Blogs » Politics » China’s Netizens Ready To Call Winner in U.S. Presidential Election

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• China’s Netizens Ready To Call Winner in U.S. Presidential Election
• Sex predator Justine Lee gives himself up after 23 days at large
• Pictures: Three killed and five injured after bridge collapsed in Northeast China
• Abuse of Foreign Journalists in China: Responses
• On Chinese Valentine’s Day, Two Men Get Engaged While Netizens Cheer
• Xinhua Accused of Monitoring China Critics in Canada
• China: Open Letter to Car-Smashing “Patriots”
• China: Mahjong Obsession
• Top Ten Worst Gifts On Chinese Valentine’s Day
• Netizens Skeptical of Gu Kailai’s Commuted Death Sentence
• Pictures: Girls molested in water splashing festival
• Yet Another Brilliant Anti-Corruption Campaign
• Japanese Nationalists on Diaoyu Islands, Netizen Reactions
• The Daily Twit – 8/23/12: Fixing Old Problems
• Thousands to Move, Again, from Three Gorges
• Does India’s Exodus Vindicate Web Control?
• China to Crack Down on Corruption, Again
• China Strategies: Walmart and Starbucks
• Gan Lulu v.s. Wu Xi’er at Lanzhou aut show
• What’s Causing the Spike in HIV Infection in Old Chinese Men?

China’s Netizens Ready To Call Winner in U.S. Presidential Election Posted: 23 Aug 2012 05:16 PM PDT This image of Obama's worn shoes made the rounds on Weibo months ago, with netizens either deriding the "poor" U.S. or applauding the Pres's common touch The 2012 election season in the United States is well underway, as President Barack Obama and the Democrats face off against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and the Republicans. The stage has been set for this year's election to be what some believe is the most important in U.S. history, and certainly the most expensive. As the two candidates square off in America, news about this historic campaign is filling media outlets across the globe, and causing much chatter on Chinese tweeting platform Sina Weibo. Obama looking good The general outlook on Weibo favors a win by Obama ("ao ba ma" or 奥巴马 in Chinese) over Romney ("luo mu ni" or 罗姆尼 in Chinese). User @胖娃晶晶 commented: "Romney is hopeless, Obama is a sure win." The overall sentiment is that the two politicians are not evenly matched, especially in the areas of campaign finances and perceived public support. Many tweets on Weibo focused on the different strengths and weaknesses that each candidate possesses. As in 2008, Obama's strength lies in his public outreach through Internet campaigning and networks recruiting young Americans, as pointed out by @咖啡绝对: "Obama's campaign network exceeds that of Romney's."[1] However, many Chinese netizens are quick to comment on the Romney campaign's ability to bring in large donations and what that could mean for the overall election. User @didue wonders: "Romney's campaign raised $30 million more than Obama's, but how will this impact the election?"[2] As Romney returned to the U.S. following an international tour to highlight the foreign policy leg of his campaign, netizens have much to say about that as well. User @HOUXIANHUA picked up on this, noting that "recently there is more news about Romney than Obama." @杨梅之雉笔涧 commented on the political gaffes made by Romney, pointing out: "If the economy is Obama's weakness, then diplomacy is Romney's."[3] Regardless of Romney's treasury of campaign funds or spotlight in the media, @赵东勋 sums up a general sentiment: "Romney is no match for Obama."[4] If the number of Weibo tweets on each candidate is the measure, this user is right: Romney garners over 367,000 Weibo tweets to Obama's 17.6 million-plus.  Romney (and Ryan) getting some love too  Governor Romney, as seen on Weibo However Romney is not without his share of Chinese supporters. @Kril-高 supports Romney, tweeting: "Hey, support Romney, knock out Obama!"@五道口技校生 doesn't agree with President Obama's campaign platforms, throwing his support behind Romney in mixed Chinese and English: "I hope Romney wins. I am sick of Obama's phony promise [sic] and sick idiology [sic]. Obama's life philosophy is only suited for the poor." Romney's recent Vice Presidential pick of Rep. Paul Ryan ("lai en" or 莱恩 in Chinese) of Wisconsin helped persuade some Chinese netizens to join his camp. Quite a few female netizens used a blushing emoticon when tweeting about Romney's VP pick. The entrance of Ryan into the campaign was enough to sway @花好月圆寿福禄, who tweeted: "Romney is really interesting, I'm optimistic about Ryan. Obama can take a break, ha!"[5] Look at the policies, people! Yet many netizens urge their followers not to be swayed by the popularity of a given candidate or by Romney's new VP pick, and instead to let proposed policy and party platforms dictate support. @安粮期货宋怀兵 wants to remind netizens how each candidate is represented, tweeting: "The U.S. presidential election has already begun. Please don't forget that while Obama represents hard work, Romney represents the banks and the arms dealers." [6] And @安云cloudy wants the Chinese people to keep in mind each candidate's view on foreign policy towards China: "America's presidential election is only three months away. Obama's re-election won't be easy, and it seems Romney has the upper hand. But if Romney is elected, he'll be very tough on China."[7] As the election continues to dominate news both in the U.S. and abroad, one thing is for sure: Many are becoming exhausted by campaign rhetoric. Even in China, @安琪QIAN is tired of hearing about the U.S. presidential election; "Turn to a media source any given day and all you see is Romney, Romney, Romney…followed by all kinds of news attacking Obama, attacking Obama, attacking Obama…"[8] We feel for you, @安琪QIAN, but stay strong. There are still two long months ahead. Footnotes    (? returns to text) 奥巴马竞选网络宣传力度超罗姆尼 社交网上活跃? 罗姆尼目前筹到的竞选经费足足比奥巴马多了三千万，不知对选情会带来怎样的影响？? 如果说经济已成为奥巴马的软肋，那么，外交则绝对是罗姆尼的短板? 罗姆尼不是奥巴马的对手? 这个罗姆尼太有意思了，我看好瑞安！奥巴马可以休息了，哈哈！? 美国总统竞选已经开始，请不要忘记奥巴马代表的是实业、罗姆尼代表的是金融和军火商。? 美国大选大概就只两三月。奥巴马欲连任不易，看来似乎罗姆尼占上风。若罗当选，对中国政策会很强硬……? 天天打開各大新聞網，滿眼都是羅姆尼、羅姆尼、羅姆尼…… 然後各種攻擊奧巴馬、攻擊奧巴馬、攻擊奧巴馬…?

