• [106]  Robert Ehrlich and Yu Shyi-kun (12/31/2006)  (Apple Daily; Apple Daily)  In defense of DPP's ban on China Times coverage, the DPP is citing an article by veteran media worker Lu Shih-shiang 盧世祥: "There is a precedent on refusing the media's right of coverage."
   
  The precedent is Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr's order to government staff not to speak with Baltimore Sun's State House Bureau Chief David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker (see link).  The Baltimore Sun went to court to ask for Ehrlich's ban be lifted in defense of the freedom of press as guaranteed under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, but the court dismissed the case.  What was the reasoning?  The ban was directed at two specific individuals and all other Baltimore Sun reporters can continue to function as before.  Hence, the people's right to know is not being affected in the large.  Nitkin and Olesker can also continue to write as much as they like.  Furthermore, the remedy that Ehrlich is seeking is the correction of a list of specific stories in which Nitkin and Olesker are involved.
   
  By contrast, the DPP ban is directed against any China Times reporter.  Furthermore, the remedy that the DPP is seeking is the dismissal of the China Times chief editor.  Therefore, the two cases are not comparable.  This is something that the DPP recognizes and their purpose in citing the Maryland case is to show that freedom of press is multi-faceted in democratic countries due to varying local conditions and they were not  using the case to justify its current actions.  By the way, Ehrlich lost his re-election bid in November, but not necessarily for this reason alone.

• [105]  Summary of Yu Shyi-kun PK China Times (12/31/2006) This is an explanation of the post Yu Shyi-kun PK China Times.  As deep background, the ESWN blogger is a media researcher (e.g. a person who conducts television ratings, print readership surveys, Internet surveys, public opinion polls, etc. around the world).  As such, the ESWN blog has a distinct media tilt.  Thus, I am interested in censorship issues in China (see recent long posts such as: A Chinese Reporter And His Source, The List of Banned Terms in Xinhua News Reporting, Top Ten Sex-related Incidents In China During 2006, Beijing News versus TOM.com, The Gao Qinrong Interview in yWeekend, The Gao Qinrong Interview in Southern Weekend, The Gao Qinrong Interview in Southern Metropolis Daily in mainland China, Yu Shyi-kun PK China Time in Taiwan and Star Ferry: The Beginning of a New Social Movement? in Hong Kong).  I am interested in anything that affects the watchdog role of the media as the Fourth Estate anywhere in Greater China.
   
  Along comes the post Yu Shyi-kun PK China Time.  This is obviously a major step taken by a political party against a media outlet in Taiwan.  Specifically, the DPP central has declared it will not accept any questions from any China Times reporter until as such time when its current chief editor is removed.  In that post, I aggregated and translated these reactions: 
   
  From the pan-blue camp -- KMT party chairman Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng take the position that they would not have done the same against any media outlet.  They refuse to condemn Yu Shyi-kun because they probably realize that it is easier for Yu to self-destruct whereas their condemnation would have made this a bi-partisan fight once again.
   
  From the pan-green camp -- President Chen Shui-bian and Vice-President Annette Lu said nothing.  Premier Su tseng-cheng and former premier Frank Hsiek both took the high road and said that they believe in peaceful and rational interactions with the media, as hostile as this might be sometimes but not beyond reasoning at this time.  Many of the less DPP figures (such as DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming) have weighted in with regrets about Yu's action.   At Taipei Times, the editorial was titled: "Yu slaps himself in the face."
   
  From the Taiwan Journalist Association, the statement is that a politician can always object to a specific piece of reporting through a demand to retract/clarify or resorting to legal action otherwise.  But to issue a blanket ban on a media outlet (until its chief editor is removed) is an infringement on freedom of press and the right of the people to know.
   
  From the print media, all the editorial pieces are against Yu's action -- Liberty Times, Apple Daily and China Times.
   
  In my blog post, I have summarized all the pieces from various parties that I have come across the mainstream Chinese-language media in Taiwan.  If you only read English, you may have not have read all of them.  So I was just collating the reactions and translating them from Chinese to English as a public service.  For balance, you can read Taiwan Matters.

  For comparison, I ask you to imagine:

  At a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from New York Times reporters until as such time as their China bureau chief is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

  At a Hong Kong Government Information Office press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from Apple Daily reporters until as such time as its chief editor is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

  At a White House press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from the Washington Post until as such time as its chief editor is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

  Worldwide reaction would be overwhelmingly against those hypothetical decisions.  This is the reason why Yu Shyi-kun was almost universally condemned across the board -- blue and green.  Given all that is said, what would you do in Yu Shyi-kun's place?  This is not just about your personal reactions, but also about your sense of global reactions from others.  My purpose in going through those collations/translations is to pose that question to you, whether you are in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States or elsewhere.  If you believe that Yu Shyi-ku's actions are correct, please say so to the whole wide world.

• [102]  The Departed Will Not Arrive In China (12/28/2006) (Apple Daily) The movie The Departed was directed by Martin Scorsese based upon a story from the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs.  The Chinese distributor was optimistic that the Hollywood movie could gross over 50 million RMB in China.  However, the movie has run into a stone wall with the government censors.  After two months of negotiations, efforts have now been abandoned to bring the movie to China.  The censors insisted on certain cuts, but director Martin Scorsese has refused to edit his film.
   
  What are the 'sensitive topics'?  In the movie, the American criminals (led by the Jack Nicholson character) were attempting to sell some high-technology chips to Chinese-American gangsters who want to sell them to Chinese government officials.  At the meeting, the Chinese-American gangsters showed up with sub-machine guns.  Jack Nicholson said: "In America, we always deal with money in one hand and the merchandise in the other hand.  If the Chinese guys want to nuke Taiwan into flatland, you better give me my million dollars first!"

• [101]  Mass Executions (12/29/2006)  Mass murderer Qiu Xinghua (see The Psychological File of a Mass Murderer) was executed yesterday 50 minutes after the middle court rejected his appeal of the lower court's death sentence.
  
