media - Xinmin evening news, still going strong?

One discussion that came up several times in the past few weeks was the future of the Xinmin Evening news. With a circulation of around two million a day, it still is an evening paper that appeals to many. While elsewhere in the world the vanishing newspaper is high on the media agenda, Chinese dailies like the Xinmin, thanks to roaring revenue increases from advertissements, seem to be doing well, at least on the surface.
But two friends, former Xinmin Evening News readers, returned from abroad and pointed at major changes. First, the quality has gone done dramatically, they said. The former socialist newspaper used to be a exception in the boring media landscape up to ten years ago. Everybody who was something in literature used to write in the daily. It allowed many ordinary Shanghainese to get their own news stories published and was in that way a bit a weblog avant la lettre.
The parents of my friends were still dedicated Xinmin evening news readers, but nobody under 35 seems to read it anymore.
Younger journalists in de paper confirm and say they do not feel at home very well. "The paper nowadays only publishes Xinhua news," says one of them. "I'm not sure I want to stay." That would ten years ago be an unbelievable statement, as a job at the Xinmin evening news used to be an honor, and financially very interesting. When the paper is not going to keep the younger readers and journalists, it will die out.

Books on China and media

internet - Increasing speed II

Today again the internet speed was up to decent levels and I had over 100 mb in podcasts downloaded overnight. Is nanny already to Hainan? Or are we at last getting the bandwith we pay for?

life- Shanghai rock emerges at Tanghui



The rock bar Tanghui at Xingfu Rd 13, where I walked in yesterday evening, is missing a dance floor, but otherwise an unexpected surprise. The famous Shanghai rock band Crystal Butterfly was performing, playing a wide variation of famous covers.
Always thought that Shanghai let this part of the culture up to Beijing, and certainly did not expect this bar at walking distance of my current residence. You can find Tanghui at five minutes walking north of the major downtown campus of Jiaotong University, just off Huaihai Xilu.

Tourism in China

internet - Has skype been blocked?

Wonders Isaac Mao, and indeed getting access is not easy. Strange problems showed up earlier and my conclusion now is that Skype itself is limiting access to its international site in China, to get more traffic to its local partner Tom. So, indeed not the internet nanny, but commercial interests I would say.
That has a problem, also when I look at the way for example Yahoo deals with its Chinese edition. It makes it possible to disable all kind of functions for the Chinese users, that are in place in other countries. For that reasion I use the British edition of Yahoo and not the Chinese one. Guess I will do the same with Skype.

Books on the internet

internet - Google sets up shop in China - interfax

The Russian newswire Interfax discloses that Google has optained green light for an office in China, possibly Shanghai. Google has already a rather rocky history in the mainland, although it was only virtually present and had to operate from Hong Kong. Three years ago the search engine was blocked for weeks by the internet censors. Last year Google News was blamed for blocking part of the internet for Chinese users by no including blocked sources on its news searches. It also participated in the Chinese search engine Baidu.
Interfax quotes the 21th Century Business Herald saying that the former COO of Sohu.com Victor Koo has been hired to head the China-operation. Google is expected to become Baidu's largest competitor.

Books on Google

life - My 'no crime' certificate

No crimes

For those who still might think I'm a serial killer or guilty of other crimes, here is the proof I have a clean record. A small update for those who have been following my efforts to get a certificate that proves I have no criminal record: it can be done. This morning I got the official statement and although I have to admit that it is mainly based on my own solemn statements I have not done anything wrong, I got it done.

Books on crimes

internet - Is the speed going up?

