Eye on China

Confessions of a "Criminal" in China

2006-03-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

You’ve probably heard (from me if you read my blog) that doing business in China is a tricky business. Just how tricky can be seen in this article from Prospect. If you’re a small entrepreneur you’ll probably find yourself in a game you can’t win. Even if you own a large company, you won’t be able to negotiate from an equal to equal basis. In China, only two things matter: power and position. Foreigners don’t have either.

Adopting Babies in China

2006-03-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Thinking about adopting a Chinese baby? Better think twice and do your homework, as this article from The Standard. Chinese babies are often stolen off the street by thugs who sell them to orphanages for about $400. The orphanages, in turn, charge some $3,000 for the “paperwork” involved in the adoption process. Meanwhile, Chinese mothers who lost their children search frantically for their babies while government officials and orphanages create a blizzard of paperwork to support the idea that the babies were found abandoned on the street and were rescued by the people who brought them to the orphanage. The whole process is built on a foundation of lies. This is not to say that there are no good people out there rescuing babies that need to be rescued. But that’s why those people who want to adopt a baby should be duly diligent and look into the background of the people handing the baby over to them.

Thinking about adopt

2006-03-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

When Chinese Sue the State, Cases Are Often Smothered - New York Times

2005-12-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Swift justice in China only happens when the government wants to jail someone. But when peansants want to file suits against the government, there is no justice. The courts just ignore their suits and pretend they were never filed. As you might imagine, this is the source of a great many uprisings by villagers in China. A more lengthy account of this is contained in this article from the New York Times.

AIDS Patients in China

2005-12-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of ESWN I got this article about the plight of AIDS patients in China. The graphic detail of the story makes one ache for the people described and makes me wonder if China will make it out of the dark ages in time to become a modern nation that truly looks after its more unfortunate people. If you have AIDS in China it’s worse than being a leper in the time of Christ.

A Look at the Chinese Stock Market

2005-12-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Attempts by companies in China to manipulate the prices of their shares on the market may have backfired and left those share worth less than the market price reflects. If you have the interest and the patience to wade through this article in the Far Eastern Economic Review, you will see how the system demonstrates a longing by the Chinese to have their cake and eat it, too. As is common in China, a rule is a rule unless someone sees a way to profit by changing it. While there is money to be made in Chinese stocks, you have to keep in mind the fact that the rules can change without anybody telling you.

Corruption in the Communist Party

2005-12-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

On the subject of corruption, the communist party is beginning to sound like G. W. Bush. They’ve got a plan but they can’t tell you want it is. And the mechanism for carrying it out isn’t in place yet. So corruption is growing apace and will continue to do so until the mechanism kicks in…or not. This story by Reuters gives us the official version. But it’s a sad story any way you look at it.

Getting Around the Censors

2005-12-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

This article from The Washington Post illustrates how bloggers on China’s internet manage to get around the censors by using literary allusions to talk about things that are not allowed on the internet. Lu Xun is becoming an allusion for Dongzhou in internet discussions. The censors will find it difficult to block all references to Chinese history and literature. In fact, they already are.

The Fight for Land and Compensation

2005-12-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

The fight for land and proper compensation for the loss of it as defined by the land laws of China is explained in this article in The Standard. If the process was transparent, there would probably be less corruption in local governments and fewer protests by the farmers. But these days it takes a riot to expose corruption and keep greedy officials from taking what rightly belongs to the people who work the land.

Dongzhou and the Silence of the Lambs

2005-12-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Very few people in China want to talk about censorship but there’s a reason why this is so. The authoritarian government can clamp down hard on the writer who dares to cross the line and it can make news stories disappear in the blink of an eye. Even web sites can find themselves shut out from the net. There is a story in the New York Times today that explains how censorship was applied to the Dongzhou incident in which a reported 20 villagers were killed by the police for standing up to them in a protest against the seizure of the villagers’ land for the construction of an energy generation plant. Imminent Domain doesn’t get any more imminent than that.

A Country of Laws

2005-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

While China claims to be a country ruled by law, The New York Times tells us they don’t have much use or respect for lawyers. If you ever have a need for a lawyer in China, you might be better off to flee the country than get involved in a lawsuit, as many Taiwanese businessmen have discovered. This is especially true if you get involved in an argument with the “business partner” the government will make you accept as a condition for setting up a company in China. He will have government connections, or guanxi, and you will stand a good chance of losing not only your shirt but your freedom.

A Point System for Journalists

2005-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

ESWN has published an article in his blog that gives us a good look into how the CCP tries to manipulate journalism in China. When you wonder what kinds of forces are used to practice censorship in the Chinese press, think about this article. It explains in wondrous detail how points are given that affect the reporters’ and writers’ livelihood and their chances for advancement: a point system that rewards primarily those who write what the party bosses like to read or hear.

50,000 Corrupt Officials

2005-12-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

According to China View, a sister site of Xinhua.org English language news, 50,000 corrupt officials have been punished in the past two years and agreements with 23 countries have been signed to prosecute money laundering and extradite criminals who flee China. That’s a lot of corrupt officials. The question is, what kind of punishment did they receive and was it enough? Corruption is a way of life in political circles, just as it is in most other Asian countries. You can get a good fix on how it works by reading Heijin: Business and Politics in Taiwan by Ko Lin Chin.

Trying to Have it Both Ways

2005-12-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

Even foreign reporters can be arrested and held on trumped-up charges as has been reported by the Singapore's Straits Times and the New York Times. Ching Cheong, 56, was first detained in April in Southern China, and formally arrested in August. His crime? Spying for Taiwan. If anything points to Taiwan being a foreign country rather than a province of China, this does. China is the only country I know of that can be so two-faced as to claim Taiwan is a province one day and jail someone for spying for that province the next. It only makes sense if you belong to the Chinese Communist Party and live in a paranoid world where you distrust people you claim to be part of your own country. They’re either not part of your country or you’re fooling yourself when you say they are.

