An Internet user reporter that at the "Everybody Sing Patriotic Songs" event in Puyang city, Henan province on June 21, a junior cadre rushed onto the stage and engaged in "indecent actions" such as embracing a certain female singer.  According to the report, the event brought in many big-name stars in the presence of an audience who are mostly cadres and workers from various government/party units.  "A certain individual audience member ignored his image and rushed on stage many times in order to be photographed with stars such as Song Zuying.  This seriously affected the emotions of the performers and ruined the atmosphere of the event.  He even engaged in indecent actions."

Photographs of the man was posted on the Internet.  "Human flesh search" led to the identification of the man as Wang Liuju, the director of the Puyang City Development Zone's Hucun town office director.  He had recently been promoted as a member of the town Communist Party Committee member.  Internet rumors are that Wang was detained for five days and relieved from both his government and party posts.  Mr. Wang has been nicknamed "Brother Patting" by Internet users.

Yesterday, a Puyang City Development Zone publicity/unification department director named Shang confirmed the name and position of the man in the photos.  It was confirmed that Mr. Wang had been placed under administrative detention and he has been transferred to a different office. 

Chinese Internet users said that the photos did not show any "hugs," "forced hugs" or "molestation."  Furthermore the singers continued to maintain their smiles for the audience.  Therefore the punishment was too harsh in this case.

According to a certain Puyang city government worker, Mr. Wang created a huge embarrassment.  The singer originally planned to sing three songs.  She ended up singing only two songs.  The leaders sitting in the audience downstage were said to be "very dissatisfied" with the actions of the man.

[Note: In case you don't know, Song Zuying has also been rumored to have a close relationship to former Chairman Jiang Zemin and therefore goes by the nickname "Mother of China."]

Some netizens are calling for the liberal lawyers to defend the rights of Mr. Wang.  But it does not appear that anyone is interested in taking up this cause.

Addendum:  It turns out that the above account is incomplete.  Here are some further facts (Dahe via Wenxue City).

Our reporter interviewed the relevant leaders at the Puyang City Public Security Bureau and the Puyang City Gaoxin District Party Workers Committee.

According to the information provided by them, the Central Publicity Department and the Central Civilization Office sponsored an event on June 21 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.  The event was organized by CCTV, the Puyang City Communist Party and the Puyang City Government.  This event was held at the same time with other events in six other cities (including Yenan, Changsha, Longyan, etc) as part of CCTV's "Red Songs For The Party" special program to be aired around July 1st.

At around noon on June 21, the Puyang City Public Security Bureau received calls from the CCTV television production team as well as individual citizens about a white-shirted man interfering with two singers during the normal production.  The police went there and found that the man was Puyang City Gaoxin District Hucun Town Communist Party Committee member and Kaizhou Street Office leader team member Wang Liuju. 

Now this event was part of the special program to be aired by CCTV.  As such, this is different from an ordinary concert.  In order to maintain order and effect for this event, the team excluded all other persons except for the performers, the production team members and the media.  All other persons are barred from the area, and this fact is widely known.  Nevertheless Wang Liuju knowingly entered the area and jumped on stage in the middle of the performance to dance, twist and otherwise behave in an indecent manner.  This disrupted the performances as well as the production.

The police interrogated Wang Liuju and he admitted to doing so freely.  Wang Liuju's behavior was determined to have violated Clause 6, Article 24 of the <People's Republic of China Public Safetey Administration Penal Code> and he was sentenced to 5 days of administrative detention.

At the same time, Wang Liuju was supposed to be at work at the time of the incident.  He had left his workplace without permission and he failed to complete his work assignment.  Therefore the Puyang City Gaoxin District Party Workers Committee decided to relieve Wang of his positions as Hucun Town Communist Party Committee member and Kaizhou Street Officer leader team member.

A microblogger posted a photo of Guo Meimei's Norwegian passport and said that she is about to flee the country.  Please take a good look at this photo.  See anything suspicious?  (1) Some of the words (such as the passport number, name, date of birth, height, gender, place of birth, place of issuance, date of issue and date of expiration) are shown in very crisp black.  By comparison, the personal ID number (030577) is lighter and in a different font.  (2)  What country issues a six-digit personal ID number?  A country with fewer than one million inhabitants.  Norway has a population of almost 5 million persons.  (3) Also the name of the passport holder is Guo Meiling (her real name) but the signature is for Guo Meimei. 

What does a real Norwegian passport look like?  I got on Google and searched for "Norwegian passport."  There is a photo of a passport belonging to the artist Benny André Lund who had changed his named to "Republicof Benny André Lund."  See anything here?  Oh, Mr. Lund's personal ID number shows only the first six digits with with the remaining numbers masked for the sake of privacy.  Wow, the first six digits of Mr. Lund's personal ID number are the same as Guo Meimei's!!!  Also, note that the dates have the year given in two digits (77, 06, 16) instead of four digits in the Guo Meimei photo (1991, 2010, 2020).

From the official website of the USA embassy in Oslo, Norway here are two more samples of Norwegian passports.  The dates have two-digit years, the personal ID's have 11 digits and also note that the information encoded in the machine readable line includes date of birth, expiration date, personal ID, etc.

The Guo Meimei passport photo is fake.  But the masses who don't know the truth are sure that she is about to flee the country with her billions of ill-gotten gains.  They are even calling up the Australian embassy to look for a Guo Meimei seeking a visa (not realizing that a Norwegian national does not need a visa to go to Australia).

Part 1:  A netizen compared a photo of Guo Meimei Baby on an airplane in which a man was seen in the background with photos of Red Cross Society of China vice-president Guo Changjiang and decided that it was the same person.  Now some netizens say that you must be blind to not see the similarity while others say that you must be blind to see the similarity.  Dear reader, it is up to decide for yourself ...

Part 2: Another netizen came up with a photo of a restaurant receipt issued to the Red Cross Society of China Business Association and said that it proves that the entity exists in spite of the denial from the Red Cross Society of China.  Other netizens point out that the receipt was issued on June 22, 2011 after the case broken open.  By practice, a restaurant will issue a receipt to any entity that the customer names without requiring proof of identity.  Furthermore, other netizens point out that this netizen had registered for a microblog on June 22, 2011.  Once again, the reader is left to decide for yourself ...

Part 3:  The microblogger Jiang Pengyou (with a V for verified identity) says: The Red Cross Society of China claims that it has nothing to do with ahy Red Cross Society Business Association or Guo Meimei ... On December 8, 2010, the Red Cross Society of China Business Association held its tenth anniversary celebration, with Zhang Zhigang, Guo Changjiang, He Jihai and others in attendance.  This photo is proof.  Please pay attention to the girl in the front middle.

Other netizens say that anyone with normal vision will see the woman in the front middle does not remotely look like Guo Meimei.  The Red Cross Society of China has confirmed that this woman is one of their volunteers.

Part 4:  [News Excavator]  It is already confirmed that Guo Meimei and her mother serves the same man.  The key is the identity of this "pig" in this photo???  Is this a story between stepdaughter and stepfather?  Or goddaughter and godfather?  [forwarded 3184 times with 1172 comments]

A netizen commented: This is a private matter between them.  This other woman is a relative of Guo Meimei, so how did she become the "mother" here?  What has this got to do with anything?

Part 5: There is a photo of Guo Meimei holding a baby in her arms.  The microblogger Xia Sheng (with a V for verified status) wrote: "If you have to write the story of Guo Meimei, it will go something like this.  This minor actress underwent cosmetic surgery and met an important man.  She became a kept mistress and intentionally/unintentionally had a baby.  The mother profited per her child and was showered with a villa and fancy cars.  She became vain and changed her status to Red Cross Society general manager.  Unfortunately, she was exposed and may eventually end up in jail with everything falling about.  This novel is titled <When vanity meets a stupid bitch>."

Meanwhile the mother of the child has emerged with a copy of the birth certificate:  "Please do not be misled by the so-called writer Xia Sheng.  Why was Guo Meimei holding my child?  We were having dinner at Houhai that day and we took a photo together.  It was as simple as that."

Xia Sheng is a tea merchant/writer who wants to run as an independent candidate for the People's Congress.


 
Unfortunately, the message is being diluted because a number of these photos were taken elsewhere on previous occasions.  If it is a lapse in conscience to fail to construct the proper infrastructure, when it must surely be another lapse in conscience to fabricate and/or disseminate rumors!

(Dianzizheng's blog)

Here are some of the photos taken in screen captures with their original dates.

Oh, as an exercise, you can check for yourself that the photo with the airplanes on water came from Haikou city, Hainan province during a typhoon. 

Question:  Have you forwarded some of these fabrications today on Twitter or other microblogs?

(DHA Yin Lixin's microblog)  This girl is twenty years old, and she is the business manager of the Red Cross Society of China.  She lives in a 100 million yuan villa, she drives a 3 million yuan race car and she own countless brand-name handbags.  She is Guo Meimei.  Everybody help to find where she comes from, because this may be the money donated by everybody across China. 

[Li Tianshi's microblog]  Sina.com user (with V for verified identity) Red Cross Society of China Business Manager 'Guo Meimei Baby' is raising controversy through showing off her wealth.  According to Liao Banxian's microblog, this 20-year-old girl is in the class of 2007 at the Beijing Film Academy.  In 2008, she  was the champion of the Haoluodi KTV Competition.  Among the things that she has shown off is a Maserati car for her birthday present this year.  She has made movies.  According to her latest update, her company is an advertising agent for the Red Cross Society of China.  But she has not responded to questions about her relationship to the Hunan Red Cross vice-president named Guo.

[Baidu netizen]  At around 835pm on June 21, 2011, a Sina.com microblogger posted about a 20-year-old girl (@Guo Meimei Baby) is a microblogger with the verified V as the "Red Cross Society of China Business General Manager."  On her microblog, the girl showed off her wealth (a Maserati race car, a Lamborghini race car, various Hèrmes handbags and a large number of photos.

Through Baidu search, Guo Meimei Baby was found to be born in Hunan on June 15, 1991.  She graduated from the performance arts department of the Beijing Film Academy and she was the Haoluodi National KTV New Star Competition champion in the Shenzhen region.  She acted as a dragon boat team member in the 20-chapter television series <Beauty Talks> featuring Huang Xiaoming and Chen Qiao'en; she also appeared in a youth program on CCTV-8; and so on.  She has been a print media model in Shenzhen.

