Author Archives: Johan van de Ven

Air pollution policy making and social media in Beijing, 2011-2013

This article is by Johan van de Ven, whose undergraduate dissertation at Oxford University examined the effects of factors such as environmental movements, diplomacy and social media on air pollution policy-making in China. In a study conducted from June to … Continue reading

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Bo Xilai outshone by “people’s judge” Zhai Shuquan

Yesterday, August 22nd, Bo Xilai’s trial got underway in Jinan, Shandong Province. Accused of accepting bribes, corruption, and abuse of office, Bo gave a spirited defence of himself while frequent posts on the court’s official Weibo feed sparked animated discussions … Continue reading

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Chengguan go easy on man who constructed Beijing’s “most awesome illegal building”

The news has been dominated in recent days with stories relating to the somehow sudden discovery of a three-story villa covered in shrubbery sitting atop a 26-story building in western Beijing. Now, as construction (or rather, deconstruction) workers set about … Continue reading

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“Temperature warriors” take on China’s heat wave

The front page of the Nanhu Evening News tells us today that “The news that everyone is paying attention to right now is the heat.” This has been the case for the past few weeks. As we covered on Danwei, newspapers in … Continue reading

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Bo Xilai indicted: “No-one is above the law”

Disgraced former Chongqing Party boss Bo Xilai was indicted yesterday on charges of accepting bribes, corruption, and abuse of official power. Today, Chinese newspapers have responded. The People’s Daily (人民日报) published a strongly-worded editorial under the headline “No one is above the … Continue reading

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Chinese newspapers react to royal baby

The as yet unnamed third-in-line to the British throne emerged into the world at 11:34 pm Chinese time on 22 July. With yesterday’s print already set, the Chinese press today benefited from a luxury not enjoyed by their colleagues in … Continue reading

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Chinese journalists attacked by profiteers in Hainan

Journalists from the Nanguo Metropolis Daily 南国都市报 from Hainan went yesterday to investigate claims of fraudulent activities by a company in Hainan. They emerged with only a few scratches to their cameras, but their colleague from Hainan Live TV was not so … Continue reading

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42 patients escape from mental hospital in Guangxi

On the evening of July 5th, 42 mental patients escaped from the No. 3 People’s Hospital in Teng county, Wuzhou, Guangxi province. A search was carried out, and all 42 patients were relocated by 7:33 am the following morning. Only … Continue reading

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Qingdao cops chase Tibetan Mastiff

The Qingdao Morning Post 青岛早报 reported in a front-page story yesterday that in the early hours of July 3,  a stray Tibetan Mastiff ventured onto the Qingyin highway in Qingdao. From 3 until 11 am, local policemen made seven attempts to capture the dog, … Continue reading

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