Worldcrunch
-OP-ED- In China, anti-Japanese sentiment is running very high. The call for a military occupation of the Diaoyu Islands is popular among the public. Managing Sino-Japanese relations and maintaining peace in the East China Sea has become a matter of urgency. China and Japan’s conflicting claims over the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands have always […]
WUHAN MORNING POST (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch BEIJING – These days, being a teacher in China comes with its perks. Not only would the position offer you absolute imperial authority, but you would also get lots of presents. Some very NICE presents. September 10 was Teacher’s Day, and on that day Chinese teachers are […]
SHANGHAI – The Shanghai hairy crab, also known as the Chinese mitten crab, is considered a great delicacy in China. But, not so much in Germany where each year from late summer to early autumn mature Chinese mitten crabs begin their migration up the Elbe River. As they travel to the North Sea to get […]
NHK, KYODO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, THE DAILY YOMIURI (Japan), CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China), THE STANDARD (Hong Kong), THE GLOBE AND MAIL (Canada) Worldcrunch Around 1,000 Chinese fishing boats are expected to arrive in waters near the Senkaku Islands claimed by China later Monday, reports Kyodo news, in what may be Beijing’s additional countermeasures over Japan’s […]
LIBERTY TIMES, UNITED DAILY NEWS (Taiwan), BBC Worldcrunch BEIJING– Some 20,000 irate Chinese protesters besieged the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday, venting their anger over the Diaoyu Islands dispute that has created the most combustible conflict between the two Asian powers in memory. The demonstrators climbed trees, burned the Japanese flag, shouted that the […]
ECONOMIC OBSERVER, CHINA.ORG.CN (China) Worldcrunch BEIJING – Last week, Beijing authorities announced that 600,000 temporary residents had left the capital, bringing the total of the city’s migrant population down to 8,258,000 people, reports the Economic Observer. For the past decade, the non-resident population has gone up by nearly 400,000 people each year. In 2007, Beijing’s […]
BORDEAUX – The sale of the Château de Gevrey-Chambertin at the end of August has revived the specter of France’s vineyards being transferred en masse into the hands of Chinese billionaires. However, in the Bordeaux region itself, these new investors seem to be rather well received by professionals in the field. Until August 22 of […]
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS (USA), CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY (Taiwan) Worldcrunch The United States has become the primary destination for Chinese students wishing to study abroad, receiving more than 170,000 students over the past two years. That shouldn’t really surprise anyone. The real news is the wave heading in the other direction: the multiplying numbers of […]
-Essay- The car drove slowly into the early spring night of Hangzhou. The person who had come to fetch me is a new acquaintance named Wang Qixian. As a member of the post-1980s generation he has worked as a white collar worker in the private sector, in Chinese state-owned enterprises, as well as in Taiwanese […]
BEIJING – From his pigeon house, Wan Lianxi overlooks a sea of misshapen roofs and walls overgrown with weeds. He recently added a corrugated plastic roof for shade. Wan started raising homing pigeons in downtown Beijing 40 years ago – when he was still a teenager. Today, he has about 100 of them. During races, […]
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, RADIO AUSTRALIA (Australia), CNN, WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA), REUTERS Worldcrunch BEIJING – Xi Jinping, the 58-year-old Chinese Vice President, widely expected to be the next leader of the People’s Republic of China, has not been seen in public since September 1. Several meetings planned with foreign leaders have been canceled, reports Reuters […]
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong), BBC (UK) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s pan-democracy wing has failed to capitalize on the growing anti-Chinese sentiment, after a disappointing outcome in the legislative council elections. Albert Ho, the leader of Hong Kong“s biggest pro-democracy party has announced he will step down as chairman after his party […]
SHANGHAI – Two weeks ago Cats, the legendary musical with its record $2 billion box office sales and worldwide audience of 73 million people, had its Chinese language premiere in Shanghai. This will be followed by a tour of 162 performances in other major Chinese cities. Following the success of Mamma Mia!, Cats is the […]
CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch BEIJING – A series of earthquakes in southwestern China on Friday killed at least 24 people and injured 150 more, reports BBC News. Chinese state media Xinhua said the 5.7 magnitude quake struck the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, with its epicenter located in the Yiliang […]
BEIJING – Every time that German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a trip to China, she always goes home with a large chunk of investment. Her just concluded visit was no exception. In addition to more than 10 cooperation agreements in areas such as aerospace and the automotive industries, Merkel has also obtained a commitment from […]
HONG KONG – This is the second improvised camp to appear in Hong Kong’s business district. As the last remaining diehards continue to occupy the atrium of the HSBC tower, school kids, students, parents and teachers have set up their own tents and mats outside the parliament buildings at the Tamar site, on Hong Kong’s […]
ASAHI SHIMBUN, KYODO, NHK (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – The Japanese government has agreed to buy three disputed islands for 2.05 billion yen ($26 million). The Asahi Shimbun reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government had struck a deal with private landowners to buy three of the Senkaku islands. The islands, which are uninhabited, […]
XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK) Worldcrunch An explosion in a coal mine in southwest China has killed 19 people and left 28 trapped, reports Chinese news agency Xinhua. According to state media, rescue efforts are still underway to rescue the remaining miners, reports BBC News. The accident occurred Wednesday at around 6 p.m. at Xiojiawan […]
Until now, showing off was more of a male thing: for many representatives of the so-called stronger sex, flashing status symbols like fast cars and conspicuously expensive watches is, it seems, important. But women are catching up. “As a result of their increasing economic independence, more and more women are encroaching on what has traditionally […]
