In the latest escalation of handbags between Norway and China, a highly placed Norwegian diplomatic source has told a national newspaper that Norway could shut Beijing out of the Arctic Council. more ›

It strikes us as quite the surprise when the weibo account of The Global Times, an official Chinese propaganda organ recently affectionately called "China's Fox News" by Foreign Policy's Christina Larsen, recently posted a weib declaring "So Norway is the most awesome country in the world after all!!!" (原来挪威才是全球最牛的国家!!!) more ›

It's that time of the year again -- Norway's Nobel Committee has met to decide who should be the winner of its peace prize this year. Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland says the choice has "not been particularly difficult" this time round while pundits are placing their bets on representatives of the Arab Spring revolution which swept across the Middle East earlier this year. Among the top contenders are Google executive Wael Ghonim from Egypt, and Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni. Jagland also took the opportunity to defend the decision to award last year's prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, even though that immediately led to frozen Sino-Norwegian ties and possibly made life more difficult for Liu:

"The reactions (from China) were as expected. They were not more extreme than what we expected," he said. more ›

It's just ONE DAY until Liu Xiaobo (or at least his picture) receives the peace prize and rhetoric about it has been roughly the same, but maybe turned up a notch. Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu called everyone opposing their decision to oppose the prize "clowns," noting that "All policies in China are for the interests of the majority of the Chinese people. We will not change ... because of the interference of some clowns who are anti-China." And today, an equally furious op-ed was published in the Global Times. more ›

Hey remember that shanzhai peace prize China gave out about a month ago? Well it looks like they’re doing it for real this time. China now has its own official version of a peace prize, the Confucius Peace Prize, and they’re handing it out tomorrow, just one day before those pasty-faced Northern Europeans give out that other prize. more ›

While Chinese officials have said they have the support of the "vast majority" and that 100s of countries are refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Liu Xiaobo's peace prize, here's the actual list of those who've officially said they won't be going. There are 18 in total: Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco. That'll learn 'em. more ›

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Liu Xiaobo, may have triggered a war between authorities in China and the Nobel committee. For the first time in history, the award may not be handed out this year, as neither the laureate nor a close family member has the ability to collect the prize due to government constraints. Liu is now serving an 11-year sentence for subversion. more ›

@AlexSTaggart "Cameron's sidestep of LXB in China shall forever be known as 'the Beijing duck'." more ›

The selection of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for this year's Noble Peace Prize has led to increasing strains on China-Norway diplomatic relations in the weeks following the award's announcement. Regardless of Norway's insistence on the independent nature of the Nobel committee, China's string of rebuffs have been dramatic. But there is hope still, and it comes fresh from the fjords of Norway. Turns out where diplomacy fails, 8,734 pieces of sushi does the trick. more ›

Is China going through its own Kübler-Ross process - otherwise known as the Five Stages of Grief - regarding its unwanted Nobel Peace Prize? more ›

According to a survey from the Global Times, six out of 10 Chinese people polled about Liu Xiaobo's recent Nobel Peace Prize win thought that Norway needed to apologize for giving it to him. In the same article, Global Times said that 75% of the people polled didn't actually know who Liu Xiaobo was. Mathematically, doesn't that mean that it's possible everyone whose feelings are now hurt by Norway were actually more hurt by the phrasing of the poll question? more ›

Norwegians look out, China is beginning to show just how distraught it was after the Nobel peace prize was awarded to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. A meeting between Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and Chinese food control authorities was recently cancelled, in addition to a touring Norwegian musical starring Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak. more ›

The Communist Party is amping up the pressure on Norway to bar human rights campaigner, Liu Xiaobo, from receiving the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. A Chinese official who met with the Director of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, put forth this stern warning, "[Such a decision] would pull the wrong strings in relations between Norway and China, it would be seen as an unfriendly act," more ›

Over a year after he first disappeared outside his own home, human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gao Zhisheng has resurfaced near his hometown. Gao told the New York Times that he was no longer in police custody, but couldn't give any details abut where he was the past 13 months. He also suggested that he had no plans to return to his work as a human rights defender, saying "right now, I just need to calm down and lead a quiet life." Goodness gracious. more ›

There are a record 237 candidates in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, amongst them: the internet (god, that's lame). Even more interesting than the inclusion of an inanimate intangible thing though, at least for us China news hounds, is the amount of Chinese dissidents on the list. more ›

President Obama's itinerary has just been released, with a little under a week before his first visit to the mainland. And the best part? He's going to start his tour in Shanghai! more ›

• A shuttlecock fight of epic proportion [theage.com.au] "Emerging superpower China annoyed neighbouring Malaysia this week as an unprecedented Chinese domination of badminton's showpiece event — the All-England Championships — led to heated claims of match-fixing."
• Rumor: Focus Media Executives In China May All Resign [Digital Marketing Inner Circle] "In what is some hot gossip circulating in the digital marketing industry in Beijing is that former Focus Media CEO Tan Zhi will collectively resign with the other Focus Media executives once the executive adjustment plan post the merger of some of its businesses with Sina.com."
• Chinese Officials Prohibit Blizzard's Lich King Expansion [Life from Wired.com] "Chinese World of Warcraft fans will have to wait even longer to enjoy the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, as the Chinese government has twice rejected applications for its release."

Here, Shanghai, were your favourite stories for the month of October: more ›

Georgia Popplewell of Global Voices Online has offered a great summary of reactions from the international blogosphere to Friday's announcement that former US vice president Al Gore and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. more ›

Image from China Daily. more ›

Singapore - Singapore will host a round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, making it the home of Asia's first street circuit (the only other street circuits are in Monaco and Valencia). More exciting is the fact that this will be the first night-time event in Formula One history! more ›