Category Archive for 'Science and Technology'

This post has been making the rounds on the intertubes, the version we’re translating comes from Anti-CNN. It’s a satirical guide for prospective Fifty Cents Party members on the many methods they can use to respond to criticism:
Translation
Comment: This chicken egg tastes disgusting.
Response: The duck egg next door is even worse tasting, how could you [...]

Recently, the Chinese internet has been abuzz with the term yakexi [亚克西]. According to a post on Baidu’s Baike, yakexi is the Uyghur word for good. The word has been in general use as a brand name for some time now, but it took on new meaning at this year’s Spring Festival Gala, where one [...]

Twitter: Is it a Trap?

Twitter has been a boon for the Chinese dissident community. It is, in essence, an open forum outside the reach of GFW censorship. It is a place where Tan Zuoren’s sentence can be spread through an entire community within a couple minutes of it being handed down, a place where Ai Weiwei can respond to [...]

Of course China’s internet is open and free. Can Ms Clinton not visit our sites at any time she pleases? Not only China’s internet is open, but China’s jails are open. – We can enter at any time. Our hospitals are also open, we can apply for surgery to check our lungs at any time. Our organised criminal gangs are free and open. – You could be a boss today, but tomorrow you could freely go to jail and become a member. Our corrupt officials are even more free, they can get money whenever they like and then have the possibility of an American green card…

The following is an original translation of a post by lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan. Ironically, the post was quickly deleted from his blog (see the delete notification he got here), but the essay has been reposted here.
Translation
On January 21 Hilary Clinton made a speech at the Newseum journalism museum in Washington about the freedom of the [...]

In terms of video games, there has long been a divide between East and West. Even in the current climate, dominated by American and Japanese developers and publishers, there isn’t as much integration as one might expect. And Chinese games have, historically, failed to find much of a market outside the PRC’s borders. Still, the [...]

A Little Good News

Things have been depressing for China watchers as of late. Increased censorship, Google’s threat to leave, Liu Xiaobo’s sentencing, Gao Zhisheng’s probable execution…it’s been a rough month. But you’ll be happy to know that a few encouraging things have happened!
First of all, the recent reports that “sexting” would be banned appear to have been erroneous. [...]

Sexting: Now Illegal

I wrote about this in our “While You Were Reading About Google” post, but I’m pretty sure no one read it because everyone was caught up in the Google story. Perhaps they still all. This story is worth your time, though, because it has implications that potentially rival, if not surpass, those of Google’s potential [...]

Via Amoiist’s Twitter, a comparison of modern Chinese internet policy with Qing dynasty isolationism from IfLonely (a blog whose motto is “If we want to keep living, we must understand the internet a little”). Anyway, here is our translation of their comparison table.
Translation

A Comparison…

Qing Dynasty Closed-Door Policy
Modern Internet Censorship Policy

Goal
Control the dissemination of religion, [...]

So Google might be leaving China. Ostensibly, the company will be engaging in talks with the government as to how they can proceed to exist in China, but is no longer to follow Beijing’s censorship rules. Various people have speculated about other reasons for Google’s willingness to abandon what will certainly be the largest internet [...]