Quantcast
Results tagged “northkorean”
Weekendist: Pendulum, Litfest, Clampdown, and North Korean movies!

Weekendist: Pendulum, Litfest, Clampdown, and North Korean movies!

It's going to be a crazy weekend! Drum n' bass outfit Pendulum will be playing at Boom, while restauranteur David Laris hosts the Shanghai Ireland Festival on Saturday. Litfest is still going on, and on Sunday a few North Korean movies will be showing at The Apartment to wrap up the weekend. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. more ›

Jailed journalists working on stories of human trafficking in China?

Jailed journalists working on stories of human trafficking in China?

That's what the Washington Post reported. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two jailed American journalists, were working on a story about the trafficking of North Korean women in the border area of China and North Korea when they were detained. As you've no doubt heard, the two journalists have been sentenced to 12 years in a N. Korean labor camp, while people and governments around the world try their best to secure their release. more ›

Asian American journalists to be tried in North Korea on June 4

Asian American journalists to be tried in North Korea on June 4


After nearly two months of being detained in North Korea, Asian-American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling will allegedly be put to trial on June 4, according to the AP. The DPRK's Korean Central News Agency did not reveal any other details, including what charges the two face. If they are accused of illegal entry, they could spend up to three years in a labor camp. If they are found to have engaged in “espionage” or “hostility towards North Koreans,” they could add five to 10 years in prison onto their sentence. Lee and Ling were caught filming along the China-DPRK border in March. Both were working for Current TV. more ›

Note to Indie Rockers: If you come to China on vacation, schedule a gig or two<sup>1</sup>

Note to Indie Rockers: If you come to China on vacation, schedule a gig or two1

So,the Mountain Goats have a new album out and on it is a song called "Tianchi Lake." It's about the the crater lake at Changbai Shan, in Jilin Province, on the North Korean border. (More photos from our 2004 trip to Tianchi here.) more ›

Shanghaiist Sunday Show 2: Seoul Train

Our second show for the day is the critically acclaimed documentary Seoul Train (featured on PBS) which offers a look at the estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China today, who have braved untold dangers to escape a food and humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of 3 million back home. The camera follows several groups of North Korean refugees, some have chosen to forcibly make their way past the gates of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, others have chosen to attempt to send in a formal application to be recognised as refugees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and yet others have chosen to make their way to Mongolia, in the hopes of eventually getting to South Korea, their promised land. If they are arrested, the Chinese government (which sees them as illegal economic migrants and not refugees) will certainly repatriate them to North Korea where they will face punishment and execution. It also offers a fascinating look at what's been called the Underground Railroad, a covert network of multinational cells of relief workers, activists and volunteers including a South Korean pastor, Chun Ki-won, who's been dubbed the Asian Schindler. This show is amazing in the way it acquaints the viewer with the complexity of the issue, taking into account a wide range of divergent views, and even taking on the UNHCR for its supposed compliance with the Chinese government. Till today, the UNHCR has not saved a single North Korean refugee. more ›

Shanghaiist Sunday Show: Tibet Refugees on Al-Jazeera

This week on Shanghaiist Sunday Show, we turn on our eye to the refugee issue and bring you not just one but two documentaries. The first documentary is a show on Al Jazeera's 101 East which features Tibetan refugees trying to get out of China and the second one is a show on North Korean refugees trying to come into China. more ›

Around Asia: The 'most flexible' man, child sex and Asia's most desirable city

Around Asia: The 'most flexible' man, child sex and Asia's most desirable city

A prominent former Thai senator accused of sex crimes against four underage girls was sentenced to 36 years in prison on Tuesday, when an appeals court stiffened the sentence of a lower court. more ›

Around Asia: Heart transplants, the Pakistani election and .asia domain names

Around Asia: Heart transplants, the Pakistani election and .asia domain names

As ice is melting between North Korea and the United States, more and more Chinese businessmen have been rushing to the border with the secretive communist country, looking to cash in on its trade and investment potential. more ›

DPRK to attend Shanghai World Expo 2010

We just received news that North Korea has expressed its intention to attend the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. How exciting is that, people! more ›

Around Asia: Power struggles, coup leaders and see-through frogs

Around Asia: Power struggles, coup leaders and see-through frogs

Coming up on a year since Berdymukhamedov took power, the Internet is not really any more accessible than it was under Niyazov. There are only a handful of government-run Internet cafes in the capital, Ashgabat, which opened in March. more ›

Around Asia: Poverty in Vietnam, Gay rights in Singapore and Islam in Malaysia

Around Asia: Poverty in Vietnam, Gay rights in Singapore and Islam in Malaysia

World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Monday praised Vietnam as a "tremendous success story" in fighting poverty but said institutional reforms were needed as it seeks middle-income country status. more ›

Today's Links: Canada, chocolate and burning puppies

Today's Links: Canada, chocolate and burning puppies



  • "Almost half of counter-espionage efforts in Canada target Chinese spies, the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told a senate committee on Monday."