Sex predator Justine Lee gives himself up after 23 days at large Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:08 PM PDT Serial drug rapist Justine Lee (李宗瑞, or Li Zhongrui) finally turned himself in to the cops on August 23, after 23 days on the run. Reportedly, Lee surrendered himself to the Taipei Prosecutors' Office on August 23 with a woman who allegedly helped hide him, by the company of three lawyers. The 27-year-old wealthy heir was accused of drugging and raping many women, and his computer seized by police shows that he had videotaped the sexual encounters with up to 60 models and actresses. 10 of them appeared unconscious in the vidoe clips, sparking speculations that Justine had drugged and raped them. Justine Lee was put on a wanted list on August 1 as he failed to show up for questioning sessions set by prosecutors. But responding to the fact that Justine Lee was spotted in Taipei Prosecutors' Office, some other media also claimed that he was apprehanded by local police.

Pictures: Three killed and five injured after bridge collapsed in Northeast China Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:18 PM PDT Harbin municipal government triggered huge public anger for shoddy construction again after a bridge collapsed at around 5:30 a.m. on August 24, killing 3 people and injuring five others. The Yangmingtan Bridge, 15.4-km long and 41.5-m wide, opened to traffic on Nov. 6, 2011. But in less than a year, an approach ramp in 130-m long for the bridge broke apart, causing four trucks travelling on it to plung off. The mishap occurred only a few days after Harbin city saw at least seven cases of road cave-in in nine days leaving two dead.

Abuse of Foreign Journalists in China: Responses Posted: 23 Aug 2012 07:27 PM PDT Three China-based foreign journalists' groups issued a joint statement this week expressing alarm at recent cases of harassment, in some of which official security forces were involved. At Global Times, Liu Linlin maintained that local authorities did need to improve their handling of the media, but these incidents neither represented an orchestrated campaign nor specifically targeted foreign journalists: Foreign reporters had greater access to information in China after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but it is still hard for them to get solid and useful information from some institutions that believe foreign reporters pursue their own political agendas. Zhang Zhi'an, an associate professor with the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-Sen University, told the Global Times that the cases are different in nature but not specially targeting foreign reporters. "When reporting on sensitive issues in China, it is hard for both foreign and domestic journalists to get information, because under pressure to protect local officials' interests, local governments may not act in line with the central government," Zhang said. […] Professor Zhang said local governments should learn to work better with foreign journalists since coverage of China by foreign press will inevitably grow in the foreseeable future. A Wall Street Journal editorial responded on Thursday, suggesting that "beating up foreign reporters should have consequences for Beijing": The Chinese government has not responded to the journalists' protest letter. But the state-run Global Times did publish a report on Wednesday refuting the idea that foreign reporters are being targeted. A Shanghai photojournalist noted that "Chinese journalists often face a worse situation than their foreign counterparts." That is certainly true, and the rising number of attacks on local journalists deserves more attention. But foreign governments can more easily take action to improve treatment of their nationals working as reporters in China. Visas and accreditation for Chinese state-run media workers to enter other countries should be contingent on an end to state-sponsored thuggery. Similar proposals have arisen before in the U.S., notably in the form of the probably doomed Chinese Media Reciprocity Act of 2011. Accusations of espionage by a former contributor to Xinhua's Ottawa bureau may further encourage proponents. But Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, argued in June that the bill's retaliatory measures were misguided: CPJ's many objections to China's media policies, including its approach to foreign media, are well documented. But we don't believe that the best response to press freedom restrictions in China is to implement press freedom restrictions in the U.S. We don't approve of the use of specific visas for journalists in the first place, although we recognize that it is a widespread practice. In an ideal world, we would see as many journalists as possible in all countries, moving as freely as possible across borders. [… T]he U.S., or any country, should not threaten to drive possibly hundreds of journalists from within its borders for any reason. Such a move might feed some people's sense of justice, but would be short-sighted, counterproductive, and contradict one of the United States' cornerstone liberties. […] © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: foreign journalists, freedom of information, media conditions, news media, police brutality, press freedom, reporters Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

