On May 16, the netizen "xinlong911" posted that he was seeing someone off at the Zhengzhou train station.  When he got there, many people were standing in the plaza, some being taking photos.  He looked and saw that someone was playing an electronic solitaire card game on the huge overhead screen.

"Whoever it was must be really engrossed in it.  After I bought the tickets and came back out, he was still playing."  "xinlong911" found the whole thing incredible.  The card player spent 20 minutes to go through the game and reached the "You win!" message along with the electronic fireworks display.

Our reporter contacted the duty room at the Zhengzhou city train station.  A worker said that they have received reports about the incident.  "They have dealt with it already."  How so?  The worker said he does not know.  "It is not inconvenient to tell you.  Even spokespersons sometimes have no comments.  Isn't that normal?"  Then he explained: "Problems can occur at any company, right?  Besides we just completed installation.  We are in the process of testing and we have not begun operations yet.  This is a normal matter."

The publicist for the Zhengzhou train station said that the screen had just been installed for a couple of days and is being tested.  The installer was sloppy and sent the card game on the computer screen to the big outdoor screen.  This publicist also said that it was the installation worker who was playing the card game, not any train station worker.  On May 18, the Henan Meihesheng Cultural Communication Company issued a public apology about the May 16 incident at the Zhengzhou train station.  The company said that one of their workers played a computer card game during the lunch break without realizing that the computer was connected to the big outdoor screen.  This resulted in damage to the reputation of the Zhengzhou train station.  The company apologized.  The responsible worker has been dismissed.

My name is Jian Yi.  I am an actress by profession.

Recently, there was has been a post titled <The secret job requirements and salaries of the top female companions at "Heaven On Earth" exposed> appearing at the various websites, forums, post bars and blogs in China and all over the world.  This post used the photo of me taken by a famous photographer and identifies me as an escort service girl at the "Heaven on Earth" night club.  My nickname is said to be Yao Yao, my age 19, my height 173cm, my place of origin Enshi (Hubei).  None of this corresponds to my actual circumstances.

These inaccurate Internet reports have severely damaged my personal reputation and image rights.  The scope and speed of how the information has disseminated has caused terrible consequences to my well-being, mindset and reputation and even affected my career.  Many friends are calling me up for confirmation, thus serious disrupting my daily routine.

I solemnly declare here that I was never an escort girl at the "Heaven and on Earth" night club.  That photo had been pirated.  I retain the rights to pursue legal redress against all websites which are involved.

This is a special announcement.

Jian Yi

 

 

As the geographical information sites become more popular on the Internet, more and more people can find travel routes, high-resolution satellite photos and other favorite locations to share with others.  But while this provided a great deal of convenience to the public, certain national security information is being made public.  ...

In April 2010, the Shenzhen Urban Planning and Land Supervision Division received a tip that a certain Moonlight Forum carried a lot of national security information.  That website was showing a lot of state military information, such as the locations of airfields, navy bases and the barracks of the Hong Kong PLA battalion.

The Moonlight Forum is a community website frequented by military aficionados.  They have sections such as "China's nuclear test sites," "Chinese military airfields," "military camps around Beijing," "the catalog of Chinese military equipment" and so on.  Compared to other military websites, the Moonlight Forum links directly to a certain overseas geographical mapping search engine.  Thus, users can go through the client software and freely browse the high-resolution satellite photo maps all over the world.  Users can also annotate the geographical locations of various military locations on maps.

Through the listed contact information, the law enforcement personnel reached Xiao Long, who is in charge at the Moonlight Forum and informed him to cooperate with their investigation.  Xiao Long is a 27-year-old programmer at a certain Internet company.  He is a map fan and a military aficionado.  He admitted that he provided an Internet platform which sorts and publishes military information.  But he does not understand the security issue that the law enforcement personnel tell him about.  As far as he was concerned, everybody can access those satellite photos on the Internet and all he and other Internet users did was to annotate them.  So how can this be a security leak?

The Chinese Survey Bureau deputy director explained that the image taken by a certain satellite is not an electronic map because there are no indicators or content as such.  But as soon as you obtain certain geographical information about military facilities that ought to be kept secret, it becomes a security breach.

On May 6, 2010, the Moonlight Forum leader Xiao Long accepted that administrative penalty imposed by the law enforcement personnel and promised to clean up the website.

The case of the Moonlight Forum is not an isolated instance.  Following the development of electronic geographical information technology, many people are increasingly enamored with electronic maps and satellite images.  Through the Internet, they can look up travel maps, show vacation photos and annotate their personal observations.  But the software actually much more than that.

25-year-old Gong Xiawei is the founder of "The Eye of God," the first Chinese website built around Google Earth.  He showed our reporter the capabilities of his website.  Thus, he can pilot a virtual airplane at 600 miles per hour over Nanning city.  He flew from Nanning to Beijing in just over three hours with a view that is almost identical to the real thing.

His website has more than 400,000 registered users.  In recent years, he has also been vexed by the issue of national security leaks.  When he first established his website, he never thought it could be linked to an issue as serious as national security.  One day, he personally saw a post which stated that a certain courtyard in a certain city belonged to a certain Chinese military division together with a description of the division itself.  This was annotated on Google Earth and drew a large number of page views.

