Blogs » Society » London’s Olympic Media Centre picks on Chinese for unruliness? Netizens report discrimination

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• London’s Olympic Media Centre picks on Chinese for unruliness? Netizens report discrimination
• Qidong’s Contribution To Reform
• Wenzhou train crash one year memorial
• ‘Kung Fu Cooking Girls’: Wolf Smoke Studio
• Saturday Night Musical Outro: PSY – Gangnam Style
• Egypt’s Olympians given fake Nike gear because real thing was too expensive
• Chinese shooter Yi Siling captures London 2012's first gold
• Watch (For Those In China): Olympic Cauldron Lighting, Team China’s Entrance
• All you need to know about mobile in China… or is it?
• Sinica Week of Floods
• Teenage Leader of Hong Kong Anti-National Education Campaign Being Monitored /Hong Kong Government Organise Mao-Worshipping Tour
• China Now Owns The Guinness World Record For Most People Simultaneously Playing Chinese Lutes

London’s Olympic Media Centre picks on Chinese for unruliness? Netizens report discrimination Posted: 28 Jul 2012 08:18 PM PDT From IFENG July 29th, London. It was reported by Phoenix TV that Chinese journalists using the Olympic Media Centre in London had been offended by a sign posted only in Chinese asking the journalists to respect the personal space of those working at the centre and to ask before taking their photograph. "To our Chinese journalist friends, please be aware of the Chinese media centre staff, if you would like to film them or take their photo, please ask them beforehand and respect their personal space. Thank you!" The article posted on Phoenix TV's website claims that this sign shows a clash of two cultures. One netizen commented on the embarrassment that must have been felt by the journalists and the inappropriate nature of the public posting, saying, "The media centre is an open, public place, this kind of announcement shouldn't be made on a public sign." According to the article, other netizens had commented that the staff of the media centre should be better trained to deal with this kind of situation and that they should "respect others as you respect yourself." The article then draws lines between this incident and other incidents of signs directed specifically at Chinese abroad, specifically in Japan where there are reportedly signs only in Chinese asking, "after using the toilet paper please flush it down the toilet." And in Seoul where there are similar signs asking Chinese travellers not to steal. However, the short article ends on a balanced note: "Objectively speaking, the main problem in these situations is a clash of different cultures, to claim that it is about 'quality of character' （素质）is irrelevant. But then again, China has an old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." （入乡随俗）So maybe it is necessary to show some respect to the customs of the host country. The following are a selection of the 11,000 plus comments under a related Weibo post as of early morning 07/29 Beijing time. Adz4wei: This is obviously unfriendly discrimination. We should protest! Are the Western Paparazzi doing any better? 东土取经人: Reporters want respect and privacy. Hehe, what an irony! Isn't it the reporters' job to rake up others' faults and intrude upon others' privacy? This would be like a hooker asking for virginity. AppDealer李东： I agree. If there is a little problem, just straighten it out. Why (they) had to post a sign? Clearly a wrong state of mind! International relationship is evolved from interpersonal relationship. This is the kind of act of a person who despise Chinese deep down. It is against the Olympic spirit! They have to apologize! A netizen, who goes by the name UstbLeon, proudly posted in his Sina Weibo profile page a screenshot of a protest email he wrote to the London Media Centre, and in a later post, he announceed that he had heard from LMC, which sincerely apologized and immediately removed the sign. But quite a number of people think it is a fuss over nothing and probably time for some soul-searching over the lack of civility displayed by some Chinese. Phileks: Before we come to judge if they were being racist, let's first figure out if they were being right, okay? Chinese people always do those despicable things abroad, and they don't want others to talk about it? Evidently they had complained before, but it didn't work, so they had to use this method! Stop loving the country so much as to be blind to the very things others hate you for!! Those annoying Chinese do not represent the real Chinese people. The real Chinese people make sense and are civilized! animal-lover：We often have no regard for others' feelings. JIAN康慢生活：The basic principle of conduct: Only by respecting others can one earn others' respect. But it is too often a missing link in our education (at home, at school and in the society). 透明笔记：It is true that London's Olympic Media Centre has crossed the line. But it is enough to demonstrate the 'unique' angle and taste of our journalists. That the family history of Yi Siling (Chinese shooter, London Olympic Games' first gold medalist) has been dug up overnight is another telling proof. Meanwhile, every time Chinese are met with questions, aggression or attacks from abroad, their first reaction is invariably to take out national dignity and response in a tough way. Or if the question comes from inside the country, there will be endless insults and denigration. Proactive soul-searching is rarely seen.

