China's vital role in Chinese science fiction
A publisher rejects Liu Cixin's novel for daring to imagine a future where China doesn't exist.
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A publisher rejects Liu Cixin's novel for daring to imagine a future where China doesn't exist.
A full-page ad taken out in The Beijing News attempts to convince critics of the significance of the drawn-out, half-hour-long fight scene that closes the film.
The consumer delegation to a hearing on water prices in Harbin is stuffed with ringers. A journalist argues that hearings themselves are a sham, even when conducted properly.
Veggie Discourse translates reports about a home for orphaned children that was driven out of a Shanghai apartment by angry neighbors and a nervous property management company.
Jonathan Watts reports from Copenhagen for The Guardian:
Despite the huge differences that have emerged during the UN climate talks, one thing that almost everyone can agree on is that China has transformed the balance of power in the negotiating halls.
In its alliance-building, wallet-wielding and unusually effective public diplomacy, China will shape whatever deal comes out of Copenhagen far more than it influenced the protocol made at Kyoto 12 years ago.
Attempts by rich countries to ram through a "Danish draft" were abandoned today after China and other powerful emerging economies lined up in opposition.
The Green Leap Forward also has a blog post about day 10.
Bloomberg reports:
China property stocks fell the most in four months, led by China Vanke Co., on concern the government will step up measures to curb property speculation.
Vanke, the largest, plunged 6.3 percent to 10.56 yuan, after the government increased down payment requirements on land purchases. Poly Real Estate Group Co., the nation’s second- largest developer, tumbled 5.4 percent to 22.38 yuan, a ninth day of losses. The Shanghai property index slumped 4.8 percent, the most since Aug. 31.
Wen Tao reports for the Global Times:
A Chinese-American whose husband set himself on fire protesting the demolition of their home said that she is unwilling to seek assistance from the US embassy, believing that Chinese law should handle this domestic matter.
Long Shufang, a US citizen, said her husband, Xi Xinzhu, who holds a US green card, is still in critical condition and is unable to move or speak. Their house was demolished right after Xi was taken to the hospital.
Now the other four family members are living in four different temporary shelters. "Our family was basically torn apart," Long said. Despite her citizenship to the US, Long does not plan to seek help from the US embassy.
Liuzhou Laowai reports that the Liuzhou People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries has canceled its annual party for lack of foreigners in the city.
China Sports Review translates a Guangzhou Daily article on the cost of the 2010 Asian Games:
“This is not even a rough number!” said a committee member. Some members proposed that these information be available to the committee no matter how much the expenditure and where the sources of the funds.
“No one is clear about how much the Asian Games will cost,” said Deng Chengming, a committee member, during the discussion. “Some said it will cost RMB 200 billion. But there’s not an official number yet.”
Shanghaiist has one foreign teacher's account of the final months of KaiEn English, a school that suddenly folded this week:
From Nov. 15th, staff are assured that new investors have been found by the owners in Ireland, and funds are on the way for the future to ensure the continued viability of the business. Staff are somewhat reassured, although doubts remain. Still...people be people...
Monday. I go to the office to try and get reimbursement for my new Residents Permit. Look in the office, and nobody is there. Call HR and am told that they are now scared to come to the office as, "gangsters came in last Friday looking for money, and the owners have been missing for the last fifteen days".
Peter Foster reports for the Telegraph about another self-immolation following the high-profile case of Tang Fuzhen in Chengdu:
In the second incident last weekend, a Beijing man named in local newspapers as Xi Xinzhu set himself on fire after he refused to leave his home in a north-western suburb which had been earmarked for demolition under a village "improvement scheme".
According to a report in the Beijing Times, Mr Xi had already suffered a fractured leg when he was beaten by "unidentified men" – violent intimidation is commonly reported in such cases – and was lying on a sofa when the officials entered.
After pouring petrol over himself, Mr Xi took out a lighter and threatened to ignite himself. "Neglecting his warning, the relocation people even said 'go ahead, light up.'," his wife told the newspaper.
Although the flames were swiftly put out, Mr Xi suffered 10 per cent burns to his face, hands and body and is in a critical condition in a Beijing hospital, the report concluded.
China Daily also has a related report under the heading China may rebuild demolition rule after suicide.
All Roads Lead to China checks out Shanghai's couriers:
...in addition to handling millions of riders a day, the Shanghai metro system was in fact the backbone for moving Shanghai’s express packages around...the people hanging out by the turnstiles were in fact collecting and distributing packages and letters that were moving through the system. Over time, as my eyes adjusted and my time on the metro increased, I began to see that there were more actors in play. You had runners who would move the packages from the originating office to the metro, to dedicated metro runner who did not more than run packages from the turnstiles to the the train carriages, and then the person who rode the metro all day long making the hand off.
At Global Voices Online, Don Weinland writes about pneumoconiosis in Shenzhen.
Washington Post writer Ariana Eunjung Cha investigates Shanghai's population policies:
Wang Weijia and her husband grew up surrounded by propaganda posters lecturing them that "Mother Earth is too tired to sustain more children" and "One more baby means one more tomb."
They learned the lesson so well that when Shanghai government officials, alarmed by their city's low birthrate and aging population, abruptly changed course this summer and began encouraging young couples to have more than one child, their reaction was instant and firm: No way.
"We have already given all our time and energy for just one child. We have none left for a second," said Wang, 31, a human resources administrator with an 8-month-old son.
