Blogs » Politics » Jackie Chan leads “Lung Girls” to promote new film CZ12
Blogs » Politics » Jackie Chan leads “Lung Girls” to promote new film CZ12 |
- Jackie Chan leads “Lung Girls” to promote new film CZ12
- Chinese Weapons Flooding Africa
- Photo: Teamwork, by Michael Steverson
- Apple-Samsung: MOFCOM Gets Into the Patent Business?
- “Acceptable” Gender Discrimination in Chinese Universities
- The “Disneyfication of Tibet”
- Clinton to Visit Amid South China Sea Dispute
- China’s Battle For Drug Safety
- Word of the Week: Half-Hearted Suicide
- Weibo Rumor Watch: Netizens Question Official Explanation For Airplane Grounding
- Unnamed Protesters: Kill All Japanese
- North Korea’s “New Look” Nuclear Program
- The Daily Twit – 8/29/12: Oh Yeah, the Economy Still Sucks, and so Does Romney’s China Bashing
- Ministry of Truth: Hush on Maoming Corruption
- Air China Flight Turns Back After Threat
- Foshan city says no to beggars for its “image project”
- A Barometer of Culture: What China’s “Memes” Mean
- Does “NBA” Belong in Chinese Dictionaries?
- Culturally Sensitive Hollywood Doesn’t Want to Hurt the Feelings of the Chinese People
- China’s Lobbying Game Tested by US, Canada
| Jackie Chan leads “Lung Girls” to promote new film CZ12 Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:13 PM PDT Jackie Chan's latest film "CZ12″ held a press conference in Beijing on August 27. The film could be the last action project for the internationally known Kung Fu star, but it won't be an end to his career as he said he still have several other scripts in hand now. The 58-year-old Big Brother made a "high-profile landing" to the press conference on Monday, driving a luxury sports car Lamborghini with two actresses Yao Xingtong (姚星彤) and Zhang Lanxin (张蓝心), who are hailed as Jackie Chan's new "Lung Girls" (or 龙女郎; actresses who rose to fame through Jackie Chan Lung's films). During the conference, the starlets were lionized by the veteran actor. Jackie praised Yao's devotion to the filming work, saying that she had kept on a "24-hour standby" for shooting every day and learned good French language in only three months for the movie. And Taekwondo Athlete-turned-actress Zhang proudly showed off her Kung Fu skills at the conference. She was ever the winner of the 2004 National Taekwondo Championship 55kg Female Final. It was learned, the film "CZ12″ is scheduled to hit Chinese cinemas on December 20. |
| Chinese Weapons Flooding Africa Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:38 PM PDT Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa provided more background information about the importation of Chinese Weapons in African countries and explained the incentive of arms sale is from private sector:
Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) |
| Photo: Teamwork, by Michael Steverson Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:36 PM PDT  Teamwork © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Apple-Samsung: MOFCOM Gets Into the Patent Business? Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:19 PM PDT
It could be the lack of sleep talking, but someone needs to explain that quote to me. I don't understand it. The official is a trade guy at MOFCOM, yet he's suggesting that since the ministry hadn't received any complaints from Apple or Samsung, nothing is going on here with the dispute. Pardon my ignorance, if that's where the fault lies. I do a lot of IP work and even teach IP law, but I certainly don't know everything. However, it was my understanding that patent infringement actions were generally handled by SIPO (actually, their local offices) on the administrative side, and the courts on the judicial side. Trade issues would be dealt with by Customs, although usually only when the patent holder has filed a registration. MOFCOM? I'm drawing a blank here. If this was the U.S., I'd say yes, the ITC handles trade-related cases of patent infringement (i.e., imports). But in China, Customs would deal with the seizure, and the courts would hear the infringement action. No 337 analog here that I know of. Am I missing something? What the heck was that guy talking about? © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| “Acceptable” Gender Discrimination in Chinese Universities Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:55 PM PDT
This issue is not, pardon the phrasing, academic. This sort of discrimination is actually being practiced by a number of Chinese universities, as was reported this week by the Beijing Times following a letter sent to the Ministry of Education by a Chinese NGO. The MOE has now weighed in:
Sounds like they're not going to dodge this but defend it. I suppose there must be a really good explanation as to why gender discrimination is acceptable. In the letter, the NGO stated that the MOE allows schools to adjust admission requirements according to gender "to fulfill the demand for special talents for special posts." OK, that sounds superficially like what I noted above as an acceptable type of discrimination. But I was thinking about a scenario where a specific type of military program only allowed males. It would therefore make sense to only admit male students. In this case, however, we're not talking about a blanket ban on female students for military slots that are closed off to that gender. Instead, you have a situation here where "test score thresholds are lowered for male applicants." That means that females are not barred from these programs; it suggests that whatever positions for which they are being trained are not, in fact, closed to females. So what the hell is going on here? The Global Times took a look into this and found several programs that discriminate according to gender. Some were directly or indirectly related to the military, and since GT did not provide additional information, I can't comment on those. However, there was this:
