Blogs » Politics » Why I’m Leaving China
Blogs » Politics » Why I’m Leaving China |
- Why I’m Leaving China
- Photo: Men playing cards in Jing’an Park, Shanghai, by Remko Tanis
- Going Viral on Chinese Social Media
- Cancer-causing Toxin Found in Chinese Baby Formula
- The Stylish Side of China
- Beijing’s floods and an ounce of prevention
- [Bilingual Brew] China’s All-Star Legal Team Pleads for Defendants’ Rights On Social Media
- Cyber Candles for Two Tragedies
- Vietnam, Philippines Slam Garrison Plans
- WTO to Probe China’s Rare-Earth Policies
- China Moves Forward on Cybersecurity Policy
- Model Gloria Wong takes off panties to her fan at book fair
- The Daily Twit – 7/24/12: More Storm Fallout, and China Takes Off to the Great White North
- Where Are You From?
- Eric X. Li vs Minxin Pei on China and Democracy
- US-China Human Rights Talks Begin in Washington
- The Beijing deluge of 2012
- Aggressive Culture?
| Posted: 24 Jul 2012 10:30 PM PDT By the time you're reading this post, I'm on a plane with my wife, bound for the United States, where we plan to live at least for the immediate future. I generally attempt to avoid getting personal with this blog, but in light of some recent events I thought I'd take a moment to explain my reasons. First, let's get one thing straight: this has nothing to do with Yang Rui. Yes, he did threaten to sue me and suggest that the police should "investigate my background" after I called for him to be fired in a Weibo post. (For more on his original post, see this). Although the outpouring of vitriol on weibo that followed certainly wasn't pleasant, none of that had anything to do with my decision to leave, which had been made long before Yang Rui shoved his foot into his mouth (and halfway down his own throat) on weibo. I do plan to address the whole "Yang Rui incident" in a post in the near future, so stay tuned. Anyway, why am I leaving? Obviously the biggest reasons are personal; I don't want to get into any of it here except to say that I think it's what's best for my family at this particular moment. It's not anything scandalous or secret, though, I just don't feel the need to broadcast much about my personal life. However, there are other things that helped reinforce this decision that I think are worth discussing here because they represent major problems China has yet to fully own up to. I like breathingThe first is the air pollution. It's almost cliche to complain about the air quality in Beijing; it's terrible and everyone knows it. People here just deal as best they can. Some wear masks outside, and those wealthy enough buy expensive air filters for their homes. Most people just grin and breathe it. I wore masks from time to time, but for the most part, I just breathed it in, too. Here's the thing, though: as a foreign citizen, there's really nothing forcing me to live in Beijing. It is, in many ways, a wonderful city, and it's probably the most fascinating, exciting place I have ever lived. However, it was also killing me. That's not really hyperbole; cancer rates in Beijing have risen 60% over the past decade even while smoking rates have remained steady. Studies this spring confirmed a link between air pollution and premature death, even in places far less polluted than Beijing. A World Bank report reportedly found that in China, poor air quality causes nearly a million premature deaths each year. That might not sound like a lot, but some back-of-the-napkin calculations based on China's death rate show that more than 8% of all deaths in China are premature and related to air pollution. I'm sure there are plenty of arguments to be made about those numbers, what defines "premature," and whether or not scientists can really be sure those deaths are all linked to air pollution. But that doesn't really matter. If you're in Beijing and you have functioning eyes, you know that things are not healthy. Here's a picture I took from my apartment last year. It hasn't been doctored in any way, nor is this even a particularly unusual sight in Beijing (it was taken as part of a series of photos I took each day from the same spot for a separate project).
Looking at that and thinking about your own lungs is bad enough. But thinking about my wife, and thinking about having kids, it gets worse. If my wife were pregnant, would I want her breathing this? Would I want my small child breathing this? Obviously there are millions of families in Beijing, and they deal. Certainly, we could deal, too. But the question I couldn't stop asking myself was why should we? On a personal level, it's a more difficult choice than you might think, at least for me. I like my lungs, sure — they've treated me well thus far — but I like Beijing too, and whatever else one might say about this city, it's never boring. But adding a wife and hypothetical future kids into the mix, the question gets a lot simpler for me. Given the choice to be elsewhere, this just wasn't the right place to put down deep roots. Eating is also funThe other big reason — and this applies to all of China, really — is food safety. Things have simply gotten to the point that it's impossible to feel confident that what you're eating is healthy, or even real, unless you're on a farm. Check out this site, for example, which lists the food items that have been publicly reported in food safety scandals over just the last 8 years. I'll wait a while for you to finish scrolling through that massive list, which includes basically any food item you can imagine. Oh, each name doesn't represent just one scandal either, some of the more common food items have scores of reported problems associated with them. Of course, that's just what has been discovered and reported publicly. Buying only imported food is a solution, but it's a highly expensive one; above my means, and above the means of the vast majority of Chinese. And while organic foods are gaining popularity here, they're also expensive, and there have been scandals involving fake, not-really-organic "organic" food, so even that isn't entirely safe. Again, people can and do deal with this. I've been eating the food here on and off for four years, and while my stomach has protested from time to time, it hasn't exploded. Again, though, when forced to wonder 'why choose to eat this stuff?' I don't have a great answer. Not that the food anywhere is entirely safe, of course — certainly it isn't in the US — but there are plenty of places safer than here. And again, thinking about kids and a family, why choose to put down roots in a country where milk power, in one form or another, seems to make kids sick in a new way every year? I realize no one really gives a crap about why I'm leaving, but I mention this because I think it's as significant a problem as economic and social factors when you look at the trend of Chinese elites leaving, or sending their families out of, China. Corruption is a huge problem, sure, and if the economic slowdown continues that's only going to increase the flow of people leaving. But I