China Digital Times

SECTION: Information Revolution

• Where Are Chinese (And Bangladeshi) Internet Police Being Trained?

  

  

  Where Are Chinese Internet Police Being Trained? This inetcop.com.cn website has the answer.
  The following is from the Xiamen Meiah Pico IT CO., Ltd. website, translated by CDT’s Lucy Lin:

  On July 30, 2004, the Ministry of Public Security formally passed and authorized the establishment of a “National Internet Police Training Program,” which would rely on the company’s technological skills, educational resources, and experimental environment to provide training and related services in the field of Internet supervision for the Department of Secure Internet Public Information to the Ministry of Public Security.

  Up to December 2005, the training bases not only completed more than a dozen national skill-based training assignments, they have also set up 70 extra beginning, intermediate, and advanced training classes relating to the monitoring of Internet security and investigation of computers for certification. This has provided skill-based training for the more than 3,000 policemen at the Ministry of Public Security. Furthermore, in November 2005, the Ministry of Public Security for the first time undertook a foreign aid project and effectively completed its assignment to provide training on the investigation of computers for certification to the Bangladesh police. This was its first step in internationalizing these training programs.

  Contact Phone Number: 0592-3929988
  Fax: 0592-2519335
  E-mail: training@inetcop.com.cn
  Address: Xiamen Meiah Pico IT CO., Ltd., Xiamen Software Park Phase II, 12 Guanri Rd. Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China

  全国网络警察培训基地

  2004年7月30日，公安部正式批文，授权筹建成立“全国网络警察培训基地”，依托公司的技术力量、教学资源和试验环境，为公安机关公共信息网络安全监察部门民警提供网络监察方面的培训和相关服务。
  至2005年12月，培训基地不仅完成了十几次的全国性技术培训任务，开办了70余期有关网络安全监控和计算机勘查取证的初、中、高级培训班，为全国3000人次的公安干警提供了相关的技术技能培训。并于2005年11月，首次承办公安部对外援助项目，完满完成为孟加拉警方提供计算机取证培训的任务，迈出了走向国际化的第一步。

  联系电话：0592-3929988
  传真： 0592-2519335
  邮件： training@inetcop.com.cn
  地址： 中国福建省厦门市软件园二期观日路12号美亚柏科大厦

  =====

  Also on the front page of the same website:

  In November 2008, [the company] once again hosted an international conference of the Ministry of Public Security, and successfully accomplished the large scale training program “China and ASEAN Internet Crimes Investigation Research and Training Class.” It is another solid step towards internationalization of the training base.

  2008年11月，再次承办公安部涉外会议，圆满完成了“中国与东盟网络犯罪侦查研修班”的大型培训任务，为培训基地走向国际化不断迈出坚实的步伐。
  =====
  The same site also posted the following, to prove that their work has been officially recognized:

  The “National Internet Police Training Base” has obtained permission for its establishment!

  On July 30, 2004, we submitted the report on “Instructions for Setting Up Training Bases for the Eleventh Office of the Ministry of Public Security” (United States and Asia Corp. Signature [2004] No. 1) This concludes the matter. The full text of the reply is as follows.

  

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  • December 3, 2008 11:02 PM

• Chinese Authorities Enforce Switch from Microsoft

  

  From the Radio Free Asia:

  Authorities in the southeastern Chinese city of Nanchang are requiring all local Internet cafes to replace their Microsoft Windows XP operating systems with a Chinese-made system, Red Flag Linux, according to officials and Internet cafe owners.

  An official with the Nanchang Cultural Discipline Team, which oversees the roughly 600 Internet cafes operating in Nanchang city, said the new operating systems were mandatory.

  “We have already started installing the new software in all Internet cafes. All of them must have this new one,” the official said.

  The switch was mandated by the Nanchang Cultural Management Bureau in what it said was an effort to crack down on pirated software, local sources said.

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  • December 2, 2008 2:57 PM

• Chats with Gang Lu

  

  56minus1 recently interviewed Gang Lu, a presenter at the recent 4th Annual Blogger Conference, co-founder of OpenWebAsian Workgroup and a tech blogger, blogging on Mobinode.com. Below are some highlights:

  56minus1: Who will win the SNS war in China? The C2C war? The microblogging war? The video sharing site war?