Qidong’s Contribution To Reform Posted: 28 Jul 2012 05:03 PM PDT The ballot box may not offer many local residents in China much by way of a direct route to change should they be unhappy with development plans on environmental grounds. The streets are proving more effective. In Qidong, to the … Continue reading →

Wenzhou train crash one year memorial Posted: 28 Jul 2012 01:13 PM PDT On July 23 2011, a train crash near Wenzhou on the high speed rail network killed 40 people and created a public controversy that has not yet died down. Below is a translation of The one year anniversary of the July 23 high-speed train accident, a document that was posted to the Internet by Manzi Digest, an iPhone and iPad news app based on the Weibo tweets of angel investor and Weibo celebrity Charles Xue aka Xue Manzi. The document is a compilation of Internet postings, photos and writings about the crash and its aftermath. US radio show On the Media broadcast a segment on the crash and media coverage of it, including an interview with Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn: Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!. For more about the crash as it was reported when it happened one year ago, see the archives of live blogging at Shanghaiist: Wenzhou high-speed rail collision and Wang Yongping on why Wenzhou trains were instantly buried. ★ The one year anniversary of the 23rd July high-speed train accident The actual facts make for the best memorial July 23, 2012 By Manzi Digest ★ Part 1 REVISITING A NIGHT OF LIFE AND DEATH The below are Weibo postings from the night of the crash, mostly from people who were on the ill-fated trains @Smm_苗: The train running after the thunderstorm, what's going on here? It crawls slower than a snail….but nothing's happened. 20:27, 7 minutes before the accident – censored @袁小芫: D301 has had an accident in Wenzhou, the train did an emergency brake, followed by a violent crash. There were two more collisions! The electricity across the entirety of the train has gone out!!! I'm in the last carriage, thank God I'm fine! This is just too terrifying!! 20:38, 4 minutes after the accident – 1407 retweets @羊圈圈羊: A cry for help! Train D301 has been derailed not far from Wenzhou station. Children are crying up and down the carriage, and not one member of staff has come out! Hurry up and save us! 20:47, 13 minutes after the accident – censored, more than 100,000 retweets @袁小芫: It's being said that the viaduct has collapsed, with the front four carriages having fallen off. Our last two carriages have already been detached. Too terrifying. I am incredibly lucky that I'm fine. Half an hour has already passed. It's very stuffy inside the carriage. We can't break the windows open. 21:13, 20 minutes after the accident – 398 retweets @Sam是我: Classmates, save us quickly!!! All the passengers of train D3115 have been derailed!! The accident happened near Wenzhou South station!!! The train isn't safe either. After the crash those involved in the accident have all started walking around!! This is a cry for help!!! Help us!!! Those seeing this post please help by quickly retweeting!!! 20:27, half an hour after the accident – censored @摄影师小刀的地盘: A rescue of unbreakable will 21:41, one hour after the accident – 2,644 retweets @羊圈圈羊: The police came and saved us! We've already come down from the high speed rail track. God be praised!!! 22:45, two hours after the accident, the first Weibo concerning the rescue itself – 8,914 retweets @yaoyaosz: We troops are lined up to the door (of the blood donation centre), it's a late night rally for Wenzhou, it's moving. 00:47, 4 hours after the accident, the most moving Weibo – 110,000 retweets ★ Part 2 PLEASE NEVER FORGET THESE CONTROVERSIES 1. The search and rescue effort was halted after 8 hours On the July 24 at 7:40 AM, the CCTV program Chaowen Tianxia reported, "Four hours ago in the early hours of this morning, the principal search and rescue effort ceased." From the time of the accident up to this point eight hours had passed. During these eight hours a total of six passenger rescue attempts were undertaken, the entire search and rescue operation was then ceased… (denied by official sources) 2. What will always move people are the people themselves Two hours after the accident occurred, the government published an appeal for blood donations on Weibo. Within a short period of time upwards of 1,000 netizens were on the way to blood donation centers. Netizen @yaoyaosz's Weibo posts from the scene of a blood donation clinic were retqeeted more than 100,000 times. 