China Digital Times

China news tagged with: censorship (175)

• Apple Censors Dalai Lama IPhone Apps in China

  

  From PCWorld:

  Apple appears to have blocked iPhone applications related to the Dalai Lama in its China App Store, making it the latest U.S. technology company to censor its services in China.

  Those apps, which appear in most countries’ versions of the App Store, do not currently appear in the Chinese version. Another app related to Rebiya Kadeer, who like the Dalai Lama is an exiled minority leader reviled by China’s authorities, is unavailable in the China App Store as well. The apparent censorship comes after carrier China Unicom launched iPhone sales two months ago, making regulatory approval of the phone’s contents in the country necessary for the first time.

  “We continue to comply with local laws,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in an e-mail when asked about the missing apps. “Not all apps are available in every country”

  » Read more
  • December 30, 2009 3:45 AM

• One Holiday, Two Systems, and Lots of Book Sales in Hong Kong

  

  The extended holiday in China is giving citizens a chance to visit Hong Kong and stock up on books they can’t buy back home, such as the newly published China History Revisited. The New York Times reports:

  Twelve years after Hong Kong passed from British to Chinese rule, the territory retains many freedoms unknown in mainland China, an arrangement called “one country, two systems.” In particular, political writings censored in the mainland circulate widely here, and they are hot souvenirs among the nearly 17 million mainland tourists who visit here every year.

  “The more mainland customers we had, the more we realized that they wanted things they couldn’t get back home,” said Lai Pok, a staff member at the People’s Recreation Community bookstore, which shares its abbreviation with the People’s Republic of China. “Now we specialize in Hong Kong-published books that are banned on the mainland. The business is better.”

  [...] At the nearby Causeway Bay Bookstore, Lam Wing-Kee was unloading new titles on President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders.

  “We probably get two new titles a week, mostly political, and mostly from Hong Kong publishers,” said Mr. Lam, who has been running his shop for almost 15 years.

  When asked to point out a book that was banned in mainland China, Mr. Lam paused and plucked a slim volume out of a large selection.

  “Here,” he said with a laugh. “It’s the only one in that pile that is actually allowed.”

  » Read more
  • September 29, 2009 1:52 PM

• China Tries to Stop Publication of Chinese History Revisited in Hong Kong

  

  A book covering thousands of years of Chinese history was censored inside China a couple of years ago but has since been undertaken by a publisher in Hong Kong. With a planned release just before National Day, authorities have pressured the author, Xiao Jiansheng, to cancel publication, the Guardian reports:

  Bao Pu, of New Century Press in Hong Kong, said he understood that the ministry of state security learned of the Hong Kong edition and put pressure on Xiao through the editor of his newspaper.

  [...] Though the Hunan journalist does not explore life under Communism at length, he explained the events that inspired it in a statement released by his publishers.

  In 1958 his grandfather died after his property was seized in the creation of the communes.

  “Our land, farming cows, farming tools, and even our pots, bowls and chopsticks were all confiscated,” he wrote. But there was not enough food at the public canteen and the despairing 78-year-old starved himself to death in protest.

  “I learned that when a person’s private property is infringed upon, his right to pursue happiness is taken away, there could be dire consequences,” Xiao wrote.

  Then, in the late cultural revolution, Xiao began work as a journalist. After learning about the Great Famine, and witnessing the continuing destitution, he wrote an article attacking Maoist political movements which he said had brought nothing but poverty. That spelled an end to his hopes of attending university.

  » Read more
  • September 25, 2009 10:00 AM

• Ha Jin: Exiled to English and Xujun Eberlein: Do I Still Love China?

  

  The China Beat has collected and reposted two thoughtful pieces on how the events of Tiananmen Square and the Cultural Revolution has impacted how overseas Chinese think and feel about China.

  In his Sunday New York Times op-ed ‘Exiled to English’, Ha Jin explains why he decided to remain in the U.S. and write in English after the Tiananmen crackdown:

  I was in the People’s Liberation Army in the 1970s, and we soldiers had always been instructed that our principal task was to serve and protect the people. So when the Chinese military turned on the students in Tiananmen Square, it shocked me so much that for weeks I was in a daze.