  Gang Lu: There will be more than one winner in the SNS war. Think about it, QQ, 51, Xiaonei, Kaixin001, etc., none of these big players are going to go down easily. In the C2C war, Taobao will dominate the market for a long while to come, but it now has some competition with companies like Tencent’s Paipai. Microblogging? I don’t know if there is or ever will be a war among microblogging services in China. I would be surprised if microblogging ever became truly popular in China. I’m more interested to see how these companies will compete with each other in the mobile market in the future, because I believe Web 2.0 has to go mobile to be truly become part of people’s everyday lives.

  56minus1: When do you see Internet censorship no longer being an issue in China? How can China get there?

  Gang Lu: Internet censorship will be around for a long time to come in China. The question I ask is whether or not censorship is really even a big deal in China…is it? To be honest, I’m uninterested in the “China Internet censorship” topic…it’s so boring. It reminds me of the LeWeb3 conference in 2006…there was a panel called “The Dragon’s Web” which was supposed to discuss the tech trends from the Chinese Web, but the first question the moderator asked is “what do you think of Internet censorship in China.” It was very disappointing. Censorship is of course not a good thing, but in my opinion, if China got rid of the GFW (the Great Firewall”) tomorrow, “The Dragon’s Web” will be in a mess!

  56minus1: As you’ve lived abroad and Mobinode.com occasionally covers other Asian markets, can you comment on how Chinese Internet culture differs from digital culture in the West and elsewhere in Asia (Japan / Korea, etc.), or other (developed) markets?

  Gang Lu: Chinese netizens are very young and the Internet in this market is still not exactly mature yet. The Chinese Internet is very “entertainment-centric,” this is why is the hottest Web services right now in China are video, gaming, and social networking. A lot of people talk about “attention” mattering most for mature and modern “digital lifestyles / culture” to develop, but in China, A.D.D. and entertainment are king. Korea’s online games rule the world and Japan’s mobile industry is far ahead of us (China). Indian and Israeli entrepreneurs are playing very active roles in the global industry, and countries like Vietnam will be the next battle ground for Asian Internet giants as they expand their empires.

  Photo courtesy of Mobinode.com

  Read more about blogging and the Chinese bloggers on CDT.

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  • December 2, 2008 12:16 AM

• 300 Chinese Cab Drivers Hold Strike In South China

  

  CDT blogged Guangzhou cab drivers’ calls for a strike earlier. The strike actually happened yesterday, and here is a story from AP:

  About 300 taxi drivers went on strike in a southern Chinese city, smashing cars and demanding a crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the latest protest against illegal taxi competition in China.

  Hundreds of cab drivers gathered Saturday in front of government buildings in Chaozhou, a city in Guangdong province, said an official Sunday from the Chaozhou city government who would only give his surname, Chen.

  More than 200 taxis were parked in front of the gate of a government office as drivers sought greater enforcement against unlicensed taxis, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

  Chen said police detained seven people suspected of smashing cars belonging to drivers who had refused to participate in the strike.

  On the Guangzhou-based Southern Daily, a related report was entitled: “Guangzhou taxi drivers collectively having dim sum, causing city residents difficulties for getting cabs” (广州出租车司机集体喝茶致市民打车难)

  (In 2008, Xiamen residents successfully organized demonstrations against a chemical plant project and Chinese media also invented a term for their demonstration: “collectively taking walks.”)

  Here is a Guangzhou blogger’s photo account of this event:

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  • December 1, 2008 10:15 PM

• Do Chinese Web Users Have More Fun?

  

  From the Wall Street Journal blog:

  Yes, according to research firm TNS, which recently surveyed roughly 2500 Web users in each of 16 countries around the world, including the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, Korea and Australia.

  According to survey results, China’s Internet users are more likely than their counterparts anywhere else to describe as “fun” a whole array of Web-based activities, including blogs, message boards, forums, online video and wikis.

  Chinese Web users are also very active in their online participation, especially when compared to Westerners.