Ten Commandments for Doing Business in China

2005-12-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

A blogger called Diligence China.com offers a list of 10 Commandments for businessmen thinking about doing business in China. The list is good but not nearly enough to warn a foreigner about the dangers of doing business there. A person who does not speak Chinese or doesn’t have a really good friend (not a fair-weather friend) who speaks the language and understands the customs and dangers involved, is almost certain to misunderstand everything he/she sees and hears. You can’t judge China on how you do business at home nor can you begin to understand the complexity of a 5,000 -year-old society. A good book with which to start your studies is called “Heijin,” which means “black gold” and has the same connotations as “black market.” Except in China, the black market is the real market. The cops are often the crooks. And the government will force you to take on a partner who may rip you off at every opportunity. And his buddies in government (local or national) are very likely to prosecute you rather than him.

Think long and hard before you invest in China and the amount of diligence that is due boggles the mind.

A Chinese Hero

2005-12-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

This article in TIME Magazine describes a true hero of the Chinese revolution. A fighter against corruption in high places and bad policies of government leaders, Liu Binyang overcame everything from ostracism to “reeducation” to banishment and he is still telling about China as it really is under all the propaganda and censorship that the Communists use to paper over their shortcomings.

The Two-Edged Sword of Vigilante Justice

2005-12-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

ESWN led me to this story from the Washington Post. It describes how and why there is growing conflict between the villagers in rural China and government authorities. Justice can be swift and violent on both sides.

The violence in Yantang, although small in scale, was part of what officials say is a growing trend of assaults against police, officials and government property in China. The Public Security Ministry estimates that more than 1,800 policemen were attacked in the line of duty in the first six months of this year, sharply up from previous years. A ministry spokesman, Wu Heping, was quoted by the official party organ, the People's Daily, as saying that 23 policemen were killed in a broad range of clashes with "criminal suspects or people intending to interfere with law enforcement through violence."

Color Taiwan Blue

2005-12-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

The Taipei Times Colored Taiwan blue. The greens have been defeated and yellow is a mere speck on the map. It seems strange to me that the pan-blues, which represent the KuoMinTang remnants, are so popular. The party of Chiang Kaishek and his son, Chiang Chingkuo, who headed the secret police after the takeover of Taiwan by the Nationalists in 1949, had been resented in Taiwan for several decades. But today’s KMT is not the same party that took over after World War Two. The children of the invaders have come to see Taiwan as the country of their birth and the wounds inflicted by the mainlanders have pretty much been forgotten now that the playing field has been leveled between native Taiwanese and the children of the invaders. It doesn’t hurt, either, that Taiwan went from abject poverty to one of the richest nations in Asia under the KMT. A prosperous people can afford to be forgiving.

Need a Kidney Transplant?

2005-12-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Need a kidney transplant, or a liver? You’ll have to hurry (or maybe not) to beat the changes in the law on selling the organs of executed prisoners in China. Simon World turned me on to this article in caijing.com that explains the new law and the source from whence it came.

Justice in China is Local

2005-12-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

This article from the The New York Times about a report by a United Nations investigator on the subject of torture shows that justice in China is still in the feudal age in many parts of the country. People are being made to “confess” their crimes in order to obtain a conviction. Changes in the laws on this subject are slow to filter down from the central government to the provinces and villages. It’s this glacial pace that allows local government officials to do whatever they like and not have to worry about being brought to justice, themselves. Many are stealing land and punishing their enemies by taking advantage of the lack of supervision by the national government.

Watching a Taiwan Election

2005-12-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

In keeping with my last post, I’m including a letter from a friend of mine who lives in Taiwan.  He doesn’t have a blog so I’m posting the entire letter here:

TAIWAN ELECTION WATCH

Face up to it, America. Your elections are dull. When it comes to political campaigns, Americans have to take a back seat to Taiwan. Local political observers who have spent years in the U.S. studying for a Ph.D. have commented on this fact. Though this may not set well with the collective American ego, to the Taiwanese eye American elections are yawn-inspiring.

Not the Taiwan version. Conducted against a background beat of temple drums and microphone-enhanced appeals to the faithful, Taiwan elections have a brio that makes American pols seem wishy-washy. In a nation that is a mere dot on most world maps, a call for a show of political loyalty can bring hundreds of thousands into the streets.
          A palpable air of menace is never absent from these street rallies. Riot police stand at the ready. Barbed wire barricades block access to the Presidential Building, lines of caltrops are strung across entrances. While this may not be to everyone’s taste, it is exciting – unless, of course, the crowd should surge against the barricade and fists start flying; and you’re there - caught in the vortex, unable to flee.

       Now it’s once again election time in Taiwan. The posts of Mayor, County Magistrate, and County Councilors are up for grabs. Feelings are running high. Like many American families during the Civil War, loyalties are split. There are instances where political differences within families have even led to divorce. To avoid conflict, some have purchased a 2nd t.v. which they watch alone, separate from the rest of the family. To preserve a veneer of harmony, by unspoken agreement politics have become a taboo subject in many homes.

Perils of Independent Journalism in China

2005-12-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

Many people in China are tired or answering questions about censorship in China. This may be because they have found so many ways to get around these restrictions – some at great peril and cost. Pacific News Service and China Digital Times brought this story to my attention and I’m happy to pass it on to you.

