Links » Crème » Olympics Links: How China changed the Olympics, where to watch in Beijing and online, and we turn to Xinhua’s forum for a chuckle
Links » Crème » Olympics Links: How China changed the Olympics, where to watch in Beijing and online, and we turn to Xinhua’s forum for a chuckle |
- Olympics Links: How China changed the Olympics, where to watch in Beijing and online, and we turn to Xinhua’s forum for a chuckle
- Friday Links: Bo Xilai back in the news, Beijing rainstorm death toll raised to 77, and ChinaJoy
- Top 10 Search List (July 27)
- Tea Leaf Nation to the Rescue!
- Today’s China Readings July 27, 2012
| Posted: 27 Jul 2012 07:14 AM PDT
Manchester City just beat the incredibly popular-in-China Arsenal 2-0 in heavy rain at the Bird's Nest today. The Olympics opening ceremony begins in a matter of hours, at 4 am China time (7 pm London). Here are your Olympic links.
To start, the question everyone wanted — nay, needed — an answer for. "Chinese basketball player Yi Jianlian has been chosen to carry the flag of China at the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games on Friday." [Xinhua] "How China Changed the Olympics Forever." "…No one seemed concerned about the question of whether, instead of us changing China, China might actually change us. I felt that many of my Western listeners needed to be awakened out of their smug self-centeredness. // …Did China change the Olympics? Yes — since the Chinese leadership invested the Olympics with so much significance, the economic and political powers-that-be in the developed West took them more seriously as well. Romney, whose career got a boost when he was hired to navigate the Salt Lake City Olympic committee through its bribery scandal, will be attending the opening ceremony in London, as will Michelle Obama. The pundits seem to agree that no one will be able to match the ceremonies in Beijing — because of the 'unlimited' resources that can be commanded by an authoritarian government — but if London fails to organize an event that is outstanding in other ways, it will be interesting to see what kind of discussion it initiates about the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democracy." [Susan Brownell, interviewed by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Asia Society] The Olympics matter to the Chinese, still. "According to workforce research firm Kronos Incorporated's survey of 9,500 workers in eight countries, Chinese ranked the world's most likely citizens to call in sick to watch a sporting event, with 54% of Chinese employees surveyed confessing that they've ditched work for having stayed up too late watching or attending an athletic event. That compares to 41% in India and 23% in the U.K., both countries in which sports like cricket can last days on end, according to the survey." [WSJ] Ping-pong gamesmanship is the best kind. "On a hot August evening in 2008, his tousled locks subdued by Beijing humidity, Boris Johnson seized the Olympic flag and uttered a rallying cry for London 2012 that will echo down the generations: 'Ping pong is coming home'. // One might not have expected his Chinese hosts to welcome those words. The world's most populous nation bestrides table tennis like a bat-clutching colossus, claiming all six medals in the singles and gold in both team events at the Beijing Games. But having produced the Four Great Inventions (paper, printing, gunpowder and the compass), it appears quite happy to give Britain the credit for a fifth. // 'It's a fact. It's true. It was invented by England,' concedes Zhen Li, before adding: 'But it was developed in China. And now the English can't beat us.'" [Tania Branigan, The Guardian] Who said the Olympics were supposed to be an alternative to war. "Yet it is not the Olympic Games that Londoners object to, but the Olympic occupation. There will be 20,000 soldiers on the streets of London providing security during the games, all in uniform and many armed. That's around one fifth of the entire British army. Anti-aircraft missiles have been placed on the rooftops of residential tower blocks to prevent a 9/11 style terrorist atrocity. The implication of this is that if a plane is shot down and crashes on the rest of London, then the operation will have been successful." [Jamie Kenny, Global Times] Egypt is using made-in-China uniforms as well. Nike should probably lower their prices. "The tracksuits and bags of Egypt's Olympic team are emblazoned with the familiar Nike and Adidas logos, and the country's committe chairman says that's good enough — even though they're fakes. // 'We signed with a Chinese distributor in light of Egypt's economic situation,' Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed Ali told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. // Ali said the real thing was just too expensive, and the state of Egypt's battered finances led him to opt for the counterfeit gear, which he said was 'sufficient.'" [AP] Taiwan flag removed from London street prior to Olympics? "To welcome the 2012 London Olympics, the Regent Street Association that represents hundreds of local London merchants and businesses recently hung up the national flags of the world's countries throughout the streets of London. Placed alphabetically, Taiwan's national flag had been hung up near Piccadilly Circus. Just several days later, the Taiwanese flag had suddenly disappeared." [chinaSMACK] The tweet that got triple jumper Voula Papachristou kicked off the Greek national team: "With so many Africans in Greece… At least the West Nile mosquitoes will eat home made food!!!" [Deadspin] Best-ever Olympic torch lighting interlude: Finally… Samantha Wright, the weightlifter the Internet has a crush on. [Buzzfeed] Places that will show Olympics-related programming. [the Beijinger] Where to watch online. [Wired] Finally, finally… We turn to Xinhua, specifically this comment on its English forum:
What about these photos from the same post, also in color?
