Must-read China news by Danwei

Xie Chaoping talks to Southern Weekly. ESWN translates:

At the Chaoyang detention center, I waited 3 days "in transition." The conditions were poor. Four persons ate from one meal box. I was then transferred to the Linwei detention center. The detainees had to perform labor there in the form of batching joss papers. For the first week, I was in a cell with more than a dozen people and we completed two batches a day because we were novices. I was transferred to another cell later, where we had to complete ten to twenty batches a day.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 8:05 PM | Permalink

From Al Jazeera:

Not only did China get its way, everyone else saw it, and saw how it was done, too. You can't imagine Vietnam, with its own territorial dispute with China, feeling any safer. Or the rest of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). Or South Korea. Or the people of Japan, as they watch their leaders capitulate.

Posted by Eric Mu at 6:42 PM | Permalink

A photo gallery showing the premature ends of many Chinese buildings. Posted by China Hush.

Posted by Eric Mu at 2:27 PM | Permalink

Paul French interviews Newsweek's Duncan Hewitt on labor unrest and manufacturing in China, part of a series of Paul French podcasts on the Ethical Corporation website.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 11:49 AM | Permalink

The Global Times:

China said early this morning that it was bringing home a Chinese fishing boat captain who had been illegally detained by Japan, by flying him back on a chartered plane after a Japanese prosecutor's decision to free him.

The latest development in the incident was summarized by an AFP headline as "Japan's blink in stand-off seen as win for assertive China," but Chinese analysts said the spat does not benefit either side, as the return of Chinese captain Zhan Qixiong will defuse tensions between the two regional powers but still have a lingering negative effect on their ties.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 10:54 AM | Permalink

CNN reports:

Japan will free a Chinese fishing captain, whose arrest touched off a diplomatic storm between Beijing and Tokyo, Japan's coast guard said Friday.

"We decided to suspend the charges in consideration of the Japan-China relationship," said the Japanese prosecutor in the case.

Meanwhile, China has arrested four Japanese for entering a military zone without authorization.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:56 PM | Permalink

Xiao Chuanguo, a urologist who developed a controversial procedure later criticized by Fang Zhouzi, has been detained by police along with three others for attacking Fang and as well as science journalist Fang Xuancheng. CS&AIW translates a report from The Beijing News website.

Following the attack on Fang, Xiao publicly mocked him for fabricating the incident to drive book sales.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 9:52 PM | Permalink

From The China Daily

A river that has been dry for the past two decades will flow once more in the coming days, thanks to an ambitious environmental project.

Yongding River, historically the biggest to flow through the capital, is slated to be brought back to life by filling water into Wanping Lake, one of four lakes along its course. The lake's bed has recently been reconstructed so it can hold water more efficiently and it is now being refilled.

The lake should be full before the coming Mid-Autumn Festival.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:20 PM | Permalink

The Chinese Mirror introduces a classic 1930 film by newly-launched studio Lianhua:

The new studio was called Lianhua (联华), which literally translates as "United China," but used the English name "United Photoplay Service." It was the product of a merger of Luo Mingyou's Da Zhonghua Baihe studio with that of Li Minwei's Minxin studio. In addition to carrying over those two studios' talents, they also recruited some young filmmakers from other studios who were seeking more opportunities. The new studio's stated objective was to make progressive films which would entertain audiences while also advancing reformist ideas.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:40 AM | Permalink

The Italian website Cineresie.info has a published a photo gallery titled "Don't call us dissidents" featuring writers, bloggers and activists including Tiger Temple, Zola, Yan Lianke and many others.

Also of interest on their website is a photo essay called Being Mao Zedong.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 10:32 AM | Permalink

The Global Times reports on the exploitation by hackers of anti-Japanese sentiment:

Hackers are taking advantage of anti-Japanese sentiments to lure visitors to advertising sites posing as a Japanese government website purportedly under attack, according to a Beijing-based web security company.
...
"Discretion is always advised when users feel the temptation to click on links that suggest they have anti-Japan content, because they could have viruses," Jin said. "Considering the current territorial spat and the 9.18 memorial day, you can understand why some people may want to cash in on the bitterness many Chinese feel about Japan."

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 9:52 AM | Permalink

Translating Changcheng (长城) as "Great Wall" harms the cause of cultural heritage preservation, writes commentator Pei Yu, because it represents only one aspect of a more general cultural artifact.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 1:40 PM | Permalink

In protest of Japan's extending trawler captain's detention, China has suspended ministerial and provincial-level bilateral exchanges with Japan, halted talks on increasing flights between the two countries and postponed a meeting about coal with Japan.

Posted by Eric Mu at 11:16 AM | Permalink

The Guardian's Jonathan Watts reports about drastic measures to reduce energy use before the five year plan is up.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 9:03 AM | Permalink