Sip of Death Plagues River Villages

Polluted Water in Three Provinces Linked to High Death Rates

on October 15, 2013

Cancer is claiming fewer lives these days, and Dr. Wang Shiren says he’s been caring for a steadily declining number of patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.

Yet a decades-long health calamity continues to grip Huangmengying, a Henan province community of about 2,500 straddling the Huai River, where Dr. Wang practices and researchers have been monitoring conditions for at least eight years.

Parents Bribe to Get Students into Top Schools, Despite Campaign Against Corruption

By William Wan on October 15, 2013

Almost everything, from admission to grades to teacher recommendations, is negotiable in Chinese schools if you know the right person or have enough cash, a fact that's worsening rather than mending the vast gap between the elite and everyone else in China.

 

 

Education, Society, Urban Life
Corruption, Bribery, Elites, Guanxi

Li Tianyi Sentencing Is Small Step for Chinese Women

By Didi Kristen Tatlow on October 15, 2013

In the trial of Li Tianyi, the 17-year-old son of prominent entertainers in the military on trial for gang rape, an important detail in the court’s recent ruling may improve thewelfare of the women who work in China’s illegal but widespread sex industry.

 

 

Law, Politics, Society
Sex Workers, Criminal Trials, Li Tianyi, Princelings

Old Dreams for a New China

By Ian Johnson on October 15, 2013

Ever since China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, first uttered the phrase “China Dream” last year, people in China and abroad have been scrambling to decipher its meaning. Many nations have “dreams”; in Canada, the country’s most prominent popular historian used the word to refer to building a trans-continental railroad in the nineteenth century to link the vast, sparsely populated country. But it’s probably best known in connection with the American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

How Social Media Complicates the Role of China’s Rights Lawyers

on October 11, 2013

Xia Junfeng was once unknown, but his 2009 arrest for the murder of security officers—who, he alleged, had savagely beaten him—made him a symbolic figure in a national debate about human rights and reform in China. Yet many wonder whether this notoriety did more harm than good for Xia, who was executed on September 25 for the murders.