Today's Links: Two disparate views of the Earthquake, blogging in China, and new whistleblower laws
- The fortunate lives of reunited Beichuan Earthquake families [QQ News] A series of photos on the Chinese web of 20 or so families that are now living, reunited and happy, in Sichuan province a year after the devastating earthquake hit.
- Year After China Quake, New Births, Old Wounds [NYTimes] "One year after the earthquake in Sichuan Province killed about 70,000 people and left 18,000 missing, mothers across the region are pregnant or giving birth again, aided by government medical teams dispensing fertility advice and doing reverse-sterilization procedures. Because of China’s policy limiting most families to having one child, the students who died were often their parents’ only offspring. Officials say they hope a wave of births will help defuse the anger that many grieving parents harbor over the collapses of so many schools on May 12, 2008, while nearby buildings often remained standing."
- Report: 10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger [Committee to Protect Journalists] "Relying on a mix of detentions, regulations, and intimidation, authorities in Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Egypt have emerged as the leading online oppressors in the Middle East and North Africa. China and Vietnam, where burgeoning blogging cultures have encountered extensive monitoring and restriction, are among Asia’s worst blogging nations. Cuba and Turkmenistan, nations where Internet access is heavily restricted, round out the dishonor roll."
- Internet posts should be deleted rationally [China Media Project] "[C]ontrols on content are often stricter for the Internet than for traditional media. One important but often overlooked reason for this is that Internet companies are not part of China’s traditional news structure, and therefore do not have the powerful official backing that sometimes allows newspapers and magazines to be bolder. Websites, that is to say, are more exposed."
- Exposing graft could get you rich [China Daily] "The incentive to fight corruption just got better. Blowing the lid off a scandal can now fetch you up to 200,000 yuan ($29,000), according to a new regulation released Tuesday. Whistleblowers will be entitled to 10 percent of the value of the properties that are expropriated in graft cases, said a revised work report released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP)."
- Wal-Mart in China: From 3 to 1,000 in 5 Years [JLM Pacific Epoch] "Wal-Mart China plans to open 1,000 convenience stores under the name of "Hui Xuan" within the next five years, 100 of which will be opened in 2009, reports National Business Daily quoting Wal-Mart China Public Relations Manager Chen Lu. So far, Wal-Mart's presence in China is limited to three "Hui Xuan" stores in Shenzhen."
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