Did A CCTV Anchor’s Outburst Even Matter?

By Hu Yong on June 11, 2012

Yang Rui, a host on China Central Television's (CCTV) English-language channel, called on the Public Security Bureau via Sina Weibo on May 16 to “clean out foreign trash, wipe out foreign snake heads (human smugglers), root out foreign spies, kick out foreign shrews (apparently referring to Melissa Chan, an al-Jazeera journalist who has recently been expelled from China) and to make those who demonize China shut up and fuck off.” The microblog post came amid a new surge of xenophobia in Chinese officialdom.

In Ecuador, Home Truths for China

on June 8, 2012

“We need to make contact with the Chinese media as urgently as possible.” I was on my university campus in New York when I received this call for help from an Ecuadorean NGO on March 5.

Some 4,000 kilometers south, in Quito, the Chinese embassy was already surrounded by protestors. Ecuador has a high level of environmental awareness and a tradition of popular opposition to mining. And this time, the target was a Chinese company.

Students Tear Up Books Before Big Exam

Stress Release or Disrespectful Littering?

By He Jianan & Sara Segal-Williams on June 8, 2012

The gaokao, China’s annual National Higher Education Entrance Examination, is known for being extremely difficult and a stressful rite of passage for Chinese students. Due to the society’s traditional emphasis on education, many Chinese people still believe in a direct correlation between one’s diploma and one’s future income level and social standing. In many ways, the gaokao today still resembles the civil service examination in imperial China, offering students (and their families) a merit-based opportunity for upward social mobility.

Road Show Media Bandits Squeeze IPO Hopefuls

on June 8, 2012

Buying media silence is a common first step toward an initial public offering in China that siphons billions of yuan every year from companies seeking investors in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The phenomenon has been documented by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). It involves public relations and law firms that cut deals with media outlets and IPO-bound companies, and company officials who, for all practical purposes, are victims of extortion.

Korea JoongAng Daily

on June 8, 2012

Publication Logo Featured: 
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Visit the homepage of Korea JoongAng Daily
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From their website:

Korea’s leading daily,the JoongAng Ilbo publishes a high quality
English-language newspaper, Korea JoongAng Daily.
It provides you with not only the major articles of the JoongAng
Ilbo, but also in-depth reports on the foreign community in
Korea including business coverage and social activities plus an
introduction to Korean culture.

Daily ,culture and human interest stories add variety to the mix,
including articles on social trend, pop culture, movie listings, art and people

Harvard Report on Government Criticism on Chinese Social Media

By David Wertime on June 8, 2012

Contrary to previous understandings, posts with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state, its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored. Instead, we show that the censorship program is aimed at curtailing collective action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilization, regardless of content.”

Politics
Censorship, Sina Weibo, Harvard

Epidemic of TB Fueled by Deficient Treatment

By Kanoko Matsuyama on June 8, 2012

One third of new cases and one half of people with previously treated TB in 2007 had a form of the disease that didn’t respond to medicine, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine today. At 5.7 percent, the presence of TB that was resistant to multiple therapies among new cases was almost twice the global average, the study said.

Health
Public Health, Disease

The World's Toughest Job: Pu Zhiqiang

By William J. Dobson on June 8, 2012

It wasn’t safe for Pu Zhiqiang to go home. Or, to be more precise, he could go home, but once there he might not be able to leave again. Over the previous 48 hours, Chinese authorities had detained more than a dozen lawyers and activists. More than 80 dissidents had been put under house arrest. Two lawyers simply disappeared. Pu, a well-known free speech attorney, was among the so-called “rights lawyers” who might be swept up in any regime crackdown. (He had been detained a few months earlier, shortly before the Chinese scholar and dissident Liu Xiaobo received the Nobel Peace Prize.) Pu wasn’t sure why he had not been targeted yet. But he had a guess: He had been away on a business trip for a week. He simply hadn’t been home. When I reached him, he was still in Shanghai and planning to return to Beijing in a few days time. He gave the name of a teahouse near his apartment where we could meet. I was supposed to meet him there on a Saturday evening. Just to be safe, he would land at Beijing Capital International Airport and go directly to the teahouse.

Law, Politics
Law, Human Rights, Pu Zhiqiang, Legal System