ChinaFile Recommends
06.11.17Online Gossip Clampdown in China Leads to Netizen Outcry
Financial Times
Chinese netizens have decried a government campaign to shut down many of the nation's top celebrity gossip outlets as Beijing escalates its control over online content.
ChinaFile Recommends
06.10.17Godfather of Beijing’s Indie Music Scene Dissects China’s Experimental Soundscape
China’s alternative-punk music scene has evolved from a genre that represented the rebelliousness of a niche group of well-off educated urbanites to one that’s international, hip, and popular. Chinese bands now play to sold-out gigs not only in old...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.09.17Apple Customer Data in China Was Sold Illegally, Police Say
New York Times
Police also said the leaked data included the names, Apple identification numbers and phone numbers of Apple users.
Sinica Podcast
05.26.17Chinese Power in the Age of Donald Trump
from Sinica Podcast
When Joseph Nye, Jr., first used the phrase “soft power” in his 1990 book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, China did not factor much into his calculus of world order: It had relatively little military and economic power, and...
Conversation
05.25.17Can Free Speech on American Campuses Withstand Chinese Nationalism?
Earlier this week, Kunming native Yang Shuping, a student at the University of Maryland, gave a commencement speech extolling the “fresh air” and “free speech” she experienced while studying in the United States. Video of her speech spread on the...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.24.17Chinese Student’s Commencement Speech in U.S. Isn’t Going over Well in China
NPR
A Chinese student who praised the “fresh air of free speech” in the U.S. during her commencement address at the University of Maryland is facing an online backlash from classmates and from people in China who say she insulted her own country.
ChinaFile Recommends
05.22.17Philippines, China Play down Duterte's Talk of War in Disputed Sea
Reuters
The Philippines and China played down on Monday a warning by President Rodrigo Duterte that China would go to war if the Philippines drilled for oil in the disputed South China Sea.
ChinaFile Recommends
05.15.17Peter Loehr to Exit as Legendary Entertainment’s China Chief
Variety
Longtime China hand Peter Loehr will exit Beijing-based Legendary East at the end of the month, leaving another senior post to be filled at Dalian Wanda-owned Legendary Entertainment after the recent departure of founder Thomas Tull.
Sinica Podcast
05.12.17What It Takes to Be a Good China-Watcher
from Sinica Podcast
China-watching isn’t what it used to be. Not too long ago, the field of international China studies was dominated by a few male Westerners with an encyclopedic knowledge of China, but with surprisingly little experience living in the country or...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.11.17Director behind ‘Great Wall’ Says China Has a Long Way to Go to Rival Hollywood
CNBC
Chinese audiences hotly follow U.S. actors and movies, but Americans “probably” don’t care much about Chinese movies, Zhang told CNBC. On the outside, maybe they’ve tracked a couple of stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan or Jet Li, he said.
Conversation
05.09.17Can China’s Approach to Internet Control Spread around the World?
Earlier this month, citing concerns over “cyber sovereignty,” China’s Internet regulators announced new restrictions on the country’s already tightly controlled Internet—further curbing online news reporting and putting Party-appointed editors in...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.04.17China Compiles Its Own ‘Wikipedia,’ but Public Can’t Edit It
Seattle Times
It’ll be free. It’ll be uniquely Chinese. It’ll be an online encyclopedia to rival Wikipedia — but without the participation of the public. And don’t expect entries on “Tiananmen Square 1989” or “Falun Gong spiritual group” to come up in your...
