A media activist, researcher and educator currently based in Hong Kong. My Twitter account is @oiwan and personal views are published on: patreon.com/oiwan
Latest posts by Oiwan Lam from March, 2013
Censoring Censorship in China
The above screen capture of a local news brief has gone viral on Chinese social media yesterday. It said: “Recently Myanmar has unblocked Facebook, the world's most popular social media website. Now only four countries in the world still blocked Facebook, including South Korea, Cuba, Iran and another country.” Other...
China Government's Growing Weibo Footprint
The number of Chinese government Weibo accounts has soared over the past few years and will continue to be so. Via China Digital Times: The survey by the Chinese Academy of Governance found that by December 20, 2012, a total of 176,700 Weibo accounts had been opened by government organs...
China's Feel-Good Viral Photo Wasn't Real
A feel-good viral photo showing a young girl on her knees helping an elderly homeless man eat has turned out to be a publicity stunt and netizens feel cheated. More from Off Beat China.
Charity on a Subway
[G]iving to beggars is a straightforward opportunity to practice generosity in my daily life. So why the resistance to giving? At the time my friend pointed out that I had probably been targeted, I felt ashamed and tried to defend myself. I argued that I would rather risk being tricked by...
Dream a Little Dream in China
My Chinese dream: Judicial fairness. Give back the life of my son. While China’s new leader Xi Jinping likes to talk about his “Chinese dream”, a group of Chinese petitioners are using the microblogging site Sina Weibo to talk about their Chinese dreams. Rachel Lu from Tea Leaf Nation has...
Despite Bans, China's Uyghurs Wear their Identity with Pride
A viral photo showing Uyghur students being punished for wearing Muslims caps in Xinjiang's Urumqi city has been labelled by the authorities as a "rumor" and a "plot" by "outside forces." But many Uyghurs wonder when the government will show some respect for their culture.
China's Dead Pigs Expose Illegal Farms
Barry van Wyk from DANWEI highlights a local report that shed lights on the floating dead pigs in Shanghai river by investigating into the problem of illegal pig farms in Hubei province.
No Ghost Cities in China
China Law Blog has a guest post by Dirk Chilcote who had lived in Zhenzhou for 3 years. He is skeptical of western media's report on China's ghost cities: In my three years living and working in the neighborhood 60 Minutes decided to use for its doomsday exemplar, the most...
Why China's Real-Name Microblog Rules Fail
The real-name registration regulation of micro-blogs in China has been implemented for more than a year, but a majority of netizens just ignore the regulation. David Caragliano from Tea Leaf Nation explains why the regulation has failed.
University Builds Internet Red Army in China
Since 2010, Guangdong Baiyun University started running a “Students’ Internet and Social Media Information Monitoring” team to watch students’ online activities. More from Off Beat China.
Hong Kong's Democrats Have Radical Plans
To pressure Beijing to grant Hong Kong genuine universal suffrage, democratic activists have begun discussing civil disobedience as a viable tactic .
The Return of China's First Lady
Reversing a streak decades long of low-profile presidential wives, Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan accompanied her husband, new President Xi Jinping, to Russia on his first foreign tour, marking a return of the role to the political spotlight.
China's $20 Billion Pledge to Africa
Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa: The Real Story looks into the nature of China's pledge of $20 Billion to Africa at the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation held in Beijing last summer: I went back to examine the Chinese discussion around this $20 billion....
Chinese General's Anti-War Stance Criticized
People Liberation Army General Liu Yuan was attacked by online nationalists for calling for a peaceful resolution of Sino-Japanese conflict. South Sea Conversations looks into Liu's opinion and netizens’ reaction.
Former President of Google China Reveals Censorship Statistics
Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China, published a chart on Twitter showing how often his micro-blog was deleted by the Chinese government's censorship arm. Lee regularly blogs about cultural and technology issues in China on Sina Weibo, the most influential micro-blogging platform in the country. The Chinese government regularly censors...
Today's Tibet, Tomorrow's Hong Kong?
An activist network in Hong Kong organized an assembly to express their solidarity with Tibetans on the 54th Anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day last Sunday March 10, 2013. Some participants who joined the meeting believed that Hong Kong people should learn from Tibet and avoid the history from recurring in Hong Kong.
China: Where Doctors Are the Bad Guys
Mary Ann O'Donnell explains why doctors occupy the same hated position in China that lawyers occupy in the United States. The explanation interestingly is related to the role of the governments of the two countries.
China: Urumqi International Bazaar
Xinjiang Far West tours its readers around the largest Bazaar in the World, the International Grand Bazaar at the heart of Uyghur, Xinjiang province.