think there are probably also plenty of people like me who are less motivated by politics and economics than they are by the safety of their families and/or their fondness for their own lungs and digestive systems. Of course, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't affected by China's political situation. For someone who truly believes China would be better served by a system that afforded its people, at the very least, a free press and the true rule of law, this has been a depressing couple of years. Depressing, soul-crushing and occasionally terrifying. But if I'm honest with myself, even with the political situation, I really think I'd be staying in Beijing if I felt like I could breathe safely. I don't think I'm alone there. I know plenty of families in Beijing, and it's not my intent to criticize anyone else here; I'm just trying to explain my own rationale. But these are issues everyone here struggles with. And for those Chinese and foreign who, like me, are lucky enough to have the means to move elsewhere, some are going to make that choice. As the data on pollution gets clearer, perhaps more are going to make that choice. And while China has made some strides in agreeing to report things like PM2.5 publicly in some cities, I unfortunately don't see the pollution problem disappearing anytime soon. This isn't really even China's fault. OK, yes it is, but it's also a fairly natural (if disgusting) stage of development. I don't know if industrial-era London every looked quite this bad, but I gather it wasn't the cleanest place ever. The thing is, though, would you choose to live in industrial revolution London? That choice, I think, is part of China's problem. As Chinese salaries go up and the education system gets better — and here's hoping those things do improve despite what's looking like a fairly ugly bump in the economic road — more and more people are going to have the same choice I have. What does this mean for the blog?Absolutely nothing. As longtime readers may recall, I lived in the US for part of 2009-2010, and my blogging output only became more prolific during that time. There are some impending changes — all for the good, I assure you — but it's not quite time to announce any of that yet. In the meantime, regularly-scheduled curmudgeoning will resume as soon as I've slept off the last of the jet lag and dealt with the slowly-unfolding nightmare that is my life as the owner of a motor vehicle. You may also notice a trend back towards more translations, as I tend to feel more inclined to translate things while I'm in the US just to keep my skills sharp…or make them less dull, anyway. However since I'm reading dozens of news articles in Chinese every day for my day job at this point, I make no guarantees with regards to more translations. (The other problem is that a lot of my favorite blogs have really dried up as their owners move to microblogging and weibo or Twitter, and there are already plenty of great blogs that deal with what's being said on microblogs. Here's one excellent one.) Are you coming back?Yes, obviously. I have written this fairly pragmatic post instead of an emotional, bittersweet farewell piece because I have every intention of returning with some frequency (visa permitting, of course), and every intention of staying fully engaged and more up-to-date than I have ever been before even while living in the US. This, again, touches on the big plans I mentioned above that I'm not ready to share publicly yet, but suffice it to say that China and I will never be strangers. One Last Personal NoteI do want to take the time to apologize to many of my friends in Beijing, who may find this news a bit of a shock. I was trying to keep my departure plans very quiet on the off-chance that Yang Rui actually did have friends somewhere in the PSB and might attempt to fuck with me or my wife in some way. My email has been hacked before, so I wanted to be a little careful even with that — perhaps a bit paranoid but there were people out to get me. It's terribly depressing to me that that's the sort of thing I even had to think about, but if I've learned one thing from the whole Yang Rui experience it is not to underestimate that man's ability to be a petty bully. I wish I had had the opportunity to thank all of you properly for all of your help, and for generally making my life here awesome. But of course, I will have the opportunity to do that, the next time I'm back in China (or the next time you're back in the US for a visit). Next time I'm back in the 'Jing, the drinks are on me. VN:F [1.9.10_1130] Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)  | |||||||||||||||
| Photo: Men playing cards in Jing’an Park, Shanghai, by Remko Tanis Posted: 24 Jul 2012 07:40 PM PDT  Men playing cards in Jing'an Park, Shanghai © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Going Viral on Chinese Social Media Posted: 24 Jul 2012 07:37 PM PDT An episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation show Foreign Correspondent recently went viral on weibo, with 7.5 million clicks on a program about the "fu er dai" or rich second-generation. China correspondent Stephen McDonell talks to Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei about social media in China and why McDonell's show spread so far so fast, especially considering it is not broadcast in China:
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Cancer-causing Toxin Found in Chinese Baby Formula Posted: 24 Jul 2012 07:13 PM PDT China's scandal-ridden dairy industry is again the focus of public scrutiny. This time, aflatoxin, a cancer-causing element, was found in samples of Nanshan Bywise infant formula. From Reuters:
And this is just a tip of the iceberg compared to the massive scandals in China's food industry. Mark Mcdonald at the New York Times looks into how the country's food-safety mess that has caused nationwide panic:
Read more about China's food safety issues via CDT. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Jul 2012 07:07 PM PDT Although some analysts are worried about a slowdown in China's economy, including the luxury industry, some indicators tell a different story. As huge numbers of people, white-collar women in typical, have just entered the middle class, a keen desire for fashion products props up the high-end consumption market. From New York Times:
Meanwhile, movie producers in Hong Kong also found themselves contending with Louis Vuitton handbags. From Bloomberg:
Read more about luxury consumption in China via CDT. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Beijing’s floods and an ounce of prevention Posted: 24 Jul 2012 05:29 PM PDT Seeing photos of the terrible flooding in Beijing, I can't help but feel for the families affected by the devastation (video). As is usual with disasters, netizens have begun to blame the gov't for the outcome of what would likely have been tragic in many parts of the world. Hannah, the newest addition to our team, described it as "apocalyptic," and noted that Saturday's forecast had only called for a 60% chance of rain. While it is important to note the level of dissatisfaction with the gov't, it is difficult to know to what extent infrastructure could have mitigated the floods. As saddening as the loss of life is, it is important to note that natural disasters are bound to happen and then the emphasis should shift to responding to it as it unfolds and in its aftermath.  While I am reminded of the outrage that followed Hurricane Katrina (which was also a reflection of simmering dissatisfaction with President Bush), I am also reminded of the floods my students experienced in Guangxi a few years prior. Longzhou is located where two rivers meet, and heavy rains upstream lead to the water rising over 10 meters in just a few hours in 2008. Under the cover of night, the water rose up over the cliffs, crossed the narrow street, spilled across the basketball courts and inundated dormitories and classrooms. With no emergency plan and no warning of what was headed their way (there had been no plan to suspend classes), students began to climb higher in the buildings only to be cut off from escape routes and were stranded with few supplies. One student told me that they were stuck in a classroom on the second floor and had to sleep at their desks that night. As the only Christian in her class she had tried tirelessly before to introduce her classmates to Jesus, but that night, they all became seekers. With no teachers or faculty to offer them a sense of safety (or to prevent her from testifying), many of the students turned to her for prayers of protection. They simply had no idea of what else to do. Click to view slideshow.The next day rescue teams arrived to pull people from their dorms, and began the months of repairs and cleaning up. The military, of which there is a lot of next to the border with Vietnam, was quickly mobilized and fortunately none of the students died from this disaster. For the most part when these tragic events happen, China is excellent at recovering. After all, in the past 100 years there have been dozens of natural and man-made disasters. Disasters happen, and there is only so much that can be done to mitigate downpours like Beijing experienced, what we should be concerned about is the needless loss of life caused by poor emergency planning. Floods and earthquakes happen (although S. Korea fared much better with the same downpour), but not knowing what to do in these situations exacerbates the consequences. There should also be a further emphasis on storm warning systems to alert the public to get out of harms way, as a large number of people seemed to have been caught off guard. In my five years working in public institutions in China I never witnessed any kind of drill for responding to an emergency (and I worked for 2 years in a very large hospital). I am also reminded of a blog post from a school in Liuzhou, Guangxi showing a dramatic fire drill that looked more like something from Universal Studios than an actual attempt at emergency preparedness. For the amount they spent hosting this stunt, they probably could have installed smoke detectors, which the author notes that they still don't have. To me, this is the more important story with Beijing's flood. Yes, infrastructure is lagging behind (the same is true in many American cities), but China has been constantly improving their systems and getting them up to international standards takes time (I dislike this argument for many things, but with infrastructure there is no way of getting around the time issue). However, providing emergency planning is a relatively simple solution, that can make a big difference quickly and cost effectively. While Beijing looks for a scapegoat for their infrastructure problems, they should be working on education and warning systems that effectively prevent similar scenes from unfolding. Filed under: Current Events, Life in China Tagged: Beijing, China, Emergency management, Flood, Guangxi, Hurricane Katrina, Liuzhou   | |||||||||||||||
| [Bilingual Brew] China’s All-Star Legal Team Pleads for Defendants’ Rights On Social Media Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:25 PM PDT [Please enjoy this Tea Leaf Nation bilingual brew. The article is first shown in English, and then in the original Chinese. 亲爱的读者，欢迎享受我们的 "双语茗茶"。英文翻译在上，中文原文在下。]  Li Qinghong: Silenced, for now Li Qinghong was a real estate businessman who had his start in the mining industry. On March 25, 2010, he was sentenced by the City Court in Guiyang, the capital of southwestern province of Guizhou, to 19 years of prison for alleged involvement in organized crime. Four months later, the Guizhou Provincial Court remanded the case due to "lack of factual clarity" (原审事实不清), and the Guiyang City prosecution withdrew its case. Yet, even before the Guizhou Provincial Court remanded the case, the Guiyang City Police somehow set up a team to re-investigate the case. On August 26, the case was re-prosecuted in the Guiyang City Xiaohe District Court. The number of defendants had also increasing from 17 to 57, and among them were seven of the witnesses from the first trial. The Li case is a typical example of the "crackdown on organized crime" (打黑运动) spreading from the western metropolis of Chongqing to the whole nation. The crackdowns usually target private entrepreneurs, with tight collaboration between the police, the prosecution and the court, all led by the local Political and Legislative Committee. Often confessions are extorted by torture. If the Li case had gone as planned, it would have been a landmark achievement by authorities in Guizhou. Yet, the defense lawyers' response complicated the situation. Zhou Ze (@周泽律师), one of Li's defense attorneys, started revealing the details of the case on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter. Netizen attention to the case has grown ever since. On September 3, 2011, he published a letter online asking help from other lawyers, resulting in more than 30 to-flight lawyers from all over China joining the defense team Zhou described as an "All-Star Team" (史上最强大辩护律师团). "The Last Defense" The mass attention dedicated to the case was not due to the details of the case, which were neither unique nor complicated. All of the defense attorneys who are active on Weibo claim that the documents and evidence provided by the prosecution were enough to show that the case was fabricated. As defense attorney Wu Lei (@伍雷) said: "The facts are clear enough. None of the charges can be supported by the evidence. The case is artificially made up based on false confessions." Instead, what was significant about this case was the frequent breaches of procedural law during the proceedings. "The case is the sum of all breaches of procedural law," said defense attorney Si Weijiang (@斯伟江) comments. Thus, for the defense, the hearings from January 9 to 14 and from June 8 to July 18 of 2012 were not only investigations of the facts but a fight for procedural justice. Within the first few