In The News

Chinese Journalists Face Marxist Ideology Exam

Jonathan Kaiman January 17, 2014
Leaders in China must be unnerved by assessments from Chinese journalists. The government will require them to pass an exam demonstrating an understanding of communist ideology in early 2014 to keep their press cards. The test is based on a 700-page manual that suggests “the relationship between the party and the news media is one of leader and the led,” reports Jonathan Kaiman for the Guardian....

China: 5 Great Things About Toxic Air

Emily Rauhala December 12, 2013
As Time Magazine writer Emily Rauhala notes, you can’t make this stuff up. China and neighboring nations are blanketed in dangerous pollution and smog – and Chinese state-run media offered five “surprising benefits”; these include unifying Chinese people, making China more equal, making people more knowledgeable and providing a topic for humor. Perhaps the broadcasters were trying their hand at...

WikiLeaks Publishes Secret Draft Chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership

Alex Hern, Dominic Rushe November 21, 2013
WikiLeaks, a website that exposes confidential government and corporate documents, has published a chapter on intellectual property rights from a proposed trade agreement negotiated by 12 Pacific Rim nations, most of which are democracies. “The 30,000 word intellectual property chapter contains proposals to increase the term of patents, including medical patents, beyond 20 years, and lower global...

The Banal Reality of Censoring Books in China

David Austin Walsh October 28, 2013
Once a publisher accepts a book – editors and translators polish manuscripts, make corrections and offer suggestions on conciseness, logic or word choice. Some writers suggest that Chinese publishers go too far. “More authors and publishers are willing to accept censorship because the Chinese market is increasingly lucrative, even for university presses and trade publishers,” explains David...

Reflections on Change: The Life of a Newspaper

Serge Schmemann October 14, 2013
The International Herald Tribune recorded history and now is part of history, as the paper becomes the International New York Times. For some, it’s a name change and, for others, an end of an era. Newspapers document change and must deal with change themselves, explains Serge Schmemann, the Tribune’s editorial page editor, in the final edition. The essay reads like an obituary, marking end and...

China-US Vie for World Approval

Bruce Stokes August 22, 2013
Results of a Pew Research Center survey suggest global citizens anticipate shifting balance of power resulting from China’s economic rise. Most respondents in the nations surveyed expect China to eventually overtake the US, reports Bruce Stokes, director of global economic attitudes at the Pew Research Center. Yet inevitability may not coincide with preference. “As its influence grows, China is...

A New Age of Protests

Frida Ghitis July 5, 2013
Turkey and Brazil are pointed to as economic models for developing nations. However, massive protests – and two contrasting responses – may tarnish their image. In Istanbul, a police crackdown contributed to a small protest over plans to destroy a park exploding in size and intensity, prompting questions if the Erdogan goals are security or authoritarian control. In Brazil, the largest protests...