The CCP seeks total control of the Internet

Posted on December 18, 2009 by FOARP

[Cross posted at FOARP]

Such is my conclusion after reading China Digital Times’ translation of notes taken at a SCIO (State Council Information Office) training session attended by Peng Bo , Deputy Chief of the State Council Information Office Internet Affairs Bureau. Let’s do a run down:

1) Government-driven discrimination against foreign companies out of fear of foreign influence -

Commercial websites must understand that it is the government that protects the development of domestic websites. If the Chinese internet didn’t have Xinlang, then Yahoo would have free rein; if there was no Baidu, then Google would have free rein; if there was no QQ, then MSN would have free rein. All of this is because the government is intentionally fostering domestic enterprises.

2) Attempts by the Chinese government to censor and control the effect of Obama’s visit -

Criticize Sina for not thinking politically; when reporting on Obama’s visit to China, they played without authorization a video of Obama speaking in Shanghai.

The most important part of Obama’s visit to China was his speech in Shanghai. The format of this speech was different than the speech format used by past U.S. presidents when visiting China. It was specially designed by the U.S. government to enlarge Obama’s personal influence.

Before Obama visited China, America and China negotiated that websites and television stations would broadcast the event. China accepted their request; however, live television coverage was to be limited to Shanghai area television stations.

These measures were implemented to accord with the central government’s desire that people become enthused about China-U.S. relations rather than be enthused about Obama.

Providing a video of Obama’s speech without authorization was done for Sina’s commercial interest and was not done for the nation’s interest. In order to gain a little, a lot was lost.

3) Government censorship of overseas news reports felt not to be ‘correct’ (i.e., not negative) -

Criticize Netease for going after sensational stories and not doing a good job of directing public opinion. [Neatease's] international news headlines are always things like “New York Mayor Bloomberg Receives Annual Salary of $1”, “Black American Becomes Mayor”, “American Youth Becomes Mayor”. These headlines are sensationalist and cast aspersions [on the Chinese government]. [Netease] has set the wrong direction for public opinion and has not properly fulfilled its role as a guide [of public opinion]

Note the fact that positive foreign news is felt to be critical of the Chinese government. This was reinforced by Li Wufeng, Bureau Chief of the State Council Information Office Internet Affairs Bureau, in his talk at the same training session:

2. Currently, the online republishing of news stories has the following major problems:

2.1 Republishing articles from small papers and publications, even republishing articles from the foreign press.

2.2 The online news phenomenon of “news laundering” [i.e., getting a domestic publication to print news from a banned source and then quoting it] is still serious. Sometimes standard news sources do not even carry the story [that the republishing source claimed the standard news source published].

2.3 Intentionally posting unpermitted content on interactive interfaces (forums, blogs).

2.4 Small newspapers and websites republish each others’ stories, creating media hype. For example, the Deng Yujiao [official killed by waitress defending herself against rape] incident and the Hangzhou street race [well connected young man uses influence to escape serious charges related to hit-and-run killing] case.

Assuming these notes accurately reflect what was said at the training session, this is pure dynamite. It shows that the government’s influencing, censorship and ‘net nannying’ of the Chinese internet is pervasive, and driven by a paranoid view of the media, both foreign and domestic. I ‘m looking forward to reading the translated notes from the other official’s talks.

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Time to Stop Wasting Time

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

I haven’t got much these days. Real life has taken center stage, obviously. Thanks to FOARP for stopping by.


It was funny to see Jianshuo notice a general slump in blogging, which is quite interesting. I also noticed that the flow of content seemed to slow down somewhat, but thought nothing of it. Could it be residual seasonal conditioning? I find that Autumn (well, its Winter already) is always a time of great activity. More real life activity = less blogging?


I saw that The Poor Man was unblocked a couple weeks ago, and did a little dance of joy before perusing the archives and comments. And now, Roland (who always impresses me with his wide linkage across the spectrum of intelligence and sense) has linked to an instant-classic by the mysterious and avuncular Curv3ball, hisownself. That blockage, by the way, I am convinced was due to a hoster or IP issue, as there was never any content on the site that possibly could have triggered the censors, and it was blocked for a very long time.


