Analysys in Beijing has issued its research on the number of registered blogs in China.:

According to Analysys International’s study, China’s blog market is evolving from the user cultivation phase to rapid growth phase although the business model is still immature. Most blog service providers are trying to attract more users by proactively developing new products and launching featured services. By the end of Q3 of 2005, the total registered users had reached 33.36 millions, more than twice compared with the user number of 14.75 millions by the end of 2004.

The involvement of large portals such as Sino Blog and MSN Spaces and some instant messaging service providers like Tencent is the main reason to drive the rapid growth of user numbers. Meanwhile many blog service providers are trying hard on business model innovation. When most of the bloggers enjoy the free service, some high-end users showed their acceptance of the paid VIP services, mobile blog service and paid blog space. Q-zone of QQ, Buluo of Netease and Blogcn becomes the top 3 blog service providers in Q3 2005

I spoke with Analysys a couple of weeks back on blogs for an article. The 33 million statistic, and the market share held by Q-zone and Netease, should be viewed with this in mind:

• The QQ and Netease numbers are inflated as they represent, as Analysys states, ‘registered’ blogs but not necessarily active bloggers. As well, active bloggers in China often change servers.
• There are a lot of abandoned blogs out there, and there are many blogs that are registered but may consist of nothing more than a post saying ‘hello.’
• There are probably 100-130 internet users in China… far less than one-third of them blog.
• This is also likely true for the English-language blogosphere. Consider, of 21 million blogs Technorati tracks - three of them are mine - one not updated since February 2003 and the other idle since early October.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, media, northeast asia

From a start-up blog that welcomes posts from anyone who hates anything, Ihatethis.org presents a rant from someone who hates Carlsberg that’s brewed in Malaysia.:

You know that your Carlsberg is brewed in Malaysia? No, no… I don’t pretend to say that Carslberg in Malaysia is bad, poisonous etc. I pretend to say it is not fair to cheat people.

Carlsberg commercials try to say they’re selling you the brand-cool beer from Europe. All those ancient traditions of beer brewing, vikings and other stuff. But they never want to tell you that they actually import that Carlsberg from Malaysia! Damn it… it’s like buying Rover from “the leading Chinese corporation”. Not to mention Rolls-Royce being over-60%-BMW-produced.

Carslberg from Malaysia? Here you go… happy drinking. True Danish beer!

AsiaPundit hates the fact that Pilsner Urquel isn’t available in Shanghai.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, malaysia

South Korea’s cloning genius Hwang Woo-suk didn’t get the eggs used in his research from the Easter Bunny:

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea pledged Friday to continue its support for cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk despite his resignation as the head of an international center for stem cell research in a controversy over the source of donor eggs.

A trained veterinarian, Hwang is a national hero and gained international renown for his breakthroughs, including cloning the world’s first human embryos and extracting stem cells from them. Earlier this year, he unveiled the world’s first cloned dog.

After more than a year of denying rumors that some eggs used in his experiment came from subordinate scientists, Hwang on Thursday acknowledged two scientists in his Seoul lab donated their own eggs for research.

He also acknowledged he had recently found out a hospital doctor paid some women for their eggs, and stepped down as director of the World Stem Cell Hub that he and international researchers announced just last month.

Under commonly observed international guidelines, scientists are advised to be cautious when using human subjects for research who are in a dependent relationship with them - a precaution against exploitation.

The Marmot reports that many Koreans are supporting Hwang, (comments at the post are well worth reading). Some are protesting the news station that broke the story and major banks are considering pulling ads.:

Netizens are planning a candlelight demonstration against MBC investigative program "PD Notebook," whose Tuesday edition accused Prof. Hwang of acquiring eggs from subordinate team members.  Meanwhile, two firms have pulled advertisements from PD Notebook’s time slot, and Woori and Kookmin banks are discussing suspending their ads.

Supporting Hwang is understandable, and AsiaPundit hopes his career can recover. However, attacking the messenger will not help Hwang or his international reputation. If anything, that will reflect badly on Korea as a whole.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, korea, media, northeast asia, south korea

The Taipei Times makes no secret of its pan-Green sympathies, but it does usually keep its sense of humor better hidden.:

Chinese tourists should be welcomed. It is unlikely that the possible threat of Fifth Columnists will greatly affect the security of this country, which after all, is already within striking range of hundreds of Chinese missiles and aircraft.

But it will not be easy to deal with the large influx of Chinese. There are cultural issues to which Taiwan should be sensitive.

For this reason, and in the spirit of cross-strait reconciliation, there are a number of phrases which should not be employed when speaking to tourists from China. Failure to not say these things will only exacerbate the mutual misunderstanding and cultural rift that exists between the two countries.

Therefore, do not — under any circumstances — say any of the following 10 phrases to Chinese tourists: One, noodles, paper, gunpowder. What have you done for us lately? Two, one-child policy plus patriarchal society equals no women. Three, 5,000 years of civilization, and all you have to offer us is pandas? Four, welcome to Taiwan. Please don’t spit. Five, Simplified characters for simple people. Six, Mr. Hu, tear down that wall! Seven, our opposition leaders get to have dinner with your president, but your opposition leaders get shot. Eight, our Chinese culture is better than yours. Nine, my dad owns the factory your dad works in. Or finally: We were going to “retake the mainland,” until we went there.

Thus, we can maintain cross-strait harmony

(Via Wandering to Tamshui)

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, northeast asia, taiwan

An video-captured incident involving a Malaysian policewoman abusing a Chinese woman, and allegations that this isn’t uncommon, has Malaysian uberblogger and journalist Jeff Ooi saying this could be Malaysia’s Abu Ghraib:

When I viewed the stills and video clip that MP Teresa Kok showed to Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang at the Parliament today, I sensed it wasn’t only the victim who was shown in nude.

If the images are true, then the dark side of our Malaysian police has also been shown naked, stark naked.

Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid has been ordered by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to visit China to explain that Malaysian enforcement agencies are not targeting Chinese women.

Azmi said the matter was "very urgent" and he had to put off plans to visit Pakistan.

Abdullah issued the instruction following several alleged incidents of Chinese women being stripped while under detention, their money stolen and enforcement officers peeping at them.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, corruption, east asia, malaysia, northeast asia, southeast asia

I don’t think any religion has endorsed corruption, but it’s nice to see that a multi-faith conference in Malaysia has decided that it is a sin.:

Malaysiakini reports that representatives from the six major faith groups in the nation; Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism; have finally come to a joint conclusion that corruption is a sin!

Duh!!?? Did it have to take that long for them to figure it out?

Collectively, they pledged to take the “fight (against) corruption in all its manifestations (by) using religious values that we profess and believe in” to their respective communities. Well, better late than never.

The above was actually a result of a two-day workshop on “The Role of Religion in Anti-Corruption Strategies” was organised by the Malaysian Society for Transparency & Integrity (Transparency International Malaysia) and sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. I can only pray that this newfound zeal is not just another case of “hangat-hangat tahi ayam” due to the perceived stand against corruption by the current Prime Minister.

China still run by godless ‘commies’ so no improvements in transparency and governance are expected following this announcement.

Technorati Tags: asia, corruption, east asia, malaysia, southeast asia