china/divide | Social and Political Commentary on Modern China

china/divide was a group blog launched March 1, 2010 by three China bloggers: Stan Abrams, Charles Custer, and Kai Pan. Less than three months later, on May 21st, china/divide was blocked by China's "Great Firewall", becoming inaccessible to readers in China without proxies or VPNs. Nearly five months later and after a total of 132 published posts, china/divide stopped publishing new posts and quietly retired.

Below are some of the most popular posts by each of the three original china/divide bloggers:

Kai Pan

Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize, chinaSMACK Silent

Reactions from the Western media & Chinese government have been typical. While meaningful symbolically, it's unlikely to lead to any practical near-term change.

198 comments
Red Dawn 2010: Just A Movie? Or America's Shame?

Is the new 2010 remake of "Red Dawn" just a movie or more? Is it reckless propaganda and xenophobia? Is it part of the shameful face Americans show the world?

196 comments
Response To How Egregious & Dangerous Western Media Bias Is

Semi-intelligent musings on Western media bias like: "It's good to combat Western media bias. It's not so good when you emphasize 'Western' over 'media bias'."

140 comments
As Christianity Booms, Is Religion Good for China?

While some Chinese recognize the contributions Christian missionaries have brought to modernizing China, is the growth of religion a good or bad thing for China?

129 comments
Do Chinese Cheer On American Misfortune, Fantasize Invading?

With stories of Chinese classrooms cheering and taxi drivers laughing upon news of 9/11, do Chinese celebrate American misfortune, or fantasize invading the US?

127 comments
Joe Amon: Vaccines, Melamine, Lead, and Chinese Officials

Some thoughts and nitpicking on the recent WSJ opinion article "Chinese Corruption Is Hazardous to Your Health" by Joseph Amon, director at Human Rights Watch.

111 comments
Daily Mail: China's Shameful Massacre of Unborn Girls

Peter Hitchens of the first British newspaper to sell more than a million copies a day does his best to shock and appall the UK's masses with prehistoric China.

98 comments
Google Redirects! But Will The Chinese Government Block?!

Google follows through on its threat to uncensor Google.cn, by shutting it down & redirecting users to Google.com.hk. Which does nothing for Chinese netizens.

97 comments
Chinese Forwarding Photos Of Anti-China Protests In Japan

Chinese netizens are forwarding around these photos of "large-scale" anti-China demonstrations in Japan in response to the recent Diaoyu Islands collision.

74 comments

Stan Abrams

Anniversaries, Apathy, and Annoyance

All of the sturm und drang surrounding the anniversary of Beijing's most famous modern political protest has made me cranky.

106 comments
Google Does Evil: The Rise of Brain-Damaged Pundits

The Google/China dispute has dragged on too long. Non-stop commentary has spawned legions of brain-dead pundits roaming the streets and looking for media exposure.

58 comments
Google's Hong Kong Gambit Is Public Relations Victory

Google.cn has been redirected to Google.com.hk. Although users are no better off than with self-censored content, Google is benefiting from great press coverage.

55 comments
Philippines Hostage Standoff: Toning Down the Rhetoric

As usual, a tragic event takes place, and certain individuals take that as some sort of an affront to them, their country, their race. More's the pity.

54 comments
Dumb It Down A Little, Son. A Case Of Scholarly Overkill

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes government policy is fairly straightforward. Here's a tale of a budding China scholar who went a bit too far.

52 comments
Purifying the Chinese Language - the saga continues

We are now into the second month of the war against the corruption of Chinese by English acronyms. Our war correspondent filed this update from the front lines.

51 comments
Goat Meat, Loose Women, and the Imperfect China Dialogue

Views of, and from, China are fraught with misunderstandings, but neither harsh critics nor apologists facilitate constructive dialogue.

48 comments
Is It Safe? Our Perpetual Assessment of China's FDI Environment

Of the big questions in life, "Will you marry me?" and "Is it a boy or a girl?" the most important to CEOs might be, "Is now a good time to invest in China?"

48 comments
The Decline of Everything, and Why Innovation Won't Save Us

In the face of all the bad news out there, it's tough not to fall in with the nattering nabobs of negativism. Say hello to a reluctant new optimist.

47 comments

Charles Custer

US Gives $1.5m to Falun Gong Group: A Terrible Idea

Why it's a terrible idea for the US government to fight for internet freedom by giving $1.5m to a group affiliated with a cult the Chinese government hates.

155 comments
Stupid Americans? Send Them to China

Why are Americans so desperate to get students to China? Well, it might be because American students are, by and large, idiots.

84 comments
Pornography Should be Legal in China

An analysis of China's porn crackdown: a discussion of porn's effects on society and the advantages of supporting a government-regulated pornographic industry.

76 comments
Serf Liberation Day, One Year In

Today is Serf Liberation Day! But if a government-invented PR "holiday" falls in the forest, does anybody hear it?

