(New York Daily News)  CNN sued for Cafferty's comments.  By Thomas Zambito.  April 25, 2008.

Two women upset with anti-Chinese comments CNN anchor Jack Cafferty made on the air filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit in Manhattan Thursday, seeking $1 for every Chinese national they say was offended.  Retired Beijing elementary school teacher Li Lan Li and Flushing beautician Lydia Leung say Cafferty's comments disgraced Chinese worldwide on the eve of the Summer Olympic Games, a historic moment in the country's 5,000-year history.  The lawsuit cites two offending comments Cafferty made on April 9. "They're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years," Cafferty said, according to the lawsuit. He also referred to Chinese imports as "junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food."

(Duowei)  According to the 'human flesh search engines,' here is the information uncovered by Chinese netizens about the case.

From the Department of Justice dockets,

     Li et al v. Cable News Network et al
　　Plaintiffs: Li Lan Li and Lydia Leung
　　Defandants: Cable News Network and Jack Cafferty
　　Case Number: :2008cv03867
　　Filed: April 24, 2008
　　Court: New York Southern District Court
　　Office: Foley Square Office
　　County: New York
　　Presiding Judge: Judge Denny Chin
　　Nature of Suit: Torts - Injury - Assault, Libel, and Slander
　　Cause: 28:1332 Diversity-Personal Injury
　　Jurisdiction: Diversity
　　Jury Demanded by: Plaintiff
　　Amount Demanded: $9,999,000.00

Thus, the amount is not USD 1.3 billion as announced to the press.

From the corporate name database Manta, the law firm "Ming Hai" has this information:

　　Law Office Of Ming Hai Pc
　　3609 Main St Ste 7b, Flushing, NY 11354-6504, United States
　　Phone: (718) 445-9111
　　SIC:Legal Services
　　Line of Business:Legal Services Office
　　Year Started:N/A
　　State of Incorporation:N/A
　　URL:N/A
　　Location Type: Single Location
　　Stock Symbol:N/A
　　Stock Exchange:N/A
　　Also Does Business As:N/A
　　NAICS:N/A
　　SIC #Code:
　　Est. Annual Sales:
　　Est. Employees:2
　　Est. Employees at Location:2
　　Contact Name:Ming Hai
　　Contact Title:Owner

Thus, this is a small firm with two employees (lawyer and secretary?) at a single location.

(Duowei)  The following letter was purported sent by David C. Vigilante (Vice President - Legal, CNN) to Ming Hai.

Mr. Ming Hai
Law Office of Ming Hai, PC
36-09 Main Street Suite 7B
Flushing, NY  11354

Re: Li vs. CNN

As you may know, Jack Cafferty recently gave an interview to Bill Press, a nationally syndicated political commentator in the United States.  During that interview he was asked about his recent remarks that have  been controversy in China and the United States.  Mr. Cafferty responded: Änd the one thing that I regret was that some Chinese citizens in China and Chinese-Americans in this country felt like maybe I was insulting them.  And that was never my intention.  And I am sorry for that ...

I hope this clarifies matters for  you.

Sincerely,
David C. Vigilante.

(World Journal)  CNN Apologizes Under Lawsuit.  May 9, 2008.

Acting under a lawsuit filed by Chinese and Chinese American citizens, CNN issued an apology Wednesday for their employee Jack Caffery’s insulting comment about Chinese people, reported the World Journal. The plaintiff's attorney said he considers the words “regret” and “sorry” in the statement from CNN’s Vice President David Vigilante an apology. The plaintiffs said the statement is almost the same as one issued by CNN April 15 – with little sincerity. They are deciding on next steps. CNN’s public relations person Nigel Pritchard said there would be no other response from the network.

(Ta Kung Pao; XYS)  May 10, 2008.

At just after 3pm on May 9, the Ming Hai law firm faxed the media to announce that the lawsuit against CNN has been withdrawn. The fax said: "Our law firm apologizes to all those who have supported this case ... Finally, please understand that it is not enough for one lawyer and one retired person to win respect for the Chinese.  We want everybody to continue to work hard as Sun Yat-sen once said: 'The revolution has not yet succeeded, so the comrades must continue to work hard.

Our reporter called Ming Hai and asked, "You said before that you will withdraw the case only after you receive an apology from CNN that the Chinese around the world is satisfied with.  Does this mean that the Chinese are satisfied."

Ming Hai did not offer more explanation.  He said, "People have different standards of being satisfied.  I have recently been subjected some pressure.  Many business clients have come to me to handle their cases, and I have to take care of them.  The public opinion support on the other side of the world, but I have to consider the situation in New  York because my business is mainly here.  I believe that to get the status and respect for the Chinese people, the Chinese all over the world must work continuously to enhance the power of China, elevate the quality of the citizens and maintain the internal unity of the Chinese.  There should not be too much hope for this case.  This problem cannot be solved by one lawsuit, and it cannot be solved by one lawyer."

The best known comparison is with "being disappeared." (Wikipedia)

In the case of forced disappearance the word disappear, which is properly an intransitive verb, becomes transitive. Victims, who are those who have disappeared, or the disappeared, are said to have been disappeared, rather than the more usual have disappeared. The perpetrators have disappeared them, rather than made them disappear. Of course in these circumstances both the formal expressions "was made to disappear" or "was caused to disappear" and the informal transitive usage are euphemisms: these people have presumably been tortured and murdered; they have indeed disappeared, but forever.  ...  Both the English noun phrase the disappeared and the Spanish los desaparecidos are often understood nowadays to refer to victims of state terror.

(Daqi) 

In China, a currently popular phrase is "being suicided."  It originally appeared in Tianya Forum post titled: "The Latest Development In The Case Of Tan Jing: Four Korans expose the shocking truth about the case of Tan Jing falling to her death."  It has been adopted by netizens for other cases, such as the "whistleblower in the 'White House' government scandal of Fuyang (Anhui) being suicided." 

The term "being suicided" refers to cases in which people die of unknown causes but the experts determined these to be suicides.  The usage changes the use from the intransitive case to transitive.  Instead of saying "So-and-so committed suicide according to the medical examiner," the description is "So-and-so was suicided."  Just like 'being disappeared,' 'being suicided' is a compact and evocative term that is destined to be a popular Internet term.

Q1.  Do you think the DPP values public opinion as important?
  5%: Very important
19%: Somewhat important
27%: Somewhat unimportant
28%: Very unimportant
21%: Don't know
Do you think the KMT values public opinion as important?
10%: Very important
45%: Somewhat important
17%: Somewhat unimportant
  4%: Very unimportant
23%: Don't know
 
Q2.  How clean (non-corrupt) do you think the DPP is?
  1%: Very clean
  9%: Somewhat clean
32%: Somewhat corrupt
43%: Very corrupt
15%: Don't know
How clean (non-corrupt) do you think the KMT is?
  5%: Very clean
34%: Somewhat clean
27%: Somewhat corrupt
  9%: Very corrupt
25%: Don't know
 
Q3.  How lively and energetic do you think the DPP is?
  7%: Very energetic
27%: Somewhat energetic
27%: Somewhat not energetic
24%: Very not energetic
15%: Don't know
How lively and energetic do you think the KMT is?
14%: Very energetic
47%: Somewhat energetic
17%: Somewhat not energetic
  6%: Very not energetic
16%: Don't know
 
Q5.  How unified are the DPP?
  5%: Very unified
15%: Somewhat unified
32%: Somewhat divided
38%: Very undivided
11%: Don't know
How unified are the KMT?
20%: Very unified
42%: Somewhat unified
20%: Somewhat divided
  7%: Very divided
11%: Don't know
 
Q6.  Do you think the DPP has the ability to reflect on itself?
28%: Yes
58%: No
14%: Don't know
Do you think the KMT has the ability to reflect on itself?
64%: Yes
21%: No
15%: Don't know
 
Q7.  Overall, how well has the DPP performed as the ruling party over the past eight years? 
40%: Good (March 2002 two years after Chen Shui-bian became president)
32%: Good (August 2004 after Chen Shui-bian won a second presidential term)
23%: Good (September 200 after the foreign laborers rioted)
13%: Good (August 2006 when Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law Chao Jian-king was detained)
19%: Good (October 2007 first trial of Ma Ying-jeou's special fee case)
15%: Good (January 2008 when the DPP were routed in Legislative Council elections)
12%: Good (Papua-New Guinea diplomatic scandal)
 
Q10.  Do you expect the KMT to perform well as the ruling party in the future?
65%: Good
13%: Bad
21%: Don't know

... Recently, we hear a lot about "the anti-China wave."  This is usually prefaced by "the western anti-China wave."  I think that this is a concept that needs to be analyzed carefully.  What is the "western anti-China wave"?  First, let us talk about "western"."  This is a vague and generalized concept.  When we speak about the west, what do we mean?  The United States?  The United Kingdom?  Iceland?  Ireland?  Lichtenstein?  Which west do you mean?  Is Turkey part of the west?

The west, like the east, is a very vague collective term.  We put certain things into this concept and suddenly it looks like something concrete.  The same thing happens to the east.  When certain scholars talk about Orientalism, this is what they mean.  What is the east?  When foreigner speak of easterners, which east are they talking about?  Japan?  China?  India?  Arabia?  Even Egypt is considered part of the east.  Think about what do we share with the Egyptians.  This is merely the prejudice of the westerners.  In the west, they vaguely designate a certain region to be the east where people have certain common locations, qualities and cultures.  Meanwhile, we who are included in the east know clearly that these are not facts, right?

Conversely, we also look at the west in the same way.  When we say that there is an anti-China tide in the west, many westerners object because they don't know what we mean by the west.  Which west are we talking about?

Next, there is the idea that the anti-China tide is part of a huge conspiracy.  Now a conspiracy is hatched, planned and executed by people.  Let us imagine that such a well-organized, well-planned conspiracy does exist.  Then someone is making the plans and handing out the tasks to specific individuals to destroy China!  So one order is issued to CNN to crop the photo of the Lhasa rioters.  Another order is issued to BBC to do something else, and so on.  That is how it goes, right?

