Stories about China from February, 2009
China: On privatization of rural land
For those not quite interested in fireworks and dumplings, the Spring Festival mainly becomes a yearly pretext for reflecting upon the condition of Chinese peasants and the state of China’s countryside. During the week of hearty celebrations for the new year, millions of temporary workers return from the cities where...
China: CCTV under fire
On the night of February 9, part of China Central Television (CCTV) Tower caught fire when a squad was shooting fireworks to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The fire has reportedly killed one fireman, injured seven other people, and destroyed billions of yuan in broadcast facilities. Speculators have widely noticed the...
South Korea: Prospects for Peace
Jae Young Lee from Ohmynews writes an analysis on the prospects for peace in Northeast Asia region.
China: Pressure on Yanhuang Chunqiu
C.A. Yeung from Under the Jacaranda Tree blogs about the administration's pressure on a history journal, Yanhuang Chunqiu, for the change in its management broad. The move has been interpreted as a sign of internal conflicts within CCP.
China: Grass Mud Horse
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI explains the popular online term, Grass Mud Horse, which originally is a legendary beast and recently used as a political parody for the harmonious society.
China: Bird's Flu in China
Ned Kelly, reading between the Lines on a Xinhua's article, interpreted that at this time, a human-to-human epidemic of bird-flu has begun in China.
China: PS Photos on CCTV Fire
Fauna from ChinaSMACK has a selection of PS photos on CCTV Fire happened on Monday night.
China: Can Paper Wrap the Fire?
Last night CCTV's new building's extension caught fire because of nearby fireworks celebrating the Chinese Lantern Festival (元宵). Blogger Anlei recorded the whole process with a series of photos. Even though the fire is an accident, the propaganda department still decided to harmonize / censor the news. A notice has...
China: CCTV Fire News Censored
Fauna from ChinaSMACK reported about the CCTV building fire and how the news got censored in major internet portal, like Sina and NetEase.
China: CCTV Fire Photos – Twitter breaks the news again
David Feng from CNreviews tells the story on how twitter breaks the news on the fire in CCTV building last night in Beijing.
China: Sitting on a Firework
Uln from Chinayouren blogs about the crisis that appeared in news and statistics but is absent in daily life in China. The blogger points out three factors that contribute to the incoherence between theory and observation: delay, inertia and transparency.
China: Worst Drought in 50 years
A worst drought in 50 years, affecting more than 12 provinces and more than 9.3m hectares, in northern China has hit 43% of the country's wheat crop. The Office of State Control and Drought Relief Headquarters warned that 3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock had lost access to drinking...
China: update on Xintai mental asylum abuses
Prof. Yu Jianrong（于建嵘）exposed [zh] that the governmental probe into the Xintai mental asylum abuses of the 18 protesters who were reportedly locked in a mental hospital in Xintai City, Shandong Province has already reached the conclusion that what the Beijing News reported [zh] is “not consistent with facts”. But Prof....
China: Shanzhai Spring Festival Blocked
In the evening of 25 of January 2009, most Chinese people in mainland China were at home, enjoying the year end dinner while waiting for the Lunar New Year. A usual entertainment for the night among family members was to watch the Spring Festival Gala broadcasted by CCTV. This year,...
China: Remebering History
2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of PRC. David Bandurski from China Media Project translates an article by a Chinese scholar Zi Zhongyun (资中筠), who urges China to reflect on its suppression of contemporary history.
China: Logo for 50 Cents
Someone has designed a logo for the 50 cent party (state sponsored online opinion maker). via wumao twitter.
China: Wen's Talk at Davos
China Matters has a post analyzing the implications Premier Wen Jiabo's talk at the World economic forum in Davos.
China: A fair for Muslim in Guangzhou
Jacky Peng blogs a set of photos on a fair for Muslim in Gangzhou.
China: More reactions to shoeing incident
ESWN translates a post from a nationalistic BBS reacting to the shoeing against Wen Jiabo in Cambridge University. Fauna from ChinaSMACK also picks up and translates a number of local reactions.
China: Shoe Hurled at Premier Wen Sparks Fury
A shoe is thrown at another leader, this time the Chinese Premier in Cambridge, Britain. Furious responses and condemnation were hurled back to the thrower, a word fight is going on on YouTube. But any news in domestic media in China? Sorry, it is harmonic to afford the unwelcome shoe.
China: Shanzhai Spring Festival Gala Blocked
Shanzhai Spring Festival Gala, an alternative to CCTVcelebration of the spring festival online casting, has become a sensitive term and blocked. (more via Joel Martinsen from DANWEI)
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