A whole new set of terms is emerging in China to describe the country’s growing national power. Taken together, these form what might be called a “discourse of greatness,” or shengshi huayu (盛世话语). China’s discourse of greatness includes such terms as “China in ascendance” (盛世中国), “the China path” (中国道路), “the China experience” (中国经验), “the China […]
By Qian Gang — On January 26, Ren Xinghui (任星辉), a young Beijing resident, decided to stand up against China’s Ministry of Finance. Why? Because his request that income and expenditures for the Three Gorges Project be made public in accord with China’s National Ordinance on Government Information Release was rejected by the ministry. Capital […]
By Qian Gang — I often urge my friends and colleagues in Hong Kong to come to grips with the paradoxical pattern of “step, standstill and back-step” (进步/止步/退步) that characterizes China’s development today. I try to explain how China does not lend itself to simple labels like “free” or “unfree.” As we broach this now […]
By David Bandurski — Earlier this month The Journalist Monthly, a magazine published by Shanghai’s Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group, which also publishes the English-language Shanghai Daily, ran a lengthy article recounting the most important Chinese media events of 2009. They were listed out month by month, with brief summaries citing news coverage and including […]
By Qian Gang — This has been a winter of unusual weather patterns in China’s media landscape. And the latest drop in temperature came on November 28, as many television viewers in China discovered they could no longer receive programs from Hong Kong-based Sun TV. It is clear now that Sun TV broadcasts to the […]
By Qian Gang — On National Day this month, as the capital was swept up in waves of carefully contrived jubilation, my thoughts turned to China’s future. What would China be like on the 70th anniversary in 2019? On that day, just over the horizon, would we witness a replay of this pageantry? Would party […]
By Qian Gang and David Bandurski — This has been a delicate year for China’s leaders, who must cross a veritable minefield of sensitive anniversaries. There was the 90th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, the 50th anniversary of the Lushan Conference, the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. And of course we have, just around […]
By David Bandurski — Ever since President Hu Jintao’s speech on June 20, 2008, about the need to “actively set the agenda,” officials across China have set to work finding new and creative ways to massage public opinion. We’ve offered plenty of analysis and commentary on Hu’s new approach to news and propaganda, so we’ll […]
By David Bandurski — Two research collections recently published by the China Media Project were among 44 books selected to the celebrity recommendation list at this month’s 2009 Hong Kong Book Fair. Local books on this prestigious list are compiled on the basis of recommendations by 34 Hong Kong celebrities, who also offer reviews of […]
By Qian Gang (钱钢) — It has been two weeks already since the July 5 Urumqi incident. A great many friends of mine on the mainland, even as they denounce the violence unleashed in Xinjiang, have expressed profound concern over the further tightening of the political climate in China, and its chilling effect on political […]
