Children of the Yuan Percent: Everyone Hates China’s Rich Kids

Christopher Beam
Bloomberg
The fuerdai, China’s second-generation rich kids, are the most loathed group in the country.

Media

10.01.15

When Chinese Internet Users Call Xi Jinping Daddy

Anne Henochowicz
Internet censorship in China has inspired the invention of a menagerie of online creatures: the river crab, the elephant of truth, the monkey-snake. Each beast’s name plays on a word or phrase that has at some point angered Chinese Internet users,...

Media

09.28.15

What’s China’s Mood Under Xi? New Data Gives a Glimpse

David Wertime
China, under the presidency of Xi Jinping, has invited a number of breathless pronouncements about the state of the country. Chinese media regularly conjure the “Chinese Dream,” one of Xi’s favored phrases, which means whatever readers want it to...

Rights Group Demands Chinese Supporters of Hong Kong Democracy Be Freed

CLARE BALDWIN
Reuters
Amnesty International called for the release of eight mainland Chinese activists.

China Angered By Hillary Clinton Tweet on Women's Rights

Tessa Wong
BBC
China has reacted furiously at Hillary Clinton's recent comments about China's record on women's rights.

He Said What? China's Xi Jinping Makes 'House of Cards' Joke

Andrew Stevens
CNN
Xi Jinping did something unusual, almost unheard of, for a Chinese President: He cracked a joke. In public.

Conversation

09.22.15

Xi Jinping’s Message to America

Taisu Zhang, Graham Webster & more
China’s President Xi Jinping addressed an audience of more than 700 American businesspeople in Seattle on Tuesday evening on the first stop on his first state visit to the United States. Regular ChinaFile Contributors who watched the speech offer...

Conversation

09.22.15

Can the U.S. & China Make Peace in Cyberspace?

Charlie Smith, Rogier Creemers & more
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States today on his first state visit. Xi will address a group of American business leadersin Seattle. High on their list of concerns about trade with China is cyber hacking, cyber espionage and...

Warner Bros. Strikes Deal to Make Chinese-Language Films

Jackie Wattles
CNN
China's movie market is thriving.

Western Media ‘Welcome’ in China, Xi Tells Murdoch

Agence France-Presse
South China Morning Post
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Rupert Murdoch that Western media organisations are “welcome” in China, despite the continued blocking of numerous foreign websites for their reporting on the country. “(We) welcome foreign media and...

The News Media’s Mixed Record in Covering China-Africa Ties

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
News organizations from across Africa and around the world are devoting more resources to covering China’s engagement on the continent. The overall quantity of coverage has undoubtedly increased over the past decade. The key question, though, is...

Controversy Brewing Around China’s Oscar Submission

Patrick Brzeski
Hollywood Reporter
Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke revealed that producers are lobbying for his latest feature, Mountains May Depart, to be submitted. 

China’s Fast Growing Film Industry

Bloomberg
The discussion on the expansion of the entertainment industry in China and differences between audiences in the U.S. and Asia

The Chinese Government Is Censoring A Documentary About Mothers Who Love Their Gay Kids

Josh Horwitz
Quartz
The upcoming court case of a filmmaker from Beijing, stands out.

China Looks to Hollywood

Nina Huang
Diplomat
Chinese firms are stepping up their investments in Hollywood, to protect their own market share.

China's Biggest, Yet Most Unlikely Film of This Summer

JUSTIN BERGMAN
Mashable
As of Sept. 12,Monster Hunthad grossed a whopping RMB 2.428 billion (US$380.95 million).

‘I Try to Talk Less’: A Conversation with Ai Weiwei and Liao Yiwu

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
In late July, Chinese authorities renewed travel privileges for conceptual artist and political activist Ai Weiwei, ending a five-year prohibition following his arrest in 2011. He promptly flew to Munich and then Berlin, where he has accepted a...

State Council Approves New Draft of Film Industry Promotion Law

EL Borromeo
Yibada
The law is now subject to discussion and approval by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Media

09.10.15

Chinese Web Users Grieve for Syrian Toddler—and Blame America

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
A photo of Syrian three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach, who drowned as his family attempted to flee their war-torn homeland by crossing the Mediterranean Sea to find refuge in Greece, has stunned viewers across Europe and the...

Movie Review: ‘Wolf Totem’ Offers Majestic Vistas and Real Wolves

Mark Jenkins
Washington Post
The Movie lures and repels lovers of nature into the theater.

