Andrew Jacobs New York Times

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  China Further Tightens Grip on the Internet

  Until now, the authorities had effectively tolerated the proliferation of VPNs as a lifeline for millions of people.

• In defensive crouch, China leader voices regret

  Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, well known for baring his emotions in public, has displayed a blend of defeatism and defensiveness as he winds down his decade in office. During a visit last month to a Muslim neighbourhood here, Wen lamented that he "fell short in some tasks" to improve people's livelihoods.

• Beaten by Chinese security agents who wanted his Twitter password

  The Chinese Communist Party has long felt threatened by overseas Web sites and social media outlets, but the recent detention of a California physicist who says he was beaten by Chinese security agents seeking the password for his Twitter account suggests how far the government will go in its battle against a freewheeling Internet available only be...

• China censors pull plug on American Idol knock-off reality show

  In the end, it was not the overabundance of sequins or the cringe-worthy ballads that doomed "Super Girl," one of China's most popular televised talent extravaganzas.

• China's army of graduates struggles for jobs

  Liu Yang, a coal miner's daughter, arrived in the capital this past summer with a freshly printed diploma from Datong University, $140 in her wallet and an air of invincibility.Her first taste of reality came later the same day, as she lugged her bags through a ramshackle neighborhood, not far from the Olympic Village, where tens of thousands of ot...

• At Peace Prize ceremony, winner's chair stays empty

  Imprisoned in China and with close family members forbidden to leave the country, the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, an empty chair representing his absence at the prize ceremony here. Noting Mr. Liu's absence, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, said to a standing ovation: "T...

• Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honours Liu Xiaobo

  Imprisoned in China  and with close family members forbidden to leave the country, the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo  was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, his absence represented at the prize ceremony here on Friday by an empty chair. (Read: Who is Liu Xiaobo?)In Beijing, the Chinese authorities, who have been incensed by the choic...

• Empty chair for Chinese winner at Nobel ceremony

  With an empty chair on the podium, Norway's Nobel Committee braved furious Chinese protests on Friday, preparing to honor the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in his absence, without handing over its coveted, golden peace medal to a named winner for the first time in over 70 years. Around a third of the 64 invited countries with embassies in Osl...

• Chinese woman jailed for her Twitter message

  A Chinese woman was sentenced to one year in a labor camp on Wednesday after she forwarded a satirical microblog message that urged recipients to attack the Japanese Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, human rights groups said Thursday.The woman, Cheng Jianping, 46, was accused of "disturbing social order" for resending a Twitter message from her ...

• Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize

  Liu Xiaobo, an impassioned literary critic, political essayist and democracy advocate repeatedly jailed by the Chinese government for his writings, won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Mr. Liu, 54, perhaps China's best known dissident, is currently servi...