74 comments
Foreigner Stereotypes, Sex, and the First-Ever Foreigner Poll!

Are you a foreigner? Come take the poll and help us determine if stereotypes about foreigners are true or not.

67 comments
(Religious) Gay-Bashing Comes to China

China's Christian Church wants to form a deeper connection with the anti-gay organization Anglican Global South. Does China really need more bigotry?

61 comments
My Problem With Falun Gong

C. Custer explains his reservations and criticisms of the F*l*n G*ng as well as some of the organizations, publications, and actions associated with the group.

48 comments
How Should China Treat North Korea?

The China-North Korea relationship has always been a point of contention with the West, but what should China do about the DPRK's recent brazen aggressiveness?

45 comments
Public Relations: Comparing China and the Dalai Lama

The Chinese government's international PR problems on the "Tibet issue": Not engaging the Western public & being too vague or black-and-white to be believable.

43 comments

Below are some of the most popular posts by several china/divide guest contributors:

Damjan DeNoble

Kro's Nest, End of Days

Former General Manager of Kro's Nest, a popular pizzeria chain in Beijing, details the escalating ownership battle between its American and Chinese partners.

141 comments
"US Marines: the few, the proud, the 太牛逼了!"

Both Chinese students and the US Military have become exceedingly good at propaganda, and at times they seem to be using the same playbook.

43 comments
If China Flies Blind in the Information Economy...

Is the argument for the sanctity of uncensored data in today’s global economy a dismissal or a reaffirmation of a dominant, 21st century Chinese economy?

39 comments

Kevin Slaten

PLA Modernization ≠ US-China War

A tired argument: China's growing military capabilities inevitably means a military confrontation with the US. And yet the argument is still heard time & again.

81 comments
A War on "Westernization" in China

"Westernization" is a meaningless word, & people need to stop using it. Here are three reasons why it's inaccurate and one reason why it is offending.

66 comments
Radio Free Asia & The May 4^th Anniversary Flash Mob Protests

Is Radio Free Asia aiming to East Asian media's openly biased news outlet? If they could start covering dissent with integrity, it would do us all a service.

22 comments

Bin Wang

Workin' For The (China)Man In Dixie

When bringing home the bacon means working for the Chinese, can Joe Main Street live it down? Some Americans chafe at the idea of Chinese companies in the US.

83 comments
China's On-Going Experiment In Government

With democracy stalled in America, the "Chinese Model" has looked pretty resilient recently. Isn't it time we withheld judgment and gave it a fair shake?

76 comments
Chinese Soccer--An Allegory Of China's Status In The World

Despite the growth, economics, & superb performances during the Olympics, China is a nation in love with soccer, & full of angst over its inability to compete.

34 comments

Kai Pan

Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize, chinaSMACK Silent

Red Dawn 2010: Just A Movie? Or America's Shame?

Response To How Egregious & Dangerous Western Media Bias Is

As Christianity Booms, Is Religion Good for China?

Do Chinese Cheer On American Misfortune, Fantasize Invading?

Joe Amon: Vaccines, Melamine, Lead, and Chinese Officials

Daily Mail: China's Shameful Massacre of Unborn Girls

Google Redirects! But Will The Chinese Government Block?!

Chinese Forwarding Photos Of Anti-China Protests In Japan

Stan Abrams

Anniversaries, Apathy, and Annoyance

Google Does Evil: The Rise of Brain-Damaged Pundits

Google's Hong Kong Gambit Is Public Relations Victory

Philippines Hostage Standoff: Toning Down the Rhetoric

Dumb It Down A Little, Son. A Case Of Scholarly Overkill

Purifying the Chinese Language - the saga continues

Goat Meat, Loose Women, and the Imperfect China Dialogue

Is It Safe? Our Perpetual Assessment of China's FDI Environment

The Decline of Everything, and Why Innovation Won't Save Us

Charles Custer

US Gives $1.5m to Falun Gong Group: A Terrible Idea

Stupid Americans? Send Them to China

Pornography Should be Legal in China

Serf Liberation Day, One Year In

Foreigner Stereotypes, Sex, and the First-Ever Foreigner Poll!

(Religious) Gay-Bashing Comes to China

My Problem With Falun Gong

How Should China Treat North Korea?

Public Relations: Comparing China and the Dalai Lama

Damjan DeNoble

Kro's Nest, End of Days

"US Marines: the few, the proud, the 太牛逼了!"

If China Flies Blind in the Information Economy...

Kevin Slaten

PLA Modernization ≠ US-China War

A War on "Westernization" in China

Radio Free Asia & The May 4th Anniversary Flash Mob Protests

Bin Wang

Workin' For The (China)Man In Dixie

China's On-Going Experiment In Government

Chinese Soccer--An Allegory Of China's Status In The World

Radio Free Asia & The May 4^th Anniversary Flash Mob Protests