  [...]After the crackdown, some friends assured me that the Communist Party would admit its mistake within a year. I couldn’t see why they were so optimistic. I also thought it would be foolish to wait passively for historical change. I had to find my own existence, separate from the state power in China.

  [...]To some Chinese, my choice of English is a kind of betrayal. But loyalty is a two-way street. I feel I have been betrayed by China, which has suppressed its people and made artistic freedom unavailable. I have tried to write honestly about China and preserve its real history. As a result, most of my work cannot be published in China.

  And on her blog Inside-Out China, Chinese-American Xujun Eberlein posts a personal, introspective piece on her cultural, emotional, and political relationship to her homeland:

  Now, do I still love China despite all its political problems? This depends on what one means by the term “China.” When I think of China, what comes to mind are familiar shade of trees, fragrance of flowers, shape of landscape, smell of Sichuan cuisine, peculiar expressions of the Chinese language and intimate faces of relatives and friends. Those, I love. I care. Thinking of them makes me emotional. Thus, China is not an abstract concept to me.

  This is also to say, I no longer have an abstract love of China, especially when the name means the state. And that’s okay with me. When I was a child, we were taught from the first grade on to “Love the Party, love the people, love the motherland,” as if the three were one thing. I had taken the concept of the three abstract and unconditional “loves” as granted, until the Cultural Revolution and my “insert” into the countryside disillusioned me and made me realize how those abstract concepts compromised individuals. In the early 1980s, there was a popular saying among those who were actively seeking migration abroad: “I love the motherland, but the motherland does not love me.” (This background might also help to understand the grudge in Ha Jin’s aforementioned novel.) I suspect Drifting Leaf’s situation now is quite similar to those people’s then.

  Since my youth in the countryside I’ve grown averse to abstract political concepts. Having lived in two opposite countries has taught me many things, one of which is it’s often less wrong to go for the particular rather than the abstract. The world is being destroyed by abstract concepts and exclusive ideologies. But this is the topic of another long post so I won’t keep ranting here, but I, too, would like to cite the Beijing Olympics as an example: I enjoyed very much watching the Olympics, not because it lifted China’s international image, but because the performance was superb. On the other hand, I still hold the opinion that the huge government spending on the Games could have found a better use in improving conditions for the Chinese population still in poverty.

  » Read more
  • June 2, 2009 12:26 PM

• China: Lost in Translation

  

  “Captions accompanying historic photo exhibit give Chinese sanitized version of English ones.” From theStar.com:

  They are exquisite photographs of a long gone world of gamblers and governors, beggars and brides, peddlers and princes.

  In was the latter part of the 19th century, and Scottish photographer John Thomson brought his camera and curiosity to China – coming away with a collection of enduring images that are still rare in the photographic world today.

  Now some 140 years later, they’ve found their way back to China.

  “China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872,” is a magnificent exhibition set to tour four cities across China, retracing Thomson’s steps. It’s the first time the photos have been shown here and the exhibition’s opening in Beijing was packed.

  William Schupbach, librarian for Wellcome Trust in London, which owns the collection, calls it “the biggest and best” exhibition yet of Thomson’s China photographs.

  That much is undeniable. Thomson’s subjects are rendered with sensitivity and respect.

  » Read more
  • May 24, 2009 10:37 PM

• Jackie Chan: Chinese People Need to Be Controlled (Updated)

  

  At the annual Boao Forum held on Hainan island, during a discussion on censorship, movies and society, Jackie Chan stated “we Chinese need to be controlled“:

  “I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan said. “I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.”

  Chan added: “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”…

  The action hero complained that Chinese goods still have too many quality problems. He became emotional when discussing contaminated milk powder that sickened tens of thousands of Chinese babies in the past year.

  His comments have caused a backlash in Taiwan and Hong Kong:

  Chan’s comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders, but did not sit well with lawmakers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

  “He’s insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren’t pets,” Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung told The Associated Press. “Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law.”

