Once again China evokes that the international community has no right to question the sovereignty of state power. Ai Weiwei is being held for investigation of unclear charges. While human rights activists have been lobbying on his behalf. The Chinese state simply regards this a family affair, to which the world should not be privy. Here's the Daily Times article.
This reminds we about the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, that China took as a slap to the face again sighting that the International community has to right to stir domestic trouble.
This for me is just ringing the tension of China believing in harmonious society where the only good disagreements are none at all.In Chinese society the state is the center actor of all course and the collective good is the only good. That is why someone like Weiwei does not fit in. They are taking an individual stance in a collective country.
Though perhaps, China will practice what it preaches and continue to shy away from criticizing other states in their actions in the domestic sphere. However, is that what anyone but a dictator would want?
The spiral of silence can get deadly.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
China’s military, under fire over transparency, seeks to build trust with neighbors
In the article"China's military, under fire over transparency, seeks to build trust with neighbors" produced February, March 31st addresses the military tensions in the South China Sea are becoming increasingly tense as China's Military continues to grow and develop. For surrounding nations China's increased military presents in the area through development of new weapons such as the "carrier-killer" missile developments and China's plant to launch up to five aircraft carriers in the coming years have become a non-ignorable issue for the U.S. For other Asian nations such as Japan and Taiwan the increase encounters such as when "China’s State Oceanic Administration flew within 230 feet (70 meters) of a Japanese destroyer as it was patrolling near a disputed area," have cause anxiety and protest. Straining political relations between the neighboring countries, who have become leery of China's lack of transparency in regards to its intentions of its military build up.
China claims that these tactics are meant as "stronger assertions of sovereignty claims" and have proven a new challenge to Chinese diplomacy. In recognition of the need to increase transparency and increase communications, "the defense report included for the first time a separate section on military confidence building, highlighting defense consultations, joint training missions and exchanges between border units". Stating in the report that it "is pursuing such steps as “an effective way to maintain national security and development, and safeguard regional peace and stability.”
However, China's long standing disapproval of U.S.-Taiwan relations continues to be used as an effective measure to solidify the People's Liberation Army reluctance to increasing its contact with Washington. "Beijing cut off formal exchanges in anger over a $6.4 billion arms package offered to Taiwan last year, although the defense paper said the two sides are now “maintaining effective dialogues and communications after various ups and downs.” The result is a complex lack of transparency between what military reports are saying and what actions are actually occurring leaving the U.S. and other nations to ponder the true meaning behind China's new military strength.
Full article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinas-military-under-fire-over-transparency-seeks-to-build-trust-with-neighbors/2011/03/30/AFh06C6B_story.html
China claims that these tactics are meant as "stronger assertions of sovereignty claims" and have proven a new challenge to Chinese diplomacy. In recognition of the need to increase transparency and increase communications, "the defense report included for the first time a separate section on military confidence building, highlighting defense consultations, joint training missions and exchanges between border units". Stating in the report that it "is pursuing such steps as “an effective way to maintain national security and development, and safeguard regional peace and stability.”
However, China's long standing disapproval of U.S.-Taiwan relations continues to be used as an effective measure to solidify the People's Liberation Army reluctance to increasing its contact with Washington. "Beijing cut off formal exchanges in anger over a $6.4 billion arms package offered to Taiwan last year, although the defense paper said the two sides are now “maintaining effective dialogues and communications after various ups and downs.” The result is a complex lack of transparency between what military reports are saying and what actions are actually occurring leaving the U.S. and other nations to ponder the true meaning behind China's new military strength.
Full article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinas-military-under-fire-over-transparency-seeks-to-build-trust-with-neighbors/2011/03/30/AFh06C6B_story.html
A short history of free speech in China
200 BC
The legacy of Confucius
From 200 BC to the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese statecraft was based on the ideas of Confucius, a political thinker who had lived in the 5th century BC. Confucian thinking stressed ethics. It regarded order and stability as essential to enable people to behave in a moral way. Despising violence and force, it also looked down upon profit and commerce. China did not develop an idea of rights that were inherent and natural to the individual as had arisen in Western Europe. However, the ideally organized Confucian society was supposed to provide social welfare and just treatment. People were expected to know their place--kings ruled over subjects, fathers over children, husbands over wives. The powerful were expected to behave with benevolence and failure to do so could result in forfeiture of power. Of course, the reality was often different. Nevertheless, for much of the first two millennia AD, this system allowed a civilization to flourish and a variety of thinkers of many persuasions to debate ideas.
1842
Imperialism and new thinking
China's relations with the outside world changed profoundly in the 19th century as European empires expanded. Britain and China clashed in the Opium War, culminating in the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842--a humiliating agreement forcing China to open up territory and trading rights to the West. These 'unequal treaties' have not been forgotten even today, and shape debates about free trade and globalization. For most of the next century, portions of Chinese territory were under foreign control. It was often in the imperialist-controlled areas where China's dissidents hid from their own governments and published their radical thoughts.
Imperialism had a profound effect on political thinkers in late 19th and early 20th century China as they encountered liberalism, social Darwinism and Christianity. Yan Fu drew on ideas of evolution to argue that China was a nation struggling against others for survival. Thinkers argued for a greater role for individual rights than in pre-modern China, but also valued collective action. The Qing (pronounced 'ching') dynasty--initially ambivalent about these reforms--swiftly changed tack after various military defeats between 1895 and 1900, and tried to carve out a new role for China as one sovereign state among many. Popular discontent was too great to save the dynasty, and it was swept away in the revolution of 1911. China was officially reconstituted as a modern republic at the start of 1912.
1919
The May Fourth Movement
On 4 May 1919, 3,000 students demonstrated at the Tian'anmen, the gate at the front of the Forbidden City in Beijing (the palace complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties). Incensed at the news that the Treaty of Versailles was not going to hand back former German colonies on Chinese soil, but award them to Japan instead, they burnt down the house of a pro-Japanese government minister. This one demonstration, lasting only a few hours, remains legendary. Called the 'May Fourth Movement', it became shorthand for perhaps the most liberal and fruitful period in modern Chinese history.
Between 1915 and the early 1930s reform-minded Chinese looked in every possible direction for solutions to the twin problems of militarism and imperialism that they felt needed to be overcome to 'save the nation'. The most radical--including members of the fledgling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)--argued that Confucianism was at the root of China's problems and must be utterly rejected. Overall, the era was shaped by a shared agenda among reformers for 'science and democracy'. But the promise of the May Fourth era was dealt a crushing blow by the horrifying Japanese war against China (1937-45), which killed more than 20 million Chinese and hardened political attitudes against pluralism.
1949
Mao Zedong and 'democratic dictatorship'
Mao Zedong--who would rule all of China for more than a quarter-century--left his southern rural home as a young man and became involved in the May Fourth Movement while working in the Beijing University library. He was a founding member of the CCP in 1921 and followed it through its persecution by the Nationalist Government (founded by Chiang Kaishek in 1927), the Long March northwards (1934-35), the war with Japan (1937-45), and then the civil war with the Nationalists (1946-49).