  • "In the prosperous metropolis of Shanghai, migrant workers even joined in performances, singing and dancing and taking part in games to show their talents."




  • "The century-old Hershey, synonymous with chocolate in the United States but relatively unknown abroad, must learn how to get products to shelves in countries where most shoppers buy from small family-owned grocers and street vendors."




  • "The Food and Drug Administration is enforcing a new import alert that greatly expands its curtailment of some food ingredients imported from China, authorizing border inspectors to detain ingredients used in everything from noodles to breakfast bars."




  • "A popular buzzword on the Internet these days is the Japanese phrase for 'orgy party' -- Google the term ranko party and you'll come up with hundreds of thousands of hits." NSFW.




  • "An incident of burning dogs in the city of Nanjing drew nearly 17000 comments from web users on Thursday and triggered a huge debate about dog rights."




  • "On March 16, 2007, China adopted a new Property Law, set to become effective on October 1, 2007. This post will be the first in a fairly long series of posts explaining China's real estate laws."




  • "The current stock market mania in China's mainland has as much in common with the Tulipmania of the 17th century, as it does with the Internet boom of the late 1990s."




  • "The dogs yelped in the middle of night and disturbed the sleeping humans. The problem can be solved by killing them."




  • "The Shanghai-based News Times reported Wentworth Miller as having been invited by Zhongbo Media Group, who have bought the rights from Fox to shoot an online video adaptation of the American hit TV drama."




  • "It is probable that melamine is not the major or only culprit in the pet food illnesses and deaths. So then what exactly is causing the recent spate of pet illnesses and deaths?"




  • "One stroll through M50 leaves me marveling over Shanghai’s capacity to take a novel or original idea, and turn it into absolute crap."




  • "China has inaugurated what is believed to be the world's tallest pagoda, which at almost 154 metres reaches even higher than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, state media said today." It's in Changzhou, which we think is in Jiangsu.




  • "Canada's Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said he was assured by his Chinese counterpart Monday that a Canadian Muslim activist serving a life sentence in a Chinese jail for alleged terror links was not tortured."




  • "Only one in a 1,000 children in China's financial hub want to grow up to be a common worker, once hailed as the vanguard of class struggle, a Communist Party newspaper said on Monday a day before the Labour Day holiday."




  • "The 17th China International Bicycle & Motor Fair is scheduled on May 4-7, 2007 in Shanghai New International Expo Center. The theme of 2007 edition is 'Science makes dream come true, Innovation creates incentive'."




  • "Any doctor found to be involved in such activities will have their licences revoked, while clinics or hospitals will be suspended from doing organ transplant operations for at least three years, it said."




  • "Paul, Hastings, Janofsky &Walker is putting its stamp on China. Literally.The firm is paying at least $40,000 toward the construction of a facility in China's remote Longqui village that will soon bear its name: the Paul Hastings Hope Elementary School."




  • "U.S. Congress members [criticized] Beijing's test of an anti-satellite weapon, its military buildup, its policy of forced abortion, its support of ruthless regimes, and its repatriation of North Korean refugees in violation of international law."




  • "The man, in his 50s, was reportedly hit in the neck by a bullet from a police warning shot as he rode a motorbike with his son 300 metres from the scene of the demonstrations Tuesday afternoon."




  • "Alibaba, which is part-owned by Yahoo! Inc, plans to list its core business-to-business operation that helps match suppliers in China and elsewhere with purchasers over the Internet, the China Financial Online website said."




  • "After years of suffering, powerless 'victim' states have turned pollution forecasting into a fine art, setting up sophisticated systems to predict transnational pollution invasions."




  • "Dr. Zhang Xiaopeng, a leading researcher in world table tennis, explains the sport's playing styles ahead of the world table tennis championships."


  • For more del.icio.us links, visit the Shanghaiist Contribute page, which is updated throughout the day.

