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- Stranger danger
- New Chongqing party chief slams Bo Xilai in speech
- Lessons Learned, Chongqing Looks Ahead
- Spiderman’s Chinese Half-Brother Gets Starring Role
- (Most) Foreigners Can Travel to Tibet
- Witnessing the Birth of a Superpower
- Photo: Noodle Alley, by Mark Hobbs
- Sidney Rittenberg: An American in Mao’s China
- Rethinking Journalism From the Ground Up
- Sensitive Words: Rockets, Poison and More
- Conspiracy Theories — Did China’s Great Firewall Just Take Down Japan?
- Dalai-Led Uyghur Separatists Not Welcome
- U.S. and China in Cyberspace: Uneasy Next Steps
- The Greater Significance of the Forced Abortion Photo
- The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/18/12
- Party congress discusses future of Chongqing after Bo’s removal
- 神舟九号发射圆满成功全程
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:38 PM PDT In a Beijing suburb, former commandos are preparing for the cities and jungles of Africa. The Alfa-Angel (Beijing) Co., a security consultancy, is training 130 security officers, mostly retired soldiers, to prepare to work overseas. As China's enterprises try to grasp new markets overseas, Chinese workers have become increasingly tempting targets for rebel forces, terrorists and local militias. For new international firms, protecting both their workers and their business interests has suddenly become an urgent necessity. According to Alfa-Angel's website, it is the first such firm in China to cooperate with security experts from Israel, among the world's finest. Adi Talmor, a former paratrooper with the Israeli Defense Forces, is one of them. Adi told his trainees that many hold that it is enough to dispatch bodyguards in black and wearing sunglasses for overseas security, but sunglasses don't frighten terrorists and the guards need all-round knowledge, according to a report in Phoenix Weekly. The candidates are former members of China's Marine Corps, the Snow Leopard Commando Unit, an elite anti-terrorist force, and the Special Forces of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. According to the report, they all went through rigid selection before beginning training last October. They will be the first batch of overseas security officials to receive professional training, and will provide security for the overseas branches of Chinese enterprises. China's security enterprises are trying to get a share in the international market, but have had little luck of yet. Shandong Huawei Security Group established its "overseas service center" in Beijing in October 2010, and they cautiously explained to Phoenix Weekly that the program is still under preparation. One source with Alfa-Angel, unwilling to give his name, told the Global Times that they have to keep low-profile partly because of political reasons, and partly because they are still hesitating whether to brand the trainees as security officers or security consultants. "Security consultants are the ideal we want and are needed in the market thanks to the demand for security services, but not every retired soldier can make it as a consultant, and it takes time, usually more than two years, to train them," he said. But he admitted that this wasn't cutting into the firm's profits, thanks to the huge market demand. Urgent risk Twenty-five Chinese workers were trapped in Egypt in late January, after being kidnapped on their way back to a construction site for a cement park sponsored by the China National Materials Group Corporation Ltd. (SINOMA), reported the Beijing News. The kidnapping was conducted on the Sinai Peninsula by Bedouin tribesmen, who used Chinese workers as hostages to demand the Egyptian government release prisoners from the tribe, according to the report. Fortunately, all the workers were freed 16 hours after the abduction, reported the Xinhua News Agency in early February. But back in October 2008, Chinese workers in Sudan were not that fortunate, after nine were kidnapped by a local rebel group. Only four of the kidnapped workers were rescued, while the rest five were shot dead after negotiations between the local government and the kidnappers failed. The nine workers all work for the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Since then, CNPC has strengthened its anti-terrorist training for overseas workers.
