ChinaFile Recommends
10.20.14What China Means by ‘Rule of Law’
New York Times
There’s plenty of evidence that China sees the rule of law in nuanced and complex ways.
The China Africa Project
10.16.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/455650450_0.jpg?itok=ekVUyuZ2)
The Dalai Lama Forces China to Overplay its Hand in South Africa
Pretoria’s apparent refusal to grant Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama a visa to attend a summit of Nobel peace laureates has sparked outrage in South Africa. Critics allege the government is bowing to China, undermining South African...
Media
10.15.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/screenshot-2014-10-10-14.53.46.jpg?itok=CHlxnSxG)
Jiang Zemin Unplugged
Given the leadership styles of Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, who have been China’s supreme leaders over the past twelve years, it is an almost shocking experience to look back at these two videos (the first of which circulated last week on social media...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.14.14‘People’s Democratic Dictatorship’ Wrongly Targeted
Global Times
A CPC-owned magazine published an article recently, saying it is wrong to negate or replace the people's democratic dictatorship with the rule of law.
Viewpoint
10.14.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/162909955_0.jpg?itok=7mG7QQaK)
On Dealing with Chinese Censors
It was a hot afternoon in June in the East China city of Jinan. I was returning to my hotel after an afternoon coffee, thinking of the conference I had come to attend and trying to escape the heat on the shady side of the street. My cell phone rang...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.13.14China Approves $3.25 Billion Universal Theme Park in Beijing
Hollywood Reporter
The facility will cover a 300-acre site in the suburbs of China's capital.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.13.14Hong Kong Heats Up Again
Economist
Masked men attacked pro-democracy protesters for the second time in as many weeks on the morning of October 13th near Hong Kong’s Admiralty business district.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.14China ‘Strongly Displeased’ by U.S. Rights Report
ABC
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing that the independent U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China "twisted facts and attacked China on purpose" in its report.
Media
10.10.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/86035881.jpg?itok=ITr4IOP5)
China Bans Law-Breaking Actors From Movies and Television
Amid an ongoing government campaign against drugs, prostitution, and other moral vices, a powerful government agency has reportedly issued new regulations banning actors with histories of drug use or prostitution from appearing in movies and...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.08.14China’s Wanda to Create Movie Fund to Attract Hollywood Productions
Hollywood Reporter
Wanda's billionaire chairman, Wang Jianlin, said the planned fund would work with the private sector to recreate Hollywood in China.
Viewpoint
10.08.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/456455832.jpg?itok=btpa7Rra)
‘We Do Not Want to Be Persuaded’
Over the past week, it has been hard to make sense of the threats and ultimatums the Hong Kong protesters have faced. On Sunday, the South China Morning Post splashed on its front page that Hong Kong had “hours to avoid tragedy.” University deans...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.08.14China’s Soft-Power Fail
Bloomberg
This was not the reception that the Chinese government had in mind in 2004 when it inaugurated the Confucius Institute program as a means of improving its image abroad and projecting “soft power.”
ChinaFile Recommends
10.08.14China Media Criticize North Korea’s Nuclear Program
BBC
Suspicious of North Korea’s “flip flop attitude” and its motives, an article in the Beijing News reminds that one should observe North Korea’s actions instead of its words as Pyongyang's foreign policy is “usually inconsistent”.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.07.14China Removes 160,000 ‘Phantom Staff’ from Government Payroll
CNN
Hebei province in central China was the worst offender, with 55,793 officials found to be getting paid even though they never worked, followed by Sichuan and Henan.
Caixin Media
10.06.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/103570369.jpg?itok=MrM68HhF)
Lost in Translation
Is selective translation of news articles from the foreign media more insidious than no translation at all? The debate was sparked by a garbled translation of the cover story of the Economist headlined "What Does China Want?"In a...
Media
10.03.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/456592160.jpg?itok=4LzySmRr)
Under Different Umbrellas
“Dozens of mainlanders were taken away by the police because they openly supported Occupy Central and at least ten of them have been detained…They are in Jiangxi, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, etc,” Hong Kong-based blogger and...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.14Hong Kong Celebrities Largely Mum on Protests Gripping City
Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong celebrities are known for their omnipresence and outspokenness, but the city's galaxy of stars and starlets has been almost entirely out of sight during the pro-democracy sit-ins.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.01.14In Hong Kong Protests, Both Sides Are Wondering How This Will End
Washington Post
As many thousands of Hong Kong residents kept up their occupation of the streets Wednesday night, leaders on both sides began strategizing with an eye toward the endgame.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.01.14Full Text of the Chinese Communist Party’s Message to Hong Kong
Quartz
"Cherish Positive Growth: Defend Hong Kong’s Prosperity and Stability," People’s Daily, October 1, 2014, translated by Quartz.
Media
10.01.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/456449372.jpg?itok=-gCk9wuF)
Media Portrays Hong Kong Protests as Either Inspiring or Dangerous
The second and third days of mass protests to demand broader democracy in Hong Kong ended with none of the violence and confrontation seen on September 28. Thousands of protesters continued to gather on the streets of the city’s busiest shopping and...
