· May, 2010

Stories about China from May, 2010

China: lost in translation

  31 May 2010

The machine translation of Chinese character into English can be really hilarious. PH from veggie discourse has a few examples.

China: Responses to FoxConn's suicides

  31 May 2010

SACOM have several updates on reactions and responses to FoxConn workers’ consecutive suicides, including 1. Appeal by Sociologists on FoxConn suicides, 2. Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn, 3. Letter to Apple and 4. A protest action in Hong Kong

China and Hong Kong: Responses to Cheonan sinking incident

  27 May 2010

The release of the international investigation report on sinking of Cheonan in May 20, 2010, concluding that the South Korean warship had been bombed by a North Korean torpedo has alleviating the tension in Northeast Asia region. South Korea suspended all trade and investment with North Korea while Pyongyang denied...

China: Hebei’s “Great Leap Forward”

  27 May 2010

More than 1000 residents of Hebei Province will be subject to forced evictions before June 5, in a government development project online opinion has dubbed a “Great Leap Forward.” Guangping County, an impoverished area in southern Hebei, will see 2 billion yuan ($293 million) invested in new building and development...

China: Dying young in FoxConn

  24 May 2010

SACOM, a NGO in Hong Kong which concerns about labour rights issue, posted an investigative report on the 10 consecutive suicide cases in FoxConn, one of the I-phone subcontractor in China.

Taiwan: Responses to Thailand's upheaval, if there is any

  22 May 2010

Taiwan is no stranger in terms of “Red Shirts” and street protests. In September, 2006, the island had its own anti-corruption campaign which also involved about one million red-shirt protesters demonstrating against the former President Chen Shui-bain (who has been still under custody since Nov.12, 2008). And when the first...

China: Blogger interrogated after criticizing Shanghai EXPO 2010

  18 May 2010

A blogger, A Bad Friend, was summoned by security police for interrogation over tea upon writing an article, 10 sins of EXPO 2010, on his blog. After the tea session, he wrote another article, “La Dernière Classe”, recording the conversation between the security police and himself. The exchange reflects the ideological conflict between a party-state nation represented by the security police and a people-orientated nation represented by the student blogger.

China: Is there a place in education for high culture?

  14 May 2010

Is there a place for liberal education in today’s modern society, where competition for jobs is fierce, and occupations are increasingly specialized and technical? An April issue of the Southern Metropolitan Weekend published a letter written by a Year 3 university student from Tianjin, a major metropolis in Northeast China:...

China reconnects Xinjiang

  14 May 2010

After more than 10 months of near to complete online darkness, internet service resumed Friday in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to a notice from the Xinjiang Government News Office,. The notice was first posted at Tianshan Net, then quickly distributed to other online news services across the country.  Several blogs...

China: Shoe-throwing at real estate tycoon

  12 May 2010

The real estate bubble has enraged the public and real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang received a pair of shoes while delivering a speech in a conference in Dalian. Shanghaiist has the background of the story. ESWN translates online and offline discussions about the incident.

China: expelling the unemployed from Shenzhen

  10 May 2010

Ridding the city of those unemployed for longer than three months—that’s what Shenzhen’s vice mayor and police chief suggested April 29 in response to security problems in this special economic zone in South China.  The suggestion has generated a strong online response. In a meeting with the Hong Kong-Macau Political...

China: Naked official debate

  9 May 2010

A “naked official” is an official whose wife and kids have left China to live in a foreign country, leaving only him behind to take care of things at home. Juilian from DANWEI translated a debate from Southern Weekend on whether or not these naked officials should be fired as...

China: School killings and social pathology

  7 May 2010

Within 5 weeks, there were 5 school killings in China. All the victims are innocent primary and kindergarten school kids, while all the murderers are also victims of social injustice. The problem of the cold-blooded murders comes from society, but again, mainstream media are told not to further investigate the...

Technology for Transparency in China

  5 May 2010

Some recent online projects promoting greater civic engagement and government accountability reflect the emerging power of the middle class and the democratic influence from outside of China. However, while the country undergoes a fundamental shift in how information is spread and controlled, the power of Chinese authorities in regulating communication and participation should never be under-estimated.

About our China coverage

Oiwan Lam
Oi wan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.