ICYMI, last week @LinkedIn said it suspended new user registration in China while it works to comply with local laws. Previously, Chinese media had loudly objected to LinkedIn’s parent company, #Microsoft, accusing Beijing of being behind a massive email server hack. A thread: In a statement Tuesday, LinkedIn said the pause was temporary: “We’re a global platform with an obligation to respect the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations.” No specific articles of legislation were mentioned. news.linkedin.com/2021/march/an-…

[how to create a definitely real Twitter profile: a thread]

Step 1: Choose a photo of a white person but a first name that is used almost exclusively by Chinese people. [how to create a definitely real Twitter profile: a thread]

Step 2: Write a short bio that includes some personal details, such as the totally normal place you work.

THREAD: Last week, China’s Cabinet announced that, for the first time, fees will be charged for “excessive” freedom of information requests, potentially meaning huge out-of-pocket expenses for lawyers and others who rely heavily on public information from the Chinese government. According to a notice published Dec. 1, government offices will be able to choose from two different rate schemes: one based on frequency, one based on size. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengc…

THREAD on a first-year university student in eastern China who became a controversial figure on Weibo after using the microblogging platform to extensively — and courageously — chronicle her sex life. The woman, known by her online alias Xiaomugoune (a homophone of a Chinese phrase meaning “collared pup”), published a series of journal entry-style posts giving readers a peek into her on-campus sexual encounters — some of them paid, she says — with mostly older students.

Foreigners have actually been barred from Chinese livestreaming platforms since Jan 2017, when the central government mandated that they would henceforth be required to register with authorities.

#Thread based on a story @SixthTone did at the time that could not be published: 1/

https://twitter.com/JoshuaDummer/status/1280877750245453828

In early 2017, foreign users of livestreaming apps like gay social networking platform #Blued and Weibo-backed #Yizhibo began receiving notices that their accounts were suspended. 2/

THREAD: China’s media regulator is now requiring real-name registration for authors of online literature as authorities move to ensure that publishing platforms gravitate toward content with a “positive and healthy tone.”

Per @SixthTone’s arts & culture reporter @Xiguaken: 1/ Publishers of online literature must assume greater responsibility for their domains. In addition to embracing real names and healthy tones, they should control output, manage bestseller lists and top comments, and discourage overly homogeneous content. 2/ xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-…

Africans in Guangzhou are being evicted from their homes and turned away from hotels, forced onto the streets, amid rising xenophobia and concerns of a #COVID19 rebound.

“It’s already a PR mess for China,” @castillorocas told CNN. cnn.com/2020/04/10/chi… @castillorocas Notice from U.S. State Department, plus more articles:

1) barrons.com/news/african-c…

2) news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/compon…

3) supchina.com/2020/04/08/afr…

4) scmp.com/news/china/soc…

5) shanghaiist.com/2020/04/10/afr…

THREAD about how Douyin, the Chinese version of #TikTok, is banning livestreamers for speaking Cantonese instead of Mandarin. 1/ On Monday, the Guangzhou-based WeChat account Yangcheng Net (羊城网) posted an article detailing how several Douyin users had received 10-minute bans from the platform for speaking their native Cantonese during livestreams. 2/ mp.weixin.qq.com/s/UBDqlu-36GkZ…

THREAD: I read the @WHO’s 40-page report from a recent visit to assess the #COVID19 situation in China so you don’t have to. Here are some key points: who.int/docs/default-s… @WHO The Joint Mission consisted of 25 experts from China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, the U.S., and the WHO. It was co-headed by Dr. Bruce Aylward of the WHO and Dr. Liang Wannian of China.

The reporters and editors at @SixthTone have had a busy week jam-packed with #coronavirus coverage. With so much getting lost in the ether, here’s a thread of the human-centric news, commentary, features, and visual stories we’ve published in the past few days: Visuals | Collage: China Battles the Coronavirus, by @dynamism42 and Qi Ya sixthtone.com/news/1005152/c…

THREAD: This is the story of Zhang Chi, a 39-year-old Wuhan resident who first went to the hospital 10 days ago after developing a fever. He now has viral infections in both lungs but no official diagnosis, despite having visited half a dozen hospitals. 1/ sixthtone.com/news/1005149/t… Jan. 21: Zhang was feeling feverish, so he went out to buy a thermometer. When his temperature read 38.5° C, he went straight to Hubei Xinhua Hospital, one of the province’s top medical institutions. 2/

THREAD: The person Shanghai is trusting to keep the city safe from the Wuhan #coronavirus raised a few eyebrows while speaking to media today. So who is he, and what did he say? 1/ sixthtone.com/news/1005144/l… His name is Zhang Wenhong, a leading infectious disease expert at the Fudan University-affiliated Huashan Hospital. He did his postdoc at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and focuses on pathogenesis, specifically of viral hepatitis and tuberculosis. 2/

THREAD about how the tragic death of a 23-year-old woman in rural Guizhou province has cast a pall over one of China’s most reputable charities. 1/ The Chinese internet is devastated and outraged after poor, severely malnourished #WuHuayan died of heart failure Monday — two months after netizens donated over $145,000 toward her medical treatment and general welfare. 2/

THREAD on the viral pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan that bears striking similarities to SARS, and as such has the Chinese public on the verge of panic despite there being just 27 confirmed infections. 1/ According to a police notice Wednesday, authorities in the central Chinese city have taken 8 people into custody on suspicion of “spreading rumors.” 2/