Challenged in China

The Shifting Dynamics of Censorship and Control

By David Schlesinger, Sophie Beach, Madeline Earp, and Danny O'Brien on February 28, 2013

As Xi Jinping takes office as president of China, the citizenry he governs is more sophisticated and interconnected than any before, largely because of the Internet. A complex digital censorship system—combined with a more traditional approach to media control, such as jailing journalists—keeps free expression in check. Repressive regimes worldwide look to China as a model, but Beijing's system of control is increasingly endangered.

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Topics: 
Media
Politics
Keywords: 
Journalism
Internet
Censorship
Press Freedom
Organization: 
Committee to Protect Journalists

Classical Music with Chinese Characteristics

The Party Elites of the Three Highs Philharmonic Orchestra

By Sheila Melvin on February 28, 2013

On a frigid Friday morning at the end of 2012, a stream of expectant concertgoers poured through the cavernous lobby of the China National Center for the Performing Arts. They had come to the stunning, egg-shaped arts complex at this unusually early hour holding invitations to the dress rehearsal for what was arguably the hottest ticket in town: the Beijing premiere of the Three Highs Philharmonic Orchestra.

Drought and Earthquakes Pose “Enormous Risk” to China’s Nuclear Plans

on February 28, 2013

When the Fukushima nuclear disaster struck, China was building new nuclear power capacity at a rate unprecedented in world history: 40 percent of all reactors planned or under construction were in China. Targets for installed nuclear generation capacity by 2020 were raised repeatedly—from 40 gigawatts in 2007 to 80 gigawatts in 2010.

Preparations were also under way for more than twenty inland nuclear power plants. The 41-plus gigawatts of capacity already completed or under construction lies along China’s seaboard. Space is running out.

How Long Can China Keep Pollution Data a State Secret?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Elizabeth Economy, Orville Schell & more on February 27, 2013

Elizabeth Economy:

The environment is center stage once again in China. A Chinese lawyer has requested the findings of a national survey on soil pollution from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and been denied on the grounds that the information is a state secret. (The government had previously announced that 10 percent of China’s farmland was contaminated, but no details were provided.) The public and media are now pressing the Ministry to reverse its decision.

China’s Central Asia Problem

on February 27, 2013

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, China and its Central Asian neighbors have developed a close relationship, initially economic but increasingly also political and security. Energy, precious metals, and other natural resources flow into China from the region. Investment flows the other way, as China builds pipelines, power lines, and transport networks linking Central Asia to its Northwestern province, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Cheap consumer goods from the province have flooded Central Asian markets. Regional elites and governments receive generous funding from Beijing, discreet diplomatic support if Russia becomes too demanding, and warm expressions of solidarity at a time when much of the international community questions the region’s long-term stability. China’s influence and visibility is growing rapidly. It is already the dominant economic force in the region and within the next few years could well become the preeminent external power there, overshadowing the U.S. and Russia.
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Topics: 
Economy
Military
Politics
Keywords: 
Central Asia
Security
China-Central Asia Relations
Economy
International Relations
Organization: 
International Crisis Group

Flowers of the Motherland

Kids On the Street Poking Fun at the System

By Sun Yunfan on February 26, 2013

School uniforms have been a hot topic in the Chinese media since last Thursday. On February 20, 2013, on a new satirical TV news talk show akin to the Colbert Report but with a pre-recorded laugh track instead of a live audience, host Jin Yan of Shanghai’s Dragon TV-produced Talk Tonight disclosed the result of a recent random audit of school uniform suppliers in Shanghai conducted by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision. Of the twenty-two manufacturers selected, six of them failed to meet minimum quality standards.