(September 10, 2012)  How Useful Are Pre-Election Public Opinion Polls and Exit Polls in Hong Kong?  Evaluating poll data from the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme and the Hong Kong Research Association against actual election results.

(September 04, 2013) The Case of Chen Baocheng  Journalist Chen Baocheng defends his ancestral home against forced demoliton with live microblog coverage

(July 10, 2012)  The Big Brawl in Chaoyang Park  Democracy is on the march in China as a female Sichuan TV reporter and her allies beat the crap out of Fifty Cent Gang member Wu Fatian.

(January 11, 2012)  "Public Enemy" Han Han  The Chinese author gives an interview in the aftermath of the publication of four essays on revolution, democracy and freedom.

(January 6, 2012)  Sex, Lies and Fake Deaths  A suicide note from a woman raises an Internet opinion storm against her unfaithful husband and his mistress.

(November 9, 2011)  An Analysis Of A Hong Kong District Council Election Exit Poll  The Hong Kong Research Association conducted exit polls for the Hong Kong District Council election.  Were they rendered useless by the pan-democrats' boycott call?

(August 4, 2011)  The Missing Dead Baby In The Wenzhou Train Crash  An Internet user Guo Yao said that her baby died in the Wenzhou train crash but his name was not included among the list of deceased.

(July 30, 2011)  Everything You Want To Know About The Wenzhou Train Crash  Communication University of China's public opinion research department catalogs 41 questions from Internet users about the Wenzhou train crash.

(June 29, 2011) The Three Levitating Government Officials  Chinese Internet users make fun of a government website that showed an modified photo of three government leaders inspecting a road.

(April 23, 2011)  Solving The Puzzle Of Chinese Charity Champion Chen Guangbiao  Translation of a China Business investigative report about Chinese 'charity champion' Chen Guangbiao.

(April 3, 2011)  The Hyping Of "My Dad Is Li Gang"  An investigative report about the origins of the popular saying "My dad is Li Gang."

(March 13, 2011)  Earthquakes!  A collection of translated microblog posts about the Yingjinang earthquake in China and the Japan earthquake/tsunami.

(February 26, 2011)  Fake Western Media Coverage Of Jasmine Revolution In China  A number of examples of faked western media news reporting about the Jasmine Revolution in China.

(February 12, 2011)  The Pauper Towns of China: Kaili and Minxian  Investigative reports about two famous pauper towns in China.  More than 60% of the children go out to beg around China during the summer and winter holidays.

(February 9, 2011)  Peng Gaofeng Finds His Son  Reporter Deng Fei recounts his three-year campaign to find a kidnapped boy.

(January 28, 2011)  "My Dad Is My Dad, Li Gang Is Li Gang"  Translation of Chang Ping's speech at Fudan University about current affairs commentary and the Internet.

(January 11, 2011)  A Fatal Traffic Accident In Nanchong  Yet another sensationalistic Internet story: A Nanchong big boss man ran into a motorcyclist and killed him.  The police rescued the big boss man and attacked the school teachers who were trying to hold him responsible ...

(January 4, 2011)  Fake Daughter Saves Real Father  A daughter offers to be the woman of whoever can get her father out of the psychiatric hospital that the police put him in.

(December 27, 2010)  The "Accidental" Death Of A Village Mayor  A village mayor who has been petitioning over land deals is killed by a construction truck.  Was this murder?

(December 24, 2010)  Anhui Government Official Denounced By Mistress  When a government official failed to get the promised divorce, his mistress posted nude photos of him on the Internet.

(November 8, 2010)  A Death At A Hospital, A Shooting At A Transport Company  The anatomy of a mass incident in which a death at a hospital led to a shooting spree at an office building involving dozens of gunmen.

(November 7, 2010)  Red Guards Apologize Forty-four Years Later  Southern Weekend report about the apologies from former Red Guard students to their teachers.

(October 25, 2010)  A Mistress Denounced The Maoming Vice-Mayor  An Internet forum denounces the Maoming vice-mayor Chen Yachun for corruption and debauchery (nude photos included).

(October 21, 2010)  The Chinese Dairy Wars  Here is a collection of statements, reports and essays about how Mengniu launched smear campaigns against corporate competitors for profit.

(October 16, 2010)  The Yinhuang Self-Immolation Incident  A 'forced demolition/relocatoin' resulted in three persons setting themselves on fire.  But the full story is much more complex, involving government cover-up, media malfeasance, microblogging showing its power and a concerted local government pushback.

(October 10, 2010)  China As Scapegoat In American Election Campaign Ads  Television ads for election campaigns claiming to staunch American job loss to China.

(October 9, 2010)  Little Moon Moon's Shanghai Vacation During National Holiday Week  A short vacation in Shanghai has catapulted an overweight kindergarten teacher into national fame through a live broadcast by a friend.

(September 11, 2010)  In Flagrante Delicto Live On Microblog  A woman comes home and finds her husband and another naked in bed.  What does she do?  She did a live broadcast via microblog.

(September 5, 2010)  The Great Relocation  Writer Xie Chaoping was arrested in Bejing by Linwei (Shaanxi) police over a book that he wrote about relocation of people for dam construction.

(August 29, 2010)  The First-Person Account Of A Manila Hostage Survivor  Accounts in Ming Pao Weekly and Ming Pao by Manila hostage survivor Lee Ying Chuen.

(August 20, 2010)  Prize Winning Photograph Accused Of Being Misleading  The photograph of a fisherman demanding money before handing over the body of a drowned student has won a major photography award.  But critics say that this photograph was intentionally misleading.

(August 5, 2010)  The Zibo Kindergarten Attack  Media reports about a knife-wielding man who caused an unknown number of casualties at a kindergarten.

(August 2, 2010)  Do-It-Yourself Product Endorsement  Chinese netizens enjoy themselves with creating print ads featuring celebrities endorsing product brands.

(August 1, 2010)  A Death In Dalian  The death of a fireman who drowned while trying to clean a pump was captured by a news photographer.

(July 28, 2010)  Huge Gas Explosion In Nanjing  Early on July 28, a chemical gas explosion occurred in Nanjing city causing more than 300 casualties.  Photos plus a soon-to-be video are included here.

(July 13, 2010)  This Is How We Interviewed Wen Qiang  China Youth Daily reporter writes about his attempt to interview Chongqing ex-official Wen Qiang in the final hours before execution.

(July 12, 2010)  Hong Kong Public Opinion On Political Reform Bills  Collection of public opinion polls on the political reforms bills passed by the Hong Kong Legislative Council in June 2010.

(July 10, 2010)  A County Communist Party Secretary Limits His Own Powers  Translation of an article about how the Daming county party secretary introduced reforms that limits his own powers to appoint cadres in order to eliminate job buying practices.

(July 8, 2010)  Taiwan Parliament Debates ECFA  A rugby scrum broke out in the middle of a parliamentary debate.

(July 7, 2010)  Policewoman Shoots Hostage Taker  TV news crew takes video of a Guangzhou plainclothes policewoman shooting a hostage taker.

(June 7, 2010)  Wuhan Farmer Repels Forced Eviction Team With Homemade Weapons  A Wuhan farmer builds a cannon tower to repel evictors who were trying to demolish his home.  This is a Chinese shanzai version of the Avatar movie.

(May 24, 2010)  The Cross-dressing Super Idol  The man Liu Zhu enters the Super Idol men's competition and reaches the final 35 in the Chengdu regional competition.  He may or may have been banned by the State Administration of Radio, Television and Film because his look was incompatible with mainstream values.

(May 19, 2010)  The Case of Zhai Tiantian  Summary of news reports on the case of the Chinese student Zhai Tiantian charged with making "terroristic threats" in New Jersey, USA.

(May 16, 2010)  Hong Kong Legislative Council By-Election 2010  The raw data first, followed by the media spin afterwards.

(May 5, 2010)  Shanghai World Expo Ticket Spoofs  Internet users use screen captures from electronic games and movies to spoof the congestion at the Shanghai World Expo.

(April 28, 2010)  A Field Report From A Yushu Teacher  A Chinese netizen dissects an essay purportedly written by a school teacher in earthquake-stricken Yushu.

(April 24, 2010)  The Photo Of The Three City Administrators And The Prostitute  In 2004, a Kunming photojournalist took a photo of security patrol guards saving a suicidal woman.  Four years later, this photo has become the iconic 'three administrators arresting a prostitute' together with a famous work of sculpture.

(April 22, 2010)  Blood, Sweat and Tears At Microsoft Subcontractor Factory  Southern Weekend interviews workers after their factory made changes as a result of a National Labor Committee report.

(March 27, 2010)  The Kunming Mass Incident   A comparison of newspaper reports and the official government statement on a clash that resulted when urban administrators tried to fine a street vendor of deep-fried potatoes.

(March 17, 2010)  Defloration Gate   A high school girl established her credentials as an alternative lifestyler by hiring a man to deflower her and posting the relevant video on the Internet.

(March 15, 2010)  How The Hong Kong Police Created The Conditions For The People To Criticize The Government   Blogger Yang Hengjun observed a demonstration outside the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

(March 6, 2010)  Bearing Testimony To Chinese Contemporary History Through Nude Push-ups  Beijing Youth Daily interviews Ou Zhihang, who won an award at the World Press Photo competition with his series of photos of himself doing nude push-ups at the locations of major social incidents in China.

(March 3, 2010)  The Diary of the Tobacco Bureau Chief  The purported diary of a Tobacco Bureau Chief in Guangxi is a sensational hit on the Internet for its depiction of a life involving alcohol bingeing, multiple sex partners and bribe-taking.

(February 27, 2010)  Sexy Video Gates  Shoushou Gate, Beijing Film Academy Zhang Yaru's Gate and ICBC Girl Gate all occurred in the first week of the Year of the Tiger.

(February 26, 2010)  The 23-Year-Old Female Deputy Bureau Chief  In Xintai city, a 23-year-old female was appointed a deputy chief in the land resources bureau.  Netizens set out to show that she must have some powerful guanxi.

(February 22, 2010)  The Lanxiang Vocational School Hacked Google  A collection of information about the Lanxiang Vocational School (Shandong) which purportedly hacked Google.

(February 13, 2010)  Sexy Chinese Women's Soccer  A series of fashion magazine photos.

(February 3, 2010)  Li Zhuang's Second Trial  Whereas you might expect lawyer Li Zhuang to talk about freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law in China, he said something quite unexpected.

(February 2, 2010)  Chinese Reporters Jailed For Taking Bribes  Companion China Youth Daily piece about the interactions between local government officials and reporters to negotiate "gag" fees for non-coverage of mining disaster.

(February 1, 2010)  The Cover-Up Of The Yuxian Mining Disaster  A China Youth Daily story about the mental thinking processes of local government officials who want to cover up a mining disaster.

(January 25, 2010)  Those Worried Young People  Interviews with the CEO's of Blogbus.com, Fanfou, BTChina and Yeeyan.com all of which were blocked in China in 2009.

(January 19, 2010)  Two Deaths In Guizhou  A policeman shot two farmers dead.  Was it execution?  Or was it self-defense?  The answer depends on which newspaper you read.

(January 18, 2010)  "I am just speculating"  Translation of a Han Han blog post that speculates on events in China from 2010 to 2020.

(January 17, 2010)  Hong Kong Reporters On The Express Rail Link Protest  Two Hong Kong reporters wrote blog posts about the anti-Express Rail Link demonstration on the night of January 15, 2010.

(January 16, 2010)  Google Search Results On Chinese Subjects  A Chinese netizen shows what Google suggests when searching for terms like China, Chinese, Baidu or simple numbers like 1, 6, 8 or 9.  Is it a bug?  Or a feature?

(January 2, 2010)  January 1, 2010 in Hong Kong  A round-up of news reports about what happened on New Year's Day, including the demonstration march as well as other front page stories.

(December 31, 2009)  Deng Yujiao and the Law  A status update for Deng Yujiao, as well as reflections on the roles of the family, the lawyers, the netizens, the media and the government in this famous case.

(December 30, 2009)  Top 10 Internet Phrases In China In 2009  As you read and ponder the humor and absurdity behind each phrase, you will recognize that these are the most rational contemplation of reality in China today.

(December 26, 2009)  The Top 10 Media Incidents In China During 2009  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about the top 10 media events in China during the year 2009.

(December 24, 2009)  The Case of Akmal Shaikh  British national Akmal Shaikh is given the death sentence in China for heroin smuggling.  Should his mental illness lead to a reprieve?

(December 21, 2009)  Internet Crime Gangs Manipulate Public Opinion  A CCTV news report on Internet promotion companies that will fabricate and distribute Internet stories for pay.  This is the about the commercial side of "50-cent gangsters."

(December 16, 2009)  Lawyers In Trouble In Chongqing  A gang boss on trial in Chongqing denounces his Beijing lawyer for fabricating evidence and obstructing justice.  Is this a case of malfeasance by one lawyer?  Or a case of retaliation against human rights lawyers?

(December 13, 009)  Sex, Drugs and Government In Fuxin  A People's Congress delegate uses his real name to denounce a senior government official for running group sex/drug orgies.

(December 4, 2009)  The Chengdu Self-Immolation  The female homeowner Tang Fuzhen set herself on fire in the hope of stopping the demolition of her house in Chengdu city.

(November 29, 2009)  The Interview With Wu Hao  Two essays about Wu Hao, the deputy director of the Yunnan province publicity department with the innovative approach to propaganda.

(November 28, 2009)  The Case Of Le Qian  Hebei Youth Daily editor Le Qian was assaulted by an unidentified man who told her, "Let's see you report this!"

(November 27, 2009)  Public Opinion Polls And The Proposed 'Mini-Referendum' In Hong Kong  Is the proposed slate for the 'mini-referendum' via resignation/by-election the optimal one?

(November 23, 2009)  Southern Metropolis Daily Coverage of Panyu Garbage Incinerator Protest  Live report and photos from the SMD reporter at the scene of the protest against the planned Panyu garbage incinerator plant.

(November 22, 2009)  The Top Ten Hollywood Movies That Suck Up To China  Here is a list of ten Hollywood movies that pander to the Chinese people in order to siphon off money from their pockets.

(November 21, 2009)  Sima Nan Comments On Obama's China Trip  Translation of an interview with a Chinese citizen about Obama's China trip.

(November 14, 2009)  Han Han Talks Back To TIME  Chinese writer-blogger Han Han was interviewed by TIME magazine and then interviewed by Beijing Youth Weekend about that interview.

(November 9, 2009)  Is Dialogue Possible?  These are my prepared remarks at the 2009 CoChina-5, which was scheduled to be the HKbloggerCon-CNbloggerCon online exchange.

(November 7, 2009)  Three Teens Drowned In Jingzhou  Three reports from Xinhua, Southern Weekend and Tianya Forum about the tragic case of three university students who died while trying save others.

(October 31, 2009)  The Case of Reporter Yao Haiying  Changjiang Business News reporter Yao Haiying reported on a case about the leaking of business secrets and finds himself the target of an investigation for graft.  In frustration, he publicized his case on the Internet and got justice (more or less).

(October 27, 2009)  Donald Tsang Blames The Media For His Troubles  Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive lashes out at the media for biased media coverage.  Here are the front page stories in Apple Daily, Oriental Daily and The Sun over the past two weeks.

(October 25, 2009)  The Shanghai Illegal Cab Entrapment Case  When 18-year-old Sun Zhongjie was 'entrapped' by a 'righteous hitchhiker,' he got so angry that he cut his small finger off with a chopper.  Now his case is drawing national attention.

(October 19, 2009)  The Guanxian County Cyber Cafe Shutdown  Cyber cafes in Guanxian county, Shandong province, have been shut down for more than two months.  Could the reason be an Internet post about how the local family planning office forced a 9-month-pregnant woman to undergo an abortion during which mother and baby died?

(October 19, 2009)  The "Lift Lift Girl" of Shanghai  An Internet post about a female protestor in People's Plaza (Shanghai) being carted away by the police drew plenty of netizen interest followed by censorship.

(October 17, 2009)  Chongqing Fisherman Buys Newspaper Ad To Thank Government  A fisherman in Chongqing spent 100,000 yuan to purchase a full-page four-color newspaper ad to salute the anti-corruption campaign by the city government.

(October 16, 2009)  Should The White Haired Girl Marry The Evil Landlord?  When a female university student said yes, a cultural debate ensues about social values, human dignity, freedom of choice, etc.

(October 13, 2009)  The Case Of Zhou Yongjun  Western media coverage of the case of Zhou Yongjun is complemented with Chinese-language reports about him.

(October 11, 2009)  A Hot And Spicy Rape Case   A Sichuan woman pretended to be a police officer and posted the details of a rape case on the Internet in a mocking manner.  She is now in legal trouble with the real police.

(October 8, 2009)  On the "Complete Uselessness" of Democracy   Translations of two essays: one about the "complete uselessness" of democracy and another rebuts it for being "neither here nor there."

(October 4, 2009)  "I Have Good Feelings Towards You"  Hong Kong Legislative Councilor Kam Nai-wai said those words towards a female aide and triggered a political storm.

(October 2, 2009)  The Clang Roses  Even Chairman Hu Jintao broke out with a smile at the sight of the rose-colored women's militia at the National Day military parade.

(September 25, 2009)  Zhu Rongji and the Three Female Reporters  Southern Weekend interviewed three female reporters who covered the senior Chinese government leaders and asked them for the past and present situations of reporting.

(September 21, 2009)  A Blogger Reflects On Blogging  A continuously updated collection of random thoughts about blogging by this blogger.

(September 17, 2009)  Victims of Fishing Expeditions  A white-collar driver in Shanghai picked up an ailing man who asked for a ride and was fined 10,000 yuan for operating an illegal taxi service.  Chinese netizens reacted strongly against such entrapment tactics which sow social distrust.

(September 15, 2009)  China And The Frankfurt Book Fair  A collection of news reports about the appearance of Chinese dissidents Dai QIng and Bei Ling at the Frankfurt Book Fair whereupon the Chinese delegation walked out and returned only when the organizers apologized officially.

(September 14, 2009)  Counting Crowd Size At The Tea Party  A collection of news reports on the crowd size estimates at the Tea Party in Washington DC.  Their counting methodology and manipulations can be compared to what happens in Hong Kong.

(September 13, 2009)  More On The Case Of Yan Xiaoling  Two Strait Metropolis Daily articles on the case of Yan Xiaoling, including about the netizens who are detained for making the Internet posts on the case.

(September 9, 2009)  Hong Kong Reporters versus "Shameless" Xinjiang Government Officials  Xinjiang Government Information Office held a press conference to address the matter of Hong Kong reporters being assaulted last week.

(September 7, 2009)  Wal-Mart Workers Beat Customer To Death  In Jiangxi province, a Chinese woman is stopped by five Wal-Mart employees after shopping for suspected shop-lifting.  When she refused to cooperate with these five non-uniformed strangers, they beat her to death.  Wal-Mart has made no comment more than one week after the incident.

(September 5, 2009)  The Legend Returns  When a new version of the legendary online game Legend was released, players rebelled and paralyzed the game by standing at the city gates and blocking all other entrants.

(September 2, 2009)  The Urumqi Mass Incident - Part 4  This page covers the media reporters on September 2, 2009 and later.

(August 28, 2009)  Exodus From Kokang  This is a continuously updated page about events in Kokang (aka Koklong, Kunglong), Myanmar.

(August 27, 2009)  These Photos Have Nothing To Do With News  A newspaper photojournalist attempts to help a girl whom he met in Sichuan after the earthquake to open an online clothing store.

(August 26, 2009)  The Death of the Internet Addict Youth Deng Senshan  Translation of the Nanguo Zaobao article about the death of a young man at an Internet addict healing camping.  This article got the editor fired from his job.

(August 25, 2009)  Greg Rudd Advises On China  Greg Rudd, brother of Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, writes an article in The Australian which is rebutted by Chinese blogger Yang Hengjun.

(August 22, 2009)  The Mysterious Village Surveillance Cameras  A villager finds two security surveillance cameras aimed right at the front door of her home.  Could it be because she had been doing petitions?  Or is she just paranoid?

(August 15, 2009)  Surveillance Cameras in China: Privacy versus Security  China has 2.75 million surveillance cameras installed already.  Several of them were used to solve the murder of the female village official Che Yating in Chengdu.  What would the Chinese rather have?  Privacy or security?

(August 14, 2009)  Yunnan Naked Girl Looks For Mother  In order to get public attention about the injustices done to her and her family and also to search for her missing mother, a Yunnan girl posted nude photos of herself on the Internet.

(August 9, 2009)  The Dongying Mass Incident  About 200 criminal elements showed up in the middle of the night to tear up a street.  Incidentally, they were also beating people and vandalizing parked cars.

(August 6, 2009)  91% Of Rich People Are Children Of Senior Goverment Cadres  Tracing how this apparently fake statistic came about and how it drew such broad citation.

(August 3, 2009)  Is Zeng Yike A Happy Girl?  Zeng Yike may have been eliminated in the Happy Girls song contest, but she leaves behind many controversies even as she moves into a possibly brilliant future.

(August 2, 2009)  The Social Mosaic of Shishou  Translation of Deng Fei's news report on the social mosaic of Shishou when the mass incident took place.

(July 24, 2009)  The Suicide of Sun Danyong  The primary evidence in the case of the suicide of Foxconn worker Sun Danyong, including the mobile phone SMS, Internet chat session and closed-circuit television surveillance tapes.

(July 17, 2009)  The Case of Yan Xiaoling  When 25-year-old Yan Xiaoling died, her mother said that it was murder by gang rape but the police said that it was complications from an ectopic pregnancy.  This case has resulted in the arrest of at least five persons for contents published on the Internet.

(July 11, 2009)  The Urumqi Mass Incident - Part 3  This page covers the media reports between July 11 and September 1, 2009.

(July 8, 2009)  The Urumqi Mass Incident - Part 2  This page covers the media reports on July 8-10, 2009

(July 6, 2009)  The Urumqi Mass Incident - Part 1  A mass incident occurred in Urumqi (Xinjiang) on July 5, 2009.  This page covers the media reports on July 5-7, 2009.

(July 4, 2009)  Super Girl Li Yuchun's Family Planning Ad  A Chongqing town family planning department used an unauthorized photo of Super Girl winner Li Yuchun and created an Internet storm.

(July 2, 2009)  The Hong Kong 7/1 March: Media Coverage  Review of media coverage and numerical estimates for the July 1 marches in Hong Kong.

(June 27, 2009)  The Shaoguan Mass Incident  A race riot between Han and Uighur workers in a toy factory located in Shaoguan, Guangdong.  This would be the cause for the Urumqi riots on July 5, 2009.

(June 23, 2009)  The Incomprehensible China And Its Difficult Problems  Translation of a blog post about how a Chinese tries to understand China.

(June 21, 2009)  The Shishou Mass Incident  In Shishou city, a man died under suspicious circumstances.  The police came to seize the body for immediate cremation but thousands of citizens took to the streets to repel them.

(June 7, 2009)  The "Virgin" Schoolgirl Prostitutes of Kunming  Twists and turns in the case of the two elementary school girls who were arrested as prostitutes but later tested to be "virgins" (or maybe not).

(June 6, 2009)  Citizens Versus Garbage Collectors  In order to force businesses to pay garbage removal fees, the garbage collectors resort to dumping garbage in front of the businesses.  Netizens posted photos of the garbage heaps and generated public pressure that forced the actions to be stopped.

(June 5, 2009)  The Chengdu Bus Fire  Spontaneous combustion or planned arson?  Graphic photos from the fire on the Chengdu bus.

(May 27, 2009)  An Investigation Into The Jiangsu Hospital AIDS Rumors  A pretty female pharmaceutical company sales representative, bribery, wanton sex, doctors and nurses, AIDS and human flesh search came togehter to become AIDS Gate at the Jiangsu Province People's Hospital.

(May 25, 2009)  The Yingde Mass Incident  Overseas Chinese from Vietnam protested government corruption in Yingde city.

(May 23, 2009)  Yu Qiuyu's Earthquake Essay On The Anniversary of the Wenchuan Earthquake  Chinese writer Yu Qiuyu offers a controversial response to criticisms about his activities around the first year anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake.

(May 10, 2009)  The 4.25 Anchu Traffic Accident  When the request came to delete an Internet post that questioned how the traffic police handled/caused a traffic accident, the local Yunnan forums rebelled and refused to comply.

(May 8, 2009)  Female Sports Reporter Files Libel Case  Famous sports commentator Huang Jianxiang made a blog post to say that the national soccer trainer had caused a top female reporter to have an extra-uterine pregnancy.  Now the purported subject Lu You is suing him for libel.

(May 7, 2009)  Thirty-Year-Old Execution Photos  The reason why 30-year-old execution photos of a corrupt government official is very red-hot on the Internet today is because people hate corruption and demand decisive, powerful and public actions now.

(April 30, 2009)  Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China React Differently To Jackie Chan's Comment  Southern Weekend reviews the different responses in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China to Jackie Chan's comments.

(April 26, 2009)  What Did Jackie Chan Say?  My transcription of what actor Jackie Chan said at the Bo'ao Forum.  You can decide for yourself what the context is.

(April 21, 2009)  Xinjiang Newspaper Gets Privately Banned  A newspaper is suddenly banned from entering the properties managed by a large corporation, which had recently gotten negative press from that newspapers.  All sorts of explanations were given.

(April 19, 2009)  《小团圆》的 BLOG   宋以朗有关《小團圓》的BLOG。

(March 20, 2009)  《小團圓》後記  張愛玲《小團圓》出版後語。

(March 17, 2009)  A Visit To Chen Guangcheng's Family  Investigative journalist Wang Keqin details his failed attempt to visit the family of blind human right activists Chen Guangcheng.

(March 17, 2009)  A Female BFSU Student Blogger In Trouble  A female Beijing Foreign Studies University student blogged that she was forced to quit school after blogging critically about the Ministry of Education.

(March 8, 2009)  《小团圆》新闻   有關張愛玲與《小團圓》的新聞報告和評論。

(February 24, 2009)  張愛玲遺劄，十四年後送達   陳子善: 張愛玲生前擬付郵寄往上海的一封感謝信和贈送收信人的一只女式小錢包，在相隔漫長的整整十四年之後，終於安妥地送達收信人之手。

(February 21, 2009)  Eluding the Cat  A man dies in a Yunnan province while playing a blindfolded catch game, which the netizens found to be an unbelievable explanation.  So the Yunnan government invited a netizen committee to investigate on site and issue a report without interference.

(February 20, 2009)  The "Bad Things" About Democracy  Translation of a blog post about how a Chinese house church that advocates freedom and democracy will not practice freedom and democracy itself.

(February 15, 2009)  The Shoe Thrower In Cambridge  yWeekend interviewed a Chinese student who sat right behind the person who threw a shoe at Premier Wen Jiabao during the Rede Lecture at Cambridge University.

(February 14, 2009)  A Photo Play Of The CCTV FIre  A series of high-resolution photos of the fireworks that eventually set the CCTV building on fire.

(February 12, 2009)  The Rigged Jiangsu Public Opinion Poll  Government cadres distributed standards answers for residents to say during a random sample telephone poll about prosperity.

(February 8, 2009)  The Naked Nurse Ads  In Tainan city, a medical clinic used nude photos of its nurses to advertise its services.

(February 7, 2009)  Did The Zipingpu Dam Cause The Sichuan Earthquake?  Western media hypes up the Sichuan earthquake as manmade, but you should also read about what the Chinese scientists have been saying.

(February 5, 2009)  張愛玲的牙牌籤  ...在多個百無聊賴的星期天下午，飽覽一幅幅泛黃的半世紀前的籤文。

(January 28, 2009)  Charter 08 In Postmodernist China  I lay down the lack of traction of Charter 08 in China to the extremely easy and hapless targets of the Internet and George W. Bush.

(January 24, 2009)  A Review Of The Chinese Internet In 2008  Translation of a Southern Weekend article reviewing the major events of 2008 on the Chinese Internet -- Sexy Photo Gate, the Lhasa disturbance, the Weng'an incident, the series of exposures of government abuses, etc.

(January 23, 2009)  What Kind Of Communist Party Member Is Chen Hua?  Translation of an Internet essay denouncing Internet Management Office leader Chen Hua.

(January 15, 2009)  The Story Behind Zhang Ziyi's Beach Photos  yWeekend interviews X17.com about how the beach photos of Zhang Ziyi were taken by a French paparazzi photographer.

(January 11, 2009)  How Charter 08 Is Being Received  This is a personal view of how Charter 08 is being received (or not) by the Chinese people.  Absent any empirical data, I am using an abstract social class analysis.

(January 10, 2009)  China 2008: The Poker Card Edition  A Chinese netizen lists the top 54 events in China during year 2008 using poker cards to illustrate.

(January 9, 2009)  紅樓夢遺  紅學專家宋淇曾與香港著名中醫陳存仁合作寫<<紅樓夢會診>>﹐其中一部份關乎夢遺﹐結果有一讀者來信。

(January 7, 2009)  The Most Run-down School in Guangdong  A series of nine photographs showed a run-down elementary school in rural Guangdong contrasted with the modernistic and spacious local government offices and led netizens to wonder how it could happen in the Chinese province with highest GDP.

(January 4, 2009)  A Matter Of Taste Or Tastelessness  Hong Kong newspapers used different photographs and illustrations to cover the same traffic accident.

(December 31, 2008)  The Zhoushan Sexy Photo Gate  Videos of a man masturbating are behind this case of either workplace sexual harassment or consensual adultery.

(December 28, 2008)  Adjusting To China: The Struggle of Anna Mae He's Whole Family  Translation of an interview with Jack and Casey He, the parents of Anna Mae He.

(December 27, 2008)  The Cases Behind The Cases Of Journalists Being Arrested  A year-end review by Southern Weekend of the cases of journalists being arrested, and the exploration of the cases behind those cases.

(December 22, 2008)  張愛玲在美國新聞處  在1952至1955年間﹐張愛玲替美國新聞處(USIS)翻譯和寫作﹐結識了宋淇/宋鄺文美夫婦。當時宋鄺文美是美國新聞處雇員﹐留下一篇打油詩文。

(December 21, 2008)  The Internet As Unfinished Public Sphere  An interview with associate professor Hu Yong of Peking University, School of Journalism and Communication by Li Guosheng for the Tianya Forum.

(December 14, 2008)  Top Ten Sex-Related Incidents In China  A top ten list of sex-related incidents that is headed by Sexy Photo Gate (of course).

(December 13, 2008)  The History Of Sex In China -- Episodes From The Last 30 Years  Including the first published photo of a kiss, the first nude painting to be exhibited and the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover.

(December 12, 2008)  The Arrest Of The CCTV Reporter  A CCTV female reporter was arrested in Beijing by policemen from Taiyuan.  The charge was receiving a bribe to file a negative story on a Taiyuan procuratorate, which then ordered her arrest.

(December 10, 2008)  Boycotting French Goods  A Chinese blogger explains why he is disinterested in boycotting French goods over the meeting of the French president and the Dalai Lama.

(December 7, 2008)  Political Science Professor Denounced By Students  University professor Yang Shiqun was denounced by students for allegedly speaking about an illegal organization and an overseas website in class.  The case has drawn public attention and is the center of a heated debate about the culture of denunciation from the Cultural Revolution era.

(December 7, 2008)  張愛玲與袁殊  "張愛玲本人對這一切毫不知情，她直到去世也不知道袁殊的真實身份。" 真的嗎﹖

(November 30, 2008)  Random Thoughts on Chinese and Western Perspectives On Media  The measure of openness in Chinese media is how close has it approached western media practice.  Is there a different measure?

(November 30, 2008)  Eileen Chang and the Soongs, 1963  In a 1963 letter to her husband, Eileen Chang wrote that the Soongs are no friends of her any more.  But how did that friendship get resstored?  I failed to come up with the documentary evidence, but I got an honorable mention.

(November 25, 2008)  An Eviction In Futian  Photos taken of a family being forcibly evicted from their home in Futian.

(November 22, 2008)  Where Was Eileen Chang When President John F. Kennedy Was Shot?  Eileen Chang describes in a letter her whereabouts on November 22, 1963.

(November 22, 2008)  The Longnan Mass Incident In Pictures  A set of shocking high-quality photographs taken during the Longnan mass incident.

(November 20, 2008)  Examples Of How Baidu's Competitive Ranking Hurts Consumers  When you enter terms such as 'abortion,' 'lottery' or 'stock' in Baidu, you may be getting many phishers and swindlers who have paid their way to be promoted.

(November 17, 2008)  Corporate Public Relations During Crises  A review of some of the public relations management techniques used by the dairy companies during the melamine crisis.

(November 16, 2008)  Reflections Of A Bridge Blogger  How has the Internet changed from 2003 to 2008, according to a bridge blogger.

(November 9, 2008)  The Shiyan Mass Incident  In Shenzhen, an unlicensed motorcycle taxi driver charged a checkpoint and was hit by an inspector in the head with a walkie-talkie.  The death of the motorcyclist sparked a mass incident down at the traffic police station.

(November 6, 2008)  Extreme Nationalists Versus Nihilists In China  A discourse on the extremist rightists and the extremist leftists whose voices dominate in the Chinese Internet while the majority stays quiet.

(November 5, 2008)  Life In The Time Of Cholera  A Hainan university student blogs about life on a university campus that has been quarantined after a cholera outbreak.

(October 30, 2008)  Earthquake Prediction in China  Translation of a long Southern Weekend article on the state of the art/science of earthquake prediction in China.

(October 25, 2008)  Rumors Hurt Because Of Loss Of Trust In The Authorities  You receive a SMS that warns you that there are maggots in tangerines.  Do you forward it to everybody that you know?  Do you ignore it?  Do you check with the relevant government departments?

(October 23, 2008)  The Case of Zhang Mingqing  The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait vice-chairman Zhang Mingqing "tripped over a tree stump on his own" in Tainan and caused a major incident.  Who is Zhang Mingqing?  Why is he so popular on Taiwan television?

(October 22, 2008)  Chinese Official "Trips Over A Tree Stump" In Tainan And Causes Major Incident  A collection of various news reports and commentaries about the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait vice-chairman Zhang Mingqing (possibly) being assaulted by a violent mob in Tainan.

(October 15, 2008)  The Police Beat A Harbin University Student To Death  An Internet controversy about the interpretation of a surveillance video tape of a brawl between plainclothes police officers and university students.

(October 13, 2008)  The Rumor Monger Jia Xiaoyin  A Chinese netizen finds  himself in deep trouble over a post that charged that Yang Jia killed six policemen in revenge for a police beating that rendered him impotent.  The motive for making the post was to become famous on the Internet.  "I love it when people pay attention to me, praise me and flatter me on the Internet."

(October 8, 2008)  The Lifan Landslide  A hill of iron slag collapsed in Lifan county.  A reporter found that there was a cover-up on the cause as well as the number of deaths.  But his published report was blocked on the Internet.  Therefore, he used his personal blog to draw the attention of the state leaders to re-open the case.

(October 7, 2008)  A Death On Train 1291  A migrant worker on a train went berserk and was tied down by the train workers.  His subsequent death caused some of the passengers to tell their stories on the Internet and rue their own failure to take action.

(October 5, 2008)  The Case of Radio Taiwan International  A Chinese blogger refleCTI on the mass resignation at Radio Taiwan International to protest political interference with freedom of press.

(October 4, 2008)  What Have I Done For My Country?  A sample of Chinese citizens take up the challenge of John F. Kennedy and ask what they have done for their country.

(October 2, 2008)  What Has My Country Done For Me?  Fifty-nine years after the founding of the People's Republic of China and thirty years after the reforms began, a sample of Chinese citizens reflects on what their country has done for them.

(September 30, 2008)  My Curriculum Vitae  Here are my publications as listed in my curriculum vitae (and nothing ever published on ESWN meant anything).  The prize-winning article was The Anatomy Of Data Fusion and the most famous was Threshold Models of Diffusion and Collective Behavior.  Who knew?  Who cared?

(September 29, 2008)  Chinese Netizen Fined For Possessing Adult Video  When the Internet police found a 30-minute adult video on the computer of citizen Ren Chaoqi, they imposed a fine of 1,900 RMB.  Since then, the police have rescinded the fine.  Netizens believe that it was the result of public opinion being almost universally against the fine.

(September 27, 2008)  The Trial of Zhou Zhenglong  The peasant Zhou Zhenglong was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison for faking the South China tiger photos.

(September 21, 2008)  Regulating Hong Kong Exit Polls?  Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme director Robert Chung Ting-yiu proposes professional regulations for public opinion polling, including election exit polls.

(September 20, 2008)  "Let Me Skin Sanlu Alive"  Southern Weekend editor Fu Jianfeng blogs on their investigation of the case of the melamine-tainted infant milk powder.

(September 18, 2008)  Why Did I Publish The Name Sanlu?   The Sanlu milk case had been reported by various media which spoke of "a certain company" without naming Sanlu.  Here is the blog post from the first reporter to name Sanlu on September 11 and thus trigger the public opinion storm.

(September 15, 2008)  The Shanxi Mudslide: Field Notes By Reporter Huang Xiuli  When a mud-rock flow came down a mountain top to bury a village, reporter Huang Xiuli went out to cover the story.  This records her actual published report and the two sets of field notes published in her personal blog.  The posts have been deleted and she has been warned not to write any more field notes.

(September 14, 2008)  Mr. Li Writes To BBC  A Chinese netizen Mr.  Li wrote a letter to the BBC about the biased western media and dared them to publish it.  They did.

(September 11, 2008)  Desultory Thoughts  Non-scientific samples of random conversations with the people of Hong Kong about politics.

(September 8, 2008)  Hong Kong Legislative Council Election Post-Mortem Analysis  A comparison of public opinion polls, exit polls and actual voting results.

(September 5, 2008)  Was iPhoneGirl A Phony?  yWeekend reporter Ma Jun spoke to Foxconn, Apple, Internet promoters and others but still could not decide whether the iPhoneGirl affair was just a clever promotional campaign.

(September 4, 2008)  Anna Mae He Is Not Coming Home  The father of Anna Mae He describes how WMC-TV (Memphis, TN) took his comments out of context and made believe that he wants to bring his family back to America.

(September 3, 2008)  The Fictive Wu Jinglian Spy Case  Famous Chinese economist Wu Jinglian was reported by overseas websites to be involved in an espionage case.  Caijing interviews the overseas website operators to to show the inadequacies of 'civilian journalism.'

(September 2, 2008)  Finish This Cup Of Tea And Go Home  Choreographer Chiang Ching narrates her absurdist experience during the staging of the opera <Tea: The Heart's Mirror> in Beijing.

(September 1, 2008)  Cao Jingxing On The Chinese People During The Olympics  Chinese commentator Cao Jingxing offers his view on the past, present and future of the Beijing Olympics.

(August 31, 2008)  Yang Lijuan Sues Blogger Song Zude  Andy Lau's super-fan Yang Lijuan sues blogger Song Zude for defamation in a Guangzhou court.  Does freedom of speech permit the right to call someone else a "stinking feces-making machine"?

(August 29, 2008)  Testing The Chinese Olympic Volunteers  Americans and reporters go undercover to test the language skills of the Beijing Olympic volunteers.

(August 28, 2008)  Public Opinion Polls And The Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections  So many public opinion polls about the Hong Kong Legco Elections and so many different poll results.  Who should you believe?  How should you vote?

(August 26, 2008)  FM Theatre Power vs. Hong Kong Netizens  FM Theatre Power is a street performance troupe that has performed regularly on the pedestrian street in the Mongkok district.  But now there is a Facebook group with 18,000 members against the group.  The relevant issues are pubic space, live arts, civil rights and civic responsibility.

