Beijing's population exceeds 22 million
From The China Daily:
Beijing's total population has exceeded 22 million, a mark that is supposed to be surpassed a decade later, the China National Radio reported today.
« February 14, 2010 - February 20, 2010 | Main | February 28, 2010 - March 6, 2010 »
February 26, 2010
Post 80s officials and online reaction
ESWN has written about the 23-year-old female deputy chief, Wang Ran:
Recently, an Internet post titled
became very popular. According to this post (which included a screen capture of the relevant website page), Xintai city (Shandong province) announced the appointment of six new deputy bureau chiefs and one court deputy director in early February this year. Of these seven appointees, six were born in the 1980's, with the youngest one being only 23 years old. The most controversial figures are two local Xintai residents -- the 23-year-old deputy bureau chief and the 25-year-old court deputy director. A netizen wrote: "How can we not be suspicious when someone is appointed deputy bureau chief just two or three years after graduating from university?"
A translator's block
Berlin Fang writes about the practice of translation:
People judge translation harshly possibly because it is more difficult to pass judgment on writing. It is easier to zoom in on a sentence and pass a judgment and thereby making yourself look smart. If the translator has an awkward sentence in the middle of a paragraph, it sticks out like a sore thumb. If the translation is good, translators disappear into the text. Good translators are the invisible men and women of the literary world. If translators are conspicuous, taking the center of the stage, the translation has very probably failed. You can be sure that the critics will say nasty things. It is like what people sometimes say about plumbers. If they do a good job, nobody notices. If they mess up one thing, then there is (beep) everywhere. In a way, translators are measured by how transparent they are, and how quiet critics are.
A tribute to Chongqing's gangbusting Bo Xilai
The anti-triad crackdown in Chongqing starting last June has won the city's party secretary Bo Xilai much applause and a musical tribute.
Publish and be deleted: The Global Times on Net censorship
Excerpts from a Global Times article on Internet censorship:
"I can't believe contributing entry content can be a crime," Fang said. "Any user can submit information they think is right on a website that relies on user-generated content."
...
Self-censorship is the rule of survival that prevents popular websites from being shut down, Zoe Wang, a veteran website developer told the Global Times."I can understand an author being outraged when his post gets deleted, but it's even harder to operate a website as I have to suffer the humiliation of supervisory organs and handle all the criticisms coming from users," she said.
"How can you hope to pay your staff or maintain your users' statistics if the website is shut down all because of one sensitive post?"
...
What's worse, she said, was the complete absence of clear-cut rules for deciding whether or not to delete an online post.
...
A site that published collaborative user-submitted translations of English and Chinese articles, Yeeyan was shut down in November last year for violating the regulation on "running a news information service".
...
Aside from suffering censorship or shutdowns for reasons unknown, a common complaint among Internet users and website operators is the lack of an appeal."You can only go to related departments and beg them to give you another chance," Liao said.
...
"We can only fight the slavish social environment and gradually gain a sense of citizenship," he said.
...
There are 14 general laws and regulations governing illegal online behavior, all vague and lacking in detailed, practical provisions, according to Li Yonggang, a professor of Internet politics from Nan-jing University, in his newly published book Our Great Firewall: Expression and Governance in the Era of the Internet.
South Africa seizes North Korean arms bound for Congo
From The Wall Street Journal:
South Africa told the United Nations in a confidential report that it seized arms traveling from North Korea by way of China, marking at least the third time a government interdicted North Korean weapons shipments since the U.N. last summer adopted harsher sanctions against Pyongyang.
The incident is likely to focus attention on China's role in enforcing sanctions against its ally and neighbor, with which it shares a long common border. China is by far North Korea's largest trading partner and its most important supplier of everything from food to fuel to consumer goods. China, a permanent member of the Security Council, voted in favor of the tighter sanctions that went into effect in June 2009.
February 25, 2010
Chongqing police chief gets life sentence
China Daily reports (via People's Daily Online):
The former deputy police chief of Chongqing municipality was jailed for life yesterday for protecting gangs, amid an ongoing crime sweep in the city.
The sentence also reflects 47-year-old Peng Changjian receiving 4.71 million yuan ($689,000) in bribes from 1998 to 2009, as well as possessing 4.6 million yuan in unexplained assets.
Peng is the first senior officer to be convicted for protecting gangs. Another five top policemen face similar charges, including his boss, Wen Qiang.
Peng's sentence is intended to serve as a precedent and test case for Wen and the remaining four officers.
Details of how Baidu was hacked
From Marc van der Chijs:
It turns out that register.com made some major mistakes that led to this hack. An unauthorized person claiming to an agent of Baidu started an online chat with tech support at register.com and asked to change the email address on file for communication with Baidu. The representative of register.com then sent the imposter a security code that he had to provide. Because he of course had no access to the Baidu account he provided an incorrect code, but the register.com person did not compare the code to the one that was sent out.
