Insurance scam? Industrial accident? Political machinations? After August excursions to lands of clean air and English-language media, the Sinica team is back this week with a show covering the astonishing explosions that gutted the Binhai economic development zone in Tianjin last week. As the Chinese government struggles to deal with public pressures for greater transparency and conspiracy theories mount, we take a closer look at what we know and don’t about the port explosion.
Mentions:
“Tianjin Explosion | 2 Block Away | Closest Video | Over 200 Dead Estimated,” YouTube
“Ground Zero,” Chublic Opinion, August 18, 2015
Rumors on social media claiming to be from the American Embassy:
https://twitter.com/DTWatanabe/status/632914845206052864
Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Tianjin Chemical Explosions,” Embassy of the United States, August 17, 2015
Recommendations:
Julie Makinen
“Just How Tall Can Roller Coasters Get?” by Mekado Murphy, The New York Times, August 17, 2015
David Moser
Fergus Ryan
“Tianjin: Unreal City, Real People,” by Matthew Stinson, Medium, August 16, 2015
Nuzzel app for following Twitter trends
Kaiser Kuo
“A Day In The Life of China's First Cyber Dissident,” by Matt Sheehan, Huffington Post, August 5, 2015
Conversation
08.18.15