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Tag: chinese

  • Jackie Chan Wants Media To Stop Making False Reports About His Imprisoned Son

    At a press conference for his new movie Skiptrace, Jackie Chan was recently asked about his son Jaycee Chan, who was arrested on drug charges by the Chinese government in August. The elder Chan told reporters on Thursday, October 23, that he wanted to be a better father to Jaycee and implored the press to not hurt his wife, former actress Joan Lin, by printing false news about their son.

    “I know as much about him as everyone else. I ask the media to please not report anything without proof. Please do not hurt Siu Fong Ji’s Mama [Joan Lin] and publish untrue reports. If necessary, I will give a clear explanation to everyone,” said Chan.

    Chan revealed that he has been focusing on his film work, shooting by day and editing by night. He claims that his son’s arrest has had no impact on his career, despite rumors that Chan had to kneel in front of authorities and that the release of his film was delayed. Chan also denied such rumors.

    There were also rumors that Chan and Lin visited Jaycee at a detention center and that Lin wished she had been jailed instead of her son. However, these were denied by Jaycee’s manager, who said that Lin had not left Hong Kong.

    At the press conference in Beijing, Chan admitted that he could have been a better father to his son. “I am always a father. I used to be an unqualified father. Now, after this event, I want to be a qualified father,” he said.

    Jaycee numbered among celebrities who were caught during a crackdown on drug abuse in Beijing and other parts of China earlier this year. More than 100 grams of marijuana were found in his apartment, and Jaycee is accused of accommodating drug users, which could land him up to three years in prison.

  • Li Na: Chinese Tennis Champion Retires Due To Chronic Knee Injuries

    Tennis superstar, Li Na, has announced her immediate retirement from the sport saying her chronic knee injuries cause so much pain that she is no longer able to give 100% to her game.

    The current world No. 6 is the first Chinese player to win a grand slam singles champion title, which she won twice, in the French Open in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014.

    “It took me several agonizing months to finally come to the decision that my chronic injuries will never again let me be the tennis player that I can be,” Li wrote on her Facebook page. “Walking away from the sport, effective immediately, is the right decision for me and my family.”

    The 32-year-old Li has had four major knee surgeries in the span of her career, the most recent one being in July, which forced her to withdraw from the recent U.S. Open. Credited for helping popularize the sport in China and the rest of Asia, Li has no regrets about her decision to hang up her racquet. She now plans to focus her efforts on helping develop the next generation of tennis stars from her home country. “We’re putting together various plans on how we will continue to grow the sport of tennis in China,” she said. “These plans include opening the Li Na Tennis Academy, which will provide scholarships for the future generation of Chinese tennis stars.” She also said she will continue to be involved in the Right to Play, an organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children overcome challenges through sport.

    WTA chairman and chief executive officer Stacey Allaster paid tribute to her career by highlighting the Chinese star’s role in promoting tennis in Asia:

    “She is a pioneer who opened doors to tennis for hundreds of millions of people throughout China and Asia,” Allaster said in a statement. “It’s hard to be a household name in a nation with 1.4 billion people, but that’s what Li Na is.”

  • Florida Artist Smashes Chinese Vase Worth $1 Million

    A Florida artist made a statement on Monday, by smashing the work of a fellow artist in a Miami gallery. The offending artist, Maximo Caminero, 51, picked up a $1 million vase by famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and proceeded to smash it onto the floor.

    He surrendered immediately to security guards and explained that he smashed the vase in protest of the lack of local artists that have been featured at the Perez Art Museum Miami.

    “I did it for all the local artists in Miami that have never been shown in museums here,” he says. “They have spent so many millions now on international artists. It’s the same political situation over and over again. I’ve been here for 30 years and it’s always the same.”

    However, after finding out the value of the vase, Caminero has a few regrets. He told the Miami New Times,

    “I didn’t know that it was that amount,” he says. “I feel so sorry about it, for sure.”

    “It was a spontaneous protest. I was at PAMM and saw Ai Weiwei’s photos behind the vases where he drops an ancient Chinese vase and breaks it. And I saw it as a provocation by Weiwei to join him in an act of performance protest.”

    Sounds rational. Kind of. As for his reasoning, he said that he will answer all questions at a news conference on Tuesday, but did have this to say,

    “I wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are many foreign artists like myself and others who have been here thirty years and have never received attention or support from MAM or now PAMM and other local museums,” Caminero said. “We are all taxpayers here and PAMM used $200 million of public money on its building and opened with Weiwei’s work to draw attention to itself and as always continues to ignore local artists.”