days, four lawyers were expelled by the court because of their sharp arguments about procedural concerns. During the process to exclude illegally obtained evidence, more than ten defendants described in detail how they were tortured. In response, the prosecutors provided a written explanation by the Guiyang City Police claiming that officers obtained the evidence lawfully. However the officers were not allowed to testify in court because of "security concerns" (安全的考虑). Despite the defense's strong protest, the court dismissed all their requests to exclude allegedly unlawful evidence. During cross-examination , the prosecutors provided only written testimony but refused to let witnesses testify. Thanks to the defense's requests and the defendants kneeling down begging the judge, eight witnesses were allowed to testify, or 2.5% of all the witnesses. Several alleged in court that their confessions were made up, with one claiming that he was tortured. The battle between the bar and law enforcement extended off the court. Before the re-opening of the hearings in June, 22 defense attorneys from outside Guizhou Province were dismissed by their clients and replaced by local attorneys who were more susceptible to control by local law-enforcing officials. On July 10, despite huge risks, several defendants revealed that the officers of the District Court made a deal with them: Defendants who fired their non-Guizhou counselors would receive lenient sentences. Others even disclosed that the police had covertly investigated some lawyers. The shock of those testimonies to the bar was immense. As defense attorney Yang Xuelin (@杨学林律师) described: "Today is the darkest since I began defending the case…The criminal defense system in China is near its doomsday." The defense launched a war on all fronts, from requesting the court to remove Li's irons before his self-defense, to publicly unveiling details of law enforcement's opaque operations. Halfway during the hearing, some defendants petitioned to re-hire the non-Guizhou lawyers they had been forced to fire. In addition, impressed by the courage of the non-Guizhou attorneys, local counselors became more active and incisive in their defense, making the previous deal with the court meaningless. Unable to withstand the challenges brought by the defense, the prosecutors gave up introducing evidence, and stopped responding to the defense's cross-examination. However, few read the prosecution's retreat to necessarily mean a ruling of innocence.  Li Qinghong at trial From the defense attorneys' perspective, the defense protected not only the defendants' rights, but the future of the bar as an independent, functioning part of the justice system. "The reason why I devoted myself wholeheartedly, facing such huge pressure, to the defense is that the case would be either a milestone or a tombstone for the Chinese justice system. We are not only doing this for Li and ourselves, but for the future of everyone," defense attorney Zhu Mingyong(@朱明勇律师) wrote. The case was an indicator of whether the laws excluding illegally obtained evidence, witness testimonies and the criminal defense system as a whole would be effectively practiced thereafter. Lawyer Zhang Qingsong(@张青松律师) exclaimed, "This is the last defense, a life-or-death moment for the rule of law and for criminal defense!" However, the results of the ruling, released on July 23, was depressing to observers. Although some of the defendants were judged innocent, Li Qinghong was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leading organized crime. Defense attorney Zhang Lei (@青石律师) expressed his desperation after the ruling. "The justice system has lost ability to adjust any mistake. It has become a tool for the personal interests of some officials. If people had not seen that clearly, the ruling declared to everyone the bankruptcy of the justice system. Trust in the government is eroded by those abusing the system." Nevertheless, despite the ruling, some still recognize the significance of the defense. @斯伟江 wrote, "As the ruling suggests, the defense didn't make a practical difference because of the hostility of law enforcement toward the lawyers. Yet, the public nature of the defense showed people the reality of the justice system. From this perspective, the struggle isn't in vain." Social media: let's take it outside On Weibo, the lawyers acted like professional journalists, covering all sorts of relevant information from details like "the prosecutors' microphones are louder than the defense's," to typos in the indictment, to overall analyses of the case. Throughout the 47-day trial, the defense posted more than 1,000 tweets in total, some even giving real-time updates during the sessions. Zhang Lei (@青石律师) documented the hearings by daily online journal entries, which exceeded a total of 300,000 Chinese characters (about 250,000 words in English). During the court debate, many even published their speeches of defense on Weibo. For many netizens, following the case every day became a habit. As @上海快乐宅男 writes, "Zhang's daily journal is a must-read for me before I sleep, no matter how late it is or how tired I am." Because of the influence of social media, scholars, lawyers and netizens went to Guiyang to observe the trial one after another, and also tweeted their observations on Weibo.  Because of the massive number of defendants, trial had to be held in a rented hall One of the major reasons why attorneys are so active on social media is the absence of traditional media coverage. In the court, some seats were reserved for the People's Daily, China Central Television (CCTV), Xinhua News Agency and other state-owned media. But their reporters rarely showed up and they hardly covered the case. Other media outlets were mostly silent as well, since the court made it difficult to get into the court and interview the judiciary officers. Some netizens were concerned that the domination of defense's voice online made it impossible to know the truth objectively. But in lawyer Wang Xing (@律师王兴)'s opinion, attorneys are not the ones to blame. "Lawyers aren't responsible for reporting the truth objectively; it's the job of traditional media to hear both sides. However, censorship of the news disabled the media from hearing the voices of the judiciary. It's not the lawyers' fault." As a recent phenomenon, lawyers' online activities can be traced back to the influential case of Li Zhuang, a lawyer falsely prosecuted with perjury in Chongqing, in 2010. While the voices of the official media framing and blaming Li were dominating public opinion, the defense had no choice but to tell the other side of the story via social media. A year and a half later, when the defense in a murder case in the coastal city of Beihai, Guangxi, were accused of fabricating evidence, the defense also used social media as part of their defense strategy. The influence they gained online not only balanced the voice of the official media, but also helped with their personal safety. But in the Li Qinghong case, the social media served beyond those two purposes. The bar hoped that, by raising netizens' awareness, this single case could leave a positive impact on the Chinese justice system as a whole. No one knows whether that goal will be reached. Just as the result of the first instance showed, Chinese lawyers still have a long way to go to improve the Chinese justice system. Still, to everyone's comfort, the situation lawyers face has improved in the two years since the Li Zhuang case. As lawyer Chen Guangwu (@陈光武律师) observes: "During the Li Zhuang case, local attorneys were too intimidated to even greet lawyers from elsewhere; in Beihai, local lawyers could only make eye-contact with us in public and secretly express their regards. But this time, lawyers from Guizhou fought bravely with non-local lawyers in court, and they were extremely helpful off the court as well. Many thanks to the local lawyers."
