Enter Hu Xijin, Chief Editor of Global Times and a favorite punching bag of Weibo users. Hu weighed in on the Weibo spat between Zhang and Wang [zh] and the ensuing rage at his paper on the evening of May 28, calling out “big Vs” (popular Weibo users with verified accounts) for fanning the flames:

Click to enlarge.

@胡锡进: An evening chat. Muckraking posts that expose people’s secrets and posts that unfairly label people always get hot on Weibo. Wait and see, Weibo’s big Vs will prove themselves incorrigible. How many people are flawless? How many can withstand libelous public opinion? You speak ill of me, I’ll speak ill of you, and in the end there won’t be any decent people left on Weibo. A contribution to the dress-rehearsal in “democracy.”

夜话。揭人隐私的扒粪帖，给人扣帽子的棍子帖，都是微博上最容易火的。等着瞧吧，微博上的大v最后一个也好不了。有几个人能没一点毛病？有几个人能经得起舆论编排？你臭我，我臭你，最后的结果就是微博上没好人呵。就都算为“民主”彩排做贡献啦。

This post has disappeared from Hu’s account, but not this second snipe at his critics from May 29:

@胡锡进: This afternoon, @王文 [Wang Wen] returned to give a lecture at Global Times English after leaving the paper four months ago to establish @人大重阳 [Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Remin University], where he has already enjoyed initial success. He spoke about the cumulative effect of eight years at Global Times, including the many scholars and friends he met and the contacts and experiences here that enabled him start his new project. His former colleagues gave him a round of applause. Finally, one person mentioned that on Weibo, many people curse us, and everyone laughed. [Source]

今天下午@王文 回环球时报英文版讲课，他4个月前离开了报社，主持@人大重阳 的创建，如今他已经有了最初的成就。他讲了环球时报8年对他人生的重要积累，包括他交了那么多学者朋友，这些人脉和经验助推了他的新事业。他的英文版前同 事们报以掌声，笑声。最后有人提到微博上有人骂我们，大家又笑了。

Commenters on this second weibo were hardly laughing:

@封新城: I’m a “small V” who can’t get popular, but I’m scared of this post.

咱也是一不入流的的小V，可还是给这个帖子吓着了。

@羊肉88串: Have a publicly televised debate, see who laughs and who cries. But this won’t be allowed, and everybody understands why.

来一场公开电视辩论，看谁哭谁笑。不过，这是不被允许的，大家都懂。

@就是要学习2012: Editor Hu, isn’t your performance evaluated according to how much people curse you online? The louder the scolding, the greater your contribution. You all use the weight behind your social status to cover up your present interests. Understandable.

胡主编，你的绩效考核是不是根据网上的骂声来做的。网上骂声越大，说明贡献越大。这也对，因为你们本来就是用身后名来换眼前利的吗！可以理解。

@蚂蚁爬上树: Finally, someone mentioned that on Weibo, many people curse us, and everyone wiped the spittle from their faces and laughed happily…

最后有人提到微博上有人骂我们，大家抹着满脸的唾沫星子，开心的笑了。。。

@风之杀小童鞋: Okay, so at Global Times English, you enjoy a higher degree of free speech than they do over at Nanfang.

嗯，在英文版享受比南方系还高的言论自由

@郑一红: This is what it means to have confidence in the path!

这就是道路自信！

A reference to the three confidences.

@西海的方向: If Editor Hu really paid no attention to the criticism of netizens, then he wouldn’t have given us this type of Ah Q response. You always pay a price when you sell your soul for money and status. Let’s hope that this Ah Q spirit can allow Editor Hu to forget the unease in his heart as he holds the frisbee in his mouth, allowing his spirit and mind some peace.

胡编如果真正不在意网络上的批评的话，就不会有这种阿Q式的回应。出卖灵魂换取金钱和地位总是要付出代价的，希望这种阿Q精神能让胡编忘记叼飞盘时的耻辱和夜深时内心深处的不安，让你的灵魂和精神得到安宁。

@冷月看江湖: When you squat at the main entrance, everyone smiles.

说到你蹲在大门口，大家都笑了。

Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Josh Rudolph.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Global Times, Hu xijin, Netizen Voices, state media, weibo
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Zhang, who was in his hometown on a personal visit, told Wang his parents had been hit by a car. The driver turned out to be driving without a licence, and refused to pay medical fees, he said. Zhang suspected the local police were not handling the case properly, and asked Wang whether he was interested in covering the issue. He had hoped that media attention would pressure the police into re-examining the case.

Without answering directly, Wang asked Zhang what job he held and which newspaper he worked for, according to their Weibo accounts. Upon hearing the name Global Times, Wang said: “Then I don’t care” and hung up.

“I hope Wang will lay aside the dispute of ideologies and think twice when feasting on other people’s suffering,” Zhang later wrote on his Weibo.

[…] A majority of microbloggers applauded Wang for having “punished” an employee working for an “evil” newspaper. Others criticised him for abandoning journalism ethics and “universal values,” which many liberal papers seem to embrace, letting his own political views influence the coverage of a story. [Source]

Global Times’ outspoken editor-in-chief Hu Xijin has frequently attracted ridicule for “finding the tasty morsels in any turd [the authorities] stick in his mouth,” as one netizen put it. But a Cornell University study argued last year that the newspaper’s reputation for hardline nationalism is somewhat unfair.

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Post tags: Global Times, journalistic ethics, journalists, news media, state media
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A Party member and chief engineer for a State-owned enterprise in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, died in suspicious circumstances Tuesday while being held for investigation by the city’s commission for discipline inspection.

The People’s Procuratorate of Wenzhou said the man, Yu Qiyi, “suffered an accident” Monday night and died in hospital at 3:15 am on Tuesday. However, Yu’s family slammed claims his death was accidental, insisting photos circulated online [see Shanghaiist] show he had bruises and appeared to have been bitten.

[…] On Monday night, staff from Yu Qiyi’s company rang his family to inform them he had been hospitalized and his life hung in the balance. Family and friends rushed to the hospital, only to learn Yu junior had died and had bruising over much of his upper-body.

[…] The hospital listed the cause of Yu’s death as drowning, noting he was unconscious when admitted for treatment, his father said.