On Chinese Valentine’s Day, Two Men Get Engaged While Netizens Cheer Posted: 23 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT Qiang Shao explained the two delayed their announcement when his father fell ill. Via Sina Many Chinese celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14, but yesterday was the traditional Chinese equivalent of the holiday, called Qi Xi (七夕). On this day every year, many men and women will profess their feelings for each other or propose–one of the trending topics on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, was "Let's get married!" On this special occasion, Sina, one of the country's main news outlets, ran a story about a gay couple in southern China who have openly announced their engagement. While homosexuality is still a taboo topic in many parts of China, Chinese society as a whole, and young city residents in particular, are becoming more accepting of it. In celebration of this romantic holiday and social progress, Tea Leaf Nation has translated and reprinted the story of Qiang Shao and Zhong Shao's engagement below. *** Two gay men in Dongguan Get Engaged Zhong Shao and Qiang Shao come from Fujian Province in southeastern China, and have been together for two years and three months. After announcing their engagement on their Weibo pages, most of the hundreds of comments are sincere best wishes. Recently, social media is abuzz with the news of two gay men setting a date to be married. The two men, Zhong Shao and Qiang Shao, are from Fujian, and have been together for two years and three months. The reporters discovered that after the two had posted Weibos about their announcement, most of the hundreds of comments were well wishes for the two of them. Today, Zhong Shao and Qiang Shao will become engaged at a gay bar in Dongguan. Weibo announcement of engagement draws attention online Southern Metropolis reporters discovered that the earliest announcement of the pair's engagement was sent out by @纹身痞子OR健身小帅de爱, which is the account of Qiang Shao and Zhong Shao. On August 14, they posted a Weibo saying that last year, they postponed the wedding because one of their fathers became ill and passed away. This year, they will become engaged at a gay bar in Dongguan. After this post was made, it immediately became a hot topic on the site, reposted over 200 times. Many netizens expressed their congratulations. Zhong Shao said that many had offered to help them with the engagement party. It was not long after they decided to become engaged that they contacted someone to help with the wedding photography. Just two days alter, the photographer agreed. Zhong Shao said that on August 19, Qiang Shao and he would go to have their pictures taken. At around 10 PM on August 19, @东莞韩风尚婚纱摄影 posted wedding pictures of the two on Weibo. The two handsome men both wore tuxedos in the pictures. Most of the hundreds of comments on these pictures were congratulatory in nature as well. @电影人程青松 also reposted the pictures, congratulating the two. "We should have a name for what we are" Zhong Shao and Qiang Shao share a special moment. Via Sina Why did the pair decide to become engaged? Qiang Shao stated that the two had planned to get married in Fujian [province] the previous year, but it was delayed due to his father's serious illness. "He said he was willing to sacrifice everything for me. I was very moved by this, and I thought we should have a name for what we are," said Zhong Shao. Zhon Shao and Qiang Shao are almost certainly the first gay men to openly become engaged in Dongguan. After the posts announcing their engagement, many netizens also posted about the greatness of love. On August 21, @纹身痞子OR健身小帅de爱 posted on Weibo, saying that he hoped a venue would host the ceremony. A manager of a gay bar in Dongguan saw this post and offered his space to the couple for free. Last night, Zhong Shao and Qiang Shao began to make preparations for the ceremony. The two said that because their families were living elsewhere, they would tell their parents about their engagement ceremony by phone, and they invited the parents of other gay people to be witnesses. ***  Tea Leaf Nation paid a visit to @纹身痞子OR健身小帅de爱's Weibo page itself and found this heartwarming message: "On the evening of Qi Xi, we are getting engaged! We welcome all friends in the Guangdong area to take part in our engagement ceremony!" Too bad we couldn't make it.

Xinhua Accused of Monitoring China Critics in Canada Posted: 23 Aug 2012 06:03 AM PDT When Canadian MP Bob Dechert was found to have sent flirtatious emails to a Toronto-based Xinhua correspondent last year, it stoked suspicions that China's official news agency doubles as an arm of its intelligence apparatus. A former Xinhua contributor in Ottawa has now accused the agency of using parliamentary press accreditation to gather information meant for official eyes only. From Kathryn Blaze Carlson at National Post: "They tried to get me … to write a report for the Chinese government on the Dalai Lama using my press credentials as a way of getting access I wouldn't otherwise have," Mr. Bourrie, a long-time freelancer who has written for several major Canadian newspapers, said in an interview with the National Post. He alleges there are individuals within Xinhua who are acting as spies, seeking to "monitor [practitioners of the spiritual movement] Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama and any other critics of the Chinese government in Canada. That, I know for sure." […] Mr. Bourrie said "90%" of his assignments were "normal" and that all of his own work was "legit," but he also said there were warning bells along the way. The first sounded in June 2010, when he was asked to determine not only the identities of those who protested Chinese president Hu Jintao's arrival at the G20 Summit in Toronto, but also where those protesters were staying. [… L]ater he said he started receiving "weird" requests, including an assignment to determine how Canada deals with what Mr. Zhang [Dacheng, Xinhua's Ottawa bureau chief] apparently called "evil cults" — more specifically, Mr. Bourrie said, he was interested in Falun Gong. Bourrie left Xinhua in late April. But Zhang has denied any suggestion of espionage, according to Mike Blanchfield at The Canadian Press: Zhang told The Canadian Press that Xinhua's policy is to "cover public events by public means" and his bureau's job is to cover news events and file the stories to Xinhua's editing rooms. It is up to them to decide how and what to publish, Zhang said, calling those decisions internal matters. […] "Nobody told him to pretend to be a journalist and act for a foreign power," Zhang said. "That is his Cold War ideology." Bourrie himself was dismissive of such accusations in the midst of last year's Dechert scandal, writing at Ottawa Magazine that: It makes for wonderful copy when a middle-aged backbencher sends lusty e-mails to a Xinhua reporter, but if Xinhua is typical of a Chinese spy agency, we have nothing to worry about. […] It does follow the comings and goings of Falan Gong and the Dalai Lama. If anyone is being spied on by Xinhua, it's them. Still, the Dalai Lama's handlers accredited Xinhua for a speech last week in Montreal by the exiled Tibetan leader. There's a strong anti-China lobby whose front men are ex-CSIS agents who are being quoted in this country's best papers saying Xinhua is an arm of Chinese intelligence. They're right that anything you tell Xinhua is being told to someone who might tell someone in Beijing. Giving anything sensitive or secret to any reporter is a dumb thing to do. When dealing with any journalist, Xinhua or New York Times, don't tell them anything you don't want on a billboard. Simple as that. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Canada, Dalai Lama, espionage, Falun Gong, Hu Jintao, spy, Xinhua Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China: Open Letter to Car-Smashing “Patriots” Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:31 PM PDT The territorial conflict between Japan and China has led to a series of protests in major Chinese cities, with angry patriots smashing Japanese vehicles. In response to such action, a Japanese car owner issued an open letter to the patriots. Rachael from Tea Leaf Nation translates the letter and puts it into context. Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