Did the Sina.com microblog service made a mistake in issuing the V status (and this seems quite implausible)?  Is this a promotional gimmick?  This seems more likely because an actress is involved.  If everything is true, then there was no reason to have such a high profile?  Guo Meimei Baby has just accumulated 500 more followers within 30 minutes.

Another netizen has found that a Red Cross vice-president is also named Guo.  Is there any relationship there?

[Sina.com Microblog mini-secretary]  Upon investigation, the user 'Guo Meimei Baby' was originally verified to be an actress.  Later she applied to alter her status to become "Red Cross Business General Manager." During the process, the Sina.com Microblog Service did not check rigorously.  As such, the Sina.com Microblog Service apologizes here to the Red Cross Society of China and the relevant persons as well as our broad mass of users.  In futuer, we will rigorously carry out our verification process.  We welcome everybody to monitor us.


Sina.com has removed Guo Meimei Baby's V status

(Dongfang Net)  June 22, 2011

Youth, luxury cars, villas ... it makes Chinese netizens hard to associate her with a charity organization such as the Red Cross.  "She is successful at age 20"  "The Red Cross seems to be very wealth" ... netizens are wondering.  Netizens also connected the woman with Red Cross vice-president Guo Changjiang.  "We recommend an investigation into their relationship."  Even though Sina.com has rescinded the V status, the personal description on her microblog page still says "Red Cross Society of China Business General Manager."

This incident has directed affected the trustworthiness of the Red Cross Society of China.  Some netizens are even advocating a boycott of the Red Cross Society of China.  At around 11pm last night, 'Guo Meimei Baby' clarified that "my company has a cooperative venture with the Red Cross Society of China and the name of the company is the Red Cross Business Association.  We are responsible for insurance and medical equipment advertisements.  We place the Red Cross commercials for free on medical vehicles.  Maybe people misunderstand because an abbreviation was used."  But that microblog was deleted this morning.

This morning our reporter called up Guo Changjiang.  When he heard the name Guo Meimei, he laughed and said, "She is not my daughter.  I don't have any daughters."  With respect to either the claim that she was the "Red Cross Business General Manager" or she worked for the "Red Cross Business Association," Guo Changjiang said that neither the job nor the organization exists within the Red Cross Society of China.

Netizens also noticed that microblog entitled "Guo Changjiang RC" exchanged links with Guo Meimei's microblog and some of them believed that this was Red Cross's Guo Changjiang.  On the phone, Guo Changjiang said, "I have never opened a microblog at Sina.com or anywhere else."

(Red Cross Society of China)

Recently a netizen named "Guo Meimei Baby" has claimed to be the Business General Manager of the Red Cross Society of China and flaunted information about her luxurious lifestyle.  Upon verifying, we make this special announcement:

1. The Red Cross Society of China does not have an organization called "Red Cross Business Association", it does not have the job position of "Business General Manager" and it does not have anyone named "Guo Meimei."

2. In order to protect the serious nature of the Red Cross sign, the <Red Cross laws>, the <Commercial Trademark/logo laws> and other relevant laws and regulations strictly forbids the unauthorized use of the Red Cross logo or name.  Our society reserves the right to hold the relevant parties responsible.

3. Our society is always opposed to anyone who attempts to fabricate false information for the sake of self-promotion.  We also hope that people everywhere will observe such cases calmly and refuse to be made use of.

Finally, we thank everybody for their long-term support of the Red Cross Society and we welcome your monitoring of our work.

(Weibohui's Sina.com microblog)  June 22, 2011

This photo is about the orderly conditions of the cars of people fleeing a hurricane in America several years.  Please note that there was one lane without any cars!  This empty lane is the emergency lane on our expressways (for emergency stopping or for emergency vehicles to pass).  You must admire such civic quality!

[327 forwards, 71 comments]

Using the TinEye image search service, here is the original photo on Flickr:

So this was just another routine commute day in southern California, and nothing to do with any evacuation from an oncoming hurricane.

This leaves open the question: Why are so many Chinese Internet users ready to fabricate and/or spread rumors to smear their motherland?  What is their aim?

(Associated PressReport: Beijing-Shanghai Railway Speed Claim Faked  June 22, 2011.

A report says China's Railway Ministry has exaggerated how fast the new high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai is meant to run and that the country's own technology is still plagued by problems.

The financial magazine Caijing cites a former top engineer at the Railway Ministry, Zhou Yimin, as saying the trains' maximum speed should be 300 kph (185 mph), instead of the targeted 350 kph (216 mph).

Zhou said China lacks its own core technology, despite its claims to have developed the world's most advanced railways know-how after cooperation with foreign partners.

A Railways Ministry spokesman dismissed the comments, saying Zhou retired too early to know the current situation.

(Eastday)  Train speed claims were false   June 22, 2011.

THE former railway minister exaggerated the potential performance of trains on the Shanghai-Beijing high-speed link, a former deputy chief engineer at the ministry has claimed.

Liu Zhijun, who was dismissed in February in a graft probe, had said the train would reach a maximum speed of 380kph and maintain a constant speed of 350kph.

But Zhou Yimin told yesterday's 21st Century Business Herald that the train could only reach 350kph for a few minutes at a time.

The high-speed train was developed by China based on foreign technology. The foreign manufacturers clearly stated in their contract that the maximum operational speed was 300kph, Zhou told the newspaper.

If the train ran at 350kph, it was operating beyond the safety margin.

"If any problem happens while the train is running at such a high speed, the consequences would be unimaginable, as China doesn't have the experience and technology to solve the issue," Zhou was quoted as saying.

High-speed trains made by Japan and France had reached 440kph and 574kph in test runs and but tests runs and daily operation were totally different things, Zhou said.

Zhou said that an official with Siemens AG, which sold components to Chinese train makers, once told him they didn't care how China promoted the technology as long as Siemens could seal the deal; secondly, the technology they sold was designed for a top speed of 300kph. If the trains ran faster than that, they wouldn't be responsible for any consequences.

Zhou said China had made a big leap in technological know-how after importing technical platforms but still lacked core research and development capacity.

Some minor problems had surfaced in China's high-speed railways but had been kept confidential, Zhou said.

Subsidence causing gaps of up to 40 centimeters between the ground and the track was found along the high-speed rail line linking Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province, and Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei, only two years after construction was completed.

And the bullet train running between Beijing and Shenyang, capital of the northeastern Liaoning Province, had suffered several malfunctions, he said.

Zhou said he wrote a letter to the current railway minister, Sheng Guangzu, in April proposing that the planned speed on the Shanghai-Beijing bullet train be lowered.

A few days later, Sheng announced that China was slowing the operational speed of all its bullet trains from 350kph to 300kph following safety concerns and complaints that tickets were too expensive.

The Shanghai-Beijing high-speed railway began trial operations on May 11 and will be officially put into use at the end of this month.

Zhou joined in the feasibility study and research for the new service.

In the interest of fairness and balance, here are the viewpoints of some Chinese bloggers (collected at Dianzizheng's blog).

Here is the summary of Zhou Yimin's viewpoints:

When Liu Zhijun was in charge, he demanded all performance indicators must globally first rate. He was fixated about being number one in the world.  Everything had to be number one in the world.  We purchased the German trains CRH3 and CRH5 and we entered a joint venture with Japan to build the CRH2 train at the Sifang factory in Qingdao city.  In the foreign sales contracts to us, it was stated that the highest operating speed was 300 kmph.  Therefore, Liu Zhijun's 350 kmph is falsified.  He wanted to buy a 300 kmph train to run at 350 kmph.

Can that train run at 350 kmph?  Yes, but at the cost of lowering safety.  The train was not designed in China.  If a problem should emerge, China won't have the experience or expertise to solve it.  The consequences will be unimaginable.

But even 350 kmph was not good enough, because 380 kmph came next.  Why?  Because he was under a lot of public opinion pressure.  The Japanese and German newspapers were unhappy with China's claim that they invented the 350 kmph train themselves.  They pointed out clearly that the increased speed came at the cost of lower safety standards.

But the truth is that the foreigners have all made tests of 400+ kmph to check the performances and safety.  On June 12, 1996, the Japanese New Line express reached 440 kmph.  The French had previously reached the highest train speed of 574 kmph.  But test speeds are not the same as operating speeds.  However, the Ministry of Railways made the claim that the test speeds were the result of Chinese invention.

With respect to the clear statement on the purchase contract that the operating speed is 300 kmph, Siemen's chief executive for transportation in China had dinner with me when I asked him about his views on the Ministry of Railways operating trains at 350 kmph.  He said, "First of all, we only deliver the order and we can't supervise what you say in China.  Secondly, we sold you a 300 kmph train and we won't be held responsible if you operate at speeds in excess of 300 kmph.  Thirdly, you cannot export this technology because we transfer the technology for you to use in China only."  That was the reason why the Ministry of Railways had to come up with the 380 kmph train.

But it has to acknowledged that since these trains were brought in several years ago, the manufacturing technical level of the railway industry has improved significantly.  But the ability to conduct core research and development is still missing.

In the short term, one or two months of testing will enable the trains to being operations.  In the long run, we have to continue making observations.  For example, the 300 kmph High Speed Railroad in Taiwan has exhibited problems with sinking foundation.  Actually, our High Speed Railroads have frequently encountered minor problems already.  Some of these problems are actually more than minor but they are kept secret.  For example, the roof of a Guangzhou-Wuhan train once flew off; the Beijing-Shenyang CRH5 train service had been interrupted many times due to breakdowns; the Taiyuan-Shijiazhuang line has shown signs of sinking, with a maximum of 40 millimeters; the Tianjin-Beijing line is also showing signs of sinking.  While sinking is present more or less, train speed must be reduced when the sinking goes too far.

(bxdfhbh)  Ministry of Railways deputy chief engineer Zhou Yimin knows nothing about railway technology.  June 21, 2011.

Zhou Yimin said: "According to reports, the sinking reached as deep as 40 millimeters."  If the sinking reached that far, the rail would be unusable.