   
  (Ming Pao)  Meanwhile, in Zhuzhou city (Hunan), seven persons were executed on December 26 following a public meeting.  On December 22, the Sichuan provincial supreme courtcondemned five persons to death in Yanshou county and executed them immediately.  Early this month, two murderers were executed in Yucheng (Henan) were executed.  On December 1, a murdering robber was executed in Shenyang (Liaoning).
   
  Why the spate of year-end executions?  Pursuant to the decision of the National People's Congress, the right to grant the death penalty in criminal cases will be withdrawn from local courts and concentrated in the sole possession of the National Supreme Court.  The lack of judicial independence in certain localities was the supposed cause of wrongful executions in some cases.  The Supreme Court is likely to be more careful and less likely to impose the death penalty in the interest of "maintaining social harmony and stability."  Meanwhile, the local governments are engaged in the 'reaching home before sunset.'

• [100]  Non-existent IPR Violations (12/28/2006)  Yes, we are present at a stage when the earthquake south of Taiwan has broken several fiber-optic cables south of Taiwan.  Since the server for this website is located in Southern California, many people in East Asia cannot access it.  This whole thing is a matter of catch-and-miss since this is a function of the Internet Service Provider's setup.  Some people in East Asia can access this website, but others cannot.  During this period,  I posted The List of Banned Terms in Xinhua News Reporting.  This was cross-posted at Danwei with the foreword: "If you're on the Mainland and can't view ESWN because of the earthquake-induced broken cable, you will have missed this translation: Banned Terms in Xinhua News Reporting, a translation of a post on the popular Tianya forum."  The ESWN translation was then published in full.
   
  Should I be upset at this alleged IPR violation?  Well, the original post appeared at Tianya forum.  I never asked the poster for permission to translate.  So what rights do I have?  Furthermore, the purported post was an original Xinhua internal notice, which would not be released to the outside world anyway.  So who am I trying to kid here about IPR?
   
  From my perspective, I spent several hours of my short life on this planet to translate this item because I believe that it is informative, revealing, instructive, whatever.  I posted it on my website.  I would like to see this read by as many people as possible.  If Danwei can generate more readers, why would I be upset?  I invite more bloggers out there to re-publish the item, with or without acknowledgement to me.  I am therefore grateful to Danwei for making the message known to a broader audience.

(Next Weekly)

宋 以 朗 係 統 計 學 家 ， 佢 濠 江 馬 場 作 過 實 證 調 查 ， 發 覺 外 籍 騎 師 果 然 贏 面 較 大 。 西 人 零 舍 有 專 業 精 神 ？
 
宋 以 朗 友 情 提 供 （ www.zonaeuropa.com ） ： 過 大 海 搏 殺 ， 去 馬 場 落 注 ， 買 外 籍 騎 師 贏 面 較 大 。 乜 解 究 ？
聖 誕 前 夕 ， 佢 首 度 到 訪 濠 江 ， 去 馬 場 見 識 。 老 友 醒 佢 ， 有 頭 髮 邊 個 想 做 鬎 鬁 ？ 如 果 第 二 度 唔 係 俾 人 釘 牌 ， 使 乜 去 澳 門 做 騎 師 ？ 雖 然 係 咁 ， 外 籍 騎 師 始 終 較 有 專 業 精 神 、 搏 殺 咁 講 ， 由 是 贏 面 較 大 。
呢 個 講 法 又 經 得 起 實 證 考 驗 否 ？ 宋 以 朗 係 統 計 學 家 ， 佢 將 老 友 呢 個 道 理 付 諸 行 動 — — 買 五 重 彩 ， 全 揀 外 籍 騎 師 ， 果 然 得 米 ？ 點 解 西 人 （ 就 唔 用 得 鬼 佬 二 字 矣 ） 咁 有 專 業 精 神 ？ 你 問 我 ， 我 問 邊 個 ？

I have previously described this as being an "act of treason for profit (賣國求利)" to always choose Caucasians over Chinese.  I can defend this decision, but it should not be mixed up with other situations.
 
Situation #1: Let us say that I want to buy a pair of shoes.  My primary objective is to have a pair of shoes to wear and walk around.  Should I buy one "Made In China" or one "Made In Italy" (assuming that the labels are honest)?  Buying a pair that says "Made In China" shows that I support China and the purchase will provide income to a Chinese manufacturer and secure future employment for Chinese workers.  You can reasonably describe that this was a patriotic action.  You can sneer about this characterization, but you should bear in mind that the Spaniards or Italians did not speak any differently when they burned Chinese shoes in Spain and Italy and demand people to buy their own national products.  This is a case in which the argument has some kind of validity.  I should point out that I personally never ever look at labels or brand names.  For me, a pair of shoes is a pair of shoes and I am only interested in the functionality.
 
Situation #2: Let us say that I want to buy a notebook computer.  Should I buy the Chinese Lenovo or the Japanese Sony Vaio?  What is my objective here?  I want a notebook computer with which I do my work -- it is no good otherwise.  I once had an IBM Thinkpad (Lenovo today).  The monitor screen cracked due shipping.  I took it to the IBM service center and was told that the cost of a new monitor screen would exceed the price of the original notebook computer.  Huh?  Say what?  It turned out that IBM ordered a few hundred thousand monitor screens on a one-time-only basis from a Malaysian supplier which stopped the production line afterwards.  Therefore, it was immensely expensive to obtain one more monitor screen.  The IBM representative assured me that their company was just forwarding the repair cost directly without any mark-up.  Great!  I can actually appreciate that.  As a businessman, I would not have done otherwise.  However, IBM/Lenovo can never expect to get my business again.  I did not get that IBM Thinkpad repaired, because I went out to buy a brand new Sony Vaio.   I am a very simple person.  All I want is a notebook computer that will allow me to do my work, which is fairly straightforward.  I will keep buying the same brand as long as it works for me.  My business is for you to lose.  I really don't care if this was a Chinese, American or Japanese company.
 