  “Web 2.0 is far more advanced in Asia, and in China, than in the U.S. and Europe,” says Bernice Klaassen, head of interactive research at TNS Singapore. In Western countries, about 1% of users create online content, about 10% participate through methods like comments or discussions and the rest are lurkers,” he says. Meanwhile, in China, Mr. Klaassen says the proportion of active participants is closer to 50%, with a significantly greater share of Web users blogging regularly, participating in online forums, and sharing video and music.

  On a related topic, please also read blogger elliottng’s CNBloggerCon 2008 In Review: Transforming China’s Civil Society From The Inside Out:

  Social media, and the blogosphere, are playing a historic role in the transformation of China. Because mainstream media in China continues to be regulated and controlled, social media will step in to play the role that free press has played in the positive (and mostly stable) development of Western liberal democracies. China’s ruling party did not choose social media, but China’s people did. And now, social media promises to play a big part in the progressive development of the country.

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  • December 1, 2008 4:07 PM

• Deutsche Welle Announces International Weblog Awards

  

  Deutsche Welle’s International Weblog Awards (The BOBs) have been announced. Generación Y, a Cuban blog written by Yoani Sanchez won the Jury Prize for Best Blog. Among many nominated Chinese blogs, Liu Xiaoyuan’s (刘晓原) blog won Best Blog Chinese, and zengjinyan.spaces.live.com, written by Zeng Jinyan, the wife of the jailed human rights activitist Hu Jia, claimed the Reporters Without Borders Award. The BOBs were also open to public online voting. Science Guru, a science blog written collaboratively by a group of Chinese authors, was the People’s Choice Winner of both Best Blog and Best Blog Chinese awards.

  

  Liu Xiaoyuan's blog

  Liu Xiaoyuan is a famous Beijing Lawyer who fights against injustice in the Chinese legal system. According to Rebbeca MacKinnon, Liu Xiaoyuan’s sohu blog got taken down soon after the award was announced. MacKinnon’s past conversation with Liu also inspired her to conduct a study on Chinese blog censorship.

  Censorship by Chinese Blog-hosting Companies

  View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: blogs chineseinternetresearch)

  EastSouthWestNorth translated Zeng Jinyan’s latest post, “Thanksgiving.”

  

  Please see the CDT tags, “Hu Jia” and “LIu Xiaoyuan”, for more relevant information.

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  • December 1, 2008 6:41 AM

• Media Tolerance Can Be Sweet And Sour

  

  From the Age:

  In recent weeks, after the Olympic Games clampdown, Xinhua adroitly reported on protests and riots that started in Chongqing, spreading to at least eight provinces. But that masked an equally profound shift. Independently minded outlets have run reports by Xinhua or local party publications instead of their own.

  Mr Hu was laying out a strategy for the party’s propaganda outlets, such as Xinhua and CCTV, to reclaim control of the news agenda. He was telling them to become responsive to events and relevant to the public so they could lead — if not subordinate — the commercially focused media.

  Conservatives in China’s security apparatus sense an opportunity.

  On November 10, the flagship People’s Daily gave a general called Xu Tianliang space to write an old-fashioned diatribe about the mainstream media’s “heavy responsibility” to battle “hostile forces in the ideological sphere” and export “our spiritual and cultural goods” to the world.

  … In one of this month’s widely publicised riots, in Longnan, Gansu province, Xinhua promptly reported local government had “dealt with it properly with various measures”. None of Xinhua’s hundreds of mainstream commercialised competitors gave any competing version of events. Propaganda officials are becoming far more discreet, but it appears reporters were ordered to stay home. Bloggers such as North Wind (Bei Feng) filled in blanks by gathering photos from the internet and dispatching them to leading websites.

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  • November 28, 2008 9:48 AM

• Is Google Doing Evil in China?

  

  Intelligence Squared US recently arranged a public debate discussing whether Google violates its “Don’t Be Evil” motto.  Speakers on both sides took on an argumentative style.  One important part of the debate was centered on Google’s strategy in China. CDT selected some excerpts from the media transcripts of the event.

  First,  here is Harry Lewis speaking for the motion that Google does violate its motto.

  [...] The world looks very different through the window that Google provides, in China, than through the window on the world that you have available to yourselves here. In fact, it’s not
  the picture window on the world, it’s a distorted lens that has been built, custom-built by Google to Chinese specifications.

