Stories about East Asia from October, 2010
Taiwan: Foreign wives and citizenship
Sinocentric looks at the place of foreign wives in Taiwanese society. The number of foreign wives in Taiwan, mostly from China and Southeast Asia, has increased significantly in recent years.
Flooding disaster in Thailand
More than 40 people are now confirmed dead due to rising floodwaters in the northeast and central parts of Thailand. Parts of Bangkok, the country’s capital, are now flooded too. Netizens provide disaster updates through blogs and twitter
Myanmar: Cyclone Giri death toll rises
More than 30 died or have been declared missing when Cyclone Giri struck the western coast of Myanmar. The state media claimed that government officials visited the affected region but other reports also mentioned the failure of the government to respond to the relief offer of the international community.
South Korea: A Repairman Won the Nation's Biggest Singing Contest.
Hur Gak, is a stout, homey-looking repairman who took home the trophy of the nation's biggest singing contest, “Superstar K,” Korean version of American Idol. Hur won around 177 thousand USD, a car and the opportunity to release his own album. He is now referred to as Korea's Paul Potts. Video...
China: Rare earth
George Chen blogs about the international and domestic debates over China’ exportation of rare earth.
China: Protest over “Mandarin only” education program
Angry Chinese blogger looks into the recent protest in Qinghai by Tibetans against the introduction of “Mandarin only” education program.
Philippines: Popular dancing videos
Dancing prisoners. Dancing maids. Dancing flight attendants. And now Dancing Tax Collectors. Watch again these popular dancing videos from the Philippines.
Indonesia: Torture video
A video shows Indonesian soldiers torturing prisoners in West Papua. Human rights groups describe the footage as “Indonesia's Abu Ghraib.”
Thailand: New book on Lese Majeste
David writes about a new book that tackles the rise of lese majeste cases in Thailand. Between 2006 and 2009, at least 765 persons were prosecuted for lèse majesté.
South Korea: Protesting with Flowers and Pink Placards
In South Korea, a female protester made a change in the conservative education sector, a feat no burly protester with a Molotov cocktail has succeeded in achieving over several decades.
China: Looking at Xi Jinping, possible future ruler
As with all of China's top leaders, little is known or allowed to be known about the country's likely next ruler, Xi Jinping, despite a curious public. The man has lots of fans, though, and despite wide-ranging censorship, together they have a few important things to say about Xi and China's future.
Haze envelops Singapore
Haze in Singapore and south Malaysia! They blame it on the burning of trees in Sumatra, Indonesia where farmers are preparing for the crop planting season. Residents are coughing and complaining. The haze makes everyone dizzy and the web is buzzing about it
Myanmar: Water problem
dawn_1o9 from Myanmar blogs about the water shortage in Dala Township which is located just across the Yangon river.
Myanmar: Lighting Festival
Buddhists in Myanmar will celebrate lighting festival during Thadingyut. The festival is a celebration of the descent of Buddha from heaven. The Myanmar Youth in Action will organize a “Lighting Festival” at the Aein Daw Yar Pagoda.
Cyclone Giri hits Myanmar
Cyclone Giri struck Myanmar's west Arakan State. The cyclone is stronger than the deadly Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar two years ago.
China: My father is Li Gang!
The son of a deputy police director in Hebei province killed a young woman in a traffic accident on October 16 and reportedly shouted to an angry crowd, "Go ahead and sue me, my father is Li Gang". Now hundreds of people have been writing and sharing songs and poetry online in protest against bad behavior by offspring of government officials
China: Unhappy Chinese after surprise rate hike
George Chen from Have a news day comments on the sudden rate hike by the China central bank.
Shintaro Ishihara’s views on China, Japan
Shintaro Ishihara is a politician, author and governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government since 1999. He is well known for his critical stance on Japan’s dependence under the US-Japan security alliance. In 1989, he co-authored the book The Japan That Can Say No with then-Sony chairman Akio Morita. He is...
China: Maoist worker activist in jail
JJ from China Study Group looks into the significance of Zhao Dongmin's arrest and imprisonment. Zhao is a lawyer, labor activist and Maoist. He has been put in jail more than a year after his arrest for trying to setup a workers’ watchdog group to combat corrupt and illegal SOE...
China: Dairy Wars
ESWN collects and translates reports about the scandal of Mengnui smearing campaign towards its rival Yili and Shengyuan.
Thailand: Worst flooding in decades
Heavy rains in the past weeks produced the worst flooding in many decades in the rural northeast of Thailand. Since October 10, flooding also hit 13 provinces of Thailand. Netizens share their stories and reactions
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