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This is China

The Olympic torch has only visited a few places, but everywhere it goes, trouble follows. Athens was a disaster, with a press-credentialed person storming the stage. In London T1betan independent supporters ran afoul, with severe consequences the Chinese papers were only too happy to play up. Now in Paris thousands of protesters apparently forced the [...]

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Last week I wrote about Celine Dion’s concert being canceled and made a joke about how annoying she is. And I got hate mail! Hate mail about politics I can understand, but Canadian entertainers? Some Celine Dion fan website linked to me (Yes!) and a guy (a male Celine Dion fan!) sent me this:
o your [...]

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You may not have noticed this, but the Renminbi has now surpassed the 7:1 ratio to the US Dollar. Bank of China is now listing the official rate at 6.99:1. The symbolism of this barrier is more important than the actual change, but it shows the long trend that has significantly sped up, particularly this [...]

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The Chinese Government has apparently acknowledged that there has been unrest in X1njiang Province, perhaps partially inspired by recent events in T1bet and other T1betan regions. It is little secret that Muslims and Han Chinese have poor relations in the northwestern province, and the unrest to the south and east seemed to have sparked [...]

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Conflicting claims about why Celine Dion’s Beijing concerts have been canceled are emerging, adding intrigue and mystery to the career of arguably the most irritating female singing act sing Ace of Base. The confusion stems from conflicting reports about why the show will not go on. Chinese media outlets are insisting that the singer chose [...]

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