• [026]   The Offical News Update On Deng Yujiao (05/31/2009)  (Xinhua)

Two Chinese township officials were sacked Friday in the ongoing investigation into the killing of another official by a bathhouse waitress who claims she was defending herself against a sexual assault, the local government said Sunday.

Huang Dezhi, 41, was sacked from the post of vice director of the office of business delegations of Yesanguan Township, Badong County, Hubei Province, the county's Communist Party of China (CPC) Discipline Inspection Committee and the Supervisory Bureau said in a joint statement. He was also deprived of his CPC membership, as he had "pushed and shoved and verbally insulted a waitress who refused to accompany them to take a bath" in a bathhouse on May 10 in Badong, the authorities said. Huang has been detained in connection with public order offences.

Deng Zhongjia, 45, another vice director of the same office, was also fired as the incident had caused a "bad social effect". Deng, who went to the bathhouse with Huang and official Deng Guida, had not broken any laws or regulations, the statement said.

Police have shut down the bathhouse and are questioning its owners, the statement said.

The waitress, Deng Yujiao, fatally stabbed Deng Guida on May 10after she refused to provide "special services," slang for sex. Deng Guida pulled out a stack of cash and tossed it at Deng Yujiao, and pushed her down twice on a sofa. The waitress picked up a knife and stabbed him and injured Huang, the county government said in a statement earlier. She claimed that Huang raped her. Deng Yujiao, 21, was detained on suspicion of murder on the day of the incident and released from a detention center on bail on Tuesday night. She has not been formally charged.

This is the only piece of news on Deng Yujiao that is allowed to be published.  Comments are not being allowed.  KDnet briefly ran a poll as to whether the outcome was satisfactory or not, but quickly killed it.  Probably that is because the people are not satisfied.  Why is that?  First, Huang Dezhi is only "being detained in connection with public order offences" instead of "criminal offences such as attempted rape and sexual battery."  The latter are based upon lawyer Xia Lin's public statement that Deng Yujiao told him that Huang Dezhi had pulled down her trousers, yanked down her panties and fondled her.  However, Deng did not say that Huang "raped her."  It was an attempted rape and it was sexual battery.  To write that "she claimed that Huang raped her" is to say that she lied.  That is why people are not satisfied, but they have no where to express their misgivings.

The big question is, Will the prosecutor really dare to charge Deng Yujiao with "using excessive force"?  Or will they just let this matter fade from public memory by doing nothing?

• [025]  The Changzhou Municipal Administration Website (05/31/2009)  (Cat's Eye)

According to Yangzi Wanbao, Changzhou city resident Mr. Wu visited the municipal administration website on the evening of May 29 and came across some astonishing content.  On the front page, the top news item was titled: "Municipal administrators and massage girls, we are one happy harmonized family."  Underneath were story titles such as "Municipal administrators in field visit to hair salons," "Municipal administrators in field practice to beat street vendors," "Municipal administrators have high martial art skills and route the vegetable vendors," etc.  If you click through on these stoeis, you will get pornographic photos.

This discovery was then posted by netizens on the Changde forums with screen captures.  By 11pm, the website was taken down.  But by 8am yesterday morning, the website was available with "hacked" content again.  This time, the story titles under "law enforcement" were "Municipal administrators fight the iron-blood warriors and members of the opposite sex," etc.  The story titles under "city appearance" were "Today I beat an old lady who was selling tea-leaf eggs," "I beat a vegetable vendor until he was paralyzed," etc.  If you click through on these stories, you get insulting photos.  The website recovered to normalcy at 9pm on May 31.

For the longest time, the municipal administrator is one of the most detested occupations in mainland China because of the way that they mistreat small street vendors.  At Baidu Knows, the term "municipal administrator" is defined by netizens as "assault, vandalize, rob" and "barbarity, bloodshed, terror."  It is said to be an "organized criminal group which specializes in bullying vulnerable people who cannot afford to rent a store or pay for a business license."  They are also the trigger for many mass incidents.

• [024]  Nancy Peolosi's Duty and Human Right Issues (05/31/2009)  (My1510.cn)

• [023] The Hefei Public Service Workers (05/30/2009)  The Chinese Internet moves away from the case of Deng Yujiao due to "irresistible reasons that everybody knows about" and right into the case of the Hefei public service workers assaulting two restaurant service workers (a male cook and a female waitress).  It is the surveillance videotape at the restaurant that makes the crime indefensible.  There is talk already that the penalty meted out was 15 days of administrative detention and 1,000 RMB in fine for each of the perpetrator.

• [022]  Neither 6 Nor 4  (05/30/2009)  (Ming Pao)

On the twentieth anniversary of June 4th, the mainland media are under tremendous pressure from the Publicity Department to screen for any related content to a hitherto unimaginable extent.

According to information, some newspapers have demanded their reporters to use the numbers 6 and 4 in their reports.  Even if they need to cited, they cannot appear simultaneously within the article.  In any case, they definitely cannot be used in the headlines in case the Publicity Department misunderstands.

Last year, there were two instances of June 4th-related incidents.  In the first case, Beijing News published some photos of the work of former Associated Press photographer Liu Heungsing which included a photo of injured persons being taken to the hospital on June 4th.  The other case is when Southern Metropolis Daily reported on unusual weather in Guangdong province with the headline of "4 storms in June."

In both cases, the principals insisted that it was carelessness.  This caused the Publicity Department some headaches because there was no proof that someone was deliberately challenging the central government on its stance.

In order to avoid any embarrassing repeats, certain media have decided to go for the overkill in demanding that reporters and editors avoid the use '6' or '4' during this sensitive period.

According to information, the Internet censorship has clearly intensified.  In the past, netizens can discuss the June 4th incident by butting certain meaning words or symbols between June and 4th to deceive the filtering software.  This method is no longer effective, because even the single mention of either 6 or 4 is enough to arouse scrutiny.  Therefore, the media may not be over-reacting by being allergic to the two numbers.

Many veteran reporters have even decided to go on vacation.  Even if they have an explosive news story on hand, they would rather wait until after June 4th in case the authorities misunderstand that they were trying to cause trouble.

• [021]  Reporters Assaulted In Deng Yujiao Case (05/29/2009) (Caijing)

At noon on May 28, 2009, two reporters who were interviewing the maternal grandparents of Deng Yujiao (the service worker who stabbed a town government official to death) were violent obstructed by a number of unidentified persons and suffered minor injuries.

On the morning of May 28, Beijing News reporter Kong Pu and Southern People Weekly reporter Wei Yi set off from Yesanguan town (Badong county) and headed towards Mulongya village to interview the maternal grandmother Qin Shangju and maternal grandfather Zhang Mingyao.