He said: "The Beijing-Shenyang CRH5 train service was interrupted many times."  That line uses 200 kmph trains.  That is to say, Zhou is saying that imported 200 kmph trains don't work.  Isn't that a slap in the face of the foreign manufacturers?  The fact is that the Japanese sold various trains to China 250 kmph or slower.  They have never sold any 300 kmph technology to China.

The Chinese high speed railway technology was created by Chinese engineers based upon studying western high technology and experimenting on their own.  The foreigners did not supply us with 350 kmph technology or the ensuing 380 kmph technology.  The Chinese 380 trains look completely different than western trains in outward appearance.  The design came from Chinese wind-tunnel experiments.

Japan and Germany did not do as Zhou claimed: "They pointed out clearly that the increased speed came at the cost of lower safety standards."  Rather, when China improved its technology, Japan wrote a letter: "What we provided to you should be running at most 250 kmph.  We are not responsible for your modifications.  If anything should ever happen after you increase the train speed, we have to nothing to do with that."  China replied: "Okay, no problem."

Japan and Germany never said that China is increasing the speed at the cost of lower safety standards.  Zhou Yimin is spreading a rumor.

Zhou Yimin also said: "If the speed is too high, a sonic boom will result."  This is hilarious.  Everybody knows that the sonic boom occurs when a jet fighter breaks the sound barrier.  The high speed train will have to break Mach 1 (=the speed of sound) in order to create a sonic boom.  How fast? 1,224 kmph!

Zhou Yimin also said: "In addition, the Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway stations are mostly way outside the cities.  The difference between railways and airports everywhere in the world is that the railway stations are in the city centers.  The Berlin train station built underground in a location like Beijing's Tiananmen Square or Shanghai's People Plaza.  People can switch trains without emerging above ground.  To build the High Speed Railway stations outside the cities is to erase the superiority of railways."

This shows that Zhou Yimin knows nothing about transportation.

The reason why the Berlin Central Station is the center of the city is due to historical reasons.

China is not putting the train stations in locations with other kinds of intense traffic already, because this will create even more congestion.  Besides, placing the train stations outside the cities will help development of those surrounding areas.  If you want to know what happens when you place a train station in the center of the city, please observe the traffic chaos around the February 7 Train Station in Zhengzhou city.

Zhou Yimin said that: "In our so-called 380 kmph railways such as the Tianjin-Beijing line, even 320 to 330 kmph can be attained only briefly."  Anyone who has taken the Tianjin-Beijing or Wuhan-Guangzhou lines know that the 340 kmph sections of the direct trains last for long periods of time.  The Shanghai-Hangzhou High Speed line has many stops, but the direct train attains 340 kmph for more than 20 minutes too.  Zhou Yimin is spreading rumors.

Zhou Yimin also said: "We purchased the German CRH3 and CRH5."  The fact is that the CRH5 comes from the French company Alstom.  It does not come from Germany.  This showed that Zhou Yimin knows nothing about High Speed Railway.

Zhou Yimin said: "At first, the Ministry of Railways was not buying high speed trains.  They bought 200 kmph trains from Canada's Bombadier Company, France's Alstom and Japan.  If it were me, I would have let the three companies bid competitively.  I will choose the least expensive bidder.  But the Ministry of Railways at the time spent money to buy all three to do the same thing."

This is pure slander.

At the time, the Ministry of Railways invited Bombadier, Alstom, Siemens, New Express and others to bid.  In the end, it spent the least money to obtain the maximum technology.  This was how China was able to research and develop because they had the best of several technologies.

Also, the State of California has signed an agreement with China's CSR Corporation to introduce Chinese technology to be produced in the USA.  Please note that CSR Corporation is licensing its technology for production in the USA, and it is not CSR producing in China for the USA.  If China has no technology and no intellectual property rights, why should the USA sign a licensing agreement with CSR Corporation?

At this time, the Chinese High Speed Railway is squeezing other counties for market share.  Some people are obviously upset and they want to debase the Chinese product and ruin the Chinese market.  Is Zhou Yimin's family living overseas?  Did they get paid a large sum of money?

I can foresee this kind of outcome: The Chinese investment in high speed railway technology will be totally wasted because nobody else in the world will adopt their standards.  China becomes totally isolated.  In the end, China has to abandon its standards and import foreign trains and standards again.  The Chinese will have to trade 1 billion pairs of pants for one high speed train, just as before.

On November 2010, the former Hubei province, Lichuan city, Duting Office Communist Party Secretary and Director Ran Jianxin was placed under government/party discipline on suspicion of receiving bribes over certain land requisitions and construction projects.  The case was referred to the Badong County People's Procuratorate for investigation.  On May 26, the Badong County Public Security Bureau placed him under formal arrest.  It is noted that it took six months to reach that decision, with the procuratorate still unable to present the relevant evidence about bribery.

On May 30, Ran Jianxin was transferred to the custody of the Badong People's Procuratorate.  An informed source said that Ran was physically healthy while at the detention center.  But at the Procuratorate, he attended "many displinary meetings" (note: the source declined to elaborate on the meaning of this description).  At 14:59 June 4, the Badong Hospital Emergency Medical Center received a call for assistance from the Procuratorate.  The Internist Departmentdirector Zheng Xiubing and two nurses rushed to the procuratorate.  At 20:30 June 4, the procuratorate notified the family of Ran Jianxin that he was serious ill.  At 24:00 the family arrived at the hospital and saw the corpse of Ran Jianxin.  Even a visual inspection showed multiple bruises, contusions, cuts and burn marks on the body.  The family wanted to take photos, but more than 20 plainclothes police officers stopped them.  After a confrontation, the family was eventually allowed to take photos at 5:26 June 5.

On June 5, the Badong Net released this statement: ... On June 4, during the interrogation of the crime suspect Ran Jianxin, the Badong People's Procuratorate investigators found that the suspect was feeling ill.  Ran was sent to the Badong People's Hospital for treatment.  At 16:30 that day, the suspect Ran Jianxin expired in spite of attempts to revive him.  The cause of death is under investigation.  In the mean time, the photos of Ran Jianxin are all over the Internet for everybody to see, and they ask: Do you need an investigation to tell that the man was murdered?

The relatives, friends, colleagues and other Lichuan residents went to the government office to demand severe punishment of the murderers of Ran Jianxin.  There is now a mass concentration of regular police and armed police at Lichuan.

On June 9, about 20,000 citizens surrounded the city government building.  The armed police were pelted with thousands of rocks, fruits and garbage.  The security guardhouse windows were smashed.  In the afternoon, more than 100 armed police officers charged out and hit the demonstrators with electric batons.

At present, all the relevant hospital workers and officials are unavailable for comment.  The official statement is that an autopsy is being conducted with the results due in 20 days.

The Lichuan News Net has released this statement from the Lichuan City People's Government at 17:26 on June 10.

To the broad mass of citizens.  Recently some citizens have assembled near the city government office to express their concern over the handling of the death of Ran Jianxin.  In particular, a small number of persons threw things at the police officers on duty and overturned the steel gate, causing a traffic jam and interfering with normal business and public order ... at present, the province/prefecture procuratorates are investigating the death of Ran Jianxin.  So far, the Badong County Procuratorate Anti-Corruption Division director Zeng Zhengping who was in charge of the Ran Jianxin case has been relieved of his position and placed under investigation; the Procuratorate workers Zhao Xiaoqing and Tan Yunlong have been criminally detained on suspicion of involvement in criminal acts; and the Batong People's Procuratorate Inspector General Zheng Xuesong has been dismissed from his position ...  It is in the basic interest of the citizens of Lichuan to maintain general stability of economic development and normal order in their daily lives.  The citizens should trust the government/party, trust the law, distrust rumors, refuse to propagate rumors, refuse to participate in illegal assemblies or engage in various activities that may affect public security and social stability.

"A Desperate Father": Help!  My 13-year-old young daughter was gang-raped by five persons.  The police chief demanded an amicable settlement.  The family members of the criminals threatened to kill me.  For several years, my family has spent all our savings over this.  Earlier this year, Phoenix TV's Zeng Zimo helped to get the story of my little daughter out.  But the local court has held the case back with no resolution yet.  We cannot afford to hire a lawyer.  Can any kind-hearted lawyers on the Weibo help us?  We will pay you back even if we have to work like cows and horses in our next life!  My mobile phone number is 13261939158.
[Forwarded 100,639 times and commented 17,962 times]

Microblogger "Wu Fantian":  This was a criminal case which was decided upon one or two years ago.  The legal process was completed and the criminals were punished.  But the microblog post claimed that the court held the case back with no resolution yet.  This microblog post has been forwarded more than 100,000 times a few days ago already, but are the described contents true?  The sympathy and kindness of the public should not be exploited.  I offer some facts below for people to evaluate.

The case took place in February 2008.  The case was reported to the police in June 2008.  Among the defendants were one adult (born in 1985) and three adolescents, all of whom pleaded innocent.  Because the incident took place months ago, the police had a harder job on hand but they eventually arrested the defendants and had them charged.  The trial took place in June 2009.  On November 9, 2009, the Heilongjiang province Hong Qinglong Nongken Court issued its ruling: Cong Fei was sentenced to 4 years in prison, Zhang Jiaji was sentenced to 3 years, Zhang Yunpeng was sentenced to 6 years and Zhang Hang was released due to lack of evidence.  On January 9, 2010, Phoenix TV's Social Visibility program reported on the case which drew media attention.  Ouyang Fenqiang and others lent their support and donated money.  According to a lawyer familiar with the case, the three adolescents were 14 years old at the time.  The so-called gang rape took place over two nights, with the victim going home in between.  Thus, this may just be a case of sex play among adolescents.  The court ruled that rape had occurred because the victim was a minor.  During the process, the victim was represented by "public interest lawyers" and it was not true that the family could not afford to hire a lawyer.  There was an Internet donation campaign to which Gillian Chung and other stars donated money.  The court ruling has been carried out, so there was no such thing as "the local court held the case back with no resolution yet."  This case took place two years ago.  The new microblog post has been forwarded more than 100,000 times with repeated attempts to solicit more donations.  This is puzzling.

