Internet Censorship Official Targeted By Chinese Netizens (Updatedx3)
Speaking about the power of the “human flesh search engine” of Chinese netizens, the following post “What kind of communist is Mr. Chen Hua?” is quickly becoming the next case.
Chen Hua (陈华)，Deputy Director of the Internet News Management Department of the Beijing Internet Propaganda Management Office (北京市互联网宣传管理办公室网络新闻管理处副处长 ), is a familiar name for many Internet company executives because of his powerful position. His name is associated with the frequently-issued “censorship and propaganda” orders to online news portals such as Sina.com and Sohu.com. (See reports here and here, written by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) and Chinese Human Rights Defenders(CHRD).)
But in the post “What kind of communist is Mr. Chen Hua?” the anonymous author, who claims to be a veteran Xinhua journalist, alleges that there is another side of Mr. Chen. According to the post, the author’s daughter met Mr. Chen on more than one occasion, in a personal capacity. Many statements Chen allegedly made during these interactions are revealed in this post, including claims that he took bribes from websites he oversaw. The post also says Chen told the daughter: “The netizens’ freedom of expression is given by me [Chen Hua]. I give them as much as I please.”
Chinese netizens have reacted furiously to this post, spreading it far and wide. They have also posted Chen’s personal information, including his email address and cell phone number. Boxun, a website based outside China, has posted it as well.
Update (January 22, 2009 at 8:31 pm): Many of the related posts have already been removed inside China, and blog search engines are blocking searches that include Chen’s full name and government position. Still, many netizens continue to repost and comment on it, as well as spread this information through various online communication tools such as QQ, MSN, email and social networking services. For example, one blogger twittered that more then thirty people recommended this article through Google Reader. Another twittered more about this news, and some other blogger listed some major commercial websites under Mr. Chen Hua’s supervision: 中华（www.china.com）、西陆（www.xilu.com）、西祠（www.xici.net）、奇虎（www.qihoo.com）、搜房（www.soufun.com）、网易（www.163.com）、新浪（www.sina.com.cn）、搜狐（www.sohu.com）、TOM （www.tom.com）、大旗（www.daqi.com）、千龙（www.qianlong.com）、百度(www.baidu.com)、雅虎中国（www.yahoo.com.cn）、博客（www.bokee.com）、空中网(www.kong.net)、天天在线(www.116.com.cn)、猫扑（www.mop.com）、凤凰网（www.ifeng.com）、和讯(www.hexun.com)、金融界（www.jrj.com.cn）、中国搜索（www.zhongsou.com).
Here is another blogger who reposted this article with a title “The Chinese New Year Present To Those Hardworking Internet Censors.”
Update 2 (January 23, 2009 at 1:31 pm): For more about Chen Hua’s work, see David Bandurski’s post from China Media Project：
When I saw a story reported at Berkeley’s China Digital Times today (thanks to ESWN for the link) about a Beijing internet censorship official who has become the latest target of a “flesh search” by angry Chinese netizens, this took me right back to September 2007, when I was prying into the role of the Beijing Association of Online Media (BAOM).
Update 3 (January 23, 2009 2:23 pm): China’s ‘Netizens’ Take On the Government, by Austin Ramzy of the Time Magazine:
This week an anonymous blog post accused a high-ranking Beijing official responsible for Web censorship of disparaging the country’s top leaders — President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao — and boasting that he alone decided what citizens could and couldn’t read online. (See pictures of China on the wild side.)
The allegations in the post, titled “What Kind of Communist Is Mr. Chen Hua?,” could very well be false; there has been no official response. Calls to the Beijing Municipal Government’s press office were not answered Friday afternoon.
But the post’s rapid spread on the Internet shows how difficult it can be to control freelance online investigations of officials, even by the very officials tasked with controlling the Internet.
[ABOVE: Postings on “What kind of party member is Chen Hua?” fill up a Baidu search page yesterday, photo from the China Media Project.]
POSTED COMMENTS: 15 Responses
An old communist and Xinhua reporter posting on Boxun? Looks very much like a fake article.
Dear goooooo,
Thank you very much for your comment. CDT had actually checked some of the facts of this story through an independent source before publishing it. The notable part of this story is the fact that the very controller of the Internet is getting backfired by the Internet. I just googled “网管办 陈华 张涛” and noticed that the number of the article ““What kind of communist is Mr. Chen Hua?” is still growing online, even within the Great Firewall.
