Sinica Podcast

While the African community in Guangzhou has taken to the streets to protest the suspicious death of a foreign national in police custody, the Chinese internet has proven equally volatile as gruesome photos of a late-stage abortion have circulated online to the shock and horror of many netizens. This week, Sinica turns its attention to both events, but mostly to the one-child policy, as we discuss first the history of China's family-planning restrictions and then the political forces within China arrayed for and against the status quo. Trying to steer the discussion through these controversial waters is your host Kaiser Kuo, who is joined in our studio by Alexa Olesen, a long-time China watcher and journalist for the Associated Press who has written extensively on how China's family-planning policies work at the local level. We're also delighted to be joined by Evan Osnos, a staff writer for the The New Yorker, who has covered the African community in Guangzhou. Conspicuously absent for the second week running is Sinica's co-host, Jeremy Goldkorn, who, any minute now — and probably by the time you're reading this — will have become father to a baby girl named Viola!  

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It seems to be the consensus among long-time China watchers that the Chinese media has become more radicalized over the last five years, with both online and traditional channels now feeding the public conflicting stories of both reflexive scorn for the status quo or patriotic jingoism. But how radical are things getting? And what are the limits to how much further they can go, or will be allowed to go on either side? This week on Sinica we look at two of the extremes. First up is a discussion between Jeremy Goldkorn and Brook Larmer, whose recent essay on Chinese internet humor for The New York Times looked not only at what is being said online but who is saying it and why. Then we look the other way, talking with journalist Christina Larson and Sinica-stalwart David Moser about the Global Times, a commercial newspaper under the auspices of the People's Daily so untempered in its nationalism that many consider the paper a government mouthpiece, with Christina Larson even comparing the publication to Fox News. Recommendations: Brook's NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/the-dangerous-politics-of-internet-humor-in-china.html Stifled Laughter: How the Communist Party Killed Chinese Humor http://www.danwei.org/tv/stifled_laughter_how_the_commu.php Pi San's cartoons on NYT http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/30/magazine/26mag-chinese-animations.html?scp=2&sq=pi%20san%20china&st=cse ABC interview with Pi San and Jeremy http://www.danwei.org/featured_video/director_pi_san_on_his_his_yea.php Pi San's cartoons with English subtitles http://www.danwei.com/blowing-up-the-school/ http://www.danwei.com/kuang-kuang-and-the-38th-parallel/ Liu Xiaobo humor - The Lius I admire http://www.danwei.org/humor/the_lius_i_admire.php Lei Feng microblog http://www.danwei.org/humor/lei_feng_microblog.php Hoax dictionary entries (origin of the "Cao Ni Ma" slang) http://www.danwei.org/humor/baidu_baike_fake_entries.php Hu Ge spoof on group housing http://www.danwei.org/humor/ccav_on_group_housing.php China Digital Times Grass Mud Horse Lexicon https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/07/decoding-the-chinese-internet-ebook-2015-edition/ Christina's FP article http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/31/global_times_china_fox_news FP: Top 10 screeds in Global Times http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/10/31/the_top_10_screeds_in_chinas_global_times John Garnaut: Global Times - A cocktail of conspiracies delivered daily http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-cocktail-of-conspiracies-delivered-daily-20101217-190pb.html Hu Xijin's Weibo http://weibo.com/huxijin Peking Duck blogger on Global Times https://www.google.com/search?&q=site%3Apekingduck.org+%22global+times%22

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China makes an about-face on Libya, we discuss a recent controversy in Beijing's arts community over independent filmmaker Zhao Liang. We also get an on-the-ground update on the state of China's South-North Water Diversion Project: a little-publicized infrastructure effort that already dwarfs the Three Gorges Dam in both its human and environmental impact. We're lucky to have an incredible lineup of guests. Joining Kaiser Kuo in our studio this week is Edward Wong from The New York Times, whose recent profile of independent filmmaker Zhao Liang sets the stage for our discussion today. Kathleen McLaughlin from the GlobalPost is also here, fresh back in Beijing from a trip to Shaanxi to investigate the state of China's plans to redirect southern water to the country's parched north. We are also lucky to be joined by Sinica-stalwart Will Moss of Imagethief fame. Recommendations: Edward Wong Crime and Punishment (Zuì Yǔ Fá), Petition (Shàng Fǎng): https://www.amazon.com/Liang-Collection-Petition-Punishment-Airplane/dp/B006Z1H4M0 Still Life (Sǎn Xiá Hǎo Rén): https://www.amazon.com/Still-Life-%C3%82-Zhou-Sanming-Zhao/dp/B001CD6GL6 Will Moss When A Billion Chinese Jump, by Jonathan Watts: https://www.amazon.com/When-Billion-Chinese-Jump-Mankind/dp/141658076X Kaiser Kuo Décadence Mandchoue, by Edmund Trelawney Backhouse: https://www.amazon.com/Decadence-Mandchoue-Memoirs-Trelawny-Backhouse/dp/9881944511 The Hermit of Peking, by Hugh Trevor-Roper: https://www.amazon.com/Hermit-Peking-Hidden-Edmund-Backhouse/dp/190601101X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk>

