Stories about East Asia from February, 2007
Cambodia: Banning Ads
Vutha says Cambodian wonders about the double standards of the government in banning tuk-tuk drivers from displaying commercials on their vehicle in a bid to “preserve public order and the beauty of the capital” and at the same time allowing billboards featuring alcohol.
Myanmar: A Glimpse of the New Capital City
Fifty Viss links to a post by an Indian journalist who took some pictures of the mysterious new capital city of Myanmar. The government moved the capital last year from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in a surprise move and people are still speculating over the reasons of the move.
Singapore: Having kids
Coffee and Cigarettes invites comments on why should Singaporeans have kids? after listening to a radio show that focussed on the reasons why Singaporean are not having kids.
Indonesia: Fertility in Indonesia
Indonesia Matters has a break down of the fertility rates in Indonesia by religion and ethnicities.
Indonesia: Citizen Diplomat
Maverick Indonesia blogs about meeting an Indonesian diplomat and his ideas of a citizen diplomat. “But most important is what Aula calls the second track diplomacy. Any Indonesian can be the ambassador of the country, through interactions with people from other countries. Thus, every Indonesian must understand the nation’s foreign...
China: failed online question to Preimer Wen
Sohu.com has a special section to ask Preimer Wen questions for the upcoming two Meetings, positive solutions asked: When will China become a democratic country with a free press? I believe this would be beneficial to China’s sustainable development and peaceful rise. And his question is no where to be...
China: Chinese second life?
Jason Li from Virtual China blogs about HipHi, a China-produced and Chinese language version of Second Life.
China: Xinjiang Jan Raid
Xinjiang Watch have a blog post discussing media reports on the implication of China's War on Terror against alleged separatists of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in Akto County in January, especially in response to the speigel report.
Taiwan: the death of twblog.net
Inertia announced in his blog that twblog.net has officially died because the domain name has been took by other internet company. Bloggers under blog.twblog.net would be affected. He explains the current situation that “in taiwan blogosphere, it is simple to be independent, but to maintain that independence alone is difficult…”...
Taiwan: KMT internal rivalry
Michael Turton translates some local reports about the internal rivalry between Ma Ying jeou and Wang Jin-ping on the upcoming presidential election.
Japan: addressing racism
Debito blogs the transcript of Press Conference with United Nations Special Rapporteur Doudou Diene and Debito Arudou (himself) at Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. The press conference addressed racism issues in Japan
Japan: Hokkaido woman is violent?
Mari blogs some statistics about domestic violence in Hokkaido, 2.5% came from the husbands. The blogger comments that “because of their equality of the sexes idea, we might think Hokkaido men would use counseling more easily than men in other areas.“
Japan: Citizen report change public policy
Mayumi Shimotai from Ohmynews reports how a report on factory pollution pick up by Japan citizen journalist at Ohmynews changed the public policy on environment protection.
Taiwan: Name-rectification Debate
The two terms “Taiwan” and “Republic of China” ( R.O.C.) has been intertwined together for the last decades. However, after several elections, with the switch in ruling parties from the pro- Chinese- unification party KMT to the pro- Taiwan- independence party DPP, these two terms are now at the focus...
China: Government study tours questioned
Somewhat related to this recent post, Sichuan province Writer's Association member and Strong China blogger Li Hongzhi looks at a recent decision from the organizational department of the provincial Communist Party which limits government leaders’ training trips abroad. Chinese teachers go abroad to experience and learn, as do liberal intellectuals...
Cambodia: Cambodia F.A.Q
Diana answer some frequently asked questions about visiting Cambodia.
Korea and Japan: nationalism
James from Japan Probe collects a few youtube video on Japanese T.V programs (with English subtitles) about the tensions between South Korea and Japan. The video seems to suggest that anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea is related with the nationalistic education.
China: competition shows
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) orders TV networks to limit “competition show” durations to two and a half months (instead of four and a half months). — more from China Media Project.
China and Japan: Chinglish and Japlish
Zhaihua discusses about the differences between Chinglish and Japlish (zh). He argues that Chinglish is speaking to foreigners hoping that they can understand, but Japlish is speaking to Japanese but taking English term for their own use.
China: Ming Dynasty
Granite studio picks up a post in DANWEI about why Ming Dynasty has become so popular in China and carries on the discussion from a historical point of view.
Japan: cute icon for defence force
International Herald has an article criticizing the use of cute icon for Japan's military aspiration. Lee from Tokyo Times blogs several pictures to show that Japan has been using cute icons for their police force as well.