Shanghaied Weblog was yesterday the first to report on an increased speed of the internet here locally. I had a similar impression, but it was hard to qualify it, but working online went very smooth indeed. This morning I suddenly had 100 mb of podcasts on my computer, a big part of the backlog that was waiting for download. More positive experiences?

politics - Long Live Chairman Lien

Colleagues returning form Nanjing told amazing stories about the tour KMT chairman Lien made in the former capital of the Nationalist government Nanjing. They noted a larger number of former KMT-supporters, sometimes have supporting banners, but smaller anti-communists notes at the backside. They would get into trouble as security forces noted those.
The arrival of Lien Chan not only signaled a formal end to the hostilities between Communists and Nationalists (whatever that might mean). Enthusiastic Nanjing citizens even chanted "Long Live Chairman Lien", a slogan that was in the past only used for Chairman Mao. Confusing times.

protest - Japanese restaurant reopens

Ajikura restaurant in Hongqiao

Katayama Teruso(57), president of the Ajikura restaurant, is an ambitious man. "I want to become the Japanese equivalent of Pizzahut in China," the Japanese business man tells us as he joins us earlier this evening in his restaurant in Hongqiao. "But on average I had only 30 percent Chinese customers, so I still have to finetune my cooking for the local taste." He apologizes, as he had already many toasts with other visitors who came to show their support for the Japanese restaurant.

Almost two weeks ago he almost saw his dream burned down as anti-Japanese demonstrators demolished his restaurant and a fire could only narrowly be avoided, while thousands of police men did nothing to prevent the damage. Tonight he opened again, while workers were still repairing the outside and a police car stood next his restaurant. Now he feels reasonably safe again, although new demonstrations on May 4 might still be in the pipeline. "The security forces have encouraged me to reopen as soon as possible," he says. "If they would expect more problems, they would have told me to wait a few days more."

In total he lost more than one million Renminbi for repair costs and lost turnover, not covered by any insurance. "A day after the demolishing government officials of the Changning district came and told me to give any receipts for the repairs," the Japanese business man says. "So, perhaps they think about a partly compensation."

Chinese media have not covered any of the dramatic events for the Japanese business man in Shanghai, although the Japanese media were out this evening in full force. "I expect that the Chinese media feel ashamed of what has happened to me," Katayama Teruo says. "I have no other explanation."

Also at BNN
cn_jp_dialog
On Japanese food

retail - Lianhua turns to top-end

a Lianhua store

This morning I had a bit of a shock when I visited the just reopened Lianhua supermarket at the Grand Mall Plaza in Xujiahui. Gone were all those elderly ladies who were too busy chatting, so they never really had time to clean the place. Men in suits were standing now in front of what was called 'the premier supermarket'. A large number of these men were Japanese too, and also the Chinese men bowed like Japanese to greet me.
That was already enough to let me feel uncomfortable: in supermarkets I would rather like to be ignored. Gone were also the cheap goodies that had made Lianhui so competitive and made them win from for example the Dutch Royal Ahold, who prefered to ignore the wishes of their Shanghainese customers.
Not sure whether Lianhua is on the right track, but I discovered that they have already since 1997 Mitsubishi as a joint venture partner. They have even expanded to Belgium. I rushed off and did my shopping in a neighboring supermarket. Guess I have become too local.

Books on retail

media - Has the KMT already said they were sorry?

Lien Chan and his wife Fang Yu

One question came up in my mind, watching all the media uproar surrounding the visit of Kuomintang leader Lien Chan to the mainland. Did he already apologize for what his party had done in the past? Can anybody help me out here?

Books on Taiwan

protest - Japanese restaurant reopens

Hongqiao 17/4

Remember this picture of the Japanese restaurant just opposite Sun Plaza in Hongqiao after the anti-Japanese demonstrations? Just got a call telling me that it will reopen tomorrow at 6 PM and the owner is inviting people over. Guess that is a good way to show some support for the innocent victims.
On the side: today Chinese media reported that in one case a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai was not destroyed by demonstrators, but by migrant workers that had been hired by a competitor. No more details were available.

Books on Japanese food

internet - Look for the differences

with a proxy

without a proxy

It is only a minor nuisance, but I keep on wondering why Skype is doing this to me. You see two screenshots of the right-top corner of my weblog, on with a proxy and one without a proxy. Skype has some nice buttons that allows people to skype you in one click, only in China that service is blocked. You can still click on the empty frame and skype me, but I keep on wondering why Skype would block a part of their service in China, and whether they would be willing to block more. Just such a nuisance.