Another disputed shuanggui death occurred in September, when the family of a retired official from Hunan rejected official claims that he had committed suicide. Photos of his apparently bruised body led to speculation that he had been beaten and murdered: “Inspectors,” one netizen commented, “you guys are as fierce as Japanese bandits!”

The Dui Hua Foundation noted in 2011 that shuanggui—whose name refers to the “dual designation” of the time and place of an investigation—enjoys some popular support, fed by anger at official corruption and other abuses of power. “Sadly,” it added, “acceptance of shuanggui seems to have seeped into international human rights circles and resulted in a dearth of relevant research and advocacy.” But The Guardian’s Jonathan Kaiman reported that state media coverage of Yu’s death might signal positive, if limited, change:

Critics say shuanggui detainees, bereft of legal protection, are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. According to Flora Sapio, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong who has written a book on the subject, Xinhua’s sympathetic coverage could represent a high-level decision to begin addressing the rights of detainees while leaving the system fundamentally unchanged.

“What they’re trying to do is get people in the system to treat criminal suspects in a different way,” she said. “At the same time you, as the party state, want to be the only voice with the power to talk on matters of justice.”

The vast majority of shuanggui detainees stand no chance of rescuing their careers and many kill themselves in detention. Most cases are eventually transferred to the judiciary, where they usually end in death sentences or long imprisonments. Bo Xilai, the disgraced Chongqing party chief, spent 10 months under such detention before his case was sent to the courts in January. He has yet to be formally tried.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, Global Times, party discipline, prison abuse, prisoners, prisoners' rights, Shuanggui, state media, wenzhou, Xinhua
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Mr. Cook said in the letter that the company deeply reflected on recent “feedback” on its warranty policies and apologized for misunderstandings created by poor communication with consumers.

“We are aware that a lack of communications…led to the perception that Apple is arrogant and doesn’t care or attach enough importance to consumer feedback,” Mr. Cook said, according to the letter. “We express our sincere apologies for any concerns or misunderstandings this gave consumers.”

…

In the letter, Mr. Cook said the company would amend its warranty policies for the iPhone 4 and 4S, streamline its customer feedback, give further training to Apple authorized resellers on warranty policy, and more clearly post its warranty policy on its website. He added that about 90% of consumers had been satisfied with its earlier repair policy.

Cook’s apology comes nearly three weeks after an annual CCTV program about consumer safety and rights criticized Apple for charging Chinese customers a fee to replace the back cover of iPhones, a service offered free of charge in other countries. Apple did not respond at the time, and other state media organizations stepped up their coverage of the issue. A number of celebrities chimed in on social media as well, though netizens suspected that some had done so at the request of CCTV. Then, last week, China’s quality inspection regulator said it would tighten its oversight on the company.

Reuters noted that Cook’s letter “highlights the importance of the market for Apple,” given that revenue from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong grew 60 percent in the first quarter this year. Apple may have played it smart by apologizing, according to observers who spoke with The New York Times:

Bill Bishop, a Beijing technology analyst and publisher of the online newsletter Sinocism China, said it was difficult to know what prompted the investigation by the state media, but he noted that Apple’s explosive growth in China might have outpaced the company’s ability to fully train and prepare its work force and management team to deal with the challenges of the Chinese market.

“Whatever the merits of the case, Apple’s not going to win here,” Mr. Bishop said in an interview Monday. “Apple can’t fight this.”

Anna Han, an associate professor of law at Santa Clara University, said Mr. Cook’s letter of apology was a smart tactic and a “very Chinese thing to do.” She compared it with public apologies that plaintiffs will sometimes ask for from defendants in Chinese courts. That action, combined with the change in its warranty policy, “sort of takes the wind out of the government’s sails,” said Ms. Han, who advises American companies doing business in China.

“It says, ‘We’re accused of something and we’re doing something about it.’ ”

In his weekly China Insider column for The New York Times, which was published before Cook’s letter was issued, Sinocism’s Bill Bishop reiterated his stance that “Apple cannot win this fight”:

Apple looks to have a serious government and public relations problem that will require a much more proactive and forthright response than what the company has done so far. Dribbling out a petulant apology akin to its response to the problems with the 2010 iPhone 4 antenna will not work in China.

The standard response by a foreign company in China facing this kind of onslaught is to make public and private apologies, emphasize its commitment and contributions to China and dispatch senior executives from headquarters to make the rounds of the relevant Chinese government entities. Apple may also have to begin a new service for China, one it may also be able to sell to other foreign enterprises. It’s name? The iKowtow.

Investors have reason to be concerned. Between this brouhaha, the increased competition from Samsung and other high-end Android phones and the crackdown on corruption that is denting the gifting culture, Apple’s results in China for its current quarter may be disappointing, even though this is the first full quarter in which the iPhone 5 has been on sale in China.

The state-run Global Times claimed in a Tuesday editorial that the apology “benefits all sides:”

As the world’s leading high-tech enterprise, Apple can adjust its attitude in a timely manner, showing its professionalism and flexibility. Its reaction is worth respect compared with other American companies. CCTV also deserves our respect and encouragement for daring to criticize a business giant like Apple.

China’s market economy has experienced soaring development, while its rules are not mature enough and laws not so sound. Some international companies have not behaved well in China, and even treated Chinese customers differently to customers in other countries.

The blame should not only lie in foreign companies, but also China’s business environment. Having said that, the supervision by Chinese media is absolutely justified. Making sure the Chinese market is more regulated and Chinese law binding to both Chinese and foreign companies will benefit global investors, including companies such as Apple, which relies more and more on the Chinese market.

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Post tags: Apple, CCTV, consumer electronics, Global Times, social media, state media, Tim Cook
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Naw Kham was the ring leader of a large drug trafficking outfit based in the Golden Triangle – a mountainous drug-producing region in Southeast Asia covering areas of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

“One plan was to use an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to carry 20kg of TNT to bomb the area, but the plan was rejected because we were ordered to catch him alive,” Liu told the Global Times.

It is a noteworthy revelation as senior Chinese officials rarely make public acknowledgents about the country’s ability to project power overseas.

The disclosure also highlights the level of technological sophistication in terms of China’s ability to surveil targets in Southeast Asia. This will likely draw concern from the Asean neighbours wary of China’s military capabilities.