China's golf obsession
Dan Washburn writes about golf in China for Foreign Policy:
Beijing is now determined to transform Hainan into a tourist paradise, with golf expected to play a major role (so much so that many joke Hainan is now a "special golf development zone" where mainland restrictions don't apply). While between 100 and 300 courses are expected to be built here, the most mysterious project -- and by far the most audacious -- is the latest offering from Hong Kong's Mission Hills Group, already owners of a 12-course resort in southern China's Guangdong province. Its Hainan club, when completed, will be the world's largest, with some 22 courses covering an area nearly 1.5 times the size of Manhattan. But the highly secretive Mission Hills development, a behemoth undertaking that displaced thousands of villagers, is also the most controversial
No art zones will be left inside Beijing?
Tania Branigan reports for The Guardian on recent art district demolitions:
The country's contemporary art scene is one of China's biggest cultural successes, generating huge interest overseas, yet artists say their studios are targets for demolition.
In the best-known of Beijing's art districts, the 798 factory complex, studios have been replaced by commercial galleries, large institutions, shops and cafes in the last decade as the art scene has prospered and rents have soared.
This week a group of artists said they were beaten with bricks and batons by thugs trying to evict them from their studios. More than a dozen of them mounted an unusual public protest in the heart of the capital on Monday against the demolition of art zones and the overnight attacks upon them.
GM's Hummer to close down after no sale to China
The Los Angeles Times reports:
The hulking Hummer SUV brand looks to be headed for extinction.
General Motors Co. said Wednesday that it was unable to complete a deal to sell its Hummer line to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., a Chinese industrial company.
Now Hummer is expected to follow GM's Saturn and Pontiac nameplates into oblivion. GM shed those brands as part of its bankruptcy restructuring last year so that it could focus on its more successful Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands.
Making friends with kids
Jonna Wibelius of the SHE in China blog sits next to a 12-year-old Chinese kid on a flight from Copenhagen to Beijing.
February 24, 2010
Pioneering property dispute and gay advocacy? Maybe not
Stan at China Hearsay dissects a China Daily article about homosexuals' ownership rights:
Very provocative headline in China Daily:
Court Favors Gay Partner in Pioneering Property Dispute
Wow. Someone write a law journal note quick! The reality of course is much less exciting than the headline would suggest. Right off the top, I should point out that the disputants in the case, co-owners of an apartment in Shanghai, are the only two parties to the case. Therefore of course any ruling would have resulted in the court favoring one of the “gay partners.” Someone didn’t think that one through very well.
China curling coach dissatisfied
The Washington Post reports on China's curling coach, Dan Rafael, not feeling the "passion" in his Chinese team:
He also said his team had no passion. He said Chinese officials have asked him to keep his opinions to himself. He reiterated Tuesday he plans to look for a new coaching job.
"The only fire I lit was under me," Rafael said, referring to the heat he's taken from higher-ups. "I think they still need me."
Wang didn't seem to appreciate Rafael's statements Monday her team's heart. She defended her love of curling, though didn't rule out retiring this year.
Sending a CD from Xinjiang
From the Far West China blog, Josh writes about sending a disk:
Of course it seems like common sense that this checking process should take place in the post office…but it doesn’t. No, one must first make a 10 minute trek to the central government building where the media is inspected and given the red-stamp of approval. You must then return to the post office with stamp and CD in hand to complete the process.
It’s not a terrible inconvenience…I mean, how often do I send a CD by mail? In fact, if feels a lot like waiting in line at an airport nowadays watching everyone slowly take off their shoes or explain exactly what’s in that tiny bottle.
It’s all in the name of safety, and it goes on until we eventually forget how things used to be.
Personal domain names need face to face meetings
China Digital Times:
Anyone who wants to open a website in China now has to have a face-to-face meeting with regulators first
An excerpt of an AP report is accompanied by a photo of webmaster's report of the registration process with photo.
Exploring China's countryside
The New York Times reviews Peter Hessler's Country Driving:
“Country Driving” is most affecting in its portrayal of lives ripped up at the roots, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. He describes the “hollow feeling” many Chinese have, because rapid change has left them exhausted and uncertain.
Peter Hessler is a fine tour guide for the new China, a writer who is capable of tossing aside the country’s (deplorable) maps and admitting: “In China, it’s not such a terrible thing to be lost, because nobody else knows exactly where they’re going, either.”
George Soros on China
An interview in Hu Shuli's new publication Caixin with George Soros.
Commercial property prices to rise high this year
The Financial Times reports:
The value of commercial real estate in key Chinese cities is forecast to grow significantly this year amid a sluggish outlook for the rest of Asia-Pacific, according to a new study.
Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong should post increases of between 7 per cent and 12 per cent in 2010 while capital values of office buildings in Tokyo, Seoul and Mumbai are expected to fall, said Jones Lang LaSalle, the property consultants.
Property experts believe that China’s strong economic growth will fuel continued demand for commercial real estate among local groups that are scrambling to grab space for their own occupation or to rent out to foreign companies.
February 23, 2010
20 artists march down Chang'an Avenue (briefly)
The Global Times reports on yesterday afternoon's events, led by Ai Weiwei:
About 20 artists briefly demonstrated Monday in downtown Beijing, claiming that they had fallen victim to early morning "assaults by thugs hired by local authorities" in their suburban residential complex that will be demolished to give way to urbanization projects.