During the past five years, over 100 Chinese have been attacked or kidnapped in more than 10 countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria and Columbia. Chinese entrepreneurs are doing business in about 180 countries and regions, and over 800,000 workers are working abroad at present. However, Chinese enterprises are moving into troubled areas because comparatively safer places have been "occupied" by Western enterprises, according to Stolte Gordon, a scholar on global security issues with the Royal Institute of International Relations in London. He said that during the past 10 years, Western enterprises have gradually exited countries where civil wars can possibly break out or political situation is not stable. The origin of the workers doesn't particularly matter. Instead enterprises that the local government cares about usually become easy targets, according to Gordon. Gordon's opinion is shared by He Wenping, an expert on African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who told the Global Times that firms have to face up to reality. She said there are no absolutely safe or dangerous places, and the speed of Chinese enterprises going global won't slow down, anyway. "Policies should be improved, enterprises need to invest more in security, and individuals should have safety awareness," said He. Overseas security risks have been an obstacle for Chinese enterprises going global, including casualties caused by terrorist attacks and social unrest, accidents, natural disasters, serious infectious diseases and emergencies caused due to the enterprises' negligence of security factors, according to the International Contractors Association. Not easy job Currently, some retired local special force soldiers are hired and are expected to replace Western security soldiers, but they lack the needed skills at present, said the Alfa-Angel source. "Energy industry is not just business, but part of politics in any country, thus a security officer needs to know about various political powers in the country and to be able to predict what is going to happen there," said the man. In Nigeria, he said, some Chinese companies contracted projects at lower pay than Indian or Brazilian companies charged because they didn't understand the local situation well and underestimated the necessary security costs. Finally, they found they were spending too much on security to make a profit. Guns are sometimes necessary for security guards in countries like Afghanistan, but untrained security workers couldn't be trusted with guns. "They cannot tell the difference between Afghan citizens and al-Qaeda terrorists," said the source. His concern is echoed by Xu Peitao, general manager of SINOMA Tianjin, which the 25 workers kidnapped in Egypt worked for. "When Chinese guards are abroad, how can you equip them with guns?" questioned Xu, adding that he doesn't think it feasible in most countries. "Most times we hire local security guards, especially in unsafe places, and I don't think local guards cost more than Chinese security guards," said Xu, adding that they only hire a few Chinese guards at their construction sites. Guards not enough How many Chinese workers are sent abroad depends on what kind of projects they are working on, said Xu. At present SINOMA has more than 20 projects in 20 countries and regions, and they are hiring 500 Chinese workers because they need to urgently finish some projects, according to Xu. They hired about 5,000 Chinese workers to work abroad from 2008 to 2009, their largest number yet. Xu said his company has begun to hire as many local people as possible since 2009. As in Egypt, they once hired 1,600 workers for a project, almost all of them Egyptians. Experts have agreed that localization is the way forward for Chinese firms. "We not only hire local workers, but also join in local celebrations, and we also funded the building of primary school," said Xu, adding that during festivals they give cattle and sheep as presents, following the local customs. He Wenping said budgets should include security factors and employees should receive security training before working abroad. "The workers should learn some of the local language. In case they are kidnapped, they can communicate with the locals," she said. She proposed every party should take their responsibilities of guaranteeing the safety of enterprises' assets and workers. Source: Global Times | |||||||||||||||
| New Chongqing party chief slams Bo Xilai in speech Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:46 PM PDT
