· August, 2010

Stories about East Asia from August, 2010

China: Food poisoning -Crayfish

  25 August 2010

Crayfish dishes in China are contaminated with industrial acid which gives patients sore joints, a sore back, pale complexion, and the rather peculiar ‘soy sauce urine’. (more from Daniel Mark Carr, Shanghaiist)

Taiwan: Who Needs A Founding Father?

  25 August 2010

Does Dr. Sun Yat-sen deserve the title of “the Founding Father of Republic of China (R.O.C)”? Is he really a flawless idealistic political leader and the hero behind the revolution that overthrew Qing Dynasty? The myth around Dr. Sun has been under scrutiny in Taiwan where people largely do not identify themselves as “Chinese” anymore.

Noam Chomsky in China

  24 August 2010

On 13 August, Noam Chomsky delivered a speech at the Peking University in Beijing. Chomsky, one of the leading public intellectuals of our age, is famous for his political activism and contributions to linguistic and philosophy. The talk, titled Contours of World Order: Continuities and Changes, was mostly about two...

Taiwan: Let’s go poking around under the rock of ECFA

  24 August 2010

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China was signed. The process seems smooth and efficient at the surface, but the story is not simple. Many Taiwanese have poked around under the rock of ECFA and ask their government why.

Thailand: Thai Youth Forum 2010

  23 August 2010

Brian Jungwiwattanaporn writes about the Thai Youth Forum 2010 which is set to take place at the end of the month to discuss issues of migration and trafficking.

Myanmar: Wanted: Election stories

  23 August 2010

Myanmar has announced that elections will push through on November. A Glimpse of My Life tries to gather blog comments about the elections and ends up frustrated: “I have been trying to find blog posts among Burmese bloggers about the elections. So far, in the 30 something bloggers I have...

Thailand: Thaileaks website

  23 August 2010

A group called WikiCong has set-up the thaileaks website to allow Thai netizens to access materials from the Wikileaks website which has been blocked in Thailand.

South Korea: Civil Service Exams Removed, Years of Studies Wasted?

  23 August 2010

Many South Koreans are angry over a government's decision to replace the civil service exam with open recruitment. The exam has been praised for giving equal opportunities to applicants regardless of their education and family background. The online space is exploding with enraged bloggers' condemnations of the reform as a way of stalling the nation’s already flatlining social mobility.

China: Pambassadors

  23 August 2010

Elaine Chow from Shanghaiist blogs about the recruitment of six Panda Ambassadors in China. The Pambassadors will be working at the famous Woolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in the coming October.

China: Hype on university virginity rate

  23 August 2010

On August 16, a survey report on university female student virginity rate was posted around university forums. Since the report was published under the name of Li Yinhe, the most famous sexologist in China, the post quickly became the hottest topic online. Eventhough Professor Li denied her connection with the...

Japan: Photos by Astronaut Soichi Noguchi

  22 August 2010

The Slick blog is thrilled [ja] that a selection of photos by astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be published as an iPhone/iPad application. As @Astro_Soichi, Noguchi posted more than 600 photos to Twitter from space.

Japan: Hikikomori as a global issue

  22 August 2010

News that the Japanese word hikikomori was included in the newest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English prompted some bloggers to think of English equivalents of the word. Perhaps “shut-in”, one blogger offers. Hikikomori – Social withdrawal in Japan, Hiroshi Tomishige's blog about his experiences with hikikomori and thoughts...

About our East Asia coverage

Oiwan Lam
Oiwan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.

Mong Palatino
Mong Palatino is the South East Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.