Stories from 27 June 2007
China: The death of a celebrity, a festival for the paparazzi
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a deleted blog post by He Dong, an entertainment journalist, who criticised the media circus in response to the death of a celebrity Hou Yaowen.
China: Boycotting Beijing Olympics? They have ill intentions.
From Mia Farrow to François Bayrou to US Congressmen, every news or report about boycotting Beijing Olympics has provoked rounds of anger from China's netizens. In a widely cross-posted blog post Boycotting Olympic: A farce doomed to failure, Wang Chong, a political commentor, grouped the boycotting Beijing Olympics advocators into...
China: The China Opportunity
Fons tried to address the question: “Are you positive or negative about the effects of China on the world?” put forward by international delegations at China Herald.
Taiwan: Fifth Day Festival
(photo courtesy of judie) Fifth Day Festival is another name for the Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival because it is May fifth in the lunar calendar (June 19th this year). There are different ways to interpret the festival's cultural events we hold. The ‘traditional’ interpretation is to commemorate a...
Armenia: Power Plates
Armenia Blog has photos of prestigious license plates.
Central Asia: China's Soft Power
At Registan.net, Joshua Foust examines how Central Asia might be impacted by China's soft power.
Uzbekistan: Electioneering
Uzbekistan's president has been making numerous trips to various regions of Uzbekistan in what Jamiyat of neweurasia calls the launch of a re-election campaign.
Russia: “Completely Different Other Russias”
There was no police "overreaction" during the opposition's latest Dissenters' March in Moscow - possibly, because the organizers decided not to follow up the rally on Pushkinskaya Square with the actual marching. Everyone made their speeches - or so it seemed, until the blogosphere offered a not-so-pleasant revelation: opposition activist Maria Gaidar was prevented from addressing the crowd by Eduard Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Party and Garry Kasparov's close ally in the Other Russia anti-government coalition.