iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mark Dreyer

Cindy Wan @cindywan.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

This is very sad. David Webb’s collection of data has been a treasure trove for journalists and HongKongers alike. Thank you, Mr Webb, for all your hard work. Godspeed! webb-site.com/articles/shu...?

webb-site.com

Webb-site Reports

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Reposted by Mark Dreyer

Tariq Panja @tariqpanja.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Hopefully by the time the 2034 World Cup comes round, the message it’s not okay to grope visiting supporters will have been heard. What a grim story. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

theguardian.com

Spanish FA apologises after Mallorca players’ families harassed in Jeddah

The RFEF president has apologised to Real Mallorca supporters six days after they were harassed at the Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia

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Reposted by Mark Dreyer

Whipling @seanhaines.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Behind all the excitement of these TikTok escapees discovering Little Red, Chinese censors must be having kittens. Chinese public have a lifetime of inate self-censorship, ease to fit XHS's ToS. "Free speech" American kids? Not so much~ 🔮Surely many bans coming~ 🔮

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Reposted by Mark Dreyer

Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Happy 2025! I started a Substack. Here's my first post: open.substack.com/pub/chinaspo...

open.substack.com

Li Tie and me

Chinese football legend is appealing his 20-year sentence for corruption

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

They've played .575 hockey in the past 20 games, but even if they continue that for the rest of the season, their poor start means they'll still fall short of the playoffs - even though they might genuinely be a "playoff" team, were it not for Laine's injury.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Even just a few points higher would mean that being "in the mix" would be a reality, rather than a hope (as it is now) - and then could then learn those lessons on the fly.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

So are you saying they would or would not be higher up the standings if Laine had stayed healthy?

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Reposted by Mark Dreyer

Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 29/12/2024

The lesson being Hong Kong is horrible at organizing exhibition football

(SCMP headline) Editorial | Real Madrid event needs to be a lesson learned
• The disappointment of some football fans over a ‘meet-and-greet’ comes less than a year after Lionel Messi failed to play in an exhibition game

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Feels like this could have been written at any time in the last, say, eight years? I remember one finance expert keen to play down her own (excellent) dataset at least as far back as 2017.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Among his more 'provocative' works is the 2018 paper "Thinking with Birds: Ornithology and Indigeneity in Taiwan."

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Four typos in four sentences for this BBC homepage piece on Vanuatu's earthquake. It's clear the editors were laid off there years ago, but what about Grammarly? AI? Or even a read through??

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Are you coming to China for any of your research on this?

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

A 20-year prison sentence was handed down to former Everton and China player and national team coach Li Tie today - "short" according to what he could have received for admitting bribery charges of more than $10m. Sad end to a truly groundbreaking career.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Qi Jun, former director of the strategic planning dept of the CFA, who was also team leader of the men's national team during the 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, was sentenced to 7 years today. Speculation in Chinese media that Li Tie's verdict could come as early as this week...

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

That, and the fact that "Hong Kong" was the reason why the NBA hasn't played games in China since 2019. No point in giving the critics - and there will still be plenty critical of this move - the neat and tidy "full circle" ironic headline.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Multiple straight minutes of Chinese Olympians applauding their president (rather than the other way around) if I'm not mistaken!

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Yes! The article mentions the teams were in China at the time, but it all, of course, kicked off in Japan *before* they even landed in China, which just served to stretch out the whole painful, week-long episode.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

NBA games are returning to China next October - six years since a single tweet derailed the league there. Covered this a LOT in my book, as all my worlds - comms, sports, China, US-China - collided. Expect plenty more rhetoric next year... apnews.com/article/nba-...

apnews.com

NBA returning to China for pair of Suns-Nets preseason games in 2025, AP source says

The NBA is returning to China next season. The league has struck a deal to play preseason games there more than five years after the league was effectively banned for Commissioner Adam Silver not puni...

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

This is explosive. Summary: -WADA's investigation unit tells WADA that Chinese athletes are likely/historically taking trace amounts of TMZ. -WADA then learns Chinese athletes tested positive for trace amounts of TMZ. -But WADA does not inform its own investigation unit WADA --> not fit for purpose

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

But then left when the business case for the programs didn't add up. We did some good stuff though - it was just a shame it was never seen by the intended audience!

