Cup of Cha
This is China

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” »

Now mind you, I’m definitely not advocating robbing a Chinese bank, I’m just saying that the absurd measures they go through to protect truck deposits got me wondering. You know what I’m talking about: the enormous guns that the dozen or so rent-a-cops have as they pour out of the vans to collect or [...]

Continue reading “How to Hold-Up a Chinese Bank” »

I’m going to list several insults with the author and target deleted, and you decide which is the most offensive. Let’s call it a test of perspective:

war criminal
the Devil
a wolf with a human face
goons and thugs
Satan
someone who makes junk
son of a motherless goat

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but “goons and [...]

Continue reading “The Meaning of China and the Press Blame Game” »

If you had any doubts that the Chinese media campaign to convince its population that there are three threats to the stability of China (Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang) is working, let me dispel those notions. Recently I was chatting with a 20-something, highly-educated Chinese friend of mine about the Olympics. She said she was looking [...]

Continue reading “The Tibetan，Taiwanese Terrorists and the Scourge of Nationalism” »

The great coming out party is how the Olympics are usually described. The Beijing Games were supposed to show that China has truly arrived on the international scene. Strong, economically powerful, militarily able and fully confident. As the last few months have shown, China perhaps is not as far along as the world once thought.
There [...]

Continue reading “Will the Olympics Destroy 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 [...]

Continue reading “Any Way You Cut It, Trouble Ahead for Beijing Olympics” »

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 [...]

Continue reading “Nothing Quiet on Western Front: Unrest Extends to X1njiang” »

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 [...]

Continue reading “Mystery Shrouds Celine Dion’s Beijing Cancellation” »

If you want to realize just how scary the neocons are, then you might want to check out John Bolton’s piece in the LA Times in which he argues that the way to ensure peace in East Asia is for the US to recognize Taiwan diplomatically. He seems to think this would be the [...]

Continue reading “Neocon Arrogance on Taiwan” »

Considering the fact that virtually everyone under 35 that I meet in China is working in PR, you would think the government would be able to run a halfway decent campaign. And yet this T1bet situation has shown the stunning misconceptions that the country has about what will create good press coverage.
As I’ve mentioned before, [...]

Continue reading “China Don’t Get PR” »