The CCP's adoption of the Bolshevik ideas of 'democratic dictatorship' meant that open dialogue within the Party became restricted. After the CCP's victory in 1949, the tentative moves toward freedom of speech--already restricted by the war with Japan--were mostly cut off. There were short windows of opportunity, such as the Hundred Flowers Movement in May 1957, when the public were encouraged by Mao to speak out about problems. But when the criticisms turned out to be more savage than expected, the Movement was ended and millions of critics were sent into internal exile. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) sought to encourage the young and re-energize Mao's revolutionary vision. In the process it fuelled a near-theological cult of Mao's personality and created an atmosphere of paranoia that led to denunciations, murders and suicides across China. Schools and universities were shut down, thereby robbing a generation of its chance of education.
1976
Deng Xiaoping: China opens for business
The death of Mao in 1976 was followed swiftly by the arrest of the 'Gang of Four', the ultra-radical supporters of Cultural Revolution policies. People who had been persecuted were rehabilitated, and a genre of writing known as 'scar' literature allowed people to express their sufferings. Deng Xiaoping--one of the longest survivors in the CCP--eased himself into paramount power by 1978, and until the early 1990s was the prime force behind China's economic reforms.
Deng believed that the nation's progress was dependent on a well-educated population. As part of the reform process, official sanction was given to more open debate and discussion. Throughout the 1980s, students demonstrated publicly, newspapers and radio shows began to discuss social problems openly, and it became possible once again to travel and study abroad. The daring documentary 'River Elegy' (Heshang) was broadcast on national Chinese television in 1988, arguing that China had been led astray by Mao, the false 'peasant emperor', and that the country needed to return to the message of the May Fourth Movement--'science and democracy'.
1989
Tian'anmen Square
By 1989, Deng's economic reforms had contributed to massive growth, but had also led to spiralling inflation and discontent. Demonstrations of workers and students demanding more democracy appeared in many cities in the spring of 1989. While most were dispelled peacefully, Tian'anmen Square in Beijing proved the exception. With up to a million protesters at its height, this demonstration was co-ordinated to start on the 70th anniversary of the original May Fourth demonstration to point out that the CCP's founders (some of whose contemporaries were now China's leaders) had once been angry radicals standing in the same spot seven decades before. Despite attempts to negotiate, the demonstrations were ended with bloodshed when tanks rolled into the Square on the night of 4 June.
Tian'anmen Square now shapes popular understanding of the Chinese Government in the West. However, it was not the end of openness in China (although the period from 1989-92 was highly repressive). China is slowly opening up a space for discussion in a way that was difficult to imagine in 1989 (see pages 9-12 and 27). Yet this expansion is very clearly within limits.
The legacy of Confucius
From 200 BC to the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese statecraft was based on the ideas of Confucius, a political thinker who had lived in the 5th century BC. Confucian thinking stressed ethics. It regarded order and stability as essential to enable people to behave in a moral way. Despising violence and force, it also looked down upon profit and commerce. China did not develop an idea of rights that were inherent and natural to the individual as had arisen in Western Europe. However, the ideally organized Confucian society was supposed to provide social welfare and just treatment. People were expected to know their place--kings ruled over subjects, fathers over children, husbands over wives. The powerful were expected to behave with benevolence and failure to do so could result in forfeiture of power. Of course, the reality was often different. Nevertheless, for much of the first two millennia AD, this system allowed a civilization to flourish and a variety of thinkers of many persuasions to debate ideas.
1842
Imperialism and new thinking
China's relations with the outside world changed profoundly in the 19th century as European empires expanded. Britain and China clashed in the Opium War, culminating in the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842--a humiliating agreement forcing China to open up territory and trading rights to the West. These 'unequal treaties' have not been forgotten even today, and shape debates about free trade and globalization. For most of the next century, portions of Chinese territory were under foreign control. It was often in the imperialist-controlled areas where China's dissidents hid from their own governments and published their radical thoughts.
Imperialism had a profound effect on political thinkers in late 19th and early 20th century China as they encountered liberalism, social Darwinism and Christianity. Yan Fu drew on ideas of evolution to argue that China was a nation struggling against others for survival. Thinkers argued for a greater role for individual rights than in pre-modern China, but also valued collective action. The Qing (pronounced 'ching') dynasty--initially ambivalent about these reforms--swiftly changed tack after various military defeats between 1895 and 1900, and tried to carve out a new role for China as one sovereign state among many. Popular discontent was too great to save the dynasty, and it was swept away in the revolution of 1911. China was officially reconstituted as a modern republic at the start of 1912.
1919
The May Fourth Movement
On 4 May 1919, 3,000 students demonstrated at the Tian'anmen, the gate at the front of the Forbidden City in Beijing (the palace complex of the Ming and Qing dynasties). Incensed at the news that the Treaty of Versailles was not going to hand back former German colonies on Chinese soil, but award them to Japan instead, they burnt down the house of a pro-Japanese government minister. This one demonstration, lasting only a few hours, remains legendary. Called the 'May Fourth Movement', it became shorthand for perhaps the most liberal and fruitful period in modern Chinese history.
Between 1915 and the early 1930s reform-minded Chinese looked in every possible direction for solutions to the twin problems of militarism and imperialism that they felt needed to be overcome to 'save the nation'. The most radical--including members of the fledgling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)--argued that Confucianism was at the root of China's problems and must be utterly rejected. Overall, the era was shaped by a shared agenda among reformers for 'science and democracy'. But the promise of the May Fourth era was dealt a crushing blow by the horrifying Japanese war against China (1937-45), which killed more than 20 million Chinese and hardened political attitudes against pluralism.
1949
Mao Zedong and 'democratic dictatorship'
Mao Zedong--who would rule all of China for more than a quarter-century--left his southern rural home as a young man and became involved in the May Fourth Movement while working in the Beijing University library. He was a founding member of the CCP in 1921 and followed it through its persecution by the Nationalist Government (founded by Chiang Kaishek in 1927), the Long March northwards (1934-35), the war with Japan (1937-45), and then the civil war with the Nationalists (1946-49).
The CCP's adoption of the Bolshevik ideas of 'democratic dictatorship' meant that open dialogue within the Party became restricted. After the CCP's victory in 1949, the tentative moves toward freedom of speech--already restricted by the war with Japan--were mostly cut off. There were short windows of opportunity, such as the Hundred Flowers Movement in May 1957, when the public were encouraged by Mao to speak out about problems. But when the criticisms turned out to be more savage than expected, the Movement was ended and millions of critics were sent into internal exile. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) sought to encourage the young and re-energize Mao's revolutionary vision. In the process it fuelled a near-theological cult of Mao's personality and created an atmosphere of paranoia that led to denunciations, murders and suicides across China. Schools and universities were shut down, thereby robbing a generation of its chance of education.
1976
Deng Xiaoping: China opens for business
The death of Mao in 1976 was followed swiftly by the arrest of the 'Gang of Four', the ultra-radical supporters of Cultural Revolution policies. People who had been persecuted were rehabilitated, and a genre of writing known as 'scar' literature allowed people to express their sufferings. Deng Xiaoping--one of the longest survivors in the CCP--eased himself into paramount power by 1978, and until the early 1990s was the prime force behind China's economic reforms.