(August 25, 2008)  An Incident On A Long-distance Bus  A case of sexual assault on a bus became an Internet human flesh search for the perpetrators, but the netizens who tried to follow the bus were assaulted by the bus workers.

(August 21, 2008)  The Southern Weekend Interview with Lang Ping  Interview with "Iron Hammer" Lang Ping, who led the 1984 Chinese women's volleyball Olympic champions and now coaches the American national team at the Beijing Olympics.

(August 17, 2008)  The Shame of Democracy  Translation of a blog post about the practice of democracy in relation to Chen Shui-bian, the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Internet.

(August 15, 2008)  The Girl With The Uneven/Crooked/Buck Teeth and the Fat/Chubby Face  This is a collection of news reports and blog/forum posts on the matter of the "faked singing" involving Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi at the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremony.

(August 12, 2008)  Why Did I Remove My Safety Hat?  Southern Weekend publishes a profile of Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei.org.

(August 11, 2008)  China, The Surveillance State  How might the Chinese people think about their surveillance state which consists of closed-circuit television, bugged taxi cabs, monitored telecommunications, etc?

(August 8, 2008)  Chinese Internet Reacts To Olympics Opening Ceremony  Chinese netizens comment on the extravaganza that was the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

(August 2, 2008)  The First "Human Flesh Search" Trial  A summary of the progress and issues involved in the case in which three websites were sued for invasion of the privacy of an alleged unfaithful husband whose wife committed suicide.

(July 27, 2008)  The Hong Kong Reporters Deserve To Be Beaten?  Should Li Yapeng have assaulted the reporter who tried to film his daughter?  Should the Beijing police have assaulted the Hong Kong reporters trying to cover the Beijing Olympics ticket sales?

(July 26, 2008)  The Battle of Beijing - Part 1  At the scene of the Olympics ticket sales, the Beijing police manhandled Hong Kong reporters and got kicked in the balls.

(July 17, 2008)  A Reporter Visits Weng'an  China News Weekly reporter Wang Weibo reflects on his experience in Weng'an as well as the information management processes in place at this time.

(July 8, 2008)  The Case of Fragrant Chrysanthemum 1986  A female boasted about the benefits that she enjoyed as the kept mistress of a senior government official, and the human flesh search engines flushed out the wrong female.

(July 3, 2008)  This Week's Jimmy Lai Stories  Next Media boss Jimmy Lai is interviewed by Newsweek (USA) and also gets a 12-page front cover story in EastWeek (Hong Kong).

(July 2, 2008)  The Hong Kong 7/1 March: Media Coverage  This is the traditional ESWN post that records the various statistics related to the 7/1 march in Hong Kong.

(July 1, 2008)  The Weng'an Mass Incident  A collection of information about the death of a 15-year-old female student and the ensuing mass riot at government buildings in Weng'an county, Guizhou province.

(June 28, 2008)  The Bilingual Eileen Chang, Part 2: Henry David Thoreau  Here are three poems by Henry David Thoreau that Eileen Chang once translated for an anthology of American poetry.  These translations are not well-known.

(June 24, 2008)  De-Politicization and Pan-Politicization of Xiaonei.com  The string of political events this year is turning the website Xiaonei.com for Chinese university students into a political hotbed.

(June 21, 2008)  The Chronicle of Runner Fan  A review of the various twists and turns in the chronicle of the teacher Fan Meizhong who left his students and ran away first when the earthquake struck.

(June 18, 2008)  The Earthquake, The Internet and Sima Nan  This is an Economic Observer interview of Sima Nan about his essay arguing against the Nanfang Daily group editorials/opinion essays on behalf of universal values such as human rights, democracy, freedom and so on.

(June 15, 2008)  The Runaway Teacher  Partial transcript from the now famous Phoenix TV program with teacher Fan Meizhong, who dashed out of the classroom when the earthquake hit and left his students behind.

(June 8, 2008)  The Interview With The Kneeling Party Secretary  This is an interview with the Mianzhu Party Secretary who knelt down to beg parents who lost their children in a collapsed school building to stop a petition march.

(June 4, 2008)  The Cadillac Incident At Hunan University  A collection of Internet posts about an incident involving two male students, a female student and a Cadillac.  Whose side are you on?  The lovesick drunken ex-lover boy, or the rich son of a corrupt senior government official with the kept mistress.

(June 3, 2008)  The Case of Fan Xiaohua  Fan Xiaohua (范小华) is suspected of misappropriation of a disaster relief tent and aggravated personal assault in Mianyang city, but the Chinese human flesh search engines went after Communist Youth League secretary Fan Xiaohua (范晓华) in Mianzhu city instead.

(June 2, 2008)  Why Did the Building Collapse?  Who was responsible for the 127 deaths when the Fuxin Number Two Elementary School classroom building collapsed?  School officials, government officials, architects or building contractors?

(June 1, 2008)  The Mianzhu Highway Robbery  A case of apparent looting of disaster relief materials on the highway was solved by Internet users, a policeman and a newspaper reporter.

(June 1, 2008)  The Dream And Reality Of Earthquake Prediction  Fang Zhouzi reviews the subject of earthquake prediction.

(May 29, 2008)  The Story of Donations Gate  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about multinational and Chinese companies in the game of corporate donations towards earthquake relief in this Internet era.

(May 26, 2008)  Ten Observations About The Post-Earthquake Mess  A Chinese blogger makes observations about what he deduced about society, politics and media from the news about the Sichuan earthquake.

(May 24, 2008)  Natural Disaster, Human Faults  Photos of parents holding photos of their deceased children.  Did the school building collapse so easily because of negligently shoddy construction?

(May 18, 2008)  Earthquake Rumors    How did rumors start flying around Chengdu after the earthquake?  Was the water contaminated by a chemical factory explosion?  Was the Zipingzu dam going to collapse?  Was there going to be a magnitude 7 earthquake in Chengdu itself?

(May 16, 2008)  Sorry, But I'll Have To Hurt Your Feelings  Writer Yang Hengjun explains why he felt compelled to be critical about government rescue efforts in the Sichuan earthquake.  He wrote that his conscience would be panged if he kept silent and he wants the government to do even better.

(May 13, 2008)  The Sichuan Earthquake  Numerous photos from various sources about the earthquake centered in Sichuan province.

(May 9, 2008)  The Olympic Torch Relay Inside China  The crowds were enthusiastic as shown in these photos, which also exposed the poor civic quality of some Chinese citizens.

(May 7, 2008)  The Duke University Witchhunt  Scott Savitt publishes an opinion piece in the Duke University Chronicle about the matter of Chinese student Grace Wang, and promptly gets tripped up in a minor detail over who picked up Grace Wang when she first arrived.

(May 1, 2008)  Huangfu Ping On Tibet  The 9,000 plus word essay by Huangfu Ping is translated here in full.  This essay is represents the position of one section of the establishment.

(April 30, 2008)  How The Western Media And The Tibetan Elite Hijacked The Tibet Issue  A Chinese blogger reacts to the New York Times article about Chinese students in the United States.

(April 28, 2008)  Crisis Management At Carrefour  Translation of a China Business report on the thirteen days of public relations crisis management at Carrefour.

(April 26, 2008)  Carrefour in Hefei: A Photo Play  Photos of the demonstration outside the Carrefour store in Hefei city (Anhui province) on April 19, 2008.

(April 25, 2008)  Why Is CNN Patriotic?  Chinese blogger Yang Hengjun analyzes the background, history and strategies over Jack Cafferty's gaffe at CNN about the Chinese 'goons and thugs.'

(April 24, 2008)  Unexpected 'Readers' of Free Newspapers in Hong Kong  Free market in operation: In Hong Kong, senior citizens earn extra money by picking up the free newspapers and selling them for recycling.

(April 23, 2008)  Grace Wang's Essay in Washington Post  A Chinese blogger gives a detailed reading of the essay by Duke University student Grace Wang published in the Washington Post.

(April 15, 2008)  Kitty Shelley versus France  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily story on the brewing boycott of Carrefour.

(April 10, 2008)  The Olympic Torch Tour As Public Relations Disaster  A public relations disaster for whom?  Read the story about Olympic torch bearer Jin Jing in Paris.

(April 8, 2008)  Interview with Frank Sieren  Translation of an interview of German writer/film producer Frank Sieren by Freitag magazine.  The title of the interview is "The West has ceased to impress China a long time ago."

(April 7, 2008)  The Bilingual Eileen Chang, Part 1: A Return To The Frontier  This is the story about the publication of the newly discovered Eileen Chang travelogue about her visit to Taiwan and Hong Kong in 1961.  Previously, this was published in English but now an expanded Chinese version has just been published.

(April 6, 2008)  How To Find The Truth About Lhasa?  An opinion column about Tibet in Southern Metropolis Daily drew condemnations from nationalistic populists about high treason.

(April 5, 2008)  The Enemy of My Enemy  A Chinese blogger declines to equate the Tibet uprising with the struggle for freedom and democracy.

(April 4, 2008)  Even Jogging Is A Crime Post-March 14   Western media reported more disturbances in Lhasa, but there is the local report by a Han blogger.

(April 3, 2008)  Encounters With A German   A Chinese overseas student reports on an encounter with a German co-worker.

(March 30, 2008)  A Photograph From Lhasa, March 14  Was the rioter wielding a knife in a famous iconic photograph actually a Chinese policeman playing a role for the camera?

(March 26, 2008)  Chinese Netizens versus Western Media  The Chinese netizens rise up against the western media for their coverage of the events in Tibet through a slideshow on YouTube.  What do I think?

(March 23, 2008)  How Can I Forget Lhasa, March 14?  A Han woman from Shenzhen working at a Lhasa eyeglass store blogs about her experiences on March 14.

(March 22, 2008)  Most Wanted In Tibet  The Lhasa public security bureau issued photos of the most wanted criminal suspects taken from surveillance videos.  Should websites publish those photos and should civilian photographers publish their photos?

(March 22, 2008)  Phoenix TV Reporter In Lhasa  Phoenix TV reporter Chen Lin was dispatched to Lhasa after the March 14 disturbance and she blogged about what she saw and heard.

(March 21, 2008)  Give Us A Politician  Translation of an article by Lung Ying-tai about the kind of president that the Taiwan people want.

(March 21, 2008)  Right Time, Right Place, Wrong Reporter?  This page collects the works by The Economist's James Miles.  For ten days, Miles was the king of the journalists by being the lone foreign reporter in Lhasa during the disturbances.  This page also contains an analysis of a Miles report by a Chinese blogger.

(September 29, 2007)  The Wild Man of Translation  Translation of a yWeekend article about Fudan University's associate professor Jiang Zhihui's translation of works of western philosophy which apparently contain numerous mistakes.  This leads to a discussion of the structural problems in the publishing industry in mainland China.

(September 22, 2007)  The Siege of Foshan  Thousands of villagers laid siege to the village government office and used Mao Zedong portraits to prevent the removal of the account books which could be evidence of corruption.

(September 21, 2007)  Angry Chinese Soccer Fans  Is the anti-Japanese hostility displayed at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Hangzhou a preview of what will happen at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

(September 19, 2007)  The Hong Kong District Council Elections  A collection of translated blog posts that covered the Hong Kong District Council elections this year.

(September 15, 2007)  Lung Ying-tai on <Lust, Caution>  Lung Ying-tai reviews her reading of the Nanjing city file archives about the case of Ding Mocun, who was executed by the Republic of China government even though he had been a spy for them inside the collaborationst government.

(September 11, 2007)  CCTV Reporter Assaulted By Security Guards At Xi'an International Studies University  A CCTV reporter goes how to do a positive report on how the state is helping impoverished university students.  Instead, he gets the crap beaten out of him.  So his revenge is through a popular blog post of a friend.

(September 10, 2007)  Who Is In Charge Here?  A Chinese citizen makes a diary of his effort to figure out which government agency is in charge of the harmful and annoying junk SMS.

(September 9, 2007)  The Truth About The Shanxi Traffic Police Corruption Scandal  The Beijing News reporter tells about how he got the information about how a Shanxi coal truck fleet owner bribed traffic policemen to allow overloaded trucks to pass inspection.

(September 8, 2007)  張愛玲寫blog  這裡也有六個張愛玲的'blog'。這幾小段的生活雜感來自張愛玲尚沒公開親筆寫的手稿。

(September 7, 2007)  The Suicide Comics Committed Suicide  The graphic artist Zhang Yuanying drew up a series of suicide-themed comic strips, for the purpose of teaching people about the value of life.  But when a 12-year-old boy said that he had tried hanging himself in imitation, the author killed the series immediately.

(September 6, 2007)  The Origins of <Lust, Caution> <色.戒> 故事  As Ang Lee's movie <Lust, Caution> gets ready to for public release, questions abound about the origins of the Eileen Chang story.  This page carries two popular Chinese-language articles on the subject.  The ESWN blogger, who is the administrator of the Eileen Chang literary estate, can neither confirm nor deny those assertions, but is simply posting them for your information.

(September 5, 2007)  The Most Awesome Security Guard in Chongqing  A sequence of photographs taken of a security guard assaulting a porter in the city of Chongqing.

(September 5, 2007)  The Most Awesome Fake Reporter In History  In Yuncheng (Shanxi), a fake reporter was caught because he sold a letter of introduction to a van driver who was hoping to avoid highway toll charges.

(September 2, 2007)  20 Mazda 6's PK Hummer  A couple of dozen Mazda 6 owners went on an excursion during which they harassed a Hummer on the expressway by surrounding the latter and then slowing down together.  The Mazda 6 people uploaded a DV of the incident on the Internet, but drew a spontaneously organized Internet counter-harassment campaign against them.

(September 1, 2007)  Faked Newspaper Page Won Top Chinese Journalism Award  Yangzhou Evening News won a Chinese Journalism Award for photojournalism.  But netizens found out that the page submitted for the competition was compltetely different from the actual physically printed page that was distributed to the public!

(August 31, 2007)  The eMule List of Banned Items  Chinese netizens claim that a Chinese version of the P2P file uploading software eMule contains a list of filtered keywords.  Read the list of banned keywords and weep (or laugh).

(August 30, 2007)  The Social Reporter's Internal Notes  A Southern Metropolis Daily reporter describes his general experience in dealing with the police, migrant workers, security guards and village officials in Shenzhen.

(August 29, 2007)  The Female Bronze Mustache Affair  A female netizen accuses another woman of seducing her husband.  The evidence included a chat session transcript and some explicit photographs.  But the lie was quickly exposed because the accused and the accuser both originate from the same IP address.

(August 28, 2007)  White Collar Photo Gate  Electrolux became one of the most searched terms recently on account of the nude photographs of one of its female employees.  Is this any way to increase brand awareness?

(August 27, 2007)  Violent Actions On The Internet: Tit-For-Tat  A female worker from Shanxi pleads on the Internet for donations to have a tumor removed.  Afterwards, a self-appointed netizens investigated her case and decided that she was a swindler.  Is this Internet violence?

(August 26, 2007)  The Black Rain in Shenzhen  A Southern Weekend investigative journalist determines the long-term and immediate causes of the black acid rain that fell in Shenzhen in middle August.

(August 22, 2007)  The Internet Is Subverting Local Government Power  Two cases studies in Taiwan (the Yilan children's festival and the Shanyuan beach development project) show that Internet users can become self-organized pressure groups.

(August 21, 2007)  Strange Encounters between Young Master Tu and the Apple Daily Reporter  A Taiwan Apple Daily reporter blogs about his two encounters with the son of the Taiwan Minister of Education.

(August 20, 2007)  Five Reporters Got Assaulted For Fenghuang Bridge Collapse Coverage  Translation of reports about the five reporters who were assaulted by local Department of Agriculture workers for interviewing the families of the victims of the Fenghuang bridge collapse.

(August 18, 2007)  Hong Kong Polls On Political Reform  This is about how to read an essay about how to read public opinion polls on political reform in Hong Kong.

(August 14, 2007)  The Hong Kong Youth Association Survey On Queen's Pier  The Hong Kong Youth Association ran a public opinion poll whose results apparently showed support for the demolition/relocation of Queen's Pier, but a Hong Kong blogger disagreed with the survey methodology and inferences.

(August 13, 2007)  Tabloid Magazine Readership in Hong Kong  Blogger Erica Yuen posits three theories about why tabloid magazines are so popular in Hong Kong.  These theories are tested via magazine readership data.

(August 12, 2007)  China Daily Messed Up Copy-and-Paste Job  China Daily lifted from a Reuters article that mentioned "Tiananmen Square, where troops crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 with huge loss of life."

(August 10, 2007)  "The Nude Town Party Secretary Dropped Dead While On Duty"  Some netizens have named the Hangzhou Information Net as the most humorous media for its deadpan reporting on the case of the town party secretary and the women's association female cadre both dropping dead while discussing public business in the nude inside a car.

(August 8, 2007)  The Patriotic Bar Busters of China  At the world's largest Chinese-language forum at Baidu, armies known as the Burning Crusaders, Ah Cool's Army, the Blue Cats and the Little White Rabbit Battle Troops have been overwhelming certain forums such as the fan sites for Rainie Yang with spam posts all in the name of patriotism.

(August 6, 2007)  The Personal Affairs of 6,000 Chinese Citizens  yWeekend interviews the Renmin University professor who led a survey of 6,010 Chinese citizens about their personal affairs (such as sexual activities and partners).

(August 6, 2007)  The Letters of Eileen Chang - Part 4  張愛玲的書信: 有關"羊毛出在羊身上——談《色·戒》"  The largest archive of correspondence with Eileen Chang belongs to Stephen and Mae Soong.  Here are some scanned images of the letters (in Chinese) between Eileen Chang and Stephen Soong on the essay "On <Lust, Caution>."  This should give some insight about the writer at work.

(August 3, 2007)  Michelangelo Antonioni and Chung Kuo  The late Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni once made a documentary in China, which became the subject of a long critique in People's Daily.  Furthermore, citizens had to particpate in study sessions to criticize a movie that none of them ever saw.

(August 1, 2007)  China's Me Generation  A TIME essay by Simon Elegant about young people in China drew comments from two Chinese jorno-bloggers, Wang Xiaofeng and Rose Luqiu.

(July 31, 2007)  The Corporate Policy for Yahoo! China  What could Yahoo! China have done with in the situation of Shi Tao's case?  Actually, this is largely irrelevant to Chinese Internet users, because they are fighting for their own space of freedom and western brands are largely irrelevant.

(July 28, 2007)  Self-Organized Citizen Translations of Harry Potter 7  The final book on the Harry Potter series was released on July 21 simultaneously across the world . By July 23, a spontaneously organized translation team of Chinese high school and university students had produced a full but unauthorized Chinese-language translation through division of labor.

(July 25, 2007)  Hong Kong Reporter Transgresses Against A God And Gets Lynched  A Hong Kong newspaper columnist dared to challenge Nike (also known as the God of Adult Videos) and drew a lynch mob of Internet users.

(July 22, 2007)  The Morals of Political Figures  Translation of an essay by commentator Leung Man-tao about the true mistake of RTHK Director Chu Pui-hing and the implications for moral standards among political figures and government officials.

(July 21, 2007)  A Small Shareholder Protest Against Winfoong (榮豐)  A Hong Kong blogger/commentator launches a blog campaign against a company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange through links and referrals.

(July 20, 2007)  Why Do People Think That A Fake News Story Is Real?  A couple of reasons why some netizens still think that the Beijing cardboard buns were real.

(July 19, 2007)  The Cardboard Buns Story  Beijing TV's news reports about breakfast buns with waste cardboard paper mixed in the fillings is now shown to have been faked by the reporter.  Kudos go to the netizens who raised doubts from the beginning.

(July 18, 2007)  The History of Chinese Journalism Since 1949  A listing of some examples in which typographic mistakes in news reporting had major political consequences.

(July 15, 2007)  Tales From The Martial Law Era  Books and songs that were banned during the martial law era in Taiwan.  For example, Mark Twain and Max Weber were banned because their names sounded like Marx.

(July 13, 2007)  She Started The Storm Over The Shanxi Illegal Brick Kilns  Southern Weekend interviews Xin Yanhua, the woman whose Internet forum post triggered the storm of the Shanxi illegal brick kilns.  She said that she only did it out of gratitude and conscience, but she chose to hide herself because she should not be the prinicipal player.

(July 8, 2007)  The Absence of De-Colonization in Hong Kong  Translation of a Leung Man-tao essay about the difficulties of de-colonization under "one country, two systems."

(July 7, 2007)  A Reporter Can Lose Independent Judgment At Press Conferences  A Xinhua newsroom story about the coverage of the blue algae explosion at Dianchi lake in Kunming, Yunnan.

(July 6, 2007)  The Shanxi Officials In The Eye Of The Storm  Translation about a Southern Weekend report in which government officials at various levels were interviewed about how they handled the affair of slave laborers at the illegal brick kilns.

(July 5, 2007)  The Most Awesome Chinese Female Reporter Ever  A China Times (mainland) female reporter blogs about how she got into a physical fight with a colleague during an editorial meeting.  The reason had to do with plagiarism on a grand scale.

(July 4, 2007)  750,000 a year killed by Chinese pollution  A World Bank report omits an estimate that 750,000 Chinese die each year from pollution.

(July 3, 2007)  Hong Kong's Self-Knowledge  Translation of an article by Chen Guanzhong on some mistakes in the self-knowledge of the Hong Kong people.

(July 2, 2007)  The Hong Kong 7/1 March: Media Coverage  Newspaper front page stories and crowd estimates for the July 1st march in Hong Kong.

(July 2, 2007)  The Interview with Oiwan Lam  Oiwan Lam published an essay that included a photograph from flickr for the purpose of showing the absurdity of the censorship system in Hong Kong.  She has just been informed that that photograph has been classified as Category II: Indecent by Hong Kong's Obscene Articles Tribunal and she now faces a maximum penalty of HK$400,000 and 12 months in prison.

(July 1, 2007)  The Story of Chen Chenggong  Translation of the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily interview with 16-year-old Chen Chenggong, who was one of the slave workers at the illegal brick kiln worker in Shanxi.

(July 1, 2007)  The Hong Kong That You May Not Know About  Translation of Zhang Rui's piece in Southern Weekend on the occasion of the tenth anniversay of the return of Hong Kong to China.

(June 30, 2007)  Commemorating the Return, Commemorating Lu Xun  On the tenth anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China, it is time to remember Lu Xun's words about de-colonization is more than the departure of the colonizers.

(June 27, 2007)  Editing News and Misreporting News  Media worker/blogger Luqiu Luwei comments on the draft media law against manufacturing and/or communicating false information about suddenly breaking incidents.

(June 25, 2007)  The Tengzhou City Government Office Building  A netizen posted photographs of the luxurious government office building in Tengzhou and was arrested.  Or it may be a completely different story altogether.

(June 23, 2007)  The History of the Illegal Brick Kiln in Hongdong  Translation of a Southern Weekend piece about illegal brick mine owner Wang Bingbing's path to wealth that ended with "a hell on earth."

(June 22, 2007)  How The Reporter Found The Shanxi Brick Kiln Slaves  Henan TV Metro Channel reporter Fu Zhenzhong tells yWeekend about how he got involved in the story about the slave laborers in Shanxi brick kilns.

(June 18, 2007)  "I Felt It Was A Fairly Small Thing"  When the foreman of the illegal brick kiln in Shanxi was arrested, he described beating slave laborers as a "fairly small thing."  Translations of reports from CCTV, Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Daily.

(June 18, 2007)  The Kaohsiung Court Decision  Translation of an opinion piece by Nan Fangshuo about the Kaohsiung District Court annulling the election of mayor Chen Chu.

(June 17, 2007)  The Milk Weekly Plagiarism Case  A Hong Kong blogger recounts his conversation with the Milk magazine editor over the plagiarization of a blog post.

(June 17, 2007)  Sweeping The Yellow (扫黄)  A collection of photographs of Chinese police sweeping through establishments of ill-repute.  Apart from pruriency, these photos usually provoke discussions about social standards, moral turpitude, humanitarianism, human rights, authoritarianism, privacy, rights for sex workers, gender/class exploitation, underground economy, etc.

(June 16, 2007)  The Thirteen Word Advertisement In Chengdu Evening News  A Chengdu Evening News veteran explains how a thirteen word advertisement that is the size of a cigarette could have slipped through the system.

(June 14, 2007)  The Seven Waves of Immigration in Taiwan  Full translation of Taiwan Kuomintang presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's essay in China Times about the history of immigration in Taiwan and the implications on current politics.

(June 12, 2007)  Jia Zhangke And His Denouncer  Chinese sixth-generation film director Jia Zhangke recalled how he found out that he was banned from making films due to a denunciation from an individual known as "XX."  Meanwhile, the most obvious candidate for "XX" fights back to defend his own reputation.

(June 11, 2007)  The Haidian "Teacher Abuse Gate" Scandal  The complete story about the student video taken at the Haidian Art Vocational School and the resultant Internet manhunt.

(June 6, 2007)  The Letters of Eileen Chang - Part 3  Why was Eileen Chang's novela <The Classmates> held back from publication until almost a decade after her death?  It was about literary flaws and 'outside pressures'?  This essay provides some insight into those 'outside pressures' based upon correspondence with Eileen Chang.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(June 4, 2007)  The Du Daozheng Interview  Du Daozheng is the publisher of the magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu, which has been publishing politically provocative articles without receving any crackdowns.  The secret is that the editorial staff as well as the 60,000 plus readers are mostly Communist Party veterans with senior standing.  Du Daozheng is interviewed by Asia Weekly (Yazhou Zhoukan).

(June 3, 2007)  The Zhao Yufen Story  The Xiamen PX project came into public awareness when Chinese Academy of Sciences member Zhao Yufen brought the subject up at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

(June 2, 2007)  Luxurious Government Office Buildings in China  Details about the four construction projects that were personally named by Hu Jintao to be disciplined for extravagant spending in contravention of the rules.

(June 1, 2007)  The Xiamen PX Project  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about the history of the PX project in Xiamen, in which industrial development runs into environmental protection.

(May 31, 2007)  Hong Kong: Ten Years After The Return To China  Next Media chairman Jimmy Lai review the ten years after Hong Kong was returned to China.

(May 30, 2007)  The Next Weekly Interview with Choi Chi-sum  This interview is certainly stylistically different from standard journalistic practice as it was more like a confrontation.  Well, an all-out war is more like it!

(May 29, 2007)  A Conversation With A TELA Bureaucrat  An InMediaHK editor tells about her conversation with an official from the Hong Kong Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority concerning the photograph in an Internet essay.

(May 28, 2007)  How Did The Obscene Articles Tribunal Get Hijacked?  How did a small group of people exploit the flaws of the system in the Obscene Articles Tribunal of Hong Kong to promote their agenda?

(May 27, 2007)  The Bagman of Hong Kong (05/27/2007)  The man who threatened to set himself on fire at the offices of Sing Tao in Hong Kong somehow reminds me of prisoners of war in Iraq.

(May 25, 2007)  The Ming Pao Category II Indecent Material  Full translation of the Ming Pao article that was rated as Category II Indecent Material by the Hong Kong Obscene Articles Tribunal.  You can decide for yourself whether this should incur a maxium penalty of HKD 400,000 in fines and 12 months in jail.

(May 24, 2007)  Chinese Speech [中國話]  In Taiwan, the female music trio S.H.E. recorded a song entitlted 'Chinese speech.'  They are promptly criticized by Liberty Times for misleading and corrupting the next generation in Taiwan into thinking that they also use 'Chinese speech.'  However, the lyric writer has struck back on his blog.

(May 23, 2007)  Star Ferry, Queens Pier and Erotica  Ma Ngok writes about the relationship between Star Ferry, Queens Pier, the Chinese University Student Press and the generational gap in values in Hong Kong.

(May 22, 2007)  The <Far and Wide Weekly> Interview of Lung Ying-tai  Lung Ying-tai was interviewed by Chinese blogger Michael Anti after her speech at Cambridge University (UK).

(May 21, 2007)  The Bobai Mass Incidents  Enforcement of family planning policies in this impoverished county in Guangxi province led to public disturbances in many towns.  Photographs included.

(May 21, 2007)  The Very Public Adjudicators of the Hong Kong Obscene Articles Tribunal  Why are two adjudicators on the Hong Kong Obscene Articles Tribunal receiving more media exposure than the principals in the case that they don't even participate in classifying?  Is this judicial independence with a special Hong Kong characteristic?

(May 20, 2007)  The Media Story Behind The Shenzhen Court Fengshui Case  The Shenzhen court and the reporters had diametrically claims about whether building renovations had anything to do with fengshui.  yWeekend contacted both sides to elicit more information.

(May 19, 2007)  Superstition Among Chinese Government Officials  This Southern Weekend report looks at how local Chinese government officials looks towards fengshui to ensure their promotions.

(May 18, 2007)  If You Want Peace, You Must Not Keep Hurting Taiwan  Translation of Lung Ying-tai's speech at Cambridge University.

(May 18, 2007)  Hong Kong Politician PK Reporters  Translation of three Hong Kong newspaper opinion columns in which a politician and political news reporters reflect on their roles and relationships.

(May 17, 2007)  Ma Lik's Comments on June Fourth  Two Hong Kong jorno-bloggers tell about the fateful meeting with DAB chairman Ma Lik during which he used several thousand words to explain that there was no massacre in Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989.  "I wish I had never gone there ..." they said but they had to do their job.

(May 15, 2007)  The Chinese University Student Press Incident In Perspective  Translation of an essay by Ivan Choy, current senior lecturer and former student association president at CUHK.

(May 14, 2007)  The Girl With The Blue Hair  Did a photographer save a girl with blue hair from throwing herself in front of an oncoming train?  Or did he take advantage of her disadvantage and violated her sexually afterwards?  On the Chinese Internet, who can you trust nowadays?

(May 13, 2007)  A Girl Wants To Sell Her Braid To Save Her Mother  A young girl wants to sell her 1.6 meter long braid in order to raise money for her mother's surgery.  Instead, she got abuses and insults heaped upon her for being a potential fraudster.

(May 12, 2007)  Lung Ying-tai on International Vista  Interview with Lung Ying-tai on the occasion of an international forum run by students from five Taiwan universities.

(May 12, 2007)  Hyperlinking in Hong Kong  A Hong Kong netizen hyperlinks to eight overseas pornographic pictures at a discussion forum and is fined HK$5,000.  Meanwhile Google.com.hk links to a much larger number of overseas pornographic pictures and nobody cares.  What gives? 

(May 11, 2007)  The Gurao (Shantou) Mass Incidents  Comparison of western media, Hong Kong media and unofficial mainland Chinese media coverage of the mass incidents in Gurao town, Shantou city, Guangdong province.  Which is more informative and/or credible?

(May 10, 2007)  Internet Not Too Expensive For The Chinese?  Newspaper articles and a blog post about whether Internet access fees are expensive in China.

(May 8, 2007)  SETTV's Documentary On 228  SETTV got a government grant to make a documentary of the 2/28 anniversary.  United Daily News went ballistic over the use of a 20-second film segment showing street executions that it claimed was from Shanghai instead of Keelung.

(May 7, 2007)  Q&A with Zeng Jinyan about the TIME 100 List  Zeng Jinyan was chosen among the 'heroes and pioneers' section of TIME magazine's 100 most influential persons in the world.  Here are her responses to the generic questions that have been thrown at her.

(May 6, 2007)  The Student Bloggers Down In The Coal Mine  Five university students conducted an investigative study of the psychological sense of safety among coal mine workers.  Their blog posts drew national attention.

(May 4, 2007)  The Dalian Police Murder  In Dalian, a police officer fired five shots to kill three civilians in a locked room.  Since then, the local and national media have been forbidden to publish anything about this case.

(May 3, 2007)  Why Did The Macau Disturbance Occur?  There were six demands listed by the May 1st marchers in Macau.  But how to satisfy those demands without disturbing others?  This is a nearly-zero-sum game.

(May 2, 2007)  The Macau Disturbance  This clash between police and demonstrators has been officially categorized as a "disturbance."  A standard news report and a conspiracy-laden report are included.  Or you can look at the photographs and decide for yourself. 

(April 30, 2007 )  The Death of the Judge  Southern Weekend updates the case about the mysterious death of the judge in Guilin at a detention center.  The judge was being investigated for taking bribes, but the circumstances of his death were highly suspicious.

(April 29, 2007)  The Modern Version of "Human Blood Steam Bun"  In Foshan, a family made soup with meat from a dead human infant in the hope that it may heal an ailing child.

(April 28, 2007)  "You Will Have To Die For Killing The Puppy!"  In Nanjing, apartment residents set a nest of stray dogs on fire because the barking disturbed their sleep.  In return, they received the full force of Internet public opinion fury.

(April 27, 2007)  China Top Brand and Nazi SS Logos  Southern Metropolis Daily follows up on Austin Ramzy's observation about the resemblance between the China Top Brand and Nazi Waffen-SS logos.

(April 23, 2007)  The Most Awesome Scavengers in History  In Foshan, a neighborhood is in the process of being relocated and several hundred 'scavengers' appeared conveniently to loot and vandalize the homes in order to assist the householders' decisions.

(April 22, 2007)  A Reporter's Conscience  A China Youth Daily reporter conducted an investigation of counterfeit medicine in Shandong but his report was spiked.  Here are his reflections posted at an Internet forum.

(April 22, 2007)  Red-Letter-Titled Official Document Approved "Grand Dragon"  yWeekend follows up on the case of the 21-kilometer concrete dragon and examines just who authorized the project.

(April 18, 2007)  Why Did They Say That The Virginia Tech Shooter Was Chinese?  Chinese blogger Luqiu Luwei analyzed the media coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting.

(April 16, 2007)  You Won't Understand My Sorrow  Southern Weekend's Yuan Lei runs in in-depth investigative report on the case of Andy Lau fan Yang Lijuan.

(April 14, 2007)  Fifteen Days in Chongqing  Southern Weekend obtained exclusive interviews with the district party secretary, the court's chief judge and "nail house" owner Wu Ping for the first time after the "nail house" case was settled.

(April 13, 2007)  CCTV Reporter Forced To Hand Over Her Video Tape  The CCTV reporter whose report caused such grief among the Hong Kong tourism industy recalls her experience during this undercover assignment.

(April 13, 2007)  The Crocodile Photographs  At the Shaoshan Zoo in Kaohsiung (Taiwan), a Nile crocodile bit off the arm of a veterinarian.  On the next day, some of the newspapers showed the photographs of the severed arm in the crocodile's mouth on the front page.  It took TVBS to come to deliver the lecture on the lack of media self-discipline.

(April 12, 2007)  "The Ten Years of How I Cast Off The Influence of Wang Xiaobo"  Translation of Michael Anti's commemorative essay on the tenth anniversary of the death of Wang Xiaobo.

(April 12, 2007)  After Everybody Becomes Pro-Democracy  Translation of a Leung Man-tao essay about what happens to the 'democrat' tag after everybody agrees with democracy and universal suffrage.

(April 10, 2007)  The Political Incorrectness of the Media Fascist  The battle between the environmental protection Red Guards and the media fascist has only just begun.  The outcome will depend on whether you can avoid the brainwashing (or counter-brainwashing) of the major media and learn to become an intelligent reader who uses reasoning to make a choice that is not influenced by the specious arguments from the lunatics on both sides.

(April 9, 2007)  Netizen Arrested For Re-posting A Report  A Chinese netizen re-posted an article onto two Internet forums and was detained for more than nine months on suspicion of damaging the reputation of a pharmaceutical company.  That company is now out of business for bribery and collusion with officials from the State Food and Drug Administration.

(April 8, 2007)  The Invasion of Underground Lottery  Southern Weekend traces the spread of underground lottery betting from Guangdong to Hunan and then westwards to Yunnan and Guizhou.

(April 7, 2007)  McWages in China  A Guangzhou newspaper sent in undercover investigators to examine labor wages at McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

(April 6, 2007)  I Blog, Therefore I Am  Ming Pao features three Hong Kong bloggers: moliuOLOGY, Dukedom of Aberdeen and Sidekick.

(April 4, 2007)  The Chinese People Are Talking, But Is The World Listening?  Chinese writer Yang Hengjun describes his two chance encounters with the co-founder and Chinese-langauge editor of Global Voices Online.

(April 3, 2007)  Criticizing <Dream of Red Mansion> Study  Translation of a Yuan Ying essay in which he explained how he came to write the People's Daily editorial to criticize Yu Pingbo's scholarly works about the novel Dream of Red Mansion for their capitalist idealism and subjectivism.

(April 1, 2007)  Southern Weekend's Investigative Report on the Chongqing Nail House  Details about the Yang Wu/Wu Ping family, the land developer and their previous negotiations.

(March 31, 2007)  The Nailhouse Case and the Birth of Citizen Journalism  For the first time ever, netizens at various major portals (Tianya, MOP, Sina.com, NetEase.com, KDNet) began reporting live from the same news scene at the same time.

(March 28, 2007)  Netizens Should Be Tolerant  The 'anti-intellectual' scholar Xue Yong explains the roots of his anti-intellectualism as well as defends uncivility on the Internet.  This is accompanied by a series of other blog posts that fills out a complete story.

(March 25, 2007)  A Sociological Analysis of the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election  Analyses of public polling data lead to the conclusion that the system is rigged against any pan-democratic candidate because they will never have the administrative experience that people are looking for in a Chief Executive.

(March 24, 2007)  The Killing Field  Translation of an excerpt from the book A Narrow Escape from Death: My Journey as a 'Rightist' by Dai Huang.

(March 23, 2007)  "China Blog" Commentators Influenced American Reporters  Translation of a yWeekend article based upon an interview with TIME's Beijing bureau chief Simon Elegant about The China Blog (TIME).

(March 23, 2007)  How Foreign Correspondents Covered the Two Congresses  Translation of a Southern Weekend article on the experiences of the foreign correspondents during the period of the two Congresses.

(March 22, 2007)  Local Action in Hong Kong  The group known as Local Action took a detour during the march for universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

(March 21, 2007)  The Case of Professor Zhang Ming  Renmin University of China School of International Studies professor Zhang Ming was dismissed as department head but the squabble continues through Zhang Ming's personal blog and the School Dean's open letters on the official university websites.

(March 20, 2007)  The Secret Tibetan Lubricant  A television commercial brought up issues of media retaliation against non-compliant artistes, false advertising under existing regulations in China and the responsibility and liability of celebrity product endorsers.

(March 19, 2007)  Translated Excerpts from Lung Ying-tai's Melbourne Speech  After the Taiwan shooting incident in 2004, Lung Ying-tai wrote an essay in defense of Taiwan democracy.  Here, she reviews some of the reactions from readers in mainland China and Taiwan.

(March 18, 2007)  How To Get One Million Internet Hits  Did an alternative historian hire people to pump up the hit rate on his Internet posts?  By the way, this case brings up many innovative techniques, such as stopping people from reading an unfavorable post through posting numerous photographs of traffic accident deaths in the comment section.

(March 17, 2007)  Taiwan Bloggers Organize To Save Losheng Sanatorium  Hundreds of bloggers responded to an Internet campaign to raise money in order to take out an advertisement in Apple Daily about the Losheng Sanatorium.

(March 16, 2007)  The Second Hong Kong Chief Executive Election Debate  Headlines and polls results from the second ever Chief Executive election debate in Hong Kong.

(March 14, 2007)  Shinzo Abe's 'Apology'  Translation of two Hong Kong opinion columns about Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's comment on the 'comfort women' issue.

(March 12, 2007)  The Yongzhou Mass Incident  A mass incident was ignited by a bus company jacking up its price from 5 RMB to 9 RMB in addition to charging 5 RMB for each additional carry-on lugguage (such as a blanket or a plastic bucket).

(March 10, 2007)  Finding A Husband For "Chinese Traitor" He Zhili  When a Chinese writer wrote about how hard it was for former world table tennis champion He Zhili to find a husband, his blog post drew millions of hits and tens of thousands of curses.

