Everyone has their China cliche of choice that, despite annoying family, friends, and everyone, they return to again and again because life is hard and we need vents to lessen the psychological pressures of being alive. For most expats, it's pollution, i.e. complaining about it. For me, it's the squat toilet, i.e. hating the very concept with every poor muscle and fiber of my inevitably-sore-after-using lower body.
A "zombie" attacked Michael Bay on the set of Transformers 4 in Hong Kong on Thursday. There were no injuries, not even -- it seems -- to Bay's indefatigable confidence to continue making awful movies.
A new set of regulations called the "Guangzhou Metropolitan Comprehensive Law Enforcement Work Standards" went into effect on Tuesday, essentially forcing chengguan -- urban management officers -- to be congenial. As Danwei reports, the law "state[s] clearly that chengguan may not use profane or threatening language while enforcing their duties, may not damage private property, and may not use any form of violence or intimidation," and "to use words like 'please,' 'thank you' and 'I’m sorry.'”
Has no one in China's Ministry of Commerce taken elementary sex-ed? (Answer: in all seriousness, they probably have not.) A draft regulation is currently in the public domain seeking popular opinion (the best kind!) on whether those with HIV should be allowed in bathhouses. Because you can get HIV from bathhouses?
True objectivity in journalism may be an unachieveable ideal -- the craft is as much about storytelling as reporting, with the requisite narrative structures that confirm or deny bias -- but that doesn't mean a journalist should actively neglect his or her duty to truthful storytelling.
Unless you work in Chinese media.