Deng believed that the nation's progress was dependent on a well-educated population. As part of the reform process, official sanction was given to more open debate and discussion. Throughout the 1980s, students demonstrated publicly, newspapers and radio shows began to discuss social problems openly, and it became possible once again to travel and study abroad. The daring documentary 'River Elegy' (Heshang) was broadcast on national Chinese television in 1988, arguing that China had been led astray by Mao, the false 'peasant emperor', and that the country needed to return to the message of the May Fourth Movement--'science and democracy'.
1989
Tian'anmen Square
By 1989, Deng's economic reforms had contributed to massive growth, but had also led to spiralling inflation and discontent. Demonstrations of workers and students demanding more democracy appeared in many cities in the spring of 1989. While most were dispelled peacefully, Tian'anmen Square in Beijing proved the exception. With up to a million protesters at its height, this demonstration was co-ordinated to start on the 70th anniversary of the original May Fourth demonstration to point out that the CCP's founders (some of whose contemporaries were now China's leaders) had once been angry radicals standing in the same spot seven decades before. Despite attempts to negotiate, the demonstrations were ended with bloodshed when tanks rolled into the Square on the night of 4 June.
Tian'anmen Square now shapes popular understanding of the Chinese Government in the West. However, it was not the end of openness in China (although the period from 1989-92 was highly repressive). China is slowly opening up a space for discussion in a way that was difficult to imagine in 1989 (see pages 9-12 and 27). Yet this expansion is very clearly within limits.
Committee to Protect Journalists: Mainstream journalists also targeted in China crackdown
New York, March 30, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the dismissal of two Guangzhou-based journalists who advocate for political reform amid tightening restrictions on free expression. While several bloggers and activists have disappeared or been detained in the last month after anonymous calls for demonstrations in support of political reform were published online, journalists in traditional media are now also being targeted, CPJ said.
Time Weekly opinion editor Peng Xiaoyun reported on her Twitter account Monday that she had received an official dismissal notice from the Time Weekly company, which operates under the Guangdong Provincial Publishing Group. International news reports said Peng had taken "involuntary leave" in January after including controversial figures, such as jailed food safety advocate Zhao Lianhai, in a December 2010 retrospective of 100 influential contemporary figures.
In a separate case, outspoken Southern Weekend commentator Chen Ming, who publishes under the name Xiao Shu, also announced Monday via his local Sina microblog that he was taking a two-year sabbatical. The term "sabbatical" was likely a euphemism for permanent notice since journalists have to resign after six months on leave, U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post confirmed the news with an unnamed former colleague of Chen's.
RFA said the weekly, which is published by the Southern Media Group, had withdrawn Chen's column in 2010. Hong Kong University's China Media Project website published an example of his writing in October 2010 titled "Anyuanding, and why political reform can't wait." The Southern Media Group also let high-profile commentator Zhang Ping, who writes under the pen name Chang Ping, go in January after pressure from local propaganda authorities.
"In their drive to stifle public discussion, China's propaganda authorities are depriving the people of some of the country's most forward-thinking opinions," said Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator. "Not just bloggers and activists who straddle the realms of politics and journalism, but mainstream journalists who have long operated in traditional Chinese media are now being targeted."
Dismissals, reshuffles, and fines are used as punitive measures against professional journalists and editors who flout government reporting restrictions or are perceived as consistently critical, according to CPJ research. Authorities rarely provide specific reasons for the action. Peng Xiaoyun's notice did not explain the motive for discharging her, she said on Twitter. Because those involved often downplay reprimands to preserve their jobs, the causes and effects of the practice are difficult to monitor. Chen Ming declined an interview with RFA.
Zhang has done interviews about what happened since he was sacked, including with a supplement of Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper and with Beijing-based English-language media blog Danwei. Before losing his position, he told Danwei, "The newspaper demanded that I don't take any interviews, and I was willing to compromise in order to have the opportunity of staying at the newspaper. This time I have been told to leave the newspaper, naturally I don't have that layer of restraint."
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Baidu Deleted Pirated Works!
I posted an article earlier in the semester where the US claimed that Baidu was promoting pirated information. Apparently, they were correct, and now Baidu is attempting to rectify the issue.
Baidu deleted 2.8 million online written works from it's Baidu Wenku--or online library--due to copyright infringement. Basically the Baidu Wenku is a peer to peer library system where the users can upload or download literary works. 40 plus authors claimed Baidu listed their works without permission.
This obviously takes in to account China's faulty intellectual property rights protection. Typically things like this would not be addressed, but it's possible that since Baidu is the largest search engine and is typically under scrutiny, that they addressed the issue. It's also interesting that this happened recently after America decides to not pass a similar Google literary library.
Behind the 'Great Firewall': China's 'first blogger' speaks out
A new insight into China's battle with censorship over the internet is revealed by the influential blogger Isaac Mao who suggests that, "The battle of Chinese censors to block political commentary on the internet is akin to "a snake swallowing its own tail". Mao who started blogging in 2002 from behind China's "Great Firewall", on the most restrictive internet environments in the world, gives an interesting insight into the restrictive nature of China's government towards individual speech and internet user rights.
He suggests that the Government's restrictive nature may be a result of trying "to slow down people's communication", citing the censorship of keywords and access to "g-mail" accounts. Hence Mao's analogy of "a snake swallowing its own tail because the snake is trying to find the food and attack, but eventually he found his own tail." He brings up the issues with Domestic users problems accessing Google's Gmail in China as a way "to rest the tolerance of the people". He suggests that as a result of governmental restrictions, they are stifling people's creativity and access to information. Though Mao contradicts this to some degree denoting the rise in creative measures by Netizens and VPN users to circumnavigate government restrictions with the use of concepts embedded into other contexts,such as the word "Jasmine" being used in the phrase "a cup of Jasmine tea" to address the issues of the attempted Jasmine Revolution by Netizens early this month.
Mao however does not address the issue in terms of long standing internet and individual speech policies but instead suggests a balance be attempted between users and the government, "it is a kind of test from the authorities, to try to see if this type of new censorship strategy could cause economic consequences,". Thus, perhaps suggesting a formal balance between the focus on development through economic growth that permeates Chinese national policy, while enabling citizens to have access to information and to communicate their daily lives to the outside world. However this may prove to be more difficult as Mao denotes, "[t]he worst thing would be if China cut off the whole internet, and made itself into an intranet. We don't want to see that day coming," Mao said. "So we try to persuade the authorities that it will hurt the whole country's development in the future, and the economy eventually."
For the video Interview and article please see: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/03/28/China.blogger.mao/index.html?iref=allsearch
He suggests that the Government's restrictive nature may be a result of trying "to slow down people's communication", citing the censorship of keywords and access to "g-mail" accounts. Hence Mao's analogy of "a snake swallowing its own tail because the snake is trying to find the food and attack, but eventually he found his own tail." He brings up the issues with Domestic users problems accessing Google's Gmail in China as a way "to rest the tolerance of the people". He suggests that as a result of governmental restrictions, they are stifling people's creativity and access to information. Though Mao contradicts this to some degree denoting the rise in creative measures by Netizens and VPN users to circumnavigate government restrictions with the use of concepts embedded into other contexts,such as the word "Jasmine" being used in the phrase "a cup of Jasmine tea" to address the issues of the attempted Jasmine Revolution by Netizens early this month.
