Stories about Chinese from March, 2010
China: Kidney Stone Babies’ father on trial
Today, Zhao Lianhai, the founder of “kidney stone babies” whose 4-year old son was poisoned by Sanlu melamine tainted milk in 2008 was put on trial today under the criminal charge of “provoking an incident”. The trial ended at 2:30pm, Zhao pleaded not guilty but the verdict has yet to...
China: Characters in leaders’ names made sensitive search terms on Google
Beginning Wednesday and continuing today, Chinese Internet users have discovered that Google searches containing the Chinese characters for the surnames of China's top leaders (ie. the ‘hu’ [jintao] in carrot, ‘huluobo’) are resulting in a reset connection to the website. Isaac Mao has made a screencast showing how this works.
China: Official Nudity
A township government in Sichuan Province is being called “China’s first completely nude government” after township officials issued salary and expenditure information online. The reference to nudity recently found in many Chinese publications denotes an unprecedented level of transparency in local government. The government of Baimiao Township in northeastern Sichuan disclosed...
China: Google.cn migrated to Hong Kong
Finally Google has decided to leave China. Soon after the announcement, Google stopped censoring the search result of google.cn by redirecting the site to google.com.hk. In Google's official blog, David Drummond, the corporate's chief legal officer explains that its decision is due to the Chinese government's “non-negotiable legal requirement” in...
China: Singing farewell to Google
Google has formally closed its mainland Chinese search engine and rival Baidu will not need long to pick up the slack; nonetheless, former users of Google.cn search braved the cold air to show their support outside the company's Beijing headquarters, singing an anti-Internet censorship protest song while they were at it.
China: Revaluing the One-Child Policy
Amidst talk of an aging society and a depleting demographic dividend, appeals for a reconsideration of China’s One-Child Policy were voiced during the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
China: Verdict postponed in Fujian netizen trial
A verdict expected this morning in a case which has seen three netizens in Fujian province held in custody for nine months was quickly postponed pending yet further investigation. Following the decision, locals gathered outside the courthouse had minor scuffles with police while netizens having traveled there from around the country reported.
China: Confession of a ‘Second Generation Migrant Worker’
China’s hukou system, adopted in 1958 to control population movement, has long been criticized for tying the population to their place of origin. With the mass migration of rural workers to China’s cities and coastal regions, the system is under the spotlight. One blogger airs his grievances.
China: Various aspects of censorship
March 12 was the World Day Against Cyber Censorship and Reporters Without Borders announced its latest list of "Enemies of the Internet," which points a finger at China, among other authoritarian states.
Taiwan: Rally for Tibet
Photoblogger Jameson posts many photos taken from “Free Tibet Rally” in Taipei on March 14, in memorial of the sad incident happened on the same date two years ago.
Taiwan: Inequality in Baseball Game
Los Angeles Dodgers was invited to Taiwan to play with CPBL‘s best players this week. However, after the first game on March 12, media and baseball fans found that all the budget(2.8m TWD) for improving Tianmu Baseball Stadium was used only on Dodgers’ side. Baseball blogger Kenmy argues that “the games...
China: Journalists unite to demand governor's resignation
Following the incident last week in which Hubei province governor Li Hongzhong berated a reporter and confiscated her recording equipment, growing demand for an apology and Li's subsequent refusal have led academics and media workers to petition for his resignation. Also up: mouthpiece media and reporting privilege.
China: Do Chinese people live with dignity?
China’s top leader has made a historic statement regarding human rights and human dignity which has posed both doubts and meaningful questions. During this year's Spring Festival, China's Premier Wen Jiabao made the unusually phrased statement that his government vowed to "make Chinese people more dignified".
China: The First Chinese Novel on Twitter?
Lian Yue, an ex-teacher and ex-procurator and now a famous blogger and political commentator in China, announced on his blog that he is starting a novel, entitled 2020, on twitter this month. According to the blog, the novel will last until 2020.
China: New Regulation Proposed For Internet Cafes
A member of the National People’s Congress suggested quick legislative action Mar. 6 on a resolution that would close Chinese internet cafes between midnight and 8 a.m. People’s Representative Gao Wanneng called for a “zero-hour cutoff” for internet cafes due to long-term internet addition in Chinese youth. Gao said such...
China: Provincial governor threatens questioning reporter
A rare chance yesterday at interviewing a top official during this year's Two Sessions in Beijing ended for one reporter in being berated in front of her peers, having her audio recording device confiscated and job threatened.
China: A confession of an Internet naked runner
What would you do if you were forced to comply to the “real name registration” in order to access the Internet? And if every word that you said online would be monitored by the government? When there is no way for you to protect your privacy, probably you would also...
China: Proposal for corporate innovation before annual political gathering
As three weeks of closed-door politicking began in Beijing today, the well-known CEO of a major Chinese electronics firm has crafted his contribution for the elite gathering—to which he is a delegate—in the language of patriotism and nation-branding, sharing it on his blog.
Taiwan: Why is Apple sueing HTC?
On March 2, 2010, Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Taiwanese HTC corportation for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface. The topic climbed quickly on twitter trend and has become one of the most discussed issue amongst Taiwanese netizens, geeks, and tech-lovers.
China: Invented English words with Chinese characteristics
Lightson gathered a list of newly invented English words for describing the specific Chinese Context.
China: People's representatives
A diagram showing the ratio of Chinese government / party official and ordinary people in the people's representative of the National Congress in China. It appears that more than 75% of the delegate is government / party official. (via twitterer yuanxinting)
About our Chinese coverage
Oi wan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