Beijing's is the most beautiful because I'm paid to say it. |
| Friday Links: Bo Xilai back in the news, Beijing rainstorm death toll raised to 77, and ChinaJoy Posted: 27 Jul 2012 04:38 AM PDT A special Olympics links post is coming up shortly (no pun intended). For now, non-Olympics links. If you have no idea what's up with Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, Bo Guagua, Neil Heywood, Wang Lijun, Zhang Xiaojun, or Patrick Henri Devillers is, here is the story for you. [FT Magazine] China's still trying to keep porn banned. Laughable. "More than 10,000 suspects have been arrested and 600 criminal gangs 'busted' in China's latest cybercrime crackdown, the authorities say. // As of June, 3.2 million 'harmful' messages had been deleted and 30 internet service providers punished for granting access to unlicensed sites, the Ministry of Public Security said." [BBC] The many creative ways in which people in Tianjin dealt with heavy rainstorms on Wednesday and Thursday. "Just as Beijing is inundated with widespread public criticism of its poor infrastructure and government incompetence in the wake of a deadly rainstorm, which killed 77 people, Tianjin, a city 88 miles away with a population of more than 12 million, was hit with a similarly heavy rainfall and soon submerged in water. // However, unlike those in Beijing who are still in the angry and gloomy mood six days after the downpour, people in Tianjin seem to have coped with the natural disaster really well, at least psychologically." [Ministry of Tofu] Seventy-seven is still probably a conservative estimate. "Embattled Beijing city officials raised the death toll from weekend flooding to 77 from 37 as they fended off criticism, including from some Chinese state media, of their handling of the disaster." [WSJ] Another Apple factory mishap. "A chlorine gas leak at an Apple Inc. supplier's Chinese plant killed one person and left four others in comas, Xinhua Net reported late on Thursday. // Catcher Technology confirmed that an incident at its factory in Suzhou, eastern China, had caused injuries." [NBC News] And this is what people mean when they say Weibo is powerful. "How popular is Sina Weibo in China? The Chinese Twitter-like service saw a penetration of more than 88.8% among China's digital populace aged more than 20, according to a report by DCCI, a Beijing-based Internet think tank. The whopping penetration means that almost every Chinese netizen has a weibo account." [TechNode] Dignitaries like Neil Heywood? "The Harrow Family of Schools, the alma mater of Winston Churchill and other dignitaries, is seeking to set up a school in southwest China, which would be its second campus on the Chinese mainland after Beijing, a top local official said Thursday." [Xinhua] ChinaJoy opened yesterday, and organizers are getting clever. "Besides bikini-clad girls, visitors to ChinaJoy 2012, opening to the public today, will find new characters in the spotlight: foreign male models and cross-dressers known as weiniang. // More male models will appear in the biggest game fair in Asia after ChinaJoy organizers cracked down on 'vulgarity' by limiting the number of showgirls exhibitors can use and how they are dressed." [Shanghai Daily] Two expats leave China. "The first is Charlie Custer, who made his fame by blogging at ChinaGeeks. Custer has spent several years in the country and was working on a documentary called Living with Dead Hearts, which delved into the sensitive issue of child kidnappings in China…. // Mark Kitto originally came to China in 1986, and might be known (by the longest-of-long term expats in the PRD) as the founder of the That's magazine franchise (which includes That's PRD — formerly That's Guangzhou). Kitto has had his ups-and-downs in the country, but has pretty much lived here since his college days. His story of how he lost the That's magazine franchise has become legendary." [The Nanfang] Kung fu on the train interlude: Finally… Chinese social media's reaction to Gu Kailai's murder indictment. [Tea Leaf Nation] A conversation with Tom Scocca, author of Beijing Welcomes You. [The Awl] Q&A on craft beer in China. [Jing Daily] If you're a resident of North America, here's a writing contest for you: "Big in China Short Fiction Competition." [Duotrope] Finally, finally…
