Isaac Stone Fish of Foreign Policy raises the interesting hypothesis that former president Jiang Zemin's uncomfortable interview in 2000 with Mike Wallace, the 60 Minutes correspondent who passed away on Saturday, could well be the reason why the current president Hu Jintao has chosen to be the first Chinese leader since the Empress Dowager Cixi to refuse to speak with the foreign press. Watch Wallace lecture Jiang on the art of giving shorter, more concise answers, and then criticise him for having "no candour" in his answers. Ouch. more ›

Dozens of Tibetan protesters clash with Indian police in New Delhi following the arrival President Hu Jintao here. A Tibetan exile who self-immolated on Wednesday in protest against China has died. more ›

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other top party leaders went to the polls on November 8 to elect the people's representatives for their respective districts. As usual, state broadcaster CCTV's news bulletin Xinwen Lianbo was on hand to dutifully cover the president's every step. This time, however, it probably gave a little too much, or rather, too little away. more ›

After dissident-artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) was freed from an 81-day detention and slapped with a RMB15 million fine for tax evasion, a princely sum he has been given 15 days to cough up, his mother Ai Ying (高瑛) did what any mother would. She began looking for things to sell. Together with her other son Ai Dan (艾丹), she announced that the former residence of her husband, the poet Ai Qing (艾青), was now up for sale. more ›

We're not entirely sure what we would do if we were bored and had access to a green screen, but cutting Hu Jintao's hair as he motorcades along during the 60th Anniversary of the PRC wasn't one of the first things that came to mind. more ›

Two Hong Kong TV officials have taken responsibility and resigned for broadcasting a false report of Jiang Zemin's death in July. Since 9/11, there have been more than more than 35,000 terrorism convictions in the world, and half of those took place in China and Turkey. Most of the arrests in China were, unsurprisingly, made in Xinjiang. In his new memoirs, Dick Cheney explains how he wishes he could have gotten just a little more intimate with Hu Jintao, instead of getting cockblocked during his first meeting, and spied on in the next! His inability to whisper sweet nothings led eventually to "the end of all conversations between the two politicians." more ›

Look Hu's excited! After his visit to Chicago schools during his state visit to America in January, Hu Jintao invited 20 students from Walter Payton College Prep High School to visit his residence at Zhongnanhai in Beijing. more ›

Here's an old video from President Hu Jintao's trip to Japan last year that we missed earlier and is making the rounds again on Sina Weibo. more ›

"I’m excited about political developments in China, and looking forward to a Jasmine Revolution. I am quite sure that Hu Jintao may be a refugee some day, but not Liao Yiwu." more ›

In order to commemorate the ten-day anniversary of Gloriously Benevolent Patriarch Kim Jong Il's departure from China (newly proclaimed happiest country in the world), we'd like to bring you some must-see CCTV News footage that details the Dear Leader's trip in full. more ›

Speech by H.E. Hu Jintao President of the People's Republic of China At Opening Plenary of Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2011 Boao, 15 April 2011 more ›

Parade float spotted at a carnival in Germany by Racialicious: "Obama and Hu are depicted in bed together, with Obama handing Hu cash- a remark on the tremendous loan debt America owes China. Note how Hu, dressed in yellow, is depicted as wearing a yellow stereotypical “coolie” hat."
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Over the last few days, since the start of the first so-called "Jasmine Revolution" protests, we've been actively tracking the Net Nanny's behaviour. Search results for a whole bunch of newly-sensitive words have become filtered, including the Chinese names of US Ambassador Jon Huntsman and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Two days before the second nationwide "stroll" was to start, we broke the news that "Wangfujing" had also become a sensitive word. more ›

While President Hu Jintao may be the captain of the world's second largest economy, he pays himself a very modest salary of approximately US$10,633 per annum. That's a tiny fraction of the US$184,000 that Ma Ying-Jeou, the President of Taiwan, and the US$530,000 that Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, take home each year. more ›

"With all the money that we owe China, I think you might correctly say, Hu's your daddy." more ›