(March 9, 2007)  Who Painted the Mountain Green?  A mountainside in Yunnan was painted green.  But why should three reporters come up with three different stories?  yWeekend let those three reporters explain how and why they wrote their stories.

(March 7, 2007)  The Anonymous SMS message from Pingdingshan  An anonymous SMS message was sent to denounce the city party secretary and more than one hundred people are under investigtion even as citizens applaud the crackdown.

(March 2, 2007)  The First Hong Kong Chief Executive Election Debate  Headlines and poll results from the first ever Chief Executive election debate in Hong Kong.

(March 1, 2007)  The Lung Ying-tai That You May Not Know  Translation of a blog post about why Lung Ying-tai ended up being criticized by reds, blues and greens.

(February 27, 2007)  Zhang Yihe on the Hong Kong edition of Ruyan  Translation of the foreword by Zhang Yihe to the Hong Kong edition of Wu Fayun's novel Ruyan@SARS.com.  This is a meditation of love, marriage, cancer, death and censorship.

(February 24, 2007)  China People Misread The World, Especially Japan  A well-known old essay brings up the question of why anti-Japanese rumors have such a huge market in China.

(February 23, 2007)  My Publisher -- The Internet  Translation of writer Yang Hengjun's speech to members of the Independent Chinese PEN.  Yang is the first to write a political espionage novel that dared to assert that the National Security Ministry is an espionage agency which sends spies overseas.

(February 21, 2007)  A Female Vegetable Vendor Went To Prison  A Chengdu female vegetable vendor served eight months in prison for splashing urine on a municipal administrator.  That was the official court trial, but the Internet court trial had a different opinion.

(February 19, 2007)  The Inevitable Decline of the Spring Festival Gala  In an increasingly divided, diversified and stratified society, a conservative television program with propaganda functions will inevitably decline. 

(Feburary 19, 2007)  The Beginning of Freedom of Press  In 1945, the war was over and the Nationalists announced that wartime press censorship would end.  What happened next?

(February 18, 2007)  The Chinese People News Angle  Hong Kong reporter Suzanna Cheung Chuiyung finds that Hong Kong editors often demand that there must be angle about Chinese people in her overseas reports.

(February 17, 2007)  How The Media Were Conned By An Internet Promoter  yWeekend has a long essay about Ai Qingqing who wanted to trade a paper clip for a villa and her alleged backstage manager who scripted the entire process.  Ai Qingqing and her manager had a fallout and the manager is going public.

(February 14, 2007)  Behind The Reporting On The Case of Chen Liangyu  A 21st Century Business Herald reporter explained the background of the reporting on the Shanghai social security fund case.

(February 13, 2007)  History Education and the Nanking Massacre  What does the Taiwan history school teacher say about the fact that the new textbook does not mention the Nanking massacre anymore?

(February 12, 2007)  Who Was First?  Ten years ago, Deng Xiaoping passed away.  Today, reporter/blogger Zhao Shilong challenged who was the first to report on his death.  This is less about priority than how the news rooms worked.

(February 12, 2007)  The Open Letter to Sina.com from the Lawyer-Bloggers  Translation of the open letter from four lawyer-bloggers to Sina.com in protest against the censorhip of their blogs.

(February 11, 2007)  The Big Soccer Brawl - Part 2  Translation of a blog post by Chinese sport reporter Xiao Liangzhi who also witnessed the brawl between the Chinese Olympic team and the Queens Park Rangers reserves.

(Feburary 11, 2007)  Yuan Ying PK Wu Shulin  When Yuan Ying found out that his book The Other Stories of History was 'banned,' he wrote a letter to GAPP deputy director Wu Shulin.  The following are the minutes that Yuan Ying took when Wh Shulin visited him in person to explain.

(February 10, 2007)  The Big Soccer Brawl - Part 1  Translation of a blog post by Chinese sport reporter Ma Dexin who witnessed the brawl between the Chinese Olympic team and the Queens Park Rangers reserves.

(February 9, 2007)  The Sub-Contractor Knelt Down In Front Of Us  A happy Lunar New Year story from a Southern Weekend reporter about how half a dozen media outlets worked on behalf of migrant laborers for their back wages.

(February 8, 2007)  The Letters of Eileen Chang - Part 2  Presentation of one letter between Chinese writer Eileen Chang and her friends Stephen and Mae Soong, which brings up many issues such as censorship, openness, confidentiality, etc.

(February 6, 2007)  Ye Xiaowen On The War In Iraq  The essay by State Bureau of Religious Affairs director Ye Xiaowen on the war in Iraq was removed from state-backed websites.  A translation is provided here.

(February 5, 2007)  Lung Ying-Tai Confesses To Her Crime  Translation of Lung Ying-tai's essay on the possible indictment of KMT chairman/Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou for graft and its consequences.

(February 5, 2007)  The Other Stories of History  Qian Gang reviews former People's Daily deputy chief editor Yuan Ying's 'banned' book.

(February 4, 2007)  Past Stories of Peking Opera Stars  Translation of an excerpt from the 'banned' book Past Stories of Peking Opera Stars by Zhang Yihe.

(February 4, 2007)  Fake Reporters In Datong, Shanxi  Translation of a Beijing News article about the phenomenon of fake reporters in Datong that underlies the case of Lan Chengzhang.

(February 3, 2007)  Eras of History  Translation of some excerpts from the 'banned' books Our 1970's and Our 1980's.

(February 3, 2007)  Ruyan@SARS.com  Translation of an excerpt from the 'banned' Chinese novel Ruyan@SARS.com about a female Internet forum master during the SARS crisis.

(Feburary 3, 2007)  Foreign Journalists React To New Regulations  Translation of a Southern Weekend article with the reactions of CNN, Reuters and Ming Pao reporters about the new regulations on reporting activities by non-mainland journalists.

(February 2, 2007)  The yWeekend Report On The Lan Chengzhang Case  Interviews with the Southern Metropolis Daily reporter and the two China Economic Times reporter who did the best reporting work on the case.

(February 1, 2007)  Alan Leong's Choice  Translation of a Ming Pao opinion piece by Leung Man-tao about the Hong Kong Chief Executive election.

(January 31, 2007)  The Press  Translation of an excerpt from the 'banned' Chinese novel The Press about newspaper workers in a hypothetical Chinese city.

(January 30, 2007)  I Object  Translation of an excerpt from the 'banned' Chinese book I Object about former Hubei province People's Congress representative Yao Lifa.

(January 29, 2007)  Portrait Of A Chinese Internet Promoter  A story about the Internet promoter who introduced the enormously popular Tianxin MM and Extraordinary Real People.

(January 27, 2007)  The Three Little Pigs  The question is whether The Three Little Pigs is a Chinese-language idiom (Chengyu).

(January 27, 2007)  The ParknShop PR Campaign  The codfish/oilfish incident is analyzed in terms of PR crisis management.

(January 25, 2007)  Ming Pao Interviews Huangfu Ping  Translation of a two-part interview with Huangfu Ping, who wrote some seminal essays in support of reform.  The interview covered topics such as political reform, elections, press control and the Cultural Revolution.

(January 25, 2007)  The China Economic Times Report on the Lan Chengzhang Case  Translation of a very, very long (13,000+ Chinese words) article by Wang Keqin in China Economic Times about the Lan Chengzhang case.  This is the most extensive treatment so far.

(January 23, 2007)  A Question of Press Impartiality in Hong Kong  The Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority issued a strong advice against a RTHK television program about its pro-homosexuality bias.  Did the Hong Kong newspapers cover this event in an impartial way?

(January 22, 2007)  Rui Chenggang On Japan  CCTV anchorman Rui Chenggang drew international attention through his blog post about the Starbucks shop inside the Forbidden City.  Here is the translation of his earlier blog post on Sino-Japanese relationship.

(January 21, 2007)  CCTV on Lan Chengzhang  CCTV's program segment on the case of the death of Shanxi media worker Lan Chengzhang.

(January 20, 2007)  Zhang Yihe's Statement and Position  Zhang Yihe's book Past Stories of Peking Opera Stars was banned not because of any content, but because of the author.  This is her statement in reaction to the ban.

(January 19, 2007)  The Mass Incident in Dazhu County  Finally, here is a mass incident that deserves the name.  You can compare the official version versus the unofficial versions on blogs and forums (more precisely, as found in the Baidu and Google blogs because the subject is banned).

(January 18, 2007)  Historical Site Residents Speak Out  EastWeek magazine interviews residents of historical preservation sites in Hong Kong.

(January 17, 2007)  A Reporter's First-hand Report at a Shanxi Mine  This is a different case in which a reporter was assaulted during an investigation of an illegal mine.  This is a first-person report done in a matter-of-fact tone. 

(January 16, 2007)  The Death of a Shanxi Journalist  China Trade News reporter Lan Chengzhang went to a coal line to conduct interviews and was beaten to death by unidentified thugs.  But was Lang Chengzhang a real reporter or an extortionist?

(January 15, 2007)  The Shenzhen Mistress  A blogger posts about the experiences of a Shenzhen mistress along with some nude photographs, but is met with a great deal of skepticism.

(January 14, 2007)  The Search For Toothache MM  The victim of an Internet arrest warrant sues Tianya forum for its delayed deletion of the offending posts and refusal to divulge the whereabouts of the offender named Toothache MM.

(January 13, 2007)  How I Educated The Hong Kong Tourist Guide  Xinhua worker Sun Zhenjun recalls his mistreatment by a Hong Kong tour guide and how he exacted revenge.  The Internet storm somehow manages to miss a crucial pointer in this essay.  You can read this and see if you can guess what this was really about.

(January 10, 2007)  Historical Preservation Sites in Hong Kong  Apple Daily investigates one of the designated historical sites in Hong Kong and finds a massage parlor/brothel.

(January 9, 2007)  A Minibus Tragedy in Hong Kong  A traffic accident down the street where I live makes the front pages of Hong Kong newspapers today.

(January 9, 2007)  Democracy Is A Good Thing  Translation of the much-talked about essay written by Yu Keping, who is said to be a member of the Hu-Wen adminstration thinktank. 

(January 8, 2007)  Was The CCTV Reporter A Police Informant?  A fugitive calls a CCTV reporter about the possibility of turning himself in.  When he came in to talk, the police had been called by the CCTV reporter and waiting.  Was the CCTV reporter a rat fink?

(January 7, 2007)  Why Gao Qinrong Was Not Vindicated  In this interview with yWeekend, Gao Qinrong dealt with the specifics of the charges of pimping, embezzlement and fraud that landed him with eight years in prison.  All this is happening at a time when the name "Gao Qinrong" is a banned keyword at Chinese search engines, forums and news portals.nthly media monitoring report, and China Times and Liberty Times go to war.

(January 7, 2007)  The False Science Debate on Phoenix TV - Part 2  In this second part, the Phoenix TV host Hu Yifu is interviewed by yWeekend about the three episodes of his program on false science.

(January 6, 2007)  Prevention and Control of Public Harm from the Press  The Foundation for the Prevention and Control of Public Harm from the Press issues its latest bi-mo

(January 5, 2007)  The False Science Debate on Phoenix TV - Part 1  A televised forum on the false science debate almost resulted with fights among guests and audience members.  This first part deals with the perspectives of one guest and several audience members.

(January 4, 2007)  The Taxi Crime Fighters  A fascinating story about how two radio stations mobilized citizens to hunt down three car hijackers.

(January 2, 2007)  "Someone Got Knocked Out By The Chocolate!"  At the flag raising ceremony on New Year's Day morning in Taipei, a woman shouted "Down with Ah Bian" and was removed from the scene.  This incident may actually have an impact on the military budget. 

(December 30, 2006)  A Chinese Reporter And His Source  Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng recalls his working relationship with an unknown whistleblower in the Shenzhen medical fraud case.

(December 29, 2006)  Yu Shyi-kun PK China Times  The Democratic Progressive Party central will not be taking questions from China Times reporters in the future.

(December 29, 2006)  The Dawn of Taiwan  Apple Daily boss Jimmy Lai conversed with an unnamed senior member of a Taiwan political party.  Who is that person?

(December 28, 2006)  The List of Banned Terms in Xinhua News Reporting  This is a purported list of rules at the Xinhua news agency about what to say and what not to say.

(December 26, 2006)  Top Ten Sex-related Incidents In China During 2006  A Chinese netizen publishes his personal selection at Tianya Club.  This is translated here with photographs being added.

(December 26, 2006)  Clashes Without Direct Conflict of Interest  Most mass incidents involve direct conflict of interests between social groups.  There are also some mass incidents in which most of the participants hold no direct interest, but they do so in order to vent frustration accumulated over a long period of time.

(December 25, 2006)  The Inflatable Doll Prostitutes  In Huluniao city, a business rents out inflatable dolls for customers to make to in private rooms.  In the absence of any explicit law against this, the local police cannot do a thing about it.  Oh, the whole thing was a hoax ...

(December 24, 2006)  Beijing News versus TOM.com  Beijing News sued TOM.com for republishing 25,000 of its news reports and photographs without authorization.  This is one of many aspects of the relationship between traditional and new media in China.

(December 23, 2006)  The Gao Qinrong Interview in yWeekend  Gao Qinrong's interview with yWeekend, and this was published after his name was banned from Internet portals and search engines.

(December 22, 2006)  Star Ferry: The Beginning of a New Social Movement?  How is the Hong Kong Star Ferry affair different qualititatively from the traditional demonstrations in Hong Kong?  Has there been a paradigm shift?

(December 18, 2006)  The Gao Qinrong Interview in Southern Weekend  Gao Qinrong's interview with Southern Weekend was published on the same day as the one in Southern Metropolis Daily.

(December 17, 2006)  The Gao Qinrong Interview in Southern Metropolis Daily  Gao Qinrong went to prison for eight years after exposing the Yuncheng fake irrigation project.  Southern Metropolis Daily interviewed him after he got out of prison.

(December 16, 2006)  Star Ferry  I explain why I am not demonstrating at the Hong Kong Star Ferry site.

(December 14, 2006)  The Vote Buying Case in Taiwan  Fantastical stories from the principals in the vote-buying case on the eye of the Kaohsiung mayoral election.

(December 14, 2006)  Wolfgang Kubin on Contemporary Chinese Literature  A German Sinologist is interviewed by Deutsche Welle to discuss contemporary Chinese literature, a Chongqinq newspaper takes his quotes out of context and all hell breaks loose on the Chinese Internet. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(December 13, 2006)  The Death of Liao Mengjun  A middle school student dies under mysterious circumstances and his father begins his personal blog in order to break through the mainstream media blackout.

(December 12, 2006)  China and Pinochet  Some thoughts about the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, China and Ludvig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

(December 11, 2006)  What Is The Net?  Translation of an InMediaHK article about the alternative media in the age of new capitalism.

(December 9, 2006)  Public Opinion Polls and Election Outcomes in Taiwan  Final scorecard for the public opinion polls and gambling syndicate odds versus the actual outcomes.

(December 8, 2006)  Chinese Blogs Have Unique Chinese Characteristics  Celebrity media blogger Rose Garden from Phoenix TV writes about her views on the unique characteristics of Chinese bloggers.

(December 8, 2006)  Chinese Workers Are Forbidden To Have Sexual Intercourse In Australia  A Chinese editor makes a translation mistake from an English-language article, and the Chinese Internet goes ballistic.

(December 7, 2006)  The Gold Medal Weightlifter  When Chinese female weightlifter Wang Mingjun went up to receive her gold medal, her leader said she had problems with her will and character.  

(December 6, 2006)  CCTV Consumer Gets Naomi Klein  A Chinese netizen recorded a CCTV television program and read a document in detail to hilarious effect.

(December 6, 2006)  When The RMB Dissolves Your Sense of Superiority  Many Shenzhen businesses are no longer accepting the Hong Kong dollar.  This is the translation of the reaction of a Hong Kong blogger.

(December 6, 2006)  Top Ten Chinese Media Events of 2006  Translation of the annual list of top ten Chinese media events selected by blogger Xiaode.

(December 4, 2006)  The Taiwanese Want Independence  Some public opinion poll results from the Election Study Center, National Chengchi University, show how sensitive results can be to questionnaire design.

(December 4, 2006)  The Counterfeit Merchandise Hunter  Translation of a Youth Weekend article in which counterfeit merchandise hunter Lin Feng was interviewed about his alleged extortion of a Xian pharmacy in return for no media exposure of the selling of counterfeit medicines.

(December 3, 2006)  The Monks and the Reporters  When reporters attempted to cover a traffic dispute in Chongqing, they were attacked by a group of monks.  Vivid photographs are included.

(December 1, 2006)  The Faithful Mistress  When the president of a state enterprise was placed under detention for economic crimes, his mistress arranged his escape.  Now this woman has become a symbol of love and loyalty among some Chinese netizens.

(November 30, 2006)  The Chinese Sparrow War of 1958  Translation of an essay that compared sparrows with intellectuals in China.  Both have been subjected to persecution, even though both are really beneficial to humankind.

(Novmeber 28, 2006)  The Rise of Nations  Chinese netizens comment on the CCTV documentary series comparing the rise of nations such as America, England, Japan, Germany and Russia.

(Novmeber 27, 2006)  Open versus Hidden Shamelessness  Translation of the Southern Weekend interview with actress Zhang Yu, who has been posting videos of her trading sexual favors with directors and producers in return for film roles.

(November 26, 2006)  The Media Story of the Soccer Commentator  When CCTV commentator Huang Jianxiang resigned, the public proclaimed this to be "a blow to the system," "defense of freedom" and "pursuit of individuality."  Here are translations of the famous Southern Weekend interview, Huang's acerbic rebuttal and the reporter's counterattack.

(November 25, 2006)  Tom Friedman In China  Translation of an article about New York Times columnist Tom Friedman in China.

(November 25, 2006)  Media Control and Self-Censorship in Hong Kong  Translation of a Trend Magazine article about the whys and hows of media control and self-censorship in Hong Kong.

(November 24, 2006)  Three Rules for Foreign Tourists at Three Gorge Dam  You must not meet, mention or take photos of the 1 million people displaced by the Three Gorge Dam project.

(November 23, 2006)  Chinese Photographs  Examples from the collection of photographs that will go on auction in China.

(November 22, 2006)  The Mystery Of Air Force One  Did President's Chen Shui-bian's special plane Air Force One with the national flag take the APEC delegation between Taiwan and Vietnam?

(November 21, 2006)  The Business of Cable Television  Translation of an Apple Daily opinion column by Sung Hon Sang on mass personalization in print, television and websites.

(November 20, 2006)  Ten Thousand Data Points  You do not need more strange and unusual factoids from this blog.  At some point, the more information you have, the less you know.  You need narratives and interpretations instead.

(November 20, 2006)  Clean Government Is Not A Core Value For Democracy  Translation of an opinion column by Cao Changqing on the true core value of democracy being the right to choose.

(November 19, 2006)  Trading Places  A pretty young Chinese girl named Ai Qingqing wants to trade a paper clip for a house, and she records her travails on her blog.

(November 18, 2006)  The Prison Break Ads  Wentworth Miller is the star of the Fox television drama series Prison Break.  Of all the advertisements, the most striking one came from China.  Photos included.

(November 18, 2006)  The Cultural Gap in Hong Kong Journalism  A case study of the problems that Chinese-language and English-language journalists face in a bilingual and multicultural society.

(November 17, 2006)  Deborah Fallows, Lung Ying-Tai and I  Case studies about how an outsider can sometimes bring new perceptions: the EastSouthWestNorth blogger, Deborah Fallows' Shanghai diaries and Lung Ying-tai's Hong Kong Notebooks.

(November 16, 2006)  The Putian Incident  Does this minor incident involving just a few dozen people qualify as a mass incident?  It does because there are some ghastly photographs of the people beaten up by the police.

(November 15, 2006)  Statistics of Mass Incidents  Do you know what is the difference between a mass incident and a public order disturbance in China?

(November 14, 2006)  The Professional Attitude of a Journalist Under Pressure  Translation of Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng's essay on the Journalist's Day.

(November 13, 2006)  The Terrorist Blogger of Taiwan  Blogger Vinta (who is a 19-year-old university student) came to the attention of the 'national apparatus' and was invited for a 'chat' with the Criminal Investigation Bureau.  He may well be charged with incitement of others to commit crime soon.

(November 12, 2006)  Dog Day Afternoon  Coverage of the Beijing demonstration by dog lovers against the city's restrictions on dog-raising.

(November 12, 2006)  The Hunan Traffic Police Officer  Mainstream media use distributed processing to cover sensitive cases.  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about how a country party secretary ordered the beating of a traffic officer who dared to stop his car, and a Youth Weekend interview with that reporter.

(November 11, 2006)  The H5N1 Influenza Variant In China  The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture deplored an article by HKU professor Guan Yi on the emergence and predominance of an H5N1 influenza variant in China.

(November 11, 2006)  Chen Shui-bian, Wang Dan and the Overseas Chinese Democracy Movement  Repercussions from Chen Shui-bian's funding of the Chinese overseas democracy movement (specifically in the person of Wang Dan).

(November 11, 2006)  The Man Who 'Shot' Andy Lau  A Youth Weekend reporter did an investigation of the gang that sold tabloid newspapers in the Beijing subway and train stations with fabricated sensationalistic news headlines such as Andy Lau being killed, Faye Wong committing suicide and so on.  This is MBA material on how to run a successful business.

(November 10, 2006)  The Eric Chen Interview  Translation of an interview with prosecutor Eric Chen about how he worked on the state affairs fund case that led to the indictment of the First Lady for embezzlement.

(November 10, 2006)  Lee Yuan-tseh's Open Letter  Translation of the open letter by Nobel prize winner and President of the Academia Sinica about the current political crisis in Taiwan. 

(November 9, 2006)  The China Youth Daily Reporter Was Surrounded By Seventy Screaming People  Translation of a Youth Weekend article of China Youth Daily reporter Liu Wanrong's investigative report about a retired high official in Liaoning and a howling mob surrounded him when he attended the subsequent court trial.

(November 8, 2006)  An Incident in Shenzhen  A traffic incident in Shenzhen was captured on close-circuit television.  Screen captures are included to show how municipal administrators drove a van over an old scavenger with depraved indifference.

(November 7, 2006)  The Case of Zhao Xinjian  Zhao Xinjian spent eight years in prison for murder/necrophilia which he did not commit.  Why did the police, prosecutor and court fail him?

(November 7, 2006)  Roots - Part 3  This is about an uncle that I only knew from the stories that my father told me about.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(November 6, 2006)  The Real-Name Blogger Registration System  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about how the Ministry of Information Industry moved the real-name blogger registration system along. 

(November 5, 2006)  The Taxi Driver Hit The School Girl In The Head With A Hammer  A comparison of Chinese- versus English-language coverage of a street crime in Hong Kong.

(November 5, 2006)  The Porsche Spokeswoman Who Wasn't  On the basis of a set of nude photographs taken on a sport scar, actress E Yanyan was described as the spokesperson for Porsche (China).  However, it does not seem as if either E Yanyan or Porsche mind the beautiful misunderstanding.

(November 4, 2006)  Chen Shui-bian, Mister A and Mister B  Translation of three United Daily News article about the perjury case against Chen Shui-bian and the associated evidence.  As sitting president, Chen Shui-bian cannot be indicted.

(November 2, 2006)  The Story of Yang Dan  Translation of a photo-illustrated encounter with a 7-year-old Chinese girl who would soon die of a congenital heart disease.

(November 2, 2006)  Three Shifts: The Story of a Cleaning Woman in Hong Kong  Translation of a Next Weekly article about the work routine of a cleaning woman in Hong Kong.  She works three shifts a day -- 0700-1130, 1300-1630 and 1930-2330 every day of the year with no vacation and she receives HK$6,000 dollars a month.

(November 2, 2006)  An Investigative Report about The Incest Story  A spoof tale about how mainstream media can track down an Internet forum poster and drag him through mud for expressing ideas that others may not like.

(November 1, 2006)  Money To Burn  News reports about a Shanghai blogger who writes about his own conspicuous consumption.

(October 31, 2006)  Open Up The Radio Airwaves in Hong Kong  Translation of a Ming Pao opinion piece by Hong Kong Legco member Audrey Eu on opening up the radio airwaves in Hong Kong.  A discussion of the number of radio stations, channels and frequencies in Hong Kong is appended.

(October 30, 2006)  The Case of Jia Jia  Mainland Chinese tourist Jia Jia skips his tour group in Taiwan, asks for political asylum but is quickly expelled to Hong Kong.

(October 30, 2006)  The Story of Luoxi Bridge  Translation of a blog post by veteran reporter Zhao Shilong about the connection between the Luoxi toll bridge and the late Hong Kong businessman Henry Fok.

(October 29, 2006)  A Lifetime Away  Translation of a post by celebrity blogger Li Yapeng about his maternal grandparents (and the future of mainland China and Taiwan).

(October 28, 2006)  The Jiangxi Student Demonstrations  Students at the Clothing Vocational College rioted after finding out that the value of their diplomas had been misrepresented to them.  Lots of photographs.

(October 27, 2006)  A Foreign Lady in Beijing  Today's top story in Nanfang Daily is a blog post about a foreign lady trying to block a car from the bicycle lane in Beijing.

(October 27, 2006)  Roots - Part 2  My grandfather T.F. Soong had a house by West Lake (Hangzhou) which served as the unofficial hostel for visiting Peking University professors and their families.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(October 26, 2006)  The Public Security Flower  A woman with only elementary school education rose rapidly through the public security, court and government systems in Anhui province.  She must have traded sex for power, and media reports support that.  Or maybe not ...

(October 25, 2006)  Eileen Chang's Photograph With Kim Il-sung  Here are some possibly unknown facts about Chinese writer Eileen Chang based upon archival materials in my possession.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(October 24, 2006)  The Renmin University Graduates  The graduate photographs of a group of Renmin University female students drew a storm of Internet criticisms.  A blogger gets his say in Southern Metropolis Daily.

(October 23, 2006)  From Famine To Excess  Using an Apple Daily story on a 12-year-old blogger for illustration, Hong Kong blogger Sidekick calls for the media to protect bloggers.

(October 22, 2006)  The Zhengzhou University Town  Zhengzhou city officials illegally expropriated land for a university town.  The project was undone when the farmers petitioned and the National Land Resources Department analyzed satellite photographs of the site.

(October 21, 2006)  Qin Hui on Democratic Government and Civic Society  Translation of a Southern Weekend interview with Tsinghua University professor Qin Hui on the importance of rural peasant associations in relationship to democracy and civic society.

(October 19, 2006)  Internet Lynch Mobs  A couple moved in together.  She got pregnant and he vanishes.  So now she has issued an Internet warrant to locate him for the child support.  The resulting Internet storm has caused the website to ban those users who were abusing and insulting people with extreme language.

(October 18, 2006)  Deconstructing the Deconstructivists  Two artists created statues of two Super Girls, leading to a social debate.  At issue, should monuments belong only to heroes and martyrs?  Are the Super Girls working class heroines?  What is a hero?  What is heroism?  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(October 17, 2006)  Apple Daily Interviews Hinano Mizuki  She is the single most popular character that search engines direct to this website.  So for her many fans, this is the translation of an interview by Apple Daily.

(October 17, 2006)  A Tsinghua Student in Hong Kong  Translation of a blog post about the existential crisis of a mainland Chinese doctoral student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

(October 16, 2006)  The Internet Cafes of Fangshan  In the county of Fangshan, all Internet cafes have been shut down.  Why?  This is a small town with too many Internet cafes, and the most profitable customers are minors playing online games.  The Internet cafes will even supply beds and instant noodles for their premier customers.

(October 14, 2006)  Escape From Enshi  A construction sub-contractor posted on his blog about how his crew was attacked by knife-wielding men.

(October 13, 2006)  Fujian Media PK Xinhua  The Fujian government media engaged in a very public brawl with Xinhua over an unpublished internal reference report restricted to provincial-level leaders or higher-ups.  This is the translation of a Youth Weekend interview with the Xinhua reporter.

(October 10, 2006)  Teresa Shih's Open Letter to Her Father  Translation of an open letter to Shih Ming-teh from his daughter published in Liberty Times.

(October 9, 2006)  Star Maps of Chinese Media  Translation of an essay by Chang Shi-kuo about multi-dimensional perceptual maps of Chinese media.

(October 8, 2006)  The Ideals of a Chinese Journalist  Translation of a blog post by Beijing Times editor Zhang Rui on his journalistic ideals.  He puts his hopes on the Internet, not the traditional mass media.

(October 7, 2006)  Reporters Beaten in Guangzhou  Translation of a Youth Weekly article with interviews of two of the eight reporters assaulted in Guangzhou after a car fell off a bridge into the river.

(October 6, 2006)  White Wolf  Translation of a section from the book Black Gold on the United Bamboo gang member Chang An-lo, nicknamed White Wolf.  This was what I heard twenty years ago from White Wolf in the United States, and this is what is happening in China all over again.

(October 5, 2006)  Selling Watermelons on the Internet in China  Translation of a Beijing Times article about how a watermelon grower skipped the local market and set up an virtual watermelon stand on the Internet instead.

(October 4, 2006)  The Internet in Rural China  Translation of a Beijing Times article about how a rural women's association director encountered the Internet and used it for her work, her own business and her community.

(October 3, 2006)  The Life and Times of Liao Bingxiong  Translation of a Southern People Weekly interview with the late Chinese cartoonist Liao Bingxiong, plus samples of this work. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(October 2, 2006)  The Case of Fan Zhiyi  A series of photographs allegedly showed Chinese football star Fan Zhiyi and others assaulting a groundskeeper.  You can look at those photographs and read the personal presentations.

(October 1, 2006)  The Shanghainese in Hong Kong  Translation of a Ming Pao Sunday article about a second-generation member of the Shanghai gang in Hong Kong.

(September 29, 2006)  The Unpublished Lang Xianping Interview  Southern Weekend was ready to publish an interview with economist Lang Xianping about the Shanghai pension plan scandal, but it was suppressed.  However, you can read the original and translated versions here.  More power to the Internet!

(September 28, 2006)  The Celebrations in Chenzhou  When the Communist party secretary and the disciplinary committee secretary were arrested in Chenzhou for suspected corruption, the citizens went into the streets and set off fireworks to celebrate.  This is a translation of a Southern Weekend article about local corruption.

(September 27, 2006)  The Second WoW War  Another sex scandal breaks out in the World of Warcraft game, in which one person accused a WoW member of seducing his 18-year-old sister.  This time, the netizens are suspicious and wondered if this was a disinformation campaign in inter-guild warfare.

(September 25, 2006)  The Unpublished FoxConn Story  The following is a translation of a blog post by Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng.  This is about the FoxConn-versus-China Business News case that Fu and his colleagues were working on, but never got to publish after a ban was issued on further coverage.  So this is yet another case in which an unpublishable case found itself on the Internet instead, with all sorts of delicious details that could not have been published in any newspaper either.  This is a perfect illustration of how the Internet has transformed China ...

(September 24, 2006)  The Hospital Erotic Pictures  A Chongqing hospital posted twenty erotic pictures on its website.  Is this art? sex education? or just lewdness?

(September 24, 2006)  The Sex Slaves of the Red Mansion  A Japanese adult computer game using the Chinese novel Dream of the Red Mansion has some Chinese netizens upset.

(September 23, 2006)  The SK-II Affair  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily editorial about how Procter & Gamble handled the SK-II quality problem.

(September 23, 2006)  Shanghai Twenty Years Ago  A collection of photographs of Shanghai at the start of the economic reforms.  Does anyone old enough want to return to the good old days?

(September 23, 2006)  The Number One Internet Porn Case in China  Pursuant to the trial of Internet pornographic webmasters, the Chinese Internet Monitoring Department is complaining about not having enough manpower, money and hardware to deal with rampant Internet crimes.

(September 20, 2006)  Molesting Wax Statues in China  Go to the Madame Toussaint Wax Museum, get photographed with your hand on the breast of a female celebrity's wax statue and post the photographs at the MOP forum.  Several thousand Internet critical comments later, you will be a celebrity too.

(September 18, 2006)  Western Reporters Working in China  Translation of a Southern Weekend article in which foreign correspondents such as David Barboza, Jonathan Watts, Christopher Buckley, Charles Hutzler, Eric Baculinao and Susan Johanna Jakes were interviewed.

(September 17, 2006)  Learning From The Hong Kong and Taiwan Demonstrations  Comparing the strategic/tactical lessons from the 2003-2006 July 1st marches in Hong Kong versus the 9/15-9/16 demonstrations in Taiwan.

(September 17, 2006)  Taiwan By The Numbers  How many people were at the September 15th rally in Taipei?  It should come as no surprise that Taipei Times said "tens of thousands" while People's Daily said "more than one million."

(September 16, 2006)  Delay No More  A Hong Kong district councillor wants to outlaw foul language, saying it is a form of sexual harassment.  Specifically, she wants to outlaw the use of swear words in public referring to a person's mother or her genitalia.  Well, I say, "Delay no more!"

(September 15, 2006)  Influencing Foreign Correspondents  This is the part where I impart the secrets about how to influence the foreign correspondents in China to carry out one's own personal agenda.  This comes from my personal experience of many years of successful manipulating them to do my biding.  You too can manipulate them as well.  You have no idea how easy it is.

(September 14, 2006)  Why FoxConn and China Business News Settled  This translated blog post from an editor at Xinhua's Globe magazine suggest that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council interceded because they were afraid that the movement might turn into a protest against all Taiwan businesses on mainland China.

(September 13, 2006)  Tracking Down the Rui'an Blogs  This looks up how the principal Chinese bloggers for the Dai Haijing case position their blog posts and their admonitions to commentators.

(September 12, 2006)  Media Consumption in Hong Kong  Results from a Chinese University of Hong Kong Center for Communication Research study.

(September 11, 2006)  The Virtual Sit-In in Taipei  Instead of staying out in the rain, netizens have a choice to participate in a virtual online version of A Million People To Dump A-Bian campaign.

(September 9, 2006)  The Case of Dai Haijing  On September 7 and 8, there were two mass incidents in the city of Ruian due to protests over the mysterious death of teacher Dai Haijing.  Photos included.

(September 9, 2006)  Sex and the Chinese Bloggers  The single most popular Google keyword for this website is sex141.  Why?  I mean, why can't we have a civilized Internet?

(September 8, 2006)  A Chinese Reporter in Japan  When a Japanese right-wing man confronted a Phoenix TV female reporter at the Yasukuni Shrine, she quickly replied that she was from the United States.  This resulted in the Chinese netizens being quite unhappy.

(September 8, 2006)  Who Is Miss A?  A man finds a mobile phone left in a cab with a video clip of a television actress changing clothes.  He tries to blackmail mail, but is caught and sent to jail.  Meanwhile, all of Hong Kong wants to know who the actress known only as Miss A in the court documents is, as well as see that video clip.

(September 8, 2006)  A Large-Sized Class in a Small Classroom in China  How do you pack 81 students into a classroom designed for 45?  Photographs from Changsha, China.

(September 7, 2006)  Doubts About The Ching Cheong Verdict Document  Translation of a Next Weekly analysis of the purported Ching Cheong verdict document.

(September 7, 2006)  Why The FoxConn Case Should Not Have Been Settled  When FoxConn sued China Business News, the Chinese media lined up behind their colleagues.  When FoxConn and China Business News settled amicably, the Chinese media lined up against the settlement.

(September 5, 2006)  In Defense of the Realm  Translations of the three highly controversial Apple Daily essays in defense of EasyFinder's position of refusing to apologize for the Gillian Chung backstage photographs.  Bonus: Translation of a Diuman Park blog post.

(September 3, 2006)  Chinese Bloggers on the FoxConn Affair  Translations of two blog posts by prominent Chinese bloggers/media workers.  The second one was supposed to appear in a newspaper but then the FoxConn topic has been banned, and so it appears in a blog instead.

(August 31, 2006)  My Life As An Activist Journalist  A recount of my brief 5 day career as an activist-journalist in the case of FoxConn versus the Chinese media.  The story has a happy ending, as FoxConn has reduced the requested amount of damage award from 30 million RMB to 1 RMB.  Yes, 1 RMB.

(August 30, 2006)  The PR War of FoxConn verus Media  The First Financial Daily reporters are winning hearts and minds through their blogs and media coverage.

(August 29, 2006)  The Psychological File of a Mass Murderer  Translation of a Southern Weekend article on the farmer who murdered ten people at a Taoist temple at the top of a mountain.  When interviewed, he said that he did not like the manners of the Taoist priest and he was rendering justice in the manner of the heroes of the novel, The Water Margin.

(August 28, 2006)  The Immoral Foreign Blogger  A Chinese blogger has called for an Internet hunt for the identification and ouster of a foreigner blogger based in Shanghai, because he has abused Chinese women and insulted Chinese men.

(August 27, 2006)  News Bloggers Can Only Thrive At News Portals  A sales pitch from a news portal to news bloggers to set up camp there.  The premise is, of course, false but I'll leave you to come up with the counterexamples (hint: this site!).

(August 26, 2006)  FoxConn Sues Newspaper  Apple Computer's iPod supplier FoxConn has decided to sue the media for mis-reporting on working conditions in their factories.  Rather than sue the British tabloids, FoxConn sues a Shanghai newspaper.  The reporter has posted his personal experience and thoughts.

(August 25, 2006)  How I am Learning the Lesson of "Chen Shui-bian"  Translation of a Lung Ying-tai essay on her thoughts on whether she should donate NT$100 to the anti-Bian campaign.  "I won't donate.  Because bringing down Chen Shui-bian is not the most important issue."

(August 22, 2006)  Wang Chien-ming and the Taiwan Media  Translation of an essay by the president of the Taiwan Baseball Writers Association about NY Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming's decision to decline all interviews by Taiwan media in the future.

(August 9, 2006)  Lebanon  What are the Chinese thinking about the Israel-Lebanon war?  Here are partial translations from a Hong Kong blog post and an essay by Liu Xiaobo.

(August 8, 2006)  The People's Daily Dose of Porn  A reader directed me to this page at People's Daily Online.  Freedom of speech has gone a lot further than previously supposed ... or was this another handiwork of the Chinese Hacker Alliance?

(August 7, 2006)  The Great Xiangyin Massacre  More than 100 petitioners for land compensation money have been massacred by armed policemen in Xiangyin (Hunan).  Or maybe not ...

(August 6, 2006)  Wu Hongda's Statement on the Sujiatun Concentration Camp  Wu Hongda is the direction of the Chinese dissident website China Information Center, and this is his statement about the Sujiatian concentration camp.  This is the sort of stuff that you willl never read in English.

(August 5, 2006)  Why Teresa Teng Could Not Visit Mainland China  Translation of a long Southern Weekend interview with Liu Zhongde, former Minister of Culture and deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department.  This gives insight as to how cultural policies work in China. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(August 4, 2006)  The Bang Bang Fun Interview  Translation of an Apple Daily interview with Internet satirist Bang Bang Fun.  "The more popular I am, the sadder things are in Taiwan."

(August 4, 2006)  Hong Kong Media At Crossroads  The connection between Rebecca Mackinnon's new job at Hong Kong University with the sale of the Hong Kong Economic Journal to Richard Li.  Within each crisis, there is opportunity.

(August 3, 2006)  Srifa  In this Lebanese village, 80- year-old grandmother Manaheel Jabr was pinned at the waist by a collapsed ceilng.  Should the Red Cross people cut her in two, put the pieces in a body bag and take her to the hospital morgue, or leave her behind, in the hope that more powerful equipment could lift the concrete slab from her back and would reach her before the dogs did?