Mao however does not address the issue in terms of long standing internet and individual speech policies but instead suggests a balance be attempted between users and the government, "it is a kind of test from the authorities, to try to see if this type of new censorship strategy could cause economic consequences,". Thus, perhaps suggesting a formal balance between the focus on development through economic growth that permeates Chinese national policy, while enabling citizens to have access to information and to communicate their daily lives to the outside world. However this may prove to be more difficult as Mao denotes, "[t]he worst thing would be if China cut off the whole internet, and made itself into an intranet. We don't want to see that day coming," Mao said. "So we try to persuade the authorities that it will hurt the whole country's development in the future, and the economy eventually."
For the video Interview and article please see: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/03/28/China.blogger.mao/index.html?iref=allsearch
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
China’s role in Africa--Wikileaks
There is no doubt that China has emerged as an important economic power, with China’s soaring economic power, China becomes more confident and become a high-profiled investor in Africa.
But it seems the international community is not happy with China’s heavy presence in Africa. Many Western companies complain that China’s way of doing business is going to push them lose ground in Africa. According to the article, Africa: China Dismisses U.S. Claims Over Continent, it says that leaked US diplomatic cables in 2007 describing China using bribes, cut-throat pricing strategies and coercion through senior government officials to win lucrative deals in the sector. So definitely, many Western companies criticize China practicing unfair trade to win deals.
Chinese ambassador to Kenya told a continental meeting of researchers in Nairobi that China is not an exploiter and recolonizing Africa. Ambassador also emphasized that the similar history (Both China and Africa suffered the colonialist invasion and internal disorders) shared by African countries and China will keep strengthen the tie between China-Africa relations.
As we discussed in class that many state-owned-enterprises (SOE) in China started their business to build basic infrastructure such as road, dam and bridges for African countries, but in return, China is signing up contracts with those countries to have the license for natural resources mining. But the wikileaks seems to de-legitimize China’s economic development model. It depicts the way how Chinese companies doing business is against the rule of law, not based on the transparent bidding. The state-dominated China model of development could cause more corruption in those poorest parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America—where the rule of law often simply does not exist. China’s international aid will also conflict with other international donors who support good governance and pay more attention to capacity building instead of infrastructure construction.
Tie China’s foreign aid into international communication is how China should collaborate with other international actors to build up common ground , to promote China’s positive image to its foreign public. Only by doing that, China can create economic win-win cooperation with other governments.
I also think in order to sustain the good relationship with Africa, China needs to be very cautious about its foreign policy, because it is very important to establish mutual-trust between China and Africa. After all, African countries play a vital role to support China’s international status.
China censors info on U.S. Internet freedom policy
The article "China censors info on U.S. Internet freedom policy"
By: Geoff Duncan denotes the censoring of "links to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Internet freedoms...and even blocked searches for info on Clinton herself." Denoting China's continual regulation of the internet through keywords and internet filtering operations, it is not a surprise that a speech that promotes: free speech, transparency of government and individual user freedom on the internet would become the target of censorship by Chinese authorities.The article denotes that "China’s top microblogging service Sina has blocked searches on the terms “Hillary” and “Hillary Clinton” with a message that the search results were blocked due to Chinese laws and regulations."
Clinton's speech focusing in internet freedoms mentioned many insightful parallels to China's own stifling policies and actions towards its citizen's online speech and expression. However the main problem with Clinton's speech as the article denotes may be more in regards to her comments on a "dictator's dilemma" and its ramifications for long-term social and economic costs of denying citizens certain freedoms and suggesting that control can only be held back for a certain amount of time. The Chinese communist party has always held its regulatory nature as a way to maintain a "harmonious" society, a productive society and a economic influential society. To suggest that their tactics will lead them away from their National developmental goals is to suggest that all that they have done is incorrect. Though in China's case their regulations have slowly become an irritation to its citizens, going from simply a conditional consequence of economic prosperity to one of innovative stifler. This kind of thought though is not uniformed but with "The Chinese government consistently describes its citizens’ access to the Internet as free and unrestricted, while maintaining it has the right to block and restrict access to information it deems harmful or disruptive", the possibility in Clinton's speech may prove a hard a pill to swallow.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/china-censors-info-on-u-s-internet-freedom-policy/
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Lady Doth Protest. Click. Oh I forgot, Chinese Censors don't allow words
As one of my colleagues posted earlier, a more complete list of words and phrases that the Chinese government is banning from public vocabulary, the word protest to me seems funny when you take it out of the political light. All these words aren't just the loaded political or social jargon for modern phenomenon but rather hold a lot of cultural weight in their own right. As one man quoting Shakespeare to a woman on the phone found out the hard way. now not only was he using a lame way to flirt with her but she will also think that he hung up on her.
"China is tightening up its online censorship even more, the Times reports.
The story recounts an eye-opening anecdote: a Chinese entrepreneur was on the phone with his girlfriend, and quipped, quoting Shakespeare: "The lady doth protest too much." Upon the word "protest," the phone call cut off. He was speaking in English, but this has also happened to people speaking in Mandarin, so it's not just a one-off."
"China is tightening up its online censorship even more, the Times reports.
The story recounts an eye-opening anecdote: a Chinese entrepreneur was on the phone with his girlfriend, and quipped, quoting Shakespeare: "The lady doth protest too much." Upon the word "protest," the phone call cut off. He was speaking in English, but this has also happened to people speaking in Mandarin, so it's not just a one-off."
Friday, March 25, 2011
An alleged list of banned SMS terms from China Mobile and co.
This is an awesome article about those words and terms banned on Chinese Internet. If you click the original article, you are able to find the collection of the terms. They are MUCH MUCH more than I can imagine......
Recently uploaded onto the twitterverse were two word documents (this one and this one) purporting to be a list of SMS words banned by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. The three telecommunications companies had announced their plans to monitor text messages for "bad content" this time last year, but the implications of that went unnoticed for most of 2010.
So it's interesting to see an actual listing of what may be the words on the SMS "black list." I say may be because there's some doubt to whether these words are actually anything close to an official black list, or if they were just compiled by netizens gleefully supposing what the relevant bureaus would want to censor. For one, the word "fuck" appears more than once on the list - does that mean you have to write "fuck" twice before the censors step in... or was it just an oopsie of bad editing?
Also, some of the words are almost too ridiculous to possibly be on any list. I understand wanting to block out 牛B for being a swear word and the many iterations of FLG (there are at least 20 on the list), but 日本 (Japan)? CDMA? China Telecom's full name in Chinese? Even the GFW isn't that specific: it can't be. Nothing would be able to get texted ever.
To test the list out, I tried texting various friends with two text messages comprised of banned terms - "Bignews playboy fuck peacehall simple sex" and "温家宝 法论 红灯区 胡锦涛." Both went through and were sent back as confirmation.