Books on public relations

life - Busy, busy, busy

Light blogging, since we also have to make a living now and then. Some of my projects, including the China First Speakers' Bureau, a possibly English translation of my book and a bunch of others need some attention today. Also an upgrade of Chinabiz is on its way, and you can have a preview here. Meanwhile listening to the podcast by Benjamen Walker on global thinking I could listen to thanks to an email like Andrea Leung.
Most projects I cannot talk about yet, but will go on the record later on.

protest - Police and media move against demonstrators

Shanghai is falling behind the party line again, comments ESWN in an overview of remarkable editorials on the anti-Japanese reports. Especially the relations with the anti-protest editorial of the People's Daily in 1989, signalling the Party did not support the students at Tiananmen Square.
This is what the Liberation Daily, the daily paper of the communist party in Shanghai, wrote on April 25, 2005:

A great many facts have proved that the recent illegal march was a criminal action and not a patriotic event: this is not a spontaneous movement by the people, but there is a conspiracy behind the curtain. At the moment, our important mission is to identify clearly the nature of the struggle, to disclose the truth of the matter, to protect the respect of the law and to stop these criminal actions!

There is more, but leaves now very little room to guess. State media are also out in force to document the arrests of paint-throwing demonstrators in the past days, reports AP. Over 40 people have been arrested, often confessing their 'mistakes' handcuffed in front of cameras. Is there more needed to discourage any other protests? Footage of violent demonstrators is shown on TV and citizens are asked to report on them. Must be a loot of footage with half of the demonstrators being police men.

internet - Global thinking and the internet

Isaac Mao gave me this link to the MP3 file of the program NPR-journalist Benjamen Walker has made about blogging during his recent visit to China. It should include interviews with both Isaac and me. I'm currently trying to download a backlog in MP3-files, so have not been able to listen to it yet.
Good news that Isaac can alert me again. Now only is is website up and running again, his RSS-feed seems to be better than ever.
(Download failed again, looks like you have a while to get my review. Blood internet connections here.)

Books on NPR

protest - No revolution in the making

Beijing police monitors demo

Danwei reacts rather pissed off on the traditional way how our American friends frame developments in China. First a piece in the New York Times, 'a hundred cellphone bloom', mobile phones are going to change China. Then Jeff Jarvis and his following follow up. Jeremy comments:

Jarvis is an obsessive and often interesting commentor on the way new media (blogs etc.) are forcing change upon old (TV, newspapers et al.), but you don't read him for China coverage.

I agree, as I do with most of his arguments:

Most urban Chinese youth are not interested in overthrowing the government, even if they occasionally exert their youthful energies with an anti-Japanese protest.

And:

What's the moral of the story? 'A Hundred Cellphones Bloom, and Chinese Take to the Streets' is a great headline for Manhattan, but meaningless in Beijing.

Go for it, Jeremy!

Books on telecom

media - Interfax China launches new site


Interfax, the Russian newswire, has improved its online presence in China with a new website. The old one, done from Moskou, could easily be improved. Traditionally their China service focused on a few key areas, telecom and commodities. The new website still bears those marks and is certainly not a general China business site.
What beats me is that they have set up whole new site without including RSS-feeds. How should I keep track of what they are doing then? I cannot expect to actually go to their website and hope something is happening. Setting up an RSS-feed can be done within an hour and having none is not a good sign.

Books on RSS

economy - No revaluation needed - Stiglitz

Joseph E. Stiglitz

China does not need a revalutation, argue professors Lawrence Lau and Joseph Stiglitz in an (unlinkable) article in the Financial Times today. Both deny the US allegation that the Renminbi is undervalued and should be revalued. There is hardly any inflation and the trade deficit is not as high as could have been expected. And:

America blames China for the bilateral trade deficit; but America's trade deficits are a result of its huge fiscal deficits and the fact that Americans do not save. America's defence that it is doing the world a service by consuming vastly beyond its means is self-serving and rings hollow: US fiscal policies and low savings have become the fun damental source of global imbalances.