最强律师团微博捍卫被告权利 黎庆洪是以采矿发家的房地产商人。2010年3月25日，他被贵阳市中级人民法院以组织、领导黑社会罪等五项罪名一审判处有期徒刑19年。7月12日，贵州省高院以原审事实不清为由，裁定发回重审，贵阳市检察院撤诉。但在裁定做出之前，贵州省公安厅如未卜先知一般牵头成立了 "七一专案组"，对该案重新侦查。8月26日，该案被重新起诉至贵阳市小河区法院，被告从原来的17人变成了57人，其中包括原来的七名证人。 黎庆洪案的办案方式，与近年轰动全国的重庆打黑运动十分相似：以民营企业家为打击对象，政法委牵头，公安机关、检察院、法院联合办案，审讯中大量使用刑讯逼供手段。如果一切按计划进行，黎庆洪案将被办成"铁案"，成为贵州公安机关引以为傲的经典案例。  发起"最强辩护团"的周泽律师 但辩护律师的行动使案件走势变得复杂起来。黎庆洪的辩护律师周泽（@周泽律师）开始在自己的微博上披露案情，使黎庆洪案进入网民的视野。2011年9月3日，周泽律师在微博上发表《寻求律师同行支援书》；最终，30余位国内顶尖的刑辩律师从全国各地赶来参加辩护，被周泽律师称为 "史上最强大辩护律师团"。 "最后的辩护" 如果单看案情，黎庆洪案不足以产生如此强大的轰动效应。案情事实并不特别疑难或特别复杂。所有在微博上发表意见的辩护律师都一致认为案卷与证据清楚地表明这是一起构陷案件，如伍雷律师所说(@伍雷)，"案件的实体问题已经非常清楚。就目前庭审看，检方指控的证据不能成立。该案，是完全建立在虚假口供基础上人为制造的一起冤假错案。" 真正引起律师和网民们关注的，是案件侦查、审理中出现的大量程序违法现象。斯伟江律师（@斯伟江）评论道，"小河法院审理的黎庆洪涉黑案真的是各种程序违法的集大成者。"因此，在1月9日至14日和6月8日至7月18日进行的一审，远不止是关于案情本身的探查，更是律师与公权力就"如何实现司法正义"进行的较量。开庭伊始，律师们就对庭审程序问题意见强烈，最终导致四名律师被驱逐出庭。 在非法证据排除阶段，有十多名被告人详细描述了被刑讯逼供的过程，而公诉方出具了贵阳市公安局的书面说明证明不存在刑讯逼供。该声明称，"出于安全的考虑"，不安排办案警察出庭作证。虽然律师们进行了激烈的抗争，法庭依然驳回了所有排除非法证据的请求。 在举证质证阶段，公诉方只出具书面证言而不安排证人出庭作证。经过律师们的努力争取和被告人的下跪请求，最终有八名证人出庭，占全部证人总数的2.5%。多名证人当庭表示，他们的证言是办案人员编造的，有证人称自己遭到刑讯逼供。 律师与公权力的较量既在庭内也在庭外。6月开庭前，22名外地律师陆续被当事人解除了委托，更换为贵州本地律师。7月10日，有被告人冒着巨大风险当庭揭露，小河法院的法官与被告人做交易，更换律师者可以获得轻判。也有被告人揭露公安机关对律师进行秘密调查。这让律师们感到震惊。杨学林律师（@杨学林律师）如此评论："今天是自从我恢复辩护人地位后，感到最痛心的一天。…因为这样一来，我国的刑事辩护制度就离毁灭不远了。" 从申请为黎庆洪在自我辩护时解除械具，到对某些官员幕后操纵司法的揭露，从程序到实体，律师们的抗争是全方位的。一些被告人纷纷要求恢复委托之前被解除不用的外地律师，而贵州律师在外地律师的感染下，也逐渐变得犀利、大胆起来，庭审后期的火力已经不亚于外地律师。这让司法机关之前所作的庭外交易失去了意义。在律师们的强势下，公权力感受到了巨大的压力。公诉方最终放弃了对涉黑犯罪四个构成要件中的第四个要件的举证，也放弃了对律师们的质证意见和辩护意见的回应。 律师们认为，这次的辩护不仅关系到被告人的权利，更关系到律师界今后的生存。朱明勇律师(@朱明勇律师)说，"之所以我投入全部的精力，顶着巨大的压力，不惜一切代价坚守这场最后的辩护，是因为小河黎案的终局将昭示：中国法治在小河如果不是一块里程碑，那则必然是一座墓碑！我们都不是为自己，也不仅仅是为了黎庆洪，是为了我们所有人的未来。"在他们眼中，黎庆洪案的辩护，决定了非法证据排除制度、证人出庭作证制度乃至刑事辩护制度在今后的司法实践中能否获得有效保障。张青松律师（@张青松律师）叹到，"这是最后的辩护，关乎法治存亡、刑辩存废！" 然而,7月23日宣布的一审判决结果使律师们失望了。虽然部分被告人被判无罪，黎庆洪仍被认定涉黑犯罪，获刑15年。律师们的绝望之情，正如辩护律师张磊（@青石律师）在微博中所描述："中国的刑事司法已经丧失了任何的纠错功能，一切已经沦为官员个人利益的工具，如果说以前人们还没有看清楚这一点的话，贵阳小河法院今天已经向世人正式宣告：中国的刑事司法已经全面破产了。国家信用，就是被你们这帮狗日的一点点、一片片消耗殆尽的。"在悲愤之余，也有人看到了这次辩护的积极意义，如@斯伟江律师："今天，虽然判决结果表明律师辩护作用不大，因为庙堂本身已仇视律师，你说什么只会起反作用。但辩护的过程公开，是给民众一个真相，看清我国现在的司法是怎样的。这个角度看，仍功不唐捐。" 网络自媒体：律师们的第二战场 在微博上，律师们担任起了记者的角色，对庭审进行全方位报道。在庭审期间，活跃在网络上的辩护律师发表的有关言论总计在千条以上，有些律师甚至在微博上对庭审进行实时直播。从"辩护人的麦克风音量比公诉人的小"、起诉书中出现错别字这样的细节，到对案件走势的整体预测，律师们的言论覆盖了有关案件的所有信息。张磊律师（@青石律师）以每天一篇长日记的形式记录庭审进展，这些长日记累计已超过三十万字。在法庭辩论期间，律师们纷纷把自己的辩护词发表在网络上。 对许多网民来说，每天在网络上关注黎庆洪案的进展已经成为了他们生活中的一项固定内容。@上海快乐宅男说，"青石律师贵阳记每天必读，无论再晚，再累。"在网络平台的强大号召下，一些法学教授、不参与辩护的律师、普通网民纷纷赶到贵阳旁听庭审，并且将自己的观察发布在微博上。 律师们在网络媒体上如此活跃，一个重要的原因是传统媒体和公权力一方的沉默。在庭审现场，一些座位被挂上了"人民日报"、"新华社"、"中央电视台"的牌子，但这些媒体的记者从来没有出现在庭审现场，在媒体上也没有出现任何关于案件庭审的报导。而其他媒体在进入法庭现场、采访公安机关、检察院、法院工作人员的过程中受到了重重阻挠。 有人质疑，网络上辩护方的声音远远盖过公诉方的声音，使人无法客观公正地了解真相。但王兴律师（@律师王兴）认为，这种情况并非律师造成。"律师没有完全公平公正的责任和义务，媒体报道时应当持平中正，客观报道，听取不同声音。只是由于禁令不断，媒体往往得不到司法机关的声音，这错不在律师，在舆论管制。" 律师们在微博上积极披露案情的做法，始于2010年的李庄伪证案。当时，官方媒体对李庄的构陷和谴责统治了舆论，在网络媒体上披露事实的另一面，便成了律师们唯一的选择。而在2011年10月的广西北海，四名唯一桩故意杀人案辩护的律师被控伪证罪，辩护律师们开始将网络自媒体舆论当成辩护策略的一部分。网络舆论的关注，不仅制衡了公权力控制下的官方媒体言论，也减小了辩护律师们遭遇不测的可能性。而在黎庆洪案中，网络平台已经超出抗衡官方话语和确保自身安全的目的。律师们希望，通过舆论的关注，个案可以给中国的司法制度带来积极影响。 当然，没有人可以断定这样的目的能否实现。就像判决结果所显示的那样，对于改变中国的司法制度，律师们还有很长的路要走。但令人欣慰的是，从李庄案到现在一年多来，律师们所处的环境已经有了很大改善。陈光武律师（@陈光武律师）感叹，"李庄案时本地律师万马齐喑，见了外地律师招呼也不敢打。北海案时北海律师只能私下里偷偷地表示问候，在公开场合也是以目光交流。而贵阳律师则一改"常态"。不仅在法庭上和外地律师携手作战，同仇敌忾。法庭外也竭尽全力为律师团提供帮助。真诚谢谢贵州律师。"
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| Cyber Candles for Two Tragedies Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:10 PM PDT  "Today, I light two candles: one for today, one for last year." Yesterday marked two tragedies in China: the third day of floods in the nation's capital and the one-year anniversary of the high-speed train crash in Wenzhou. Both appeared at first to be natural disasters, but are really man-made. In Wenzhou, railway officials first blamed a lightning strike for stopping one train over a bridge—another train crashed into it shortly after, killing 40 passengers and injuring at least 210. Five days later, researchers announced that faulty signalling was to blame. In Beijing this weekend, heavy rainfall overwhelmed the outdated system of water pipes. Poorer districts on the city's periphery are still in dire condition, and many fear the death toll is much higher than the official 37. The Rabble News, an online parody paper, posted this "front page" on Weibo July 23. Two mourning candles huddle together under an umbrella. "Today, I light two candles," reads the headline, "One for today, one for last year." Connecting the two events, especially by lighting commemorative cyber candles, is a provocative move in China's tightly controlled media space. Despite admitting to error and firing Railway Ministry officials, authorities have still barred reporters from visiting the site of the Wenzhou crash, and independent reporting on the anniversary was forbidden. Even journalists working for state-run media were chastised for criticizing the response to the disaster. Citizens are braced for cosmetic responses to the floods. Braced, but not complacent. People may expect lethal mistakes to be swept under the rug, but they are increasingly holding the government accountable. Weibo is the prime site of public anger at dismal infrastructure. People want to know how a city that hosted the world's most extravagant summer Olympics to date could neglect such basic city services, and how the efforts of individual Samaritans, while noble, could have no state parallel. Yao Bo, a well-known commentator, sighed on July 22, "The only thing that functioned properly last night were the people of Beijing." This is the crux of China's dilemma: under Deng Xiaoping, the Party made a pact with its people to provide prosperity and a better quality of life in exchange for perpetuating the authoritarian regime. Now the Party is failing in its end of the bargain. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnam, Philippines Slam Garrison Plans Posted: 24 Jul 2012 10:06 AM PDT Despite the escalating tensions in the region due to the inconclusive ASEAN resolution, Xinhua reports that China has officially established Sansha city in the South China Sea, on an island that is partially claimed by Vietnam:
CDT previously reported on China's plans to establish a military garrison on the disputed island . Vietnam and the Philippines have responded by slamming China's garrison plan. Aside from China's deployment of a military garrison, Navy warships have also been in the region. From AFP:
Amid Hanoi and Manila's protests, another AFP article reports that the International Crisis Group claims that an armed conflict is possible:
As concern grows over China's increasing military presence in the South China Sea, China has showed foreign media its military helicopters in a bid for transparency, according to Reuters:
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| WTO to Probe China’s Rare-Earth Policies Posted: 24 Jul 2012 10:02 AM PDT After the request by the European Union, Japan, and the United States for the World Trade Organization to examine China's rare-earth industry, the WTO will probe into China's rare-earth policies, from AFP:
According to the Wall Street Journal, the WTO's investigation can only have a limited impact on the prices of rare-earth minerals:
While the world is becoming less dependent on the Chinese supply of rare-earth elements, China Daily reports that exports to South Korea surged in June:
Aside from being multilaterally confronted over its rare-earth policies, China is also dealing with the issue of illegal mines, which was covered in the white paper published on rare earths. Bloomberg adds:
Read more about rare-earth elements in China and their environmental cost, via CDT.
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| China Moves Forward on Cybersecurity Policy Posted: 24 Jul 2012 07:45 AM PDT  Last week, the State Council issued a new policy opinion for promoting the development of Chinese information technology and information security. In the State Council's view, "international competition over the acquisition, use, and control of information is increasingly fierce" and China faces urgent challenges. In particular, the policy opinion notes the disparity between China and developed countries in broadband infrastructure; a low degree of information sharing between the government and industry; the control of core technologies by foreigners; inadequate strategic planning for information security and weak basic network defense capabilities; and the rapid growth of mobile Internet and other new technologies. The policy opinion has a slight "ripped from the headlines" feel, reflecting the threats that must be looming large for Chinese policymakers. There is a large section that deals with strengthening industrial control systems for nuclear facilities, aviation, oil and petrochemicals control networks, electrical systems, and transportation systems that immediately brings Stuxnet to mind. Another section focuses on securing government and other confidential information systems that could be the target of espionage exploits like Flame, or Anonymous and other political hacktivists. And the large-scale data breaches that were part of the attacks on Tianya, China Software Developer Network, and 360buy.com are covered in a section on protecting personal information and user data. There is, however, also a great deal of continuity with earlier plans for information security. The 2003 "Document 27: Opinions for Strengthening Information Security Assurance Work," for example, also stressed the protection of critical infrastructure, and both the 2003 and 2012 opinions note the need for dynamic monitoring of the Internet as well as talent development and greater leadership and coordination. By contrast, the United States' ability to move forward with its own cybersecurity policies and plans does not look particularly promising right now. On Thursday, President Obama wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal urging the Senate to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012. A number of Senators opposed an earlier version of the bill that empowered the Department of Homeland Security to define security standards for critical infrastructure and required power grid, gas pipelines, and water supply companies to meet a certain level of security. A new compromise version makes industry participation voluntary; best practices will be created and companies offered incentives to adopt them. Even with the compromise, the bill's future in the Senate and in the House is uncertain (uncertain may be kind—Jessica R. Herrera-Flanigan and Paul Rosenzweig think legislation is basically dead, and Senator McCain said on Monday that the bill "has zero chance of passing in the House or ever being signed into law"). Still it would be premature, if not misguided, to tout the State Council opinion as one more piece of evidence of China's ability to get things done. For one, the opinion is a grab bag of vague policy proposals, spanning tens of different policy arenas. Some will work out, some will be dropped. Moreover, these proposals are not always internally consistent. There is, for example, a strong government hand involved, but the opinion also "advocates for industry self-regulation." And politics are unavoidable in China too. As Jimmy Goodrich notes, after the introduction of the 2003 opinion different parts of the Chinese bureaucracy launched competing policy initiatives and waged fierce battles over their policy turf. The 2012 opinion highlights the leadership of the national leading small group for informationization and national coordinating small group for cyber and information security, but strong leadership is needed at the top and it is a real question if any of China's top leaders are focused on cybersecurity right now given the state of the economy and the fallout from the removal of Bo Xilai. There is no doubt the United States could be doing more at home, and another year passing without any legislation to address what the President calls "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face" does not look good. But developing smart information security policies is hard, even for China.
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| Model Gloria Wong takes off panties to her fan at book fair Posted: 23 Jul 2012 10:54 PM PDT
Recently, Edison Chen's model ex-girlfriend Gloria Wong gave away a pair of panties she wore to one of her die-hard fans as a precious gift at a book fair in Hong Kong where she was selling her autographed sexy photo book. Dressed up in a black one-piece short skirt with deep V-neck temptation, Gloria Wong readily lifted up her short skirt and took off her white undies in front of the male fan. When she handed them over to him, she smilingly added, the undies still had her body heat. The 31-year-old model is one of women involved in the playboy Edison's 2008 sex scandal. In desperation to gain publicity, she has continuously revealed to Hong Kong tabloids that Edison Chen is a pervert and always demanded her to put on sexy lingerie he bought her while they were dating. She also said that after they broke up, Edison still gave her booty calls late at night often, which she has refused though.
