Uncertainty Surrounds Newspaper Staff Shuffles

Uncertainty Surrounds Newspaper Staff Shuffles

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 11:36 PM PDT

Senior staff at two major newspapers have been transferred or suspended this week, prompting widespread but unconfirmed speculation about political motivations. From Louise Ho at the South China Morning Post:

Lu Yan, publisher of the Oriental Morning Post, was transferred to head another division of the Shanghai-based Wenxin United Press Group that owns the paper, and deputy editor-in-chief Sun Jian was suspended, according to two sources at the newspaper who declined to be named.
On Monday, Guangdong's New Express announced that its chief editor, Lu Fumin, had been removed from his post to head the political section of a sister newspaper, while its national and international coverage was slashed and its op-ed page eliminated.
A separate veteran Shanghai-based journalist said that municipal party secretary Yu Zhengsheng was unhappy with the newspaper's stories. "Yu has criticised some of the newspaper's reports in recent months, so the paper had to do something about it," he said.
[…] Shanghai party boss Yu has been widely regarded as a front runner to enter the party's top echelons at its national congress in the autumn.

Tania Branigan's report at The Guardian brought together a range of perspectives on the shakeups:

"I think these can probably be read as the surfacing of tensions playing out on a daily basis across the country's media. These are probably more egregious examples of the tightening of everyday control ahead of the 18th party congress [where the new leadership will be unveiled]," said David Bandurski of Hong Kong University's China Media Project.
He stressed that the moves should not be seen as part of a co-ordinated crackdown and could be related to local as much as national issues.
[…] Li Datong, an independent commentator and former journalist, said he thought it was probably not a press freedom issue, adding: "It might be just be an internal issue among Chinese officials."

At China Media Project, Bandurski stressed the uncertainty surrounding the moves. Two of the articles widely cited as triggers the personnel changes, he pointed out, are still freely available online.

In the most general sense, the two actions — though not in any way related or coordinated — can be read as stemming from an all-round tightening of press controls in China ahead of the crucial 18th Party Congress later this year. That simple reading, however, tells us very little about the specific mechanisms that are at work in these cases.
So what is really going on? The bottom line, we don't know. As the Hong Kong paper The Sun summed the cases up in an editorial this morning:
Inside the mainland propaganda system, there is a way to die that can be called "death by uncertain causes". This is when the propaganda department settles a score once autumn has passed [as they saying goes]. If the bosses of a paper are not regularly and dutifully talking [the Party's] politics, they will be pulled down mysteriously. The New Express and Oriental Morning Post are both examples of this.
Right now, the reasons being given for these "deaths by uncertain causes" are themselves mysterious to media insiders.

Whatever the explanation, warned Madeline Earp at the Committee to Protect Journalists, the moves threaten to further chill China's already wintry media climate:

Personnel changes can be an effective way to neuter a publication that pushes the boundaries in its coverage, according to CPJ research. So although we don't know exactly why these two papers are under fire, and local journalists are unlikely to talk about it on the record, it's safe to assume that the censors have decided it is better to be safe than sorry in advance of the sensitive political hand-off coming later in the year.
Our concern is that with sensitive periods occurring so frequently in China, and with crackdown the new normal for so many activists and journalists, there's no knowing if or when the censors will loosen their grip. Meanwhile, fellow journalists in Guangzhou and Shanghai will likely be more circumspect for a while, lest the same fate befall them.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Committee to Protect Journalists, David Bandurski, Guangdong, journalists, leadership transition, Li Datong, media conditions, newspapers, Shanghai, Yu Zhengsheng
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Photo: Zheng Xuewu, Newspapers, by Tricia Wang

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 11:40 PM PDT

Zheng Xuewu, Newspapers

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Coverup? Huawei Should Send Its PR Bill to ZTE

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 11:35 PM PDT

I've never been much for conspiracy theories. Not that I don't like a touch of the fantastic in my daily life (I live in China, after all). But when you think about the sheer logistics involved in most of the major conspiracy theories things start to break down pretty quickly.

Consider that old favorite of the tinfoil hat brigade, that NASA faked the American moon landings, and think about what it would have required. It's not just the fakery of the photographs and video, but also that everyone who worked on all the aspects of the fakery, from the astronauts to the guys who would have had to doctor the photos and fake the moon rocks and telemetry (depending upon whether you think mission control was in on it or not) would have had to keep their mouths shut. For going on 45 years. For six successful lunar landings involving eighteen astronauts, twelve of whom have allegedly walked on the moon. Not only does everyone who knows about the fraud have to keep his mouth shut, but everyone who has a public face has to keep his story aligned. Especially that attention-junkie Aldrin. It only takes one person to blow the lid off, intentionally or accidentally. Frankly, it's just easier to go to the goddamned moon.

I'm not particularly interested in getting into a pissing match with conspiracy theorists (like thermonuclear war, it's not "winnable" in the conventional sense of the word), so much as I am in setting up a problem. Coverups pose similar problems to conspiracies in that, like a big pile of sweaty dynamite, they are unstable by nature and easily detonated, sometimes by the tiniest of disturbances. That's why they don't tend to make good PR strategy.

Of course, by definition no one knows when a coverup succeeds. Small ones involving one or two people? Probably a fair number. Big ones involving lots of people and big stakes? Not so many, I'd guess. "Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead," wrote Benjamin Franklin, perhaps optimistically. In most cases, the participants aren't Navy Seals or the CIA or other kinds of people who are indoctrinated and trained into cultures of secrecy (and yet still sometimes blow it). We're talking about just folks who are easily pressured by law enforcement, or who just get drunk on lychee martinis at Centro and shoot off their mouths. Sooner or later someone is going to slip up and the dynamite is going to blow.