During this time, the number of similar websites was growing at an exponential rate.  At present, there are 42,000 such websites in China.  The targets of interest include military airfields, guide missile bases, radar stations, navy ports, military barracks and other major sensitive locations.

Thus somebody posted a document about a certain guided missile base together with precise geographical coordinates.  Someone else posted the locations of radar stations in China together with the capabilities of those radar equipment.  Someone else posted the location of the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing and the Xichang satellite rocket launch centre.

As more people become Google Earth fans, more and more information related to Chinese military secrets are posted.  In 2006, someone posted the precise locations of the more than 200 electricity generator plants with more than 900 megawatts capacity.  In 2007, someone posted "the leaders of the 18 military division leaders and their bases" and "the Tibet military district and the Tibet military divisions."

At first, Gong Xiawei only deleted those posts that he personally read and believed were related to national security.  As the website got more registered users who generated more posts, he delegated his colleague Deng Qingsheng to supervise and review the posts.

As in the real world, many people like to show off their power, wealth, looks and special abilities.  Thus there are those in the world of electronic map who like to show off their exclusive discoveries and expose previously unknown secrets in order to become virtual world celebrities.  Certain fans even travel to the actual locations and conduct field world for certain websites (including those belonging to certain hostile overseas forces) ...

Television News Report: CNTV

Hong Kong Island
83.9%: Tanya Chan
  2.8%: Blank vote

What is the reason for your choice?
16.9%: Political party
34.4%: Political platform
21.5%: Personal image
17.9%: Other reason
  9.4%: No answer

Kowloon East
89.0%: Alan Leong Kar-kit
  4.6%: Blank vote

What is the reason for your choice?
17.8%: Political party
34.1%: Political platform
17.3%: Personal image
24.1%: Other reason
  6.7%: No answer

Kowloon West
63.3%: Raymond Wong Yuk-man
17.9%: Pamela Peck
  2.7%: Blank vote

What is the reason for your choice?
  8.6%: Political party
33.2%: Political platform
24.9%: Personal image
24.9%: Other reason
  8.5%: No answer

New Territories East
76.0%: Leung Kwok-hung
  3.7%: Blank vote

What is the reason for your choice?
10.0%: Political party
33.1%: Political platform
18.0%: Personal image
30.8%: Other reason
  8.1%: No answer

New Territories West
75.9%: Chan Wai-yip
  5.2%: Blank vote

What is the reason for your choice?
15.7%: Political party
34.5%: Political platform
17.1%: Personal image
23.3%: Other reason
  9.3%: No answer

(Central News Agency)  May 4, 2010.

The National Communications Commission (NCC) reiterated Tuesday that programming on adult TV channels is regulated by the Radio and Television Act and cannot show sexual intercourse or sex organs. Any violation of the laws on obscenity will be reported to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the NCC said, after discovering that some adult channels had broken the rules. They were asked to improve the situation within three days, said Ho Chi-shen, the NCC's supervisor of TV programs.

According to Ho, adult TV channels are not allowed to broadcast any content beyond the R-rated category, and even some R-rated programming -- such as describing sexual behavior in detail -- is not allowed on the air. Only nude pictures without showing sex organs or pubic hair, or pictures showing sex organs and pubic hair without involving sexual behavior that are necessary to the story, can be broadcast on television. Ho pointed out that most TV stations were very clear about the regulations, which have been in effect for years. However, because some newer TV channels were found to have violated the rules, the NCC decided to issue a reminder, he said.

According to local media reports, the NCC asked 10 adult TV channels on May 1 not to broadcast images of sexual behavior such as touching sex organs, sexual abuse or using sex toys. That led some encrypted channels and Chunghwa Telecom's MOD (Multimedia On Demand) channels to cut more explicit scenes or use mosaic blur to censor genitalia, sparking criticism from some of their customers.

What is an adult film without the display of sexual intercourse or sex organs?  In Taiwan, a netizen has posted a spoof video on YouTube.  The original clips come from American adult movies.  However, all the naughty body parts and actions are replaced by cartoons showing horse-riding, telephone dialing, pinball machine, harmonica playing, guitar playing, etc.

 

(Korea Times)  May 8, 2010

A famous Chinese history teacher is creating a national controversy by openly criticizing China's untouchable late leader, Mao Zedong, calling him a dictator who massacred people, Chosun Ilbo reported Saturday.

Yuan Tengfei, a history teacher at Beijing's Jinghua School, recently gave a 110-minute special TV lecture at the state television, CCTV, in which Yuan broke a cardinal taboo in China and criticized Mao, the founder of the Communist China in 1949, according to the newspaper.

"If you want to see Mao, you can go to his mausoleum at the Tiananmen Square. But don't forget it's a Chinese version of the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Mao, under whose hands many people were massacred," it said citing the Chinese newspaper, Global Times. "The only thing Mao did right since he founded the new China in 1949 was his death," Yuan reportedly said in the newspaper, according to Chosun.

Yuan is a TV celebrity history teacher in China, who is also a member of the history committee that prepares the national college entrance exam. He also lectures at the CCTV, which is watched by "several millions of Chinese people," Chosun said. Yuan also criticized Chinese history books' distortion. "Although Japan's history books distort history, it is not as serious as what Chinese books do," Chosun cited him as saying. "Among what is written in Chinese history books, less than 5 percent is true. The rest is complete fabrication," Yuan said, according to Chosun.

