Some thoughts from my colleague Jessie Jiang on piracy:

The failure of millions of computer screens to go black on Monday was almost an anticlimax for many Chinese Windows users. According to Microsoft’s much-awaited anti-piracy plan, millions of PC users in China would turn on their computers on October 20 only to find a black

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Times are always tricky for activists and human rights workers in China but the current post-Olympics period is particularly odd. As this story from AFP flags, activists are groping around trying to figure out where the boundaries are now that the Games are over. Will the authorities relax or will the tough attitude that preceded the …

If you haven’t visited the golden toilet yet, you may have missed your chance. For the throngs of mainland tourists in Hong Kong, the Hall of Gold is a must-see on the itinerary. Constructed with six tons of gold, the palace features chairs, tables, chandeliers, life-size statues, and a fully functional toilet, all made of solid gold. …

So the Chinese government finally issued a communique (official English language report from Xinhua here ) last night addressing the rural reform issue, about which both Austin and I have written previous posts (Austin’s is a couple of poasts before this, my most recent effusion here). This is a complex issue to which we will no doubt be …

Back in action after my brief holiday last week. Was interested to see the announcement that the government was indefinitely extending special Olympic rules for foreign journalists in China. The rules, which were set to expire on Friday, essentially say that a foreign reporter can interview anyone in China as long as they had the …

This is perilously close to boring your guests with your holiday snaps, but there you are. Taking a few days off in Yangshuo in the southern province of Guangxi, I was persuaded (reluctantly: I am a white knuckle flyer) by my wife to take a trip up in a hot air balloon. On first sight this contraption resembles a circus tent attached to …

On the pages of the Global Times, the nationalistic Beijing tabloid, there’s often a little gloating these days about the financial crisis in the U.S. Down in the trenches of China’s manufacturing sector, not everyone is so happy. They know how quickly economic problems in the West will lead to reduced consumer demand and weakening …

Last weekend in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin police beat to death a recent college graduate. The fight between six officers and 22-year-old victim Lin Songling and three of his friends apparently started over an argument about a parking space. The news has prompted outrage both in Harbin and on the Internet (there are …

The state media previews of the just-ended Communist Party plenum gave strong indications of a major reform in rural land policy. But as Simon noted last week, the devil is in the details. The four-day meeting ended Sunday with a statement that the Party wants to double farmers’ incomes by 2020. How they expect to do that is another …

From Jessie Jiang, a look at China’s new standards for melamine in milk:

Since the Chinese government announced its limits on dairy melamine Wednesday, it’s been gaining little but more embarrassment on the PR front.

At a press conference aimed at appeasing public anxiety, Health Ministry official Wang Xuening announced the levels of

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The release of 17 Chinese who have been held in Guantanamo since after 9/11 has been blocked by a federal appeals court. The government has ruled that the men, ethnic Uighurs from China’s Xinjiang region who were picked up in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are not enemy combatants. It doesn’t want to return them to China for fear they’ll be …

From my colleague Jessie Jiang:

Like the long-suffering supporters of the Chicago Cubs, China’s soccer fans know all about disappointment. But their steadfastness is being put to yet a new test, this time involving a fading star and the withdrawal of a top-tier domestic league club.

After a scuffle between two players in a Sept. 28

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