Books
05.02.17China’s Mobile Economy
China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom is a cutting-edge text that spotlights the digital transformation in China. Organized into three major areas of the digital economy within China, this ground-breaking book explores the surge in e-commerce of consumer goods, the way in which multi-screen and mobile Internet use has increased in popularity, and the cultural emphasis on the mobile Internet as a source of lifestyle- and entertainment-based content. Targeted at the global business community, this lucid and engaging text guides business leaders, investors, investment banking professionals, corporate advisors, and consultants in grasping the challenges and opportunities created by China’s emerging mobile economy, and its debut on the global stage.The year of 2014-15 marks the most important inflection point in the history of the Internet in China. Almost overnight, the world’s largest digitally-connected middle class went both mobile and multi-screen (smart phone, tablets, laptops, and more), with huge implications for how consumers behave and what companies need to do to successfully compete. As next-generation mobile devices and services take off, China’s strength in this arena will transform it from a global “trend follower” to a “trend setter.”Understand what the digital transformation in China is, and impact on global capital markets, foreign investors, consumer companies, and the global economy as a whole.Explore the e-commerce consumption boom in the context of the Chinese market.Understand the implications of the multi-screen age and mobile Internet for China’s consumersSee how mobile Internet use, its focus on lifestyle and entertainment is aligned with today’s Chinese culture.Learn about the mobile entertainment habits of China’s millennial generation and the corresponding new advertisement approaches.The development of China’s mobile economy is one of the most important trends that will reshape the future of business, technology, and society both in China and the world. China's Mobile Economy introduces you to the digital transformation in China, and explains how this transformation has the potential to transform both China and the global consumer landscape. —John Wiley & Sons, Inc.{chop}
Sinica Podcast
04.24.17Chris Buckley: The China Journalist’s China Journalist
from Sinica Podcast
Chris Buckley is a highly regarded and very resourceful correspondent based in Beijing for The New York Times. He has worked as a researcher and journalist in China since 1998, including a stint at Reuters, and is one of the few working China...
Conversation
04.14.17Ivanka: A ChinaFile Conversation
At a time of strained and erratic relations between the U.S. and China, Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter and, more recently, a member of his administration, has emerged as an unlikely but singularly potent emissary, not to just to China’s...
Media
04.12.17Chinese Blame America for United Airlines
from Foreign Policy
The video of David Dao being dragged kicking and screaming off a United Airlines flight by Chicago police set the American Internet aflame Monday. That’s not a surprise: Whether you blame the greed of American airlines or late capitalism, the video...
ChinaFile Recommends
04.10.17After Xi Leaves U.S., Chinese Media Assail Strike on Syria
New York Times
With President Xi Jinping safely out of the United States and no longer President Trump’s guest, China’s state-run media on Saturday was free to denounce the missile strike on Syria.
ChinaFile Recommends
04.03.17The New York Times vs. the ‘Great Firewall’ of China
New York Times
The problem in China is that you never really know who is behind such decisions. Chinese bureaucracy is like a series of Chinese boxes that are harder and harder to open as you move toward the center.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.30.17China’s Hottest New Boy Band Is Actually Made up of Five Androgynous Girls
Quartz
Acrush is made up of five women mostly in their early twenties, who all have edgy short hairstyles and dress like a bunch of boyish hearthrobs.
The NYRB China Archive
03.29.17Liberating China’s Past
from New York Review of Books
With the closing of this month’s National People’s Congress, China’s political season is upon us. It will culminate in the autumn with Xi Jinping’s almost certain reappointment to another five-year term. With Xi rapidly becoming the most important...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.28.17Taiwan Democracy Activist Said To Be Detained in China
Fox News
People close to a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist say he went missing nine days ago during a visit to the Chinese territory of Macau and appears to be in Chinese custody.
Depth of Field
03.22.17Refugees from Myanmar, Migrant Workers, and the Lantern Festival
from Yuanjin Photo
This month, we feature galleries published in February that showcase photographers’ interest in China’s borders and its medical woes, the lives of its minorities and their traditions and customs, and—in the case of Dustin Shum’s work—in a visual...
Conversation
03.22.17China Writers Remember Robert Silvers
Robert Silvers died on Monday, March 20, after serving as The New York Review of Books Editor since 1963. Over almost six decades, Silvers cultivated one of the most interesting, reflective, and lustrous stables of China writers in the world, some...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.22.17Xi Jinping Is Only Halfway through His Rule yet China’s Already Trumpeting His Legacy
Quartz
Xi is set to start his second five-year term with the party congress meeting this fall. In the past few months, China’s propaganda machines have been busy churning out videos crafting his personal image.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.20.17Viacom’s Paramount Rejected in Potential $1 Billion Film Deal with China
MarketWatch
Viacom’s Paramount Pictures movie unit has failed to strike a deal with two Chinese groups to receive $1 billion in financing for a fresh series of films, according to several Hollywood sources who spoke to The Post.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.20.17How China Is Preparing for Cyberwar
Christian Science Monitor
The U.S. and China have made progress on curbing commercial cyberespionage. Now, the global powers need to set limits when it comes to digital warfare.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.17.17Missile Row Drives Korean Culture Underground in China
Reuters
The mainland chill on Korean content that follows Seoul’s decision to deploy a missile defense system is driving Chinese fans to get their “K-culture” fixes on peer-to-peer platforms instead of mainstream sites.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.17.17For a Change, China’s Censors Have No Problem with “Gay Moment” in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”
Quartz
Unlike other Asian countries, China says it has absolutely no problem with a plotline involving a possibly gay character in Disney’s re-boot of Beauty and the Beast.