“I worked in a Chinese restaurant.” more ›

In the next episode of the Hu's-in-Washington story, well, the story according to the folks from Next Media Animation anyway, President Hu Jintao continues to enjoy all the perks of a visiting dignitary after having a bit too much fun at Hooters. He meets up with business executives Steve Ballmer of Microsoft and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, then complains about having to meet "Jokie Chan" and "Bang Bang" at the state dinner. Also, at a joint press conference, a question about the state of human rights in China got lost in translation. more ›

It's been a while since Presidents Hu and Obama met in a Next Media Animation video. In this clip, Hu flies into Washington on China’s new stealth jet and raises hell for his hosts. Only for those with a sense of humour: more ›

There's a whole lotta action going on ahead of President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the United States. Here's what's happening: more ›

Just before the turn of the year, on Thursday afternoon, President Hu Jintao was reported by Shanghaiist's favourite broadcaster CCTV to have visited several low-income families in Beijing to bring them the party's heartiest new year greetings. Helping low-income residents with their housing problems, according to CCTV, was a "great matter that weighed heavily on the President's heart", hence the decision to descend from his gilded throne at the Great Hall of the People and make his presence felt among the hoi polloi. more ›

The poll for TIME's Person of the Year award is now up and running and... what do we see? Both Hu Jintao and Liu Xiaobo are on it! So which corner are you in - The Nobel Peace Prize winning dissident with visions of democracy or the leader of one of the new old superpower on the block? Or you can skip the controversy and vote for any of their other silly options: Glenn Beck, Lady Gaga or "The Unemployed American." Ugh, does anyone take this seriously anymore? Does TIME even take this seriously anymore? more ›

We've seen their evolution from hilarious, but tasteless, depictions of current news to hilarious and original on-point political commentary... and we're loving it! Bravo, NMA News for this great rap battle between Obama and Hu. more ›

Last week, Xi Jinping was promoted to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, a top position seen as the penultimate step to the presidential post. Although frequently called a "princeling" (his father was previously Vice-Premier), Xi keeps a relatively low-profile, possibly due to the fact that he endured much hardship when his father lost out in a power battle and his family was sent to labor in the countryside for 7 years. Observers say Xi is "...unlikely to be a bold or commanding leader in the mold of Mao, Deng or even the gregarious Jiang Zemin..." but will probably rule moderately like the current leader, Hu Jintao. Xi graduated with a degree in organic chemistry from Tsinghua University, has shown staunch support for free market reforms, making a name for himself administering Fujian and Zhejiang and subsequently in his fight against corruption in Shanghai. more ›

It took a little longer than what some people originally predicted, but Vice-President Xi Jinping has finally been annointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission. The promotion puts him one step closer to presidency when Hu Jintao steps down in 2012. What can we expect? His wife, popular folk singer Peng Liyuan, who appeared during the 60th Anniversary celebrations, says he's "frugal, hard-working and down-to-earth." more ›

Is reform for China coming even sooner than we previously thought? Jumping on the timing of Premier Wen Jiabao's recent censored CNN interview and dissident Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize win (or perhaps just updated because), CCP elders Li Rui (李锐) and Hu Jiwei (胡绩伟) have written an open letter to the National People's Congress calling for an end to censorship. more ›

With all the unfortunate child-related news this year - specifically, those stabbings in Fujian - this Children's Day was the opportunity for CCP cadres to show that they care. Hu Jintao's two pronged approach to good PR was a speech about safeguarding kids and this really fun visit to a technology museum with the Chinese Young Pioneers, the country's largest youth organization. more ›

@wxshenjun tweets: "The panda asked me why I am off to see Feng Zhenghu (@fzhenghu). I said, the person I'd like to see most is Hu Jintao but I can't find his contact details anywhere online. // I told the panda, if public officials all published their addresses and contact details online, those child knifing incidents wouldn't have happened." more ›

Long-time Shanghaiist readers will know that we don't usually put up homoerotica here, but what's a blogger to do when he wants news about Kim Jong Il and none of it's available anywhere? more ›

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