Despite the Chinese government's effort to censor his TV lecture, his lecture footage is spreading quickly on the Internet, Chosun said.

(Southern Metropolis Daily)  May 14, 2010

On May 9, a letter of complaint was received at the website of the Beijing City, Haidian District, People's Affairs Call Centre.  The complaint was about the Internet circulation of the sayings of Beijing City Haidian District Teachers Educational Extension senior lecturer Yuan Tengfei, who has been called "the most awesome history teacher in history."  Yuan Tengfei was said to be "taking a view of history that is idealistic, reactionary and harmful.  He is denying the popular history of socialism, and his teachings turned out to be largely based upon unverified folklore."  "Have the relevant government departments and units been negligent in supervising this person?  Has the Party organization been amiss in educating this person?  The purpose of learning history is to use the past to understand the present.  I don't understand how he could be allowed to negate the Chinese Communist Party, negate the educational system in China and negate the contributions of the Chinese government in letting students understand Chinese culture and develop Chinese society."  "Do his activities constitute subversion of the state?"  "As a Party member, how could he not even have the minimal Party character?  I hope that the relevant departments will pay attention and give society a satisfactory reply."

The Education Committee in the Haidian district made a reply to this complaint: at 9pm on May 4, the Extension School leaders were notified by telephone about the situation by the District Educational Committee.  On May 5, the school leaders gave Yuan Tengfei "a warning talk/critical education".  He was told to conduct an in-depth self-reflection to recognize his serious errors as recorded in the videos that are circulating around the Internet.  Meanwhile he has ceased teaching at the private training organizations."  "We will actively and correctly deal with this matter.  We will work with the relevant people to strive to reduce the impact to a minimum."

On the afternoon of May 9, more than a dozen Internet users got together and went to the Jinghua School where Yuan Tengfei teachers in order to "debate" him.  But they did not find him.  So they told the school to tell Yuan that "he must account himself to the citizens of the country and turn himself in to the relevant legal authorities!"

According to the response posted at the Haidian District People's Affairs Call Centre, Yuan Tengfei told the school leaders that the basis for the Internet controversy was the video lectures that he delivered for Jinghua School.  "Erroneous statements that were factually inaccurate" were made.  The reason was that "I have been involved in a contractual dispute with a publishing company.  I suspect that someone came across the videos and uploaded them onto the Internet in order to disrupt my public relations."

On May 6, Yuan Tengfei published <Solemn Statement about "Gadge 3" as an illegal publication>.  He accused the Ningxia People's Publishing House and Motie Books' <What kind of gadget is history-3> of violating his intellectual property rights and therefore he sought legal redress.  This brought him into a 1.78 million yuan book royalty lawsuit that also involved an Internet war of words.  On May 24, the two sides will be exchanging evidence in court.  So this was the contractual dispute that Yuan Tengfei mentioned.

Motie Books president Shen Haobo denied Yuan Tengfei's allegations to our reporter.  He declined to join in the anti-Yuan camp.  "I don't care about the personal sayings of Teacher Yuan.  I only have a commercial dispute with him.  I will not interfere with the personal freedom of another person in such a case.  This is my bottom line as a person.  I understand that Teacher Yuan is under a great deal of pressure right now.  But he should not be slinging mud at others.  He should have a bottom line too."

Yuan Tengfei has shut off his mobile phone.  His lawyer Yu Mingxu told our reporter: "It is possible that Motie made the denunciation, but we don't have any evidence as of now."  There is an Internet rumor that Yuan Tengfei has been arrested.  His lawyer said that he is unaware of it.  "It is most likely false."

(South China Morning Post) 

A lawmaker forces his way into a radio studio during a live broadcast, claiming he wants to protect his wife from abuse. Another woman pushes him away with her chest then accuses him of "bodily contact" amid a chorus of swearing and much finger-poking. Police are called. Just another day on the hustings for the Kowloon West by-election.

The fun started when lawmaker Wong Yuk-man, who has resigned, and rival candidate Pamela Pak Wan-kam became involved in a heated debate during an election forum on Commercial Radio. Some of Wong's language upset lawyer-lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, who burst into the studio to protect Pak. After being warned off by independent candidate Lam Yi-lai, Tse shouted: "Are you Wong Yuk-man's running dog?"

The fun continued in the corridor outside when the forum adjourned for the hourly news broadcast. Wong, angry after former agony aunt Pak accused him of touching her, shouted: "You eat s***."

Eager to join in, Lam threw herself at Tse, repeatedly pushing him with her chest. "Even if Yuk-man wanted to touch someone, he would choose one who is younger," said the colourful socialite, who is 51 while Pak is in her 60s. Then she suddenly cried: "Oi! You are indecently assaulting me."

Back at the microphone, Pak said: "You see how violent Yuk-man is. We must kick out this mad dog on May 16." Later, at a press conference, she said: "Lam Yi-lai and Yuk-man are a couple."

After the programme, police received a report from Lam that she had "body contact" with Tse. Officers were sent to investigate but were told that both parties agreed to settle the incident and would not pursue the matter, according to police. A police spokeswoman said police classified the case as a "dispute" and no one was arrested in the incident.

(The Standard)  Get your &#!@ hands off me!   By Diana Lee.  May 14, 2010.