China: Mahjong Obsession Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:14 PM PDT Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translates a local news feature on the Chinese obsession with Mahjong, a game of chance. Written by Oiwan Lam · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Top Ten Worst Gifts On Chinese Valentine’s Day Posted: 23 Aug 2012 08:45 AM PDT Two centenarians spending their 83rd Chinese Valentine's Day together "If love between the two is eternal, why do they have to be together day and night?" ("两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮?") Depicting the love between the Cowherd and the Weaver girl, two stars separated by the Milky Way, this famous verse written by 11th century poet Qin Guan has seized the imaginations of Chinese readers for centuries. Legend has it that these two lovers, one mortal, the other daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, were punished for getting married in secret. The Chinese Valentine's Day, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, is the only time Cowherd gets to see his Weaver girl every year. But how things have changed since Cowherd fell in love with his Weaver Girl. Today, guys get in over their heads seeking that perfect gift for their significant other on occasions such as Valentine's Day, while the girls just don't think the men are doing a good enough job. Two days ago, Qi Dian (@琦殿) started collecting terrible Valentine's Day gifts on Sina Weibo, and within a day she had amassed enough responses for a 8,000-word infographic tweet. Translated below by Tea Leaf Nation are ten of the gifts selected by Qi Dian: Your roommate can have some too @淡豹子: The first person I dated in college was a really hot guy. I was stupid at that time and didn't understand the importance of being hot and thought that being smart was more critical. But after that, no hot guy ever asked me out again. Now I regret it a lot and can only balance my feelings of regret with memories of gifts the hot guy gave me. That was the end of September and we had known for only a week. He asked me out for dinner for the first time and gave me thirty glamour shots of himself in different poses, adding that I could "give them to the other girls in your dorm." [1] @梁小toyo: I like chestnuts so he just bought me 10 kilo (about 22 lbs.) of chestnuts… [2] @黄低级: A tattoo… a tattoo on his body… [3] (TLN comment: well it matters what his tattoo is, right?) @一往如曦: A key chain with his company's ad on it… [4] @BearGreeny: He bought a dress online that only a girl who weighs thirty-five kilograms (about 77 pounds) can fit in… Is he showing his expectations? [5] @燕尾鱼的幸福: He gave me a carnation!! What the Hell! Carnation! Girls in my dorm commented that he lacked maternal love… [6] @christy孙二娘: This is not my boyfriend but a memorable gift. When I was in Great Britain, there was a boy who called me in excitement telling me that he had bought a pig head at the farmer's market and was going to marinate it for me… There was another boy who used to send me a bunch of marinated duck eggs… [7] Our editors wouldn't mind getting this for Valentine's Day @李影影倍儿来福: My ex used to give his mom's clothes to me and told me they really went well with me… (what the hell, what kind of shape is his mom in! We broke up later.) [8] @了了晕: Underwear that's several cups larger than my own size… And he wanted me to put it on… for what, catching the wind? [9] @黄喂喂喂喂喂喂喂: Eight bags of Lays chips!!! [10] Footnotes    (? returns to text) 到了大学第一个约会的男生是个大帅哥。我那时脑袋进水，不懂帅的重要，以为聪明比较关键。可后来再也没有帅哥找过我了，我很后悔，只能靠回忆帅哥送的礼物来平衡无限悔意。9月底，刚认识一周，他头回单独找我吃饭，送了我30张他造型各异的艺术照，说"还可以分给你寝室"? 我喜欢栗子，他送了我二十斤⋯⋯? 一个纹身，还是纹他身上的? 一个印了他们单位广告的钥匙扣? 网购了一条七十斤的姑娘才能塞进去的裙子。实在表示对我的期望么？? 送我一朵康乃馨！！尼玛！康乃馨！同宿舍的人说他缺少母爱！? 不是男朋友，但是我永生难忘的礼物是，在英国时的一个男生，有天非常兴奋地打电话给我，说我在农贸市场买了个猪头，准备酱一下，送给你吃啊！还有另一个男生送过我亲手腌的一堆咸鸭蛋⋯⋯? 前男友曾经把他妈穿过的衣服送我，还说很适合我（你也不想想，你妈妈什么身材！后来我们分手了）? 大于实际N个罩杯的内衣⋯⋯还让我穿⋯⋯穿着干嘛，兜风么? 八包乐事薯片！！！！！?