But let us look at the recent western media distortions in the Tibet coverage.  Based upon my knowledge of the media, I cannot believe that this is a calculated plan.  That would be impossibly difficult.  If you summon the chief editors of TIME magazine, CNN, BBC, Spielgel and other media to sit down in one room, or hold an intercontinental teleconference to discuss how to gang up on China, those guys will find it hilarious.  Therefore, this was not an organized effort to smear China.

So what happened?  This was a form of consensus that was produced under their system.  In this western anti-China tide, we were able to perceive certain vague ideas existing in the western media, including their world-views and values, which clouded their eyes.  We often say that news media ought to seek objectivity, which is a romantic fantasy that we had before. 

So what is the biggest lesson for us from this affair?  In the past, many people don't believe in our Chinese media, because of the lack of independence therein.  The western media are theoretically independent.  What does that mean?  For example, CNN will not heed government orders because it is an independent commercial medium which is not a government department.  Since it is independent, it should be objective.  What is objectivity?  Let me quote the motto from the <Youth Era> journal of your school: "Fact is fact, view is view."  I know that in journalism, we line up the facts and put the views aside at first.  We describe the facts first, and then we can discuss our views later. 

In the past, we thought that this was what the western media were able to do.  But this time, we found this to be untrue.  Their views are actually affecting what they choose to see and what they choose to ignore.  The real issue here is not about any conspiracy, but about how these biased views were formed in the first place.  We can observe these biases in the various distortions, errors and partial reports end edited images in the western media.  But these are views that have been held by them for a long time already.

First, about the Tibet problem.  They feel that Tibet was an independent country before 1949, it was invaded and occupied by the China which has to employ violence to suppress the opposition and this has continued up to now.  The Qingzang Railroad was built ensure that the army can be sent in quickly to quell uprisings.  All these stories have appeared previously.

Secondly, they feel that the Chinese government is a very closed government which has an iron grip on its own media.  As a result, nothing in the Chinese media can be trusted, including all the statements and clarifications on CCTV.  They instinctively distrust the information.  Why?  Because it is coming from CCTV, where everything is distorted.

Next, we have to ask why they would do those stupid things with the photos.  For example, there is a photo of the emergency crew helping a wounded person, but the western media described it as a peaceful Tibetan demonstrator being arrested.  How can such distortions occur?  This is due to the systematic prejudices underneath.

...

The western media misunderstand and distort us by saying that we have been brain-washed.  Why should they think that we have been brain-washed?  That is because they think that our media environment is bad.  That was a major point in Chang Ping's essay (see How To Find The Truth About Lhasa?).  This entails a sensitive issue about whether we have the facts on all the things that have been happening recently.  Maybe we don't.  Or maybe we only have partial knowledge.

Recently, there are anti-CNN and anti-western-media movements, which are led by the overseas Chinese students and immigrants.  Why is that?  Because they are able to observe overseas what we cannot observe here in China.  A while ago, if you search for "Tibet" on the Internet, you may find it hard to get anything.  So if we want to find out about how the westerners are misrepresenting and demonizing us in order to protest, we might not even be able to see what they did.  Actually, we are not asking for much.  We only want to say that something is wrong and we want it corrected.  Is that so hard?  I thought that this was Chang Ping's point.  He is not denying that the western media were distorting China, but he wants to see what those distortions are.  That was all he was asking for, and do you think that it is a reasonable demand?  I find that this is reasonable.  This is an example of "Fact is fact, view is view."

(China.com)  The following dishwashing detergent ad appeared at bus stops in London.  The China here was taken as a double entendre to refer to the country named China.  Thus, some Chinese netizens began a campaign against the company P&G.  As a result, P&G has apologized and withdrawn the ad.

(Those Were The Names)   The follow screen captures are taken from the Chinatown section of the game GTA IV.  For anyone who can read and understand Cantonese, these words are clearly vulgar and insulting.

For example, in the last photo for the "Ben Chow mortgage," the words "Ben Chow" is a Cantonese homonym for "penis."  The second photo has a "Mediterranean Sea Hair Salon"; however, "Mediterranean Sea" is the Cantonese term for "bald head" -- you can figure out why bald-headed men would want to visit hair salons. 

These screen shots have been seen at the various Hong Kong discussion forums.  The netizens merely had a good laugh and then move on to something else.  After all, if the Chinese people want to to cosmopolitan sophisticates, they need to have a sense humor and tolerance in addition to patriotism.  Besides, the GTV IV team must have a Hong Kong person there to come up with terms like "Ben Chow."


The Guiyang Railroad Police Division
Police (Road) News Monitoring Phoneline: (0851) 8271488.


Please deposit your trash here.
Please do not toss cigarettes butts in here.


Please take care of your personal belongings


Strictly prohibited to throw objects out of the window

On the eve before the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong, the members of the largest political party (the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong) wore sports suits to the Legislative Council in order to show their firm support for the Beijing Olympics.  But the color of those sports suits became controversial.  The DAB insisted that the sports suits were red, but others believe that they were closer to orange.  The political opponents scorned that the DAB is color-blind.

Within the color spectrum, red and orange are adjacent.  They are warm colors that evoke passion, excitement, energy and courage.  They also evoke anger and danger.  Red and orange are brothers.  They communicate the same message.  In red, there is orange; in orange, there is red.

But when politics intervenes, red and orange are forced to take opposite sides.  Red signifies patriotism and loyalty, while orange signifies rebellion and chaos.  When the DAB are said to mistake the color, this is tantamount to saying that they are politically incorrect.  This is no trivial matter, so they issued clarifications again and again, but they could not achieve the desired effect.

Finally the DAB vice-chairman took out clothes from his own wardrobe to show the contrast between red and orange in order to put a stop to the public talk.  It was hilarious to see how the color of clothing could be taken so seriously.  No wonder some people say that local politics are like child's play.

It is one thing for adults to want to waste their time over these games about colors, but the phenomenon has even crept into the schools.  On May 2, it was politically correct to wear red.  So some middle school stipulated that students can wear red to school on that day; if you don't want to wear red, you have to wear your regular school uniform.  But the school emphasized that orange clothes are definitely not allowed.

Some elementary schools organized students to cheer for the Olympic torch along the route as part of patriotic education.  They reminded the students repeatedly not to wear orange clothing.  Under such an atmosphere of political correctness, this was considered natural and nobody dissented.  Even more surprisingly, the school also stipulated that they cannot bring anything orange in color: orange book bags, orange pencil case, and even orange fruits must be removed before heading off to school.

Have the principals and teachers explained why these absurd rules must be followed?  Or are rules to be followed no matter whether you understand them or not?  What does red signify?  Since when did orange become taboo?  Did the school explain this clearly to the students?  Do the students discuss among themselves?  Do the parents know why the rules exist?  Was the Fear of Orange due to the Red Terror?

A certain Legislative Councilor decried at the Legislative Council that orange is the color of a monk's garb and the color revolution, and therefore this justifies the banning of the color orange from entering Hong Kong.  There was a political need for politicians to express such political fantasies.  But the children are innocent and who is blowing more and more of these loathsome political winds into the school campuses?

[ESWN:  Interestingly, I checked my wardrobe and all my sports suit jackets are ORANGE.  In fact, I once ran a website that was also known as THE ORANGE WEBSITE.  Here is a photo of my teammates at the New York City Marathon:

Yesterday on the Shanghai-based Internet forums, a notice for "urgent request to assist in the investigation" was circulated.  This notice was purportedly issued by the Hunan Road police station to all relevant departments within the area.  The police are seeking a suspect male around 40 years old, 1.65 meters tall, somewhat slim, pointed chin and high cheekbones.  At the time of the incident, the suspect male was carrying a nylon bag with a 10-liter gasoline drum with the words "Star Light".

The notice also described an unidentified deceased male: about 40 years old, 1.65 meters tall, false teeth on the top left, bottom left and bottom right.  There was a gap on the lower row of teeth which was filled with medical application.  The notice included sketches of the men as well as illustrations of the gasoline drum.  But the male suspect and the deceased male have similar descriptions, it is possible that they are the same person.  The notice asks for special attention to "persons who may take drastic action for various reasons" and "persons who went to get gas with a drum."


Unidentified deceased male

(SCMP)

Two men have been arrested in connection with a missing 16-year-old girl amid police fears that she might have been killed.  Divers from the special duties unit searched off a ferry pier in Kowloon City from 5pm to 6pm yesterday, but officers refused to say if they were looking for Wong Ka-mui, who left her home in Tai Po on April 27.

Police made an appeal for anyone to come forward who may have seen someone pushing a trolley loaded with a large white foam box outside Yan Fat Building in Shek Kip Mei Street, Sham Shui Po, between 5pm and 6pm on April 27. But they refused to reveal whether the box contained the girl's body.  Senior Superintendent Edward Leung Ka-ming, head of the Kowloon West crime unit, said the girl was last seen in one of the building's flats in the afternoon of the same day.

(Sing Tao)

According to Senior Superintendent Leung Ka-ming, the police found out that Wong Ka-mui was making friends via MSN in the hope of finding a part-time job.  Before she disappeared, she was going to meet a male netizen friend who could get her a job.

According to information, she met this friend at Shek Kip Mei Street and went into a studio apartment in Yan Fat Building.  The man took out some ketamine and got 'high.'  As they chatted, the girl mentioned: "I really want to die."  The man under the influence of drugs yelled: "Alright, I'll let you die."  Then he took a knife out and slashed her multiple times until her head was chopped off.  Afterwards, the murderer chopped the body up and placed the parts into a foam box.  With the help of another person, the box was carted down to Kowloon City and dropped into the bay.

Several days later, the man was sniffing ketamine again and told another friend that he had killed someone.  This was then subsequently reported to the police.

(Apple Daily)

Wong Ka-mui dropped out of school early this year.  According to information, she became a prostitute and advertised her services on the Internet at HKD 1,000 per session.  On the afternoon of April 27, she went to see a client at the Yan Fat Building on Shek Kip Mei Street in the Shum Shui Po district.  Inside the studio apartment, there were two men and they began to smoke marijuana.  After a while, someone asked Ka-mui for a ménage-a-trois.  She refused.  During the ensuing confusion, Ka-mui was strangled to death.  Afterwards, the men went down to the Shek Kip Mei market and picked up a foam box.  They also picked up some bricks from Wong Chuk Street.   Then they returned to the apartment and chopped up the body into pieces, which were put into the foam box.  At around 6pm that evening, the men pushed the foam box by a handcart down Boundary Street to the Kowloon City Pier.  They threw the foam fox (which was weighed down by the bricks) in Kowloon bay.