    Photo by shanghaistreets found via the Shanghaiist Contribute page. more ›

    Just Plane Scary: You are better off not leaving home

    Just Plane Scary: You are better off not leaving home

    Tickets for domestic Chinese flights may be cheap, but really, is it worth it? Last week, we told you about the China Eastern plane that blew out its tires while landing. And over the weekend, reports emerged of a China Southern plane that had its tail cone (the rear of the airplane's fuselage) fall to the ground "just before the plane was to taxi to the runway": more ›

    Numbers: DPRK refugees, one-child bonuses and the blind

    Numbers: DPRK refugees, one-child bonuses and the blind

  • 300,000: That's the number of North Korean refugees believed to be living illegally in the Yanbian region on the northeastern border which is bracing itself for another influx of refugees. AFP reports that apart from ethnic Korean Chinese nationals, state-approved and underground churches are providing these refugees with shelter and aid.
  • RMB 600: That's how much the Chinese government will pay parents in rural areas with no more than one son or two daughters a year each starting from the age of 60. Contrast this with baby-bonus schemes in child-starved Singapore and Australia. Use this baby-bonus calculator to see if you're eligible to claim the bonus in Australia!
  • 12 million: That's the number of people in China handicapped with various eye problems. Each year, 45,000 Chinese lose their eyesight, and 1.35 million people get lazy eyes.
  • HK$322 billion: That's how much ICBC is expected to raise in its initial public offering. The bank is the first-ever company to list on both A- and H- share markets simultaneously and is widely tipped to be the largest IPO in fund market history, surpassing Japan's NTT Mobile Communications' US$18.4 billion record.
  • 600,000: That's the estimate of the total number of civilian lives lost in the violence across Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion. This breaks down to 15,000 deaths a month, although researchers acknowledged a margin of error between 426,369 to 793,663 deaths.
  • more ›

    Pyongyangist? Feasting time in North Korea!

    Pyongyangist? Feasting time in North Korea!

    On the same day that the "Dear Leader" of our friendly northeastern neighbour decided to press ahead with nuclear tests, a brave Singaporean entrepreneur announced his decision to invade the reclusive commie state with his brand of -- guess what -- sushi! more ›

    Extra! Extra! Jay-Z, <em>hanfu</em>, and four color theorems

    Extra! Extra! Jay-Z, hanfu, and four color theorems

    "The Japanese have the kimono and the Koreans also have their traditional.clothing. But not the Han people, although they represent the largest of China's 56 ethnic groups," said Liu, who actively promotes cuture.

  • Boy gains a dozen ex-wives via internet; hen electrocuted, causes blackout; elderly woman is actually elderly man; Scorpions in baggage scare airport security -- more weird shit than you can shake a stick at.
  • There are still North Korean refugees trying desperately to escape the Dear Leader via China.
  • Chinese philosopher Li Ming claims that he solved the famous four color theorem problem in mathematics (a proof of which came out in 1977) using the ideas of Laozi and German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Fang Zhouzi called him out on this, saying that if he had a proof that he ought to publish it in an academic journal. Li replied that he was willing to wage his life on this proof -- he said that the loser of this debate ought to commit suicide. Sounds like a smart guy.
  • A bishop from China's underground Catholic church was released after spending ten years in prison.
  • more ›

    China points finger at polluters

    China points finger at polluters

    When we first visited Dandong in Liaoning province, our heart kind of went out to the little North Korean kids swimming in the Yalu River. Now we really feel sorry for them. Dandong's Xinjulang Paper Factory has been pumping 12,000 tons of concentrated waste into that river every day. The State Environmental Protection Authority has told the plant to stop production. This is all part of China's effort to publicly shame its worst polluters "amid concerns that the country's environmental problems have become so serious they are undermining economic growth and social stability": more ›

    China expels North Korean refugees

    China expels North Korean refugees

    If you've been following media reports about North Korea, then chances are you've also heard stories of North Koreans slipping over the borders to China, or trying to scale the walls of embassies in Beijing in order to get asylum. For most refugees, this means ending up South Korea, but don't think that just by making out of the "hermit kingdom" into China means getting to the promised land -- China is quite willing to send them back, as happened recently in Yantai, when seven North Koreans entered an international school. The refugees included five women and two men. Four of them were from one family. There's a Chinese article about it (containing mostly the same info as the English link above) here. more ›

    We're in a North Korea state of mind

    We're in a North Korea state of mind

    Admitted Luddite and one-time Shanghaiist contributor Paul French sent Shanghaiist, and several others, this email recently (or, knowing Paul, he had his secreatry send it). We thought we'd share: more ›

    1

    personals

    Enter our FREE personals site!

    send a tip

    tips@shanghaiist.com

    Follow gothamist on Twitter