Noting the legal situation James Fallows (who has good news!) talked about recently, I saw this issue several years ago. Its a national policy and was probably implemented 3-5 years ago. In the early days I do not believe such a policy was ever in place, as back then any restrictions on foreign workers would have been counter-productive. That was, of course, back when China had very few ‘foreign experts’. Ha ha, good times, good times. I specifically remember some teachers over 70 in those days, up through 2005.


I hesitate to suggest reasons why the policy might have been created. I will say there certainly are ways for the committed to circumvent the restrictions.


I do not agree with the analysis of a lot of people online talking about how this is some optional requirement that can be used to force people out, or at least I do not agree that the authorities are permitted such levels of discretion as implied by some. Discretion is the anathema of an efficient legal regime, and, whatever it’s faults, China wants an efficient legal regime.


What has happened for years now (outside of this newer policy regarding the over-60 set) is that many people used the lax visa rules to work on business visas. They may well be unable to meet the requirement to become a ‘foreign expert’ (which is just a degree iirc) and work legally. So the system is (has been, actually, for over two years now) tightening up, and now getting around the basic rules has gotten much harder.


That foreign business owners without legal standing would be ejected from their positions by their workers is just a dog-bites-man story, as this comment by jg notes. Yes it is wrong in a moral sense but anybody who put themselves in that position really has no leg to stand on.


Posted in China | Tagged | 1 Comment

"The inane meanderings of a petty little fascist . . . ."

Posted on December 7, 2009 by FOARP

[Cross posted at FOARP]

Such was going to be the conclusion of the piece I had just written on Raymond Zhou’s indescribably vile (not to mention homophobic) passive-aggressive assault on Chinese wild-boy and subversive author/blogger Han Han. Unfortunately for me, but, dear readers, fortunately for you, before I could click on the button marked “publish” I saw this excellent translation of a Hecaitou post by ESWN over at ULN’s place. Money quote:

There is nothing surprising about this nonsense from Raymond Zhou. But we have to be wary of the open hostility displayed in his open letter. The western media were made out to be evil people who want to shove every Chinese people into the fire pit. At the same time, he tied those who dared to fight for the rights of people onto the chariots of the evil western media:

Or you can bribe government censors to shut down your blog for a month. Have them launch a wide-ranging campaign against you. Organize students nationwide to denounce you. The shortest cut to Western credibility, I must add, is to get yourself thrown in jail. Until that happens, you are simply another “willing participant”.

What does that mean? My interpretation is that: Those whose blogs were shut down, those who were criticized by a mass mobilization and those who were sent to prison did so in order to get a page in TIME and win the approval of the western media. It has been a long time since that I have not read any such cold-blooded words. If Raymond Zhou has the guts, he should provide a name list of such people and tell the public: Did these people think that “the quickest way to gain the approval of the western media” was to go to jail? Does Raymond Zhou not want Han Han to any more western media interviews? Does Raymond Zhou not want Han Han to blog about social injustices any more?

Absolutely to the point. Han Han has not yet replied, nor does it seem likely that he will, or even needs to. Hecaitou said it all.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

What was Handed Down to Me

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

Checks and Balances, the vaunted US system of distribution of power between the three branches of government, is fundamentally, at its heart, about oversight and about accountability.


The entire system is based on a simple theory: Men in position of power without effective oversight will abuse that power. That understanding may be couched in different terms or spun in different directions, but it comes down to two lines: Men with power sans accountability are likely to abuse their power, and accountability is the best remedy for such abuses, in order to limit the damage of the abuses, if not to prevent such abuses by the threat of effective oversight.


So we built a system with three branches, each with, you guessed it, oversight capabilities. And we built a Federal and State system with similar accountability and limitation on power features.


I wonder what those guys were trying to do? It all just seems so…haphazard, don’t you think?


Now we may say that human nature is good, or that it is bad, but this fundamental understanding of human nature is clear: Social environments have consequences, and environments filled with accountability are less oppressive and less unjust, because powerful figures are kept in check.


George W. Bush doesn’t believe in law, and he doesn’t believe in accountability for his friends. We all know about he and Cheney together, locked together by their common ideological flag, ushered in a period of utter lawlessness. This is why they will be punished, in the fullness of time, and it is why so many are viscerally angry about the crimes of that administration.


But, looking forward, what of the Obama Administration?


