Tea Leaf Nation

The White House surely has a full plate already. But it can add one more item to its long to-do list: Respond to Chinese petitioners. Starting on May 3, the White House’s petition website has become a favored landing spot for Chinese Web users, and the hashtag #occupytheWhiteHouse, and a variety of related memes, has [...]

A poll currently live on Chinese Internet portal Sina.com shows that a majority of over 62,000 respondents favor amending China’s Marriage Law to allow for same sex marriage. The poll allows respondents four choices: “I support it, love does not require a gender difference” has received 50.1% of the vote thus far. “I oppose it, [...]

Yesterday, a group of prominent Chinese citizens issued an open letter to China’s government calling on it to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While open letters are a venerated form of protest and speech, this group made waves when they chose to share their message on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter. As [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. It appears that Chinese environmental activism is going further mainstream. The Sina micro-blogging account of Global Times, a well-known Communist Party mouthpiece, has just shared news about the horrific proliferation of “cancer villages” in China. Earlier today, @环球时报 wrote: A map of China’s ‘cancer [...]

Let’s call it “reverse luxury arbitrage” with a delicious–and throat-searingly spicy–twist. Luxury arbitrage, at least as it commonly relates to China, is the practice of Western brands charging more in China than they do in their home countries. For example, the cost-conscious drinker’s favorite beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, positions itself as a luxury brand in [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. As The New York Times reported yesterday evening, U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant has just released a deeply troubling report called “Exposing One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units.” The report alleges wide-spread hacking sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army, which is controlled by the [...]

“Wanted: Evildoer, drug lord, arms trafficker, may be wearing ladies’ makeup to avoid detection. If you spot him, you should immediately report it to the American FBI.” Criminal lawyer Gan Yuanchun’s February 12 announcement on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, accompanied by photoshopped images showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with eyeshadow, lipstick, and various colored [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Tea Leaf Nation editor David Wertime spoke today on Public Radio International’s The World about NBA star Kobe Bryant (@KobeBryant), who has recently opened an account on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter. The full two-minute interview is available above. Bryant has been a beloved [...]

In January alone, a stifling and noxious haze twice enveloped the Chinese capital of Beijing, pushing air quality indexes literally off the charts and inciting widespread outrage both on-line and off. Pollution — and the outcry surrounding it — has gotten so severe that, according to the New York Times, Beijing has taken emergency measures which “include temporarily shutting [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Beijingers are choking on their air — again. Just seventeen days after Chinese cyberspace erupted with complaints about pollution so bad that it was “beyond index,” denizens of the Chinese capital awoke once again to a city blanketed with smog. Over the past [...]

On Sina Weibo, China’s major Twitter-like platform, a user with the handle “this is America” (@这里是美国) shared the below image on January 23, two days after U.S. President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. The accompanying caption reads: “Who really changed America?” Obama’s second inaugural did not capture the same amount of attention on China’s social media [...]

“Sorry, the headlines have been obscured by a giant haze; please click your mouse to clear it up.” If only cleaning up Beijing were as easy as following the above circled instructions on Sohu, a Chinese Internet portal. In response to unprecedentedly filthy air in the Chinese capital, Sohu’s humorous innovation has Chinese Web users talking. [...]