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

The story we were told was that various people on the ATV board were suing each other for control of the company - and we were basically a victim of that chaos and subsequent fallout. Most of the team were later let go. I stayed on for another 18 months or so as Caixin tried to make a go at video.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

So Caixin staffed up for a video team. We were supposed to be producing up to 9 China/economy-related programs, which would then air on ATV, but it never really got off the ground. I guess the deal must have been fairly well advanced otherwise they wouldn't have hired all of us.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

But then left when the business case for the programs didn't add up. We did some good stuff though - it was just a shame it was never seen by the intended audience!

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

I was hired by Caixin in 2011 to host and produce a bunch of programs for ATV - but as the channel fell apart, the deal never got off the ground.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Ohtani's 50/50 ball sold for $4.4m last month to Taiwanese investment firm UC Capital - a tenant of Taipei 101 - so they decided to put it up for viewing until March next year.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

"Tomorrow" should of course read "on Sunday", but in a few hours this post will be correct 🤦‍♂️

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Reposted by Mark Dreyer

JaredTNelson @jaredtnelson.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Bluesky now appears to be blocked in China

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

2027 is the earliest that Shanghai can become an official WMM and I wish them well. But I also hope that organizers can up their game between now and then so that the Shanghai marathon is truly on par with London, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo and now Sydney as world-class elite race.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Interestingly, the Shanghai marathon is *not* a CAA-affiliated event, operated exclusively by the Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Event Management company, though Xu Bin, Director General of the Shanghai Administration of Sports, was at Oct's candidacy announcement, so there is clear government support.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Meanwhile, despite Shanghai being one of the toughest races for which to gain entry due to its popularity, anecdotally I've heard that many, many more China-based foreigners were accepted this year than last - likely due to WMM criteria about the make-up of the field.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Why does this matter? Well, to be taken seriously as a international marathon, organizers need to have this kind of flexibility - especially if they expect runners to fly in from all over the world. Claiming (fake) fast times has been an issue in China, but Peter's real results are all over the web.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Peter has been unable to convince them to allow him to start near the front - almost certainly killing his aim of a good time. Soon after the start, the field is funneled through a much tighter section, dramatically slowing the back of the field. Realistically, he'll do well to break 3:00.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Why? Because despite being one of the fastest runners in the race, a sponsored athlete and a known contender on the triathlete circuit, he doesn't have an official marathon time from the past three years - which is what the organizers are demanding for those wishing to start in the earlier pens.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

What you see here is the start of the 2023 Shanghai marathon - 38,000 runners in total. The fastest runners start in the front group (Pen A), then there's a slight gap to the next fastest runners in Pen B, and then Pen C, which trails around the corner in the picture below. Peter starts in Pen D.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

He's aiming for a time of 2:35 tomorrow, or 2:30 at a push. That is lightning fast and puts him in the very top tier of amateur runners, just behind the elite competitors. But here's the thing: he'll be starting waaaaaaay at the back of the field.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

But take this story. This is Peter Wolkowicz, a 40-year-old German triathlete, who is very, very good. Based in China since 2010, he won the 2024 Qiandao Lake full distance triathlon in 8:50 and also won the 2024 China Weimar Extreme Triathlon.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

But back to Shanghai, which will be keen to have a spotless race tomorrow, now that it is under the official microscope. There was a lot of fanfare over the announcement of its candidacy, so all sides will be incentivized to make sure that Shanghai is approved in time, not rejected like Chengdu.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

In early Oct, Chengdu was replaced by Shanghai as China's new candidate city. Then, last week, Sydney was officially announced as the seventh World Marathon Major - delighting its many supporters but somewhat irritating those who had already received their Six Star Medal for completing the others.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

COVID came and went, so the process was paused for a while, but in 2022, there were three candidates under consideration: Sydney, Cape Town and Chengdu. But the last two months have seen two big announcements.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

The criteria to be approved as a new WMM are not publicly listed, but candidate marathons have to pass 2 consecutive assessments over a 3+ year period, with the race’s participation, number of finishers, quality of the elite fields, race organization, sustainability and more taken into account.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Importantly, it was also co-hosted by the Chinese Athletic Association (CAA). I haven't run it myself, but by all accounts, it's a good race and one of China's best. Marathon running has exploded in popularity in China over the past decade - so this seemed a slam dunk.

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Mark Dreyer @dreyerchina.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Beijing, Guangzhou and other popular marathons were touted as leading contenders. But, in 2019, Chengdu became the first marathon race in China to be nominated as a candidate race for the WMMs. Guess who took over management of the race in 2018? Wanda Sports!

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