EMILY ROCHA WRITES – A new study has exposed further censorship of Chinese citizens. Following the release of a documentary exposing the high levels of air pollution in China earlier this year, it was found that users on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, called Weibo, were censored as they discussed the…
Category: China
SOUTH KOREA: Double Diplomatic Parking with Obama
SABRINA VERDUZCO WRITES – The United States and South Korea displayed a new desire to cement a lasting relationship between the two countries on October 16. Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye demonstrated an eagerness to strengthen the US-South Korea alliance on October 16. In a statement from the White…
CHINA: Dreamwriter is a Dream-Killer for Journalists
EMILY ROCHA WRITES – Back in September, a robot called Dreamwriter published a near 1,000 word article in nearly a minute. The business finance report was written in Chinese and entirely understandable, leaving readers to assume it was written by a human. Dreamwriter, developed by “gaming giant” Tencent, has led…
VIETNAM: I Spy With My Little Eye
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – Vietnamese journalist Ha Huy Hoang was arrested and convicted on the grounds of being an alleged spy for China earlier this month. Hoang, who worked for a Foreign Ministry-affiliated publication, will serve a six-year jail term. Hoang’s lawyer, Ha Huy Son, revealed that “[Hoang] was found guilty…
CHINA: Journalists Speak Out on Behalf of Imprisoned Peers
EMILY ROCHA WRITES: During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United States in late Sept., forty-four writers from the PEN American center spoiled the dinner party with a demand for the release of Chinese journalists and writers who are state captives for nothing more criminally offensive than…
HONG KONG: ‘We Are Now in the Soup Together’
TOM PLATE WRITES (courtesy of the South China Morning Post): China, it seems, cannot win for losing. Exports-predator China is always ‘beating us’, bombastic billionaire businessman Donald Trump declaimed yet again on the campaign trail. But his timing on this point could have been better as last week was not…
JAPAN, CHINA, and SOUTH KOREA: When Sorry Isn’t Good Enough
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Big occasions call for speeches that will be remembered for decades. Unfortunately, for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered one that disappointed many. Both China and South Korea wait anxiously every time the Prime Minister is…
CHINA: THE PROBLEM FOR THE U.S.
ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL’S EDITOR IN CHIEF TOM PLATE WRITES: Dean and former UN Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani is widely regarded as one of the most pioneering and influential thinkers in world politics today. The following is an essay based on his recent Harvard lecture. It appears courtesy of The Straits Times…
CHINA, SOUTH KOREA, and JAPAN: To Face the Future, Respect the Past
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES– If China, South Korea, and Japan were humans instead of countries, you might say their relationship status would be “It’s Complicated.” The three are geographical neighbors, and treat each other as such – they are cordial when they need to be, but behind closed doors are not…
TELEVISION REVIEW: Orgies + War = Marco Polo
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – “Marco Polo” is Netflix’s newest warfare-meets-orgy saga. Despite failing with critics, the historical melodrama was greenlit for a second season in January. Since Netflix does not release ratings data, it is safe to assume that the show is doing well among viewers. Marco Polo showcases Asian…
POLITICAL ART: Skype > Government
MIA MARTIN WRITES – ArtReview’s “Most Powerful Artist in the World,” Ai Weiwei was at one point hand-selected by the Chinese government to design the Beijing Olympics Bird’s Nest Stadium. Now, Weiwei has been thrown in jail by his own government and currently has his passport confiscated. The Chinese government…
CHINA: Mistresses – An Exramarital Affair to Remember
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES – Many young girls in China are now pursuing jobs as mistresses of rich businessmen or government officials. Shenzhen, the special economic zone of China, along with Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, are cities that are listed as having the highest occurrence of extramarital affairs. According to…
TELEVISION: Fresh Off the Boat is a Fresh Look at the Asian-American Experience
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – ABC’s newest primetime show, Fresh Off the Boat, reminds us that America’s complicated race relations can be funny, too. Set in 1995, the sitcom follows a Taiwanese-American family’s move from D.C.’s Chinatown to a white middle-class suburb in Orlando, Florida, where they learn how to fit in…
VIETNAM: Hangover City
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— We all have our poisons: Japan sips sake, Korea loves its Soju, the Philippines drink Tanduay rum. As for Vietnam, it would seem that they have finally reached their legal drinking age and the parental units are starting to feel uneasy. Out-of-state media sources have recently shown…
CHINA: Wearing a Face Mask to Breathe #pollutionproblems
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES- Throngs of urbanites wearing face masks remind the world that Beijing still has not successfully dealt with its pollution problem. Its poor air quality has been under international scrutiny since the 2008 summer Olympics. Smog masks and full-face gas masks made headlines in October when thousands of…
CHINA: Uighurs, the Under-Told Story
SHUTING LI WRITES – Who are the Uighurs and why have they become such an issue in East Asia? Here is a simplified analysis – absent of ideology, slant and misunderstanding – that you won’t normally find in the mainstream news media. First of all, we must note that conflict in…