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| Posted: 26 Jul 2012 10:54 PM PDT
1. 河南呕吐死 (Hénán ǒutù sǐ) Public interest in the suspicious death of Henan resident Yu Gangfeng continues to grow. Three days after police in Dancheng, Henan arrested Yu for allegedly stealing an automobile, Yu died in police custody. Dancheng police claimed that Yu died from uncontrollable vomiting; Yu's family and other residents allege that he was tortured. English-language story here. 2. 郭晶晶霍家过夜 （Guō Jīngjīng) Hong Kong media outlets report that retired Olympian and Chinese sports icon Guo Jingjing will finally wed Hong Kong business tycoon Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, ending years of speculation over the couple's status. Chinese-language story here. 3. 薄谷开来 (Bō Gǔ Kāilái) Chinese prosecutors have charged the wife of disgraced politician Bo Xilai with murder (see photo). After months of speculation over Gu's fate, the official indictment alleges that Gu Kailai and an aide, Zhang Xiaojun, conspired to poison British national Neil Heywood. Bo Guagua, Bo and Gu's son, was mentioned in the indictment, but only by his last name, suggesting that he is not a suspect in the case. English-language article in the New York Times here. 4. 金正恩已婚 (Jīn Zhèngēn) North Korean "dear leader" Kim Jong Un's stylish (by North Korean standards) new wife is turning heads west of the border. Ri Solju (or Jin Zhengen in Chinese) was a former cheerleader, singer, and student at Kim Il-Sung University. Plenty of English-language news available for this one. 5. 跨栏 （kuà lán) Searches for "kualan", or "hurdling", surged today as a British publishing company's "Guinea Pig Olympics" calendar found its way onto the Chinese web. The calendar features digitally doctored images of guinea pigs twirling, diving, and propelling javelins. No word on China's medal count. English article here. 6. 朝鲜女足退赛 (Cháoxiǎn nǚ zú tuì sài）Perhaps Mitt Romney was right after all. During the first day of Olympic competition, game organizers mistakenly displayed the South Korean flag while introducing North Korea's women's soccer team. After an hour's delay, the North Koreans salvaged national pride by downing Columbia, 2-0. English-language story here. 7. 蔡喜宏 (Cài Xǐhóng) China's military announced the appointment of Colonel Cai Xihong as garrison commander of a newly created base off the South China Sea. China's creation of the new "city" of Sansha — a secluded island in the South China Sea — has stoked anger in the Philippines and Vietnam, which dispute China's territorial claims in the region. English article here. 8. 南航迫降 (Nánháng pò jiàng) A China Southern Airlines flight from Heilongjiang to Guangzhou was forced to make an emergency landing at an airport near Hangzhou after passengers detected smoke in the cabin. No injuries were reported. English-language article here. 9. 日本 西班牙 (Rìběn Xībānyā) Japan's men's soccer team pulled off a surprise win against Spain in an early Olympic match Thursday. Japan's 1-0 victory came on forward Yuki Otsu's first-half goal. Article here. 10. 赛艇 (sàitǐng) "Rowing." Chinese netizens seem to be freshening up on their knowledge of rowing in advance of the first London Olympic heats tomorrow. Courtesy of our friends at Tea Leaf Nation.        |
| Tea Leaf Nation to the Rescue! Posted: 26 Jul 2012 09:59 PM PDT The good people at one of our favorite China-focused websites, Tea Leaf Nation, have generously offered to take up the writing of our daily Top 10 trending search terms. Following TLN editor David Wetime's very kind introduction, three of their most talented writers—Liz Carter, Eli Bildner, and the mysterious A Capella—will be doing the updating. We look forward to their insights and perspectives on what Chinese netizens are searching for on Baidu, and what it tells us about society. We here at the Baidu Beat are most grateful, and we encourage you to check out the excellent Tea Leaf Nation website, which offers well-observed essays and timely translations of Weibo and other comments on the issues of the day. If you're an avid fan of Chinese Internet culture, read Chinese well, enjoy writing and want to be a part of the Baidu Beat, drop me a note at kaiser dot kuo at baidu dot com and we'll see about getting you on board. |