    He also appeared to kind of insult the artist Weiwei, saying that if you were to see the vases, you would think it “was a common clay pot like you would find at Home Depot.”

    Ai Weiwei is known for his political stance almost as much as for his artwork. He has used his fame and publicity to help shed light on social injustices and corruption in the Chinese government. He was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011 in a crackdown on dissent, then was subsequently hit with a hefty $2.4 million tax bill, according to Yahoo.

    Caminero did say, “I admire Ai Weiwei greatly and have always supported his actions while he was suffering indignities from the Chinese government.”

    Hopefully this dispute between artists can be cleared up without getting ugly.

    Caminero faces charges of a possible third degree felony because the damage is more than $1,000. A third degree felony could hold a punishment of up to 5 years in prison.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Chinese New Year Traditions Still Going Strong

    The Chinese New Year starts today and we say goodbye to the year of the snake and hello to the year of the horse. Each of the animals that are used to represent one of the 12 cycles of the new year have come to have their own meaning.

    The horse represents wood, one of the 5 Chinese natural elements. It symbolizes stability and hard work. Chinese families will start the year off with some traditions that they hope will make their lives better and with the help of the horse, more stable. Some of these traditions may seem silly, but to the Chinese, they are the only way to ensure a good year.

    Many Chinese families celebrate the start of the new year with a traditional meal. Common foods served during these meals include chicken, rice and vegetables. To the Chinese, chicken is a symbol of happiness and prosperity and eating it will help make sure you start the new year off right.

    Some Chinese families believe that what you do on the first day of the Chinese New Year will affect your luck for the entire year.

    Some families do not wash their hair because they fear it will wash away good luck. Other Chinese traditions associated with luck and the Chinese New Year include not using sharp objects to avoid cutting away one’s luck and wearing red which is a symbol of luck in the Chinese culture.

    One of the most common Chinese New Year traditions is fireworks. Many Chinese families will either set off their own fireworks at their homes or attend a fireworks display set off by a business or city. Fireworks are believed to scare away evil spirits and are a sign of celebration.

    Do you celebrate the Chinese New Year and if so, what is your favorite tradition?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • China Destroys 6 Tons Of Ivory In Symbolic Move

    China sent a strong message to illegal ivory traders by destroying 6 tons of illegal ivory from its stockpile on Monday. This was done in Dongguan in southern Guangdong province where the illegal trade is rampant.

    This is unprecedented move is expected go a long way in vindicating China from criticism of tolerating poaching. China is arguably the biggest marketplace for ivory.

    Authorities publicly displayed a pile of carvings, ornaments and tusks before destroying them with two industrial crushing machines. Longer tusks were chopped into smaller pieces by workers using circular saws before they could be grounded up. Custom officials and forestry officers played a key role in organizing what was described as the country’s biggest ivory destruction ever.

    Chinese demand for ivory has been triggered by the country’s growing middle class who now have more disposable income and buy ivory carvings as a status symbol. Ivory has been nicknamed “White gold” because of the high prices it fetches. One kilogram of ivory can cost as much as $2,000.

    The 6 tons of ivory destroyed represents just a fraction of the illegal ivory in China, according to the authorities. However, they did not disclose how much ivory is still left on the Chinese black market. The destroyed ivory came from shops and carving factories in China as well as from intercepted shipments from Africa.

    China now joins a host of other countries who are committed to cracking down on the illegal traded of ivory. Some of these countries include the Philippines which destroyed at least 5 tons of ivory in June, the United States which destroyed 6 tons in November and Gabon which destroyed almost 5 tons in 2012.

    The U.S. sent officials to witness the ivory destruction exercise on Monday and praised China’s move saying it “will send a powerful message to wildlife poachers and traffickers and to the consumers of illegal wildlife products.”

    The International Fund for Animal Welfare also commended China for the move saying that it was a powerful symbolic act that shows China is concerned about wildlife threats. IFAW CEO Azzedine Downs said that the destruction was a testament to the fact that ivory buying is illegal and unethical everywhere. It is estimated that more than 35,000 elephants were killed by poachers last year.