But perhaps I just don't understand the algorithm surrounding the actual blacklisting of words from this text list. After all, the original report on the SMS banned words list said there would be 13 criteria relating to whether a message was "unhealthy." Those 13 criteria were never revealed. Maybe it has to be in an actual sentence? Maybe they only blacklist you when you've texted the words multiple times?
Anyone who's willing to risk getting their phone shut off ought to experiment - it'd be good to know what exactly you can get away with.
Recently uploaded onto the twitterverse were two word documents (this one and this one) purporting to be a list of SMS words banned by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. The three telecommunications companies had announced their plans to monitor text messages for "bad content" this time last year, but the implications of that went unnoticed for most of 2010.
So it's interesting to see an actual listing of what may be the words on the SMS "black list." I say may be because there's some doubt to whether these words are actually anything close to an official black list, or if they were just compiled by netizens gleefully supposing what the relevant bureaus would want to censor. For one, the word "fuck" appears more than once on the list - does that mean you have to write "fuck" twice before the censors step in... or was it just an oopsie of bad editing?
Also, some of the words are almost too ridiculous to possibly be on any list. I understand wanting to block out 牛B for being a swear word and the many iterations of FLG (there are at least 20 on the list), but 日本 (Japan)? CDMA? China Telecom's full name in Chinese? Even the GFW isn't that specific: it can't be. Nothing would be able to get texted ever.
To test the list out, I tried texting various friends with two text messages comprised of banned terms - "Bignews playboy fuck peacehall simple sex" and "温家宝 法论 红灯区 胡锦涛." Both went through and were sent back as confirmation.
But perhaps I just don't understand the algorithm surrounding the actual blacklisting of words from this text list. After all, the original report on the SMS banned words list said there would be 13 criteria relating to whether a message was "unhealthy." Those 13 criteria were never revealed. Maybe it has to be in an actual sentence? Maybe they only blacklist you when you've texted the words multiple times?
Anyone who's willing to risk getting their phone shut off ought to experiment - it'd be good to know what exactly you can get away with.
Will Bob Dylan Self-Censor in China Concerts?
A lot of rock stars and bands are not allowed to have concert in China. I have been waiting for Coldplay and Linkin' Park for a long long time and I was very disappoited every time because once they announced that they had plans to have concert in China, their plans would be aborted at last.
But now, Bob Dylan (notice, country music, not rock, not ever pop) is coming......
Here is the article
Tickets can be reserved but are not officially on sale for April shows in Beijing and Shanghai.
Despite the threat of censorship, American music legend Bob Dylan will try to scale the musical Great Wall of China in April, a year after he scrapped planned concerts here for reasons still unexplained.
Overnight Tuesday, popular online ticket agent Mypiao.com began taking reservations for tickets to see Dylan, in concert in Beijing and Shanghai on Apr. 6 and 8, respectively.
Although the Ministry of Culture has yet to publicize its necessary approval for the concerts planned by Beijing-based promoter Gehua-LiveNation, a MyPiao agent reached by telephone said the company already had taken 2,000 reservations for the Beijing appearance.
“The tickets are not yet on sale but we think they might be later this week,” the ticket sales agent said. “We will call you back when they are actually available.”
But neither of Dylan’s planned China shows was listed on the official website of the 1960s rebel icon, a site which does list his planned appearances in Taipei, Taiwan, on Apr. 3, and in Hong Kong, where he has played before, on Apr. 12. Live events industry site Pollstar.com lists the Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong shows, but not Taipei.
Historically, media monitors from China’s one-party central government have proven wary of countercultural influence, especially when it’s imported.
In 2006, authorities asked seminal British rockers The Rolling Stones to cut five songs including Let's Spend the Night Together from their first ever concert in China, in Shanghai, citing lyrics inappropriate for Chinese audiences.
In March 2008, just before the Beijing Olympics that August, when the world was watching China’s emergence onto the world stage, the Icelandic singer Bjork stirred up a firestorm in by shouting “Tibet! Tibet!” at the end of her encore number, “Declare Independence,” at a Shanghai concert. It was her second China appearance and probably her last. Some point to Bjork’s declaration about Tibet, the territory China has governed since 1950, as the root cause of Dylan scrapping his planned China appearances last year.
At the time, Jeffrey Wu, of the Taiwan-based promoters Brokers Brothers Herald told Hong Kong newspaper The South China Morning Post, that the Ministry of Culture was wary of Dylan's political past.
“The Ministry of Culture will have their fingers crossed,” said Teng Jimeng, who wrote his masters thesis about Dylan at Beijing Foreign Studies University where he now teaches courses on American culture. “It’s their job to filter through all Dylan’s work to see which songs can be played in China and which cannot.”
Dylan’s lyrics often encourage individual questioning of authority, such as in his 1965 hit Subterranean Homesick Blues.
“Watch the plain clothes,” Dylan sings about undercover policemen, and: “You don’t need a weatherman / To know which way the wind blows,” a reference to the American anarchist group of the period that advocated violence as a form of anti-government protest.
Would that song be cut from any Dylan set list? “Absolutely. If they can read through all the lyrics and understand Dylan’s subtleties,” said Teng. “He’s 50% anarchist and the other half poet. For Chinese, he’s not that easy to understand.”
Also in danger from the censor’s scissors for references to politics, sex and drugs are the songs Blowin’ in the Wind, Rainy Day Woman, and Mr. Tambourine Man, Teng said.
“Religion could also be a problem. The Ministry will have been briefed on the second half of Dylan’s career when he became a gospel singer singing about God,” Teng said.
Kelly Cha, a young Beijing-based musician, said, “Dylan has probably got more fans than all the other acts that have visited China from overseas.” Cha would know. She hosts bilingual TV and radio shows, toured China with Linkin Park and last week interviewed The Eagles in Taiwan.
Asked if it was important for Dylan to be able to play whatever songs he wanted in China, Cha said: “There are always compromises that artists and promoters must make when playing in certain countries around the world. Every song Dylan is able to sing here will mean the world to his Chinese fans.”
Tickets to see Dylan, who will turn 70 in May, perform at the 12,000-seat indoor Beijing Workers Gymnasium and the 8,000-seat Shanghai Grand Theater, start at 280 yuan ($42) each.
MyPiao advertised the most expensive tickets at 1,961.411 yuan ($300), an amount paying tribute to Dylan’s breakthrough show with blues giant John Lee Hooker in New York on Apr. 11, 1961.
If the shows go on, Prof. Teng said he’ll be waiting by the door in Beijing for an autograph: “He’s a huge inspiration to all of us. It’s going to be a pilgrimage.”
New Chengdu PSB rules exclude foreigners from using 'net bars
Oops, we forgot about the foreigners ...
From Sichuan News Net/Chengdu Commercial Daily:
"If I bring my passport, can I go online at the Internet cafe?"
"Nope."
"If I bring my passport and my student ID, can I surf?"
"Still not. You need to show a new-generation ID card."
"But I'm a foreigner! How can I possibly have a [national] ID card?"