Then everyone in serious trouble because, as the old truism goes, the coverup is worse than the crime. Technically, it's more accurate to say that the coverup significantly aggravates the crime. Coverups turn mistakes into crimes and crimes into enormities. Think of the devastation inflicted on Penn State by the recently published Freeh inquiry, which was most damning for revealing the efforts taken to protect the institution over the victims. Or think of your own toddler, if you have one. If he uses a sharpie to draw all over the wallpaper, you're angry. If he lies about it, well, then you're disappointed. Anger is over in minutes. Disappointment leads to years of therapy and careers in bitter standup comedy.

A big pile of sweaty dynamite might be blowing up in the face of Chinese telecoms equipment company ZTE right now. The fuse was lit by a Reuters report back in March (blocked in China), which showed how ZTE was acting as a middleman for relaying restricted American technology to Iran for use in a national Internet monitoring system. The explosion may have started last week when the aptly named website The Smoking Gun reported that the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into the sale. The FBI has not confirmed the investigation, but The Smoking Gun has posted an affidavit that makes fun reading because it includes grubby details of the alleged covering-up. Much of it has the desperate, furtive feel of the third reel of an Abel Ferrara film (or, apropros of the lunar landing discussion above, a Peter Hyams film). You can feel the options narrowing as they talk through them. I don't know how this situation will turn out, but I do know this: As bad as ZTE looked for shipping US surveillance gear to Iran, they look worse for the discussion of the coverup.

Two other thoughts about this case. First, the FBI case is apparently based on the deposition of a young, American lawyer who was in ZTE's employ. I find myself reminded of something I heard from a relative who was once highly placed in the empire of a wealthy Hong Konger: White people don't handle the money. One wonders how much trust ZTE will invest in its white people after this.

Second, the organization that should be most annoyed about this alleged coverup isn't the US government, the FBI or Internet-freedom activists; it's ZTE's Chinese competitor and Shenzhen neighbor, Huawei. Huawei has been busting its ass through an extensive lobbying and PR campaign to impress US politicians and regulators with its trustworthiness and thus extend its limited access to the huge American market. So far it has met with conspicuously limited success not least because US politicians stubbornly refuse to trust it due to its, well, Chineseness.

Huawei and ZTE are different companies, and illegal shipments to Iran aren't spy-friendly backdoors in routers, but it will be very easy for American politicians and lobbyists to conflate the two Chinese companies and use this situation against Huawei as well. After all, they're both giant, state-linked Chinese telecoms equipment companies. From an American political point of view, both carry all the reputation baggage that comes with the pedigree. They're suspected –sometimes with a dose of hysteria– of being instruments of Chinese policy and possibly vectors for cyberwar attacks. If one is caught with an uncapped sharpie…well, the argument will be, you do the math.

Given the effort its expended over the last few years and the collateral damage it is likely to sustain if the investigation of ZTE's alleged coverup gathers steam, perhaps Huawei should send its PR and Lobbying bill for the last few years to ZTE. And as for the rest of us? I'm sure we're all very disappointed.

Not shocked. Just disappointed.

Commencement advice to all my "师弟" and "师妹": What you've learned matters, but learning to be professional is important too

Patrick Chovanec: Am I a China Bear?

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 10:31 PM PDT

Tsinghua University economics professor Patrick Chovanec introduces a series of posts examining current "conventional wisdom" on China's economy with an explanation of his own perspective.

There are two schools of thought on the Chinese economy right now. The first says "It's always darkest just before the dawn." The second says "It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black." It's clear that China's economy is slowing. But what happens next is far from clear, and the subject of much debate.
[…] Several important story lines have emerged, and what I'm seeing really worries me.
Indeed I am worried — not thrilled, not vindicated — because contrary to stereotypes, I do not consider myself a "bear" on China. In that respect, I would like to make a few points. Because over the next few days I'm going to be saying some very negative, critical, and even scary things about China's economy, these points are quite important.
1) I don't hate China. I'm not "rooting" for China to "crash and burn." I realize that at least a few of my Chinese readers, when they hear me harshly criticize policy or make dire warnings, might conclude that — as an American — I've caught an acute case of China-envy and would love nothing better than to see China taken down a notch. In fact, I am so critical not because I want the worst to happen, or believe it must happen, but because I hope and believe the worst can be avoided, if clear-sighted, courageous choices are made. [… N]o matter what you think about China's current form of government, or the implications of its rising global influence, the complex challenges and opportunities posed by a strong and prosperous China are infinitely preferable to the terrible dangers and uncertainties the world would face if China were to "collapse" or just lose its way in confusion.

Chovanec tweets on Chinese economics and other news as @prchovanec.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: economic policy, economic slowdown, economists, patrick chovanec, Tsinghua University
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The Olympics: Just Games?

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 10:22 PM PDT

For the Chinese, the Olympics have always been something more than just games: the longstanding medal-oriented ideology has linked sports achievements to national glory. As the 2012 London Olympics loom, although the national team is smaller than in 2008, general attention towards the games is still quite high. From Neil Connor at AFP:

China has announced a far smaller team for the London Olympics than the one that topped the gold medal table at home four years ago, but expectations are high of another dominant performance.
"The Chinese athletes must get fully prepared and ready to face the challenges. We have to fight for each gold," Sports Minister Liu Peng said at the announcement ceremony.

Some have chafed at the medal-oriented policy, however. From Yueran Zhang at Tea Leaf Nation:

Those achievements may be provoking something else. @善泰澄兰阮一飞's comment was representative: "It's so hypocritical to mention 'patriotism' every time before the Olympics. I would prefer fewer gold medals. It's snobby to award champions with millions of money. It is them, rather than 'patriotism,' that flourishes from taxpayer money."
[…] And then there's the money. Netizens increasingly question a medal-oriented system which spends astronomical amount of taxpayer money to support potential medal winners, arguing that money could be invested in social welfare. "The medal-first policy should have been abandoned long ago, "@河南樵夫 argues. "It wastes national wealth, makes people suffer and goes against the spirit of Olympics. Gold medals, no matter how many, can not promote healthy conditions for Chinese people."

