In the surprising 2011/2012 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, China almost skirts the bottom at number 174 out of 179 possible spots. This places them one measly notch higher than Iran (175), who is just coming off the 2009/2010 election protest involving rampant violence between the media and government, and 22 places below Iraq - the country responsible for the most reporter killings (151) in the last two decades. In an equally frightening bit of trivia, just two years ago the same slot was occupied by North Korea! Reporters Without Borders states: more ›

Surprise! The rest of the world doesn't like China's human rights record. Human Rights Watch has released a critical report entitled "Promises Unfulfilled," concluding that the Chinese government had "violated many of the key goals of the National Human Rights Action Plan" it created for itself in April 2009 by "tightening restrictions on rights of free expression, association and assembly." HRW is urging the U.S. State Department to pressure China about it, but... well... good luck. Nobody in China believed the promises would be fulfilled anyway and, as one ex-dissident tells the Washington Post, "Americans don't really care about human rights in China." more ›

The argument that more press freedom is the first step towards political reform here in China is not new. But it feels like, with Wen Jiabao's recent remarks on the very subject and new protections for independent press, the doors have opened for academia to discuss their right to... well, discuss. China Media Project has translated a blog post by Peking University Professor of Law He Weifang comparing Shanghai and Guangzhou's media during the World Expo and Asian Games, respectively. Namely how, while Guangzhou's media was a storm of criticism, Shanghai's media 'had been “had.”' The most notable quote, I think, is something I've discussed with various Chinese locals who've insisted that more media freedom would lead to more chaos in China: "The people can voice their resentment through the newspaper pages and on the Internet, and this means they don’t have to take to the streets, and even less likely are they to stage a revolt." more ›

Currently, internet penetration in China is at 28.9% - which puts the amount of internet users at 384 million. But if the Information Office of the State Council has its way, a full 45% of the people will get internet in the next five years. Of course, the internet they'll be getting, while it purports to guarantee "citizen's freedom of speech," will not allow them to "infringe upon state, social and collective interests or the legitimate freedom and rights of other citizens." Whatever that means. more ›

At around 7AM local time, Google updated their official blog with an entry titled "A new approach to China." It states that around mid December, Google discovered a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure" coming from within China. And this, they asserted, was the last straw for their operations here. more ›

The Germans and their notoriously risque advertisements may have bitten off more than they can chew with Doc Morris Pharmaceuticals' most recent condom ads. more ›

The reason? Probably not directly the ongoing 17th National Congress in Beijing, then they would have blocked the site last week already (unless someone right now uploaded some video's that would upset the government). I suspect the real reason might be that YouTube just launched a Chinese version, which would make the site much more accessible for Chinese users. Not a very smart idea to do that in the middle of the National Congress, and I am surprised nobody at mother company Google's China offices rang an alarm bell about this before the launch. A typical example of the mistakes foreign companies make while trying to do business in China. more ›

Celebrated American writer and critic Gore Vidal was interviewed by former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr on Sunday at Glamour Bar before a full audience as the opening speaker for the 2007 Shanghai International Literary Festival. Over his career which spans more than 60 years, Vidal has produced novels, plays, screenplays, and numerous essays and pamphlets, and most recently, he published his memoirs, Point-to-Point Navigation. more ›

We mentioned in this earlier post that Prof. Li Yinhe, the noted sexologist, had just written on her blog that she was being pressured to keep her mouth shut, i.e. not talk about spouse-swapping and not submit proposals to officials about legalizing gay marriage in China. more ›

media reported on Friday. They welded the cage shut. Add him and his wife to the ranks of the sexually frustrated. more ›

Gothamist posts on the capture of a NYC perv thanks to Little Brother and a camera phone. They also scour the city for vodka martinis and Shamrock shakes and spot the friend from the Wonder Years at a city law firm. New York police think that Littlejohn is their man. more ›