Categories: Human Rights-Olympics

China Bans Lip-Synching

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 14

Readers of this blog will remember the minor furor caused after the discovery that angel faced 9 year old Lin Miaoke was actually lip-synching while another child sung backstage when...

Chinese Human Rights Champion Wins Sakharov

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 24

The decision by the European Parliament to award the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday to Hu Jia has clearly rankled those on the top rungs of the...

Nobel Peace Prize is one event China would rather lose

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 09

2008 has certainly been a banner year for China. It hosted the Olympic Games and topped the gold medal tally. Zhai Zhigang became a national hero in September, after becoming...

The Beijing Olympics and Openness in China

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on August 28

I've just been reviewing reader comments on the recent story I did "Beijing Olympics: Winners and Losers," August 25, 2008. Thanks for the varied comments. To a number of you...

Great Firewall of China silences iTunes

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on August 21

In what appears to be the latest example of the long arm of Chinese censorship, the authorities have been blocking access to the iTunes library for the past several days....

Olympic Harassment of Reporters and China Activists Continues

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on August 14

Even as new Olympics records are set and an overall spirit of festivity prevails in Beijing, there is more bad news for some journalists and activists. A British journalist covering...

Dog meat-free Olympics

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on July 14

In yet another effort to ensure a trouble-free Olympics, Beijing authorities have announced that they are banning more than a hundred officially-designated Olympic restaurants in China’s capital from including dog...

Youtube, Burma and Hollywood

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on May 05

Last Friday when Mia Farrow spoke at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club here in Hong Kong she was asked by the Consul General of Saudi Arabia why she had not taken...

Will protestors get doused in Hong Kong torch relay?

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on April 30

I have to admit I’m a lot more stoked about the Hong Kong leg of the Olympic Torch Relay on May 2 more than I’d originally thought I would...

Olympic Jitters Start Impacting HK Business

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on April 24

The furor surrounding the Olympic torch relay is causing nightmares for Carrefour and other French businesses in China. The impact is now extending to the hub for foreign business in...

Kudos to Beijing's Efforts for Smoke-Free Olympics

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on April 01

Judging from the many comments from Chinese readers of my last blog on foreign broadcast bans from Tiananmen Square during the Olympics, you’d think that the international media have...

Tiananmen Square Media Blackout for Olympics

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on March 24

In the latest example of ham fisted public relations management by Beijing, the government reportedly plans to ban live film coverage from Tiananmen Square during the Olympics, leaving international broadcast...

Hong Kong Ain't No World Class City

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on March 13

It’s a rare day indeed when a diplomat will be truly frank when dealing with reporters. It’s even rarer still when one makes his or her comments on the record,...

Chinese shoe maker sponsors US Ping Pong Team

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on March 06

Talk about putting a new twist on ping-pong diplomacy. Chinese sports apparel and shoemaker Li-Ning has agreed to sponsor the US National Table Tennis Team for the next five years....

China Frees Reporter "Spy"

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on February 05

The release of Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong from Chinese prison today [Feb. 5] is wonderful news for him and his family [and his newspaper, the Singapore Straits Times.]...