"(The Party) insists everyone is equal before the law, and not a single person or organization is allowed above the law," Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang, who also replaced Bo as the Party chief of Chongqing in March, said in a report to the municipal Party congress on Monday. In April, the Communist Party of China Central Committee decided to suspend Bo from his posts at the committee and its Political Bureau because "Bo is suspected of being involved in serious violations of discipline". Bo's wife, Bogu Kailai, is suspected of involvement in the death of British citizen Neil Heywood. Zhang said in his report that the rule of law must be respected and local courts and procuratorates must work independently under the law. "Party leaders should set an example in observing the law and we should strictly prevent officials from using power to intervene in judicial processes," he said. In his report, Zhang reviewed the success of the municipality since it was established in 1997 and insisted that the success is due to the persistent efforts of three terms of leadership. However, he acknowledged that there are still deficiencies in the work of the municipality's Party committee. "The Wang Lijun incident, the death of British citizen Neil Heywood and the serious discipline violation case of Bo Xilai, have caused severe damage to the country and the Party's image and to the reform and development of Chongqing," Zhang said. Wang Lijun, the former Chongqing police chief, entered the US consulate in Chengdu without authorization on Feb 6, and left there after staying for one day. Zhang said the achievements in Chongqing and efforts made by the majority of people and officials must be clearly separated from the three incidents. Bo assumed the post of Party chief of Chongqing in 2007 and was replaced by Zhang on March 15. Monday also marked the 15th anniversary of the Chongqing municipality and Zhang said the decision by the central government to name Chongqing as the fourth municipality, after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjian, was the right choice. "In 2001, there was only one bus stop near my home and now there are four of them." said Peng Yan, 24, who lives in the municipality's Yubei district. As a new lineup of Party officials is set to be revealed after the Party congress, Peng believes the new leadership should be more focused on improving the livelihoods of low-income groups. Gou Shixiang, a professor of literature and culture studies at Chongqing University, said the new leadership should be more focused on developing the vast rural areas of the municipality to narrow the gap between rural and urban areas. "Also, the government needs to further promote the local culture," he said. In his report, Zhang also stressed that Chongqing will continue leading China's western areas in terms of opening-up and is stepping up measures to encourage the development of private businesses. The report said the municipality will take the lead in the country's western regions to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2017. The Party congress will review Zhang's work report and elect the fourth Party committee of Chongqing municipality and the municipality's delegates to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China before it closes on Friday. Source: ChinaDaily
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| Lessons Learned, Chongqing Looks Ahead Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:27 PM PDT Three months after replacing Bo Xilai as Chongqing party chief following his dismissal over allegations of corruption and a cover-up of his wife's role in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood, Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang singled out Bo in his report to Chongqing's municipal party congress on Monday. Marking Chongqing's 15th anniversary as a municipality, Zhang attempted to distance its past and future from the damage caused by the Bo scandal. From Xinhua News:
Zhang's remarks come as the CCP's central leadership determines how to finish off Chongqing's disgraced former leader, who is believed to be under house arrest in Beijing, but The Associated Press notes that he gave no update on the investigation. The Telegraph's Malcolm Moore reports that while an investigation may be concluded, senior CCP officials may still be at odds over how to rule on the cases of Bo and his wife:
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Spiderman’s Chinese Half-Brother Gets Starring Role Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:17 PM PDT At The Los Angeles Times, Jonathan Landreth reports the awakening of National Film Capital, a Chinese state-run company that has lain dormant since its inception in 2008. Heading its bill of forthcoming releases is The Annihilator, based on a Chinese superhero created by Stan Lee, the father of Spiderman, Iron Man, the Hulk, X-Men and others.