At around 11am or so, the two reporters arrived at the home of the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujia.  After giving a brief introduction of themselves, the two reporters followed Qin Shangju into the house.  According to Wei Yi, there were two other persons in the house at the time.  Qin Shangju presented one of them as her relative.  The other person was a 30-something-year-old male who was slightly obese and wore short hair with a grey coat.  Qin did not introduce him to the reporters.

When the interview began, this unidentified person left.  Shortly afterwards, four to five men charged into the house and threw the note pads and recording pens of Wei Yi and Kong Pu aside.  One of them started to tug at the bag that Wei Yi carried.  During the struggle, a bracelet of Buddhist beads broke on the left hand of Wei Yi, and the beads fell on the ground.  Wei Yi was also thrown to the ground.

Then these unidentified persons began to drag Wei Yi and Kong Pu outside the house.  These people all spoke with the strong local accents, and they told the two reporters to get out.  After the reporters were forced out of the houses, they were "escorted" out of the village by three unidentified persons.  "On the way, they said that they were going to let go register with the Yesanguan town government," Wei Yi told Caijing.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the two reporters and their three escorts arrived at an open field in the village.  Suddenly, Kong Pu remembered that she forgot to bring her umbrella.  So she turned around and went back to Qin Shangju's home to retrieve the umbrella.  Meanwhile, the other reporter Wei Yi stopped to wait for her.

When Kong Pu got back to Qin Shangju's home, she found the maternal parents of Dengyujiao and another man.  As Kong Pu tried to continue that interview, this man tried to interfere many times.  About forty minutes or so, Qin Shangju saw Kong Pu out.  After saying goodbye to Qin Shangju, Kong Pu saw two men and two women approaching.

As Kong Pu walked, she made a call with her mobile telephone.  The two men and two women came up to Kong Pu, and one of the women seized her telephone.  Kong Pu quickly got it back.

The two women continued to fight with Kong Pu for the telephone.  Admidst the chaos, Kong Pu was pushed into a ditch.  After getting free, Kong Pu returned to the open field in the village, but Wei Yi was not there.  In a panic, she called 110 to report to the police.

At the time when Kong Pu was being interfered with and robbed by unidentified persons, Wei Yi was also attacked by unidentified persons.

"At the time, I was standing in an open field in the village.  Five or six strangers came directly at me to seize my mobile phone."  Wei Yi was thrown into and held down on the ground.  His telephone was taken away.  A man in a blue suit put an arm lock on Wei Yi's neck.  "This person was very strong, and I could not breathe."  The Caijing reporter observed that the scratch marks on Wei Yi's neck were still clearly visible.

Afterwards, the mud-covered Wei Yi was taken by these people to the home of a villager.  His pockets and his bag were searched.  Later, he discovered that the contents of his recording pen, some of the photos in his camera, the messages, photos and videos in his mobile telephone had been deleted.

These unidentified persons demanded that Wei Yi write a "situation report" according to their dictation as a condition for returning the recording pens and other items.  Since it was so chaotic, Wei Yi could not remember what was in that "situation report."  But he remembered that these people forced him to write: He had not obtained the concurrence of Zhang Mingyao and family, he had not display the relevant identification documents, he had not obtained the concurrence of the relevant government units and he also promised not to gather news there again.

Wei Yi negotiated to get the other party to return the relevant items.  At this time, the local police arrived at the scene in two police vehicles.  The militia police officers on the cars interrogated Wei Yi and Kong Pu and took notes.

During the incident, the two reporters suffered multiple injuries.  Southern People Weekly reporter Wei Yi suffered multiple scratches on his neck and wrists.  His left middle finger was also bleeding.  Beijing News reporter Kong Yu also had many scratch marks on her wrists.

After the incident, the Caijing reporter contacted Yesanguan town party disciplinary committee secretary Tu Qidong.  Tu said that the local police are investigating the matter and he is not sure about the results.  Since the identities of those who interfered with the reporters are unclear, Tu said: "These people may just be ordinary citizens."

According to what the Caijing reporter found out, a reporter from China News Weekly also went to interview the maternal grandparents of Deng Yujiao on the afternoon of May 28 and were obstructed along the way by local government workers.  There was no physical clash as such.  The reporter was then "invited" by the local government officials to get on a vehicle that was departing for Wuhan city.

• [020]  Thousands March For Deng Yujiao (05/28/2009)  (iDO Community)

An Internet photo showed a mass of marchers carrying banners in support of the service worker who killed a government official supposedly in self-defense.  The first banner said: "The Badong Police: Shame and Calamity for all Police."  The second banner said: "Punish criminal rapists severely; release Deng Yujiao."

Human flesh search has turned up the following photo from the anti-Japanese demonstration in Shanghai when Japan attempted to procure a seat in the United Nations Security Council.  From the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonapart of Karl Marx: "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."  This may be a case when a demonstration occurred twice, both times as farce.

• [019]  Deng Yujiao Case Reporters Assaulted (05/28/2009)  (KDNet)  Four reports from the field, with conflicting information.  Please note that this post is 'sensitive' because it is being quickly 'harmonized.'  For posterity's sake, I have cached my copy.

Southern People Weekly magazine reporter Wei Yi went yesterday morning to interview people at the home of the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao, which is located at number 8, Bridage 10, Mulongya village, Yesanguan town) and was assaulted by unidentified persons.  He has been taken away by these people and held captive.  At the time, Beijing News reporter Kong Pu was present.  The last call from Wei Yi came at 1:27pm.  Thereafter, his co-workers kept calling him but his phone was hung up immediately.  The phone has now been turned off.

After Beijing News reporter Kong Pu got separated from Wei Yi, a group of women came up to assault her while screaming: "So may be the guys won't beat up a girl, but we would!"

Another reporter said: The Yesanguan police station was called, but they refused to dispatch any officers.  Then they actually disconnected the phone.

The latest news is that Kong Pu and Wei Yi are back together and coming out.  It takes about an hour to walk down from the mountain.  They intend to go to the Enshi Hospital to get examined.  Those people have kept Wei Yi's possessions, including his mobile phone.

Another reporter said: They were detained by a relative of Deng Yujiao named Tang Benzhong.  The attackers were relatives and village cadres.

Chen Yonggang has just spoken to Kong Pu and Wei Yi.  One of the attackers identified himself as Tang Benzhong, who is a relative of Deng Yujiao.  The reason was that the reporters might endanger the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao.  Tang is presently holding the possessions of Wei Yi.  There is serious questions about whether the government was involved.

