News: November 2008 Archives

Experts have introduced a new version of eye exercises for Chinese students that are said to combine Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques with massage and application of pressure to eye-related acu-points. If the old eye exercises were not able to combat the high incidence of myopia among Chinese students as this CCTV report seems to suggest, then we think the new exercises will just be as useless as the old ones.

From RFA:

近日有聽眾向本台提供片段，指廣州街邊出現不少不法商人將用過的舊茶葉晒乾，加上香精後，然後加上偽冒的一九五八年普洱包裝，在市場上銷售。由次片段所見，在廣州街邊有人在衛生條件惡劣的露天地方，將晒乾的茶葉包好，然後印上一九五八產普洱字樣出售。工人 在地上包裝和處理茶葉，整個包裝地點都未有任何衛生及消毒設施。

Continue reading "Video: Used tea repackaged and resold in Guangzhou"

Photo from fiverlocker.

Taxi driver strikes have been spreading from city to city lately. China Digital Times tells us of the latest one that took place in Guangzhou:

Cabbies in Guangzhou took to the streets Monday to protest the alleged beating of a fellow cab driver by a government official yesterday evening. The cab driver was beaten by three men after a traffic accident. Related photos, video clips and blog posts were all over Chinese cyberspace. The official media also quickly put out its own version of this protest. Read these stories from Xinhua and Shanghai Daily.

Chilling news from AFP:

MORE than half of Beijing's prostitutes do not use condoms despite sexual transmission having replaced drug use as the most common infection route for HIV, state media said on Tuesday.

Continue reading "Over half of prostitutes in Beijing not using condoms"

Photo from rdx913

With 6.1 million college students graduating in 2009 amidst the economic gloom, many will have a hard time finding jobs immediately. Those that do will have to make do with lower pay.

Steven Lin of Youku Buzz informs us:

It’s rumored that the Meizu M8 will be on the shelf later this month with a 3.3 inch 720×480 touch screen (much higher than iPhone’s 480×320) and compatibility with most mainstream multimedia formats you can find online (who needs Apple’s iTunes Store any more?). And my friend from Engadget China told me, the price would be RMB 2300 (USD 335).

CCTV breaks the news that Chinese search engine Baidu has been accepting money from illegal medical companies for paid search results. While paid search results have been criticised for undermining the integrity of the search experience, they continue to account for 80% of the company's revenue. In the melamine scandal, Baidu was said to have accepted payment in exchange for censoring news that were not favourable to the dairy companies.

The tiny Shanghai English-language media scene is abuzz with gossips and rumours over just what is going to happen to SH Mag next. Asia City, the publisher of SH which owns similar magazines in regional cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, has apparently put up a "FOR SALE" sign over the magazine.

Well, for one, we guess it gets you the Olympics in Beijing. And loads of infrastructural upgrades. But China was banking on the Olympics for an image makeover, and judging by Futurebrand's 2008 Country Brand Index, the results were at least somewhat encouraging. China placed 56th out of the 78 countries ranked, with 29% of respondents giving the country a "very good" or "excellent" overall rating. It did, however, make the biggest gains in overall brand rating, improving by a full 13%.

Raw footage from NoCommentTV of President Hu's recent trip to Cuba as part of his ongoing whirlwind tour across Latin America. Many Chinese students and future diplomats receive their Spanish language training in Cuba. In return for a performance item put up by Chinese students singing Guantanamera, Raul Castro (brother of Fidel Castro) took centrestage and sang The East is Red《东方红》which he says he learnt in 1953. The song lauds Mao Zedong as saviour of the Chinese people and was once China's de facto national anthem during the Cultural Revolution. Castro sure has lots to sing for. Yesterday's China Daily reported that China has deferred for 10 years an unspecified trade debt Cuba accumulated in 1995, and made an additional $80 million donation toward its hospital modernisation programme.

AP: Job outlook in China 'grim'

With political arrows still being shot back and forth between Beijing and Dharamsala, China has been panning out its efforts to win the propaganda battle over Tibet, sending teams of Tibetologists to Finland and Italy to 'educate' academics and students on the history and modern development of Tibet. Realising that influencing scholars and historians is not enough, China has also taken the battle into the online arena to reach people like you and I.

'He is a sicko,' B.C. model's boyfriend says about murder suspect [CanWest News Service]

UPDATE: 'Kappa Girl' detained by Shanghai police!

• Taiwanese ex-President Chen Shui-bian was hospitalized on Monday when it was discovered that he had an irregular heartbeat. He had been on a five-day hunger strike to protest his detainment. [AP]
• A Uyghur woman in Xinjiang is being forced to have an abortion on what would be her third child. China's family planning laws forbit urban members of ethnic minorities from having more than two children. The fine for going through with the birth would have been a prohibitive RMB 45,000. [RFA]
• A UN Human Development Report on China suggests that the divide between the rich and poor is slowing growth by holding productivity and consumption down. "While Beijing and Shanghai have reached the development level of countries such as Cyprus and Portugal, provinces such as south-western Guizhou are comparable to Namibia or Botswana." [The Guardian]

The latest data shows that China's output has fallen to a seven year low. The forecast for China's economic growth has been revised downwards to between 9.5% to 10% this year and 8.8% to 9.3% in 2009 — news that makes you go awwwww shucks we know, but economists are saying the reduction of even 1% in economic growth in China will have a massive impact and we're getting a glimpse of that right now. Even the ayi at our local All Days convenience store has been lamenting over poor sales, believe it or not. All across Guangdong province and elsewhere, factories are shuttering down and people are getting laid off. Jobs are a lot harder to come by and consumer sentiment is down. As usual, it is the people at the lowest rung of society who will be hit hardest, and China's greatest challenge now will be to tackle the growing social divide.