Situation #3: Let us say that I am at the Macau horse-racing track.  What is my objective here?  To win money.  Based upon previous records, the Caucasian jockeys lead the field in total number of wins and places by a significant number.  If this is a critical variable, then what should I do?  Buy quinellas for the Causian jockeys ten races in a row?  Or buy quinellas for the Chinese jockeys for the sake of showing patriotic support?  My assertion is that if you want to throw your money away, it should not be given to the Macau horse-racing club.  You ought to give it to a Chinese orphanage if you are a genuine Chinese patriot.

• [Administrative Note] (12/28/2006)  When some fiber-optic cables were severed due to the earthquakes, the traffic was re-routed to the surviving routes which were overwhelmed.  However, one might expect that there is much more traffic going from Asia to the Americas (think Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) than vice versa.  Therefore, the congestion is worse during daytime in east Asia compared to nighttime.  Thus, I cannot access my website and email during the day in Hong Kong, but there is no problem at all late night (2am-4am).  So this is how this website is getting updated.

• [Administrative Note] (12/27/2006)  There was an earthquake south of Taiwan last evening.  As a result, some of the underwater fiber-optic cables used for communications have been severed.  Overall, Internet connections from Hong Kong to the United States have been slow or non-existent.  The server for this site is located in southern California.  While it is still possible to view the web pages because this site has a minimalist design, I have not been able to gain ftp access.  Therefore, I have not been able to update the site (which means that you can't read this message!).

• [098]  Zhuangzi on Justice (12/27/2006) (United Daily News) At 3pm, the verdict of the Taiwan Development Corp insider trading case was read out.  The president's son-in-law Chao Chien-ming ( 趙建銘 ) was sentenced to 6 years in jail and fined NT$30 million.  Chao's father Chao Yu-chu ( 趙玉柱 ) was sentenced to eight years four months in jail and fined NT$30 million.  In the verdict, the judge quoted from Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi (莊子).  The quoted phrase was: 竊鉤者誅，竊國者侯 (in translation: the small-time thief who stole a hook was executed; the big-time thief was stole political power became a nobleman).  The verdict was intended to show that this would not be the case here.
  

[in translation]

This summer, my daughter returned from her studies in the United States.  Her American friend came to visit her in China in the fall, and then they were going to go to Mongolia.  When my daughter inquired at the Mongolian embassy in China, she found out that Mongolia does not accept solo tourists from China.  This severely wounded my daughter's sense of national dignity.  Compared to Mongolia on every aspect, shouldn't China be considered a large nation and a strong nation?  Don't Chinese tourists also spend American dollars in Mongolia?  Later, I found out that people from Taiwan and Hong Kong were not subjected to this restriction.

When I traveled overseas in the past, I was always on business and therefore I had not suffered the pains of getting a personal via.  Earlier this year, I needed to travel overseas for some personal matter.  I found out what a lot of trouble that was.  At these foreign embassies in China, a passport does not establish your citizen status.  You need copies of your hukou registration, you need a signed approval from your unit leader, you need proof of the legality of your unit and you even need to provide evidence of your assets as if all Chinese citizens go overseas to become refugees.  Which country's citizens are harassed this way if they want to come to China?  I also found out that the citizens of certain countries (e.g. Japan) do not require visas to come to China.  Obviously, Chinese citizens should have the same rights but our government was willing to forego.  In other words, the rights of Chinese citizens do not seem to within the protected zone of national dignity.

Among the civilized nations of the world, the treatment of their citizens elsewhere is a major issue in terms of national dignity and diplomacy, even leading to war sometimes.  An American president had even pleaded to another government to spare an American teenager from being caned.

Actually, China has always been a grand nation in the world.  As late as early 19th century, China led the world in international trade.  Therefore, rather than studying the history of how the other nations rose, we are better off reflecting on why China fell during recent history.  One of the most important issue is the system set-up with respect to the position of the people in the country.  If the citizens are still little people with no constitutional rights (e.g. the nation continues to develop nuclear weaponry while millions of its people are starving to death), then the 'rise' of this nation will be highly problematic.

• [096]  An Unreported Crime (12/27/2006) (Ming Pao)  On December 21, a Guangzhou Daily reporter named Dong Zhe at the Dongguan bureau was about to go home at 1am when he was kidnapped by six men in a van.  The men demanded Dong's ATM code.  When Dong refused to cooperate, he was assaulted.  The men stabbed him thrice and hit his arms and legs multiple times with an iron hammer.  At 3am, the men finally extracted the code from Dong and withdrew the money.  They threw the injured Dong in the wilderness where he was found the next morning and sent to hospital.  According to the doctor, the men did not want to kill Dong, for his injuries were not fatal.  However, the iron hammer caused multiple soft tissue damage.
   
  Yes, but so what?  Dong Zhe was a reporter for Guangzhou Daily.  The newspaper prepared a long article that detailed the local public safety situation, including ineffective law enforcement, collusion between police and criminals, etc.  When the town government realized that a critical article was forthcoming, it immediately appealed to the Dongguan party publicity department.  Through intervention, the newspaper finally agreed to spike the article.  The Guangzhou provincial party publicity department has also notified all provincial media not to report on this case.
   
  Although there are no public reports, the news story is known in the Internet.  Here are some comments: "Earlier in the year, the new Dongguan party secretary promised that the party will apologize to the citizens if public safety does not improve this year.  It seems that the apology will occur soon."  "In Dongguan, being robbed is common."  "Best wishes to the injured reporter for an early recovery, hoping the public security bureau can show their 'ability and conscience' to arrest the perpetrators quickly."

• [095]  Undercover Traffic Police (12/27/2006) (Apple Daily; The Sun)  In Tsuen Wan (Hong Kong), there were complaints from drivers, citizens and district councilors about the parking spaces on a busy street being occupied by cars which do not feed the parking meters.  The police sent in an undercover officer to observe the situation.  When the report came back that there were many lapsed parking meters, dozens of uniformed police showed up to issue parking tickets.  At issue is the fact that their tickets were based upon the observations of the undercover officer.
   