  Now how did that happen. Google is the company, whose mission is to organize the world’s information, and to make it universally accessible and useful. How did it come to be in the business of creating the distorting lens, rather than the picture window on the world. Well, in 2004, Google was entering the international market, it wanted to be the number-one search engine in the world, it started to do business in China. And the Chinese said, we don’t want you to show our citizens the world as it really is, with all of its complexities, and its contradictions, and its inconsistent sources of information. We want the Chinese citizens to know the world the way we want them to know the world. And, Google said, okay, we’ll give them that world instead of the world as it really is.

  Their choice was, to accept the Chinese ultimatum, or to go home. They could’ve gone home, they didn’t, they stayed, and built the engine as the Chinese wanted it. Now it’s a wonderful product. I agree with everything that’s been said about what a wonderful product it is and what a wonderful company it is. But here it’s been turned from a wonderful product, that we know, into an instrument of thought control. Now some may weakly claim that it’s doing more good than harm… that the Chinese people are better off getting partial information via the Google search window than getting no information at all. That’s nonsense, there are other search engines, through which you can get the censored truth, if that’s what you want people to provide. Google didn’t choose the lesser of two evils when faced with the Chinese ultimatum; it chose the more profitable of the two evils.

  In contrast, here is Esther Dyson speaking against the motion.

  [...] The power of transparency, the power of knowledge, is fundamentally good, even though it can on occasion be used for bad. And so Google’s trust is to ensure that that power is used for good as much as possible. I have seen what they’re doing in China. And ladies and gentlemen, the reason they’re not violating their “Don’t be evil” policy is because they’re in there, and they’re engaged. Yes, they could abdicate, they could say we’re not gonna bother to go into China. But every time some Chinese person uses Google, and doesn’t get what he wants, he may notice, he may not even notice the absence, but he does know that he can go find out all the negative information on George Bush he wants.

  And at some point, he or she says, well, gee. If I can get—or whatever the Chinese version is—if I can get this bad information about George Bush why can’t I find out more about what’s going on in my own country. Google by its very presence and its operation, even if it’s incomplete, creates increasing expectations for transparency, it starts people answering questions. It gets them to expect to be able to find out stuff. And it knows that by doing that, people are going to start asking more questions. So I think Google was doing the right thing, by going into China.

  Also, Jim Harper made an additional observation.

  So there’s more evidence to how freedom breaks out in a country that I think people should consider. In Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel was a playwright, and he wrote very obscure plays that the authorities didn’t understand well. But the fact that people went to the plays, they talked about them, they were talking about revolution, they were talking about freedom. Similar things are happening now with Google’s help in China. They’re using cultural references that the authorities don’t understand, and that Google and nobody else can control. They’re using language, they’re talking to each other, they’re communicating with each other, and they’re finding each other through Google.

  In addition to the full transcript, the video of the discussion can be found here.

  Also, here is Forbes’ recent interview with Google China CEO Kai-fu Lee.

  For more on China’s search engine market and also the recent crisis of Baidu, please see the CDT tag, ” “search engines.”

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  • November 27, 2008 5:49 PM

• Naming the CCTV Tower (or Why “Big Underpants” is Better Than “Hemorrhoids”) (Updated)

  

  

  With all the building going on in Beijing, the CCTV (China Central Television) station also has a new structure and a new nickname to go with it. Time’s The China Blog reports:

  Names, especially nicknames, pet names and the like, can be incredibly literal things in China. If you are fat, there’s a good chance people will call you “fatty.” If you have a big beard, people will call you “big beard.”

  The same goes for iconic structures. The Great Wall (or literally, the “long wall”) doesn’t leave a lot of doubt as to what it is. Many of the famous new buildings that have gone up in Beijing recently have been given their own tags by the people. The National Center for the Performing Arts is known as the “Duck Egg.” The National Stadium is known as the “Bird’s Nest.” They’re both humble yet fitting names for these grand edifices.

  The people at China Central Television are apparently not so happy with the public’s nickname for their gleaming new headquarters. The building, which was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, consists of two slanting towers that are joined by sections on the ground and two horizontal sections at the top to form a continuous loop. It is an architectural and engineering marvel. To the people of Beijing it is simply, “Big Underpants.”

