Conversation
03.10.14Should China Support Russia in Ukraine?
Alexander V. Pantsov: The Chinese Communist Party leadership has always maintained: “China believes in non-interference in internal affairs.” In the current Ukrainian situation it is the most we can expect from the P.R.C. because it is not able to...
Media
03.07.14A Map of China, By Stereotype
Why is the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang “so chaotic”? Why are many from the southern metropolis of Shanghai “unfit to lead”? And do people from central Henan Province really steal manhole covers? These are just some of the questions—...
Sinica Podcast
03.07.14Wealth and Power: Intellectuals in China
from Sinica Podcast
This week, Kaiser and Jeremy are joined by David Moser and Orville Schell. While long-time listeners will of course know of David Moser as one of our favorite resident sinologists, if you haven’t also heard of Orville Schell we think you should have...
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03.05.14China, Eyeing Japan, Seeks WWII Focus For Xi’s Germany Visit
Reuters
China wants to make World War Two a key part of a trip by President Xi Jinping to Germany next month, much to Berlin’s discomfort as Beijing tries to use German atonement for its wartime past to embarrass Japan.
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03.05.14China’s Awkward ‘Banana’ Slip
CNN
As Gary Locke wrapped up his tenure as United States ambassador to China, he was lambasted in a Chinese state media editorial which accused him of being a race traitor, ashamed or in denial of his true heritage.
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03.04.14China’s National People’s Congress Annual Session
Reuters
Premier Li Keqiang's prepared speech to be delivered at the start of the meeting, as well as highlights from reports from the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission. WORK REPORT FROM PREMIER LI KEQIANG ECONOMY...
Caixin Media
03.03.14Kunming Attack Is ‘China’s 9/11,’ State Media Says
In the days after a major terror attack in Kunming, state media outlets are calling for a united front to combat terror and warning against excusing the attackers or criticizing the government’s policies on minorities.On the evening of March 1, a...
Media
03.03.14‘Enemies of Humanity’ — China Debates Who’s to Blame For the Kunming Attack
It’s already being called “3.01,” or “three oh one,” a date that will likely burn in China’s collective memory for years to come. According to Xinhua, China’s state news agency, on the evening of March 1, around 9:00 p.m. Beijing time, ten or more...
Conversation
03.02.14A Racist Farewell to Outgoing U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke
Reacting to departing U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke’s February 27 farewell news conference in Beijing, the state-run China News Service published a critique by Wang Ping that called Ambassador Locke a “banana.”Kaiser Kuo:Banana or Twinkie for “white-on...
Media
03.01.14China’s Oscar Challenge
On January 3, the film critics of The New York Times published their Oscar nominations wish list. Many of their wishes came true and on Sunday night, March 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will broadcast its annual celebration of...
Environment
02.28.14Citizen Sues Local Government for Failing to Curb Air Pollution
from chinadialogue
Although residents in Northern China are no strangers to dirty air, a man from the smog-enshrouded Hebei province has decided to take the local environmental authority to court for failing to control air pollution.Li Guixin, a resident in Hebei’s...
Viewpoint
02.27.14Why Frank Underwood is Great for China’s Soft Power
In depicting U.S. politics as just as vicious, if not more, sociopathic than its Chinese counterpart, House of Cards delivered a sweet Valentine’s Day gift to the Chinese government. The show handed the Chinese state an instant victory when the...
Media
02.26.14China, LinkedIn Would Like to Add You to Its Network
LinkedIn is now aiming its bow for the rocky shoals that have claimed Facebook, Twitter, Google, and even eBay: the Chinese market. On February 24, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner announced the launch of LinkedIn’s Chinese-language site, still in beta,...
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02.25.14Press Barred From Dalai Lama Meeting
Politico
The White House press corps is once again protesting its lack of access to the president, this time after it was barred from photographing the meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama.
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02.25.14Rendezvous with Power
China Daily
Apart from providing a glimpse into politics in the United States, the popular drama series depicts a shift in stereotypes of China.
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02.25.14‘House of Cards’ in China: Surprisingly Available and Popular
CNN
Some analysts are surprised by the government's largely hands-off approach to video streaming sites, but caution that it may not last.
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02.25.14‘House of Cards’ Breaks Barriers in China
Wall Street Journal
Although the second season paints an unflattering picture of Chinese diplomacy and officials, “House of Cards” wasn't prescreened by Chinese regulators and airs uncensored.
Conversation
02.22.14What Can the Dalai Lama’s White House Visit Actually Accomplish?
On February 21, the Dalai Lama visited United States President Barack Obama in the White House over the objections of the Chinese government. Beijing labels the exiled spiritual leader a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who seeks to use...