(The Sun)

According to information, Wong Ka-mui had been a good student until she got mixed up with bad people via ICQ.  Several months ago, she dropped out of school and began working as a prostitute.  On the morning of April 27, Wong was seen at the Yan Fat Building on Shek Kip Mei Street in Shum Shui Po.  She was supposed to be doing a ménage-a-trois with two men.  Wong had acquired a drug habit, and she overdosed on pills this time. 

The two men were afraid that they would be found guilty of murder.  So they set out to discard the body.  First, they went to Taipo Road to buy some ropes and nylon belts from a stationery store.  Then they picked up two foam boxes used to transport fish as well as a hardcart from the Shek Kip Mei market.  They also picked up some bricks from Fuk Wing Street.

Back at the apartment, they dismembered the body.  They took some of the meat back to the market and placed it among the discarded pork that was due to be cooked to distil oil.  Somewhere between 5pm and 6pm, the two men put the remaining body parts into the foam boxes and went to Taipo Road, where a friend transported the boxes to the Kowloon City public pier to be dumped into the bay.

Yesterday, police detectives interviewed people at at the six butcher shops at the Shek Kip Mei market.  According to the butchers, one individual goes around to collect the fat port meat (which is not fit to eat) every day.  Every month, the butchers will receive several hundred dollars.  When the butchers learned that human flesh might have been turned into cooking oil, they were disgusted.

(Ming Pao)

The police only said that Wong Ka-mui was spotted at the Yan Fat Building on the afternoon of April 27.  At around 5pm or so on the same day, someone left the building carting a big white foam box and headed down Taipo Road in the direction of Boundary Street.

According to informed sources, Wang knew one of the two male suspects and there were financial disputes between them.  It cannot be excluded that Wang was killed due to a quarrel over money.  The suspects then placed the body inside a foam box which was carried to the Kowloon City public pier and discarded.

With due respect, the Chinese netizens are skepitcal whether Red Dress MM is an authentic cleaning lady.  Could this be another Internet hype to promote a previously unknown person into a money-generating celebrity?
 
Even as some netizens praised Red Dress MM as the model example that "laborers are the most beautiful" around International Labor Day (May 1st), other netizens invoke the "human flesh search engine" to dig up the facts about Red Dress MM.  Very quickly, someone found out that Red Dress MM had appeared in certain audiovisual productions and this increases suspicion about the whole affair.  The pros and cons in this dispute often resulted in hysterical exchanges between the two sides.
 
We now know all about the name, email, school, family situation and blog URL of Red Dress MM, together with certain photos.  Her blog has suddenly drew massive traffic.
 
As for the photographer, the 'human flesh search engine' discovered that he is "Li Er Chai Si 立二拆四", who was known for the Paper-Clip-for Villa caper (see How the Media Were Conned By An Internet Promoter).  He has stated that he intended to photo 100 Chinese women without their permission over a three year period.
 
Meanwhile, Red Dress MM (whose real name is Yu Yang) is feeling the pressure.  On April 28, she wrote on her blog: "I am still young, so please don't hurt me.  I can only withstand a limited amount of pressure.  I don't want to be anxious every day of my life." She explained what had transpired: "Several days ago, I went to try to get a part-time job to pay for my schooling.  I was going to go with dormitory roommate to serve as hostesses.  But on that day, she fell ill and I had to go alone.  The person in charge said that hostesses were supposed to come in pairs, so I was assigned to do cleaning instead.  Cleaning is actually better, because it is more relaxed."
 
Her sudden fame has disrupted her life.  "At school, some people that I know as well as people that I don't know would come up and say hello; on the street, some stranger would yell, "The most beautiful cleaning lady!" or else I would be asked: "Are you the Red Dress MM?"  This is very annoying to me."
 
On May 2, Yu Yang wrote: "The man even took photos of me arriving at and leaving work.  I object to that.  My life has been disrupted by him.  I have just arrived in Beijing to attend the Modern School of Music.  I only want to learn management and live peacefully.  As for the netizens, I truly thank you all.  It had been my dream to become an actress, but I realize that it is all over.  I was a star for two days.  But I realize that all this shall pass and my life will be restored to its tranquillity.  I will still be me, Yu Yang!  I will be someone who works to live my own life with my sweat!"

...
 
The "human flesh search engine" first appeared on the Internet in 2006, more than two years ago.  Actually, the "human flesh search engine" is different from the automated search engines on the Internet.
 
In order to learn about someone, you initiate a "human flesh search" by posting at the Internet forums.  Among the numerous netizens, there may be some netizen who knows the person that you want to learn about, or else holds information about that person.  If this netizen wants to, he can post that information on the Internet.  Since there are so many netizens out there (note: 220+ million in China) and everybody is trying to search and dig about someone, it is possible to obtain a massive amount of information on a person in a very short time.
 
Each time that the "human flesh search engine" goes into action, detailed information about the target will be disclosed.  There is no privacy to speak of.  It goes without say that the name, address and family circumstances will be known.  Even the photos, body measurements and romantic history will be revealed.  The word "stunning" has been used to describe the level of detail about the disclosed information.
 
Once the "human flesh search engine" has been started, the target person will be the center of public attention.  The netizens can feel the awesome power of public opinion while the target is often subjected to tremendous pressure.

(Xinhua)  May 6, 2008 21:40:55.

Flammable oil-like material carried on board by a passenger triggered Monday's bus fire in Shanghai that left three dead and 12 injuries, police said Tuesday.    The police are not able to specify the nature of the oil, saying further investigation is underway.

(Eastday via MOP)

 "I turned my head and I saw fire.  A snake-skin bag was on fire."  Mr. Yu Qingwei was still scared when he recalled the scene.  On that day, he and his wife were escorting his father-in-law to visit the hospital.  The family were on the bus.  Mr. Yu had his back towards the backdoor and he stood in the middle of the bus next to his father-in-law.  Suddenly, he heard someone scream "Fire!" and he felt a heat wave coming down on his back.  He turned around and saw a snake-skin bag on fire about one meter away from him.  Within seconds, the flame was already 1.5 meters high almost to the chest.

At the time, the fire had not spread yet.  Mr. Yu realized that this was trouble and quickly led his father-in-law to escape through the middle door.  At the same time, he yelled to his wife to hurry up.  There was chaos inside the bus, as everybody screamed and rushed towards the middle door.

Mr. Yu was one of the earliest passengers to spot the source of the fire.  They were close to the door and they were able to to exit safely.  It took less than 10 seconds for them to get out.  But Mr. Yu and his father-in-law both had burned hair.  Within those ten seconds, the fire had spread from the fixed location across the bus.  The survivors including Mr. Yu all saw that someone kicked the snake-skin bag in a panic and the oil substance was spilled on the ground, whereupon the fire spread rapidly from the front of the bus to the back.  Sparks were sent flying onto the seats and bodies of the people who were trying to flee.  There was more chaos inside the bus.

According to testimony of the survivors, the bag caught fire somewhere in the front left section of the bus (more precisely, it was the third row of seats behind the driver).  The snake-skin bag was about 80 mm in length and 60mm in height.  Nobody saw who brought the bag onto the bus and nobody saw how it caught fire.

According to a 842 bus condcutor, the gas tank is usually on the front right side.  Since the burning bag was on the front left side (and to the left of the gas tank), it was unlikely that the fire had been triggered by the gas tank.

According to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, they have established that the fire was triggered by flammable oil-material carried on board by a passenger.  The reporter had interviewed the survivors and none of them detected any unusual smell beforehand.

... So who brought the bag with the flammable material onto the bus?  This is still a mystery.  According to normal rules, if a bag of this size were brought onto the bus, an extra ticket would be required.  Therefore, the bus conductor was most likely to have seen the person who brought the bag onto the bus.  According to the Yangpu Public Security Bureau, the surviving bus driver and bus conductor are now being held in protective custody.

The whereabouts and/or time of departure of the passenger with the bag are also unknown.  Someone said that he got off the bus, but someone else said that he was still on the bus.  According to the survivors, the situation was that the 842 bus made a stop and many people got off.  That bus stop was near some office buildings, and many people work around there.  The bus door then closed and the bus started again.  Before the bus even got out, the fire was spotted.  The 842 stopped, the bus conductor opened the back door and the passengers began to get out.

广州《南方都市报》所辖《南都周刊》副总编辑长平因发表文章，批评中央对西藏政策而遭撤职，该周刊员工昨天发起签名活动，抗议相关决定。长平的文章发表后，已遭内地网民及其他媒体围攻。

Deputy chief editor Chang Ping of the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily's Southern Metropolis Weekly has been relieved of his duties after penning some essays that were critical of Chinese government policies in Tibet.  The workers at the weekly magazine began a letter-signing campaign to protest the decision.  After Chang Ping's article was published, it was attacked by mainland netizens and other media.

Related Link:  More info on Chang Ping's sacking  Joel Martinsen, Danwei

Related link: How To Find The Truth About Lhasa?

(Translation)  Retired female military veteran in Nanchang has exceptional skills.
Her hands carry 220V electricity that can turn on lights.
She can cure many diseases.
By massage alone, she can cure erectile dysfunction, sexual frigidity and premature ejaculation.

(Xinhua)  (10:35:47 May 5th, 2008) 

At least three people were killed in a bus explosion in Shanghai at about 9:00 a.m. Monday, according to fire fighters who rushed to the scene.   The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

(SCMP)  May 6th, 2008

"After preliminary investigation, the fire relates to a passenger carrying combustible articles onto the bus. Police are further investigating the relevant situation," the official Shanghai media website, Eastday, and Shanghai Television quoted police as saying. No further details were given.