Cheers,
Xiao
[...] probably should have seen this coming: Human flesh search engines, China’s online vigilantes, take on a top Internet censor. [China Digital [...]
Mr. Chen is in a tough spot of his own making: he can’t respond or he blows the story bigger and if he deletes posts he just validates accusations. This is what happens when you put such power in the hands of bureaucrats. Because everything could be controlled, conceivably if not in reality, then each time there’s a breach it’s a big deal
[...] probably should have seen this coming: Human flesh search engines, China’s online vigilantes, take on a top Internet censor. [China Digital [...]
Xiao Qiang,
I don’t doubt the article might be posted and reposted in various places. What I doubt is the author’s claim that he is a Xinhua reporter with many years of journalism experience. Look, the author says he didn’t know/use much about the internet while he was stationed abroad as a journalist for Xinhua, and only began using the internet after he came back to China. What kind of journalist is that? He made no use of the internet while he was stationed abroad? And you can’t smell something fishy from the style of the article?
Dear goooooo,
indeed there are questions about the post and who is the original author. That’s why I wrote that the author “claims” to be a former Xinhua reporter and that Chen “allegedly” made these statements. I first spotted this post on several chinese blogs, and then immediately noticed that it spread very fast through chinese blogosphere and BBSs. from my past research and findings, I also knew who Chen Hua is, what kind of work he does, and the relationship between his office and various commercial IT companies. this appeared to me is a case of the “human flesh search engine” taking on the Internet censor himself, so I thought it was worth posting to share with CDT readers.
1. goooooo’s comment sounds like a direct translation of several comments posted verbatim at some Chinese websites. The only conclusion I can draw is that like minds tend to think alike.
2. Most google links to PRC-based blogposts on this topic are no longer accessible. The only two remaining that I can find, one based in Shanghai and the other one in Beijing, all contain a report of a statement of someone in Guangzhou, who claims to be Chen Hua and the owner of the mobile phone number that’s been widely circulated on the web. He complains about a mistake of identity. Some comments to that extent can also be found at bbcrfa.blogspot and feng37’s blog at 37t.mobi.
Xiao Qiang:
That is why I said the article is probably fake. I have no way to verify or dispute the accusations in that article, but I doubt the author was an “old communist” and “Xinhua reporter”, as s/he claims. Of course, having suspicions about the identity of the author (and why s/he would pose as an “old communist” and “Xinhua reporter”) would also make one raise doubts about the accuracy of the content of the article, at least the portion of the article where the author discusses his/her background. A fake article doesn’t have to be wrong in everything, but if the author poses as someone s/he is not, this is fakery.
Catherine:
I saw this artilce on this web site first, and then followed the link provided by Xiao Qiang to the original Chinese version. I left a comment under that Chinese version, and then posted here as well. What’s wrong with that? this website doesn’t require people to register, so I use whatever name my fingers happen to choose. What’s wrong with that?
Anyway, I’m glad that Mr. Xiao Qiang and I can agree that there are questions about that article and the original author. This is all I meant and I don’t have much else to say.
goooooo, like Xiao Qiang, I was simply disseminating additional information about what I found, which might help shed light on the way Internet censors operate in the PRC. What gave you the impression that I was making an accusation against you? Anyway, I’m glad you let us know all those comments are posted by the same person.
All those comments? What do you mean? Besides the three or four comments here, I only had ONE brief comment in ONE other place.
I didn’t say you were making accusations against me. But your first post sounded a bit sarcastic to me. BTW, “like minds tend to think alike” is tautological.
Catherine, technically, I had only one comment here. All the others are responses to you guys’ responses. I’m disappointed at your exaggeration. Very clever though.
Here is an interesting comment that I’ve just read at the ESWN.
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20090123_1.htm
Looks like a Ph.D. indeed thinks more rigorously.
[...] Internet Censorship Official Targeted By Chinese Netizens (Updatedx3) Speaking about the power of the “human flesh search engine” of Chinese netizens, the following post “What kind of communist is Mr. Chen Hua?” is quickly becoming the next case. Xiao Qiang Digital Times: January 22, 2009 [...]