A report last year by the U.S. Defense Science Board described the pace of China’s drone development as “worrisome” and “alarming”, and suggested that Beijing might “easily match or outpace U.S. spending on unmanned systems, rapidly close the technology gaps and become a formidable global competitor in unmanned systems.” China’s drone programmes to date have focused on surveillance, however, particularly of its long coastline. A small Chinese UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, was spotted in the East China Sea by a Japanese destroyer in June 2011, and both China and Japan have indicated plans to deploy drones over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.

The Obama administration’s opaque drone campaign in the Middle East, on the other hand, may have claimed as many as 4,700 lives, fuelling anger in the region and some opposition within the United States. Observers have long anticipated that other countries would eventually join in: in an October op-ed at The Washington Post, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker warned that America was setting important precedents, and urged the adoption of clear standards and practices for drone warfare.

Others, from European allies to Russia, China and Iran, are acquiring and beginning to use drones for surveillance — eventually, they will use them for killing as well. What would we say if others used drones to take out their opponents — whether within their own territory or internationally? Imagine China killing Tibetan separatists that it deemed terrorists or Russia launching drone strikes on Chechens. What would we say? What rules would we urge them to abide by?

The drone strike plan also demonstrates the progress of China’s Beidou satellite navigation system, whose availability expanded in December to commercial users across the Asia-Pacific. From Jane Perlez at The New York Times:

China’s global navigation system, Beidou, would have been used to guide the drones to the target, Mr. Liu said. China’s goal is for the Beidou system to compete with the United States’ Global Positioning System, Russia’s Glonass and the European Union’s Galileo, Chinese experts say.

Mr. Liu’s comments on the use of the Beidou system with the drones reflects the rapid advancement in that navigation system from its humble beginnings more than a decade ago.

The experimental navigation system was started in 2000 and has since expanded to 16 navigation satellites over Asia and the Pacific Ocean, according to an article in Wednesday’s China Daily, an English-language state-run newspaper. The Chinese military, particularly the navy, is now conducting patrols and training exercises using Beidou, the newspaper said.

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Post tags: Barack Obama, drones, drug trafficking, drugs, Global Times, Mekong river, military technology, Myanmar, United States
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On January 29, Xi’s comment went public on China Central Television’s widely-watched evening news broadcast, xinwen lianbo. Next day, People’s Daily, a mouthpiece of the CCCPC, devoted half its front page and six articles responding to Xi’s call. The headlines ranged from “Opposing Waste Is a Political Mission” and “‘Tongue Tip’ Regulation Requires All Stakeholders’ Cooperation” to “Restaurants Should Offer Half-Entrees” and  ”The High Season For High-End Liquor Is Over.”

[...] The rest of China’s mainstream media quickly fell into line. In an article titled “Opposing Waste Is a Profound and Far-Reaching Social Reform,” Global Times opined, “Chinese people’s wastefulness isn’t only shown in banquets, [but also] the desire for big houses and good cars that’s learned from Americans — these are all signals of a culture of waste.”

[...] But in a highly-charged political atmosphere such as China, even discussion of universal values can lead to unexpected places. Unlike Global Times, which tends to follow the Communist Party line, other news outlets followed instructions to report on the “Clear the Plate” but did so with a twist: they lauded the campaign, but also took the opportunity to critique and investigate the corruption underlying it.

For example, Sina.com pointed out that abuse of public funds is a main cause of food waste. China Youth Daily recommended rewarding those who blow the whistle on abuse of public funds. Journalists from Beijing News reviewed annual meeting banquets among different provinces’ resident offices in Beijing, finding that a “standard dinner table cost RMB8,000 [about US$1,285]“. The known outspoken miroblog account of People’s Daily Online commented, “Power won’t limit itself; only reliable regulations and oversight can put power into a cage.”

See also Fines for Food Waste and the “Clean Plate Campaign”, via CDT

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Post tags: food waste, Global Times, online public opinion, public opinion, state media
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“I also turned down their demand for the original version of those already exposed clips, for the safety of the person from Chongqing’s police bureau who fed me the information,” said Zhu, adding that he is not ready to publish the remaining evidence, as time is needed to authenticate them.

The negotiations came after Zhu claimed some local officials involved in the scandal haven’t yet been netted and accused local police of a coverup and destroying evidence.

[…] Si Weijiang, a Shanghai-based lawyer, told the Global Times there is no crime of withholding evidence, and that the process to compel Zhu to be a witness is not clear. The police have no right to forcibly request the evidence, he said.

The videos were recorded as part of an extortion racket targeting a number of Chongqing officials, 11 of whom have now been dismissed as a result. Former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai and his police chief Wang Lijun reportedly covered up an earlier investigation into the case. While Zhu says that his source is associated with the Chongqing police, the police now claim that he may have obtained the videos from a member of the gang itself.

The Washington Post’s Wang Juan highlighted Zhu’s use of social media for protection:

Zhu’s lawyer, Li, said he believed the policemen originally intended to detain Zhu when they tried to get into his house Sunday night but were forced to change their plan once Zhu’s online posts for help and calls to Chinese and foreign media drew widespread attention.

[…] Before leaving his home for the police station on Monday, Zhu posted a picture online of a signed legal document. The document named several people he was officially authorizing as his lawyers and representatives and said that any confession or change of lawyers after he is imprisoned would likely be made under duress. Mindful of several recent high-profile cases in which detainees have been cut off entirely from the outside world and with their lawyers switched out for government-friendly ones, Zhu said in the document that the lawyers he named are the only ones he wants, “even if I later write a letter in blood asking for a change of lawyers.”

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing, Bo Xilai, Chongqing, Chongqing corruption, drinking tea, extortion, Global Times, journalistic ethics, lawyers, lei zhengfu, police, Si Weijiang, sina weibo, social media, Wang Lijun, Zhu Ruifeng
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Hu Xijin as a loyal dog. “Don’t go! My master is about to undress! Just give him ten more years!” (Rebel Pepper)

Official corruption is front and center on Weibo. As netizens expose greedy politicians online, Xi Jinping is vowing to crack down. Among the issues citizens want addressed is the lack of public disclosure of officials’ financial assets.

On December 19, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed the issue of financial disclosure on Weibo, bringing on a barrage of angry comments. His post was gone the next morning:

@HuXijin: I think it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve. But financial disclosure is the way of the future. The clear road map and timetable for supporting financial disclosure nationally involves, first, implementation among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years’ time, China will be quite fortunate.