Sinica Podcast
03.17.17Big Daddy Dough: Hip-hop and Macroeconomics in China
from Sinica Podcast
By day, Andrew Dougherty is a macroeconomist who manages a China research team for Capital Group, one of the world’s largest actively managed mutual funds. By night, he is Big Daddy Dough, creator of an album of parody hip-hop songs that explain...
Books
03.16.17Hollywood Made in China
China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 ignited a race to capture new global media audiences. Hollywood moguls began courting Chinese investors to create entertainment on an international scale—from behemoth theme parks to blockbuster films. Hollywood Made in China examines these new collaborations, where the distinctions between Hollywood’s “dream factory” and Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” of global influence become increasingly blurred. With insightful policy analysis, ethnographic research, and interviews with CEOs, directors, and film workers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Los Angeles, Aynne Kokas offers an unflinching look at China’s new role in the global media industries. A window into the partnerships with Chinese corporations that now shape Hollywood, this book will captivate anyone who consumes commercial media in the twenty-first century. —University of California Press{chop}
ChinaFile Recommends
03.16.17China Consumer Day Show Skewers Nike Shoes, Muji Foods
Reuters
China’s annual consumer rights day television show turned its spotlight on U.S. sports brand Nike Inc for misleading advertising and Japanese brand Muji for selling food products allegedly sourced from part of Japan affected by radiation.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.15.17From ‘Fake News’ to No News: Tillerson Leaving Press behind on Asia Trip Could Send Message to China
Washington Post
Tillerson’s aversion to dealing with U.S. journalists have added to growing questions about the Trump administration’s commitment to a free press and transparent government.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.15.17American Unrest Proves China Got the Internet Right
Beijing has been criticized for its Great Firewall and online censorship. Now it's looking prescient.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.15.17China Is Playing Nice to the Very Media Outlets Trump Has Antagonized
Quartz
U.S. president Donald J. Trump’s antagonism toward major media outlets has created an opportunity for China’s leaders to offer up a contrasting, seemingly more open style—however misleading that is.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.14.17Is Google Another Step Closer to Being Unblocked in China?
CNBC
Google is still in talks with Beijing over its plans to return to the mainland Chinese market
ChinaFile Recommends
03.14.17China’s Political Propaganda Gets a Digital Makeover
BBC
There are more such tactics being adopted this year.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.14.17After Dick Clark Productions Deal Fails to Close, What’s Next for Dalian Wanda?
Variety
Wang Jianlin has led a triumphal march through Hollywood.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.12.17After $225 Billion in Deals Last Year, China Reins In Overseas Investment
New York Times
On Saturday, in the strongest public signal yet that Beijing is changing course, China’s commerce minister castigated what he called “blind and irrational investment.”
Sinica Podcast
03.10.17Jane Perlez: Chinese Foreign Relations in a New Age of Uncertainty
from Sinica Podcast
Jane Perlez has been a reporter at The New York Times since 1981. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for coverage of the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has reported on wars, diplomacy, and foreign policy from...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.09.17China Expresses Concern at Revelations in Wikileaks Dump of Hacked CIA Data
Reuters
China expressed concern on Thursday over revelations in a trove of data released by Wikileaks purporting to show that the CIA can hack all manner of devices, including those made by Chinese companies.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.07.17China Warns U.S., Korea of ‘Consequences’ for Missile System
CNBC
China has said it will take unspecified measures against a U.S. missile system being deployed in S. Korea, and warned that Washington and Seoul will bear the consequences.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.07.17China’s New Civil Code Light on Individual Rights Reforms
Reuters
China’s Communist leaders will this week introduce sweeping new laws that codify social responsibilities for the country’s 1.4 billion citizens while also providing some modest new protections.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.05.17China Congress: BBC Team Forced to Sign Confession
BBC
The story reveals more about the exercise of power in China than any interview ever could. It is one that involves violence, intimidation and a forced confession—in which I found myself apologizing for “behavior causing a bad impact” and for trying...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.02.17Forget the Great Firewall... China Is Beefing up Its Ability to Police All Cyberspace
South China Morning Post
China plans to bolster its defenses in cyberspace while keeping a close eye on the U.S. government’s review of its own strengths, a ­senior foreign ministry official said on Thursday.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.02.17China Accuses Western Media of ‘Fake News’ about Human Rights
Guardian
China has launched a Donald Trump-style attack on foreign media, branding claims that a leading human rights lawyer was tortured by government agents “fake news.”
