China Hikes Military Budget 17.6% [National Post] "For the 19th year in a row, China has announced a double-digit increase in military spending. The move comes a day after the Pentagon released an annual assessment of China's military power that concluded the world's largest army is rapidly developing the resources and technologies it needs to put regional stability at risk."Aussies unhurt after China hostage drama [The Age] A man armed with explosives took 10 Australian......

Photo by Brad Westphal Shanghai East Asia Hong Kong United 0 – 3 LA Galaxy Two late goals from Ecuadorian striker Carlos Ruiz gave a final scoreline that not only overstated the quality and excitement of this game, but also flattered a lack-lustre LA Galaxy side at the largely empty 80,000 Shanghai Stadium. East Asia had reduced Major League Soccer's Galaxy to few chances on goal and had even looked the more threatening side......

Tonight will see the massive Shanghai Stadium host a sporting event for seemingly the first time in ages. More akin in recent times to holding pop concerts and ceremonies, the 80,000 all-seater arena will be the venue for an exhibition match between American MLS Soccerball team LA Galaxy and China Division One side East Asia (kick-off 7:30pm). The match is part of the Galaxy’s pre-season tour of East Asia and will also serve as a......

... and if the problem is not sorted out in time, Chinese fans may not get to see David Beckham this Wednesday, says Ruud Gullit, head coach of the LA Galaxy. Our city may be home to some of the world's tallest and most beautiful (okay, that one's subjective) skyscrapers, but as it turns out, we have problems keeping soccer pitches clean. Here's Gullit's complaint, quoted verbatim from an AFP report: "The pitch is in......

David Beckham was swarmed by fans and journalists when he arrived yesterday at the Pudong airport with the LA Galaxy on the second stop of their three-part Asian tour. The team has just arrived from Seoul, where they were defeated by FC Seoul despite Beckham's stellar performance. The team faces off China All-Star Union at the Shanghai Stadium this Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 pm. For those of you hoping to catch some Beckham-mania, rumours......

Steven Spielberg's decision to withdraw from arranging the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics caused press around the world (except for China) to rub their hands with glee this week at the prospect of China's dirty laundry being flown from the flagpoles of Beijing. Citing China's tacit support of genocide in Darfur, the director claimed that his conscience no longer allowed him to continue business as usual, and that the hosts "should be......

Japanese investigators have found 'no abnormality' at the dumpling factory in Hebei Province at the centre of a food safety scare in Japan after hundreds of people suffered from pesticide poisoning from eating the dumplings. Traces of pesticide were found on the outside of the dumplings and not in the fillings, leading investigators to point to "deliberate poisoning, rather than accidental contamination". This idea, however, has been rejected by Chinese experts.The world's most powerful music......

Earlier we had reported that America's favorite pastime might soon be making its Chinese debut and now it's official. The China Series 2008, as its being called, will feature two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres on March 15-16. The games will be held at Beijing's Wukesong Baseball Field, which will also be used for the upcoming Olympics. No word yet on when tickets will be available or how much......

What's happening around the nation as one year closes and another begins 2007 is definitely the year of angry students. After last month's bloody riot at the Hefei PLA Artillery Academy is a Christmas Eve clash in Tianjin's Nankai University, said to be among China's top ten universities. We all know the powers-that-be do not like angry students, so they will be watching this in 2008.In the above picture, laid off bank workers at the......

Christmas in China Reuters: How the Grinch stole China city's Christmas trees Asia Times: Christmas is made in China RFA: China Detains 70 in Raid on Shandong House Church Meeting [Proxy needed] SCMP: Controversial bishop tipped for top post [Subscription required] Xinhua: Rule on living Buddhas aids religious freedom Women, money and bling LA Times: In Beijing, some bling is unwelcome EastSouthWestNorth: Desperately seeking Anna Miscellaneous EarthTimes: Chiang Kai-shek's family threatens to bury his......

According to Major League Baseball's official website, the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres have committed to playing two exhibition games in Beijing's Olympic stadium next March. The games, scheduled tentatively for the weekend of March 15-16 at the Wukesong baseball stadium, are part of an MLB outreach to Asian baseball fans. The effort also includes season opening games between the Oakland A's and reigning champion Boston Red Sox at the Tokyo Dome, and a......

Excitement is palpable among the crowd as China launched its first lunar orbiter, the Chang'e One satellite (named after the goddess of the moon 嫦娥), half a century after the Russians became the first to set out to space. Related links LA Times: China launches its first lunar orbiter Sydney Morning Herald: China joins Asian race to the moon Euronews: China launches lunar ambitions with moon shot Herald Sun: China sends first rocket to moon......