Yellow is the Color of the True Chinese

2005-12-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

The only true Chinese democracy in the world is set to cast their ballots this weekend. The colors of loyalty range from green to blue to yellow, it looks to be a colorful outpouring of emotions and desires. But lurking beneath the trappings of democracy is something approaching a racial bias (although there are no real racial differences) that separates the “true Chinese” whose parents came over with Chiang Kaishek and the Taiwanese, whose parents came over from FuJian a hundred or so years ago. The Kuomintang, or KMT, is made up of the former, along with a bunch of Taiwanese who made money by working with them, use the color blue while the Taiwanese who oppose the KMT rally around the color green. There is also a party called the New Party which uses the color yellow to symbolize the purest of the “pure” Chinese and is allied with the KMT. If this confuses you, you can read all about it in this article from the Taipei Times

Beijing's NIMBY Syndrome

2005-11-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

The Chinese are beginning to realize the pollution problems in China are not just something that affects the small people in small villages. The NYMBY syndrome is raising its head in the heart of Beijing. This article from the Chicago Tribune
tells what is happening.

The Danger of Opacity in China

2005-11-28T08:33:00.000-08:00

The dangers of bottling up openness and transparency are illustrated in this article from the Christian Science Monitor.

“Not only do past cases like secrecy and coverups about diseases like SARS and avian flu in recent weeks call into question China's preparedness for international standards - but there is a hefty domestic political issue for Beijing as well: a widening gap between what might be called "official" and "unofficial" China.”

This story talks about how the Harbin disaster was covered up for days before officials were forced to make it public.

http://csmonitor.com/2005/1128/p01s03-woap.html

China: A Country of Laws or Influence?

2005-11-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

In a test case that may make a small dent in the system that applies the law to the people and provinces of China, a judge was put in peril of losing her career over a decision that was later upheld by a higher court. The law in China seems to be a curious concoction of law and influence. The Supreme Court is really the Communist party. Local officials can overrule decisions made by judges by appealing to the higher authority of the CCP. Influence over the outcome of a case can be bought and sold. But change seems to be coming, if at a snail’s pace. And it is coming from the bottom up rather than from on high. People are demanding that right trump might. If China is to become a country of laws as it professes to be, then there will have to be some major changes to the system. This Article from the New York Times explains how the current system works.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/international/asia/28judge.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

China as a Potemkin Village

2005-11-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

The constant battle between dissenters and the government of China produces a strange reality that resembles a Potemkin village for the official visitor to China. What the visitor sees is not what is really going on there, but a sanitized version created specifically for the visitor’s benefit. This story in the Chicago Times describes the process by which the sanitizing takes place.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0511270302nov27,1,7229619.story?page=2&coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

The Incident at Tai Shi

2005-11-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

The incident at Tai Shi village is probably destined to go down in the history books on the subject of China’s march to democracy. It demonstrates not only how much the CCP fears the peasants taking over their own affairs in local government but how far they are prepared to go to prevent it. But there is an underground of activists who are willing to risk anything to bring about true democratic reform in China and if they can get the farmers and small businessmen behind them, they may grow fast enough to bring about what the constitution guarantees them but the DDP refuses to give – power over their own lives. This article in the Washington Post lays it out in broad strokes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112501364.html?referrer=emailarticlepg&sub=AR

Mao Zedong Uncensored

2005-11-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

For 25 pounds in London you can buy Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday [ Buy from the London Review Bookshop ]. This is a book that really digs up the dirt on Mao Zedong. Others before Chang and Halliday have done similar work, but this book seems to have dug deeper and found sources that nobody else thought to, or was able to interview. Read the review by Andrew Nathan on the London Review of Books blog site.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n22/nath01_.html

China's Rush to Electrify the Country

2005-11-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

An insightful story from Running Dog about the effects of China’s thirst for electric power in Sichuan and other places around the country. The jaded eye of a journalist looks at the city and what it has become in China’s rush to become another America. The problem seems to be that they have to destroy the old China to make room for the new, and the new neon colored China doesn’t look all that great.

http://www.running-dog.co.uk/news.asp?NewsItem=0144

What Happened in Harbin

2005-11-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

The news has been full of what happened in Harbin when industrial waste flooded the river and contaminated the water supply. BBC may have done the best job of telling the story and drawing the conclusions we need to draw to understand the truth of the matter.

http://www.chinaspeaks.org/

Unrest in Fantasia

2005-11-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

ESWN led me to this site of Running Dog and a story about what’s going on in the political arena of the Chinese Communist Party. It’s heavily slanted to the left and comes close to being a diatribe, but it exposes the shuffling and ruffling of feathers going on in Beijing.

http://www.running-dog.co.uk/news.asp?NewsItem=014

Emmy Awarded to Chinese Actress

2005-11-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

The Emmy awards look at foreign as well as local TV and this year the best actress award in the foreign category was won by He Lin in a film the people in China apparently missed. Maybe it was only popular in New York, which has a large Chinese population. Anyway, Danwei provided me with this story:

http://www.danwei.org/archives/002307.html

Are Blogs Changing Hearts and Minds in China?

2005-11-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Some of the biggest changes in China’s mind set and outlook are taking place in cyberspace in the blogosphere. You can say anything you want in a blog as long as you don’t use certain words. But bloggers are dancing around these restrictions by using humor and innuendo as this article from the New York Times explains.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/international/asia/24bloggers.html?th&emc=th

China's Missile Threat

2005-11-23T08:59:00.000-08:00

The seven hundred odd missiles sitting on the Chinese mainland and aimed at Taiwan may not be much of a threat as far as conquering Taiwan. It’s main impact is the fear of damage to terrorize the Taiwanese into submission to the will of the Communists. At least that’s the conclusion of this analysis I picked up off Global Voices Online.

http://meizhongtai.blogspot.com/2005/11/chinas-ballistic-missiles.html

China's Medical Mess

2005-11-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

You have probably heard the Chinese health care system is a mess. But if you want to know just how big a mess and the reasons why it’s a mess, read this report. It was steered my way by Simon World.

http://sun-bin.blogspot.com/2005/11/cancer-in-chinas-healthcare-system.html

Due Diligence on China

2005-11-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

With so many people giving into the gold-rush fever of doing business in China it’s good to know where to start before you find yourself standing with wide-eyed enthusiasm in the middle of the Hong Kong or Shanghai airport. The following web site will give you enough information to let you know what you don’t know.