Some witnesses reported hearing an explosion, but it was not clear if that caused the fire or was the result of fuel igniting after the blaze started. The fire appeared to start near the back of the bus and one passenger said she smelled a "strange odour" shortly before it broke out.  Most of the passengers - estimated to number 30 to 50 - managed to escape through the doors, but the windows were sealed because it was an air-conditioned vehicle, local media said. Witnesses said the windows shattered after the explosion. "It was chaos. I was holding my granddaughter when people pushed me off the bus," one passenger said. Witnesses said the bus was quickly engulfed by the fire, with the flames reaching a height of 20 metres accompanied by thick black smoke climbing even higher. "It happened all of a sudden. The fire was very big," a witness said.

(The Wall Street Journal)  May 6th, 2008

A deadly bus fire in Shanghai was caused by a passenger carrying an unspecified "flammable material," according to local authorities who declined to characterize the incident further.  The fire killed three and injured at least 12 on a crowded commuter bus during the morning rush hour Monday, according to a preliminary assessment reported by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. The one-sentence dispatch didn't elaborate as to whether the incident was an accident or premeditated.

... Initially, China's official Xinhua News Agency described Monday's bus incident as a sudden "explosion" but in subsequent reports, the agency tempered its language by calling it a fire. Xinhua said the No. 842 bus was traveling in the industrial northeastern district of Yangpu with about 50 passengers aboard when it caught fire.  Within minutes of the incident, photos were posted onto Chinese Internet portals showing a bus blackened from its mid-section upward, with a charred roof but still sitting on its fully inflated tires and an undamaged engine compartment, suggesting the fire wasn't caused by the engine itself. While little but the frame and undercarriage remained after the fire, there were no obvious signs of a blast.  A witness working at a nearby restaurant said some passersby speculated that the fire might have been caused by a bomb, but that he heard no explosion or saw any reason why it was anything other than an accident.  Accounts posted on Chinese Web sites mostly focused on the apparent speed at which the fire spread, and the apparent inability of passengers to exit the air-conditioned bus or pry its windows open, rather than the possibility of terrorism.

The above are instances of careful journalism where they only report what is known and they source the statements and speculations.  And then we have a different brand of journalism that is not the kind that is taught in school:

(Apple Daily)


Suicide-style bombing of bus in Shanghai

Illustration of the the suicide-style bombing of bus in Shanghai

[in translation]

... Even more frightening to the citizens than the casualties at the scene is the vague reporting by the media.  The description covered 'self-ignition,' 'ignited explosion (that is, a fire caused by an explosion in the engine),' 'arson' and 'explosion' and this is enough to make one question whether the truth is being concealed.  Even more terrifying than the bus being set on fire in an attack is that the Shanghai public security bureau said casually that this was caused by flammable materials brought on by a bus.  Even more scary to the outside world is that the authorities could cover up the fact that the train in the Shandong collusion was the Olympic Games special promotion train.  If they can seal off the truth about the Shanghai bus and they can seal off the situation about epidemics, what couldn't they not deceive the Chinese people and the rest of the world on?

(Tim Johnson at China Rises Blog)

... Taiwan continues to maintain it doesn’t engage in dollar diplomacy. It says the money was for development projects in Papua New Guinea.

But since when does development money get wired into the personal accounts of two foreigners in Singapore? This money was meant to line someone’s pockets in Papua New Guinea. We’ve just had a weekend visitor from Central America who recounted from fairly direct information how one Central American president got $5 million in cash from Taipei. That kind of cash can buy loyalty – at least the temporary variety – from leaders of small countries.

The one saving grace: At least we can learn about it in Taiwan, where the press is free. When China does it, we’d probably never know.

(Taipei News)

Mainland Affairs Council Chairman (MAC) Chen Ming-tong said that while the scandal was not something to be proud of, it was the result of the diplomatic quandary the nation was in.  Emphasizing that the source of the country’s diplomatic predicament was Beijing, Chen Ming-tong said that unless Beijing respected the existence of the Republic of China, cross-strait relations would never improve.  Koo Kwang-ming, who hopes to become DPP chairman, said the DPP administration should determine why “crooks” had been allowed to handle the matter, adding that such a situation would not have existed had there been formal diplomatic relations. 

"SS Highland Teacher" is a regular visitor at the Baidu Gaomi Post Bar, because he is a resident of Gaomi city (Shandong province).  Over the past 18 months, he has made almost 3,500 posts and comments there.  If you will read those posts, you will find about a lot about him.

On April 2, he asked <Can anyone get me a job> and he left his mobile phone number.

On April 21, he wanted to buy a training uniform and he left his mobile phone number and QQ number.

On April 27, he wrote a post to complain about how hard his job was and how low the pay was.

On April 28, there was a train collision on the Jiaoji Railroad in Shandong province.  Many people got on the Internet to discuss the incident.  "SS Highland Teacher" came across a post written by someone else that characterized the train collision as an terrorist act as well as inflated the number of casualties.  He thought the post was interesting and since the post had appeared already, he decided to cross-post it at Baidu's Gaomi Post Bar. 

The post made by "SS Highland Teacher" was deleted shortly afterwards, but not before the Gaomi city public security bureau spotted it.  Since the post had appeared in an obscure local forum, very few people saw it.  Nevertheless, the public security bureau determined that the information had violated the People's Republic of China's national security law about dissemination of false information to disrupt public order.  The relevant law stipulates that misreporting crises, epidemics, police information and other means to disrupt public order is subject to 5 to 10 days in detention and/or a fine of less than 500 RMB.

The police used the information that "SS Highland Teacher" had posted about himself on the Internet at various times (such as mobile telephone number and QQ number) to track him down.  "SS Highland Teacher" was apprehended on April 30.  "SS Highland Teacher" admitted to posting the relevant information and he was sentenced to 5 days of administrative detention.

The local media then reported that on the case.  This affair then became the concerns of netizens at the Baidu Gaomi Post Bar as well as the Tianya Forum.  Some of these netizens challenged the actions of the local police, specifically with respect to the definition of "false information."  One netizen hoped that authorities would not create an social environment in which everyone is worried about what they post on the Internet.  This is especially true for those cross-posts which cannot be verified personally.

For example, what if something is wrong in this Southern Metropolis Daily report?  Then I as the translator/cross-poster will be held liable for spreading false information to disrupt public order.


 
Related Link:  The bimbo sidelined by her own nipple   Chinese Machete

(Apple Daily)  The deceased 40-year-old woman named Luk had a 39-year-old husband named Tu.  Together they have a 12-year-old son.  Luk had arrived from mainland China 5 years ago and she works at at a food factory earning HKD 7,000 per month.  On March 12, her husband and son came down from the mainland to join her.  Tu earned HKD 6,000 per month at a furniture moving company.  The information is that Luk has been continuing haranguing Tu for being useless.  On the night of the incident, Luk and his wife went out to buy a watermelon while their son was having a bath.  When they reached the back lane, Tu realized that he had forgotten his Hong Kong ID card.  So he went back to the apartment by himself.  While there, he picked up his ID as well as an iron hammer that he had recently purchased.  When he returned and met his wife on the street, Luk continued to nag him.  Tu told her: "Stop bothering me!" but she persisted.  So he used the hammer to hit her on the back of his head.  She fell down, and he continued to hit her for a dozen or so times.  Then he spilled the contents of her handbag onto the ground to create the impression of a robbery.  Afterwards, he returned to the apartment.  His son said that he heard someone screaming down the street.  So Tu went downstairs again, found the body, started crying and summoned the police.  But the police found discrepancy between the testimonies of father and son and they also found a receipt for a hammer at a hardware store.  The store clerk identified Tu as the purchaser from a photo line-up.  The police arrested Tu, who confessed to his crime.

(Oriental Daily)  According to information, on the night of the incident, the husband Tu and his wife Luk went downstairs to purchase a watermelon.  On the way, Tu realized that he had not brought his Hong Kong ID and said that he had to go back to retrieve it.  Once again, Luk accused Tu of being 'useless.'  Tu was deeply heard by the comment.  When he went back to the apartment, he took a recently purchased hammer and then savagely killed her with it.  He pretended that he knew nothing about what happened and called the police to say that his wife had been killed during a robbery.  The police checked the testimony of the husband and found out that the son had heard his mother screaming from the back lane at around 9pm whereas his father called the police only around 10pm. Afterwards, the police verified that the weapon had been purchased from a certain hardware store and the closed-circuit television surveillance tape that the husband had visited that store recently.  The police arrested the husband and took forty-four thousand dollars in cash and some jade pieces as evidence.
 
The long-term underlying cause of this case was due to Luk and Tu being married more than ten yeas ago.  According to information, Tu had an 'accident' and became sexually impotent.  As a result, Luk had been complaining about the non-existent conjugal relationship.  Five years ago, Luk came to Hong Kong by herself.  Tu suspected that she was seeing other persons.  Finally, Tu and son came to Hong Kong in March.  Tu found a job as a furniture mover.  His wife nagged him relentless and forced him to turn over his entire salary to her.  In his bitterness lies the seed of this murder case.

(Sing Tao)  41-year-old female named Luk successfully applied for her 40-year-old husband Tu and her son to come to Hong Kong.  She was counting on being a housewife while her husband work.  But her husband was not familiar with Hong Kong and could only manage to find work as a furniture mover.  So he kept complaining to his wife, who did not appreciate her own burden.  Therefore, the couple quarrelled frequently.  At 10pm on April 24, Tu called the police to say that he heard his wife screaming and went downstairs to find his wife in a pool of blood.  The police arrived to find Luk dead in a pool of blood and Tu crying over her body with blood on his hands.

During the police investigation, the neighbors claimed that they heard a loud quarrel between a couple at the apartment right before the incident.  Furthermore, the hammer belonged to the household.  There were also discrepancies in timing between the testimonies of father and son.  So the police arrested Tu.  According to the police, the motive of the murder was related to longstanding emotional problems.