The gulf between the conditions of China's Olympians and the rest of its people is illustrated by the athletes' fiercely controlled diet. From Yang Wang at Caixin:

This year, the General Administration of Sports prohibited all of the country's sports teams from eating pork, beef or lamb, except for the meat provided from known safe sources at the athletes' training bases.
China's has had countless serious issues with food in recent years. In the sports sector, where doping is of particular concern, it's no wonder the sports authority keeps a very close eye on what the members of its national teams put in their mouths.
Before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng received a lifetime ban. He was believed to have eaten barbecue at a roadside stall and thus had a serious level of clenbuterol in his blood. Farmers in China illegally add clenbuterol to pig and sheep feed to keep the animals lean. In the sporting world, the chemical is a performance-enhancing drug.

Record-setting hurdler Liu Xiang, meanwhile, has again landed in controversy. After he quit the Diamond League London Grand Prix last week claiming a back injury, both official media and online forums are hotly debating Liu's Olympic prospects. Some linked this to his previous drop-out in 2008, and shouted out their disappointment. From Lilian Lin at Reuters:

Mr. Liu had suffered from problems with his intercostal muscles, which run between the ribs and help with breathing, but had recovered before flying to London for Diamond League competition, China's state-broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday, citing the hurdlers coaches. The injury appears to have been re-aggravated by a combination of intense competition at the meet and London's cold weather, CCTV said.
Such reports didn't keep social media users from indulging, once again, in Liu-related conspiracy theories. "Is this a trick to confuse his competitors or a strategy to reserve his energy for the Olympics?" asked one Sina Weibo user, one of many to raise the possibility of an ulterior motive.
Others were less charitable. "If you are not in condition to compete, why don't you give the Olympic opportunity to other, younger athletes? " wrote a user posting under the name of Beyond_Americano. "Ever since I first heard about Liu Xiang, it's always been something, whether a foot or leg or, now, his back," wrote another. "No one else is putting pressure on you. The glory is yours. It's you who are putting too much pressure on yourself. So disappointing."

Teacher caught violently punching and kicking students

Several days ago, at an experimental school in Hainan, the Ideological and Political Education director and junior high head teacher took turns beating students.

Comments from Youku:

加油1949:

Very normal, when I think back…

suklor:

Won't comment without knowing the truth/all the information.

菩提先生:

Regardless of what the truth is, they shouldn't hit students!

逍遥壹梦:

Those downvoting are all students, those upvoting are all teachers. [Over 3k upvotes vs. 13k downvotes at time of translation].

专治铅笔:

Teachers these days are simply educated thugs.

lake剖析你:

I think everyone shouldn't just blindly condemn the teacher. Just look at these students, there must be something wrong with them. I've been hit by teachers before when I was in school. When I think about it now, I'm rather thankful for it.

ZCLZLZ: (responding to above)

Thankful your ass!!! May your son be beaten to death by his teacher!

648691174:

Now you know why schools don't allow you to bring mobile phones.

xxnx18:

This is how the post-70s, post-80s generation all grew up. If you don't use corporal punishment, children will be spoiled rotten.

路凯森:

If it were me, I bet the one squatting there being beaten would be the teacher.

阴道丶小丸子:

Teachers only know how to bully the relatively honest students. If you dare to take up a knife, would the teacher dare to do anything to you?

潇洒哥哦:

There are too many bad students. If you don't use violence against violence, then the other students will be doomed.

liusiyu88:

Strict teachers produce good students, well hit/beaten. Those who don't behave should be beaten. Students these days don't fear their teachers, so how can they properly learn/study? Those who say to hit the teacher can all be said to have character problems.

yyh911:

The video description says it was over a small matter… I hope someone can say just what that small matter was… I'm really curious… just what was it that made these teachers be so fierce… even knowing them onto the ground… a kick to the face…

chfqcy: (responding to above)

This group of students were on the upper floors spitting onto the first year middle school students. The students below started yelling and the students upstairs ran downstairs in a group but were stopped by the teachers. This group of students tried to quibble that they were only going downstairs to "apologize" to the first year middle school students. The teacher wasn't stupid and in his anger became physical.

Ta_水龙头:

This happened at a school in Ledong county in Hainan. The head of the Ideological and Political Education department and the head teacher suspected of being responsible for the beating have already apologized to the students' parents and received the parents' understanding/forgiveness. The school has also already dealt with these teachers. The teacher's sincere apologies were sympathetic.

伯莱卡: (responding to Ta_水龙头)

What use is that? Sincerely apologizing after beating them? Then how about I vent all of society's stress on him and then apologize? As a teacher, you are supposed to use educate with ideology [reasoning and education], not educate with your fists and feet. Why didn't he think of that before hitting the children?

瓕龙: (responding to Ta_水龙头)

This is like domestic violence, it can never be changed, they'll continue to beat other students!

戒烟的烟813925:

Where in Hainan? Many Ideological and Political Education Departments are like this, where students are hit and beaten!

练拳14年:

Back then, our school's physical education teacher once hit one of our brothers. That afternoon, we called up over 40 of us all carrying knives and charged into the school. That teacher was so scared he wouldn't even come out of his office.

练拳14年:

Bad students who don't have the guts to hit a teacher, that's not professional. If you don't even dare to hit a teacher, then what are you doing being a bad student, you might as well just go be a good student.

13878878011:

Let him come try hitting me, I'll kill his entire family.

ETrac:

Can you stop being a poser? If he really did hit you, you'd be just like those students in the video.

13878878011: (responding to above)

You may be garbage but I'm not.

ETrac: (responding to above)

Then what are you?

13878878011: (responding to above)

Your godfather.

ETrac: (responding to above)

Then I'm your dad, you SB.

13878878011: (responding to above)

Then I'm your ancestor, you trash.

ETrac: (responding to above)

Even then I'm your ancestor's dad, garbage without ability like you should just not come out and pretend [act tough].