http://diligencechina.com/blog/?p=3

China Patterns

2005-11-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

This look through the eyes of ZenPundit at the structure of China’s growth and direction was recommended by Simon World.

http://zenpundit.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-barnett-and-robb-see-different.html

The Fight to Save Shanghainese

2005-11-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Like the Native American languages in America, the local dialects are dying out in China and being replaced by Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese. The people of Shanghai, however, are proud of their dialect and are fighting to keep it in spite of government policies that favor Mandarin and the overwhelming presence of immigrants who don’t speak it. This story from The Standard tells how the fight is going:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=5935&sid=5491218&con_type=1&d_str=20051119

The Idea of Divorce

2005-11-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

The idea of divorce is relatively new in China. But now it is taking a turn similar to what is happening in America. Chinese families are splitting up in their old age to take advantage of loopholes in the law that favor the unmarried over the married. It doesn’t mean they will stop living together. It just means they’ll be able to collect more benefits as individuals than they will as couples.

This story from Press Interpreter, the Foreign Language Press in English (any polyglot can contribute), shines a light on the way life is changing:

http://www.pressinterpreter.org/node/249

China Wages Classroom Struggle for Hearts and Minds

2005-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Chinese government has a program to win the hearts and minds of Africans and others in order to exploit their natural resources. Of course, we have done pretty much the same thing in order to exploit China’s national resource of cheap labor. What goes around comes around and this round seems to be going to China.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/international/asia/20beijing.html?th&emc=th

The Chinese Blogosphere

2005-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

The Chinese blogosphere is different from the American-European model. This article from Business Week tells how the government keeps tight control over what can and can’t be discussed in a blog in China.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2005/nf20050823_2006_db065.htm

Students Dropping Out

2005-11-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

In this story from China.org http://www1.china.org.cn/english/China/33982.htm it seems that students in poor provinces of China are dropping out of school in large numbers. This, in turn, is likely to produce a population of illiterate people who will be unable to become a part of the new China where status and income depend on education.

Fear of the Fenching

2005-11-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

I was led to this story by the China Speaks blog (http://www.chinaspeaks.org/). They, in turn sent me to China Through a Lens and this story (http://www1.china.org.cn/english/2005/Nov/149085.htm). It describes a new trend in China that is striking fear into the hearts of many people there because it resembles the Fascist movement in Germany during the 1930s. It’s something worth keeping an eye on.

Ba Jin and the New Freedom of Speech in China

2005-11-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here is another article from ESNW that talks about the perils of writing in China. The peril is not something new. It has been going on for milleniums, first under the emperors of every dynasty and finally under the communist dictatorship.

“Ba Jin and the New Freedom of Speech in China

This is a translation of an excerpt by writer Yu Qiuyu about how he and the late Ba Jin were the targets of unfair criticisms. There are a number of peculiar notions under the new freedom of speech in China, as in "judges think celebrities are immature, so they tend to allow more room for defamation in order to help the celebrities to grow up ..."

Freedom and Peril

2005-11-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

ESWN turned me on to this nice essay on The Freedom and Perils of Internet Writing in China

China Upgrading its Military

2005-11-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

A report from the Christian Science Monitor tells the story of a China preparing to fight a global war. It is developing it’s blue water navy and putting the latest electronic technology in all of it’s weapons. More than that, it is creating an army of engineers to back up the regular armed forces. You can read all about it at:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1117/p01s03-woap.html

Taiwan TV Investment Laws

2005-11-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

This interesting discussion of Taiwan’s laws covering investment in TV companies came to me from ESWN.

http://sun-bin.blogspot.com/2005/11/interpreting-taiwans-law-taken-in.html

What Readers Read in Beijing Newspapers

2005-11-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

This site I picked up from ESWN breaks down the various newspapers available to readers in Beijing. It doesn’t provide much depth, but it does provide a good overview of what the Chinese public gets in the way of news in their newspapers.

http://www.danwei.org/archives/002307.html - more

Heavy Handed Tactics in Hong Kong

2005-11-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

This opinion piece in The Standard demonstrates the heavy-handed tactics use by the communist government to make sure they hold on to power. They don’t make proposals for the people to think about and discuss, they make non-negotiable proposals that people can only accept or reject. I guess discussion is just too democratic.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=15&art_id=5823&sid=5491664&con_type=1

Running a Fruit Stall in Beijing

2005-11-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

Another slice of life in China comes from We Observe the World and tells us about life running a fruit stall in the big city.

http://josephbosco.com/wow2004/2005/11/china-national-beijing-society-migrant.html

CCTV1, a Program Modeled on 60 Minutes

2005-11-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

The following story from “We Observe the World” gives their impression of a Chinese news program.
Every Monday at 10:35 a.m., the real-life investigative TV program News Probe is shown on CCTV 1. Since the first broadcast in 1996, the 45-minute news program has made history in the field of investigative reporting in China. Modeled after CBS's 60 Minutes, it was the first TV program in China to be labeled "investigative," focusing on reporting corruption, injustice and assorted other social problems.

http://josephbosco.com/wow2004/2005/11/china-national-society-chinas-top.html

Chinese Designers Making their Mark

2005-11-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

Until now, Chinese manufacturers have just been turning out copies of products invented in the U.S. and Japan. But the future is going to be about designs created in China and marketed around the world. This slide show in Newsweek will introduce you to some of China’s top new designers.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/05/11/china5/index_01.htm?link_position=link2&campaign_id=nws_asia_Nov14

ESWN and the Man Behind It

2005-11-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

I’ve mentioned before that I’m beholden to ESWN for stories about China that I couldn’t possibly get from any other source. Now The Standard has published a small bio of the site and the man behind it. I hope it will move you to read his site and get all the interesting information about China it contains.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=5573&sid=5396554&con_type=1&d_str=20051114

Turning Farmers into Tycoons

2005-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

The Standard reports that Tsinghua University has opened something like a business school in Zhejiang province. They plan to turn already rich farmers into rich entrepreneurs. The fee for this 12-day semester is close to $50,000. Are these guys really so smart they can get the equivalent of an MBA in 12 days? What the heck, the government’s paying for it and they deserve what they get.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=15&art_id=5570&sid=5423188&con_type=1

What's Blowin' in the Wind

2005-11-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

ESWN supplied the link to this pack of pictures showing what’s blowing in the wind in China:

http://www.6park.com/life2/messages/4192.html

If you’re planning a trip to Beijing to watch the Olympics, or just to look around, be sure to take a facemask to cover your nose and mouth. There will be days when you will probably need it.

