Section 2 of 3:  Brief comments

• [Permalink]  Muckraking Comes To China (01/07/2009)  (ChinaNews)  First there was "Kickback Gate."

Recently, a netizen posted a scanned form whose origins were not disclosed.  This is supposed to be the "commission prices during a certain month in year 2007 to be given to the deputy director of the Party Political Office of a certain development area in Ganzhou, Jianxi province."  For example, the first item is Hennessey KO, which came at list price of 840 yuan/bottle but vendor paid a commission of 252 yuan/bottle to the deputy director.  Basically, the commission rate ranged between 20% to 30%.  In total, 104,916 yuan was paid by the vendors and this included 30,097 yuan in commission to the deputy director.

When the list was published on the Internet, an uproar did not occur immediately.  While many netizens hated these leeches, they were also cautious because the origin of the form was unclear and therefore not credible.

One netizen wrote: "This is theft.  They are stealing from the pockets of every one of us.  They are stealing the hard-earned tax money from the taxpayers."  Another netizen said: "Why do they need so much alcohol?  One can imagine that they are eating and drinking merrily.  It is going too far to steal 30,000 yuan from a 100,000 yuan bill!  This must be thoroughly investigated!"  At a mainland forum, one netizen said: "A deputy director earns a maximum salary of 4,000 yuan per month, but he is getting ten times as much in kickbacks.  This is unbridled greed." 

But other netizens pointed out that this so-called list is of "unknown origins and the name of the deputy director and other details are missing (e.g. a 'certain development region."  So the possibility cannot be excluded that this was a sensationalistic smear.  It is noted that some of the Internet posts about "Kickback Gate" are being deleted.

This is quickly followed by another spreadsheet published at Zhao Mu's blog.  This is purported to be the 2009 public relations plan of the Xinao Liquid Gas Company in Liaocheng city, Shandong province. 

There are 212 target persons to whom a budget of 1,063,000 yuan was allocated.  Leading the list was the Liaocheng city party secretary Song Yuanfang who will be dealt with by the company's general manager Li Shilin.  78,000 yuan was budgeted for Song Yuanfang with these items: (1) personal visit four times a year, with 2,000 yuan for meals/gifts each time; (2) Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival gifts, at 5,000 yuan per occasion; (3) 2009 group inspection trip at 50,000 yuan; (4) Unspecified maintenance for 10,000 yuan.  By comparison, the city mayor is budgeted only for 24,000 yuan, primarily because he does not get a group inspection trip.

• [Permalink]  Possible Classifications of the Zhang Ziyi Photos (01/07/2009)  (Alone In The Fart blog)  At issue is this page in the January 6, 2009 issue of Apple Daily.

According to the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, Section 10:

In determining whether an article is obscene or indecent or whether any matter publicly displayed is indecent, or in classifying an article, a Tribunal shall have regard to-

(a) standards of morality, decency and propriety that are generally accepted by reasonable members of the community ...;
(b) the dominant effect of an article or of matter as a whole;
(c) in the case of an article, the persons or class of persons, or age groups of persons, to or amongst whom the article is, or is intended or is likely to be, published;
(d) in the case of matter publicly displayed, the location where the matter is or is to be publicly displayed and the persons or class of persons, or age groups of persons likely to view such matter; and
(e) whether the article or matter has an honest purpose or whether its content is merely camouflage designed to render acceptable any part of it.

In practice, if the Obscene Articles Tribunal want to classify the Apple Daily report as indecent, the following reason might be given:

The article is entitled <Zhang Ziyi: Real life nude show>.  There are two photographs showing movie star Zhang Ziyi and her fiancé Vivi Nevo sunbathing on a beach.  The larger photo occupies half the page with the title <Fiancé sniff, squeeze, snatch and grab> and Zhang Ziyi is show topless with half her breast being revealed and her bikini bottom being half pulled down; Vivi Nevo is lying on his side with his left arm propping himself up and his right hand on the buttocks of Zhang Ziyi.  The smaller photo occupies about 1/8-th of the page and shows Zhang Ziyi in the process of taking off her bikini bra.

The Tribunal observes that Vivo Nevo's right hand is placed close to the genitalia of Zhang Ziyi in the larger photo.  Although the two people are not engaged in sexual intercourse nor are they preparing to do so, this photo with the suggesting title as well as the undressing act in the smaller photo convey the overall effect that the two individuals are engaged in sexual activity or about to do so.  This is in violation of the standards of morality, decency and propriety that are generally accepted by reasonable members of the community.  In consideration the sizes of the photos and the choice of words in the titles, the Tribunal holds the opinion that this article is using the body of a female star to attract readers by satisfying their sexual curiosity.  There is no other real purpose otherwise.  As such, this article is not suitable for distribution to minors.