(Sing Pao)  At first, the husband Tu called the police and suggested his wife was killed during a robbery.  But police learned from neighbors that there had been a quarrel as well as there being some dubious spots in the testimony about timing.  "After one week's investigation during which we got valuable advice from neighbors and examined the crime scene, we decided that the husband was lying."  According to the police, the underlying cause was the longstanding troubled relationship between husband and wife.  Luk had come down to Hong Kong several years ago, but Tu only came recently.  Luk complained bitterly that Tu did not actively look for job and he called him a "bad person who refused to find a job."  Tu claimed that he has a hip injury and therefore could not work.  This explanation only drew more verbal abuses.

On the evening of the incident, the couple was going to have dinner.  When they reached the back lane, Tu had enough of being nagged, returned to the apartment to fetch an iron hammer and then returned to hit Luk dozens of times on the head.  Once he realized that he had committed a murder, he called the police to report an incident.  The police found him crying over his wife's body in the back lane.  The police were able to solve the case because the son sold his father out.  When the son went to the murder scene, he saw the hammer and he innocently asked: "How come the hammer in our home shows up in this back lane?"  On the basis of this remark, plus the fingerprints of Tu on that hammer, the police were able to arrest Tu.
 
[ESWN Comment:  My head is exploding ... what is the truth? ... the more you read, the more confused you get ... what to do?]

(TVBS)  Singapore's Zaobao found in the Singapore court records that the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs had applied to freeze the sum of US$29.8 million in the bank accounts of two persons.  The MOFA claimed that the money is theirs and was given to the the two persons for the purpose of establishing diplomatic relationship with Papua-New Guinea.  Since the project fell through, the MOFA wants its money back.  The MOFA said that they did not reveal this case due to national interests consideration.  But since Zaobao was going to break the story, the MOFA voluntarily disclosed the matter to the press.
 
(TVBS)  After the scandal became public, Foreign Minister James Huang came forth to face the press.  During the press conference, Huang mentioned about a dozen times that the project was ordered by Vice Premier Chiou I-jen.  "Mr. Ching was assigned by then Secretary General of the National Security Council Chiou I-jen.  Thus, this project was the project of Chiou I-jen.  We obviously believe that the National Security Council would have investigated the security and honesty of the person and found no problems!"  Huang added: "The whole process has been a very painful torture for me.  Frankly speaking, I am worried about the person safety of my family and myself."
 
(TVBS)  The key witness in the Papua-New Guinea scandal is Wu Shi-tsai.  Before his press conference, Wu said that the mysterious friend that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen mentioned is deputy defense minister Ko Cheng-heng.  So before the press conference began, Chiou I-jen issued a statement through the Central News Agency that the so-called middleman was not Ko Cheng-heng.  Furthermore, this middleman is totally unconnected to President Chen Shui-bian.  However, Chiou still declined to name this middleman.
 
(TVBS)  Where did the US$30 million go?  Wu Shi-tsai said at his press conference: "Ching Chi-jui told me that we have to open a joint account.  I asked him why.  He said that this was upon the order of the Boss (=Chiou I-jen) and it was not Ching's intention."  After the US$30 million arrived, US29.8 million was transferred to that joint account while the remaining US$200,000 was wired to Papua-New Guinea for the work.  Wu said: "If I embezzled even one cent of that money, I would be sitting here facing you today."  The news from Singapore is that only US$60,000 remains out of the US$29.8 million.
 
(TVBS, b)  After Wu Shi-tsai held his press conference, which Chiou I-jen admitted to have watched closely, Chiou I-jen once again reached out to the Central News Agency and issued a statement that the so-called middleman was indeed deputy defence minister Ko Cheng-heng.  This left the whole world befuddled.  Unfortunately, nobody believes that and everybody is sure that this is just a diversionary tactic away from the true culprits.
 
(TVBS)  After staying out of sight for a couple of days, Vice-Premier Chiou I-jen appeared to face the press.  An Internet netizen noted that Chiou kept smiling.  In fact, the netizen counted that Chiou smiled a total of 21 times during the press conference.  The netizen wondered how anyone who just lost US$30 million or (NT$1 billion) of the people's money could dare to laugh.  The standard explanation is that this is a subconscious behavioral trait of Chiou, who smiled the same way on the day of the March 19, 2004 shooting of President Chen Shui-bian and Vice-President Annette Lu.  Regardless, this is just strikingly creepy to the audience.


 
(TVBS)  In the investigation of the foreign affairs scandal, the police searched the home of the lobbyist Wu Shi-tsai and seized his computer and documents.  To their astonishment, they found that Wu had made a complete record of his conversations of those concerned.  He said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed to US$20 million, but his partner Ching Chi-jiu wanted him to increase the amount to US$40 million.  The final amount was settled at US$30 million which was wired to Singapore.  Ching also provided Wu with a list of Taiwan officials who were going to share the extra US$10 million.  Wu has provided the list to the prosecutors.
 
(TVBS)  Today, President Chen Shui-bian had nothing to say about this affair.  Reporter: "Mr. President, NT$1 billion was embezzled from the national coffers.  Do you know that?"  But no matter how hard the media called out their questions, President Chen had nothing to say in spite of a dozen questions at two different events.
 
(TVBS)  At an emergency meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party representatives, there were demands for Chiou I-jen to resign from the party.  Chiou said that he was willing to do that.  As for whether he would resign as Vice Premier, that will depend on the decision of his boss Premier Chang Chun-hsiung and then the resulting reaction from society.  Chiou said, "I am confident about my innocence, but that is a different matter.  I think that all this has already damaged Taiwan as well as the Party, at least until the final judicial outcome.  For this reason alone, I don't think that it was going too far to ask me to resign from the Party."
 
By the way, there is only 17 days before Ma Ying-jeou takes over as president.  Why do James Huang, Chiou I-jen, etc want to prolong this side show and confirm the impression that the handover was justified and even essential?

(Foreign Correspondents Club of China)  April 30, 2008.

One hundred days before the Olympics, death threats against foreign correspondents and official statements demonizing Western media risk creating a hostile environment for foreign journalists based in China and for tens of thousands of additional media planning to cover the Games, says the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC). 

 

At least ten foreign correspondents in China have received anonymous death threats during a campaign, on the Web and in state-run media, against alleged bias in Western media coverage of the Tibetan unrest and its aftermath. 

 

The introduction of Olympics regulations allowing free travel and interviewing in China by foreign media between January 2007 and October 2008 represented an improvement in reporting conditions. However since March 14, the FCCC has learned of more than 50 incidents of interference in the work of international media trying to report in Tibetan communities. Foreign correspondents have been detained, prevented from conducting interviews, searched, and subjected to the confiscation or destruction of reporting materials. Authorities have intimidated Chinese sources and staff, and in some cases ordered them to inform on foreign correspondents’ activities. 

 

“If allowed to continue, the reporting interference and hate campaigns targeting international media may poison the pre-Games atmosphere for foreign journalists,” says FCCC President Melinda Liu. “We urge government authorities to investigate the death threats, which violate Chinese law, and otherwise help create an environment in keeping with their Olympic promises.”

[... more ...]

(Global Times)  According to international relations expert Zhou Fangyin of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Ever since these "disputes" surrounding the Beijing Olympics arose, the western media have been on the "offensive" due to their hegemony on speech.  Objectively speaking, China was basically on the "defensive."  But now the western media have adopted the tone of "victim" and accused China of intentionally creating problems.  This logic does not hold.  To a certain degree, the "weakness" of China with respect to public opinion implies that China is in no position to "demonize" the western media.  They can only hope to restore the truth of the matter and get their due understanding and respect.

The content of this FCCC statement once again exposed the fact that the western media held clear "biases" in their choice of information.  Honestly speaking, the Chinese netizens should not be issuing threats against the western correspondents.  But does this mean that it was right for the western media to file blatantly biased reports?  None of these things should have happened.  But what caused them?  The Chinese netizens did not initiate the provocations.  Rather it was the western media which made biased reports that provoked the Chinese netizens.  What did the FCCC statement fail to mention the "cause" and only spoke about the "effects" at great length?  Once again, this has exposed the unreasonable way by which the western media should the information to present.

(Blog of a CCTV program director)

This is 100 days before the Beijing Olympics.  I had just finished the CCTV awards night program for the Olympics songs.  I fell into bed, I thought about what I did and I could not get any sleep at all.  In the morning, I went sleepily back to the office and I turned in my resignation.

Indeed, at the rehearsal, I was told to make sure that the program proceed flawlessly.  In addition, I had an additional assignment which in the words of a certain director were: "Will the program producers please ensure that there be no notes of disharmony during the live broadcast."  We insiders obviously know what those "notes of disharmony" refer to.  CCTV has strict discipline and so it is understandable that many people (and even me) are willing to do things against our conscience in order to make a living.  As time goes by, people get used to it.

CCTV has a phobia of singers who came from Hunan Satellite TV's <Super Girl> and <Happy Boy> contests.  Any idiot can see that CCTV are shutting them out.

Unfortunately, I was the designated butcher last night!!!  That was why I couldn't sleep and why I resigned!

On a program built upon the concept of "one dream, one Olympics" and in front of the Grand Temple where 2,000 young people were assembled to pay tribute to their ancestors, I implemented out a specific order: No close-ups of Happy Boy Su Xing or Super Girls Zhou Bichang, Li Yuchun, Zhang Liangying and Ji Minjia.  You can hear their voices, but they are invisible!

What is more shameful than this public boycott in the name of the harmonious spirit of the Olympics?  Do they want to become an even bigger laughing stock in the world?

This is the Olympics, not a CCTC show.  The Olympics belong to the people, not just CCTV!

I arem leaving CCTV in order to find my soul again.  I dare not dream that the Chinese people will forgive me.  I only want to be able to forgive myself ...

Here are some of the missing scene.  I hope that they can comfort my sinful soul ...

(MOP)


Li Yuchun was the lead singer in <Beijing Welcomes You> and she did not receive a single close-up
as the camera stayed on Vivian Hsu on her left.


The song <The Dream Is Close> is known to be Zhou Bichang, who has made a popular MV.
So Gigi Leung and Fan Binging were recruited to accompany her on her song.
But the lead singer Zhou Bichang did not even get a single shot of her face.


It does not matter how pretty Zhang Liangying looks because nobody could see her.
All  the other singers were received close-ups.


Ji Minjia had the most exposure of the five because she stood very close to Tu Honggang in a duet.