Sexual Assault in Hong Kong

2005-11-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Sexual assault is more common in Hong Kong than many believe. This story from The Standard tells the tale of a growing concern in the SAR:

“Police say a sexual assault is reported every seven to eight hours in the SAR, with 1,392 sexual assault cases reported last year. However, reality far exceeds the official figures. Rainlily says only 11 percent of their clients report to the police. As word has spread about the NGO's services, its caseload has quadrupled, from 51 in 2001 to 212 in 2002. Since it was set up, Rainlily has processed nearly 775 sexual assault cases.”

For more on this story go to:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=5542&sid=5446299&con_type=1&d_str=20051112

The Farmers of Beijing

2005-11-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

A look at the transition from farmer to businessman and entrepreneur in Beijing from the Herald Tribune. The transition is slow because being a farmer is all some people know and they have a hard time imagining doing anything else.

http://www.chinaspeaks.org/

Language on the Internet

2005-11-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

We all know what the internet is doing for the English language. Now we can see that it’s doing the same thing to Chinese. This article from the Globe and Mail gives some examples, but I think the author got a lot of the derivatives of the new words and phrases wrong.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051111/LANGUAGE11/TPFront/TopStories

In Their Own Words

2005-11-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

This Week Online gives us a collection of quotes by farmers, factory workers and supervisors. The story they tell in their own words is one of two worlds – one rich and one poor. As always, the rich get richer and the poor – well, you know what they get.

http://www.thisweek-online.com/2005/November/11chinaquotes.html

Finding Justice in China

2005-11-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Finding justice in China is a tricky business. First of all, it’s costly in a country where the poor are unable to pay for lawyers and other costs. Second, beating a confession out of somebody is a common practice that goes back thousands of years. The government is trying to change this, but local officials often ignore the rules and regulations handed down from above. This New York Times story lays it out in graphic detail:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/international/asia/12china.html?th&emc=th

Television in China

2005-11-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

The forces reshaping China are many and not least among them is Television. Melinda Liu discusses the state of television in China for Newsweek magazine in this article:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9982395/site/newsweek/page/1/

Statistics Don't Lie

2005-11-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

This opinion piece from The Standard in Hong Kong makes clear the problems involved in the believability of statistics and statements about businesses. The government tells you what they want you to hear rather than what you need to know to make sound business decisions. I remember my boss telling me once that statistics don’t lie but liars can use statistics to lie. When looking at statistics, we should ask ourselves who is using them and why.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=15&art_id=5404&sid=5416510&con_type=1

China's Labor System

2005-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

The following is a brief summary of the contract between the government of China and the people who live under the law described in it.  Much of the unrest by workers and citizens in China are rooted in the failure of the parties described in this contract to live up to their obligations.

Employers refuse to pay their workers, fail to make insurance payments, control the mediators in disputes and collude with the local officials to overlook laws that would prohibit polluting the environment and exposing workers to toxic materials.

Local government employees in townships and provinces often invest in projects under their supervision and are inclined to favor the businesses that build factories they’ve invested in over the people who work for them or live nearby.

When a dispute arises between the people and a local government, the national government tends to back the local government against the people.  They also try to prohibit people from speaking out against what is being done to them.

This is not because China has no laws designed to give the workers and citizens an honest break.  The laws on the books are clear and promise an impartial hearing.  If you don’t believe me, check out this summary of the labor laws published by the China Labor Bulletin.

http://iso.china-labour.org.hk/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=17399&item%5fid=17395#top

Migrant Worker Pool Drying Up

2005-11-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Migrant workers are a big problem for China and cheating contractors aren’t making it any better. Now that pool of cheap labor is drying up in some provinces as workers are finding work closer to home. It was bound to happen. You can’t deprive people of their rights and expect them to keep working for you. The most important and least honored right in China, in my opinion, is the right to have a contract honored. From what I have seen, in both government and business contracts are just pieces of paper that can be ignored when they are inconvenient. The following story from Asia Times Online tells it like it is.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/GK10Cb01.html

The influence of Hu Yaobang

2005-11-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

The influence of Hu Yaobang still lingers in the minds of party leaders in China. He would have embraced democracy more quickly and would have taken it farther than the CCP was willing to go at the time. Now his ideas and ideals have caused a split in the party that no one wants to admit. This story from Asia Times Online describes the dilemma that divides the party.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GK09Ad01.html

Journalists Unhappy with their Lot

2005-11-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

China Daily reports that four out of five reporters are unhappy with their jobs and would like to change to a new profession. The primary reasons seem to be low pay and low esteem in the eyes of the public.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-11/08/content_492251.htm

Chinese Bloggers Conference: day 1

2005-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Rebecca MacKinnon reports on the Chinese Bloggers Conference, day one, at her blogsite, RConversation : http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2005/11/chinese_blogger_1.html

Although she doesn’t speak the language, she did a serviceable job of reporting on what was being said. She also gives links to other sites that provide even more information.