"At least three people have been killed and 18 more are missing after the collapse of a half-built tunnel in Hangzhou in eastern China."

• Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui Bian has gone on a hunger strike to "protest the death of his justice and the regression of democracy". He hasn't eaten since Wednesday, when he was arrested and put in detention in Taipei to await persecution on various corruption allegations.
• China gets called up by the UN to defend its human rights record, but refuses to answer questions on the alleged mistreatment of dissidents and prisoners.
• Google China promises that it, unlike Baidu, will not manipulate its search results. Still, that doesn't stop Rebecca MacKinnon, former CNN China correspondent and a few educated others from musing, "Did Google sell out in China?" China also agrees today to give foreign financial news providers better access to information.

Sad news from the Shanghai Daily:

FOUR college students died after falling off the balcony of their six-story dormitory at Shanghai Business School while trying to escape a fire early this morning in Xuhui District, police said.

Continue reading "Four students at Shanghai Business School jump to death to escape from burning dorm room"

• Top officials are now considering a bailout plan worth RMB800 billion ($116 billion USD) to buy up top Chinese stocks if the Shanghai index falls below 1,500 points. The index closed at 1,859 points yesterday, but has been falling steadily since the beginning of 2008. Diligence China gives us a look at what the country's economy could look like in 18 months.
• Following yesterday's announcement that Beijing will get a boatload of new money to develop its traffic infrastructure, Chinese officials unveiled a new plan to spend RMB5 trillion over the next two years on new roads, rail and airports. Nearly half this money (RMB2.37 trillion) will be spent in Guangdong province.
• Will democracy work in China? Students at the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong give it a try in their student president elections. Ironically, three of the four candidates are Communist Party members.

‘Gays’ crack nearly causes international incident, says the Shanghai Daily

A CHINESE man nearly started an unintended fight with an overseas sailor when he greeted him in poorly chosen English words.

Continue reading "Chinglish, homophobia and silly sailors"

Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera continues on his journey in Sichuan province, talking and spending time with quake victims who are still struggling with putting back the broken pieces of their lives. For some, getting back to work has proven easy enough, but the spiritual and emotional anguish they continue to experience on a daily basis remains deep six months on.

Visitors to the Life Art Center, also known as that place on Maoming Lu with lots of bad art and Southern Barbarian, may have noticed something a little out of the ordinary lately: Shanghai's first head shop (that we know of at least).

• Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was finally arrested after five hours of questioning over various corruption charges on Tuesday. He has been accused of embezzling of 14.8 million Taiwan dollars (480,500 US) and otherwise using his Presidential powers illegally during his eight year term.
• Five cement factory workers died on the job yesterday when a building in Donghe, Qinghai Province collapsed. Another worker was seriously injured and is in critical condition, but "might still survive", according to doctors. Officially, the building's collapse was not related to the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked the region on Monday.
• Beijing has just committed RMB240 billion ($34 billion USD) to upgrade traffic infrastructure over the next five years. By 2012, the city is expected to have 420km of subway lines up and running. Oh, and that RMB240 billion sum? It's RMB70 billion more than Beijing spent in the five years leading up to the Olympics.

Chinese hackers have "penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials", said a senior US official to the Financial Times:

On each occasion, the cyber attackers accessed the White House computer system for brief periods, allowing them enough time to steal information before US computer experts patched the system.

Continue reading "US says attacks on White House, Obama and McCain networks came from China"

Many Chinese did not follow the American election closely. But political observers say there was little doubt that Obama has captured the imagination and support of young Chinese, particularly those who are studying English and the political systems of other countries.

Xinhua reports:

More than 1.17 million people have been affected in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by floods triggered by continuous heavy rain that started on Saturday.

Continue reading "34 dead and 1.17 million people affected in Guangxi's flood of the century"

• The Dalai Lama entertains the idea of himself going to hell and of his lineage coming to an end at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. [China Rises]
• The WSJ's China Journal tells us of a "rare and violent strike" among cabbies in Chongqing yesterday protesting against fuel shortages and heavy fines.
• Sam Flemming of the China IWOM Blog tells us of Gome's launch of a tuangou (团购) or "group purchase" opportunity through the Chinese forum KDS. This is interesting because tuangou activities are usually initiated by consumers.

From Al-Jazeera:

General Laurent Nkunda, rebel leader of the National Congress for People's Defence (CNDP), has said he wants to re-examine a $5bn dollar deal the Congolese government has struck with China.

Continue reading "Congo to re-examine its US$5bn dollar deal with China?"

This CCTV recording from a Shenzhen restaurant on Oct 29, carefully captioned by the wonderful guys from ChinaSmack, shows an 11 year old girl guiding a man to the restroom, and running away back into the restaurant soon after. She returns with her parents and brother to confront the man with the help of the restaurant, and a huge argument soon ensued. According to the girl, the man had grabbed her neck and tried to force her into the bathroom with him.