Wu Xijin (Global Times Editor-in-chief)  These disgusting reporters are truly shameless.  According to reports, Sun Li and Deng got married at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pudong (Shanghai) on June 7.  After Sun Li and Deng Chao came out to meet the press, two entertainment reporters got into a fight and caused chaos.  The report indicated that the two were fighting over a red envelop handed out by Sun Li's agent Guo Si.
[1063 forwards and 537 comments]

Ai Guoyong: This has been cleared up.  Two photographers were jockeying for position, not money.  If Wu Xijin was correct in his information, I think I would apologize for posting my comments too hastily.  Entertainment reporters do not have easy jobs.  They are actually the trailblazers for information transparency in China.

Peking University Gong Wenxiang: Yesterday at the wedding of a couple of star celebrities, the reporters fought for the red envelops.  This case should be dropped simply as an isolated event or a minor incident.  This should be used as a case study in class.  What do we journalism workers want?  What is journalistic ethics?  Can something like happen in any other country in the world?
[2943 forwards and 1075 comments]

Xiaoxiang Chenbao Fang Yu: They were merely jockeying for photographing positions.  Please do not spread rumors, especially when you claim to be a journalism professor at Peking University.


[Sacrificial victim of University Entrance Exams]  On the first day of the university entrance exams, a candidate at the Hunan province Longhui County Number Two Middle School arrived 15 minutes late for the exam.  When the teacher examiner refused entrance, the candidate went to the sixth floor of his dormitory, leaped off and killed himself.  Should we condemn this heartless examiner?  Or this child who does not value his own life?  Or this system which makes people commit suicide?

At the time when this screen capture was made at 13:07, there were already 30,271 forwards and 6,161 comments.

Short afterwards, Sina.com carried this item which appeared at the Rednet website under the byline of reporter Hong Tao: At 8:57 on June 7 (yesterday), the Longhui County Public Security Bureau's 110 Command Center received a call to say that a third-year student at the Longhui County Number One Middle School had fallen down from the student dormitory.  The police, health and education departments went over to the scene and sent the student to the County People's Hospital for treatment.  However, the student expired as a result of his injuries.  The cause of death is under investigation.

It is noted that the reported incident was called to the police at 8:57 whereas the university entrance exam began at 9:00.  So there is no possibility that this student committed suicide because he was refused entrance for being 15 minutes late.

As these things always go, the post that dispelled the rumor was forwarded far fewer times than the original rumor.  Sina.com was also being criticized for banning the three Weibo users who manufactured and forwarded the rumor for 30 days.

The other rumor has a series of photos under the text: Henan officials threw a child of a family under eviction/relocation off the roof top.  The father is kneeling on the ground in tears!  (If you delete this again, I will re-post.  Let everybody get together and forward this post!)

[Rumor clearing]  Recently the so-called video/photos of the Henan officials tossing the child of an evicted/relocated family was red-hot on Weibo.  But this is a dated rumor.  It began to be disseminated in December 2009.  The reporter from the Henan Commercial Press went to the location and that investigated found that the local officials was trying to stop the child from jumping off instead of "tossing the child off the roof."  This was supported by a 23-second video in which the "child who was thrown off" Jian Fang was at first kneeling at the ledge, got emotionally upset at the sight of the evictors and made ready to jump off.  The evictors pulled her back up from the edge. 

 

Q1.  What do you think is the impact of solo mainland travelers on the retail industry in Hong Kong?
44%: A lot of impact
33%: Some impact
12%: A slight impact
  5%: Zero impact
  3%: Hard to say
  4%: No opinion

Q2.  What do you think is the impact of solo mainland travelers on the tourism industry in Hong Kong?
34%: A lot of impact
36%: Some impact
17%: A slight impact
  6%: No impact
  3%: Hard to say
  3%: No opinion

Q3. What do you think is the impact of solo mainland travelers on economic development in Hong Kong?
29%: A lot of impact
33%: Some impact
22%: A slight impact
  7%: No impact
  4%: Hard to say
  4%: No opinion

Q4. What do you think is the impact of mainland mothers-to-be coming to Hong Kong for child delivery services?
76%: A lot of impact
16%: Some impact
  5%: A slight impact
  1%: No impact
  1%: Hard to say
  1%: No opinion

Q5. What do you think is the impact of mainland residents coming over to Hong Kong to make purchases (including food and daily necessities)?
42%: A lot of impact
30%: Some impact
21%: A slight impact
  3%: No impact
  2%: Hard to say
  2%: No opinion

Q6. Do you agree that mainland residents who come to Hong Kong to buy real estate are pushing up home prices?
61%: Very much agree
23%: Agree
10%: So-so
  3%: Disagree
  1%: Very much disagree
  2%: No opinion

Q7. Overall, what is the impact of mainland solo travelers on your life?
26%: A lot of impact
30%: Some impact
30%: A slight impact
  9%: No impact
  3%: Hard to say
  3%: No opinion

Q8.  What is the main impact?  (If "A lot of impact" or "Some impact" in Q7)
15%: Crowdiness at tourist spots/shopping spots
16%: Tight supply for products/services
59%: Higher prices for products/services due to higher demand
10%: Other aspects
  1%: No opinion

Q9. Overall, how has your view on mainland solo travelers changed compared to one year ago?
  8%: Better
46%: Worse
38%: About the same
  9%: No opinion

With respect to June Fourth,

49%: The Beijing students did the right thing
15%: The Beijing students did the wrong thing

11%: The Chinese Government did the right thing
65%: The Chinese Government did the wrong thing

58%: There should be a reversion of the official stand on the incident
19%: There should not be a reversion of the official stand on the incident

55%: China's human right condition has improved since 1989
14%: China's human right condition has worsened since 1989

40%: China's human right condition will improve 3 years from now
12%: China's human right condition will worsen 3 years from now

67%: HK people have a responsibility to instigate the development of democracy in China
21%: HK people have no responsibility to instigate the development of democracy in China

68%: HK people have a responsibility to instigate economic development in China
23%: HK people have no responsibility to instigate economic development in China

34%: HK people should put more effort on instigating economic than democratic development in China
33%: HK people should put more effort on instigating democratic than economic development in China

32%: China should emphasize more on economic development
43%: China should emphasize more on democratic development

In Yongren county city, Chuxiong Yi prefecture, Yunnan province, a male driver was involved in a traffic incident and fled.  When cornered by the police, the man pointed a knife at a female and a child who were in his vehicle.  There was one notable photo of the man carrying a ferocious expression and pointing a knife at the crying child.  The man was eventually subdued by the police, and the hostages were rescued.  It turned out that the female was his wife and the child was his daughter, and he had faked the kidnapping to hold off the police.

This incident is not particularly remarkable, except this day (June 1st) happens to be Children Day in China, and people wonder whether the photo should have appeared on the front page of the local newspaper.

It was 430pm this afternoon when I got on the Daxing Road section of the new Number 4 line.  I got on at the Huangcun station and I heading for Xidan.  Since I got on near the point of origin and there were not many people during off-peak hours, I was able to find a window seat.  I usually like to lean against something.  There were just a few people in the train car.  I was thinking about what to shop for at Xidan.  After three or four stops, a big tall middle-aged man came over and sat next to me.  He had a temporary train ticket in his right hand and an old mobile phone in his left hand.  I mean to say that the mobile phone looked really beaten up, being covered up with plastic tape.  Anyway it was beaten up, but the screen looked very bright.  I have been studying for many years, so my eyesight is very good.  I can even read the bottom row on the eyesight testing chart.  I noticed that this stranger did not enter our car from the exit/entrance, but he had walked over from another car.  We sat with one empty seat between us.  He crossed his legs and he faced me.  His right hand was on the back of the seat.  Although there was one seat between us, we were actually very close.  I was uneasy.  There were so many seats around.  Another man was sitting across me.  So why did he want to sit by me?  There were six empty seats, but he sat by me.  I became suspicious.  But I didn't think too much.  I got prepared.  I thought that he would never guess that I may look like a frail and gentle girl, but I could be alert and elude him when I get off.  Let me re-state that I look small and skinny and dressed like a student.  That may be the reason why he picked on me, because I would be easy to control.

At first, I kept playing with my mobile phone.  But I was actually watching him.  He picked up the phone to make a call.  He did not say anything but he just put the phone by his ear to listen.  I thought that maybe he did not get through.  He did that two to three times.  The train arrived at a station and several other people got on.  I was somewhat scared because he might have summoned his cohorts after selected me as the target.  So I put my mobile phone into my handbag and sat close to the glass.  Those who ride the Number 4 train know that the outside seat is sealed by glass.  The man kept clicking at his temporary train ticket.  Then danger arrived.  I detected a strange smell.  There were very few people in the car which was air-conditioned.  So how could there be any strange smell.  I immediately thought of the article that I read at the Xiaonei website.  So I immediately shut my nostrils with my fingers and held my breath.  But I did not leave because I thought that I was being over-sensitive.  After a while I stood up because I saw that the man was pointing his mobile phone at me.  The colors on the screen looked so bright that it might be a fake mobile phone.  So I immediately stood next to the central steel pole underneath the air-conditioning vent.  I took out the water bottle in my book bag and drank.  I was still close by the man.  I wanted to to show him that I was ready to get off.  After all, I was only speculating and I thought that I ought to get off if I felt nervous.  I was fortunate that this section of the metro was particularly long (possibly the Gaomidian section).  I began to think: What if he follows me when I get off?  Actually, I was still unsure if I had encountered a bad guy.  I thought I might have been oversensitive or I may have read too many novels.  When I read these stories, I told my fellow students that I would surely not be sold (as a wife to someone to breed children) because I don't like a good prospect to be a mother.  In retrospect, this is risible.  The bad guys only care whether you are easy to control and take away.

It was a long time before the train arrived at the next station.  I walked towards the next car in a daze.  I had no idea what was going through my mind.  After I crossed, I looked back.  Nothing was happening.  I stood there.  Then I noticed that the man was looking for something on the other side of the window and he saw me.  I thought, "Could he be getting off?"  I only wanted to get as far away from him as possible.  I kept walking.  The car stopped and I turned around to look.  The man did not get off.  He kept watching me and following me.  I was scared out of my mind.  I remembered that in the books that I read, there was a way to tell whether you are being followed: if you cross the street, the bad guy will also cross the street.  So I kept going.  After going through three or four cars, I reached the end.  I could not go any further.  At the time, my mind was blank.  I turned around and I saw that the man kept watching me and following me.  I felt helpless.  I felt as if I had fallen into an ice cavern.  It was immensely traumatic.