| Today’s China Readings July 27, 2012 Posted: 26 Jul 2012 03:16 PM PDT China has amassed overpowering naval and military superiority over any individual Southeast Asian competitor. The Philippines possesses no air force to speak of, while retired U.S. Coast Guard cutters are its strongest combatant ships. Vietnam, by contrast, shares a border with China and fields a formidable army. Last year, Hanoi announced plans to buttress its naval might by purchasing six Russian-built Kilo-class diesel submarines armed with wake-homing torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles. A Kilo squadron will supply Vietnam's navy a potent "sea-denial" option. But Russia has not yet delivered the subs, meaning that Hanoi can mount only feeble resistance to any Chinese naval offensive. That's still more reason for China to lock in its gains now, before Southeast Asian rivals start pushing back effectively. Eight pages of reporting on the Beijing flood were pulled from today's edition of Southern Weekend before going to press. Several of the paper's editors have voiced their anger on Weibo, while some reporters have posted photos of the missing copy, complete with the handwritten remarks of censors. Weibo posts fromSouthern Weekend staff have been deleted en masse by Sina. China would never do this right? This is just a Russian thing, no? Cui tiankai essay on Sino-US relations BEIJING — The Obama administration's national security adviser,Thomas E. Donilon, ended two days of talks with China's top leaders Wednesday evening, a visit that was billed as low-key but was freighted as much with domestic politics in both the United States and China as with foreign policy NEW DELHI: World's fourth largest internet firm China's Tencent wants to battle US internet firms like Google and Facebook in India by creating locally built brands. Tencent, whose flagship QQ messenger has 700 million users, launched its mobile chat service called WeChat in India on Thursday, to compete with the What's App and Blackberry messenger in India, which have the largest market share on smartphones. The chat service also aims to compete with Facebook's Timeline with its similar 'Moments' feature. A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Thursday refuted reports that China's military attack helicopter Z-10 pirated U.S. technologies, saying the helicopter's manufacturer had used independent intellectual property rights. given libor's shenanigans, will anyone outside of china ever trust shibor? This time, speculation has been swirling. We believe the court can live up to the expectations of the public and deliver a fair trial. This is a criminal case, and society should see it as one. The public should adopt this attitude. Every citizen is an ordinary person when sitting in the defendant's seat. We may encounter more special cases in the future. Dealing with them based on law will gradually pave the way to a mature legal society. 2006 CPC note on why trials of high officials take place in areas where those officials have no ties flattered to see that buron marsteller used screenshots from my 2011 presentation on sina weibo in this presentation, from slides 37-47. not so happy to see that Burson Marsteller did it with NO ATTRIBUTION China's domestic film industry has hit a five-year low despite robust growth in box office sales across the country in the first half of this year, filmmakers said. Apple is set to postpone the debut of its iPhone 5 because high-end chips used in the device are in short supply, reports the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily. Outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz says the Air Force and Navy are developing "a range of initiatives" designed to counter high-technology anti-access and area-denial weaponry as part of the new Air Sea Battle Concept. The "anti-access, area-denial" threat is Pentagon code for China's asymmetric military capabilities that include anti-ship ballistic missiles, cyberwarfare capabilities, anti-satellite weapons, and more-conventional submarines, warships and stealth aircraft. yanhuang chunqiu has another article warning of a return of the cultural revolution and criticising bo xilai Bo Guagua has become Bo MouMou (XX) in official Chinese media// duowei says