(August 2, 2006)  Mafalda in Chinese  A review of the new release of San Mao's translation of the famous comic strip from Argentina. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(August 1, 2006)  Li Datong in Apple Daily  Translation of an Apple Daily opinion piece by Li Datong, former editor of the Freezing Point supplement of China Youth Daily.  The subject is the gradual breakdown of media control in China.

(July 31, 2006)  The Evil Woman With The Gucci Bag  This legendary Hong Kong tale hit the Internet forums some time ago and finally made into the Chinese-language mainstream media today.  Shall we start a countdown to see how long before the English-language media pick it up?

(July 31, 2006)  The Great Firewall of Taiwan  Translation of a Ming Pao editorial about the latest corruption scandals around Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian.  Bonus is the latest scandal over the housekeeper for the president's daughter.

(July 31, 2006)  Qana  In the middle of the night, an Israeli bomb dropped upon a building in Lebanon and killed many people, most of them children.

(July 30, 2006)  The Most Awesome Police Station Ever  Sichuan police arrested a petitioner, and this is big Internet news.  How so?  Because the police charged into the Provincial People's Congress to arrest a petitioner who had been invited to go there and attend a meeting.

(July 29, 2006)  The Hong Kong Book Fair Report  Here is what I bought at the book fair and I look forward to some good reading moments.

(July 28, 2006)  The Tangshan Earthquake Memorial Wall  More than 240,000 people perished thirty years ago when an earthquake hit Tangshan.  Today, there is a memorial wall with the names of the earthquake victims.  To date, more than 10,000 names have been etched -- for a fee of 1,000 RMB per person.

(July 27, 2006)  Hong Kong Protests Against Israel in Lebanon  This is a civilian media report on a small protest against Israeli action in Lebanon. 

(July 27, 2006)  Facts and Prejudices  Translation of Jimmy Lai's essay in Next Magazine about the key to success in current affairs reporting lies in personal engagement and immersion.  Abstract and detached reporting does not cut it.  By the way, the inspiration for this essay came from a comment on EastSouthWestNorth.

(July 25, 2006)  A Case Study of Blog Personality  Translation of a blog post by Zeng Jinyan.  I like her blog because she has the kind of Eastern European deadpan humor about the absurd situation that she finds herself in.

(July 25, 2006)  With Parents Like These, It Follows That ...  Translation of a Hong Kong blog about an encounter with twenty young students to explore their attitudes towards other ethnic, racial and regional groups.  Such attitudes surely must have been learned from home first.

(July 24, 2006)  A Chinese Girl's Photoplay  A young female student constructs a photoplay from her encounter with a garbage picker and the subsequent visit to a forgotten part of the city.  The problems are well-known, but the answer to her question ("So what do we do next?") is less certain.

(July 23, 2006)  Some Thoughts About The Singapore Chinese Internet Research Conference  Some reflections about this conference, plus some surprising facts and encounters.

(July 22, 2006)  Individual Blogging for Social Transformation  This is the paper that I delivered at the Fourth Chinese Internet Research Conference on July 21, 2006.  This paper is an explanation of the EastSouthWestNorth blog.

(July 21, 2006)  Internet Manhunts  A comparison of Internet manhunts in China and United States.  In China, the focus so far has been on persons alleged to be guilty of moral turpitude.  In the United States, the current trend is to 'hunt' down bloggers, journalists, editors and publishers.

(July 20, 2006)  Extraordinary Chinese Sayings, 1840-1999 - Part 2  More translations from a book that collected extraordinary sayings in Chinese history.

(July 19, 2006)  Li Datong: "It's Lung Ying-tai again, f**k!"  Former Freezing Point chief editor Li Datong recounts the history of how the famous Lung Ying-tai essays were published.

(July 18, 2006)  Seven Swords and KFC  After the "university gate" incident, KFC delivers another bomb with its Seven Swords ad in which vegetarian Taoists eats BBQ chicken burgers.

(July 17, 2006)  A New Mother Leaps To Her Death  A new mother leaps to her death fifteen days after giving birth.  Her classmate posted the story at a forum, and this has generated another Internet storm that breached the privacy of her husband and family.

(July 16, 2006)  Besieged City  Translation of a Ming Pao article about the Tin Shui Wai district of Hong Kong.  This is a planned town which somehow leads Hong Kong in all sorts of statistics (child abuse, spousal abuse, welfare cases, broken families, youth crimes, personal tragedies, etc).

(July 16, 2006)  The Most Beautiful Female Reporter in China  Henan TV reporter Cai Aiwen got the title by putting aside her job and attempted to revive a young girl instead.

(July 15, 2006)  On Becoming an American Citizen in Spirit  Chinese journalist Li Yuanlong was sentenced to two years in prison for 'inciting subversion.'  This is a translation of one of his essays.

(July 10, 2006)  Freedom of Identity, Speech and Assembly on the Internet  A Chinese Internet game player is being held in virtual prison until he agrees to change his alias.  Meanwhile, the guild that he founded has been dissolved by official decree.

(July 9, 2006)  Red Rubber Ball  A background painting in an online fantasy game caused almost 10,000 Chinese game players to assemble and demonstrate.  The painting shows the sun rising and we all know what that means.

(July 8, 2006)  How the Chinese Government Controls the Media  Short review of the book of the same title by He Qinglian.

(July 7, 2006)  The Case of Gao Yingying  Yet another huge breakout case on the Chinese Internet about a mysterious death in March 2002 coming back once the responsible government officials were removed for unrelated corruption.

(July 6, 2006)  The Election in Mexico  Exciting developments in the Mexican presidential elections together with some historical parallels.

(July 6, 2006)  An Internet APB in China  A Chinese netizen posts some photographs of herself engaged in a weight-reduction program over 10 weeks.  Immediately, netizens asked for an all-points-bulletin to locate her, either to get her secret method or to expose her hoax.

(July 6, 2006)  The Predicament of Knowledge Development in China  Translation of a Next Weekly magazine article by economic Steven N.S. Cheung about how restriction of speech is incompatible with knowledge development in China.

(July 5, 2006)  The Long River  If poems are written about the Long River from these photographs, they won't be anything like the idyllic classics.

(July 4, 2006)  The Parachutist's Adventure in Hong Kong  An outsider wonders why people are arguing about whether 0.3%, 0.8% or 1.4% attended the July 1st march in Hong Kong, instead of capitalizing on the fact that 60%-70% of the population have consistently demanded universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

(July 4, 2006)  Extraordinary Chinese Sayings, 1840-1999  A small sample of translations from a book that collected extraordinary sayings in Chinese history.

(July 3, 2006)  The Reporter's Notes About The Tibet Railroad  Translation of Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng's personal blog of his coverage of the opening of the Tibet railroad.

(July 2, 2006)  July 1st March Estimates  A continuously updated track report on the revisionism related to the number of marchers in Hong Kong on this July 1st.

(July 1, 2006)  The Declining Market for Demonization   That is less demonization of China nowadays, but this article suggests that things can be even better by traditional public relations techniques (such as identifying opinion leaders, and either converting or weakening them).

(June 30, 2006)  Death Vans in China   More about the use of death vans to carry out death penalty sentences in China.

(June 29, 2006)  My Dad Is Worse Than Ximen Qing  A daughter complained to the authorities that her father was keeping a mistress, but her complaints were dismissed for lack of evidence.  This is year 2006, so the daughter does the obvious thing: she builds a website about her perfidious father.

(June 28, 2006)  Today's Lesson: Character  Translation of a Lung Ying-tai article about the true meaning of the failed vote to recall Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian today.

(June 27, 2006)  Zhong Nanshan Meets Sun Zhigang  SARS hero and academician Zhong Nanshan gets his computer snatched by a robber, and suddenly the issue becomes one of whether the detention system of outside vagrants should be reinstated to combat street crime.

(June 26, 2006)  Suddenly Breaking Incidents in China  A draft law in China will make it a punishable offense (50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan in fines) for the media to publish independent reports on suddenly breaking incidents.

(June 25, 2006)  Kiddie Porn In Hong Kong  A tale of social morals is tangled up with media ethics and competition.  While this story has occupied Hong Kong headlines for days, the English-language media are doggedly determined that their readers do not need to know.

(June 24, 2006)  The Demonization of China  Translation of three Ta Kung Pao articles about how western media demonize China with biased negative reporting.  According to the State Council News Office, news reports are classified as objective, biased or balanced, and the percentage of biased reports has decreased over the years.

(June 23, 2006)  A Chinese View of iPod City  Translation of an article in which a writer/reporter wanders around the Foxconn factories and dormitories talking to more than a security guard.  Lots of photographs too.

(June 22, 2006)  The Yongchuan Government Promotional Photos  The local Yongchuan government got its advertising agency to post some photographs on its website to promote the city.  There is now more publicity (of the negative kind) than the government ever imagined possible.

(June 21, 2006)  Market Analysis of July 1st  Translation of an Eastweek editorial and an Apple Daily column about how to maximize participation at the July 1st march in Hong Kong.

(June 20, 2006)  The Shenzhen Cat Meatball Restaurant  Backtracking the developments which led to to the shutdown of the Shenzhen restaurant that allowed customers to pick the cat to be slaughtered on the curbside for their hotpot dinners.

(June 19, 2006)  The Zhengzhou University Riot  Photographs and translated forum posts about a riot by 10,000 university students about their university diplomas.

(June 19, 2006)  Lai Changxing Writes His Memoirs  Translation of an Asian Weekly article in which fugitive Lai Changxing declares his intention to publish his memoirs, in which bravado is in ("I am more patriotic than anyone else") and responsibility ("I was only doing what everyone else did") and contrition ("I've never shed a tear") are out.

(June 18, 2006)  A Plea for the June 4th Candlelight Memorial  Translation of an opinion piece by Choi Chi-keung on the matter of whether Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was at the 1989 music concert in 1989.

(June 18, 2006)  The Jilin Quintuplets  A 23-year-old Chinese woman is expecting quintuplets, and all of a sudden there is a public confidence crisis against the media.

(June 17, 2006)  Chinese Women News  A comparison of search engine performance on some common terms for the Chinese-language and English-language versions of google, msn and yahoo.

(June 16, 2006)  The Sanzhou Incident  The story of a mass incident in China had to be pieced together by reading Apple Daily on one day and Oriental Daily on the next day.  This is a good story in which sending in 100 thugs to intimidate villagers was countered by the mass mobilization with gongs and drums of 10,000 villagers who sent the thugs fleeing for their lives in terror.

(June 15, 2006)  World Cup Non-Coverage in China  Exclusive personal interviews of Beckenbauer, Blatter, Pele, Figo, Kaka and Totti were conducted by Chinese reporters, who either had no press pass in Germany or were still in China.

(June 14, 2006)  Product Placement In Mission Impossible 3  In the movie Mission Impossible 3, a chance shot captured a telephone number on a wall in Shanghai.  A Shanghai netizen dialed the telephone number and wrote a report about what happened. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(June 13, 2006)  Media Accountability and Protection of Sources  A South China Morning Post reporter testified against her sources who were convicted of perverting the course of justice.  Was this a violation of professional ethical standards?

(June 13, 2006)  The Case of Liu Zhihua  Beijing Vice Mayor Liu Zhihua has been removed from his post due to 'corruption and dissoluteness.'  This is a survey of news reports about the meaning of 'dissoluteness.'

(June 12, 2006)  Rainie Yang Goes To China  Taiwan entertainment Rainie Yang once made fun of mainlanders on her television shows.  Now, in order to launch a mainland career, she has to go through an abject public apology and plea for a second chance.

(June 10, 2006)  The Naked Ladies With The Pink Ribbon  Three Chinese women posed naked for a public interest advertisement on behalf of the Pink Ribbon campaign to promote awareness about women's health.  Was this for fame? profit? or really for the public interest?

(June 9, 2006)  China's Kafka  When the self-proclaimed "China's Kafka" female writer Daiqin tried to promote her novels on the Internet, there was not much interest.  But everything changed when she began to post 'butt-naked' photographs of herself.  Now she has got lots of public attention, but unfortunately still not about her novels.

(June 8, 2006)  My Grandmother Was A Scavenger  A grandmother was detained five days for picking up 28 empty bottles on a train.  An Internet forum post generated a firestorm, and the public security bureau had to apologize and rescind the penalty.

(June 7, 2006)  Hong Kong Cultural Sovereignty: Whose Tamar Is It?  Translation of Lung Ying-tai's speech about civic responsibility and participation in Hong Kong, with respect to the Tamar government headquarters and other things.

(June 6, 2006)  The River Flows Like Blood  Photographs from Rongxian, Guangxi province, China in which the river literally flows like blood.

(June 5, 2006)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  Whether the attendance figure at the June 4th candlelight meeting was 44,000 or 19,000 is immaterial because the burning issue of the moment was what happened at a concert or dinner 17 years ago at the Royal Jockey Club.

(June 5, 2006)  The Sudden Death of a Female Worker in China  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily report about how a female garment factory worker died after working from 9am to past 130am for several days in a row.

(June 4, 2006)  The Affair At Beijing Foreign Studies University  First, a netizen claimed to have been sexually exploited by her BFSU thesis advisor.  Next, another netizen came forward to dispute the first story in a convincing manner.  If you want an open and anonymous Internet, this is what happens sometimes.

(June 3, 2006)  Civilian Reporting in Guangzhou  A comparison of a civilian report and a mainstream media report on a street incident in Guangzhou.

(June 2, 2006)  Bus Uncle: Identity and Politics  Is Roger Chan the real thing?  How much of what he said in the Next Magazine interview is true?  Well, if you take what he said literally, then his HK SAR Chief Executive pretensions are over.

(May 31, 2006)  The Bus Uncle Interview in Next Magazine  Next Magazine has a major exclusive breakthrough story by locating Bus Uncle himself.  And you won't believe what happened here -- Bus Uncle was a candidate for the HK SAR Chief Executive in 1997, 2002 and 2005, and he intends to compete next year too!  We're all gonna get stressed!

(May 30, 2006)  Not Buy House in China  Here is a whole bunch of stories about Zou Tao, the Shenzhen citizen who started a movement to refuse to buy houses because the prices are too high.  Is he hero or charlatan?

(May 30, 2006)  More About The Voodoo Dolls  Spanning the globe on the ban in China, the economic losses in Thailand, the presidential election in Mexico and the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

(May 29, 2006)  Hong Kong  By The Numbers  At the June 4th march yesterday, the organizers claimed 1,100 but the police said 600.  Ming Pao has some explanations, and it is not because the Hong Kong people no longer care as a whole.

(May 29, 2006)  Airport Noise Pollution  A complaint about noise pollution at Beijing International Airport revives some memories of what was the most dangerous airport in the world -- Kai Tak Airport of Hong Kong.  You can see some photographs and watch some videos.

(May 28, 2006)  The Cassette Tapes With Orange Stickers  At CCTV's News Investigation program, a cassette tape with an orange sticker means that this was a produced but never aired program.  Here reporter Cai Jing recalls one such program.

(May 27, 2006)  Which China?  One China has magnificent office buildings lining the river front; the other China has impoverished peasants who can only afford potato strips cooked with more potato strips all year round. 

(May 26, 2006)  'Pornographic' Art Exhibitions in China  In Shanghai, the "Solo Exhibition" was shut down after one hour when the authorities shut off the electricity.  Meanwhile, in Nanjing, another exhibition was providing shock-and-awe, notably with a female student's photographs of her own reproductive organ.

(May 25, 2006)  Reporters Beaten At Shenzhen PAAG Trial  In China's civilized city of Shenzhen, five Hong Kong reporters were assaulted by hospital workers (including female nurses dressed in white uniform) when they tried to cover a case of medical malpractice involving dozens of Hong Kong women who thought that they were getting a good cheap deal with an innovative breast enhancement treatment.

(May 24, 2006)  Bus Uncle  The most popular movie in Hong Kong is not Mission Impossible 3 or The Da Vinci Code.  It is a video clip of an argument on a public bus in which a middle-aged man verbally assaulted a young man for more than 5 minutes.  There are now multiple brand extensions for the Bus Uncle.  Not even a marketing company could ever hope to accomplish as much.

(May 23, 2006)  The Aftermath of the White House Meeting  After US President Bush's meeting with Yu Jie, Wang Yi and Li Baiguang, people are being forced to take sides in a contentious squabble among Christians, independent writers and political activists. 

(May 23, 2006)  The Jinhua Murders  Single women in Zhejiang province in China were locking and sealing their windows because a serial murderer is on the loose, as reported in a BBS forum post.  The author is now under arrest for disturbing the public order.

(May 22, 2006)  The Winter of Chinese Print Media  Translation of an analysis about the symbiotic relationship between print and Internet media in China.  The print media are basically supplying their news content virtually for free to the Internet media and then seeing their advertising revenues go into a freefall.  But can they charge for their news content?

(May 22, 2006)  Newspapers and News Portals  Translation of a statement by a former Chinese Internet portal editor who explains where their news reports come from.

(May 22, 2006)  China During The Early Days Of The Reform  Black-and-white photographs from the late 1970's and early 1980's when the Cultural Revolution was just ended and a shy and uncertain flirtation with the market economy began.

(May 21, 2006)  Behind The Scenes Of CCTV's News Investigation  Translation of a China Youth Daily article about the trials and tribulations of an investigative news television show.  The three episodes are about a fake irrigation project, SARS and Shenzhen business scammers.

(May 21, 2006)  How I Was A Chinese Traitor  A Chinese journalist/blogger helped out a German tourist who was overcharged at a Beijing teahouse and was called a Chinese traitor.

(May 20, 2006)  Blogs and Newspapers  Comments on Jimmy Lai's essay about why he thinks blogs will never replace newspapers.

(May 19, 2006)  Blogs Are Critical Pals Of Newspapers  Translation of an essay by Apple Daily's Jimmy Lai about why he thinks blogs will never replace newspapers.

(May 18, 2006)  The Mysterious Internet Police  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about how the Shenzhen virtual police model is going to go nationwide soon.

(May 17, 2006)  Local News Bureaus in China  Translation of an article about the deep structural reasons behind the spate of recent reports of malfeasance at local news bureaus around China.  What would happen to McDonald's if they run their fast food franchises the same way?

(May 16, 2006) Big Discovery in Hong Kong  A political storm arose from a set of Democratic Party reformer emails published on a blog.

(May 16, 2006)  "I Am Sorry"  Translation of an opinion piece in Southern Metropolis Daily about how the Chinese people find it very hard to say "sorry," using the example that Chen Hong and Chen Kaige seemed unable to utter the words with respect to the environmental damaged caused by their film production team.

(May 15, 2006)  Photographer Passes On Faye Wong's Baby Photo  A Chinese photographer says that he is giving up the photo opportunity of the year because he was touched by the slogan "Humanity is strength."  By the way, he also thinks that stealth photograhers are just a group of mainland people who want to change the old methods to get some genuine news, and not to be confused with paparazzis.

(May 14, 2006)  DV Comes To Rural China  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about what happened when a China Civil Administration-European Union project distributed DV cameras to Chinese villagers and let them film whatever they wanted to -- corruption, democracy, entrepeneurship, production, society, historical memories, etc.

(May 13, 2006)  Rock Star versus Media  Beijing News publishes an article about rock musician Dou Wei, who showed up to smash windows, destroy a computer and a television set, throw water in the editor's face and burned another editor's car.  And the public is strongly in favor of Dou Wei's actions.

(May 12, 2006)  The Fortieth Anniversary of the Cultural Revolution  Translation of an article by Liu Xiaobo about how failure to discuss the catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution is another catastrophe in the making.

(May 12, 2006)  The Interviewee's Blog  The brother of the main suspect in the southern Taiwan train derailment case was hounded by the media for weeks, and so he established a personal blog to record his travails with the media.  The blog has accumulated at least 140,000 hits already.

(May 11, 2006)  Why The Chinese Communists Are Not Doomed To Finish Yet  Translation of an article by Chinese exile Wan Runnan.  The challenge is that if you don't know why the Chinese Communists have not collapsed like their eastern European counterparts, then you have no idea where to go next.

(May 11, 2006)  "How Can I Not Slaughter You"  A Shenzhen blogger turned his blog posts into a 90,000-word book about how tourist guides rip off their clients.

(May 10, 2006)  Reporters At A Mining Disaster  Five reporters covering a mining disaster were attacked by mine security guards, fire fighters and cadres.  Read the action as seen by three of these reporters.

(May 9, 2006)  Breaking Through The Internet Blocking In Mainland China  Translation of a Jiao Guobiao essay in which unfair and unbalanced journalism is said to be a virtue.

(May 9, 2006)  Dissecting An Unfair and Unbalanced Report  The comparison of the Chinese- and English-language reports shows that the English-reading world has been robbed of a truly sensational story.

(May 8, 2006)  The White House In West Hong Kong  An unoccupied house in west Hong Kong was a place of political horrors not so long ago.

(May 8, 2006)  "I Will Turn The Lights Out Before I Leave"  Translation of the statement from a former Sing Pao editor about why the workers had to take industrial action.  This is the usual heartbreaking story of tremendous proportions.

(May 7, 2006)  "The Taiwanese That We Don't Love"  Translation of an opinion piece in the Paraguayan newspaper Última Hora about the presents from Santa Claus.

(May 7, 2006)  The Case of Yang Xiaoqing  The story of a Chinese reporter who was arrested.  According to the government, he was engaged in blackmailing government officials with the threat of negative reporting.  According to his wife, he was uncovering corruption.

(May 7, 2006)  2008 - Beijing  Readings of an oil painting by Liu Yi that reflect contemporary China-western relations. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(May 6, 2006)  The Longest Day  The various diplomatic maneuvers that were made to enable President Chen Shui-bian to go from Taiwan to Paraguay.

(May 6, 2006)  Number One On Lanzhou Television  In Lanzhou, the new city leader decided to clean up the city image by making the officials in charge of the various city departments appear on television to answer questions.

(May 6, 2006)  The Premature Ending of The Unknown Mao  The publisher has abandoned efforts to publish the Chinese-language version of Jung Chang's book 'Mao: The Unknown Story' under pressure.  The son of KMT general Hu Tsung-nan objected to his father being branded a 'Red sleeper' based upon the evidence cited by Jung Chang.

(May 5, 2006)  Who Is He?  US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack referred to 'he' ten times in a press briefing without mentioning 'his' name.

(May 4, 2006)  Illegal Legal News in China  A new newspaper titled Legal Times on sale in Beijing is actually an illegal publication targeted towards gullible tourists who are attracted by fake headlines such as "Faye Wong has committed suicide."

(May 3, 2006)  An Outdoor Advertisement Board in China  A Canadian man is alleged to be the first foreigner to rent a large outdoor advertisement board to look for a marriage partner.

(May 3, 2006)  Religion in China - Part 4  Translation of the last of three Phoenix Weekly reports about Christian churches in rural China.  "Whichever church has a better reputation in curing illnesses, they will have more believers."

(May 3, 2006)  Election 2  Triad members will steal, cheat and kill, but somehow they will not tell a lie.  That is what this movie says.

(May 2, 2006)  Hammer and Tickle in China  During the Communist era, Eastern Europe was famous for political jokes among the people.  Why do those types of political jokes seem to be less prevalent in China?

(May 1, 2006)  The Chinese Photojournalist Maohair  A selection of photographs by this young Shenyang photojournalist with a stunning portfolio.  This is a China that words fail to convey adequately.

(April 30, 2006)  Taiwan - The Road To Democracy  Translation of a China Times report about the international forum organized by the Lung Ying-tai Cultural Foundation.

(April 29, 2006)  Religion in China - Part 3  Translation of a Phoenix Weekly report about the hometown of the leader of the Three Grades of Servants church in China.

(April 28, 2006)  Visualizing Culture at MIT  The MIT OpenCourseWare website featured some Japanese wood print images from late 19th century used in a cultural course, and then the overseas Chinese Internet erupts in fury. 

(April 28, 2006)  Why Enter The Hong Kong CE Election?  Translation of an Apple Daily opinion piece in which public affairs consultant Lo Chi-kin lay out the different reasons for why the democrats want to contest the college of electors and the Chief Executive position.

(April 26, 2006)  Secretary PK Boss  An email spat between the CEO and his secretary is now the biggest news within the foreign corporate community in China.  Back behind this is the issue of corporate management cultures. 

(April 26, 2006)  Religion in China - Part 2  Translation of a Phoenix Weekly report about the feud between the Three Grades of Servants and Eastern Lightning churches in China.

(April 25, 2006)  The Chinese CSI Blogger  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily article about a popular Chinese blog by a legal medical expert who describes the cases that he has worked on.

(April 25, 2006)  Hong Kong Numbers Game  Do Hong Kong gamblers bet three million dollars with their illegal bookies each year?  This is what the statistics say.

(April 25, 2006)  The Battle of the Solomon Islands  A review of the propaganda battle as reported in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong newspapers.

(April 24, 2006)  Religion in China - Part 1  When some Ningxia peasants could not get the government to help them stem the erosion of their farmlands, they hired monks to pray to the River God.

(April 23, 2006)  Hu Jintao At Yale University  Review of some reactions to Hu Jintao's speech to the Yale University students and faculty.

(April 22, 2006)  Hu Jintao At The White House  Review of some reactions to the incident on the White House lawn.  The biggest loser is the Bush Administration -- was it incompetence or complicity?

(April 22, 2006)  Competition and Cooperation in Hong Kong News Media  Do you think the Hong Kong news stories sound too homogenous?  Maybe that is because the frontline reporters share their photographs and information so that no one is obviously better or worse, and then they can all keep their jobs.

(April 17, 2006)  The Most Famous Pervert in China  The list of most famous university, most famous pervert and most famous phrase in China for year 2006 might surprise you, because everything ties in with the game World of Warcraft.

(April 16, 2006)  The Shantou Incident  Media coverage of the Shantou mass incident over the tearing down of two sluice gates built by the residents of Bomei village.

(April 15, 2006)  The Cross Straits Economic and Trade Forum  Minor observations on the media coverage, about the actual title of the event and the motives of some of the attendees.

(April 14, 2006)  How To Get Into University (According To KFC)  A KFC television commercial drew a ton of flying "bricks" from Chinese netizens for suggesting that eating fried chicken is superior to actually studying hard for getting into university.

(April 13, 2006)  Traditional versus Simplified Chinese Characters  An 'announcement' by the United Nations that all official documents will be published solely in simplified Chinese characters beginning in 2008 started an Internet battle about the merits of the two systems.

(April 12, 2006)  The Gas Explosion in Hong Kong  A comparison of local newspaper coverage of an underground gas explosion in Hong Kong in which people were injured.

(April 10, 2006)  Cherry Blossom Time in Wuhan  The annual cherry blossom festival at Wuhan University kicks off with an Internet debate of "It's a shame, not a tree" versus "It's a tree, not a shame."  Will the angry young people go out and saw the 1,000 cherry trees planted by the Japanese?

(April 9, 2006)  The True Life of a Political Worm  Translation of a very long Tianya Club forum post of the musings of a Chinese government bureaucrat about organizational behavior.

(April 8, 2006)  The Beijing Street Prostitute's MBA Lecture  Translation of a blog post that is a parody of the Shanghai Taxi Driver's MBA lecture, with a change in the principal character from taxi driver to street walker.

(April 7, 2006)  The Shanghai Taxi Driver's MBA Lecture  Translation of a blog post that recorded a Shanghai taxi conversation between the driver and a Microsoft worker.  The driver has become a famous personality on account of his astute analysis of customer selection and service techniques.

(April 6, 2006)  From Binyan to Freezing Point  Translation of an article by Qian Gang on the strange connection between Liu Binyan in 1956 and Freezing Point in 2006 through a common third party.  Yet, this is an optimistic view about what has happened to Chinese media in the half century.

(April 5, 2006)  What Is On My Bookshelf  Per the request of a reader, the list of my father's signed books on the Hong Kong bookshelf is updated.  Do you know who these people are?

(April 4, 2006)  The State of Taiwan Pop Music in China  Translation of a Massage Milk blog post on the influence of Taiwan pop musicians on mainland China today. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(April 3, 2006)  The Great General Shi Lang  The latest CCTV prime-time historical serial drama is about a Chinese general recovering Taiwan from the Dutch for the Manchurian Qing dynasty, and this obviously set off political commentaries in China. 

(April 3, 2006)  The Village That Elected A Fugitive As Mayor  Translation of a Phoenix Weekly article about how a fugitive from law was elected the village mayor three times.

(April 2, 2006)  Voodoo Dolls In China  The latest fad among Chinese students is voodoo dolls, for romance, cursing, health and protection.  The diffusion of this product occurred through word-of-mouth, small entrepreneurship, mainstream media stories and Internet e-commerce sites.

(April 1, 2006)  The Window To The Chinese-language World  Translation of a speech by Lung Ying-tai on the fortieth anniversary of Ming Pao Monthly magazine.

(March 29, 2006)  The Salaries of Chinese News Reporters  A salary survey puts Chinese news reporters in major cities in the middle-class.  But to become a super-star requires a unique proposition -- you have to have news that nobody else does.

(March 28, 2006)  Li Yi on Apple Daily (Taiwan)  Translation of an Apple Daily column about the rise of Apple Daily in Taiwan.

(March 27, 2006)  Being Alive Is Not Just An Instinct  Translation of a Southern Weekend essay by author Yan Lianke about his novel The Dream of Ding Village, including an explanation about how reality is even stranger than the imaginary world of fiction.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture) 

(March 26, 2006)  Super Girl 2006  Translation of a Massage Milk blog post about how it does not matter how the State Administration sets the conditions against Hunan Satellite TV's Super Girl, because the audience-centric programs will always be more popular than ideology- and formula-driven programs.

(March 25, 2006)  The County Mayor Netizen Without Any Sock Puppets  Translation of a Southern Weekend story about how a county mayor got on the Tianya Club forum under this real name to ask for opinions and recommendations.  This is arguably a precedent-setting event.

(March 24, 2006)  More In The Li Xiguang File  The dean of the Journalism and Communication School at Tsinghua University says that the biggest danger to Chinese media is from poor-quality reporters and that former Freezing Point editor Li Datong is doing good things at the research department at China Youth Daily.

(March 23, 2006)  Paying Respect to Deep Throat  At the fifth annual Media Monitoring Research Conference in China, reporter Guo Yukaun decided to pay tribute to Mark "Deep Throat" Felt of the Watergate affair and Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon papers.  Implied in his speech is a call of support by Chinese journalists and citizens for Chinese whistleblowers who put the public interests ahead of their personal safety.

(March 22, 2006)  Advertising and Media in China  My notes of the two speeches given by Chinese media researchers at the Advertising Research Foundation Convention in New York City this week.

(March 20, 2006)  You Are What Your Read  Photographs of the books on the bookshelves of my New York City apartment.  (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(March 19, 2006)  My Seven Years In The World Of Gangsters  Translation of the start of a Tianya forum post that has accumulated 1.7 million page views and 21,000 comments so far.  What is the secret behind its success?

(March 18, 2006)  Another Hong Kong Schoolteacher Attempted To Jump Off A Building  A Hong Kong schoolteacher uses a threatened suicide to publicize nepotism at his school.  The English-language newspapers declined to cover, the Chinese-language newspapers gave the teacher's story and a blogger wrote about the dark side.

(March 17, 2006)  The Yuexi Boat Disaster  Piecing together what happened at a boat-capsizing disaster through news reports, photographs and interviews.

(March 15, 2006)  Lin Huai-Min On Taiwan Newspapers  Translation of the transcript of a conversation between Cloud Gate Dance Theater Lin Huai-Min with the publisher of Taiwan's United Daily News.  This is presently an Internet forum/blog sensation because the independent intellectual Lin made criticisms that would be applicable to all the mainstream newspapers in Taiwan.

(March 14, 2006) Civic Awareness and Quality  Translation of Hong Kong blogger Miss Lee's notes from the talk given by Lung Ying-tai at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

(March 13, 2006)  Angel by Day, Devil by Night: A Media Story - Part 2  Translation of Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng's blog post about what he actually went through in order to come up with the report.

(March 12, 2006)  The February Girl Pics  Translation of a Tianya forum post from a Chinese woman who was posting cleavage-revealing photographs.  

(March 11, 2006)  Angel by Day, Devil by Night: A Media Story - Part 1  Southern Weekend published a story about a female elementary school teacher forced to sell her body to keep her younger brothers in school, but netizens criticized the story as being fabricated.

(March 6, 2006)  The Case of Mexican Democracy  "It wasn't about going after an election victory. It was about creating a space for society and government to work together.  Seeing how things are now, who wouldn't be disappointed?"

(March 6, 2006)  The Ten Most Disgusting Chinese Women of 2005  A Chinese netizen gives his personal list.  While this is idiosyncratic, chances are that many of these names will make most people's list.  Also interesting is that some of these celebrities are pure Internet creations.

(March 5, 2006)  Critical Reading In China  Partial translation from a YZZK article about the small unofficial group of reader/critics inside the Central Publicity Department that was responsible for many of the media upheavals in China. 

(March 4, 2006)  The Death of a Young Online Game Player  Partial translation from a Southern Weekend article about a 13-year-old jumped off the 24-th floor after playing the game Warcraft III for 36 hours non-stop.  The parents are suing the game manufacturer.

(March 3, 2006)  The Huananxincheng Story  An apartment complex owners' rights representative was assaulted by thugs presumably hired by the managerment and the local media refused to publish anything.  The owners organized a grassroots Internet campaign joined by many others across China until the story got so big that the national media stepped in.

(March 2, 2006)  Anti-Imperialism and Anti-Feudalism in Modern Chinese History  Translation of the critique of the Yuan Weishi's article that was the condition for the resumption of the publication of Freezing Point weekly magazine in China Youth Daily.

(March 1, 2006)  Responses To The National Unification Council Issue  Review of reactions from mainland China and Hong Kong, together with the translation of the Apple Daily (Hong Kong) op/ed piece.

(February 28, 2006)  Celebrity Bloggers and Advertisements  Translation of a blog post by Massage Milk on how the relationship between Sina.com and its celebrity blogger Xu Jinglei who is capable of generating significant advertising revenue.  How much (if anything) is Sina.com entitled?

(February 27, 2006)  Criticisms of Freezing Point  Translation of a news report about three Chinese scholars criticizing Freezing Point from the leftist viewpoint (namely, Li Datong and Yuan Weishi were supporting the current power structure).  There is also a connection to a number of television serial dramas.

(February 26, 2006)  How Movie Censorship Was Practiced in Hong Kong  Basically, anything with the Chinese national five-star flag, emblem, anthem or leaders (such as Mao Zedong) was banned from view in Hong Kong.  But there was more: The Yellow River Cantata, The White-haired Girl, satellite launches, nuclear tests, Tibetan highway construction, marine department directors, ...

(February 25, 2006)  The Latest Advertising Industry Buzzwords: Channel Planning  Help-wanted ads are popping up as media planning agencies are trying to build up their capabilities to offer channel planning to their existing and prospective advertiser clients.  This is a brief summary of the background.  (Posted at ZonaLatina.com)

(February 24, 2006)  Me and the Internet  Translation of the reflections of Liu Xiaobo about the difference that the Internet has made in his own writing as well as the human rights movement in China.  In 1995, he wrote his essay with a fountain pen, rode a bike across town and asked a foreign friend to fax the essay overseas.  Today, he writes his essay on his computer, he clicks his mouse and the essay is with the overseas editor.

(February 23, 2006)  Anatomy Of A Pornographic Movie  How much does it cost to make a pornographic movie?  About 600 Hong Kong dollars if you are really CHEAP and you are a smooth-talker.

(February 22, 2006)  The Most Popular Chinese Blogger  Four months after establishing a Sina.com blog, Chinese actress Xu Jinglei has accumulated 11.5 million visits.  This is a translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily interview in which Xu Jinglei discusses how she found a mode of expression to compliment her movie work. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(February 21, 2006)  The Origins of Self-Flagellation  Knight Ridder and The Guardian both quoted the same sentence from this blog that includes the term 'self-flagellation'.  A Chinese blogger finds that to be impossible to translate.  Everyone has their own self-flagellation, I'll tell you mine and let your contemplate about your own.

(February 21, 2006)  Covertly Recording Telephone Conversations  Fang Zhouzi wonders if anyone should ever talk to Southern People Weekly Magazine by telephone, after a reporter turned an interview rejection into an article via secret taping.  Would that be prevented by law in the United States?

(February 20, 2006)  The Shot That Won't Get Heard In China  If a Chinese senior official shot someone in a hunting accident, would anyone hear about it?  (Posted at Morph: We Media Global Forum)

(February 20, 2006)  The Number of Internet-Related Crimes in China  Well, I don't have a clue.  Do you think it is more or less than 87,000 per year?

(February 19, 2006)  There Was A Man Named Liu Binyan  Full translation of the internal China Youth Daily essay that got Lu Yuegang removed as deputy editor-in-chief of Freezing Point weekly magazine.

(February 19, 2006)  Stories About Apple Daily  Why is this 'rag' among the market leaders in Hong Kong and Taiwan?  Either Apple Daily is doing something right, or else its readers are doing something wrong.  Translations of two essays about Apple Daily, one from Yazhou Zhoukan ties it to democratic development and the other is from the boss Jimmy Lai himself.

(Feburary 18, 2006)  The Li-Lu Statement On Freezing Point  Translation of the open statement by Li Datong and Lu Yuegang in the aftermath that they have been relieved of their duties at Freezing Point weekly magazine, which will now be allowed to resume publication.

(Feburary 17, 2006)  The Freedom of Chinese Netizens Is Not Up To The Americans  Translation of the reaction from one of the named subjects (Chinese blogger Michael Anti) in the US Congressional hearings on Internet freedom in China.

(February 16, 2006)  The Steamed Bun Lawsuit  The Promise's director Chen Kaige is suing the author of the 20-minute Internet video parody.  This has led to some speculations about the true motivations behind the lawsuit: copyright? embarrassment? revenge? publicity? (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(February 15, 2006)  The Case of Zhang Dejiang  Two more translated articles appear at the bottom of this death watch page for Guangdong Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang.  It is most peculiar to see the "Dump Zhang" and "Save Zhang" movements should be fighting the war out in Hong Kong newspapers and magazines.

(February 14, 2006)  The Wangfu Ping Essay in Caijing  In the arcane art of China watching, this article has people abuzz.  Ignoring the doctrinarian language, the article can be read as a statement from the central government to the local governments warning them not to obstruct the reforms through their collusion with business interests for profit.

(February 13, 2006)  World Press Photo Of The Year Winners  There are two Chinese winners in the 2006 World Press Photo competition.  A Chinese blogger analyzed these two winners and ponders what happened to the missing entries from China that will not show up anywhere until decades later.

(February 13, 2006)  A Investigative Reporter's Year-End Review  Translation of the 2005 review by Southern Weekend reporter Fu Jianfeng about some of the most remarkable stories and observations of the year.

(February 12, 2006)  Chinese-Style Election  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about the election of the mayor of Dengfeng city.  The new system is known as the "three votes system."  Strangely enough, it came about because the Organization Department director was sick of being harrassed by job-seekers with powerful backers.

(February 11, 2006)  The Third Way For Yahoo  The first way is to fulfill all subpoenas as Yahoo is doing right now.  The second way is to reject all subpoenas and be shut down.  There is a third way: evaluate the subpoenaed material and make a decision (that is, human rights violation or common crime?).  Take the quiz and see if you pass.

(February 10, 2006)  The Case of the Public Interest Times Editor  Was Chen Jieren demoted either because of poor job performance or because he published an article that was detrimental to the international image of China?  You can read the original English sentences that were considered problematic in that article.

(February 9, 2006)  The Case of Li Zhi   Translation of the defense statement at the court of appeal in the case of Li Zhi, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for "inciting subversion."  Read this statement for yourself and then see if you agree with the western media headlines.

