Asia

In a story that was flagged by Ling Liu below on the crackdown ahead of the June 4th anniversary I listed a number of examples of tightened control by the authorities and said that it would likely loosen up a bit after the anniversary. But the piece’s broader point was that the current very low level of tolerance for any form of dissent …

A Chinese NGO, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, has drawn mostly blanks in its bid to reasearch pollution levels in the mainland. It recently sent requests to local government departments charged with environmental protection in 113 mainland cities, asking for details on local polluters. Of the 113, just 27 gave any …

In completely unrelated China news on time.com today, Bill Powell writes about U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s visit to Beijing, and Jimmy Wang has a video about hip-hop on the mainland.

This piece for the Guardian by author Ma Jian is a powerful examination of the events of 20 years ago. Below is an excerpt, but it’s worth reading the full story:

“It happened right here,” he told me, “just by these white railings. A tank charged down Changan Avenue, and sprayed tear gas into the air. There was a big crowd of us. We were

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Thanks to the good folk at China Digital Times for alerting us to the fact that Ai Weiwei (see posts below) has launched a new blog (here, in Chinese of course), his old ones having been blocked once again. According to CDT, “In order verify his identity to the netizen community, Ai Weiwei posted the below semi-nude / grotesque …

There are a bunch of guides to eating out in Beijing including a workmanlike Zaggat and recommendations from the English-language weekly city magazines like City Weekend, The Beijinger etc. The trouble with these efforts, worthy though they are, is twofold: a) they are heavily oriented to expats living in Beijing, so will have list upon …

With the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen demonstrations just a few days away, several media outlets are re-examining the events of 1989 and their aftermath. After a glut of pieces on how little Chinese students know about that era, it is refreshing to hear from people who do remember. The New York Times has four …

It’s been a long time coming, but the irrepressible artist and campaigner for truth about the collapse of schools in the Sichuan earthquake Ai Weiwei (see our story about his project and transcript of our interview here) finally received a visit from National Security agents, who wanted him to come in for a “chat” (often the euphemism is …

Last year American environmental consultant Steven Q. Andrews caused a big fuss ahead of the Beijing Olympics when he questioned the validity of the Chinese capital’s air pollution statistics. The local government denied his allegations, but did little to prove him wrong. The regional pollution control measures taken ahead of the Games …

On time.com this week Hannah Beech has a piece on Chinese efforts to invest in the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Perhaps the Chinese suitors should check this recent Sports Illustrated cover story by Cleveland native Joe Posnanski before their Cleveland euphoria gets downright irrational.) And I have stories on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit …