china

China Cancels Military Contracts with US Over Taiwan Deal

The Associated Press — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:11:03 -0400

WASHINGTON (AP) — China has abruptly canceled a series of military and diplomatic contacts with the United States to protest a planned $6.5 billion package of U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, American officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

Beijing has notified the U.S. that it will not go forward with several senior level visits and other cooperative military-to-military plans, said Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Defense Department spokesman.

"In response to Friday's announcement of Taiwan arms sales, the People's Republic of China canceled or postponed several upcoming military-to-military exchanges," Upton said, lamenting that "China's continued politicization of our military relationship results in missed opportunities."

The Death-Defying Golden Dragons

Peter Finocchiaro — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Drum roll. The audience at the State Theater was absolutely silent — anxious with anticipation — waiting for what would be the grand finale of the Golden Dragon Acrobats’ dynamo performance last Saturday.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see is incredibly dangerous. Please, do not try this at home.”

Huh … they’re saying that now? The first two hours of the performance had already seen a multitude of acrobatic feats that, performed by lesser-trained individuals, would have resulted in any number of injuries, as mild as hernias or as severe as broken bones.

Counting Down the Days to “New Beijing, New Olympics”

Rob Coniglio — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:55:36 -0400

The Olympics open in twelve days. You could say that Beijing is putting the final touches on what it hopes will be a masterpiece, a sign of China’s rising power and ascension to an important global position. Yet these preparations have cut widely and deeply into the daily lives of those who live in and around Beijing.

Myanmar Farmers Back at Work, But Outlook is Bleak

The Associated Press — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:17:05 -0400

THOME GWE, Myanmar (AP) — Ko Nyi Thaut lost six of his children and all his possessions when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar three months ago. But the 53-year-old farmer still has his rice fields. The surprise, say aid workers, is how quickly he and others have gone back to work.

The broader food outlook, however, is bleak.

Like tens of thousands of farmers, Ko Nyi Thaut labors from dawn to dusk preparing his flood-ravaged Irrawaddy delta land for a crop that should have been planted a month ago.

"If the weather is good and we are lucky, I think we could get about two-thirds of what we had before," he said.

"It would not have been enough for my family if we still had 11 people. But the cyclone killed six of my children, so maybe we will have enough rice for the family now."

Intra-Country Culture Shock: A Journey to The Rural Countryside of China

Sarah Singer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:29:32 -0400

Far from the fluorescent lights of Shanghai and the history-laden streets of Beijing lies a starkly different China — a China where bicycles are more prevalent than cars and where private family homes with adjoining small farms are more common than sky-high apartment buildings.

Letter from Beijing

Rob Coniglio — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:07:27 -0400

Walking down the streets of Beijing is a surreal experience. There are times when it doesn’t even seem like you’re in the same country, let alone same city. On the one hand there are towers of steel and glass and deluxe shopping malls with high-powered brand names pasted on the walls, but there are also areas of poverty, where resident are just waiting for an eviction order to make way for the next shiny development.

“Are You Idiots?” Caring for China

Josh Pothen — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:11:26 -0400

To see Zhang Ziyi onscreen is to recognize her as a cinematic presence. The star of films such as House of Flying Daggers and (most famously) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not so much an actress as an iconic figure of the martial arts genre—a feminine beauty that is capable of terrifying strength when the occasion calls. She can dance, yes, but she can also kick.

Watching the Olympic Flame As It Lights Up China

Sarah Singer — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:51:23 -0400

Like a waving silk ribbon, the crowd flowed up and down, up and down with a rhythm of passion and consistency. There were infants, parents, students, grandparents, workers, vagabonds, sports teams, security guards, corporate sponsors, ambassadors and too many other attendees to count or describe.

A Look Into China, A Glance Back Out

Sarah Singer — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:34:39 -0400

“Adversities only make our country stronger,” the leadership of the All-China Students Federation told the Ivy League Student Delegation in a heartfelt recap of the devastation caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake – a natural disaster that has since left over 65,000 Chinese residents of the Sichuan Province dead, over 4.8 million homeless and over 23,000 missing.