12 hours after the accident, the amount of chatter regarding the incident had already surpassed two million postings, included half a million Weibo postings seeking information about victims. @浙江卫生厅、@浙江省血液中心 and many other official Weibos were tweeting information in real-time over the course of the night. 3. Little Yiyi, orphan of the entire country Little Yiyi, real name Xiang Weiyi, was two and a half years old in 2011 and was from Wenzhou herself. On the night of the Wenzhou train crash she was the last "miracle girl" to be saved, her parents had already been confirmed as dead. On the morning of the July 28, Premier Wen Jiabao arrived at Wenzhou Hospital's pediatric ward to pay a visit to Yiyi. On August 14 , a member of Little Yiyi's family published an open letter titled 'Please help Yiyi keep her legs!' and sent it to the Department of Railways. It pleaded with the government and medical experts to help Little Yiyi. The Department of Railways invited medical experts from Beijing to visit Wenzhou and to treat Little Yiyi. On the August 16, the Department of Health again invited four experts to visit Wenzhou for a consultation. On the October 18, the stitches on Yiyi's left leg were removed, and she began learning to walk all over again. On the December 22, Yiyi completed her medical treatment, and was able to return home to celebrate Chinese New Year. 4. Whether you believe it or not, I believe it! Wang Yongping is from Hengyang in Hunan, and was originally head and spokesman for the Ministry of Railways Propaganda Department. During the Wenzhou train crash press conferences, he was at one point asked why they had buried one of the train compartments the day after the crash before a proper investigation could take place. He said that the carriage was buried to facilitate rescue operations, and added, "Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!" He also answered a journalist's question as to how the orphan Little Yiyi was found after an announcement that there were no further survivors by saying "I can only say that it's a miracle!". His statements were heatedly debated amongst netizens, and became internet memes in the vein of "My father is Li Gang" or "Very yellow, very violent." On August 16, the Ministry of Railways revealed that Wang Yongping no longer held the position of official spokesperson, and instead had been sent to Poland to serve as the Chinese representative in the China-Poland rail cooperation initiative. 5. It wasn't a railway carriage that was buried, it was the truth! On the July 24 (the day after the accident), Wang Yongping stated that wreckage would be buried underground, since this was most convenient in terms of emergency response. Soon after the Ministry of Railways's method of digging a pit and burying the wreckage were called into question by the public. They believed it was done to destroy evidence as well as to quickly free up the highspeed railway line. There was an investigative report: The Shanghai Railway Department's Vice-President of Operations Wang Feng was in charge of the rescue operations conducted under the viaduct after the accident. He was blamed as handling the emergency rescue effort in an unsatisfactory manner in order to smooth things over. He had cleaned up the site, and dug a pit at the site of the rescue effort itself, intending to bury the scattered wreckage of carriages from D301. Despite his preparations, his plans were ended by relevant Party members who stopped their implementation. 