(February 8, 2006)  A Day In The Life Of A Chinese Internet Police  Translation of a reporter's day as an Internet police officer.  In the morning, the reporter checked Internet bar visitors; in the afternoon, the reporter browsed web pages.  Nothing was ever found.  Zilch.

(February 7, 2006)  Listening to Chen Leishi's Zither  A bold attempt to translate Wong Kwok-pun's poem from Chinese into English. (Loffence @ ESWN Culture)

(February 7, 2006)  An Empirical Evaluation of Clusty, Ice Rocket, Google, MSN and Yahoo  I conducted a comparison of the ranking of some EastSouthWestNorth-relevant keywords in Clusty, Google and Yahoo.  There is not much difference among these three search engines most of the time.

(February 6, 2006)  The Death Of The Taizhou Editor  The Taizhou Evening News editor who was arrested by traffic policemen in his office has died.  This is a post from October 2005 when the event took place.  I have added a translation of the original article that caused the traffic policemen to show up at the newspaper.

(February 6, 2006)  The Zhanjiang Incident  A mass incident in which more than 500 villagers fought with guns, bombs, pitchforks, hoes and rakes over land usage.  More than 30 people were injured, including two policemen (one of them was the police station director).  The county party secretary had to be escorted out by the police.

(February 5, 2006)  Fireworks in Beijing  Translation of a Massage Milk blog post on the rescinding of the ban of firework displays by citizens in Beijing during the Chinese New Year.  When they wanted to ban fireworks once upon a time, the newspapers spoke of eyeballs and fingers being blown off, fire diasters and environmental pollution.  When they rescind the ban, nobody was injured, no fires and no pollution.  This is known as journalistic guidance.

(February 4, 2006)  Protecting Against Fraud in Science and News  Partial translation of a Fang Zhouzi article about the standard practice of protecting against fraud in science and a discussion of its application to journalism.

(February 3, 2006)  They Only Look At EastSouthWestNorth  Translation of a column in Southern Metropolis Daily.  Although this appeared in the most famous metropolitan newspaper of all, it cannot be said to be a mainstream article -- the author is Chinese blogger Anti.

(February 3, 2006)  The Story Behind The News  Translation of a section of the book by veteran Chinese investigative reporter Zhao Shilong.  When Zhao's story about the AIDS crisis in Shaanxi province, the local government took immediate action -- to find out who leaked the information.

(February 2, 2006)  How Memoirs of a Geisha Became "Sensitive"  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily article about why Memoirs of a Geisha is on hold in mainland China.  "Zhang Ziyi beat out the Japanese movie stars for the star role, but she never imagined that she would nearly be drowned by the saliva from her own country's people."

(February 1, 2006)  Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt  Translation of the story behind the most popular article in the history of the now defunct Freezing Point. 

(January 31, 2006)  Ten Famous Sayings in China  The category is called 'Have you no shame?'

(January 31, 2006)  News Coverage of Mining Accidents in China  Professor He Zuoxin comes back with a series of rebuttals about the famous interview by Southern People Weekly.  This is a translation of number seven in the series and deals with how what the statistics on mining accidents can be compared across country.

(January 30, 2006)  The Freezing Point Story: Using News To Influence Today  Translation of an earlier Southern Weekend interview of Freezing Point editor Li Datong.  "The reason why I report on something is to change reality."  Li Datong must be a true Marxist, because of Karl Mark's famous thesis on Feuerbach: "Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it"?

(January 30, 2006)  The Cult Of The Chairman  Photographs from Shaoshan, the birthplace of Chairman Mao Zedong.  There is a big local business in selling firecrackers, candles and joss sticks.

(January 29, 2006)  The Promise in Shangri La  Translation of an article about the environmental damage that Chen Kaige's movie The Promise did to beautiful Shangri La. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 28, 2006)  Li Datong In 1989  In May 1989, Li Datong was a leader of a journalists' petition to reform Chinese journalism.  As a result, he was removed from front-line journalism for five years before returning to start Freezing Point.  Considering that previous experience, it is small wonder that he is not impressed by what is happening now.

(January 28, 2006)  Solving A Real-Life Problem With Search Engines  I try an exercise by using Baidu, Google.cn and Google.com to find the Yuan Weishi essay that caused Freezing Point weekly magazine to be shut down.  The essay is actually present all over the place, but finding it is tricky.

(January 27, 2006)  Please Use Civilization To Convince Us Translation of an open letter from Taiwan intellectual Lung Ying-tai to Chinese President Hu Jintao over the matter of the shutdown of Freezing Point.  Whoever made the original decision probably never imagined that it would spill over to unification talks with Taiwan. 

(January 26, 2006)  The Open Letter from Li Datong  Translation of an open letter from Li Datong, editor of the Freezing Point weekly magazine in China Youth Daily.  Here, Li explains why he believed Freezing Point was shut down.

(January 26, 2006)  History Textbooks in China  Translation of a long essay by Yuan Weishi on history textbooks in Chinese middle schools.  This was speculated as one of the essays that caused the Freezing Point weekly supplement in China Youth Daily to be shut down.

(January 25, 2006)  Macking In Taipei  The front page news in Apple Daily was that the City of Taipei Department of Information had an English-language web page to help foreigner guys go about 'macking' in Taipei.

(January 24, 2006)  The Disappearing Fairies of China  A photo-play in which a newspaper reporter collaborated with the police to bust a Fuzhou gang running the classical "caught-in-bed" scam.

(January 23, 2006)  Free Newspapers in Hong Kong  Translation of an article that compares the three free newspapers (Metro, Headline Daily and am730) in terms of content, presentation, political positions, advertisements and target audiences.

(January 22, 2006)  The Same Song  There is a famous Chinese song titled The Same Song written in 1990. Should it be banished? Read about the connections with the Chinese model opera The White-Haired Girl and Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 22, 2006)  A Three-Year-Old Chinese Boy  These four photographs are stunning people at the Chinese forums.  This is the best evidence needed to ban cigarettes.

(January 21, 2006)  The Chinese Censors Are At Work Again  The local media in Hunan decided to censor an article that named Hunan as being inadequate in reorganizing illegal or dangerous coal mines.  This is unsurprising, except for the source of the article.

(January 20, 2006)  Mass Incidents In China  For the year 2005, there were 87,000 mass incidents in China.  But what is a mass incident?  When is it a public order disturbance?  One such incident occurred yesterday in Shenzhen.  Will such mass incidents bring the government down?

(January 20, 2006)  Three Chinese Weddings  Photographs from three separate Chinese weddings.

(January 19, 2006)  Corporate Charity In China  Workers at a famous tourism company in Kaifeng managed to raise a total of 15 yuan for disaster relief.  Behind this apparent scandal are corporate social responsibility, the famous painting Up The River During Qingming Festival, a national Class 4A scenic site and ... of course, media responsibility.

(January 18, 2006)  The Case of Li Changqing  Li Changqing was originally charged with ghost-writing the letter from bullet-vest party secretary Huang Jingao to the People's Daily website, but he is now instead charged with creating a rumor about dengue fever in Fuzhou city.  The real story is Boxun's presentation of its journalistic standards.

(January 18, 2006)  Comparing Taishi and Shanwei  Translation of an interview with activist Guo Feixiong in comparing the outcomes at Taishi and Shanwei.

(January 17, 2006)  Anti-Japanese Print Advertisements in China  Photographs of print advertisements created by persons unknown.

(January 16, 2006)  The Zhongshan Incident  Coverage of the mass incident at Sanjiao town, Zhongshan city, including translations from the Chinese-language media.

(January 16, 2006)  The Libelous Novel  Translation of a Southern Weekend article.  A retired university professor wrote a novel about his Cultural Revolution experience, but his former colleagues sued him for libel.  The novelist is currently appealing the six month jail term. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 15, 2006)  US Congressional Hearings on Chinese Internet Censorship  If the subject is about Chinese Internet censorship, then this had better not be a decision made by the US Congress, Reporters Without Borders, Cisco, Yahoo, and Microsoft.  It would seem that you better ask the Chinese Internet users themselves.  I assert that they couldn't care less about Yahoo but the loss of MSN Spaces would be a blow.

(January 15, 2006)  Hong Kong Detainee Number SAF02518  Translation of the 48-hour diary of a Taiwanese student intern in a Hong Kong detention cell during the WTO MC6 period.  This case will go a long way towards explaining why 900 plus people were arrested and then only 3 will be put on trial.

(January 14, 2006)  The Case of Zhang Dejiang  Zhang Dejiang is the most famous of all Chinese provincial leaders, with his name linked to the SARS outbreak, the beating death of Sun Zhigang, the Taishi village incident, the Meizhou coal mine disasters, the Shanwei (Dongzhou) shootings, the Beijiang cadmium pollution, etc.  Are his days numbered?

(January 13, 2006)  The Peter Kovolsky Letter  This is the widely circulated letter from Peter Kovolsky, a 35-year-long smoker who is dying of lung cancer and wants to perform a public service against tobacco's dangers.  So why did the SCMP decline to publish his story after interviewing him?  At issue is the mission of a newspaper -- does a newspaper exists to inform society about critical issues? or does a newspaper exist for exclusive scoops?

(January 13, 2006)  Discussion of Two Novels About Blood Selling  Translation of a discussion of the new novel The Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke set in a Henan AIDS village, compared to Yu Hua's The Story Of Xu Sanguan Selling Blood. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 13, 2006)  Angry Youth, Petty Bourgeois and Commercial Bloggers  Translation of an Asia Week article about the three principal types of Chinese bloggers.

(January 12, 2006)  The GMRQ Investigative Report of the Shanwei (Dongzhou) Incident  Translation of an investigative report done by an overseas human rights website.  This is not the definitive report, as there are lots of holes, but it has some maps and photographs that will better explain what was previously published.

(January 11, 2006)  The Case of the WTO 'Rioters'  In Hong Kong, the fourteen demonstrators go back to court again today.  This is a review of the political ramifications of the case.

(January 11, 2006)  The Reform Experiments in China  Translation of excerpts of the Tsinghua University speech by economist Long Xianping on the reform experiments in state enterprises, education and medical care.

(January 10, 2006)  2006, 1976  Translation of a blog post at Massage Milk.  In 1976, Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao died, the Gang of Four was smashed and an earthquake occurred at Tangshan.  What were the childhood memories of that blogger?

(January 9, 2006)  The Lessons From The Shantou University Plagiarism Case  From the moment when a graduate student posted on a forum that he believed that a professor had plagiarized his work, it was less than 80 hours when the professor announced his resignation.  This is the chronological sequence according to the dean of the journalism school.

(January 9, 2006)  The Coal Mine Dilemma in China  On one hand, some of those coal mines are unsafe and dangerous.  On the other hand, closing all the coal mines will create massive unemployment and economic destitution.  This is a translation of a report about what is happening in Qingyuan and Shaoguan.

(January 8, 2006)  "The Bloody Case That Started From A Steamed Bun"  The hottest item on the Internet is this 20-minute spoof of Chen Kaige's The Promise. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 8, 2006)  Photojournalism in China  A collection of photographs taken by Chinese journalists during 2005.

(January 7, 2006)  Eating Cats in China  WARNING:  This is really GRUESOME.  Disclosure:  I wouldn't have a clue because I've never eaten cat before.  And I am doing this in the hope that you won't either.

(January 7, 2006)  Cool Reflections on China Fever  Translation of a Southern Weekend article about foreigners researching China.  "As for the comments by foreigners on China, we do not have to feel humbled and we do not have to be complacent.  After all, we are the ones who understand Chinese matters best and we must rely on ourselves to solve China's problems."

(January 6, 2006)  Comparing Yahoo and MSN Spaces  A comparative analysis of the Yahoo case with respect to Shi Tao and the MSN Spaces case with respect to the Anti blog.  I argue that the two cases are completely different.  In the first case, I believe it was unavoidable.  In the second case, it requires an explanation of how the decision came about.

(January 6, 2006)  The Lives and Times of Chinese Media Workers  Translation of an excerpt by Lifeweek reporter Li Jing about her experience as a reporter.

(January 5, 2006)  Impeaching Corrupt Officials in Henan AIDS Villages  Translation of a Yazhou Zhoukan report on a volatile mix of two sensitive subjects: the Henan AIDS villages and the impeachment of corrupt village officials.

(January 4, 2006)  The Dongying Protest  Civilian reporter from Dongying (China) covers a local protest.  There is not much excitement, but in the absence of mainstream media news, people are left to depend on the roadside news agency. 

(January 3, 2006)  From Inside Beijing News - Part 3  Translation of an Internet chat session in which the night of the dinner was recounted.  It was chaotic, but this description is hilarious.  Sample: "Then the person named Zhao from Guangming told us that in the name of the party central and the people, we must go back to work.  I nearly fainted.  From which era did this piece of antique come from?"

(January 3, 2006)  The Sling Shot at the Hong Kong WTO  The latest outrage from Hong Kong mainstream media on WTO coverage.  My jaw dropped at the sight of the photograph ...

(January 3, 2006)  The Sinosplice Correspondence  "I will never have that condescending attitude about telling what the Chinese people must and will do.  This is their project.  They will have to work out for themselves what kind of society and polity will emerge out of this."

(January 3, 2006)  First Anniversary Of The Death Of Susan Sontag  Translation of an elegy by Bei Ling on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Susan Sontag. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(January 2, 2006)  Survey Research Stories  From evangelicals in Latin America to Liberty Times in Taiwan, here are stories about protecting against cheating in survey research.

(January 1, 2006)  Reporters, Let Us Have A Bit More Human Kindness  Translation of a blog post by a reporter agonising over the conflict between her loyalties to her employer and the interviewee.  "Faced with this brave and strong woman, we should add a sense of awe on top of our respect.  Faced with this person with such an unfortunate life experience, we should add a sense of human kindness on top of our sympathy.  If the subject of the interview is only saying what you want and it did not come from her heart, then is this 'real'?"

(December 31, 2005)  From Inside Beijing News - Part 2  Translation of a blog post written by a Beijing News worker about what happened at the office on the day when the news came out about the dismissals, and then about the department dinner that evening.  "The little Wen girl cried.  She said that she came here because XJB is XJB.  If it isn't anymore, she wouldn't know what to do.  I cried too ...."

(December 31, 2005)  Chen Kaige's The Promise and Iraq  Translation of a blog post about the symbolic correspondence of the movie plot and characters with East Asian history (including China, Taiwan, Korea, the United States and Iraq).  See if you agree that Cecilia Cheung is Saddam Hussein. (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(December 31, 2005)  Internet Bars in Shenzhen  Translation of a Q&A in Nanfang Daily about how Shenzhen will be approving new Internet bars to operate.  This will explain why 746 new licenses are being awarded (subject to approval and using a lottery if necessary).  It suffices to say that this is not free market economics.

(December 30, 2005)  From Inside Beijing News - Part 1  Translation of a blog post written by a Beijing News worker concerning the Guangming Daily takeover.  "It cannot be the case that when the bad guys show up, the good guys retreat.  We cannot give up ... We can still fight one headline at a time, one topic at a time and one article at a time."

(December 30, 2005)  My Life With The Plainclothesmen  Translation of recent diary entries kept by Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng.  Sample: "My wife suggested that we go to eat at KFC.  Six cars followed us.  We arrived at KFC, we ordered food and we sat down to eat.  The plainclothesmen stood around us and expressionlessly watched us eat ..."

(December 29, 2005) A Noteworthy Film Festival in Guangzhou Many of the underground Chinese films get to make their public debut in the original formats. This post includes a translation of a blog post by Zhang Yuan - the director of arguably the first prominent Chinese movie about homosexuality. (Lawrence Li @ ESWN Culture)

(December 29, 2005)  Message On Mao's Birthday  Some people in China are nostalgic for Chairman Mao.  This is a translation of an opinion column about how Mao's reception has changed over time: "When he was alive, we treated him as the Absolute God.  Later on, we determined that he was a person who could make mistakes.  Today people are looking at Mao as a god who could provide peace and security."

(December 28, 2005)  I Am God  A young child was reading an avant-garde publication in which the phrase "I Am God" was repeated over and over again on multiple pages.  What did he learn? (Roland Soong @ ESWN Culture)

(December 28, 2005)  The Two Versions of WTO  Translation of an InMedia post from Chu Hoi-dick and Lam Oiwan about media coverage of WTO MC6 and civilian journalism.  Traditional mainstream media will scoff at the idea of journalists jumping into the harbor.  So why do so many of them call InMediaHK people up for information and then quote them as "sources close to the South Korean farmers" and "eyewitnesses"?

(December 27, 2005)  The Currently Most Condemned Movie in Chinese Blogosphere The latest blockbuster from the director of Farewell My Concubine sucks, according to Chinese bloggers. (Lawrence Li @ ESWN Culture)

(December 27, 2005)  Good And Bad Things Happened To Mr. Anti  Chinese blogger Michael Anti got featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, and then he got stabbed in the back by a Bokee columnist.

(December 26, 2005)  Zhang Yimou's Harmonious Society  A review of Zhang Yimou's new movie Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. (Lawrence Li @ ESWN Culture)

(December 26, 2005)  The China Photographs of Yin Ling  Taiwan-born model Yin Ling and Russian photographer Hiraokanovsky Kuratachenko use humor, sarcasm, impersonation, symbolic manipulation and a keen sense of marketing to make poiltical statements.  This is a selection of their China-themed photographs.

(December 24, 2005)  Nowhere To Hide  One year ago, Hu Jintao went to a Beijing hospital to shake hands with two AIDS patients.  This is the translation of a Chinese Youth Daily special feature article in the Freezing Point supplement about what happened to the two persons during the past 12 months.

(December 23, 2005)  The Front Page Story In Fruit Daily  Translation of an InMediaHK post about how easy and tempting it is to sensationalize the news.  The author took a news photo and put in onto a mock-up of a front page story with appropriate headlines.

(December 22, 2005)  The Mental Patient in the Cage  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily report about a village locking a mental patient up in a two-square-meter iron cage on grounds of economic hardship and protection of society.  However, it turns out this mental patient would become a god among local lottery players.  Will I ever understand the mysteries of this country?

(December 21, 2005)  The Steroids in the Tiananmen Square Restroom  Chinese running star Sun Yingjie tested positive for banned drugs at the national games and has been banned.  She files a lawsuit against a teammate for doping her without her knowledge and wins a civil defamation case.  All it did was to get public opinion in China roiled against her.

(December 20, 2005)  What Did Mainland China Learn From The Hong Kong Anti-Riot Police?  Translation of a forum post by a mainland Chinese person who watched the Saturday night follies on Phoenix TV.  Would he have a different opinion if he had other sources of information.  Maybe ...

(December 19, 2005)  The Curbside @ WTO Experiment for ESWN  A review of the past week working at Curbside @ WTO.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 19, 2005)  The Anatomy of a Chinese Internet Crime  "Dear leader, we are old lovers.  Do you remember the intimate nights that we spent together?  The videotapes and photographs are still at my place.  I urgently need 20,000 yuan.  You pay me if you don't want the media to ruin your career and reputation.  I will wait three days for you to wire the money to my bank account."  How was the writer caught?  What could he have done otherwise?

(December 19, 2005)  The Police Stories at WTO  Translations of articles about the police on WTO duty in Hong Kong.

(December 18, 2005)  Discussions on Civilian Journalism  Translation of an article from InMediaHK by civilian reporter Chu Hoi-dick embedded inside the illegal assembly on Gloucester Road.  A commentator wrote: "This is the most biased piece of reporting I've ever read."

(December 18, 2005)  Night Watch  Here is the continuation of my late night Hong Kong cable news watching.  It took eight hours to decide to arrest a few hundred people, and then it took more than ten hours to actually effect that arrest.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 18, 2005)  Simple and Naïve  I have been watching the Hong Kong local cable television news live coverage most of the day.  This has been an unmitigated public relations disaster for the police as well as the media as the demonstrators seized the initiative and dictated the agenda.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 17, 2005)  Confessions of a Green  Translation of an article from InMediaHK by an embedded civilian reporter inside WTO MC6.  It shows the restrictions (in terms of physical access as well as domain expertise) that reporters operate under, even though the published reports will not indicate such.

(December 16, 2005)  Coal Mine Deaths and The Price of Development  Translation of an excerpt of a Southern People Weekly interview with scientist He Zuoxiu, who must have been criticized by tens of thousands of netizens already.

(December 15, 2005)  The Frustrations of a WTO Blogger  On one side, there are the street scenes.  On the other side, the WTO meetings are going on.  How is a blogger supposed to draw the link between the developing news from both sides?  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 15, 2005)  An Interim Report On Civilian Journalism  My summary refers to the civilian journalist Bobo jumping into the Victoria Harbor with the South Koreans, the television reporter's helmet and Kong-Chan's list of lessons learned from the international 'industrial standard' on how to run demonstrations.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 15, 2005)  Give Me Back My Final Right  Translation of the history of how a Freezing Point story came into existence.  The subject is euthanasia, and the individual case study had the interviewee, editors, reporters (and even this translator) crying their eyes out.

(December 14, 2005)  The Television Reporter's Helmet  Before the TVB reporter goes live to report on WTO, she puts on a helmet even though there is no imminent danger.  This has caused an uproar in the Chinese-language websites and forums.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 14, 2005)  Big Brother Is Watching You  At least nine policemen followed twelve Korean farmers around, including to inside a public restroom.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 14, 2005)  What Is On My Bookshelf  Some examples of the books that are on my bookshelf.  Whatever else, it does show the interesting lives and times of my parents. 

(December 14, 2005)  Reporting All The Facts  A Ming Pao forum exchange about how the two broadcast television stations in Hong Kong covered the December 4th march.  Unfortunately, there were no fireworks, because all the forum commentators are in agreement with each other.  So will you.

(December 13, 2005)  Bridge and Ladder Blogs  Follow the trajectory of a WTO-related Hong Kong blog post through a translation into English and its eventual reappearance in Chinese on the mainland.  This blog post is mirrored at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 13, 2005)  The Mystery of the Gas Masks  In Hong Kong, the news was that someone bought 100 gas masks.  Who?  What for?  Once again, we blame the media.

(December 13, 2005)  My Mother Is A Terrorist  Hong Kong blogger Knowing n Doing tells us about a WTO-related conversation with mom, who turned out to make a transition from pacificist to terrorist in two to three minutes.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO.

(December 13, 2005)  My Last Assignment  A review of Li Datong's The Story of Freezing Point.  This is the story of the most popular newspaper supplement in China as written by its founding editor.

(December 12, 2005)  Reading Nanfang Daily on Shanwei  This is a translation of a Chinese commentator's close reading of the Nanfang Daily report (as compared to either the Xinhua report on the same incident or what one imagine would have been written sixteen years ago).

(December 12, 2005)  A Teacher's Blog on WTO  Hong Kong blogger Miss Lee tells us about her lesson plan on WTO, and there is no happy resolution.  This blog post appears at Curbside @ WTO, which has plenty more WTO-related material.  For the duration of the WTO MC6 conference, I will be featuring Chinese-language Hong Kong bloggers.

(December 11, 2005)  Styles of Radical Will: Hong Kong vs. Taiwan  The translation of an excerpt of a letter from Lung Ying-tai comparing the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan with respect to political behavior.

(December 10, 2005)  The New Media & Social Transformation Speech  This is the outline of the speech that I delivered at the New Media & Social Tranformation Conference held on December 9, 2005 at City University of Hong Kong.

(December 9, 2005)  The Shanwei  (Dongzhou) Incident  Comparison of media coverage of this mass incident in China.  This is a little bit unusual because most other media found themselves having to depend on Radio Free Asia.  So it is a good exercise to see how people have to write reports without much information themselves.

(December 8, 2005)  Plagiarism:  How News Has Become 'True Lies'  An editor dispatches three reporters separately to cover a big traffic incident in a nearby city.  All three reporters were too lazy to go, and each got on the Internet and found a story.  When they turned in their reports, the editor found that the reports were identical.  More such stories of plagiarism and their socio-economic roots.

(December 8, 2005)  A Case of Justifiable Plagiarism  A Chinese author finds that many passages from his prior works appeared almost verbatim and without attribution in someone else's book.  The hypothesis is that the original author once went to jail for 'liberalization' and therefore his name cannot appear in a published book.  The original manuscript had all the proper annotations, but the editor took them out for the reason stated above.

(December 7, 2005)  Rumors About An Avian Flu Informer  An Anhui geese farmer wants to sell all his sick birds.  Another villager reports the situation to the Ministry of Agriculture.  Now this other villager has been arrested for an extortion case that happened two years ago.  Was this retaliation by local authorities?

(December 6, 2005)  Why I Pursue The Issue of 12/4 Numbers - Part 1  First, I start off with the professional reason.  Why should so much abuse be heaped upon Robert Chung, Michael DeGoleyer, Yip Siu-fei and Thomas Lee for conducting their research based upon accepted scientific principles and reporting the results that they found?  Maybe they won't respond in kind through the media, but I will (with or without their permisison).

(December 6, 2005)  EastSouthWestNorth in Reverse  A Chinese blogger wrote: "Each day, I will translate into Chinese one or two articles of news or commentary in the western media about China.  At the same time, I will compare them against the reports or commentaries on the same event in the Chinese media.  From this, I can find the relative differences and then I can understand the positions and angles by which westerners look at China."

(December 5, 2005)  The Numbers for 12/4 Hong Kong  This is the subject of specialization on this blog, because this is regarded as the yardstick for democratic maturity and media objectivity and accuracy.  This page will be continuously updated.

(December 4, 2005)  A Chairman Bowed Formally Three Times  Translation of an essay by Lung Ying-tai in China Youth Daily about the White Terror period in Taiwan and its contemporary significance for democracy there.

(December 4, 2005)  S.T. Yau's Complaint  Mathematician S.T. Yau is concerned about certain mathematicians taking on multiple appointments without fulfilling their obligiations to specific institutions.  The following is my personal experience that criss-crosses with Yau's biography.

(December 3, 2005)  Phoenix Weekly Interviews Lu Banglie  These are not the standard fluff interviews, because there were many blunt and direct questions, as in "How much do you understand about democracy?"

(December 2, 2005)  An Anhui AIDS Village  Translation of a report in China Youth Daily about an AIDS village in Anhui, China.  There is no political agenda; just various people talking.

(December 2, 2005)  The HIV Fraudsters in China  Translation of a report in Southern Weekend with an interview with famed AIDS prevention activist Gao Yaojie and Tsinghua University professor Li Shun.  At issue are the vultures who are feeding on the human tragedy.

(December 1, 2005)  Quand La Parole Se Cyberdélie   Vanessa Gordon's essay for Le Devoir, Québec.  The first half is about Egypt, and the second half is about China based upon an interview with the EastSouthWestNorth blogger.

(December 1, 2005)  The First Avian Flu Case In Beijing  There is a lesson in this because there is a cost in generating rumors.  On one hand, the rumor monger loses credibility.  On the other hand, this provides more justification for the Great Internet Firewall.  By the way, there really was a case in Beijing.  A nut case, that is.

(December 1, 2005)  The Impact of the Real Name System in University BBS's  Translation of a newspaper report on how the university BBS's have fared since the real name registration system went into effect.

(November 30, 2005)  Self-Immolation in Public  The front page story of Apple Daily is a man setting himself on fire in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.  [WARNING: VIOLENT AND GRAPHIC]

(November 30, 2005)  Feedback from China on Internet Freedom  The New York Times predicts that the Chinese Communists will lose the Internet battle.  Here is a reaction from inside China, but you have to read carefully about the real message in that response.

(November 29, 2005)  The Harbin Blog Post  This is a translation of the blog post of Harbin citizen Rainbow Sister during the time of water crisis.

(Novmeber 28, 2005)  The Mystery of the Missing Deaf Schoolchildren  This is a translation of a Southern Weekend article that was removed at the last minute.  This is about a case in which one, seven, eight or twenty plus children went missing from the Jilin School for the Deaf.

(November 27, 2005)  What Did The Bishop Say?  Hong Kong Catholic bishop Joseph Zen met with 300 people.  Here are three different reports about what he said.  This illustrates the common statements: "you are what you read" and "you read what you are."  If you want to know what he really said, you probably have to go there yourself.

(November 26, 2005)  Nude Chat Is Not Illegal In China  That is almost true as long as it is not organized with paid performers for profit.  Isn't this a strange country?  You can talk to each another in the nude, but you can't talk about certain 'sensitive' subjects.

(November 25, 2005)  Interviewing People About Censorship in China  A collection of links about how western media interview Chinese bloggers about censorship, plus my own experiences and my new approach to that big elephant in the room.

(November 24, 2005)  Buying Television Ratings in Taiwan  Taiwan's Chinese Television System president Chiang Hsia said, "If you are willing to pay NT$500,000 to 1,200,000, you can get to be the ratings leader."  She also advocated the dismantling of the television ratings system which is the source of chaos in televised news.

(November 24, 2005)  The Prague Photos  Some photographs from my trip to Prague last month, plus the brief recap of what the tour guide told us.

(November 24, 2005)  A Media Civil Lawsuit in China  A Nanjing television station broadcast a program that was already shown on CCTV and was found guilty of invasion of privacy and damaging reputations.  Why can the CCTV do it, but not a local television station?

(November 23, 2005)  The Water Crisis in Harbin  ... that is, assuming that there was a real natural crisis as opposed to a piece of man-made bungling of monumental proportions.  So far, there is an email from Harbin, the American Citizen Services email and some translated Chinese forum posts.  This post will be continuously updated as more data come in to feed the conspiracy theories.

(November 22, 2005)  The Self-Description by Massage Milk  Translation of the self-description in Lifeweek magazine by the popular Chinese media blogger Massage Milk.  This is an absolute delight to read.  This is preceded by some comments from Michael Anti about why media workers will dominate the Chinese blogging scene.

(November 22, 2005)  Avian Flu Reporting in China  New rules on how avian flu outbreaks must be reported.

(November 21, 2005)  The Orders From Zhongnanhai  "The biggest problem that China faces is that the policies are not being implemented.  The policies decided in Zhongnanhai sometimes do not get out of Zhongnanhai."  Translation of a China Youth Daily article about the problem and the obvious solution.

(November 20, 2005)  "I Am Super Girl and I'm Afraid of No One"  An instance of civilian photo-journalism covering a breaking incident.

(November 19, 2005)  "Hit Rate" Front Page: A Change in Newspaper Publishing Method?  In Chile, the tabloid Las Ultimas Noticias became market leader by using the hit rates on its website to decide which one story to put on front page.

(November 19, 2005)  "Hit Rate" Novels:  A Change in Book Publishing Method?  An obscure writer publishes his/her work on the Internet, readers flock to read it on the Internet and the book publisher watches what is happening.  If the Internet novel achieves a high hit rate, the publisher will make a deal for it and a "hit rate" novel is born.

(November 18, 2005)  Stupefying the People  Once upon a time, the First Emperor of Qin burned the scholars and their books.  Later Emperors decided to do the opposite by encouraging and rewarding people for studying books, but only in accordance with a prescribed and standardized interpretation.

(November 17, 2005)  Retired Businessman Buys Full Page Ad to Support Lisa Wong  Satirical look at the mess over the most popular TVB actress in Hong Kong (or could this really be about the political reform package?).

(November 17, 2005)  Storm in a Teacup: Yu Jianrong vs. Fang Zhouzi  An Internet battle broke out between two Chinese intellectuals.  When Nanfang Weekend covered the story, it too was sucked in.  The story is less about any Internet fight than about how the Internet is changing academic discourse and media conduct and relationships in China.

(November 16, 2005)  The Freedom and Perils of Internet Writing in China  Translation of the speech that Chinese Internet writer Yu Jie delivered at the 2005 Asia-Pacific Regional Writers' Forum in Melbourne.

(November 16, 2005)  Why I Do Media Interviews  The EastSouthWestNorth blogger explains why he does media interviews.

(November 15, 2005)  Criticizing the Hong Kong Media  From InMediaHK, Hong Kong media worker Chu Hoi-dick writes about the state of media with respect to covering local and China news.  Why do we get the kind of news that we get?  Some of the reasons are obvious once you read them here.  This one falls into the category of FASCINATING.

(November 15, 2005)  The 'True' Statistics About Avian Flu In China  Quick release of a statistical table by an anonymous source in the Ministry of Health.  This is a test of faith.

(November 15, 2005)  A Bench At Tiananmen  A collection of photographs from a Chinese forum about a bench in Tiananmen, Beijing (note: actually, there may be more than one bunch).  The real story is about the various people who sat on that bench.  The photographs are not accompanied by any words, so you can let your imagination roam freely.

(November 14, 2005)  CDs as Cultural Indicators  The results from a project that consists of typing the word "compact disc" into the Yahoo! search engine in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and then listing those news stories with the words in it.  This tells a lot about the social, economic, political and cultural similiarities and differences.

(November 13, 2005)  Why and How EastSouthWestNorth is Biased  How this blog was deliberately set up to give biased representations of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively.

(November 12, 2005)  How the Sichuan Dialect Saved A Radio Station  A radio station manager had nothing to do and decided to host a program during the garbage time of 5pm.  This was another boring program about eating food, except he used a lot of Sichuan dialect on air.  Lo and behold, it became a runaway hit.

(November 11, 2005)  Culling the Chickens of Heishan  Translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily article of what culling looks from the viewpoint of the people involved, including many photographs.

(November 11, 2005)  Associate Professor Angrily Sues Chinese Blog  A Nanjing university associate professor found a blog post from an anonymous student that called him a "good-for-nothing" "rotten person" with "rotten teaching materials."  He is suing blogcn.com to have that post deleted. 

(November 10, 2005)  Cool Things On The Chinese Internet  "The Western media focus mainly on that portion of speech that remains forbidden, while from the Chinese perspective the story is a very positive one about how they’re saying and doing more than ever before. They’d like more appreciation and recognition for all the cool things they are managing to say and do."

(November 9, 2005)  The Uneven Sexual Revolution in China  When rumors about a 17-year-old girl flew around a rural village, she drank some pesticide and left this note: "Mom, I did not change.  I am still a little girl.  You will never understand no matter what I say.  The only way to establish my innocence is for me to die.  I will see you again in the next life."

(November 9, 2005)  The Number of Trustworthy Economists in China  According to a China Youth Daily survey, the answer is TWO.  The problem is that an economist these days is usually simultaneously corporate economist, government economist and academic economist, and you don't know which role is on at any moment.

(November 8, 2005)  The Three Possible Avian Flu Cases in Hunan Province (China)  Translations from the Chinese-language media accounts of what happened in the three cases of possible avian flu and what was done about them. 

(November 7, 2005)  Zhang Ziyi's Butt and the Face of the Chinese People  This is a translation of an article by Zhu Xueyuan about whether Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi disgraced the Chinese people in her performance in the movie Memoirs Of A Geisha.  Short summary: "If you think that Zhang Ziyi's butt can represent your face, then I do not object to that.  But could you please not bring the entire Chinese population into this!"

(November 7, 2005)  Reporter-Investigators in China  Some reporters are known as investigative reporters, while private investigators have to write reports to their clients.  But isn't it too much for a client to come to an investigative agency and commission a negative magazine article on a 'person' or 'persons' of interest?

(November 6, 2005)  Public Place LCD Television Advertising in China  Which is the market leader?  Focus Media or Target Media?  Focus Media commissioned a study by CTR to show it in the lead, while Target Media commissioned a study by AC Nielsen to show a tie.

(November 5, 2005)  Author Accuses Publisher of Piracy  Chinese author Hanhan found his books being pirated by his publisher and/or distributor and went public on his blog.

(November 4, 2005)  The Girl Who Sold Herself To Save Her Mother  A full translation of the Southern Metropolis Daily report on unversity student Chen Yi who proclaimed on the Internet that she intends to sell herself to get a liver transplant for her mother.  This tale covers a lot more than seems possible: you will read about Chen Yi's Nike shoes, contact lenses, sexual preferences and hackers breaking into her email and QQ chat accounts to publish all the private correspondence. 

(November 3, 2005)  Homeland Security: Are Readership Surveys Safe?  This is an Adobe pdf file of one of the papers that I delivered in Prague.  The technical question was whether commercial databases, such as those that might be used by the Department of Homeland Security for airline passenger screening, can accurately predict magazine readership.

(November 2, 2005)  The Lost Black Cats  The story of the U-2 pilots from Taiwan, and how the People's Liberation Army Air Force used their very limited resources to shoot down five U-2 spy planes.

(October 31, 2005)  The Silence of the Press  In the city of Chengdu (China), the press failed to cover a major event.  Another banned subject?  No, this was a spontaneously self-organized alliance among competing newspapers which objected to the restrictions on the coverage of Chen Kaige's movie The Promise.  "No negative coverage?"  Sure, we'll give you "no coverage" instead!

(October 30, 2005)  Leaving the 'Blood and Sweat Factory'  This translation of a Nanfang Weekend article brings up a couple of twists about sweat shops in China.  The first issue is the ambivalent attitudes of the migrant workers towards the factory bosses and managers.  The second issue is that the government's labor and social security bureau is now resorting to public campaigns to shame factories into becoming good corporate citizens.

(October 29, 2005)  How To Profit In China  This is a translation of an instructional manual for Hong Kong factory managers to cheat on their frequently absent owners.

(October 29, 2005)  Am I A Journalist?  Do I practice journalistic investigation?  No.  Do I work for a media organization?  No.  Do I belong to a journalist organization?  No.  But this is the Internet age, and a better test might be -- if I am arrested, will the journalist organizations come to my assistance? 

(October 21, 2005)  Dog Bites Man ... I mean ... Police Beats Reporter  In Taizhou (China), the traffic police officer assaulted a news editor for publishing an inaccurate story.  But how could the story be inaccurate when it was cleared by the Party Disciplinary Committee before publication?

(October 21, 2005)  Junk SMS is Big Business  "Our company offers loans and we sell guns, counterfeit currency, date rape drugs, stolen vehicles and surveillance equipment; we offer private investigative services and we will take revenge on others on your behalf; we can also issue documents to access the Internet, automobile license plates and any kind of invoice."  The operator enters the last word and hits the ENTER key.  Within one hour, the message arrives at 10,000 mobile phones.

(October 20, 2005)  More Scandals at Tenth National Games  Now we move to the track and field events and we have another fixed race, a disqualification by elbowing, a coach down on her knees begging for justice and a ninth team in the relay finals.

(October 18, 2005)  The Scandals at the Tenth National Games  Why was there an epidemic of Olympic champions losing their matches in the Chinese National Games?  It is actually a twisted piece of logic, but the system is designed to reward such behavior.  Option 1: If you win, your team gets one gold medal.  Option 2: If you lose, your teams gets one gold medal and one silver medal.  If you are rational, you lose.

(October 17, 2005)  The Death of a Hair Salon Girl  In this week's Nanfang Weekend, the Shenzhou VI launch was overshadowed on the front page by a stunning story about a seemingly insigificant person.   You can read a full translation of that story here.  In her story are all the elements of the economics of poverty.

(October 16, 2005)  Triad Movies in Hong Kong  The age-old issue: Do triad movies corrupt youngsters?  Here is an empirical case in Hong Kong.  I assert that if the triad movies could be a bit more realistic rather than idealistic, they might have bring more sense into youngsters.  I quote a case study of mine for illustration.

(October 15, 2005)  How Will He Change China: A Biography of Hu Jintao  A Chinese writer strolls down a Shanghai street and saw a new book of the biography of Hu Jintao that he had co-wrote with the American Robert Lawrence Kuhn, the biographer of Jiang Zemin.  The problem was that the writer had no idea ...

(October 14, 2005)  Lu Banglie at Baoyuesi Village  Full translation of a long 2004 Nanfang Weekend article about Lu Banglie, including his time as village director of his native Baoyuesi Village.  Here are the nitty gritty details of what happens after a democratic election in a Chinese village.