Rawlings Travels to China

Sat, 31 May 2008 14:36:50 -0400

Univ. Trustee Leads First-Ever Ivy League Student Delegation to China

Sarah Singer — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:05:52 -0400

The air was damp and the view clouded by smog, but at about 10:30 p.m. on May 27, 25 students from eight U.S. colleges and universities entered the Capital Hotel in the central city of Beijing, the capital of China. After travelling for 13 hours before landing at the ultra-sustainable Beijing Airport, the students, part of the first-ever Ivy League Student Delegation, enthusiastically began their 10-day excursion through Mainland China.

Officials in China Rush to Evacuate 80,000

The Associated Press — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:31:30 -0400

MIANYANG, China (AP) — Chinese officials rushed Tuesday to evacuate another 80,000 people in the path of potential floodwaters building up behind a quake-spawned dam as soldiers carved a channel to try to drain away the threat.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported emergency workers would try to complete the evacuation by midnight Tuesday, taking the number of people moved out of the threatened valley to almost 160,000, from more than 30 townships.

The Tangjiashan lake in northern Sichuan province, formed when a massive landslide blocked a river, is one of dozens of fragile dams created during the earthquake that pose a new destructive threat in the disaster zone.

Cornell Community Mourns Victims of Earthquake in China

Sarah Singer — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

On May 16, members of the Cornell community including President David Skorton gathered in Sage Chapel for an evening of remembrance honoring those who died in China after a powerful earthquake occurred in the Sichuan province. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that took place on May 12 has since left 51,000 people dead, nearly 300,000 injured and over 29,000 missing. According to the Associated Press, the disaster also left 5 million people homeless and destroyed more than 80 percent of the buildings in some remote towns and villages.

Aftershock Forecast Prompts Panic in China

The Associated Press — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:23:58 -0400

CHENGDU, China (AP) — A government warning of a major aftershock sent thousands of panicked survivors running into the darkened streets Monday night following an unprecedented display of mourning for more than 34,000 people killed in a powerful earthquake one week ago.

In shattered Sichuan province, quake-weary residents carried pillows, blankets and chairs from homes into the open or slept in cars after a statement from the National Seismology Bureau was read on television warning that there was a "rather great" chance of an aftershock measuring magnitude 6 to 7. Such jolts could cause major damage.

Death Toll Tops 12,000 in Chinese Earthquake

The Associated Press — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:50:48 -0400

MIANYANG, China (AP) — Soldiers hiking over landslide-blocked roads reached the epicenter of China's devastating earthquake Tuesday, pulling bodies and a few survivors from collapsed buildings. The death toll of more than 12,000 was certain to rise as the buried were found.

Rescuers worked through a steady rain searching wrecked towns across hilly stretches of Sichuan province that were stricken by Monday's magnitude-7.9 quake, China's deadliest in three decades. Tens of thousands spent a second night outdoors, some sleeping under plastic sheeting, others bused to a stadium in the city of Mianyang, on the edge of the disaster area.

Building China

Rebecca Shoval — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:55:40 -0500

City in Transition: Construction cranes are everywhere in Beijing as the city continues a trend of rapid growth. Looking at all the construction in Beijing, we were left to wonder how any of the buildings could possibly be finished within six months (construction will be halted a few months before the games to allow time for the dust to settle). China apparently has developed methods for building incredibly quickly, as we toured a college campus built in a year and a half. 15,000 of Southeast University's 30,000 students now live and study on an approximately $220 million, 93 square mile campus that did not exist in 2006.

How Do I Use the Toilet?

Sun Staff — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:40:36 -0500

Architectural differences.: A squat toilet in China.

Bring your own toilet paper to China — but toilet seat covers are not necessary. With the exception of the bathrooms in the hotels and airports, the women's toilets did not have seats. Even in fancy bathrooms (many with motion-sensor flushing), there are squat toilets — ceramic holes in the floor with foot grids to stop your feet from slipping.

We were confused the first day, but the toilets are easy to use after a few times. There really isn't toilet paper provided in the bathrooms, by the way, so carrying your own around is necessary. Use of the squat toilets is described in detail here.