Gone, too, was a lively exchange between Caijing Magazine and Hu:

@Caijing: [Middle of the Night] Why is it unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets? Could you specify which new problems it will create? If it’s that the prison system won’t be able to handle the influx, why not just build more prisons? You’d stimulate demand and create jobs in one fell swoop.

@HuXijin: Heh heh, how old are you? Could you post this under your name instead of Caijing’s?

Netizens took Hu to task:

@ProudBreeze: If the reform fails, then the revolution will undoubtedly come. If we have to wait ten years for minor progress like disclosing government officials’ financial assets, then how long must we wait for other reforms? One more question: do you think the party-state could afford to wait ten years? If there is no substantial action, people will lose faith in you within five years.

@傲气尘风：改革不成，则革命必来！一个小小的公示都要等上十年，其它的改革又要多久？再问一句，你觉得党国等得起十年吗?若无实质的动作，不出五年，民众就会失去对你们的信心。

@hu_jia: Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin says before going to work this morning, he will delete the Weibo post which says we need ten years to disclose officials’ assets. This post has 3,000 fantastic comments. One of the newest: “Ten years from now the officials will be hung on the street lamps, and their assets will be disclosed naturally.” For Communist Party officials, the outcome of financial disclosure will be terrible, but will it be better if they don’t disclose? Financial disclosure has to happen immediately. There are no technical or legal barriers. Refusing to disclose financial assets is proof of the corruption of the Chinese Communist Party.

@hu_jia：环球时报主编胡锡进说今早上班之前会删掉他关于官员财产公开要十年的微博。此条微博三千条评论很精彩，最新一条是：“十年后官员们都被挂路灯上了，财产自然就会公开了。”对共产党的官员而言，公开财产结局很坏，不公开财产的结局就会好吗。财产公开必须马上实施，不存在技术和法律障碍。拒绝公开财产，就是中共贪腐的证据。

@MaGuanqingHibernate: It’s not realistic for you to disclose financial assets, yet it is realistic for you to spend with extravagance while citizens drift hopelessly?

@马观晴已冬眠：官员财产公开制度不现实，你们奢侈挥霍，国家公民颠沛流离就现实？！

Hu aids in the Wolf Vegetarian Plan. “Just wait a moment, Brother, and we’ll be all done!” (Rebel Pepper)

@Elselooker: For the disclosure of officials’ personal assets, Hu Xijin wildly suggests that we “first implement [it] among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years’ time…” An excuse like this shows that the well-fed cannot know how the starving suffer. It’s obvious he’s dodging the issue. If the people’s resistance doesn’t continue to grow in scale and brutality, to the point that the official system can’t control them, we won’t achieve financial disclosure in 10,000 years!

@监政铲腐：公布个财产，胡锡进 竟然规划，“先从新后备和新提拔的官员开始财产公开，不公开的不予提拔。然后逐步向全体官员过渡。如果这个进程能10年内完成”，这真是饱汉不知饿汉饥的说辞，推脱之意非常明显，如果没有人民群众越来越大面积的高效强力的抗争，直到让公器也无法控制，恐怕一万年也难！

@Poetjustice: Hu Xijin thinks “it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve.”–I would like to ask Chief Hu: Why is it unrealistic? Which new problems will it create? How could Sweden implement financial disclosure more than 200 years ago? How could most countries in the world implement it? How could Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan implement it? Is it true that the superiority of socialism lies in the infeasibility of officials’ financial disclosure?

@徐昕：胡锡进认为：立即实行所有官员财产公开制度不现实。如果强推它，新制造的问题必将多于它要解决的问题——请教胡总：为什么不现实？会制造哪些新问题？为什么瑞典200多年前就可实行？为什么世界大多数国家可实行？为什么港澳台可实行？难道社会主义优越性就在于不能实行官员财产公开制度吗？

@GuoGuangdong: “Heh heh, how old are you?”–This’ll go viral.

@郭光东：“呵呵，你几岁？”——胡总编这句估计要火。

@Cinderana: Why is it unrealistic to disclose financial assets right now? 90% of the countries in the world have disclosed officials’ assets. Can’t we display the superiority of socialism here? If we wait for another ten years, the corrupt officials will all be retired. Mr. Hu even goes on to ask how old the other person is. Doesn’t he just say the darndest things? Mr. Hu, when you comment on historical figures, would you please ask yourself how old you are first?

@迷仰：为什么马上公开财产不现实？世界90%的国家都公开了，社会主义的优越性不能在这儿体现一下吗？再等个10年，贪官们也退休了吧。还问别人几岁，真是态度可掬。胡编您下次评价历史人物的时候也先问问自己几岁好吗！

@Weiwenjinhechu: Ten years is still too fast. We should design a hundred-year plan, no, a thousand-year plan!

@为问今何处：十年还是太快了，应该设计个百年大计，不，千年大计。

@Northwind: Hu Xijin says the disclosure of officials’ assets  “will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve.” He has essentially made it clear that the bulk of officials are corrupt. He directly proves that China’s anti-corruption effort is a complete failure. (Of course, everybody knows this, but it’s rare for Frisbee Hu to say so. Don’t pretend that you are confident in the ideology, the system, and the path.)

@北风：胡锡进说，（财产公开）“新制造的问题必将大于它要解决的问题”，这句话其实已经挑明了中国官员的腐败占了大多数，也直接说明中国的反腐败是彻底失败的。（当然这是人尽皆知的事，但飞盘胡能说出来，也难得。就别装什么理论自信制度自信道路自信了。）

@Xushaolin: This weibo from Hu Xijin last night was deleted. Don’t know if it was deleted by him because he felt it was inappropriate, or deleted by Sina. I think this Hu guy sometimes fights fire with fire. Intentionally or not, he often reveals the real thoughts of government officials. Judging from netizens’ comments, his idea is a gross violation of the popular will. The disclosure of officials’ personal assets is the right way to go, and we must proceed. We can be careful and thoughtful in the process, but this cannot be used as an excuse to stall.

@老徐时评：胡锡进昨晚的这条微博被删了，不知是他自己感觉不妥删的还是新浪给删的。感觉胡这个人有时真是个高级黑，经常有意无意地将官员们内心真实想法泄露出 来。从当时网友的评论看，他的想法是多么的有违民意。官员财产公示是大势所趋必须往前走。程序上可以谨慎周到，但绝不能成为无所作为拖延时间的借口。

Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: financial disclosure, Global Times, Hu xijin, Netizen Voices, netizens, official corruption, sina weibo, weibo
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‘If you talk about corruption, the entire world, the United States has no corruption?’ Chan asked the host.