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无觅

As China Talks of Change, Fear Rises on Risks

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:56 PM PDT

Some "princeling" descendants of China's founding fathers have been meeting to discuss political reform. They are constrained, however, by lack of consensus, webs of overlapping interests, uncertainty ahead of this year's leadership transition and the cautionary example of Bo Xilai's fall. From Michael Wines at The New York Times:

The private gatherings are a telling indicator of how even some in the elite are worried about the course the Communist Party is charting for China's future. And to advocates of political change, they offer hope that influential party members support the idea that tomorrow's China should give citizens more power to choose their leaders and seek redress for grievances, two longtime complaints about the current system.
But the problem is that even as the tiny band of political reformers is attracting more influential adherents, it is splintered into factions that cannot agree on what "reform" would be, much less how to achieve it. The fundamental shifts that are crucial to their demands — a legal system beyond Communist Party control as well as elections with real rules and real choices among candidates — are seen even among the most radical as distant dreams, at best part of a second phase of reform.
[…] An overriding worry is that unless change is carefully planned and executed, China risks another Cultural Revolution-style upheaval that could set it back decades.
[…] "Neither the rulers nor the ruled are happy with the current situation," said Mr. Zhang, the historian. "The prevailing belief is that change is coming soon, but the question is how. Change is either going to come from the top leadership, or from the grass-roots level."

Read more about princelings and political reform in China via CDT, particularly John Garnaut's China's Princelings Break Their Silence from October last year (pointed out on Twitter by Adam Minter).

© Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CCP 5th generation, chinese communist party, political reform, princelings
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Read all about it!

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:17 PM PDT

The front page of China Daily today: One huge Louis Vuitton ad.

A Reuters story on the new store has some good background on the opening:

The French luxury brand, a unit of LVMH, is set to open its largest China store in Shanghai on Saturday, complete with a gilded spiral staircase and an invitation-only private floor where big spenders can get their hair done while dreaming up designs for custom bags.

UPDATE: Very top of the page didn't make that photo. For the record, it's here:

Man hijacks woman in a bid to meet public security bureau chief

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 12:19 PM PDT

At around 13:30 p.m., July 18, a man seized a woman as a hostage, and put her down on the ground by using a shard of glass, in front of a passenger station in Cangzhou city, Hebei province.

The topless man, 25 years old, chased after the woman when finding her stepping out of the passenger station, according to eyewitnesses. The woman was then caught and wrestled down to the ground on a street.

By sitting on top of the victim, the offender holding a glass shard shouted to the people, "don't come close," and "I want to meet the head of the public security bureau."

The victim was struggling on the ground with blood all over her hands and face, while more and more passers by stopped and watched.

On receiving the report, the local police arrived later. They controlled the traffic, and started to talk with the offender. But the efforts failed, as the man insisted to ask for meeting with the bureau chief first.

But ultimately, the offender was still subdued as the officers seized the chance when talking with him. The hostage was saved too and rushed to the hospital for treatments.

The local police later said in an interview that the offender was mentally unstable. "Possible because he was tired of long journey, and the weather was hot, the man had an illusion that some one wanted to kill him," explained an officer upon why the offender took the victim as his hostage and wanted to meet the leader.

Lei Jun: “China’s Steve Jobs”

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:41 PM PDT

Lei Jun (雷军), founder and major shareholder of Xiaomi Tech (小米科技) [zh], has just joined the ranks of Chinese billionaires. Now worth an estimated $4 billion, the company was founded in 2010, and released the Xiaomi Phone - a major Chinese contendor to the iPhone – in 2011. The phone's success in the mainland has led some to label Xiaomi "China's Apple success story", and to see Lei Jun as a Chinese version of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Forbes' Ryan Mac reports on similarities between the two tech gurus:

Lei Jun has much in common with the late Apple icon he reveres. As my colleague Simon Montlake points out in our Forbes Magazine story, Lei, just like a young Steve Jobs, is the head of growing technology company, Xiaomi. Lei also favors the simple stylings of Jobs, preferring the black shirt and jeans combo that was once standard attire for the former Apple CEO (though he was known for his black turtleneck).
And like Jobs, Lei is now a billionaire.
[...]At 43, Lei is exactly the same age that Jobs was when he reached the $1 billion mark in 1998, less than two years after rejoining Apple from NeXT. Lei is also extremely confident that Xiaomi, which was founded in 2010, can elbow its way to the top of a crowded Chinese mobile market.

A longer article in Forbes further details Xiaomi's story and Lei's past, highlighting Lei's encouragement of comparisons between himself and Apple's late retired-CEO, and suggestions that his reputation might one-day outgrow those comparisons:

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Lei Lei Jun, the jeans-and-black-shirt-wearing billionaire founder of Xiaomi, China's hottest smartphone company. And, if you believe Lei, the next Steve Jobs.
[...]"I was annoyed in the beginning, very annoyed. But I don't mind anymore," he says of the comparisons. Associates say he gets a kick out of being dubbed Lei-bu-si, a pun on Qiao-bu-si, Jobs' Chinese name.
Rather remarkably, Lei risks the wrath of Apple fans everywhere by asserting that he can succeed in China in ways that Jobs never could have matched.

Also see suggestions for the next generation of Xiaomi phone, and a report on the possible launch of a Xiaomi phone in Taiwan later this year, from Tech In Asia.

© josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, billionaires, Lei Jun, steve jobs, Xiaomi
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China’s Premier Promises Job Creation Efforts

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 04:17 PM PDT

As China's economic growth dropped to a three-year low of 7.6%, Premier Wen Jiabao promised on Tuesday to launch new plans to prop up the job market. From Joe McDonald at the Associated Press:

Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday China's employment situation "will become more complex and severe" and promised to generate jobs, according to a Cabinet statement, adding to suggestions Beijing might launch new stimulus efforts.
[…] China's slowdown is due in part to government controls imposed last year to cool an overheated economy and inflation. But growth has decelerated faster than planned, raising the threat of job losses and possible unrest, after global demand for exports plunged last year.
[…] Tuesday's statement said Wen promised to find jobs for university graduates — a key issue for the ruling party, because many graduates come from professional and entrepreneurial families that have benefited most from economic reform and are a key pillar of support for the party.

