China watcher Kaiser Kuo discusses Western narratives on China’s rise. Technology did not beat authoritarian regimes, he explains, just as other Western views on China were profoundly wrong. The Arab Spring uprising was the first sign technology did not bring repression down, but not the last one, he argues.Read More →

Tencent’s WeChat has been a winner in China in terms of users but might even beat its Western competitors in terms of functionality, writes WeChat analyst Matthew Brennan at the China Channel. The bigger question is will the tech giants outside China ever be able to catch up?Read More →

Author Shaun Rein has to defend his book The End of Copycat China: The Rise of Creativity, Innovation, and Individualism in Asia, against the blockade of internet companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter in an interview with Richard Heffner. This is how China´s protectionism has helped domestic firms.Read More →

Facebook is blocked in China, just like Twitter and Google, but is opening a sales office in China. Chinese companies have to tap into the sales power of Facebook as they go abroad, as their global ambitions grow, explains business analyst Shaun Rein on Bloomberg TV. How do you want to sell in Indonesia or the US if you are not on Facebook?Read More →

The story Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone will offer investors uncensored internet, is a very small, but highly symbolic move by China’s government, explains business analyst Shaun Rein in Bloomberg. Some sections of the government are listening to complaints by foreign and Chinese business leaders, but do not expect major changes fast.Read More →

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr Google was wrong when it behaved in China as if it was calling the shots, says Shaun Rein to Marketplace, as yet another Google service, Google Maps, is about to be banned. SHAUN REIN: Google really said to the government: do what we sayRead More →