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Freed Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei given Twitter ban

By Jon Russell Sat, Jun 25, 2011 2:00PM UTC View Comments

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has reportedly received a Twitter ban included in the conditions of his recently agreed one-year long bail, according to media reports. The Telegraph, amongst many others, claims he will be unable to address his 89,000 plus Twitter followers although these details remain unconfirmed by Ai himself who is additionally banned from talking...

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China to develop $154m tech centre free of web restrictions

By Jon Russell Sat, Jun 25, 2011 11:30AM UTC View Comments

The Chinese government is spending a reported US$154 million(RMB 1 billion) to develop a 10sqkm, cloud-based technology centre for high-tech and start-up firms in the country’s south-western city of Chongqing. The facility, described as a “‘cloud computing‘ Special Administrative Region (SAR)”, will crucially be free of the country’s strict internet censorship filters, known as The...

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Meet the Japanese porn star shaking up the Chinese web

By Jon Russell Fri, May 27, 2011 12:30PM UTC View Comments

The following guest contribution is republished with permission from The Me, “a global commentary serving you daily doses of sanity”. Her Chinese name has more than 41 million page hits on Google, more than that of Mao Zedong, Yao Ming or Confucius. In April, when appearing at a motor show in the remote Chinese provincial...

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Facebook may “block content” – a precursor to China entry?

By Jon Russell Thu, Apr 21, 2011 8:30AM UTC View Comments

Twitter users in Asia spent yesterday swarming around a statement made by Facebook lobbyist Adam Conner which suggested that the social network is considering blocking content in “some countries”. Given the rumours of Facebook entering China, is this statement the first step which sees the US make the necessary compromise on control and freedom of...

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Rumour: Facebook finally set to enter China – but who is its local partner?

By Jon Russell Sat, Apr 09, 2011 12:34AM UTC View Comments

Facebook may be set to enter the Chinese market after reportedly striking a deal with “a domestic website” according to a blog post from Ogilvy Asia chief Thomas Crampton. According to Crampton the rumour was let out of the bag by Hu Yan Ping, manager and founder of Internet research center DCCI, who tweeted the...

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