Viewpoint
02.27.17Back to the Jungle?
The recent election of Donald J. Trump as the president of the United States is likely to have a profound effect on world history. The issue is not the controversies raised by Trump’s character, personality, abilities, and preferences, but rather...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.24.17China and North Korea Reveal Sudden, and Deep, Cracks in Their Friendship
New York Times
For decades, North Korea could count on China as a loyal ally despite the erratic behavior of the ruling Kim dynasty. But by this week, things may have gone too far, with North Korea unleashing a tirade in which it deployed some of the most damning...
Conversation
02.23.17Can China Expand its Beachhead in Hollywood?
With The Great Wall, a classic army vs. monsters tale, director Zhang Yimou has brought America the most expensive Chinese film ever created. The movie may be backed by a Hollywood studio and it may star no less an American icon than Matt Damon, and...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.22.17Trump’s Feminist Critics Gagged by Chinese Internet Giant Weibo
Guardian
Chinese feminists have hit out at their country’s answer to Twitter after it gagged one of their movement’s most visible social media accounts in an apparent bid to stifle criticism of U.S. president Donald Trump.
Depth of Field
02.16.17Riding into the New Year
from Yuanjin Photo
As preparations for the Chinese New Year got underway, Liang Yingfei set up a roadside studio and asked migrants traveling home by motorbike to stop for a quick photograph. While in Cambodia for the Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops, Jia...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.16.17He Called China’s President ‘Xitler’ on Twitter. Now He Faces Prison.
New York Times
From his hometown in northeast China, Kwon Pyong used the internet to mock and criticize the nation’s rulers, including posting a selfie in which he wore a T-shirt that likened President Xi Jinping to Hitler.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.16.17Live-Streaming in China Now Requires a Broadcast License If You’re Not a Citizen
Mashable
Live streaming is taking off in China, but foreigners won’t be able to join in the fun.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.16.17Why It Matters That Bill Gates Joined China’s Super App WeChat
Forbes
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the newest member of WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.16.17China’s Artificial Intelligence Boom
Atlantic
The country’s universities and tech giants are starting to surpass American ones when it comes to researching and implementing AI.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.15.17Fighting on Behalf of China’s Women—From the United States
New York Times
Among hundreds of thousands of women who took to the streets for the Women’s March on Washington were Lu Pin and more than 20 other Chinese feminists who live in the United States and belong to the Chinese Feminism Collective
ChinaFile Recommends
02.13.17How Chinese Internet Giant Baidu Uses AI and Machine Learning
Forbes
Baidu is currently considered to be pack leader amongst the Chinese internet giants as they race to develop and deploy machine and deep learning technology.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.13.17China’s Weibo Eclipses Rival Twitter’s Market Capitalization
Financial Times
Shares rally on back of Chinese social platform’s ability to monetize subscriber base
Viewpoint
02.10.17Taiwan Needs to Hear Trump Say ‘Democracy’
President Trump has sent conflicting signals on Taiwan, first suggesting cozier relations with the self-ruled island and then walking that back to reassure China.In a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, he pledged no change to...
Conversation
02.10.17Did Xi Just Outmaneuver Trump?
On the evening of February 9, U.S. President Donald Trump had what the White House described in a terse readout as a “lengthy” and “cordial” telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That alone is newsworthy, as the...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.09.17China’s Transgender Oprah
Economist
As an army colonel who became a woman, she exemplifies a society in flux