We’ve read enough stories about Li Keqiang’s inaugural press conference as premier, and there’s not much more that can be said. But apparently what happened after he spoke may be more interesting. After Li and the other vice premiers left the venue, many reporters rushed to the stage to snatch up pencils and papers used... Read more »
The Ministry of Railways (MOR) is as old as New China, having been in operation since October 1949. But on March 10, toward the construction of a newer China at the 12th National People’s Congress, the government announced a series of reforms and reconstructions, which included the decision to dissolve outdated ministries. The Ministry of... Read more »
It’s been said before by many commentators — e.g., Eric Fish of Sinostand (“The Catholic church and CCP: estranged brothers?”) and Adam of Visions of Paradise (“Several times in the past I’ve read quotes stating that Communist governments learned how to manipulate their citizens by imitating the Catholic Church”) — that the Chinese Communist Party... Read more »
Wen Jiabao gave his final speech before the National People’s Congress on Tuesday among a crowded room of delegates, then bowed three times to the audience and took his leave. At the end of the 12-day session, he, Hu Jintao and other party leaders will step aside as new leadership takes the reins, led by... Read more »
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang made an unexpected visit to a farmer’s family in Baotou, Inner Mongolia earlier this week. How unexpected? According to Sina Weibo, the farmer’s son was still sleeping (half-)naked in the room, so the father told him to go hide in the cupboard. With CCTV cameras rolling, the kid ran out of oxygen,... Read more »
Anything the New York Times can do, the Wall Street Journal can do better. Reporting: The Wall Street Journal said Thursday that its computer systems had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers for the apparent purpose of monitoring the newspaper’s China coverage. If you’re not being hacked and monitored by the Chinese, you’re just not important... Read more »
Chinese hackers, possibly using phishing software, reportedly broke into the New York Times's computer network four months ago and installed malware that enabled them to access the personal computers of 53 employees. All indications are that the attack is a response to the paper's investigation, led by Shanghai bureau chief David Barboza, into premier Wen Jiabao's family fortunes. The NY Times says its computers were compromised as far back as September 13, just as they were wrapping up reporting for the Wen piece, which was published on October 25.
Search "actress Diana Pang" on Google, and right under the hit for her Wikipedia page, you'll find images such as the above. We're not just skin-baiting here. This busty buxom, star of such softcore porn films as Erotic Ghost Story - Perfect Match and Evil Instinct, known as the "divine bosom," according to Want China Times, might be entering the one arena that's dirtier than porn: politics.
For the first time in more than 20 years, according to SCMP, a major newspapers’s editorial staff in China has gone on strike to protest government censorship. They were on the streets this afternoon in Guangzhou, outside Southern Weekly’s offices, scattering chrysanthemums and other flowers, periodically chanting for democracy and human rights. It’s been basically peaceful... Read more »
On the footsteps of an AP article about a petition warning against “revolution and chaos,” Reuters has just reported on an open letter signed by 73 scholars calling for reform, or else. “If reforms to the system urgently needed by Chinese society keep being frustrated and stagnate without progress, then official corruption and dissatisfaction in... Read more »