President Barrack Obama arrived in Shanghai just after an unusually-severe cold front descended upon the city. The entire week was bone-numbingly cold a good six weeks before anyone expected to see such temperatures.


The Administration fought for access to a group of people, and that’s good, I think, in that we are engaging at a high level directly with a wide audience, both at micro level within the echelons of government and the macro level through mass media.


But there is one thing that confuses me. You see, Obama apparently said this in Shanghai on a cold, rainy day in November:


I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can then hold their own governments accountable.



Because I thought the official policy of the Obama Administration was that the past is the past and accountability no longer matters.


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A Proud and Booming Industry

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

It just burns me, the petty little games played by the political censors.


You know, whereas the rest of us are worried about the real economy, in this ersatz industry, every effort is paid to make sure that numbers are achieved! Pages blocked! Foul content walled off from innocent eyes! Success is surely guaranteed with this type of efficiency!


Not unlike the failure of proper administration which led to starvation 50 plus years ago, this industry must certainly be driven by increasingly bizarre numbers, calculations and ratios, or should I say rationalizations, which firmly encompasses all of the above.


Not to mention the bald competitive advantage gained therein, most notably in the video space. That is not collateral by any means.


The proxies were off, very briefly, earlier this week. But then clamped back down again.


And the suckers pay 50 bucks a month to work around it. Heh. That’s funny.


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Burn The Slack Away

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

Big news out of Washington, D.C.:


Washington Times to Assess Positioning in Response to Control by Psychotic Deistic Quasi-Religious Organization; New Management Team to Focus on Sustainability Planning


WASHINGTON, DC – The Washington Times LLC today announced that it is continuing on its path toward a sustainable multimedia news enterprise involving leadership expertise from within The Washington Times and directed by its Board of Directors and its parent company, News World Communications LLC, despite the insanity and inanity eminating from the Moonie Investors.


Today’s industry conditions and the general economic downturn necessitate this team-based assessment, planning, and subsequent implementation of a plan to enable The Times to become a sustainable (!) multimedia company in today’s challenging news industry environment, utilizing the concrete shoes provided by the Moonie Investors.


Jonathan Slevin has been named Acting President and Publisher of The Washington Times, having passed through the initiation of teabagging the Reverend Leader Himself, twice. Tatum executive services and other specialists are providing assistance to a new Washington Times leadership team of stooges and mercenaries. The process will clarify the steps needed to achieve the goal of a market-based, financially sustainable media enterprise, in theory.


Mr. Slevin previously served as a vice president of The Washington Times, was managing editor of the New York City Tribune, held executive business management positions in other industries, and is the author of several books. He comes from a journalism family that includes his late father, a reporter on the political economy and former president of The National Press Club, his cousin who was formerly editorial page editor of The Los Angeles Times, and his uncle, editor in chief of The Baltimore Sun and a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter in international affairs. Poor schmuck. Give him 28 months, max.


Thomas P. McDevitt has been relieved of his duties as president and publisher of The Washington Times, having finally lost 100% of his soul and thereby been rendered completely useless to the Organization. Keith Cooperrider, former chief financial officer of The Washington Times, has also been relieved of his duties, as well as Dong Moon Joo, who was serving in a titular role as chairman. That is not a typo.


“The Washington Times values the highest standards of journalism and a commitment to serving the citizens of our democratic form of government, which we hope to change to a theocracy with the Righteous Holy Rev. Moon or his direct descendents in a position of total power, with the news they need to make informed decisions that benefit our long-term goals on matters in our vital collective and personal interests,” said Slevin. “Our assessment team looks forward to emerging with a market-based plan that supports the sustainability of The Washington Times and advances the Times’ role as an important source of biased and slanted news and opinion for readers who value a diversity of information and analysis as long as the defense industry and dictatorial power is constantly supported.”



Posted in Education, Law | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Stop Taking Bad Advice

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

I saw this other day:


Billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr., said today the U.S. is in the beginning of a “huge crash in commercial real estate.”

“All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously,” said Ross, one of nine money managers participating in a government program to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. “Occupancy rates are going down. Rent rates are going down and the capitalization rate — the return that investors are demanding to buy a property — are going up.”



And I said, ho hum, I wonder if this is as serious as it seems? I mean, I can’t read Calculated Risk of course, because the unharmonized content would sear images of capitalism into my brain or something, so but what’s there to worry about, right?