Sichuan University study-abroad student Li Tingqi from South Korea frequents Internet bars, but recently he's been unable to. He went to five or six different cafes and at each one was told that he needs to show a "second-generation" ID card. [Second-generation ID cards feature a color photo, a magnetic strip on the back, and have been issued since 2005. "Is it possible that now only Chinese people can get online at the Internet bars in Chengdu?"
Yesterday, the reporter went to investigate at seven different Internet bars in Chengdu and discovered that not only can foreigners not get online at the Internet bars, also military personnel with military IDs are being refused alongside anybody else who doesn't carry the second-generation resident identity cards. And even if you do have a card, but you're unlucky, the magnetic strip on your card will be unreadable, and you also won't be able to go online.
Li Tingqi has been studying in Chengdu for four years. Two days ago, Li Tingqi had made plans with Korean friends to go to the Internet cafe for an online gaming session. As usual, at the big Internet cafe near Sichuan University, they pulled out their 'net-cafe cards to sign in. But the employee at the counter told them that according to new Public Security Bureau regulations, the Internet bar has implemented a system for swiping the new-generation ID cards, and only those cards. Any other form of ID would not be accepted.
"We're all overseas students from South Korea, how can we have Chinese IDs?" Li Tingqi and his friends could not understand. He took out his passport and his student ID in order to verify his identity, but the employee maintained that he would not be able to surf the 'net without a second-generation ID card. So Li Tingqi and his friends went to another 'net bar, and another, and another, until they had been refused by five or six Internet cafes.
"We've entered the country legally, and are legallly in Chengdu studying, and we've all registered with the PSB as study-abroad students, so why can't we go online at the 'net bar?" asked South Korean student Hong Zaimin, adding that now he can only go online at friends' houses, which is no long-term solution. He believes that 'net bars should allow foreigners to go online if they show their passport.
The reporter confirmed the South Korean students' complaints at seven different Internet cafes in the Jinjiang District.
At the Huanduoji Internet Club near Sichuan University, the employee explained that their machines can read only the second-generation ID cards. Since the machines were installed a week ago, said the employee, all foreign students looking to surf the 'net have been turned away.
Passports, old ID cards, residence books, driver's licenses, and so on are not accepted.
At the Liulian Internet Bar at Guojia Qiao, an employee told the reporter that earlier that morning a foreign nationality had come to the Internet bar urgently needing to send an e-mail, but he too was refused. "All we could say was to tell him to contact his consulate."
A nearby 'net bar said that the foreign students are trickling in to be refunded the remaining value on their online-credit cards. Previously, the employee added, the bar would be around 80 percent full at peak times. Now that figure has dropped to around 60 percent.
A spokesperson in charge of Internet management at the Wangjiang police station told the reporter that all Internet bars in Chengdu have been fitted with readers for new cards and that if they are manipulated, an alarm will be sent to the police, who will fine the establishment. But during the past week, nearly every day the police station received calls from foreign students and foreign workers as well as military personnel who were surprised by the new regulations. Another portion of calls came in from holders of the cards whose magnetic strips had been damaged and could not be read by the machine. The spokesperson agreed that such issues needed to be resolved and has passed on complaints to the Wuhou Public Security Sub-Bureau.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Imax to Extend into China?
Imax already has a small number of movie theaters in China, but are looking to expand their market by 75 theaters. Until now, the company primarilly was linked with China's largest movie theater company, Wanda China, and only did business in licensings and royalties.
"The deal offers a window into China's evolving attitude toward the film business, which government leaders have identified in recent years as a growth priority. China is racing to build more modern theaters to entertain an expanding, cinema-loving middle class." There are currently 6,000 movie theaters and the government wants to expand to the number of American movie theaters by 2040.
While reading this, I was curious about how well this would work out. China only allows so many foreign movies into China each year (20), and I would imagine that most Imax movies are predominately American. With this strict regulation, it's hard to think that there is really a large enough chance for profit, but then again I guess showing the same movies many many times due to the large population could cause profit. The article supports this idea saying that people waited for 6 hours for tickets to Avatar, and that China tends to approve the movies that Imax wants to show in their theaters.
China obviously wants to maintain their culture, and their nationalistic model of development has tried to protect this. As American and other foreign business wants to expand into China, they will experience this and will be limited in their expansion. In the general business sector they are not as limited as with cultural exports such as film, broadcasting etc. In order for these foreign cultural products to be successful it is probably necessary for China to reduce their restrictions on cultural imports.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Chinese 'Illegal' Internet Cafe's Closed
Chinese surf the Internet at a cybercafe in Beijing, June 3, 2009.
China has very specific rules for their internet cafe's. According to their official Internet policy, they must sign in the users, no minors are allowed, and they have specific rules down to no smoking signs being posted.
A recent article reported that China is drastically cutting down on their non-official internet cafe's. 7000 were closed in 2010. If these cafe's did not agree to new rules, regulations, and monitoring practices they were shut down. The largest of the new regulations was a smart chip ID that could track and monitor the users and what content they are viewing. "Rights activists say that while the government claims that the new regulations are in place to protect underage netizens from inappropriate and pornographic content, they are also used by the ruling Communist Party to limit content that Chinese netizens can view online."
The Ministry of Culture recently released their 2010 report on Internet use and it announced, "China had around 163 million Internet cafe users at the end of 2010, an increase of 21.1 percent compared with the previous year. But the overall market lost nearly 13 percent of its turnover following the new rules."
China also began implementing Internet cafe chains that are state run (imagine, that). In doing this it became much harder to start an independent internet cafe. Beyond this, the newest regulations became even stricter on the content regulation. "The government listed as forbidden any content that 'endangers state security, divulges state secrets, or subverts state power.' Any content that jeopardizes "ethnic unity," interferes with government religious policies, propagates "heretical or superstitious ideas," or "disrupts social stability" is also banned, according to the regulations governing China's Internet." These content regulations are very normal for the content regulations across the board in Chinese cultural products.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Chinese TV, Internet, and Telecom to Converge
In an attempt to standardize products, China is going to converge their TV, Internet and Telecom by the year 2015. They are also reducing the cable systems down to one, to have a unified product since there were many different companies. Each Province will then have it's own network.
China's TV subscribers reached 187 million users last year and 88 million of those are digital subscribers. This planned convergence will digitize all cable services. The SARFT (State Administration of Radio and Film and Television) report also states, "A digitalized cable TV network enables a much larger amount of content transmission and, together with other technologies, will make it possible for TV broadcasters, telecom carriers, and Internet companies to enter each other's fields and provide services."
This sounds like the standard ideal for convergence--that it will lead to competition. Convergence of these three sectors is very much the international norm, because in theory it will create competition and as the report states allow cross sector interaction. Based on the American model there is question whether or not this really does create more competition, and with only having one standard cable company, and eliminating the current 3,000 cable providers, appears to be the creation of a major state run monopoly. This sounds like a very contradictory plan.
China Denies Google!
Following Google's report, China claims this is not true! Google users that were potentially activists towards the current issue in the Middle East found that their gmail accounts would not work. Google blamed China and now China says, "This is an unacceptable accusation," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference on Tuesday." Continuous issues like this have led Google to reduce their market share in China.
Monday, March 21, 2011
China Disrupts Gmail
The never ending battle between China and Google continues!