=================================================

Twenty minutes ago, Beijing News reporter Kong Pu and Southern People Weekly reporter Wei Yi were assaulted in Yesanguan town by colleagues of Deng Guida.  The reason was that reporters have been hurting the image of the town.

I made contact with Kong Pu at 15:10pm.  She was on the way out.  She had just been pushed around, assaulted, illegally deprived of her freedom and tossed into a ditch.

================================================

At around 11am on May 28, Beijing News reporter Kong Pu and Southern People Magazine reporter Wei Yi were interviewing at the home of the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao at Brigade 10, Mulongya village, Yesanguan town.  Four men charged in and claimed to be Yesanguan government workers.  That would make them colleagues of the deceased Deng Guida.  They pushed the two reporters up against the wall and demanded to know where they were from.  When the men learned that the two were reporters, they yelled angrily that the image of Yesanguan has been "ruined by you people."  They ordered the reporters to go to the town government office.  The two reporters said, "You do not have the right to limit or direct our activities" and refused.

So the officials moved up to push and shove as they wanted to take the reporters away by force.  There was a clash during which all the equipment brought over by the reporters were smashed.  Southern People Weekly reporter Wei Yi was pushed to the ground and the extent of his injuries was unknown.  The men moved to manhandle female reporter Kong Pu.  She said, "I am a woman.  You better stop or else I am going to imitate Deng Yujiao."  So the local men stopped and began to curse her out as "shameless and base."

At 2pm, this reporter called Beijing News female reporter Kong Pu.  She told the reporter that they were being taken away by the town cadres to the town government office.  Then she split up with Wei Yi and left the officials to go to the home of the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao ago.  As she spoke on the phone, she ran into the government officials waiting in front of the house again.  Over the telephone, this reporter can hear her arguing with the other side.  This reporter heard Kong Pu said, "Why are you seizing my mobile telephone?"  Then the phone went dead.

By the time that this reporter managed to get through to Kong Pu again, she said that she had just been assaulted by four men.  The local government officials brought vehicle to take her away.  Over the telephone, this reporter can hear the local government official say that the reporters have disturbed the serenity and blackened the name of the town.  That was why the reporters had to be stopped.  A person who claimed to be a police officer even said, "I have the power to protect the personal safety of Kong Pu."  Thereafter, this reporter could not get through to either Wei Yi or Kong Pu any more.

=============================================

Kong Pu said that the attackers all claimed to be relatives of Deng Yujiao.  They said that the reporters want to come and poison the old lady.  But Kong Pu said that she did not believe that these were relatives of Deng Yujiao.  All of a sudden, more than 10 people showed up, all of them men.  The mother of Deng Yujiao does not have any brothers.  Kong Pu said that those were all town cadres who pretend to be relatives of Deng Yujiao.

Wei Yi's possessions won't be returned until the Publicity Department people come to claim them.

=============================================

Audio Interview with Beijing News reporter Kong Pu.

=============================================

(SCMP)  Two reporters beaten as gag on case tightens.  By He Huifeng.  May 29, 2009.

Two reporters were beaten in Hubei's Badong county as local authorities sealed off the epicentre of a scandal involving a cadre allegedly killed by a hotel pedicurist.

Two reporters - Kong Pu from the Beijing Times and Wei Yi from the Nangfang People Weekly - were beaten yesterday morning by officials in Yesanguan town, according to media sources. They were interviewing a grandmother of the 21-year-old pedicurist, Deng Yujiao.  The reporters were left bruised by the attack and both had their cameras smashed, the sources said. They were detained from 1pm to 5pm, and there were a number of security personnel monitoring their hotel after their release. Both reporters said they had proper media credentials.

A media gag was introduced by central government censors on Tuesday. News organisations were ordered to halt their reporting on the case and recall reporters from Hubei, saying the case was under judicial investigation.

Deng's plight has sparked one of the biggest civil rights movements on the mainland in recent years as various groups showed their solidarity with her. Many netizens and reporters have travelled to Yesanguan to follow the case voluntarily. But a group of five women's rights activists who arrived in Yesanguan on Monday said the town was eerily quiet because access to it had been cut by local authorities.

"We were told by local residents that the ferry from Yichang to Badong had been suspended since Tuesday," said Zhou Li, one of the activists. "Every vehicle entering Badong county is being checked. If drivers or passengers are not locals, they are told to turn back."  Ms Zhou said hotels in the town had been told not to receive outsiders. Some shops had even been shut since Wednesday.  "We've been followed by more than a dozen plain-clothes police since we arrived in Badong. Now, the electricity and water supply to our hotel has been cut off. They are trying to make us give in," said Ms Zhou.  Five Yesanguan officials, including the chief of police, came [on Wednesday night] and asked us to leave. They said they could not guarantee our safety if we stay here. We came here to show support for the powerless and anger at officialdom. We'll be here until the end."

The dead official, Deng Guida, the head of a trade promotion department in the town, reportedly demanded "special services" - a euphemism for sex - from Deng at Yesanguan's Xiongfeng hotel on May 10. In the presence of a subordinate, he threw money in her face and pushed her to the sofa several times before she stabbed him with a fruit knife. The subordinate was injured.  The reported behaviour of the officials sparked fury among netizens, and this was heightened when local authorities appeared to tone down the description of the officials' activities in a way that could see them avoid charges of demanding sexual services or rape. 

On Wednesday, Deng was released from custody and placed under house arrest.  Commentators said the move would help to address public mistrust in the government. They also said the house arrest could be an indication of official back-pedalling from the earlier murder charges and an attempt to defuse public anger.

• [018]  American Sugar Daddies And Chinese Beggars (05/28/2009)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)

On the evening of May 23, an American men's basketball team played a Lithuanian professional team in Hunan.  On the preceding day, the American team visited a middle school.  As the team bus left the school, an American player opened the window and started throwing money out.  This caused the scene to spin out of control as people fought for the money.

According to witnesses, some children continued to press forward and stretch their hands out for money.  One female student picked up a money bill, tore it up and threw it into the garbage bin in protest.  But another student immediately picked through the garbage bin to retrieve the pieces.

This affair has created a stir in the local Internet forums.  The majority of the students and netizens deplored the behavior of the American player and they demanded an explanation.  But one netizen said, "Regardless of what this player did, it was shameful for the students to fight for the money like beggars."

• [017]  Chinese Spy In Taipei (05/28/2009)

• [016]  Hong Kong By The Numbers  (05/27/2009)  (HKU POP)  This the annual June Fourth survey.

