Downgraded as it passed over the Philippines, the storm has gained strength again over the South China Sea and is now battering Hainan, with its inner eye wall hugging the island's coast.
Wen Yunchao, more commonly known by his online alias “Bei Feng,” launched a series of online campaigns in support of human rights and against Internet censorship. He was awarded the French Republic’s 2010 Human Rights Prize by the French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, in recognition of his efforts and contribution to promoting China's human rights movements through social media. Wen is based in New York.
This week on Sinica, we’re happy to welcome back Jeremy Goldkorn in conversation with David Weeks, founder and President of the National High School Debate League of China, a debating society currently established in twenty-seven cities throughout China. Join us as we discuss the history and current state of debate activities here in China and look into the role that these kind of groups play in promoting critical thinking in the Chinese education system.
On June 30, China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television posted a statement on its website warning Chinese journalists not to share information with their counterparts in the foreign press corps. Most major non-Chinese news organizations rely heavily on Chinese nationals to conduct research, identify sources, serve as interpreters, and, in some cases, interview sources who are reluctant to speak with foreigners over the telephone.
Just when you thought the Party was taking a puritanical stand, the newspaper said that when authorities had previously accused officials of “moral corruption” they defined this as having more than “three mistresses”.
Banri Kaieda, who arrived in Beijing on July 15, told journalists that he would discuss with high-ranking Chinese officials ways to break the impasse in ties and smooth out disputes China has with current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
While blustering essays stoking Chinese nationalism are nothing new, Zhou Xiaoping’s piece on the “real-life war” being waged on the Internet seems to have enjoyed unusually broad circulation.
China is increasingly denying entry to foreign scholars to punish those who work on issues that Beijing deems to be politically troublesome. If the government hopes to drive foreign scholars into self-censorship, this policy is self-defeating.
Wang Qishan, secretary of its watchdog Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, told investigators to go after “naked officials”, state media said, referring to those who have children or spouses who live abroad.
This week, hundreds of thousands of Chinese journalists are expected to receive their new official press cards. But to qualify, they each had to sit a new exam designed to strengthen their ethics, professional conduct and knowledge of Marxist theory.
