Hate it as I do, I understand why some things are censored. You can’t have a perpetually restless populace in the countryside, for instance, believing that an alien overlord will descend from heaven and deliver them from misery if only they’ll overthrow the current regime. You can’t have top leaders exposed as hypocrites. You can’t... Read more »
Yesterday, China took down Google, the decision of a Net Nanny who gets off by watching Internet users like you squirm and suffer. But the collective howl of pain and rage that emanated from behind the Great Firewall was actually heard, because this morning, authorities unblocked Google’s services, including Gmail. So what happened? The website GreatFire.org – which... Read more »
Whatever your feelings about American politics, it’s hard to argue that Barack Obama doesn’t shine on the big stage with the lone spotlight. The man knows how to deliver a message, and it’s liable to be heard as clearly halfway around the world as by those closest to him. According to Tea Leaf Nation: In his... Read more »
The lawyers for the Wen Jiabao family issued an official statement yesterday regarding the New York Times's recent piece that got the website harmonized inside China. It's "a rare instance of a powerful Chinese political family responding directly to a foreign media report," NY Times reports. But the lawyers, while trying to deny everything, actually deny nothing. Read the translated statement closely, as brought to you by SCMP:
On what day will the NY Times homepage be unblocked in China? Please submit your answer either in the comment section or via email. You can also tweet at us. We will try our best to send a prize to the person who nails the correct date.
While everyone else was talking about Ai Weiwei, the New York Times had the temerity to publish an explosive report about Premier Wen Jiabao, probably the most popular and ostensibly clean politician in China. Grandpa Wen, as he's affectionately called, has apparently made a lot of money for his family, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. But the Times is currently in Chinese Internet purgatory because it painstakingly detailed exactly how much money: "A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister’s relatives, some of whom have a knack for aggressive deal-making, including his wife, have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion." And it's $2.7 billion that Wen's family has taken pains to not disclose.
As any healthy male knows, the desire to masturbate on an airplane can be OVERWHELMING. Yet who among us is willing to take matters into his own hands? I'll tell you: Cathay Pacific business travelers, that's who.
On September 17, Next Media Animation in Taiwan got a tip that passengers on Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific flights were, if not exactly encouraged to, allowed to join their own one-man Mile High clubs.
In the history of censorship in Chinese media, surely we’ve seen more half-baked decisions and upsetting punishments. But surely, as well, we’ve never seen so many journalists punished for such small beer. Spare me your sermon about Liu Xiang as the face of the country’s athletics program and a national hero, etc.: I’m arguing against... Read more »
You can almost picture the central government official from the propaganda bureau or wherever penning this editorial before sending it over to GT. It sure does seem like Beijing is making an example out of Shifang’s local leaders, with this message to everyone else: buck up or fuck off. Quoth GT: Only erroneous site selections, unqualified... Read more »
Wow. So protests in China work? At 5:58 pm today, the official Weibo page of the Shifang, Sichuan municipal government posted a message stating that plans for a proposed molybdenum copper plant, which caused protests that began Saturday and escalated yesterday, have been permanently shelved. Perhaps local leaders read the writing on the wall when the term... Read more »