Revaluation would only benefit the speculations, they argue and plead for an export tax.

Finally, an export tax would not reward currency speculators. It may even iscourage the speculation that has complicated macro-economic management of China's economy. If potential speculators can be convinced that China would rather impose an export tax than revalue, less "hot money" will flow into China. By contrast, nothing encourages speculators more than a "victory", especially where, as here, it is likely to do little to correct the underlying problems.

(If you are interested in the full article, please drop me an email, I might be able to help you out.)

Books by Joseph E. Stiglitz

Urgently needed: common sense in stead of guanxi – the WTO column

(later also in Chinabiz)
In the past week I have been marginally involved in two cases of corporate disasters that really make you wonder why basic common sense is not more available. Because I’m involved, I cannot disclose the names of the companies or the people involved, but they are both illustrative for debunking the myth of the so-called “guanxi factor” in doing business in China.
Perhaps for me, as a relative outside, it is easier to see the relative lack of common sense, but still.

In case one a freshly returned Chinese manager took over the helm of an existing China operation of a European company. Who else then a Chinese could lead a Chinese operation, even though he had spend most of the past ten years outside China? And it must be admitted, some of the Chinese tricks he still knew very well. He stopped paying his staff, stopped paying his suppliers, cut down on essentials in his services for customers and did not pay the electricity bills.
The headquarters back in Europe were happy, since the operation turned more profitable in a very short time. Strikes broke out among the staff, the labor bureau camped for days in the offices, while the electricity was cut off and angry suppliers added to the atmosphere. Major customers were leaving and efforts to get new customers in failed. It took almost six months for the company to discover their Chinese operation was heading for a disaster.

The other case involves an American media company. While general media are on a slow track down, especially trade publications are doing very well. Of course getting trade publication out in China seems attractive in this booming market. Problem is that getting print licenses has been almost impossible in the past. Fortunately, our CEO has some friends in the for this project relevant Ministry of Health, who can tell him the latest about not-yet official upcoming changing in the media regulations. Very soon, these well-connected Chinese officials tell him, the power to issue print licenses will be deferred to the Ministries in charge.
The all-to-eager CEO agrees to do a pilot project, where against a decent fee for the Ministry he will go ahead. Only because of some cash flow problems the fee of six figures has not yet been transferred to his friends at the Ministry, as serious doubts emerge on the validity of the story. No change of the publication regime is planned, his staff discovers, and the officials involved have no authority to issue any print licenses.

It is for good reasons that those problems emerge. Both cases involve bad managers who are not able to deal with the fast changing situation in China and stick to stories on ‘guanxi’ in China that have been part of the Harvard Business bibles for the past decades. Apart from the speed and intensity, there is nothing different with doing business in China compared to other places. The magic ‘guanxi’ only adds to the confusion and more common sense would be more useful.

Fons Tuinstra

media - Freer print licences plan a scam

Maybe you recall my entry on a possible liberalization of the current print licence regime in China. It proves to be not true, even a scam. The story was told by friends who are running a medical publication with huge prospects. They were told by official at the Ministry of Health about the new licensing possibilities, on their way to a deal, when they discovered it was not true. The officials seems to be eager to make some money, but has no authorization to do this kind of deal. Anyway, rescue troops are on their way to save the company. Typical Chinese style scam. It was too nice to be true.

Books on business in China

internet - Testing a new filter

Screenshot of a failed test: no filter

According to rumors at the BBS's our internet nanny has recently installed a new filtering system called the Golden Shield or Jin Dun. The filtering system, installed in Beijing, supposedly has cost six billion Renminbi (and that sounds to me like an awfull lot of money) and blocks your searches for five to ten minutes if you search for something wrong in Nanny's perception.
Mostly that would happen at Google of Baidu, but should be a generic tool, blocking all search engines. Now, of course I tried it myself and searched for for a string of characters that should get me blocked, but the system failed to trigger off.
Before I conclude that - if the story is true - six billion Renminbi has been wasted on a technological failure, I would like to do some more testing. When you are living in China, could you do a similar search as I did and report me the result? Please let me also know from where you are surfing and what internet provider you use.

