Asia

From Lin Yang:

It is hard to imagine Chinese state leaders embraced by fanatic fans like movie stars and pop icons. From Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese president was to be admired and worshiped from a distance. But the “assorted eight treasures rice pudding” is changing it all.

Combining one character from each of the names

…

Here’s our piece on the Sept. 7 legislative elections in Hong Kong that saw a big win by pro-Beijing populists, a loss for the city’s biggest pro-business party, and a smaller-than-expected setback for parties pushing for faster democratization. It was the economy, not political reform, that seemed to be the deciding issue in the race.

Just as the Paralympics fill Beijing with a growing appreciation for the rights and talents of the disabled, the China Daily announced rather depressingly that just one of the orphans from the Sichuan earthquake has been adopted. “One reason for the slow response is that many of the orphans are handicapped,” the newspaper reported. Most …

Watched the opening ceremony for the Paralympics lat night. (I looked for a clip to link to but it doesn’t seem to be up on youtube yet). It was a good show, solid and not obviously as flashy as the Olympics version. But it was really moving to see the disabled athletes carrying the torch. And the torch lighting was amazing. A wheelchair …

A recent environmental protest in Beijing has won an official apology from city authorities. On Aug. 30 dozens of people in Beijing’s eastern Chaoyang district demonstrated against a landfill that they said was polluting the air and depressing property values.

The past two years have seen a number of high-profile environmental …

This is pretty bizarre even for China, where anything goes if it makes a buck. I reprint the whole as it’s behind a paywall at the South China Morning Post. I’ll also point out that it’s still being investigated and it looks as though the original source was some scurrilous HK newspaper so several pinches of salt should be taken while …

This is from Lin Yang:

Although Yang Xiaodong’s story has yet to make it to the silver screen, it reads like the plot of a Hollywood thriller. Hailed as the “Chinese Rambo” by netizens, Yang’s diary as a police sergeant on the run has dominated major Chinese internet chat rooms in recent days and captured the attention of millions. The

…

Most of the history that happened in Beijing over the past few weeks took place in gyms, in the pool and on the track. But there was also history in the air, specifically the best summer air quality this city has seen in 10 years. So as the Olympic experience fades into memory, the question remains whether the Chinese capital can keep …

This report, from Kashgar, comes from Radio Free Asia.

Chinese Police Killed, Wounded in New Xinjiang Clash

HONG KONG, Aug. 28, 2008—Two ethnic Uyghur police officers have been killed and at least two critically injured after new violence erupted near the Silk Road city of Kashgar, authoritative sources and witnesses have told

…

Our take on this nebulous subject here.

Here’s a comment from John Smith, a regular. Sorry dude, but lighten up a bit! This is supposed to be funny. To be honest, we get a lot of odd comments but a little tiny touch of SOH (look it up) is vitally important:

London will be excellent just by being itself. And having enough food at the venues, let all kinds of people protesting

…

So, we asked ourselves, what could London possibly do to match the massive spectacle that Beijing put on for the Opening and Closing ceremonies? It couldn’t possibly do anything to compare to the sheer scale of the Chinese efforts so (leaving aside the dire business with the double decker bus which I will pass over without further …