Stories about China from December, 2012
People's Daily: The Internet is Not Outside the Law
On Dec 18, China's state media, People's Daily published a piece titled “The Internet is Not Outside the Law,” which serves as a reminder of government control over internet and social media in China. China Media Project translated the whole piece.
Infographic: Ten Ways of Torture in China's Black Jail
Tencent News recently published an infographic introducing how prisoners have been tortured in the black jail in Chongqing, China. The black jail was set up by Bo Xilai and the controversial infographic triggered many comments from netizens. Offbeat China provides more details with the translation of the inforgraphic.
Censorship Lift for “V for Vendetta” Shocks China
V for Vendetta, a film produced in 2005 about a near-future dystopian society, previously censored in China, was aired on China Central Television Station (CCTV) Channel Six on December 14, 2012. The screening has caught many people by surprise.
China's Media Mute on Local School Tragedy
On Dec 14, 2012, 20 children were killed in a gun shooting in Connecticut, US. The sad news was immediately all over China’s CCTV and made the headlines of major newspapers in China. On the same day, another school tragedy took place in central China: a man stabbed and injured 22 children. However, there was not a single mention of the domestic tragedy in Chinese mainstream media. The only news was through Weibo, China’s twitter.
Chinese Youth Association of France Sues Magazine for Racial Defamation
We are flabbergasted that the (French magazine) Le Point would stigmatize in such manner a category of the French population in the article “The intriguing success of Chinese people in France” [..] No, not all Chinese Frenchmen are criminals. No, not all Chinese Frenchwomen are prostitutes. They are french citizens like any other citizens. The Chinese Youth...
Jackie Chan: “Hong Kong has Become a City of Protest”
Actor and Kung Fu star Jackie Chan triggered outrage in Hong Kong after saying in an interview: “Hong Kong has become a city of protest, we scold China and its leaders, we scold anything we want and protest against everything."
Campaign Against Pro-China Media Monopoly in Taiwan Turns Global
The Taiwanese government's lack of response to the street protests against the monopoly of a pro-China media group in the country, has triggered a series of online protests across the world.
The Richest Village in the World?
Huaxi village in China's eastern Jiangsu province is claimed to be “the richest village in the world.” Wade Shepard, an Ethnographic Journalist documents his unique experience in the village on his travel blog VagabondJourney.com.
China's ‘Luxury Disease’ Extends to Lavish Government Buildings
Lavish government buildings is nothing new in China, however, nothing can be compared to the new government building in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province. According to media reports , the "Long Ao building", cost 4 billion RMB (US$640 million), and is the second largest individual structure in the world, second only to the Pentagon in size.
Chinese-American Children Left Behind in China
Left-behind children is a term to describe a special group of children who are left in rural areas while their parents work as migrant workers in big cities in China. However, in Fujian province in Southern China, there are about 10,000 left-behind foreign children whose parents are illegal immigrants to other...
Analysis on Water and Enviromental Bloggers in China
China has serious water shortage problems due to the population and landscape. How many Chinese are talking about this issue on the internet? Check out this interesting analysis on water and environmental bloggers on Twitter and Weibo (China's Twitter) by ChinaWaterRisk.
Xinhua Is On Twitter
Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream blogs about Chinese netizens’ reaction of the Chinese government official news outlets, Xinhua, being active on Twitter, an social media platform which is blocked in China. As the blogger pointed out: it does seem slightly ironic for a government agency to be using Twitter when...
Rare Protest in Beijing Against Express Train Catches China by Surprise
A protest against the Shenyang-Beijing Express Train Route in downtown Beijing on December 9, 2012 has caught many Chinese netizens by surprise. Some believe that it is a sign for further political reform, while some are holding their breathe and crossing their fingers.
China's Weibo Guru Kai-fu Lee Talks About Higher Education Issues
Prominent figure in Chinese internet sector Kai-Fu Lee pointed out the problems in China's higher education. He tweeted on Dec 10[zh], translation here: China doesn't need so many universities. In order to meet the high expectations of parents, schools have expanded the enrollment. Many private universities have developed too fast...
China: Fake RMB Donations Triggers Online Debate
On December 8, foreign consulates in Guangzhou, Southern China held a Christmas charity bazaar to raise funds for disabled children. The event raised 330,000 RMB (about US$53,000), but the Belgian consulate found out that 5,000 RMB turned out to be fake currency. The news led to a heated discussion online. TeaLeafNation...
China's Disempowered Urban Planners Build Support Through Weibo
China is experiencing major urban expansion, but urban planners have little freedom to do their work, as the government and developers are the main decision makers. Urban planners have now found a new way to make their voices heard: they use Weibo (China's twitter) to communicate with the public and criticize improper planning strategies forced upon them by the government.
Tibet Scholars Appeal to China's President Xi Jinping
A group of international Tibetan studies scholars launched a petition addressed to China's Xi Jinping, asking the new leader to adjust its language, culture and religion policy in the Tibetan region: As specialists in the areas of Tibetan language, culture and religion, we would like to share with you, through this...
Photos from 1962 of Mainland Refugees Fleeing Famine to Hong Kong
Hong Wrong.com posted some historical photos collected by Life Magazine, showing mainland Chinese refugees fleeing from the famine to Hong Kong in 1962 as a result of the Great Leap Forward in mainland China.
The Struggle of 15-Year-Old Hukou Protester in China
C. Custer from China Geeks told the story of a 15-year-old girl activist, Zhan Haite, who struggles against the unjust household registration system in China. Zhan may be an interesting example of what I might term the “dissidentification” of Chinese protesters. I have noticed and mentioned before how people frustrated...
Xinjiang Nut Cakes and Ethnic Conflict in China
Off Beat China highlights an ethnic conflict between Uyghur nut cake sellers and Chinese customers which had developed into a mass fight. The compensation of RMB 200,000 to the Uyghur sellers have generated a lot of resentment among Chinese on the ethnic policy.
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