REFLECTIONS IN A CHINESE EYE

Yang Rui and Me

By C. Custer

Many people have asked me to write a follow-up to my original post on Yang Rui. For personal reasons¹, I have been compelled to keep a low profile and refrain from speaking publicly about this for a little while, which unfortunately has given some people the impression that Yang Rui’s legal threats have cowed me into silence. I guess in a way that has been true. Anyway, enough silence.

(However, I will reiterate here that Yang Rui’s threats had nothing to do with my departure from China. My wife and I had decided to leave back in 2011, and she filed the first part of her US visa application in January of this year, well before Yang Rui made the weibo comment that launched all this in May.)

Since it has been a while, let’s review his original weibo post, which kicked off this whole thing (translation via WSJ’s China Real Time):

The Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can’t find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch² and closed Al-Jazeera’s Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing.

So there was that, and many people responded.

Run over CHINA GEEKS and read the complete post.

 

I'v watched many Yang Rui shows and, for the most part, thought them informative.  He does tend to bulldoze guests with whom he holds a threat to the ticket.  However, I did not see the vindictave, destructive side of him.  Mr. Custer reveals the true Mr Yang Rui and his dialogue show on CCTV.

William Box                                                                                                  

Illegal Satellite TV in China Brings CNN to the Masses

A black market for satellite TV is booming in China as the middle class grows there, bringing foreign channels like CNN and MTV to a much wider audience than allowed by the government.

Satellite TV is legal only for select viewers in China. Content deemed pornographic, violent or threatening to state interests is also banned, a potential roadblock for a range of overseas programming. News stations like CNN and BBC, for instance, are unafraid to air criticisms of the Chinese government that would bring harsh punishment upon a domestic TV station. But satellite dishes that pick up those and other foreign channels, such as ESPN and HBO, have grown popular among white-collar workers despite all the rules.

In 2008 in China, more than 10 million satellite dishes shipped that could receive overseas signals with the standard DVB-S (Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite), according to market researcher iSuppli.

"In principle, this market is prohibited," said iSuppli analyst Horse Liu.

Read more at PCWorld

Pay-TV in Asia set to double over five years

Pay television revenues in Asia-Pacific are set to double over the next five years to $60bn and boost profit margins for operators, according to a new study.

Industry dynamics will also offer consolidation and sale opportunities for existing operators, which include foreign private equity groups and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, said Media Partners Asia, the research consultancy.

Regional pay-TV revenues – spanning cable, satellite and telecom networks – were $32bn last year and are forecast to surpass $72bn by 2010, according to the report to be published on Thursday.

MPA said that the regional growth rates – which have attracted the attention of foreign media groups – were driven by rising penetration of pay-TV in countries such as India and China and the growth of digital services.

Read more at Financial Times

China to pilot 3D TV shows this year

China will start trialing the broadcast of 3D TV shows in some cities this year, said Du Baichuan, a deputy chief engineer of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the Guangzhou Daily reported Wednesday.

The SARFT is preparing a standard for the country's 3D TV industrial chains, and its technological base is almost ready, Du said.

The recent successes of 3D movies are attracting consumer electronics enterprises, which hope to profit from the 3D family entertainment sector, Xie Biao, vice president of Sony Corp (China), said Tuesday, adding consumers are eager to have a 3D cinema in their home.

China Daily

Oprah Winfrey's new show to take her to India, China

CHICAGO: Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, whose eponymous 25-year old TV show is concluding next year, on Thursday announced a slew of new programmes for her upcoming channel, including a global series that will take her to India and China.

A total of 15 new series have been announced for Winfrey's channel 'OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network', which will launch on January 1, 2011.

One of the five new shows announced today is 'Oprah's Next Chapter', in which Winfrey will have "riveting conversations with the people we all want to hear from, in some very unexpected places".

"Oprah's getting untethered from the chairs, opening up her world and taking you with her. From the Taj Mahal to her beloved oak tree, the Great Wall to her own teahouse, it is a whole new kind of Oprah show," OWN chief executive officer Christina Norman said in a statement.

