{"id":232131,"date":"2021-06-24T19:26:50","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T02:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=232131"},"modified":"2021-07-02T17:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T00:22:14","slug":"translation-program-think-notorious-anonymous-chinese-blogger-feared-detained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/06\/translation-program-think-notorious-anonymous-chinese-blogger-feared-detained\/","title":{"rendered":"Translation: “Program-Think,” Notorious Anonymous Chinese Blogger, Feared Detained"},"content":{"rendered":"

An anonymous Chinese tech and politics blogger known as program-think (\u7f16\u7a0b\u968f\u60f3) has reportedly been detained in China after evading identification and arrest for more than 12 years. program-think, whose Blogspot posts<\/a> included how-tos on evading China’s Great Firewall and frequent political commentary, attracted a sizeable following on social media<\/a>. While achieving notoriety in China after publishing a project on Github exposing the connections and hidden wealth of high-ranking members of the CCP, they were also praised by supporters<\/a> for sharing particularly thoughtful analysis and opinion on a wide range of political issues. He built an almost legendary status through his commitment to remaining within China, a defiantly \u201ccatch me if you can<\/a>\u201d attitude toward authorities mockingly referred to as \u201cthe Imperial Court,\u201d and the sheer length of time for which he managed to protect their identity. program-think\u2019s writing was often peppered with references to \u201cV for Vendetta<\/a>,\u201d with whose masked protagonist he was sometimes compared.<\/p>\n

The gap since program-think’s last online activity has now stretched well beyond the 14 day period they previously described as “ordinary inactivity.” On Wednesday, CDT Chinese reported that program-think’s Chinese name<\/a> had become a blocked word on some Chinese social media. Supporters have expressed fear that the blogger’s long-treasured anonymity may now backfire, giving the authorities cover for abuses in detention. Radio Free Asia reported on program-think’s apparent detention:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A person familiar with the matter who gave only his surname, Xu, told RFA that the anonymous blogger was now in police custody.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Xu said Program-Think was likely detained for exposing the hidden wealth of high-ranking members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and his political theorizing and anti-brainwashing campaigns, conducted via his blog on the overseas-based Blogger.com platform.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Program-Think was nominated for best Chinese blog in the 2013 Deutsche Welle International Best of Blogs awards, or BOBs.<\/p>\n

The author told the station at the time that he had never set out to write political content to begin with, but just wanted to share his years of experience in programming.<\/p>\n

But the blog gradually become popular with people wanting ways to get around government censorship, and later branched out into information security tips and political analysis, the station reported at the time of the blog’s nomination. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Legendary blogger and programmer @programthink<\/a> was allegedly detained by China\u2019s secret police. Latest post was on May 9. 2 months of silence is much longer than his standard of two weeks.
He has successfully escaped CCP\u2019s surveillance for 12 yrs while staying in China. pic.twitter.com\/XQLDYovXEV<\/a><\/p>\n

— \u5468\u950b\u9501 Fengsuo Zhou (@ZhouFengSuo) June 14, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n