China Journal

Voices

Google Books Settlement: The Chinese Chapter

Juliet Ye, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 20, 2009 at 12:25 pm PT

Google’s troubles in China seem to have taken a new turn as a result of the company’s plan to create a vast digital library of books. The China Written Works Copyright Society has called on Chinese writers to stand up for their legal rights in the face of Web search giant Google’s proposed book settlement, according to a post published on the official Web site of Chinese Writers’ Association.

Voices

When "Internet Addiction" Turns Deadly

Sky Canaves, Lead Writer, China Journal, The Wall Street Journal in News on August 4, 2009 at 7:18 am PT

So-called “Internet addiction” among Chinese youths has led to a proliferation of clinics around the country that claim to be able to treat the recently defined disorder.

Voices

World of Warcraft Inches Back to China's Desktops

Juliet Ye, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 21, 2009 at 2:55 pm PT

China’s pasty-faced warriors and wizards may soon be headed back to their indoor lairs. Chinese Internet company Netease received approval Tuesday from the Ministry of Culture to offer the World of Warcraft online role-playing game, according to portal Techweb. The government agency’s Web site showed the game had passed its content examination.

Voices

Reports of Suicide in China Linked to Missing iPhone

Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 21, 2009 at 12:40 pm PT

News media in China are reporting that a 25-year-old employee of Foxconn, which manufactures products for Apple there, committed suicide last week after being interrogated about a missing prototype for a new iPhone.

Voices

Shutting Down Communications to Prevent More Protest

Sky Canaves, Lead Writer, China Journal, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 8, 2009 at 12:50 pm PT

The ongoing riots and protests in western China’s Xinjiang region have led to some extraordinary restrictions on communications in China: Internet service and mobile phone access around Urumqi have been curtailed, while social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Fanfou (a homegrown version of Twitter) are suddenly inaccessible to users around the country.

Voices

Online Ambassador: Chinese Province to Appoint "Internet Spokesperson"

Juliet Ye, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 7, 2009 at 11:20 am PT

China’s central government has urged local officials to get more Internet savvy. One provincial government that knows a little something about online scorn is heeding the call. China’s southern Yunnan province plans to appoint an Internet spokesperson, according to state-run Xinhua news agency (in Chinese).

Voices

In Google China Flap, An Accuser Is Accused

Juliet Ye and Sky Canaves, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on June 22, 2009 at 2:00 pm PT

China’s critiques of Google have sparked an online backlash among some Web users in China, in the latest sign of discontent with the government’s Internet control tactics.

Voices

Breaching China’s Green Dam

Sky Canaves, Lead Writer, China Journal, The Wall Street Journal in News on June 12, 2009 at 10:28 am PT

Chinese authorities are having to grapple with more bad publicity for the “Green Dam-Youth Escort” software that Beijing wants to see included with all PCs sold in China from July 1. Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered major security vulnerabilities in the Internet filtering software, according to this report. The authors say that initial testing of version 3.17 of the Green Dam software found serious security holes, which the authors attributed to programming errors.

Voices

Social Networking Returns to China

Sky Canaves, Lead Writer, China Journal, WSJ.com in News on June 9, 2009 at 12:35 pm PT

Yesterday, while China Web watchers were digesting the latest bit of news on the requirement that PCs sold in China include government-mandated Internet filtering software, the Web as we knew it a week ago quietly returned.

Voices

Taxiing Advertising in China

James T. Areddy, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on May 26, 2009 at 8:15 am PT

Shanghai taxis transport 90 million riders per month. Passengers sit in traffic an average of 18 minutes. Shanghai-based advertising company Touchmedia says those are the ingredients that have helped it raise around $40 million from investors, including a just-completed funding round over $14.6 million in the midst of the young Chinese venture capital industry’s toughest period yet.