The artists claim their contract hasn't run out at the Zhengyang Creative Art Zone in Chaoyang District, but the government and property developers have told them since July that they need to move out.
The group went to Chang'an Avenue Monday afternoon, holding posters and protesting the alleged assaults suffered by nine of the artists living in the zone.
Some of those present said they initially had planned to march on Tiananmen Square, but they were dispersed by police and armed soldiers at an intersection near the All-China Women's Federation Plaza located about two kilometers away from the Square. The activists spoke to media at the intersection where they were stopped.
Gentrification and the affordable sneaker
Fei Yue canvas gym shoes get a retro makeover and double in price, drawing an entertaining rant from Andy Best.
Fei Yue shoes are Shanghai made canvas shoes that are simple, affordable and have for years been the staple shoe of sports practice in the area.
It is important to point out that while they look dated to us, they are not retro. They have just stuck with the same design from the start increasing price only with inflation. There has never been a break in production or a conscious choice to keep or exploit a dated design. Retro implies that a new product is made with an intentionally dated design because it gives it a unique look. Anyone who tells you they are retro is just lying.
Hu Jintao, microblogger?
Sky Canaves and Gao Sen at the WSJ's China Real Time Report cover the sudden popularity and even more sudden disappearance of the Chairman's People Online microblog:
According to Chinese media reports, all VIP guests on the People’s Daily’s popular “Strong Country” online forum — which would include Hu Jintao– were automatically registered for People’s Daily microblogging accounts, perhaps without their consent or knowledge. In an attempt to rectify the situation, the People’s Daily has now suspended their accounts until they confirm that they want to be registered as microbloggers.
See also:
- Black and White Cat: Tweet not tweet - Hu Jintao’s non-microblog
- Keso (Chinese): You're not friending Chairman Hu, you're friending loneliness. Keso points out the People Online's VIP symbol, a "person" 人 inside a red box, looks like the character for "prisoner" 囚.
China women's ice hockey wins after 12 years
AFP reports:
China won their first Olympic women's ice hockey match in 12 years when a 3-1 victory over Slovakia gave them a seventh place finish at the Vancouver Games.
Wang Linuo scored two goals and Sun Rui added another in a game where both sides desperately needed a boost after Slovakia had lost three group matches by a combined score of 29-4.
For their part, China had scored just three goals in three games.
"It's important for Chinese women's ice hockey to win this game," said coach Hannu Saintula.
February 22, 2010
Most romantic hitchhike ever
Two guys from Beijing hitchhike from Beijing to Berlin. From China Hush:
Liu Chang and Gu Yue are both born in 70s, they were first seen standing in the mist of Hou Hai thumbing for rides on June 8th last year. Carrying super heavy packs, they convinced the visa officers of 12 countries by the purpose of “backpacking travel”. Getting all visas done, they hit the road with cashes, credit cards, sleeping bags, laptop, camera and a few clothes.
The most difficult ride is actually in China from Beijing to Hebei, according to Liu Chang who recalled that they waited in vain for over an hour in Hou Hai, nobody would stop to take them. Finally they got help from one driver who took them to the entrance of the highway leading to Hebei, where they continued to wait despite the rain storm. They were asked to leave by some road maintenance workers, one of whom thoughtfully said: “not many cars go to Berlin from here.”
First Chinese in the Wild West
The New York Times reviews The Poker Bride:
Christopher Corbett’s new book, “The Poker Bride,” documents one aspect of that transformation: the little-known story of the tens of thousands of immigrant Chinese who arrived in the West over the next decades, hoping to strike pay dirt. Though some became wealthy, theirs is generally a horrific tale of violence, exploitation and sex slavery. It culminated in one of the most shameful chapters in America’s sad history of racial prejudice.
'War of Internet Addiction" creator speaks
From the Wall Street Journal Real Time report:
The network engineer from Beijing, who says he is in the “post-1980” generation, as people in their 20s are currently known in China, finally agreed to answer some questions. He said his video was removed from Chinese Web sites Youku.com and Sina.com when it was first posted in January, but it has since been restored.
Google hacker identified?
The Financial Times reports:
A freelance security consultant in his 30s wrote the part of the program that used a previously unknown security hole in the Internet Explorer web browser to break into computers and insert the spyware, a researcher working for the US government told the Financial Times. Chinese officials had special access to the work of the author, who posted pieces of the program to a hacking forum and described it as something he was “working on”.
The developments will add to the furore over the hacking campaign, revealed last month when Google said its systems had been compromised. It threatened to pull out of China, and secretary of state Hillary Clinton asked the Chinese foreign minister for a probe.
The disclosure of the cyberspying campaign has brought attention to technology security matters and the policies of the Chinese, who western experts say have been using software vulnerabilities to steal commercial and military know-how.
February 21, 2010
Who owns the Lunar New Year?
Just Recently's blog notes that the Wen Wei Po has criticized US President Obama's Lunar New Year's address for playing at "multicultural gamesmanship" by not referring to the holiday as "Chinese New Year."