Cup of Cha
This is China

About 60 days before the Olympics begin, there are some worrying signs about the readiness of Beijing. It is truly great to see police out in full force cracking down on the country’s endemic drunk drivers, but the fact that the airport rail still has a huge chunk missing is more than a bit ominous. [...]

Continue reading “Ready is a Relative Term” »

I remember being a little kid and opening up the newspaper during the Olympics to make sure that the US was always ahead in the medal count during the Olympics. Not the Winter Olympics, mind you. Although I strongly believe the US should merge with Canada to improve that situation as well. And to strengthen [...]

Continue reading “Earn Those Medals, Win That Respect” »

Let’s put aside for the moment that the international legs of the Olympic Torch Relay have been an utter PR disaster. Just on its merits, this might be the most boring event ever created. Think about it: it lasts more than four months and consists of people running with a flame around the world surrounded [...]

Continue reading “China’s Dopey Torch Relay” »

In an AP article I found via ESPN.com I zeroed in on a quotation from a torch bearer name Fu Shenfeng seems to have unintentionally summed up the disconnect between Western and Chinese views on Olympic torch protests:
“Foreigners don’t understand China,” said torch bearer Fu Shenfeng before the relay started. “They still think we’re stuck [...]

Continue reading “Torch Protest Misunderstanding: Why Chinese and Foreigners Don’t Get Each Other” »

After the outrage over the “goons and thugs” comments, the events in Seoul during the torch relay were just sad and depressing. Mobs attacked South Koreas and Tibetans with opposing viewpoints. These groups of people, hopefully small and unrepresentative of Chinese youth, were without question, goons and thugs. Hopefully all Chinese will be ashamed of [...]

Continue reading “Real Goons or Thugs!” »

There are indications that the government, or at least university officials, are beginning to get worried about anti-Western backlash that has erupted around China following the now-infamous Jack Cafferty comments. Cup of Cha has learned that university students at Beijing Youdian (北京邮电) were told to that they needed to find constructive ways to express their [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Students Told to Calm Down” »

The rhetoric and tactics that Hillary Clinton has pushed on China policy demonstrate everything that is wrong about her campaign, and herself as a politician. Publicly advocating that President Bush should boycott the opening ceremony in response to a pu-pu platter of offenses by the Chinese Government would not only fail to help promote progress [...]

Continue reading “Clinton’s Dangerous China Stance” »

With stunning deftness, the Chinese Government has managed to completely change the topic from, why so much of the world is so upset with the the country’s official policies, to…Jack Cafferty and CNN. In the process the government has incited enough nationalism to make a Frenchman blush. How did the topic move from human rights, [...]

Continue reading “China do get PR: All Hail Anonymous Nanjing Resident” »

If you want to understand the difference between how Chinese and Western observers see the push toward the Beijing Games, all you need to see are these two political cartoons:
From China Daily:

Note the peace doves at the top left. The insect’s arms say “obstruct” and “destroy.”
And here is one from the Denver Post:

It seems [...]

Continue reading “Two Views of the Olympics: Pictures Say More than Words” »

Who would have thought that 5,000 glorious years of history could be derailed by one man, Jack Cafferty. As a New Yorker, I am very familiar with Mr. Cafferty’s relatively undistinguished career, and am thoroughly amazed that this long-time local anchor has managed to send the Chinese Government into a tizzy. Good thing they haven’t [...]

Continue reading “Mediocre Journalist Cause of China’s Woes” »