Media
02.21.14How the Internet and Social Media Are Transforming China
“The Internet has radically transformed China,” said Emily Parker, author of the book Now I Know Who My Comrades Are: Voices from the Internet Underground, in a public discussion at Asia Society in New York on February 19.Talking about the Internet’...
Culture
02.21.14Stranger Than Fiction
In the short twenty years since Yu Hua, a fifty-three-year-old former dentist, has been writing, China has undergone change enough for many lifetimes. His country’s transformations and what they leave in their wake have become the central theme of...
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02.20.14Chinese Film ‘Black Coal, Thin Ice’ Wins Berlin Film Festival
Wall Street Journal
The recognition comes as China’s film studios and directors vie for a stronger position on the global stage — and they appear to be gaining ground.
Conversation
02.19.14China in ‘House of Cards’
China figures heavily in the second season of the Netflix series House of Cards, but how accurately does the show portray U.S.-China relations? Steven Jiang, a journalist for CNN in Beijing, binged-watched all thirteen recently-released web-only...
Media
02.19.14Chinese Netizens (Still) Love ‘House of Cards’
“Everyone in China who works on this level pays who they need to pay.” Mild spoiler alert: These are the words of the fictitious Xander Feng, an influential Chinese billionaire on the Netflix series "House of Cards," a show that follows...
Sinica Podcast
02.14.14Dissecting the 2014 Spring Festival Gala
from Sinica Podcast
A casual survey suggests that ninety-eight percent of Sinica listeners have at some point joined Chinese friends or family in watching the annual television spectacular known as the “Spring Festival Gala.” Sadly, whether from excessive pork...
Media
02.13.14Did President Xi’s Dumpling Outing Create a Pilgrimage Site?
Beijing, China—It’s well after lunch and Liu Fengju still hasn’t gotten her food. The sixty-seven-year-old wife of a retired railway worker came to Beijing to spend Spring Festival, the annual seven-day Chinese New Year celebration, with her niece...
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02.13.14Two New Reports Slam Hong Kong Media Self-Censorship
Hong Wrong
Hong Kong fell to 61st in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, behind Burkina Faso, Moldova and Haiti.
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02.12.14Microsoft Denies Global Censorship of China-Related Searches
Reuters
Microsoft denied it was omitting websites from its Bing search engine results for users outside China after a Chinese rights group said the U.S. firm was censoring material the government deems politically sensitive.
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02.12.14An Offer They Can’t Refuse
Foreign Policy
Will China win its 65-year war with Taiwan—without firing a shot?
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02.11.14New Regulations for Online Video Sharing
China Digital Times
China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television issued a notice including rules such as real name registration for all users uploading to video sharing sites.
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02.10.14China’s Richest Man Eyes Hollywood, Backs Animated Pic ‘Kong’
Hollywood Reporter
Robin Li -- chairman of Chinese search engine Baidu and president of the Chinese Cultural Chamber of Commerce of the Private Sector -- is backing a new film production venture that intends to release as its first project a Hollywood 3D...
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02.10.14China T.V. Expose on Sex Workers Sparks Angry Backlash
Los Angeles Times
A salacious investigative report on state-run C.C.T.V., detailing widespread prostitution in the southern city of Dongguan, boomeranged on the broadcaster as a vocal contingent of citizens rallied to the defense of the city’s sex workers. ...
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02.10.14China’s Television War on Japan
New York Times
The state prohibits content that “incites ethnic hatred,” yet according to Southern Weekly more than 70 anti-Japanese TV series were screened in China in 2012. The result of this stream of rancor is just what you’d expect. &...
Culture
02.10.14Will Xi Jinping Stop the Music?
In late November of 2013, I sat chatting in a California concert hall with one of the PRC’s most famous first-generation pianists. Normally at this time of year, the pianist told me, he would be heading off to China to perform multiple New Year’s...
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02.08.14China Tells Spain to Prevent Tibet-Related Lawsuits
Reuters
Two Tibetan support groups and a monk with Spanish nationality brought a case in Spain against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and ex-prime minister Li Peng in 2006 over allegations they committed genocide in Tibet.
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02.08.14Film Director Zhang Yimou Pays 7.5 Million Yuan Fine Over Children
Agence France-Presse
Zhang admits he has two sons and a daughter with his current wife and a daughter with a previous wife.
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02.08.14The State of Journalism in China
Nieman Journalism Lab
How reporters are trying to work around China’s resurgent censorship, 25 years after Tiananmen.
Media
02.07.14Why Chinese Media Is Going Soft on Sochi
Ready or not, Putingrad (aka Sochi) is now on prime time. The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics will take place in the subtropical Russian resort town on February 7. In the Twittersphere, Western journalists and visitors have assailed Sochi’s...
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02.06.14Commentary: Philippine Leader's Senseless Attack Against China Smells of Amateurish Politician
Xinhua
A Xinhua writer fiercely responds to Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III’s comparison of China to Nazy Germany.