Su Xing did not receive a single shot even on the Internet.
The only shot was him standing behind another singer,
which made it impossible for the CCTV cameraman to avoid him.
This is humorous even as it is infuriating.


 
(Guardian video)  Hong Kong torch protesters removed 'for own protection'
 
(Apple Daily)

The Hong Kong University student Christina Chan who waved the Free Tibet flag at the recent demonstrations has been one of the foci in Hong Kong.  Like many other people, we are concerned that she would face the wrath of the fenqing (angry young people).  Most young people nowadays are more interested in playing games than worrying about world affairs, so it is rare to see someone like Christina Chan who refused to bow before the powers-that-be.  Recently, Christina Chan photos have been circulated around the Internet that shows more aspects of her individualism.

By our crude estimate, there are more than 40 private photos of Christina Chan on the Internet.  While she had been wearing tube tops recently, the photos showed that she also likes to wear bikinis that show off a lovely tan.  Some of the photos show her with friends, including male and female, and there are some acts of intimacy (but not lewdness).

Netizens responded quickly to these photos.  One netizen noted the taboo on her waist and identified her that she is the legendary "barefooted tram yamamura" whose accidentally taken photo had Hong Kong netizens puzzled.

Another netizen identified Christina Chan as a WebJ at RTHK's program <Teen Power> a copule of yeas ago.  She is also a part-time model and the website of her model agency has her body measurements.

While Christina Chan has been brave in facing the Tibet issue, she is less open about these photos.  She told us that the photos were posted at Facebook and was intended to be share among friends.  She thinks that there is something wrong with her Facebook account.  Christina Chan is not somewhat unhappy about the publication of her personal photo album.  She did not imagine that her concern for the human rights issue in Tibet would lead to people digging up her background, and this was unfair to her friends.

Christina Chan admitted that she had worked at RTHK and she is a model, but she declined to answer whether she was interested in a career in the entertainment field.  She emphasized that her personal life is not related to her political position.  She asked: "What is the relationship between my body measurements and the Tibet issue?"  She said that even her father had received those photos, and therefore her parents are not very happy. But she is not afraid of being smeared: "I did not do anything that cannot be shown.  I don't feel that someone has caught me doing something wrong!"

(Ming Pao)

More than 40 photos of Christina Chan were posted onto the Internet without her permission, including intimate poses with her friends of the opposite sex.  The photos are sexy, but there is no nudity.  The photos were first posted onto the Hong Kong discussion forums.  Yesterday Apple Daily began to carry those photos on its website, using titles such as "Sexy photos of Christina Chan exposed," "The ultimate Christina Chan sexy photos," and "Christina Chan's body measurements exposed."  The website also published netizen tips about Christina Chan's background.

Last evening, our reporter spoke to Christina Chan, who said that the photos were stored at Facebook to share with friends.  She reckoned that someone intruded into her account and took the photos.  She said that she is frankly unhappy to see her personal photos distributed and she hopes that netizens would not continue to spread them around.  She has contacted Apple Daily and asked them to delete those photos.  But those photos are still there as of last evening.  She said: "What can I do?  The photos are not indecent/obscene or anything.  I just don't want my privacy invaded."

[ESWN Comment:  Isn't it strange?  It is Apple Daily that takes up the cause of freedom of speech and the unfair intrusion into the private life of Christina Chan.  But it is also Apple Daily that is the mainstream media most responsible for circulating all that private information.  Why?  Because media is an emotional product.  You need something that arouses emotions (such as the defense of core social values) and you need to make money by garnering large audiences.  But enough preaching already, for the Apple Daily links can be found beginning here.]

In other non-news, there was a gala festival or something like that in conjunction with the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong.  Of all the things that occurred, the most (and perhaps only) memorable thing was Kate Tsui showing inadvertently that she wore red underpants consistent with the Sea of Red out there (see YouTube).

"Impossible to go any lower."  Yesterday, a real estate developer put out this big wallboard poster next to an expressway.  Next to this slogan is the image of a female wearing a red low-cut dress.  The Shenzhen real estate market has cooled down since last October, so this was a statement by this company that they will not reduce prices any further.

Over the past year, the price of used paper has increased by 50%.  Last Tuesday, a woman was trying to gather the cardboxes boxes outside a Tsuen Wan fruit store when a man (believed to be the store owner) charged out, assaulted her and then fled.  The employees of this store keep a close watch on their cardboard boxes.

According to another fruit store owner in Tsuen Wan, "In the past, one kilogram of paper boxes was worth just a few cents so it did not bother us for grandpas and grandmas to take them away.  But over the past few months, the price has risen drastically.  One kilogram is now worth HKD 1.40.  I tried saving one weeks' worth of cardboard boxes and sending it down to the recycling center.  It was worth six or seven hundred dollars!  So I have decided to keep this source of money for myself.

Due to increased demand for recycled paper in mainland China, the price has rise more than 50% compared to last year.  The large Hong Kong recyclers are paying as much as HKD 1.90 per kilogram for various forms of used paper.  Their suppliers are the local collectors who are paying HKD 1.3 or 1.4 to buy from regular citizens.  In Hong Kong, regular workers get 3% or 4% pay raises per annum, but those paper scavengers are getting 50% pay increases!

In reality, many elderly scavengers found themselves being victimized.  "There were complaints that a group of mainlanders including illegal workers in Tsuen Wan joined together to clean the garbage outside of certain stores in return for their cardboard boxes.  To protect their turf, they would threaten and assault anyone who dares to intrude into their 'turf'."

According to one veteran in the recycling business, "We used to abide by the rules.  If you want to collect used paper from a housing estate, you apply to the management company, you pay a fee and you are allowed to enter.  Nowadays, triad thugs use unmarked vehicles to intercept our supply from the cleaners and elder citizens in those estates.  By the time we got there, they have cleaned up on everything.  We get no revenue, and we even lose the fee that we paid to enter the estate."  Last September, the partner of this person was assaulted by unidentified persons who cut off his right foot.  "A person was crippled, threats were issued and eight transport trucks were torched.  Not only did the police failed to arrest anyone, but they advised us to stay low instead.  That is ridiculous!  I am in this business to make a living.  While I am afraid of no one, I have to be concerned about my workers.  These guys wants to take over my turf and the police are of no help.  We have no choice but to pack up and leave."

Even within the triad gangs, there are violent conflicts.  In the Cheung Kwun O district, there are at least two triad gangs.  Presently, the Sun Yee On triad gang under "Ah Feng" is in charge.  Everyday, the gang is out there buying used paper from the citizens at 30% or 40% below market price.  A veteran female scavenger said: "In recent years, the nearby housing estates are all controlled by Ah Feng's people.  The price of paper has been lowered to HKD 0.80.  If you want a reasonable price, you have to push your cart for 30 minutes away from their area.  I am fifty-something-years old and I already felt that this was physically tough.  Therefore, the grandpas and grandmas have no choice to sell their used paper at low prices.

Time passes quickly.  In a few more days, it will be the ninth anniversary when the United States "mistakenly" bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.  Back then, hot-blooded Chinese youth went to demonstrate outside the American Embassy in Beijing.  Where are those young men now?  Where is that student who shaved his head and draw a bull's eye on the top of his head?  What do those once-hot-blooded-young-people think about those days?  During the nine years since then, the Chinese young people have went through two waves of anti-Americanism, one anti-Japanese march and the recent anti-France boycott against Carrefour.  Perhaps some day in the future, these campaign activists may gather to share their collective memories and they will identify themselves upon first seeing each other not by stating their age but by saying, "I was among the bunch that was against Japan.  You must be among the ones against France?"  This will be how they determine the order.

That is to say, the common background of many young people over these nine years was that they opposed "X" (where "X" is some country or the other).  The problem is that what kind of common background is this?  And what does "oppose X" mean?  Over the past two days, the central government has offered olive branches by expressing a willingness to meet with the special envoy of the Dalai Lama.  The French president has sent veteran politicians to China to make amends.  These signs of tension alleviation gives us some breathing room to ask some fundamental questions.

A characteristic of modern nationalism is the unlimited power to expand the scope of the nation.  Not only is everything that happens within the national borders part of national history and every citizen is a national, but even the scenes and species in nature also belong to the nation and its people.  For example, the Kumgang mountain is not just a tall mountain but it also "symbolizes" the national spirit of the Korean people.  And everybody knows that the pandas of Sichuan are "national treasures."  Every person, every flower, every blade of grass, every fish and every worm is imbued with a universal but not easily explainable "national spirit."  This "national spirit" transcends individuals; in fact, it draft all the individuals to represent this "national spirit."  Within this abstract relationship between the "national spirit" and the countless number of individuals, we all live within each other.

So when someone in France attempted to snatch the Olympic torch, many people would feel that this was not the will of just some small group of people.  Instead, France was wrong to allow these incidents to occur.  When the Paris municipal government wants to make the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen, it was not just the misstep of one municipal government but the responsibility of all the French people.  When the French media criticized specific Chinese policies, this naturally becomes a total confrontation between China and France.

Following this logic, it is a natural outcome to be anti-France.  The angry netizens are not targeting certain groups with specific political views, nor certain specific municipal policies, nor certain specific media reports.  They are targeting France and everything else that it includes.  Any person with French nationality and anything that came from France suddenly represents France.  To oppose France is to oppose all those persons and organizations that we are unhappy about, and opposing those persons and organizations is to oppose France as a whole.

After the baptism of the anti-America, anti-Japan and anti-Korea waves, many mainland young people have adopted this one-for-all, all-for-one nationalistic logic.  Of course, this is not a unique product of China; it is a universal phenomenon.  The Americans and South Koreans probably regard the overseas Chinese residents and students as representatives of all of China.  When they see the emotionally excited Chinese students hit a journalist, they probably feel that the Chinese are about to invade their country.  The difference is that in our unique nation, we have undergone several "Oppose X" campaigns in a short nine years.  This is like a mass social ritual in which the participants repeatedly drill themselves with words and actions.  Through the practice of these simplified thinking and imagination, we can easily elevate specific items to represent the "nation" or its "people."  This practice also has an effect from the opposite direction.  That is to say, the more you look at the other side with this view, the more you will seek something that belongs to your own nation.  To put it simply, you will oppose everything that your opponent has and you will support everything that you have.