Netizens Skeptical of Gu Kailai’s Commuted Death Sentence Posted: 23 Aug 2012 08:27 AM PDT Gu Kailai (谷开来), the wife of former Chongqing mayor Bo Xilai (薄熙来), has been accused and convicted earlier this week of homicide against British national Neil Heywood. Gu received a two year commuted death sentence, which means a death sentenced with a delayed execution. Gu Kailai leaving her trial earlier this week The accusations against Gu Kailai can be read in a previous Tea Leaf Nation piece here. At the end the trial, the Hefei People's Court determined that since Gu used poison to kill others and played a major role in the crime, she should be convicted of intentional homicide. However, given Neil Heywood's threats to Gu's son, Gu's claim of mental disorders, a guilty plea and Gu's cooperation in the investigation, the Court decided to postpone the death penalty for two years. Zhang Xiaojun, the accomplice, was sentenced to 9 years in prison. Netizens reacted to Gu Kailai's case fervently on Weibo, China's Twitter.  Some netizens doubt the execution of the penalty. @Litchee-Pan也叫海伦 wrote, "How is Gu Kailai different from a common murderer? For her, a commuted death sentence means no death sentence."[1] @文軒先生 wrote, "As expected, the well-known Gu Kailai is eventually sentenced to a commuted death sentence. Obviously, after two years, the sentence will change to life in prison. However, her serving time may not exceed 10 years. In the next 9 years, she will be approved for medical treatment overseas. And that's how it's done." [2] Others suspect Gu's claim of insanity. @囧仔饭 wrote, "Gu Kailai has mental disorders? Does the government really think the public is idiotic?" [3] @羽小隹 said that, "Murderers are all insane, because normal people don't kill people, right?" [4] However, Gu Kailai's statement after the judgment was the most popular topic of the online chatter. Gu responded that, "I feel that this judgment is just. It fully embodies our courts' respect for the law, for the truth, and for the people's lives." @陈则明_房地产研究 wrote, "anyone can pretend to feel regret." [5]Others think Gu Kailai was sarcastically swiping at the court, because she knows her sentence is just an illusion; that the court respected her life at least. @Justin桀骜 said, "It felt like she was criticizing us, in a very indirect way." [6] Speculation aside, it remains to be seen what will ultimately be her fate, and the bigger ramifications for her ousted politician husband Bo Xilai and Chinese politics as a whole.  Footnotes    (? returns to text) 薄谷开来和一般杀人犯有什么区别？死缓可能就死不掉了…? 正如人们预料的那样，这位有名的薄太太最终还是被判了"死缓"，显而易见，接下来在服刑两年后改判终身监禁，她服刑的时间可能不会超过10年，谷开来有可能在九年之内获准保外就医。这一切就是这么顺畅.? 薄谷开来患有精神障碍？ZF真当老百姓是2b吗？? 杀人的都有精神病，正常人谁去杀人？亲，你们说对吗？? 悔罪都可以装? 听着绝对感觉是在骂人。。。她骂的很婉约。。。。?

Pictures: Girls molested in water splashing festival Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:31 AM PDT Today, the annual water splashing festival was celebrated at Qixi Square in a Miao Nationality Autonomous County in eastern China's Hainan Province, to mark China's Valentine's Day, Qi Xi (七夕), which falls on August 23 this year. The act of sprinkling water on others is to show respect or bless, but it had turned to be a shame, as some men took the advantage to molest girls. Shortly after the celebration began, several girls were held down on the ground, and had their tops stripped. Later, the police were called in and helped escort the girls out of the spot.

Yet Another Brilliant Anti-Corruption Campaign Posted: 23 Aug 2012 08:12 AM PDT First they gave us anti-corruption lapel pins and statues. Then they gave us ethics classes. Now the CCP is throwing out another bone to pacify public impatience with corruption while craftily avoiding anything that might check its absolute power…or actually do anything to curb corruption. In this case, China is starting a new five-year plan to tackle corruption, Bloomberg reports. It isn't immediately clear what this new plan will include, but it sounds awfully familiar to an earlier pronouncement (via Austin Ramsey) entitled "China to Rein in Corruption within 5 Years," which said: An official from China's top discipline watchdog reiterated in Beijing that the country will effectively curb corruption cases within 5 years as effective legal and structural measures become more perfect. China's heavier clampdown on corrupt officials during the past several years, including the execution of deputy legislative speaker Cheng Kejie, is preventing officials from thinking of corruption. That was from January 2001. In case you haven't noticed, more than a handful of officials have thought about corruption since that five year deadline expired. So why does corruption persist in spite of all these measures? In my affinity for dumbing things down to very crude analogies, this is China's anti-corruption apparatus:   "We admit that the whole thing doesn't quite fly and there are still problems to address," the government says. "But we're initiating some bold new reforms over the next five years to effectively curb these problems once and for all": Trying to stop corruption but refusing to allow for the rule of law through truly independent police, courts AND real public oversight through a free media is like trying to build a functional airplane but refusing to entertain the concept of lift. Bloomberg quoted Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore saying, "In the past ten years, the more they fight corruption, the more plans and agencies they set up, the worse the corruption gets." By now this should be patently obvious. Anti-corruption initiatives usually consist of two things: parading harsh punishments of the few that are caught and touting greater oversight through some new anti-corruption authority. But the basic systematic framework is still in place, so these agencies just get in on the corruption themselves. The problem now involves more people and more money. So this looks like the latest in a long long line of nearly identical initiatives meant to appease the public and quell calls for real reform. He Guoqiang, head of the CCP's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and #8 man on the Politburo said, "The work of constructing a system of punishing and preventing corruption has shown to be effective." The day that ranking officials up to and including himself can be criticized, investigated and indicted by the public is the day we can believe him.

Japanese Nationalists on Diaoyu Islands, Netizen Reactions Posted: 23 Aug 2012 07:19 AM PDT From QQ: Detailed Pictures of Japanese Right-Wingers Landing on the Diaoyu Islands Revealed August 18 to 19, 150 Japanese right-wingers sailed on 21 boats from Ishigaki Island of Okinawa to the waters of the Diaoyu Islands [aka Senkaku Islands] to hold a commemoration. 10 people of them landed on the the Diaoyu Islands, and the Japanese media recently published photographs of the 10 people's activities on the island. These pictures are of the Japanese right-wingers are paying a tribute to a stone monument on the islands. Japanese right-wingers are paying a tribute to a stone monument on the islands. The right-wingers covered a beacon built in the past with Japanese national flags. According to the report, the 10 people who landed on the Diaoyu Islands were 5 local assembly members, Akihiro Suzuki of Tokyo, Ichiro Wada of Hyogo, Kojima Ji-ho of Ibaraki Toride, Kosaka Eiji of Tokyo Arakawa, Tanaka Taro Tokyo Suginami, and some political group personnel, including a female. A Japanese right-winger has climbed up onto high-ground on the Diaoyu Islands with a national flag. From the photos, the Diaoyu Islands are thickly covered by tropical vegetation, its scenery beautiful. This group of right-wingers sailed to the Diaoyu Islands on 21 rented boats. The right-wingers holding a commemoration ceremony for those Japanese who died in World War II. The Japanese Coast Guard ship that was patrolling nearby didn't stop them from landing on the islands. The right-wingers stayed on the islands for about two hours and displayed Japanese national flags. After staying on the island for two hours, the right-wingers boarded the Japanese Coast Guard ship and returned. The Japanese assembly members who participated in the Dioayu Islands commemoration ceremony held a press conference after returning to port.   You might also like： Chinese landed on Diaoyu Islands Diaoyu impasse calls for new ideas Japan arrests Chinese activists on Diaoyu Islands, People appeal to Hu's Tougher Stance Anger erupts at Japanese landing Diaoyu Islands disputes between China and Japan 无觅

