Asia

Anyone who is wondering what the future holds for China might take a close look at what happened in Russia over the weekend. As was widely predicted President Valdimir Putin’s choice for a successor Dimitri Medvedev handily won presidential elections and will make Putin his prime minister. According to the New York Times,”The election of …

When I first came to China 12 years ago, I walked through the Beijing Capitol International Airport and wondered what I had gotten into. I had flown from San Francisco via Tokyo, and the contrast between the two airports I passed through and my destination was stark. Unlike those efficient, modern hubs, Beijing’s airport was cramped and …

To follow on Simon’s post below about Zeng Jinyan, it’s worth noting what Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had to say yesterday regarding human rights. During a joint press conference with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Yang said, “The Chinese people enjoy extensive freedom of speech,”

Where’s My Daddy?

Human Rights watch in New York have issued a call for Beijing to release activist Hu Jia, whose case we have followed closely. “The case of Hu Jia, who will as of February 27 have been detained for two months, has become emblematic of Beijing’s broad attempt to suppress dissent ahead of the Olympic Games,” the …

We’ve been having a glorious early spring in Beijing with a series of clear days, temperatures in the low 60s (or mid teens, depending on your orientation). With only five months to go before you-know-what, the rumor mils have started grinding. Apart from the speculation about how the …

China has a new Olympic worry that could leave protests and air pollution in the shade: will Yao play? The hoops superstar suffered a stress fracture in his left foot that will end his NBA season. Now the question is whether the Houston Rockets center will be well in time for the Games. His injury is expected to heal in June, just two …

At the Olympic media center this afternoon Beijing environmental officials defended the city’s record on reducing air pollution. When asked about allegations that emissions recording locations were shifted to less polluted areas as part of an effort to cook the numbers, Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the Beijing Environmental Protection …

News today that three managers received life terms for an explosion that killed 105 miners in early December of last year. Thirteen other heavy sentences were handed out to other executives who were running the mine at nearly double approved production rates, totally ignoring safety regulations and all …

The Steven Spielberg affair rolls on. He announced in mid-February that –because of China’s lack of action in stopping the killing in Darfur– he was resigning as adviser to the committee that is staging the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, but the news is still generating considerable heat and light. Danwei has a good round up of …

My neighbors and I had a deal. They brought the dumplings, fireworks and baijiu; I provided the house and the beer. Then we had a party. The occasion was the fifth day of the Chinese New Year.

After a few toasts, I added another condition. Everyone had to submit to a little interview about their hopes for 2008. The answers are recorded …

Below are excerpts from two interesting commentaries on the Beijing Olympics. First, from our sister publication Sports Illustrated, is a piece by S.L. Price about how China is handling domestic critics ahead of the Games, and the responsibility of the IOC:

Maybe each nation chose on its own to truckle. Or perhaps there’s been a

…

Ok. I m back from vacation in Bali. And it most certainly is not China. This may seem obvious but I personally think it is important so am generously providing readers with the clip below to prove the point once and for all. Note particularly the lingering pan across the blue, blue sky.

So says Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch, after the trial yesterday of Yang Chunlin, an activist from Helionjang who collected signatures for a petition that said “we want human rights, not the Olympics.” Here is the HRW statement as well as its link to coverage of other, similar cases. (The link is not accessible in China without …