Books on firewalls

internet - A thorough wrap-up of the Huaxi riot

After the riot

From New York City ESWN is doing a great job in collecting online information about the Huaxi-riot in Zhejiang province that took place a few weeks ago. It proves yet again what a powerful tool the internet has become, despite ongoing restrictions, in getting at least some decent information.
ESWN starts with an overview of all the reports in Western media and writes:

Are these the sole purveyors of information on this matter? You must be joking. None of these reporters are likely to be admitted anywhere near the scene, as Didi Kirsten Tatlow's story shows. So where did these reports come from? The western reporters were mostly relying on Chinese media, especially the Internet. In fact, there was a torrent of information inside China within the first couple of days. The Dongyang portal even ran an online poll about who was at fault -- the government or the citizens?

It shed some light on some unresolved questions, documents earlier media reports on the devastating polution caused by the chemical factories. And ESWN explains why partly elderly demonstrators could chase away a force 4,000 police men.

According to three persons who are knowledgeable about the armed government forces that were present at Huaxi town, the Dongyang city government assembled the forces through false pretenses. They used the explanations of "mountain climbing competition" and "forest fire drills" to assemble the militia from Huaxi town and neighboring areas. These militiamen have not gone through any kind of training. Most of these so-called militia have dubious qualifications, including outsiders who are unable to find work here. These people were brought over to the Huaxi Secondary School. Most of them do not have any uniforms, so they were given red armbands that identified them as "law-and-order" officers. Once they got to Huaxi Secondary School, they were informed that there was a riot and their mission was to "quell the riot." Immediately, some groups demanded to go home. So this was an undisciplined and unmotivated force that had no intention of attacking the townspeople.

For the analysis a great number of biased sources are used, both from a governmental perspective and from opposition groups like FLG in the US. But by leaving out some of the compulsory propaganda, a rather good look at this puzzle emerges.

Books on riots in China

labor - From the Shenzhen factories


Pun Ngai, now professor at HKUST, wrote a book on the labor conditions in Shenzhen. I have order a copy for review, after reading a rather enthusiastic review in the Taipei Times:

The book, though frequently academic in tone and perspective, nevertheless gives a vivid idea of life in the factory. There are details of the cumulative lack of sufficient sleep (all the workers spend the first half of their one day off a week sleeping), company pay stoppages for infringements of the rules, issues between workforce and management over such things as the radio, attempts by workers to slow down the production line due to exhaustion, and so on. The monotony of the work is so extreme that even reading about it induced in me a sense of fatigue and disgust.

Nevertheless: this reviewer thinks highly of the book:

This book could have the influence of Charles Dickens's Hard Times or Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It's moving and shocking, and presents a world that won't easily be changed. But perhaps a more popular edition ought to be prepared containing only the author's personal experiences, though extensive interviews and media coverage will probably bring the fruits of her embedded fly-on-the-wall reportage to a wider public than just the academy.

Order "Made in China"

labor - Uniden strikes again for a union


Twelve thousand workers at the Japanese Uniden plant in Shenzhen have been on strike again since April 17 to support their demand for a trade union, the China Labor Bulletin reports. Uniden is a familair name, as they had their first strike in December, here in the International Herald Tribune.
In December, according to the report, the Japanese company agreed to install the compulsory union, but the promise was broken by a new Japanese manger and organizers of the strike were sacked.

The workers are striking in protest against the Uniden management's refusal to
allow them to establish a trade union. According to a message posted on a mainland online bulletin board, the strike began after managers at the cordless phone firm, which is a large supplier to the giant American retailer Wal-Mart, issued a statement to the Chinese workforce containing "threatening and insulting language."

The workers have also used the current wave of anti-Japanese protests to resume their strike.
More news here.

Books on China