Sinica Podcast

Huang Guangyu, the founder of home electronics chain GOME, was China’s richest man, with a fortune of over 6 billion dollars in 2006, according to Forbes. However, the multi-billionaire was detained in November 2008 on suspicion of bribery, insider trading, and money laundering. The dragnet in the investigation leading up to the trial has already widened, and has implicated a number of high-rankin...

On April 15, 2010, on the 21st anniversary of former Party Secretary Hu Yaobang’s death, Premier Wen Jiabao published an essay to eulogize his former mentor in the People’s Daily. On April 15, 1989, the death of this foreign-minded general secretary of the Communist Party famously touched off the student demonstration of that year. It is a highly-emotional essay, which recalls a trip he took to Gu...

This week, Kaiser Kuo hosts a discussion about China's best-known gadflies: writer and auto racer Han Han, and artist-cum-activist Ai Weiwei. The former writes one of the most popular blogs in China with over 300 million hits, and was recently shortlisted for Time's 100 Most Influential People. The latter is a leading visual artist and has been vocal on a number of social issues, including the Sic...

While Western countries prepare for tougher sanctions at the UN against Iran regarding its nuclear development, China is reluctant to impose any further sanctions, intensifying the tension between Beijing and Washington. However, increasing signs, including Hu Jintao’s upcoming visit to Washington to attend the nuclear summit, have shown that China may be preparing for an about-turn on Iranian san...

In this inaugural episode, Kaiser, Jeremy, and Bill Bishop sit down to discuss the landscape surrounding Google’s pullout in China. They seek to answer: What exactly happened earlier this week with Google's inaccessibility? Does Yasheng Huang have the right take on their pull-out of China, or is Tania Branigan from the Guardian more on the money? What are the consequences for Google's future in As...