The China vs. India News War

A look at how Beijing and New Delhi are spinning events across their border.By Reshma PatilOnce again Beijing finds itself vexed by the raucous Indian press.The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is campaigning against Indian newspapers – which form the world’s largest newspaper market outside China, and combine with hundreds of hypercompetitive news channels. The campaign is driven by the belief in Beijing that it is the media that has emerged as the...

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Her Husband’s Execution, Then a Bag of Ashes

By ANDREW JACOBSZhang Jing, the widow of Xia Junfeng, a street vendor who was put to death for killing two local officials, with members of her legal team on Thursday.A photo of Xia Junfeng, propped up against the urn containing his ashes.The mother of Xia Junfeng wept a day after his execution.SHENYANG, China — Zhang Jing was sitting on her bed, describing the final wrenching moments with her husband before the executioner’s arrival, when she noticed...

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The Enigma of Chinese Medicine

  By STEPHEN T. ASMA A few years ago, while visiting Beijing, I caught a cold.My wife, who is Chinese, and wanted me to feel better, took me to a local restaurant.After we sat down, she ordered a live turtle.The proprietors sent it over.I startled as the waiters unceremoniously cut the turtle’s throat, then poured its blood into a glass.To this frightening prospect, they added a shot of baijiu, very strong grain alcohol.The proprietor and waiters,...

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Tibetan Dies After Setting Himself on Fire

By ANDREW JACOBSTibetan Buddhist monks in Dharmsala, India, prayed Sunday for the Tibetan man Shichung.BEIJING — A Tibetan man in China’s western Sichuan Province died on Saturday after setting himself on fire to protest Chinese policies in the region, according to Tibetan exile groups and Radio Free Asia, a news service financed by the United States government.The man, Shichung, was the first person to carry out a self-immolation protest in Tibetan...

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$3.9 Trillion Of Local Gov Debt In China... And Counting

By Gordon G. ChangOfficials in Yangzhong in heavily indebted Jiangsu province are completing the “world’s biggest metal construction in terms of volume,” a 15-story “scenic pagoda” in the form of a local delicacy, the oddly shaped puffer fish.And in my family’s hometown of Rugao, also in Jiangsu, you can find in the middle of a sprawling park the world’s tallest bronze statue of a mythical Chinese longevity figure.Chinese officials, flush...

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The High Price of Digging Up Dirt in China

Two analysts for a hedge fund were arrested in China for their research into a mining outfit with a powerful local presence. Their scary tale casts doubt on just who's guilty. By BILL ALPERT and LESLIE P. NORTONHaizhang "Michael" Wei, a colleague of Kun Huang, escaped to London.Researcher Kun Huang is in a Chinese jail awaiting a trial verdict. Canadian stock analyst Kun Huang has been locked in a Luoyang, China, jail for more than a year,...

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Puffer-fish statue reignites row over state decadence in China

Giant bronze tribute to aquatic delicacy causes controversy as president cracks down on ostentatious displays of wealthJonathan Kaiman in BeijingA viewing tower in the shape of a giant copper puffer fish is seen behind a sculpture of puffer fish in Yangzhong county A city in eastern China has spent 70m yuan (£7.1m) on building a giant bronze statue of a puffer fish, drawing accusations of graft and profligate state spending.Yangzhong, a county-level...

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My Shocking Train Ride Through the Heart of China’s “Airpocalypse”

By James WestPower plant stacks tower over a town in China's coal country. People write about China's growth so much it's daunting to wring out something new. But—wow—when you see it for the first time in a few years, it still delivers one hell of a punch.I lived in China for a year before the Beijing's 2008 Olympics (a kind of development event horizon in China’s history, towards which the whole country hurtled), and I've been back regularly...

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British adventurer's re-education in China

   BBC NewsThe young Robert Ford made the slow journey into Tibet to seek adventure in an exotic landThe British diplomat Robert Ford, who has died aged 90, was captured by communist troops in Tibet in 1950 and spent five years being re-educated.Michael Bristow looks back at this pivotal moment in his life.On the day he was released by the Chinese, Mr Ford was taken to the border with Hong Kong, then still a British colony, and told to...

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Japan would not make a concession on its territorial sovereignty

Japan has administered the Senkaku islands for decades and China did not express interest in the islands until recent years after reports that the seabed nearby might contain oil and gas.By RICK GLADSTONEPrime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan on Friday rejected any concession in a standoff with China over Japan's Senkaku islands, declining to even acknowledge that the islands are disputed.At a news conference following his attendance at the United Nations...

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Ahead of UN human rights review, China activist goes missing

Cao Shunli's arrest and disappearance is part of China's efforts to conceal its 'very troublesome human rights record,' says Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong.By Peter FordCao ShunliBeijing -- When the United Nations scrutinizes China’s human rights record next month, Cao Shunli’s voice will not be heard. Ms. Cao, who has spent years trying to persuade Beijing to allow ordinary citizens to help draft its UN report in line with international...

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Chicken Processed in China Triggers U.S. Food Safety Protests

By Brian Wingfield and Shruti Date SinghA woman picks out chicken wings and legs at a market in Shanghai. Food-safety advocates are raising alarms over a decision by the Obama administration to permit chicken processed in China to be sold in the U.S. even after several high-profile incidents of food contamination.The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in addressing a decade-long trade dispute over farm imports, said it will allow poultry slaughtered...

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