(October 13, 2005)  How To Get Rich As A Reporter In China  Someone had the brilliant idea of starting an unlicensed magazine in China that generates revenue by blackmailing companies and government departments with the threat of publishing negative information.

(October 12, 2005)  Parliamentary Debate, Taiwan Style  US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously said, "Democracy is messy."  There has been yet another brawl in the Legislative Yuan.  Many photos.

(October 12, 2005)  Media Coverage of the Taishi Village Affair  Just what exactly is expected of The Guardian?  Three simple talking points: Benjamin Joffe-Walt exaggerated the situation, the circumstances were barbaric and procedures are in place to prevent recurrence.  Meanwhile, a credible western media presence is desperately needed. 

(October 12, 2005)  The Business of Artificial Virginal Hymens  The competition between hymen repair surgery and artificial virginal hymens.  It is about building your own brand trust and eroding that of the competition.

(October 11, 2005)  The Case of Benjamin Joffe-Walt  Chinese blogger Anti demands The Guardian fire Benjamin Joffe-Walt and apologize for the fantasy report on the beating of Lu Banglie.

(October 11, 2005)  Working for Foreign Correspondents in China  Two case studies of Chinese citizens getting into trouble while working for foreign correspondents in China.  One is Lu Banglie who was assaulted in Taishi village, and the other is Zhao Yan who was arrested for state security reasons.

(October 10, 2005)  Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in China  The latest Central Committee session will address wealth inequality as the biggest threat to China.  This is a translation about whether China is structurally capable of addressing the issue, since good intentions of the Hu-Wen central government may not be sufficient to overcome the special interests of the local powers.  Taishi village is one such example.

(October 9, 2005)  The West Kowloon Cultural District Poll Fraud  In Hong Kong, out of 33,416 comment cards on the WKCD project proposals, 4,176 were submitted in identical envelopes or had similar mailing labels.  Was fraud involved?  If we cannot trust the comment cards, are there other data sources?

(October 9, 2005)  Citizens' Radio in Hong Kong  In Hong Kong, a rebel Citizens' Radio began broadcasting on the frequency belonging to the Metro Finance station owned by Li Ka-shing, the richest man in town. 

(October 9, 2005)  Street Scenes in Guangdong  A photo album that appeared in a Chinese forum.

(October 8, 2005)  How To Build A Multinational Marketing Research Company  Some examples from my previous life about how to built a globalized marketing research company: the Noah's ark approach -- colect one Chinese, one Japanese, one Korean, one Spanish/Portuguese-speaking Latin American, one Swiss (or Dutch), one Dane, one Indian, one Indonesian and one Arabic speaker.

(October 7, 2005)  Super Girl as Heroine  Super Girl champion Li Yuchun makes it on the front page of TIME Asia as one of Asia's Heroes in 2005.  Some people in China are upset because they see the standard American trick -- the United States doesn't like China to become strong and therefore deliberately denigrate China by having such a person represent China.

(October 6, 2005)  The RAHK Public Opinion Poll  A technical analysis of the poll run by the Research Association of Hong Kong on the support levels for various political parties.

(October 5, 2005)  Taishi Village, My Neighbor  A piece of civilian journalism from a university professor about the Taishi village recall campaign.  Fair and balanced it is not, but how would you do that even if you wanted to?

(October 5, 2005)  Internet Pimps in Hong Kong  Two Hong Kong men are being tried in court for running an Internet directory for Hong Kong prostitutes.  The service includes addresses, photographs, physical measurements, service ratings, fee structure, age, and personal photographs.

(October 4, 2005)  The Story of Eileen Chang's Naked Earth  An old and battered copy of this novel on my bookshelf is now a collector's item because it showed how censorship operated in Taiwan once upon a time.

(October 3, 2005)  The Global Competitiveness Report  A technical analysis of the survey of 11,000 business leaders showing that Hong Kong is plummeting down the rankings in terms of global competitiveness.

(October 2, 2005)  Spontaneous Evolution vs. Intelligent Design of News Media  Mainstream media works by top-down intelligent design in which the publisher decrees how the newspapers shall look and operate.  An alternative model is to have a bottom-up spontaneously evolutionary design for alternative media.

(September 30, 2005)  June 4 and Democracy After The Guangdong Visit  Two translations about long-term strategies with respect to June 4 and universal suffrage in Hong Kong after the Legco visit to Guangdong.  Was it a trap set by the central government?  If so, what can you do?  And should June 4 be brought up again, given that it seems to accomplish nothing in that environment?

(September 30, 2005)  The Fourth Estate Goes MIA  Three case studies about how the Chinese/Hong Kong media declined to report on something: the Yannan forum, Taishi village and Ching Cheong.

(September 30, 2005)  Li Ao's Press Conference in Hong Kong  Translated excerpts from Li Ao's Hong Kong press conference.  The excerpts pertain to Hong Kong and Taiwan politics.  There is also an enumeration of how the media handled the f-word (note: the word is not 'freedom') that was used.

(September 29, 2005)  A Xinhua Reporter's Personal Notes  This is a detailed account of the dealings between a Xinhua reporter and a Nanjing official who is being investigated.  It is simultaneously shocking, depressing and uplifting.  It is a display of the power of the Internet to show you what was never ever possible before.

(September 28, 2005)  Li Ao's YZZK Interview  The relevance is that this interview was conducted BEFORE Li Ao left for China.  So this addresses the question of whether he was pressured to clamp up.  If anything, he was even more pro-China (e.g. with respect to June 4).

(Septebmer 28, 2005)  When The Clapping Did Not Die Down  When Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang talked back to the Hong Kong democrats, someone in the room applauded.  Enquiring minds want to know which Hong Kong legislators support the June 4 student massacre.

(September 27, 2005)  The WTO Ad Gets Panned  Sample review of the 30 second TV commercial about WTO MC6 in Hong Kong: Watching the goverment ad can make people become stupid.  There are some other media options.

(September 27, 2005)  The Case of Wang Feiling  The meaning of state secret is covered in three parts: mortgage-backed securities, a full translation of the new Chinese regulations for online news services, and an illustration from a Georgia Tech professor.  And they are linked by a state secret.

(September 27, 2005)  Li Ao's Speech At Fudan University  This is the translation of the third speech.  What is the spin this time?

(September 27, 2005)  The Mystery of Li Ao's Tsinghua University Speech  Why was Li Ao's second speech diametrically opposite to (or, at least, orthogonal to) his first speech?  Did he succumb to pressure to soften up his act?  Here is the collection of the evidence that I have found so far.

(September 26, 2005)  War Memorial Posters From China  A collection of wall posters from the Pingyao International Photography and Art Exhibition in China.  This commemorates the occasion of the 60th year of the end of the victory in war of resistance against Japan.

(September 26, 2005)  The Trial of Huang Jingao  I have translated a report from Cai Jing magazine that covered the full trial.  No press was allowed, so this is all second-hand information.  There is no verdict yet.

(September 25, 2005)  MSM in Hong Kong  This is not about the mainstream media.  This is about the "Man having Sex with Man" ad from the Truth and Light Society.

(September 25, 2005)  The Eggs Under The Red Flag  Translation of a section of a Chinese-language blog post.  The last sentence: "The biggest problem with the Chinese political system is that the challengers that it fosters are worse than the rulers now."

(September 25, 2005)  Homeland Security Watchlists  A comparison of the watchlists used by the United States and Hong Kong to prevent people from entering.

(September 25, 2005)  Li Ao's Speech At Tsinghua University  Here is the full translation of the second speech.  This is out so fast that that the western media haven't got around to it yet, maybe because it will be hard to spin for the western agenda-setters.  Most commenters who have staked the position on the first speech will be at a loss.

(September 24, 2005)  Li Ao's Speech At Beijing University  Here is the latest sensation in China.  But why settle for the filtered and summarized versions?  Read the full translation of the speech here.  Then you can go back and read the English-language reports and wonder if they are covering the same speech.

(September 23, 2005)  Internet Rumors in China  What is the most reviled thing on the Internet?  Rumor mongering is among the leaders.  But whereas thievery, fraud and spam have no redeemable value, there are some who are willing to defend rumors, because the Internet is supposed to also be the best platform to dispel those rumors.  Read on ...

(September 22, 2005)  Yahoo! Sends Another Man To Jail  With the help of email user information from Yahoo!, a man in Hong Kong was arrested and convicted.

(September 22, 2005)  Stationary Mobile Outdoor Ads in Hong Kong  A new form of outdoor media arrives in Tin Shui Wai district -- it is said to be a stationary mobile ad.

(September 21, 2005)  The Importance of The Taishi Elections  The reason why the happenings in a smallish Chinese village are important can be attributed to ... media effects, and the Chinese Internet is largely responsible.

(September 21, 2005)  The Yau Lop-poon Interview  Sections from a ChineseNewsNet interview of the Yazhou Zhoukan editor-in-chief.  The question of interest is how his magazine deals with Chinese government documents of a sensitive nature.  He says that his magazine never takes any such document, not even copies.

(September 21, 2005)  The Real Story of Tianxian MM (天仙MM)  And now we have a famous Internet idol who is the opposite of Furong Jiejie (=Sister Hibiscus/Lotus).  Tianxian MM (Young Celestial Goddess) is pretty and wants nothing to do with any of this.

(September 20, 2005)  Chinese Cities in History  Photos of Tienanmen, the Forbidden City, Nanjing Road and Zhonghuamen once upon a time.  

(September 20, 2005)  Ten Thousand Forums Is A Joke  A number related to the constitutional reform in Taiwan is tossed out, and the implications are considered in terms of scheduling, costs, resources and potential effectiveness.  This is a translation of an article in The Journalist.

(September 19, 2005)  The Taishi Village Elections - Part 1 (Chronology)  A chronology of the events as the people in a small village in Guangdong province demanded to recall their village official and elect a new one.  This is an ongoing story, with plenty of up-and-down exciting drama.

(September 19, 2005)  The Taishi Village Elections - Part 2 (The KR Report)  This is the story about how Knight Ridder reporter Tim Johnson went to Taishi Village and got his story.  It is unfortunate that the actual news report did not receive a great deal of play in the west.

(September 18, 2005)  Chinese Bloggers, Podcasters and Webcasters  A comparison of the relationship between mainstream media versus blogging culture in the United States, Hong Kong and China.

(September 17, 2005)  Free Speech Exercises in China  Three short pieces about the ambiguous progress of the exercise of free speech in China.  Within the space in which the Chinese are allowed on the Internet, there is some free speech.  More importantly, there is much self-reflection about the conduct and implications.

(September 17, 2005)  Changing The Subject in Hong Kong  Once upon a time, the issue was democracy or not.  Today, the subject has been changed to 'harmonious society' versus democracy, and the central government has already seized the 'harmonious society' position and daring people to reject it.

(September 17, 2005)  Reading Horoscopes in Brazil  A direct link to a short essay on the other website.  According to the numbering system, this is my 400th article there.  This is the type of thing that I can hack at about one per hour. 

(September 16, 2005)  The Chinese Hordes Explain Themselves  Mainland Chinese citizens react to the stories about how fellow citizens behaved at Hong Kong Disneyland.

(September 16, 2005)  Comparing Media Coverage of Nancy Kissel and Shum Ho-yin  This is the story of One System, Two Cultures.  The English-language media gave much more extensive coverage to the Nancy Kissel murder trial, whereas the Chinese-language media gave much more extensive coverage to the assault on 7-year-old Shum Ho-yin.

(September 14, 2005)  The Chinese Hordes Take Over Disneyland  The clash of cultures on opening day in Disneyland as mainland Chinese visitors swamp the place.  What do reporters look for?  Spitting, smoking in prohibited areas, squatting, urinating, etc.

(September 14, 2005)  Horse Fart Culture In China  The classical story of about the breach in a dam was 'officially' sealed.  This type of 'horse fart' behavior will emerge whether the country is a full-blown democracy or a totalitarian regime.  However, there is a big difference in terms of how the media treat such incidents.

(September 13, 2005)  The Case of Wang Binyu (王斌余)  A Chinese migrant laborer murders four people.  The Internet community thinks that he is a "hero" and considers his actions "romantic" and "tragic."  This is a translation of an article in Nanfang Metropolitan News.  This case is the center point of recent Internet passion.

(September 12, 2005)  Competition in Chinese Newspaper Industry  In response to vicious competition among Chinese newspapers (for example, price wars, promotional gifts, false information and mutual attacks), the Central Propaganda Department recommends self-discipline.  What are the market-oriented solutions?

(September 12, 2005)  Inside The Mouse  Reading selections from the book Inside The Mouse by The Project on Disney.  These excerpts talk about working conditions inside a character costume and the subterranean gay culture among the lower-echelon workers. 

(September 12, 2005)  The Tragicomedy of the Overseas Chinese Democratic Movement  The translation of an interview with an overseas Chinese democracy activist.  If democracy is going to come in China, it won't be jump-started by this community.  WARNING: Ironically, this article will likely be filtered inside China since it contains too many 'bad' words. 

(September 11, 2005)  The Most Popular Forum Post Ever In China  First posted on February 22, this has been read by more than 223,000 persons and more than 4,000 people have commented on it.  It takes 7 hours to read the whole thread today.  This is a translation of an article in Nanfang Weekend.  Read it and see what the magic formula is.

(September 10, 2005)  The Tenant From Hell  The story about a tenant in a Hong Kong public housing estate.  A neighbor compared his actions to "the Japanese occupation of China."

(September 9, 2005)  The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai  When translating a Chinese novel into English, how would you translate the names of people, who can possibly number in the hundreds?  Shall it be Qingfeng or Green Phoenix?

(September 8, 2005)  Yahoo! and the case of Shi Tao  Yahoo! provided the IP address of an email account that resulted in the arrest of the renowed dissident Shi Tao.  Once again, I find myself in the position of defending Yahoo! just because no one else wants to.

(September 8, 2005)  The Tenth Anniversary of the Death of Eileen Chang  A worldwide exclusive as the death certificate of Eileen Chang is shown here for the first time.

(September 8, 2005)  Next Magazine On The Nancy Kissel Case  This is a translation of a 5-page article in Next Magazine.  The paparazzi team traveled to Vermont and set up surveillance on Michael Del Priore!

(September 7, 2005)  East Week on the Nancy Kissel Case  The Chinese-language tabloid magazines roll into action on the Nancy Kissel case.  This is a translation of a 5-page article in East Week.

(September 7, 2005)  The Hong Kong Democrats' Stratagem  When the democrats meet Vice Premier Zeng Qinghong and visit Guangdong, should they bring up the core principles of the vindication of June 4 and universal suffrage in 2007/2008?  Translation of an Apple Daily opinion piece.

(September 6, 2005)  Systematic and Personal Styles in Politics  Do totalitarian political systems lead to personal styles different from those in democratic systems?  A comparison of Deng Xiaoping, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

(September 5, 2005)  The Female University Porter  A female third-year university tried working as a porter (棒棒) in Chongqing in order to earn tuition money.  How much do porters make anyway?  Here is a detailed budget analysis.

(September 4, 2005)  Blogging in China: The Michael Anti Interview  Translation of an interview of Chinese blogger Michael Anti by Deutsche Welle on the state of blogging in China.

(September 3, 2005)  The Trial About Chinese Tourist Zhao Yan  Zhao Yan completes her testimony.  Translation of detailed Chinese-language media coverage.

(September 2, 2005)  The Nancy Kissel Case  The 7-person jury goes into deliberation and returns a unanimous GUILTY verdict.  Nancy Kissel is sentence to life imprisonment.  This page will be updated throughout the page; hit refresh if necessary.

(September 2, 2005)  If Policemen Are Posted Outside My Door ...  then some very important person must be visiting Beijing.  This time, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour is in Beijing and police kept surveillance on the renowned dissidents while Liu Xiaobo wrote this essay.

(September 1, 2005)  The Birthday of Eileen Chang  There is a small plaque at 195 Changde Road in Shanghai that contained some problems as mentioned in Ming Pao Weekly.  It turned out that I had the definitive evidence on the matter.

(August 31, 2005)  The British in Malaysia  The British experience in putting down the Communist insurgency is being cited as the model example for Iraq today.  That may or may not be true, but lessons from that experience definitely explain what is happening in Hong Kong today.

(August 30, 2005)  The Battle of the Turtle Eggs - Feminists versus Naturalists  From a Heilongjiang restaurant serving tiger meat, we connect to how a poster ad featuring Argentine supermodel Dorismar caused a battle between feminists and naturalists in Mexico.  Globalization is the keyword here.

(August 29, 2005)  Super Girl and Democracy  Commentaries that relate the Hunan Satellite Television singing contest with the progress of democracy in China.

(August 28, 2005)  The Death Of A Doctor in Fujian  A doctor is killed by a patient in Fujian.  This is a translation of a Nanfang Daily article about the two individuals.  It is also a media story because the netizens were nearly unanimous in saying that the doctor deserved to die.

(August 28, 2005)  Anti-Corruption Campaign Posters In China  A collection of photographs of posters.  They are pretty, but it is difficult to imagine that they will be effective in deterring corruption.

(August 27, 2005)  The Real Circulation Numbers for Beijing Newspapers  Some industry gossip about what the true circulation numbers and the games that are played to inflate them.

(August 26, 2005)  Fanning Anti-Japanese Sentiments in China  See how Xinhua reported on the recently concluded One Hundred Head Contest lawsuit in Japan.  Was this inflammatory with the intention of reinforcing anti-Japanese feelings in China?  I report, you decide.

(August 25, 2005)  Going To University In China  A comparison between the aggregate-statistical and in-depth-anecdotal approaches to describe the socio-economic problem of rural students trying to see how they can afford to go to university.

(August 25, 2005)  Why Some Chinese People Live In Poverty  Some photographs from a poor town in Jiangxi, China.

(August 24, 2005)  CSR Goes MIA in ROC  A consolidated report on the riot by the Thai workers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  Plenty of photographs.

(August 23, 2005)  Reading Ching Cheong  Actually, this is about reading two articles in the Hong Kong Standard and the South China Morning Post.  Scouring through information as provided by trusthworhy and knowledgeable sources (and that would exclude Xinhua, East Week, Oriental Daily, etc), the strongest hypothesis is not mentioned at all in these two articles.

(August 22, 2005)  Notes on the Jury System  Covering Nancy Kissel, Michael Jackson, the Bamboo Union gang and the statistical mechanics of cellular automata.

(August 22, 2005)  The Poisoned Taiwan Miracle  Full translation of an article in The Journalist that may give a reason why Apple Daily is now more successful among young people in Taiwan.

(August 22, 2005)  The History of Blogging in Hong Kong  Collection of key articles about Hong Kong blogging.  Latest addition is Carrie Chan in SCMP, New Kids On The Blog.

(August 21, 2005)  Purifying the Chinese Internet  Full translation of Nanfang Weekend article on Internet monitoring inside China.  This is the view from the other side of the Great Firewall.

(August 21, 2005)  A Restaurant in Changsha  Writings on the wall in a Chinese restaurant, with a quaint sense of humor.

(August 20, 2005)  The Ruzhou Coal Mine Disasters  When the Ruzhou coal mines were flooded and casualties occurred, the media converged to the city from everywhere.  So how come no one has ever heard of these incidents?  The media workers went there not to cover the stories, but to receive payoffs NOT to cover them.  Of the several hundred 'media' workers who showed up, it is estimated than fewer than one third are real media reporters and the rest are just people who came to make some quick money.

(August 19, 2005)  Homeland Security  A brief preview the conference paper that I am working on.  It is about how commercially available databases can be used to predict media and consumer behavior.

(August 18, 2005)  The Able Danger Papers  These are articles about Able Danger, as well as other articles on data mining for homeland security.  I am squirreling away these resources for a conference paper.

(August 17, 2005)  The Letter of Li Datong  Full translation of a letter from China Youth Daily editor Li Datong to the editor-in-chief concerning a new appraisal rating system for editors and reporters and its implications for the culture of this esteemed newspaper.

(August 17, 2005)  The WTO Meeting as Action Film  It is the dysfunctionality of Hong Kong mainstream media that we only get predictions of mayhem and bloodshed for the WTO Ministerial Meeting in December, but people will have no idea what the meeting is for nor why anyone would be protesting.

(August 16, 2005)  Tabloid Journalism Trumps Politics in Taiwan  Translation of a long essay in New Taiwan magazine about how Apple Daily rose to become the most read newspaper in Taiwan today.  Whereas the traditional newspapers are beholden to political interests, Apple Daily focused on scandals and celebrities and captured the youth segment.

(August 15, 2005)  Blogs: Good Or Evil?  Translation of an introductory essay in Shanghai Evening News about blogs.

(August 14, 2005)  The Life Of A Hong Kong Grassroots Worker  When a man recently tried a sex-change operation with a pair of scissors in a public restroom, the cleaning lady was faced with the task of cleaning up the mess.  This week, Next Weekly interviewed the cleaning woman about her job experience at this facility and her life in general.  This is interesting because it explains the notoriety of the location as well as portrays the dignity of a grassroots worker.

(August 13, 2005)  The Daye Incident  Yet another mass incident in China involving more than 20,000 people attacking the city government building.  But this one has a slightly different flavor.

(August 12, 2005)  Media Monitoring in Hong Kong  It is fashionable to advocate using the Fourth Estate (=the Media) to monitor the government.  This leads to a meta-problem: So who is going to monitor the media?  In the case of tabloid magazine market leader Next Weekly, it has got a competitor East Week biting at its ankles.

(August 12, 2005)  One-Sided Asymmetrical Information Warfare  The recent set of public statements and anonymous leaks from Chinese sources is information warfare is one-sided and asymmetrical and is designed to confuse and intimidate.

(August 11, 2005)  A Chinese Chat Room Adventure  A newspaper report on what was going on inside chat rooms exposed instead the perils to unsuspecting netizens.

(August 11, 2005)  Lung Ying-tai on Eileen Chang  This is an excerpt from Lung Ying-tai's speech to HKU students on graduation day.  The speech is in Chinese, and untranslatable without a lot of effort; even if I did the translation, it would never capture the essence.  Once upon a time, Eileen haunted those campus halls.  Today, how many HKU students are familiar with her work?  If you don't know it, you should buy the books and read them.  (Disclosure: I receive 10% royalty on all sales)

(August 10, 2005)  More Mayhem In Hong Kong  Once again, the mobile paparazzi photographers were on the scene immediately after a violent confrontation between two former lovers.

(August 9, 2005)  The Fuzhou Bus Explosion  An explosion occurred on a bus in Fuzhou and within minutes, photos from the scene began to appear on the Internet.  Meanwhile, the mainstream media as well as the government were missing in action.  Information is good, but it can also be very disturbing.  Very disturbing.

(August 9, 2005)  The Silence Is Screaming  A reporter's field notes: The old lady got emotional and asked me repeatedly, "Can you get my daughter back?"  I remembered that she showed me her medicine and I said, "Don't get excited.  Your heart is not in good condition."  Before I even finished, I saw she fell backwards from the small stool.  I found the cardiac medicine in her pocket and I put five pills into her mouth.  But she was totally incapable of swallowing.  The worse thing is her eyes -- they showed no sign of life.  At that moment, I knelt on the icy cold ground and I held her stiff body, thinking that she had died.  Heavens! I am going to the first CCTV reporter who managed to have someone die during an interview.  I raised my head and I saw that my crew just kept filming ...

(August 8, 2005)  Big Eyes' Hope  The story behind the single most famous photograph from China, and the social and media pressures for the subject.  This is a blog post that will break your heart.  Maybe this is propaganda, but you can try looking at those eyes yourself and then read about the person.

(August 7, 2005)  The Fisking of a Ching Cheong Report  This is about Keith Bradser's report for the New York Times.

(August 7, 2005)  How Not To Rank Universities  A discussion of the Education18.com and HKU POP ranking of universities in Hong Kong.

(August 6, 2005)  Trusting the Media  A Shaanbei oilfield owner rights advocate in China was promised an interview with CCTV to air his complaints.  He set out for an appointment with the reporter, and has not been heard from since.  Either a reporter colloborated with the police or the police impersonated being a reporter.  In either case, a deception had taken place that erodes the trust in media.

(August 5, 2005)  The Hong Kong Police Plan For The WTO Conference  Next Weekly publishes the Hong Kong police deployment plans for the WTO conference in December.

(August 4, 2005)  The Case of Lu Xuesong  She is a young instructor at the Jilin College of the Arts who published open letters on the Internet to protest her suspension.  Read about how the Chinese Internet and the newspapers rose to her defense in the name of freedom of speech.  Or maybe not.

(August 3, 2005)  Cyberwars Of The World  Nationalism on display in the Magical Sword Internet online game featuring a battle between the Chinese and the Koreans.

(August 2, 2005)  Yet Another Crackdown In China  The official news agency warned citizens that they must obey the law and that any threats to social stability will not be tolerated.  Who is being warned here?

(August 2, 2005)  Soccer in Hong Kong  Here is a piece of odd Chinese history -- once upon a time, the Republic of China (capital: Taipei) was represented in international soccer events (e.g. Asian Cup, the Medaka Cup, etc) by a team of amateur players from Hong Kong.

(August 1, 2005)  Unpolitical Political Statements  From a discussion of Michel Foucault's unpolitical politics to the reception of Lung Ying-tai's The Wild Fire Collection in 1985 to her recent speech at the Hong Kong Book Fair about Hong Kong identity, the common theme is how to be most politically effective while still being unpolitical.

(July 31, 2005)  Democracy Is The Emperor's New Clothes  A partial translation of an essay from economist Steven N.S. Cheung.  What about economists?  If you ask them whether democracy is good, they'll probably all agree?  If you ask them whether voting is good or not, most of them won't give a straight answer. 

(July 30, 2005)  Public Criticisms in China  A selection from the book Rhetoric of The Chinese Cultural Revolution illustrates the personality cult.  But we live in a post-modernist society, so is it still possible to do the same today?  You can try but you will probably blasted for invoking that jargon.

(July 30, 2005)  The Letter of Dread in China  If you think it is all fun and joy being a corrupt Chinese official with all the money to spend on women, food and wine, think again!  Here is a letter that you might receive out of the blue from an old friend asking for money.

(July 29, 2005)  The Real Story Behind Sister Hibiscus  From the description of a K post to the Washington Post to Sister Lotus to Jennifer Lopez, the issue is the power of media gatekeepers to dictate popular tastes and opinions.

(July 28, 2005)  Irony Lives In China: A Photo Album  A collection of photographs collected from Chinese-language forums.  Or maybe I should say "Bitterness" instead of "Irony."

(July 27, 2005)  Reporting the Iraq Body Count  The non-profit Iraq Body Count and Oxford Research Group issued Iraqi civilian casualty counts for the years March 2003-March 2005.  This is about how the counts were covered in the press around the world (including USA, UK, China and Latin America), and the relationship to the wedding party at Mogr al-Deeb.

(July 26, 2005)  Why The Visitors From Beijing Cried At The Sight Of The Bottle Of Remy Martin  A translation of a news report in Nanfang Metropolis News about the dinner that the Department of Education of an impoverished county offered to the volunteers from a charity foundation.

(July 25, 2005)  Internal Reference Materials in China  A translation of a Phoenix Weekly article about the Xinhua internal reference materials for party and government leaders.  Xinhua has a tremendous amount of influence on policy-making and problem-solving in China because this is the surest and quickest way to reach the leaders and get things done.  These internal reference materials are national secrets and cannot be disclosed to the public or foreigners.

(July 25, 2005)  The Statistical Reliability of Television Ratings in China  This is a discussion of a report in Legal Mirror about the statistical reliability of television ratings which can determine the life or death of television programs.  The associated problem is how the media can never get the full concepts out correctly.

(July 24, 2005)  Newspaper Competition in Hong Kong  A translation of a Next Magazine article about the effect that the free newspapers will have on the industry.

(July 23, 2005)  Linking Issues With Instances  This is my belated attempt to comment on the July 14 candlelight vigil on freedom of expression in Hong Kong.  I believe that the people of Hong Kong care about their freedoms of expression (publication, speech and press), but there has to be right instances to mobilize them.  Unfortunately, the specific instances for this event fell short.

(July 22, 2005)  Passalong Newspaper Readership  The relationship between newspaper circulation and readership is illustrated by some photographs of Headline News in Hong Kong.

(July 21, 2005)  Trans-Border Literature  There are physical and cultural borders among mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.  When does Chinese literature become trans-border?  At the Hong Kong Book Fair, author Zhang Zihe will propose that it helps to be censored.

(July 20, 2005)  Search Engines vs. Search Engines in China  A follow-up on yesterday's post and this time, the biggest enemy of Baidu turned out to be ... Baidu.

(July 20, 2005)  A Competition in Guangzhou  On the hottest day of the year, 33 couples entered a piggy-back endurance competition for the grand prize of 1,888 yuan plus an air conditioner.  Photos included.

(July 19, 2005)  Search Engines vs. Spammers in China  This is a translation of a Nanfang Weekend article on the war between the search engines and the spammers.  Nothing new here for anyone who follows this issue, but this one is from the Chinese perspective.  The reporter states (without proof) that there are hundred of thousands of people in China engaged in the art of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) spamming.

(July 19, 2005)  The Shenyang Fire Bombs  The owner of a Shenyang building fights off law enforcement personnel with a barrage of Molotov cocktails.  This is one of those stories that stinks to the high heavens because something is definitely being left out of the news reports.

(July 18, 2005)  Brazil In The Time of Dictatorship  The coverage of Greek politics and two songs of Chico Buarque during the Brazilian military dictatorship era, and the implications for contemporary China.  These are strange and unobvious associations, but how can we have globalization without being able to jump across space and time?

(July 17, 2005)  The Sayings Of The Sichuan County Government Chairman  Sample: "When you do something and the masses are happy but the leaders are not, then this shows that you did not do it right.  You do right only when the leaders are happy, because the leaders represent the wishes of the people."  But what is the real story about why these sayings appeared on the Internet?

(July 17, 2005)  The Real Story About The Terracotta Warriors  Earlier, there was a news report about how the Xian terracotta museum will become a coal pit in a hundred years due to pollution.  This is about how an interview of a scientist and a small experiment got twisted into headline news.

(July 16, 2005)  The Evil Dragon Is Abandoned by Heaven  According to Reuters, the gangster known as The Evil Dragon "was found via his Internet protocol address after police found out he often played games online."  What is the real deal?  Read what the Chinese-language media says: MSN, ISP, the online game "Heaven", Internet nicknames, trojan horse viruses, and a super GPS chip.  It is guaranteed that you will have no idea about what went on.

(July 15, 2005)  Freedom of Press in Taiwan  Of the seven cable/satellite news channels that applied for license renewal, five have provisionally failed for reasons such as invasion of personal privacy, emotional and inflammatory treatment of news items, insufficient of training on journalistic ethics and laws, etc.  Is this a government crackdown?  Not really.

(July 14, 2005)  July 1 Afternoon March Estimates  At the bottom of this previous post is the translation of an article about the fourth estimate from a HKU research team.  So we now have CHRF 21,000; HKU-POP 20,000; HKU-Stat Dept 18,000; HK Police 17,000.  When will Leung Kwok-hung hold his promised press conference to 'prove' that it was 50,000?

(July 14, 2005)  In Praise of Chinese Peasant Riots  Why is there still no verdict for the libel trial for The Chinese Peasant Study?  From the bottom, local officials can sense that a verdict against the two authors will lead to a 'mass incident.'  From the top, they also feel pressure as top agricultural policy expert Chen Xiwen has acknowledged frankly that what the book says is "actually true" and he even purchased a few copies to give people.

(July 13, 2005) The Libel Trial for The Chinese Peasant Study  The authors were sued by a local government official for libel, and there has been no verdict one year after the trial was held.  This post contains the sum total of what had gone on with the trial.  At the bottom of the page, there is a translation of lawyer Pu Zhiqiang's recent letter to the court asking for a verdict, one way or the other.  Why the delay?  The court panel is clearly not acting independently.  On one side, local government officials want a quick victory for the plaintiff.  On the other side, we have just seen the top agricultural policy expert just said (The Chen Xiwen Interviews) just said that everything in the book is true and that things are in fact even worse.  So the panel of judges have been pushing for a settlement, but the authors are resolute because they want to use this a test case to open up the space for public criticisms of goverment officials and policies.

(July 12, 2005)  The Greatest Internet Crime Trial in China  In the second half of this old post, I have added the trial outcomes as well as interviews with five defendants.  This is an amazing business model.  On one hand, this illegal pornographic website is based in the United States and fully protected by the laws there.  On the other hand, labor costs in China are negligible because people are happy to work for nothing.

(July 11, 2005)  My Dad Was A Corrupt Official  A couple of case studies about the children of corrupt Chinese officials.  Did they know what was going on?  Did they feel guilty about spending the black money?  Will they give any money back to the state to seek mercy for their parents?

(July 10, 2005)  The Case of Meng Weizai  A chronology of the debate over a seemingly trivial question: Did this man resign from the Communist Party of China or not?  This case demonstrates the power of the Internet against the official state media, but not necessarily for the better.

(July 9, 2005)  10,001 Letters  Chinese AIDS activitist Gao Yaojie has received more than 10,000 letters from people around China.  What do they say?

(July 8, 2005)  An Incident in Chengdu  The Internet and digital cameras supposedly empower everyone to become civilian reporters.  But are you sure that you want the full information from everyone everywhere about everything?  This post is an empirical test of your resolution and fortitude.

(July 7, 2005)  The Battle of Changde  Book reports about how difficult it is to use photographs to document a deadly war with invisible bacteria.

(July 6, 2005)  The Top 10 Fake News Of The Year In China  This is the re-cap of the top 10 lists between the years 2001 through 2004, with my nominations for the first half of 2005.

(July 5, 2005)  The Chen Xiwen Interviews  Two Hong Kong newspapers had interviews with Chen Xiwen.  Chen praised the peasants for their democratic awareness as well as the willingness to fight for their rights.  Chen acknowledged frankly that what the book The Chinese Peasant Study says is "actually true" and he even admitted that the problems in reality are "far more than that."  He credited the Internet for helping the Chinese central government find out what was happening locally.  Who is Chen Xiwen and why are these interviews such a big deal?  Chen is the vice-minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs and the number one agricultural policy expert in China.

(July 4, 2005)  Reducing the Social Gap  From the SOCO project that matched Hong Kong secondary students with poor children to the 10,000 Shanghai students who went to work in the tea fields at the foot of Huangshan, the issue is how to reduce the social gap, and hence wealth inequality.

(July 3, 2005)  Students of the World Unite and Rise Up  Were the students at the July 1 morning march in Hong Kong coerced to participate against their will?  If so, there may actually be a positive outcome, based upon my experience.

(July 3, 2005)  The Amnesty That Never Was  Who spread the rumor that the Hong Kong government was going to offer an amnesty with respect to right of abode?  Answer: Follow the money, of course.

(July 2, 2005)  The Government Is MIA in Taiwan  Translation of an article by media commentator Nan Fang-shuo in The Journalist about current politics in Taiwan.

(July 2, 2005)  July 1 Afternoon March Estimates  A continuously updated track report on the revisionism related to the number of marchers at the Civil Human Rights Front event.

(July 2, 2005)  July 1 Afternoon March Photos  Here are the photos from the afternoon march in Hong Kong.  This was a protest march for universal suffrage and against collusion between government and businesses.  The organizers declared 21,000 participants, but the police said 17,000.

(July 2, 2005)  July 1 Morning March Photos  Here are the photos from the morning march in Hong Kong.  This was a parade, not a protest march.  The organizers declared 30,000 participants, but the police said 20,000.

(July 1, 2005)  Bunny Hops  In Taiwan, a student did not bring her homework and was made to do 100 bunny hops.  Read about the student's 'strange revenge', as well as other strange stories on educating the children.

(June 30, 2005)  The Drug Dealer, Her Husband and Their Son  A photograph series in two parts.  The first part is a routine police bust in Shanghai; the second part is truly appalling.

(June 30, 2005)  A Forced Eviction in Chongqing  A photograph series of families forcibly evicted from their homes by a bunch of thugs.

(June 30, 2005)  The 2004 Hong Kong July 1 March Crowd Estimates  A continuously updated collection of quotes from various people about how many people attended the July 1 march in 2004.

(June 29, 2005)  The Chizhou Incident  A street riot in the city of Chizhou (Anhui province, China) after a traffic accident.  Photos and translated reports.

(June 29, 2005)  The Map of China  The Taiwan issue has gotten many companies in trouble because they are bound to offend one side or the other with any map of 'China.'  But one website has gotten away without any direct complaints from any side.

(June 29, 2005)  Pigs, Dogs and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong  What exactly did Long Hair write on the placard that got him expelled from the Legislative Council chamber?

(June 28, 2005)  The Tower of Babel  Given the fact that translation has often been done in the service or under the constraints of some ideology, it comes as no surprise that texts were often tampered with deliberately or unintentionally.  But should you should leave it all up to Babelfish?

(June 27, 2005)  The Shengyou Reporter's Field Notes  What should a Chinese reporter do when an edict comes down to ban all coverage of a subject in the newspapers?  Answer: Publish your field notes on the Internet for all to read!  These notes explained where the famous 3-minute 'Washington Post' attack video actually came from.

(June 26, 2005)  A Female Public Security Officer in China  A front page picture caused a major brouhaha for a newspaper in China, because the photo of a model people's heroine was attached to a story about a corrupt police official sentence to 15 years in jail.

(June 26, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  Two factors may affect participation in this year's march.  One is whether this gets turned into a protest against the election of Donald Tsang, and the other is the debate over the role of the Women's Association.

(June 25, 2005)  Signal-To-Noise Ratio In Internet News  Has the avian flu already killed 121 people in Qinghai province, China?  Read the evidence and decide what the truth is.

(June 25, 2005)  The Chinese Scholar And  His Six Runaway Wives  Another member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has been arrested.  He was turned in by US Immigration Services for having six runaway wives.

(June 24, 2005)  In Defense of Roger Ailes  Token feminist-liberal Susan Estrich explained why she liked working for Roger Ailes (Fox News) and got lambasted by liberal bloggers.  I worked for Roger Ailes too, and I am willing to defend his professional integrity.  People may not like Ailes' ideology and tactics, but he is the inevitable product of this system.

(June 23, 2005)  China's Petition Village  An entire book on nothing but the petition village in Beijing.  How can you tell if someone is not a petitioner?  Pale skin?  Well-fed?  No, you look for the sorrowful eyes ...

(June 23, 2005)  How To Keep Information Out Of Newspapers In China  First, see if you can prevent publication; failing that, you steal the pages from the distributor; failing that, you buy up every copy out there.  This is what happened to yesterday's Nanfang Daily.

(June 22, 2005)  Hinano Mizuki: The Case for Internet Censoring in China  The fight for freedom of speech and media on the Internet in China has the unintended effect of also shoving pornography down the throats of the Chinese people.  This post contains an illustration of extreme pornography in the person of Hinano Mizuki -- test your fortitude!  P.S.  By the way, this pro-censorship post was censored in China.  Eat that!

(June 21, 2005)  Income Inequality In China  The trickle-down theory will work as long as everyone is doing better, even if some people do better than others.  The big bomb will come on the day when some people do a lot of better while others do a lot worse.

(June 21, 2005)  A Thousand-Word Picture  Front page story in Hong Kong's Oriental Daily on an underground wheat gluten factory.

(June 20, 2005)  The Shalan Flash Flood - Part 4  The journalist who wrote the banned Nanfang Weekend article wrote about what else he couldn't write in the article.

(June 20, 2005)  The Shalan Flash Flood - Part 3  This is a translation of a Nanfang Weekend report that was written but denied publication.  But it found its way to the Internet anyway.  Read this gripping account even as you figure out why permission was denied.