6. Don't shift the blame of the accident onto the heroic conductor Pan Yiheng was born on July 13, 1973. He was a native of Jin'An in the city of Fuzhou. He was the conductor of the train D301 from Beijing to Fuzhou; on the night of July 23 at approximately 20:30 he laid down his life when his train D301 on the Hangshen line collided with the D3115 train. When armed police pulled Pan Yiheng from the massively deformed cockpit of the train, he was already dead. His stomach had been pierced by the brake. At the critical moment, he was not focused on saving his own skin but rather decisively applied the emergency brake system. At the time of collision, the train's speed had already decreased from 201km/h to 160 km/h, resulting in many carriages avoiding a horrible end. He died at his post to give the passengers at the back of the train another shot at life. A scholar from the China Construction Institute, Beijing Communication University's lecturer Wang Mengshu, shifted the blame for the rail crash onto Pan Yiheng. He stated that the D3115 train had stopped at a platform to avoid [a collision with another] train, but because perhaps Pan Yiheng was sleepy at he wheel, he did not notice. Pan Yiheng's colleague (who happened to be the father of famous actress and Weibo personality Yao Chen) was very angry with these remarks. 7. The Prime Minister was unwell, he finally came 5 days later… People's Republic of China State Council Prime Minister Wen Jiabao arrived at the site of the '7-23' Wenzhou train crash on July 28 at 12:30, meeting with foreign and domestic reporters. Wen Jiabao stated: This accident makes us recognise more acutely that development and construction are all for the people, and what is most important are the people's lives, it also makes us recognise that a government's greatest responsibility is to protect people's safety of life. After the accident occurred, Premier Hu Jintao at once pointed out that the rescuing of victims was top priority. On receiving the news I immediately gave the Ministry of Railways a telephone call, they can confirm that I only said two words: 'Save the people'. When I was just meeting with family members of the deceased, they also brought up similar concerns. I think that in taking care of the accident the greatest concern was the saving of life, saving life by every means possible. Or there's that old saying, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, then there will exist hundred times more effort. The Ministry of Railways will give the masses a frank answer as to whether their relevant organs achieved this goal. 8. Our loved ones' bones aren't even cold, and they're talking about money After the accident, the Ministry of Railways actively sought out the family members of victims to discuss compensation. Contrary to the Ministry's expectation,s this brought about disgust amongst family members: our loved ones' bones aren't even cold, and they're talking about money. Is it the Ministry of Railways (railways is tielu 铁路, literally 'iron road') or in fact the Ministry of Iron Hearts? In discussions with Zheng Hangzheng's family members, two middle-aged officials representing the Ministry of Railways arrived and "pulled out a 2007 Ministry of Railways document and starting reading from top to bottom. From 172,000, to 500,000… On July 29 the compensation benchmark all of a sudden jumped to 915,000 yuan. The "real miracle" [a reference to spokesperson Wang Yongping's comment] of this railway crash is the amount of compensation involved." 9. Technical problems Before the accident did the meteorological office publish a yellow-alert thunder and lightning warning? What equipment did lightning strikes actually damage? Was a train struck by a lightning bolt resulting in a loss of power? Or was it an ineffective railway controller: did the train behind not receive the message that the train in front had stopped at the station? At the moment of impact where was the automatic locking system? Why was D301 travelling along behind? Why is it that although the accident had not been fully dealt with the line was re-opened? Why were there no seatbelts in the carriage? The "brake time" of trains is how long? http://t.cn/ajykrL [Link to Sina article about citizen questions about the train crash] 10. Investigative report… We've waited a long long time On December 28, 2011, the State Council released their "7:23″ inquiry into the major accident on the Yongwen railway line. The investigation maintains that the "7:23″ accident on the Yongwen railway line was caused by a serious design flaw in the train control center equipment, lax application of regulations, an equipment failure caused by a lightning strike as well