Chinese officials

8 Stories

China Hunts Scammer Who Pretended to Be Party Honcho

Zhao Xiyong pulled stunt off for years

(Newser) - With his dark suits, cigarettes, interminable speeches, and fondness for lavish banquets, Zhao Xiyong was in many ways a typical Chinese Communist Party official—except he wasn't one. Police in China are hunting a man who spent three years in Yunnan province pretending to be a high-ranking official from...

China Reports 13M Abortions Annually

Health officials blame lack of birth control for unmarried women

(Newser) - China performs about 13 million abortions every year, mostly for single young women who experts say know little about contraception, according to a rare disclosure by government health officials. China imposed strict birth controls in the 1970s, limiting most couples to just one child, but the policy tends to overlook...

China Nixes Chinese Democracy

Album title means new G'n'R record faces wall of Chinese censorship

(Newser) - China's government-owned music monopoly has told record stores not to waste their time trying to order the first new Guns N' Roses album in 17 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Officials say the title alone—Chinese Democracy—would probably be enough to doom it, but a reference to the...

China Pushes 'Hush Money' on Grieving Quake Parents

Pressured to stop questioning school toll

(Newser) - Officials in China's Sichuan province are buying the silence of parents who lost children in May's devastating earthquake, the New York Times reports. Grieving parents are being pressured to sign agreements accepting $9,000 in compensation if they stop asking questions about why so many schools collapsed. They are told...

Blacks Charge Harassment in China

Beijing's African residents targeted as part of pre-Olympic crackdown

(Newser) - African residents of Beijing say they are facing growing harassment from police ahead of the Olympics, reports the Globe and Mail. Bar owners near the city's Workers Stadium have reportedly been ordered not to serve "black people or Mongolians." The groups have been targeted as part of China's...

Chinese School-Collapse Critic Busted as Spy

Activist detained after trying to help bereaved parents

(Newser) - An activist who tried to help bereaved Sichuan parents get answers about why so many schools collapsed in May's earthquake has been arrested, the New York Times reports. Huang Qi was taken away by plainclothes police after posting information about the parents on his website. He has been accused of...

China's Quake Relief Efforts Serve PR Purpose, Too

Forceful, and open, response shows government knows it's under microscope

(Newser) - China's devastating earthquake has kept the country in an international spotlight that's been too warm for comfort following recent Tibet and Olympic-torch troubles, the New York Times reports—and the country might be having a defining moment as it deals with the catastrophe. The country's swift, aggressive rescue effort contrasts...

Director Rips China Over Actress Ban

Lee blasts media silence, blacklisting of Lust, Caution star

(Newser) - Director Ang Lee has blasted Chinese officials for blacklisting a young actress who appeared in his film Lust, Caution. Authorities have ordered TV stations to stop reporting on actress Tang Wei and to pull ads featuring her, even though censors signed off on her portrayal of a student activist who...

8 Stories