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| The Daily Twit – 7/24/12: More Storm Fallout, and China Takes Off to the Great White North Posted: 24 Jul 2012 04:32 AM PDT Two big issues getting a lot of attention today. First, we're still seeing a huge amount of commentary and recriminations over the Beijing flooding. Check out these links, and keep in mind that the weather forecast is for more rain over the next few days: Wall Street Journal: Hong Kong vs. Beijing: A Tale of Two Storms — Hong Kong just experienced a major typhoon, with none of the problems experienced by Beijing. I think that's to be expected, given normal weather patterns, but some folks are not happy at all. Caixin: No Excuse for Response to Beijing Storm — Does Beijing run into this problem on a regular basis? The Useless Tree: The Politics of Rain in Beijing — Government legitimacy and infrastructure. Xinhua: China issues flood emergency response — Flooding is not just a Beijing problem. The second big story, and number one in terms of international coverage, was the blockbuster Nexen-CNOOC oil deal: China Hearsay: Who Lost Canada? America's Neighbors turn to China for Energy Deal — My reaction to the deal and what the U.S. political reaction might be. MarketWatch: Cnooc-Nexen deal faces long approval process — Why this deal should be easier to obtain approval in Canada than the recent BHP rejection. Forbes: Nexen Deal: Why North America Is The New Middle East — China diversifies its global energy assets. Wall Street Journal: Chinese Oil M&A – Who's Next, Where Next? — There are more transactions in the "pipeline." A couple other interesting items: China Daily: Call for changes to inheritance law — Some estates are reverting to the state because the scope of current law is too narrow in terms of family members who may inherit. Bloomberg: China Shadow Bankers Go Online as Peer-to-Peer Sites Boom — Obviously there is a need for credit here, but without rigorous regulation, we're also seeing a lot of scams. Answer: more financial sector reforms! East Asia Forum: Russia: between the US and China — Russia as a key "swing state" between two geopolitical poles. Global Times: Lawyer sues Japan over Diaoyu Bid — If you're looking for a good belly laugh, read this story of a genuine frivolous lawsuit, filed by a lawyer who doesn't deserve a license employed by a firm that I regret working for in the past. {sigh} © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:39 AM PDT In his very checkered career Justin Mitchell has worked at Pulitizer Prize winning US newspapers that no longer exist as well as hopscotching across China, Hong Kong and Thailand to stay employed. His past includes interviewing Yoko Ono, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis and Ray Davies as a music writer, as well as Japanese porn star Suzi Suzuki. He also broke ground-breaking stories for The Weekly World News such as "Mermaid Found in Tuna Can," and "Irish Built the Great Wall of China." "Where are you from?" is a common icebreaker when meeting new foreigners or Chinese colleagues. I'm from Boulder, Colorado, but my answer always varies slightly. If I'm talking to an American or Canadian, I usually simply say, "Boulder." It's an admittedly small conceit, as if it's LA. Or Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary or DC. Or New York, Philly, Chicago or Boston. It's none of those, of course, but it does have a slightly hip cachet and is a combination of a rocking college town, high-tech, environmentally progressive haven nicknamed "The People's Republic of Boulder" for things like being the first city in the US with a smoking ban and strict limits on growth and a small thriving medicinal marijuana market. It sits at the foot of where the Rocky Mountains begin. There are no high rises or sky scrapers in Boulder and it has miles of hiking green belts off limits to developers. Boulder attained one-word status like Berkley during the late '60s and into the '70s as a hippie alternative. Many light years ago, I ran into the late beat poet Allen Ginsberg in line behind me at a Boulder Safeway grocery check out and asked him to autograph my frozen pepperoni pizza box, which he kindly did, as well as giving me friendly advice to go vegetarian. That's the kind of place it was. If the query comes from a Brit, European, Aussie, Kiwi or Chinese person I say "Colorado." Though like my knowledge of Chinese geography and geography in general is hazy, most can't connect it with anything except maybe the old John Denver song, "Rocky Mountain High" or the NBA Denver Nuggets. Or the Grand Canyon, which is in Arizona. I never mention "Columbine" as in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre; though it's also the official state flower and the name of the street on which I grew up. That is until the other day when a Welsh colleague asked me. "Where did you say you from in Colorado?" We had introduced ourselves a day before and I'd confessed the only things I knew about Wales were Dylan Thomas, Cardiff, an incomprehensible native tongue, chronic unemployment, hard drinking and coal mining. "Boulder," I replied, starting to go into my usual Boulder Chamber of Commerce spiel. "Not Aurora?" he interrupted me politely. "No, it's a piece of shit suburb of Denver. Why?" Then he told me about the movie theater massacre. I mentioned Columbine, which he knew about and then I excused myself and began frantically Googling and quickly felt sick and sad. Chinese colleagues and friends began asking and texting me, too. Some even asked if I knew the shooter (WTF?) and, some, more gently asked if my family was okay. I assured them that all was well and I didn't have a clue about the killer. I saw CNN and online photos and footage of the theater, which I recognized as a place I'd driven by perhaps a dozen or so times in the past on my way to other destinations in sprawling, soulless Aurora. "It is like Columbine, maybe?" asked a Chinese coworker who also asked me point out Colorado on a fading world map pinned on the office wall. I showed him. "So it is in the western United States? Why do you have so many guns? Like a cowboy or gangster movie maybe?" I didn't want to go there and the right to bear arms or arm bears, etc, excused myself and went back to editing a glowing piece on the harmonious relations between Han Chinese and ethnic minorities in Tibet. But the next day the same coworker and two others wanted to know more. They were fascinated with the booby-trapped apartment and how one man could walk into a movie theater dressed like some kind of futuristic grim reaper packing three or four guns. "Your country is so violent," one said, stating the obvious and not with malice. Indeed, and Aurora, a mostly downtrodden home for many unemployed which sees about 20 of its 320,000 or so residents murdered annually, is particularly so. But I felt defensive and asked about the recent hostage taker who was shot dead by a police sniper in the No. 10 line Hujialou subway station. Why hadn't that received more press? "But he was a professional man," one coworker said. "A white collar." As if that explained anything. I pressed on about past atrocities – some worse then the Aurora massacre – such as the rash of young school children decapitations, kidnappings and murders in Shenzhen and other cities a few years ago. "What ever happened to the men who did that?" I asked. "And what about the other children who saw their schoolmates hacked to death? How do they handle the memory of seeing their friend's head chopped off with a meat cleaver? In the US or elsewhere these would all be relevant, newsworthy. Here it seems it is quickly mentioned at most and then swept aside in favor of harmonious unilateral relations with Africa or squabbles over tiny islands." China also has its fair share of serial killers, as Robert Foyle Hunwick pointed out in an excellent piece in Danwei,though unlike the US or UK, these crimes are