“Hot dances of basketball babies ignite CBA cheerleading championship,” via People’s Daily
Apologies for the site’s hiccups this evening. This post. These links.
After 19 years… “Apparently frustrated by their own judicial system and wary of censorship, members of China’s online community, in a rare move, have appealed to US President Barack Obama to help seek justice on a 19-year-old cold case of poisoning. // Fraught with grammatical errors, a petition on Whitehouse.gov asked the US to track down Jasmine Sun, or Sun Wei, who many believe poisoned her university roommate, Zhu Ling, with a deadly chemical in 1995 and is now living in the States.” (SCMP)
Ban on the search term “zhu ling” lifted on Weibo s.weibo.com/weibo/%25E6%25…
— Helen Gaoさん (@Yuxin_Gao) 2013年5月6日
Okinawa? “Two scholars from an official Chinese research center suggested re-examining the ownership of a Japanese island chain that includes Okinawa, adding to tensions over a separate territorial dispute. // Agreements reached between allied forces during World War II mean the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands may be in question, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researchers said in a commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper. Japan’s loss in the war nullified an 1895 treaty in which China ceded territory to Japan, they said.” (Bloomberg)
Selective media restraint in China. “In China we now have not one, but TWO foreign pedophiles. That constitutes an epidemic in any country’s media, but the fact that the Chinese press has shown so much restraint and not played the foreign menace card in this case suggests to me that it wasn’t necessarily their choice. Xenophobia is useful for the government in small periodic doses, but it definitely has its negative consequences and can easily get out of hand. At this point in time, there doesn’t seem much to be gained from such an uproar.” (Sinostand)
Only a little disgusting. “CNTV News’s official Weibo account reports on this story from a Zhejiang high school. // A student who bought fried rice was shocked to discover the head of a rat in his food. He soon uploaded the nauseating photo seen here. Reports suggest that the school compensated the student with four eggs.” (Shanghaiist)
More Foxconn suicides. “In a company statement obtained by Global Voices, Foxonn acknowledged that a 23-year-old female and a 24-year-old male employee were found dead on April 24 and April 27 respectively, but did not specify how they died.” (Global Voices)
North Korean websites to peruse. “An unidentified Internet user posting under the name of the Anonymous hacking collective has published a “hit list” of North Korean websites.” (NK News)
Lei Zhengfu again. “China’s ruling Communist Party has punished 21 officials over a scandal in which they allegedly were extorted by real estate developers after being secretly filmed in liaisons with hired women. // The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that the party’s disciplinary body in the central city of Chongqing had stripped former local district party chief Lei Zhengfu of his party membership. The scandal broke after footage of Lei having sex with one of the women was leaked on the Internet. Images of his jowly, pop-eyed face have become targets of derision and disgust over government malfeasance.” (AP)
@beijingcream another 56 websites “punished for spreading porn” that takes it to 147 in 2 wks by our count news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/…
— That’s Beijingさん (@Thats_Beijing) 2013年5月7日
Get Rich Quick: Hangzhou sperm bank offers up to 6,000 yuan ($975) per “donation” english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8235940.…
— Steve Georgeさん (@steve0george) 2013年5月8日
“And now for something completely different.” twitter.com/abesauer/statu…
— Abe Sauerさん (@abesauer) 2013年5月8日
Guangzhou train station brawl interlude, via Shanghaiist:
Finally…
NK News has published a 12,000-word piece by Nate Thayer on American sympathizers of the North Korea regime. Perhaps you’ll read it. (NK News)
Interview with rapper Nasty Ray. (the Anthill)
Chengdu stops petro plant protest. (AP)
Kunming, too. (Reuters)
Joseph Kornides of 12sqm in Beijing plans to open world’s smallest bar, just 5 square meters. (Beijing Boyce)
Donpai folk party, aka Ritan Folk Festival, cancelled. (Beijing Daze)
Finally, finally…
Christopher Cox, center, with his wife Andrea Catsimatidis (Andy Wong / AP)
Belated, but the above (taken Saturday) is via Los Angeles Times, about Richard Nixon’s grandson visiting Beijing. The woman in red. No, the other one. Yes, her. Also see: WSJ.
Are those real? wow!