How much influence has China over Burma?

William Overholt

Very little, says William Overholt, director of the Rand 's center for Asian Pacific policy and Chinabiz Speaker in the Los Angeles Times.

"They actually have very limited leverage, as all foreigners do," said William Overholt, who advised the pro-democracy coalition of 21 tribal groups that created the Provisional Revolutionary Government in Burma in 1989 and is now director of Rand's Center for Asia Pacific Policy. "The whole theory of this government is to cut itself off from the world so no one can influence it."

More in the LA Times. For those who have been following the conflict in North-Korea, the argument must not come as a surprise. Initially, China was also assumed to be in a position to change North-Korea's policies, politely or with economic sanctions. But its leverage proved to be much less than the US, as North-Korea was mainly eager to get the United States as a player in the talks. Also here it took a while before the China-experts could really made themselves heard in the political drumbeating.

Getting Yunnan coffee free delivered

Compared to the real problems, say Burma and the pollution, the uninterrupted flow of good and affordable coffee is of course a minor one, I seldom address in this weblog. But fortunately also smaller worries to get picked up and in September Joan Zhang wrote to me, telling that she will be delivering the delicious Yunnan coffee in Shanghai.

It had slipped my mind and I forgot to inform my Shanghai-based readers to tell them about this new way to get their daily fix. But here it is. Only 32 renminbi and free delivery in big parts of Shanghai. My supply of European coffee will still last for a month, but after that I will use this service,

An amazing new media operation at Fudan's journalism school

Rich Beckman

Today I went to the Journalism School of Fudan University to visit the newsroom of the Special Olympics. Rich Beckman of the university of North Carolina, leading the operation, had invited me over. I had already reported about their new media project and braced myself for some surprises, going over.
First surprise happened already outside Fudan University. I was reasonable familiar with the sloppy building that housed the journalism school, including countless other academic institutions at a building opposite the main gate of Fudan University at Handan Road. But the last part of my trip was different from what I was used to and the taxi dropped me in front of an enormous building I had never seen. I had to call for help to show me where to get in, as there were many choices.
One of the students said the building had just opened and she only was it when she returned from her training at the university of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She was as amazed as I was. "They have studio's huge enough to drive four trucks in," said Rich Beckman.
He was overseeing dozens of mostly unused computers, as his 90 teams were running around in the city to shoot footage, they could use to put online in the evening. For political reasons each district in Shanghai was hosting a different sport of the Special Olympics, creating a logistical nightmare, as the teams had to come back with the material for editing. For the project four editorial rooms at different universities were fully equipped by corporate sponsors. Richman: "In that way no team has to travel longer than an hour to get to their newsroom."
After two days of sporting activities, the process was already running behind on the target, as they wanted to have 7,500 dedicated pages for the sporters online as fast as possible. In tagging technology they wanted to make sure that the right footage shows up at the right page "but it will be almost impossible not to make some mistakes here," according to Beckman.
They decided not to use other tools that belong to the social media, he acknowledged. "When you let people talk back, in all those different languages, you have not way to check who is saying what. Our hosts would not like that."
For the Fudan students this is very much a learning experience. Some went for training to the US, and came back to train their fellow students. Richman and his team arrived ten days before the opening of the Special Olympics to give extra training. "We hope we can leave some experience behind," he says.
On the way back I found the old building of the journalism school back, at the other side of the campus. Much of the road had been restructured, justifying the huge pool of mud Handan Road was for years. Only the at the time promised subways was not there, that had become a tunnel for cars.

Quality over price - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Chinabiz Speaker Shaun Rein takes on the perception that Chinese consumers go for price and the price only, here in Forbes. When international companies play their cards right, the Chinese consumers are willing to pay a premium for quality, especially when they are competing domestic Chines companies.

The trend for Chinese consumers is to buy items that are more expensive and of better quality. In other words, their frugality of recent years has been more a function of low disposable incomes than a cultural preference for shoddy yet cheap goods. How else can one explain BMW's smashing success in China, where the Middle Kingdom has become its fastest-growing market and second-biggest buyer of the flagship 7 Series?

That is of course true for those segments of the market who can afford to buy a BMW. But that segment is growing and, Rein argues:

Companies that understand the fear Chinese consumers have about being sold shoddy goods, and position themselves properly to assuage these fears, will be the beneficiaries of increased domestic consumption in the coming decade.

"Forget about 'Great Firewall' as catchphrase"

the Great Sieve?

Silicon Hutong pleads against the continued usage of the "Great Firewall" at a catchphrase to describe the Chinese internet censorship.

I know, it may sound like a lot of semantics, but words are important. So many of us here in China complain when people outside of the country have outdated or inaccurate views on China. If we use inaccurate, inapt catchprases just because they sound good on the tongue, not only are we propagating the wrong impression, we are setting the rest of the world up to take actions vis-a-vis China that would be inappropriate and wrong.

I agreed with David's argument, but have some problems with the alternative he suggests: Checkpoint China. Sounds too much Cold-warrish, like Checkpoint Charlie. Any other bidders? The Great Sieve?

Special Olympics 2007: Groundbreaking new media event

(Also published at Poynter's tidbits.)
Attending events remotely, following proceedings through streamed technology and otherwise, has become more common over the past few years. But in the coming week, Shanghai will be breaking a couple of records in this field.
The Special Olympics 2007 (meant for athletes with intellectual limitations) starts Oct. 2 in Shanghai. The achievements of 7,500 athletes will be broadcast on a special site, Special Olympics Live.
Each athlete will have his or her own page on the site, updated 24 hours per day. Nearly 300 university students, including 15 students from the University of North Carolina, will work around the clock to capture footage of every single athlete and then immediately edit and upload content to the site. This way, supporters unable to attend the World Games can watch the athletes from their country compete.
This groundbreaking new media event is mainly focusing on friends and family members who can't make it to Shanghai. However, it will also become a benchmark for upcoming sporting events like the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Special Olympics Live is a collaborative effort between Special Olympics and the University of North Carolina with support from Fudan University School of Journalism, Shanghai International Studies University, East China Normal University, Shanghai University and Western Academy Beijing.
The broadcast will kick off with the Oct. 2 opening ceremony that will be nothing short of sensational. I live opposite the Shanghai Stadium, where large-scale rehearsals have been taking place for days. Competitions will start Oct. 3.

Lost in Beijing

Thomas Crampton noted this scene in Beijing and now wrongly assumes this says something about Chinese couples in general. For me it is obvious that this is a Shanghainese couple in Beijing. Real Beijing men do not carry handbags, unless they are gay of course. In Shanghai there is no way men can avoid that ordeal.
On top of that, the bag looks pretty fake and that is a second indication the couple is from Shanghai.
In Shanghai women have a whole set of techniques to domesticize their men and letting them carry the bag is a way to show the outside world they have succeeded.

For all you wanko's

The holiday has started. Time for a lighter tone, so I had another look at the Chinglish group at Facebook. Not yet on Facebook.com? You should think about it. The picture has been taken in Hong Kong.