‘Where does this Great Breakdown (financial crisis) come from? It started exactly from the world, the United States,’ Chan told the interviewer. ‘When I was interviewed in the U.S., people asked me, I said the same thing.

‘I said now that China has become strong, everyone is making an issue of China,’ continued the Rush Hour star. ‘If our own countrymen don’t support our country, who will support our country?’

The Hong Kong actor has made controversial statements in the past regarding the Chinese people saying they need to be controlled. Chan, known in Hollywood for his role in the “Rush Hour”movies, had made these more recent comments in an interview on Phoenix TV to promote his new movie. According to the South China Morning Post, Chan also said Chinese people should only criticize China to other Chinese people:

“We [can] talk about it when the door is closed. To outsiders, [we should say], ‘our country is the best’,” he advised.

The programme then began rolling credits before Chan could finish his speech.

Chan’s remarks have angered parts of the online community, both at home and abroad.

Chan recently sparked controversy for suggesting protesters be restricted in Hong Kong, and claiming he used “guns and grenades” to see off triad members.

Mark Fisher at The Washington Post has claimed Chan’s anti-American comments reflect a bigger a strain of anti-Americanism in China today:

Chan’s comments, though widely disparaged on Chinese social media, do reflect a certain strain of anti-Americanism that is particular to some elements of China. Like his criticism of Taiwanese and Hong Kong democracy, it’s as much about defending China. And that defensiveness is often more about internal Chinese doubts about their country’s progress, which has come so far but still has a ways to go. The flip side of Chinese nationalism, which has risen along with China itself, is often a sense of national insecurity.

This aspect of Chinese nationalism has seemed to peak at moments when China comes under more international criticism, as Beijing-based journalist Helen Gao wrote in a great piece about the anti-Japanese protests from this past summer. In many ways, Gao argued, such outbursts are less about lashing out against critics than a manifestation of ”the Chinese public’s struggle to reconcile the frustrating social realities surrounding them with the lofty patriotic ideals they have long internalized.”

Still, you might naturally be wondering how Chan can square his criticism of the United States with his long embrace of the American film market. How, after all, could he spend so much time making movies in “the most corrupt country in the world”? It’s the sort of contradiction that can make Chinese views of the U.S. baffling. I’m reminded of a 2011 Chinese TV documentary about the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in which a young student beamed that he had been “very happy” about the attacks. He added of Osama bin Laden, “Anyone who quarrels with the Americans is a hero.” When the interviewer asked the Beijinger how he felt about the United States, he said, hardly missing a beat, “I love it. I’m studying in the U.S. soon. If I don’t have to come back, then I won’t come back.”

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that Jackie Chan holds such opinions, or that this is even a particularly common view in China. The young Beijinger’s comments were roundly mocked on Chinese social media precisely because they were so baldly hypocritical. Still, they were an extreme form of a much milder but similarly contradictory Chinese perception of America, one that maybe has echoes in Chan’s condemnation of the country that has helped make him so rich.

In response to claims of Chan’s anti-Americanism, the Global Times has defended the action star:

During a talk show last month, Chan responded to netizens’ opposition on patriotic remarks he made in the past. Chan refuted this by claiming that China is continuously making progress in tackling corruption, but the US is the most corrupt country in the world. He called his Chinese countrymen to support their home country especially when China is targeted by foreign countries.

Chan is quite candid about his political stances, even those that may backfire. On the program, he admitted he couldn’t compete with economists and that he had no data or knowledge of the subject, but just said what he saw and believed. There is no sign that Chan had a malicious intent toward US in the program. The unusual reaction from US commentators might be because the remarks came from an actor that was born and raised in a democratic region and has a huge fan base in the US.

China is the largest holder of US treasury bonds, but does this make the US less harsh toward its biggest creditor? In the latest US presidential election season, we heard enough China bashing words. But to me the anti-US sentiments in China are no stronger than the anti-China sentiments in the US.

Everyone has the freedom to express his view. Making too big a deal out of Jackie Chan’s words may be a sign that many Americans are losing the grace to face different opinions.

© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-americanism, corruption, Global Times, Jackie Chan, United States
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“We sincerely hope [Beijing News] can faithfully record the progress of our time, speak for the people… and serve its duty in promoting [social] progress, good governance with rule of law, and a civilised society,” Dai said.

Police cars were seen outside the newspaper office yesterday, a sign that the authorities were concerned that journalists might stage a protest or that members of the public might rally in their support, one source said.

[…] Beijing News, along with Southern Weekly and Southern Metropolis Daily, are among the most respected newspapers on the mainland because of their outspoken comments and reports on sensitive issues.

After its transfer to the direct control of the Beijing party committee in 2011, there were widespread fears that the newspaper’s bold reporting would be reined in, and that did appear to be the case last year.

Various accounts have emerged of the struggle over the editorial’s republication. The New York Times quoted an online posting by one journalist at the paper: “Some people look sad; some burst into tears; some shout that they are going to quit. We don’t want to kneel down, but our knees have been shattered. We are kneeling down this one time while gnashing our teeth.” A longer account appeared at China Real Time Report:

Yesterday we all felt happy and proud that our leaders had decided not to reprint the editorial. We thought if only we could stand firm for a couple more hours, this situation would go away.

Later we realized that the pressure really was huge. Propaganda officials were all waiting for the results. No matter how it appeared, the editorial had to be published.

When Mr. Dai and the other leaders saw that all of our journalists and editors had rushed back from home, they called us into a meeting room and asked for our opinions. Everyone said they were opposed to publishing the editorial. We discussed the worst-case scenario if we refused to publish it – maybe we wouldn’t be able to put out the paper at all. According to coworkers who understood the situation, this was a result the higher-ups [in the propaganda department] would be willing to see happen. When everyone heard this, the room fell silent. [Starts to cry]

[…] [Sobbing] I don’t think we compromised. We did everything we can do.