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02.06.14The Censorship Pendulum
New York Times
People like to hear voices critical of the government, so social media companies can’t silence them entirely.
Conversation
02.05.14What Should the U.S. Do about China’s Barring Foreign Reporters?
Last week, the White House said it was “very disappointed” in China for denying a visa to another journalist working for The New York Times in Beijing, forcing him to leave the country after eight years. What else should the U.S. government...
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02.04.14China Crushes Puny US Super Bowl Audience: 704 Million Watch New Year Gala
Hollywood Reporter
Some 814 million watched the Lunar New Year TV extravaganza from China Central Television—way more than the 112 million viewers for the 2014 Super Bowl on Fox in the U.S.
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02.03.14In China’s War On Bad Air, Government Decision to Release Data Gives Hope
Washington Post
China’s Communist state is hardly known for its transparency. So when environmental groups appealed for official air pollution data, they were not expecting much.
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02.03.14Justice in China: A Conversation with Yiyun Li
Guernica
Emily Parker talks with Yiyun Li about self-censorship in China, the line between fact and fiction, and whether it’s possible to create good art under a repressive regime.
Media
02.03.14‘Chicken Fart Decade’: GDP Vs. Smog
Chinese media have debated why January saw pollution so extreme it closed schools and airports, chased away foreign tourists, and even prompted a ban on Lunar New Year’s fireworks. It’s likely that a substantial portion of this smog is caused by...
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02.03.14In Pictures: Chinese New Year Around the World
BBC
A Chinese folk artist performs at the opening ceremony of the Spring Festival Temple Fair in Beijing, one of millions of people around the world celebrating ahead of Chinese, or Lunar, New Year.
Reports
02.01.14The State of Journalism in China
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
The Communist Party has long striven to control freedom of speech in China. Websites from around the world are blocked. Major social media cannot be accessed, and advanced software is used to delete “sensitive” entries from the Internet. Domestic...
Media
01.31.14Closing Time? China’s Social Media Crackdown Has Hit Weibo Hard
Findings by East China Normal University (ECNU), a research university in Shanghai, commissioned by respected U.K. outlet The Telegraph and released January 30, lodges concrete data behind what frequent users and analysts of Chinese social media...
Environment
01.30.14This Chinese Filmmaker Can’t Stop Talking Trash
Documentary filmmaker and photographer Wang Jiuliang spent four years, between 2008 and 2011, documenting over 460 hazardous and mostly illegal landfill sites around Beijing.His award-winning film Beijing Besieged by Waste (2011) provoked intense...
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01.30.14White House ‘Very Disappointed’ NYT Reporter was Forced to Leave China
Weekly Standard
The statement also raised concerns about the treatment of foreign journalists in China.
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01.30.14China Forces New York Times Reporter to Leave Country
Washington Post
Ramzy’s forced departure will result in the first full-time Times correspondent stationed in Taiwan.
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01.29.14“Most Well-Known and Beloved Chinese Role Model”
New York Magazine
Chinese tycoon wants to buy the Times; is he ploy by the CCP, or just crazy?
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01.29.14China’s Global Popstars
BBC
The ‘Earth Music Project’ will train Ruhan Jia who is one of the first popstars to be actively promoted by the government.
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01.29.14Beijing Forces U.S. Reporter to Leave China
USA Today
“The government is punishing the Times for the content of its coverage...it seems as simple as that.”
Media
01.28.14Why China’s Li Na Won’t Thank Her Homeland
After winning the Australian Open on January 25, Li Na set off a media blitz in her native China, where the thirty-one-year-old tennis star made the front page of most major papers. Much discussion surrounded Li’s post-victory speech, where she once...
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01.28.14China Appears Set to Force Times Reporter to Leave
New York Times
Austin Ramzy is the most recent of such journalists since a critical article about Wen Jiabao and his family was written in 2013.
Conversation
01.27.14China’s Offshore Leaks: So What?
Two recent stories by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed China’s elite funneling money out of China to tax havens in the Caribbean. We asked contributors to weigh the impact of the revelations.
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01.27.14Map Visualizes Chinese New Year Migration
Wall Street Journal
An estimated 3.65 billion trips will be made during the world's largest seasonal migration.
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01.27.14A Chinese Filmmaker Points His Camera at the Darkest Moments in Communist Party History
Public Radio International
Hu's films are tolerated by the Chinese government and have been screened at independant film festivals in China.
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01.27.14China Moon Rover Jade Rabbit in Trouble
BBC
The malfunctioning rover presents the first public mishap China's ambitious space programme has experienced in years.
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01.27.14Chinese Court Places Heavy Sentence on Prominent Activist
Wall Street Journal
The most closely watched trial of a Chinese dissident in years calls attention to CCP clamp down on dissent.