Read more about China's economic stimulus plans via CDT.

© Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 18th party congress, economic growth rates, economic slowdown, economic stimulus plan
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The Chinese Media Reciprocity Act

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 01:47 PM PDT

In September of last year, California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R) introduced H.R. 2899 – the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act of 2011, now being debated in the U.S. House of Representatives. If the bill were to be passed, it would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, allowing the U.S. government to revoke and limit visas issued to journalists working for China's state media to match the number of visas issued to U.S. government-employed reporters in China. A press release from Rohrabacher's office reports his pitch of the bill:

"There is a very alarming disparity between the number of Chinese state media workers whom we grant visas to and the number of visas the Chinese grant to their American counterparts," said Rohrabacher.
"We would welcome any free and independent Chinese reporters if such a thing existed. Every one of these reporters is an agent of the Chinese government and works for a news organization under control of the Communist Party in China. Chinese news agencies operating in the USA are not subject to censorship or purposeful disruption and they are free to broadcast as much communist propaganda as they like on U.S. soil."
"By contrast, our two U.S. correspondents in China are routinely harassed by Chinese police and have been assaulted and detained by Chinese officials seeking to block their work. Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have been regularly jammed by the Communist Chinese for years."

While Rohrabacker's rhetoric effectively evokes thawed Cold War tension during a time of political and economic anxiety, it fails to note an important difference between the media landscapes of China and the U.S. – the role of state-owned media. In the first post of a three-part series on H.R. 2899, China Law and Policy explains this difference, and reports other major problems with this bill:

The Act has many problems. First, it solely focuses on China, giving it the air of a Chinese Exclusion Act. China is not the only country which denies foreign journalists visas – a quick review of the worst countries for journalists on Reporters Without Borders' website reveals that Burma, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea similarly deny foreign journalists visas. But this Act is exclusively about China.
Second, the rhetoric by the Act's proponents leads one to believe that they are more motivated by a Cold War mentality than a true concern about U.S. journalists' access in China. Rep. Rohrabacher's testimony in support of the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act is filled with red herrings concerning Confucius Institutes, billboards in Times Square, and the Chinese purchase of AMC movie theaters (in order to flood the US with Chinese propaganda films). Testimony by John Lenczowski focused more on Russian spies in the US Embassy in Moscow during the Cold War than the actual treatment of U.S. journalists in China today.
Third, passage of the Act could lead to even worse retaliation by China. China repeatedly harasses the two VOA reporters in China (see Nick Zahn's testimony, p. 5-6) and it has consistently denied visas to RFA reporters. Perhaps the most famous incident was when the Chinese government rescinded the RFA reporters' visas only days before they were to accompany President Clinton on his 1998 trip to China.

The Committee to Protect Journalists also voiced similar concern with the proposed policy after initial discussion began in the House of Representatives last month:

CPJ's many objections to China's media policies, including its approach to foreign media, are well documented. But we don't believe that the best response to press freedom restrictions in China is to implement press freedom restrictions in the U.S. We don't approve of the use of specific visas for journalists in the first place, although we recognize that it is a widespread practice. In an ideal world, we would see as many journalists as possible in all countries, moving as freely as possible across borders.
[...]Media restrictions in China make the country a poor candidate for a mature partnership on economic or security issues, and must be addressed if the two countries are to move forward. The visa imbalance between China and the United States does seem unfair, and should be dealt with frankly and forcefully in the context of those many shortcomings. But the U.S., or any country, should not threaten to drive possibly hundreds of journalists from within its borders for any reason. Such a move might feed some people's sense of justice, but would be short-sighted, counterproductive, and contradict one of the United States' cornerstone liberties. The Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement should find a better way to solve this problem.

Part 2 of China Law and Policy's series focuses on how the proposed bill is an ineffective policy mechanism to deal with the broader issue: visa restrictions facing foreign journalists in China, regardless of whether their paycheck comes from the government or the market:

Putting aside the shrill rhetoric surrounding the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act and the fact that it only deals with the harassment of a small segment of U.S. journalists in China (the VOA and RFA reporters), the Act does draw attention to an increasingly problematic issue: the Chinese governments harassment of foreign journalists through the visa process. It also raises the question: what should the U.S. government be doing about this harassment?

Stay tuned for part 3 of China Law and Policy's series.

For more on journalists in China and the regulations they face, see prior CDT coverage.

© josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Committee to Protect Journalists, foreign journalists, foreign media regulations, journalism, journalists in china, u.s.-china relations
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Word of the Week: WTF?!

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Editor's Note: The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space's Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China's online "resistance discourse," used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.

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.

他妈的！(tā mā de): WTF?!

Literally "his mother's," ta ma de is a common swearword. Like "f**k", the phrase has a sexual connotation, though it is less harsh than its English counterpart and has a broader range of uses. Depending on the context, it can be translated as almost any English swearword, though it often appears as WTF.

Lu Xun, the father of modern Chinese literature, once honored the phrase as China's "national swearword."

A very notable use of the phrase appeared in the July 26 2011 edition of Hong Kong's Apple Daily shortly after the Wenzhou train accident. The front page headline read, "Clearing the Tracks, Not Saving Lives; WTF!""

The People's Daily headline on the same day was "The Party's Sympathy Is Even Greater Than the Height of Lofty Mountains."

Several days later, the Southern Metropolis Daily defied the Propaganda Department's ban on critical stories of the train wreck and published an article entitled "What Friggin' Miracle?" It began:

At 8:27 p.m. on July 23, [a collision between two trains] caused the deaths of 40 people. In the face of such a terrible event and its incompetent handling by the Ministry of Railways, we can only express our views by asking—WTF?!

