For those of you that weren't in Shanghai today, just know that the weather has affected the city's regular serotonin production in a significant way. Suffice it to say, the day's lack of sunlight and non-stop gray drizzle means that a great number of us are going to spend the evening moping about indoors, and we have just the perfect thing for it: an hour-long BBC documentary on China's expansion in Africa! more ›

So, as we all know now. China has been caught selling weapons to Libya under the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. But have the two countries always been the best of buddies? Not really, says Brian Spegele of the WSJ's China Realtime Report:

In recent years, the Libyan regime clashed with the Chinese on everything from the rising power’s inroads into Africa to Col. Gadhafi’s economic and political ties with Taiwan. China, which is scouring the world for resources to feed its economy, saw its crude imports from Libya more than double since 2008. But its state-owned oil companies seemed to lack the needed political capital with the Gadhafi regime to gain significant stakes in crude-oil assets in Libya, home to Africa’s largest proven oil reserves. more ›

"Such an act has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, hurt the feelings of Chinese people and damaged the Sino-American relations. We demand the US side to seriously consider China's stance, immediately adopt measures to wipe out the baneful impact, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and cease to connive and support anti-China separatist forces that seek 'Tibet independence'. China objects firmly to any foreign leader's meeting with the Dalai Lama in any form and opposes to any country, or anyone, to interfere in China's internal affairs by using the Dalai Lama" more ›

Uh-oh spaghetti-o's. Looks like it's time again for another round of harrumphing over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands: "China on Monday demanded Japan immediately withdraw its fishing ships out of the waters of the Diaoyu Islands. 'China has lodged solemn representation with the Japanese side,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks in reply to a question saying some Japanese boats were sent to fish in the waters of the Diaoyu Islands. According to the Japanese media, about 10 fishing boats belonging to a fishery cooperative in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, left a local port Sunday to operate in the waters of the Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku in Japan. 'China has indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands that have been an inherent part of China since ancient times,' Hong said, stressing that any actions taken by Japan in the area were invalid. It is reported that the Japanese fishing boats have already withdrawn from the Diaoyu Islands waters, Hong said, without providing a time frame." [China Daily] more ›

• About 30,000 cleaners swept up 1,200 tonnes of fireworks debris left over from Sunday night's big celebrations.
• Originally scheduled for launch in August 2008, the much-touted luxury hotel Jumeirah HanTang Xintiandi Shanghai, will now be open for business sometime this year.
• Chinese government officials have denied U.S. Treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner's allegations that China is manipulating its currency.

Scene at yesterday's press conference at the Foreign Ministry according to Reuters [h/t to Imagethief]:

[Foreign Ministry spokesman] Liu Jianchao was asked what he thought of Sunday's incident, when the television journalist also called the American leader a "dog," and replied all leaders deserved respect. more ›

Nationalistic optimism hits its worldwide high in China, a new survey by PEW Global Attitudes Project has found. Eighty-six percent reported being happy with their county’s direction, with 82 percent positive about the national economy. These numbers have risen startlingly in the past six years, growing 38 and 30 percentage points respectively during an era when many nations, including the United States, have seen severe declines. more ›

Travel agencies in Beijing have been asked to withdraw France as a tourist destination, starting this week. more ›

Our second show for the day is the critically acclaimed documentary Seoul Train (featured on PBS) which offers a look at the estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China today, who have braved untold dangers to escape a food and humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of 3 million back home. The camera follows several groups of North Korean refugees, some have chosen to forcibly make their way past the gates of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, others have chosen to attempt to send in a formal application to be recognised as refugees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and yet others have chosen to make their way to Mongolia, in the hopes of eventually getting to South Korea, their promised land. If they are arrested, the Chinese government (which sees them as illegal economic migrants and not refugees) will certainly repatriate them to North Korea where they will face punishment and execution. It also offers a fascinating look at what's been called the Underground Railroad, a covert network of multinational cells of relief workers, activists and volunteers including a South Korean pastor, Chun Ki-won, who's been dubbed the Asian Schindler. This show is amazing in the way it acquaints the viewer with the complexity of the issue, taking into account a wide range of divergent views, and even taking on the UNHCR for its supposed compliance with the Chinese government. Till today, the UNHCR has not saved a single North Korean refugee. more ›

A New Zealand-born contestant of the first series of Big Brother Australia, Gordon Sloan, has died in Beijing on a suspected heroin overdose. more ›

Picture of Chinese soldiers from tigeranger1971. more ›

The first rule that many foreigners hear about doing anything in China is that you will need guanxi - relationships that help you clear the jungly bureaucracy, receive preferential tax treatment, or "free" land. Of course, the follow-up rule that is never stated in polite company is that guanxi means money, a greased palm, a sop, and a board seat. However, as useful as some relationships can be, they frequently outlive their usefulness and become nothing more than baggage. more ›

On Saturday, November 11, New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist Thomas L. Friedman spoke at Three On The Bund as part of the Three Talk Lecture Series which was co-hosted by the Penguin Group, publisher of Friedman's bestseller The World Is Flat (TWIF). When the globe-trotter, Friedman comes to Shanghai, it is clear how much he travels by the fact that he seems to be unsure of exactly where he is, as in one instance, he spoke of Three On The Bund "here in Beijing." In all, Friedman spoke on his book for about 52 minutes and then followed with a 36 minute Q&A session at the conclusion of which he was presented with a bizarre statuette of himself standing atop a flat world with the words "GEO GREEN" affixed to a pink base and surrounded by the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. more ›

The British highbrow magazine Prospect has come out with its 2005 list of the 100 most influential "public intellectuals" in the world, which ranges across nations, disciplines and professions. The list includes five (ethnic) Chinese, all of mainland extraction, but not all of whom are living or working in mainland China. more ›