If this is indicative of the type of gender discrimination going on at universities, then this is bullshit. Look, it may be true that women may not be able to work in certain jobs overseas, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia. But there are a lot of other jobs out there that require Arabic where that isn't a problem. Moreover, is it really the school's job to be a gender gatekeeper? Perhaps an academic adviser can let female applicants know that some jobs that require Arabic are closed to women, but if they really want to study the language, the school should let them. Shit, I know foreigners who take classes in Chinese law but will never be able to take the bar exam here. Should those classes be off limits to them? The excuse from the MOE that "national interests" take precedence is not very persuasive. I'm sure that some higher-ups somewhere in MOE think that the government should micromanage admissions in line with China's economic development policy or something, but that's a damn weak justification. Besides, how does the Chinese economy benefit from a 6 to 1 ratio in an Arabic language program? I'm not buying what they're selling, folks. Perhaps this can be justified, but I don't see how. The policy smacks of paternalism and control, and perhaps some good old fashioned irrational stereotyping and misogyny. I wonder if there are any programs that skew the other way, with females getting the advantage? Somehow I doubt it. I'll leave you with this very odd quote from the conclusion of the GT article:
Perhaps this is poor translating. I honestly am not sure what it means, but it almost sounds like this guy is suggesting that in some cases, the male students are simply more talented, I assume just by being male. Huh? I have heard worse things said by misogynistic Chinese men, but this is pretty bad. Why would it be necessary to raise thresholds for girls to weed out the incompetent ones, but not do so for the boys? I reiterate what I said above. This is bullshit. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:23 PM PDT As China's inbound international tourism continues to grow along with the numbers of potential domestic ticket buyers, China is experiencing an amusement park boom, and is expected to have more theme parks than the USA by 2020. Last month, it was reported that the construction of a $4.7 million theme park on the outskirts of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa had begun. The Princess Wencheng Theme Park (named after the Tang Dynasty princess who married a Tibetan king with peace as her dowry) will emphasize historical ties between China and Tibet, and is part of a government strategy to increase tourism in the area. In July, Xinhua reported on the upcoming park, its theme, and its goals to enhance tourism:
Construction of the park surely occurs to the chagrin of some local ethnic Tibetans, 51 of whom have protested Chinese rule by self-immolation since 2009 - the latest two cases in this drastic wave of protests occurred just yesterday. Voice of America asked Free Tibet activists and a scholar of Tibet to comment on the park's construction:
The VOA report cites an op-ed published last month in the Global Times, which offers academic references to counter Western media critique of the project:
For more on ethnic tourism in China, see "China's Han Flock to Theme Parks Featuring Minorities," via CDT. Also see prior CDT coverage of Tibet, Tibetan culture, tourism, and amusement parks. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Clinton to Visit Amid South China Sea Dispute Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:55 PM PDT
For more on US attitudes over the South China Sea dispute, see US Voices Concern Over South China Sea Rows, via CDT. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| China’s Battle For Drug Safety Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:56 PM PDT Earlier this month, $180 million worth of counterfeit pharmaceuticals were seized and nearly 2,000 people were arrested by Chinese authorities, part of an ongoing government pledge to enhance drug safety and crackdown on counterfeiting after tainted Chinese-made medicine killed users across the globe in 2007 and 2008. A post from SecuringPharma.com summarizes a report from China's Ministry of Public Security outlining their progress in cleaning-up counterfeit food and drugs over the past year:
Xinhua relays a drug safety supervisor's forecast on what's to come in Beijing's campaign for drug safety:
Despite Beijing's recent efforts, China is still rife with counterfeit and contaminated drugs, and lacks the controls to keep them off the global market, according to a special report published by Reuters yesterday:
The Reuters report follows the investigations of Philippe Andre, a "Detective in the murky world of Chinese pharmaceuticals" (i.e. pharmaceutical auditor based in Tianjin). A slideshow of Andre's, outlining the "supervision of Chinese-made drug substances", can be found via PEW Health Group. Also see prior CDT coverage of the 2008 herapin scandal, counterfeit medicine, drug safety, and other tainted exports. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Word of the Week: Half-Hearted Suicide Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT Editor's Note: The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space's Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China's online "resistance discourse," used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness. If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net. 试探性自杀 (shìtànxìng zìshā): half-hearted suicide attempt  Graphic showing the locations of Mr. Xie's stab wounds. On August 27, 2011, the body of Xie Yexin (谢业新) was found in his office with 11 stab wounds. Mr. Xie was a government official in Hubei Province and a member of the disciplinary committee. The month before his death he had investigated the local deputy secretary for corruption. The official cause of his death was ruled suicide, the explanation being that the initial stab wounds were "half-hearted suicide attempts," followed by a final successful attempt. Netizens and Mr. Xie's family were deeply skeptical of this official account. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Weibo Rumor Watch: Netizens Question Official Explanation For Airplane Grounding Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:13 AM PDT
At 8:18 pm today, Air China's official account (@中国国际航空) on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, made a special announcement about a threatening message its flight CA981 received. To ensure passenger safety, the account wrote, the plane, originally bound for New York, returned to Beijing International Airport roughly eight hours after taking off. The official account of Beijing International Airport (@首都机场官方微博) soon took over reporting duties on Sina Weibo, with its latest tweet stating that passengers are being well cared for at the airport while police investigate. But on Weibo, other voices are sounding. One of the passengers, @Natalie步 , shared pictures (shown below) of the food she was offered and, more importantly, the police forces amassed within the past few hours—it was a spectacular sight. While Air China thanked its passengers for their understanding and cooperation, @Natalie步 made it clear in her earlier tweet that passengers were not forewarned of the return: "CA981 only told us to be seated and be prepared for strong turbulence in the air, but it didn't feel like we met turbulence at all… And when I finally lifted the shield, we were already on the ground. " @Natalie步 is up in the air again, but netizens continue to engage in all manner of speculation. The consensus online seems to be that a government official, most likely a local party boss, possibly with corruption issues, was on the plane and attempting to flee. One netizen asked, "It took them that long to realize someone was trying to flee?" Speculation (which remains no more than that) about an official on the run was fueled by the plane's choice of landing spot. Some netizens asked why the plane did not land in the nearest port instead of turning around and returning to Beijing after four hours spent airborne. Others found it odd the plane had taken off at all, though it is not hard to conceive that a threat was received while the plane was in flight. Netizens have also suggested possible terrorist attacks, but so far no clear information has emerged. Some careful observers even pointed out that planes usually have their window shields lifted when descending. Since @Natalie步's tweet suggested otherwise, the authorities must have been taking precautions not to stir the passengers, or perhaps, to avoid alerting the mysterious official. For now, all netizens can do is wait, and continue speculating, as investigations of the official and unofficial variety move forward. In China's opaque information environment, it remains difficult to separate fact from fiction. So let Tea Leaf Nation take a quote from, of all places, the People's Daily (@人民日报): "We will continue to closely follow" this matter.         |
| Unnamed Protesters: Kill All Japanese Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:01 AM PDT Every so often, something cranks up the heat on Chinese hatred for Japan. In the mid-2000s, it was Japanese textbooks glossing over the Nanjing Massacre; the Japanese prime minister's annual visit to the Yasukuni Shrine never fails to rankle mainlanders. To many Chinese nationalists, World War II is still a fresh wound. The ongoing dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku in Japanese, also feeds the flames. Uninhabited and without any known natural resources, the Diaoyu controversy is nonetheless a cause célèbre. Two weeks ago, Japan arrested Hong Kong activists on Diaoyu, leading to protests in China. The Tokyo governor's calls to purchase the islands have further stoked tensions. On Monday, the Japanese ambassador's car was attacked in Beijing. Chinese protesters are taking none of this lighty, overturning cars and crying for blood:
