John Kennedy · May, 2006

Latest posts by John Kennedy from May, 2006

China: Don't learn Chinese for business opps, learn it for this book

  31 May 2006

For unavoidable reasons known to all, or at least presumed, Lifeweek editor Wang Xiaofeng, one of China's most entertaining bloggers—known to many for a hoax [#026] pulled in March this year which brought many bloggers’ scorn—mysteriously killed off his widely-read Massage Milk (also known as Wears Three Watches) in early...

China: Where is Bart Simpson?

  31 May 2006

Not Only Movies blogger Raymond Zhou has a post today which articulates a need for more Bart Simpson types in China: cynical youth willing to consider that sometimes authorities and elders can be wrong. “What we sorely need,” Zhou writes in ‘Youth facing dilemma of role models‘, “is a culture...

Tokyo: Creative rehearsal space

  31 May 2006

Lee at Tokyo Times has a suggestion, photographic explanation included, for Tokyo musicians hard up for rehearsal space and who risk eviction by practicing at home.

North Korea: Defectors granted asylum

  31 May 2006

Among the several interesting stories found in The Korea Liberator blogger Joshua's Korea Diary this week is a happy ending for four North Koreans who recently sought to defect.

Macau: Economy booming

  31 May 2006

A post from Simon at Simon World looks at recent speculation that the fastest growing economy in the world is not to be found in Shanghai, Chongqing, the Pearl River Delta or anywhere in China proper for that matter, but the former Portugese colony of Macau, off China's southern coast....

Taiwan: History of Chinese

  31 May 2006

China's political turbulence for the larger part of the twentieth century had much more impact on the Chinese language than a mere move from traditional to simplified characters. A growing resource guide from Mark Swofford at Pinyin News aims to set the record straight on just where the language has...

China: Pop psychology online

  31 May 2006

Pop psychology has reached China, or so says a Virtual China post from Jason Li in which fans of Chinese star search show Super Girl have their motivations analyzed.

South Korea: Local elections end

  31 May 2006

Some big changes in store can be expected following the conclusion of local elections in the South Korean capitol of Seoul, the results of which can be found in RJ Koehler's The Marmot Hole.

Japan: Radio station webcast

  30 May 2006

from the inside, looking in blogger Shinichiro Fukushige links in a post today to the announcement of one of Tokyo's most popular radio stations’ long overdue internet broadcast.

Japan: Net user surveys

  30 May 2006

Two recent surveys from Ken Y-N at What Japan Thinks reveal some facts about Japanese netizens: that net-based telephony service Skype is not making inroads there, and that ninety percent of the democratic nation's bloggers write anonymously.

China: Blogger kills himself

  30 May 2006

Beijing-based author and China Life Shop blogger Shawn Matthews has committed suicide following several years combatting depression between Korea and China. More information from his close friend and No Problem blogger Jake here and Korea-based blogger Kevin here.

China: Memo attacks FLG

  30 May 2006

In ‘Talking Point: Chinese statement on the banning of the FLG spiritual movement,’ the AngryChineseBlogger posts a memo sent out by Chinese embassies earlier this month in a bid to further discredit the spiritual group, as well as the part of China's constitution which this blogger says protects them.

China: Homosexuality remains illegal

  30 May 2006

Although having been delisted as a mental disorder in 1997, homosexuality, says law intern-Chinablawger Kevin Fisher posting on a police crackdown in Beijing last year, remains illegal in China. “Is it my right to believe homosexuality is wrong?” Fisher asks. “Certainly. But, so long as homosexual acts do not demonstratably...

China: Raising fuel prices, raising tempers

  29 May 2006

As China's economy continues to grow, so too do the kinds of complaints that come with modern life. And while gas prices are kept lower than can be found in many other countries, two prices hikes in the last year alone have left many of China's rapidly-growing middle class grumbling,...

Hong Kong: Tiananmen massacre remembered

  29 May 2006

Photos, translation and analysis from EastSouthWestNorth blogger Roland Soong look at the declining attendance of Hong Kong's annual commemorations of the 1989 military crackdown in Beijing which saw many students, workers and Beijing locals shot dead on the streets.

China: Wu Hao case

  29 May 2006

The desperation of imprisoned Beijing or Bust blogger Wu Hao's sister Nina can be felt on her MSN Spaces blog which hasn't been updated for nearly two weeks. The most recent post informs readers that her little brother has been denied access to a lawyer. “Unbelievable!” says one reader. “Nina,...

China: Jailed journalist campaign

  29 May 2006

myrick at Asiapundit blogs on Amnesty International's new irrepressible.info campaign which aims to protect free speech on the internet, and a parallel campaign to see jailed journalist Shi Tao set free.

China: IP rights lacking

  29 May 2006

In ‘China Ponders Propaganda Role for Non-Red Parties,’ China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter sees the combined 500,000 members of China's non-Communist political parties—contrasted by 70 million Communist Party members—more as propaganda tools than a sign of democratization, and observes a lack of commitment from the Chinese government in upholding intellectual property...

Japan: Love, death and money

  29 May 2006

Japundit‘s JP summarizes the details in one of the hottest news stories in Japan right now, one “that involves deception, betrayal, greed, murder and many of the other trappings of a soap opera” and revolves around 45 million yen, a dead Japanese man and his Filipina beneficiary. “I saw her...

China: Destitution inspires art

  29 May 2006

Guangzhou-based Supernaut artist-blogger Frances D'Ath finds inspiration for her death-themed works in the killings and violence which have taken place over the past year in clashes between villagers and Communist authorities in several small villages around southern China's Guangdong province in her post ‘云浮, 汕尾, 太石 and other holiday places.’...

South Korea: Chinese labor unattractive

  29 May 2006

A post by James J. Na on The Korea Liberator blog looks at a decrease in Korean manufacturers doing business in China as labor conditions in the Communist state continue to improve, and costs rise. “They should do what the Chinese do already,” says Na: “go to Vietnam instead. And,...

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