A radio forum about Sunday's by- election erupted into a slanging match with a poll hopeful claiming she had been indecently assaulted. The Commercial Radio program descended into chaos when Kowloon West candidate Lam Yi-lai made her claim. Lam, 51, pointed the finger at the husband of rival Pamela Peck Wan-kam, who had rushed into the studio.

Paul Tse Wai-chun made his entrance after complaining that League of Social Democrats candidate "Mad Dog" Raymond Wong Yuk-man was repeatedly interrupting his wife. Shortly after, socialite Lam accused Tse of indecently assaulting her. Lam explained to reporters she was "trying to separate Wong and Tse with her breasts." Tse, the lawmaker for the tourism sector, was involved in an exchange of words with Wong. A video posted on Lam's website showed her approaching Tse at least three times during the chaos, with the upper part of her body facing his chest. It was not clear if there had been any body contact.

A police spokeswoman confirmed they had received a complaint. Officers were sent to investigate but both parties agreed to settle the matter themselves. Police have classified the case as a dispute. No one was arrested and there will be no further investigation.

Listeners to the show, which began shortly after 8am, were stunned to hear the intervention by Tse. Wong, a former league lawmaker, slammed Tse for interrupting a live broadcast and asked him to apologize. Lam then joined the argument and condemned Tse's behavior. Seconds later she alleged she had been indecently assaulted.

Speaking later, Tse said he would apologize to Lam for calling her the "running dog" of Wong He was also prepared to apologize to the others involved in the show - except Wong. "It was Wong who promoted a culture of violence in the [legislative] chamber and destroying order," Tse said. Tse said he might pursue the matter after the by-election - including launching a libel action - if Lam continues to accuse him of indecently assaulting her.

Wong later sent a letter to Commercial Radio director of strategic planning and program host Vincent Wong Wing demanding a full account of the incident. "By allowing Tse to interrupt an election forum, your radio station has acted in breach of the public's right to know and posed a threat to the freedom of speech," he said in the letter.

No video, no truth.

 

Ming Pao action summary:

In the YouTube video taken by Lam Yi-lai's assistant, Lam kept demanding Tse to explain his "running dog" allegation.  She thrust her chest upon Tse three separate times and said excitedly: "I am saying that you are indecently assaulting me!  You are indecently assaulting me right now!"  Lam Yi-lai said that even as she kept pressing forward.  Tse was forced to turn around and walk away.  Afterwards Lam called the police to complain about being indecently assaulted.  When the police arrived, she said instead that she did not want to pursue the matter any more.  The incident was settled.

Lam Yi-lai was interrogated about actively thrusting her chest at Tse and then claiming to be indecently assaulted.  She explained: "It was very chaotic.  I don't know if he thrust his chest at me or I thrust my chest at him.  But I did not do anything.  At most, my chest touched his."

(Ming Pao)

This was not the first time that 52-year-old Lam Yi-lai has claimed to be indecently assaulted.  On April 3, she was charged for falsely accusing an apartment building manager of indecently assaulting her.  In that case, she was ordered not to harass the witness while awaiting trial.  Lam said that it was hard to do because they live in the same building.  The magistrate recommended that Lam "walk in a different direction if she spots the witness."

(Sing Tao)

Paul Tse Wai-chun reviewed the YouTube video and said: "According to the video as well as eyewitnesses at the scene, she may have indecently assaulted me and not the other way around ... if she gets charged with making a false accusation, it is likely to stick."  Will he sue her?  Tse said: "I don't want to affect the election outcome at this stage.  But if she refuses to withdraw her accusation and apologize to me, I can't count out charging her with making a false accusation."  "I just received a call from Lam Yi-lai's elder brother.  He apologized to me.  He said that his sister has a record of making false accusations.  If necessary, he is willing to testify on my behalf."

Lam Yi-lai responded to the potential lawsuit: "When the time comes, the judge will decide whether I libeled him ... at the time, he kept bumping Raymond Wong with his chest.  I got worried and I used my chest to separate the two of them.  That was how my breast got in contact with Tse's breast.  When I felt his chest on mine, I thought that he was indecently assaulting me.  That was why I said that he was indecently assaulting me."

Q1. Will you vote at the Legislative Council by-election on May 16?
25.0%: Definitely will
16.5%: Will
13.1%: Will not
28.6%: Definitely will not
16.5%: Undecided
  0.4%: Refused to answer

[Based upon past experience, we cannot regard these answers to be truthful because it will over-estimate vote turnout.  Therefore we will screen the respondents according to (1) they said that they "definitely will" or "will" vote; (2) they indicated which candidate they will vote for (including casting a blank vote); (3) they voted for a special list in the 2008 Legco election, or they refused to say how they voted in 2008, or they were not voters at the time.
Respondents who said (1), (2) and (3) are estimated to have a 11.9% turnout; respondents who said (1) and (2) are estimated to have a 19.2% turnout; respondents who said (1) and (3) are estimated to have a 22.6% turnout.
Applying these estimates to the sample, we estimate that the voter turnout this time to be 17.3%, with a range between 11.9% and 22.6%.]

[Related news: (The Standard)  Get your &#!@ hands off me!   By Diana Lee.  May 14, 2010.