As far as the question of Mr. Dai resigning, I personally can’t represent him, but when he and Ms. Wang were discussing things with us they mentioned resignation, and according to one of the top leaders who was in meetings, Mr. Dai and Ms. Wang verbally threatened to resign in front of the propaganda authorities. What changes will take place with our newspaper’s management in the end, right now nobody knows.

Like other reluctant republishers, the Beijing News also issued a thinly veiled message of support for Southern Weekly: in this case, a love letter to southern-style congee porridge. From David Bandurski at China Media Project:

In Chinese, the word for “porridge,” zhou (粥), is a homophone of the first character in “weekend,” zhoumo (周末), the second half of Southern Weekly‘s publication name. The shorthand for Southern Weekly is nanzhou (南周), which sounds very similar to “porridge of the south,” or nanfang de zhou (南方的粥).

[…] Hot porridge in an earthen pot, hailing from [China's] southland. Just placed upon the table, the porridge writhes still with heat. Perhaps it has a heart of courage yet. In the deep of the cold night, you open your mouth and white steam billows. There are so many troubles in this world, and all you can count on for warmth is this bowl of porridge.

On Twitter, Gianluigi Negro pointed out a previous gesture of defiance from the paper after it was forced to condemn America’s role in Chen Guangcheng’s escape last year. As China Media Project reported at the time, an enigmatic apology subsequently appeared on the newspaper’s official Sina Weibo account, comprising a black and white photo of a smoking clown, and the message: “In the still of the deep night, removing that mask of insincerity, we say to our true selves, ‘I am sorry.’ Goodnight.”

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Post tags: Beijing News, censorship, chinese food, David Bandurski, Global Times, propaganda, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013
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If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net.

‘Frisbee Hu’ has come back into fashion online during the Southern Weekly protests. Weibo user @sunjinwei74 quipped on January 8 about “that cruel moment when the dog nabs the Frisbee.”

飞盘胡 (Fēipán Hú): Frisbee Hu

Amid the fallout of the Bo Xilai scandal, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, published an editorial entitled “Bo’s Case Shows Resilience of Rule of Law.”

Netizens were scornful of the attempt to find a silver lining in the scandal, wondering why, if the rule of law was so resilient in China, Bo was not questioned earlier for a pattern of alleged misconduct that stretched over decades.

One Weibo user posted his two reactions to Hu Xijin’s comments:

(1) Master Hu has a knack for finding the tasty morsels in any turd you stick in his mouth. (2) No matter how far his masters throw the Frisbee, Master Hu will always fetch it back for them.

1、什么屎到了胡老师嘴里都能吃出甜味来 2、主人的飞盘甩得再远，胡老师都能给她叼回来

“Frisbee Hu” is an editor who will eagerly take a positive spin on whatever facts the government throws him.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, Global Times, Hu xijin, netizens, southern weekly protest 2013, word of the week
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Dai Zigeng speaking to Beijing News staff last night.

As of January 8, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).

- Beijing News president (新京报社长)
- XJB: Pinyin abbreviation for Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao). The name of the paper itself (新京报) is still searchable as of posting.
- Dai Zigeng (戴自更): Unblocked as of this posting.
- President Dai (戴社长)
- president + resign (社长+辞职)
- Beijing News + resign (新京报+辞职)
- reprint Global [Times] (转载环球)

See also Sensitive Words updates from January 3, January 4, January 6, and January 7.

All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.

Browse all of CDT’s collected sensitive words in this bilingual Google spreadsheet.

CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese’s latest sensitive words post.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing News, censorship, Dai Zigeng, filtered keywords, Global Times, Internet censorship, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, press freedom, Sensitive Words Series, sina weibo, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, weibo
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Even as the deal became public, the controversy spread to one of Southern Weekly’s sister papers, the Beijing News. A propaganda directive obtained earlier by CDT ordered newspapers and websites to prominently republish a Global Times editorial blaming the dispute on foreign forces rather than local officials. Some complied, adding disclaimers to distance themselves from the article and peppering their sites with barely hidden messages of support for Southern Weekly. The Beijing News did not. From David Bandurski at China Media Project:

According to one version of yesterday’s events, The Beijing News received a visit from a Beijing city-level propaganda official after it refused to publish the Global Times editorial, which appeared in many papers across the country (and had been pasted across the internet the day before). The official reportedly threatened to dissolve the newspaper if it did not comply with the central-level order to run the Global Times piece.

After receiving this warning, The Beijing News held a staff vote to decide whether or not to comply with the propaganda order. The vote was in favor of “not reprinting” (拒绝转载). Soon after, Dai Zigeng submitted his resignation to local propaganda authorities and the mood inside the paper was reportedly dismal, with many staffers in tears.

Global Voices’ Oiwan Lam collected and translated online postings on the episode by Beijing News employees, among others.

@宇过天新 Tonight, I remember every one of our tears, remember the unanimous democratic vote against the re-printing [of the editorial], remember the sobbing sound in the layout room, remember every single sigh, remember the sound of the beer can being opened, remember everyone standing still, remember ourcolleagues expectation, remember all the brothers who appeared at the newsroom upon receiving the call. Please remember tonight’s humiliation. Let’s remember all of it.

@刘刚在路上: I will live and die with Beijing News. Old Dai resigned, I will follow him, giving up journalism altogether.

@uponsnow explained what is the meaning of dissolving the newspaper:

The meaning of dissolving is not closing down. It means suspending, purging and reopening. In other words, all the staff who do not agree will be fired and the style of Beijing News will be totally different [when it reprints].

Another comment suggested that newspapers associated with the Southern Media Group, which owns Southern Weekly, had been somewhat singled out over the Global Times editorial. One of them, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post, printed it alongside a large ad for a pest exterminator, according to South China Morning Post’s John Kennedy. Beijing News, when it eventually relented, did so grudgingly, with a truncated version buried deep within the paper under an uneffusive headline:

Beijing News renamed the GT editorial: “Global Times published an editorial about ‘the Southern Weekly incident’” twitter.com/28wordslater/s…

— John Kennedy (@28wordslater) January 9, 2013

On Sina Weibo, censorship of the Beijing News story seemed even heavier than in the Southern Weekly case, as the editor of the Chinese Wall Street Journal Li Yuan noted:

Censors are much stricter with the Beijing News publisher resignation news than Southern Weekend. Impossible to tweet with any variation.