  Immediately, the car owners showed up with excuses such as:
  - "I was getting lunch and I forgot to feed the meter."
  - "I'm about to leave, so I was not going to put in more money."
  - "Do I look like a robber?  Why won't you let me leave?"
  - "You are obliged to be accountable to the citizenry."
  - "My watch was going too slow!"
  - "Why don't you attempt to understand the situation first?  I just pulled in and I did not even have time to insert a coin!"
  - "I've sought legal advice.  You are wrong ... You can send in undercover officers to catch prostitutes and drug dealers, but who has ever heard of undercover officers to issue parking tickets?  I'm really terrified right now!"
   
  
   
  Yes, but so what?  The Internet-based twist to this tale is that the people who were given tickets took some videos and posted them on the Internet, in the belief that it will show how unreasonable and wrong the Hong Kong police were.  Unfortunately, the evidence led the commentators to go against the 'victims' and support the infinitely patient Hong Kong police.  Those videos are here at YouTube:
   
  - 警察禁住抄牌實案(1)
  - 警察禁住抄牌實案(2)

• [094]  Yet Another WoW Scandal (12/26/2006) (Information Times via Sina.com)  It began with this post from ヾ洋囡々 on November 8 at the MOP forum:

I am a single 20-year-old MOP user.  I want to find a handsome white-collar young man, preferrably a World of Warcraft player so that we can have a common interest.  Please contact me at QQ418923XXX.  Do not bother if you are not in Shanghai, or a middle-aged uncle, or an under-aged boy.

Then the following MOP post from 烈狱孤魂 appeared on December 15, 2006.

I am a 24-year-old man who has been working in Shanghai for over a year.  My monthly salary of 4,000 RMB will only allow me to live frugally in this cosmopolitan city.  I don't have any special hobbies except for World of Warcraft in which I lead a guild of about 100 people or so.  Several months ago, I saw a MOP post from a Shanghai girl who was interested in meeting a male WoW player.  Last Friday, she invited me out.  We went to the BonBon bar in Huaihai Middle Road.  Then she suggested going to a hotel and we stayed there until noon the next morning.
 
Our guild had a raid scheduled, and she said that she wanted to watch.  So we went to an Internet cafe and she stayed with me for about an hour.  Then she said that she had some family matter and she left.  After an hour later, I got disconnected.  When I tried to connect again, the message was "Incorrect password."  My account had been stolen.  Another guild member called me to say that "I" had just signed in again and announced that the guild has been dissolved.  I got back on QQ with that girl and asked her if she had stolen my ID, she wrote, "Do you think Shanghai MM will go to bed with you for nothing?"  I asked why she dissolved the guild after having taken the equipment already.  She replied: "There is only 50,000 G in the the warehouse.  This kind of garbage guild is too embarrassing to keep around."

(Tom.com)  From ヾ洋囡々:

1. I'm ヾ洋囡々.  The MOP account was not registered by myself, although the photograph and the QQ number are mine.  In other words, someone stole my photograph from my QQ space, registered as ヾ洋囡々 at MOP and posted a personal ad using my photo and QQ number.

2. According to the MOP administrator, the IP addresses of ヾ洋囡々and 烈狱孤魂 showed that they cannot both be in Shanghai.  Both ID's have posted just once at MOP.

3. ヾ洋囡々has contacted the Shanghai police and the case has been referred to the Internet Monitoring Department.

• [093]  The Hong Kong Residents Hotline (12/26/2006) (Ming Pao)  The Hong Kong Immigration Department maintains a 7/24 hotline (#1868) to assist Hong Kong residents when they are overseas.  This has proved useful in major emergencies such as the Southeast Asian tsunami.  On the average, the hotline gets about 100 calls per day.  While most of these are emergencies, some are distinctly peculiar (apart from the usual wrong number dials to the lottery results (#1888)).
   
  Here is the best story: A Hong Kong man found himself locked inside a mainland hotel restroom.  What to do?  He called the Immigration Department hotline.  The person on duty went over a detailed analysis of the restroom and proposed some hints about how to break out.

• [092]  The Nurses With The Steel Helmets (12/25/2006) (Guangzhou Daily via Dayoo)  At the Shanxia hospital in Shenzhen, the doctors and nurses have been showing up at work wearing steel helmets.  This has caused visitors and patients to wonder about what is going on.  The reporter asked a nurse with a steel helmet, and she said: "We have no choice.  The hospital issued steel helmets to everybone for our own safety."
  
  According to a hospital spokesperson, a patient came to the hospital some time ago and was operated upon.  Afterwards, the patient recovered well.  Two weeks later, the patient was in the process of getting out of the hospital when he went into shock and died.  The patient's family wanted the hospital to pay compensation, but the hospital said that it needed to have an autopsy to determine the cause of death before assuming liability.  The family is not allowing the autopsy to be conducted.  Instead, the family has organized people to demonstrate at the hospital, holding out banners, burning paper, cursing out the doctors and nurses and engaging in physical contact with the hospital staff.
   
  A hospital spokesperson also hinted that some of the protestors had participated in previous disputes with the hospital.  Thus, these people might be professional troublemakers who expect to profit from such disputes.
   
  Many more photos (Southern Metropolis Daily via NetEase)
  
   
  
   
  
   
  Here are the the different versions of the story:
   
  According to hospital security guards, more and more family members and townsmen began to show up over time and they hung around the plaza in front of the hospital, the lobby and even the patients' rooms.  At the peak, there were more than 100 people.  They burned paper money at the entrance, set off firecrackers, burned shoes and clothing, blew horns and caused trouble.
   
  According to Dr. Cheng from the Out-Patient Department, he was working when more than 20 people charged into the office.  A couple of the men punched and kicked him, and spit on him.
   
  According to hospital general manager Yang, he refused to pay 150,000 RMB in compensation without an autopsy.  Yang was also tipped that unless the money is deposited with the bank by 2pm yesterday, the family will 'flatten' the hospital to the ground.  Therefore, the helmet-wearing Yang stood guard at the front gate yesterday.  But nobody came.
   
  According to the Pinghu police station, the militia police went to the hospital to mediate.  During the process, the hospital security guards hit the family relatives with iron rods.  Although there were many friends and relatives, there was no violent action.  When the friends and relatives burned paper money and clothes, the militia police ordered them to stop.  Both sides were fairly restrained.  The hospital did not inform the police that doctors were beaten or spit upon and the family did not threaten the personal safety of the hospital staff.
   