League of Social Democrats chairman Andrew To Kwan-hang and the party's candidates in the four other constituencies are playing down the significance of the turnout rate on Sunday. "Our target turnout rate of 50 percent has not changed, yet it's highly unlikely this figure can be achieved since the by- election is being suppressed by the central government," To said. "In normal circumstances the standard by which a referendum is adjudged to have been carried or rejected should be decided by the government instead of the public."  League candidate and former lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip said he would consider a turnout rate of 25 percent a success, and 30 percent an "unprecedented" success.]

Q2. If the Legco by-election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for? (base: those who answered "definitely will," "will," "undecided" or "refused to answer" in Q1.
Total
31.3%: Civic Party/League of Social Democrats candidate
  4.5%: Other candidate
  2.4%: Blank vote
41.7%: Undecided
  4.4%: Don't know
15.7%: Refused to answer
Hong Kong Island
46.3%: Tanya Chan
  2.8%: Other candidates
  0.9%: Blank vote
35.2%: Undecided
  2.8%: Don't know
12.0%: Refused to answer
Kowloon East
40.9%: Alan Leong
  2.6%: Other candidate
  5.2%: Blank vote
34.8%: Undecided
  6.1%: Don't know
10.4%: Refused to answer
Kowloon West
20.0%: Raymond Wong
10.7%: Pamela Peck
  2.6%: Other candidates
  1.3%: Blank vote
36.0%: Undecided
  4.0%: Don't know
25.3%: Refused to answer
New Territories East
25.1%: Leung Kwok-hung
  3.0%: Other candidates
47.9%: Undecided
  5.4%: Don't know
16.2%: Refused to answer
New Territories West
26.6%: Chan Wai-yip
  4.6%: Other candidates
  1.7%: Blank votes
46.8%: Undecided
  3.5%: Don't know
16.8%: Refused to answer

On the afternoon, the Japanese netizen "DJ課長a.k.a內火艇" used his mobile phone to tweet twice. First, "(Urgent appeal)  For toilet tissue at Akihabara Yodohasi3 Men's Restroom partition."  Next, "There is no toilet tissue left me!  Rescue me! At he Akihabara Yodohasi3 Men's Restroom partition."  These two tweets showed that he went into the restroom and found out tragically that there were no toilet tissues after he did his business.

This tweet achieved unexpected popularity as many people re-tweeted it.  People outside Japan even translated it into English and tweeted it.  Twenty minutes later, "DJ課長a.k.a內火艇" tweeted: "It's okay!  I thank the kindhearted person for delivering the toilet paper."  It turned out that someone called the shopping mall office and asked the workers to help.

Thanks to the power of Twitter, "DJ課長a.k.a內火艇" did not have to sacrifice his underpants or pick up used toilet papers from the garbage bin.  Furthermore, he got special delivery service from a shopping mall worker.  People began to speculate: How did the special delivery man know which stall it was?  Did he yell out, "I am delivering the toilet paper after getting the Twitter news"?  Someone also pointed out that the problem should have "dried out" after twenty minutes anyway!

Bonus video  Wonder Girls: Nobody Nobody

 

The most popular television variety entertainment show from the provincial satellite broadcasters right now is the dating program If You Are The One on Jiangsu TV.  Male guests are invited to appear on the show and present themselves to a group of young women, who then proceed to rip the guys apart with their "acid tongues" (e.g. too ugly; not rich enough; ...).  When the show first appeared, it was alleged that they hired young women from a Beijing acting academy to give over-the-top performances.  So was this a dating program or a comedy?

In the new season, the newcomer Yan Fengjiao impressed by being pretty, innocent, pure, fashionable and witty.  But no sooner did she get started than a series of indecent photos (327 megabytes of them) showed up on the Internet.  In some of the photos, she wore a bikini and made some sexy poses; in other photos she wore considerably less and showed considerably more.

This leads to the question of whether Jiangsu TV and/or Yan Fengjiao are running a promotional campaign.  On the afternoon of May 12, Yang Fengjiao released a signed letter to say that she was the principal in those photos which were taken under coercion.  Jiangsu TV said that as soon as they learned about the situation, they accompanied Yan Fengjiao to file a police report.  At this point, the matter is under police investigation.

Were these photos really taken under duress?  I am not the only person to suspect that this is a promotional gimmick.  The reason why Jiangsu TV's If You Are The One was able to ascend to the top variety entertainment show was due in no small part to the various "scandals" surrounding their participants (such as the poison-tongued gold digger Ma Nuo, etc).  Could it be a pure accident that even before the storm over the sexy photos of car model Shoushou has died down that a set of sexy photos of Yan Fengjiao is now the new rage?

If Yan Fengjiao was truly the victim, I will unquestionably agree with Jiangsu TV's actions: to bring the criminals to justice and to shower Yan Fengjiao with concern and kindness.  But if the police should find that this was a planned media campaign by either Jiangsu and/or Yan Fengjiao in order to deceive the public, then they must not be allowed to get away with it.  This is going past the bottom line of basic human morality, as well as encouraging more young woemn to gain fame and fortune in this manner.

(NOWnews)  The personal statement of Yan Fengjiao

In May 2009, a Taiwanese man who claimed to represent a clothing manufacturer went through a certain car show to contact me at a time when I wanted to become a model.  He asked me to do an outdoor photo shoot.  About a week later, he contacted me and drove me to a hotel.  When I entered the room, the Taiwanese, his two female assistants and four photographers threatened me with violence and forced to pose in a series of indecent photographs.  Afterwards, the Taiwanese man told me not to tell the police or else he will publish the photos.