as negligent emergency response actions. Former Ministry of Railways Minister Liu Zhijun, Vice Minister Lu Dongfu and Chief Engineer He Huawu are part of a list of 54 names who are responsible for the accident and have been dealt with severely. Since Ma Cheng, chairman of the boards of the Signaling Group and Signaling Holding Company passed away recently due to illness, there has been no further investigation into his responsibility for the accident. The report in its entirety is here. ★ Part 3 ONCE AGAIN, GIVE THEM A MOMENT OF SILENCE A list of names of the deceased from the trains D3115 and D301 Official figures as of 12:00 July 29, 2011 Number Name Gender Origin 1. Huang Yuchun female Fujian, Fuzhou 2. Lu Haitian male Anhui, Wuwei 3. Cao Erxing male US citizen, birthplace Fujian 4. Liguori Assunta Italian Naples 5. Zhuo Huang male Fujian, Fuzhou 6. Jin Xianyang male Zhejiang, Pingyang 7. Jin Yangxhong male Zhejiang, Pingyang 8. Mao Feifei female Zhejiang, Pingyang 9. Wen Aiping female Zhejiang, Pingyang 10. Chen Bi female Zhejiang, Pingyang 11. Chen Xi female Zhejiang, Pingyang 12. Zhou Rente male 13. Zhang Xiuyan female Fujian, Lianjiang 14. Xu Peipei female Henan, Shancai 15. Hao Naiggang male Tianjin, Beichen 16. Chen Yunying male Fujian, Jinan 17. Zhu Ping female Zhejiang, Lucheng 18. Li Jianzhong male Zhejiang, Lucheng 19. Hu Weipeng male Fujian, Fuzhou 20. Xiang Yu'an male Zhejiang, Lucheng 21. Shi Lihong female Zhejiang, Ouhai 22. Jin Jianfeng male Zhejiang, Ruan 23. Chen Yue female Zhejiang, Ruan 24. Jin Wenbo male 25. Jian Zhengtong male Zhejiang, Wenling 26. Su Xiaotu male Zhejiang, Pingyang 27. Lin Xiao male Fujian, Fuzhou 28. Chen Yijie female Hangzhou, Xiacheng 29. Zhao Lisong male Fujian, Fuzhou 30. Chen Caifu male Fujian, Chengle 31. Chen Hongpeng male Fujian, Chengle 32. Lin Yan male Fujian, Fuzhou 33. Mu Linan female Beijing, Shunyi 34. Zheng Hangzheng male Fujian Lianjiang 35. Chen Zhiping male Zhejiang, Lucheng 36. Lu Hong Yan female Hunan, Changsha 37. Zeng Guojun male Zhejiang, Ru'an 38. Chen Zengrong male, US citizen, birthplace Fujian 39. Pan Yiheng male Fujian 40. Chen Wei male Fujian ★ Part 4 A STUDY OF LIFE THROUGH PICTURES Various Photos We pay our respect to these media. ★ Part 5 A MICROBLOG REALITY CHECK By @重大换: (This translation courtesy of The New York Times): China, please stop your flying pace, wait for your people, wait for your soul, wait for your morality, wait for your conscience! Don't let the train run out off track, don't let the bridges collapse, don't let the roads become traps, don't let houses become ruins. Walk slowly, allowing every life to have freedom and dignity. No one should be left behind by our era.

‘Kung Fu Cooking Girls’: Wolf Smoke Studio Posted: 28 Jul 2012 07:38 AM PDT Another lighter post while I'm at Buddha Camp. Okay. Another cartoon. After watching the Batman of Shanghai clip (posted about yesterday) with its exceptionally fluid choreography, I became curious about the studio that created it. Turns out it's Wolf Smoke, a small and relatively unknown Chinese animation company. From that search, I discovered Wolf Smoke's terrific and fun cartoon, Kung Fu Cooking Girls. The studio use new style and method of cartoon animation: We did key frames on paper first then used vector software to do the between frames and color painting. This is the first time that we use this way to do stuffs. Over 4000 key frames hand drawing and over 10,000 betweens in this movie. The technique has produced here, as with Batman, a great animation result. You can watch it here (below is just a screen shot). I didn't embed it here for two reasons. First, the link is to the Catsuka Player version in HD, far better quality than YouTube but not 'embeddable.' Second, YouTube required Wolf Smoke to censor the video or have it taken down. As far I can tell from quick viewings of both is that offensive frames are of a not very titillating half-nipple slip. If you happen to find something really bad, please let me know, and I'll revise my views on YouTube's policies.

Saturday Night Musical Outro: PSY – Gangnam Style Posted: 28 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT What a week. Carry on, then. Here's Gangnam Style (강남스타일), off PSY's 6th studio album, PSY6甲.