Read more at Times of India

A thriller life for little Xiao Bao

Four-year-old Wang Yiming, better known as Xiao Bao, may be the youngest-ever impersonator of Michael Jackson. The boy performed on The Ellen Show, a US TV talk show hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, in February. The moment he met DeGeneres, he gave her a big hug and a lollipop. Through an interpreter, he said he brought the lollipop from Beijing.

Then in full Michael Jackson attire, he danced to the music of Dangerous. When Ellen promised him a tour of Disneyland, he immediately imitated Donald Duck, which amused the audience.

His dancing is hardly an accurate imitation of Jackson but the naivete that only a 4-year-old contains and conveys won applause and screaming.

Read more at China Daily

Lin Yu Chun Sings Whitney Houston's, I Will Always Love You

A Chinese game show contestant sings a marvelous rendition of Whitney Houston's - 'I Will Always Love You.'  The sound is terrible, but bear with it - this young boy can sing!

China's Amazing Race

Disney-ABC International Television (DAIT) Asia Pacific signed an agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) last Wednesday to produce a local version of the popular reality show The Amazing Race in China, entitled China Rush.

The Amazing Race is a reality TV show in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams and fulfill tasks related to their destination and its culture. With a similar format, the 12-episode China Rush will be shot at locations across China, with the final destination set in Shanghai where World Expo 2010 will take place.

"China Rush will showcase the best of Chinese culture, cities, cuisine and cordiality, as participants traveling far and wide across our great nation throughout the game show," said Xu Hao, assistant to the president of SMG.

The weekly show will premiere in early August on SMG's International Channel Shanghai (ICS) network, with English dialogue and Chinese subtitles.

Chen's Xi Yi postponed

Director Chen Kaige's first open-air show Xi Yi could be postponed due to the drought in Yunnan Province where the show will take place.

According to its promoter, Pacy Age Culture Communication, the premiere date may be changed from the original April 28 to after July, when Yunnan enters its rainy season.

Detailed plans of change are expected to be announced in early April.

Meanwhile, the composition and production of Xi Yi's musical elements have almost finished, with Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi in charge.

Hisaishi is currently in Beijing, working with the orchestra for the recording.

People's Daily

Cloud Computing Stirs Discussions in China, India

With 2.5 Billion People, You'd Think These Countries Might be Influential

A well-known computer scientist in China is touting the potential of Cloud Computing to start a long march towards developing a legitimate software market.

"China has been plagued by piracy for the last 20 years and that unfortunately has caused China not to have a software industry," said Kai-Fu Lee (former head of Google China) in remarks at a conference in Abu Dhabi as originally reported by Reuters India. "But (with Cloud Computing that problem is) irrelevant now, because software distribution is shifting from packaged software, from end user license, to cloud Internet distribution. and when you're on the cloud you gotta pay."

Meanwhile, India may be forced to swim upstream in its software sector, as Cloud Computing takes over many maintenance tasks that were previously outsourced to India from the US, according to Microsoft's Director for Cloud Services in India, Vikas Arora. Speaking at a Microsoft Azure announcement in New Delhi, Arora said “the cloud will take away some of that regular maintenance role. You have to see this as a continuum across the world. Think of the IT department in the US or Europe, they have been forced to upscale. For them, outsourcing was the catalyst, cloud could be ours (here in india)."

Complete article at CLOUD Computing Journal.

China holds 71 responsible for state TV station fire tragedy

BEIJING — China Wednesday blamed 71 people for a huge blaze at its new state television headquarters that engulfed a hotel, killed a fireman and left a 24-million-dollar clean-up bill, state media reported.

One firefighter died after inhaling toxic fumes while battling the fire at the Mandarin Oriental's nearly finished flagship hotel inside the CCTV complex in February last year, while a further six were injured.

Zhao Huayong, who stepped down as head of the station in May, will receive an "administrative demotion along with a severe warning" from the ruling Communist Party of China, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a government statement.