underreported and often virtually ignored due to the low social status – migrant workers, hookers, etc – of the victims. The reverse side of the coin that says a hostage taker in a sport coat who is taken out by a police sniper is not worthy of much press because he's a "professional man" and it might offend others in that class. There are obvious answers to these questions for anyone who has done hack work or "PR for the PRC" as I have since arriving in 2003 and – exceptfor 3 and a half year stint at The Standard in Hong Kong – has otherwise toiled in the belly of the beast at state publications, including China Daily, Global Times and China Radio International. It was at my first Chinese English language paper, a small, friendly and never feisty publication called Shenzhen Daily where I first learned how these things work. A wealthy Hong Kong family connected with Phoenix TV had been murdered and robbed in their Shenzhen luxury home. Juicy stuff. "If it bleeds, it leads," as the journo cliché goes. The suspects were caught shortly thereafter and all I had to do was to clean up the grammar and slap a headline on it. "Phoenix TV murder suspects nabbed" was what I wrote. Simple and to the point. Alas and alack, my chief Chinese overseer came to me shortly thereafter and asked me to tone it down. "It is too harsh," he said. "I don't understand," I replied. "There was also a robbery," he said. "Perhaps you might say, 'Robbery suspects arrested.' Murder is too harsh for a headline." Flash forward. Okay. How about "Colorado 'Dark Knight' premiere interrupted by discord, experts say." | |||||||||||||||
| Eric X. Li vs Minxin Pei on China and Democracy Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:14 AM PDT The Aspen Institute has posted the full video of a debate from its Ideas Festival, which ran from June 27th and July 3rd. The discussion pitched venture capitalist Eric X. Li against professor of government Minxin Pei on the subject of "China and Democracy", moderated by James Fallows. Fallows advised readers of his Atlantic blog to look out for the debate shortly after it took place:
A show of hands suggested that few in the audience had been swayed from their initial positions by the end, but that more had swung towards Li than away from him. Asked by an audience member whether a similar conversation could take place in Beijing, he insisted that it could, though many others could not. But, he said, he wanted to "break the spell of so-called freedom of speech": "speech is act", he said, it "has harmed since time immemorial", and should be managed and regulated accordingly. Pei also said that the conference could take place in Beijing, but that the US government would have to rescue him immediately afterwards. J J Gould summarised the arguments at The Atlantic, and the complete video is embedded below. See also past articles by Minxin Pei and Eric X. Li, via CDT. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| US-China Human Rights Talks Begin in Washington Posted: 24 Jul 2012 01:56 AM PDT The US State Department has promised to raise issues including labour rights, rule of law, freedom of religion and expression and the cases of Chen Guangcheng and Tibet during two-day annual rights talks that began in Washington on Monday. From AFP:
The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that "China is willing to discuss and exchange views on human rights issues with the United States on the basis of equality and mutual respect." Issues it will bring to the table, based on China's 2012 Human Rights Record of the United States, may include US military actions and drone strikes, the shootings of Trayvon Martin and cinema-goers in Aurora, and persistently high unemployment. Human rights organisations expressed scepticism at the value of the talks, arguing that they simply provide a fig leaf for continued abuses and stalled reforms in China. From Human Rights Watch, for example:
Similarly, from Chinese Human Rights Defenders:
In a Global Times interview on Sino-Australian rights talks held earlier this month, Shanghai Institute for International Studies research fellow Xue Lei argued that dialogue could indeed be considered an end in itself, and cited Beijing's recent National Human Rights Action Plan as a more tangible result of rights dialogue.
Human Rights Watch's Phelim Kine, however, argued that the new action plan actually marks "a step backward for universal rights protection" and, like the rights international dialogues, lacks real substance.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:32 PM PDT
Xinhua reported on Monday morning that the death toll after torrential rains pounded Beijing on Saturday had climbed to 37. The report said that "Among the victims, 25 were drowned, six were killed in house collapses, one by lightening strike and five were electrocuted." Xinhua said that storm was the "the heaviest rain in six decades… with the average precipitation reaching 170 mm while a township in the suburban district of Fangshan recording 460 mm of rain". There has been a lot of questioning of the death toll on the Chinese Internet. How could a storm kill so many people in China's capital? Are officials spending money on prestige projects while neglecting unglamorous infrastructure like sewers and rainwater drainage systems? The image at left is from Han Dongji's Weibo. The caption says "Remember to be moved! Even more importantly, make some movement on fixing the drainage pipes!" The image is accompanied by the following text: Floods in Beijing, 37 people died. This matter must be reflected on: Even the editor of the pro-government Global Times Hu Xijin, who is usually quick to attribute problems in China to the complications of a developing country, was hard-pressed to find anything positive to say on his Weibo: The death of 37 people after Beijing's big storm is shocking and tragic. Firstly, this is undoubtedly a natural disaster but at the same time the fact that 37 lives were lost in the capital, where disaster relief capacity is strongest, makes it even more shocking, and I hope it will really move China. This is certainly a blemish on modernizing China. I only hope that it will become the starting point for real reflection and real change. On the other hand, The Beijing Daily, a conservative newspaper controlled by the Beijing Communist Party, was much more focused on building team spirit with the top headline 'Make the disaster relief, cleaning up the aftermath and stability maintenance the work priority'. Other front page stories include photos at the top right of the page of three of "Beijing's most beautiful people" who lost their lives trying to help others in the floods, and a teaser for a flood related story titled "Don't let even one villager remain in danger", illustrated with a photo of a flooded village in Fangshan.
The front page also features an obituary for former China propaganda chief Ding Guanggen, who would probably approve of everything else on the page. Other newspapers took a different tack. There seems to be a little bit of schadenfruede from the provincial newspaper Guizhou Business Post which featured photos of flooded Beijing street scenes with the headline partly in English "One night in 北京 (Beijing)", a reference to a popular song of that title.
Source：Dan Wei
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| Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT Interesting perspective from American University Professor Emilio Viano on CCTV America, explaining Colorado shooting violence has something to do with America being an aggressive culture. Tough call in my personal opinion in linkage to the Colorado shooting, but I do agree with Dr. Viano's observation that America has a propensity to use violence in tackling problems. When such behavior is sustained for a long period of time, then by definition, it becomes culture. | |||||||||||||||
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