— Li Yuan (@LiYuan6) January 9, 2013

Update: The New York Times’ Edward Wong, who had previously noted uncertainty about details of the Beijing News case, tweets that Dai may still be the newspaper’s publisher:

I just heard that Dai Zigeng is still the publisher of Beijing News. Talk of his departure was premature?

— Edward Wong (@comradewong) January 9, 2013

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beijing News, censorship, David Bandurski, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Global Times, journalism, journalists, media conditions, propaganda, sina weibo, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013
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Four children died at the scene in Lankao county and three died on the way to hospital, Xinhua news agency said.

One other child, aged about 10, is being treated in hospital. The cause of the fire is not yet clear.

Local residents say that a woman named as Yuan Lihai had used the house to shelter orphans and abandoned children.

It remained unclear how many children were in the house at the time.

According to AP, the fire occurred at an illegal shelter run by Yuan, who took in and cared for 18 abandoned children and young adults:

“There is a direct relationship between today’s situation and the fact that some related government departments failed to enforce supervision and loosened management on purpose,” deputy county governor Wu Changsheng said at a Saturday press conference as quoted by the news report. “They should shoulder responsibility, and that’s a loophole in our work.”

Wu also told reporters that the local government had provided some assistance to Yuan to help her care for the children.

The deaths have spotlighted China’s lack of government-run child services, which have often been left to private citizens with few resources and no legal authority. It is unclear whether Yuan would be punished.

On China’s social media, the public have shown overwhelming sympathy toward Yuan. A Saturday editorial by the official Xinhua News Agency blamed the local government’s inaction and media — who had previously praised Yuan’s actions — for the tragedy.

Although some netizens and officials have expressed sympathy for Yuan, others have accused Yuan of using the children to make money, China Daily reports:

“Yuan generally didn’t stay with the children at night. She hired a local person to take charge of their daily lives. She doesn’t earn much by selling snacks at the gate of the county hospital, so where does all the money (to run the home) come from?” asked one neighbor, who declined to be named.

Some experts and media reports claimed that the local officials have made Yuan a scapegoat because of the public outcry, which has drawn attention to both the inadequate provisions afforded to orphans and a lack of child welfare.

The basis of adoption is not simply being kind-hearted, said Zhang Zhiwei, a lawyer in Beijing, who has followed cases of adoption for more than five years. He attributed the tragedy in Lankao to the lack of a coherent policy. The government should be responsible for the care of orphans, he said.

“Before the tragedy, Yuan’s work won great approval from society. She almost wore a halo. But after the fire, everyone pointed the finger of blame at her.”

As a result of this fire, six county officials have been suspended, from another AP article:

A man from the main office of Lankao government who would only give his surname, Zhao, said Tuesday that six officials had been suspended but he gave no other details.

The deputy county governor had already said that some departments had failed in supervision and management and should shoulder responsibility.

The Global Times reports the fire has provided fuel for the debate on children’s welfare:

The Lankao orphanage fire provides food for thought. There are no accurate statistics showing how many abandoned babies are adopted each year. But we know the total must be large given that more than 80 percent of adopted children were once abandoned babies, and that children born with physical or mental disabilities are all too often given up by their parents.

These large numbers of kids deserve help from the government, private organizations and other social forces. Systematic regulation should be there to clarify responsibilities and standardize procedures.

Unfortunately, China severely lags behind in setting up systems regulating the adoption of abandoned babies and laws that guarantee and protect children’s welfare.

However, further regulation measures are missing, and in reality, many problems exist such as unqualified adoptive parents, illegal adoption procedures and poor supervision. Without clear regulation, local governments turn a blind eye to the adoption of abandoned children.

© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: abandoned children, child safety, children, fire, Global Times, Henan, orphanages, orphans
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On Tuesday, the paper’s editorial committee was to hold a fourth round of negotiations with its top management, which is part of the provincial propaganda office, according to a Southern Weekly editor. The editor spoke on condition of anonymity because of an internal directive not to talk to the foreign media.

Propaganda officials want the newspaper to publish — as per normal — on Thursday but editors are negotiating over whether to do so, and the terms under which they would be willing, for example, if they could include a letter to readers explaining the incident, the editor said.

The committee is also pushing a larger appeal to abolish censorship of the newspaper’s content prior to publication, the editor said. The suggestion is that Communist Party leaders could provide direction but not interfere with reporting and editing, and should refrain from taking issue with content until after publication, the editor said.

Meanwhile, protests continued outside Southern Weekly’s headquarters, with the newspaper’s supporters facing off against a small Maoist counter-protest. From James Pomfret at Reuters:

The scuffles broke out after supporters of the paper, published on Thursdays, jeered and skirmished with a small band of leftists holding posters of Chairman Mao Zedong and signs denouncing the Southern Weekly as “a traitor newspaper” for defying the party.

“These people (leftists) are paid agitators of the government, twisting the truth with propaganda. We had to do something about it,” said pro-press freedom protester Cheng Qiubo.

Dozens of police officers had to intervene, though the protests were allowed to continue. Two technicians with a ladder tried to rig a surveillance camera to the branch of a tree outside the newspaper gates, but were swiftly surrounded and shouted down by angry crowds and forced to retreat.

The Economist’s James Miles observed (using the newspaper’s alternative English name):

Small group of leftists only persistent protesters outside Southern Weekend, Spectators wave 50 cents at them. twitter.com/jarmiles/statu…

— James Miles (@jarmiles) January 8, 2013

The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Mozur posted video of the heated confrontation, while others published dozens of photos on Facebook and other social media sites. Some showed Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the Alan Moore graphic novel V for Vendetta, via the 2005 Hollywood adaptation that aired last month on CCTV. From The New York Times’ Jonah Kessel:

Some freedom of speech advocates wearing v for vendetta masks. Said he saw the movie on CCTV recently and ordered the mask

— Jonah Kessel (@jonah_kessel) January 8, 2013

Tea Leaf Nation tracked online support for Southern Weekly:

[… T]hese include some of Chinese social media’s most high profile users from all walks of life. Celebrities such as actress Yao Chen (with 31 million followers) and actor Chen Kui (with 27 million followers) tweeted explicit messages of support on Sina Weibo, a microblog platform. Yao quoted the 1970 Nobel lecture of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian author and dissident, along with a logo of Southern Weekend. Chen was more direct: “I am not that deep, and I don’t play word games; I support the friends at Southern Weekend.”

