Behind closed doors on Nov.18, Communist Party potentates marked the 90th birthday of late party chief Hu Yaobang, whose untimely death spirited to life to the Tiananmen Square protests (see Reuters coverage). But the decision...
Read MoreFrom The New York Times: They called it “The Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Super Girl Contest,” and for much of the year, this “American Idol” knockoff was one of the hottest shows on Chinese television. By the time it ended in August, more than 400 million viewers had tuned in, making it one of the […]
Read MoreFrom AFP, via Middle East Times: “The Internet is supposed to be the information highway but according to our survey, for many Internet users in China, it is an entertainment highway,” said Professor Guo Liang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences of Beijing. “Mainland Chinese use the Internet more for entertainment and chatting than […]
Read MoreFrom The Japan Focus: Japan’s Unit 731 remains central to the fiercely contested China-Japan controversy over war crimes and war memory, and to the international debate on science and ethics. With a staff of more than 10,000, including many of Japan’s top medical scientists, 731 and its affiliated units conducted human experiments, including vivisection, on […]
Read MoreFrom The International Herald Tribune: If you want a reality check on China’s economy, look no further than the copper market. It’s a story that reads more like a spy novel than financial news: A few weeks back, markets buzzed with rumors as Liu Qibing, a well-known metals trader for China’s government, went missing. It […]
Read MoreFrom The Standard: Strong resistance from regional governments appears to have forced Beijing to quietly shelve reforms that would have enabled millions of rural migrant workers to claim residency in the cities where many have in fact lived for decades. It is a daunting comedown from October 25, when vice minister of public security Liu […]
Read MoreFrom The Madman of Chu blog: “[E]ven China becoming a democracy would [not] entice Taiwan into the Chinese political embrace. One, and only one thing will create ‘peaceful’ union between China and Taiwan: the Taiwanese belief that China is willing to commit murder and mayhem on an island-wide scale, coupled with the calculation that they […]
Read MoreFrom The China Economic Net: China’s economy is facing potential risks ranging from a growing wealth gap to an aging population. A national report prepared under the guidance of Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that key challenges also include dependence on oil imports and financial instability. “These aspects interact with each other and pose a great […]
Read MoreFrom The Financial Times: In late September, Robert Zoellick, deputy secretary of state, delivered a speech on US foreign policy towards China that experts say was seen in Beijing as the clearest statement yet of the administration’s approach in the second term of President George W. Bush. China, he said, needed “to become a responsible […]
Read MoreFollowing are a few links to commentary from Chinese BBS and blog sites about the Jilin Petrochemical factory explosion and Harbin’s water crisis last week: “Harbin: true lies and confusing truth”...
Read MoreFrom Asia Times: For all of China’s many apparent successes, a certain degree of discontent is bubbling at the edges. Government-released figures state 74,000 “mass incidents” took place in 2004, up from 53,000 in 2003… Some of the most engaging responses to these conditions are coming from China’s artistic communities. China’s pioneer documentary filmmaker Wu […]
Read MoreFrom the New Yorker: Upstairs, at stall No. 126, which sells familiar, brown-on-brown handbags labelled “Gochi,” Cai Shumin said that Old Bush had walked past her stall on the way to the high-end pearl shops on the fourth floor. He had passed by a large ad for Sharon’s Store, which features a photograph of a […]
Read MoreFrom the Washington Post: China on Thursday acknowledged that a since-detained government trader placed a series of disastrous bets on the price of copper in London this summer, leaving the state to cover hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, according to a report in official Chinese media. As rumors of the scandal filtered out […]
Read MoreFrom the Economist: A public apology from China is an exceptionally rare event. But as a slick of toxic water makes its way along the half-frozen Songhua River towards the Russian city of Khabarovsk, the country’s leadership is saying sorry. This is not, however, to be read as a sign of an imminent end to […]
Read MoreFrom Reuters, via Phayul.com: China’s Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has appointed a political ally as acting party boss of Tibet, a move that further consolidates his power base. The party’s elite Central Committee recently appointed Zhang Qingli, 54, vice governor of the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang in China’s northwest, as acting party boss […]
Read More
Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention
CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.
