TresSugar

Oh Snap! Obama Is a Celebrity in China

TresSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:00:37 -0800

A stone carving of President Obama is on sale in Shanghai, China, along with carvings of celebrities like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and Katie Holmes. Obama will be meeting with both ordinary citizens and Chinese leaders in Shanghai and Beijing starting today. As you can tell from these photos, creative vendors in China are ready to capitalize on Obama's visit. You just got to love ~~capitalism~~ communism!

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Uh Oh! Counterfeit Condom Factory Discovered in China

TresSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Condoms might top the list of things that should never be counterfeited. Unfortunately, there may be as many as one million ineffective knock-off condoms on the market in China right now.

Four people were arrested this week at a factory allegedly producing and selling condoms that provide little to no protection against disease or pregnancy. What's worse? Authorities said they found "bare-chested" employees using vegetable oil to lubricate the condoms that they then packaged without any sterilization. Whoever came up with this fake factory sounds like they were fulfilling some sort of bizarre fantasy.

This story is scary enough to make someone outside of China paranoid. If you're freaked out, just make sure you never buy condoms labeled as "Jisson, Durex. Rough Rider, Six Sense and Love Card."

Oh Snap! China Goes All Out For Its Birthday

TresSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:30:00 -0700

Bringing back memories of last Summer's epic Olympic opening ceremony, China went all out to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the communist state. While thousands celebrated the red revolution today, those who did not take part faced tight crackdowns. In fact, gatherings in cities other than Beijing and Hong Kong were banned, as were divorces! There were some anti-government protests in Hong Kong, however.

An American icon also took part in the celebrations, despite the US's historical issues with communist China and its human rights abuses. The Empire State building was lit up in red last night in honor of the anniversary. Protesters called the lighting inappropriate for a symbol of freedom and a "blatant approval" of totalitarianism.

To see more photos, read more.

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Oh Snap! And the Nines Have It

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:59:39 -0700

Were you aware that it is 9/9/09? Even if you're not, tens of thousands of Chinese couples will remember for you. They're all racing to get married today, because the number nine is supposed to be lucky. (In Chinese, the word for nine sounds a lot like the word for "forever.") And in Vegas, where nine doesn't sound like forever but some couples are getting married anyway? Maybe they just like the look of 9/9/09.

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Say What? Laura Ling and Euna Lee Break Their Silence

TresSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

"Most of the North Koreans we spoke with said they were fleeing poverty and food shortages. One girl in her early 20s said she had been told she could find work in the computer industry in China. After being smuggled across the Tumen River, she found herself working with computers, but not in the way she had expected. She became one of a growing number of North Korean women who are being used as Internet sex workers, undressing for online clients on streaming video. Some defectors appeared more nervous about being interviewed than others. But they all agreed that their lives in China, while stark, were better than what they had left behind in North Korea."

- Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee opened up today about their ordeal in North Korea. They were finally able to report the story that led them to the border in the first place, of desperate women who flee North Korea only to be forced into the sex trade or arranged marriages once they get to China. In the article, the pair also describes being dragged into North Korea from Chinese soil by North Korean soldiers.

China Airs Its Abortion Problem

TresSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:31:16 -0700

Each year there are 20 million births in China and 13 million abortions. Each year in the US, there are four million live births and fewer than one million abortions. Chinese authorities are admitting that poor sex education and a lack of knowledge about contraception are reasons for the high rate.

Without the protection of proper contraception, pregnant women who have already had the legal number of children turn to abortion. But China's strict family planning laws, which limit women to one child unless the first child is a girl born to a family in a rural area, aren't solely to blame for terminated pregnancies. Single women, often between the ages of 20-29 and without children, are the most likely to seek an abortion.

The high rate of abortion is making front page news in China, even though it's not the highest rate in the world according to UN figures. Russia takes that prize, with an abortion rate more than double that of China's.

China Implementing Strict Criteria For Sex Changes

TresSugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:45:15 -0700

Are you single? Over the age of 20? Have you wanted a sex change for at least five years? Have you lived and worked as a member of the opposite gender for at least two years? Have you told your family about your wishes? Then you would qualify for the gender reassignment surgery in China.

The Chinese government is set to formalize its first set of sex change guidelines after putting them up for discussion on the ministry of health's website. Once a candidate meets the requirements, he or she will have to have the police sign off on it.

Experts estimate that as many as 400,000 people want sex changes in China, a country where many aren't very open-minded about the procedure. Hopefully, those seeking gender reassignment will find ways to overcome the somewhat emotionally painful guidelines (like getting police approval or having to tell potentially hostile family members) so they can live their lives as they wish.

Source

Runaway Brides in China Taking Their Bride Price With Them

TresSugar — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0700

With a surplus of bachelors in China thanks to the one-child policy and cultural preference for boys, the country is starting to see more runaway brides - who run away with the bride price their grooms-to-be saved up for the bride’s family.

“Cai li,” the set amount the groom’s family pays the bride’s family, used to be a small sum in the '80s. But since the country has become more prosperous and prospective brides more scarce, the sums have risen to sometimes several years’ worth of a farming family’s income.

Officials speculate that although the runaway bride phenomenon isn’t exactly yet an epidemic, they’re concerned that when the runaways happen in clusters, organized crime rings may be behind the scams.

The British Journal of Medicine estimates that in a recent census, there was a surplus of 32 million males under the age of 20.

Source

Front Page: 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre

TresSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Chinese police swarmed the square in order to block protests, but a candlelight vigil was held in Hong Kong. - New York Times
In Cairo today, President Obama called for a "new beginning" between the US and Muslims around the world. - Reuters
New Hampshire became the sixth state in the US to allow gay marriage, after the legislature approved a bill and the governor signed it into law yesterday. - Boston Globe
Michelle Obama has come out in support of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. - AP
Pro-choice activists have gotten their hands on the pro-life movement's playbook. - Salon

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In China: Female Children Being Kidnapped as Future Brides

TresSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0700

China’s one-child only policy, implemented in 1979 to curb a population explosion, continues to hurt girls and women in predictably tragic ways.

In addition to women being forced to have abortions and get sterilized, reports are now out that families in the countryside are losing little girls as young as two years old to kidnappers. They then sell them to farmers who want their small sons to eventually have wives in a country where boys outnumber girls at alarming rates.

Largely due to sex-selective abortions in a culture where boys are prized over girls, there are about 124 boys for every 100 girls in the country as a whole, according to the British Medical Journal. In one province, the number is as high as 192.

Although Chinese officials have admitted they need to end the one-child only policy because it is creating a demographic timebomb, the bomb seems to have already begun to explode.

Source