And then, today, for some ungodly reason, I read this and realized how serious our problems are:


I think we have bottomed out; I don’t foresee the economy starting to contract sharply again.



So, that settles the matter. The McArdle Index is infallible. We are headed directly for a double-dip recession, and now there is no getting around it. The oracle has spoken.


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Sure fine to see you

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

Krugman is just a national treasure. Note how he lays everything out so clearly, with the obligatory language for domestic consumption:


China’s bad behavior is posing a growing threat to the rest of the world economy. The only question now is what the world — and, in particular, the United States — will do about it.



But then shifts to a blameless explanation of the situation:


The value of China’s currency, unlike, say, the value of the British pound, isn’t determined by supply and demand. Instead, Chinese authorities enforced that target by buying or selling their currency in the foreign exchange market — a policy made possible by restrictions on the ability of private investors to move their money either into or out of the country.
….
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with such a policy, especially in a still poor country whose financial system might all too easily be destabilized by volatile flows of hot money. In fact, the system served China well during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The crucial question, however, is whether the target value of the yuan is reasonable.
…..
Until around 2001, you could argue that it was: China’s overall trade position wasn’t too far out of balance. From then onward, however, the policy of keeping the yuan-dollar rate fixed came to look increasingly bizarre. First of all, the dollar slid in value, especially against the euro, so that by keeping the yuan/dollar rate fixed, Chinese officials were, in effect, devaluing their currency against everyone else’s. Meanwhile, productivity in China’s export industries soared; combined with the de facto devaluation, this made Chinese goods extremely cheap on world markets.



Fallows has mentioned, obliquely, that China has artificially lowered the wages of its workforce. This was a brilliant strategy at the time, as it attracted foreign capital, but obviously poses long-term problems.


However, it is my understanding that Beijing has long been alarmed at the real weakness of the dollar, with active debates back in Q408, (many were doubtless shocked, as we all were, by the deterioration of the US economy and trust in the dollar over the long term) and now with increasing moves away from the dollar.


The RMB was put under a basket of goods some time ago, no? Back in April this year I believe? Back in October 08, the US government just had to hope and pray that China would continue to buy dollars. I will never forget what the Republicans did to the US economy. So this has been a weening process, to be perfectly honest. Sad, really.


Inflation in China is a serious issue, with housing inflation at unsustainable levels. The factories in Guangdong that employ Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian immigrant labor are silent. This is another even more serious problem, and the export market isn’t going to come back as before. No sense in serving that market.


All in all, I think Beijing may well be happy to see this column. The RMB will appreciate because fundamentals in China are quite good.


Political cover, on the other hand, is (usually) spotty at best.


Well done, Mr. Krugman.


Posted in Macro-economics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Hearts Pumping Ink

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Rhodo Zeb

Recently, in another context, a Chinese colleague reminded me that the West long used human rights as a club against China, for naked political gain, while conveniently defining the term so as to make themselves wholly blameless. The poor kids stuck in the barrios of major cities and ground up in our ‘justice’ system were never victims of the horrid human rights violations like in China, you know.


This indeed diminishes all who would take the same banner, but of course once the US started torturing the entire concept became meaningless, and indeed freedom, democracy, terrorism and torture are all today poorly defined, sloganesque cudgels with which one country or culture can beat another. The words almost mean nothing today. And these instruments of behavioral modification are becoming less and less effective.


Of course, as I believe I have mentioned, the US was sanctioning and teaching torture even back during the great days of Reagan, and all through the Clinton Admin.


So the hypocrisy of today is not actually worse than that of before, in one aspect at least.


Today’s hypocrisy is just a bit more…naked.


The problem is that the banner is important. But the argument has to be made all over again.


What is the best relationship between the state and the individual? We have our system in the West, but the crime and violence we put up with seems dangerous for China, with its large population.


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It was 20 years ago today . . . .

Posted on October 25, 2009 by FOARP

[Cross-posted from FOARP]

Well, not quite. We’ll have to wait until next month to celebrate the fall of the Berlin wall. One group of ‘netizens’ (a term I have only ever heard used seriously in China), however, aren’t waiting, and have hijacked this commemorative site to stage their own protest highlighting the continued division of China from the rest of the world by the Great Fire Wall. Well worth having a look if you have time.

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