  Another lawmaker, Albert Ho, called the comments “racist,” adding: “People around the world are running their own countries. Why can’t Chinese do the same?”…Chan’s comments were reported by news outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but were ignored by the mainland Chinese press.

  » Read more
  • April 18, 2009 9:17 PM

• Cheng Xingzhi (陈行之): If You Are Really Powerful, Why Do You Behave So Weakly?

  

  What kind of contents the state censors are banning, and what kind of communities are under close surveillance can reveal a lot about today’s China. In the following post, Beijing-based writer Cheng Xingzhi 陈行之 gave his account of this topic, excerpts translated by CDT’s Lucy Lin:

  Sometime last year, I registered on a Rusticated Youth website, set up my own home page, and, in accordance with the style of the website, selected a few essays that were simple and honest in content to post and exchange with other online Rusticated Youth friends. However, this kind of communication did not continue for too long, and I had no choice but to stop and quit the website. My essays did not contain any problems, but I realized from the announcements that the website continuously posted that it was not appropriate for me to start discussions on the website. Even though the website frequently gave me special treatment, I was still scared to cause trouble for them. The lengthy warning message the website posted shocked me. I had no idea that even the “Old Graduating Classes of 1966-68,”* community, which had already withdrawn from society, are also being strictly watched over and not permitted to say or do anything as they like. [*Translator’s note: The “Old Graduating Classes of 1966-68,” or laosanjie, refers to the students who could have graduated from middle school or high school between the years of 1966 to1968 had the Cultural Revolution not been launched in 1966.]

  Below, I have compiled some of the warnings that were posted on the website, and I have copied them down word for word as follows:

  - We have to remind all the users of the Rusticated Youth network servers out there to note that our forum has not yet received any kind of government examination or approval. The government prohibits publishing any politics and current affairs posts. Today, the administration discovered that sensitive politics and current affairs posts appeared on our website, and the server administrator once again received a warning to delete the post within a certain period of time. Even though the technician already promptly handled the matter today, to prevent the server from shutting down as a form of punishment, all websites should learn from the Hunan and Guangdong networks and strengthen internal oversight to put an end to the tabooed posts.

  - For our friends from the Beijing network, we ask that you guys please take this matter very seriously. You guys are the Rusticated Youth of our capital, where information trickles down rapidly and politics and current affairs news is transmitted quickly. However, that does not conform to the rules set by our service administrator. No websites on the server can publish any kind of politics and current affairs posts, no matter if they are positive or negative in nature. Please refrain from forwarding these posts. Once some of the posts are forwarded, they become very troublesome. From now on, if such situations reappear at any website, we will first shut down the related websites and open them up again once the matter has been settled.

  - There is no choice. The Hunan Rusticated Youth Network, in its efforts to prohibit all politics and current affairs posts, deleted a positive report on the September 18th Incident, which caused the biggest blow to the network since its establishment. As of now, the matter still has not subsided, and the misunderstanding has not been eliminated. Without any other alternatives, we recommend all websites to delete politics and current affairs posts and strictly prohibit the forwarding of posts, except those forwarded posts that involve Rusticated Youth or subjects revolving around everyday life.

  - With no other alternatives, our slogan is now, “If you want to discuss topics on Rusticated Youth, please come in. If you want to discuss current political issues, please go to the Strong China Forum.” [Online forum run by the People's Daily]

  - So the forum can survive, we request that everyone pay attention to this problem and refrain from posting discussions on politics and current affairs.

  All these requests are out of goodwill, and you can probably even draw some comfort from them; however, if we redirect the force in these kinds of warnings toward the weak community of the “Old Graduate Classes of 1966-68,” then you would sense a kind of horrific fear—it is like a large animal with bright eyes and an imposing aura, keeping a close eye on those who already lost youthful years and only wanting to recollect the memories of the past or express its observations of the present lifestyle. It is as if it has faced a formidable foe, and if you say too much, then he will pounce on you with a growl to tear you apart!

  Just let them tear you apart! Throughout the long course of history, were there so many people who were torn apart by them? The problem is that I am only one member of this community, and I am deeply aware that this entire generation has been poised and bewitched, deceived, ridiculed, and ravaged into what it has become today. Some of them have already passed away, unbeknownst to anyone, but for those who are still alive, what is wrong with saying a few more words? How come that is not tolerable?

  At the commemorative gathering of the “40th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Beijing Rusticated Youth Movement at Yan’an,” a multitude of emotions swelled in my heart. One crude fact is that this community will soon disappear, and it will not leave behind any voice; it is going to disappear like someone who has experienced a rough life and is nearing his death without any more wishes or last words to anyone, all the while pursing his lips and watching this world fade away at that moment, fading away.

  This is how the “Old Graduating Classes of 1966-68” would be put to an end.

  [...[ Fear? Weakness? Strength?

  CCTV’s screening of Barack Obama’s inauguration speech incited a lot of people to criticize and ridicule the institution [CCTV]. There is not much more to say, but there is one matter that is apparently somewhat related to this and thus still necessary to mention.

  Fudan University professor Lin Xianghua had already translated Hannah Arendt’s famous book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, a long time ago, but its road towards publication in the country had been a bumpy one. Many publishing companies had rejected requests to publish the book because of the sensitive nature of the book’s contents. I had to actually use the Taiwanese edition of the book when I first read it. It wasn’t until last August when the Joint Publishing Company of Hong Kong (I pay tribute to the Joint Publishing Company of Hong Kong!) conjured up its courage for academia and accepted the request to publish the book so that domestic readers could have the opportunity to read this book that all people should read, whether or not they are living under totalitarian regimes.

  This is also a trivial matter.

  I have worked for publications my whole life, so I know that the higher department heads have a lot on their hands. They have to constantly rely on methods such as releasing documents (they later abandoned this method so as to not leave any leverage), making telephone calls, and holding “briefings” and “meet and greets” to strictly prohibit the publishing of certain books or books by certain authors. All publishing houses are work units within a system with no exceptions; in other words, they are work units that are restricted by the published disciplines set by the Party, so these kinds of documents and telephone calls usually contain frightening news and create a lot of psychological pressure for other people. There are very few people who can resist because the consequences for resisting are serious for those who are trying to make a living within the system. Looking at the people around me, I know that the president and editor-in-chief lost their positions because they did not enforce “strict enough political standards” for certain published materials. I myself have also experienced difficulties because whereas before, I had made it my priority to publish Li Peifu’s outstanding long novel, “The Sheep’s Door,” in the end, I had no choice but to go against my character and make a decision to “immediately stop sales and destroy all books that have already been published.”

  In lieu of this, it should not be difficult for the reader to understand why I say that the problem facing the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism was a trivial matter because it was just following a precedent, nothing more.

  We can consider all related events to derive their origins from fear. In that case, what are they actually afraid of in all these situations? Why do they immediately turn away when they see words such as “totalitarianism” or how Barack Obama equated communism with fascism? Even during the period when the Communist Party of China seized political power, why did they even fear that they could not avoid such ideals as freedom, democracy, anti-autocracy, anti-dictatorship, and anti-one-party system discussions—the ideals of the political party at the peak of its existence, a political promise to the entire Chinese population? Why do they fear any kind of descriptions about the “Anti-Rightists Movement,” “Proletariat Cultural Revolution,” “XX [June 4th] incident” (There is a document that provides that all publishing work units are prohibited from publishing anything that involves these subjects.)? Why do they always naively and stupidly use publicity mechanisms to make the poverty-stricken peasants and laid-off workers deeply grateful for the government? What do they want to conceal with these methods? In lieu of the person who said, “I cannot eat or sleep well while seeing that the ordinary people still cannot live comfortably” on CCTV’s “Son of the East” yesterday and as a result became someone who has corrupted several tens of millions of people overnight, who or what kind of organizational force caused these criminals to become “virtuous models” who preach to the people? Why do they always view everyone as their enemy and panic and fear the news media for investigating and exposing corruption scandals and corrupt government officials?

