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Was the torch relay a success or failure?

Posted Sunday, May 11, 2008 8:03 PM by will
That's a good question, and it was posed in an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal by Geoffrey Fowler. As the article notes, the answer is "yes", depending on who you ask: Was China's Olympic-torch relay around the world a miserable failure Read More...
6 Comments

Jing Jing, Bang Bang! Now we know who shot up CNN's logo

Posted Wednesday, April 30, 2008 6:34 AM by will
My colleague was downstairs at the Olympic souvenir stand in the mall when she spotted this notebook and bookmark set featuring Jing Jing, one of the five "Fuwa" mascots of the Beijing Olympics. Shooting is an Olympic sport (and several of the Olympic Read More...
3 Comments
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Weekend Olympic roundup

Posted Monday, April 28, 2008 12:57 AM by will
Imagethief is aware that this blog is at risk of becoming "all Olympics, all the time". This isn't intentional, but when you write about PR, communication and China its rather hard to ignore the symbolism, conflict and dueling narratives swirling around Read More...
14 Comments

China to meet DL's representative: Spot the difference in language

Posted Friday, April 25, 2008 6:20 AM by will
From CNN.com, a report that the Chinese government will meet with a representative of the Dalai Lama. This strikes Imagethief as something that be the result of a piece of external advice. You know, it would really look good if you would at least sit Read More...
21 Comments

He's not speaking for me...

Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:11 AM by will
I am trying to figure out if "Mr. Fred J.M. Slot" (who's English is just slightly suspect) is taking the piss in this letter to Shanghai Daily : ON behalf of myself and many of my friends I would like to apologize to the Chinese people for the way the Read More...
28 Comments

Uh oh...let's hope we don't see much more of this -- Updated

Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008 6:15 AM by will
Update : See Shanghaiist's update on this situation . Less serious than it first appeared, although not benign. A couple of years ago a good friend of Imagethief's was accosted on Gongti Beilu by a drunk Chinese man who was looking to pick a fight with Read More...
21 Comments

Nepalese spokesman shows how to craft a really bad headline

Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:33 AM by will
When you're in a hole the first thing to do is stop digging, suggests a timeless adage. Unfortunately in discussing how torch relay security would be handled in Nepal, a security ministry spokesman put forth a nugget of information that was guaranteed Read More...
1 Comments

China finds an Olympic hero at last

Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2008 6:00 AM by will
For much of the last two weeks its seemed as if China couldn't catch a PR break around the Torch Relay. In fact, the New York Times has even gone so far as to publish an article on how meticulous the PR of the Tibetan exiles has been. But it appears that Read More...
8 Comments

The New York Times has free PR advice for China

Posted Wednesday, April 09, 2008 11:54 AM by will
Responding to recent reports that the Chinese government is seeking external counsel, they write : After facing major protests in London and Paris as the Olympic torch made stops on its journey to Beijing, the Chinese government is said to be looking Read More...
21 Comments

Something to worry the Darfur activists

Posted Tuesday, April 08, 2008 10:15 PM by will
Imagethief just dragged his weary self off of the eleven hour flight from Beijing to San Francisco, where he is spending a couple of hours before connecting on to San Diego. Having been following the what's been following around the Olympic Torch Relay Read More...
13 Comments

Improving pre-Olympic PR: A thousand little things

Posted Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:44 AM by will
A few days ago, a journalist asked me if a grand gesture, like a release of imprisoned dissidents, would be a good pre-Olympic PR move for the Chinese government. I told him that I thought at this point any such maneuver, no matter how positive, would Read More...
10 Comments

The gulf between foreign and Chinese expectations of the Olympics

Posted Thursday, March 20, 2008 1:37 AM by will
Forbes national editor Mike Ozanian has written a short but bleak blog post assessing the prospects for the Olympics on Forbes' sports business blog: Violent clashes in Tibet and China’s support of Sudan during its genocide of the people in Darfur tell Read More...
12 Comments

Tibet and the trouble with unassailable national myths

Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:23 AM by will
Outside of Young Frankenstein there isn't really any such thing as a "good time" for rioting, but this might be an especially bad time for China to have a bout of punishing ethnic unrest. It hasn't really been a banner start to the Olympic year so far, Read More...
32 Comments

IOC chief on Tibet: No boycott

Posted Sunday, March 16, 2008 1:48 AM by will
The temperature is rising. From AP, via CNN : The president of the International Olympic Committee rejected the idea of boycotting the Summer Games in Beijing over China's crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only hurt athletes. "We believe that the boycott Read More...
11 Comments

YouTube blocked, unsurprisingly

Posted Saturday, March 15, 2008 9:53 PM by will
Since last night, most likely due to the posting of video of the Tibet demonstrations, some of which is reposting of material from major news organizations (such as this, from CNN ). Via Danwei and Shanghaiist . CNN and BBC have been regularly blacked Read More...
14 Comments
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