The Daily Twit – 8/23/12: Fixing Old Problems Posted: 23 Aug 2012 05:53 AM PDT Today's theme (since we gotta have one) is "same old, same old." Or to put it another way, lots of chatter about long-term issues. Perhaps the best example is the "new" anti-corruption campaign announced this week by the government, but I'll throw in a few more for you as well: Businessweek: China Prepares New Plan to Fight Graft That Threatens Its Image — As I mentioned yesterday, we'll just have to wait and see if this plan works any better than the last 517 programs. All Roads Lead to China: Food Safety in China. Where Everything is Suspect. — Always a bummer to read this kind of thing, but yeah, still a huge systemic problem. Telegraph: Pentagon plans new missile defences in Asia — Uh oh, not this again. I have very bad memories of all the money wasted in the 80s on the Strategic Defense Initiative in the U.S. This tech sucks and is a money pit. Reuters: More easing seen as China factory survey disappoints — Bad numbers from the manufacturing sector. The hits just keep coming. Helen Gao: Diaoyu in Our Heart: The Revealing Contradictions of Chinese Nationalism — More discussion of the sketch comedy that is the South China Sea dispute. The Diplomat: Much Ado About The Sansha Garrison — More on the South China Sea, the official Chinese part specifically. Global Times: Time to finally abolish unconstitutional system — A rather forceful Op/Ed about China's much maligned reeducation-through-labor system, which has recently been under renewed fire. Daniel Bell: Political Meritocracy Is a Good Thing (Part 2): Improving Meritocracy in China — The second part of Bell's China Model series. China Daily: Huawei and ZTE hit by US patent probe — New dispute, very old problem (unfortunately) for Huawei, which continues to have trouble with the U.S. market. Financial Times: Chinese acquisitions in U.S. near record — Yet another story on outward M&A from China. Yes, the numbers have gone up, but no, the levels are still comparatively small. Wall Street Journal: Child Protesters: New Tactic in the Fight for Migrant Workers' Wages? — Another new tactic in an old fight. I have mixed feelings about this. These people are desperate, but using kids like this gives me pause.   © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