The Beijing students ...
56% did the right thing
19% did the wrong thing

The Chinese government ...
13% did the right thing
69% did the wrong thing

Reversion on the official stand on the incident
61% yes
22% no

China's human right condition since 1989
78% improved
  5% worsened

China's human right condition three years from now
63% would improve
  4% would worsen

HK people have responsibility to instigate the development of democracy in China
78% yes
16% no

HK people have responsibility to instigate economic development in China
81% yes
14% no

HK people should put more effort on instigating economic than democratic development in China
39%

HK people should put more effort on instigating democratic than economic development in China
29%

China should emphasize more on economic development
46%

China should emphasize more on democratic development
31%

• [015]  Du Daozheng On The Zhao Ziyang Memoirs (05/27/2009)  (Ming Pao)

The Chinese elder statesman Du Daozheng who helped Zhao Ziyang to leave behind oral memoirs will be publishing a statement in the June edition of Ming Pao Monthly magazine.  He pointed out that the foreword and the title of the English edition <Prisoner of the State> of Zhao's memoirs are inaccurate and also twists the original intent of Zhao.  He also pointed out that the old comrades who had the tapes only delivered the tapes to the Zhao family and no one else.  He emphasized that he opposes the publication of the memoirs at this moment, and the Zhao family are "in clear agreement" with his view.

The English edition of the memoirs of Zhao Ziyang has been translated and published by Bao Pu, the son of Bao Tong who was the former secretary for Zhao Ziyang.  Yesterday, Ming Pao called Bao Pu to ask questions.  But as soon as our reporter mentioned Du Daozheng, Bao Pu hung up the phone.

In his statement, Du Daozheng said that Zhao Ziyang was objective, cool, serene and full of goodwill in making the recordings.   Zhao's assessment of Deng Xiaoping was that Deng was always the leader of the reforms while Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang were his right and left arms.  Du heard friends summarize the English edition of the memoirs for him, and he thought that the foreword and title exaggerated the personal accomplishments of Zhao Ziyang.  "This is not objective, and it will not withstand the scrutiny of history."

Du Daozheng emphasized that he disagree with the publication of the memoirs of Zhao Ziyang at this time, especially at a time when China is facing great difficulties.  "It would be better not to publish."  The recent Chinese edition is about to come out, "reportedly using my foreword."  Du Daozheng said that his foreword should be based upon the one that will be published in Ming Pao Monthly, "which was only written for the accurate transcription of the tapes made by Zhang Ziyang."

(Boxun)

Because Du Daozheng recommended, participated, hid and passed along the secret tape recordings of Zhao Ziyang, the highest authorities have threatened with either condemnation of the English edition of the Zhao Ziyang memoirs as distorting the original intent or face permanent.  According to information, Du Daozheng has agreed to compromise upon persuasion by family members.  At the same time, he has asked people to bring an oral message in order to state the truth for the sake of history.

Here is his oral message: The essay published in Ming Pao Monthly was written under the barrel of a gun, just as the June 4th massacre twenty years ago!  I hope that you can understand that Old Dao is advanced in age and cannot act like young hooligans do!  When you are clean, you are clean; when you are dirty, you are dirty!

(Deutsche Welle)

Our reporter contacted the chief editor Pan Yiu-ming of Ming Pao Monthly.  He said that the "Internet story is based upon speculation to which I have nothing to comment about.  I am publishing this article based upon what Mr. Du Daozheng wants.  Besides, it wasn't as if we just received this article a couple of days ago.  I personally cannot believe that there is any other reason."

• [014]  Piling On The Deng Yujiao Case (05/26/2009)  More from the Internet reports and commentaries that are supposed to have been exterminated and eradicated.

(KDnet)

After Deng Yujiao stabbed Comrade Huang Dezhi, the latter was supposed to have been sent to Yichang for treatment of his wounds.  According to the Badong public security bureau's second bulletin, "Huang Dezhi was shocked by what happened and went up to stop her.  But he was stabbed on his right arm."  "Presently, Huang Dezhi is receiving treatment in Yichang, and his life is not in danger."

When I read this, I was somewhat perplexed.  If timely treatment was rendered, his life should not be endangered even if his arm was cut off.  This seems to be exaggerated.

Thus, the police stated in the third bulletin: "Huang Dezhi's injury could not be ascertained given that his arm is presently being bandaged."  This only arouses more curiosity.  Shouldn't the injury have been assessed before his arm was bandaged?  Do we have to wait until the wound has completely healed?

Other netizens wonder: "Why is it necessary to send Huang Dezhi to Yichang for a simple wound on the arm?  According to reports, an interested party went to the Yichang hospital to pay a visit to Comrade Huang Dezhi and learned that he was staying in the Urology Ward there.  This ward specializes in the lower parts of the body.  Could Comrade Huang Dezhi's arm injury triggered other problems in the lower parts of his body?  That would be really pitiful.  This Deng Yujiao person must be really bad.

I pray that Comrade Huang Dezhi could rest in peace.  Under the care and concern of the Party, may he recover soon.  The perpetrator will no doubt be punished severely.  We firmly believe that Comrade Huang Dezhi will return soon with the optimistic revolutionary spirit and continue his activities on the front lines of "getting bathing services provided by a member of the opposite sex."  Go!

(KNnet)

Illustrated graphic re-enactments of what happened with Deng Yujiao, Deng Guida and Huang Dezhi based upon the police statements of what occurred.

• [013]  Chinese Media Bans (Where They Exist)  (05/26/2009)  The current hot Internet story is the case of Deng Yujiao.  This is an ongoing story, with plenty of interesting "latest developments."

• [012]  The Shanxi Earthquake Scare (05/26/2009)  (Amsel's blog)  This is not a direct translation.  Instead of it presents the same facts in a different order, which I think is more interesting.

(Shanxi Evening News)  The Yuncheng/Linfen/Taiyuan earthquake rumors have subsided

On May 22, the Shanxi Province Earthquake Administration announced: Through the combined efforts of the provincial, city and county governments and the Earthquake Administration, the rumors about earthquakes in the 13 counties of Yuncheng and in certain places of Linfen and Taiyuan have subsided.  Order has been restored.

Between May 16 and 18, the Shanxi Province Earthquake Administration received more than 300 telephone calls from citizens asking about whether there will be earthquakes in  Yuncheng and other areas.  Upon investigation, the affected areas are the 13 counties of Yuncheng and certain places of Linfen and Taiyuan.  The cause was due to a Beijing city citizen Mr. Zhang had issued a personal earthquake prediction: "Yuncheng city will experience a magnitude 6.3 (plus or minus 0.5) earthquake on May 17 (plus or minus two days)."  Although this earthquake prediction document included the qualification "this is not to be disclosed to the public," the public ended up finding out.