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A spate of suicides leaves ten dead at the Shenzhen campus of Foxconn, the giant electronics manufacturer that makes many of the world's most popular consumer electronics. A rare strike paralyzes production at Honda Motors, shutting down all of the company's manufacturing lines in the country. In response, both companies offer substantial concessions to workers, causing many to ask if this marks the end of China's reign as the low-cost "workshop to the world"? This week on Sinica, host Kaiser Kuo welcomes Kathleen McLaughlin, a prolific reporter for the Bureau of National Affairs and Global Post who has written extensively on electronics manufacturing trends in China. We're also joined by Jonathan Watts, Beijing-based correspondent for The Guardian, who is just back from a visit to the massive Foxconn facility in Shenzhen. Also with us is Danwei founder Jeremy Goldkorn. We look at the problems afflicting labor in China: are these simply the result of poor working conditions, or is there more at work here?

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Is the "Western media" biased in its reporting about China? What are the frames and narratives that inform the Anglophone media's understanding of the county, and what are the misunderstandings about the "Western media" that lead Chinese people into believing Western reporting is more biased than it is? This week, Tania Branigan from the Guardian, Jeremy Goldkorn from Danwei and serial China entrepreneur Bill Bishop join host Kaiser Kuo in a discussion of this perennial topic. And lest you mistakenly believe that it's only the Western media writing critical stories on China, we discuss the state of investigative reporting in China, focusing on a recent piece by Tania in The Guardian about China's best-known investigative journalist, Wang Keqin.

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Videos of lectures by Tengfei Yuan, a history teacher in a middle school in Beijing, recently went viral on the internet. While his charismatic and humorous teaching style attracts public attention and fans, his bold criticisms on Mao make him highly controversial among Chinese netizens. The surprising rise of this outspoken teacher sets off by contrast the self-censoring phenomenon that has taken root among the foreign community in China. How has one of the fiercest critics of Mao's legacy emerged within the confines of China's own educational system? Why is one Chinese teacher going where most foreigners fear to tread, and what does this mean for foreigners working and living in China? This episode is a conversation with Sinica regular Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and a first time guest David Moser, translator, essayist, and Sinologist, who is currently working as the Academic Director for CET Beijing. Along with Sinica hosts Jeremy and Kaiser, these guests share their opinions on the level of “civility” as foreigners and their experience of self-censoring while working in Beijing. Gady also discusses the main concepts of the upcoming book the Party: the Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor and a piece about the book Gady is working up for Forbes. References: After Four Decades, Apologies are Coming Forth, Xujun Eberlein Changing the Subject: How the Chinese Government Controls Television, by Ann Condi Censors Without Border, by Emily Parker China's Private Party, by Richard McGregor

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Despite efforts to downplay the story in the face of the Shanghai Expo, news of a recent wave of copycat killings has spread quickly through China, driven in part by the surprising revelation that many of the killers have been middle-aged and apparently well-educated men. Online, some netizens have blamed the government, which in turn blames social contradictions. Writing for The Telegraph, Malcolm Moore summarizes these attacks as a “turning point” created by alienation engendered over the last twenty years of China’s industrialization. Where does the truth lie?  With Kaiser Kuo out of the country, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei takes up hosting duties this week, joined by Sinica regular Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and China public relations expert Will Moss, whom you may know as author of the popular blog Imagethief. Qin Liwen, a Chinese author and bookstore owner in Beijing who has written about these killings in the domestic media, also joins Jeremy as a guest in the studio.