[…] Ren Zhiqiang (@任志强), one of the most outspoken businessmen in China with almost 13 million followers, tweeted on Sina Weibo, “Freedom of press and freedom of speech are rights given to the society and the people by the constitution; they are also symbols of human rights and freedom. Yet they have become pipe dreams without the rule of law, being seriously distorted and restricted. If truth is not allowed to be spoken, would truth disappear?”

Li Chengpeng and Han Han, China’s two most famous bloggers, both wrote articles in support of Southern Weekend. Li wrote, “We don’t need tall buildings, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth. We don’t need the second highest GDP in the world, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth. We don’t need a fleet of aircraft carriers, but we need a newspaper that speaks the truth.”

Han Han’s post was previously featured at CDT on Monday.

A Global Times editorial, ‘Southern Weekend’s ‘Letter to Readers’ Truly Makes One Ponder‘, on the other hand, reiterated a claim posted by Southern Weekly’s official Sina Weibo account: that provincial propaganda authorities in fact had nothing to do with the controversial edits. China Media Project’s David Bandurski had previously reported that newspaper staff felt this to be “completely at odds with the truth”, and that it was issued “without confirmation or authorization from members of the newspaper’s editorial committee.” The Times editorial went on to hit other points from a propaganda directive obtained by CDT: that “Party control of the media is an unwavering basic principle”, and that “external hostile forces are involved in the development of the situation”—including, it alleged, Chen Guangcheng. From translated highlights at Fei Chang Dao:

These people are making spirited demands, and while on the surface they are going after a specific person and event, its obvious to everyone watching that their target is the entire system that involves the media.

Whether these people like it or not, this is common sense: given the current state of China’s society and government, the kind of “free media” that these people yearn for in their hearts simply cannot exist. All of China’s media can develop only to the extent China does, and media reform must remain part-and-parcel of China’s overall reform, and the media absolutely will not become a “political special zone” of China.

[…] Even in the West, the mainstream media will not choose to openly oppose the government.

A version of the editorial also appeared on the English-language Global Times site.

The Diplomat’s David Cohen reported that, as instructed, the editorial was republished by major web portals including Sohu, Sina and Tencent. Each, however, added a disclaimer to the effect that republication did not equal endorsement. Further defiance was shown in screen grabs of headlines on sites’ front pages, arranged so that their first characters spelled out messages of support. According to Amy Li at South China Morning Post, the editorial also appeared in Guangzhou Information Times, Guangzhou’s New Express Daily, Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing Times, Hangzhou’s City Express, Shenzhen’s Daily Sunshine, Xi’an’s Sanqin Daily, Xi’an Evening News and China Business News.

David Bandurski saw the leaked directive as potentially ominous. From China Media Project:

If it is true, as Berkeley’s China Digital Times reports, that media have been issued a propaganda directive on the Southern Weekly incident that deflects blame from Guangdong propaganda officials toward foreign “hostile forces,” that is not an encouraging sign.

Readers should understand that the Southern Weekly crisis is not just a face-off between pro-reform voices and status-quo Party conservatives. In this case, it was propaganda officials in Guangdong — the spiritual heart of China’s reform and opening — who upset the status-quo by exercising censorship to such an intrusive extent that the situation became unacceptable to working journalists, most of whom had already made an uneasy peace with media controls.

The crisis at the Nanfang Media Group is not just about whether Xi Jinping is serious about the ostensible new openness and responsiveness attributed to him by sustained state propaganda. It is about whether China could be moving backward on the issue of media freedom, which would send worrying signals about the overall direction of the new leadership.

At The Wall Street Journal, Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn also discussed the situation in terms of prospects for media and internet freedom, saying that “I don’t believe there’s anybody in the senior leadership who’s committed to those ideals.”

An editorial in The Telegraph suggested that the new leadership’s response will be revealing, finding some encouragement in a People’s Daily editorial with a different tone to Global Times piece:

This is Mr Xi’s first serious test and early indications suggest that he is treading carefully. Demonstrations have been lightly policed and yesterday the People’s Daily, the party’s official outlet, said that propaganda officials should “follow the rhythm of the times” and help the authorities create a “pragmatic and open-minded image”. On the face of it, this heralds a welcome and more tolerant official approach to the media. Whether or not it amounts to anything of substance will become clear in the next few days.

Guangdong’s new Party chief Hu Chunhua will also be under scrutiny: the posting is, in part, a near-final test of his suitability for future national leadership.

For now, however, it remains unclear which way Beijing will move. From Jonah Kessel and Chris Buckley at The New York Times:

Both supporters and critics of Southern Weekend journalists have claimed that Mr. Xi would back their cause.

“I don’t believe that Xi is totally hypocritical when he talks about reform,” said Mr. Chen [Min, also known by the pen name Xiao Shu], who was forced out of the newspaper in 2011.

“The Southern Weekend journalists have said that they accept party control, but the question is what kind of control and how far should it go unchallenged,” Mr. Chen added.

Update (January 8, 11:20 am PST):

Reuters has reported that Guangdong Provincial Party chief Hu Chunhua has stepped into the fray and negotiated an agreement between propaganda officials and Southern Weekly:

Under Hu’s deal, the source said, newspaper workers would end their strike and return to work, the paper would print as normal this week, and most staff would not face punishment. “Guangdong’s Hu personally stepped in to resolve this,” the source said.

“He gets personal image points by showing that he has guts and the ability to resolve complex situations. In addition, the signal that he projects through this is one of relative openness, it’s a signal of a leader who is relatively steady.”

The standoff at the Southern Weekly, long seen as a beacon of independent and in-depth reporting in China’s highly controlled media landscape, has led to demands for the country’s new leadership to grant greater media freedoms.

[...]

It wasn’t possible to immediately corroborate Hu’s involvement in brokering the deal with editorial staff, who may be bound by an agreement not to speak out.

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Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, chen min, danwei, David Bandurski, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Global Times, Guangdong, Guangdong Department of Propaganda, Han Han, Hu Chunhua, Jeremy Goldkorn, Li Chengpeng, Mao Zedong, maoism, media conditions, new left, people's daily, propaganda, propaganda department, protests, sina, sina weibo, sohu, Southern Media Group, Southern Weekly, southern weekly protest 2013, tencent, V for Vendetta, Xi Jinping, Xiao Shu
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