big job coming for li zhanshu Ahead of the 18th National Congress that will usher in China's next generation of leaders this fall, the Communist Party elite will be cloistered away late this month for the annual retreat in Beidaihe, a beachside resort and conclave for the party's top echelons in the northern province of Hebei, the scene of many a backroom deal over the past 60 years, reports Duowei News, a news website operated by overseas Chinese. Forget spreadsheets. Yankun Hou, an award-winning auto industry analyst at UBS AG (UBSN), counts Toyotas and BMWs in the parking lots of car factories in China using satellite images from Google Maps to gauge inventory buildups. southern weekend report on the beijing floods and the warning system/preparations. apparently they had an 8 page report on the floods that was censored before publication Sales of emergency hammers surged on China's e-commerce sites after record rainstorms in Beijing last weekend killed 77 people, including a man who drowned when he was trapped in his car and couldn't escape the floodwaters. China's stocks fell to the lowest level since March 2009 as speculation the government will maintain real-estate curbs overshadowed a State Council plan to develop the nation's central provinces. 7 million residents of changsha as of 2010 census. cant wait for bears to say investing in subways and transportation infrastructure a waste/more than they need given their current stage of development// Taiwan regulators have put strict conditions on a bid by a China-friendly media group to purchase the island's second largest cable TV system as concerns grow that China's commercial clout is already undermining freedom of the press in one of Asia's liveliest media markets. The National Communications Commission approved a bid by Taiwan's China Times Group to buy the system for $2.4 billion in a decision released late Wednesday. But it requires CTG to sell a cable TV news station criticized for its pro-China content, and allow an independent group to screen the news broadcasts of a terrestrial station it controls. More than 60 officials at the ministerial and provincial levels were punished for discipline violation since the Party's last national congress. The death toll from rain-triggered disasters and accidents on Saturday in the Chinese capital has climbed to 77 as more bodies were retrieved, the Beijing municipal government said Thursday. Information transparency has become another big test for the Beijing municipal government after it failed to respond to street talk over "withheld updates" on the death toll from the heaviest rain in 61 years. The facts of the two defendants' crime are clear, and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial. Therefore, the two defendants should be charged with intentional homicide. The Hefei Intermediate People's Court has received the case according to law, and will hold a trial on a day to be decided. The official Xinhua news agency published a brief dispatch announcing that Ms. Gu and an aide employed by the family had been formally charged in the poisoning death of Neil Heywood, the 41-year-old Briton whose body was found in November in a hotel in Chongqing, the municipality in southwest China led by Mr. Bo until he was deposed by Communist Party leaders. Many media outlets regard 2011 as the first year of government microblogging in China. The total number of verified government-run microblog accounts on Sina Weibo, China's leading microblogging service, had exceeded 25,000 as of June 2012, according to statistics from People's Daily Online's Public Opinion Monitoring Center. China may start to import console game sets as soon as 2012 after a pause of 12 years, Tencent Tech cited an unnamed source as saying. In 2000, Chinese authorities decided to ban imports of video game machines, partially due to pressure of public opinion on the side effect of video game on teenagers. The government says the recent heavy rainfall was 'unprecedented,' but in fact the same thing happened last year xinhua special section on the meeting of the Beijing NPC. guo jinlong resignation as mayor had nothing to do with the floods, nor did the timing. all planned long in advance No related posts. |
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