(June 19, 2005)  Western Media Killed Chinese Web Sites  Two Chinese web sites were shut down soon after exposure in the western media.  Is there a cause-and-effect relationship?  I wouldn't know.

(June 19, 2005)  The Hong Kong Chief Executive Election  Closure is reached as Donald Tsang wins.  This post covers some obscure issues (who are the six registered candidates? how many nominations did Lee Wing-tat really need?) and brings up an unanswered question. 

(June 18, 2005)  Chinese Review Of Books  A collection of previous blog posts on three Chinese novelists (Cao Xueqin, Qian Zhongshu and Eileen Chang) mentioned by Julia Lovell in The Guardian.

(June 18, 2005)  No Chinese Or Dogs Allowed  This notice in a Shanghai park has attained mythical status.  But here are some contemporary versions of similar signs in China.

(June 17, 20050  The Shalan Flash Flood - Part 2  Was that famous photo of the hand prints left on the wall by dying children fake (or, at least, untruthful)?  Here are many of the doubts that have been raised so far, together with a simple refutation.

(June 17, 2005)  The Unknown and the Unknowable  A Chinese exile writer poses the question: "What are the things that the people in China are not allowed to know about?"  So, do you know what you don't know that you don't know?  The writer then quotes a famous poet from Princeton.

(June 16, 2005)  The Shalan Flash Flood - Part 1  The story behind the famous photos of the hand prints left on the wall by dying children.  This is a comparison of three different media reports.

(June 16, 2005)  Blogger Praises Mainstream Media  This blogger praises The Standard, SCMP and other mainstream media.

(June 15, 2005)  How Many Times Does Japan Have To Apologize?  As little as once but as many as infinite -- a very small number of people have the final say-so over this number.

(June 15, 2005)  How To Be Interrogated by the Public Security Bureau in China  A 'person of interest' provides the outline of his own eight-hour interrogation and explains some of the techniques that were used against him.

(June 15, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  A preview of the numbers for the upcoming 7/1 march in Hong Kong.

(June 14, 2005)  The Underground Publishing Industry in China  If certain books are banned in China, then why are they still available all over?  If there is an underground publishing empire, then why hasn't there been a crackdown?

(June 13, 2005)  Political Abstentionism in Opinion Polls  How a blog post here got transmigrated into a mainstream media website, with a spatial relocation from Hong Kong to Brazil.  This explains why I will never get into a MSM-versus-blog debate, because I believe the distinction is artificial.

(June 13, 2005)  Contemporary Chinese Vocabulary  I am older than most netizens and therefore I am quite often lost in the contemporary lingo.  This page will be regularly updated as I come across more contemporary Chinese vocabulary that I can never find in any printed Chinese dictionary.  WARNING: This page will be incomprehensible to people who don't know Chinese.  Come to think of it, it is incomprehensible to most people who think they know Chinese ...

(June 13, 2005)  The Case of the Missing Fingers  On June 2, I issued this challenge: " The original report on the assault of Chinese journalist Wen Chong was plastered all over the western media.  But will the resolution of the case be reported in the west?  My bet is firmly on NO."  According to Google News as of now, I won the bet.  Zilch!  They don't give a flying f**k!

(June 12, 2005)  Damsels in Distress in China  From a Washington Post column on Natalee Holloway to Schapelle Corby to living like a pig in China, this is about the public function of media in any society.

(June 11, 2005)  The East Asian History Book  This new history book is written jointly by scholars in China, Japan and South Korea.  How does it compare to the Japanese Society for Textbook Reform book with respect to the Nanjing massacre, the Marco Polo Bridge incident and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal?

(June 10, 2005)  This is not a post as such.  Courtesy of Danwei, I saw Henry Kissinger's cynical and immoral essay Conflict Is Not An Option on Sino-American relationship, and I rejoice because this is my excuse to link to a longtime bookmark.  I had saved it years ago, knowing that it will be useful some day.  Don't bother with the essay because it will only make you angry; but you have to check out that bookmark!

(June 10, 2005)  A Scandal in Hong Kong  District councilors are accused of creating fictional grassroots organizations in order to steal government funds.

(Administrative note)  Wham!  Yesterday, the server got slammed out of nowhere with 7,713 page views of The Big Brawl in Taipei (April 27, 2005).  Where did that come from?  Which A-list blogger linked to it?  Or maybe the people in China want to learn how to practice democracy ...

(June 9, 2005)  Eastweek on Ching Cheong  Translation of an article in Eastweek magazine to fill up some of the missing pieces, but don't count on this being the final say.

(June 9, 2005)  A Cockroach in Taiwan  A videotape showed a man (="cockroach") removing funeral parlor offerings (meat and rice) and selling them to local restaurants.  Or did it?  A case of the worst of the worst of democracy in Taiwan.

(June 8, 2005)  1,000 Chinese Spies in Australia  Do you really need 1,000 spies to work for you?  What is a "mosaic spy"?  And what is a "reverse mosaic spy"?

(June 8, 2005)  The Bald Restaurant Hostess  Everything you need to know why this restaurant hostess shaved her hair for work.

(June 7, 2005)  "I Don't Know"  What does French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) have to say about the Hong Kong Chief Executive election?

(June 7, 2005)  "I Want My MTV"  How my experience as a translator helped to launch MTV in Taiwan.

(June 6, 2005)  The Great Wall of Hong Kong  What is so great about the wall across the street from the Stormy Weather restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong?  Many pieces of imaginary literary histories exist ...

(June 6, 2005)  An Incident in Shanghai  A woman jumps off a building in Shanghai and dies.  Sadly, these things happen.  Even more sadly, something else happened in this case.

(June 5, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  The attendance figures at the June 4 candlelight memorial service.

(June 5, 2005)  My Intellectual Hero  It is the author of "Island Models for Takeover by a Social Trait Facing a Frequency-Dependent Selection Barrier in a Mendelian Population".

(June 4, 2005)  Grand Unification of Theories about the Case of Ching Cheong  How to reconcile the three theories about the detention of journalist Ching Chelong: the Zhao Ziyang manuscript, the secret Sino-Russian border agreement and the Lu Jianhua connection?  Includes a full translation of Mary Lau's open letter to Hu Jintao.

(June 4, 2005)  Zhang Ziyi In The Toilet  Chinese movie star Zhang Ziyi made the front cover of Newsweek magazine, but got flushed down the toilet by the New York Post.  What are the issues here?

(June 3, 2005)  Hong Kong Opines on Democracy in China  A discussion of the HKU POP survey results about economic versus democratic development in China.

(June 3, 2005)  The Ten Million Dollar Bentley  Translation of portions of an essay by Yu Jie on wealth inequality in China, along with a translation of an article by Zhang Baohua about her visit to an impoverished Chinese village.

(June 2, 2005)  The Case of the Missing Fingers  The case of the Southern Metropolis Daily reporter who was assaulted and lost two fingers in China has been solved.  Go read for yourself and see if you want to take up the bet at the bottom.

(June 2, 2005)  The Not Schapelle Corby Post  More tales from my translator career with the Drug Enforcement Adminstration, including an important lesson for prospective drug dealers.

(June 2, 2005)  The Hong Kong CE Election  Contrasting the coverages by SCMP with Sing Tao.  It is not for me to tell you what to think, but you should at least read another side of the evolving story.

(June 1, 2005)  The Long Story About Huaxi/Huankantou  The translation of the Phoenix Weekly article that is the best researched account of this mass event.  Much more than chat room hearsay, the reporters went to speak to the villagers, bus drivers, nurses, police officers, propaganda department flacks, and others and looked up primary government documents.

(June 1, 2005)  A Media Non-Event in China  The Taiwan media went into a feeding frenzy about a former legislator being assaulted in a Xiamen hot-pot restaurant.  This is an example of haste make waste in rushing after exclusive breaking stories.

(May 31, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  The number of people who marched at the Patriotic Democratic March in Hong Kong.  This time, all the media reported the same numbers.  What differentiated among the media was the composition of the marchers.

(May 31, 2005)  Media Accuracy  Some of my personal encounters with the media.

(May 30, 2005)  The Ultimate Arbitrator  At the memorial service of Brother Mosquito in Taiwan, 10,000 gangsters showed up to pay tribute.

(May 30, 2005)  Wristbands  Colorful plastic wristbands are fashionable marketing tools.  So what was Cecilia Cheung wearing?

(May 29, 2005)  The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Enemy  When Beijing University journalism professor Jiao Guobiao was dismissed from his job, he wrote an article that was criticized by an individual named Guo Feixiong.  Is Guo an undercover Internet commentator?  No, Guo has an even more interesting background than Jiao.

(May 28, 2005)  The Taiwan That You May Not Know About  A partial translation of a section of the article by Lung Ying-tai in Beijing Youth Daily.  This is an important article by a famous Chinese public intellectual published in mainland China on why the people of Taiwan don't want immediate unification with China.

(May 27, 2005)  The Nancy Kissel Case - Part 1  A translation of the Chinese-language coverage of this murder case when it was broke in November 2003.

(May 26, 2005)  Hong Kong Blogosphere News  Three stories from the Chinese-language side of the Hong Kong blogosphere: plagiarism, mainstream media coverage and viral marketing.

(May 26, 2005)  One County, Two Systems, Six Men  A photographic comparison of how suspected criminals are exhibited in Hong Kong and mainland China.

(May 25, 2005)  More Virgin Prostitutes  Cases of females convicted of working as prostitutes in China (including signed 'confessions').  The problem was that these females were found to be virgins afterwards.  But does that means that any non-virgin is 'screwed' otherwise?  Not necessarily, as there are other unmpeachable classes of females.

(May 24, 2005)  Citizen Reporters On The Huankantou/Huaxi Incident  Archival material of Internet comments of eyewitnesses at the scene of the riot, including citizens and government workers. 

(May 23, 2005)  Walk-ons On Television News Programs  What is a television news reporter supposed to do when he/she is broadcasting live and a member of the public is standing behind him/her and waving placards?  Two case studies: New York City and Taipei.

(May 22, 2005)  A Tea Fight in Uzbekistan  Does the Uzbekistan government really torture people by boiling them?

(May 22, 2005)  The Virginity Test  Eligibility in sharing land compensation money for some females in a Chinese commune depends upon passing a virginity test.

(May 21, 2005)  Undercover Internet Commentators on the Chinese Internet  A full translation of the original Nanfang Weekend article on the use of undercover Internet commentators in China.  The money quote: "To form an environment of public opinions that is suitable for the main theme of constructing a well-off society."

(May 21, 2005)  How Numbers Get Hyped in China  Structural problems in the political system leads to the 'dodgy' statistics, and the solution lie in independent audits and accountability.  In other words, these are basic principles for corporations.

(May 20, 2005)  The Posada Case  Internationally famous suspected terrorist Luis Posada Carriles waltzed into the United States to give press conferences and interviews.

(May 20, 2005)  The Hong Kong CE Election  The favorite in the Chief Executive election has not even declared his candidacy, but his opponents are stabbing each other in the backs already. 

(May 19, 2005)  Chinese Spies in Europe  Chinese students and industrial spies have been uncovered in Belgium, France and Sweden.  A look at the details of those reports.

(May 18, 2005)  What If It Were False?  The Chinese Internet is abuzz with a series of pictures of a a sexual rendezvous allegedly between a Shenzhen government official and a female television program hostess.  This is another case study of media responsibility and ethics in the Internet age.

(May 17, 2005)  A Change in the Chinese Petitioning System  A new set of rules went into effect on May 1 with respect to petitions in China.  This was one of the most inefficient, ineffective and cruel systems ever.  How have things changed?

(May 16, 2005)  Ownership Is Censorship In China  A detail explanation of how the Chinese laws put the onus of censorship on BBS owners.  If some forbidden content is published, it is the BBS owner and sysop who will be held responsible.

(May 16, 2005)  Translation and its Discontents  The story about how I became an 'expert witness' on the Chinese language in the American court system.  This may tell you one or two things about how to become a professional translator.

(May 15, 2005)  The Lies That The Elders Told  Lien Chan's visit to his Xian elementary school, a mobile phone ring tone, a university student oration  contest in 1972, the war in Iraq, etc.

(May 14, 2005)  The Greatest Internet Crime Trial in China  Eleven people are on trial for being involved in the largest Internet-based criminal enterprise that had 300,000 registered users who logged 400 million hits.

(May 13, 2005)  A Case Study for Media Ethics  A bicyclist trips in the rain in Xiamen, and caused a major brouhaha over media ethics.  This is tied in with the 1994 Pulitzer award for a photo taken in Sudan.

(May 12, 2005)  La Chanson de Roland  A medieval French epic poem, Chinese writer Eileen Chang and me.

(May 12, 2005)  That Japanese History Textbook: 2001 vs. 2005  A comparison of the 2001 versus 2005 editions of the Society of Textbook Reform textbook on the Sino-Japanese War and Pearl Harbor.

(May 11, 2005)  Small Circle Electoral Politics  Is Lee Wing-tat entered in the election for Hong Kong Chief Executive to show the absurdity of the electoral system?  Or is there something else more important?

(May 10, 2005)  Memories of The Chinese Elders  Lien Chan, Lee Oufan and my maternal grandfather's experiences during the war of resistance against Japan.

(May 10, 2005)  Hair!  A Chinese Story  A case of vigilante justice in Guangzhou, China.

(May 9, 2005)  "I Feel Really Sorry For You"  How the news media covered a Chinese University of Hong Kong alumni meeting on globalization and language(s) of instruction at the University.  The subject is media fairness, and the unwillingness of the elite to talk to the media.

(May 9, 2005)  The Puerto Rican Barbie  The 1997 cultural war over the new Barbie doll illuminates the issue of racial identity in Puerto Rico.  This is not what anyone would imagine this to be.

(May 8, 2005)  The World Press Freedom Prize Acceptance Speech  A translation of the acceptance speech by Cheng Yizhong, who is barred from attending to deliver the speech in person.

(May 7, 2005)  Blog Is Blog  An open letter from Hong Kong bloggers to ask media and research groups not to narrowly define blogs as "online diaries kept by youths to record daily trivia."

(May 7, 2005)  The Theory and Practice of Branding A Blog  An exercise in self-absorption begins with a time-series chart of bandwidth consumption on this weblog to lead to what the new five-year plan shall be.

(May 6, 2005)  The Hong Kong School Debate Championships  A report on the grand finals, at which the topic was "Japan should be admitted as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council." 

(May 5, 2005)  Weblogs as Online Diaries  A major Hong Kong newspaper jumps on the bandwagon to equate "blogs" = "online diaries."  Where do I sign the protest petition?  When is the protest march?  I am ready.

(May 4, 2005)  Forgetting and Forgiving  When should you forget and/or forgive a colossal crime against humanity (e.g. Auschwitz, Nanking, Cambodia)?  This is illustrated by the specific case of Brother Duch, the commandant of the S-21 (Tuol Sleng) prison in Phnom Phem under the Khmer Rouge.  See if you get it.

(May 4, 2005)  China Murders Anti-Japanese Protestors  An overseas website is reporting that the Chinese government has executed 17 anti-Japanese civilian organizers in Shenzhen.  How will the Chinese-interested blogosphere react?

(May 3, 2005)  The Three Travelers  Taiwan security forces brace themselves for the return of Lien Chan.  Why the reference to The Analects of Confucius?  There is a trackback to Hong Kong during the British colonial era.

(May 3, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  The Election Commission by-elections, a survey poll and the May Day marches.

(May 2, 2005)  Hong Kong Blogosphere Up In Arms  A cable television program has the Hong Kong blogosphere up in arms as the program hosts have reduced blogging to online diaries written by youths about daily trivia.

(May 2, 2004)  The China Watchers  How much has China watching changed from fifty years ago?  Are the western media in any position to give a fair and balanced picture of Chinese reality today?

(May 1, 2005)  The Case of Shi Tao  What exactly did Shi Tao write to earn him ten years of jail time in China?

(April 30, 2005)  The Five Color Problem  This is a translation of a post by Chinese blogger Anti on the impact of KMT chairman Lien Chan's visit to China.  This color palette in Taiwan politics used to consist of blue, green, tangerine and yellow, but now red has been injected.  How will the DPP triangulate?  Includes Taiwan survey poll results.

(April 29, 2005)  Chinese History, Creationism and the War in Iraq  Three examples of public issues where the objective facts are alleged to be in conflict with popular opinions and attitudes.  Are the eyes of the masses always bright and clear?

Administrative Note:  Home again, safe and sound.  Sixteen hours on the plane, in the company of Maria Full Of Grace on the airplane movie, Gregory Rabassa's If This Be Treason: Translation And Its Discontents: A Memoir and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.  The movie reminded me how this blog used to be pre-domininantly Latin-American-themed until I got to Hong Kong and stayed.  Zinn's book should shake up anyone who thinks there is an objective, true history out there.

Administrative Note:  Once again, I am migrating from New York City back to Hong  Kong, so the usual 24-hour blackout applies.  The past two weeks have not been kind -- I never overcame the jetlag (regular sleeping hours were EST (7pm-10pm)+(5am-7am)) and the seasonal allergy was horrendous.

(April 28, 2005)  Observations On Some Previous Posts  Backtracking to tie together some previous posts about the anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, the brawl at the Taipei airport, the NPC interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law, Chen Shui-bian's response to Lian Chan's visit to China and the ouster of President Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador. 

(April 27, 2005)  The Big Brawl in Taipei  A mass brawl broke out at the CKS airport in Taipei when Lien Chan departed for his visit to China. 

(April 27, 2005)  Hong Kong, Spam Haven?  It is a very simple business: you can buy 2 million Hong Kong email addresses on a HK$300 CD and then turn around to re-sell at HK$980 per 100,000.

(April 26, 2005)  Grassroots Anti-Japanese Protestors in China  Three presentations that put a human face on the anti-Japanese protestors in China.  This is a reminder that any group consists of unique individuals, and it is a gross simplification to characterize the protestors as hooligans, police agents or patriots.

(April 26, 2005)  Mexico City By The Numbers  The estimated number of people marching in support of Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador ranged from 1.2 million to 'thousands.'

(April 26, 2005)  Shanghai Clamps Down On Anti-Japanese Demonstrations  A comparison of two newspaper editorials leads to more conspiracy theories.

(April 25, 2005)  Koizumi Apologizes  Newspaper editorials from Hong Kong say that this is an important first step, but it all depends on what happens next on a series of concrete issues: the history textbooks, Yasukuni Shrine, Taiwan independence, Diaoyutai Islets, etc.

(April 25, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  One demonstration, one book burning and one opinion poll, all about the National People's Congress interpretation of the Basic Law in Hong Kong.

(April 24, 2005)  Q&A about Huaxi/Huankantou  Translations of multiple documents covering interesting aspects of the riot.  Example:  Why did 4,000 armed policemen get routed by a bunch of peasants, including many elderly persons?  Even if you don't care about what happened in this village, you will be challenged by the task of reconciling 'facts' and 'assertions.'

(April 23, 2005)  Spatial Distribution of Internet Users in the U.S.  Something from my day job.  There are no deep theories; just some simple and obvious factoids that are not easy to find otherwise.  You may think this is trivial until you have to write a report, and this may be the only useful source through Google.  This is the kind of 'boring' stuff that gets me a few million page views per year.

(April 23, 2005)  The Disappearance of the Shadow Cabinet  Hong Kong Democrat Lee Wing-tat's shadow cabinet was dead before arrival.  Read the bloody details in the Chinese-language press.

(April 23, 2005)  Some Economics of the Hong Kong Tourism Industry  Tourist agencies, tour guides and retail stores set up economic conditions that fostered collusion and bribery.

(April 22, 2005)  Restoring Discipline and Order in Hong Kong  Fight for the rule of the law?  On the contrary, it is argued that the Hong Kong government need to seize back the judiciary, the Department of Justice, ICAC, RTHK and the Securities and Futures Commission.  Indeed, the Empire strikes back.

(April 22, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  Three polls -- about the interpretation of the Basic Law, the popularity rating of the Chief Executive and Hong Kong Disneyland.

(Administrative Note)  I am slowly bringing my archives back online.  If there is something specific that you need to read, email me by all means and I'll bring those items back online.  I had two requests this week already.

(April 21, 2005)  Contesting the Nanking Massacre  Translations of discussions about the Nanking massacre in Hong Kong, with some thoughts about this contested territory and its implications.

(April 21, 2005)  Arnold Speaks Out  The governor addresses the newspaper publishers' convention and talks about closing down the border to shut out the illegals.  Or maybe he didn't really mean it.

(April 20, 2005)  Grassroot Interaction in Sino-Japanese Relationship  More translations of Yu Jie's essays on Japan.  This time, he talks to a war crime researcher and an old soldier.  Also included is a simple photographic exercise in Hong Kong.

(April 20, 2005)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  Numbers from a march, an opinion poll and a census of flagstaffs in schoolyards.

(April 19, 2005)  Unofficial Histories of Hong Kong  Excerpts from a popular paperback series on Hong Kong history about public flogging, native bombs, "comfort women" and the Japanese water torture.

(April 19, 2005)  Disney Princess T-Shirts  How much is the limited edition Snow White t-shirt?  HK$4,000, and it comes with a 'birth certicate' and hologram ID tag.

(April 18, 2005)  Two Incidents at the Hong Kong Protest March  No rock-throwing, car-toppling or shop-smashing at the anti-Japanese march in Hong Kong, but there were two June 4-related incidents.

(April 18, 2005)  A Child Learns History in Hong Kong  Why did the Chinese history textbook in Hong Kong end with the year 1911?  DId anything else happen in China after that date?

(April 17, 2005)  Hong Kong Poll Results About Japan  Survey results of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese citizens with respect to Japan.  They don't feel any differently, so the alleged differential access to accurate informtion is not the issue.

(April 17, 2005)  Are The Anti-Japanese Demonstrations Spontaneous or Stage-Managed?  On April 9, the Beijing demonstration was alleged to be stage-managed; on April 16, the Shanghai demonstration was alleged to spontaneous.  How to reconcile the two?

(April 17, 2005)  More on the Japanese History Books  Translated summary of Chinese blogger Anti's essay.

(April 16, 2005)  Huaxi/Huankantou: A New Chinese Tourist Mecca  Tens of thousands of Chinese 'tourists' are flocking to the scene of the pitched battle between police and citizens in the village of Huankantou in Zhejiang.  Photos from the scene are included.

(April 16, 2005)  Guo Jingjing Gets Panned  China's darling at the 2004 Olympics Guo Jingjing debuts in her first music video and gets panned for being "stiff like a wooden chicken."  Ouch!

(April 16, 2005)  The Boss and the Girlfriend  You don't like your boss and you want to spend more time with your girlfriend.  The solution: you make thousands of appointments to have your identity card replaced.  Yet another slice of life in Hong Kong.

(April 15, 2005)  Masters of History  Translations of blog posts at InMediaHK on the matter of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China.  This is a glimpse of how the locals in Hong Kong view the issue differently from the simplistic presentations in the western media.

(April 15, 2005)  Thou Shalt Not Gamble (in China)  A police raid on a gambling den in Haiding.

(April 15, 2005)  Hong Kong Disneyland Update (4/15/2005)  The debate about crowd control has already begun.

(April 14, 2005)  What Did James Tien Say?  James Tien officially declines to enter the Chief Executive race.  Did the central government strong-arm him?  No, it is the popular will.

(April 13, 2005)  The Falsification of History in China  Translation of an excerpt by Liu Xiaobo about the falsification of history inside Chinese history textbooks.  If it is okay to tell big whopping lies here, then why can't the Japanese too?

(April 13, 2005)  The Art of Abu Ghraib  Colombian painter Fernando Botero produces the Abu Ghraib series of paintings.  "I had no commercial intention in painting these works. I produced them purely to say something about the horror."

(April 12, 2005)  The Roots of Anti-Japanese Feelings in China  The modern campaign to market revisionist history in Japan, and how it ties in with the teaching of intelligent design in American schools.

Administrative Note:  I've arrived in New York City, and all the worse for the wear.  Since the flight departed at 10am, there was no chance that I would feel tired enough to sleep during the 16-hour flight.  So I bought the entire five-volume set of Mary Jean Yung Ching-ching (翁靜晶) and finished reading them.  The books contain her collected short essays that were published in various newspapers; if those essays appeared as blog posts, that blog would be world-class quality as her background made her an informative source on entertainment, media, business, law, politics, culture and so on (to wit, she was a movie star in her youth; quit to marry someone 30 years older; had two kids; started an insurance company; went back to school in her mid-30's to get law degrees at HKU; has her own law firm in Hong Kong; currently studying for a doctorate in political law in Beijing; writes columns in several newspapers; has several bestselling books; hosts radio/television shows; etc).  In fact, she has an even stranger life than minee and is almost as interesting as Xeni Jardin.  Full disclosure: I became a client of her law office last week, and so my reading is my belated 'due diligence.'

Administrative Note:  I'll be racking up more frequent flier miles today as I make another 16-hour flight from Hong Kong to New York City.  The usual blackout period will hold.  P.S. While typing these words, I am simultaneously watching the movie Hu Du Men (虎度门) on television -- how come I never knew this one before!  I cannot even begin to explain its appeal, beyond the fact that Josephine Siao (萧芳芳) is a family friend from the Shanghai days.  But that is another story, mostly about how my ancestors had infinitely more interesting connections than I do, or so it seems.

(April 11, 2005)  Hong Kong Blog Translations  A couple of Chinese-language blog posts about media reporting in Hong Kong, tied in neatly with the New York Times report on anti-Semitism at Columbia University.

(April 10, 2005)  Reading the Text  Three case studies about the importance of reading the text closely, pursuant to Paul de Man's advice: the Yu Jie articles about Japan, the Jiao Guobiao controversy and the Hong Kong Link REIT IPO.  In each case, I offer the challenge: read the text closely and formulate the specific response!

(April 9, 2005)  Ups and Downs in Taiwan  The TSU visit to the Yakusuni shrine keeps sliding downwards while kidnap ransom prices keep rising upwards.

(April 8, 2005)  The Rule of Law In Hong Kong  Polls, editorial columns and a short economic lesson, all about the rule of law in Hong Kong.

(April 7, 2005)  An Ambiguous Nation  Translations of what independent Chinese writer Yu Jie wrote about Japan, as compared to what a Japan Times article claimed he wrote.

(April 7, 2005)  The Doggies of Hong Kong  Stories (of economist Steven N.S. Cheung and actress Bai Ling) about the special media culture of Hong Kong: the doggie teams (=paparazzis).

(April 6, 2005)  The Hengyang Massacre  Trying to track down the story behind a photograph in a book.

(April 6, 2005)  The Pan-Democrats and the Chief Executive Election in Hong Kong  Translation of a blog post from ShiuShiu on the required sequence of steps for a good pan-democratic showing at the election to highlight the absurdity of the current system.

(April 5, 2005)  Ching Ming Festival Items  On this day, the Chinese burn paper offerings to their ancestors so that they can live better in the afterlife.  What do they burn?  Paper money, paper mansions, paper servants, paper cars, paper chauffeurs, paper mahjong sets, paper Viagra pills, paper Ecstasy pills, paper mistresses ...

(April 4, 2005)  Hong Kong Taxis  Do you know what you are getting into when you enter a taxicab in Hong Kong?

(April 4, 2005)  Hong Kong Disneyland Update (4/4/2005)  A couple of items about Hong Kong Disneyland.  This will become a regular feature on this blog.

(April 3, 2005)  The Secret Function  There are seven published functions about the CAPPS II-system for airport passenger screening in the United States.  What is the eighth unpublished capability?

(April 2, 2005)  The Counterattack Against Jiao Guobiao  A critical essay about two pieces of Jiao Guobiao's work.  You can read for yourself.

(April 2, 2005) Lions versus Lychees Why does a bilingual person choose to write in one language and not the other? Here is an example of a Chinese-language blog post translated into English.

(April 2, 2005)  The Blackout That Wasn't  It was the computer's fault, so proclaimed a Hong Kong newspaper when a photograph of a secondary school student exposing his private parts appeared on its website.

(April 1, 2005)  Teaching How To Sensationalize News  Fact: news is sensationalized everywhere, because it sells.  So why shouldn't future 'journalists' be taught how to sensationalize the news with maximal effect?  That would be the logical consequence of the free market.  Read about the new course being offered at the Hunan Normal University.

(March 31, 2005)  Ah Hui Boy Kept A Dog  Musician Luo Dayou performed his new songs on public television in Taiwan, and caused a firestorm.

(March 31, 2005)  More Hong Kong Election Surveys  Two more surveys about who should be the next Chief Executive.  The list of nominees included Andy Lau, Li Ka-shing, Regina Ip, ...

(March 30, 2005)  The Third Sex  The first sex is Man, the second sex is Woman and the third sex is ... Chinese female graduate students who are having problems finding mates for marriage.

(Mach 30, 2005)  A Salvo Against Radio Hong Kong  A Cultural Revolution-style attack by Oriental Daily against Radio Hong Kong, insisting that this 'malignant tumor' must be excised.

(March 29, 2005)  Cosmic Radiation  I am returning to Hong Kong today, but not before I read about the dangers on Cathay Pacific's polar flight.  Uggghhh!

(March 29, 2005)  Serve The People - Chapter 6  A translation of Chapter 6 of this banned Chinese novella.  There is plenty of sex in here, but this is NOT pornography.  The author would insist that this is about passion and anger.  If Man is a political animal as well as an animal of passion, then why wouldn't politics and passion intersect in Man at some point?

(March 29, 2005)  Jiao Guobiao's Final Struggle  The latest development is that Beijing University has considered Jiao Guobiao as having "resigned voluntarily."  Jiao achieved fame and notoriety for posting the Declaration Of The Campaign Against The Central Propaganda Department last year.

(March 28, 2005)  Japanese History Textbooks (2005 edition)  Once again, riots are taking place in Asia over a proposed new middle-/high-school history textbook in Japan.  Details of the latest piece of revisionism are included.

(March 27, 2005)  The Numbers at the 326 March in Taiwan  How many people were at the big march?  The organizers said 1,000,000 plus, but the police said 275,000.

(March 26, 2005)  The Brazilians of Orkut  The language divide and hate messages in an Internet community.  Sorry, it looks like peace on earth will not be automatically guaranteed by universal Internet access.

(March 26, 2005)  A Case of Privatization  This shocking photo begs for this question: Should a hospital provide treatment even if the patient cannot pay? 

(March 26, 2005)  The Cultural Audience in Hong Kong  An incident at the French Impressionist painting exhibit and its relationship to overall cultural reception.

(March 25, 2005)  Des Chinoises  The ending and the beginning of Julia Kristeva's book about Chinese women.

(March 25, 2005)  A Man With Two Faces  Translation of an excerpt from an open letter by Liu Xiaobo on the Chinese university BBS crackdown.  This is about an individual who could appear in the western media as a promoter of freedom of information and speech, and then turned around to propose and implement the suppression of those same freedoms.

(March 24, 2005)  Pre-campaign Rumors in Hong Kong  One day's collection of rumors across the entire political spectrum.  Should anyone waste their beautiful minds analyzing these raw materials every day?  Only if you are a masochist.

(March 24, 2005)  Democracy Wall in Hong Kong  In an ideal world, people should state their real names and bear responsibility for their speech.  At the same time, people will be protected from retaliation and harrassment as a result of their speech.  But we don't live in an ideal world. 

(March 23, 2005)  Does China Need An Internet Nanny?  This is a collection of translations of various articles related to the great Chinese BBS crackdown.  By the time you go through all of them, you may appreciate that nothing is ever simple ...

(March 22, 2005)  Television News in Taiwan  The notes taken by Lung Ying-tai about what she saw on the television news programs in Taiwan.  For anyone who is genuinely interested in getting news, television is just not the way to go anymore.  Yet it remains true that television is still the principal medium by which the majority of the people get their news from.

(March 22, 2005)  The Great Chinese BBS Crackdown  This particular wave of crackdown was apparently generated by an edict from high above and was applied to all the bulletin board systems at the higher institutions of education.  Selected translations of the announcements posted at various BBS's, ranging from the mundane to the anguished. 

(March 21, 2005)  The Scilingo Effect  Argentine President Nestor Kirchner removed military bishop Antonio Basseotto after the latter said that the public health minister should be "thrown in the sea" for favoring the legalization of abortion.  Whatever happened to freedom of speech and religion?  To understand Kirchner's response, it is necessary to recount the Scilingo Effect.

(March 21, 2005)  Two Tales of the City  How did the suspects in the Hong Kong park trail robberies get caught?  Two completely different news reports on the same event.

(March 20, 2005)  Maria Elvira Confronta  Maria Elvira Salazar spent years trying before landing an interview with Chile's Augusto Pinochet.  That so-called 'final' interview would land Pinochet back into legal problems, because his astute, self-righteous performance destroyed his own claim of mental senility. 

(March 20, 2005)  Characteristics of A Consumerist Society  A survey by the Friends Of The Earth found that 44% of Hong Kong consumers have discarded clothing that they  purchased but never once wore.  Is this the metric for consumerism?

(March 19, 2005)  The People's Party of Hong Kong  A market positioning analysis of the newly founded political party in Hong Kong.  This is rather confusing, because Hong Kong is not a two-dimensional society.  Thus, the People's Party has been described as pro-Beijing and pro-democracy in the same sentence.

(March 18, 2005)  Category "A" CD's  The government of Taiwan intends to crack down on the manufacturing of adult entertainment CD's.  Since Taiwan owned an 80% share previously, this will have a significant economic impact.  Can they rationalize their way out of this?

(March 18, 2005)  School Bullies of Hong Kong  The 'luridness' meter goes through the roof on this news story.  Should the beautiful minds of the readers of the South China Morning Post and The Standard be shielded from such filth?  We report, you decide.

(March 17, 2005)  How Taiwan Robbed My Childhood  A child grew up in Hong Kong, seeing and hearing about Free China, and is deceived twice.  And the second time hurts much more.

(March 16, 2005)  Wal-Mart Prices  A collection of anecdotes about how Wal-Mart created the impression that it always has the lowest prices.  Is that true?  No, it cannot always be true because someone may undersell them on something somewhere.  But it is the consumer perception that matters more, and sometimes it may be unfavorable to Wal-Mart.

(March 16, 2005)  Matching Names for Data Mining  The art and inexact science of matching names from different sources, with some examples of bad consequences of mismatches.

(March 15, 2005)  Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems  Business models for prostitution are used to illustrate the behavior of complex adaptive systems.  Either adapt or become extinct!

(March 14, 2005)  Los Galindo  A new hit sitcom in Chile is in fact a re-make of ... The Jeffersons.  But this is not another instance of the inexorable march of globalized cultural imperialism. 

(March 13, 2005)  Divorce in China & Chile  A comparison of the divorce laws and procedures in two countries.

(March 12, 2005)  Group Polarization on the Blogosphere  "The phenomenon of group polarization has conspicuous importance to the U.S. communications market, where groups with distinctive identities increasingly engage in within-group discussion  Customization makes this possible; specialized Web sites and blogs compound this problem ... different deliberating groups, each consisting of like-minded people, will be driven increasingly far apart, simply because most of their discussions will be with one another.  Extremist groups will often become even more extreme."  Three examples are given here.

Dear Friend:  You were probably trying to reach a page on the EastSouthWestNorth blog.  As of March 12, 2005, that blog and all its archived materials have been removed from the server.  There are a number of reasons why the blogger made that decision, including:

First, the blogger has a full-time job as well as a full-fledged commercial website of his own.  The blog was meant to be a collection of bookmarks and thoughts in his attempt to understand the world around him.  Unfortunately, he has found that the blog was turning into a full-time occupation dealing with bandwidth theft, hate mail and the rest of it.  This was not his plan.

Second, the blog traffic has shot up to a point where there are significant financial considerations involved.  The blog draws zero income, and the blogger makes it a point of honor to pay the operational costs out of his own pocket.  The blogger has no intention of seeking revenue, either through contributions, advertisements or sponsorships.  While the blogger thinks that he can can afford the bandwidth charges (note: the 'worst' day last month had 3.6 million hits and 102 gigabytes of data transfer), he weighs two options: either give the money to Doctors Without Borders or spend it on bandwidth usage.  There was no doubt in his mind that his preference would be to where some actual good can be done.

This does not mean that the blog is defunct for good.  For now, the blog will operate in a bandwidth-conserving text mode and then it will be re-launched in April.  Some archived materials will be brought back, but most of the 400 megabytes of content will be gone.  For example, you can see below what will be saved for the month of March so far.  In the future, the blog contents will be more focused on media, culture and politics in Greater China and the Americas.  There will be fewer posts; the posts will be focused and analytical; and the longer pieces will be hosted on external sites.  ¡Hasta luego!

(March 10, 2005)  Serve The People  A description of the banned story by Yan Lianke that appeared in the Hua Cheng magazine in China.  Shorter summary: Lovers achieve sexual ecstasy while smashing Chairman Mao statue.

(March 8, 2005)  Examples of Cantonese Culture  [in Chinese]  Two excerpts from InMediaHK about the best of Hong Kong Cantonese-based culture.  They are 'must save'-items for future reference.

(March 6, 2005)  An Internet Affair In Taiwan  This is a cautionary tale about an emotional venting after the break-up of a relationship.  This would have been nothing, except the Internet community rolled it into up into a scandal of unimaginable proportions and terrible consequences.

(March 4, 2005)  Media Coverage of C.N. Yang's Marriage  A translated article about the various culturally and politically conditioned responses from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  I am very much in sympathy with this analysis.

(March 3, 2005)  The Great Chinese War Against Japan  If you believe that the Chinese goverment is 'channelling public frustration into anti-Japanese xenophobia,' then the antidote would be for the public intellectuals to take a unified, principled and rational stand against cynical, irrational nationalistic chauvinism.  Is that happening?

(March 3, 2005)  The Basic Law On The Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive  A close reading of what the Basic Law says in the event that the current Chief Executive resigns.

(March 2, 2005)  Triangulation Meets Apostasy  An unintentionally funny editorial in the Taipei Times about the best things in American-style two-party democracy.  The most important lesson delivered by the master Bill Clinton himself: "The cunning of triangulation is that it leaves the betrayed with nowhere to go. In its devastating, yet effective cynicism it assumes that party faithful who feel betrayed will nevertheless continue to support the party if only because the alternatives are appalling."

(February 28, 2005)  A Communications Student in Beijing  This is a translation of an anonymous letter published by a first-year graduate student at the Communication University of Beijing.  This is a grim view about the training of the media workers of the future.

(February 28, 2005)  Teaching Graduate Students  A tale about how graduate students were taught at an Ivy League school.  How will this free-market lesson ever get through to China?

(February 28, 2005)  Hello Kitty  Sailors from the visiting U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk made friends in Hong Kong.

(February 27, 2005)  A Chinese Criticizes American Democracy  Translation of an essay written by a Chinese on the American political system.  I find it interesting, but for an unusual reason.

(February 26, 2005)  Reverse Migration in Hong Kong  This is a translation of a Ta Kung Pao article on demographics in Hong Kong: the low birthrate; the ageing population; the slowdown of immigration from China; reverse migration of young professionals into China; and all that.

(February 26, 2005)  Knoxville: Summer 1915  This is the beginning of the book Death In A Family by James Agee, set to an orchestral song by Samuel Barber and parodied magnificently by James Neely.  Ask not whether a Hong Kong child will understand growing up in Knoxville in the summer of 1915; ask whether the Knoxville boy of 1915 will comprehend growing up in the same city in the summer of 1998.

(February 25, 2005)  The Seven Troubles of the Chinese Middle-Class  Continuation of the enumeration of middle-class blues.  What will your next vacation travel destination be? und so weiter ...

(February 24, 2005)  The Six Dilemmas of the Chinese Middle-Class  Should you have children? an MBA degree? a notebook computer? a false persona on ICQ? a car? culture?