7月23日20时27分，北京至福州的D 301次列车行驶至温州市双屿路段时，与杭州开往福州的D 3115次列车追尾，造成D 301第1至4号、D 3115第15至16号车厢脱轨，事故已致40人遇难。面对如此惨烈的事情以及铁道部的糟糕处理，我们只想用三个字表达看法———他妈的！

The article criticized the Propaganda Department's approach of highlighting various "miracle" stories from the crash. One such "miracle" involved a two-and-a-half-year-old girl named Yiyi, who was the last survivor pulled from the train wreckage 21 hours after the crash. Although both her parents were killed, the state-controlled media gushed over her survival in what many believed to be a cynical attempt to put a positive spin on the tragedy and deflect criticism from the Ministry of Railways. In a press conference, Ministry of Railways spokesperson Wang Yongping was asked how a girl could be found alive while disassembling the train cars, when rescue attempts were already finished:

Wang: This is a miracle. You ask why—
Reporter: This is not a miracle!
[Reporters angrily yelling at once.]
Reporter: What I want to ask is this: Why, after you had already announced that there were no survivors, when you had already begun to disassemble the train—why would there still be a survivor?
Wang: Let me answer that. This happened. We truly did find a girl who was still alive. This is the way things are.

Wang generated more anger than solace at the conference. His trademark statement from that day rose to Chinternet memedom: "Whether you believe it or not, it's up to you, but I do anyway." He was later dismissed from his post.

George Ding opined on the exchange:

In the end, I think I understand what Wang is trying to say. For a toddler to survive the train crash in which her parents died is nothing short of Potter-esque; for a defenseless child to survive the full force of the Chinese government's ineptitude and negligence, is nothing short of miraculous. But if little Yiyi is Harry Potter, then what does that make the government?

The Economic Observer also defied the ban on negative coverage of the crash.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: GMH Lexicon, grass-mud horse lexicon, high-speed rail crash, ta ma de, wenzhou, word of the week, WTF
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Shanghai Food Heaven

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 06:24 AM PDT

I love Chinese food! Today's meal will be hard to top anywhere else in Shanghai. Next to the Marriott Hotel near 人民广场 (People's Square) is a new mall about to open. However, the restaurant itself, on the 4th floor, is already open for business. I forgot to write down it's name. The food was spectacular. Their pictures below.

Dried mushroom with squid.

Yellow croaker fish.

Steamed xiaolong bao.

A type of vegetable similar to pea sprout.

Part of decor. Didn't try eating this one.

Chinese netizens wrapped in mixed feelings when Philippine President thanks China

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 01:16 AM PDT

Chinese netizens are left in mixed feelings on the news that Philippine President Benigno Aquino thanked China on Tuesday for its help to finish a major Philippine water supply project, amid tensions between the two countries over Huangyan Island in the South China Sea.

It was reported, China fully backed the $123-million water project, aiming to improve water delivery to 21 million residents of Manila and surrounding provinces. On July 17, Aquino inaugurated the launching ceremony of the project, and expressed his gratitude to China for its financial and technical support, when Chinese Ambassador to Manila was present at the ceremony too.

"We are thankful for the funds provided by China so we could set up this important project. It is through firm relations with our neighbouring countries that we can speedily solve our problems," Aquino said in a speech.

But ironically, the tension between the Philippines and its neighbor China remains. It began after maritime forces from both countries had a standoff over the Huangyan Island in early April, and had ever been intensified many times.

On July 4, Philippine presidential spokesman just warned Chinese officials, in Chinese language, to be careful about what they say over the current conflict in the South China Sea.

On July 7, Philippine President thanked China.

From the comments left on one China's major web portal Netease, most of Chinese netizens showed their disappointment on Chinese government offering the financial assistance to the Philippines which "bites us back as a return," when the government is still inadequate to reduce the poverty in many areas of its own nation however.

Woeser: CCTV’s Explanation for Self-Immolations

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 08:37 AM PDT

On her blog, Woeser writes about a documentary produced by CCTV about the self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Beijing's policies in Tibet. While the documentary, which presents the official government line on the protests, was ostensibly produced for a domestic audience, Woeser demonstrates that it was in fact clearly intended for an international audience as part of Beijing's external propaganda efforts. High Peaks Pure Earth translates Woeser's post:

The programme was not broadcast on Chinese internet TV either. But after three days, the Chinese and English versions were available on YouTube, albeit without the CCTV logo on the screen; it was thought that CCTV itself was responsible for uploading it onto YouTube but we all know that in China, this platform is blocked. As for the various Chinese video websites, up to now, the documentary cannot be found.
This clearly shows that this is a programme specially made for foreign audiences, even the Chinese version is mainly directed at "overseas Chinese". The Tibetologist Elliot Sperling commented: "Tibetan self-immolations have turned into a foreign propaganda battle line". In view of the ever increasing cases of self-immolations in Tibet since 2009 that are a resolute act of resistance, the Chinese government has had to offer an explanation to the world that is favourable to itself and keeps its own face, which becomes evident from the name of this fact-distorting documentary: "The Dalai Clique and the Self-Immolation Event".
Up to the present day, CCTV has not broadcast the documentary to audiences within China. We all remember how CCTV, after the protests that erupted across the whole of Tibet in 2008, was quick to make a documentary called "Records of the Lhasa Riots" that was ceremoniously released during prime time and broadcast over and over again; it even became available on DVD. The result of the large-scale marketing campaign is best described by the words of a retired cadre who used to be engaged in ethnic matters: "the rifts between two ethnic groups that could have still been mended have been torn apart, what is done cannot be undone."
So, why did the authorities decide to, this time, only broadcast the documentary to audiences abroad and not to people within China? Is it only to prevent Han Chinese, the majority of all Chinese people, to learn any more about the current situation in Tibet and risk that they start doubting the claims by the authorities that "Today, Tibetans are experiencing development and happiness as never before in history"? This is probably one reason, but the more important reason is that they are afraid of provoking the several millions of Tibetans living in Tibet and with them also the much-feared Uyghurs and Mongolians. This documentary only talks about 13 Tibetan self-immolators, but some of the video recordings and images shown here are revealed to the public for the very first time and display the great courage of the Tibetan self-immolators; on top of that, the various kinds of explanations offered by CCTV are full of ridiculous loopholes.