What can I do?  There were two middle-aged women standing there.  I did not know what to do.  I was about to break out in tears.  I said to them: "Please help me.  Please please help me!"  I did not think that I could ever say anything like that.  It really sounded like something in a novel.  One of the women said: "Hey, young women, what's going on?"  I was feeling dizzy and my legs were weak.  I said with a tremor in my voice: "I am being followed."  The woman said: "Who?  Where?"  I looked and I saw that man has almost reached our car.  But maybe because some people had gotten on the train and so there were quite many people in those three cars.  I didn't know why nobody was in our car.  The woman immediately spotted him: "Is it the man in the white t-shirt?"  He kept looking at me.  I nodded my head.  By this time I was hardly able to stand.  I held onto a pole and told the women: "He followed me over four to five cars.  I may have been drugged.  I am dizzy."  By this time the man had reached the seats across where I was standing.  We were only separated by two glass windows.  The man had a vicious look.  I was so scared that I grabbed the hand of one of the women.  She said: "Hey, don't touch me."  So I let go of her hand.  There are too many bad people in this society.  This woman may be thinking that the man and I were in a gang, so that was understandable.  But the other woman was really nice.  She took my hand and said: "Don't be afraid.  You are with us.  Where are you getting off?  Hey, how come your hand is so cold?"  I said: "I am getting off at Xidan."  I was dizzy and terrified.  I have determined that the man was a bad guy on account of his glare.  The woman said, "We are going to Renmin University.  It is alright.  Just stay with us all the way."  I supposed that the women must have seen the man looking at me as if I was a lamb about to be slaughtered.  The women said: "It's going to be okay.  Let us get off the next stop.  We'll sit for a while.  Don't be afraid.  We are here with you.  He won't dare do anything."  I said: "Aunties, thank you.  No matter what happens, please don't let him take me away."  I felt worn out and the two women helped me get off the next stop.  It was probably the Beijing South Station stop.  As soon as I got off, I did not see the man getting off.  But I began to cry because of the terror.  I kept telling the women: "Thanks thanks thanks thanks."  Then I saw the man stepping out of his car.  He had one foot out, then he saw the women with me, hesitated and took his foot back in.  I was now completely certain.  This was a station where not a lot of people get off.  He got on the car by myself, and I got off with two other persons.  He thought that these were unconnected persons.  After we all got off, the two women would leave and he can come after me.  But we did not move.  The two women held me.  He had no chance.  The train left.  He stared at me through the window.  I will never forget that look.  He thought I was his prey, his lamb to be slaughtered.  He stared at me expressionlessly, without blinking at all.  He thought that I was unconscious, so he did not give up.  He followed me to look for a chance.  In retrospect, this was really frightening.  Nowadays bad people are fearless!

After the train departed, I chatted with the women. They comforted and told me that everything was alright.  I was still filled with terror.  I said: "What if he gets off the next stop and gets on the train again?"  I was scared.  I was normally very bold and afraid of nothing.  I dared to walk in the streets in the middle of the night.  But this time I was scared out of my wits upon coming across the real thing.  I thought that I would be abducted this time and who knows what would happen to me!  I got on the next train but I was still groggy.  It may be that I took in a lot of drugs.  I drank a lot of water and then I began to feel less groggy.  At the next stop, my heart was still thumping.  I looked back and forth and we were the last three passengers.  The man in the white t-shirt was not there.  So I calmed down a bit.  The women said, "Don't go to Xidan now.  Go there some other time."  Actually I felt conflicted.  I didn't do my shopping, but I was in no mood to shop.  I said, "Aunties, I go with you to Xizhimen."  The women said, "Okay, it's going to be alright.  When you get off, you ask a police officer to escort you down to the Number 13 Line.  In the worst case, we escort you back to your school."  At each stop, they told me to look out the window to see if the bad guy was there.  I am really grateful to them.  But I was really scared and I forgot to thank them.  My mother told me that I should have gotten their telephone numbers and call to thank them later.  They saved my life, but I was too busy being scared.  I am sorry that I forgot to do that.  I want to thank those two kind-hearted women here.  Although there are plenty of bad people in the world, most people are still good.

Therefore, young women should not think that the Internet stories are untrue.  Do not think that these things are too remote from you.  Cautiousness will keep you safe.  You should always be alert to protect yourself, especially at places with few people around.  If I wasn't cautious today and if I wasn't alert, I don't know where I would have wounded up at or what would happen to me.  I may never see my parents, relatives or friends ever again.  See, please tell all the women around you.  I used to think that Beijing is very safe.  I used to think that the world is at peace.  That was because I had never come across any bad people.  You are like that too.  So be careful, because you done for if and when you actually come across bad people.  It will be too late to be sorry.

Then I got off at Xizhimen and I bade farewell to the women.  I had not calmed down yet.  I wanted to get on the Number 13 line but I ended up on the Number 2 line and I had to go back.  I called my mother several times.  She was in busy in a meeting.  I began to cry and I could not give a coherent account about what happened.  People around me look at me strangely.  They had no idea that I had just escaped with my life.  My mother told me to call the police and give a description of this man so that others won't be victimized like me.  But I was unsure.  I was just scared.  I did not go to the police.  In retrospect, I should have gone to the police.  I don't know if that man went back and picked on another young woman.  If he did, I would have harmed someone.  But I was not strong enough.  I was alone.  I couldn't care about anything else.  Then I calmed down.  My aunt called and I told her everything.  I asked the women on the train whether I was being over-sensitive.  They asked that if he had not followed you off the train, I might have been over-sensitive.  When he followed me off the train, he must be a bad guy.  Zhang Ling said that she would come to meet me, but I told her not to because she had an exam the next day.  I wanted to call someone to come over from the dormitory to pick me up, but then the Xidanmen area was safe enough.  After I got into the subway at Wudaokou, I thought some more and I got more scared.  What would happen to my parents if something had happened to me today?  I could be sold off as a wife to someone living in the big mountains!  I could have been abused!  I could have gone down a path of no return.  I could not think any more.  When I got back, I thought that everybody was so endearing.

Fortunately I am still alive.  I will make my life worthwhile, I will treat everybody around me nicely, I will treasure my life and those around me.  Actually, it is enough just to live well.  Thank you, all those who are around me.

(ChinaNews)

At 11pm on May 24, a female Internet user claimed that she was drugged on the Number 10 Line of the Beijing Metro.  "If you still think that the metro drugging thing is an urban legend, let me assure you that it is definitely true!"  On her microblog, she wrote that she left work and got on the Number 10 subway train.  Suddenly she smelled something that was not particularly pungent.  "I thought about the Internet post that I had read before.  So I immediately held my breath.  But I was already feeling numb all over, especially in my fingers.  I was having difficulty with breathing."  She said that she was sitting on the left of the car and there was a man to her right.  At the time, the man had taken out a mobile telephone.  She had heard from her fellow students that the Internet post had mentioned a man taking out a mobile phone.  She suspected that the drug was released through the mobile phone.  She emphasized that the smell was quite moderate and can easily go undetected.

She said that as soon as she detected that something was wrong, she got up, walked to another car, asked for help and called the police.  "Nobody answered at 110!  Nobody picked up for several dozens of seconds!"  When she regained her consciousness, she reported to the station workers and the police.  The police helped her to find a taxi to take her home.

Our reporter wanted to interview this Internet user, but was unable to make contact.

According to her microblog, she got off at the International Trade Center stop and spoke to two female workers dressed in yellow jackets.  She also spoke to a female police officer with short fair.  She made a report to this police officer, who helped her find a taxi to go home.

Yesterday our reporter went to the International Trade Center station.  The police officer patched us through to the police officer on duty that day.  But that police officer said that there was no such call for help.  This police officer also said: "This is highly unlikely.  Maybe it was a psychological effect.  It is highly unlikely to drug someone this way.  Drugs are only effective if injected or ingested.  I have never heard of someone using a mobile phone to spray a drug.  If the drug is sprayed, it is unlikely that only one person was affected.  The metro is also an unlikely location  There are surveillance cameras all over the place.  There are workers at every exit.  The risk of being detected is too high."

Meanwhile at Douban, there is a list of similar reports from all over China: Shanghai, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, Harbin, Wuhan, Chengdu, etc.  It was pointed out that many of these stories were highly similar (including the use of the same descriptions) although the locations were moved.  Is this paranoia?  Is this mass hysteria?  Or is this the governments covering up a major social problem?  Regardless, the aforementioned microblog posts are getting tens of thousands of "forwards" and admonitions to watch out for the drug robbers!

Two people, including the suspect, were killed and 10 others injured in three serial explosions that occurred in east China's Jiangxi Province Thursday morning, according to local authorities. Qian Mingqi, a 52-year-old unemployed resident of the city of Fuzhou's Linchuan district, is suspected of triggering the explosions, sources with the provincial public security department said. Qian was killed in one of the blasts, the sources said.

The explosions occurred at three different locations in Fuzhou between 9:18 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., according to the sources. The explosions occurred near the city's procuratorate office, the Linchuan district government office and the district's food and drug administration, the sources said.

Police wrapped up search and rescue operations outside the Linchuan district government office Thursday afternoon and retrieved one body, which was later confirmed to be Qian.  One of the four people who were seriously injured at the same site died in hospital, a spokesman with the provincial government said. Seven others were slightly injured, the spokesman said.

A witness said the blast shattered most of the windowpanes in the procuratorate office. A nearby car was also destroyed, the witness said. Witnesses said the blast near the Linchuan district government went off in a car park less than 100 meters from the office building and destroyed at least 10 vehicles.

A source with the Linchuan district government said Qian was involved in a house demolition dispute, triggering suspicions that he might've set off the explosions as a form of revenge against the local government.

Qian's microblog, hosted by Chinese web portal sina.com, was tracked by Internet users after the explosions. Qian left a message on his microblog, saying he was forced to "step on a road I don't want to step on" due to the loss of his newly-built house, which was "illegally demolished," according to his blog. Sources with the Linchuan government said Qian was not satisfied with his compensation and was angry about a case currently under review by legal authorities.