  The name has yet to permanently stick. See the Top Ten Great Buildings on People’s Daily for more structures and their nicknames.

  Update: One blogger’s creative interpretation of the CCTV building is here.

  Update 2: Danwei also translated a post from Shanghai Times (申江服务导报) via Xinmin Evening News originally from this blogger.

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  • November 27, 2008 11:32 AM

• China’s Virtual Vigilantes: Civic Action Or Cyber Mobs?

  

  From Christian Science Monitor:

  Some call it a weapon in the hands of a righteous army, forged so that wrongdoers might be smitten. Others say it simply allows a mob of vigilantes to publicly vilify and humiliate anyone they choose to pick on through grotesque invasions of privacy.

  Either way, the peculiarly Chinese Internet phenomenon known as the “human flesh search engine,” a citizen-driven, blog-based hunt for alleged undesirables, claimed a fresh victim this month when a mid-ranking government official lost his job.

  Accused of accosting a young girl, Lin Jiaxiang found his name, address, phone number, and workplace plastered all over Chinese cyberspace for 250 million Internet users to see, and his alleged crime the subject of hundreds of insulting blog postings.

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  • November 26, 2008 6:57 PM

• Mice Starting To Win In The Beijing Blogosphere

  

  From Sydney Morning Herald:

  In the game of cat and mouse between the Chinese Government’s censors and China’s increasingly outspoken bloggers, the score has suddenly turned in the bloggers’ favour.

  Tens of millions of mice over-ran China’s internet trap this year, swamping it with chatter, nibbling towards freedom of speech.

  Riots in Tibet, the Sichuan earthquake, an under-age Olympic hero, poisoned milk, official corruption, and even a fake tiger sighting - China’s top news stories this year took on new life in the blogosphere. The twisted reports and deliberate silence of the Communist Party’s traditional propaganda machine - state-owned newspapers and television - were held to ridicule by swift-moving mice that scrutinised, uncovered and spread little pieces of competing truth.

  Isaac Mao, 36, of Shanghai, credited as China’s first blogger, began using the term Great Firewall in 2005 to describe the frustrating structure of internet blocks and filters imposed by a government determined to move its censor-ship system into the digital age, and keep the world out. He was a pioneer in using proxy server technology to access overseas websites.

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  • November 25, 2008 5:48 AM

• Lian Yue: Keep the Pessimism In Your Heart

  

  

  Lian Yue, a well-known social critic and blogger, attended the fourth Chinese Bloggers Conference in Guangzhou this year. The following are excerpts from the talk he gave during the conference, translated by Lucy Lin:

  … I think the themes presented in today’s forum in the “Southern Metropolis Daily” on the creation, changes and transformation of a citizen society is very close-fitting to the agenda of our Annual Bloggers Conference. I feel that blogs are used for such purposes as well, so today in the afternoon when a lot of people asked questions, one person replied, “I am pessimistic.” What he meant by that is, “All that I have said and done and what others have done is useless.” At that time, the topic I was discussing was that it’s immoral for us to say that we’re pessimistic at the present stage; however, if you are a pessimist, you must keep it in your heart. To build a citizen society, the stage we are in right now is really very nascent. We only have a few blogs interlinked with each other trying to promote social progress. This effort seems so young, nonsensical, and far-fetched. In these moments, are you going to discourage him and set him back? Or are you going to tell him that his blogging is useless? If you say that this website is useless, then how will it even develop? The sprouts of citizen society will then be entangled. So at this time, I believe that at the present stage in China, a pessimistic outlook is immoral. (Audience applause)

  Why should we write blogs? Why should we participate in this Annual Bloggers Conference? Why should everyone convene to communicate? This shows that we believe in ourselves, and we believe that we can change this society. If we can believe in ourselves, then we must also believe in others. I do not believe anyone present today is more brilliant than another. The skills that other people have are not weaker than ours, not by one bit. How many of the actions or words of the approximately one hundred people at this Annual Bloggers Conference are going to change this society? Truthfully speaking, there’s a possibility that this society cannot ever change. However, what use does a citizen society have then? Its use is that everyone is a seed in society. You have to pretend like you’re a seed, and perhaps a year later, each person can influence forty other people, and another year later, each person can influence ten thousand people. Society will change when this happens.