The novelist Wang Shuo has harsh words for the protesters on Weibo, saying "The same kind of people who are called fascists in Japan and Nazis in Germany are called patriots in China" (有这么一群人，在日本叫法西斯，在德国叫纳粹，在中国叫爱国者). Read more about the online reaction to the anti-Japan protests from CDT. Via SneezeBloid. Thanks to @dujuan99 for translating the Wang Shuo post. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| North Korea’s “New Look” Nuclear Program Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:04 AM PDT  North Korea's "new look" leadership, including speculation about both leadership and potential economic reforms, have drawn the lion's share of media attention in recent weeks. As a result, the fact that North Korea's nuclear program continues unchecked has dropped from the headlines following North Korea's failed rocket launch and the failure of the Obama administration's "leap day" understanding with North Korea. An article this month by Frank V. Pabian and Siegfried Hecker in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and an Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS) report by David Albright and Christina Walrond are firm reminders that North Korea's nuclear program and uranium enrichment efforts continue regardless of whether or not they are in the headlines. Pabian and Hecker build on geo-spatial analysis of North Korea's two previous tests to suggest possible options North Korea might take (or might have already taken) in the event when and if they decide to conduct a third test. The ISIS paper provides preliminary estimates regarding North Korea's potential production of weapon-grade plutonium if they decide to use the LWR currently nearing completion at Yongbyun for such purposes. However, North Korea's uranium enrichment efforts add a sizable degree of uncertainty to estimates of North Korea's fissile material stocks because there is no credible means of monitoring North Korean production of weapons-grade materials now that North Korea is using centrifuge technology, most likely at a secret site, for the purpose of uranium enrichment. But as he takes steps to consolidate his power, Kim Jong-un appears to be holding the program even closer, acknowledging the program as his father's achievement by including mention of it in North Korea's revised constitution. It is even possible to imagine that North Korea's nuclear deterrent might even become an internal justification for North Korea to pursue limited economic reforms that in turn, may tempt neighbors to strengthen relations with Kim Jong-un's nuclear North Korea. As a first step in this direction, North Korea has normalized its relationship with China, with China's CCP International Liaison Department head Wang Jiarui as the first foreign official to meet with Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-taek visited China weeks later to talk about two major economic zones on which the two sides have agreed to cooperate. A rumored Kim Jong-un visit to China would be a major step toward conferring legitimacy upon Kim Jong-un and shoring up external financial support for the new leader in the name of stability, even while North Korea's nuclear program continues apace. South Korea's new president, to be elected in December, is also likely to pursue better relations, including a more stable inter-Korean relationship that is unlikely to be conditioned solely on North Korea's denuclearization. Even if these developments provide a near-term motive for North Korea to defer a nuclear test, they will leave the U.S. marginalized in its efforts to deny acceptance of North Korea's nuclear status. The task of coordinating South Korea's likely shift in policy toward engagement while refusing to acquiesce to North Korea as a nuclear power would be difficult enough to manage if there is a transition in power only in South Korea, but the there is also the possibility of a dual power transition in Washington and Seoul in the event that President Obama does not win re-election. This circumstance presents a worrisome opportunity for North Korea to keep pressing forward on its own nuclear program, and could provide two new administrations with an early and urgent test for the alliance. Even if North Korea's nuclear program is off the front pages, it does not lessen the gravity or capacity of the North Korea issue to become a major policy headache for both Washington and Seoul in 2013. |
| The Daily Twit – 8/29/12: Oh Yeah, the Economy Still Sucks, and so Does Romney’s China Bashing Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:09 AM PDT Back to the basics. How bad is China's economic slowdown? Is it crashing like Gordon Chang says (see yesterday's Daily Twit) or do we all just need to take a deep breath? Certainly there are problems out there to which one could point: Xinhua: Farm produce prices rise for sixth week — I've been bitching about food inflation for years now. With higher meat prices and now vegetables, I'm stuck eating bread, water and tofu. Actually, that's not a bad meal. Global Times: Reckless banks rigging deposit figures — Sounds familiar. Get those deposits on the books during audit time, and then move them somewhere more productive (and risky) until next time. Scamtastic. East