· June, 2013

Stories about China from June, 2013

China's People's Daily Bashes American Political System

  28 June 2013

Fresh off its “Dishonest Americans" series, which claimed to offer an “objective picture of what real Americans are like”, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper, the People's Daily, has shocked again with another attempt to bash the American political system.

Father of China's Great Firewall to Quit His Job as University President

  28 June 2013

Fang Binxing, an information security expert nicknamed the “father of China’s Great Fire Wall”, has resigned as president of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His abrupt decision to step down--made during a university commencement speech --has ignited uproar online and touched a nerve with China’s Internet-savvy community.

Are Chinese Netizens a Bunch of Losers?

  26 June 2013

According to the 2013 China New Media Development Report released by China's News and Communications Research Center under China’s Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the majority of Weibo users are a group of “low age, low education level and low income” urban dwellers. According to the translation from Offbeat China, the report concluded that:...

Podcast: Chinese Dissident's NYU Departure

  26 June 2013

Sinica Podcast hosts New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos who talks about Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng's departure from NYU, how the Snowden affair may or may not affect Sino-American diplomacy, and his forthcoming book about his experience in China.

China: Keywords Unblocked in Weibo

  24 June 2013

Jason Ng from Tea Leaf Nation reviewed the recent unblocking of several politically sensitive words in Weibo, Chinese biggest social media platform and pointed out that the unblocking is not a victory against censorship because there are yet many ways to screen out politically sensitive messages.

China Announces Campaign to Weed Out Party Corruption

  21 June 2013

The Chinese Communist Party is launching a year-long campaign to clean up the party to do away with corrupt elements in its organization. But many Chinese netizens have expressed skepticism toward the campaign, arguing that democracy with the open participation of the people, and not a closed internal process, is the best way to get rid of corruption.

China Shoots Down Accusations that Edward Snowden is a Spy

  19 June 2013

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the revelations of the United States massive Internet spying program, turned to the Guardian newspaper once again, this time for an online Q&A, shortly after China broke its silence over the leaking scandal and said Snowden was not a spy for the country. Despite a cautious response from the government, China's online world has been abuzz with chatter surrounding the case.

Defeat Has China's Soccer Fans Up in Arms

  18 June 2013

Chinese national football has long been mocked by fans in China for its poor performance and corruption allegations. Offbeat weighed in on a recent defeat from the national football team that has galvanized many avid soccer fans.

Chinese Football Team Defeated Again

  18 June 2013

Barry van Wyk from DANWEI blogs about Chinese media and football fans’ reactions to the recent humiliating defeat of 5-1 at home for China’s football team against an under-strength team of youngsters from tiny Thailand.

China's “Leftover” Women

  18 June 2013

In China, if a young woman does not marry by age twenty-eight, she is widely considered “leftover”. If she is single by age thirty, she is made to feel she has truly expired. Melissa Schneider, a couples counselor living in Shenzhen, believes that the so-called “leftover women” problem has been...

China Quotes Foreign Press on Snowden

  13 June 2013

China tightened its media's use of information from foreign press in April, 2013, in a move to exert stronger control over domestic newspapers and TV broadcasts. Ironically, Chinese media in recent days have increased their quotations from foreign press as the Snowden story unfolds. China Media Project has the details.

Caribbean Flu Scare was Accidentally Made in China

  10 June 2013

A 'suspected' case of bird flu in Trinidad and Tobago that happened to coincide with an official visit by the Chinese President, opens a Pandora's box of misreporting from China all the way to Haiti, which caused officials in Trinidad and Tobago to accuse swine flu-hit Venezuela of spreading bird flu and Haiti to impose a poultry import ban on swine flu-hit Dominican Republic.

Fuss in China Over Entrance Exam Masks Trouble in Higher Education

  10 June 2013

High school students in China just sat the annual national college entrance examination, hoping to secure a place in a leading university by acing the test. But the hype surrounding China's annual university entrance exams masks the troubled higher education system that awaits the hopefuls.

Chinese Allegedly Mine Gold Illegally in Ghana

  7 June 2013

Xinhua News reported that 124 Chinese allegedly involved in illegal gold mining were arrested and detained in Ghana. Nationalists demanded the Chinese government to protect and avenge its citizens. On the other hand, more reflective comments criticized the discrimination against African people in Chinese gold mining business in Ghana. Offbeat...

About our China coverage

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