Media
10.01.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/456448022.jpg?itok=iCP7zYp5)
They Can Take Our Freedom, But They Will Never Take Our Instagram
When thousands of Hong Kong protesters clashed with police on Sunday, September 28, many residents of the city immediately took to the photo-sharing platform Instagram. There, they uploaded images of police violence and demonstrations that shocked...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.29.14Not Even the Great Firewall Can Shut Out News About Hong Kong’s Protests
Businessweek
Sometime late Sunday, Instagram was blocked in mainland China, presumably to stop images from the tear gas-filled streets of downtown Hong Kong from being shared on the popular social network.
Media
09.29.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/10-456310694_10.jpg?itok=fF6S5hfP)
In China, the Most Censored Day of the Year
Censors on Weibo, China’s massive Twitter-like microblogging platform, just had their biggest day of the year. And once again, it was events in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, not the Chinese mainland, that triggered it.Student-led...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.29.14China’s Decision to Expel Journalists to Hong Kong is Now Blowing Up in its Face
Vox
Hong Kong has one of the highest rates of Western journalists per capita of any non-Western city in the world, including a number of the best foreign correspondents in the business.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.29.14Censors in China Keep Mainlanders in Dark about Hong Kong Protests
Los Angeles Times
A near-complete information blackout by Chinese censors has blocked most people in mainland China from seeing sriking photos, videos and news about Hong Kong’s ongoing democracy protests.
The NYRB China Archive
09.29.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/456417924.jpg?itok=jPQoDA8R)
Taking Aim at Hong Kong
from New York Review of Books
A surge of emotion washed through me on Sunday night as I watched tens of thousands of protesters fill the streets of Hong Kong on television. It was the same feeling I had in Beijing on the nights leading up to the killings in Tiananmen Square on...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.28.14The Revolution Will Not Be Instagrammed
Mainland Chinese felt no effects from the protests roiling Hong Kong—until Beijing pulled the plug on another social network.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.26.14China’s Neighbors Are Going On a Military Shopping Spree—In Japan
Vice News
It started with the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea — known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan. China suddenly asserted its claim with visits by Coast Guard and fishing vessels.
Media
09.25.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/455565370.jpg?itok=OLgM8XYC)
An Internet Where Nobody Says Anything
Here is what a court in Urumqi, the capital of China’s western Xinjiang region, concludes Ilham Tohti, a balding, thick-set, 44-year-old professor, did: “Using ‘Uighur Online’ as a platform, and taking advantage of his role as a university professor...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.14Is China Still a ‘Developing’ Country?
Foreign Policy
A look at Beijing’s favorite rhetorical trick.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.23.14Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Tops China Rich List
BBC
E-commerce mogul Jack Ma has become China's richest person following Alibaba's record share listing, according to a wealth survey by the Hurun Report. Ma tops its annual rich list with a fortune of $25 billion.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.21.14Beijing’s Rising Smear Power
New York Times
Chinese dissidents are constantly subject to all sorts of harassment, including a vicious online smear campaign.
Sinica Podcast
09.19.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/162622958.jpg?itok=4IhaS6gi)
LGBT China
from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser are joined by Fan Popo for a discussion of the way life works for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) community in China. For those who have not heard of him, Fan is an accomplished...
Viewpoint
09.18.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/453057748.jpg?itok=166G7Bf_)
More Exploitation, More Happiness
It was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in recent Chinese history. On August 2, a massive metal dust explosion killed 75 workers and injured another 186 at a factory in Kunshan, in Jiangsu province, that supplied wheels to General Motors...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.12.14ChinaFile Recommends
09.12.14Journalists in China Describe Extortion
New York Times
China’s corporate landscape is pitted with scandals involving corruption and news media have become a part of the problem by turning self-censorship and skewed reporting into a source of revenue.
Media
09.12.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/454427636.jpg?itok=v2PZCsMg)
A New Definition of Chinese Patriotism
China’s ruling Communist Party has a message for Chinese citizens: You are for us, or you are against us.That’s the takeaway from a widely discussed September 10 opinion piece in pro-party tabloid Global Times, in which Chen Xiankui, a professor at...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.12.14Foreign Journalists in China See Decline in Reporting Conditions
New York Times
Conditions for foreign journalists working in China have gone from bad to worse over the past year, according to a report issued on Friday by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.14In China, a Search for Oscar Contenders
New York Times
A film from mainland China has yet to win an Oscar, and Chinese officials are eager for the cultural validation that the award brings.
Viewpoint
09.10.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/51083821.jpg?itok=vmibR671)
China’s Tough New Internet Rules Explained
On August 7, the State Internet Information Office issued a new set of guidelines entitled “Provisional Regulations for the Development and Management of Instant Messaging Tools and Public Information Services.” These regulations require that...
