Aug 25
minipost-Recommended reading: China and the West revisited
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:boycott, China, olympics, Protest
6 Comments » newest
6 Comments » newest
H/T to David Peng for pointing out this article written by Assaf Lichtash and published in the Jerusalem Post. David also pointed out an interesting discussion thread on this article in Chination Report. Continue reading »
Aug 24
minipost-Recommended readings: Two TPM discussion threads on China
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, reform
7 Comments » newest
7 Comments » newest
For a change of topic from the Olympics, please check out two recent discussion threads at Talking Point Memo: “Out of Mao’s Shadow” and its followup “Do not underestimate the CCP”. Continue reading »
Aug 24
minipost-The U.S. synchronized swimming team enters with a “thank you China” sign
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, olympics, synchronized swimming, US
6 Comments » newest
6 Comments » newest
Aug 21
minipost-Russia, South Ossetia, China and West
Written by: wuming | Filed under:-mini-posts, General | Tags:China, Russia, South Ossetia
45 Comments » newest
45 Comments » newest
On Wednesday, Mr. Gorbachev wrote an opinion piece in New York Times commenting on the South Ossetia crises. The following passage sounded eerily familiar: Continue reading »
Aug 20
minipost-Ouch! A sign raised by Nigerian fans at the Olympic men’s soccer semi-final between Nigeria and Belgium
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, olympics, soccer
15 Comments » newest
15 Comments » newest
Aug 18
minipost-Recommended reading: The Online Evisceration of David Brooks, A Cautionary Tale
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, collectivism, culture, individualism, media
6 Comments » newest
6 Comments » newest
I have followed the responses to David Brooks’ essay “Harmony and the Dream” published in the New York Times with interest ever since first reading James Fallows mercilessly picking Brooks’ theme apart. There have been others joining the “onslaught” as well since then. Elliott Ng has now compiled a nice summary of Brooks’ thesis and various responses online. It is well worth a read.
Aug 16
Do not pressure athletes into saying sorry
Written by: DJ | Filed under:media | Tags:China, gold medal, media, olympics, sports
31 Comments » newest
31 Comments » newest
Note: The following is a translation of a post by “zl19860707” in 铁血论坛 Tiexue Forum, one of the popular online bulletin boards in China. This post was responding to the words spoken by the Chinese shooting athlete 谭宗亮 Tan Zongliang after he won the bronze in the men’s 50m pistol event on August 12. Beijing 2008 is the fourth Olympics Tan has competed in, and this bronze is the first of any kind he has received. (Tan, by the way, now officially owns a silver medal because the North Korean shooter ahead of him failed subsequent doping tests.)
Do not pressure athletes into saying sorry
Tan Zongliang said: “I feel that I have let the country down by winning only a single bronze through four Olympics.”
Continue reading »
Aug 15
minipost-The Beijing Olympics: East-West Confrontation and East-East Conciliation
Written by: bianxiangbianqiao | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, Japanese, olympics
29 Comments » newest
29 Comments » newest
Before the commencement of the Olympic Games in Beijing, some Japanese were concerned about anti-Japanese sentiments among the Chinese, that their athletes might be booed and taunted in the competitions, and that the Chinese audience might refuse to pay proper respect to their national flag and anthem. Continue reading »
Aug 14
minipost-From the Beijing Olympics, Come the Drums of Change
Written by: bianxiangbianqiao | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, olympics
25 Comments » newest
25 Comments » newest
Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post compares the Beijing Olympics with Russian involvement in Georgia and believes that the Olympics are a game-changing event in world history while Russia’s Georgian adventure is not. The theme of the Chinese model of development offering an alternative to Western democracy has been repeated by many in Western media. Continue reading »
Aug 12
An imperfect perfection
Written by: DJ | Filed under:media, News | Tags:China, featured, Lin Miaoke, olympics, Opening Ceremony, singing, Yang Peiyi
237 Comments » newest
237 Comments » newest
Note: an update is inserted at the end.
The Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was, by most accounts, a brilliantly choreographed and spectacularly executed performance worth of a gold medal of its own. There were a fair number of notable highlights, and many journalists certainly were not shy from exhausting all the synonyms of the word “stunning” in the thesaurus in describing those scenes.
High on many Chinese viewers’ list of the most moving moments, however, is one that might not be easily appreciated by foreign audiences. Early in the process, China’s national flag was brought into the Bird’s Nest and raised while an young girl in a red dress stood singing “Hymn to the Motherland”. This song is perhaps best explained as the equivalent of “God Bless America” and is similarly considered an unofficial national anthem by many. The simple lyric line
歌唱我们亲爱的祖国，从今走向繁荣富强。 “We sing to our beloved motherland, on her way towards prosperity and strength.”
captures the hope and pride of so many Chinese for so long in merely 17 characters.
Continue reading »
Aug 10
The Olympics Demonstrate China’s “Soft Power”: on Baloney and Silliness.
Written by: bianxiangbianqiao | Filed under:Analysis | Tags:China, featured, olympics, soft power
104 Comments » newest
104 Comments » newest
Watching the NBC broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing gave me a sleepless night. Something about the ceremony and the games bothered me. I had to think it trough.
