From Yulun Jiandu, translated by CDT:
A photography hobbyist, on the afternoon of Aug. 21, set up a camera to shoot the office building of Heilongjiang Provincial Government. Then an armed police guard of the office complex came up, with airs of anger, said to the photographer: government buildings are state secrets and it’s not allowed to shoot them. Otherwise, he said, the camera will be confisticated.
The photographer later told me that he was awed by what the guard said, but asked the gatekeeper that how come the building becomes state secret as people coming by on the street all can see it? “And I am just shooting the fa?ade of the building, my camera cannot penetrate to see real secrets inside. Not swayed at all, the guard stood by his judgment.
I remember once I went to Shandong report on the trial of the whistle-blower to the Jining vice mayor case and learned of a newspaper reporter was also yelled at by the court gatekeeper not to shoot the court buildings, which were “secrets.” When the guard went to find justification from the court chief, the boss thought about it and ask the guard to return the camera.
Take a read at the law on state secrets, not a claim says Heilongjiang government building would qualify as a secret. Nowadays they chant out loud everyday that they are “people’s servants” and will “serve the people.” But in reality, they are pulling off themselves with the public more and more. If Heilongjiang government building were an object of state secret, how about wrapping it up with a giant cloth. [Full Text in Chinese]