Thousands to Move, Again, from Three Gorges Posted: 23 Aug 2012 05:22 AM PDT The Three Gorges Dam finally reached full power output in July, but geological risks are forcing some 120,000 people living along its reservoir to relocate, many for the second time. From Reuters' Sui-Lee Wee: Landslides in Huangtupo had been exacerbated by changes in water levels in the reservoir, said Fan Xiao, a geologist for a government-linked institute in southwestern Sichuan province, who studied conditions there in 2006. Dam officials lower water levels by as much as 30 meters during the summer in anticipation of floods, and raise them in winter. The change softens the slopes along its banks, Fan said. "It's like a person who's standing in place, if you push and pull him, he'll definitely not be as stable as before," he said. […] A shop owner, surnamed Qing, has been told she has to move in the second half of the year. She relocated the first time in 2000 when water from the reservoir flooded her home. Asked if she thought the government would compensate her this time, she scoffed. "The more we move, the poorer we get," she said. Despite this, officials claim that the dam has been a major boost for the local economy, accelerating development by as much as a century. Flood prevention, another of the dam's major selling points, has also become a source of some scepticism according to Deng Quanlun at chinadialogue: Since the Three Gorges reservoir was filled, there have been no repetitions of the severe flooding of 1998, which killed more than 3,700 people and left 15 million homeless. [… But] Informed sources say that local governments downstream of the dam have all asked the operators to release less water in order to reduce flood risks, meaning the dam is under pressure from both sides. The dam has long faced such difficulties. Upstream, the city of Chongqing complains that the dam makes flood prevention more difficult – that "Chongqing drowns to save Wuhan". Downstream, there are complaints that it continues to release water even when there are flood risks. Cai Qihua, head of the Yangtze River Commission, said this is a misunderstanding: when the dam holds back floodwaters, the reservoir level does rise, but this has little or no impact on Chongqing upstream. The rising waters in Chongqing are due to water coming from the Jin, Min and Jialing rivers, and water backing up at the Tongluo Gorge, downstream of Chongqing, Cai said. The dam's role in flood prevention is to control water coming from the upper reaches of the Yangtze. When it comes to regional flooding downstream, it can only play an indirect role. Weng Lida, formerly head of the Yangtze River Commission's Water Resources Protection Bureau, explained that the dam can retain water from upstream, but if there is heavy rain downstream, there is nothing it can do. Nor can the dam store all of the floodwaters – it can only hold back those which cannot be safely released into the rivers downstream. "The flood prevention ability of the dam is limited – it can't do everything," said Weng. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chongqing, dams resettlement, floods, landslides, Three Gorges Dam, wuhan, Yangtze River Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Does India’s Exodus Vindicate Web Control? Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:39 AM PDT In India, online rumours of ethnic violence have driven hundreds of thousands from their homes and, as self-fulfilling prophecies, left dozens dead. From Ishaan Tharoor at TIME: In the world's largest democracy, recent fears of pogroms and ethnic violence have highlighted just how fractious and febrile India's social makeup is. Rumors circulating last week of planned attacks on migrants from the Indian Northeast saw tens of thousands of Northeasterners in some of India's main cities cram onto trains bound for their remote homelands. The "exodus" — as it was branded in bold block letters by the Indian media — followed earlier incidents of ethnic strife in the northeastern state of Assam, where members of the indigenous Bodo tribe clashed with Bengali Muslim settlers, driving hundreds of thousands of Muslims out of their homes. Mass SMSes, emails and posts over Facebook and Twitter warned of (and, in some cases, encouraged) Muslim reprisal attacks on Northeasterners in cities like India's tech capital, Bangalore, as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan drew to a close, sparking a nationwide panic. The government's efforts to stem the panic included a flurry of take-down requests to Google, Twitter and Facebook, as well as limited blocks on webpages from Al Jazeera, The Telegraph, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Wikipedia. While there has been some speculation about ulterior motives behind this response, The Atlantic's Max Fisher wrote that the episode raises difficult questions about the role of social networks in spreading the hysteria. Technology didn't cause any of this, of course. But social media and text messaging, both of which are becoming increasingly common in reaches of India's enormous lower and middle classes, accelerated the flow of rumors and of inflammatory images. Some of the material turns out to have been fake: doctored images and videos showed anti-Muslim attacks that never happened. Because the rumors can be self-fulfilling, their lightening-fast spread across India's vast population, much of which is very newly connected to the web, can be costly. The original 1993 crisis displaced an estimated 20,000 people, but this most recent manifestation has already displaced 300,000, and killed 80. No doubt there are many factors that might explain the new severity of this old crisis, but with the spread of rumors apparently playing a significant role, the recent explosion in Indian Internet access rates (the 100 millionth Indian web users logged on in December) could be relevant. The government, unable to counter the destabilizing rumors, shut down some of the means of their dispersal. […] When world governments in places like Ethiopia or China censor the internet, they tend to cite some version of the same basic idea: free discussion is a threat to "national stability." Typically, web freedom activists perceive this as little more than an excuse for online authoritarianism, and they're probably often correct. But what if, in India's case, the government could actually be right? Can Photoshopping up some "evidence" of ethnic attacks be akin to inciting violence? What about sending a text message falsely claiming such attacks, for which a Bangalore man was arrested? At what point does a Facebook rumor become a cry of "fire" in the crowded theatre of Indian ethnic anxieties? Chinese authorities have long used the "cancer" (or bats) of potentially destabilising online rumours to justify Internet controls. The exodus in India, argued Global Times, demonstrated the danger posed by "unchecked websites", and the need for tough measures to control them: […] What happened in India can help us understand more objectively whether the Internet can foment social instability and how it does so. The exodus was a result of public panic that was easily ignited by rumors. It takes more than working with social networking websites to appease the agitated public and prevent this from happening again. But New Delhi's worries that the Internet promoted the rumors didn't come out of nowhere. As the inventor of social networking sites, the US has experience in regulating them. But these websites have caused disturbances in other countries. The unrest in the UK last summer exposed the side effects of these networking sites, prompting the government to ponder blocking Internet information flow in times of emergency, a decision that led to an outcry. […] India is a poor country. Survival is top priority for the majority of the population. Every piece of information carried by the Internet or cell phone looks real to grass-roots people. China's situation is relatively good. It is hard to imagine rumors causing an exodus. The government's reaction and public's ability to discern false information are much better. But the mass of information flowing through the Internet still presents a challenge to governance. The Internet has become deeply integrated in Chinese society, but can still create a disturbance. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Facebook, Global Times, Google, India, Internet censorship, social stability, Twitter Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China to Crack Down on Corruption, Again Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:36 AM PDT Party Discipline chief He Guoqiang has announced a new five-year plan to rein in corruption, to be implemented after the looming 18th CPC National Congress. From Bloomberg: "The work of constructing a system of punishing and preventing corruption has shown to be effective," He Guoqiang, head of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said yesterday, according to the People's Daily newspaper. The plan is part of broader efforts to burnish the party's image before the once-a-decade leadership transition. China's leaders are seeking to recover from a series of scandals including the downfall of former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, and Premier Wen Jiabao warned in March that corruption could endanger the government's survival. "In the past ten years, the more they fight corruption, the more plans and agencies they set up, the worse the corruption gets," said Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. "A truly clean government comes from the rule of law." The precise timing of the congress is not yet known, but He's announcement and signs of tightening security in Beijing suggest a sooner-than-expected start next month, according to The Hindu's Ananth Krishnan. Xinhua's report on the announcement shed little light on the next five-year plan's specifics: The spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress should be fully implemented in the formation of the next five-year plan to fight corruption, He said. He said China has always paid great attention to fighting corruption and creating a clean government, adding that the country has created its own unique methods to combat corruption. […] The formation of the new five-year plan should be based on the results of the previous plan, as well as past experience, He said. The government has much past experience to draw on. TIME's Austin Ramzy pointed out a 2001 China Daily article promising that corruption would be under control within five years "as effective legal and structural measures become more perfect." © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: anti-corruption, Bo Xilai, corruption, He Guoqiang, history, party congress, rule of law, Wen Jiabao Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China Strategies: Walmart and Starbucks Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:24 AM PDT After building an empire on cheap imports from China, Walmart is trying to attract the country's new rich with low prices online, as economic slowdown dampens conspicuous consumption. From Marcus Wohlsen at Wired: Walmart faces challenges in the Chinese market that simply don't apply in the U.S., where the Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain enjoys almost mythological status as the invincible low-price slayer of all competition, including mom-and-pop small businesses. In China, European and domestic retailers vie competitively with Walmart for the coveted Chinese consumer's yuan. Walmart's image took a hit when authorities in the city of Chongqing shut down several Walmart stores and detained dozens of employees over allegations the stores mislabeled conventional pork as organic. Foreign companies must also navigate a government bureaucracy that exists in part to keep non-Chinese businesses from gaining too much control over domestic markets. But with its takeover of Yihaodian, an established Chinese online retailer of groceries and other everyday items, Walmart gains instant access to an established brand already well-known among China's hundreds of millions of online shoppers. This access comes at a time when the number of Chinese consumers both shopping online and seeking bargains is spiraling upward. The vast ranks of China's new middle class have spent the past few years displaying a nouveau riche disregard for price in pursuit of conspicuous consumption. But during the current slowdown, Chinese shoppers have quickly developed a taste for discounts. And if Walmart knows anything, it's how to market lower prices. Starbucks, against the odds, has already taken root in China's major commercial districts. Helen Wang at Forbes examines how Starbucks cracked the country's long-standing tea culture, and how other Western companies might learn from it: If there is one company that should have failed in China, it would be Starbucks. China has thousands of years of history drinking tea and a strong culture associated with it. No one could have guessed that Chinese would ever drink coffee instead of tea. Starbucks literally created that demand. Now you can find a Starbucks almost on every major street of the coastal cities in China. Even my 90-year old father in China began to tell me how he drank coffee after meals, rather than tea, to help his digestion. Starbucks has revolutionized how Chinese view and drink coffee. For more on western companies' China strategies, see 'Cheese-Makers Chase Huge New Market in China' and 'Behind in Quantity, McDonald's Touts Quality', via CDT. © Mengyu Dong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: coffee, foreign business, starbucks, Wal-Mart, western food in china Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Gan Lulu v.s. Wu Xi’er at Lanzhou aut show Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:36 PM PDT The implacable rivals, Gan Lulu and Wu Xi'er, met each other for the first time at the 2012 (3rd) West China (Lanzhou) International Auto Show that opened on August 22 in Lanzhou city, capital of Gansu province. Both models are notorious for wearing flesh-revealing dresses at various events. The public only placed the pair on a par with each other after model Wu Xi'er came to the public with Gan Lulu-style outfit at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao International Auto Show in mid June when Gan Lulu was on a sensational rise to her fame. At the Lanzhou auto show, Gan Lulu continued to show off her assets with a see-through sheer dress, while Wu Xi'er was decked out in deep-v and backless racy outfit featured wtih shinny crystals. Both have sparked off the flame at the fair, but who do you think would stand out in sexy looks?

