I have closed all comments on the last two posts, and will also disallow comments on new posts for at least the next week. This is, in a sense, my fault; the tone of commenting on this site had grown progressively less productive and I have not been able to moderate things as closely...
Read more »
UPDATE: A friend of Yang Hengjun’s is suggesting that he’s now free. Where he’s been is unclear, but I expect we’ll hear in detail from Yang himself sooner or later. The following is a translation of this post from journalist Zhang Wen’s popular blog. Translation Yang Hengjun disappeared on March 27, and there has...
Read more »
…for both the pro-China lobby and the army of expats (myself included) whining about how mistreated we are because our VPNs aren’t working right anymore. Here’s an incomplete list of people who have disappeared in the last month or so1: People who we know have been arrested: Ran Yunfei 冉云飞 (inciting to subvert state...
Read more »
The following is a translation of part of this post from Zhang Wen’s blog. It begins with a conversation he is having with an older friend of his who is interested in international affairs and watches CCTV’s nightly news program daily. Translation Uncle: You’re experienced in the news business1, give me your opinion, why...
Read more »
Recently, the New York Times ran an article about the increasingly tight controls over everything from the internet to the media in China. It starts with this anecdote: If anyone wonders whether the Chinese government has tightened its grip on electronic communications since protests began engulfing the Arab world, Shakespeare may prove instructive. A...
Read more »
I was about to translate this post when I discovered that Global Voices beat me to the punch. I guess some people are still paying attention to Han Han, even if the domestic media isn’t allowed to mention him anymore. Hit the link above for Han Han’s take on Libya, but here’s the money...
Read more »
As many of you know, we’re working on a documentary about kidnapped children in China. It’s part of the reason this blog is updated less frequently than it used to be. It’s also part of the reason I’m really poor, so feel free to help us out with a donation1 if there’s money burning...
Read more »
This is a translation of a short piece from Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao on the reasons behind China's crackdown on foreign journalists, at the cost of its international image.
Read more »
UPDATE: It’s a burden being right all the time. According to this official government release (via the New York Times), the purpose of the cameras being added in Beijing has nothing to do with safety: “The goal, the Web site1 stated, is to “directly and effectively monitor” the content of performances on...
Read more »
The following is an article from Huanqiu Lianwang by Song Luzheng. Translation Translated by Tom Martyn Both Marxism and Western style democracy arrived in China from the West, with the latter arriving first. Not only did democratic theory attract the interest of Chinese political elites, but democracy was attempted on two occasions. One was...
Read more »
