Danwei's Must-Read China News

Govt. to launch crack down on child begging

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:14:08 +0800

The China Daily:

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will cooperate with 18 government departments to crack down on child begging this year, Vice-Minister Dou Yupei told a news conference on Tuesday.

"Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the Ministry of Civil Affairs to submit advice to the State Council on helping children who are begging on the streets and are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation," Dou said.

"But the premier never criticized us for not responding positively to the anti-trafficking campaign launched on micro blogs."

Yu Jianrong, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the initiator of the campaign, in January called for netizens to take snapshots of children they saw begging in the street and of other children they thought might have been kidnapped.

"It's beautiful to be trusted"

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:59:15 +0800

Bookslut interviews Xinran:

I realize the reason I go back to China is because I can’t be cut off from my roots, from my country; I have to go back. I go for the connections with the people, to feel them, to share with them what they want, see, think. That sort of connection brings about transformation because your body becomes a bridge to those connections.

Sometimes my own life feels kind of futile, but I think that if I do this, write these stories, then these girls can have something of their moms. You can’t believe how much these girls give me… I give them something tiny -- maybe a piece of paper -- and they’re so happy … when I go back two years later, they still have the paper that they’ve been keeping as if it were a precious doll. I can’t forget these girls, I can’t let them go. They trust me, they trust me with their letters, their stories.

Literary dissent for 3.8 day

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:31:12 +0800

Sinopop translates an essay by revolutionary writer Ding Ling written for Women's Day, 1942:

I myself am a woman, and I therefore understand the failings of women better than most, but I also have a deeper understanding of their suffering. Women are incapable of transcending the age they live in, of being perfect, or being like iron. They are incapable of resisting all social temptations, or silent oppressions, each has a history of blood and tears, they have experienced great emotions—in elation as in depression, whether engaged in the lone battle of life or drawn into the humdrum stream of life. This is even truer of the female comrades who come to Yenan, and I therefore have much sympathy for those fallen women classified as criminals. What is more, I hope that men, especially those in positions of leadership, and women themselves will consider the mistakes women commit in their social context. It would be better if there were less empty theorizing and more talk about real problems, so that theory and practice are not divorced, and if each Communist Party member were more responsible for his own moral conduct.

Foreign journalists strictly warned; may lose work visas

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:33:56 +0800

VOA reports on a tense press conference where Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu told foreign reporters that not abiding by rules could mean the cancellation of their work visas:

In a tense news conference Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu accused some journalists of deliberately inciting trouble while covering pro-democracy protests.

She warned those journalists accused of flouting the rules could not be protected under Chinese media laws.

Jiang said, however, that journalists who respect the rules will have the protection of the law.

She said there is no law to protect those who journalists who create what she described as "disturbances".

Jiang spoke after Chinese police warned foreign journalists this week to obey new restrictions on covering rallies called by an on-line protest campaign, or risking having their work visas canceled.

The New York Times also has a report.

Zhao Wei: Getting away with murder

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:28:16 +0800

China Media Project:

While the arguable non-story of China’s “Jasmine protests” enjoys excited and widespread coverage internationally, boiling over into a tug-of-war over the very real harassment of foreign journalists in China, there is one potentially great big story missing from everyone’s agenda — the mysterious death of Chinese college student Zhao Wei (赵伟).

And yet, the chilling story of Zhao Wei, who was very possibly murdered by railway authorities on his way home to Inner Mongolia during the Spring Festival rush more than a month ago, goes to the very heart of the issues and anxieties that are of most immediate relevance to all Chinese, and could contribute to demands for change.

How can the government ensure safety of life and property for ordinary Chinese? How can Chinese find justice in a society where special interests can get away — possibly quite literally in this case — with murder?

A Conversation with Ou Ning

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:56:40 +0800

An interview with "artist, curator, writer, and director of the Shao Foundation, China’s cultural renaissance man Ou Ning [who] is also an acclaimed documentary filmmaker."

Lianghui: Unscheduled flying objects banned from Beijing

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:16:29 +0800

The China Daily :

Police and firefighters have raised their vigilance levels in the capital ahead of the impending annual conventions of the country's top legislature and top political advisory body.
Measures to safeguard the sessions include a ban on unscheduled flying objects near the city and scheduled non-stop police patrols and intensified checks on traffic hubs such as subway stations…

…Meanwhile, a local newspaper reported on Monday that Beijing police had imposed a ban on any flying activities for sports, entertainment or promotional purposes within a 200-km semi-diameter of Tian'anmen Square from March 2 to March 15.

The dangers of China's obsession with stability

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:58:15 +0800

Thoughts on the subject by Jiang Ping (江平), legal scholar and former president of the China University of Political Science and Law, translated by China Elections.

How I lived my life in the year 2010

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:11:09 +0800

China Digital Times provides a translation of Ran Yunfei's last post before his arrest.

Pride of ownership?

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:31:04 +0800

Jen Ambrose looks at some peculiarities of China's rental housing market:

I told him about our experience in Shenzhen with our apartment that sold while we were still living in it. It was then ans still is now hard for me to understand how our rent could be at least 3000 RMB less than the landlord's mortgage (we later learned an even higher number for the mortgage, like closer to 5000 RMB more. The selling price was more than US$250,000.

I could not grasp the disparity between rent and mortgage, nor the incentive to buy, and especially the incentive to buy multiple apartments as many people did (and still do). These weren't income properties but investment properties. It seemed the only money to be made is on future appreciation that would only come into being at resale.