Stories about China from August, 2013
China's Decision on Cultural Reform
China's current crackdown on online rumors is consistent with the official decision [zh] released after the Sixth Plenum of the 17th Party Congress in October 2011. Oxford scholar Rogier Creemers from China Copyright and Media blog translated this official document, titled Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Decision Concerning Deepening Cultural Structural...
China Detains Prominent Online Critic on Prostitution Solicitation Charge
Web users are speculating that the charge against Charles Xue is part of a scheme by authorities to control influential liberals online.
Chinese Social Web Shines Spotlight on Illegal Rooftop Structures
Authorities have been slow to do anything about the elaborate and illegal constructions, including one rooftop villa in Beijing that resembles a lush green mountaintop.
Leaked Chinese Document Warns Against the Evils of Western Values
The directive reaffirms President Xi Jinping's political conservatism despite his economic reforms and tough stance on corruption.
Which Flavor of China's Wildly Popular WeChat Will You Get?
Tencent offers two versions of WeChat, a "sanitized" one for mainland Chinese and an uncensored one for international users, yet some Chinese language accounts registered from overseas also encounter censorship.
Mike Tyson Challenged China's Urban Law Enforcement Officers
Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson asked in Sina Weibo, China's most popular social media platform, “Who is the best fighter in China?”. A follower said Cheng-guan, China's urban law enforcement officers, who are notorious for managing the street by beating up street vendors. More from Offbeat China.
School Teacher Becomes Target of Political Prosecution in Hong Kong
Pro-Beijing groups and the Hong Kong government are going after a school teacher who swore at police officers as they allowed a group of Falun Gong protesters to be harassed.
China: Egypt's Bloody Crackdown Brings Back Memories of Tiananmen
Egypt’s bloody crackdown on August 14 reminded many Chinese of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. Many condemned the violent crackdown and applauded the courage of the Egyptian people to fight for democracy. But some saw the current chaos in Egypt as a result of a blind promotion of Western-style democracy....
China Gives Internet Celebrities a Guide for Self-Censorship
The guideline set boundaries not to be crossed when it comes to discussion of law, socialism, the state's interests, the rights of the people, and morality.
China: Revenge or Justice?
A recent sex scandal involving two top Shanghai judges was exposed by a businessman Ni Peiguo who believes one of the judges was unfair in a ruling of a corporate suit that Ni was involved in. He took revenge of his financial loss by following the judge for a year...
China: WeChat Spy
China Digital Times has collected another case on the spying of WeChat message, a smartphone messaging application and is now the world’s fifth most popular one. The latest case shows that the police is actively spying on a reporting group that shares news information.
Explaining Chinese Tourists’ Assault on Wildlife
Sophie Lu from Tea Leaf Nation joined the discussion about the recent controversy over mainland Chinese Tourists’ destructive and illegal behaviors when diving in Paracel Islands.
People's Daily: “Constitutionalism” Essentially Is a Weapon of Public Opinion War
The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's Communist Party published a piece arguing that socialist China must renounce constitutionalism, using the collapse of the Soviet Union as example. China Copyright and Media has translated the whole piece into English.
China Blocks Wall Street Journal's Chinese Version
Wall Street Journal's Chinese-language edition has been blocked in China since Aug 3, 2013. It was not clear why the whole website was blocked. The English-language version of the site remains accessible and the Chinese Wall Street Journal's Weibo is still active. Shanghaiist has more details.
Pregnant Woman, Husband Charged in Teen's Brutal Murder in China
Hu Yixuan, a 17-year-old student nurse, was allegedly lured to her death by a pregnant woman asking for help.
China's State-Run Media Invokes Specter of USSR Collapse
A front page article by Xinhua news agency points the finger at the former Soviet Union as an example of the consequences of democratic reforms.
China's ‘Foreign Forces’ Propaganda, Redefined
China's political term "foreign forces" has been reimagined by Chinese netizens to criticize domestic corruption rather than foreign intervention.
Italian Appeals Court Upholds Guilty Verdict in Historic Eternit Asbestos Case
An appeals court in Turin, Italy has affirmed Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny, former owner of cement manufacturer Swiss Eternit Group, is responsible for nearly 3,000 asbestos-related deaths.
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