Michael Anti and the end of the golden age of blogs in China

“The guy who censored my blog – we’re friends. Every week, we get together and eat. We’re very close friends. The guy censored and the guy who censors – we are together.” The public face of internet censorship is very professional: “I know you are right, but this is my job. When you get the job, you can do the same to me.” But inside, the censors are very liberal, people who are living in the era of the internet and the market.

China’s modernisation: a unique path?

“I think a lot of the criticism of China in the western media is excessive and unreasonable. The critics are using western values to judge China. But what if China can find a new path to modernisation and development, totally different to that followed by the west?”

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A market economy combined with a democratic political system is now the only choice for countries looking for long-term peace and stability. It will be impossible for China to produce this under its own steam. The lesson of history is that in China, change only occurs as the product of intense pressure.

Andy Lau saves fan; deed shared by fans online

The story is here.

A few (edited) words on Chinese censorship

It is one thing to write about censorship (as anyone who seeks to explain how China works must), quite another to have your own words gutted of their meaning on nationally broadcast television.

This was my fate earlier this year when I took part in a discussion about China’s future on Shenzhen Satellite TV’s Reform Dialogue programme.

China can’t block bad news

To love the Party, to accept its controls over one’s life, to downplay China’s problems, is to be mainstream, part of society, to be, in fact, Chinese.

China’s Blood Sellers

Angela Sun braves the wrath of local officials to visit a village in Hebei Province where 20% of the residents contracted HIV/AIDS.

Bold adviser dares China to change

A PROVINCIAL Chinese government adviser has urged Communist Party leaders to lift a ban on new political parties, halt suppression of a spiritual sect and let exiled dissidents return home.

“Beijing 2008″ Campaign Against Repression in China

“By all accounts, the Beijing Games are shaping up to be a showcase for China. But these events should not be allowed to take place without active opposition by participants — the IOC, athletes, sponsors, media partners and others — to the repressive conditions that surround the Games. Turning a blind eye to these violations of human rights would be a scandal..”

Chinese poems, funny money

LIANG Xiaobin is most famous for his poem China, I’ve lost my key. It was about how much fun it was to “run wildly” and “cheer” during the Cultural Revolution and how little sense it all made looking back.

China’s Bid For World Domination

China is now the largest higher education system in the world: it awards more university degrees than the US and India combined.