  According to the family, they and their townsmen came to the hospital to bid farewell to the deceased.  Following the custom of the Henan hometown, they burned paper money and set off firecrackers.  They denied having assaulted any hospital staff.  They had previously got the government to mediate and a hospital deputy director had signed an agreement to pay 150,000 RMB in compensation  The family is therefore counting on the government to come through.
   
  According to the deputy director of the provincial department of health, "this affair is absurd.  At first, I thought this was a movie.  I did not thought that it was an 'emergency action' taken by the hospital.  No matter what the rights and wrongs are, this 'excessive' defensive action requires us to think carefully.  Although we can condemn the hospital for lacking legal and civic sense, we need to understand why people keep causing trouble at hospitals.  Are there deep structural problems with our healthcare policies, administration and management?  Should we increase the legal knowledge and civic education?  Unless these structural problems are solved, the healthcare workers cannot be assumed to be safe even if they wear steel helmets."
   
  According to a netizen, the hospital appears to be creating opinion pressure against the family so that the government departments can intervene.  When the first incident occurred, the hospital called the police.  Since there was no fight or vandalism, the police could not intervene.  But if there was no fight or vandalism, why was it necessary to wear steel helmets?  The hospital is suspected of putting on a show.

• [091]  This Blog Is Dying (12/25/2006)  I apologize for the precipitious drop-off in blogging rate recently.  There are many reasons.  The excuse for December 24, 2006 was that I made a day trip to Macau.  This was a non-trivial matter for this Hong Kong resident who is a "parachutist."  When I stepped up to the Macau immigration booth and handed my Hong Kong ID to the officer, she scanned the ID card, stared at the computer monitor screen and asked me: "Mr. Soong, could it be possible that you have never previously visited Macau before?"  I replied: "Yes.  That's correct."  Indeed, this is factually correct and it is truly amazing that a Hong Kong resident of my age has never ever stepped foot on Macau.  This was my maiden voyage.
   
  Of course, I am accustomed to such cross-examinations.  In 2003 (right after I parachuted into Hong Kong and obtained my three-starred Hong Kong ID), I applied for a re-entry permit to mainland China.  The China Travel Agency person looked at my application and asked me,: "Mr. Soong, could it be that you have never ever visited mainland China before?"  I replied: "Yes.  That's correct."  She then said: "I'll have to inform you that there are severe consequences if you are found to be lying."  I replied: "Yes.  I understand that.  But I am telling the truth."
   
  While I should be the parachutist who provides a fresh look at certain things, I will have to say that I'm just tired right now.  On this one single day, I was exposed to certain historical landmarks of Macau, the racehorse track (note: the only other racehorse track that I have ever been to is the one-time-visit to Happy Valley in Hong Kong) at which I came out ahead, the major casinos (Casino Lisbao, Wynn, Galaxy), the walkaround in the basement of the Casino Lisbao to gawk at the parade of mainland Chinese women looking to score some action, etc.  Actually, I have nothing to say about any of these things because you don't need a parachutist to tell you about the obvious.
   
  I do have some pieces of gambling wisdom.  At the horserace track, my guide (note: a university schoolmate from more than 30 years ago) imparted this piece of wisdom -- the Macau jockeys are basically people who have lost their licenses to practice elsewhere and that is why they find themselves in this outpost.  However, the hierarchy is clear in that the Caucasian jockeys have performed better than their Chinese counterparts.  For lack of any another strategic tip (since I cannot be expected to grasp and process all the data points in one single session), I was advised: "Buy quinellas for all the horses ridden by Caucasian jockeys."  Following this tip, I came out ahead.  Of course, I played for peanuts and therefore I ended up with X times peanuts (where X is a relatively small number greater than 1.0).  I also informed my advisor that the name of this strategy is "treason to the Chinese people 賣國主義."
   
  Meanwhile at the casinos, I did not make a single bet.  Why?  Because I am professional statistician and I know the statistical basis behind the games.  The odds are stacked against the gamblers (because the casino has to make some money), and therefore I refused to be the sucker (over the long run in the statistical sense).  My advisor believed that he could discern certain patterns from previous outcomes.  I gave him a lecture about the theory of runs tests.  His eyes glazed over during my speech.  My notion is that people are not very good fakers or recognizers of statistical data.  When given a series of "yes" or "no" (e.g. "banker wins" or "player wins" in baccarat), people generally believe that a random series should flip-flop frequently.  When they see a long string of "banker wins," they think that this is an extraordinary run of luck commanded by some invisible gods and they would bet on the string to continue (or revert).  In fact, true random series contain many such 'runs' and the outcome of the next in the series is in fact independent of all previous outcomes.  The preceding statement is not totally true, but it might as well as be because you cannot exploit the advantage unless you are a truly gifted card counter.

• [090]  The Naked Women On The School Uniforms (12/24/2006)  (YCWB via Apple Daily)  In Guangzhou, a group of students were doing physical exercises in the sports field when they were caught in a sudden rainstorm.  Amazingly, when their school uniforms got wet, various silhouettes of naked women in different poses began to appear with as many as thirty of them in one case.
  
  When other students heard about the phenomenon, some of them tried to pour water on their uniforms to check it out.  Some even took a video to the process and posted it on the Internet.
   
  According to the school, the school uniform manufacturer used some special clothing material by accident.  The school has terminated its contract with the manufacturer.

• [087]  Private/Public Lives (12/23/2006)  Lavender Cheung is a news program host at Hong Kong Cable TV.  On her personal blog, she recent commented on the Star Ferry issue.  If she were an ordinary citizen, her personal opinions would not have drawn too much attention.  But since she is a media worker, there is some discussion about the relationship between her personal views and her public credility as a news program host.  There is a deeper issue here about the relationship between any public figure and his/her personal views.  A public figure is necessary a human being, who will necessarily have some kind of view on all aspects of their lives.  Do we expect our public figures to have minds and memories?
   