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Sponsored by the government organization Hanban, the Confucius Institute has been successfully promoting the learning of Chinese Language internationally. However, it recently inspired a lot of resistance, especially in the San Gabriel Valley, where an editorial in a local paper decried that the Chinese Communist Party is sending Chinese teachers to spread Communist ideology. Is the Confucius Institute a cultural exchange platform or an aggressive arm of Chinese foreign policy? Some of China’s major news agencies are busy expanding their English-language satellite news networks. For example, CCTV has recently invested six billion dollars in its international satellite news network and has established bureaus all over the U.S. But who is the audience of this media expansion? As one of the biggest plays for soft power that China has ever staged, the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was intended to showcase Chinese culture and innovation. However, was it as inspiring in the view of Western core values as Chinese media had praised, or was it more imposing and intimidating? Shanghai EXPO just opened after billions of dollars have been devoted to it by the Chinese government, but do people outside China really care? In this week’s podcast, Kaiser and Jeremy discuss different facets of the grand Chinese soft power push as an effort to win the world through attraction rather than coercion. Is Beijing’s global soft power charm bearing fruits? Is China making or breaking its public image? Why has Chinese culture not made meaningful impacts on the West? In what ways is China still deficient that would make for real attractiveness?  Joining our podcast this week are Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and Evan Osnos, Beijing-based staff writer for the New Yorker and part-time enforcer in Kaiser's outlaw e-biker gang. We are also proud to have extra commentary from Adam Minter, an American writer in Shanghai who brings us stories from his first-hand encounter with the 2010 Expo.

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Huang Guangyu, the founder of home electronics chain GOME, was China’s richest man, with a fortune of over 6 billion dollars in 2006, according to Forbes. However, the multi-billionaire was detained in November 2008 on suspicion of bribery, insider trading, and money laundering. The dragnet in the investigation leading up to the trial has already widened, and has implicated a number of high-ranking cadres in the Ministry of Public Security's white-collar crimes division. Is Huang’s case a warning to the Chinese emerging wealthy class? What does Huang's trial mean for rule of law in China?  Whether they own property or not, there is nothing that people across China are talking about more than real estate prices. Property prices in 70 cities in China rose by a whopping 11.7% just in March 2010. Records show that new real estate loans grew to over 1.4 trillion dollars in 2009. People all over China talk about the phenomenon of “house slave” — people who are enslaved to their mortgage, and working only to pay off their homes. What dilemma does China face over the soaring property prices? In the mean time, Beijing issues sharp new policies to curb speculation. Do the government's actions portend the collapse of the real estate bubble? Joining host Kaiser Kuo this week are Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine, and Sinica regulars Bill Bishop and Will Moss. Bill is a tech entrepreneur in Beijing who blogs regularly on politics and economic issues at Sinocism.com. Will is a public relations expert in China and the force behind the popular imagethief.com. References: The Curse of Forbes, by Gady Epstein Rule of Law Implications of Huang Guangyu Trial?, by Stan Abrams  How China's Property Bubble Works, by Andy Xie

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On April 15, 2010, on the 21st anniversary of former Party Secretary Hu Yaobang’s death, Premier Wen Jiabao published an essay to eulogize his former mentor in the People’s Daily. On April 15, 1989, the death of this foreign-minded general secretary of the Communist Party famously touched off the student demonstration of that year. It is a highly-emotional essay, which recalls a trip he took to Guizhou in 1986 with Hu Yaobang, a good friend of his that he worked with and admired. He particularly emphasizes Hu’s qualities, especially the populist rhetoric that he learned and now applies. In today's episode, we first visit this speech and ask what it really tells us about the political landscape in China. Does it telegraph an ongoing rift between a “populist” faction headed by Wen Jiabao, Hu Jintao, and Li Keqiang and a competing “princeling” elite represented by Xi Jinping? Early in the morning of April 14th, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake leveled roughly 90 percent of the buildings in Yushu County in southern Qinghai Province. So far more than 2000 people are now reported dead, and practically the entire population of the affected area is living in tents or in temporary housing. Qinghai, and particularly this area of Qinghai, is heavily Tibetan. This dimension of the quake as well as Beijing’s handling of the rescue have become part of the focus of the story. Is the ethnic dimension of the rescue overplayed by Western media? Do encounters between Tibetan monks and Chinese government officials demonstrate tension or a successful relationship? How does the government’s ability to deliver disaster relief relate to the historical concept of the Mandate of the Heaven? Joining Kaiser Kuo this week are Gady Epstein, Beijing bureau chief for Forbes magazine and Guardian correspondent Tania Branigan, fresh back in Beijing after a reporting trip to the remote earthquake region and with a first-hand account of the rescue efforts there. We're also joined by Jeremiah Jenne, Dean of Chinese Studies at the IES program in Beijing, who helps put both events in historical perspective. You may know Jeremiah as Qing historian and author of the blog Jottings from the Granite Studio. References: Returning to Xingyi, Remembering Hu Yaobang, by Wen Jiabao After Quake, Tibetans Distrust China’s Help, by Andrew Jacobs Robert Barnett on the Qinghai Earthquake, by the China Beat

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