Egypt’s Olympians given fake Nike gear because real thing was too expensive Posted: 27 Jul 2012 07:15 PM PDT From Sina: Almost all teams participating in the 2012 London Olympics all received sponsorship of sporting goods, or signed a formal sponsorship agreement with the company. However the Egyptian team did not. Egyptian Olympic Committee Chairman General Mahmoud Ahmed Ali admitted that the Egyptian athletes' Nike clothing and backpacks are all fake. These Shanzhai products have Nike logos but with Adidas zippers. Egyptian Olympic Committee's chairman General Mahmoud Ahmed Ali said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, "We bought the clothing from a Nike agent, All Nike products in the Egyptian Market are made in China. They all have the same logo. How can you tell? It's like you received counterfeit currency, this is not what you can control." Speaking of the cause of this incident, it had to be traced back to June of this year. At that time, including Reebok, Puma there were six sports brands participated in the Egyptian team gear bidding. "At the time, one of the bidders was willing to provide us with half as much discounted price, the company claimed to be a Nike Agent. We did not know if they were really an authorized seller. To be cautious, we sent bidder's samples to Olympic Organizing Committee, hoping they could able to identify the genuineness of the clothing." An Egypt's Olympic team spokesman said, "But 10 days later, we did not receive any responds. If wasn't for two athletes requested to change their sizes, we still would not have discovered these clothing were fake. At that time, we realized that we have been cheated." Even though the manufacture who is responsible for producing these gears have already contacted the Egyptian Olympic Committee, hoping to resolve the fake sportswear issue, far away in London, the Egyptian athletes are already wandering in the various venues in these knockoff Nikes. According to reports, after knowing the Egyptian team members are wearing fake Nike gears, Nike said in a statement, "We are highly concerned about this, what those athletes are wearing simply did not meet the quality standards of the authentic Nike gears." At present Nike requested Egypt to seek immediately action, "we are currently in discussion with them and see if we can find a solution." "As for athletes, this is humiliating; for Egypt, this is great humiliation." Egyptian Olympic team spokesman added. This week, the Egyptian swimmer Yomna Khallaf exposed the news on her Twitter that what she is wearing is fake Nike gears. When other teammates asked her to verify, she wrote. "Yes even our equipment are all fake. My backpack has a huge Nike sign in the front, but all the zippers are Adidas!" Why did Egypt covet petty gain, did not even know when they were cheated by Shanzhai manufactures? Egyptian Olympic Committee Chairman General Mahmoud Ahmed Ali said, "Even if these products are fake, the quality is good enough to be considered with the current poor economic situation in Egypt. We signed an agreement with a dealer from China, but the price of real products was too expensive, each athlete will spend 300-500 USD. This is huge amount of money, especially we have 112 athletes. In addition, let's not forget we also have coaches, managers and doctors going to London." To compensate their mistake, Egyptian Olympic team will send additional 2,000 Egyptian pounds to buy some genuine equipment, in order to save face. 2000 Egyptian Pounds is equivalent of only 200 pounds, don't know what the Egyptian team can use that for… *** According to Fox news, Egypt's Olympic team gets free gear from Nike. Egypt's Olympic team won't be wearing Chinese knockoffs at the London Games, after all. Nike said Friday it was donating its gear to the Egyptian athletes. The announcement came two days after the country's Olympic committee chairman said he had gone with fakes because the real thing was just too expensive.

Chinese shooter Yi Siling captures London 2012's first gold Posted: 28 Jul 2012 04:52 AM PDT Our heroine of the day comes in the form of Chinese shooter Yi Siling (易思玲) who has just captured the first gold of the London Olympics in women's 10-meter air rifle shooting. [ more › ]

Watch (For Those In China): Olympic Cauldron Lighting, Team China’s Entrance Posted: 28 Jul 2012 03:03 AM PDT NBC Universal is fascist when it comes to Olympics content — my old YouTube got deleted for posting too many videos from live events in 2008 — so you're in North America, you're on your own for moving pictures. For those in China, enjoy London's cauldron-lighting: 200-plus copper petals on fire, rising. Also, Boris Johnson did a pretty awesome thing. Opposing Views explains: In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, Romney offended the British when he said: "It's hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging." During the torch lighting ceremony the today, London Mayor Boris Johnson fired back: "There are some people coming from around the world who don't yet know about all the preparations we've done to get London ready in the last seven years. There's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we're ready. Are we ready? Are we ready? Yes, we are!" (If you're in the UK or can set your VPN portal to somewhere in the UK, you can watch the full opening ceremony on BBC.) Team China's entrance:

All you need to know about mobile in China… or is it? Posted: 27 Jul 2012 01:20 PM PDT Came across this recently – it's a fun video showcasing some great stats on mobile in China. Perfect for showing those among us "not-in-the-know" or "out-of-the-loop" or in my case, "those-who-should-know-but-don't-know-however-have-successfully-faked-knowing-but-for-how-long-wtf-do-i-look-like-a-fortune-teller-do-you-see-my-crystal-ball-what-was-i-talking-about-again-you-want-that-by-when-take-your-deadline-and-stick-it-up-your-ass". Tangential ranting aside, a dubious benefit to pull your attention across the fold… did you not fill your quota of "random statistics you'll soon forget" [...]