By this stage, being patriotic means loving everything about your nation.  Therefore, when the news of the death of Bai Yang came, it was no surprise that someone applauded the death of a "Chinese traitor."  Bai Yang wrote a book titled <The Ugly Chinese> that suggested that his own nation has problems.  So how could he not be a Chinese traitor?

In Benxi (Liaoning Province), a citizen named Wang Zuopeng was petitioning a forced relocation case and therefore had to visit many local government officers.  In March, he was visiting one government office to find out about his case and the worker told him, "Party secretary Gao Chengzhu has no time to deal with your case, because he is working hard to make sure that his son becomes the Youth League deputy secretary."  On April 10, Wang read in the local newspaper Benxi News that Gao Ting was indeed selected.  His contacts at various government offices all said that Gao Ting is the son of Gao Chengzhu.

By Wang's calculation, Gao Chengzhu was a cadre appointed to Benxi by the provincial government and his home was still in Shenyang.  Therefore, Gao Ting's hukou registration should still be in Shenyang.  The Benxi job openings required local hukou and so how did Gao Ting get selected?  That information was posted on the Internet.  Wang observed that the information had resonance locally because he could see the government workers reading and discussing the posts when he went to take care of his business.

On May 1st, Southern Metropolis Daily reported on this case and this caused a stir nationally as well as locally.  Then some strange things happened.

First, the SMD reporter had found the original job requirements at the official Benxi City Party website.  When he returned yesterday, the page had been removed as well as any other news about those jobs.  From the Internet cache, the reporter found out that 13 persons applied for the job of Youth League party secretary position and 26 persons applied for the three deputy party secretary positions.

Secondly, the Liaoning province official news website Northeast News Net had previously published a bulletin on April 25 on the nullification of the Benxi Youth League selection process.  According to this bulletin, certain individuals of the four selected league cadres did not satisfy the job qualifications and the decision-making process also violated the requirement that there be no conflict of interest.  The bulletin was then deleted.  When SMD inquired, the response was that the information did not come through normal channels and therefore it was removed as a matter of procedure.  Mysteriously, the same bulletin re-appeared on May 1st at the Northeast News Net website.  SMD has not reached anyone to explain this mystery as the persons in charge are said to be on holiday.

One second, the flag-waving patriots were cheering passing torch-bearers, the next instant they turned into an abuse-shouting mob bashing anyone protesting - in sharp contrast to the usual tolerant demeanour.

The coverage about this aspect was a lot more in the Chinese-language newspapers.  Here are some of the stories in what is said to be the lone "pro-democracy" newspaper left in Hong Kong.

(Apple Daily)  Hong Kong University student Christina Chan set out at 6am wearing an orange-color shirt with the words "Free Tibet Free China"and went to Tsimshatsui to secure a spot to watch the Olympic torch relay.  At around 9pm, an fenqing (angry young person) suddenly tried to knock down her Snow Lion Free Tibet flag with a Chinese Five-Star flag.  Then a middle-aged man charged up and tried to punch her.  The man was removed by the police.  15 minutes before the torch arrived at the spot, the police took away her protest signs, held her on the ground, put her into a police car and took her down to the police station.  She said, "The police arrangements were dirty!"

Christina Chan was released shortly afterwards.  She said, "If I were by myself, I don't know if I would go to demonstrate." Ultimately, she showed up in the Central District to demonstrate with several foreign friends.  "The international media reported in the morning that I was arrested, so the police will be more tolerant this time." At around 4pm, she finally successfully displayed the Snow Lion Free Tibet flag when Rita Fan ran by with the torch.  Then she was taken away by the police again.

10:10

10:15

16:15

(Apple Daily)  Yesterday morning, a mainland couple staying at a hostel in the Chongqing Mansion in Tsimshatsui hung out a banner with the words "Release Hu Jia."  The banner was removed after the Olympic torch passed.  The couple checked out before noon and left no name.

At another building across the Chongqing Mansion, a householder hung out a banner with the words "Human Rights." The person downstairs pulled the banner in and cut off part of the banner.

(Apple Daily)  At 9am, about twenty members of the Alliance In Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China chanted "Vindicate June 4th" and "Go China" outside the Peninsular Hotel in Tsimshatsui.  Several hundred mainland travellers countered with "Go China" and "Go Beijing." When the Alliance members attempted to follow the torch to continue their protests, they were blocked by fenqing holding five-star flags.  Someone swung their fists and others used umbrellas to hit them.  It was a chaotic scene.  The police sent reinforcement to open the way, but thousands of fenqing followed the Alliance members and cursed them out for being running dogs for the west and traitors.  Alliance vice-chairman said that this was the most difficult march that he has ever seen.  He thought that cultural diversity was an important Hong Kong value and that there is no need to use violence to express different opinion.  The mainland fenqing say that they respect freedom of speech, but they used tactics such as a sea of flags and blocking passage to stop the Hong Kong protestors from expressing their opinions.  At around the same time, more than a dozen members of the Civil Human Rights Front assembled at the intersection of Nathan Road and Haifong Road to raise banners such as "One dream, one human right; return governance to the people and improve livelihood." Several hundred angry patriotic people surrounded them and cursed them out.  Dozens of police deployed in a human chain to protect the members of the front.  But these patriots kept shouting: "Go away!  Shameful!"  Someone yelled: "We have enough people here that we can stomp them to death with one stomp per person." The police eventually removed the ten or so peaceful petitioners from the Civil Human Rights Front.

(Apple Daily) Yesterday, the Alliance In Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements Of China and Civil Human Rights Front members were surrounded and jeered by spectators.  According to an Alliance member, there were many putonghua speakers among those who surrounded them but there were also others who are believed to be local young people.  The Alliance is worried that the patriotic education of the HKSAR government has led to many young people not knowing about June 4 and the Cultural Revolution and thus becoming more and more like their mainland brethren who don't understand the importance of human rights, rule of law and freedom of speech.  Alliance vice-chairman Lee Cheuk-yan said that he did not expect that so many citizens would obstruct and jeer them.  He is concerned that under the atmosphere of nationalism, the Hong Kong people will lose the rational reasoning to defend democracy, rule of law and freedom of speech.

(Apple Daily)  Yesterday, the mainland young people behaved politely; when they bumped into someone, they apologized in English.  But when it comes to Tibetan self-determination, the vindication of June 4th and human rights violations in China, they would yell with their veins popping questions such as "Are you Chinese?"  "Have you been to Tibet?" "You don't know Chinese history!" and accuse others of being unpatriotic.  Xiao Yin came to Hong Kong from Shandong as a tourist.  His first target is the Alliance In Support of Patriotic Movements Of China which he accused of separatism and treason.  He waved a five-star flag which almost hit members of the Alliance.  He also stood next to Hong Kong University student Christina Chan and used his five-star flag to cover her snow lion flag.

Ms. Zhang and Ms. Li came from Shenzhen to watch the sacred flame.  They carried homemade posters to protest the inaccurate reports from CNN and they wore mouth masks with the words "Stop Lying."  She did not explain what the inaccuracies were but she kept saying, "It was unforgivable for CNN to insult the Chinese people." Another fenqing was unhappy with a 72-year-old Hong Kong taxi driver holding a placard in support of the Dalai Lama.  He charged up and cursed: "How old are you?  Do you know history?  Do you know who feeds the people of Hong Kong?"

(Apple Daily)

Christina Chan had previously indicated that she would be protesting, and therefore the police lavished special attention on her.  When she arrived in Tsimshatsui at 6:30am, a dozen plainclothesmen hung around her and read out the words on her banner to their superior officers.  Just before the torch arrived, the police dragged Chen and her seven friends away.  They removed their banners and forced them to kneel down and pressed their faces against the flower bed.  During this time, a 30-something-old man was using foul language and cursing them, including punching them.  The police subdued the man and then released him.  Chen and companions were taken down to the police station.  Chen was asked to sign a written report in which she promised not to lodge a complaint against her attacker.  "If you won't sign, you will have to wait a few more hours for your statement to be taken.  Even then, you may not be able to establish a case." Chen wanted to continue her protest activity in the afternoon and so she reluctantly agreed.


Police removing the snow lion flags in Tsimshatsui

In Central District, a foreign woman with the Dalai Lama Foundation attempted to hand out flyers but was surrounded by eleven police officers who made it hard for her to do her work.  This went on for more than an hour.

(The Sun)  But the most cold-blooded photo is said to be this one of firemen posing in front of the wreckage.  According to the television news clip on the NOW news channel, about a dozen firemen stood next to the wreckage of the bus. 

Two of them posed in front of the bus first, while other firemen used mobile camphones or digital cameras to take photos.  Then they stood around to review the photos, with some of them smiling.  The whole episode lasted about two minutes.  When this newspaper reporter arrived at the scene, some of the firemen were still getting their photos taken.  Numerous complaints were lodged to the newspapers.  According to departmental rules,

The Obscene Articles Tribunal on Friday overturned a ruling on more than 130 celebrity nude photos published in two local tabloid magazines to reclassify them as “Class II category indecent”. The tribunal’s original ruling was the pictures had been neither “obscene nor indecent”.

The decision to re-classify them as Class II indecent follows an appeal brought by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (Tela) on April 10. Tela had sought to overturn the tribunal’s “neither indecent nor obscene” ruling in relation to the 40 pictures. The pictures had been published in February in Oriental Sunday magazine. Some 94 photos were published in Next Magazine the same month.

Tela said the text and photos needed to be taken together in any consideration of whether the material was indecent. They argued that publication of detailed descriptions of celebrities engaged in sexual acts combined with photographs – despite some pictures being blacked out – constituted indecency. The text also promoted the concept of multiple sex partners – an idea repugnant to reasonable readers.

The photos showed actor-singer Edison Chen Koon-hei engaged in sexual acts with seven female celebrities including Gillian Chung Yan-tung of girl duo Twins, actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi and Chen’s current girlfriend Vincy Yeung Wing-ching, niece of Emperor Group tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing. They were published in Next Magazine and Oriental Sunday in February. The sensitive parts of the celebrities were obscured or blackened when published.