Life at Home in Shanghai

2005-11-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

From ESWN (http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20051031_1.htm) comes this incredible gallery of pictures of life at home in Shanghai.

http://china.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/archives/detail/id/5458

Just click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The Rise of China and a New World Order

2005-11-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

As China becomes richer through trade and has the money to buy new military technologies and increase the size and quality of its armed forces, it is also reshaping the world order as we know it. This article from the Herald Tribune lays out the possible conflicts this rise of China may be causing and the inability of most other nations, including the U.S. to come to grips with them.

http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/11/06/news/rchinover.php

For the Love of Capitalism

2005-11-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a story from the Observer at Guardian Unlimited that clearly illustrates the many changes that have taken place in China over the past decade-and-a-half. The observer asks what these changes are and how they are affecting the country and the society that is emerging from them. From what I can see, he is right on.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1635203,00.html

Chasing the Wind

2005-11-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

China is becoming more like America every day. People with money and time on their hands pursue things and ideas they couldn’t have time for before. Just making a living used up all their time and the money they got was barely enough to feed and house them. But this story from CNN illustrates one of the biggest and most important changes taking place in China. A leisure class is growing out of the newly emerging China and there is no telling where it will lead.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/05/china.monsters.ap/index.html

China's Wasteful Ways

2005-11-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

China Economic Net has published an article entitled “China’s Wasteful Ways”

http://en.ce.cn/Industries/Energy&Mining/200504/02/t20050402_3496484.shtml

It lays out in bold strokes the way that “steel, paper, chemical, and power plants relying on decades-old coal-fired turbines” waste energy by depending on coal to satisfy the majority of their energy needs. While this report is not news per se, the fact that it was based on statements by Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan made it the voice of government at the highest levels.

Chinese Blogger Conference

2005-11-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

ESWN (http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm) tipped me off to the fact that there was a conference of bloggers in Shanghai this week. An English translation of that event (http://cbc2005-live.blogspot.com/) is a good summary of the issues being discussed by people trying to shape the Chinese blogosphere. They seem very sincere but a bit naïve in their approach. I would like to see a full translation of the proceedings, but this blog page only brings out the points being discussed, not the discussions themselves.

China to Blacklist Bribe Givers

2005-11-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Blacklist of bribe givers to go public

China is to publish the names of people who give bribes in a blacklist starting from next year in a new move to fight corruption, an official newspaper said.

The Standard
Friday, November 04, 2005

China is to publish the names of people who give bribes in a blacklist starting from next year in a new move to fight corruption, an official newspaper said.

This article from The Standard shows that something useful is finally being done to cut down on the number of bribes being used to facilitate business in China. I don’t know if it will actually do any good, though. In my opinion, the bribery will just take a new form. Instead of giving someone money, for example, a company might just allow them to buy stock at a cheaper price, or allow them to use a golf course without paying, or give them birthday or holiday presents. Bribery is an art form in China and it’s too much a part of the culture to be gotten rid of easily. It’s the way people in China have been doing business for at least the last 2,000 years. Under the dynastic system, officials earned their livings this way. I suspect that if you published the names of all the people who used bribery in a blacklist, it would fill a volume the size of the national phone book.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=4904&sid=5317009&con_type=1&d_str=20051104

Four Indicted in Case of Technology Smuggling

2005-11-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

“Four Indicted in Case of Technology Smuggling
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 5, 2005
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 4 (AP) - An engineer, a Chinese television director and their wives were indicted on charges of stealing secret documents on American Navy warship technology and trying to smuggle them to China, prosecutors said.”

It looks like spy wars are still going on between China and the U.S. Of course, just taking something from a Chinese newspaper to put a foreign newspaper can be called spying in China. In America, it at least has to be stamped “SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL.” But with technology racing along as it is, trying to find a secret stamp on ones and zeros is going to be difficult to say the least.

It’s hard for me to understand why people who come to the U.S. from China and go through the process of becoming an American citizen would do something that would damage what they worked so hard for. It was probably just greed. But look at what they lost in the process: a good job, their reputations, and their freedom. That probably adds up to a good deal more than what they would have gotten for what they were stealing.

For more on this story go to http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/05/national/05secrets.html?th&emc=th

China to Abolish Legal Barriers for Peasants

2005-11-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

China’s government is promising to get rid of an outdated and outmoded system that Mao devised to control the people he governed. The question is: will it be accepted at the provincial level and in large cities? Places like Guangdong and Shanghai seem to like using the old system to control peasants leaving their farm to find work in the big city. They don’t have to pay for services like health care, education and housing under the old system. It has become a case of those who have wanting to keep what they’ve got by shutting out those who don’t have. It reminds me a lot of what the local governments in California and other states with large Mexican immigrant worker populations are doing.

Anyway, here is the place to see the story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/03/international/asia/03china.html

Companies that Invest in China

2005-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Companies that invest in China should be looking over their shoulders. The Chinese are using them more than they are using the Chinese. The CCP wants their technology so that it can develop its own infrastructure and then tell the U.S. companies they’re not needed anymore so why don’t they go home? And if American companies are not careful, Chinese entrepreneurs will surpass them and leave them wishing they had not taken the easy way to becoming rich and famous. Check out this story in the New York Times at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/technology/04venture.html?ex=1131771600&en=38f464b1c628788f&ei=5070

China Makes a Move in Taiwan

2005-11-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe the Chinese are learning that commerce trumps saber rattling. Don’t quote me on this, though. They still want to stifle free speech in Hong Kong and everywhere else on the mainland. Taiwan and democracy are still dirty words that get washed out of the media and blogosphere with soap and water while in Taiwan there seems little limit to what you can say about the government and politicians. Last election they compared Chen Shui-bian to Hitler, Stalin and anyone else they could think of even though Chen has never ordered anyone killed in his life as far as I can determine. In any case, the CCP is sending ambassadors rather than generals to Taiwan these days and they seem bent on opening up commerce between the people on both sides of the straight. Check out this article in the Christian Science Monitor for more on this:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1104/p01s03-woap.html?s=hns

A Chinese Tale of Money and Intrigue

2005-11-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Simon World (http://simonworld.mu.nu/) led me to this article from The Standard: China’s Business Newspaper. It makes interesting reading for a number of reasons. The idea that a death sentence can be reversed with enough money or the implication that China is not a country of laws as it claims to be or the idea that ex-police officers can be hired as assassins all make the ingredients of a tale suitable for a soap opera. You can find the story at :

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/

Ebanking in China

2005-11-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

China’s banking system in the 90s has been described as a disaster waiting to happen. But this analysis of the effect of the internet on banking practices in China makes that prediction look unlikely. On the other hand, the fact that foreign banks show confidence in the Chinese banking system does not mean disaster can’t happen. This article from Asia Times Online may help you make your own assessment of the present and future fate of banking in China.

