Comic China

There are a growing number of artists in China using the medium of the cartoon to explore, expose and lampoon current affairs. Comic China is a regular column, updated by CMP staff at least twice weekly, that translates and contextualizes cartoons from comic bloggers as well as artists drawing for mainstream Chinese media.

  • Potty Politics
    Potty Politics     2012-02-21 Shang Haichun
    On February 19, 2012, a group of female college students from several universities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou staged an "occupy male toilets" protest against long lines for the potty.
  • Unbearable Gall
    Unbearable Gall     2012-02-17 Shang Haichun
    Addressing a controversy over the harvesting of liver bile from black bears in China, a top official from the association of traditional Chinese medicine said at a press conference that the process was just like "turning on a water tap," painless and natural.
  • Sucking the Private Economy Dry
    Sucking the Private Economy Dry     2012-02-16 Cao Yi
    According to a February 2012 report in Guangdong's Southern Weekend newspaper, China's four largest commercial banks each raked in profits of more than 300 million yuan a day in 2011. Meanwhile, the paper said, profits in China's real economy (实体经济) had been "paper thin."
  • Purple Prose Prisoner
    Purple Prose Prisoner     2012-02-15
    Discipline inspectors say the letter of repentance from former official Yin Chuntian, now serving eight years in jail for corruption, was the most literary they have ever seen.
  • Kicking Out Western Dramas
    Kicking Out Western Dramas     2012-02-14 Shang Haichun
    China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television, the government agency charged with controlling and regulating China's television and film industries, recently released a notice saying that overseas produced television drama series could not be broadcast during prime time (7pm to 10pm).
  • The Secret Game Rules
    The Secret Game Rules     2012-02-10 Chen Chunming
    One Sichuan official is reported to have remarked after being removed for alleged corruption: "There are no fish when the water is clean."
  • Elephants, Donkeys and Pandas
    Elephants, Donkeys and Pandas     2012-02-02
    In this cartoon by artist Will Luo, China is caught in the middle as the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey duke it out in the U.S. presidential race.
  • Tibet, Portrait of Despair
    Tibet, Portrait of Despair     2012-01-27 Crazy Crab
    Last week, ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, the regional government in the Tibet Autonomous Region reportedly distributed more than 1 million portraits of the four generations of Communist Party leadership, adding to already escalating tensions in the region.
  • Happy New Year!
    Happy New Year!     2012-01-26 Chen Chunming
    This cartoon captures one of the most familiar scenes of the Chinese New Year holiday, children setting off fireworks in celebration.
  • Noodle Bamboozle
    Noodle Bamboozle     2012-01-19
    Despite nationwide revelations of exorbitant noodle prices, Changsha's airport continues to squeeze hungry travelers.

Latest Comic China