Asia Forum: Chinese investment: new kid on the block learning the rules — Before you get too excited about all that overseas direct investment by Chinese companies, read this. Also Sprach Analyst: Local governments in China sell land plots while foreign investors turn cautious — Not only is real estate a mixed bag these days, but local governments are still desperate for cash. Wall Street Journal: Glut Means Gloom for China's Once-Sunny Commercial Property Sector — Did I say real estate was a mixed bag? Commercial property is in the "negative" column. Guardian: Western tales of China's imminent collapse are a bit rich — Before you get too depressed, read this for a different perspective. This seems like a direct response to Gordon Chang's Forbes column. And some non-economic news: China Daily: Movie makers seek to please Chinese — Mercenary yes, but seeking to please? I doubt it. My response: Culturally Sensitive Hollywood Doesn't Want to Hurt the Feelings of the Chinese People. China Law & Policy: Why Was There a Trial When Gu Kailai Confessed – China's "Plea Bargaining" — This question had occurred to me, believe it or not. I love it when someone else does research that I was too lazy to do myself. Stephen Walt: Inflating the China threat — After all the talk about missiles and missile defense these past few days, which was mind numbing and, ultimately, depressing, this was a breath of fresh air. My favorite column on the topic thus far. Wall Street Journal: Report: China's Health Care System Deeply Sick — Title says it all. Despite lots of investment, huge problems persist, and some are getting worse. In a country which is getting richer, older and fatter (I can relate to 2 out of 3), this shouldn't surprise anyone. Caixin: 22 U.S.-listed Companies Announce Buyback Plans This Year — The great exodus continues, and it's all the fault of those pesky short sellers and has nothing to do with fraud and other illegalities. Right? AFP: China media slams Romney — A Xinhua (i.e., official) Op/Ed against the GOP candidate and his aggressive foreign policy. Forbes: Beijing's Big Fat Judas Kiss for Barack Obama — But what does it mean? Is China really trying to help Romney by criticizing him? Xinhua: Commentary: High time for Romney to drop "blame-China game" (this is the Op/Ed itself) © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us |
| Ministry of Truth: Hush on Maoming Corruption Posted: 29 Aug 2012 08:07 AM PDT The following example of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, has been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as "Directives from the Ministry of Truth." CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
The city of Maoming has been under provincial scrutiny since May for years of rent-seeking behavior on the part of local officials. According to a May 24 Duowei report [zh], 24 provincial cadres and 218 county-level cadres are implicated for bribery and corruption. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Air China Flight Turns Back After Threat Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:17 AM PDT Chinese state media is reporting that an Air China flight to New York had to return to Beijing following a threat, according to AFP:
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
| Foshan city says no to beggars for its “image project” Posted: 28 Aug 2012 11:12 PM PDT Foshan municipal government in southeast China's Guangdong province unveiled a new measure to drive the beggars and homeless people out of the city, amid the recent pubic criticism against the last move to tackle begging by placing pyramid-shaped cement cones (see the following picture) under the overpasses to keep away the homeless and beggars from sleeping there in cities like Guangzhou and Foshan.
"Public squares, bus stations, ports, docks, pedestrian bridges, stadiums, theaters, parks, tourist attractions and other public places would have no people begging or sleeping," said the new measure. The measure was drafted by Foshan city's Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, aiming to improve the image of the city. The bureau believed begging is an "uncivilized phenomenon" and has a negative impact on the look of a city. Source: ChinaJilin |
| A Barometer of Culture: What China’s “Memes” Mean Posted: 28 Aug 2012 01:23 PM PDT  Liu Bo, baton raised, running into Internet immortality Liu Bo is famous. One of many police officers assigned to quash recent protests over a planned molybdenum copper plant in Shifang (什邡), Sichuan province, Bo was famously pictured with a riot shield strapped to his forearm, baton raised, charging at the backs of a small crowd. His bull rush was captured on a mobile device, promptly shared on Chinese social media and soon after appeared in an article by Tea Leaf Nation's own Liz Carter. This image—representative of a growing resentment toward alleged abuses by the People's Armed Police (人民武装警察)—provided a perfect canvas for angry netizens in Shifang and beyond. A burly man, Bo unwittingly became the subject of a series of Internet memes (sounds like "cream"): Viral, visual remixes integral to China's digital conversation. Fat Police Officer, as he's now known on the Chinese Web, has appeared in remixed photos chasing Mark Wahlberg, jumping hurdles and practicing Tai chi with Jackie Chan in Tiananmen Square. Derived from the Greek word for imitation, memes are rooted in scientific theory. English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term in 1976 as ideas or behaviors shared between people through speech, gestures, writing, and rituals.  