An American journalism student and translator of Chinese, interested in urbanization, reform, and socio-economic change in China and Asia.
Latest posts by Don Weinland
China: ‘Ditch oil’ floods restaurants
An economic investigation team detained a Hubei oil refiner Nov. 10 who pumped more than 60 tons of “ditch oil” into the local restaurant industry during the past three years, Hubei’s Jingzhou News reported. Concern over the prevalence of the second-hand oil in restaurant kitchens has increased sharply since an investigative report...
China: Hebei’s “Great Leap Forward”
More than 1000 residents of Hebei Province will be subject to forced evictions before June 5, in a government development project online opinion has dubbed a “Great Leap Forward.” Guangping County, an impoverished area in southern Hebei, will see 2 billion yuan ($293 million) invested in new building and development...
China reconnects Xinjiang
After more than 10 months of near to complete online darkness, internet service resumed Friday in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to a notice from the Xinjiang Government News Office,. The notice was first posted at Tianshan Net, then quickly distributed to other online news services across the country. Several blogs...
China: expelling the unemployed from Shenzhen
Ridding the city of those unemployed for longer than three months—that’s what Shenzhen’s vice mayor and police chief suggested April 29 in response to security problems in this special economic zone in South China. The suggestion has generated a strong online response. In a meeting with the Hong Kong-Macau Political...
China: New real estate policy hits market
A new housing policy in China issued on April 17 is being called “the strictest in history.” The State Council has requested a steep increase in down payments on loans for second homes.
China: Premier Wen remembers Hu Yaobang
In an open letter published Thursday in the People’s Daily, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recalled an enlightening journey with purged and disgraced former Premier Hu Yaobang. The letter commemorates the 21st anniversary of his death. The letter not only symbolizes affection and respect for Hu, but stands as a clear reminder...
China: The brief lives of Chinese buildings
At a construction and energy conservation conference that opened March 29 in Beijing, a Ministry of Housing and Construction official revealed that construction in China only has a 25–30 year lifespan.
China: County citizens subject to moral appraisal
Defaulting on a loan, running a red light, having a second child, or receiving a serious warning from the Communist Party—just some of the behaviors that might give Suining County citizens a bad credit score, according to the first list of 812 names disclosed March 15 on a government Web...
China: Official Nudity
A township government in Sichuan Province is being called “China’s first completely nude government” after township officials issued salary and expenditure information online. The reference to nudity recently found in many Chinese publications denotes an unprecedented level of transparency in local government. The government of Baimiao Township in northeastern Sichuan disclosed...
China: Revaluing the One-Child Policy
Amidst talk of an aging society and a depleting demographic dividend, appeals for a reconsideration of China’s One-Child Policy were voiced during the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
China: New Regulation Proposed For Internet Cafes
A member of the National People’s Congress suggested quick legislative action Mar. 6 on a resolution that would close Chinese internet cafes between midnight and 8 a.m. People’s Representative Gao Wanneng called for a “zero-hour cutoff” for internet cafes due to long-term internet addition in Chinese youth. Gao said such...
China: Increasing Trend in Mass Incidents
Protests, known in Chinese as “mass incidents”, grew fiercer and more violent in 2009, while methods of protest grew in variation, says a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher. In a recent Southern Weekend article Shan Guangnai of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences analyzes new trends in “mass incidents”,...
China: Another Cell Phone Registration System in the Works
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has announced a plan to enforce a “real-name” registration system for mobile phone users. The announcement comes four years after the Ministry of Information Industry—which subsequently became the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology—drew up the framework for similar legislation. Despite much talk...
China: More Violence Over Salary Dispute
A migrant worker from Hebei was stabbed Jan. 9, resulting in the loss of a kidney, after requesting withheld salary from a subcontractor in Beijing, reports the Yangcheng Evening News. The incident has been dubbed the “beg for salary, lose a kidney” incident by Chinese media sources. 28 year-old Gao Zhiqiang, father of three,...
China: New Ticketing System For Train Riders
As “Chunyun”—the travel season before, during, and after the Chinese New Year—approaches, two of China’s largest rail lines are adopting a “real-name” ticketing system. Information Times reported Friday that passengers traveling on trains serviced by Guangzhou Railway Group or Chengdu Railway Bureau will be required to produce a valid identification card upon...
China: Development's Toll on Laborers
A second wave of pneumoconiosis cases has been reported among drilling and blasting workers in the southern city of Shenzhen. An article in Beijing Youth Daily reports 119 suspected pneumoconiosis cases among migrant workers from Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province who had engaged in drilling and blasting work in Shenzhen, Guangdong. This...
China: Putting cadres to work
A Chinese scholar is asking why the Chinese socialist tradition of “cadre labor participation” is no longer practiced among current leadership and suggests its discontinuation may be linked with deteriorating work conditions in China. Wu Li, a foreign language and foreign affairs specialist, wrote in the Chinese newspaper Southern Weekend that...
China: Molding the face of Chinese manufacturing
What is being called a “Chinese manufacturing image advertisement,” as well as China’s first global ad campaign, aired Nov. 23 on CNN Asia. The ad seeks to promote the global reputation of products manufactured in China after years of scrutiny regarding safety and quality. The advertisement, produced by DDB, one...
China's Perspective on Xinjiang
TrueXinjiang.com is a Web site that appeals instantly to the western eye. The site, designed specifically to disseminate a Han-Chinese version of life in the remote autonomous region of Xinjiang, China, is free of many of the displeasing characteristics, such as clutter and endless pop-up ads, found on Chinese Web...
