Noam Chomsky was in China recently, delivering a speech at Peking University and then conducting an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily. The folks at Global Voices Online have translated the questions (and re-translated the answers) - while he talks about the U.S. trying to force its views on China (yet anther example of American imperialism for him) and China's need to stop being the factory of the world, the author of Media Control is surprisingly silent on propaganda, only criticizing the West's use of advertising to influence elections. Or maybe he wasn't and it just wasn't published. Who knows! more ›

The Chinese have always enjoyed a bit of schadenfreude at US President George W. Bush's expense, and the China Daily is no exception. Take a look at the picture above, the first of a series of movie posters that have been spoofed to illustrate the big news stories of 2005 (this one from the Jay Chou movie, Initial D (头文字D). Other news stories covered were the July 7 London bombings using the US television show 24 and the China's diplomatic efforts during the six-party talks with Stephen Chou's Kung-Fu Hustle. (Typical of China to use the only non-satirical spoof poster to toot its own horn). Shanghaiist also likes the second poster, which has Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Noam Chomsky. (Circle the one that doesn't belong in a group with the others.) Anyway, we don't get why they're bustin' W's balls. After all, he did get elected President of Iraq in the country's first free elections. 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 ›