... After the rumor went out, the Shanxi Province Earthquake Administration contacted the Yuncheng City Earthquake Administration quickly and took immediate action to dispel the rumors.  The Yuncheng government department directors made gave positive information to the masses.  The Shanxi Province Earthquake Administration and the Yuncheng Earthquake Administration increased their manpower and manned their telephone lines 24 hours per day to address questions from the public and answer their doubts.

Here is the unofficial story as published in an Internet  post:

The "Great Earthquake" of Shanxi turned out to have come from the top earthquake prediction expert at a certain research institute in Beijing.  This expert studied the measured data from Shanxi.  Out of concern for the safety for the people and in answer to the calling of his own conscience, he decided to risk jail time and issue an earthquake prediction.  His opinion had requested the prediction to be kept a top secret "not to be made known to the public."  But the local leaders were unable to keep the secret and the information went out.  So this became just like Xichang in 2003 when the people slept outdoors.

This inaccurate earthquake prediction expert could not account for this mistake.  The prediction was made on May 16.  On May 22, the local Earthquake Administration had to come out to clean up the mess.  The Earthquake Administration and the local media were kind enough not to disclose the name and position of this expert, leaving it only as a "Beijing citizen Mr. Zhang."  But how was an ordinary Beijing citizen going to have access to measured data in Shanxi province?

Here are some comments:

(1) The so-called "research institute" is most likely the "China Earthquake Administration Earthquake Prediction Research Institute."  The top earthquake prediction expert named Zhang may be researcher Zhang Yongxian who appeared on CCTV on June 8, 2008.  Zhang's area of interest appears to be water temperature changes as a precursor to earthquakes and had written that the water temperature signals have changed suddenly in Linfen in mid-May.  An ordinary Beijing citizen could not have drawn the attention of the local government leaders in Shanxi.

(2) All sorts of so-called prediction experts make "internal earthquake prediction reports" to the Earthquake Administration and other local governments all the time.  What then is this talk of "the risk of jail time"?

(3) This "expert" issued an yet another one of those "internal reports" "not to be released to the public."  If he guessed wrong, nobody will know.  If he guessed right, he can claim credit and then make the local government officials responsible for not taking action.  This is disgusting behavior.  How can there be "any concern for the lives of the people"? 

(4) The local government officials in this case did the right thing by not keeping it secret.  They are under no obligation to help the Earthquake Administration solve their problem of professional incompetence.  By publicizing the internal prediction report from the Earthquake Administration, they are acting responsibly towards the public as required by their jobs.  It is the Earthquake Administration which has to deal with the consequences of false reporting.

(5) This is not say that there won't be any earthquakes in Shanxi province.  It is just that short-term earthquake prediction (within a time span of several times) has proven to be an impossible task, especially these kinds of "microscopic precursors" such as water temperature have no scientific relationship with earthquakes.  Under such circumstances, these earthquake predictions can only result in frequent "zheteng."

• [011]  Deng Yujiao Tells Her Story (05/26/2009)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  The following account was presented by lawyer Xia Lin, who interviewed Deng Yujiao in person.

• [010]  Developments In The Case Of Deng Yujiao (05/24/2009)  (Strong Nation forum)

On May 23, the Changjiang Badong website featured the story <The rape of Deng Yujiao was fictional; her mother has rescinded the agreement with the lawyers> on its front page.  On the same day, Guangzhou Daily published the story <Key evidence in the stabbing death of the government official by the service workers was destroyed>.  By comparing the two reports, I believe that the case has reached a sharp turning point.

First of all, the Badong government has entered actively into the investigation of the case as well as assumed the role of communication with the outside world.  The previous two communiqués had both come from the Badong public security bureau and published on the Changjiang Badong website.  The first communiqué was published on May 12 after Enshi TV was turned down twice for interviews.  The second communiqué was published on May 18.  The media keyed in on the discrepancies between the information in these two communiqués.  For example, the first communiqué referred to "special services" which morphed into "bathing service provided by a member of the opposite sex" in the second communiqué.  As another example, the first communiqué said that Deng Yujiao was "pressed down" on the sofa but the second communiqué said that she was "shoved back" onto the sofa.

After receiving widespread Internet challenges and media inquiries, the China Women's Association stated on the front page of its website: "Recently, the China Women's Association is paying a high degree of attention on the case of Deng Yujiao in Badong county, Hubei province.  Our understanding is that the local party committee, the local government and the judiciary departments are all paying a high degree of attention to this matter and are taking strong measures.  We believe that the relevant departments will act fairly in accordance with the law and we will pay close attention to the progress of this case."

Soon after the China Women's Association made its statement, the Badong county government published <The rape of Deng Yujiao was fictional; her mother has rescinded the agreement with the lawyers> on its website at 1:37am early next morning.  The Badong county information office spokesperson Ouyang Kaiping was also identified to have taken charge of all outside communication and his contact information was published as well.

From here, we can see a logical sequence of events:

    the local media reported on the case of Deng Yujiao
-> the Badong police declined to comment
-> there were reactions from members of society
-> the Badong police issued its first bulletin
-> the Internet reacted strongly
-> the Badong police issued its second bulletin
-> the society and the Internet both reacted strongly
-> the China Women's Association showed its concern
-> the Badong government made its first appearance

These developments showed the influence of public attention on the case.  No matter how the case develops in the future, the government, the officials and the netizens have all agreed that there has been a social revolution in this information age.  New technology has empowered the people with the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech to express their opinions, to which all the parties must pay minimal attention and express concern (even if these are mere postures).

Secondly, a force has emerged behind Deng Yujiao's mother and relatives to lead or guide their behaviors.

According to Guangzhou Daily: At 9pm on May 21, lawyer Xia Lin was down at the procuratorate office to ask for the preservation of the underwear of Deng Yujiao as evidence.  Her underwear had been retrieved by her mother Zhang Shumei and left at home untouched for 11 days.  On the night of May 21, she went ahead and washed them.  On the morning of May 22, the police finally took the clothing away for evidence but that was too late already.  Laywer Xia Lin said that when he spoke to Zhang Shumei by phone on the afternoon of May 21, he told her specifically not to touch the clothing.  But this was how it turned out.