What do you make of the following features of the Opening Ceremony? Continue reading »
Aug 07
How will Japanese athletes and their supporters be received during the Olympic Games in Beijing? Will they be booed by Chinese spectators? Will the Chinese show the propriety to stand up in respect when the Japanese national flag is raised and the Japanese national anthem played in the award-giving ceremonies?
From their past experiences in sports engagements with China, the Japanese are worried. How are they preparing themselves for possible slights and confrontations with the Chinese?
Do you think the spirit of hospitality in the Chinese governments’ adivce on the 8 questions Chinese shuold not ask foreigners during the Olympics will help put our Japanese visitors at ease?
This article is from the Sankei website (original in Japanese). 北京五輪で日本人の気骨を, by 平和・安全保障研究所理事長, 西原正, Fujisankei Communications Group, Opinion Magazine, July 29, 2008. Continue reading »
Aug 03
(To be translated) Dialogue: Is Russia’s reform more successful?
Written by: admin | Filed under:-chinese-posts | Tags:China, reform, Russia
1 Comment » newest
1 Comment » newest
【改革开放三十年系列访谈之一】对话王小鲁、姚洋：俄罗斯的改革比中国更成功吗
作者:南方周末记者 余力
2008-07-10
http://www.infzm.com/content/14407/
王小鲁：中国经济改革研究基金会国民经济研究所副所长
姚洋：北京大学中国经济研究中心副主任
Continue reading »
Jul 31
minipost-A must-read: a reporter’s guide to covering the Olympics
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts, media | Tags:China, featured, media, Olympic
52 Comments » newest
52 Comments » newest
There is “A Reporter’s Guide to Covering the Olympics“, supposedly found in the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong, at Time’s China Blog. It is well worth a read. Continue reading »
Jul 30
(Letter) WTO Talks Collapsed
Written by: guest | Filed under:-guest-posts | Tags:China, india, trade
1 Comment » newest
1 Comment » newest
The Doha round of WTO talks in Geneva collapsed on Tuesday. It was the US vs. India and China, without being able to resolve their differences in farm products. In my view, it’s a good thing that the talks collapsed because the real benefits of the proposed deal to developing countries were minimal but risks were very high indeed. India pulled the plug, with China assisting.
What do you people think? Collapsed, is it good?
Jul 27
(Letter) Where does China fit in the West’s understanding of the world?
Written by: Joel | Filed under:Analysis, Letters | Tags:China, civilizations, conflict, culture, democracy, economics, exploitation, global, justice, nationalism, oppression, the West
70 Comments » newest
70 Comments » newest
Mainlanders often feel exasperated by constant Western criticism, as if no matter what China does and no matter how much China accomplishes, it’s never good enough in the eyes of Western nations. The poem “Chinese Grievances” (aka “What do you want from us?”) expresses this feeling well. I think what’s shared below will help us better understand this problem.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Jul 26
With a jet-lagged baby, I thought this morning would be the perfect time to attend one of my favorite events in Beijing: watching the raising of the national flag on Tiananmen square. It is a daily ritual at sunrise, but always thrilling with its simplicity, elegance; I’ve only attended a few times (emphasis: sunrise), and always found it deeply moving.
Here’s a video, from 5/19, when the flag was lowered to half-staff to remember the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake: (Why isn’t it a video of my trip? Explanation below.)
Jul 23
Saw on ESPN.com AP reports that
Beijing will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month’s Olympics … Liu Shaowu, director for security for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said Wednesday that areas in at least three public parks near outlying sporting venues have been set aside for use by demonstrators.
Jul 20
(Letter) Tianjin’s LaoBaiXing on the Olympics
Written by: guest | Filed under:culture | Tags:China, Laobaixing, Old Hundred Names, olympics, Tianjin, 中国, 天津, 奥运会, 老百姓
15 Comments » newest
15 Comments » newest
(This is excerpted from: Tianjin’s “Old Hundred Names” on the Olympics)
Here’s what some of our neighbours and others from our daily routines in the city think about the Olympics. I asked them, “What do the Olympics means to Chinese people?” (奥运会对中国人有什么意义？) and “Why are they doing so much preparation?” (我听说中国为了奥运会作很多准备。为什么是这样？)
Jul 18
There is a heated debate going on regarding the lack of Chinese characters on China’s official Olympics uniforms in contrast with those on German’s sportswear.
Personally, I see no point in not printing Chinese text on China’s official uniforms. But for this post, I will purposely play the role of a “CCP apologist” and try to put these things in positive terms. 😉 Besides, I will explain two frequently used Chinese phrases and hopefully cast some light on a particular aspect of the Chinese culture.
Jul 17
minipost-I know China has a lot of good food, but …
Written by: DJ | Filed under:-mini-posts | Tags:China, food
7 Comments » newest
7 Comments » newest
Tim Johnson dished out an interesting statistic of Beijing’s preparation for English speaking Olympics visitors: Continue reading »
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