In a written judgment, adjudicator Au See-hin said although private parts of the celebrities had been blocked or blurred, the sexually-explicit material was clearly aimed at arousing readers’ fantasies. He said the magazines had published the photos with no purpose other than to boost sales.

Here are some of the indecent photos:

The original classification was made by a panel of one magistrate and two adjudicators.  The re-classification was made by a panel of one magistrate and two different adjudicators.  The magazines will no doubt file their own appeal and a new classification will be made by a magistrate and four different adjudicators in a public hearing.  It is entirely possible that there will be another reversal.  Among the reasons offered by adjudicator Au See-hin, if he thinks "arousing readers' fantasies" and "publishing photos with no purpose other than to boost sales" are reasons for that classification, then most of the tabloid magazines in Hong Kong should not exist.

[in translation]

On April 28, train T195 and train 5043 of the Jiaoji Railroad collided.  Evening newspaper A reported the incident on Pae A1.  People were concerned about those who were on the train, the number of casualties and the cause of the accident.  On April 29, evening newspaper A had the relevant report on page A26.  The heading was "Train derailment tentatively attributed to speeding."  There were six sub-headings.  The first one was about the Railroad Department asking for "improved safety management." The second heading was "Jiaoji Railroad train traffic resumes after a stoppage of more than 20 hours." The third heading was "Casualty situation." The fourth, fifth and sixth headings were "investigation of the incident," "situational management" and "the experts' opinions."  The entire article has 23 paragraphs.  Only the 13th paragraph mentioned that "70 people died and 416 were injured." The opening sentence was "After concerted efforts were made by the maintenance workers, the Jiaoji Railroad which was impassable due to the major railroad accident on April 28 was finally reopened at 2:16 on April 29."

Evening newspaper B also placed what they thought were important in the most prominent place on the same page.  The other related reports followed those contents.  The headline was "Beijing doctors going to Zibo in the morning." The sub-heading was "26 dead persons have their identities confirmed; traffic resumes on Jiaoji Railroad early in the morning."

According to the custom of the Chinese people, whenever an incident occurs, we are most concerned are about any unfortunate deaths or injuries, and how they are being taken care of.  Next, we are concerned about the cause of the incident, because it may let us know the nature of the incident -- was it human sabotage?  can someone be held accountable?  was it an accident?  what can be done to prevent this from occurring again?  They would not care about "the concerted efforts made by the maintenance workers" or "when the Beijing doctors will be travelling to Zibo."  As for the time when railroad service was restored, only those who are about to travel on that line will be anxious to find out.

Therefore, let me change the order of presentation of the contents.  First, the latest casualty figures and those who have been identified (the family members and friends of those on the train care about this; newspaper B mentioned that 26 of the 70 dead were identified; newspaper A had nothing).  Next, the whereabouts of the uninjured persons on the train and the restoration of railroad service.  Next, the investigation of the incident and the status of those held responsible, as well as the clean-up.  Next, the demand from the Department of Railroad to improve safety management.  Finally, the experts' opinions about the possible causes.

Here are some more photos of that cleaning lady.

By this time, the reaction on the Internet is fairly predictable: this must be a marketing campaign to launch the entertainment career of an otherwise unknown.  If this cleaning lady is actually authentic, then the photographer is guilty of an even worse crime: the deliberate dumping of peanut shells on the ground for her to pick up for the sake of the right mood for a photo.


Chinese students brought rocks to throw and pincers to attack people


A photojournalist was hit in the head by a rock.


A Korean citizen being hit.


A flying kick from a Chinese student.

Case closed on the violent, irrational and uncivilized behavior from the Chinese fenqing (angry young people)?

They begged to differ, but their side of the story does not get told in the western media.  But we know that already, don't we?

Suppose that we give a fair hearing here to their claims.  What do they have to say about the flying kick?

(China.com)

Here is the eyewitness account from a Chinese living in South Korea.  The Korean person with the bicycle was not a passerby.  He was a protestor.  He went into the plaza where thousands of Chinese were assembled and make protests.  The Chinese students saw hm and surrounded him to chant "Go China!" Some students got excited and were about to take more radical action.  So I stopped them immediately and I spoke to this protestor in Korean: "If you want to protest, you ought to try to understand China first." He replied: "Of course, I understand China!  I know all about it!"  I noticed that he used irreverent language in addressing me (note: there are two forms of speaking in Korean -- reverently and irreverently).  Since he replied in this manner, I had nothing more to say.  At that moment, he began to chant: "Free Tibet!"  Upon hearing this, a Chinese student kicked him from behind.  The protestor picked up his bicycle and starting swinging it to hit people.  Many of the Chinese students dodged the bicycle, and so did I.  But one person was hit in the head and bled.  Another Chinese student got mad and kicked the protestor.  This was the photo that made all the front pages in the Korean media.  But the Korean media did not mention a single word about what happened before that moment.  Some media even said that the Chinese were assaulting pedestrians.

Okay, so what about the rocks, pincers and other weapons?  This is a longer story that has been made into a YouTube video with English sub-titles:

 

Related Link:  Chinese students fear for safety after torch relay violence  John Kennedy, GVO

Q1.  HKSAR government
60%: Trust
  7%: Distrust

Q2. Beijing government
55%: Trust
13%: Distrust

Q3.  Taiwan government
19%: Trust
29%: Distrust

Q4. Hong Kong's future
80%: Confidence
15%: No confidence

Q5. China's future
88%: Confidence
  8%: No confidence

Q6: "One country, two systems
77%: Confidence
17%: No confidence

Recently an unidentified person built a blog.  Yesterday, the various major Internet forums all linked to this blog: "This is the Sex Gate Photo for regular citizens.  The contents are awesome!"  The blog contains many photos of nudity with the face of the female being covered but the male was clearly identifiable.

According to the information on this blog, the female is likely to be the blogger.  The female took a train and met this male train conductor named Li.  The two fell in love.  Earlier this month, the female found out that Li was "cheating" on her with someone else.  After a dispute, the female suspected that she was taken advantage of both sexually and financially.  Therefore, she built his blog and disclosed huge amounts of information about Li, including those photos as well as his personal identification and work information for the purpose of seeking justice.

According to a lawyer, "It does not matter whether the man actually swindled the woman sexually and financially, the blogger should not selfishly disclose private information about others in order to damage their reputations.  This is a violation of the reputation of Li as well as the copyrights to his image."

Recently an Internet post titled <Xixian county Post Bar admiistrator interrogated (the first Post Bar case in China)> was circulated widely around the forums.  According to the information in the post, in January 2008, the Post Bar administrator nicknamed "I am the ugliest" received a comment from someone signed "Xixian county public security bureau."  This person claimed to be a militia policeman with the Xixian county (Henan province) public security bureau's Internet monitoring squad and he wanted certain information.  A mobile telephone number was included.

At first, "I am the ugliest" thought that this was a prank and paid it no attention.  Then someone called him up to ask for the administrator account/password in order to delete certain illegal comments.  But "I am the ugliest" stuck to his position: "If you want to delete a post, just tell me."

"Then one day, someone posted a screen capture of the message from the Xixian public security bureau to demand my account/password and then cursed out those people for threatening the administrator."  This caused many more netizens to post condemnations: The Xixian county Post Bar is a public place for expression opinions and the account/password should not be handed over to the police.

On April 14, "I am the ugliest" was taken by the Xixian county Internet monitoring squad to the public security bureau office for questioning and statement-taking.  The principal reason was that certain netizens were "cursing out" certain local government officials at the Post Bar and "I am the ugliest" failed to delete those posts in a timely manner.  "Their main point was that I built and administer this Post Bar and therefore they will seek me out if there are problems.  After the statement was taken down, the police asked me to sign and apply my palm print.  He said: We will contact you the next time there is a problem, but if you turn over the administrator account/password to us, there won't be any more problems."

"I am the ugliest" insisted that privacy prevails over at his Post Bar and refused to hand over the account/password.  At the suggestion of the Internet monitoring police, "I am the ugliest" set up a special account for them.  He was allowed to leave after the police confirmed that this new account has the right to delete posts.  On that evening, "I am the ugliest" submitted his resignation at the Post Bar.

On April 28, this reporter called the mobile phone left by the Xixian county public security bureau Internet monitoring squad for "I am the ugliest" but the other side declined to be interviewed.  The reporter then contacted the Xixian county government information office.

On the evening of April 28, a Ms. Shi from the Xixian county publicity department called this reporter.  According to her information from the Xixian county public security bureau, certain netziens have been making nasty comments at the Xixian county Post Bar at Baidu, including vile personal attacks against named government officials.  The Internet monitoring squad invoked the <Public Safety Administrative Regulations> and the <Internet Administration Regulations> and interrogated the Post Bar administrator "I am the ugliest" for information.

On April 29, the Xixian public security bureau made three clarifications to the reporter: (1) After many abusive posts appeared at the Xixian county Post Bar, the public security bureau interrogated the Post Bar administrator on April 14, 2008 and a statement was taken.  (2) The comment signed by "the Xixian county public security bureau" was a malicious prank by some netizen.  (3)  The mobile telephone number posted in the comment is available at every cybercafe in Xixian county for the purpose of reporting criminal activities.

Yesterday, "I am the ugliest" was interviewed and he said: "They did not treat me badly.  They tried to get my account/password several times without justification.  When I refused to cooperate, they brought me in for questioning and took down my statement."

Recently, the Xixian county Post Bar is seeing a lot of excitement as many netizens especially go there to make comments.  There are also certain people using ID's such as "Xixian county external publicity department," "Xixian county government information office spokesperson" and other "official Xixian county ID" to threaten netizens.  Of course, that only caused passions to flame up even more.

Ms. Shi from the Xixian county publicity office reassured this reporter that there is no such position as government information office spokesperson in Xixian county.  Furthermore, the Xixian county external publicity department was established only several days ago and its lone employee is presently away on business.  Therefore, all those so-called Xixian official posts were fakes.

This reporter also communicated with many local forum and Post Bar administrators, and it seems that it is quite common for the the relevant government departments to own administrator rights.

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