On Friday, China Central Television’s sports channel, CCTV-5, held a ceremony to launch its new name: The Olympic Channel. But the revelry ended when Beijing TV host Hu Ziwei, the distraught wife of top sports anchor and sports department head Zhang Bin, walked up to the podium, grabbed the microphone, and accused her husband of having …

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We’ve updated the story of Chinese dissident Hu Jia and his wife Zeng Jinyan a few times over the past year, including some happy news for the couple last month, the birth of a daughter. But 2007, which saw Zeng named to TIME’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in May, has ended on a decidedly worrisome …

It seems impossible that Beijing traffic could actually get worse–and crazier–than it already is but now we’ve shifted from something like 1000 new cars on the streets every day to 1500, believe me, it is getting worse by the week. No news there, except I still do wonder sometimes why the city government doesn’t just impose fees for …

Financial markets in China are again rife with rumors of an imminent, one-off, significant revaluation of the renminbi. That a recent editorial in the Economic Observer Online made the case for just such a move is interesting. It’s a responsible, sober site, and this clearly added to the chatter in the markets. I personally remain …

A holiday greeting of sorts, from China’s good buddies in Tokyo…

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_Test_Fires_Its_First_Raytheon_Built_Standard_Missile_3_999.html

Well, you saw it here first. Despite much gloom and predictions that the project would go ahead anyway, it appears as though the revolt of the middle classes in Xiamen (see post below) has triumphed. The following item appeared in a regional Chinese paper today:

South Daily, Dec.20, Fujian provincial government and Xiamen city

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While walking through the Wangfujing shopping district in central Beijing this weekend I noticed a couple long lines of people snaking across the pedestrian mall. Not an unusual sight, but the people’s motivation for standing in the cold was interesting. They were there to be in an advertisement.

The ad is one that anyone in the Chinese …

A fascinating development in the ongoing saga of Xiamen’s mini civic rebellion, a case that may prove a model for the many not-in-my-backyard revolts that Chinese authorities will face in coming years as the swelling ranks of the middle class assert themselves. Back in June, citizens of the fair port city of Xiamen poured into the …

One of the concerns about the purchase of Dow Jones by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation was that the media tycoon might water down of the Wall Street Journal’s highly respected China coverage. The Murdoch era at the paper has just begun, so it’s too early to make any judgment about whether that’s happening.

Over on the promotion side …

So Steven Spielberg has released the text of the latest letter he sent to President Hu Jintao. The timing is interesting: Spielberg–who is one of several prominent foreigners involved in the production of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics– is subject to a great deal of pressure back home, so when he feels the need to show …