  There are two ways to answer these questions. One is a theoretical way as outlined in On the Origins of Totalitarianism, The Road to Serfdom, The Open Society and its Enemies, A Theory of Justice, Declaration of Human Rights, and The Theory of Government; the other way is practical, namely to draw from our everyday lives and individual experiences and observe someone’s behavior patterns to find the answer.

  The answer is extremely simple: All the fears this person has are innate. Fear of totalitarianism derives from the possession of explicit totalitarian characteristics; he fears people who discuss freedom and democracy because he rejects freedom and democracy; he fears that he had once shouted slogans such as “Oppose Autocracies,” and “Oppose One-Party Dictatorships,” because he has possessed autocracy and a one-party system; he fears any description of the “Anti-Rightists Movement,” “Proletariat Cultural Revolution” and “Tiananmen Square Incident” because he knows that any details of the incident would lead to accusations of crimes against humanity; he doesn’t mind that he has allowed poverty-stricken peasants and people in earthquake-stricken regions to be deeply grateful towards the government because poverty has fiercely swallowed up the lives of the ordinary people and there are still ghosts demanding the justice that had eluded them in those earthquake-stricken regions; he is always facing those embarrassing government officials who speak on the CCTV platform when they are actually corrupt and have committed terrible crimes because this political system entitles those in power to give orders to others, and the ordinary people are only the flock of sheep that have been let out for grazing; he guards against the news media as if everyone is his enemy to make sure it doesn’t expose corruption cases and corrupt officials because corruption has become the nature of this political system, and if this nature is eliminated, then the system will collapse, and everything that had been dependent on the system would become extinguished.

  From this point of view, fear is weakness. Fear is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, and it is not strong at all.

  This person is definitely a sheep in wolf’s clothing, and he is no longer powerful.

  » Read more
  • March 8, 2009 10:56 PM

• China Closes 90 Websites as Internet Crackdown Intensifies

  

  In light of a handful of sensitive anniversaries, a pro-democracy letter signed by many prominent intellectuals and a slowing economy, China has shut down 90 websites. From The Guardian:

  China extended its internet crackdown today, announcing that it had closed more than 90 websites as part of its campaign to eradicate vulgar and pornographic ­material. But observers fear that the move signals the government’s determination to control the net amid a darkening economic outlook and a string of politically sensitive anniversaries.

  The authorities are thought to be particularly nervous following the spread of Charter 08, a document calling for political reform including multi-party elections and freedom of expression .

  A prominent Chinese blog regarded as a haven for liberal thought and one of the liveliest sites for discussion was also banned last week. Bullog was closed on the grounds that it contained too much “harmful” comment on current affairs. Its founder, Luo Yonghao, said at the weekend that he would reopen it overseas if the authorities did not relent. It was briefly banned in 2007.

  The article also quotes CDT’s Xiao Qiang:

  Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley, suggested Bullog’s closure reflected the Chinese government’s deep concerns about the growing influence of the internet.

  “The sheer number of bloggers and the sheer number who are willing to express themselves politically are growing dramatically,” he added.

  “The language is changing from implicit to more and more explicit, communities are swarming and their opinions and influence are getting stronger – even compared with six months ago.”

  » Read more
  • January 12, 2009 4:19 PM

• Censorship Isn’t Good for China’s Health

  

  Phelim Kine is an Asia-based researcher for Human Rights Watch. He writes in the Wall Street Journal:

  As the world watched the fireworks of the Beijing Games‘ opening ceremony, the seeds of China’s latest deadly public health disaster were being sown. This latest chapter in the toxic product scandals — following toy train sets, dog food and dumplings — is a sobering reminder of the ongoing public-health threat posed by Beijing’s media censorship.

  On Aug. 2, China’s dairy product giant Sanlu Group asked government officials in Hebei province to “increase control and coordination of the media” that tried to report on the poisoning of infants with Sanlu’s toxin-laced milk powder formula. Beijing had already decreed that along with Tibetan independence and public protests, “all food safety issues” were “off limits” for domestic news coverage during the Olympics.

