29 Nov China Daily Show website brings a taste of Onion to Chinese news

If you didn’t know, China Daily is China’s national English language newspaper and website. It has absolutely nothing to do with a new site that recently launched called China Daily Show, which spoofs the news out of China with the same irreverence of The Onion here in the States, adding a dash of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” (no video, though).

The current headlines on China Daily Show include:

Beggar not actually an erhu player: Erhu player
China cracks down on lame humor after lousy Mao joke gets Tweeter jailed
Japan halts porn exports to China over Diaoyu controversy: report
“Beijing is actually very safe”: Rapist
Reports: More and more foreigners getting their feelings hurt
“I’m too old for this shit”: Dalai Lama

You get the point.

From the quality of the prose and cattiness of the humor, my guess is the people working on this funny project are Westerners, but not surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of info on the site, and the bylines sound suspiciously fake. Given that China isn’t the most liberal country in the world about freedom of the press, the creators of the China Daily Show are also quick to state on its About page that “This website is not affiliated in ANY WAY with China Daily newspaper or The Daily Show.”

However, they do toot their own horn with tongue firmly in cheek:

China Daily Show is the most trusted and accurate source in China since China Daily. Considered 124% more accurate and verifiable than China Daily and with 4 out of 5 foreigners preferring to refer to it instead of Xinhua, China Daily Show is proud to bring you “The Best F%@king News Team in China”.

I hope this site takes off. It’s nice to see some levity injected into Chinese media, and China Daily Show is a remarkably well-produced spoof.