Posted on 03 September 2010
Chinese Law Prof Blog, A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network
Just noticed this on Xu Zhiyong’s blog:
Quick translation:
On Aug. 21, 2010, in the afternoon, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau decided to dismiss the case of suspected tax evasion against Gongmeng Company [i.e., Xu's organization, known in English as the Open Constitution Initiative] on the grounds that Gongmeng Company had paid the fine. The PSB returned the company account books as well as other confiscated materials. At the same time, the release on bail of Zhuang Lu and Xu Zhiyong was dissolved [i.e., they are free unconditionally and not just out awaiting trial].
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Posted on 03 September 2010
Why Xinhua, China’s state news agency, could be the future of journalism.
by Isaac Stone Fish and Tony Dokoupil, newsweek.com
It had all the trappings of a globally significant confab: big-deal appearances (by Google, BBC), a weighty theme (“the digital age”), and speechifying by international pooh-bahs. Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corp., even delivered a peppery keynote, vowing war on “content kleptomaniacs.” But despite its name, the World Media Summit was itself a media bust, especially in the English-speaking press, which barely covered the three-day event held last fall in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. The problem? The conference was a propagandafest, a “media Olympics” hosted by the Xinhua News Agency, an official organ of the Chinese Communist Party. If China has its way, however, ignoring Xinhua won’t be an option for long.
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Posted on 02 September 2010
Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation (http://www.thenation.com)
Sitting at a sidewalk coffee shop a block from the White House, Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union, is reflecting on a series of visits he’s made since 2002 to China, where he has discussed organizing and collective bargaining with leaders of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). China’s economic transformation is a profound challenge to the United States, and to American workers in particular, Stern says. "We have to recognize that China is the first real economic competitor that has ever threatened America’s standing as the global economic superpower."
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Posted on 29 August 2010
China Media Project Fellow, Column by Hu Shuli
[NOTE: In our recent piece on Wen Jiabao's Shenzhen speech, in which the Premier spoke about the need for political reform, we took issue with the idea that this was a radical departure of some kind, pointing out that Wen's remarks fall within a tradition of Party discourse on "political system reforms." We also said, however, that "any statement on political reform is significant" and that "at the very least, Wen's statement offers an opportunity for Chinese media to push more searchingly on this issue." More professional Chinese media in particular are already seizing Wen's speech as a pretext for more exploration of the issue. The following editorial, by former Caijing magazine editor-in-chief Hu Shuli, who is now running New Century News and China Reform, is an excellent case in point.]
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Posted on 24 August 2010
By Kent Ewing, Asia Times Online
HONG KONG - When seven-foot, six-inch Yao Ming dunks a basketball, does the world smile on China? When pianist Lang Lang, the Chinese Liberace, sparkles in concert, does China’s political star glow a little brighter in the firmament of nations? And when Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, the richest person of Chinese descent in the world, banks another billion dollars on shrewd investments, is the image of the Chinese nation also enriched?
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Posted on 19 August 2010
Ellen Bork, The Wall Street Journal
Over the past few years, Beijing’s repressive policies have increasingly
alienated Tibetans. One indication was the March 2008 uprising and riots
across Tibet. Yet Beijing responded not by moderating its policies but by
intensifying repression-launching a "patriotic education" campaign and
targeting members of the educated elite, many of whom have long gotten along
with, and even flourished within, the communist system. Among these are the
writer Tragyal, long associated with the state publishing house, who awaits
trial on charges of "splittism," and Dorje Tashi, a businessman and hotel
owner, who received a life sentence in June for allegedly collaborating with
human-rights groups abroad.
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