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A Blogger’s Tale: The Stainless Steel Mouse – James Borton

From Asia Times:

Detained in solitary confinement for more than a year, Liu Di, 23, a post-graduate psychology student at Beijing Normal University, learned a lesson the hard way about the dangers of participatory journalism or blogging in China. Finally released from Qincheng Prison, she has resumed her university studies. News articles revealed that her subversive cyber crimes, committed under the screen name, “Stainless Steel Mouse”, were mainly criticisms of renewed restrictions on Internet cafes, a plea for more freedom of expression on the Internet and – oh, yes – a satire of the Chinese Communist Party.

Liu, is only one of many new Chinese bloggers – one conservative estimate places the number at 300,000 – who are becoming high-profile symbols for democracy and free speech. (China’s reformist President Hu Jintao is believed to approve of, even support, websites that criticize and discredit anti-reformers and his rivals.)[Full Text]
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- January 21, 2007 4:07 PM
A Trip Through China’s Twilight Zone （Story of Liu Di)

Philip Pan has written a very good piece in the Washington Post about Liu Di’s search for the man who she fears may be a government informer who turned her into police two years ago:

“Liu was bewildered by the conflicting information. Over a quiet dinner one night, her father proposed a theory: Li might have been an informer for the police… And so the Stainless Steel Rat started digging. She left messages for Li on the Internet, but he never answered. Then she voiced her suspicions online and asked for help.

At times, it felt like looking for a ghost. A friend in the police department ran a search of the city’s records but found no one with Li’s name among Beijing’s registered residents. Others combed Li’s old Web postings for clues, but discovered that he had always forwarded other people’s essays and never written any himself… Liu said she has not given up on finding Li. But she is resigned to living with the mystery a long time. ‘Sooner or later, there will be a day when the government’s files are opened,’ she said. ‘Maybe only then will we know the truth.’ ”

Thanks to Ellen Sander for the tip.
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- December 18, 2004 6:10 PM
Cyber dissidents rattle China’s thought police

In an article about government control of the Internet, the Globe and Mail interviews Liu Di, the “Stainless Steel Mouse” and gives an update on writer Du Daobin: “Ms. Liu is now a major player in an intense tug of war between China’s police-state apparatus and a growing number of politically astute Internet users who want to move beyond soccer talk, video games and chat-room flirting. They switch cellphones constantly and use text-messaging to foil police. With 80 million registered on-line users, Chinese authorities are only too aware of the Internet’s potent force. They encourage its use but simultaneously are building a new Great Wall of technology to shut out dissident views… The outcome of these battles will be vital in determining the kind of country China becomes in the 21st century. Will Western-style accountability triumph, or will the harsh controls of authoritarianism prevail? The jailings indicate Communist Party hard-liners are still in control. But there are victories for the dissidents.” Read the full story here.
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- October 29, 2004 9:27 AM
A Chinese Bookworm Raises Her Voice in Cyberspace

The “Stainless Steel Mouse” is on the Saturday Profile of New York Times. Jim Yardley told us about the recent condition of Liu Di, eight months after the release. She is “upgraded” to “Titanium Alloy Mouse” now.

……Ms. Liu has resumed writing. Several months ago, she signed an online petition calling for the release of Du Daobin, another online Internet essayist. (Mr. Du had been jailed after calling for her release from prison. He was recently convicted of subversion but was given a suspended sentence.) She recently wrote an article in a Hong Kong magazine criticizing the arrest of two crusading newspaper editors in southern China.

Asked why she takes such risks given her history, she said, “It’s the right thing for me to do, so I’m going to keep doing it.”

She still surfs the Internet late into the night. Government monitors have managed to block her name Stainless Steel Mouse from some Web sites. But she said she sometimes uses another moniker: Titanium Alloy Mouse.

“Stainless steel is low end,” she said, smiling. “Titanium steel is much higher end.”

Photo of Liu Di. (From New York Times)
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- July 24, 2004 8:56 AM
Bloggers, BBS and The Rising Tide of Internet Public Opinion

Asia Times just had an article called “A blogger’s tale: The Stainless Steel Mouse.” Strictly speaking, Liu Di, the Stainless Steel Mouse, is a online writer, not a blogger. She did not have a weblog and most of her writing appeared in online forums and bulletin boards (BBS). I recently wrote a short essay about the role of BBS and the rising public opinion in Chinese cyberspace. It was published on the summer issue of the Nieman Reports.
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- July 21, 2004 7:46 PM
CPJ statement on Liu Di and Du Daobin

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of Internet writer Liu Di but is gravely concerned that another Internet essayist, Du Daobin, has been charged with “subversion” and remains in jail. See news alert here.
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- December 1, 2003 9:45 PM
Stainless Steel Mouse Freed

Liu Di was arrested in China one year ago after she “allegedly criticized the jailing of prominent Internet dissident Huang Qi.” In all that time she was never formally charged of any crime. On November 28th, she was finally released from jail along with Wu Yiran and Li Yibin, also detained for cyber dissidence. Some claim that they were released because of Wen Jiabao’s upcoming visit to the U.S. The full report is here.
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- November 30, 2003 6:29 PM