(Qian Mingqi's microblog post)

Qian Mingqi: How are you doing?  Please pay attention to the series of explosive news stories in Fuzhou recently.  They were triggered becasue the former Linchuan district mayor Xi Dongshen had been the leader of the Beijing-Fuzhou expressway Linchuan section coordinating team's leader while he was the Linchuan district party disciplinary committee secretary in 2002.  During the land requisitioning/compensation process, he withheld more than 10 million yuan in compensation fees.  When the case was pressed in court, the final verdict was to dismiss the complaint!  The verdict document contained deliberately misstatements of facts, deliberate misuse of the law, application of articles in laws that have gone out of use years ago, meeting minutes over how to decide the verdict, and the deliberate concealment, misplacement, fabrication and modification of five pieces of evidence.  Almost ten years of appeal from the local level up to the central government have yielded nothing.  Each level shoved the problem to others, and so nothing has happened.  I don't want to be another Qian Yunhui or Xu Wu, but I want to take actual action to bring justice for the people and eradicate evil.  The principal Qian Mingqi sincerely begs you to forward the details after the incidents!

Qian Mingqi's microblog began less than one year ago.  He made 364 posts in all, many of them in support of other "rights defenders" such as Xia Junfeng, the street peddler who killed two urban administrators with a knife.

In response, here is another microblogger's six posts about the Fuzhou explosions:

(in translation)

1.  I don't approve of using violent methods to solve problems.  But if the problem is basically insolvable with absolutely no chance of achieving justice, then a certain degree of violence -- restricted to proper self-defense in the resistance against tyranny (including unrestricted self-defense which means to kill without compunction) as well as post facto acts of revenge (restricted to taking lives) -- then I am supportive.  But innocent persons were injured in the present explosions.  So while I am sympathetic and understanding as a human, I find it impossible to support in a rational sense.

2. I will not label the Fuzhou explosions simply as terrorist attacks.  Bin Ladin and Al-Qaeda are terrorists because they wrought bloody violence upon ordinary citizens.  The Fuzhou incident was directed at a political power with no legitimacy whatsoever and this makes it completely different from the normal terrorist attacks.  I decline to support these acts on grounds of hurting innocent persons by mistake and excessive violence.  I support their resistance to tyranny.

3. Regardless of the purpose of the perpetrator, it would seem that the intended target persons are unlikely to be blown away.  Instead the casualties are often the security guards and workers at the lowest levels of the institutions.  They are also vulnerable, exploited and victimized.  Even if they have mistreated citizens in the past, they are only abettors (apart from those who overdid their jobs).  Therefore I regard these explosions as unacceptable from the viewpoint of protecting personal lives.

4. I believe that one must always attempt to protect personal lives on any public matter at any time.  Even when one is forced to use violence to oppose tyranny, one should avoid hurting innocents -- otherwise, one is just erecting another level in the original hell.  For example, if you blow up a government building during a regular work day, many innocent people may be hurt.  If this is done at night or during the weekend, casualties can be avoided.

5. These explosions are mainly directed against a tyranny without any legitimacy whatsoever.  Therefore the analysis is somewhat complicated.  To denounce them simply as terrorism is to give comfort to the tyrants; to praise them without analysis is to be cold-blooded about the innocent casualties.  To do the preceding is to deprive the people of their natural right to oppose tyranny; to do the latter is to make the living hell even worse.  My normal approach is to analyze discuss the case in detail and avoid gross simplifications.

6. Non-violent methods to oppose an authoritarian tyranny is often useless.  Therefore a certain level of violence is sometimes unavoidable.  Even so, the resister should not fall into the same logical fallacy as the tyrants.  The worst evil of the latter is to kill without compunction.  One opposes the tyranny in order that people can live with dignity, not to perish together.  If your means show disregard for people's lives, your result is usually the same.  The idea of using any means possible should be avoided.

As this academic year winds down, the university students will have to submit their dissertations to be reviewed by the anti-plagiarism software.  Most of the universities used the anti-plagiarism software developed by the China Knowledge Infrastructure Project.  This software compares the submitted dissertation against an existing database of previous publications and dissertations by other persons and generates a score based upon the repetition of words.   A dissertation that shows less than 25% repetition of other works is considered original work.  A dissertation that shows 25% to 40% will result in the candidate being asked to revise the dissertation which will be reviewed again by the anti-plagiarism software.  A dissertation that shows more than 40% will automatically result in the thesis defense being postponed so that the candidate will not be able to graduate in time.

Each year millions of graduating students have to submit dissertations.  Whether they plagiarized extensively, somewhat or not at all, they are anxious not to be caught by this anti-plagiarism software. This is obviously a big market.

At the Taobao site, vendors are not offering "anti-anti-plagiarism software."  The vendors claim that their software is based upon the anti-plagiarism software itself too.  Before a student submits a dissertation, he/she runs it through this anti-anti-plagiarism software.  The student will get an accurate score that shows the percentage repetition from other works.  Furthermore, this anti-anti-plagiarism software marks all the repeated sections in red, annotates the sources of the original works as well as the word counts.  The anti-anti-plagiarism software also comes with a freely distributed document entitled "The principles of the review system and the methods of revising your dissertation."  If the student follows these guidelines, the plagiarism score can be dramatically reduced.  The software costs only several hundred RMB.

According to a certain university journal editor, "This is a bizarre situation.  A huge amount of money was invested to build software to detect plagiarism.  Instead, this became the tool by which the plagiarists can protect themselves as well as yield profit for certain people." 

Late in the the middle of the night, Wang Gongquan, the founder and leader of CDH Venture Partners, made a microblog post: "To all relatives, friends and colleagues, I am giving up everything to elope with Wang Qin.  I thank everybody for their concern and assistance over the years.  I wish you all happiness!"  As for today at 21:55, this microblog post has been forwarded more than 60,000 times and commented upon more than 30,000 times.  The term "microblog elopement" rose up the Sina.com's list of populat terms.

Netizens determined that the female is Jiangsu Zhongfu Investment Limited Company founder Wang Qin.  The most direct evdience is that Wang Gongquan left a comment about Wang Qin's photo on March 3: "Ha!  Chairwomen Wang Qin.  You look like a butterfly with soaring wings in this photo."

Since then neither Wang Gongquan nor Wang Qin have updated their microblogs.

(Daqi)

Now this personal story would not be too interesting because the masses would not feel any personal involvement.  But there is an microblog app which allows you to compose an elopement announcement with the person with whom you were most involved on your microblog with recently.  This means checking your posts, references, forwards, comments, etc.

When you use this app, you will get an announcement that you can post: "To all relatives, friends and colleagues, I am giving up everything to elope with XXX.  I thank everybody for their concern and assistance over the years.  I wish you all happiness!  I am unable to meet your expectations and trust, I am unable to explain to you, I am embarrassed, and so I am leaving without bidding goodbye.  I beg your forgiveness!  YYY bows to you."

[ESWN comment:  Recently I have been much more active at the Sina.com microblog (Weibo) than here.  So I find myself in the situation of having two persons who claim to be eloping with me already.

What is so good about the Sina.com microblog  (Weibo) service)?  Why is it better than Twitter?  The "elopement announcement" gimmick is just one example to get the masses worked up in a social networking service.]

(China.com BBS via CCVIC.com)

At 1am on May 17, several hundred unidentified persons armed with restricted knives, iron crowbars, guns and axes smashed into the 18 buildings on the former Xinjian South Road of Datong city, Shanxi province.  Several hundred families found their windows broken, their belongings removed and their bulgary-proof gates ripped out.

These residences are private property with proper documentation.  But the city mayor wanted to demolish these houses that were merely six years old in order to make way for developers.

The mayor Geng Yanbo is near the end of his term.  Everybody knows that his mistress if the former Datong city planning department director Jin Xiaohui.  She has been recently placed under 'double regulations' the provincial party disciplinary committee.  She was reported to have kept a diary of the bribery records of 60 senior government/party officials.

At around noon, large numbers of regular and SWAT police officers and firemen set up a curfew zone along the Xinjia South Road.  The fire trucks had their water cannons aimed at the crowd.  The SWAT police officers have set up machinegun nests from the windows of the second floor all the way to the rooftop and they are ready to fire against the protesting crowd anytime.

We will continue to pay attention to this case and we will upload the photos so that more people will learn the truth.  The mayor is already using his propaganda machine to erase all relevant reports and photos from the Internet forums.  All media reporters coming to Datong have been sent to stay at the Yungang Jianguo Hotel where they are under "close scrutiny" by the police.

On behalf of all those Datong citizens who have been forced to relocate, or lost their farmlands, or lost their jobs when their companies went broke, or lost their lives from the dioxin released by the Fuqiao garbage incinerator plant, we thank the aboluwang.com forum for bringing us the information!

We call for the international community and all those who care about human rights and the law to pay attention to this case and to stop mayor Geng Yanbo from slaughtering civilians with guns in his final gambit.

This news story was sensationalistic and got circulated on the microblogs by those who care about human rights and the law.  For example, the following screen capture is from Li Chengpeng, who wrote: "Whether a nation is going in the right direction or not depends on the direction of where the machine guns are pointing."

Later in the day came the "official" news at ChinaNews.

The Datong City Southern Suburbs District Committee said that the two buildings are in the urban renewal plan.  120 units were supposed to be demolished.  In 2010, 42 families have agreed to relocate and completed the required procedure.  The demolition company was supposed to remove the windows for those units.  However other families have not completed the required procedure and they prevented the demolition company from entering the buildings.

Therefore, the demolition company decided to show up in the middle of the night when everybody was asleep.  In so doing, the demolition company did not notify the city, district or town governments of their plan.  The presence of the demolition company workers roused the remaining inhabitants who went out to block the street.  Also the demolition company decided to remove the windows by smashing the glass and letting it fall down on the street.

When the police command center got the calls, the government/party officials went out to the scene to speak to the residents.  They asked the citizens not to block the street because that is illegal and they asked that the existing problems be handled in accordance with the law.

As a result, (1) the demolition company has been severely reprimanded and the company leader will be asked to make a public apology; (2) the demolition company vice-president named Bai in charge of the action that night has been summoned by the police for interrogation; (3) all the doors and windows of the 42 vacated units will be restored to their original conditions and the other residents will receive promises with respect to their other issues.