  Here are some more examples:
   
  
  (China Times)  The presiding judge at the trial of the First Lady is Hsu Chien-huei.  A blog post titled "The Hsu Chien-huei that I know" describes her as speaking fluent Chinese with a Beijing accent, she describes herself as a Chinese person and she has also criticized President Chen.  The blogger had chatted with Hsu Chien-huei twice.  The blogger asked Hsu whether she was a Chinese person who grew up in a military police village, but Hsu did not reply.  Hsu only said that she spoke Taiwanese dialect as a child too.  According to this blogger, Hsu's party partisanship will affect the outcome of the trial.
   
  (Apple Daily)  The public prosecutor at the trial of the First Lady is Chang Hsi-huai.  In October, Chang had received invitations from Peking University, Tsinghua Unviersity, Renmin University, Sinan Political Law University, etc to give speeches in mainland China.  After he received permission from the Ministry of Justice, he paid his own way to give two speeches titled: "Changes and Prospects in Criminal Litigation Law in Taiwan" and "The Practice of Excluding Illegal Evidence in Criminal Litigation" for the purpose of scholarly exchange.  Chang Hsi-huai also donated 10,000 RMB for a scholarship for students (mainland or elsewhere) interested in criminal litigation and evidence law.  According to some Taiwan legislators, Chang is therefore showing a pro-blue bias.
   
  There is of course the opposite argument.  By symmetry, would Hsu and Chang also be excluded if there is 'evidence' about pro-green bias?  In fairness, that should be the case too.  Thus, the only possible judges and prosecutors in political trials have to be people with blank minds politically.  Where do you find such people?

• [085]  We Are All Heroes! (12/22/2006)  (Liberty Times)  At around 9pm on the day before yesterday, netizen vot1077 posted at the "Hate" forum of the popular ppt.cc BBS board.  She said that her friend Yang had been suffering from depression and emotional problems and was going to commit suicide by charcoal burning in a room on the eighth floor of a hotel in Kaohsiung.  However, the name of the hotel was unknown.  The netizen was asking for Internet help to save her friend.
   
  Immediately, the post was cross-posted everywhere with the relevant details (including Yang's name, school, etc).  The police was called, the military instructor at the school was notified, etc.  All of that was conventional.  The uniquely Internet part was that another netizen produced a list of all the 240 Kaohsiung hotels with eight or more floors, including the telephone numbers.  So the netizens (including some who do not live in Kaohsiung) organized a telephone calling campaign to check the hotels, including a live update on which ones have already been checked out.  At around 10pm, the netizen named Huang called one hotel and told the receptionist about the problem.  He heard an exclamation, "Could it be that the woman who just checked in?"  Apparently, Yang had checked in around 8pm and received a room on the eight floor.  So the hotel staff immediately went to the room.  They knocked, received no answer, broke down the door, found a smoke-filled room, opened the windows and put out the flame.  Yang was still conscious.  The hotel staff moved her out of the room immediately and called the ambulance.
   
  Once the rescue mission succeeded, there was a celebration on the Internet.  Netizens vot1077, v86662 and liquorice were lauded as heroes, but they only said, "We are all heroes!  We are all good people!"

• [083]  The Guangxi Mass 'Epidemic' (12/22/2006) (Xinhua via Apple Daily)  Last Saturday in Shanglin county, Guangxi province, more than 180 students did not come to school because they were 'sick.'  But the teacher observed later that the students all looked bright and healthy.  So the teacher questioned some of the students and found out that a new Internet cafe had opened in the neighborhood.  On that Saturday, the Internet bar offered free Internet access and free mineral water too.

• [082]  The Criminalization of BT in Hong Kong (12/22/2006)  (案內人隨筆)  

[in translation]

Inside an upscale restaurant, there is a conversation between a senior administrative official and an Internet Service Provider person.

"It is like this, Ricky.  I am hoping to get your support over the issue of the criminalization of BT downloading.  We are seeking public feedback and we are interested in your opinion as a service provider.  In the final analysis, we are neutral towards whether legislation should be enacted or not."
"Of course, you would say that.  Ha ha.  (Aside: Without BT, wouldn't my business be ruined?)"

Then the senior administrative official got up to use the restroom.  By chance, a young waiter walked by and the following conversation took place.

"Hey, bro, I'd like to ask you a question.  Do you use BT?"
"What?  Oh ... sometimes ... occasionally."
 
"What do you download?"
"Me?  Usually, Japanese anime, computer software, also "sweet movies" (甜片) ... there are no distirbutors in Hong Kong, so these are hard to find and must be downloaded."
 
"(What exactly are "sweet movies"?)  So do you download Hong Kong movies, or songs by local singers?"
"Hong kong movies?  Even my mom does not watch them.  Most Hong Kong movies are garbage.  Forget about paying to see them in cinemas -- I won't waste my time downloading them.  Also, the local singers are awful!  The exception is Eason, and I download his songs and buy his albums.  As for the others, I rarely listen to them ..."
 
"If there is a new service that offers you an online album with new songs and movies that take only 77 seconds to download  (faster than BT) for a fixed monthly fee, would you be interested?"
"New service?  What is the point?  Legal downloading of movies and songs are already available in the United States with peer-to-peer technology (that is, BT).  They have the songs from all the four big record labels as well as the Hollywood movies.  They are also free.  Will your service charge money?"
 
"(Damn, how come no one at the company updated me on this new development?  Do they want to lose their jobs?")  Oh, is that so?  They are for free?  That is, it will have no impact on you if they criminalize BT in Hong Kong?"
"Yes, there is.  I will die if I can't get my Japanese anime.  So I'll just have to buy pirated disks.  Oh, I have some former classmates who entered the piracy business because they could not continue with their education.  They will be the happiest people if BT is criminalized, because their businesses will be booming."
 
"So you won't use BT anymore?
"If BT is really criminalized, who is going to dare do so?  The government is setting up an example.  I don't think anyone in Hong Kong will be using BT.  Also, I don't want people to know which websites I go to, which discussion forums I left comments at and what I wrote on my blog."
 