    Image via YouTube

  • Wal-Mart Recalls Tainted Donkey Meat In China

    Wal-Mart is recalling donkey meat at some of its stores in China. Donkey meat may not appeal to some Western palates, but in China they eat donkey. Tests revealed that donkey meat which was sold to Chinese consumers contained DNA of other animals.

    Wal-Mart’s China CEO, Greg Foran said, “We are deeply sorry for this whole affair. It is a deep lesson (for us) that we need to continue to increase investment in supplier management.”

    On Wednesday, Wal-Mart announced that it will refund customers who purchased the contaminated donkey meat. The company is now working with Eastern Shandong food inspectors to investigate it’s Chinese suppliers.

    China is a country that has suffered rampant tainted food scandals, and scares like this one are a big deal. Recently, KFC’s chicken supplier, Yum Brands, saw a steep decline in sales after it was found to be using high levels of antibiotics in its meat products.  Wal-Mart is now concerned that it may lose consumer confidence in China. This could become a big problem for Wal-Mart given that the company is jockeying for market share against retailers like Sun Art Retail Group Ltd and China Resources Enterprise Ltd.  China represents a $1 trillion dollar food market in which Wal-Mart plans to add 110 new stores to the 400 facilities they currently have in the country.

    According to China’s livestock industry, nearly 2.5 million donkeys were slaughtered in 2011. This makes donkey meat a relatively popular food in China.

    This is not the first food safety issue Wal-Mart has had in China. It was fined in 2011 for selling duck meat past its expiration.

    Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, will likely need to do some damage control —  quickly. Word is already spreading fast in Chinese social media and some consumers are starting to have a negative perception of the company.

    Image via Wikipedia

    Donkey Meat Restaurant in China

  • One-Child Policy To Be Relaxed By China Amid Labor Force Concerns

    China seems to be loosening on its One-Child policy as part of economic reforms. Other Communist party plans are re-education through labor policy and increased mobility for the rural population. This was announced by Chinese state media on Friday, days after the conclusion of a meeting of top Communist party leaders in Beijing.

    The reforms were arrived at after four days of closed door meetings where about 400 top party leaders resolved to design China’s development blueprint over the next decade. Under the new policy, couples in which one member is an only child will be allowed to have two children.

    Currently, couples can only have two children if and only if they are both only children. Other groups who are allowed to have two children include ethnic minorities, and disabled people. According to the Independent, the one-child policy was introduced in 1979 to control the country’s huge population which now stands at 1.4 billion people. The policy was also put in place to bolster China’s economic growth and improve social welfare.

    http://youtu.be/bszyNiBa2yM

    Chinese Officials say that the policy has so far been a success by claiming that the Chinese population would have been about 400 million more people than it is today. However, human rights activists have argued that the policy has led to high number of abortions. Consequently, more baby girls than boys are aborted due to the traditional preference for boys. As a result, there are about 6 males born for every 1 female newborn.

    The unpopular law also led to a shortage of working age people who can care for the aging population.  Professor Steve Tsang, from the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at Nottingham University, said: “This move is primarily to deal with the demographic deficit, which has huge economic implications, particularly over growth and stability.”

    Although details of the re-education through labor programs are still unclear, a document from the communist party shows that the reforms will lead to improved social welfare programs, and ease migration restrictions for millions of rural residents who wish to move to the cities.

    (image via YouTube)

  • Smartphone Shipments to Reach Nearly 1 Billion This Year

    Smartphone Shipments to Reach Nearly 1 Billion This Year

    After it was reported that smartphone shipments rose over 6% in the second quarter of 2013, analysts continued to predict record sales for the smartphone market. Smartphones have even, for the first time, overtaken feature phone sales.

    Today, DigiTimes Research predicted that total global smartphone shipments for 2013 will reach just under one billion units. The analyst firm predicted 950 million units shipped globally, after 420 million smartphones were shipped during the first half of 2013. A crunch in the HD display market is expected to be the limiting factor in how many smartphones will ship this year.

    As other analyst firms seem to agree on, growth in the smartphone market will be driven by emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Russia, and particularly China. Though shipments within China itself are predicted to remain stable, Chinese smartphone manufacturers will be looking outside the country to expand shipments.