With respect to the Internet post "According to eyewitnesses, there have been several physical clashes between the police and the protestors, with many bloodies citizens and police officers being carried away from the scene," the Datong City Southern Suburbs District Party Committee said that there were no clash or injury among the demolition company workers, the residents or the police.

Who do you believe?

(WikipediaA teleprompter (also known as an autocue or telescript) is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards. The screen is in front of and usually below the lens of the camera, and the words on the screen are reflected to the eyes of the performer using a sheet of clear glass or specially prepared beam splitter. Light from the performer passes through the front side of the glass into the lens, while a shroud surrounding the lens and the back side of the glass prevents unwanted light from reflecting into the lens. As the speaker does not need to look down to consult written notes, he or she appears to have memorized the speech or be speaking spontaneously, and will look directly into the camera lens.

So it was that in Changzhi city, Shanxi province, China that a female reporter was interviewing a local leader out in the field.  No teleprompter was available.  Therefore the reporter put the script right in front of her own face so that the local leader could look at her and read!  These photos are being circulated wildly around the Chinese microblogs as journalism with unique Chinese characteristics.

On the afternoon of May 16, there was a shocking drama on Sina.com Weibo microblog.  According to the information, a certain Shaanxi province man slit his writ and post the photo onto his Sina.com Weibo microblog.  Many netizens reported the matter to the police.  As of the deadline for this news report, the police are said to be looking for this man.  Subsequently the microblog posts on this case have been deleted.

The netizen "Er Mao" began to post the photo of him slitting his wrist at around pm.  By 9pm, he had  posted three photos.  Many netizens placed comments to ask him to stop.  Based upon the information, netizens determined that he was a graduate from a certain Xian university and is currently working for a certain factory in Yulin. 

"I hope that this stranger was misguided for that one moment.  Please think about how your family and friends will be crying in sorrow!"  "Suicide is being irresponsible to your beloved."  Within minutes, more than 2000 comments poured into this microblog.  Apart from asking the microblogger to value his life and seek medical assistance, there were also doubts: "Based upon the angle of the phone, there must be someone else there.  Is this a self-promotional gimmick?"  According to one netizen who claims to have medical skills: "Why is the blood flowing like that?  The second photo invokes our skepticism.  I have been worked in the emergency department before and this is now how blood flows."  Netizens searched and found that "Er Mao wants to kill himself due to personal emtional issues.  Many netizens said that they have called the police.  Some netizens say that they were so scared that they won't be able to sleep tonight."

At 20:34, the microblogger wrote: "Wang Yimu, isn't hat enough?  Enough?"  He did not post again.  Nobody knows whether he lives or not.  Was this a microblog hype or the end of a life?  Nobody knows.  We only know that we will continue to live tomorrow.

Our reporter contacted the Xian and Yulin police.  They are investigating the matter.  Our reporter learned that the three microblog posts have been deleted.  The number of persons who are following "Er Mao" has increased from more than 200 to more than 1,300 and there are more than 3,000 forwards.

At noon on April 15, 2011, a large number of volunteers intercepted  on the Beijing-Harbin Highway a truck carrying 520 dogs destined for the slaughterhouse.  The truck was found to carry the appropriate quarantine papers.  Ultimately, the volunteers bought the dogs.  However, this incident caused a traffic congestion that lasted 14 hours.  The "Internet poet Zhu Guangbing" said that "It was illegal to block traffic and violate property rights to save the dogs this way!"

On May 4, Zhu Guangbing said on his Sina.com Weibo microblog that if the dog rescuers did not give the huge donations that they received to assist impoverished students, he will kill a dog a day beginning June 1.  Very few people followed his microblog, so the impact was minimal.  So Zhu Guangbing went to the Tianya Forum and registered a user name "Kill a dog a day" and posted.  Just as he wished, he drew a heated response.  Most of the several thousand comments condemned him for "intentional cruelty against life."

The Chinese Society For Protection Of Small Animals which participated in the rescue of the dogs on the Beijing-Harbin Highway publicly stated that they will not comment on Zhu Guangbing.

But other individual netizens were not so calm.  Through human flesh searching, they published the mobile phone number, home phone number and employer information on the Internet.  Subsequently Zhu Guangbing received a large number of harassing and abusive calls and text messages.  His employer's telephone line was overwhelmed so that normal business was interrupted.  In order to avoid affecting operations at the factory where he worked as a human resources department manager, Zhu Guangbing resigned.

At the factory, a manager named Zhao said that Zhu Guangbing was earning 7,000 to 8,000 yuan per month as a manger.  "He was quite capable.  We accepted his resignation because it was in the interest of the factory."  Zhao did not think that Zhu was wrong in his opinions or ways of expression.

After completing the resignation procedures, Zhu Guangbing went to the employment fair to seek a new job.  "I will continue to express my viewpoints on the microblog."  He said that if the China Society For Protection Of Small Animals fails to contact him before June 1, he will carry out his threat to "kill dogs."

Southern Metropolis Daily: Why are you making such extreme statements?
Zhu Guangbing: I want the to pay attention to what I am saying, because they would think that I was farting otherwise.  As a regular working stiff, I have no speech rights.  I want to use the Internet to express my viewpoints.  Clearly my goal is not to kill dogs.  My actions depend on their reaction.  If they come talk to me and convince me, I won't kill dogs.

Southern Metropolis Daily: What dogs do you want to kill?
Zhu Guangbing: I have talked with several dog-meat hotpot restaurants.  I merely plan to butcher the dogs on their behalf.  Pet dogs are different from ordinary dogs.  Ordinary dogs are not worth the effort to rescue.  The money is better spent for the impoverished mountainous areas.

Southern Metropolis Daily: Were you scared after being put under "human flesh search" by netizens?
Zhu Guangbing: I am not scared.  This is the second time already.  I stay unruffled.  I resigned as soon as there were consequences.  Although I have been attacked from many sides, I enjoy the feeling of fighting alone.

Southern Metropolis Daily: You have made striking statements in your own name on the Internet.  Some people say that you are hyping yourself.
Zhu Guangbing: What is so good about being cursed by so many people?  My own life and those of my family members are affected.  I never tell my family and friends what I am up to.  I am 38 or 39 years old already.  I have been working all over the place.  I haven't saved a lot of money.  The Internet allows me to do certain meaningful things.  I can't do that in real life.

(ifeng)

Stories about Chinese city administrators (also known as urban managers) beating up street peddlers are too numerous to the point that they won't draw attention unless there is some special element.

Here is this Chengdu incident: "About 6pm or so, I and a friend left work to stroll in Yanshikou.  When we passed by the corner where the Gome Electronics Store and the Hexin Centre are, we spotted a large crowd of spectators.  We got curious and went over to watch.  The city administrators had just assaulted an old man who was selling strawberries.  The old man was about 70 years old.  He used a bamboo pole to tote his baskets of strawberries.  They broke his weight beam, trampled upon the strawberries and shoved the old man on the ground and gave him a beating.  A lot of young pedestrians saw what was happened and they surrounded the city administrators to demand an apology.  The city administrators arrogant and said: "I'll compensate him for 100 yuan."  This riled the crowd even more so.  Eventually, the police came and took the city administrators away safely.

The special element in this story is that it was a group of Chengdu pretty girls who stood up for the old man and surrounded the vehicle of the city administrators.  A netizen wrote: "The young sisters of Chengdu have risen up!  The sons-of-turtles brain-dead city administrators have no trace of conscience.  Don't they have their own parents too?"

Why are there so many conflicts between city administrators and street vendors?  Recently a street vendor was sentenced to death when he killed two city administrators in "self-defense" and that has raised the question of whether China should have the death penalty again.

(Xici.net)

It is not that city administrators don't want to treat street peddlers civilly.  Rather, the existing system has raised many obstacles for them to do so.  Speaking as a city administrator myself, I offer some examples.

1. The national "construction" activities are raising obstacles.  There has always been many activities in China.  Recently, we are into "construction," as in building "clean" cities, "civilized" cities and so on.  The campaign is usually started by the central government and propagated downwards.  The various levels of governments regard this as a major target, and they come up with performance measures such as "the presence of unlicensed businesses on public sidewalks" and so on.  When street peddlers are spotted, the city loses points in its grand plan to build a civilized city.  The accountability system propagates downwards down to the city administrators.  If you want the city administrators act differently, you need to make the central government departments change their concepts about "the presence of street peddlers means uncivilized conduct."

2. The existing city administrative rules and regulations are raising obstacles.  The various administrative rules and regulations about urban appearance at various levels of government stipulate that it is "illegal" to set up stalls in public space.  When a person repeatedly runs such an "illegal" business, the city administrators can seize their goods temporarily and impose fines.  As the mother of a city administrator who was killed by a street peddler said, "City administrators are only doing what the government wants them to do!"  As long as the government does not amend these rules and regulations, the city administrators must continue to enforce the rules and regulations.

3. I spoke in depth with a long-time street vendor.  He said that the city administrators ultimately work for the two leaders -- the city's Communist Party secretary and the city's mayor.  In China, several hundred large cities are aiming to build cosmopolitan cities which will be cleaner than Singapore.  City administrators cannot negate their two leaders' decisions.  We frequently hear the leaders say "to enforce the law in a humane manner" on one hand and "to order clean up city appearance" on the other hand.  They can justify themselves both ways whereas the city administrators lose both ways.

4. The performance assessment system imposes obstacles.  Apart from the aforementioned obstacles, the performance assessment system for city administrators also impose obstacles.  Cities compete with each other; within a city, the various districts compete with each other.  Nobody may be declared the best, but everybody wants to be better than others.  When city administrators are assessed based upon city appearance and they get their bonuses denied when the inspector finds an illegal stall, how can they be expected to treat the street peddlers well?  They can't afford to do so.

5. The city household registration system imposes obstacles.  Large numbers of rural inhabitants are moving into the cities.  For them, the simplest way to make a living is to set up a street stall.  Someone suggests that these stalls should be placed into set locations.  Unfortunately there is more demand than supply, so progress is slow.  Typically, the priority is given to local residents first ahead of outsiders.  That means that the outsiders are running illegal street stalls against which the law has to enforced.

I make these points not to be an apologist for city administrators.  The debate over the work of city administration will continue.  Are the street peddlers part of the "city vista" or are they law-breakers?  Humans have feelings and most city administrators would prefer to treat the street peddlers kindly and civilly, but the system is working against that.

