Links » Crème » Top-of-the-Week Links: China spends $110 billion annually to keep people under surveillance, but it still has the face to publish snarky US human rights report
Links » Crème » Top-of-the-Week Links: China spends $110 billion annually to keep people under surveillance, but it still has the face to publish snarky US human rights report |
- Top-of-the-Week Links: China spends $110 billion annually to keep people under surveillance, but it still has the face to publish snarky US human rights report
- Top 10 Search List (May 28)
- Today’s China Readings May 28, 2012
| Posted: 28 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT
Happy Memorial Day for those in the US. We'll have a relevant post about that soon, after links. A trend that is unlikely to reverse. "The phrase 'naked official,' or luo guan, was coined in 2008 by a bureaucrat and blogger in Anhui province, Zhou Peng'an, to describe officials who have moved their family abroad, often taking assets with them. Once there, they are beyond the clutches of the Communist Party in case anything, such as a corruption investigation, should befall the official, who is left back at home alone (hence 'naked')… // Officials who can afford to send their families abroad are usually the most powerful, and the most aware of China's problems. Says Mr Li of Peking University, 'They know better than anyone that the China model is not sustainable and that it's a risk to everybody.'" [Economist] If you're not already too angry at officials, here's another. "As the lure of the market grows ever greater, and the Communist Party refuses to fetter its enormous administrative powers or subject itself to any laws, ambitious officials and entrepreneurs have found it difficult to accumulate wealth and impossible to defend it without currying the favour of princelings or others welded to the party-state." [Sydney Morning Herald] Ex-Communist Party official finally arrested, accused of raping at least 10 underage girls. "On the same site, Yawen posted: 'An official again!'" [AFP] On Sina Weibo and censorship. "I visited Sina Weibo in Beijing last week, on a trip sponsored by the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation, a Hong Kong-based nonprofit that encourages positive relations between the two countries. Almost alone among the people we met with during our visit, officials at the company weren't prepared to answer basic inquiries about their policies. They did, however, respond with alacrity to a question about whether their censorship efforts can keep pace with the rising volume of posts, emphatically insisting that they can. As a parting souvenir, they gave the members of my group what must be the perfect symbol of contemporary China: a doll version of their bleary Cyclops mascot, dressed in a People's Liberation Army uniform." [Jacob Weisberg, Slate] A reminder that we should pay attention to the whereabouts of Chen Guangfu: "Chen Guangcheng enlisted all the help he could get. Chen Guangfu, his older brother, was his closest associate. 'I really admire the brother,' says professor Jerome Cohen, a veteran Chinese law expert at New York University and long-time friend of Chen's. 'He would read law texts to Guangcheng, and sometimes appear in court [in his place].'" [Financial Times] This is nice. "I want to briefly share several personal experiences. My point is simple. These experiences would be difficult to reconcile with a belief that all (or many) Chinese have strong negative feelings toward foreigners." [Isidor's Fugue] Incredible. "'They are singled out for overwhelming surveillance and by one rights group's count amount to an estimated one in every 1,000 Chinese – or well over a million. // …Budgeted spending for police, courts, prosecutors and other law enforcement has soared for much of the past decade, surpassing official outlays for the military for the second year in a row this year, to nearly 702 billion yuan, or $110 billion. // Allocated by Beijing to the provinces and on down, the money sometimes is called 'stability preservation funds' for the overriding priority the government now puts on control." [Huffington Post] "Suspect 1.7." "Mr. Ai's ordeal began the morning that police officers drove him from the airport into the countryside. He was marched into a building and pushed into a chair." [NY Times] I've read one of these reports before. It featured a startling emphasis on gun violence. "In response to the United States' biased annual country reports on human rights practices released on Thursday, the Information Office of the State Council issued its own report on Friday revealing the true human rights situation in the US. // The report, titled the "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011″, provides a timely and useful lens for the rest of the world to see the double standards the US uses, and draws attention to the human rights problems in the superpower's own backyard." [Xinhua] Men using vegetables as musical instrument interlude: Finally… Florida State student dies in Tianjin, circumstances under investigation. [CNN] One more Yang Rui story; probably last. [Rectified.name] Beijing Playhouse's biggest production, Oklahoma!, delayed eight days thanks to authorities. [WSJ] A story of a lost — and returned — wallet. [Tea Leaf Nation] This story about sex addition in China begins: "Fifteen days without sex or masturbation does not seem that hard. For Lin Feng (pseudonym), 25, it is the longest time he has gone without sexual contact." [Global Times] |
| Posted: 27 May 2012 11:13 PM PDT
2. 河南 官员 强奸 Hénán guānyuán qiángjiān – A recent public government posting announcing the arrest of the deputy head of Henan Yongan Municipal Party Committee for sexually assaulting multiple minors appears to be too downplayed and wishy-washy for online users. Many are complaining via microblogs calling for more details on the perpetrators' sexual misconduct, including the exact number of young girls raped by the monstrous man. Here's the story in Chinese. 3. 李宇春事业线 Lǐ yǔchūn shìyèxiàn – Popular singer Chris Lee has always been best known for her signature tom-boy image. Though that might begin to change, given that her cleavage made a rare appearance during her guest performance on-stage last Saturday for the show "Ice Dance Shanghai." Here's the story in Chinese. 4. 卖肾车间 mài shèn chējiān – An online user uncovered the existence of an illegal "kidney plant" in Hangzhou via microblog, exposing details such as the underground market price of a healthy man's kidney, and the types of young men who are living in the "kidney plant" desperately hoping to sell their organs for 35,000 yuan. Here's the story in Chinese. 5. 