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Week Around the Ists
- China's internet 'spin doctors' [BBC] China is using an increasing number of paid "internet commentators" in a sophisticated attempt to control public opinion. These commentators are used by government departments to scour the internet for bad news - and then negate it. They post comments on websites and forums that spin bad news into good in an attempt to shape public opinion.
- Why Western Media Mistakes Matter [ChinaGeeks] Every time we post something critical of a story in the Western media — which, for the record, isn’t that often, about 20 posts of our total 197 — this question gets asked. Yesterday it was commenter Hemulen, who phrased it thusly: "I don’t understand why you spend so much time criticizing Western media for not getting everything exactly right and being 100 per cent accurate." It’s a valid question, or at least, one to which the answer might not be readily apparent. After all, the Chinese media routinely commits graver ethical sins as a matter of policy. Shouldn’t we be going after them, instead?
- HIV prostitute' blog hoax zooms on cyber-privacy [China Daily] "A blog that falsely proclaimed that a Hebei province woman is HIV positive was a hoax by an ex-boyfriend intent upon revenge - and a case study into the debate about people's right of privacy in cyberspace. The woman, Yan Deli, a native in Hebei province, tested negative for HIV/AIDS Monday by the local disease control center. Police of Rongcheng county in Hebei province said the blog with indecent photos and words was written by Yan's ex-lover surnamed Yang, in a bid to get revenge on Yan. Yan met Yang in Beijing."
- Chinese movie-makers keep faith with martial arts [The Independent] "The Chinese film industry is hoping a little more martial arts magic will woo international audiences over the next 12 months with two productions set to take familiar stories one step further. First up comes the US$12 million (eight million euro) budgeted The Storm Warriors, directed by Hong Kong-based twins Oxide and Danny Pang, and set to make its film industry premiere at next month's American Film Market (http://www.ifta-online.org/) as they try to sell it to the world."
- China, China everywhere: We're all living in China's world now. How's your Mandarin? [Global Post] "So why is China dominating the news from Wall Street to Washington to Wakhan? It starts, of course, with economic power. China's handling of the global economic crisis has given it renewed credibility across Asia and throughout the world. Sure, thousands of Chinese factories closed last year, and as a result some 20 million migrant workers lost their jobs. But the government acted swiftly, rapid growth has returned, and with it, so too has the swagger of Beijing's leaders. That economic power, naturally, leads to greater political influence. As the most important buyer (along with Japan) of U.S. Treasuries, Washington's ability to finance its dizzying spending is in large part dependent upon Beijing's continued willingness to purchase, and hold, them."
- Guangzhou City Government Budget Goes Online [CDT] "For the first time, the Guangzhou government made public their official budget for 114 different city-level departments and agencies. The domestic news report is here. According to Netease.com, all contents were presented as graphics in a massive 2.08 Gigabyte file, which takes several hours to download. However, some netizens did take the time to download the file, and reported on what they found…"
- George Monbiot on China and climate change [Greenpeace China] "China would be a lot more proactive on climate change if the West stepped up and took their share of the burden, British journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot tells Greenpeace China. With just over a month to go before key UN talks on climate change at Copenhagen, Greenpeace China invited the outspoken Monbiot to give his opinion on China’s role at that summit."
- “Attack those who seek audience with higher-ups” [ChinaGeeks] "Wang Keqin recently posted many photos from his trip to a rural Henan town. He was there investigating the AIDS situation, but found these slogans posted all over the town and thought they were interesting. He posted them, in his words, “so that people can understand the relationship between China and seeking audience with higher-ups [上方]“. For those who haven’t seen it before, the term “seeking audience with higher-ups” refers to traveling to Beijing or larger cities to report local government misdeeds to higher authorities."
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