Now, the Ministry of Culture plans to name and shame performers caught lip-synching.

Those who are caught miming twice will have their performing licenses revoked, according to proposed new legislation.

Sun Qiuxia, an official with the Ministry of Culture, said: “People who perform for profit should not cheat audiences with fake singing or by pretending to play instruments.”

Lip-synching has long been common practise in China. Yesterday, one Chinese pop star claimed that less than 20 per cent of singers actually sang when performing live.

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Post tags: lip synching, Olympics fakes
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Earlier yesterday, China’s deputy sports minister blamed an ”administrative error” for the confusion surrounding the age of He Kexin. Cui Dalin told a press conference that officials transferred He Kexin from a local team to the national team at an inter-city competition last year. He said the discrepancy between He Kexin’s stated age and actual age occurred during the process of registering the move.

”So it was the appearance of a mistake in the process of transferring teams that the misunderstanding appeared,” he said.

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Post tags: He Kexin, Olympics fakes
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The swell of sour press about the Olympics may have begun with a couple of crooked teeth. It was clear to anyone who’d ever watched a person sing while smiling that nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was lip-synching her rendition of a national ode at the opening ceremonies, but that, by itself, is hardly a scandal. What stunk was the revelation that she was mouthing words sung by seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was excluded because she didn’t look, according to the subsequent admission of the musical director, “flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.”

The media had accepted Beijing’s ban on public spitting and its efforts to scrub its filthy air as acceptable Olympics-prep primping. For China to shame a homely child for insufficient cuteness was another matter. Since then, China has continually played into what’s becoming the new motif of Olympics coverage: the fallback narrative of China as a land of polar contrasts has been reduced to one of a single China, in which much of what was built to dazzle the world is, at second glance, a crock.

… Sports journalists, like political journalists, have a high pomp threshold. They acknowledge that schmaltz and canned enthusiasm are the trademarks of spectacle, and they will let most hokum slide. Outright manipulation, though, raises their dander, and toy department or no, reporters live by free speech. It’s probably too much to expect the contractual broadcaster – NBC, in this case – to call for more openness; the network did, after all, pay nearly $900 million for its own exclusive rights. But bully for the print journos, including star writers at two sports media titans, finding another grand theme to these games besides Michael Phelps-as-Aquaman.

Why did it take so long for the press to find its voice? The drumbeat of critical coverage has been audible since China was awarded the Games, and only intensified with every broken promise of Internet freedom and Beijing’s pre-Games expulsion of the homeless. Everyone expected surly China to clamp down on dissent harder than Athens or Sydney; that was no surprise, so in one regard, it wasn’t as newsworthy as the sports everyone came to see. What observers didn’t predict is the general tackiness of China’s crackdowns. After giving their hosts the benefit of the doubt, the Western press has become increasingly skeptical because of the outright abuses, yes—but also because of the petty fibs and overall “phoniness.” In attempting to project strength, China instead advertised its own insecurities, and became a ripe target for criticism.

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Post tags: China coverage, China image, external propaganda, Olympics fakes, Olympics publicity
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The Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based organization whose biggest claim to fame is its dubious pursuit of the millionth word in the English language (they’re up to 996,341 right now), recently released its latest analysis of the media buzz surrounding various Olympic personalities.

Michael Phelps topped the list, and Yao Ming was #3, but second place belonged not to an athlete but to Lin Miaoke, the girl in the red dress who lip-synched “Ode to the Motherland” at the opening ceremonies.

The top headline of this evening’s Mirror announces these results, but something seems to be missing:

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Post tags: Olympics fakes, Olympics publicity
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An IOC official told The Times that because of “discrepancies” that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.

The investigation was triggered as a US computer expert claimed today to have uncovered Chinese government documents that he says prove she is only 14 – making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics – rather than 16, as officials in Beijing insist is her age.

UPDATE: From AP:

Despite persistent questions about the ages of several members of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team that won the gold medal, the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is still no proof anyone cheated and believes the controversy will be “put to rest.”

China has again given the governing body of gymnastics documents that show its athletes are eligible, and coach Lu Shanzhen said the girls’ families are “indignant” that the issue won’t go away.

“It’s not just me. The parents of our athletes are all very indignant,” Lu said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They have faced groundless suspicion. Why aren’t they believed? Why are their children suspected? Their parents are very angry.”

…”Surely it’s not possible that these documents are still not sufficient proof of her birthdate?” Lu asked. “The passports were issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The identity card was issued by China’s Ministry of Public Security. If these valid documents are not enough to clarify this problem, then what will you believe?

“The Chinese government and the Chinese athletes must be respected,” he added.

But many bloggers are not as convinced as IOC officials. Here is one Chinese blogger’s additional findings and analysis about He Kexin’s age. Here is also a Hong Kong based blogger’s take – “No happy ending to gymnasts scandal”

People asked why lip-sync girl, the digital footprints and non-ethnic ethnic children — all from the Opening Ceremony — were such a big deal. They weren’t, taken individually. But together — along with gymnast Yang Yun’s statement that she was under the legal age when she won two bronzes in Sydney — they set a tone that made people even more suspicious when the serious issue of falsifying documents came up.

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Post tags: He Kexin, Olympics fakes
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There’s been some widely publicized controversy regarding the competition age of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team recently. Rather than be too CNN, I decided to take a page from my friend Johnny and investigate on my own. I have an Internet connection, that means I should be able to verify the age of the gymnasts in question with primary state-issued documents and find out for myself if someone’s cheating, right? Right. Let’s go to work.

First, the rules.

1. Gymnasts must be 16 to compete. This means they must be born in 1992 or earlier.
2. Only publicly available, primary, linkable information can be used.

Who are we talking about?