Then the Badong county government announced: "The police sought out Deng Yujiaog and other witnesses and investigated further at the scene.  The evidence does not support that there was a rape of Deng Yujiao.  Deng Yujiao, her mother and other family relatives are angry that their lawyer is lying to the outside word that 'Deng Yujiao' had been raped.  At the moment, Zhang Shumei has dissolved the relationship with the lawyer because he has failed to carry out his duties.  He has failed to provide material legal assistance and he has deviated from the direction of the case."

Here, I think that it is a complicated matter to determine whether Deng Yujiao had been raped.  We need a more serious attitude and rigorous evidence.  Ignoring the issue of whether the clothing should have been preserved as evidence, the police clearly thought that there was no need to do so and therefore they made no effort.  It seems too much of a coincidence for Zhang Shumei to wash the clothes right before the Badong government published <The rape of Deng Yujiao was fictional; her mother has rescinded the agreement with the lawyers>.  Why were the clothes not washed earlier or later?

We note that the official Badong government communiqué stated that the lawyer "has failed to provide material legal assistance and he has deviated from the direction of the case."  How does a peasant woman like Zhang Shumei know what that means?  What exactly was her original intention anyway?

It is for certain that the mother of Zhang Shumei would not have used that kind of finely worded lawyerly language such as the "direction of the case."  This so-called "direction of the case" should be determined by the defense lawyers based upon the evidence and the laws.

So it is likely that someone is influencing the mother of Deng Yujiao and other family relatives from behind the scene.  Moreover, this influence made its strongest impact right before the Badong county government made its high-profile appearance.

Thirdly, the Badong police originally described the activities of the three men (including Deng Guida and Huang Dezhi) as "special services" and "bathing services provided by a member of the opposite sex."  The Badong county government may have come up a new, subversive description.

In the official statement from the Badong county government, it was said that "the Badong county government information office spokesperson said that the latest developments include the public security bureau summoning the manager of the Xiongfeng Hotel on the grounds that the place offered sex-related services."

What does it mean to say that "the Xiongfeng Hotel Recreational Center's Dream City is involved in providing sex-related services"?  This was the first time that the Badong county government acknowledged that Dream City where Deng Yujiao worked is "suspected of providing sex-related services."  Over at Dream City, there were KTV, "special services"/"bathing services provided by members of the opposite sex" and other activities.  Apart from whether there was any "sex-related services" at the KTV, it is easy to see that the "special services"/"bathing services provided by members of the opposite sex" as described in the Badong government statements are "sex-related services."

According to social norms, an ordinary person should be clothed in public.  Rest rooms are designated as either male or female.  Restrooms on trains and airplanes have locks on the doors.  Public bathrooms are segregated by gender.  Thus, there is a difference between men and women.  This difference is protected by law.  Earlier, a female patient sued her male doctor for making her strip to take an X-ray.  In Beijing, the local laws make it illegal to exhibit pornographic video clips to a member of the opposite sex.  So when a man takes off all his clothes in front of a young woman who is not his wife and demands her to perform certain acitivities, it is qualitatively worse than showing a "pornographic video clip."  What is this but "a sex-related service"?

If we say that the first point above is a change in style and the second point is unclear, then the third point is the special characteristic of this case.  It is also the most basic point about this case.

Based upon official information, we can infer that the following happened: Deng Guida, Huang Dezhi and others went to Dream City to enjoy the "special services"/"bathing services provided by a member of the opposite sex" which should be considered to be sex-related services that is against the law.  When they saw the pretty-looking Deng Yujiao, they asked her to provide "sex-related services" against her will.  This was now a crime.  When Deng Yujiao resolutely refused, Deng Guida insulted and assaulted her.  Deng Yujiao headed for the door but was pulled back and "pushed down"/"shoved back" by force.  This was now an even more serious crime.  Finally, Deng Yujiao used a knife to fight back and caused death and injury.

No matter how this case of Deng Yujiao progresses, the Badong county government statement that "the Xiongfeng Hotel's Dream City is suspected of providing sex-related services" is the most important indication of the direction of this case.  As for the fate of Deng Yujiao, I quote the official statement of the China Women's Association: "We believe that the relevant officials will act fairly in accordance with the law."  I will be watching.

• [009]  Zhao Ziyang, Du Daozheng and Yanhuang Chunqiu (05/24/2009)

(AP) Ex-aide praises late deposed Chinese premier.  By Christopher Bodeen.  May 21, 2009.

... In a statement issued by one of the memoirs' editors, former propaganda official Du Daozheng said he and three other officials furnished Zhao with recording equipment and compiled the tapes into the book "Prisoner of the State," released this month in English.

"Zhao Ziyang felt responsible to the Chinese nation, responsible to history, responsible to ordinary folks," Du wrote. "He cared nothing for his own shame or glory, stood on the side of truth and the people and refused to compromise, buckle under, or back away."

... Du said he began encouraging Zhao to write his memoirs from the first time contact was restored between the old friends in 1992.

"I told him, 'comrade Ziyang, this isn't just about you. You have a responsibility to write,'" Du said.

... Du said he was joined in the compiling endeavor by former high ranking communist officials Xiao Hongda and Du Xingyuan and a former party journal editor, Yao Xihua. Lin Ruo, a former top communist official of Guangdong province, where Zhao worked for much of his career, was also informed of the plan and provided a top quality recording device and tapes. From the tapes, Du said, it was clear that Zhao had reflected deeply on his years in office and the span of Chinese history through which he lived. "This book is the true essence and holds nothing back," Du said. "How to judge it is a matter for the readers and history."

Du could not immediately be reached for comment and his exact whereabouts were unknown. It was also not possible to reach the others.

Du Daozheng also happens to be the publisher of Yanhuang Chunqiu magazine. 

(DWnews)  May 24, 2009.

ychqw.com, the website of Yanhuang Chunqiu, has been down for 48 hours already without any indication of coming back.  It is not known why the Internet control authorities want to blank out the website.  Could this be because the twentieth anniversary of 6.4 is approaching?  Previously, Yanhuang Chunqiu had published articles to commemorate Zhao Ziyang, the reformer who advocated constitutional democracy.  Allegedly, the retired Jiang Zemin had repeatedly asked for a clean-up of the magazine.  A short while ago, the supervisory department had even asked for the senior staff members, including publisher Du Daozheng, to retire, but that effort had been rebuffed.  It is not clear whether they can make it this time.

Follow-up: The Yanhuang Chunqiu website is back up again

• [008]  Dogs Bites Man, Man Exterminates All Dogs (05/24/2009) 

(Shanghai Daily)

The implementation of a controversial dog ban was delayed in Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province, local authorities said yesterday.