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20051102_1.htm

A Cold War Chronicle

2005-11-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

When I was stationed in Taiwan in the 1960s we heard a lot about the U-2 being used to spy on Russia and China. It was all very mysterious and hush-hush. When the planes landed, we heard, they were quickly whisked into a hanger where they wouldn’t be seen. I don’t know how it would hurt them to be seen – they were only airplanes and there isn’t much that could be figured out just by looking at them. And, besides, as this story from ESWN shows, the Communists already knew about them. As is usual in countries at war, the only people who don’t know about these things are the people whose taxes are paying for them.

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20051102_1.htm

The Blog Wars

2005-11-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Dissent on the net is a crime in China. But bloggers are finding ingenious ways to get around the tactics used by the government to shut them down. This story in Wired Magazine tells a tale that has all the ingredients of a good movie. The problem is, Franz Kafka isn’t around to write it. But you can read it here:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/posts.html?pg=4

Antis English Blog

2005-11-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

“Anti’s English Blog - AEB: Everyday Translation of the Chinese Intellectuals’ Words” is a good place to find out what intellectuals are saying in China. Of course, you may disagree with Anti about who is an intellectual and who is not. But he lays out the category of each writer as “Cultural Naturalist,” “Democrat,” or “Marxist.” He doesn’t do all the translating himself, but he credits those who did it. You can find Anti’s blog at: http://mranti.blogneo.com/

How to "Disappear" in China

2005-11-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

On the 27th of October the China Labor Bulletin released a story about an internet reporter who “posted online reports about a recent series of protest demonstrations by steel workers in Chongqing has disappeared and is believed to be in police custody.”

In today’s China, anybody can be made to “disappear” and perhaps never be heard from again. To tell the truth about certain subjects is a crime in China. If you’re going to tell such truths, you had better not be in China when you’re doing it.

Here’s the rest of the story:

http://iso.china-labour.org.hk/public/contents/article?revision%5fid=18283&item%5fid=18067

China and the SCO

2005-11-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

PINR (Power and Interest News Report) has published an evaluation of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). PINR concludes that: “China's economic ambitions now span the globe and Beijing most certainly gives Russia a prime place in its decision-making strategy. While Russia does not feel the effects of closer cooperation with China -- given Beijing's still maturing status as an emergent power -- the continuance of current demographic and social trends inside Russia might place it at a disadvantage vis-à-vis China fairly soon. The S.C.O. might serve as the main vehicle for China's strength and Russia's long-term weakness.”

If you want to read the whole report, you can find it at:

http://www.pinr.com/

You Can't Horse Around in China

2005-11-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Hongkong Jockey Club said they will not tolerate people pulling stunts on their race track. Matt Pearce, a well-known activist in the territory, has pulled a number of stunts in the past and says he will do more in the cause of democracy in China. I wholeheartedly agree with his ambitions but he may find out you can’t horse around with the Chinese authorities. This time it was a slap on the wrist. Next time he may just disappear as many people do who protest in China.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/03/hk.costumed.protester.ap/index.html

Big Brother's Dilemma

2005-11-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

Big Brother is strung out between the horns of a dilemma. If they carry out their plans to cut pollution they will at the same time slow down their rush to industrialize the country. The people making tons of money will be set back to only making half a ton. And since the people at the top are the ones making the money, they feel that being green is mean. So I suspect that this year’s plan for greening the economy will be just as fruitful as last year’s and that bore no fruit at all.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/GK03Cb05.html

Doing business in China

2005-11-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

Doing business in China has special challenges for foreign businessmen. You can be yanked off the street and thrown in jail for no apparent reason. You can be used as a pawn in a dispute with a Chinese company and held captive as assurance that the money they are seeking is paid. If this sounds a lot like kidnapping and extortion, it is. And the sad part is that the local governments, including the police, work in collusion with the extortionists. This expose in the New York Times explains how they do it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/international/asia/01kidnap.ready.html

Big Brother is Watching Over You

2005-11-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Chinese government has just released an Orwellian white paper on democracy in China. Big Brother in China is the Communist Party (CCP) and everyone else is living in a “democracy” run by Big Brother (often called gege in Chinese). Gege is also the term used by triads and other criminal gangs to refer to the boss and senior members of a gang. You can pick this up while watching any Chinese movie about crime and criminals. And that includes most of them. Therefore, this article concludes that Orwell is Alive and Well in China:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1130787835773&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Books on China

2005-11-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

“For instant expertise on China all that is required is "a rush of statistics, an occasional nod to history, a Confucian aphorism or two and, hey presto, we can all grasp the vast meaning of the Middle Kingdom's re-emergence as a global power."

Philip Stephens

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Here are reviews of a couple of books on China from the New York Review of Books

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18437

The Promise and the Press

2005-11-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

EastSouthWestNorth, the blog that puts out more info about China in English than any other I have found to date, gives us this story about a new movie not yet released in China but was screened in Chengdu in order to be included in the Oscar nominations.

