Stories about Chinese from May, 2010
China and Hong Kong: Responses to Cheonan sinking incident
The release of the international investigation report on sinking of Cheonan in May 20, 2010, concluding that the South Korean warship had been bombed by a North Korean torpedo has alleviating the tension in Northeast Asia region. South Korea suspended all trade and investment with North Korea while Pyongyang denied...
China: Hebei’s “Great Leap Forward”
More than 1000 residents of Hebei Province will be subject to forced evictions before June 5, in a government development project online opinion has dubbed a “Great Leap Forward.” Guangping County, an impoverished area in southern Hebei, will see 2 billion yuan ($293 million) invested in new building and development...
Taiwan: Heavy metal and death penalty
One of the top public issues in Taiwan blogosphere recently is whether Taiwan should abolish death penalty or not. Thus, The Ball Music sorts out and introduces several heavy metal songs that are about death penalty(zht). “…You don't have to support the abolishment of death penalty just because you are...
Taiwan: Responses to Thailand's upheaval, if there is any
Taiwan is no stranger in terms of “Red Shirts” and street protests. In September, 2006, the island had its own anti-corruption campaign which also involved about one million red-shirt protesters demonstrating against the former President Chen Shui-bain (who has been still under custody since Nov.12, 2008). And when the first...
Taiwan: In memory of Chao-Jung Hsu, a Taiwanese WWII veteran
As part of an impassioned campaign to create a memorial park for Taiwanese WWII veterans, Chao-Jung Hsu's set himself on fire and died exactly two years ago.
“Black Planet Award” goes to…Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan
“The Formosa Plastics Group is the world’s largest manufacturer of PVC, its CO2 emissions constitute one quarter of all emissions in Taiwan and with its special dispensations from the government and close cooperation with officials the tax rates for three of the major FPG companies pay less than 10% taxes...
Taiwan: Expecting Youth Power of New Generation
Aboutfish, former senior journalist and now the founder of TaiwanGoodLife(online aggregator of citizen media), talks about the moments of democratic enlightenment in her youth life(zht). Like most Taiwanese born before 1980, she did not know any democratic movements and protests ever happened in Taiwan due to media and ideological control...
China: Blogger interrogated after criticizing Shanghai EXPO 2010
A blogger, A Bad Friend, was summoned by security police for interrogation over tea upon writing an article, 10 sins of EXPO 2010, on his blog. After the tea session, he wrote another article, “La Dernière Classe”, recording the conversation between the security police and himself. The exchange reflects the ideological conflict between a party-state nation represented by the security police and a people-orientated nation represented by the student blogger.
China: Is there a place in education for high culture?
Is there a place for liberal education in today’s modern society, where competition for jobs is fierce, and occupations are increasingly specialized and technical? An April issue of the Southern Metropolitan Weekend published a letter written by a Year 3 university student from Tianjin, a major metropolis in Northeast China:...
China reconnects Xinjiang
After more than 10 months of near to complete online darkness, internet service resumed Friday in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to a notice from the Xinjiang Government News Office,. The notice was first posted at Tianshan Net, then quickly distributed to other online news services across the country. Several blogs...
China: expelling the unemployed from Shenzhen
Ridding the city of those unemployed for longer than three months—that’s what Shenzhen’s vice mayor and police chief suggested April 29 in response to security problems in this special economic zone in South China. The suggestion has generated a strong online response. In a meeting with the Hong Kong-Macau Political...
China: School killings and social pathology
Within 5 weeks, there were 5 school killings in China. All the victims are innocent primary and kindergarten school kids, while all the murderers are also victims of social injustice. The problem of the cold-blooded murders comes from society, but again, mainstream media are told not to further investigate the...
Technology for Transparency in China
Some recent online projects promoting greater civic engagement and government accountability reflect the emerging power of the middle class and the democratic influence from outside of China. However, while the country undergoes a fundamental shift in how information is spread and controlled, the power of Chinese authorities in regulating communication and participation should never be under-estimated.
Hong Kong: 5 District Referendum Movement
In order to advocate the implementation of universal suffrage and abolition of functional constituencies in Hong Kong, the Civic Party (CP) and the League of Social Democrats (LSD) launched the 5 district referendum movement through the resignation of 5 legislators in 5 election districts. Candidates from the 2 parties will...
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