  …:I used to frequently say that China is hopeless; I would say China is hopeless, and whatever we do is useless. Before 2007, I would say such things, but after 2007, I realized that I cannot say these kinds of words again. We can never say these kinds of words. We need to always encourage those in action and never set them back. …I am actually naturally a pessimistic person, but I should leave pessimism in my heart, never express those sentiments, and just let those sentiments become a memory.

  Secondly, how should we prevent ourselves from becoming mad and delusional after persecution? (Applause) In other words, maybe those of you who are present today have experienced persecution to some extent. How should we maintain a normal mentality and normal state of mind when we are under persecution? This is also something that I have thought through last year.

  Last year, whenever I picked up my phone, I would panic and worry whether someone was listening into my phone conversations. I kept on thinking about this problem at that, and after much thought, I reached an epiphany. If the power knows that someone is constantly criticizing and denying it, then it’s be abnormal for it not to utilize such surveillance methods. Since this is a method that is beyond my control, I will just say what I want to say on the phone, and I won’t let it affect my life. I will continue to banter with my wife on the phone as if these people do not exist.

  The following are video clips from his talk:

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  • November 24, 2008 11:18 PM

• Dai Xiaojun: I Wanted to Show People the Dark Side

  

  From the Economic Observer Online:

  Despite his short stature and small frame, 42-year old Dai Xiaojun exuded an air of agility and strength that he cultivated through nine years of service in the army.

  With that now behind him, he describes himself as a shutterbug, a journalist, or one who records life.

  He has worked for three publications, the latest being the West Times, a weekly mainland newspaper covering the development of western China.

  But none of his previous work made him known to nearly so many people as his most recent: When a batch of both real and fraudulent journalists swarmed the site of a fatal Shanxi mining accident that occurred on September 20, demanding hush money from the mining company, Dai photographed the entire scene. His photographs circulated around the internet, creating an instant scandal.

  But along with story’s fame came trouble. The West Times denied it employed Dai, claiming that he was a correspondent without a labor contract. Threatening calls came one after another. Netizens mocked it as a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

  This time, local reporters were silent on Dai’s behalf, while their peers in other provinces applauded his bravery.

  But the West Times’ statement about Dai cast a shadow over his identity, and the public began questioning his intentions. Was he also a blackmailer in the guise of a journalist? Did he expose the whole thing because he failed to get the money he demanded?

  The EO interviewed Dai on November 4th at the Guofang Hotel in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi.

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  • November 23, 2008 12:40 AM

• Lin Jiaxiang and the China Web Vigilantes

  

  L. A. Times’ Mark Magnier reporting from Beijing:

  The private eyes in China’s most famous detective agency rarely sleep, are relentless in pursuing their prey and can put Interpol and Homeland Security to shame. Oh, and they work for free.

  But before you think about hiring them, there’s a catch. The detectives are all online: millions of people working together as a “human flesh search engine,” a bizarre term meant to capture the mix of cutting-edge and old-as-the-hills tactics used in a growing number of Internet vigilante campaigns here.

  And once again they have found their target, fueling a scandal that has captivated millions while underscoring the anger and lack of trust many feel toward officials, police and the law.

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  • November 22, 2008 10:23 PM

• China’s Hackers Stealing US Defence Secrets, Says Congressional Panel

  

  Owen Bowcott reports in the Guardian:

  China is stealing sensitive information from American computer networks and stepping up its online espionage, according to a US congressional panel.

  Beijing’s investment in rocket technology is also accelerating the militarisation of outer space and lifting it into the “commanding heights” of modern warfare, the advisory group claims. The strident warning, which may have a chilling effect on relations between the two Pacific powers, comes in the annual report of the US-China economic and security review commission due today.

  A summary of the study, released in advance, alleges that networks and databases used by the US government and American defence contractors are regularly targeted by Chinese hackers. “China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US computer networks,” says Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission set up by Congress in 2000 to investigate US-China issues.

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  • November 20, 2008 11:39 AM