Getting an accurate read on what people in China think about the prosecution of Chen Shui-bian is difficult because Taiwan’s former president isn’t too highly thought of here. To the extent people have an opinion they seem to be glad he’s in trouble because, well, Chen’s a troublemaker. The larger question about what it means for Taiwan …

When Beijing wants to make a diplomatic point about issues that really get it hot under the collar (Tibet, Taiwan, Falungong, “interference in China’s internal affairs etc) it isn’t exactly subtle. After announcing Wednesday that it was cancelling a summit meeting with the European Union scheduled for Monday, in diplomatic terms the …

An interesting piece by my colleague Mark Kukis in Washington about the fate of the 17 Uighurs detained in Guantanamo. Their situation really does deserve the much abused description of Kafkaesque. Having been delivered into U.S. hands by bounty hunters in Afghanistan, they were cleared of terrorist connections in 2003 (yep, 5 long …

Since the spontaneous outpouring of charity and volunteering after the May earthquake in Sichuan, we have all wondered whether the event marked a new beginning for such grassroots civil society work in China. Lin Yang finds where small corner of the country where that spirit is continuing:

The mention of charity in China usually

…

The weird case of cop-killer Yang Jia (details here) continues to resonate through the Chinese internet even after his execution on November 26th. Colleague Jessie Jiang has these thoughts about about the reaction to his death. As ever, you can find anything you want on the web and justify anything, but as Jessie notes, this feels …

One of the unexpected consequences of the great time.com blog blowup of 2008 is that the China Blog is no longer easily accessible in China. Regular time.com blog readers will recall that in late October our servers experienced some sort of meltdown. In order to correct things in a hurry before the presidential election, our Web …

After nearly 60 years, punters in mainland China can now bet on horseracing. In January, the central government had announced that horse betting would be reintroduced in Wuhan in September. After a two-month delay, it’s official: beginning this Saturday, the Orient Lucky City racecourse (let’s hope they come up with a less …

Take a look at this poignant series of photographs from the Three Gorges over the last 5 years taken by multi-talented reporter Chua Chin Hon of the Singapore Straits Times.

Used to be that Aria in the China World Hotel was the favored spot for expense account types to have their power lunches. Move over Aria: the China Grill on the 66th floor of the newly opened Park Hyatt is taking over. The views alone are (almost) worth the very hefty price of entry. Above is a view of the CCTV Tower and the …

A gallery of photos by Ian Teh from the Sichuan disaster zone is now up here at time.com. It includes the above image of Zhang Kangqi, an official in Beichuan country who lost his wife and daughter in the May 12 earthquake. Here’s some more about Zhang from our six-month anniversary piece:

Zhang Kangqi lives in his office. Five feet

…

Here’s a review for the curious of the 17-years-in-the-making Guns n’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy. The reviewer, our own esteemed Josh Tyrangiel (who also happens to run this website so no snarky comments, or at least not too many) doesn’t get into the merits of Axl Rose’s political commentary and we have already posted the lyrics to …