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20051031_1.htm

Google Provides an End Run Around Chinese Firewall

2005-11-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Slashdot tells us Google seems to have given us a way to get around the Great Firewall of China. You just have to do the following:

Posted by Hemos on Monday October 31, @02:08PMfrom the time-for-us-to-get-blocked-again dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A new feature in CustomizeGoogle (Firefox extension) modifies the Google Cache urls so that they are no longer blocked by the Chinese firewall. This feature is only available in CustomizeGoogle zh-CN, found here. This is how it works: All links to Google Cache, from the Google search result, are slightly modified. The Chinese Great Firewall doesn't recognize the new links as Google Cache links, and therefore they are accessible for everyone."

Want Yi's Microphone

2005-11-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

The endless struggle by Chinese writers to exercise free speech continues with the use of blogs. To prove that you can’t keep a good man down, Radio Free Asia has disclosed the award of Wang Yi’s Microphone awards in two categories for blogs that have since been shut down by the Communist authorities. For more information, go to:

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/technology/2005/10/31/china_internet/

Western Wine Worshipers Wince at Chinese Wine Tasting Parties

2005-10-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

While the Chinese public rushes to catch up with their western counterparts, the wine industry in China grows apace. French red wines are marketed at wine tasting festivals that include jazz concerts and new ideas such as mixing wine with Coke or Pepsi. Western wine lovers must be watching in horror when they visit one of these festivals and are no doubt wondering if Karaoke will become part of the mix.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/GK01Cb05.html

Dairy Cows Live a Life of Luxury

2005-10-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

In the new China, ironies abound. Take for example the market for milk. A couple of decades ago, very few people in China drank milk. I’ve heard many say that milk from a cow is not fit for human consumption. But now, with the rich getting richer, the children of the rich are growing up with milk in their diets while the poor feel lucky to feast on rice and tea. Thus, a new industry has been born and the milk producers are finding it hard to keep up with the new demand. Business Week tells us that cows are living in luxury while very few farmers can be said to enjoy the same kind of lifestyle.

http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do;jsessionid=MPfy6r7XCV6Et9Yh?ema_id=112827&item_id=1049820&oliID=176

Another story from AFP uses the statistical approach to show the rapid change in habits:

http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?ema_id=112830&item_id=452164&oliID=176

China Tech Stories: a Chinese viewpoint

2005-10-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

The Golden Feather awards for electronic games and the outlook for Baidu are discussed from the Chinese point of view on the blog “China Tech Stories” at: http://chinatechstory.blogspot.com/

The writer struggles a bit with writing in English but stories are readable and they look at what’s going on in the tech world of China from a perspective that’s a bit different from how a foreigner might see it.

The Pace of Change in China

2005-10-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

The greatest problem for China right now is the pace of change. Things are moving faster than an authoritarian government can deal with. It’s the pressure of competition that is driving changes in China these days. And by this I include Taiwan, which is a driving force in itself. Day by day, Taiwan is being drawn further into the womb of the motherland from which its population sprang. All the saber rattling in the world will not be able to do what commerce between the two nations has done. The following article from Business week tells the tale as well as I have seen it told:

http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?ema_id=112800&item_id=29894&oliID=176

Taiwan Political Games

2005-10-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

I picked up the following story from EastSouthWestNorth blog :

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm

The Kaohsiung Metro Scandal The latest development concerns a visit to a South Korean casino by two principal characters. The following are some examples of the technical defenses. (China Post) Chen Che-nan, a former deputy secretary-general to President Chen Shui-bian, admitted yesterday he visited a South Korean casino in November 2002 together with Chen Min-hsien, who is under investigation for involvement in the snow-balling Kaohsiung Metro scandal. "We visited the casino on Cheju," said Chen Che-nan, who had insisted he never set foot on South Korea before. Li Tao, the talk-show host, produced on Wednesday night a photo showing the two Chens at the Korean casino, which he claimed was in Seoul. "I have said I have never visited Seoul and Inchon," Chen Che-nan. "I visited Cheju with Chen Min-hsien," he admitted. Minister of Justice Shih Mao-lin ... was grilled at the Legislative Yuan for failure to obtain "evidence" against the two Chens, which the media had easily secured. The following are three media-related aspects of this story. They exhibit all the characteristics of media today -- media as the source of entertainment, information and disinformation; and when things go wrong, you blame the media! First, how did TVBS obtain the surveillance photo from the Cheju casino? Apparently, they did not even know where the casino was (they said Seoul but Chen Che-nan admitted that it was Cheju). Even if they knew where the place was, it seemed unlikely that the casino would provide it to a cable/satellite tv channel from Taiwan. Other proprietary information has surfaced, such as Chen Che-nan's expenses were allegely paid by Chen Min-hsien, their exit records, etc. This is one case that clearly indicates the presence of a very powerful and resourceful 'black hand' behind the scene. TVBS would only say that it was a "Deep Throat"-type of source. Not that these revelations were against the public interests, but what are the ulterior motives here?(image placeholder) (China Times via Yahoo! News) Secondly, on the evening when the photograph was shown and discussed, TVBS had a 1.64 rating between 9pm-10pm and 2.40 rating between 10pm-11pm. In so doing, TVBS was the most viewed channel. Thirdly, (FTV via Yahoo! News) a DPP legislator raised questions about TVBS, which she alleges to be 100%-Chinese owned. Furthermore, TVBS's chairman had once headed the information services in Hong Kong and the channel is now trying to subvert Taiwan from the inside in conjunction with China from the outside.

[I wonder how they came to choose an unfortunate name like TVBS as their call sign?]

In China Nothing Is What It Seems

2005-10-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Government orders to crack down on corruption turn out to be a method for getting rid of political opponents. New cronies are waiting in the wings to take the places of those taken down. What’s printed in the papers has nothing to do with what is really taking place. Not only is there no letup in the corruption that is supposedly being halted but the level is rising, as can be seen in this article from Asia Times on Line by Mark A. DeWeaver.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/GJ29Cb05.html