"(Damn!  The highspeed broadband services won't have an edge anymore.)  If someone tells you that a certain Internet Service Provider will guarantee the privacy of their users and make sure nobody can find them, what will you do?"
"I will definitely switch over to them!  But which Internet Service Provider is going to be so great?"

• [080]  Chasing The President's Son (12/21/2006)  (United Daily News)  On the day when the First Lady appeared in court to stand trial and passed out, the President's son Chen Chih-chong flew to the United States.  The various American bureaus of Taiwan media went into full alert to look for him.
  
  When the media finally located Chen Chih-chong at his hotel, he was puzzled and asked the reporters: 
  "How did you find me?"  
  "We called one hotel after another."  
  "So you kept calling until you found this one today?"  
  "Yes."  
  "Hey, you're pretty good."  
  "We are quite pitiful!"
  "If you're pitiful, then so am I!  I just wanted to deal with some simple matter!  Great!  We will both be liberated.  I'll be going back and so will you ... Frankly speaking, I want to condemn you but you are being pressured by your bosses.  If you keep tailing my car, you are at risk and so am I.  After all, you are not chasing robbers ... I came here about the school!  You are being hyper-imaginative.  You should not make up stories such as the lost journey or whatever."
   
  Afterwards, the two sides promised not to play "hide-and-seek" anymore.  The reporters also promised not to tail Chen's car.  Chen tried to confirm: "You won't trail my car?"  Reporter: "Yes, yes, yes."  Chen: "Thanks, thanks."
   
  Chen Chih-chong came to the United States on this occasion about a doctorate degree in law.  As such, he needed to talk to the school and the professors.
   
  P.S. Here are my personal thoughts after reading this story.  The story is not terribly interesting in itself.  But I believe that I know so much more about the children of President Chen Shui-bian through the media than I ever care to or have the need to.  My reaction to this story was, "Hey, I don't care!"  By comparison, I believe that I know a lot less about the children about "blue" politicians such as Lien Chen, Ma Ying-jeou and so.  Come to think of it, I don't even know if "green" politicians such as Frank Hsieh, Su Tsing-cheng, Annette Lu and Yu Shyi-kun even have children.  This is not a scientific study, but I have an uneasy feeling that President Chen Shui-bian's children are being given special treatment in the media.

• [078]  The Exclusive Libel (12/20/2006)  (Apple Daily)  In February, Exclusive Report magazine of Taiwan published an article titled "Delicated and pretty female university complained about being drugged and raped by professor who took a video of the process."  The professor named Chiang from the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science in Tainan filed a lawsuit against Exclusive Report magazine.  The magazine will have to publish a full-page apology plus paying NT$200,000 in compensation.
   
  Exclusive Report had received a letter about Chiang drug-raping a female student.  It also found an Internet forum post by an anonymous netizen using the alias "Rethnomusicology" and interviewed that person via instant messaging.  During the trial, it was revealed by "Rethnomusicology" that the Internet forum post was not written by her and therefore she had no knowledge of the case.  Exclusive Report also interviewed the university military instructor of the said student and was told "the student denies being sexually assaulted and/or spreading any rumors."  Therefore, the judge believed that Exclusive Report should have reasonable doubts about the story before publishing it.  
   
  Although Exclusive Report put a mask on the face of the professor and used an alias for his name, it was still possible for people to recognize him.  Exclusive Report had also interviewed the professor before publication, and he showed the reporter many emails and SMSs from the female student professing love for him to show that she was lying, the magazine did not accept or report any of that.
   
  Now we can complain that the Internet is a place full of unreliable rumors.  But why did a print magazine pick up this Internet rumor?  After all, it had all sorts of evidence to doubt the story.

Prior to departing, I had posted some long translations.  While I was away, Musing Under The Tenement Palm provided a detailed comparison of the ESWN translation of the Panyu government statement on Taishi village with the China Daily version.  The conclusion: "I think we can safely say that ESWN was in fact plagiarized. If a student handed this in, I’d bust ‘em."  Next, Musing Under The Tenement Palm produced another line-by-line comparison in ESWN Vs. China Daily Round Two: This Time It’s Not Just About Grammar about an article on a hair salon girl and concluded: "The editors of this article, however, were not editors of style. They were censors, much like those who snipped sensitive sentences from the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune ..."

What was I going to do?  Nothing.  If I were a journalist and those were my original work, I might be indignant.  But all I did was translate something from Chinese into English without the permission of the original owners.  So who am I to complain then?  In the proper perspective, I went through the effort to translate those kinds of articles because they appealed to me in some way and I wanted to share it with the English-only reading world.  If China Daily is able to introduce these articles to an audience not reached by ESWN, even though it was with some minor editing and censorship, then that would be to my satisfaction.

The Gao Qinrong case was all the more amazing.  While the rest of the mainstream media and the Internet portals and forums contained nothing on the name, the China Daily website apparently never received the order and proceeded to publish my translation.  Why would I not be happy to see that?  After all, I spent hours translating those two interviews and posted them on my own website for zero revenue (direct and indirect).  I did it because the articles moved me and I felt that the rest of the English-reading world should also read them in their entirety.  If that China Daily article reaches people that I don't, then I am quite happy.  Please keep doing this, China Daily!

• [075]  The Will And The Way (12/19/2006)  As Jonathan Ansfield noted in Gao Qinrong Silenced Again, the name "Gao Qinrong" is now a sensitive term for which the Chinese search engines no longer return any results.  If there is a will, there is a way.
   
  The following illustrates such an exercise.  First, you ask yourself: If the name "Gao Qinrong" is mentioned, what comes immediately to mind?  It is the Yuncheng fake irrigation project.  So I went to to Baidu and searched for 运城假渗灌 (translation: Yuncheng fake irrigation).  There were 2,530 results.  Here is the screen capture of the top result.
  
  If I click on the sina.com link, it returns a 404 error message ("Page not found").  Sina.com has done its job well.  But if I were to click on the Baidu cache on the bottom right, I recover the article that I translated in The Gao Qinrong Interview in Southern Weekend.
   
  If there is the will, there is the way.
   
