Archive for the 'AP China' Category
Monday, January 12th, 2009
On the Media explores how the media “sausage” is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of “making media,” especially news media, because it’s through that lens that we literally see the world and the world sees us.
While maintaining the civility and fairness that are the hallmarks of public radio, OTM tackles sticky issues with a frankness and transparency that has built trust with listeners and led to more than a tripling of its audience in five years.
Since OTM was re-launched in 2001, it has been one of NPR’s fastest growing programs, heard on more than 200 public radio stations. It has won Edward R. Murrow Awards for feature reporting and investigative reporting, the National Press Club’s Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism and a Peabody Award for its body of work.
OTM among my favorite podcasts. I rarely miss an episode (one hour per week on Fridays)
Your task: For 7 extra credit points, be the FIRST to listen to the following OTM episode and post responses to the questions listed. The second person will get 4 points. Everyone should listen to this voluntarily (are you used to my dogma yet?).
Listen to the 2 January 2009 Show, broadcasted from China in the lead-up to the Olympic Games (note the three separate streams on the OTM webpage)
1. What is the significance of 3T, 1F?
2. What’s the significance of the perpetual panda stealer?
3. Describe a significant controversy surrounding “Wolf Totem”.
4. What is the dilemma journalists face with regard to martyrs?
5. Cite 2-3 other interesting perspectives that you learned form this episode.
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
The Lius are China’s first-generation billionaires, born into a world of Mao suits, food rations, price controls and Communist slogans. And the story of how they made their fortune is considered one of the guiding myths of China’s Communist party, a symbol of this country’s transformation over the last 30 years, since its unlikely embrace of capitalism. But their story also betrays the contradictions of modern China — a country where the average factory worker makes less than $50 a week.
“The puzzle is not why the Liu brothers succeeded, but why there are not more like them in China,” says Huang Yasheng, who teaches at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an expert on Chinese entrepreneurs. “Rural China represents a vast pool of entrepreneurial capabilities and substantial business opportunities.”
As the global economy enters its first drastic downturn since China opened to the world, analysts say this country is searching for a more sustainable path to growth.
Read on from The IHT
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
Explore this riveting collection of pictures which speak thousands of words about China’s transformation.
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
For the past two decades, China’s people have become richer but not much freer – and the Communist Party has staked its future that the Chinese will live with that tradeoff.That, at least, is the conventional wisdom. But with the Olympic Games opening in Beijing on Friday, training a spotlight on China’s rights record, that view obscures a more complex reality: Political change, however gradual and inconsistent, has made China a significantly more open place for ordinary people than it was a generation ago.
Read on from the IHT
Posted in AP China, Dictatorship | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said: “I hope that Amnesty International can take off the tinted glasses they have been wearing for years and see China in a fair and objective way, and do something more constructive.”
Read the full report
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
The relationship between Sudan and China is widely believed to be a marriage anointed in oil: China needs it and Sudan has it, and the two have been in business for years. But the Sudanese say their bond with China runs deeper than any oil well and goes back more than 100 years to a man who proved the adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Listen to the six part series here
Posted in AP China, Other News | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Although nominally “autonomous,” Xinjiang is anything but. The Chinese government restricts the use of the Uighur language, has closed many mosques and monitors clerics, and gives preferential treatment to the Han Chinese who migrate here in increasing numbers. The situation has only gotten worse since Sept. 11. China has used the specter of Islamist terrorism to crack down on every form of Uighur political activity.
Read more at Slate
Also, here is a student-created Power Point Presentation on the Western Regions of China
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Monday, November 19th, 2007
How and why did this transformation [of village elections] come about? And how do grassroots elections work in the context of continuing Chinese Communist Party rule? Whose interests do they serve? Answer these questions and more by reading: Village Elections: Democracy from the Bottom Up?
Reading Responses to White
If you are interested, learn more by reading these 1 page articles:
ELECTION DAY FOR CHINESE IS PARTY TIME
No Contest: The Party Still Fears the Voter
Posted in AP China | No Comments »
Monday, November 19th, 2007
Your task is to utilize your textbook and the BBC site Inside China’s Ruling Party as a means to summarize the structures and functions of the institutional framework of the PRC.
Your are to summarize and clarify this opaque political system. You are not to editorialize.
Your summary should be one single-spaced page.
You must post your summary in the comments section below (it might say “no comments” if none have been published)
You are encouraged to read and respond to the posts of your classmates (though this is not necessary per the parameters of your assignment).
Good Luck
BTW, this BBC site is an awesome means to understand Chinese politics. Feel free to peruse it.
Posted in AP China | 5 Comments »