Saturday, May 25, 2013, 1:25 AM CST – China

Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity

As China has industrialized, cancer has leap-frogged other illnesses to become a leading cause of death, with poor diagnoses and treatments contributing to spiraling death rates. Can an overstretched

Visual Report

Editorial

It is time for the State to protect the property it claims to own

The State Council has pledged to enshrine property rights into law for the first time. But this could be the most daunting task it has

Commentary

Delivering justice means making the police accountable

As a newly-discovered wrongful conviction rekindles public ire over the use of torture to extract confessions, the government is under pressure to deliver on its

Special Report

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Blessing or Burden?

A shrinking trade surplus and economic uncertainty are looming over China’s new leadership. Their response has been a renewed call for further urbanization to boost domestic consumption. But are even bigger cities the solution?

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Flipping Farmland

While China’s new leadership has stated its aims to liberalize rural land policy as a part of a grand urbanization strategy, it seems reluctant to proceed

History

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Censorship Survivor

In 1989, in the wake of the Tian’anmen Square incident, the historical epic The Birth of New China was almost pulled due to its controversial portrayal of China’s former leaders

Society

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A Malignant Issue

China’s cancer rate has outpaced all expectations, hitting a wide range of demographics. Can the country deal with it?

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Refusing Treatment

Choices can have a big influence on China’s cancer problem, but whose matter more – those of individuals, or of policymakers?

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State of the Union

Lacking real independence and expertise, one of China’s first elected labor union leaders faces dismissal after a vote of no confidence

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No More Miracles

The death of Wu Renbao, the Party secretary who led impoverished Huaxi village to relative prosperity, has opened up debate on the viability of Wu’s successful, yet controversial, economic model

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Born Defensive

In a country that often brings charges against defense attorneys upon the conviction of their clients, lawyer Chi Susheng has stood out simply by standing up to power

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Taking Back the Trash

China’s 14-year blanket ban on polystyrene containers is to be lifted on May 1. Banned in the name of public health and environmental protection, officials are now using the same arguments to justify returning polystyrene to the domestic market. Is lobbying now the norm in China’s corridors of power?

News Brief

Netizen Watch

Politics

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The Asset of Ambiguity

Blurred boundaries between central and local power are at the root of the disjointed enforcement of central policy in China. The recent “re-interpretation” of housing price regulations in local jurisdictions is a case in point

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Permanently Provisional

Many“provisional”regulations hurriedly imposed decades ago remain in force in China. But why?

Economy

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Data Discrimination

China’s State-owned telecom giants have enlisted the help of the industry regulator to impose charges on a hot smartphone app that is eroding their profits

Culture

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In Pursuit of Truth

In his novel Winter of Bewilderment, writer Hu Fayun tries to dissect the impact of the Cultural Revolution through individual stories, rather official interpretations

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ROCK FOR THE MASSES

Rock singer Wang Feng’s dream of going mainstream is coming true

Environment

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No Introduction Necessary?

The controversial introduction of seven non-native white rhinos into Pu’er National Park in southern China has been marketed as a “re-introduction” of an extinct, unrelated local species. However, critics claim it is an attempt to kick-start a rhino-farming operation to feed China’s insatiable demand for rhino horn

Outside In

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Sun, Sand and Sea Battles

While firmly on the business map, the northeastern port city of Dalian rarely features on a tourist’s itinerary. That is a shame

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Breaking it Fast

Essay

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I do. And…cut!

“What on earth did I just drink?” he asks me wordlessly. I give an apologetic shrug and move silently to the next table.

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Finding “The One”

However, brides in China don’t form as much of an attachment to their wedding dress. Rather, they’re looking for “the one of many.”

Media Focus

Cultural Listings

China By Numbers

What They Say

  • We sold it all to you.

    A villager in Dakuai, Henan Province, when asked by a reporter what the village had done with its crop of rice irrigated with contaminated waste water from a local paper mill.

  • Entrepreneurs should be a nation’s most treasured group, much more valuable than politicians and economists, because the future depends on pioneers.

    Liu Qiangdong, CEO of JD.com, a leading online retailer, calling for a more pro-business attitude.

  • Both sides are inflamed. They challenge one another mostly out of a sense of pride.

    People’s Liberation Army commissar Liu Yuan on China’s stormy relationship with Japan.

  • The longest distance in the world is between the baby in your arms and their foreign milk formula.

    Microblog star Yao Chen on Hong Kong’s recent restrictions on the export of infant formula to the mainland.

  • Private enterprises may flirt with government, but must not climb into bed with it… In a society that drives virtuous girls to prostitution, it is a constant but necessary fight to maintain a bottom line.

    Economist Xu Xiaonian on the need for enterprise to maintain a certain distance from politics.

Editor's Picks

Outsmarted

As China draws towards overtaking the US as the world’s…[More]

Prize Fighter

Elevated into the State-approved pantheon of great Chinese writers thanks to…[More]

Out of Line, Out of Reach

After shocking photographs of kindergarten teachers physically abusing their students went…[More]

Factory Flight

With American multinationals rethinking their global production strategy, China may no…[More]

Dams in Distress

In 1975, over 60 dams collapsed after a rainstorm in Zhumadian city, Henan…[More]

Development’s Dirty Side

As Chinese gangsters have become an inconvenient social problem in Angola…[More]

Tea Thieves?

A private herbal tea manufacturer has gone head-to-head with a State-owned…[More]

Fast and Furious

With tens of thousands of road deaths each year, and graphic…[More]

Our Time Is Coming

As China’s fashion consumers become more savvy, independent designers are…[More]

“Write More, Talk Less”

Lars Moberg: What was your initial reaction when you received the…[More]

Plan B

China has failed to mothball its unperforming B-share market despite ever-mounting…[More]

Gaomi Style

Writer Mo Yan draws heavily on his experiences in his hometown…[More]

Purchasing Power

Conflict escalation on both sides of the East China Sea has…[More]

Letters of the Law

The latest edition of the Modern Chinese Dictionary has been criticized…[More]

Delusion or Reality?

Movie director Li Yu, in her new work Double Xposure, has…[More]

Colonial Expedition

A lot can happen in a year, especially in a Chinese…[More]

Under the Knife

As the public grows increasingly sick of the current medical system,…[More]

Holiday Blues

Chaos on the roads and overcrowded tourist sites have re-ignited debate…[More]

Net Worth

Being the largest seafood exporter and a major consumer of wild…[More]

What do Chinese People Want?

“I wish I could do what you do.”…[More]

Police the Police

The gang rape of an 11-year-old girl abducted by a prostitution…[More]

What’s Yours Is Mined

The continuous influx of mining operations into China’s wild west…[More]

Straighten Up and Fly Right

Chinese local governments, the main force behind this round of economic…[More]

Tragic Figures

As the number of elderly people who have lost their only…[More]

Blood and Stone

On a frigid morning in January 1937, the mutilated body of a…[More]

Long Distance Breakup

The breakup was more of an adult affair, carried out via…[More]

Titanic Losses

Shareholders in Chinese shipping concerns are seeking reassurances that an economic…[More]

Safety Second

Patchy safety standards, State-run testing centers invested in the auto industry,…[More]

No Bank for the Broke

Globally acclaimed microfinance bank Grameen has run into difficulty in China,…[More]

A Different Perspective

Very few prominent Japanese have sided with China in the Diaoyu…[More]