Comments below don’t necessarily represent the Shanghaiist’s point of view or opinion regarding the Canadian government (we don't want them to hold a grudge and kick us out of Canada too!)… we just received it recently from the Busdriver promoter and thought it was kind of funny… shows are still on in Beijing and Shanghai…..and we are as giddy as a school boy in the girls locker room to see Busdriver play live! “Nothing......

Don't blame China for Myanmar [LA Times] These are supposed to be humbling times for foreign policy analysts -- chaos in Iraq having made it harder to cast the United States as omnipotent, omniscient and self-actualizing. But judging by the reactions to the recent protests in Myanmar, also known as Burma, the commentariat hasn't stopped ascribing otherworldly powers to ambitious governments. 'Made in India' rising to challenge China: report [AFP] "Made in India" could be......

China's growing web addiction [CBNnews.com] The Internet has revolutionized the way that millions in China communicate with the outside world. But for some Chinese teenagers the thrill of using the Internet came with a high price: addiction. China bloggers stew about Olympic pigs [Wall Street Journal] In recent weeks, news that hogs are being specially raised to feed the athletes at the next year's Beijing Olympics has spurred an outcry on the Internet. The pigs......

September is quickly sliding into history, which means for all us music fans that the orgy of music festivals Shanghai will experience in the first weeks of October is almost upon us. And of course Shanghaiist is here to bring you the latest in festival news..... The 1234 Beach Rock Festival - A scrappy fighter always getting knocked down but never going out for the count (did that make sense?). Postponed once again, it is......

Shanghai's booming subway [LA Times] The Chinese metropolis was even later than L.A. in building its system. But it is already big, with plans to make it the biggest within a decade. Shanghai: Art Deco capital - for now [The Telegraph] Just as Shanghai's priceless architectural legacy is gaining overdue recognition, it faces new threats from developers, reports Richard Spencer. Don't exaggerate product quality issues--China [The Inquirer] Concerns about the quality and safety of products......

China tipped to be main driver the global economy this year [The Times] China will become the biggest driver of global economic activity this year for the first time, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday as it raised its already bullish forecasts for growth. China 'rejects Vatican call on bishops' [The Age] China rejects the Vatican's demand that it stop appointing bishops without papal approval but is willing to talk, a state newspaper said on......

It has been three weeks since Pope Benedict XVI issued his first letter to mainland Chinese Catholics which stirred up a wide range of sentiments, and since then observers have been eagerly watching for the first signs of Beijing's response to the letter. Well according to new reports that have come in, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Church has "quietly" nominated (note: not appointed) a new bishop for Beijing. In his 40s, Father Li Shan of......

Plucky film star / delusional hologram Bai Ling—she of Shanghai Baby, multiple personalities, frequent public nudity, and one monstrously awkward dancefloor seizure caught on tape—announced yesterday that a tell-all memoir is in the works, and slated to publish with HarperCollins. Given Ms. Ling’s historically troubled relationship with truthfulness, we’ll believe it when we see it. A lazy-eyed Bai Ling scratched her head and tugged at her Mandarin collar (must she always dress like an extra......

Farrow to kick off torch relay to protest China's Darfur stanceActress Mia Farrow unveiled plans for an Olympic-style torch relay beginning this summer as part of a campaign aimed at shaming China into cutting support for Sudan over its role in the Darfur conflict. Analysis: At what cost the Olympics?With only a year to go until the Summer Olympics, advocacy groups worldwide are ratcheting up efforts to expose the dark side of China, from......

It was reported this weekend that the much ballyhooed 25-minutes-from-Shanghai-to-Hangzhou maglev train, which was supposed to be fully operational around 2010, has been delayed. Indefinitely. Which makes us ask, how much longer are we going to have to wait to be ushered into the sci-fi utopia of the 21st century that we spent most of the 20th century dreaming about? Speculation abounds as to what happened. China Herald that the purported concerns of people affected......

We're guessing most of you are hungover from St. Patrick's Day. We are too. But still, we're going to muddle on through our green haze and give you (drum roll please...) this Week In -ists. We start with SFist which broke the -ist record for comments with nearly 500 comments on a post about our Mayor's girlfriend. She responded back on charges that she's not a "girl's girl" and, whoo boy-- the floodgates? They did......

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama's unpaid parking tickets, their Governor's latest ethical lapse, and a plagarizing sports writer. Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals. DCist put their noses in legal books as......

Yesterday, for the first time since China launched it's professional football league in 1994, Beijing Guoan beat Shanghai Shenhua on their own turf. The capital outfit beat Shenhua 2-0 at Yuanshen Stadium in Pudong, but the historic first was over-shadowed somewhat by the furious reception reserved for new Shenhua owner, online gaming tycoon Zhu Jun. He masterminded an RMB 150 million merger between Shenhua and rivals Shanghai United just a few weeks before the season......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur, the......

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans for......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger ">on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......