Censorship Archives - Jottings from the Granite Studio

“New Fronts in the Battle Over Scholarship and Ideology in China,” Radii China

September 1, 2017

Earlier this month, the Cambridge University Press (CUP), publisher of the China Quarterly, one of the most important journals for scholarship on Modern China, announced that it was removing 300 articles from its Chinese website following a request from the Press’s partners in China. Angry academics rarely make the news, but this particular tempest quickly exploded the tea cup, and even though CUP backtracked a week later, the damage had been done. [Read More...]

“China’s Latest Proposal to Block Internet VPNs Still Doesn’t Make Sense,” Radii China

July 23, 2017

Nuclear options are nuclear for a reason: they come with significant costs. These are the potential costs for the Chinese government if they follow through on threats to block VPN services in China. [Read More...]

“Out of Autocracy, Off the Shelves”

January 7, 2016

It is an unfortunate axiom of publishing in China that the best way for your book to gain international attention is to have the Chinese government make it unavailable to domestic readers. Such is the fate of Out of Imperial Autocracy (Zouchu dizhi), the latest book by the eminent public intellectual and economic historian Qin Hui, published earlier this year. [Read More...]

“The Fetishization of Legitimacy”

October 27, 2015

In an article on censorship in the PRC published in the LA Times, historian Tim Brook argues China fetishizes signs of legitimacy, it's a fun phrase and worth considering. [Read More...]

Kind of Online in the PRC: The New Normal?

February 3, 2015

For anybody who still thinks China is a great business environment or that China has a bright future as a research hub, intellectual incubator, or simply a good place for their next office or factory, I would strongly suggest spending 30 minutes trying to do a few routine tasks that involve using the Internet. [Read More...]

Censoring History

October 15, 2014

When an American historian tries to translate his latest book into Chinese, wacky hilarity ensues. . [Read More...]

Turning rumors into news: The non-death of Jiang Zemin

July 9, 2011

In today’s China, it is government censorship which gives credibility to unsubstantiated rumors, and that turns rumors into news. [Read More...]

The Cuckolded Communist Party

June 9, 2011

Would Hu Jintao ever consider allowing his daughter and/or wife to film an Internet group sex video with Charlie Sheen, “Snooki” from Jersey Shore, and half a dozen or so rabid chimps if it meant a guaranteed six months of ‘harmony and stability’? Maybe, maybe not. [Read More...]

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