybe charisma wasn’t necessary for the character?

The Disney press release is here.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:04 AM | Permalink