But of course, the Obscene Articles Tribunal may also want to classify this article as neither indecent nor obscene with the following reasoning:

The Tribunal believes that the degree of nudity is extremely low and similar to ordinary bikini photographs.  Although it is not legally everywhere in the world for a female to lie down topless to sunbathe, this sort of activity is very common.  The two persons in the photographs are engaged to each other, and their activities do not constitute sexual activities.  Although the language in the titles is vulgar and it is used to sate the curiosity of readers about the sexual lives of celebrities, any common person should be able to tell the the titles do not match the photographs.  The overall effect of the article is similar to the photos of ordinary lovers engaged in intimacy at beaches.  Therefore, this article does not violate the standards of morality, decency and propriety of reasonable members of the community and does not harm any minors.

This is the type of open-ended essays where you can assume one position or the other without even seeing the photographs first, and then argue based your position using the same information as the other side.  Your "standard of morality, decency and propriety" may not be the same as mine, and we are all reasonable members of the community.

As a different exercise, try today's <Next Weekly> with the front headers: "The whole nation is shocked and angered," "Full 81 lusty photos" and "Zhang Ziyi in trouble because of licentiousness."  If found to be "indecent," <Next Weekly> will probably be fined HKD 5,000 (~USD 700).  Meanwhile, this issue may sell several tens of thousands copies more than usual.

    

 

• [Permalink]  Hong Kong By The Numbers (01/06/2009)  (HKU POP)  (1,022 persons interviewed on December 23-29, 2008)

Hong Kong SAR government
42%: Trust
19%: Distrust

Beijing government
56%: Trust
14%: Distrust

Taiwan government
14%: Trust
45%: Distrust

Hong Kong's future
69%: Confidence
24%: No confidence

China's future
91%: Confidence
  6%: No confidence

"One country, two systems"
73%: Confidence
21%: No confidence

• [Permalink]  AP Hit Piece Against Ma Ying-jeou (01/06/2009)  Critics blast democratic erosion under Taiwan's Ma  (AP by Peter Enav)

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is a Harvard Law School graduate with a professed commitment to the rule of law. But two incidents during his first seven months in office are prompting unflattering comparisons with his Nationalist Party's dictatorial past and raising questions about Ma's ability to protect Taiwan's fragile democracy.

His apparent willingness to countenance his party's actions against opposition politicians is provoking stinging criticism of his administration, both at home and abroad. It is "reminiscent of Richard Nixon's behavior, as in ordering IRS investigations of groups he didn't like," said June Teufel Dreyer, a China-Taiwan expert at the University of Miami, in an e-mail response to questions. The IRS is the American tax agency.

No one suggests Ma wants to turn the clock back on free elections and other democratic reforms that swept the island starting in the mid-1980s. What worries some is the efforts by Nationalist lawmakers to pressure the Ministry of Justice into prosecuting former officials of the rival Democratic Progressive Party, including former President Chen Shui-bian.

Chen was indicted on Dec. 12 on charges of money laundering, looting a special presidential fund and taking bribes during his eight years in office. Few deny that there is probably substance to the allegations. The problem, the critics contend, is that Ma has failed to stop a campaign by lawmakers to keep Chen in jail pending trial.

Following his indictment, a three-judge panel from the Taipei District Court ordered him released on his own recognizance. Lead judge Chou Chan-chun said it was unlikely that Chen would attempt to flee before his trial.

Prosecutors initially accepted the decision but, following intense criticism from Nationalist lawmakers, they changed their mind and filed an appeal. On Dec. 18, the court rejected the appeal.

This provoked a new round of attacks led by Nationalist lawmaker Chiu Yi, who spent eight months in prison for leading violent protests against Chen's narrow re-election victory in 2004. "If Chou knows about shame, he should resign and let others handle the case," Chiu told reporters. "If he doesn't do so ... I will impeach him so that he loses his job."

On Dec. 25 the District Court took the unusual step of shifting Chen's case to a different three-judge panel, giving the lead role to Tsai Shou-hsun, who had acquitted Ma on graft charges of his own in 2007. Three days later, the new panel accepted the prosecution's argument that Chen was a flight risk and ordered him back to jail.

"The pressure from critics has been undisguised," The Apple Daily newspaper said in an editorial. "If a judge does not hand out a verdict according to their wishes, they ... besmirch his reputation. The judiciary should avoid considering political elements in a case."

Ma spokesman Wang Yu-chi denied any political intervention in Chen's case. Taipei District Court spokesman Huang Chun-ming said the decision to change judges was for efficiency, so that the same panel would handle the cases of both Chen and his wife, who also faces graft charges. Typically, though, his wife's case would have been moved to the judges hearing his case, since hers is a less important one.