What’s Causing the Spike in HIV Infection in Old Chinese Men? Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:10 AM PDT Perhaps someone can help me out with this, but after reading in the China Daily this morning of a dramatic rise in the incidence of HIV in a specific population of old men in China, I had questions, one big one in particular. First the background: People aged 50 and older in China have seen a large increase in HIV/AIDS cases in recent years, a trend that is apparently unique, a senior health official said on Wednesday. In South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, men aged 50 and older accounted for nearly 40 percent of newly reported HIV cases in recent years, government epidemic surveillance statistics showed. That's troubling, yeah? My first reaction, probably the same as yours, was to ask what was behind all this. Actually two questions: 1) what kind of transmission is at play here; and 2) why is this happening now? The answer to number one is . . . wait for it . . . hookers! "Worldwide, the new trend is so far detected only on the Chinese mainland, and most of the older carriers were infected via prostitution," Wu Zunyou, director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, told China Daily at an awareness-raising event in Beijing. Satisfactory explanation? Perhaps. On the other hand, the incidence of female-to-male transmission of HIV is much, much lower than other types of transmission for males. Is it possible that all these guys were infected by prostitutes? Maybe. On the other hand, I'm wondering if there are other explanations that folks just don't want to talk about (e.g., drugs, homosexual intercourse). Culturally, I would guess it's much easier to say you got the HIV from a hooker, yeah? By the way, if the truth is being massaged here, it wouldn't be the first time. Prostitutes/women have been blamed for HIV/AIDS transmission in many countries, particularly in Africa. It's ironic as hell considering that male-to-female transmission is much higher than the other way around (this is apparently not settled science, but I think it's still the prevailing opinion). What about that timing issue? Why is this happening now? [Wu] said the new trend was related to many factors, including a longer sexually active period of Chinese men and better economic conditions. So for these men, they are living longer and sucking down Viagra like it was candy. I guess I buy that. What else? Ge Xianmin, a key official with the HIV/AIDS prevention and control office in Guangxi, said that those with little education and low income have the highest risk of infection. By the end of June, nearly 93 percent of newly reported HIV/AIDS cases in Guangxi were due to unprotected sex, and 30 percent of those cases were older men, he said. A growing number of rural women left behind by husbands who sought employment in cities entered the sex trade, targeting mainly older men in rural areas, he said. "That's a key reason for quickly rising HIV prevalence among local senior men," he added. Ultimately, it's the migrant workers' fault, you see. They leave their wives at home with no money, who then turn to prostitution and infect old men. Imagine that. I confess to not knowing enough about the latest research on the transmission of HIV to fully run with my skepticism here, but something seems odd about these numbers. If someone out there can explain, please feel free to chime in with a comment or email. Right. Well, assuming that all this is exactly the way they say, what's the solution? Probably a great deal of educational efforts amongst the old folks for a start. And that sounds like a challenge. Talking to old guys about sex is already awkward, but old guys out on the farm? At the risk of sounding like an urban elitist, God knows what sort of superstitious sexual beliefs these guys have that will get in the way of science-based prevention. On the other end of all this, you've got a large number of women who are so poor that they turn to the sex trade. Sounds like a problem looking for a governmental solution, doesn't it? Even cutting these women a check every month for a few hundred RMB would no doubt save the State money in the long run. Microloan programs would be another worthwhile initiative. In the long run, of course, the goal would be to ensure that those workers don't need to leave home in the first place. But that's a topic for another time. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: AIDS, HIV, public health, rural poverty, sexually-transmitted diseases

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