Read more about recent self-immolations, including the most recent by an 18-year-old monk in Sichuan, and about China's external propaganda efforts, via CDT.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CCTV, external propaganda, self-immolation, tibet politics
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The Daily Twit – 7/18/12: SEC vs. VIEs, Data Privacy Confusion, and More Talk on Credit Cards

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 07:49 AM PDT

Big story for China investors was the SEC investigation of New Oriental, which has something to do with the education company's VIE structure. Lots of speculation on this. I weighed in with this post: "SEC Investigates New Oriental VIE Structure. Let the Chatter Begin." Also be sure to check out the China Accounting Blog post "SEC v EDU: the end of VIEs?"

If the VIE news wasn't enough to get you excited:

Jack Perkowski: China's Second Half Looks Up — I've been linking to so many doom and gloom folks on China's economy that I feel slightly guilty, so here's what the other side is saying.

Reuters: Visa, MC still face hurdles in China after WTO ruling — In light of the WTO panel decision, what happens now? In reality, probably an appeal and a lengthy negotiation period after that.

Foreign Policy: The Future of Manufacturing Is in America, Not China — What's the future of global manufacturing? Not China, says Vivek Wadhwa. Some good points, but the article seems to rely too much on cost issues. That's not the only reason manufacturing is sited in a given place.

Global Times: A push to protect personal data — The government wants companies to get onboard with better data privacy practices and has even put out some guidelines to that effect. But if they're so concerned about this problem, why no data privacy law, even though us lawyer types have been clamoring for one for at least 8 years?

Reuters: Tough Chinese data privacy laws impede document collection in FCPA investigations — Great article about restrictions on data in China are making life difficult for foreign companies trying to comply with U.S. government investigations. Comes across as slightly paranoid, but it's a good introduction to an important topic.

New York Times: Changing of the Guard: As China Talks of Change, Fear Rises on Risks — Princelings, political reform, the changing of the guard. This article's got it all.

China Daily: First-class medical care for the wealthy — This article on private medical facilities and their wealthy patients pissed me off, and I responded with this: China Health Care and the Income Gap.

Caixin: Wealth Of Nations: The Modern Illusions Of Economic Development — The common terms we use when talking about development leave a lot to be desired, particularly when talking about rich-but-still-poor China.

China Daily Show: China: 'Everything wrong with this place will be fixed in about three years' — For your amusement. As usual, it's funny 'cause it's mostly true.

25 Years After Taiwan Embraced Democracy, Netizens Wonder When It Will Be the Mainland’s Turn

Posted: 17 Jul 2012 10:41 PM PDT

Announcements of End of Martial Law in Taiwan on July 14, 1987

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Chiang Ching-kuo today decreed the end of martial law imposed by his Nationalist Party 38 years ago when it fled to this island after the communists took over mainland China. (LA Times, July 14, 1987)

25 years ago, the Republic of China government on Taiwan formally announced that it was ending martial law. As @谢宏钰 commented on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter: On that day, "this island embarked on a different path." ^[1]

A brief history

The current government on Taiwan island, the Republic of China, was originally founded in 1912 on the Chinese mainland and was later consolidated by the Chinese Nationalist Party, or the KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek. After a bloody four-year civil war with the Chinese Communist Party, the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan in 1949. The same year, martial law was declared in Taiwan.

Protest against martial law held on May 19, 1986 in Taipei

Rights to free speech and free assembly vanished; newspapers were censored. Political protesting and organization were banned. A secret police organization called the Taiwan Garrison Command began tracking and arresting those suspected of sedition. The ensuing 38 years of martial law became known as the "White Terror" in Taiwan; Communist sympathizers, Taiwan independence supporters, leftist reformers, disloyal military officers — and anyone who was suspected of being any of the above — were arrested and often incarcerated or executed without due process of law.

Life after military rule

Everything changed, including the details. @郢爰楚貝 from Taiwan recalls, "In elementary school I could read the newspaper in the mornings, but one day the paperboy couldn't slip the paper through the door anymore—it was too thick, about twice the volume. That was about a year after martial law ended, when newspapers were no longer censored." ^[2] For the vast majority of the people living through that period, everyday life may have seemed normal, but even little details like newspapers becoming uncensored serve as persistent reminders that, yes, we were deceived.

March for farmers' rights in 1988, after the end of martial law in Taiwan

Yang Zhao (@作家楊照), a long-time columnist and contributor to The Journalist magazine in Taiwan, wrote an op-ed called "Since The End of Martial Law" describing what he believes has changed in Taiwan:

Before they allowed for opposition political parties, many predicted that once the people could form parties, chaos would erupt in Taiwan. So many different opinions; how can anyone ever be in peace? 25 years later, even the 'Taiwan Communist Party' can legally exist, and society is more stable due to a maturing two-party system. Before they allowed free publication of newspapers, many also predicted that unregulated speech would demoralize the populace…but now after we have heard all sorts of incendiary and sensational speech, most people take them for nothing more than entertainment.

Lifting martial law, to Yang, "was the beginning of a monumental shift."

Et tu, China?

President Chiang Ching-kuo met with Katherine Graham of Washington Post in October 1986 and informed her that martial law would be lifted. Ma Ying-jeou served as the interpreter.