Political scientist Wang Yeh-lih of Taipei's National Taiwan University said the most disturbing aspect of the Chen affair has been the readiness of Nationalist lawmakers to leak information from the investigation to allies in the media. He also blamed prosecutors, saying they "consistently violated the principle of guarding the details of investigations during Chen's case."

Wang said Ma's apparent inability to stand up to lawmakers in his own party was also evident in his reluctance to prevent senior Nationalist officials from holding talks in Shanghai last month with China's Communist Party.

The negotiations, on two-way investment and cooperation in financial and service industries, circumvented the Straits Exchange Foundation, the Taiwanese body established to conduct talks with the mainland. The leaders of the Nationalist delegation included honorary party chairman Lien Chan, whom critics chide as a supporter of reunification with the mainland, something most Taiwanese oppose. Ma has pledged not to discuss the issue while in office.

Wang said the meeting signaled the government's willingness to abdicate its authority to the ruling political party _ much as the Nationalist Party dictated policy during martial law from 1947 to 1987.

Wang Yu-chi, the Ma spokesman, said any agreements reached with the mainland would need government approval. "The only agency recognized by the government to hold talks with China is the Straits Exchange Foundation," he said. "Non-governmental talks will not bring about the implementation of deals that are agreed upon."

But Wang Yeh-lih, the political scientist, has his doubts. "The Nationalists are circumventing public supervision when they talk to the communists on its own," he said. "This is not something a democratic country would normally tolerate."

(TVBS)

Wang Yu-chi, the spokesperson at the President's Office, said: "The president does not interview with the various cases and he does not influence the judiciary.  This is completely different from the example of the foreign leader mentioned in the report.  They are two extremes.  As for the various things that legislators say, the President does not want to interfere and actually does not have the means to interfere either."

The Government Information Office issued a rare midnight press release on January 5 in order to rebut the absurdity of the AP report, especially with respect to the baseless charge that President Ma is allowing the KMT legislators to interfere with the legal cases around former president Chen Shui-bian.  The Executive Yuan is also issuing rebuttals because they are concerned that this foreign news report is using selective viewpoints to hurt the image of Taiwan democracy.

• [Permalink]  A Misleading Internet Poll Of Youth And Pornography (01/06/2009)  (For newspaper report, see Comment 200901a#008)

(Those Were The Days blog)

Let me quote the legal questions that were published by the Hong Kong Economic Journal:

Question 2 asks whether it is legal to forward photos/videos that involve pornography and crime to your friends.  The correct answer according to Caritas is yes.  I am say for sure that they are one hundred percent "wrong!"  This is completely so because they are confounding pornographic photos/videos with the so-called criminal photos/videos together as if they are the same.  This is blurring right and wrong, black and white.

According to the <Control of Indecent and Obscene Articles Ordinance>, it is illegal to distribute obscene photos/videos on the Internet.  However, it is legal to distribute indecent articles on the Internet provided that there is sufficient warning not to distribute to young people.  It goes without say that ig must be legal such photos/videos to send to friends who are adults.  In the case of sending obscene photos/videos to friends, even the Hong Kong police aren't so sure, for that is why the police said that it was alright to send to friends during Edison Chen's Sexy Photo Gate last year!  Presently, the only law concerning the sending of photos/videos is when they involve people who are not yet adults.  What is the legal basis for Caritas to equate pornography and crime?  If pornography equals committing a crime, then I would be committing a crime if I lend a pornographic publication to a friend?  How can such an example be used when it confounds the legal rights and wrongs?

Question 6 is even more indicative of ignorance of the law?  The question is, Is it legal for two lovers to consent and post their love-making photos onto the Internet?  Well, if the lovers consent and those photos do not show sensitive body parts (such as genitalia), it is not against the law!  The conservative standards for defining indecency/obscenity in Hong Kong is based upon the showing of genitalia/female nipples and whether the genitalia were in action.  So if a man bares his chest, a woman wears a bra and the genitalia are now shown, it is not against the law even if this is love-making!  As long as the couple consents and they don't show any 'naughty' body bits, what law are they breaking if the love-making video is posted on the Internet?

How do you justify in your conscience that in order to achieve certain moral goals, you invoke the name of the law which you then promptly misrepresent in order to mislead the citizenry?  Is this consistent with your beliefs? ...

• [Permalink]  The Season For Sexy Photos (01/06/2009)  (Hecaitou's blog)

This was not a good thing because if it keeps happening, then all the Chinese netizens will be stationed in front of their computers every New Year to wait for more sexy photos.  Last year, it was Edison Chen.  This year, it is Zhang Ziyi ...