Because I was afraid of getting hurt even more, I did not tell the police.  The Taiwanese man called me many more times afterwards to coerce me to take more photos, but I refused.  Recently, someone has posted those photos on the Internet in order to further their criminal activities.  I was deeply shocked and angry.  I have filed a police report at the Zhabei district police station, Shanghai city.  I want them to put the criminals away as quickly as possible.  I have also hired a lawyer to defend my legal rights through other means."

"30 yuan per box.  Two boxes for 50 yuan."  Underneath tents by the road next to the rubble that was the Xuankou Middle School in Yingxiu, Sichuan, the peddlers are selling their special wares.  At almost every stall, there is the video disk <The Records of the Great Earthquake>.  A portable DVD player repeats these "authentic earthquake scenes which you cannot see in television news reports."  Every peddler emphasized that their product was more realistic and exciting.

These video scenes are indeed impossible to find on television: deaths without any disguise; people crying their hearts out; panicky people running around at a loss ... responsible media outlets both Chinese and western would never broadcast such raw scenes.  These video disks which have no identified producers provide a means of income for the survivors.  Although many people are upset, the fact is that pain can also be sold after a while.  A fellow reporter asked, "Will there ever come a day when a tour guide explains to the tourists that this is the spot where 300 hundred people perished?"  Why not?  Many of the memorial spots for the Second World War or the War of Resistance against Japan were significant precisely because many people died there.

Although this deviates somewhat from our moral education, pain is a commercial product.  Mining disasters, floods, car accidents ... disaster news have always been a major source of news for the media everywhere.  Reporters gather information and editors arrange the pages in order to increase newspaper sales through words and photos for the sake of generating more ad sales.  When readers buy the newspapers and read about these tragedies occurring thousands of miles away, they are sympathetic and they may even make donations, which satisfy their own sense of spiritual loftiness and let them go back to their mundane lives afterwards.  Disasters and the economy have always been linked together tightly in this manner.  Therefore, I can accept these peddlers putting these painful memories out for sale right at the scene where the pain occurred.  These earthquake disaster locations are there to teach people as well as to provide economic livelihood for the survivors.  They don't need and they cannot rely on the sympathy of others to keep living.

There are the yellow chrysanthemum flowers too.  Many women carrying children on their backs are selling chrysanthemum flowers.  A tourist purchases a chrysanthemum and lays it on top of the rubble to express sorrow for the deceased as well as generate income for the survivors.  When pain can be sold without misgiving, the survivors can continue living in a sustainable, genuine manner.

Q1. Do you support the action by the five legislative councilors who resigned and are running for re-election?
37%: Support
54%: Do not support
  9%: No opinion

Q2. How do you look at the May 16 election?
42%: An ordinary by-election
33%: A de facto referendum
25%: No opinion

Q3. Will you be voting on May 16?
36%: Yes
41%: No
23%: Undecided

Q4. Why are you not voting? (among those who will not be voting)
71%: Do not support the "de facto reerendum"
16%: Do not like any of the candidates
  3%: Too busy
  8%: Other
  2%: No opinion

Q5-10.  If the by-election were held today, who would you vote for? (among those who say that they will be voting)
Hong Kong Island voters:
67%: Tanya Chan
  7%: Other
  7%: Blank vote
16%: Undecided
  3%: No opinion
Kowloon East
76%: Alan Leong
  4%: Other
  5%: Blank vote
13%: Undecided
  2%: No opinion
Kowloon West
55%: Raymond Wong
13%: Pamela Peck
12%: Other
  2%: Blank vote
17%: Undecided
  2%: No opinion
New Territories East
66%: Leung Kwok-hung
10%: Other
  6%: Blank vote
16%: Undecided
  2%: No opinion
New Territories West
59%: Chan Wai-yip
10%: others
  4%: Blank vote
23%: Undecided
  4%: No opinion

Q11. Why are you casting a blank vote (among those who say that they plan to cast blank votes)
26%: I don't like any of the candidates
61%: Express my dissatisfaction with the "de facto referendum"
11%: Other
  2%: No opinion

Recently when Ren Zhiqiang delivered a speech at a real estate forum in Dalian city, a member of the audience threw a pair of shoes at him and walked out.  Ren Zhiqiang quipped that he was getting the presidential treatment (in reference to the experience of President George W. Bush in Iraq).

 

On May 8, the day after the incident, there was an Internet post titled <I am the brother who threw the pair of shoes at Ren Zhiqiang.  I want to solemnly inform Mr. Ren that he is being despised once again>.  The author called himself: "I am not a Wumao."  He claimed that he threw a pair of old shoes that cost 99 yuan to buy because "people like Ren Zhiqiang are not worthy of my taking off the shoes that I was wearing to throw at."  At the same time, he said that he was not the type of person who could not pay for the initial payment like Ren Zhiqiang said.  Instead he is "presently a 'glorious' house slave paying for his mortgage."

That post drew plenty of comments.  "Brother Shoe, I support you.  But I think that it is a pity why you threw a pair of shoes instead of a bag of feces or a rotten egg."  Although some people defended Ren Zhiqiang and his speech rights, far more netizens supported the shoe-throwing action.

Three hours later, "I am not Wumao" followed up in the comment section of his post: "Someone actually discerned that I am pretending to be 'shoe-throwing brother.'  Alright, I admit that I am a fake."  This only hyped up the incident even more.