Shanghai Daily quoted still more effusive comments from Lee: "I love China and Chinese culture. I have been looking for the chance to cooperate with Chinese movie makers and bring forward Chinese culture to the world. I believe the Chinese superhero will be the best and the most popular superhero loved by people all over the world." Given the joint production and Hollywood's growing eagerness to avoid hurting the feelings of the Chinese people, The Annihilator will likely bear little resemblance to Mandarin, a supervillainous Iron Man adversary whom Lee created with artist Don Heck in 1964. Taking the character's reins in 2010, writer Matt Fraction commented that "historically, he was the Red Menace/Yellow Peril Antithesis to Tony [(Iron Man) Stark]'s All-American Science Hero …. Now, as time has moved on we've sloughed the more jingoistic, racist, and crude details off the guy …." Responding to rumours last year that Mandarin would be the villain of the film Iron Man 3, director Shane Black dismissed him as "a racist caricature", though this may have been misdirection: according to persistent speculation, Ben Kingsley has now been cast in the role. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| (Most) Foreigners Can Travel to Tibet Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:55 PM PDT Earlier this month, travel agents told the media of a state ban on foreign travel to Tibet. It seems foreigners are once again allowed entrance, albeit under some curious stipulations. Columbia University Tibetan Studies professor Robert Barnett tweeted a link to an update on the Land of Snows travel blog earlier today:
Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor, and other online travel guides and blogs have been abuzz with the news, and it looks like as of today Tibet travel permits will be available to foreigners outside of those countries still on the blacklist. Dr. Barnett also posted a follow-up tweet explaining why certain nationals may still be banned:
See prior CDT coverage of some of the moves that may have irritated China enough to bar citizens from grouping in 5s and spending their summer vacations on the roof of the world: Norway's Nobel Committee awarding Liu Xiabo the 2010 Peace Prize and British Prime Minister David Cameron's meeting with the Dalai Lama. Also see "Dalai-Led Uyghur Separatists Not Welcome," via CDT. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Witnessing the Birth of a Superpower Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:31 PM PDT The Guardian's outgoing Asia environment correspondent Jonathan Watts reviews his nine years of reporting from China before taking up a new role as the newspaper's Latin America correspondent next month.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Photo: Noodle Alley, by Mark Hobbs Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:07 PM PDT  Noodle Alley © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Sidney Rittenberg: An American in Mao’s China Posted: 18 Jun 2012 03:48 PM PDT 90-year-old Sidney Rittenberg's life story is one beyond compare. Not only did the South Carolina native witness first-hand the totality of Mao's career as China's supreme ruler, but he also played an active role in the oscillating political environment of revolutionary China. In 1942, The young labor organizer left the US Communist Party to become a soldier in World War II, and was stationed in China in 1944. After the war, he decided to stay in China to work for a UN famine relief program. He came into contact with CCP leaders in Yan'an, and joined the Party. While there was no abundance of foreigners in China during Mao's Cultural Revolution, foreign members of the CCP were even less common. Soon after publishing a 1967 editorial in the People's Daily ("中国文化大革命打开了通向共产主义的航道" [China's Great Cultural Revolution Opens the Path to Communism]) lauding the ideological foundations of the Cultural Revolution, Rittenberg was imprisoned for the remainder of the movement (his second lengthy stint in Chinese prison), and was finally released in 1977. In 1980 he moved back to the US, and has since counseled American companies on how to do business in China, taught Chinese studies at Pacific Lutheran University, and written an autobiography. The Revolutionary, a film documenting this unique story, recently premiered at Seattle's International Film Festival. The film's official trailer provides a few excerpts of Rittenberg speaking about Mao, the Cultural Revolution, and his time in prison: Click here to view the embedded video. A review from People's World describes the film and tells more of Rittenberg's story:
The film's website is compiling a list of reviews from the media and from China experts. Visit KUOW Seattle's website to hear a recent interview with Rittenberg discussing his long relationship with China and his political views (he is asked what the young, leftist Rittenberg would think about Rittenberg the business consultant). Also, see prior CDT coverage of Rittenberg on China's changes. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Rethinking Journalism From the Ground Up Posted: 18 Jun 2012 02:42 PM PDT "If we were to start CNN today, it might look more like one of the networks featured in this panel. We take a whirlwind tour of new news networks and new models for reporting and sharing information in our connected age."  MIT Media Lab. Author: Meutia Chaerani Aw, we're blushing! On Tuesday at 9.00 a.m. Eastern U.S. time (or 9.00 p.m. China time), Tea Leaf Nation editor David Wertime will join speakers from Global Voices, GlobalPost and Upworthy to discuss the future of journalism. It's all part of the 2012 MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference, and you can watch the live stream of this discussion here. We hope you can take an office break to join us, and follow the other fascinating discussions sure to follow throughout the day. But we still have CNN, you cry! Absolutely. But journalism is changing to become more data-driven–and with all of the information, stories, and tweets out there, it has to. As the conference materials say, "Data alone isn't always enough to make complex issues understandable." How does one navigate this seeming storm? It's an issue dear to China-watchers' hearts. How can we better turn the mass of Weibo tweets into something concrete? How can we then use this concrete information without obscuring the humor, tragedy and humanity visible on Chinese social media every day? We won't find all the answers during our short panel, but there's no doubt these are some of the right questions.         | |||||||||||||||
| Sensitive Words: Rockets, Poison and More Posted: 18 Jun 2012 01:43 PM PDT As of June 18, the following search terms are blocked on Weibo (not including the "search for user" function):  The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
含笑酒泉 hánxiào Jiǔquán sounds the same as 含笑九泉 "to die happy"
Mercury in Yili Brand Milk Powder (see also June 13 sensitive words and latest directives from the Ministry of Truth):
Alternate Spellings for Li Wangyang:
Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results. CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese's latest sensitive words post. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| Conspiracy Theories — Did China’s Great Firewall Just Take Down Japan? Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:24 PM PDT  Sorry kids, no Pokemon fan site today If it's true, it may be the greatest case of blanket censorship in history. Netizens in China reported yesterday that most Japanese domains had been blocked outright. One netizen tweeted on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter: "Craziness. China has now blocked most domain names in Japan, with the key blocked term being '.co.jp.' This is the first time in the world that an entire country has been blocked on the Internet." [1] This comment drew over 10,000 responses and retweets, as netizens responded with a mix of shock at the scale of the blockage, skepticism about the accuracy of the reports–it appears the blockage was not China-wide–and indifference or even hostility mixed with anti-Japanese sentiment. @肉食系小猴子 used the opportunity to call for a boycott of Japanese websites: "All Chinese: Don't visit Japanese sites for a year! 1,000 Japanese sites will shut down! Boycott Japanese websites!" [2] @契丹人归来 reacted with skepticism, in part because he did not discern a plausible motive for the block: "Don't readily believe rumors. This is just a technical error. Although the government can come up with anything, there's just no reason for doing something like blocking all of .co.jp." [3] @陈承测试版, however, wrote that the blockage was indeed happening, and advanced an interesting theory about the possible cause: "It's true. It wouldn't be surprising if you couldn't open google.co.jp, but now you can't even visit the official websites of the major Japanese newspapers. Did Headmaster Fang wall off all co.jp [sites] in anger at the Yomiuri Shimbun's report about him?" [4] The hidden might of Headmaster Fang Who is Headmaster Fang, you ask? None other than Fang Binxing (@方滨兴), the man who has been called the father of China's so-called Great Fire Wall, the system that "protects" Chinese netizens from naughty websites (some being in fact naughty, others merely disfavored by Chinese authorities). And Fang really is a headmaster, of no less than the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT).  Did this man single-handedly disappear Japan from China's Internet? As a bete noir among web-savvy types, Fang has faced controversy before. In May 2011 at Wuhan University, after netizens tracked his whereabouts via Twitter, unknown assailants launched eggs and shoes in his direction, one of which found its mark (Chinese). (Apparently the headmaster's not as quick on his feet as one former U.S. President.) Later that year, websites belonging to BUPT were hacked to display a modified "Angry Birds" game with the birds replaced by shoes and the pigs by….well, need we say more? So what's the headmaster's involvement, if any, with the latest blockage? As with many things in China these days, we need look no further than the disgraced Red Prince himself, fallen former official Bo Xilai. The Bo Xilai Connection The headmaster may have a connection with former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun's well-documented flight to the American consulate in Chengdu, as well as reports of Bo Xilai eavesdropping on the communications of high-level Communist officials. Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported in April of this year that Wang had bribed the headmaster to provide him with the technology Wang later used to listen in on other officials, leading to the headmaster's arrest by authorities. But reports of the headmaster's downfall were exaggerated. The headmaster expressed his outrage on Weibo, demanding a police investigation into the false rumours. As iPad magazine iSunAffairs reports, tech guru Kai-fu Lee (@李开复) tweeted in response: "It's difficult to get [Yomiuri] to take responsibility, just wall them off!" [5] While the outage was short-lived–netizen reported the block lifted later in the same day–iSunAffairs and a number of netizens are betting that this was no random accident. Of course, it's hard to believe that the headmaster himself could have pulled this off, and even harder to imagine this blockage receiving the central government's blessing. If Fang or his subordinates instead "went rogue," it is a chilling illustration of the power of China's censors and their willingness to wield that power to defend one of their own. On the other hand, if it's just a rumour–or a glitch followed by a rumour–Fang might be tickled to see just how conscious netizens remain of his power. Footnotes (? returns to text)     | |||||||||||||||
| Dalai-Led Uyghur Separatists Not Welcome Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:03 AM PDT A strange keep-out sign has been circulating online:
The bar's sign reads like a mash-up of Chinese propaganda and nationalism's greatest hits. "Japanese militarists" harken back to Japan's colonial era, from the late 1880s to the end of WWII. The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo is dedicated to all those who have given their lives to the Emperor, including WWII dead. Because of the brutality of colonial Japan and the lack of a satisfactory apology, annual visits to the shrine by Japanese heads of state send China and other East and Southeast Asian countries into a fury.  Rebiya and Kadeer and the Dalai Lama. Chen Shui-bian, the first non-KMT president of Taiwan, is one of the founders of Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. He's less involved these days, as he is serving a 19-year prison sentence for graft, money laundering and forgery. The curious group of unwelcomes at the end of the list is a conflation of the Tibetan and Uighur human rights movements. "East Turkestan" refers to the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, site of protests in 2009. Rebiya Kadeer, exiled president of the World Uyghur Congress, has been labelled the "Uyghur Dalai Lama" and blamed for the 2009 violence in the Chinese press. Neither the Dalai Lama nor Rebiya Kadeer publicly advocate secession from China. The bar sign excited some Tencent Weibo users:
Read more about Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang from CDT. Sign translated by Josh Rudolph. © Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us  | |||||||||||||||
| U.S. and China in Cyberspace: Uneasy Next Steps Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:57 AM PDT  I was in China last week for a cyber dialogue sponsored by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The good news is the two sides are continuing to talk. The not so good news is mistrust is high and the next steps will not be easy or quick. In diplomatic speak, the talks were candid and constructive. Both sides acknowledged the mistrust that characterizes the relationship. The Chinese felt their contributions to global cybersecurity, especially by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT), were not adequately acknowledged. Both sides believe their respective governments have a strong desire for cooperation. But there was little clarity on what concretely the two sides could actually do to build trust (except for the obvious but seemingly unattainable: for the United States, China should stop stealing so much intellectual property; and for China, the U.S. should stop trying to maintain its hegemony in cyberspace, contain Beijing, and militarize cyberspace). Calls for greater transparency were met from the Chinese with the habitual protest that this was difficult for the weaker side. When pressed for areas where China and the United States might cooperate, Chinese analysts pointed to protecting critical infrastructure and fighting crime, but also noted that cyber cooperation was a work in progress and the conditions might not be right for moving forward. To be sure, I'm not privy to what happens behind closed-door meetings, but the Chinese response to the New York Times' reporting about Stuxnet was more indirect than I expected. The Chinese seemed more direct and aggrieved in their critique of what they saw as the U.S. refusal to engage the International Code of Conduct for Information Security, the norms of behavior in cyberspace that China—along with Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—has circulated at the United Nations. Their basic line? "In your International Strategy for Cyberspace you said the United States would work collaboratively to develop norms. We suggested some, not insisting that they were for everyone, and since then silence. Isn't there anything in the International Code that you like?" The mistrust has been worsened by both sides inability to signal intentions. This is of course difficult in cyberspace; governments can say that they have nothing to do with attacks but the attribution problem makes it difficult to verify those statements. Moreover, the United States has repeatedly stated that the primary mission of Cyber Command is the defense of U.S. networks, not offensive operations. Not surprisingly, the Chinese are weighing capabilities