Yeah She Wins: Sinica Week

ye-shiwen

This is the Sinica Week, a summary of the most important China stories from the last seven days along with recommendations from guests on Sinica, a weekly podcast about current affairs in China, hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn.

On each week’s Sinica podcast, our guests discuss and choose the top stories about China published in English over the past week. This week’s show is titled Yeah, She Wins – Sinica at the Olympicswith guests Guests were Will Moss of the Imagethief blog Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times.

Story of the Week: The Ye Shiwen Olympics Debacle
Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen’s gold-winning performance in the women’s 400-meter medley was cause for celebration in China, but quickly became the center of an international kerfuffle when John Leonard, American coach and executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, all but accused Ye of doping after her spectacular performance. Leonard said “We want to be very careful about calling it doping” but then went on to accuse Ye of doping which prompted many Chinese newspaper editors and Weibo users to lash out at Leonard in defense of Ye.

There were no standout stories about Ye Shiwen and the doping allegations, but these links tell the story:
CNN: China’s ‘incredible’ Ye denies doping allegations
ESPN: China angry about doping accusation
Global Times: West being petty over Ye’s amazing speed
Pando Daily: China Internet Doyen Kaifu Lee “Tweets” Private Info of US Swim Coach

Story 2: Qidong Protests
Protests in Qidong over government plans to dump waste from a nearby Japanese-owned Oji Paper Co. mill seem to have succeeded, marking another successful (and media-friendly) NIMBY demonstration in China – and stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment.

Wall Street Journal: Qidong Protest Prompts Anti-Japan Sentiment
Cryptome: Qidong China Protest Photos

Story 3: China Establishes City on Disputed Sansha Islands
China has upped the ante in the South China Sea by establishing a prefecture-level city on the Sansha Islands.

Time: China’s Newest City Raises Threat of Conflict in South China Sea

Runners up:
Wall Street Journal: Unease Among the Moneyed Ranks (see also Hurun Report in Chinese)
After Bikini-Girl Ban, Cosplay in Spotlight
The Guardian: Ecotoilets scheme in Inner Mongolia turns out rotten
China Dialogue: Eco-toilet scheme ends in failure
Tech in Asia: China busts massive porn ring

Recommendations from Sinica guests
Andrew Jacobs: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry by Alison Klayman
Will Moss: 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony; PRI’s The World interview with Orville Schell Is China Getting Bad Press at the London Games?
Jeremy Goldkorn: The Daily Show’s interview with economist and Dead Aid author Dambisa Moyoexplaining why she thinks China’s presence in Africa is a good thing; Michael Anti’s TED overview of the Chinese Internet in 2012, Behind the Great Firewall of China

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