Media
09.10.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/487627325.jpg?itok=_x7poEFZ)
iPhone 6: Designed in California, Leaked in China
China’s cyberspace is bursting with anticipation for the iPhone 6—never mind that it promises to cost more than most citizens make in a month. Apple, the U.S.-based company that designs and sells the iPhone, had scheduled a major announcement about...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.10.14Japanese People Hate China More Than Ever
Wall Street Journal
More than half of Japanese respondents who had a negative impression of China thought the country’s actions were incompatible with international rules.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.09.14Could China’s Anti-Japan Propaganda Hurt Alibaba’s Image at Home?
Offbeat China
With Alibaba's IPO price set between $60 to $66, the company’s market valuation could hit as much as $200 billion, if everything goes as planned.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.09.14Xi Calls for More Strategic Trust Between China, U.S.
Xinhua
Xi said China stands ready to build a new model of major-country relations with the United States based on non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.08.14The Jack Ma Way
New York Times
At Alibaba, the founder Is squarely in charge ahead of the e-commerce giant's U.S. initial public offering.
The NYRB China Archive
09.08.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/478828419.jpg?itok=aWc4kZEZ)
From China to Jihad?
from New York Review of Books
It’s a very long way from China’s arid Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the country’s far northwest to its semi-tropical borders with Vietnam, Laos, and Burma in the south, and then it’s another precarious distance from there, down rivers and...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.06.14Can Frank Underwood Beat China’s Censors?
Bloomberg
At first glance, the Chinese government’s announcement of regulations restricting foreign programming that can be shown on Chinese streaming-video sites would appear to be very bad news for business.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.06.14As Its Initial Offering Nears, Alibaba Gets Ready for a Splashy Debut
New York Times
The Chinese Internet commerce giant's whirlwind tour, which will encompass 100 meetings in 10 days, will begin not in Hong Kong but in New York, where shares of the company are expected to begin trading on Sept. 19
Culture
09.04.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/transformers-4-movie-poster-optimus-prime.jpg?itok=oha7mtxz)
‘Transformers 4’ May Pander to China, But America Still Wins
Hollywood made news this summer with the China triumph of Transformers: Age of Extinction, which broke all previous Chinese box office records. The Chinese box office even outsold the North American box office. But jubilation over the film’s...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.04.14China to Limit Foreign TV Shows on Video-Streaming Sites
Wall Street Journal
Regulators expected to cap amount of imported television content at 30 percent.
Environment
09.04.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/jack-ma.jpg?itok=_85yDyaQ)
Alibaba Founder Shoots Himself in the Foot with UK Hunting Trip
from chinadialogue
Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce platform Alibaba and chairman of The Nature Conservancy’s China Program, has drawn hostile fire from environmentalists after a British newspaper recently reported he hunted stags in Scotland in 2012. What’s more, Ma...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.04.14China Website Editors ‘Held for Extortion’
BBC
Eight people from the 21st Century financial news website and public relations firms were being investigated, Xinhua news agency said.
Viewpoint
09.02.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/78659212.jpg?itok=xzBsKZXl)
The Danger of China’s ‘Chosen Trauma’
When we see young Chinese people at a state event collectively chant, “Do not forget national humiliation and realize the Chinese dream!” we may be tempted to dismiss it as yet another piece of CCP propaganda. But we may also find ourselves...
Media
09.02.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/52020315.jpg?itok=TFOaG-V5)
Anti-Vice Click-Bait Spawns Popular Govt. Social Media Feed
The Chinese government institution with the biggest social media following goes to...the nationwide anti-vice campaign called "Strike the four blacks, Eliminate the four harms." Da Sihei, Chu Sihai in Mandarin, the four blacks and four...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.02.14Hong Kong’s Democracy Dilemma
New York Times
In a huge rally on Sunday in Hong Kong, democratic groups already were declaring a new era of civil disobedience.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.02.14China Accuses MPs of Hong Kong ‘Interference’
BBC
The Chinese authorities have accused British MPs of interfering in Hong Kong's affairs.
Media
08.27.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/167198356.jpg?itok=HVuZXn6M)
A ‘School Bus and a Ferrari’
Communication between China and the United States can often resemble ships passing in the night—or planes passing through international airspace. But when it comes to this particularly fraught bilateral relationship, perhaps metaphors are best...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.27.14Xi Eyes Mended China-Vietnam Ties
Xinhua
China and Vietnam will earnestly implement a basic guideline for the resolution of China-Vietnam maritime issues signed in October 2011.
Culture
08.27.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/indie.jpg?itok=kAHmmd4e)
Standing Up for Indie Film in China
In July, Transformers: Age of Extinction, the fourth in the action-packed series of Hollywood films about trucks turning into giant robots to save the world, became the first film to sell more than $300 million in tickets at China’s box office...
Culture
08.26.14![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/santi-1.jpg?itok=Rl-SVpIg)
Healthy Words
In 1902, Lu Xun translated Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon into Chinese from the Japanese edition. Science fiction, he wrote in the preface, was “as rare as unicorn horns, which shows in a way the intellectual poverty of our time.” Not any...