Let’s take a look at He Kexin (何可欣). Her Chinese issued passport lists her birthday as 01/01/1992, 16 years old and old enough to compete. However, allegations cited on her Wikipedia page put her birthday as 01/01/1994, fourteen years old and not eligible for competition. Which is the truth? Let’s find out.

Read also: Olympic Hacking Part II – Let’s go for the Gold:

What is this post really about? I don’t really feel that it’s about the gymnastics age limit, or even really about whether fraud occurred. At this point, I believe that any reasonable observer already understands that age records have been forged. This story now is really about Internet censorship, the act of removing evidence while at the same time claiming that the evidence is wrong. For the first time I watched search records shift under my feet like sand, facts draining down a hole in the Internet. Will this stand?

UPDATE: Read Hacker uncovers ‘proof’ that Chinese gymnast is underage, from the Times:

Just nine months before the Olympics, the Chinese government’s Xinhua news agency gave Ms He’s name as 13. Officials have since dismissed that report saying Xinhua had never been given her age and had made a mistake.

Stryde, who was later named by the technology news site Information Week as Mike Walker, concludes: “Much of the coverage regarding Kexin’s age has only mentioned ‘allegations’ of fraud, and the IOC has ignored thematter completely. I believe that these primary documents, issued by the Chinese state … rise to a level of evidence higher than ‘allegation’.”

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Post tags: He Kexin, Olympics fakes
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I had coffee with two foreign colleagues. We naturally talked about the Olympics. They asked me, with smiles on their faces, about the fake singing child at the Opening Ceremony. They asked me whether it is true. I could tell that they were not mocking it. It was a very cautious smile. I could tell that they did not want to offend me with this question. I said from what I saw on the news that’s what it is. It is probably true. Then there was a long silence. Abruptly I said, “I am sorry……”

I thought about this afterwards: Why did I say “I am sorry?” Why should I say that? Who the f–k do I think I am?

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CDT translation, Olympics fakes, Xu Xing
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Seven-year-old Yang Peiyi sang a lovely song for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. However, audiences all over the world thought that the song was sung by another girl, Lin Miaoke, whose picture was published on the New York Times and who became a household name after the ceremony. Lin replaced Yang to appear on stage because she was better-looking. Nobody knew that the lovely voice actually was Yang’s until a music director revealed the truth accidentally. Many Chinese people became outraged at the lie. Why did they cheat? How could the appearance of a seven year old affect China’s national interest?

However, Wang Wei, Executive Vice President of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee said, “This is a collective decision. It was done to achieve the best dramatic effect. I do not think there was any wrongdoing.”

They covered up this typical cheating behavior as “cooperation,” and thought that it was quite normal! If it was cooperation between Yang and Lin, why didn’t they announce that the voice was Yang’s? Intellectual property rights have been emphasized a lot for the Olympics, how come they forgot about it? In fact, such a cover-up didn’t make much sense, because we know that they were lying. It’s such a great pity that they have never learned how shameful it is to lie in the civilized world.

Fireworks were forged at Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and Pavarotti’s singing was actually a recorded audio. However, those who cheated then were not as unscrupulous as officials of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. They admitted that the fireworks shown on TV were to create a festive atmosphere, and Pavarotti didn’t sing because he was suffering from cancer. They asked for forgiveness. However, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee just said “Oh, it’s nothing.”

BOCOG may feel wronged, or even feel that anti-China media are again making trouble out of the blue. Actually the media’s reaction was quite normal. Reporters are normal people, and all normal people would be angry if they knew the truth after they cheered for Lin. The world was acting in a normal way. It’s the BOCOG bureaucrats who were abnormal. Although they’ve tried very hard, they still are not used to an open and civilized modern society, and they are not used to public criticism, which an official in a democratic society often encounters…

Also, they made a grand announcement of opening three parks for demonstrations, which I had thought to be a sign of openness. However, several petitioners who I am familiar with have disappeared after they applied for demonstrations. It has become a trap. The whole world knows what has happened, but the BOCOG still says that all applications for demonstrations have been “properly handled.” They might think that all mankind are idiots.

China’s image is being ruined by these people who tell lies shamelessly to the world. They should just admit when they do something wrong. What can be lost if they sincerely make an apology? If they take a little bit of responsibility for China’s international image, they should have realized that it’s better to boost China’s image through telling fewer lies than staging an extravagant opening ceremony.

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Post tags: BOCOG, CDT translation, Olympics fakes, public intellectuals, truth, Xu Zhiyong
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He, who is listed as 16 but whose age has been at issue at these Olympics, won the gold. Liukin, the all-around Olympic champion, won silver, her fourth medal of these Games. China’s Yang Yilin, whose age also has been questioned, won bronze, with 16.650.

To be eligible for these Olympics, gymnasts this must turn 16 this year. Some Chinese sports registration lists suggest that He and Yang may be as young as 14.

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Post tags: He Kexin, Olympics fakes, Olympics sports
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What is of real interest in the reporting of this story is, unusually, the reporting.

Credit is due bloggers here in China, and ex-pat professor Xiao Qiang (now at the School of Journalism in Berkeley, Calif.) and his China Digital Times Internet research group for leading the way on some of the major fraud-and-fakery stories of these Olympics.

It is the Chinese who allegedly have been cheating and falsifying the ages of at least three of their girl gymnasts, most recently the sprite He Kexin, around whom the latest controversy rages.

What is really creepy about what’s emerged from the reporting of the gymnastics controversy is how state-owned agencies have rewritten themselves online to “correct” the record – in other words, rewritten history and attempted to expunge any contrary evidence.

… So, in the end, it’s not the Chinese gymnasts or how old they are that counts; it’s the Chinese censors propagandists and professional liars, and what they’re doing, that tells the tale.

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Olympics fakes
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