From the Asia Times Online: “At first glance, the world was very surprised by the timing of the announcement last Friday that Beijing was starting the legislative initiative of an anti-secession law, as it came after Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian’s pro-independence party and its allies suffered a defeat in Taiwan’s legislative elections on December 11. […]
Read MoreJim Yardley wrote a very good story on the New York Times: Yang Shan is in fourth grade and spends a few hours every day practicing her Chinese characters. Her script is neat and precise, and one day, instead of drills, she wrote letters to her parents and put them in the mail. “How is […]
Read MoreFrom Reuters, via the New Zealand Herald: “China has arrested the chief editorial writer at China Reform magazine, continuing a Communist Party campaign to silence outspoken liberal intellectuals, sources familiar with the...
Read MoreWhile Zhang Yimou’s new kung fu epic, House of Flying Daggers, is getting rave reviews as it opens in the U.S., the movie has been largely panned by Chinese reviewers, according to the Guardian: “Although House of Flying Daggers grossed a reasonable 150m renminbi at the box office, newspapers and internet bulletin boards said it […]
Read MoreFrom AP, via the New York Times: “Japan issued a visa Tuesday for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to visit for the holidays, a Foreign Ministry official said, shrugging off protests by China. The visa was issued by the Interchange Association, which operates as Japan’s representative office in Taipei, Taiwan, the official said, speaking on […]
Read MoreMary Hennock wrote this analysis on BBC News: For years, specialist China-watchers have been predicting that the wider world would one day wake up to the country’s global economic influence and superpower potential. 2004 was the year when it happened. The world focused on China’s new-found economic strength as never before. Its thirst for oil, […]
Read MoreThe South China Morning Post yesterday reported the arrest of farmers’ advocate Li Boguang. The article quotes a police official in Fu’an, Fujian as saying, ‘We have reason enough to charge him. I don’t want to tell you what crime. We now are detaining him for 15 days. We can prolong it to one month […]
Read MoreChina is exerting an increasingly strong influence over Cuba and other Latin American countries, according to this report in the Chicago Tribune (Via the Miami Herald): “Experts say the Chinese investments could undercut the Bush administration’s efforts to isolate Cuba and symbolize China’s growing influence throughout Latin America, a region long known as America’s back […]
Read MoreAs Christmas approaches, AFP reports that the plastic trees, toys, and other consumer products of the season are increasingly being imported to the West from China: “China exported 1.6 billion US dollars worth of Christmas products in 2003, of which more than half went to the United States — including seven artificial trees erected in […]
Read MoreFrom Poynter E-Media Tidbits, Fons Tuinstra reports from Shanghai that “Chinese strikers use weblogs for their struggle. ” The worker’s blog is here. The first article on the blog is the New York Times report on their strike. This is not the first time that blogs have been used as a communication and publicity tool […]
Read MoreFrom the New York Times: “The Chinese police have detained a leading human rights advocate who represented farmers in lawsuits against the government, expanding a crackdown on writers, intellectuals, lawyers and journalists who challenge the Communist Party authorities. The advocate, Li Boguang, was detained by the police while visiting Fujian Province last Tuesday, his family […]
Read MoreFrom the Washington Post: “President Hu Jintao declared Monday that Macau’s booming economy and trouble-free politics prove the wisdom of China’s ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement and suggested the policy should ‘live on’ as Beijing deals with Hong Kong and Taiwan in the future. Hu’s comments, made in Macau on the fifth anniversary of its […]
Read MoreHere is today’s NPR report about Chin’s policies on its vast underdeveloped rural areas. NPR’s Rob Gifford reports: “Beijing launches a program called the Great Western Development to raise the standard of living in the rural west, and capitalize on the area’s natural resources. The country’s economic development policies over the past 25 years focused […]
Read MoreFrom AFP, via Turkish Press: “Fifteen workers died and five are missing after gas explosions at two separate coal mines in China, officials and state media said. Fourteen workers died Sunday in an explosion at a mine in Shilin town in southwest China’s Sichuan province, workplace safety officials said. ”
Read MoreFrom ABS-CBN.com: “Japan said Monday it would issue a visa as scheduled for former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui to visit for sightseeing despite angry protests from China. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have already been chilled by a string of disputes, including one over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s regular visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where […]
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