(February 24, 2005)  Breaking the Great Firewall of China  Translation of an article to promote the use of special software by people in mainland China in order to access overseas websites with political themes.

(February 23, 2005)  High School English in Australia  Here is an example of an English reading assignment given to high school students in Sydney Australia.  Here is a book, you read it and you have some reactions.  But they don't want to know that.  Instead you are told: "Literary texts are multiplistic; the single written entity is in fact a series of multiple writings that exist as a contestation rather than a simplistic and smoothly integrated whole."  What?  Is this English?

(February 23, 2005)  Cambodia Travel Notes - Part 5 (Scenic Photos)  I have been putting off this chore since I don't really care but for the fact that some friends and relatives would like to see them.  So there you have it.  You like my enthusiasm?

(February 22, 2005)  A Gay Novel From China  Going through the bookshelves in my apartment, I found this short story written by Li Yu in the 1600's.  It is an interesting 'inversion' of classical conventions for same-sex relationships.  I wonder what would happen to someone who published such a story in America or Europe at that moment in time.

(February 21, 2005)  The Most Popular Live Show In Town  Pssst ... here is a secret: the hottest show in Hong Kong is a Thai transsexual show in Wah Fu Estate.  But this is an unlicensed operation that only admits mainland Chinese tourists.

(February 21, 2005)  The Mother Tongue of Hong Kong  This is a translation of a YZZK article.  When the Basic Law of Hong Kong says that the official languages are Chinese and English, what does 'Chinese' mean?  When the schools in Hong Kong teach in the mother tongue, what does 'mother tongue' mean?  The choice involves tradeoffs among political, economic and cultural factors.

(February 20, 2005)  A News Report On The Fuxin Mine Disaster  This post is not about the event itself, but it is about a particular news report which asserts that more than 3,000 people died there.

(February 19, 2005)  The CUHK Language Debate  Even though I called the Chinese University of Hong Kong home for more than a decade, I will not allow myself be drawn into the debate over the English vs. Chinese language issue as stated.  I refuse to accept the false choice between either Chinese or English.  Why can't people have both?

(February 18, 2005)  The Wheat Harvest of 1973  How does the 1973 class excursion of Beijing University students connect with the democracy project in China today?

(February 18, 2005)  Styles of Political Will  I have figured out why the Hong Kong government under Tung Chee-Hwa looked so meek and weak.  It is not about the substance on any issues, because everything and anything can be obfuscated (or so I claim).  The real problem is style.  And a free lesson on getting style points is included here, from Donald Rumsfeld.

(February 18, 2005)  The Hong Kong Disneyland Papers  Rules and regulations for the soon-to-be-opened theme park.

(February 17, 2005)  Middle-Class Self-Identity in Beijing  Actually, the translated article is really about how three middle-class Beijing families do not regard themselves as middle-class.  Once they get beyond worrying about getting the basic necessities of life, they look at stability and leisure time as the definitive criteria for middle-class membership, and that is beyond them at this time.

(February 17, 2005)  Black Hispanics in the United States  A direct link to my note on the other website.  Who are black Hispanics closer to -- blacks or Hispanics?  In terms of income, they are closer to blacks; in terms of educational attainment, they are closer to Hispanics.

(February 17, 2005)  Getting Carded  Do you think that everyone who walks into a bar needs to be checked for proof of age?  What if it is a 60-year-old long-time customer with white hair and craggy lines on his face?  Well, you better ask for his ID and be prepared to throw him out if doesn't have one, because the NYPD says so.

(February 16, 2005)  Educational Inequality in China  Some methodological questions about Chinese and American data on educational attainment among rural and urban sub-populations.

(February 16, 2005)  Jumping Queues  Foreigners in China complain about the brazenness of Chinese queue jumpers, especially the little old ladies with sharp elbows.  What are the social science theory and data behind?

(February 15, 2005)  The Letters of Eileen Chang - Part 1  Going through the file cabinets in my Hong Kong apartment, I found some letters from Eileen Chang to my parents.  How do they illuminate on her literary accomplishments?

(February 14, 2005)  The Man Who Changed China  The translation of Liu Binyan's non-review of Robert Lawrence Kuhn's biography of Jiang Zemin.  What Liu has done is to give his assessment of Jiang and then predict what the book is likely to cover and, more interestingly, will not be able to cover because the author cannot elicit any opinions; and even if he did, he can't get them published.

(February 14, 2005)  The Taxonomy of Indifference  What does someone really mean when they say, "We don't care!" or even "WE DON'T CARE!!"?  To the extent that they even said something, it means that they actually care (and probably a lot).

... 

(February 11, 2005)  Cambodia Travel Notes - Part 4 (Siem Reap)  I made a brief trip to the Cambodian Land Mine Museum, and learned some straight facts of life (e.g. there were more landmines in Cambodia than people).  Who sold them the hardware for the slaughter?  The usual suspects.

(February 11, 2005)  Balance of Translations  An excerpt from an old book off the bookshelf leads to a discussion of the balance of trade between Chinese-to-English versus English-to-Chinese translations in the publishing world and the blogosphere.  Simply put, the balance of translation output depends on the balance of public interest, and right now China is much more interested in America than vice versa.

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(February 8, 2005)  Cambodia Travel Notes - Part 3 (Choeung Ek)  From the S-21 torture center at Tuol Sleng, there is a trip down a country road to the killing fields at Choeung Ek.  Again, I do not have much to say myself at this time, and I will let the photographs speak for themselves, with a few borrowed words.

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(February 5, 2005)  Alex Ho Meets The Press  Full coverage of one of the most bizarre press conferences in recent times.  The shorter summary: "I did not have sex with that woman.  That is all I have to say.  After today,  I will never respond on this issue ever again.  I will not address or refute any evidence.  You'll just have to trust me.  My wife trusts me.  P.S.  Yes, I know that woman, she did knock on my hotel door at 3 am that night I did let her into my room and I was naked when the police entered the room.  But I don't have to tell you what we were doing because I just told you that I did not have sex with her and that should be enough for you.  P.P.S.  I am resigning from the Democratic Party this very minute, which means that their disciplinary committee won't have to conduct an internal investigation about the facts of the case.  P.P.P.S.  I am going to remain being a District Councilor because my personal morals is none of your business.  And the fact that the position pays tens of thousands of dollars per month has nothing to do with it."

(February 4, 2005)  Cambodia Travel Notes - Part 2 (Tuol Sleng)  Why Cambodia?  I could have gone anywhere else for my vacation.  For example, why not Sabah?  While Sabah is nice, I have seen enough white-sand beaches in my life whereas I don't think that I know (nor will I ever know) enough about man's inhumanity (what a contradiction!).  I do not have much to say myself at this time, and I will let the photographs speak for themselves, with a few borrowed words.

(February 3, 2005)  Homonyms of Hong Kong  How much should you trust a lawyer who speaks of having a moral conscience?  Answer: Twenty percent.

(February 2, 2005)  Word Parsing in Hong Kong  In Venezuela, Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Qinghong criticized Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's annual policy report.  Or maybe he didn't.  It all depends on a 'but'.

(February 2, 2005)  The Black Hands Behind The January 1st Demonstration in Hong Kong  Who were the mysterious people who organized the 10,000 strong march against elected democratic legislators in Hong Kong?  Why couldn't they just stick to flaming and whining on Internet news forums?  And what further nefarious deeds will they commit next?

(February 1, 2005)  Two Tales From One City  The city is Hong Kong and the two tales are the English- and Chinese-language reports on the same event.  This is yet another instance of how English-language readers are being short-changed about the best things in the city.

(February 1, 2005)  Computational Linguistics    The more people link to your blog, the better things are for you?  That depends, because computational linguists are generating random spam links for commercial purposes.

...

(January 30, 2005)  The 'Malignant Tumor' in Chinese Book Publishing  I knew that the publishing industry in China was an oligopoly of 500 plus government-owned publishing houses, but a MPW article suggests that the oligopoly has been effectively broken de facto by more than 30,000 unapproved workshops that drive the business now.  This is an alternate under-handed path to accomplish economic reform.

(January 29, 2005)  My Dinner Conversation  Bits of conversations at the annual shareholders meeting of my cooperative apartment buildings.  What does Max Sawicky have to say?

(January 29, 2005)  Cambodia Travel Notes - Part 1 (Overall Impressions)  Here are my overall impressions of Cambodia during my recent trip.

(January 23, 2005)  Why I Don't Talk About Chinese Politics  It is disclosed here that my reluctance came as a result of watching a Monty Python sketch.

(January 23, 2005)  Democracy Wall, Beijing University, 2005  A translation of an article about what is present on the Democracy Wall today.  Instead of big-characters wall posters that call for democracy, there are only advertisements for language classes and test preparation courses.  So here is the question: What do you do when the base does not care for a democratic society?  Will you insist that the people were just too stupid to know what their real needs and they needed to led by the nose down the path to democracy kicking and screaming?  Now that is exactly what a Leninist vanguardist party would do.

(January 19, 2005)  Mentoring in Hong Kong  Breaking out of poverty requires more than materialistic support, and there is now a call for citizens to act as mentors for children in poverty.

(January 16, 2005)  Der hermeneutische Zirkel von Qian Zhongshu  An excerpt from an essay about the difficulty of learning the Chinese language. But it is not mission impossible, because the strategy is used in the rest of life anyway.

(January 15, 2005)  Yunnan Travel Notes - Part 3 (Signs On The Road)  Here are some photographs taken during my Yunnan trip about Chinese-language signages that were mis-translated in English.

(January 3, 2005)  New Year's Day Numbers For Hong Kong  How many people were at the march to protest politicians botching the Link REIT deal?  The high estimate is 50,000 and the low estimate is 1,000.  How could it be so different?  Let us review the identities of the estimate reporters.

(January 3, 2005)  The 'Real' Problem with Rural Poverty in China  Yes, there is a big problem about the limits of agricultural productivity, but there is something more lurking behind that you won't get from the official social science research institutions.

(January 2, 2005)  Resource Allocation and the Formation of the Lower Class in China  Translation from the book Social Stratification In China Today on the description of the three basic groups that constitute the poor in China: rural peasants, migrant laborers and dismissed urban workers.

(January 1, 2005)  What Is On This Blog?  I went back and classified the 1,423 blog posts that appeared during year 2004.  The frequency distribution was 29% on Latin America, 22% on China (minus Hong Kong), 14% on Hong Kong, 14% on Iraq and 21% on other miscellaneous subjects.

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(December 30, 2004)  Susan Sontag, In Memoriam  A Google search of this blog shows 29 blog entries with her name.  I am surprised at how low that number is.  After all, I would not be the same person without her.  The best quote from her:

A good deal of my life has been devoted to trying to demystify ways of thinking that polarize and oppose. Translated into politics, this means favoring what is pluralistic and secular. Like some Americans and many Europeans, I would far prefer to live in a multilateral world – a world not dominated by any one country (including my own). I could express my support, in a century that already promises to be another century of extremes, of horrors, for a whole panoply of meliorist principles – in particular, for what Virginia Woolf calls "the melancholy virtue of tolerance."

(December 29, 2004)  A Village In China This is a photo series that have gone around the Chinese BBS forums. It is a photographic record made by a NGO group which was visiting a remote village in which they had made donations to enable children to attend school. This will make your heart bleed and open your wallet, except there is no sure way to send money.

(December 28, 2004)  High School History Syllabus in Taiwan  Democracy in practice as observed at a public hearing about the proposed revision of the history syllabus in Taiwan high schools.  See how the lesson can be transferred to the West Kowloon Cultural District project.

(December 27, 2004)  Hong Kong By The Numbers  A whirlwind roundup of the WKCD march on Christmas Day, the Frontier telephone survey and a preview of the New Year's Day marches.

(December 27, 2004)  Gini Index in Hong Kong  People are depressed to find that the recent measure of inequality (the Gini index) shows that Hong Kong is like Mexico and ... heaven forbid ...  even worse than China.  What is it that the Gini index tells and fails to tell?

(December 26, 2004)  Humanizing China - Part 3 (Desires)  The third and final part of the series with 77 photos.  This one is about human desires.   So what do the Chinese really want?

(December 25, 2004)  Conspicuous Consumption in China  Newspaper articles on examples of conspicuous consumption.

(December 24, 2004)  Humanizing China - Part 2 (Relationships)  Second part of the series with 57 photos.  This one is about human relationships.  While no man is an island, there are many ways by which islands can be linked and/or delinked as mediated by the social structure and culture.

(December 23, 2004)  Humanizing China - Part 1 (Survival)  This is the series of photographs that have been whirling around the Chinese BBS's.  There are 66 photos in this first part.  I felt as if I had been wasting my time reading and writing about income inequality or the rural/urban gap, when these pictures say so much more.  

...

(December 20, 2004)  A New York Museum Experience  Speaking as a New York City resident about museums, with some survey data included.  This might dispel a few myths in the WKCD discussions.

(December 19, 2004)  Grandpa and Grandma Speak Up  In their own words, the two senior citizens who are endangering the Hong Kong Link REIT public offering explain their causes.  You can see if you agree with them.  Actually, before you do that, can you even figure what their point was (note: read the text only without projecting anyone else's spin)?

(December 19, 2004)  The Four Mistresses of Huang Jingao  Translation of some articles on the situation of Huang Jingao, the 'anti-corruption hero' offical who penned the Internet essay Why I Had To Wear A Bullet-Proof Vest For Six Years.  Huang is being accused of corruption as well as a blemished lifestyle (namely, keeping four mistresses).  These reports may or may not be true, but this is what is being pushed out there.  Just remember that the first English-language report appeared on this blog, ahead of all the western media.

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(December 17, 2004)  Pictures At An Exhibition  I went to the West Kowloon Cultural District exhibition to look at the scale models and listen to the presentations.  But when I looked at the comment card, I decided that I have no basis for telling people what to do.  You can look at the questions too and see if you are capable of providing informed comments.  Photos included.

(December 16, 2004)  The Big Fish  A linguistic lesson derived from the Link REIT public offering.  How is anyone ever supposed to learn Cantonese?  Well, the first lesson is this: it cannot be taught.  The second lesson?  It must be lived.  So there you have it.  Good luck.

(December 15, 2004)  Liu Xiaobo on Civil Rights and Ideology  What was the president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center thinking just before security agents showed up?  This is a translation from an interview in this week's Yazhou Zhoukan.  Liu sees an official intolerance by the Central Propaganda Department, but this was merely an inconvenience because those edicts are routinely ignored in practice.  Alas, he did not foresee the latest development. 

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(December 13, 2004)  The Journal of Ma Yan (Continued)  Three years after the publication of the story about Ningxia schoolgirl Ma Yan, a reporter visits to see how she is doing.  Her case is a miracle in the sense of being exceptional from the norm.  What about the millions of other children like her?  What is the answer to a question such as: "I want to be a modern young person with an ideal and a goal.  Can you tell me if this is still possible?"  It is possible as the case of Ma Yan shows, but the odds are very long indeed.

(December 13, 2004)  The Chinese Tourist Invasion  This BBC story is simply wicked.  After looking up and down in California, the Chinese tourists pronounced: "If that's going to be the end result of China's development, then I'm really in despair."  The most comic part is when they shopped for mementos: "Everything we pick up - leather wallets, fashion accessories, beauty products - turns out to be made in China.  We literally can't find anything that is locally produced."

(December 9, 2004)  History Textbooks in China  The New York Times criticises history textbooks in Chinese schools.  My not-so-short riposte is actually a review of two books on China-Tibet relationships which I read on the airplane during my recent trip.  One is Sky Burial by the Chinese independent writer Wang Lixiong and the other is by John Powers.  These two very different books somehow ended up at the same place and so did I.

(December 8, 2004)  More Weekend Reading  A trip from the Gettyburg address to Zhang Dachun's book of book reviews to the Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai to Hu Shi to Eileen Chang to Finnegans Wake.  What is the chain of custody?  The impossibility of translation.

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(December 3, 2004)  Interactive Newspaper Composition  A Chilean newspaper uses website click rates to determine which stories to print.

(December 2, 2004)  The Death Penalty in China - Part 2  How are the death sentences actually carried out?  Here are the perspectives of the armed policemen who act as executioners.  This is all as-a-matter-of-fact and drily professional in tone, until you get to the series of photos which shows what really happens.

(December 1, 2004)  The Death Penalty in China - Part 1  Actually, this is about two death penalty cases that were reversed, but it does make you wonder how many of the supposed 10,000 executions each year are for wrongful reasons.

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(November 22, 2004)  Secret China interviews Jiao Guobiao  Full translation of an interview with Jiao Guobiao, the author of the famous <<Declaration Against The Central Propaganda Bureau>> has been traveling in the United States and giving talks and interviews in various cities. 

(November 19, 2004)  Reporter Salaries In China  The root cause of the dysfunctional nature of the industry can be easily traced by the edict: Follow the money.  If editors and reporters are poorly paid, it is inevitable that they will seek other sources of income through their job positions.  So how much do reporters get paid?  This is an anecdotal (and therefore unscientific) survey of reporter salaries in four cities.

(November 11, 2004)  La Gacetilla  The subject was the general phenomenon of paid advertisements (known as gacetillas) disguised as news stories in newspapers in Mexico. The practice was endemic for many years, and so it must have had the tacit collaboration of all the parties in the industry -- publishers, editors and reporters. How do editors and reporters rationalize this egregrious breach of journalistic professionalism? Follow the money ...

(November 10, 2004)  Two Views Of The Chinese Newspaper Industry  Looking at it from the outside, the macroeconomic figures look rosy for a budgeoning industry.  Looking at it from the inside, things are not going well at all.

(November 9, 2004)  Pet Foods and Socio-Economic Class  Pet foods are supposed to provide nutritionally balanced diets.  In third-world developing countries, the dilemma is that most pet owners are poor and cannot afford to purchase these scientifically designed pet foods.  This obvious point is illustrated by using data from Lima (Peru).

(November 7, 2004)  The Chinese Petitioning System  Why did 3.1 million petitioners go to Beijing in the month of September?  The survey says that 91% wanted the Central Government to be aware of their situation and 88% wanted to apply pressure on their local officials.  Does that solve anything?  According to the survey, only 0.2% of the people actually use the petition system to solve their problems directly.  This is not efficient at all!

(November 7, 2004)  Balanchine in Cuba  The U.S. Treasury Department barred ten Amercian ballet dancers from the International Festival of Ballet in Cuba.  "It's a shame in the sense that they would have been bringing to Cuba what they've missed in these last 45 years of dance.  They've been in many ways left behind. George Balanchine is the greatest choreographer of the 20th century, and they have no access to his work other than through pirated tapes."

(November 4, 2004)  Fashion Magazine Readers in Brazil  My very trite observation: much of what appears in beauty/fashion magazines is in fact ill-disguised advertorials and advertising pushing products and services.  But still they are there for market reasons:  the advertisers know that these magazines work for them because their products sell; the magazines know that they are serving to link advertisers and consumers; and the consumers rely on these magazines to give them the information to stay beautiful and fashionable.  It would require a social revolution to overturn this arrangement.

(November 3, 2004)  Ethnic Strife in China  The sum total of what is known about the Han-Hui conflict at Langchenggang is given here, plus the Chinese-Korean-Taiwan student conflict at Zhejiang University.  The lesson: there are some stupid individuals whose ill-conceived actions sometimes have grave consequences because of certain longstanding unresolved problems such as ethnic strife or nationalism.

(November 2, 2004)  The International PEN Award For Independent Chinese Writing  The 2004 Award for Independent Writing went to Zhang Yihe for <<The Past Is Not Like Smoke>> (also known as <<The Last Nobles>>).  This post contains translations of the International PEN award speech, Zhang Yihe's acceptaance speech and the climatic moment from <<The Last Nobles>>.

(November 2, 2004)  Stories from the Cultural Revolution Era - Part 2  How a man died because he liked to read the book <<Dream Of The Red Chamber>> and exactly 25 years later his niece-in-law paid tribute to him by acting in an operatic version of the book.

(November 1, 2004)  Stories from the Cultural Revolution Era - Part 1  A translation of a section from Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨)'s <<Lend Me A Life (借我一生)>>, in which national, party, family and personal priorities clashed.

(November 1, 2004)  Headline Makes News in Hong Kong  A sensationalistic headline appears in the South China Morning Post.  The sensationalism has nothing to do with the news story itself but everything to do with the headline itself.

(October 31, 2004)  The Next Banned Book in China?  The current buzz in Bejing is about <<Zen Insight>>, another book on the 1957 anti-rightist campaign.  Buy it now before it gets banned!

(October 27, 2004)  Dream of the Red Chamber and the Reverse Opium War  Meandering thoughts from the 2000 Nobel Prize to The Dream Of The Red Chamber to the Opium Wars to Finnegans Wake. Such are the trademark strangeness of this blog, but it beats writing about the proposed referendum for direct elections in Hong Kong.

(September 29, 2004)  An Investigative Report By Zhao Yan (赵岩)  Although Zhao Yan's arrest was immediately linked to the NYT article on Jiang Zemin's resignation, it now seems increasingly unlikely to be the case.  This is easier to understand if you know more about his other work.  This post has a translation of an investigative news report written by him on peasant problems in Minhou County in Fujian Province.  As a result of this work, nine members of the Minhou County Standing Committee pitched in 30,000 yuan each out of their own pockets to get Zhao Yan dismissed from China Reform magazine.

(September 27, 2004)  Hyping The Numbers: The Case Of The Great Leap Forward  How organizations hype up their numbers.  While the details refer to The Great Leap Forward era in 1958-1960 in China, the mechanism is identical to that seen in the Vietnam War and the current war in Iraq.

(September 17, 2004)  The Long Road To Petition  Translation of Chapters 13-17 of Chen Guidi-Wu Chuntao's Chinese Peasant Study.  These chapters form the basis of the libel trial filed by a local official against the authors and the publisher.

(September 17, 2004)  Chinese Tourists in the Americas  Chinese tourists are heading out to Europe in large numbers, and the Americas are jealous and angry:  "It's bad enough for us to be among the major trading partners of a dictatorship that allows slave-like work conditions, tolerates child labor, represses dissent and controls its people's right to travel. It's even worse when that regime doesn't allow us to benefit from its country's 100 million outbound tourism bonanza."  Would any Chinese tourist go there after this hearing this kind of hostile opinion?

(September 15, 2004)  The Functional Constituencies in Hong Kong  The 'byzantine' electoral system was the source of much dissatisfaction on election day.  What are these functional constituencies?  What are they intended for?

(September 13, 2004)  The Hong Kong Legco Election Results  Official results are in.  Why are the headlines different from the reality?  Spin, spin, spin ...

(September 9, 2004)  The Headline News In Hong Kong - Part 4  The Dongguan Public Security Bureau held its second press conference during they showed photos of a naked Alex Ho, a condom wrapper, menstrual blood stains, scattered underwear, etc, plus further references to a pattern of patronizing prostitutes in Shenzhen dating back some years.

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(September 1, 2004)  The List of Filtered Items  A rapid politico-cultural lesson was given through the list of filtered items encapsulated in a piece of Chinese peer-to-peer software.  Positively delicious!

(September 1, 2004)  The Verdict On Alex Ho  Simply put, Alex Ho's comrades-in-arms have dumped him by purging his name and face from their Hong Kong Legco campaign.  This is as good as those air-brushed photos of Chinese Politburo membership, but it is a little bit too late.

(August 30, 2004)  Midnight Caller  Why do Hong Kong newspaper reporters call politicians at midnight for comments on breaking scandals?  Why won't they call at saner hours?  Blame it on the democrats, of course.

(August 29, 2004)  Jiao Guobiao's Second Campaign Against The Central Propaganda Department  A translation of an article by Jiao Guobiao in Ming Pao Monthly in which he outlines the manner by which news control can be opened up in China, along with the disappearance of the Propaganda Department.

(August 27, 2004)  US Let Terrorists Go Free  Four terrorists have a portfolio of accomplishments that included blowing up an airplane and killing 76 passengers, setting off bombs in six tourist hotels and killing 11 people including an Italian tourist, kidnapping and assassinating foreign consulate staff and political activists, and conspiring to assassinate a head of state.  Ah, but their target is Cuba, so this must not be terrorism then.

(August 25, 2004)  The Headline News In Hong Kong - Part 3  The Hong Kong Democratic Party really did it this time as Legislative Councilor James To is nailed with conflict-of-interest, self-enrichment, etc.

(August 22, 2004)  Reflections on Hong Kong Headline News  A case study of the unintended agenda-setting effects of the media. 

(August 21, 2004)  Name Matching  To decrease your chances of getting on terrorist watch lists, you should choose an unusual name for yourself, such as Xylophone Modestobee.  David Nelson is definitely out, and so too is Edward Kennedy.

(August 20, 2004)  The Kirchner-Krugman Conversation  The transcript of the May 5, 2004 forum at the New School University between Argentina President Néstor Kirchner and economic Paul Krugman.

(August 19, 2004)  A Technical Analysis Of Exit Polls In Venezuela  "There is a high chance even in the best of circumstances that exit polls are biased," so said Jimmy Carter.  Here are the technical reasons why the Penn, Schoen & Berfield exit poll may go wrong.

(August 17, 2004)  The Headline News In Hong Kong - Part 2  Hong Kong Legislative Council candidate Alex Ho was caught stark naked in a mainland hotel bed with a prostitute ("兩條肉蟲").  Was it a frame-up?  It depends on whether you read the English-language or Chinese-language coverage.

(August 17, 2004)  The Numbers in Venezuela  Reading behind the exit poll numbers claimed by Súmate ...

(August 17, 2004)  Election Fraud In Venezuela?  At this point, the opposition is crying "Fraud!" upon seeing a result that they didn't like.  But I think it is necessary to come up with a working model of how fraud can be perpetrated.

(August 16, 2004)  Exit Polls in Venezuela   A massive voter turnout and the slowness of the fingerprinting technology caused the polling stations to remain open after midnight to make sure that everyone could vote.  Poll results will not be available for a while, and in the meantime everyone is claiming victory on the basis of exit polls.

(August 16, 2004)  The Presidential Recall Referendum in Venezuela  With 94% of the votes counted, 58% said to keep President Hugo Chávez and 42% against.  Photos included.  The opposition is in denial because it "has no doubt that we won by an overwhelming majority."  The voting was done by electronic machines, but there is a paper audit trail (unlike in the United States). 

(August 16, 2004)  Why I Wore A Bullet-Proof Vest For The Last Six Years (The Rebuttal Case)  Oops!  The Central Propaganda Department has stepped in and removed all copies of the Huang Jingao letter and related press coverage.  The only item that remains is a 10,000 word rebuttal from the Fujian authorities.  A full translation of the rebuttal is published here with commentary.

(August 15, 2004)  Why I Wore A Bullet-Proof Vest For The Last Six Years  A local official Huang Jingao in Fujian province published a letter on the People's Daily website and generated a firestorm.  His simple question: "It shouldn't be so hard for an official to handle a corruption case within his jurisdiction, should it?"  He has more than 100,000 messages of support from Chinese netizens in just a few days.  A full translation of the letter is published here, together with the now suppressed Chinese original.

(August 11, 2004)  Pork Barrel Politics  Spending money on social programs for the poor in Venezuela is decried as blatant vote-buying.  There is actually nothing wrong with spending money on the poor majority in a democracy, especially compared to pork barrel politics.

(August 9, 2004)  My Post-"Anti-Central Propaganda Department" Era  So what is happening to Jiao Guobiao?  This is a translation of an extract from the foreword to Jiao Guobiao's book, in which he tells about the events after the publication of the Declaration of the Campaign against The Central Propaganda Department.

(August 5, 2004)  Liu Binyan comments on the Lu Yuegang Letter  The legendary Chinese reporter Liu Binyan comments on the Lu letter, showing a keen grasp of the principles and realities of newspaper publishing in the political economy of China.  This is the best piece of commentary that I have seen so far.

(July 29, 2004)  The Chinese Tourist Zhao Yan  Some more details from the court proceedings have been added to yesterday's post about Chinese tourist Zhao Yan.  According to the testimony of fellow officers, Homeland Security inspector Robert Rhodes kneed Zhao's head three times and then grabbed her hair with both hands to smash her face into the ground two times.  Bonus: the expected China Daily rant on the American record on human rights hypocrisy.

(July 28, 2004)  Jiao Guobiao's Letter to Wen Jiabao  Translation of an open letter from Jiao Guobiao, author of the long Let Freedom Ring essay, to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.  Jiao's approach is similar to that of the authors of The Chinese Peasant Study in that they are on counting on the 'good guys' in the hierarchy to carry through the reforms.  What other choices are there anyway?  Mass demonstration?  Armed insurrection?  Self-immolation?

(July 28, 2004)  The Virgin Prostitute  Is it possible to be convicted of having engaged in two acts of sexual intercourse within twenty minutes in exchange for the promise of money while still being certifiably a virgin afterwards?  Only in China ...

(July 27, 2004)  The Lu Yuegang Dossier  A collection of press articles about the man and his work.

(July 25, 2004)  The Lu Yuegang Letter (in English)  Guess how I spent Saturday?  I translated this 15,000+ word Chinese article into English!  This is the nasty open letter from the deputy director of the news center in China Youth Daily.  Sample: "I am really concerned about you because if the powers-that-be should learn that your thinking is so confused and you are so ignorant, your political career will be over; I am even more worried that if politicians like you should manage to grab more power, because you can cause great damage to the nation."

(July 23, 2004)  The Headline News in Hong Kong - Part 1  Once again, the English-language newspapers failed to reach to the bottom of sewer to fish out the 'truth.'

(July 12, 2004)  Cultural Wars  The whole world waits to see if Zhang A-Mei holds her concert in Shanghai.  At stake is peace on earth.

(July 2, 2004)  The Hong Kong 7/1 March: Crowd Size Estimates  A major controversy over the crowd size as the organizers insists on a figure of 530,000 whereas six other independent studies put the number at 200,000 or less.  At issue is 'trust.'

(June 25, 2004)  Political Polls in Venezuela  One opposition poll shows that Venezuelan President Chavez is in serious trouble in the recall referendum, but it is instantaneously attacked.  Another poll arrives a diametrically opposite prediction.  Who is to be believed?  

(June 7, 2004)  Political Partisanship  How polarized is Hong Kong right now?  A simple case study is presented here.  How people react to the same basic set of facts will say a lot about the damage that political partisanship has done to core political values. 

(June 6, 2004)  Political Relativism  A comparison of two cases of vote scams, one in Hong Kong and another in Venezuela.  As different as they are in terms of the degree of severity, they elicited completely opposite reactions from the principals.

(May 28, 2004)  The Hong Kong Radio Hosts-Part3  Allen Lee testified before the Hong Kong Legislative Council about why he and other radio hosts had to quit their talk shows.  Western news agency reports are included.

(May 28, 2004)  The Chinese in America  The model minority finds itself not as well-liked as previously thought.

(May 27, 2004)  Language Fog  The connection between the lack of Arab condemnation of Nick Berg's beheading and the holy relic of the Buddha's finger.

(May 27, 2004)  CNN vs. Fox News  It may be true that the average minute audience for Fox News Channel may be higher than CNN.  No, that does not mean that FNC is either more popular, respected or profitable.

(May 26, 2004)  Serving The People  This links to a photo of the back of the a tourist bus at the Star Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong.  The figures look like they came right from the Cultural Revolution and so does the top slogan in Chinese "Serving the people."  But there is a second smaller line underneath the slogan: "... Is Not Just A Slogan!"  How post-modernist!  And only Hong Kong people can afford to be so rude to the CCP!

(May 26, 2004)  TV Censorship in Hong Kong  Actually, this is benign and civil in which all parties were in agreement, and it makes for an interesting case study.  This is democracy at its best as viewers filed complaints with the Broadcasting Authority who advised TVB, which accepted the criticism in a public statement.  In the United States, the FCC just doles out fines.

(May 21, 2004)  The Wedding Party at Mogr el-Deeb  US airplanes and armored vehicles attacked a location in Iraq near the Syrian border and killed more than 40 people.  While US said that this was a terrorist location, the locals said that it was a wedding party.  Lots of photos of the injured and dead (including the musicians).  Who do you believe?  Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt or your own lyin' eyes?

(May 20, 2004)  The Hong Kong Radio Hosts-Part 2  A third radio host has resigned.  He said that he felt he could not speak his mind or enjoy the radio show.  Meanwhile Next Weekly sheds some light on the case of radio host Raymond Wong, who had apparently run foul of loansharks.

(May 18, 2004)  The Hong Kong Radio Hosts-Part 1  Two outspoken talk radio hosts critical of the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have gone off the air within 10 days of each other.  They both cited 'pressure' but declined to elaborate.  'Pressure'?  Get used to it!

(May 17, 2004)  Singing the National Anthem  Many of the famous singers in Taiwan will be conveniently out of the country and therefore cannot sing the national anthem at the presidential inauguration.  Why?  Because the mainland show business market is too big for them to lose.  So how many people over there are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices in order to proclaim the birth of the Republic of Taiwan?

(May 17, 2004)  The Bagman of Hong Kong  The Hong Kong police catches a burglary suspect and puts a hood on him.  Is this a case of human rights violation, à la Abu Ghraib?

(May 17, 2004)  Against the Hong Kong-Taiwan Style  The Chinese authorities have been running a broad-reaching campaign to save its young people from bad influences.  Among the targets are television announcers who dress, look or talk like Hong Kong-Taiwan television announcers.  Oh, we mustn't forget those horrible internet cafes either.  But how about the sounds of lesbians having sex or weathergirls in bikinis?

(May 16, 2004)  The Missing Young Men  This link goes directly to my article on the missing young men in the television audience.  Where did they do?  They are doing what guys do: playing games, obsessing over sports and girls and hanging out with buddies - often online, and doing anything but watching television.

(May 8, 2004)  The Chinese Navy Sails Into Hong Kong Harbor  A Chinese navy armada invaded Hong Kong in order to initimate democracy in Hong Kong, so said the New York Times.

(May 5, 2004)  Let Freedom Ring  The New York Times reported on a Chinese journalist named Jiao Guobiao who published an article that advocated a campaign against the Central Progaganda Department.  This Chinese-language article has been circulated on the Internet and I have made a quick English-language translation here.

(May 4, 2004)  The Children of Iraq  A continuously updated photo album of children in Iraq today.  These photos are not annotated, but you should see what subversive power resides in pure imagery.  You are warned that the photographs are arranged so that they get progressively more disturbing as you scroll down.

(May 1, 2004)  The Human Pyramids of Abu Ghraib - Part I  Some background on the Abu Gharaib prison, plus the famous photos from the CBS 60 Minutes II program.  Gruesome photos.

(April 25, 2004)  An Apple A Day Keeps Developers Away  Has Apple Daily (Hong Kong) been subjected to an advertiser boycott on account of its pro-democracy stance?

(April 15, 2004)  Death of a Newspaper  An apparently successful newspaper went under because its owner could not help dipping his hand into other dirty business deals on the side.  The owner was exposed when a videotape of him offering a bribe was aired by Mexico's keenest news analyst, Brozo, who happens to dress up like a clown, complete with green hair and a bright red nose.

(April 13, 2004)  The Soccer Fields of Fallujah  In Fallujah, soccer fields have been converted into cemeteries.

(April 6, 2004)  Dangerous Buildings  In Hong Kong, if you see something that you don't like outside your window, you can always call the Dangerous Buildings Department ... 

(April 4, 2004)  The Ambiguous Nature of “Collaboration” in Colombia  Simply put, every Colombian has done something or the other that can be classified as collaborationist activity by one or more armed groups.

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(March 31, 2004)  CNN vs. Fox News  Fox News has the larger average minute audience, but that does not mean that is more popular, respected or profitable.

(March 26, 2004)  Children of Ningxia  The New York Times reports on the case of Chinese diarist Ma Yan.  Good for her, but the larger problem remains for the bulk of the rural population.

(March 20, 2004)  Most Wanted In China  This contains a trove of material on the recently arrested Chinese mass murderer Ma Jiajue.  The emphasis is less on the law enforcement aspect of the case, which the government obviously wants to trumpet.  Rather, this is about insights and rationalizations from his parents, his siblings and Ma Jiajue himself.  Someday, someone is going to write a book out of this (and it won't be me).

(March 15, 2004)  Hitler in Taiwan  The KMT runs an ad comparing President Chen Shui-bian to Adolf Hitler (photo included).

(March 11, 2004)  Dual Pricing in Hong Kong  How much is a meal worth?  One Hong Kong restaurant says that it depends on your ability and willingness to pay.

(March 11, 2004)  Voting for the Winner  This link goes directly to my short article on some Brazilian survey data on whether people would vote for the probable winner instead of their preferred candidate.

(March 10, 2004)  Election News Blackout in Taiwan  Opinion poll results will be banned under the election law for the ten-day period before the presidential election in Taiwan.  Anti-democratic, this is not!  It is a much better way of involving voters to think about the critical issues.

(March 3, 2004)  Virtual Stock Markets in Taiwan  The street consensus is that the Lien-Soong ticket will win by 500,000 to 700,000 votes.  And the street may guarantee the result.

(March 3, 2004)  Pendejo  Hugo Chávez called George W. Bush by that name.  What does this word mean?

(March 3, 2004)  Perspectives  The interpretation of the financial results for HSBC from the United Kingdom, United States and Hong Kong.  The same objective results led to completely different spin.

(March 3, 2004)  The Streets of Caracas - Part 3  Third day of street riots in Caracas.

(March 2, 2004)  The Streets of Caracas - Part 2  Second day of street riots in Caracas.

(March 1, 2004)  The Streets of Caracas - Part 1  The streets of Caracas was filled with violence when the opposition objects to a ruling on the presidential recall referendum.

(February 28, 2004)  The Chinese Peasant Study  The reportage written by Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao was banned in China.  This post includes news coverage, interviews and translations.

(February 26, 2004)  Hope Against Hope  Ineluctable optimism in the face of evil incarnate.

(Feburary 19, 2004)  Religious Television in Latin America  Link goes to my article on religious television programs in Latin America.

(February 17, 2004)  Ms. Chang's Office  Where did Eileen Chang write her movie scripts while in Hong Kong?

(February 10, 2004)  Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai  Is it possible to translate the Wu dialect?  Don't bother!  I'd rather stick with the original anytime.  

(February 8, 2004)  Besieged Fortress-Part III  Is there anyone like Qian Zhongshu in this generation? 

(February 6, 2004)  Besieged Fortress-Part II  If not this novel, then what is the basis for Qian Zhongshu's reputation?

(February 6, 2004)  Besieged Fortress-Part I  How does Qian Zhongshu's novel connect with globalisation?

(January 26, 2004)  Northern Ireland  Violence and discrimination against the Chinese in Northern Ireland.

(December 6, 2003)  Training Class  The art of debt collection and the essential tools of the trade in Hong Kong: red paint, chain, thinner and feces.

(November 30, 2003)  Guilty As Sin  A senior police superintendent patronised four prostitutes on three occasions without having to pay.  His excuse was that he had no idea that they were prostitutes.

(November 10, 2003)  The Revolution Will Not Be Televised  Comments about the movie about the April 2002 coup in Venezuela.

(October 8, 2003)  Another Venezuelan Poll  A discussion on a poll based upon street intercepts on the possible presidential recall referendum.

(October 5, 2003)  The Misperception Poll  The PIPA/Knowledge Networks study titled Misperceptions, The Media and The Iraq War comparing viewers of CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News.

(August 26, 2003)  More More Venezuelan Numbers  Why are the Associated Press numbers from CNN en Español and El Diario/La Prensa different by an order of magnitude?

(August 25, 2003)  More Venezuelan Numbers  The collection of numbers at the August 20, 2003 demonstration in support of President Hugo Chávez