  P.S. Here is another surprising way through which the Gao Qinrong story is still being told in China:

Sketch of a media blackout  Joel Martinsen, Danwei
The paradox of IPR infringement in China  Jeremy Goldkorn, Danwei

• [074]  Little Gege (12/19/2006) (Boxun)  This is one day from the continuing saga of Little Gege, the 13-year-old daughter of lawyer Gao Zhisheng.  Gao is presently arrested awaiting trial for subversion.  The narrative comes from AIDS volunteer Hu Jia, who is presently under house arrest.
  
  On Friday, December 15, 2006, Little Gege had a fever and therefore did not go to school.  On Saturday, December 16, Little Gege went to the school for remedial lessons.  She rode to school on a bicycle by herself.  As usual, the Ministry of National Security police followed her on four bicycles and seven Buick MPV's.  At noon, Little Gege got out of school.  Her classmates were going to play tennins.  Little Gege knew that she could not go with them, but she walked with them to the bus stop.  Since the classmates have not eaten, Little Gege bought them a bowl of fried noodles.
   
  At that moment, the Ministry of National Security police told Little Gege that she cannot go with her classmates.  So she kicked the police officer's bicycle.  The police walked up to her and confronted her, whereupon Little Gege threw the bowl of noodles at his face.  Then three male and three female police surrounded the 13-year-old girl and proceeded to pummel her.  A tall police man picked her up and threw her on the ground.  A police woman pulled her hair and cursed her.  Her classmates heard the the police woman cursed her: "F**k!  This little bitch's hair is long!" and then she stomped her foot on Little Gege's thigh.  Eventually the police officer hauled Little Gege into the police car.  During the process, Little Gege felt someone pinching her back hard.  All her classmates were stunned, and nobody tried to stop the police.  When the police officers took Little Gege back to her home, they complained to her mother that Little Gege had been uncooperative and refused to come home.
   
  On Monday, December 18, Little Gege went to school and the teacher asked her to come in for a "talk."  The teacher asked her if she had destroyed the four bicycles belonging to the police officers.  Little Gege was astonished and hurt at such a question.  She asked the teacher, "Have you ever seen someone trying to destroy bicycles while they were busy being beaten?"  Little Gege wondered if her schoolmates destroyed the police bicycles instead.  But after careful questioning, she determined that it was not the case.  The classmates who witnessed the scene were afraid; some female students were even crying.
   
  On the evening of December 16, Little Gege examined her physical condition.  Her back was purplish from pinching and her thigh was bruised.  On December 18, she was asked if it still hurts and she replied "If I touch it, it still hurts but it is alright otherwise."
   
  Little Gege was quite honest about what happened.  She admitted that she was angry when the police prevented her from being with her classmates and therefore she kicked the tire of one of the police bicycles.  But no matter what, the cause of incident was when the large group of police officers prevented a 13-year-old girl from being with her friends of the same age, which is something that she has the right to do.  This type of thing has been going on with Little Gege for more than four months already.

The Presidential Office yesterday said that it had launched an inquiry into allegations that one of its officials visited a Taipei guesthouse and that the guesthouse's owner had won a project contract with the office.  The action came in response to a front-page story in the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday, which claimed that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Gao Jyh-peng ( 高志鵬 ) and Yu Jan-daw ( 余政道 ), DPP Taipei City councilor-elect Lee Ching-feng ( 李慶鋒 ) and presidential aide Kuo Wen-pin ( 郭文彬 ) had attended separate late-night gatherings at the guesthouse, located on Hsinsheng S Road, Sec. 1, over the past month.  The newspaper said that young women working as escorts had also been invited to the gatherings at the guesthouse.

The newspaper ran pictures of Gao, Yu and Lee each leaving the guesthouse alone before dawn while a series of four pictures showed Kuo giving one woman a ride.  Another picture showed a young woman in the arms of man in a white Mercedes around midnight, but the man was not identified.

Yu told a press conference yesterday that he had been to the guesthouse five to six times, but he did not do anything illegal there.  Yu said guesthouse owner Tsai Ming-chieh ( 蔡銘杰 ) was a friend of his and he only went to the guesthouse to consult his friend.  "I always left as soon as I got the answers to my questions," he said, adding that the only people at those meetings were himself and Tsai.

Gao's cellphone was turned off yesterday morning, but he told reporters yesterday afternoon that he only went to the guesthouse to raise campaign funds for DPP Taipei City councilor candidates.  "I can't say that I have never been to places I should not have been to, but I can say I've never done things I shouldn't have done," Gao said.  He said there had not been any escorts when he was at Tsai's guesthouse.

When asked for a response to the story, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang ( 蔡煌瑯 ) said Tsai Ming-chieh was a supporter of the party.  Tsai Huang-liang questioned the authenticity of the newspaper's pictures, as none of them showed the four men and the women together.

Here are the Apple Daily photos (Page 1 and Page 2):

Here are the Apple Daily photos of presidential aides Kuo Wen-pin and leaving with one of the girls.  Kuo has explained that he was only giving the girl a lift home at the request of Tsai Ming-chieh.

By the way, Tsai Ming-chieh is an important figure in the state affairs fund case for which the First Lady and several others are being tried in court right now.  Tsai, his sister and brother-in-law gave the most number of receipts to the First Lady for reimbursement from the state affairs fund.  Also Tsai's company has received a number of government contracts, so that this incident creates the appearance of government-business collusion.

 Q: In your report back then, you named the person responsible [for the fake irrigation project in Yuncheng].  Was that person punished later?

Gao: Not yet.  He is still an official.  The person who struck back at me in retaliation was a commisioner in Yuncheng for five years, and then he became the party secretary for five years.  He is presently a director for the People's Congress.  His name is Huang Youquan (黄有泉).

These interviews are one-sided stories.  If the name of Huang Youquan is mentioned in a negative way, then the reporters are obliged to contact the subject for his side of the story.  But if Huang is informed about the purpose of the interview, he will just make sure that the story is "executed by firing squad" (i.e. "spiked").  Therefore, the interviews were published without any detailed explorations into how Gao was convicted on false charges.