Basically, Chinese users of Gmail have been having issues accessing their accounts. Google investigated and determined that there were no issues, and "blamed 'a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail."
Apparently the problem coincides with an overarching campaign aimed at the Middle East. Google theorizes that specific activists of this issue are the ones being targeted.
Why China's help to Japan carrie's weight
This article gives a short overview of the symbolic importance of China's aid assistance to Japan despite long term anti-Japanese sediment that has permeated across China since the end of WWII. Especially in regards to lack of closure regarding war atrocities by Japanese soldiers on Chinese citizens in Nanjing during Japan's occupation of the territory. However, the symbolic movement by the CCP and local provinces poses the possibility of better future relations.
Th flooding of disaster aid from China has had mixed responses not only abroad but in the domestic realm as individuals are divided over historical grievances and the opportunity to payback Japan for past aid. The symbolic move by China's government and citizens despite many cries of fowl, gives China not only a boost in its soft power influence but a influential notation in its IR. The contrariety over aid may also bring to light changes in Japan's citizens views of China and its own understanding of historical relevance of the past paving new ways for communication and understanding. While it still being battle out across social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Mixi, it will ultimately be up to the two nations to decide if they can accept each others aid and hospitality.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Countless people across the globe are opening their hearts and wallets to help the Japanese, but the Chinese offer of help carries an extra weight.
China was one of the first to send a rescue team, a 15-member crew many of whom are now scouring disaster areas in Sendai searching for survivors.
China has also flown millions of dollars in relief to Japan. "China is also a country prone to earthquake disasters, and we fully empathize with how they feel now," said Premier Wen Jiabao. "When China was hit with the massive Wenchuan earthquake, the Japanese government sent a rescue team and also offered rescue supplies." China is ready to give more, as Japan needs it, he added...
Still, anti-Japanese sentiment runs deep among some Chinese.
On social networking sites, some bloggers were sarcastically "congratulating" Japan on the earthquake. Others have called the quake "baoying" (karma) for Japan's occupation of China during World War II. Their numbers may be few, but their voices echo deep-seated animosity.
The Chinese suffered miserably under Japan's wartime occupation from 1931 to 1945. Millions of lives were lost.
Nearly 70 years after the war ended, memories of Japan's war atrocities continue to bedevil the relations...
"There are many things in politics and diplomacy that China and Japan don't see eye-to-eye on, but because of this humanitarian situation and people's willingness to help, we're coming together and improving our relationship in a friendly way," said Hachiya of Japan.
Link to video and full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/china.japan.quake/index.html?iref=allsearch
Th flooding of disaster aid from China has had mixed responses not only abroad but in the domestic realm as individuals are divided over historical grievances and the opportunity to payback Japan for past aid. The symbolic move by China's government and citizens despite many cries of fowl, gives China not only a boost in its soft power influence but a influential notation in its IR. The contrariety over aid may also bring to light changes in Japan's citizens views of China and its own understanding of historical relevance of the past paving new ways for communication and understanding. While it still being battle out across social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Mixi, it will ultimately be up to the two nations to decide if they can accept each others aid and hospitality.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Countless people across the globe are opening their hearts and wallets to help the Japanese, but the Chinese offer of help carries an extra weight.
China was one of the first to send a rescue team, a 15-member crew many of whom are now scouring disaster areas in Sendai searching for survivors.
China has also flown millions of dollars in relief to Japan. "China is also a country prone to earthquake disasters, and we fully empathize with how they feel now," said Premier Wen Jiabao. "When China was hit with the massive Wenchuan earthquake, the Japanese government sent a rescue team and also offered rescue supplies." China is ready to give more, as Japan needs it, he added...
Still, anti-Japanese sentiment runs deep among some Chinese.
On social networking sites, some bloggers were sarcastically "congratulating" Japan on the earthquake. Others have called the quake "baoying" (karma) for Japan's occupation of China during World War II. Their numbers may be few, but their voices echo deep-seated animosity.
The Chinese suffered miserably under Japan's wartime occupation from 1931 to 1945. Millions of lives were lost.
Nearly 70 years after the war ended, memories of Japan's war atrocities continue to bedevil the relations...
"There are many things in politics and diplomacy that China and Japan don't see eye-to-eye on, but because of this humanitarian situation and people's willingness to help, we're coming together and improving our relationship in a friendly way," said Hachiya of Japan.
Link to video and full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/china.japan.quake/index.html?iref=allsearch
China Censors AIDS site
It seems that internet censorship only continues to expand in China.
This latest censorship is over the accusations that there was a cover up after the AIDS rights group, Aizhixing Research Foundation, published an open letter from a former health official about restrictions over a health scandal.
So in China, anything critical is at risk to face serious penalties. Here is a former senior level official's own words being struck from the record. Does China really think that by creating a scandal and removing content, that it will maintain it's power and keep the country unified?
The nature of the internet, is that that Chinese site of an AIDS rights group, is now on the radar of the entire world. This kind of news doesn't register as a surprise anymore, after all Tienanmen Square searches yield nothing of the massacre, Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese human rights activist, Liu Xiaobo doesn't appear in Chinese search results, and right after the uprisings started in the Middle East Egypt and Tahrir Square disappeared.
Is the internet serving the Chinese population as a catalyst for speech rights? I think so but it will take many more jailed bloggers, proxy servers, and people unafraid to speak their minds for real change to happen.
_________________________________________________________________________________
To read it in full please follow the link to the CPJ website.
This latest censorship is over the accusations that there was a cover up after the AIDS rights group, Aizhixing Research Foundation, published an open letter from a former health official about restrictions over a health scandal.
So in China, anything critical is at risk to face serious penalties. Here is a former senior level official's own words being struck from the record. Does China really think that by creating a scandal and removing content, that it will maintain it's power and keep the country unified?
The nature of the internet, is that that Chinese site of an AIDS rights group, is now on the radar of the entire world. This kind of news doesn't register as a surprise anymore, after all Tienanmen Square searches yield nothing of the massacre, Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese human rights activist, Liu Xiaobo doesn't appear in Chinese search results, and right after the uprisings started in the Middle East Egypt and Tahrir Square disappeared.
Is the internet serving the Chinese population as a catalyst for speech rights? I think so but it will take many more jailed bloggers, proxy servers, and people unafraid to speak their minds for real change to happen.
_________________________________________________________________________________
To read it in full please follow the link to the CPJ website.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
China Encourages Development of Private Sector?
According to an article in the China Daily yesterday, China is taking measures to encourage the growth of the private sector within the mainland in many industries including telecommunications. Though the government holds that there is no problem where one sector (private versus public) harms the growth of the other.
As more Authoritarian states would approach this, the published 36 new guidelines that they believe will encourage the growth. The guidelines are still vague enough that many levels of the government can exert control over the entry to the private sector for new companies and allows many loopholes for corruption but at least they seem to be trying? Is that good enough for a world super power?
I find it hard to imagine that China is really letting the reins loose to let industry forge it's own place. However, when industries are deemed the "national champions," it isn't that China wants to loose control over the industries it is that it needs the industries to turn a profit without simply relying on heavy government subsidizes, though instead I believe they opened even more tax incentives and subsidizes for industry.
