Mid-Week Links: Cabbie returns wallet containing 20,000 cash, Chen Guangcheng is No. 9 on Foreign Policy’s Global Thinkers link, and Shanghai time-lapse

Beijing Marathon runner
Via Washington Post, a map in the new Chinese passport that “shows a version of China that includes disputed territory claimed by India, a vast stretch of the South China Sea, including islands claimed by several other countries, and the entirety of Taiwan.” The Beijing Ducks are 2-0 after their 110-102 win in Jilin yesterday.... Read more »

Taiwan Only Won Four Golden Horse Awards, So Some Local Lawmakers Now Want To Nix The Whole Film Festival

Golden Horse Awards
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, inaugurated in 1962, is the oldest and arguably most prestigious of China’s four major film awards (the mainland’s Hundred Flowers Award was also founded in 1962, but it was suspended from 1964 to 1979, for obvious reasons). On Saturday, in its 49th annual show, director Gao Qunshu’s Beijing Blues... Read more »

Let Us Recall That Chinese Satire Has Fooled Western Media Outlets (And James Cameron) As Well

Kim Jong-Un and the Onion
Earlier this year, I gave a lecture to high school journalism students in China about the importance of citation, spending a good 10 minutes on the how and why of it. This may or may not surprise you, depending on whether you read Chinese publications and/or crappy blogs, but sourcing is often optional here; what’s... Read more »

People’s Daily Admits It Fell For The Onion Spoof, Editor Hopes It “Wouldn’t Draw Too Much Attention”

Kim Jong Un on a horse
The Associated Press succeeded in getting People’s Daily on the line to answer for its slideshow, “North Korea’s top leader named The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.” An online editor said the 55-pic spread would be taken offline (note: it already has been), and also: “We have realized it is satirical,” said the editor who... Read more »

Yao Ming Is Either Getting A Diploma In This Picture Or Being Ordained By The Catholic Church

Yao Ming getting diploma... or being ordained
All-around good guy Yao Ming was at the University of Hong Kong on Tuesday to receive an honorary doctor’s degree for his work in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness. We don’t want to take anything away from Yao’s accomplishments or scoff at HKU, but Jesus, what’s up with the gold Roman Catholic scepter? Yao, meanwhile, was recently interviewed by... Read more »

Young Sexy Model Convicted For Impersonating A Cop Online (Or Revealing An Uncomfortable Truth?)

Young hot policewoman model
On July 2, Sina Weibo user @馨儿徽安 posted three eye-catching photos of herself to her microblog, in which she wore a police outfit while engaged in various attractive poses. Nothing at all is wrong with this, in case you’re wondering. Images that are deemed too lurid are simply deleted by one of Sina Weibo’s thousand censors, and no... Read more »

Chinese State Media’s People’s Daily Reports Kim Jong-Un Was Named “The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive” [UPDATE]

People's Daily is had by the Onion
This is too perfect. The Onion — you know, that website whose lead story is currently, “42 Million Dead In Bloodiest Black Friday Weekend On Record” — named North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un its “sexiest man alive” on November 14, writing: “He has that rare ability to somehow be completely adorable and completely macho at... Read more »

China Successfully Landed A Jet On Its Aircraft Carrier For The First Time On Sunday, And It’s Already A Meme

J15 as Internet meme
China took another step toward legitimizing its Soviet-purchased aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, on Sunday when five pilots of J-15 fighter jets successfully landed on the carrier, led by squadron leader Dai Mingmeng. Even though experts say it’ll be at least four years before the Liaoning is “fully combat capable,” according to China Daily, Sunday’s exercise... Read more »

Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin Makes List Of “10 Most Horrid People Of 2012,” TAR Nation Rejoices

Hu Xijin wins due recognition
Despite censorship, the Chinese Internet is still capable of producing gem. On Sina Weibo, an Anhui-based user, @每周评论 wrote a short-lived post that identified the “10 Most Horrid People of 2012.” Hong Kong-based China Media Project tells us the post was deleted “sometime before 12:05 p.m. yesterday,” but not before they were to extract and translate... Read more »