Stories about Chinese from July, 2009
China: Sulfur mining in Big Tree County
Asia Society released an old documentary about pollution problems caused by sulfur mining in Da Shu Xian, or Big Tree County, in Sichuan province. The documentary was produced in 1992.
Taiwan: Racist cartoon causes controversy
Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs published a booklet featuring two cartoon characters to inform the public about the proposed free trade agreement between Taiwan and China, commonly referred to as ECFA. The cartoons quickly attracted criticism as they were considered derogatory to certain ethnic groups.
China: One-Child Policy Heading for a Revision
According to Time magazine, the one-child policy, a cornerstone of contemporary China, will be changed when word got out late last week that Shanghai was encouraging couples to have additional offspring. For three decades, millions of Chinese parents have raised their only children under the strict prescriptions of China’s family...
China: Missing iPhone pressured mainland worker to suicide
Sun Dangyang, 25, was born in a small village. He earned his college degree in Harbin University and was then employed by Foxconn, a Taiwanese company and one of Apple’s largest contractors. His parents were proud of their son however they never expected that the job and an iPhone would...
China: Suspension of Electroshock for “Net Addiction”
The Chinese Ministry of Health recently announced that electroshock treatment for "internet addiction" should be suspended. The controversial electroshock therapies have recently been used by some Chinese clinics to cure symptoms of "addiction" to the internet in young people.
China: Chinese Internet Memes For 2009
Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated a series of drawings that show some of the most popular terms in Chinese Internet 2009.
China: Tweeting a detention experience
Yesterday, Guangzhou blogger Beifeng went hiking with a number of friends in Baiyun mountain. Some of them were wearing a t-shirt that carry a slogan from Xinhua Daily in1946 that says: one-party rule will bring disaster everywhere （一黨獨裁，遍地是災）. It is a communist party slogan against the former ruling party Kuomingtang....
China: Rio Tinto's trouble – commerical bribery or espionage?
According to China Daily, the official newspaper in China, Rio Tinto has virtually bribed the entire management of the steel industry in the country. More than a week ago, four employees of Rio Tinto were arrested on suspicion of ‘espionage, stealing state secrets and harming the nation’s economic interests and...
China: When a gang rape scandal turns into state secrets…
Yesterday (July 16) in early morning, twitterer amoiist sent out a mobile message to twitter saying: “I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS.” And the second message is: “Pls help me, I grasp the phone during police sleep”. Since then, there isn't any update in his twitter. Netizens arrested...
Taiwan: Who Cares About Neihu Line? Not Ex-Mayor Ma
Neihu Line, the latest line that just joined Taipei MRT system and open to the public since July 1st is having malfuctioning troubles. While the current Mayor Hau is the one mainly criticized by the media and public, blogger elysii 幕容理深 provided his analysis (zh) on what exactly the former...
China: Netizens starving, no more rice talk!
Since July 8, the Chinese rival of Twitter, Fanfou has been suspended. Up till now, Fanfou's founder Wang Xing has only clarified that the website's “maintenance” has nothing to do with Internet content provider (ICP) license. As the date of its suspension is soon after the Xinjiang riot and Fanfou.com...
China: Government order to filter search results: July 8, 2009
Due to the Xinjian riot, the propaganda department gave a long filter list to the search engines on July 8, 2009. (via China Digital Times)
China: Call for tough response and resent of biased media
With the presence of thousands of armed police, Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, has largely restored order and people are returning to their normal life. The violence that has led to 156 death in past a few days seemed to be gone, but the images of the brutal killings...
China and North Korea: Kim is like Chairman Mao?
On 4 July, the United States’ National Day, North Korea has launched seven missiles tests again and some of them were medium-range rockets that pose threat to Japan and South Korea. While Kim Jong Il has been portrayed as a crazy and authoritarian figure, Chinese netizens are eager to compare...
China: Urumqi mass incident and beyond
According to Xinhua latest report (July 6), the violence in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has led to at least 140 people dead and 828 injured. The regional government said that the mass incident was masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress. However, Uyghur independent activist explained...
Taiwan: Dell, Caught in the Web
On the late night of June 25, Dell, the brand that sells customized PCs, suddenly became the hottest word on Taiwan's Twitterverse, Plurksphere, and BBS, because all products listed on Dell's homepage are on unbelievable discount.
Taiwan: Is “adogah” a racist term?
Adogah (阿兜仔) is a Hoklo Taiwanese word used to refer to foreigners in Taiwan. Dan Bloom had an article in the Taipei Times discussing the use of the word. He had the article translated into Chinese on his blog. Following the Chinese text there are details in English of a...
About our Chinese coverage
Oi wan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