Read the full Article bellow on the China Daily Website.
As more Authoritarian states would approach this, the published 36 new guidelines that they believe will encourage the growth. The guidelines are still vague enough that many levels of the government can exert control over the entry to the private sector for new companies and allows many loopholes for corruption but at least they seem to be trying? Is that good enough for a world super power?
I find it hard to imagine that China is really letting the reins loose to let industry forge it's own place. However, when industries are deemed the "national champions," it isn't that China wants to loose control over the industries it is that it needs the industries to turn a profit without simply relying on heavy government subsidizes, though instead I believe they opened even more tax incentives and subsidizes for industry.
Read the full Article bellow on the China Daily Website.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
China Removes Domestic News about School Stabbings
Last May, a man murdered nine people including seven children at a nusery school in China’s Shaanxi Province before committing suicide, said the English version of xinhuanet.com.
The government claims that to prevent future attacks they are increasing security at schools across the mainland.
How does this story relate to Communication Policy?
The story has now been censored. That’s correct, this story is deemed too threatening to the nation as a whole to be shown on domestic Chinese news.
Cutting out the word protest I understand in terms of an Authoritarian state, but not letting people in the community access information that might serve to protect or inform them in the future is a little shocking even for China. This isn’t a story about the government cracking down on people, this is a story about an insane man murdering innocent people. Many of the things filtered out of Chinese media is based on profanity, anti-Chinese messages, and, for me it seems, if it makes the government look bad. I honestly can only see the tangential connection in that it makes it look like schools in China are vulnerable, which schools everywhere are. It isn't a Chinese phenomenon any more than it is an American one.
Contributor Lauren Frayer from AOL News had this opinion on the matter:
“The government may be trying to prevent copycat attacks by tamping down publicity about the string of bizarre assaults. The crimes have riveted China and put fear in the hearts of parents nationwide. Experts say such attacks often happen in clusters, perpetrated by deranged assailants mesmerized by publicity of previous crimes.
But by censoring news of the attacks, China could also be trying to eliminate bad publicity for itself, especially while Shanghai is hosting the World Expo, a six-month fair showcasing China's culture and openness to some 80 million anticipated visitors.
China has dispatched thousands of police and security guards and installed fences and cameras at elementary schools nationwide. But attacks like Wednesday's have continued. By censoring reports, China could be hoping to dodge public fury over its inability to halt the attacks."
Thursday, March 3, 2011
China Censors Foreign Journalists
Amid fears of unrest, China imposes new restrictions on foreign journalists
GALLERY
Motivated by recent shows of political strength by neighbors in Egypt, demonstrators in the Middle East and North Africa are taking to the streets of many cities to rally for change.
Monday, March 7, 2011; 6:58 PM
BEIJING - One week afterforeign journalists were physically harassed by security officers - and one videographer beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized - China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, denied that the police took part in beating any reporters and said the government follows "the rule of law."
The minister's denial, which was contradicted by witness and video accounts, came as government announced new restrictions on foreign journalists working here - essentially repealing the loosened reporting policy put in place during the 2008 Beijing Olympics to showcase a more modern, less authoritarian China to the world.
Under the new rules, announced over the weekend,foreign journalists must have government permission to interview anyone in a public area in China. Under the 2008 rules, reporters could interview any Chinese citizen who gave their consent.
The communist government's tightening control over the foreign media comes as the country grapples with the fallout from popular uprisings againstauthoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa. China's leadership fears that the unrest could spread here. The government is intensely concerned about "stability maintenance" - the leadership's catchall phrase for tamping down even the hint of dissent - and plans to spend $95 billion this year on"public security," meaning the containment of internal threats. That is more than the amount publicly allotted to the military.
The concern over stability has heightened after mysterious online calls for Middle East-style peaceful rallies on consecutive Sundays in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. Although protests have been barely visible, China's security forces have taken no chances, mounting a security clampdown in the commercial areas designated as rally sites.
"Once the illegal gatherings get out of control, the potential unrest would undermine the eventual social benefits," the editorial said. "Unrest is still imprinted deeply into Chinese society. Revolution catalyzed a new China, but society also paid heavy costs for the revolution."The Communist Party's media outlets have begun accusing outsiders, and particularly the foreign media, of trying to foment Middle East-style unrest in China. In a Monday editorial, the Global Times - which is owned by the Communist Party's main newspaper, People's Daily, and reflects the party view - endorsed the security forces' tactic of squashing any protest plans.
China's sprawling security apparatus also appears to have launched a campaign to rein in foreign journalists, who for two years have been allowed more space to travel and report freely, outside of sensitive areas such as Tibet and the restive Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang.
Since the weekend, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, local police either visited in person or telephoned 14 foreign journalists. Some reporters who received visits were asked to show their paperwork, and others were warned to follow China's reporting rules.
The Foreign Ministry traditionally dealt with foreign reporters and routinely called in journalists for a dressing down when they were perceived to have stepped out of line. But the latest moves suggest that the powerful security apparatus has taken over the role of policing the overseas media.
One reporter who received a weekend visit said two uniformed policemen operated in a "good cop, bad cop" fashion. The reporter said one officer made threats and warned that journalists, who travel frequently, need to register with the local police every time they return to Beijing from a trip.
At least three Chinese news assistants working with foreign media organizations also reported that their family members received telephone calls from security officials.
Several reporters in Beijing and Shanghai said they were prevented from working last Sunday near areas where protests had been called. Some were detained for hours, then released. But there were no new reports of uniformed and plainclothes officers beating foreign journalists, as happened Feb. 27 in the Wangfujing commercial area of Beijing.The foreign minister's denial Monday that any beatings occurred Feb. 27 was contradicted by numerous witness accounts and video evidence, including footage of uniformed officers grabbing BBC correspondent Damian Grammaticas by the hair and slammimg him to the floor of a police van.
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China documented at least three cases from Feb. 27 of correspondents being physically injured, with one of them, from Bloomberg News, suffering severe injuries. The FCCC also said that nine journalists were detained for as long as four hours and that five had their equipment confiscated.
The Washington Post is not naming the other journalists to prevent them being singled out for talking about their harassment by police.
The clampdown appears to have succeeded in dampening any "jasmine" rallies in China. On Sunday, with police maintaining a strong presence in Beijing, there were few signs of protesters.
In Shanghai, only a few hundred people passed by what is normally a busy commercial part of the city - far fewer than the 500 or so on hand Feb. 27, when police used loud whistles and a water-spraying truck to stop crowds from forming.
A 31-year-old Shanghai resident named Yin, who works in the information technology industry, said he went to the rallies in Shanghai for two Sundays in February but thinks the movement is too disorganized and has no clear demands. "They should focus on specific requests that affect people's interests," said Yin, who asked that his full name not be used.
Despite the dismal turnout and the security clampdown, Yin said the rallies had succeeded in getting the government to more directly address such problems as inflation and soaring housing costs. "The rally information was blocked on the Internet, but it's become a good platform to promote things," he said. "And the rallies have generated a positive influence on the Chinese government."
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