Chinese State Media Blasts ‘Stereotypical’ and ‘Prejudiced’ BBC Documentary

Ryan Kilpatrick
Hong Kong Economic Journal
China’s state media Xinhua has lashed out at a recent documentary series by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Culture

09.09.15

The Met Goes to China

Jeffrey Wasserstrom
In July, while in New York, I toured The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s much buzzed about “China: Through the Looking Glass,” a visually stunning multimedia exhibit that showcases the varied ways that Western fashion designers have been inspired by...

‘Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation’ Revs to Record Opening Day in China

Pamela McClintock
Hollywood Reporter
The Tom Cruise movie scored the top opening of all time for a 2D Hollywood title with $18.5 million on Tuesday.

Media

09.03.15

Who Is Xi Jinping? Introducing the Asia Society Podcast

Eric Fish from Asia Blog
Three years after Xi Jinping took control of China’s Communist Party and assumed the country’s leadership, he has emerged as one of the world’s most powerful people. But his tenure has also raised uncomfortable questions. Is he a reformer bent on...

Media

09.03.15

Chinese Web Users Aren’t Blaming Detained Journalist for Market Panic

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
China’s stock markets have been in free-fall for some time. Now, so is a financial journalist who had the temerity to write about them. On August 31, Chinese journalist Wang Xiaolu confessed on state-run China Central Television (CCTV) to writing a...

Features

09.02.15

Parading the People’s Republic

Geremie R. Barmé from China Heritage Quarterly
In light of the September 3, 2015, mega military parade held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing both to mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945 and to acclaim the achievements of Xi Jinping, China’s Chairman of...

As Economy Falters, Military Parade Offers Chance to Burnish China’s Image

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
China celebrates a new national holiday to honor the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Media

08.31.15

Netanyahu, Shanghai, and the Communist Party’s Forbidden History

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On August 26, the Israeli Embassy in China posted a one-minute video to its official account on Weibo, China’s huge microblogging platform, thanking the coastal Chinese city of Shanghai for its role sheltering roughly 20,000 Jews fleeing persecution...

Not for Kids: Forbidden City’s Adult Coloring Book

Alyssa Abkowitz and Lilian Lin
Wall Street Journal
Psychologists have hailed coloring as a good relaxation technique, and some have likened it to meditation.

Sinica Podcast

08.31.15

A ‘China Watcher’s China Watcher’ Decamps

Kaiser Kuo, David Moser & more from Sinica Podcast
As anyone who reads the Sinocism newsletter knows, Bill Bishop is among the most plugged-in people in Beijing with an uncanny ability to figure out what is actually happening in the halls of power. But as casual readers may not be aware, he is also...

China Punishes Nearly 200 Over ‘Rumors’ About Stocks, Blasts and Parade

Edward Wong
New York Times
The moves indicate the political sensitivities aggravated in recent weeks by several volatile issues.

Media

08.27.15

Chinese Media Jumps on Tragic Virginia Shooting

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On the morning of August 26, a reporter and a cameraman for a local Virginia television station were fatally shot during a live television interview. The alleged gunman, now dead, apparently shot himself before being apprehended by police.The...

Media

08.26.15

Mapping Fallout From ‘Black Monday’: Who Was Hardest Hit?

David Wertime
August 24, which some have already dubbed “Black Monday,” was not a kind day to global equity markets. The rout began with a massive sell-off in China, where the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.49 percent in just one day. Those losses...

Who Loses Most from Chaos in China—And Some Possible Silver Linings

Washington Post
The panic may weaken demand for U.S. exports. But that could make some goods cheaper for consumers.

Donald Trump: No State Dinner—Only Big Mac—for China’s President

Jeremy Diamond
CNN
If elected, Trump vowed to eschew the lavish dinner Xi Jinping will get in Washington from President Obama.

Warner Bros. in Talks to Make Movies in China

Ben Fritz and Shalini Ramachandran
Wall Street Journal
The joint venture would produce local-language films for Asian audience.

Apple Stock Recovers After Tim Cook Email Praises China Sale

Brian X. Chen
New York Times
CEO Tim Cook emailed “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer to say the App Store in China had its best performance of the year in the last two weeks.

Science-Fiction Prize Is Awarded to Chinese Writer for First Time

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
The Chinese writer Liu Cixin has won the 2015 Hugo Award, the first time the prestigious prize has gone to a Chinese writer.

Caixin Media

08.18.15

Official Stonewalling on Tianjin Explosions Sparks Outcry

While victims of the Tianjin explosions are still waiting to be told why their loved ones died or, how safe it is to go outside, officials remained evasive in the sixth press conference regarding the disaster.In response to a question from a Caixin...

Media

08.17.15

4 Questions Chinese Want Answered After Deadly Tianjin Blast

David Wertime
Around 11:30 p.m., Beijing time, on Wednesday, at least two fearsome blasts in quick succession rocked the large northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin. Originating at or near a hazardous materials warehouse near the city’s downtown, the...