The regulation banning the animal from public places was scheduled to take effect yesterday but officials said they were amending it to make it "more standardized and humane." According to the regulation issued earlier in the week, owners will be fined up to 200 yuan (US$30) if their dogs are found in "restricted areas" from Wednesday to Friday. From Saturday, dogs found in these areas will be put down, it said. The "restricted areas" include the city proper of Heihe and four villages in the city's administrative area.

Liu Zhibin, a Heihe police officer, said the city government is soliciting people's opinion to improve the regulation. "We just want to use the regulation as a warning," he said. "We didn't kill a single dog."

Dog owners were relieved at the delay. "The delay might be due to pressure from the public, like the media and reaction from citizens," said a 24-year-old lawyer who declined to be named. She has a pet Dalmatian. She said dog owners should be responsible for vaccinating their pets, cleaning feces and avoiding some public places. She said fines were sufficient to punish violators.

Dogs have proven to be a nuisance in the city. According to the city's center of disease control and prevention, nearly 1,000 people were bitten by dogs and received vaccination shots between January 2008 and May 2009.

Heihe's public security bureau, health bureau, the bureau of animal husbandry and veterinary and the city management bureau jointly worked out the regulation.

In a document given to Xinhua, the city defended the ban. "Heihe is a tourism city on the Sino-Russia border, but dogs on the streets tarnish its image. Dog excrement annoys tourists, especially those from Russia, while they also create problems such as noise, bacteria and disputes between neighbors," the document said.

Alas, these are not the reasons being discussed on the Internet.

(Oriental Daily)

In Heihe city (Heilongjiang province), the public security bureau, the animal husbandry and veterinary bureau, the urban management enforcement bureau and the department of health jointly issued a public notice that no dogs are allowed in the city of Heihe.  Effective the next day, dogs will not be allowed in parks, pedestrian streets, shops, hotels, schools, hospitals, the train station and the airport.

Furthermore, any pet dogs found will be captured and exterminated.  Those who attempt to interfere with the process will be punished according to the public safety laws.  The carcasses of the dogs will be buried or incinerated by the animal husbandry and veterinary bureau.  Within the city, certain government units, military squads, research institutes, factories and warehouses may feel the need to keep dogs for work-related reasons.  In those cases, they need to register with the public security bureau and make sure that their licensed dogs get rabies shots.

What was the reason for issuing this order at this time?  According to Internet commentators, two government officials of Heihe city were strolling by the river bank when one of them got bitten by a dog while the other had a scare.  That was the reason why no more dogs were allowed in river banks, parks, pedestrian streets, etc.  The same government official then spotted a woman walking a dog on a pedestrian street on Tuesday, and they exchanged words with each other.  Afterwards, he went back to the office to call a meeting and imposed the order to exterminate all dogs.

• [007]  When More Is Bad (05/24/2009)  (Muzi Daily News)

Recently a Shanghai TV reporter has been drawing comments about her on-air demeanor.  Here are some screen captures:

What is the problem here?  People are complaining that she is intentionally exhibiting her cleavage.  Some netizens thinks that she make people feel uneasy and embarrassed when she flashes her cleavage, and therefore she has no empathy for how the public might feel.  Other netizens think that people should not impose their so-called moral values on women.

This particular essay closes with this comment: "Certain western media reporters or even state leaders have said: When 70% of Chinese women don't wear bras anymore, China will have truly become a modernized civlized society ... I don't know why that should be the case."

• [006]  "Go" Master Nieh Wei-ping Takes A Nap (05/24/2009)  (Huashang Morning News)

On May 21, "Go" chess master Nieh Wei-ping joined a number of scholars, writers and critics to participate in the CCTV special program <Art in Life.  As the program rolled on, NIel closed his eyes and took a nap.  His posture was noted by audience members, who used cameras to record his condition and then posted those videos/photos on the Internet.  These photos drew plenty of comments.

The reporter contacted Nieh Wei-ping for his comment.  At first, he was surprised by the question: "Oh?  How did you know about this?"  When he learned that videos and photos of his nap had been posted on the  Internet, he was clearly displeased: "I don't think that it is a good thing to post this sort of thing on the Internet."

With respect to the question, Nieh Wei-ping was frank: "I was napping.  That is quite normal."  Then he explained that he was tired.  "I should protest to CCTV that it was too inhumane.  I got the wake-up call before 5am and the program began recording at 7am until the afternoon.  It went on at least seven or eight hours.  This was more tiring than a game of 'go'."

However, some sports newspapers and fans made a seemingly more logical guess.  Master Niel is a well-known soccer fan and he was watching the Shandong Luneng team playing the night before.  Therefore he did not get enough rest.  Nieh admitted that he went to bed a bit late.  "I went to sleep just after 11pm.  But I did not watch that game.  Why would I watch it when the game play stinks!"  As to his frequent public napping, Nieh said: "I don't care what people say.  When I feel sleepy, I will sleep."

• [004]  The Parrot That Can Predict Earthquakes (05/23/2009)  (Fan Zhouzi's blog)

When we have to select the strangest research organizations in higher education institutions in China, then the Beijing University of Technology's Earthquake Research Institute must be one of them.  According to reports, this institute which has procured 1 million RMB in funding from the university specializes in earthquake prediction.  Over the years, it claims to have accurately predicted earthquakes all over the world and destroyed the myth that earthquakes cannot be predicted.  As such, it is a world leader in the field.  Although this is the only earthquake prediction institute in China, this is not strange for that reason because many other self-proclaimed earthquake predictors (or self-proclaimed "national treasures") also work in universities and research institutes.  The reason why this institute is strange is that its founder uses the anomalous behavior of a parrot to predict earthquakes.

There is a parrot inside a cage in this institute.  A sensor/counter has been installed on the hanging bar and it records the number of times that the parrot jumps on and off that bar each day.  On the eve before an earthquake, the parrot will jumped abnormally more frequently.  Not only can this parrot predict earthquakes in the Beijing area, but it can predict earthquakes thousands of miles away.  "Take the Wenchuan earthquake as an example.  The parrot began jumping on May 2.  The jumping reached the highest level on May 4."  Although this institute also uses other earthquake prediction methods such as sub-sonic waves, gravitational force, etc, the key criterion is the parrot, which has veto power.  "Even if all the other conditions for an earthquake are present, there can be no earthquake unless the parrot jumps."  This parrot is so famous that even experts from the China Earthquake Administration want to know what it is up to.