  Sanlu’s appeal worked. China’s state-controlled media didn’t break the story until Sept. 10 — after New Zealand demanded that China go public on illnesses related to the tainted formula. The contaminated milk, which causes kidney stones and can be fatal, has since been found in dairy products from some 20 companies.

  Even as more babies got sick, China’s censors still allowed only carefully vetted articles on the issue by the official news agency Xinhua. Beijing warned Web monitors that any mention of the issue needed to be “monitored and controlled.” Meanwhile, the melamine-spiked milk made its way into China’s export chain, prompting dozens of countries to ban Chinese milk imports.

  » Read more
  • October 11, 2008 8:51 AM

• Ha Jin: The Censor in the Mirror

  

  From The American Scholar:

  Censorship in China is a powerful field of force; it affects anyone who gets close to it. Four years ago, I signed five book contracts with a Shanghai publisher who planned to bring out four volumes of my fiction and a collection of my poems. The editor in charge of the project told me that he couldn’t possibly consider publishing two of my novels, The Crazed and War Trash, owing to the sensitive subject matter. The former touches on the Tiananmen tragedy, and the latter deals with the Korean War. I was supposed to select the poems and translate them into Chinese for the volume of poetry. As I began thinking about what poems to include, I couldn’t help but censor myself, knowing intuitively which ones might not get through the censorship. It was disheartening to realize I would have to exclude the stronger poems if the volume could ever see print in China. As a result, I couldn’t embark on the translation wholeheartedly. To date, I haven’t translated a single poem, though the deadline was May 2005.

  The publisher publicly announced time and again that these five books would come out soon, sometime in late 2005, according to the contracts. But that spring, the first in the series, my collection of short stories, Under the Red Flag, was sent to the Shanghai censorship office—the Bureau of Press and Publications—and the book was shot down. So the whole project was stonewalled. A year later, I heard that the publisher had decided to abandon the project. In the meantime, numerous official newspapers spread the word that my books had no market value in China.

  » Read more
  • September 29, 2008 9:16 AM

• Chinese Tabloid Censored for Printing Photo from 1989

  

  From the BBC:

  The photo – of two wounded young men being taken away on a rickshaw – was carried in Thursday’s Beijing News.

  The picture was simply captioned “The Wounded”, and no mention of the protests was made in the text.

  But observers suggest newspaper staff could face further punishment for broaching what remains a taboo subject.

  » Read more
  • July 28, 2008 5:11 PM

• China Censors Delay Olympics Art Shows with Dalai Lama Image

  

  Eugene Tang reports in Bloomberg that some art galleries in Beijing are being forced by censors to delay politically sensitive shows and shows featuring foreign artists until after the Olympics:

  Galleri Faurschou said it postponed this weekend’s show of Warhol’s art because censors deemed it inappropriate to exhibit foreign works during China’s biggest public event. Xin Beijing Art Gallery said it scrapped a weekend display of Ma Baozhong’s work because censors found fault with his oil paintings of the Dalai Lama and former president Jiang Zemin.

  “There was a view at the cultural ministry that with more than 40 heads of states visiting Beijing during the Olympics, it’d be better to show works by Chinese artists,” Faurschou’s director Kai Heinze said by phone today.

  » Read more
  • July 25, 2008 8:51 PM

• China to Bar Entertainers It Deems Threat

  

  China’s Ministry of Culture yesterday posted new rules on its website banning outside artists Beijing feels endanger the country’s sovereignty. From Ed Wong, writing in the New York Times:

  The rules say that the background credentials of performers from foreign countries, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will be scrutinized. “Those who used to take part in activities that harm our nation’s sovereignty are firmly not allowed to perform in China,” the rules say.

  They also call for barring performers who promote ethnic hatred or “advocate obscenity or feudalism and superstition.”

  According to the report, the ban also applies to artists from Hong Kong and Macao.

