WorldcrunchStay updated with comprehensive news on China from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Chinese politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Beijing, Shanghai, and events like the Chinese New Year.
China’s amended “PRC Elderly Protection Law” has come into effect this month. The new law stipulates that family members cannot neglect the elderly, and are required to care for their spiritual needs. Family members who live separately from their aging parents must visit them regularly. Employers, likewise, must guarantee their workers the right to have […]
BEIJING – These are good days for China. Not so much for the United States — or Sino-American relations. After Edward Snowden left Hong Kong unhindered last week, the angered Americans at first threatened this would have “negative consequences” on relations between the two superpowers. Snowden’s departure had delivered a blow to “mutual confidence,” the […]
BEIJING – An article last month in the Beijing Evening News declared that: “one-third of news going viral on microblogs are rumors.” Referring to a survey called China New Media Development Report, 2013, the article cited the “chaos” of China’s microblogging platforms. Since then, this form of media has received a wave of mainstream attention […]
BEIJING- Not long ago, I raised the question of why 35 years after China began to open up its political and economic system, the task of reform seems harder than ever. Why, in other words, is it so difficult to change a system? Wouldn’t it be better to just proclaim that China has built a […]
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA AFTER RECOVERY OF SLAIN TEENSThe recovery late Monday of the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers sparked widespread reaction across the country, including angry words from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by swift military action. The Israeli army launched a major air strike operation in Gaza, hitting 34 […]
BEIJING – Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife, Wendi Deng, and the Chinese media is watching with great attentioin whether their ambitious female compatriot is going to get her share of the cake from her fabulously rich ex-husband. It’s likely though that many will be disappointed since it was disclosed long ago […]
Both for the consequences they face from Chinese authorities and for their radical forms of protest, these women’s rights activists can make Femen seem tame by comparison.
-OpEd- BEIJING – Since late last year the way Chinese people cross the road has been receiving particular attention. Dubbed Chinese-style Of Crossing The Road, this phenomenon refers to the behavior of Chinese pedestrians, who cross an intersection not based on red and green lights, but on whether or not there are enough pedestrians to […]
JINAN – How to “surf” anonymously on the Web, in a country – China – where cybercafés ask for proof of ID before you are allowed to log onto the Internet? In order to circumvent this requirement, Mr Guo, owner of a cybercafé in Jinan city, northeastern Chinese Shandong Province, had found a perfect solution: […]
Decades of unbridled industrialization has left much of China’s soil badly contaminated. Some are set to make millions cleaning it up.
-OpEd- BEIJING – On June 6, the Guardian newspaper in Britain and the Washington Post in the United States revealed the American government’s ongoing efforts to monitor the activities of people all around the world. They did so only after verifying the authenticity of the confidential documents they had obtained. The top-secret documents showed that […]
-Op-Ed- BEIJING – It would seem that police brutality is not just for ordinary – powerless – citizens in China. A policewoman from central China’s Henan Province was recently arrested when visiting her daughter in the provincial capital Zhengzhou. Mistakenly accused of being sex workers, the woman and her daughter were beaten, tortured and detained […]
Last week, the city government of Wuhan, in central China, published a draft law on population and family planning management that quickly became national news. The bill charges “social maintenance fees” against unmarried woman who have given birth to a child but could not provide valid identification of the child’s father, or those who have […]
Since the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal, little has changed in the Chinese dairy industry. Interest groups and nationalism are to blame.
Ever since 2002, when the first batch of students graduated after national expansion of university enrollment, the difficulty for educated young people to find employment has become a hot topic each summer. The total number of graduates has grown every year. With 6.99 million fresh graduates this year, the number is hitting another record high. […]
A school sex-abuse scandal has reignited concern for those left most vulnerable by China’s rapid migration and industrial expansion.
Several women inmates from China’s infamous Masanjia reeducation-through-labor camp have decided to come forward to recount the torture they sustained.
BEIJING – Who are the happiest people in China? In a survey conducted by Xiaokang (meaning basically well-off) magazine last year, in the eyes of the public, civil servant comes top of the list as a profession. However, the newly published 2012 China Workplace Mental Health Research Report has shown that officials’ own sense of […]
For the past six months, the Chinese media has been reporting that rice grown in the south-central Hunan Province contains unacceptable levels of cadmium, a carcinogenic heavy metal. Last month, an inspection of samples in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, revealed that more than half the batches of cadmium-tainted rice came from three rice mills in the […]
A recent visit to Beijing by a top Pyongyang envoy may be the precursor to reigniting of negotiations between the two Koreas. Eyes now on Xi Jinping’s visit with Barack Obama.