Of course, there are many other reasons which could make the parrot jump: changing weather, getting frightened, being in heat, becoming, ill, etc.  So how does one tell that it is an earthquake instead of these other reasons?  In practice, that is impossible.  For example, the "national treasure" said on the day before the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Taiwan on September 21, 1999, the parrot went to jumping about 1,200 times per day.  But from the illustrated graphs in his journal article, the number of jumps per day has been consistently around or over 1,200 times per day since mid-August.  So why was that figure on September 20, 1987 singled out to indicate an earthquake in Taiwan the next day?  The "national treasure" might say that this was a "combined analysis in conjunction with anomalies detected by other earthquake prediction methods."  But there was nothing anomalous about the number of jumps on that day compared to other days, so how could this be used to draw any conclusion?  If the "precursor" is found only after the earthquake, then this is called "post-diction" and not prediction.

This particular earthquake prediction methods is said to be "eastern science" with unique Chinese characteristics.  However, no indigenous Chinese birds can do the job.  Instead, only the tiger-skin-colored parrot from Australasia can contribute towards earthquake prediction in China.  You may think that a parrot with these special abilities was selected from tens of thousands.  "But these parrots can be purchased in any pet market.  When a parrot dies after three or five years, another one is bought."  If that is the case, then why not buy a whole flock of parrots to make group predictions?  This would at least eliminate the effect of one parrot going wild.  With a budget of 1 million RMB, it should be affordable to rear a group of parrots.  But when you have many, some will be jumping and some won't.  So which do you believe?  So you are better off just looking at one of them.  This is no different from a soothsayer who will make only one prediction on each matter, because multiple predictions can conflict with each other.

If this parrot is just an ordinary parrot, then all the parrots around the world should all be jumping when an earthquake is pending.  That would be an awesome sight.  In 2000, the "national treasure" had published his results on the ability of the parrot to predict earthquake, including descriptions of his equipment and research data.  But no other earthquake prediction researcher has obtained parrots to predict earthquakes in the same way.  Even the China Earthquake Administration experts who believe that parrots have this special ability would not rear their own parrots but would rather call up to ask what this particular parrot is up to.  This is very strange indeed.  Do they believe that any parrot not at the Beijing University of Technology loses that ability?

This parrot is supposed to be able to predict earthquakes everywhere in the world.  According to the article by the "national treasure," all magnitude 5.5 earthquakes are predictable by the parrot.  According the U.S. Geological Survey, there are more than 1,300 magnitude 5~5.9 earthquakes, 134 6~6.9 magnitude earthquakes, 17 7~7.9 magnitude earthquakes and 1 magnitude 8+ earthquake in the world every year on the average.  But if earthquakes occur just about every day, then the parrot should be jumping non-stop.  So why is that parrot of the "national treasure" sensitive to only some of those earthquakes?  In 2008, people can only remember the Wenchuan earthquake.   In reality, there were 167 magnitude 6~6.9 earthquakes and 12 magnitude 7+ earthquakes around the world that year.  Why does the "national treasure" say that the anomalous jumping by the parrot around May 2 to May 4 is predicting the Wenchuan earthquake and not some of the other earthquake elsewhere?

The "national treasure" may say that my thinking represents "western science."  But my doubts here are not based upon any concrete scientific reasoning (for example, I am not questioning how a parrot could sense that an earthquake is about to happen several thousands of miles away).  I am only using basic logic and facts.  If the so-called "eastern science" ignores basic logic and facts, then we can only say that this is "eastern superstition."

• [003]  How This Video Got On YouTube  (05/22/2009)

(SCMP)  Police investigate bizarre attack on man in Mongkok    May 22, 2009.

Police said on Friday they were investigating a disturbing incident when a man was attacked and stripped of his clothes on a busy street in Mongkok. Footage of the attack, which appeared on YouTube but has now been removed, showed the man being degraded by at least two other men. He was hit with something resembling a pole, and then made to walk about without his clothes on.

Various news organisations have continued to show the video clip even after it was unavailable on YouTube.

Crime officers at the Mong Kok District on Friday afternoon were conducting investigations. Police have urged witnesses to come forward. The district commander for Mong Kok, Steve Carruthers said police took the matter "very seriously". "We don't know exactly when the incident took place. We know the exact location, but we don’t know the time or date when it happened. We are trying to ascertain these facts currently," he told local radio. "The victim was obviously assaulted," said Mr Carruthers. He said the man had been subjected to "very degrading treatment".  "I have directed district anti-triad officers to conduct investigations," he added.

Earlier, a police spokesman said the video on YouTube was about two minutes 31 seconds long. Police have appealed to the public to contact them. They should call tel: 2398-6200 or contact any police station.

 

(Apple Daily)

In recent days, various speculations have been offered about this man was forced to strip naked and walk down the street.  These include (1) the man patronized a prostitute but had no money to pay; (2) the man owed money to a loan shark and was late in his payment; (3) the man exposed himself to a female; etc.

However, there is now a more plausible story with names involved.  The naked man is a 30-something-old brothel manager named Ah Shing who gets paid HK$300 per day.  However, he is known to take advantage of the prostitutes who goes there.

Last month, a "manager" named Ah Ji brought over a bunch of new girls who have just arrived from mainland China.  Another manager took an interest in one 20-year-old girl and wanted to have a trial session.  So they arranged for Ah Shing to lend a room for the session.  Amazingly, as they tried to get on with it, Ah Shing walked into the room, sat down and watched.  The man didn't care but the girl objected loudly to no avail.  Afterwards, the girl complained to her manager Ah Ji.

Ah Ji went back with two friends and brought Ah Shing down to the corner of Shanghai Street and Soy Street.  He yelled: "You like to watch people!  So let us see you take off your clothes and walk down the street!"  Ah Shing did not dare resist, so he took off his clothes and walked across the street.  Meanwhile, a man across the street heard the commotion and used his video camera to record the incident.  Last Thursday, he posted this 2:31 video clip onto an Internet discussion forum.  This became an immediately hit, and the mainstream newspapers picked up the story the next day. 

This led the police to step in.  As of now, Ah Shing and Ah Ji are both in hiding.  To prosecute Ah Ji, Ah Shing would need to testify.  Will he be found?  Will he agree to testify?

• [002]  Jump Already!  (05/21/2009)  In Guangzhou, a financially distressed man climbed on a bridge and threatened to jump.  Police negotiators spent more than two hours trying to talk him into coming down.  Then a senior citizen charged through the police line, climbed on the bridge, inched near the man and pushed him down.  The man suffered multiple bone fractures.  The man was sent to a hospital and the senior citizen was taken away by the police.

• [001]  China's Unnatural Disaster  (05/21/2009)  This is a documentary from HBO.