  The full notice is available here (Chinese)

  » Read more
  • July 17, 2008 11:52 PM

• Lessons in Media Management from Weng’an

  

  While officials in the Guizhou town of Weng’an let rioters run rampant in major protests over the death of a local girl earlier this month, they appear to be doing quite a good job keeping journalists under control. ESWN translates the account, published on yWeekend, of a China News Weekly reporter who went to Weng’an to report on the riot aftermath (h/t Shanghaiist):

  At about two to three kilometers from Weng’an county, there is a toll booth on the main road to Weng’an county city. Inside, there is a notice in red with the big letters: “Welcome Chinese and foreign media reporters to come and gather news.” The reception and mobile telephone numbers were listed underneath.

  But we did not dial those contact numbers. Based upon our previous practice in investigative journalism, we entered the city and set out to find the principals directly.

  On the streets of Weng’an, there were patrols wearing red armbands. At the major street intersections, armed policemen stood guard. There were banners everywhere that said: “Thank you for your hard work, media reporter friends!” These banners sounded very warm and friendly, showing a certain posture by the local authorities.

  But when we wanted to interview people, we had to produce a special press pass. This pass is issued by the 6.28 Incident Management Team. When a reporter applies with the team, he receives a special press pass. Without this pass, many people (especially officials) will refuse to be interviewed.

  At first, we did not go through this process. Without the pass, we ran into many obstacles during our interviewing. We arrived at Yuhua town where the family of the deceased lived, and the local cadres questioned and blocked us repeatedly. Our press cards issued by the General Administration of Press and Publications were not good enough.

  The reporter then goes on to document local officials use of “50 Cent Party“-style online opinion management:

  Certain posts that counterattacked the rumors began to appear on the Internet. These posts came mostly from the “Group for policy discussion and law publicity” in Weng’an county. More than a dozen teachers who were familiar with the Internet were selected and transferred from the county schools and they acted systematically and purposefully to dispel rumors and calm people down with comments on the Internet.

  The leader of this publicity team is the Guizhou provincial party committee publicity department deputy director Zhou Xiaoyun. According to the presentation of a local official, the principal mission of this publicity team is to organize personnel to make Internet comments, “and use the Guizhou media to affect national opinion.” Since the government website office was destroyed by arson, the workers worked on the second floor of the Telecom Building. The dozen or so workers from the relevant county departments and schools worked daily to collect information and follow up with comments on inaccurate information.

  An official with the emergency handling command center also explained, “Apart from Weng’an county, all other counties and cities in the Southern Guizhou Prefecture assigned 5 Internet commentators each. Each day, they consulted the Xinhua news reports and other recently published information, and then they use a variety of flexible methods to guide Internet discussion.”

  In other words, yet more evidence Chinese authorities have taken “media management” beyond mere censorship.

  » Read more
  • July 17, 2008 11:37 PM

• National Geographic Goes Chinese

  

  Haven’t had time to do a side-by-side comparison of the English and Chinese versions of the National Geographic’s new China issue? Danwei.org does it for you in a detailed, nicely done article by Iacob Koch-Weser:

  An American publication portraying China to the Chinese – in Chinese? Not surprisingly, the choice of topics reveals certain China tropes that have gained currency in the West: the overburdened lives of middle class children who must succeed at all costs; the demographic time-bomb of the one-child policy; the rural hinterlands of Guizhou, backward and benighted yet beautifully mysterious; the polluted Yellow River and the urban jungles of the Pearl River Delta, gloomy results of breakneck development; the archaeological treasures of an ancient Sichuanese kingdom; the architectural coups of the Olympic project. The China portrayed here is forever a country of extremes, enchanting and frightening, with little room for middle ground.

  …When politically sensitive issues are at stake, the US and Chinese versions steer a different course. In the US, it is to reinforce popular notions about China; in China, it is to get past the censors. This is unfortunate for readers on both sides of the Pacific.

  The Chinese version of Nat Geo’s China issue raised a stir earlier in the month when it was discovered some of its pages had been glued together.

  » Read more
  • June 20, 2008 1:16 AM

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