On the day before yesterday, netizen "La Jiang" announced in his microblog that he will be posting the unedited high-resolution video of the incident.  Indeed, at around 1am on May 11, "La Jiang" posted two video clips each lasting about 1 minute on his personal blog.  One of the clips showed the shoe-throwing incident by a 20-something-year-old man wearing a dark blue sports jacket and a backpack.  The man yelled out "Go and die!" and threw the shoes at the dais.  Then he turned around and quickly headed towards the exit, turning his head several times to look at the dais.

"La Jiang" claims to have found the shoe-thrower, who is "25 years old; a Dalian resident; a university graduate; unable to afford to buy an apartment; living with his parents; broke up with two girlfriends already because of the housing issue."  He took this action this time because he was extremely angry with high housing prices and Ren Zhiqiang.  He said that he was not trying to promote himself and he will not do any media interviews.  "La Jiang" promises to disclose more details in the future.

(Southern Metropolis Daily)  The Statement From The "Shoe-Thrower" Himself

Let me first say something about the person who pretended to be me over the Tianya Forum.  You write pretty well and you also admitted that you are not the real "Shoe-Throwing Brother" in the comment section.  However, there were many inaccuracies in what you wrote.

First of all, the shoes did not cost 99 yuan.  It was not a pair of leather shoes as others say (I have now seen the power of rumor spreading on the Internet).  It was just a pair of old athletic shoes that cost less than 30 yuan.  Very worn down, and very smelly because this is just right for the stinky mouth of Ren Zhiqiang.  Besides Dalian is a soccer town and this pair of athletic shoes will give him some memories to keep.

Here is what happened.  The conference began around 130pm at the Furama Hotel.  I got there at 1:30pm.  I was supposed to sign in and receive a package of conference materials.  But I am not interested in that sort of self-promotional stuff and I went in directly because it was getting crowded.  I showed my ticket to the guard and told him that I had already signed in.  That was how I got in.

At around 2:50pm after a bunch of award presentations and speeches, the featured speaker Ren Zhiqiang appeared.  I must mention that a segment of the television drama series <Snail Abode> was shown before Ren Zhiqiang got on the dais.  Ren Zhiqiang said that the character Song Shiming in the television drama had a car that was supposed to be even more expensive than the apartment, which must therefore be very small.  So is this the brilliance that his supporters cheer about?  He is a man who used his position and wealth to steal someone else's wife and collude with criminal real estate developers.  He does not know what he is saying.  He does not understand how grassroots people live.  He is presumptuous and arrogant to the extreme ... when I saw that, I was not going to wait any longer.  So I charged up to the front.

Some people may wonder that if I really wanted to throw shoes, why did I throw from so faraway?  Why did I throw a curve ball?  That is because you don't understand the setup.  The two corridors were occupied by television cameras.  If I wanted to get all the way up front, I had to charge down and sent the television cameras and cameramen flying.  Furthermore, the high-resolution video showed that I yelled "Shut up!" when I threw the shoes instead of "Go and die!" as other have reported.  Once again, this showed the power of rumor spreading on the Internet.

After I threw the shoes, I clapped a couple of times.  Then I turned around and headed towards the exit.  Please note that I was not thinking about running away.  I felt that I did the right thing.  I left because I don't want to listen to any more of the nonsense from Ren Zhiqiang.  As I walked about, a fat man threw a sneak punch at me.  He looked alike a real estate developer.  I glared at him and ignored him.  When I reached the exit, several guards blocked my way.  Then a woman who appeared to be a supervisor said "Don't block him.  Let him go.  Just watch and make sure that he does not come back."  So I got out successfully.  When I reached the stairs, I heard a woman yell aloud: "Don't let him run away!"  Then four or five men in western suits surrounded me and pushed me up against the balustrade of the stairs.  They grabbed my shoulders and said: "Let's go!"  The woman was screaming: "You still think you can escape.  You leave with us!"

At that moment, Secretary-general Yang came out of the conference hall and stopped the men.  He told them to release me.  They let go and stood behind him, still surrounding me at the stairway.  Secretary-General Yang took out a business card and said that he understood why I did it, that he admired my courage, etc.  He said that I was too rash and I may not understand what Ren Zhiqiang was saying.  He offered to become friends and asked me to call him at the telephone number on the business card to arrange for a chat.  He wanted me to leave him with my contact information.  I did not give him my telephone number, because I never wanted to gain fame or anything else as a result of my action.  And I don't want any media to contact me.

So I told Secretary-General Yang that I will call him but it will be after the whole thing has blown over.  I said that I did not do this for fame and I did not want to do any media interviews.

As Secretary-General Yang saw me off, the woman behind him began screaming again: "How can you let him go?  He thinks that he can leave safely.  No way!"  Secretary-General Yang glared at her, and she shut up.

Who was in charge of the construction site at which four workers died and four workers were injured when a wall collapsed?  The reporter saw a sign inside the site which states the project to be "Stage II Construction of the Huahua World Center Plaza" consisting of 102,848 square meters at a cost of 23,468,999 yuan beginning February 2010.  The project unit was the Guangzhou City, Tianhe District, Dongpu Town, Huangcun village committee and the builder was the Guangzhou Construction Group Limited Company,.