Sinica Week of Floods Posted: 28 Jul 2012 04:41 AM PDT This is the Sinica Week, a summary of the most important China stories from the last seven days. Sinica is a weekly podcast about current affairs in China, hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn. On each week's Sinica podcast, guests discuss and choose the top stories about China published in English over the past week. This week's show is titled A Torrential Rainstorm and the main topic is the Beijing flood of July 21. Guests are Alexa Olesen, a long-time China watcher and journalist for the Associated Press, and Josh Chin who writes for the Wall Street Journal and leads the China Real Time Report. Story of the week: The Beijing flood The Beijing flood was clearly the story of the week. Bill Bishop's blog carried an extensive summary of the reporting of the flood on the Monday after the deluge. The Wall Street Journal also summarized the situation after weekend in Anger Swells After Floods Kill At Least 37 in Beijing. The juiciest story in terms of assigning blame for the death toll was published in the Shanghai Daily: Beijing Drainage Group blames planners for flooding in which a spokesperson for the (state-owned) Beijing Drainage Group Co Ltd "said the pump stations serving 90 overpasses citywide that were built last century were based on the experience of the former Soviet Union, where more than half the country received less than 400 millimeters of rainfall each year". So it's fault of Soviet planners. The article also mentions a Xinhua report that says "it was embarrassing that many ancient drainage systems still worked and that cities had to rely on these "antiques" to resist the floods," citing the fact that many historic places such as Beihai Park, Tian'anmen Square and the Temple of Heaven, were not flooded because their Ming and Qing dynasty drainage systems worked. When the Sinica podcast was recorded on Thursday night, the official death toll was still at 37. On Friday morning the official death toll was raised to 77. Another story mentioned in the podcast is the consumer culture and business angle: there was a run on a keychain "survival" tool that is supposed to help people trapped in cars cut rough seat belts and smash glass. See also Torrential Rain in Beijing Brings Out Best and Worst in China's Capital, a summary of social media reactions to the floods on Tealeaf Nation, and the Global Times, introspective for a change: Beijing downpour exposes holes in modernization drive. Violence against doctors The second story selected was Heartless attacks in The Economist. Excerpt: After a growing number of attacks on medical staff in China, doctors and nurses are finding hospitals increasingly unsafe. According to figures from the Ministry of Health, more than 17,000 "incidents" aimed at hospitals and their staff occurred in 2010, up from around 10,000 five years earlier. See also Danwei: China's hospitals up security in the face of rising patient-to-doctor violence. CNOOC to buy Nexen for $15.1 billion The third story selected was the headline above, in which Chinese oil company CNOOC is preparing to buy Canadian energy firm Nexen for USD15.1 billion which would be China's largest investment in a listed foreign company. After the podcast was recorded, news emerged of alleged insider trading connected to the deal. Other news stories mentioned by not selected • On the Asia Society website, a story on the death of Ding Guanggen: China's Propaganda Chief Leaves a Legacy of Control • Bloomberg: China Shadow Bankers Go Online As Peer-To-Peer Sites Boom • On Foreign Policy: Capital Blues in which a rather confused Vincent Gray, mayor of Washington, DC, says what he admires about Beijing. Image above from CNOOC's new global headquarters

Teenage Leader of Hong Kong Anti-National Education Campaign Being Monitored /Hong Kong Government Organise Mao-Worshipping Tour Posted: 27 Jul 2012 10:52 PM PDT 2012.7.28 Apple Daily (screen capture), (*Not a full translation) In the middle: 15-year-old Joshou Wong Chi-fung Joshua Wong Chi-fung Suspects His Phone Call Being Monitored 15-year-old convenor of Scholarism, Joshua Wong Chi-fung, uses peaceful, logical and non-violent way to oppose brainwashing national education all along. However, he revealed in a radio interview that as more and more people pay attention to national education, the political pressure he faces becomes greater and greater. After July 1st demonstration, he suspects that his phone call is being monitored. Joshua Wong Chi-fung said Scholarism is not backed or given directions by any political parties and it has no plan to form an alliance with other organisations. All actions are decided by members through meetings. The primary financial source of Scholarism comes from donations during Tiananmen Massacre candlelight vigil and July 1st demonstration in the hope that post-90 young people will stay independent. As more and more citizens concern brainwashing national education, Wong, who is still a