Lawyer-dissident Chen Guangcheng, made up to look like Colonel Sanders to confuse censors In recent years, the definition has evolved to refer to popular culture that emerges from the Internet, like the American-made "Lolcat" or then-imprisoned dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng depicted as a latter-day Colonel Sanders. Alone, memes are pithy, silly, poignant pieces of online expression—an art form, pixelated. But shared instantly and infinitely across platforms like Sina Weibo (China's Twitter), they become a barometer of culture. "Memes are important because they resonate with us with so strongly to the point that we want to share them with the people around us," Cole Stryker, Internet expert and author of Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan?s Army Conquered the Web, told Tea Leaf Nation. "They are really the first form of pop culture where every consumer is also a producer—at least in the mass-media age." Kate Miltner, who prepared a dissertation on the famed Lolcat (see here if you're new to the term), agreed in an email interview with TLN. "The cultural significance of Internet memes is that they allow us to comment on and participate in our own culture, whether that's by creating or sharing," she wrote. Indeed, netizen participation in China is extra significant considering the country's reliance on "soft" censorship: A blend of algorithms, firewalls and private business cooperation that allows Internet access but polices content deemed threatening to social stability. The sometimes-goofy, sometimes-incensory meme, a product of photo-editing, moxie and the poetic wordplay characteristic of Mandarin Chinese, effectually slips through the netting of keywords that Chinese censors employ as a last line of defense. "Because of the strictures on speech in China, memes tend to be a really effective way to spread a political message," An Xiao Mina, artist, meme expert and 88 bar blogger, explained in an interview with TLN. "You can't really talk about Internet censorship directly in China, but if you talk about, say, a Grass Mud Horse [a classic insult in Chinese Web slang]—if you use off-the-cuff, remixed humor, it's a little easier to talk about such critical topics." When shared en masse, Fat Police Officer and company can accordingly cause a powerful, albeit brief, cultural wave across the Web; and like artist Ai Weiwei's room full of sunflower seeds, make millions of little, shell-splitting cracks in the time it takes to post a tweet. "Fifty years ago, twenty people would make a TV show and then millions of people would enjoy it. Now you have millions of people making memes, and millions of people enjoying them," explained Stryker.  Irreverent, but powerful. Via Chinasmack Hong Kong University's China Media Project asserts that this kind of collective power is fundamental to raising issues dealing with social welfare. The trend arguably began in gusto following the fatal July 2011 high-speed rail crash in Wenzhou (温州), Zhejiang province. Authorities there tried to cover up the tragedy, but failed after reporters tweeted graphic images of the disasters via Weibo and sister platforms. Last year, netizens invented the meme shown at right, a t-shirt logo displaying what The Atlantic's Damien Ma dubbed "in-your-face irreverence." "The scale of citizens talking about social issues in China—whether through memes or through general Internet activity—is much larger than citizens have been able to [accomplish] before," said An Xiao. "These images by themselves can't do anything; but when you look at past social movements, often it is images or graphics that keep a message alive." What are the implications of this finger in the proverbial eye? "I think it's the beginning of something," An Xiao said. "The fact that there are so many memes and that they continue to spread correlates with a more participatory citizenship." Although we cannot know what citizen participation in China will ultimately look like, memes at least provide a glimpse. We will just have to watch and wait while China's netizens work on their next collective masterpiece.     |
| Does “NBA” Belong in Chinese Dictionaries? Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:05 AM PDT
I'm a big supporter of languages raping and pillaging. You know, dynamism and all that. English, of course, is an old pro at this sort of thing. A friend of mine, who teaches English Lit in the U.S., has this in his email signature:
Indeed. So I'm cool with putting foreign words in Chinese dictionaries if they are now part of common usage. However, there must be standards. I have a problem, for example, with "PM 2.5." Yes, a big topic of conversation, but the thing is, it isn't a word. How can it be in the dictionary if it isn't even a damn word? Similarly, "NBA" isn't a word either. It's an acronym. Now, I'm touchy when it comes to acronyms, and I've had a long-running battle with young lawyers over the past decade or so who don't think that it's a big deal to use acronyms in professional writing. {Sigh} For blogs, fine. For formal stuff, no way, not until you've introduced what the acronym stands for to your reader. Curious, I looked up "NBA" on dictionary.com and was disappointed to see it there. It included several definitions, including the National Basketball Association and National Boxing Association. But I think that proves my point. There are probably a lot of other "NBA"s out there that didn't make the cut. How fair is that? Granted, in China, "NBA" only means one thing, so there's no confusion. But it's still not a word. I grow despondent. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us |
| Culturally Sensitive Hollywood Doesn’t Want to Hurt the Feelings of the Chinese People Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:37 AM PDT
The article starts off as a very straightforward piece about Hollywood studios coming to China, a topic that has been flogged to death in the past few months:
Fair enough, and certainly accurate. The China film market is growing rapidly, and Hollywood is lusting after a new market to exploit. Been there, done that. After reading that bit, I was ready to move on to more exciting fare from my Inbox. But then this passage caught my eye:
OK, allow me to pause for a second while I cough and mutter "bullshit" under my breath. I'm sure that Hollywood considers itself culturally sensitive, but let's get real. Hollywood is conservative, boring, and loves to exploit stereotypical roles, usually decades after audiences no longer respond favorably to them. If they changed the formula too often, the Script-O-Matic 3000 Screenwriterbot would throw a piston or something. American television is no better. In the past fifty years, TV has made such incredible "progress" with Asian characters that we've merely put John Cho is all those "Generic Asian" roles that used to go to stalwarts Soon Teck Oh and Mako back in the old days. Impressive! (Female actors don't count. There's always room for a hot Asian chick in a supporting role.) Is China truly "virgin territory" for Hollywood? Of course it isn't. I've been watching Hollywood movies in China since 1998, and the big issue back then, as it is now, has nothing to do with introducing moviegoers to what Hollywood has to offer. No, it's all about access to the market. Did James Cameron have to put Asian characters on the Titanic to make it palatable in the Middle Kingdom? I don't recall this scene: First Mate: Captain, I think we've hit an iceberg! Captain: 哎呀! Were you drinking baijiu on duty again? First Mate: 对不起. I have lost face in the eyes of my coworkers. Perhaps I'm not giving Cameron enough credit. He could have done it in a more subtle fashion, like he did with Avatar, which was a huge success here because of scenes like this: Jake: Holy crap! My body is huge and blue, and I'm hung like a mule. This is awesome! Dr. Augustine: Calm the fuck down, Jake. It's not like you look Chinese. Big and blue is merely an acceptable second choice. The point is that Hollywood does just fine, thank you, with the crap it turns out already. While it is moving into more locally produced scripts that have China settings and characters, the big money remains with securing a quota slot for the next CGI-heavy actiongasm. It's just business, and Hollywood's strategy seems obvious. If you're not convinced about what's really going on, read up on foreign co-productions here. The China Daily article uses the example of the cinemabortion called Red Dawn, whose China-invades-U.S. storyline was changed midflight to the even more laughable North-Korea-invades-U.S. And no, the movie was not intended to be a sketch comedy.
Did they really change Red Dawn because they were worried about hurting the feelings of the Chinese people? Ha! (Shit, I just got Diet Coke up my nose laughing so hard.) Hollywood could give a shit about angering or provoking Chinese audiences. They certainly don't care about pissing off American audiences, so why should they care about folks over here? Hell, just making a movie like Red Dawn is a slap in the face of everything humanity holds dear. They changed "China" to "DPRK" in the script because they were told that there was no freaking way they would get the China bashing version imported and distributed here. They weren't kissing the ass of Chinese moviegoers, but the rep at China Film Group who told them that the original story had to go. (Do they really think they can now distribute that drek here? That seems wildly optimistic.) Hollywood. Being culturally sensitive. The same guys that brought us Bagger Vance, Long Duk Dong, and are developing a Lone Ranger nostalgiapic with Johnny Depp as Tonto? Let's keep it real. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us |
| China’s Lobbying Game Tested by US, Canada Posted: 28 Aug 2012 11:49 PM PDT The world's second largest economy is shunning confrontational tactics in business dealings with the U.S. and Canada in favor of a newly adopted lobbying strategy, which is being tested by its North American partners. From Paul Eckert, Rachelle Younglai and David Ljunggren at Reuters:
Read more about Unocal deal and China's lobbying strategy via China Digital Times. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  |
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