On the night before yesterday, the Huahua World Center Plaza marketing director Shi Hui called up our reporter to say that the incident had nothing whatsoever to do with the Huahua World Center Plaza and that the security guards who stopped the reporter was not their security guards. 

Yesterday afternoon at 2:30pm, Shi Hui and the security head of Huahua World Center Plaza named Deng Yongxing held a press conference to speak to reporters from many outlets.  She said: "The construction site does not belong to us.  We are just renters.  When the building is completed, we will take over."  However, Shi Hui changed her statement on the night before yesterday and admitted the security guards who blocked the ambulances and reporters from entering were theirs.

"Our security guards were heroes.  Any conscientious security guard would have done the same!"  Deng Yongxing said that the negative media reports denied their heroic act.  "The construction site does not belong to us.  When our security guards heard the loud band, they rushed over to help in the rescue out of humanitarian concerns.  They were heroes.  They were not the people who blocked access according to the subjective reporting."

Deng Yongxing said, "Since we were separated only by a wall, our security guards were over there immediately to participate in the rescue.  Our security guards turned over the rescue work to the firemen when they arrived.  Then they helped to maintain order."  Shi Hui said, "If I were a security guard, I think I would have automatically gone over to help.  Any conscientious security guard would have gone there."

Deng Yongxing said that the security guards formed a human wall in order to protect the reporters.  When an incident happens, there can easily be another incident.  "From the security viewpoint, people should not be allowed inside a dangerous area.  There are many water puddles at the construction site.  It is very dangerous!"

Deng Yongxing said that the Huangcun village police were in charge at the scene.  Their 15 security guards were asked to participate in maintaining order.  "Forming a human wall in order to keep people (including reporters) away is part of the process of maintaining order.  Blocking the reporters give people inside more time to carry out rescue."  Deng Yongxing explained, "We were not blocking reporters.  We were cordoning off the scene to maintain order."

But the reporters that night saw that the human wall of security guards not only blocked the reporters, but they also blocked the ambulances from the Tianhe Chinese Medicine Hospital and the Huangpu Chinese Medicine Hospital from entering.  Deng Yongxing said that since there were already ambulances inside and the number of casualties was known, there was no reason why additional ambulances are needed.

When Shi Hui called our reporter on the night before yesterday, she said that the media reporting was inaccurate and she was considering suing the media who made the initial reporting.  Yesterday at the press conference, she said that the news bulleting issued by the Tianhe District government was unfavorable to their company and she hopes that the media won't quote it.  "All companies have a hard time growing.  I hope that the media would report objectively."

As to the report that the security guards yelling "If the reporters enter, we'll beat them up as thieves," Deng Yongxing said that his investigation that no security guard said so.  "Maybe that was something that a spectator said."  The reporter pointed out that it was late night and there were no spectators around.  Deng Yongxing said, "Just because you reporters did not see any spectators does not mean that there were no spectators."

Yesterday at around 3pm, the reporters returned to the construction site.  Once again they were blocked by a number of men who formed a human wall and used their hands to block filming.  One of the man told the other men, "Come over and get your photo taken."

Then several of the men brought out umbrellas to block the cameras.  When reporters tried to enter, they were pushed and shoved.  A television reporter was almost pushed into a water ditch.  The stalemate went on about half an hour.

According to one worker, the incident may have occurred because of the attempt to keep up with the schedule after the delay due to the recent heavy rains.  The wife of one of the deceased workers said that the construction company has offered her 380,000 yuan in compensation.   She was not satisfied but she does not know what to do if the construction company won't pay more.

On April 7, there was a post titled <Why does the wife of a Huizhou government official rave and rant?> at the Xizi Lakeside Forum.  According to the post, at 3:50pm April 4 in the Tianxiong Shopping Plaza parking lot, a woman held a parking space for her husband.  When another small sedan wanted to park at the space, the woman refused to move herself.  There was a quarrel during which the woman said, "Fuck your mother!  I am not going to let you come in.  What can you do?  My husband works for the government.  He could ruin your life."  One minute later, the woman's husband arrived in a sedan with the mark "Safety Supervision."

As you might expect, the deputy director and his wife were drowned by saliva on the Internet.

On the afternoon April 9, the Boluo County Disciplinary Committee made a post at the Xizi Lakeside Forum to say that they have begun an investigation.

On April 13, our newspaper reported on this case.  We interviewed the Boluo County Safety Supervisory Bureau Yu Qingzhong and his wife.  They said that they had a quarrel with another car owner in the parking lot but there was never any conversation in the manner of "my government works for the government ... he could ruin your life."

Yesterday our reporter followed up with the Boluo County Disciplinary Committee.  Whereas netizens had expected the case to be wrapped up within one week, "the committee leader said that the process has several stages.  When they learn about a case, they send investigators to get the facts first.  Afterwards, they discuss with the units to which the principals belong and obtain their opinions.  Any resulting sanctions have to approved at the city and provincial levels.  All this takes time."

So what happened?

First of all, the investigators was unable to reach the other party in the quarrel, so there is no way to check ascertain whether Mrs. Yu said those very extreme words.

Secondly, the committee found a different problem because Yu Qingluo was using a government vehicle for personal purposes.  As such, he has been given a Party warning and his case was made known to all government and Party workers in the county as a cautionary example.  They are reminded that government vehicles must not be used for activities such as weddings, funerals, tourism, leisure, etc. 

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