    DigiTimes predicts that four of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers for the year will be Chinese – Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE, and Yulong. HTC is not expected to crack the top 10 this year. These predictions are backed-up by recent analyst estimates, which show that Chinese manufacturers are on the rise even as Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the industry.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • Google Translator Toolkit Makes App Localization Easier

    In my line of work and as an Asian Studies minor, I come upon a lot of Japanese and Chinese Web sites. Even though I took three years of Japanese, I still rely on the all might Google Translate to get me through most of those Web pages. If it’s bad enough for me, just imagine the headache app developers have to go through when localizing their apps for international markets. Google is here once again to make that task a little easier.

    Google has this nifty service called Translator Toolkit. It is, in their words, an “online translation tool for amateur and professional translators.” It’s built on the excellent Google Translate software and is now coming to new file formats including Android resource files.

    The Translator Toolkit is coming to four new file formats to be exact. These file formats are Android Resouce (.xml), Application Resource Bundle (.arb), Chrome Extension (.ison), and GNU gettext-based (.po). So, in essence, you should be able to localize a text heavy app like Funny Facts 8000+ into a wide variety of different languages.

    The implementation of these new translation tools couldn’t be easier. Google provides a detailed tutorial that explains everything you need to know to get that app into Chinese or any other language you could possibly want. Hit up the res/values directory, upload your .xml file into the Translator Toolkit and the software will do the rest. Of course, with certain languages like Chinese, the translation is a bit rough around the edges. That’s when you hire a real translator to fine tune it in localization.

    Google Translator Toolkit Makes App Localization Easy

    After this is all said and done, you can export the translated copy into a directory in Android. Google, always the funny one, calls this whole process, “翻译起来太方便了!” It means “Translation is too easy,” which forces me to call into question the software’s definition of easy. I studied the Chinese language for a year alongside Japanese and I learned absolutely nothing. I guess everything’s easy when you’re a computer.

    Google has also made some changes to the Translator Toolkit’s user interface to make it more intuitive. These changes include “customized colors” for easy annotation, “number of characters in the segment” for mobile development, and “synchronized scrolling” so users can scroll both the original and translated text at the same time.

    Google Translator Toolkit Makes App Localizatioin Easy

    Regardless of my failings in trying to learn Asian languages, the new Translator Toolkit should help app developers push their content in more languages than ever before. Now we just need the Translator Toolkit to support true languages like Elven and Klingon, and we’ll be on our way to having the best apps ever populating Google Play.

    As an aside, it seems that Memebase shares in the joy of the announcement:

    Google Translator Toolkit Makes App Localization Easier

  • Chinese Working Conditions Give Apple a Rotten Spot

    According to a recent article, Apple’s clean image has recently taken a hit after The New York Times reported about the conditions in which some of the factories of its Chinese network have been found.

    The employees building the iPad, iPhone and similar devices, labor in very harsh conditions. Reportedly the employees work extremely excessive overtime, they’re often required to work everyday and many live in crowded dorms. Reports have been given that workers stand so long that their legs swell to a point where they can no longer stand.

    One former Apple executive was quoted as to saying:

    “We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on, why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

    On the other hand many Chinese residents feel that Apple’s presence in their country is positive. They feel that if it weren’t for the company, the morale of the people would be much worse.

    Recently a few Chinese residents were asked about the conditions of Apple’s factories, here are a few of their translated comments.

    “Apple is definitely a vampire factory. But if you boycott Apple, what would those workers eat without demand (for Apple products)? By then they would even lose their job!”

    “If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist.”

    “Without Apple, Chinese workers will be worse off. I hope China can some day soon have dozens of its own companies like Apple, who (only) work on high-end research and development and send manufacturing lines to Africa.”

  • Chinese Military Takes Hot Potato Way Too Seriously

    Chinese Military Takes Hot Potato Way Too Seriously

    Remind me never to join the People’s Liberation Army of China.

    Footage revealed last weekend on YouTube shows a training exercise from the PLA where soldiers pass around a live grenade to have it thrown into a hole. The soldiers then leap out of the way before it explodes. It’s a dangerous game of hot potato that I have no interest in.

    The video description outlines the training exercise in more detail by saying that each soldier must take the live explosive by both hands, then hand it off to the next soldier while visibly twisting their torso. The last soldier then has to throw it into the hole and make sure it lands inside correctly.

    The video description goes on to say, “As with militaries across the world, the PLA instill their soldiers with specialised skills and advanced training.” Let me know if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure no other military in the world has their soldiers playing hot potato with a live grenade as “training.”

    I don’t think I need to add the disclaimer, “Don’t try this at home,” but seriously, please don’t try this at home.