Zhang Ziyi did not go as far as Master Edison Chen this time, nor did she adhered to the principle of photography that "your photos are not as good because you did not get close enough."  But it tore open the hidden wound inside Chinese men: "Why is it always white men screwing Chinese women?"  Based upon the Internet reaction, it seems that the photos came from the mysterious X17.  Since this afternoon, more than 1 million netizens probably saw them.  Within the next 72 hours, the number should go past 10 million or even 100 million.  Many of the comments were angry shouts by Chinese men.  Even though they are somewhere else on the Internet, you can still imagine the masses of mouths and the millions of tongues wagging in anger.

Among the comments, I spotted a very classical one:

Go to hell!  Racist white pig!

This is matched only by an old joke: First, I hate all racists; second, I hate black people.

If Zhang Ziyi was intimate with a Chinese person on the beach, she would be guilty only of being "skittish."  But she did it with a white man, and that is of a completely different nature.  For the next few days, Zhang Ziyi will become the object of condemnation of all the Chinese guys who couldn't find a wife or who could only find an ugly hag.  Although it is seldom mentioned among the media or at formal occasions, it is obvious that many people are upset at white men scoring Chinese women.  Zhang Ziyi is helping them right now, because they might have gotten cancer otherwise from all the repression.  I hope that the sociologists and psychologists can tell us why the Chinese people are so sensitive about this.  And what if Zhang Ziyi's boyfriend was black?  What would happen then?

At this moment, I am most sympathetic with the couple Vivian Chow and Joel Nieh.  He had tried everything within his power to get the media to focus on their wedding.  But these 82 photos of Zhang Zihi have deftly destroyed all Nieh's efforts.  On this evening, their wedding becomes secondary news.  By tomorrow, the world will probably forget about it ...

I like January and February because it is a season for sexy photos.  But I am somewhat worried: This year seems like a copy of last year.  There are sexy photos, there will be pompous ceremonies, but will there also be ...

• [Permalink]  Zhang Ziyi Is Front Page News In Hong Kong (01/06/2009)  For details, see Zhang Ziyi Naked On Beach = 2009 Sexy Photos Gate (ChinaSMACK) and Zhang Ziyi bikini photos on the Chinese Internet (Danwei).  Here are the Hong Kong newspaper front pages:

(The Sun)

Within a short few hours, the beach sexy photos of Zhang Ziyi had spread all over the world.  Apart from the broad discussions on mainland Chinese Internet forums and the demand to delete the official Zhang Ziyi website, overseas forums were also flooded with condemnations in Chinese and English.  Chinese people all over the world are upset at her for being intimate with a foreigner in public.

Netizens recalled that Zhang Ziyi looked so elegant in the movie <Mei Lanfang>, but now she acted this way.  So they called her "hypocritical."

Netizne "Club.ChinaRen" made a strong demand at the official Zhang Ziyi website for a shutdown.  People asked: "What has Zhang Ziyi done to gain glory for China and work to the benefit of its people?"  They pointed out, "The official Zhang Ziyi website's webmaster must be brain dead, or else he has some ulterior motive."  Another netizen said: "This slut has now been caught in these extremely vulgar nude photos, being the toy of some foreign guy.  Should we still adulate her in the discussion forums>"

Apart from the mainland Chinese websites, foreign photo community websites were also flooded with vicious criticisms of her.  Many people  called her "embarrassing."  They called her a "gold digger," they reviewed her past history and they used words that are personal attacks.  It can be said that she is facing global condemnsation.

Last Lunar New Year, the Internet was embroiled in Edison Chen's Sexy Photo Gate.  So the photos of Zhang Ziyi and her fiancé are now being described as "Sexy Photo Gate #1, 2009."  At the two major mainland Chinese forums, there were more than 200,000 page views and more than 1,000 comments within two hours.  Netizens there reacted strongly against the public nudity of Zhang Ziyi and called her "an embarrassment to all Asian women."

Some  netizens thought that Zhang Ziyi was just "sunning" herself on an foreign beach.  "There is nothing about going named," "she is conservatively dressed" and "many foreign women go nude on beaches."  They condemned the paparazzi for invasion of privacy.  They said that the intimate actions between Zhang and her fiancé were just "manifestations of love" and "much less than in Edison Chen's Sexy Photo Gate."  Some netizens said that the critics of Zhang Ziyi are "jealous," "their ideas are still fixated around the 1900's," "it's alright to be nosy, but you don't have to condemn a fellow Chinese."  Another netizen said praised Zhang Ziyi for maintaining a good skincare regime.

(China News)

Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Tam Chi-keung said that journalists should follow their codes of conduct and not employ unethical methods to obtain photos or information.  It is legal if the photographer used a long lens to obtain these photos.  Instead, the problem is that the readers have poor taste and likes to see such photos.  That is the reason why the media will buy and publish there photos.  "Normal and decent newspapers should not be publishing these photos."