The release said a further 44 suspects will be prosecuted while 27 will be disciplined, according to Xinhua.

View article at AFP.

(Dick) Tracy & (Mr.) Magoo - twosome for the times

Charley - Mr. Magoo's Houseboy

 

Joe Jitsu - A Dick Tracy Detective

Ever wonder why America has such a difficult time with her relations with China?  I do.  All the time.

A partial answer is: American culture.  Media:  Movies, newspapers, literature, television and (children)cartoons.  All use negative images of Chinese (Asians), especially during the period when I was growing up.

Which do you believe to be the least likely to portray the Chinese in an unfavorable light? 

Did you choose cartoons?  You're right.

Magoo, Dick Tracy, Bugs Bunny. Countless others.  We grew up with them.  Each was as much a part of Americana as baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet.  Each icon in this era of cartoon history contained the prejudice, stereotypes, racist views that the majority of of us entertained.  Mostly, through no fault of our own - it was what we were taught.

America went so far as to enact laws to keep the Chinese from becoming successful, and insure that they remained inferior to - economically, socially and educationally - White Americans.

Passed in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was a climax to more than thirty years of progressive racism. Anti-Chinese sentiment had existed ever since the great migration from China during the gold rush, where white miners and prospectors imposed taxes and laws to inhibit the Chinese from success. Racial tensions increased as more and more Chinese emigrated, occupied jobs, and created competition on the job market. By 1882 the Chinese were hated enough to be banned from immigrating; the Chinese Exclusion Act, initially only a ten year policy, was extended indefinitely, and made permanent in 1902.

The Chinese Exclusion Act: A Black Legacy

Do you remember watching your favorite cartoon character on tv or at the local cinema when you were a kid?  Got a lot of chuckles, right?  Which is your favorite?  Dig into your CD collection, the cartoon section, grab the one you enjoyed the most and pop it into your player - odds are the Chinese characters are portrayed with stereotypical or racist images.

The Radical Politics of Mr. Magoo.  (IRON LEG ANOTHER BLOG)  A nice post I bumped into about a year ago. A father explaining cartoons of his era to his young son.   How does one explain racism in children's cartoons- to children?

Following are two You Tube clips.  One Mister Magoo and the other Dick Tracy.  Magoo has Charley. Dick Tracy has Joe Jitsu.  

Do you get a little squeamish watching them?  I do.

If produced today, none would make it to market.

But, to be fair.  The world was different then.  Media merely reflect the mores of their times.  What was not seen as racist then is today viewed with an arched eyebrow.  Indeed, by today's standards, all would be classified as racist.

What would we think If Vachel Lindsay were to write today, "The Congo," (a study of the Negro race) which is sing-song poetry of darkest Africa  or Helen Bannerman  penned  "Little Black Sambo," which is  nothing more than an innocent story written for her two small daughters while in India?

Beijing launches TV ad to repair "Made in China" image

GLOBAL BRANDING

The last time you purchased something made in China, was it any good?  Did it lack quality, was it poorly designed, were inferior materials used in the construction, was poor or shoddy workmanship involved?

To counteract the bad publicity received from the export of sub-par- below standard products, China has begun an advertising campaign to enhance the 'The Made In China' label.

This is thought to be the first attempt by any nation at global branding.

channelnewsasia.com

BEIJING - China has launched an advertising campaign aimed at repairing the battered image of its exports after a series of safety scandals, in what is believed to be its first attempt at global branding.

The "Made in China, Made with the World" television commercial was commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce and is being broadcast on CNN in the United States and Asia, said advertising agency DDB, which made the ad.

The 30-second ad first aired November 23 and stresses that some Chinese products are made with the help of foreign companies and technology, the ministry said in a statement.

It features a jogger tying the laces of his shoes which have the label "Made in China with American sports technology" and a model wearing clothes with the label "Made in China with French designers."

"It reflects the attitude and aspiration of Chinese enterprises to strengthen cooperation with other countries to provide high-quality products for consumers from various countries," the ministry said.

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