These days for Chinese officials the question of age is an even more sensitive issue than it is for a lady. Recently, Zhou Lian, professor at Peking University, likened Chinese officials’ climbing up their career ladders to “participating in a championship,” as everyone vies with everyone else as they try to advance. Within this context, […]
CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China), BBC NEWS (UK), CNN (USA), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch HEFEI – Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced Chinese Politician Bo Xilai, has been given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, reports BBC News. Gu’s death penalty has been suspended for two years due to her […]
Two months ago, Uli Sigg, the Swiss art collector and Switzerland’s former Ambassador to China, donated 1463 pieces of his Chinese contemporary art collection to Hong Kong’s M+ museum. The bequest, which included works by 350 artists such as Ai Weiwei and Zhang Xiaogan, initially received widespread praise. Then on June 25,the Art Critic column […]
NHK, ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan), CHINA DAILY (China) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Japan announced on Friday that it will send back the 14 Chinese activists who were arrested after landing on a disputed island, in an attempt to defuse the diplomatic feud between the two countries. The activists were arrested on August 15 after sailing from Hong […]
BEIJING – From the Huangyan Island, known also as the Scarborough Shoal, to the Diaoyu Islands, the Chinese territorial waters have been anything but calm. And inevitably, the shadow of the United States has been present behind all this. These so-called island disputes are actually a game between two great powers. After a period of […]
Recently several authors of a BL fiction website were arrested. The injustice is so glaringly obvious that I can’t stop myself from saying something about this. The so-called BL (Boy’s Love) fiction is a particular interest of a minority of people. The concept comes from Japan: it refers to female-oriented fiction featuring idealized romantic relationships […]
TAIPEI – Flags have a particular knack for causing trouble in Taiwan, the de facto sovereign island state, which is nevertheless still lacking full sovereignty and therefore does not have much say in the matter when it comes to showing off its national colors. The Republic of China (the official name of Taiwan) is participating […]
New age limits, coupled with the lowering of minimum age of certain government jobs, has dovetailed with a general celebration of youth in burgeoning China
Recent pictures of Kim Jong-un and his wife attending public events is just one sign that has insiders wondering whether North Korea has started to shift toward a ‘post-totalitarian’ regime.
CNN (USA), BBC NEWS, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK) Worldcrunch BEIJING – Gu Kailai, the wife of recently deposed top official in the Chinese Communist Party Bo Xilai, raised no objections to the prosecution’s charges as the trial ended on Thursday, reports BBC news. A court official told reporters Gu did not contest the charges. The […]
CAIXIN MEDIA, CHINA DAILY (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch YONGZHOU – Six years ago an 11-year-old girl was raped and forced into prostitution in Yongzhou, Hunan province. It took three months for the victim’s mother to rescue her. After three judgments, the Hunan Provincial Higher People’s Court has given a final verdict on the seven […]
CHINA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION, CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China) SHANGHAI – Typhoon Haikui ploughed into China’s eastern coast on Wednesday morning, knocking down buildings, cutting off power, disrupting train and airline services and forcing authorities to relocate millions of people. The winds were at “severe typhoon” strength when Haikui made landfall in the province of Zhejiang, about […]
The Royal family, the English pound and driving on the left, none of these British characteristics seem to be in synch with the rest of the world. However, the British don’t particularly care what others might think. Their traditions have a special meaning for them. They are the most complicated, most contradictory, and most interesting […]
QIDONG – At 18-years-old, Li Wei does not look like a dissident. She is mostly focused on her studies in accountancy, her friends – with whom she is always in contact – and chatting with her sister. However, none of that stopped the young girl – who has given us a false name because of […]
FOSHAN – As a professional criminal defense lawyer, I have been to detention centers everywhere. They are of course all different, but at a recent first-time meeting with a criminal suspect he was separated from me by frosted glass. Because I had come all the way from Beijing, the pre-trial official of the Public Security […]
CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch SHENZHEN – The secret to economic growth? Unmarried women left free to shop, according to one prominent Chinese economist. Jin Yanshi, who has since become the target of outrage and contempt from colleagues and others, recently laid out his theory that “cities where there are more leftover and divorced women should […]
CCTV (China), SIN CHEW DAILY (Malaysia), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch BEIJING – A Chinese television reporter looking into accusations that private hospitals were scamming patients with false (and costly) diagnoses applied an unusual undercover trick: he submitted tea as his urine sample. And as it turns out, the CCTV reporter is suffering from quite a […]
If the Olympics are showing the British all dressed up for public viewing, other activities going on now show the ever pragmatic UK approach to business.
BEIJING – Recently, the Chinese newspaper Global Times seems to have become less sensational than it used to be. But the other day, one of their commentary pieces showed they hadn’t lost their ability to shock — It was titled: “A proposal for repealing the appellation of intellectuals.” As expected, within a short time China’s […]
SHANGHAI DAILY, RADIO TELEVISION HONG KONG (China), RADIO FREE ASIA (USA) Worldcrunch On Thursday, Chinese courts sentenced 20 people for terrorist and separatist crimes in Xinjang, a resource-rich autonomous region in northwest China, which is home to the Muslim Uyghur ethnic group. Chinese authorities have stepped up security against the ethnic minority since July. Radio […]
BEIJING – We all know about China’s economic growth. But the country also has the world’s fastest growing obese population in absolute numbers, according to data from the World Health Organization. This is not only because China has the world’s biggest population, but also because it has seen proportionately sharp rise in obesity. In 1980, […]