student, spoke frankly that the political pressure he faces becomes greater and greater. Besides dealing with reporters' inquires, he suspects that his phone call is being monitored."Ever since July 1st, after bringing two to three thousands people to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, my phone call has been being wiretapped. I hear echoes whenever I receive calls." Despite young age, he has to face difficulties far and near. He emphasised that he can insist to this day because of the belief "do things because they should be done" and the support from his family. Joshua Wong Chi-fung's parents also become attacking targets of pro-Beijng camp. Wong: My dad and mom are relatively liberal and support me to organise these things. Also, they are relatively more radical in the society. My mom supports protesters to block traffic (during protest). Host: Are they members of the League of Social Democrats 社民連? Wong: No, they are Civic Party. hkpplovehk, a Youtube channel thought to be belonged to the pro-Beijing organisation Caring Hong Kong Power 愛護香港力量, which organised anti-foreign domestic workers protest last year, posted the video and attacked Wong's parents for being members of the Civic Party 公民黨. hkpplovehk: Scholarism opposes national education, who is the mastermind? It is so obvious. 2012.7.24 Apple Daily (screen capture), (*Not a full translation) Education Bureau Send Hong Kong Students to the North to Worship Chairman Mao China News Service (CNS) reported on last Tuesday that several hundreds of Hong Kong students toured Mao Zedong's Relics Museum in Hunan Shaoshan. A guide introduced Mao Zedong's patched nightwear, which has 73 holes, proving the "hard working, frugal and noble character" of Mao. The report also quoted from an unnamed Hong Kong student, "Besides seeing a normalised Mao Zedong, I also saw a three-dimensional, amiable and respectable Mao Zedong. " A teacher of the tour admitted frankly that this tour is to "boost patriotic feeling". The tour was leaded by the Education Bureau's senior school inspector Cheung wing-cheung and it belongs to the bureau own national education activities: "Passing Down Traditions from Generation to Generation" and "Walking Thousand Miles Together" We rechecked the info from the Education Bureau and discovered that this tour was held between July 14 to 18 and its name is "The Tour of Hunan Changsha Revolution History and Modern Industry Exploration". Spokesperson of the Education Bureau responded to us that this tour was organised, subsidised and planned by the bureau. Each student paid $939 for the tour. The Education Bureau spent 1M taxpayers' money in total. 450 high school students from 35 secondary schools joined the tour. However, due to "privacy" reason, the bureau refuses to provide the list of schools that joined it. The scenic spots of this 5-days-4-nights tour included former residence, memorial hall and relics museum of Mao Zedong. Tour members also took pictures in front of the sculpture of Young Mao Zedong's head in Changsha Juzizhou. The Education Bureau also distributed students a travel info booklet that describes these scenic spots show that Mao "sought the truth to save the country and citizens" and help to explore his "glorious life". However there are no words on Big Leap Forward, which was started by Mao Zedong and then leaded to big famine and culture revolution etc. Chairman Mao's Patched Bathrobe, which has 72 holes, shows the "hard working, frugal and noble character" of him. "Kwun Tong Kung Lok Government Secondary School seven Secondary 4 and three secondary Secondary 5 joined a 450 people exchange tour organised by the Education Bureau and toured the sculpture of Chairman Mao in Juzizhou". From Hunan China News, A student from Hong Kong: I thnk Chairman Mao grandpa is quite amiable. This is p.14 of the booklet mentioned in the report. "Glorious life" and "Sought the truth of saving the country and citizens" are highlighted. The booklet has been removed by the Education Bureau but it is cached by Google. The bald head man is Secretary for Education, Ng Hak-kim. Source The woman is Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, member of the Executive Council.  Source

China Now Owns The Guinness World Record For Most People Simultaneously Playing Chinese Lutes Posted: 27 Jul 2012 07:00 PM PDT Does anyone know what qualifies as a Guinness World Record anymore? Parallel parking? Check. Most bras unhooked in one minuted? You gotcha. (Youku version here.) Most cats stacked on a balance beam? They should! Fewest licks to the center of a Tootsie pop? Call Guinness up. On Thursday, 2,012 pipa performers got together in Jilin province to play traditional Chinese tunes and set a new world record, according to Xinhua. No one knows what inspired these brave souls to do this. No one knows what the previous record was. This just happened, and that is all. Youku video for those in China after the jump.

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