as much as, if not more than, expressed intent. The signaling problem has been exacerbated by what one Chinese academic called the "hype of the media"—breathless reporting about cyberwar and digital espionage. You could see the negative effects of this, as at least one Chinese analyst seemed to accept everything in U.S. newspapers as not only true, but also as the official U.S. government position. For example, the story of Secretary Clinton admitting that the State Department hacked al-Qaeda websites in Yemen, later clarified as the purchase of advertisements, was used as evidence of American attacks. The big takeaway from the meeting was the need for more communication and the development of official points of contact and crisis communication procedures. There was some worrying confusion over how many hotlines exist between the two countries (at least two) and how effective they are (basically, from the U.S. perspective, not at all). It is a cliche that cyber events can occur in hours, if not minutes, but the two sides need to prepare for the almost inevitable crisis. Summoning the other side's ambassador for an explanation may have worked in the past, but it will be too slow today. People and procedures need to be prepositioned. Sino-U.S. cyber cooperation is a work in progress, but let's hope this is one area where the conditions allow for progress. | |||||||||||||||
| The Greater Significance of the Forced Abortion Photo Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:34 AM PDT Last week this horrific photo went viral in China showing a dead baby beside its mother after it was forcibly aborted in its 7th month. This was because the family failed to pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,280) second child fine. To be honest, I didn't initially take much of an interest in the story. It seemed to be a tragically common case that simply had vivid pictures attached to it. Then BBC asked me to discuss the story on-air along with some other guests including Chai Ling - Tiananmen Square protest leader turned crusader against the one-child policy. She basically ignored the host's questions, opting instead to give a detailed description of the incident's brutality and go on a rant about how evil China's government and the one-child policy are. That seems to be the prevailing reaction to this whole thing, but I think this misses the greater significance – which is what ultimately got me interested in this story. As awful as this incident was, the overall situation has been getting better. China has been gradually relaxing the one-child policy for years by chipping away at the number of people subject to it. In 2007, one official estimated that less than 40% of China's people are currently bound by it. The central government could cease using population quotas as a basis for promotion of local officials – which would definitely reduce incidents of forced abortion. Other than that though, the gradual relaxation of the one-child policy over many years (as we're seeing now) is probably the best anyone can hope for. Ending it outright all at once could cause a baby boom with demographic consequences down the road just as bad as those that resulted from the policy in the first place. So for most intents and purposes, the forced abortion problem is probably better than it was 10 or 20 years ago and improving slowly but surely. The takeaway from this latest incident though is that, as far as public opinion is concerned, none of that matters. For most Chinese, the one-child policy's unpopularity comes simply from the fact that they can't have as many kids as they'd like. Social side-effects like forced abortions have been largely non-issues because the censorship apparatus doesn't allow them to be issues. For Chinese, unless you personally know of someone who experienced brutality in the name of population control, you probably don't appreciate the seriousness and ubiquity of the problem. That is, until last week. The nauseating images of the dead baby spread like wildfire – drawing over a million comments on Weibo. In almost the snap of a finger, masses of people (numbering at least in the seven digits) were slapped across the face with an issue the government has pretty successfully kept under the rug for decades. Thanks to the growing prevalence of cameras and microblog users, the brutal side-effects of the one-child policy have almost instantly entered public consciousness and debate. Over the past two years or so a string of equally captivating images have gone viral sparking awareness and debate most unwelcome by the government; ranging from a petitioner crushed under a truck (possibly murdered) to the attempted cover up of the Wenzhou train crash. The government is losing control of public discourse and any sense of credibility. Decades of secrecy and censorship is coming back to bite it hard. Before people can even digest and get over one shocking image, another one pops up that confronts them with some new horrible issue. So even if things are actually getting better, they appear to be quickly getting much worse. Nobody can say whether something like this forced abortion photo will ever push the nation past a tipping point, but what is certain is that these images are forcing leaders to take unprecedented measures – like actually enforcing laws that aren't in their own self-interest. You might say a kind of de-facto democratic reform is unfolding.