Media

08.13.15

Sorry China, the Internet You’re Looking for Does Not Exist

David Wertime
The long arm of China’s massive internal security apparatus just reached further into the heart of the country’s web. On August 4, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that it would embed law enforcement officers at major Internet companies...

Culture

08.11.15

Japan’s Soft Power Leader in China is a Fat Blue Cartoon Cat

David Volodzko
On July 28, costumed in vibrant colors, throngs of fans flocked toward the early morning light of Victoria Harbor, queueing outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center for the last day of the 17th Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong. The...

China Devalues Its Currency as Worries Rise About Economic Slowdown

Neil Gough and Keith Bradsher
New York Times
The clearest sign yet of Beijing's concern about falling short of its goal of roughly 7 percent economic growth.

China TV Anchor Bi Fujian to be Punished for Mao Insult

BBC
He committed "a serious violation of political discipline" mocking the man who led the Cultural Revolution and sparked a crippling famine.

China Read Emails of Top U.S. Officials

Robert Windrem
NBC News
First codenamed "Dancing Panda" by U.S. officials was detected in April 2010, according to a top secret NSA briefing from 2014.

Viewpoint

08.07.15

Here’s What’s Wrong With Most Commentary on the Beijing 2022 Olympics

Taisu Zhang & Paul H. Haagen
Upon hearing that Beijing would be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, we wondered what the Chinese government was thinking. The decision seemed counterintuitive, to say the least: For one thing, it barely snows in Beijing, or even in Zhangjiakou, the...

Media

08.05.15

Beijing’s Ban on Smoking Is Actually (Sort of) Working

They rarely trash hotel rooms or boast about drugs, but Chinese rock stars could at least be counted on to smoke. Now even that’s starting to change in the face of a smoking ban in China’s capital that shows little sign of burning out, almost two...

Alibaba Names Former Goldman Sachs Executive as President

Michael De La Merced
New York Times
Alibaba on Tuesday named J. Michael Evans, who already serves on its board, as its president.

Media

08.04.15

Beijing’s Winter Doldrums

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On July 31, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing, the arid northern capital of a country with little tradition of winter sports. Beijing will be the first city in history to host both the winter games and...

The Melancholy Pop Idol Who Haunts China

Hua Hsu
New Yorker
Teresa Teng’s influence is particularly powerful in China, which her parents had fled after the revolution.

Two Way Street

08.01.15

China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding

Chu Yin from Two Way Street
In her recent article, “What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy,” U.S.-China relations expert Susan Shirk caused a stir when she argued that China’s “lack of transparency” around public policy making, defense, national security, and...

China’s Naked Emperors

Paul Krugman
New York Times
By trying to control the market China's rulers show that despite 25 years of success they have no idea what they’re doing.

China Gets the 2022 Winter Olympics

Economist
Beijing will stage the winter games in the desert.

In China, Michael Jordan Does Not Hold Rights to His Own Name

Zheping Huang
Quartz
Jordan first sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012 for using his Chinese name, his team number 23, and a jumping man logo to sell basketball shoes and jerseys.

China’s Film Industry Is Gaining on Hollywood

Bilge Ebiri
Businessweek
Chinese audiences are growing, more theaters are being built, and the movies are getting better.

Media

07.28.15

Clickbait Nationalism

On July 16, the lower house of the Japanese Parliament passed a set of new security legislation that would grant Japan limited power to engage in foreign conflicts for the first time since its defeat in World War II. Despite domestic public...

Suicide Bombings in China: Beyond Terrorism

Shannon Tiezzi
Diplomat
A suicide bomber attacked a park in Heze in China’s Shandong province, killing two (including the bomber) and injuring 24, with three people receiving “relatively severe” injuries.

Media

07.23.15

Why Taylor Swift’s 1989 Merchandise Is Not Going to Get Her Banned in China

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On July 20, one of China’s largest e-commerce websites, JD.com, announced that it is partnering with popular American singer Taylor Swift to become the first authorized retailer of her merchandise in China. That news likely wouldn’t have turned...

China's '300': When Spartans Meet the Beijing Police

Shen Lu
CNN
Half-naked models, dressed as Spartan warriors were subdued by Beijing police after a marketing stunt, promoting a salad delivery service.

A Kenyan Columnist’s Provocative Views on the Chinese in Africa

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
In Mark Kapchanga’s view, the West, particularly the media, really does not understand what the Chinese are doing in Africa. Kapchanga, a provocative Nairobi-based journalist and columnist, isn’t shy in arguing his case that on balance China’s...