巴基斯坦外长 bā jī sī tǎn wài zhǎng – Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who happens to be known for her good looks, visited Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba in Tokyo late last week to discuss plans for providing aid to Afghanistan. Chinese reports on this diplomatic visit mostly focused on Gemba's nervousness in face of Khar's beauty rather than the real issues discussed. Here's the story in Chinese. 6. 教师学生私奔 jiàoshī xuéshēng sībēn – According to an online forum post, a high school teacher in Jiangsu attempted to abandon his pregnant wife and elope with one of his students on May 13th. Some online users claiming to be from the same school as the teacher have different views on this school scandal, believing that the teacher never eloped with the student as he was seen on school grounds the following day. While some netizens root for the wife and parents of the student, others think both parties were probably overreacting towards the situation. The school has announced the dismissal of the male teacher in question to control damage on its own reputation. Here's the story in Chinese. 7. 嫖宿女学生 piáosù nǚxuésheng - Online articles have exposed a case of large-scale sex trade in Zhejiang province involving young college girls, executives of large companies and members of the National People's Congress. According to online reports, this case of organized sex trade between the three parties has become public knowledge locally, and yet the government has yet to answer to the local residents' scrutiny. Here's the story in Chinese. 8. 泸溪沉船 lúxī chénchuán – A passenger boat in Hunan sank yesterday. One passenger is pronounced dead, while 10 others are still missing. Here's the story in Chinese. 9. 三浦知良 Sānpǔ Zhīliáng – Online articles are praising the amazing performance of 45 year-old soccer player Kozuyoshi Miura at the J-League playoff yesterday. Here's the story in Chinese. 10. 王老吉红罐换装加多宝 Wánglǎojí hóng guàn huànzhuāng Jiāduōbǎo – Chinese herbal tea maker JDB Group is changing its popular herbal tea canned drink name from the Wanglaoji to Duojiabao, causing quite a bit of public confusion. Here's the story in Chinese.        |
| Today’s China Readings May 28, 2012 Posted: 27 May 2012 05:49 PM PDT On Sunday evening Guo Songmin, director of research at "国企杂志 (State-owned Enterprise Magazine)" posted to his weibo that big news may be coming Monday and suggested people reach out to their "friends inside the system" to learn what it is ""明天，可能会有重大消息传达，大家多向体制内的朋友打听". We first got wind of Bo Xilai's removal in a similar post on Weibo (not by Guo) and the Party does deliver big news to insiders first. Given the crackdown on online rumors Guo would be an idiot to make this up, though of course there are a lot of idiots out there. Assuming Guo's information is good, my guess is that the news is likely about a decision on the Wang Lijun case. It seems a bit early for the Bo Xilai case… Economic Observer is one of my favorite Chinese publications. Over the weekend the newspaper provided details of the planned economic stimulus in 拯救GDP (Saving GDP) and late last week it published an English translation of the fascinating Getting onto the Party Congress about "one entrepreneur's quest to become a delegate to the Communist Party's National Congress and how it was more difficult than steering his company's IPO." The Financial Times' Kathrin Hille and Jamil Anderlini have written the excellent Chen Guangcheng: journey to freedom. This article is more comprehensive than the previous New York Times and Washington Post tick-tocks, though it too is missing the Chinese government's side of things. Perhaps some day we will learn the details of how Beijing managed the Chen case and who was the ultimate decision-maker. As he did in his May 13 article about Zhou Yongkang, Jamil Anderlini ends this story with a comment about reformers, writing that "some observers suggest that reformers in the Chinese leadership could seize on Chen's escape to blame the powerful security apparatus and deal a blow to other conservatives within the Communist party." Anderlini's earlier article about Zhou concluded that "some officials within the party, including premier Wen Jiabao, are trying to push through political reforms that would move China towards western-style democracy while hardliners, including Mr Zhou, are opposed to such a move." There is no question there are differences at the top, but I wish someone would produce evidence that the differences are ideological ones as opposed to battles over personal interests and political advantages. Speeches about reform are not evidence someone is a reformer. In the absence of real proof all this talk of reformer vs conservative or hardliner vs. softliner may be misguided, a Chinese version of "Where's Waldo?" (See my post from April 2010 on this topic–Views On Political Reform And Leadership Splits In China.) Call me cynical, or clueless, but these days "following the money" may be more important for understanding elite Chinese politics than reading tea leaves, parsing speeches or interpreting whispers from interested parties… We may see debates and eventually reforms around intra-Party democracy, but the idea that anyone at the top is seriously pushing for western-style political reforms seems rooted more in hope, manipulation and confusion than any evidence-based reality. The Confucius Institute visa controversy is resolved and Beijing is considering allowing tourists to visit for 72 hours visa free. Perhaps we will see a cooling off of the anti-foreigner sentiment? Meanwhile, expect lots more Chinese vistors to the US as the State Department is adding 100 or so consular employees across China to handle the expected increase in volume now that visa rules have loosened. Beijing says it wants to encourage private investment in SOEs and 6 Ministries have issued documents about opening up their areas of control to private investment–六部委密集出台文件向民间资本敞开大门. The South China Morning Post's Wang Xiangwei is not too optimistic, writing in today's "Wen's parting shot for private sector" that "investors, however, remain sceptical that genuine change is in the air following so many false starts." Perhaps I am feeling extra cynical today but I wonder if the moves to allow private investment in SOEs won't lead to a very profitable wave of asset stripping? Is Warren Buffett, through his investment in BYD, a part-owner of the manufacturer of the electric car version of the Pinto? A BYD E6 electric taxi exploded Saturday in Shenzhen after being rear-ended at high-speed, killing three and "raising concerns about a possible fatal design flaw in green vehicles". Thanks for reading, and remember the best way to see this daily post is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still blocked here. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Feel free to recommend to friends or donate.
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