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| The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay links) – 6/18/12 Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:02 AM PDT If you're expecting to see links here to the "First Chinese Woman Astronaut in Space" story, think again. It's exciting, I know, but once you get past the title of these articles, what else do you really need to know? You're on your own with that stuff. You might also be looking to read up on the "Manned Space Docking" story, where some sort of space-going vehicle must have docked with something else up there operated by China. I have no clue; this kind of thing seemed a lot more exciting in the 60s and 70s. Take away the nationalism angle, and it's all rather derivative. Honestly, I'm not really going to take much notice until someone goes back to the moon. Alternatively, you can read the following: Global Times: Writers struggle with rules of Chinese TV production — a very cool article by a TV writer who explains the myriad limitations that go with the job. The tag line here is that this particular creative job is like "dancing in chains." Economic Observer: Beijing to Lower Taxi Fuel Surcharge from 3 to 2 kuai as of today — lots of talk about this move, most of it bitching by folks who find it difficult to get a taxi. If the price goes down, demand will go up and it will become even more difficult. See how useful Econ 101 can be? Foreign Policy: Red Moon Rising – By John Hickman — If you're into the whole "space race" thing, this article moves things out of earth orbit onto the moon, which is much more interesting (see above). Will D.C.'s China strategy move from an Asian pivot to a lunar conflict? Sounds like a crappy action movie but makes for a nice discussion. Wall Street Journal: China Housing Prices Decline at Gentler Pace — after some government policies designed to prop up the economy, data shows that the sector might be firming up. This runs counter to the doom and gloom constituency out there who were predicting a catastrophic puncturing of the housing bubble. On the other hand, it's hard to say what might happen in the future, particularly since China's property market is not immune to indirect factors from the U.S. and EU. Reuters: China home price declines slow, Beijing to keep curbs — another take on the property price issue is that these declines were by design. While the government is now trying to stimulate the economy, it was actively engaged in letting the steam out of the bubbly housing market over the past year or so. Wall Street Journal: U.S. and China Headed for Fight Over Iran Oil? Not So Fast. — the U.S. sounds like it's going to start playing hardball when it comes to nations that do business with Iran. The U.S. is concerned with nuclear proliferation and the stability of the Middle East, but China is Iran's largest energy customer. But will the U.S. actually follow through with penalties on Chinese firms? Kinda doubtful. New York Times: Beijing and Manila Ease Tensions in South China Sea — looks like both sides are pulling back for the moment, although the moves are being explained by worsening weather conditions. I wonder whether that's an excuse for not sounding weak or if this really was about typhoon dangers? The NYT characterizes the moves as "carefully choreographed." Either way, having the fishing boats out of the way might allow for a peaceful resolution. Protesters disrupt speech by Crazy English founder — not all protests in China concern shady land deals or environmental disasters. Li Yang was accused of beating his wife, and the story was huge for a couple of weeks in China. He and his wife are now getting a divorce, but people have long memories. A group protested a speech Li was giving on Sunday, which included holding up signs that read "English skills are easy to learn, but the pain of domestic violence is hard to relieve". Indeed. Telegraph: 'Sexy' Mandarin language school slammed by Chinese feminists — I suppose they're right, but it's still a bummer. If you're like me, you need serious motivation to study, and it doesn't get better than this. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | |||||||||||||||
| Party congress discusses future of Chongqing after Bo’s removal Posted: 18 Jun 2012 01:39 AM PDT
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| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:49 AM PDT The following video footage is the successful launch of Shenzhou-9 (神舟九号), carrying China's first female astronaut, LIU Yang (刘洋), among a three person crew. One of their missions is to perform manual space dock with the Tiangong-1 space lab. Back in November 2011, China achieved space docking between Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 with ground control. For more coverage, check out Youku.com's dedicated page. | |||||||||||||||
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