Writer Mian Mian (棉棉) has sued Google over scanning her books. From China Daily:
Mian said Google scanned her entire novel, titled Acid Lover, published by the Shanghai Joint Publishing Company, without notifying her or paying her for copyright permission.
Google China deleted Mian's Acid Lover from their website on Nov 15.
But she said a Google key-word search still brings up passages of her book.
"This is a brutal way to introduce my literary work, because the incoherent passages seen online ruin my story," she said.
"I also want to ask Google why they only show respect regarding copyright protection to famous American publishing houses," Mian Mian said.
China Daily reports:
Premier Wen Jiabao will leave for Copenhagen this afternoon, hoping to help seal a fair and effective climate change deal for the planet and secure China's emission rights.
Wen will join world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen for its crucial last two days.
Black and White Cat translates an obituary for Gladys Yang, the translator who died in 1999. Her husband Yang Xianyi passed away last month.
ESWN translates a report about a hoax involving the State Bureau of Statistics.
Adam Minter at Shanghai Scrap introduces a blog post by Elizabeth Balkan at the New Energy and Environment Digest that reports that "waste is being diverted to North Korea, China’s northeastern neighbor, whose western coast lies directly across from China’s prosperous coastal areas and many port towns."
The China Daily reports on the natural gas pipeline launched by three countries:
The pipeline - the longest in the world - is being seen as a sign of growing trust in Central Asia and should help China hit its goal of cutting carbon emissions, experts said.
Hu helped get the gas flowing by turning a symbolic wheel to open a valve on the pipeline, along with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
Plurk, a microblog startup that is apparently big in Taiwan although blocked on the mainland, has accused Microsoft China of copying its appearance and codebase for the recently-launched Juku:
- The service’s design and UI is by and large an EXACT copy of Plurk’s innovative left-right timeline scrolling navigation system. (see screen captures below)
- Some 80% of the client and product codebase appears to be stolen directly from Plurk! (see evidence below).
Update (2009.12.16): Microsoft China has acknowledged that the vendor it hired to develop Juku copied a portion of the code from Plurk. It has suspended the Juku beta indefinitely.
AFP via the Inquirer reports that the mass killing in Hunan could have been a father-son partnership act:
"Before the killings they knocked on the door, we opened the door and they opened fire and began hacking with the machete. Then they torched the home."After the killing was over and the fire started, the father, Liu Bifang, committed suicide by diving into the flames."
Up to 1,000 police were involved in capturing the son in mountains near the village on Sunday. Earlier reports had indicated the father was a victim of the son's rampage.
Evan Osnos' full New Yorker piece is on the website:
Last year, the U.S. Embassy installed an air monitor on the roof of one of its buildings, and every hour it posts the results to a Twitter feed, with a score ranging from 1, which is the cleanest air, to 500, the dirtiest. American cities consider anything above 100 to be unhealthy. The rare times in which an American city has scored above 300 have been in the midst of forest fires. In these cases, the government puts out public-health notices warning that the air is “hazardous” and that “everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors.” As I type this in Beijing, the Embassy’s air monitor says that today’s score is 500.
Reuters reports:
Xiang Xi, the top editor of the Southern Weekend weekly newspaper who interviewed Obama during his visit to China in mid-November, has been named as "executive" editor-in-chief and placed under a new top editor this week after pressure from the ruling Communist Party's propaganda department, said three employees of the paper.
They all requested anonymity, saying they feared punishment for speaking about the move, which has also been discussed on Chinese-language Internet sites.
Xiang's demotion could revive debate in Washington about the impact of Obama's visit. It underscored the contention between Washington and Beijing over censorship and access during Obama's visit, when U.S. officials' pressed for opportunities for him to speak directly to the Chinese public.
The New York Times Room for Debate blog has a discussion on China's own ethnic minorities as well as the people from other countries.
As part of an effort to tighten Internet controls and clean up inappropriate online content, Chinese authorities are requiring stamped, written applications and proof of a business license for anyone wishing to register a .CN domain name:
The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) published a notice Sunday saying that applicants must submit written applications to the registration agents. The written materials must include an application form with an official seal, an enterprise business license and the registrant's ID card.
CNNIC plans to verify the information of the owners of personal site in the nation. Those found unqualified to have a site will be required to update the information in five working days, otherwise they will be shut down.
There are reportedly 13 million registered .cn names. It may take some time to verify them all.
An interview with Shangguan Hongxiang, a People's Congress delegate of Haizhou district, Fuxin city who was allegedly involved in sex and drugs scandals.
Documentary filmmaker Ai Xiaoming has posted a video (in Chinese) about activist Tan Zuoren’s investigation into schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Tan has since been imprisoned and charged with subversion.
The China Daily reports on the second family slaying to make news in China recently:
The death toll in a shooting and arson has risen to 13 in Central China's Hunan province, according to local media.
Policemen captured the 34-year-old suspect Liu Aibing in Anhua County, Yiyang City, Central China's Hunan province. He was found and seized on a hill in Anhua County at 6:50 am on Sunday.
Liu allegedly attacked them with a hunting rifle and set fire to their houses at 4:00 am on Saturday in a village in Gaoming Township, Anhua County of Yiyang City, central China's Hunan province, local media reported.
The suspect returned home two months ago from Hunan's neighboring province of Guangdong, China's "factory of the world", where he worked as a migrant worker. Liu was also said to have a history of psychiatric illness.
Liu's father and other close relatives are among the dead. The dead age between 6 and 86.