Will a monumental shift take place in the People's Republic of China some day? To even begin thinking about this question is a monumental exercise, but reactions on Weibo provide some clues. For the most part, those who mentioned the 25th anniversary let the date speak for itself: "July 15, 25th anniversary of lifting martial law." Some of them looked to Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek and Taiwan's president in 1987, as a model and inspiration. As @江边酿淳 comments, "Chiang Ching-kuo opened a new era of democracy in China." @章立凡 relays the story of senior KMT cadres questioning Chiang, saying "we will lose power if you lift martial law." Chiang replied simply, "no party can be in power forever." ^[3]

Others remind us that Chiang Ching-kuo isn't the only one who deserves credit for the transformation. @shino3456 writes, "Taiwan's democracy was won by the Taiwanese people. How many intellectuals and ordinary people, living under one party rule, the White Terror and the 228 Incident (a revolt and massacre on Taiwan in 1947), hoped for something new?" ^[4] @EnjoyZack says, "Behind Taiwan's democratization there was a rise of civil society, organization of opposition parties, private property ownership, local self-rule, and international pressures as well as Chiang Ching-kuo's courage and determination." ^[5]

Protesters against martial law confronted police in Taipei

Taiwan in 1987 is certainly very different from China in 2012. Taiwan lost its UN seat in the 1970s, and the United States ending its recognition of Taiwan in 1979 dealt a fatal blow to Taiwan's international status. Domestically, opposition forces from all directions such as environmental activists, labor rights activists, women's rights activists, independence supporters and social democrats were converging into a formidable power. The KMT had arrested publishers of a prominent anti-KMT magazine in Kaohsiung. They were then swiftly tried in military court, drawing pressure from the United States to democratize and institute civilian rule of law.

China in 2012 has much more international weight than did Taiwan when it stood on democracy's threshold. China has taken a defiant stance against American calls for human rights and political reforms. Social opposition may not have matured and converged into a critical mass (and the Communist government actively makes sure this does not happen). Civil society has only begun to take shape, and the future of various social institutions is uncertain. Government and Communist Party practices are becoming more entrenched and systematic. It's quite possible that China's form of government is not going anywhere soon.

Protest against martial law held on May 19, 1986 in Kaohsiung

But as @tanzhenfeng points out, in Taiwan "a dictator ended a dictatorship." @带路dang二世 wonders, "In another 15 years, can we also lift our martial law?" ^[6] @chongmingxie chimed in, "25 years of reforms for a democratic Taiwan; even if China starts today I'll be old in 25 years." ^[7] For many alive today, democracy in China still seems a distant dream.

For some, hope springs eternal. @弱者的躯壳 reposted sections of a poem entitled "Taiwan's Democracy":

The people don't want to stay in the night
Because the land is dark
Only visible
Are the moon and the stars
The moon says she will bring light to the people
The stars say they will lead the way
But why can't the people decide for themselves
Why can't there be daybreak
The people don't need the moon nor the stars
The people just want daybreak

(July 15, 2012) ^[8]

Footnotes (? returns to text)

25年前的今天，这个岛屿解严，走上了另外一条道路，直到现在?
剛入小學不久，每早等著國語日報，幾張小版紙，標注音，又有圖畫，看不了多久。除非起晚了，或是送報生遲來，才等放學回家再看。但是某天，送報生清早竟按了門鈴－－那天報紙張數大增一倍有餘，父母看的聯合與中時更厚成一大疊，門縫塞不進。那是24年前，解嚴隔年開報禁，於是我再也沒能於早晨讀報。?
国策顾问沈昌焕说："这样可能会使我们的党将来失去政权！"，蒋经国却淡淡地回答："世上没有永远的执政党"?
台灣民主是全台灣人民爭取而來，在解嚴之前是多少知識分子和人民在一黨獨大之下，白色恐布，二二八事件等等，民眾也希望政府有所為而有所不為?
台湾解严，民主转型，这背后，公民社会的兴盛，反对党的崛起，土地私有、地方自治的根基，国际环境的压力，蒋经国的胸怀与担当等，几乎每一项都不可或缺。?
再等15年，我们能不能解严？?
解严25年，换一个民主的台湾，就算从今天算大陆开始改革，25年后我也已经老了?
诗歌《台湾的民主》（节选）佚名：人民不想再呆在夜里/因为大地漆黑一片/能看到的/只有高高在上的星星月亮/月亮说自己带给人民光芒/星星说他能引导人民方向/但为什么人民不能自己作主/为什么就不能天亮/人民不需要月亮的光芒/人民不需要星星的引导/人民只要天亮。(今天,7.15日为台湾解严纪念日)?

In China, Wait Leads to Standoff With Officials

Posted: 18 Jul 2012 06:42 AM PDT

The New York Times reports on the stand-off between locals and a group of visiting officials to Mt. Baekdu who caused severe delays for visitors to the local tourist attraction. CDT earlier translated weibo responses to the incident. From the New York Times report:

The infuriated crowd surrounded the vehicles carrying the government entourage and refused to let them pass, according to scores of microblog posts sent out by those waiting to ascend Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province. The three-hour standoff drew police officers and soldiers, some of whom reportedly beat recalcitrant protesters.
According to one witness, thousands of people chanted for a refund of the $20 entry tickets and later demanded that the officials leave their besieged vehicles and apologize. "Fight privilege!" the witness wrote.
The accounts, posted on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service, were later deleted by the company's in-house censors, but many postings were saved and reposted on overseas Web sites like Ministry of Tofu and China Digital Times whose servers cannot be reached by Chinese censors.
Even if a contretemps was defused, the specter of middle-class citizens fearlessly standing up to their otherwise omnipotent leaders is a scenario that fills Communist Party officials with dread. Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at the University of California, Berkeley, said the incident reveals the accumulated anger that many ordinary Chinese feel toward their government. "There was no serious injustice here, yet it did not take much for them to stand up and protest," he said. "It's the kind of thing that is very worrying to Chinese leaders because it could happen anywhere, at any time."

See also a list of "sensitive words" banned from Sina weibo search relating to the Mt. Baekdo incident.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: local power, online protest, privilege, weibo
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