When dissident artist Ai Weiwei was freed last Wednesday, his four associates were also nabbed back in April, were disturbingly absent. Now it seems that those four --- his driver, accountant, assistant and a designer --- have also been released,...
CATEGORY: China
Ai Weiwei returns home
After 81 days in detention, the detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has finally been allowed to go home. His mother Gao Ying didn't sleep last night, and his sister Gao Ge told the Guardian that she is "very, very happy". While Ai is much skinnier,...
How to stay safe online in the wake of the Gmail hack
The theft of hundreds of Gmail account passwords last week by Chinese hackers from Jinan city in Shandong province left many of us feeling vulnerable. But there are ways in which to avoid becoming the next victim of a phishing scam. The official...
China tightens TV censorship
A vague directive last month for domestic TV stations not to focus solely on “entertainment” inspired the Financial Times to dig deeper. Last week the paper spoke to China’s most successful commercial TV station, Hunan Broadcasting System, which...

China controls news of Mongolian protests
The deaths of two ethnic Mongolians, allegedly killed by Han Chinese, in China’s Inner Mongolia region in May, has sparked the worst riots this region has seen in decades. Many areas, including the regional capital, Hohhot, are under martial law....
Journalist punished for writing editorial about Ai Weiwei
Journalist Song Zhibiao has been suspended by the Southern Metropolis Daily for writing an editorial remembering the Sichuan earthquake, referring also to the dissident artist Ai Weiwei. The Chinese editorial not only referred to Ai Weiwei’s...
Facebook searches for ways to return to the Chinese motherland
With the news that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to make a second visit to China this year, speculation that Facebook is set to grovel its way back into China, speculation that has been doing the rounds for months, has picked up again....
Ai Weiwei keeps his beard
Last Friday, a newspaper editorial musing on the missing artist Ai Weiwei was blocked online. The editorial, which was appeared in the Southern Metropolis Daily, marked the third anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, an event that Ai investigated....
China creates new body to oversee internet
China has set up a new office wielding the whip of internet censorship, as if current levels of online control weren’t enough. China’s State Council Information Office (the government’s propaganda arm) said was creating a new agency, the State...
China indie film festival cancels itself
With Ai Weiwei still missing in action, and dozens of other government undesirables, such as activists and rights lawyers also disappearing, it’s no wonder that the director of the Songzhuang Documentary Film Festival got cold feet. Zhu Rikun told...