Local environmental concerns could undermine big Chinese economic ambitions. That tension, well-known in the West, is playing out near the site a petrochemical plant in Yunnan province.
The first generation of entrepreneurs who built their businesses after the 1978 Chinese economic reform are giving way to their children, just as resentment against the rich explodes.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 FIGHTS CONTINUE IN EASTERN UKRAINE Pro-Russian fighters in Donetsk have shot down a drone, self-appointed local authorities said, amid reports of ongoing fighting outside the building of the Security Service of Ukraine in the center of the eastern city, seized by the rebels. According to RT journalist Paula Slier, fights have […]
By 2015, Hunan Province alone plans to build seven new airports, joining the existing five that are losing money each year. What’s driving the boom.
Editor’s note: Following Beijing, the municipality of Guangzhou introduced passenger car purchasing restrictions last June in order to ease the traffic pressure. Each month a free lottery system is used to decide the lucky ones who get to buy cars. Another parallel system allows people to pay more by bidding for a car license. Public […]
BEIJING – “So,” says Ai Weiwei: “Now they get to listen to this.” By “they” he means his jailers. “My voice may not be perfect, and may not even sound good. I admit I was a little inhibited at first. But it’s a voice and now it’s out there.” As of this week, Beijing avant-garde […]
BEIJING – Last month, this city’s Human Resources and Social Security Bureau introduced an administrative circular that stipulates “in principle” municipal government departments should impose age restrictions when hiring graduates settling in Beijing who are not officially residents holding local household registrations. Those with undergraduate degrees who have moved to Beijing shouldn’t be hired if […]
LEIYANG – After working for many years in Foshan, a city in China’s manufacturing heartland of Guangdong, Zi Xiaohu and his wife recently decided to move back to his hometown in the central province of Hunan. The couple’s child, who remained behind in the village while the parents worked, is about to start preschool. The […]
The some 10 million Catholics in China remain divided between those loyal to the Pope and those in step with the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy.
In spite of the economic growth and rising living standards in many Asian countries, the status of women has strangely stagnated, and even regressed. If women’s status is only measured by remuneration, Asia surely wouldn’t be the only place where there is a marked disparity between the sexes. For instance, according to the United States […]
After five long years of battle in court, Adidas has finally settled with Adivon, a Chinese sportswear company. The latter is to transfer its Chinese trademarks and the triangular logo to the German multinational and will not be allowed to use them again, in any store. Meanwhile, another unfinished lawsuit has aroused even more attention. […]
Excessive feasting by public officials has a long and wide history in China. The fundamental source of its prevalence is actually not even the hearty appetites of the officials in question. These people are sacrificing a lot themselves in this banquet culture. On the lighter side, people may just lose a previously slim figure. In […]
BEIJING – China is busy in America’s backyard. Over the past five years, Chinese businesses have been expanding their footprint in Latin America in a number of ways, beginning with enhanced trade to ensure a steady supply of bulk commodities such as oil, copper and soybeans. At this year’s Boao Forum for Asia, for the […]
Real estate agents from the troubled Mediterranean country have identified potential buyers in China, looking for both cheap real estate, and EU residency. But buyer beware.
On April 15th, India announced that an “intrusion” of around 50 Chinese military personnel had crossed onto the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, and set up a tent camp. The Indian military immediately responded with tit for tat camp of tents nearby. Thus started the so-called “Tents Confrontation” standoff. The […]
-Essay- BEIJING – On April 10, Fenghuang, a popular tourist town that is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, started charging entry for visitors, triggering public outcry in China. Fenghuang is located in Xiangxi Prefecture, in China’s central Hunan Province, which is home to the Miao and Tujia ethnic minorities. Now, whoever wants to […]
-Blog- BEIJING – The world is big, and has all kinds of people. Given their various historical, cultural and environmental backgrounds, people from each country are naturally very different. Each nation is proud of its national character. And indeed, some people have a lot to be proud of, like those who pioneered science and democracy. […]
The sensational details surrounding the case of disgraced Liu Zhijun have captivated the public and media. But the real question is why is this the norm?
KIEV LAUNCHES NEW ASSAULT IN EASTERN UKRAINE The Ukrainian military launched an offensive against pro-Russian militants just outside the eastern city of Sloviansk, sending armored vehicles and a helicopter, according to RTÉ, with Ukraine’s Interior Ministry reporting at least five dead on the pro-Russian side. According to AFP, civilians in the town hall have been […]
BEIJING – Last month, more than 16,000 dead pigs were found in tributaries of the Huangpu River, not far from Shanghai, in eastern China. At the same time, scores of diseased pig carcasses were also found miles away in Liuyang River, in the south-central Hunan Province. The massive number of dead pigs discovered nationwide caused […]