Every few months, China unrolls a plan that looks less-than well thought out. Maybe it’s censoring the media facilities during the Olympics. Or quarantining hundreds or thousands of travelers to Beijing over H1N1 fears, even though (or because) the country didn’t bother to do anything for the first three months of SARS six years ago. [...]
Continue reading “How China Can Fix its PR Problem” »
Speaking of brilliant ideas, how did China get to the point where it thought blocking YouTube would be a good idea. I know a few months ago there was a controversial video about Tibet (and when I say controversial, I mean it seemed to contradict a government account), but seriously, that was a month ago. [...]
Continue reading “China, the Fragile Superpower?” »
Since the first day I set foot in China seven years ago, I have heard a constant refrain of “China is still a developing country.” This is used to explain anything and everything from poor driving skills to confusing ticket-buying procedures. The truth is that in many ways China is a highly developed country. It [...]
Continue reading “Mindset, Not Infrastructure, Still Developing” »
In China, all too often, criticizing any aspect of Chinese society or the government is taken as an affront to the entire country. On my blog I pretty much say whatever I want, but in my personal interactions I try to be a little more cautious. Nevertheless, it also strikes me as bizarre that talking [...]
Continue reading “When Can One Criticize China?” »
Let me be clear. For those of us in Beijing, the Olympics will be a lot of fun. I suspect the best way to enjoy them will be getting one set of plastic pre-school sized table and chairs that restaurants in this blessed country love, get some friends together, grab some beer and maodou , [...]
Continue reading “How to Botch the Beijing Olympics” »
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” »
Something strange happened in the last week: the Chinese media/government propaganda machine began heavily covering “Tebet” (certain places and people will be spelled creatively). For the first few days of the uprising the government tried to keep things as quiet as possible, blocking dozens of sites and forcing Western media out of the area. Yet [...]
Continue reading “Chinese Media Switches Tacts on “Tebet” Situation” »
In the long view, China has a tenuous claim claim, at best, to the region I will henceforth refer to as “TWC.” Yet, despite their shaky moral standing, it is possible, just possible, that Beijing responded appropriately this time around. However, their shutting down of the international media sealed the negative storyline that has [...]
Continue reading “What if China is Right About “Western China?”” »
So I figured out the fastest way to get your site blocked in China: quote Chinese newspapers. Yesterday, Cup of Cha went down for a while after I quoted two articles, one like this in China Daily and the other was this in 人民日报. They were both on the event that isn’t happening in a [...]
Continue reading “Don’t Cup Block Me!” »
When I first saw that the IOC was “allowing” blogging by athletes during the Beijing Olympics, I didn’t think much of it. However, the more I read, the more absurd and offensive I find the entire plan. It is an attempt to muzzle the very people who put money into the IOC’s greedy little palms. [...]
Continue reading “Shameless IOC Crushes Olympic Blogging Discourse” »
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