John Kennedy
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Chinese language editorChinese Language Editor for Global Voices Online, living in China.
Latest posts by John Kennedy
1 June 2011
China: First ‘Jasmine' Sentence Handed Down
In China the first of at least eight trials was held today, following a massive crackdown on dissidents which began in February 2011. After dismissing legal activist Li Shuangde's lawyer and switching his trial date, Sichuan authorities have sentenced him to four months in prison on the charge of credit card fraud.
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22 May 2011
China: Rejected Self Defense Plea A Green Light For Deadly Demolitions
Villager Tong Yihong says a demolition crew drove a bulldozer onto his property, and he acted in self defense. Police say the bricks Tong threw down from his roof left one man with a serious head injury. Tong, now sentenced to four years in prison, still has public opinion on his side.
12 May 2011
China: Red Culture Fever
2011 is turning out to be a year for 'red culture' revival, mocked fiercely online but taken seriously by courts, prisons, universities, television stations and police departments in a growing number of areas throughout the country. Is it all for political show, or does it signal a pending culture war in China?
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26 April 2011
China: The Rich Are Fleeing
A new survey conducted in part with one of China's biggest banks suggests that large numbers of wealthy Chinese have over the past two years begun moving their assets overseas, and gaining foreign citizenship in the process. If China is so bad, some wonder, now having lost all this capital and talent, is it about to get even worse?
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17 April 2011
China: Sunday Night Political Chat
Chinese academic and Internet celebrity Yu Jianrong found time during a recent visit to the United States to talk about China's current political climate amid the long string of recent arrests, and the country's future direction, bringing the discussion onto his microblog account late Sunday night.
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7 April 2011
China: Everybody Can Become Ai Weiwei
A fellow filmmaker and activist, Ai Xiaoming, herself under heavy surveillance, tries to sum up the significance of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's work: "Ai has managed to greatly legitimize the act of citizen filming, showing people that they have the right to film and record, as well as the right to scrutinize."
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31 March 2011
30 March 2011
China
Following panic buying of salt earlier this month, the last few days have seen residents of Shanghai buying up laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste and shampoo out of fear that companies are about to raise prices for those and other similar goods. This photo from angry Shanghai microblogger Yin Zhuonan shows that many domestic laundry detergent are selling out the quickest.
China
Co-founder of Chinese fund management firm CDH Investments Wang Gongquan stopped by the New York Stock Exchange building today to snap a picture of the flag of the People's Republic of China, flying over Wall Street to mark popular Chinese online security company Qihoo 360 Technology's IPO. Wang was mocked by many commenters on Weibo, but comments on a similar picture from Qihoo chairman Zhou Hongyi have been more supportive.
==> As Africans we need to let go of our victimhood, inferiority complex & acceptance...