(Strait Metropolis Daily)  May 9, 2011.

Yesterday evening at around 630pm on Beihuazhou Road, Cangshan district, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, a young girl was knocked down by a sedan car.  According to eyewitnesses, the driver came out and checked what happened.  Then he put his car in reverse car and ran over the back of the young girl again.  The young girl died.

At around 7pm, our reporter arrived at the scene of the incident.  A silver-grey-colored vehicle with license number "Fujian A2F209" was parked there.  There was a pool of blood about 60 millimeters on the right front of the vehicle.  A 30-something-year-old woman wearing a grey t-shit was crying.  There were many spectators.  The police were gathering evidence.  The driver had been taken away by the police.

This woman told the reporter that her daughter was playing in the street (from which motor vehicles were banned) when she got knocked down by this silver-grey-colored vehicle.  The vehicle then ran over her back again.  "My husband took my daughter to the hospital."

According to one eyewitness Chen Yishao, she was inside a store about 10 meters away when she heard a scream "Ohhhhh!"  She ran out and saw a young girl lying on the ground covered in blood, head downwards and back upwards underneath the right wheel of a vehicle.  A 50-something-year-old, somewhat plump man stopped the car, came out, looked at the girl and went back into the car.  "I was standing right next to the car.  I personally saw the car backed up.  The right wheel ran over the back of the young girl one more time.  It was horrible.  I was so scared that I closed my eyes."  Another female student and a middle-aged male store owner confirmed the story.

At around 730pm, the girl's mother told our reporter that her daughter has expired at the hospital.  After saying that, she collapsed in a heap on the ground and cried.  Her sister-in-law held her up.

[As you may expect, this type of story was sensational on the Internet with numerous comments about moral turpitude of Chinese society, speculations about driver Chen's connections and eventual status, etc]

But there is the final outcome.

(Xinhua)

According to the Fuzhou police, they received a call at 18:40 or so on May 7 that a young girl had been hit by a car at Beihuazhou Road, Cangshan district, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.  The police immediately went out and put the driver named Chen under their control.  A subsequent blood test showed that Chen's blood had zero alcohol content.

The police also interrogated Chen and other eyewitnesses at the scene.  The preliminary report was that Chen drove his car down the pedestrian path and hit a young girl who was playing outside her home.  As a result, the young girl was pushed underneath the right wheel.  After the collision, the mother of the young girl who was merely 6 or 7 meters away rushed over.  Chen also got out of his car.  They found that the young girl was trapped under the wheel and impossible to extract.  At the time, the eyewitness named Huang and others were ready to lifted up the car and extract the young girl.  But they did not succeed in spite of trying.  The spectators then recommended that the car back up.  So Chen moved the car back by 80 millimeters.  The father of the young girl then lifted her out.  The young girl was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.  The police interrogated the mother, the eyewitness Huang and others to come up with these facts.

According to the Fuzhou police, the medical examiner studied the body of the young girl and the marks at the scene, and established that the young girl had been ran over just once.

The Fuzhou police said that this case will be handled as a traffic incident in accordance with the law.

[Of course, this won't stop the conspiracy theorist about the "Big Fix" that was made on behalf of driver Chen.]

(Sina.com Weibo)

Nanchang City Residents Association (Verified ID) 12:00 May 9, 2011: "Foreign students raped female university student"  On the evening of May 7, a female student was raped at the Experimental Laboratory Building of the Jiangxi Chinese Medicine School.  At the time her boyfriend was present but he was held down by several foreigners and had to watch his girlfriend being ravished in front of his own eyes!  The university wants the matter to be kept quiet and therefore it used the old way of paying for graduate school study for the female student.  The female student is going crazy!  What good is graduate school to her?  Right now, the school is locking down the information.  This information came from the @"Multiple Exposés Microblog".

Nanchang City Residents Association (Verified ID) 12:42 May 9, 2011: This information has been verified by multiple sources.  The female student is a student at the 15th Building of the Chinese Medicine School.  In order to protect the source, the microblog and relevant details will not be divulged.

Nanchang City Residents Association (Verified ID) 13:28 May 9, 2011: We have privately communicated with the person who make the exposé and we reconfirmed that this was factual.

Nanchang City Residents Association (Verified ID) 16:30 May 9, 2011: Things are more complicated than we thought.  The contacted student said that this was factual but many teachers and leaders said that they have absolutely no knowledge of such an incident.  Besides the school is not qualified to recommend/guarantee students to attend graduate school.  Given that the truth is still unclear, we have decided that this microblog post will be deleted at 8pm unless some verified student or informed person comes forth to testify.

(Tiboo.cn)

The Jiangxi Chinese Medicine School is located at Number 18 Yunwan Avenue, Wanli District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province.  This is a fairly remote area.  In order to enhance its reputation, the university has recruited a number of foreign students from India.  These students have been sexually harassing female students under the protection of the university, including two cases of rape.  Students are angry but dared not take more drastic action because the university authorities won't support them!  For the sake of harmony, the university provided the victims with graduate school guarantees in return for not speaking out.  As a result, safety is a huge problem on our campus.

So it was that last night, a couple were meeting downstairs outside the dormitory when a bunch of Indian guys came over.  First they verbally teased the girl.  When her boyfriend interceded, these animals held him down and raped the girl right in front of the boyfriend.  (It was said that it was a gang rape).

(Xibo net)

At just past 15:00 on May 9, our reporter visited the "@"Multiple Exposés Microblog".  There were just two posts.  The latest post at 16:27 said: "'@"Multiple Exposés Microblog' was an unused ID, so I rushed to register it for myself.  I am not the source of the information.  I want to clarify that I was rash to do what I did and I apologize to everybody! I make a bow to everybody!"  The earlier post at 15:33 said "This ID is for sale.  If interested, please send private letter."

Our reporter called the Jiangxi Chinese Medicine School's publicity department that afternoon.  The school worker said denied that any female student was raped as reported on the Internet.  They said that they have run an investigation and determined that the story was a rumor.


Peak-hour bus


Off-peak-hour bus


Bus on a lesser used route during off-peak hours


Tendency for people to cluster towards the front of the bus
when the back is in fact relatively empty


Beijing subway


Noah's Ark

On the afternoon of May 7, there was chaos and confusion in front of the Apple store in Sanlitun district, Beijing city.  Certain customers lining up outside physically clashed with store workers.  So far, four persons were sent to the hospital for treatment.

According to eyewitnesses, customers were lining up outside to wait for their turns to enter the store and make iPhone4 purchases.  At some point, someone tried to jump the queue.  The security guards physically clashed with the customers.  Then one 1.9 meter tall man wearing an Apple store uniform came out of the store with a metal bar in hand and assaulted several customers before going back inside.  The angry crowd demanded that the attacker come out.  When the security guards blocked their way, they clashed again and a tempered-glass window was broken.

By the time that our reporter arrived at the scene, calm had been restored.  There was a sign which said: "Work in progress.  Please pardon our experience.  We are trying our best to make this store better."  According to the security guards, the store will not be able to conduct normal business this evening and it is uncertain if they can do so tomorrow.

Before you go into a tirade about the uncivilized behavior of the Chinese people who know only to jump queues and resort to violence, please note that the alleged attacker in the Apple store uniform is a foreigner named John.

The Chaoyang district police is investigating the case.

At Weibo, <Legal Evening News> reporter Wu Hailang wrote: "The four assaulted customers were two young men and two middle-aged women.  In the photos, the young woman is the relative of one of the men.  After the incident, the Sanlitun Apple store was closed for business and the police are investigating.  The ground has been washed repeatedly to remove the blood.  According to an Apple store worker, the steel-reinforced window that was broken costs 300,000 yuan.  The injured persons are being treated at Chaoyang Hospital.  The families of the assaulted persons said that they were spending their own money.  They were unable to find the worker who made the attack and Apple has not responded."

Our reporter called the Apple Company's public relations staff in China and all their phones were not accepting calls at this time.

(Beijing Morning News)

At 15:00 on May 7, there were several dozen people on line to purchase iPad2.  According to eyewitnesses, there was some confusion within the crowd, especially given that scalpers were present to assume their positions.  The Apple store workers came out many times to maintain order.  Suddenly, a tall foreigner charged out from the store and engaged in a wresting match with a Chinese male.  Because the Chinese male was physically smaller and weaker, he was quickly reduced to a bloody mess.  The onlookers called the police.

Later our reporter learned from the the Chaoyang police that the Sanlitun police station received a call at 15:10 about a melee at the Apple store.  The police rushed to the scene.  The preliminary investigation revealed that the foreign male who attacked people was the Apple store manager.  The reason why he assaulted the persons was that those persons jumped the queue and disrupted order.

Subsequently, the police obtained statements from eyewitnesses as well as the surveillance videos in the area.  They found that there was some congestion in the queue but it was uncertain that the assaulted man was a so-called scalper.

The Chaoyang police said that the man was alright after receiving treatment at the hospital.  The foreign male attacker and the injured man negotiated at the Sanlitun police station and reached a civil settlement in which the foreign male will pay the injured man more than 20,000 yuan for medical and other expenses.  Both sides agreed not to pursue the matter any further.

The police said that this was a civil matter because the injuries sustained by the victim did not reach the level of being a criminal case.  As for the foreign man who attacked people, the police gave him an educational lecture.

(The Journalist)  Brain Drain: A third of journos plan to leave within two years.

According to a Hong Kong Journalists Association survey, there are still many senior journalists in the industry, but half of those interviewed said they would like or have tried to look for a new job. Some 30 percent of interviewees said they would leave journalism within a year or two. This high potential for departure has alarmed the industry.

Journalists say the turnover rate of the industry is very high. Many frontline media workers leave after three years. Colleagues seem to come and go so fast that there's hardly time to get better acquainted. The survey shows that most of the interviewees were journalists with two years or less experience. They made up 22 percent of the total. Those with experience of two to four years' experience formed 38 percent. Those with four to 10 years' experience accounted for 23 percent. However, 29 percent of respondents have 10 to 20 years' experience while nine percent have notched up 20 years or more. This suggests that journalists tend to stay if they can get through the early stages of the career even if the salary is not high.

The poor remuneration is a common complaint of respondents. Some 12 percent of respondents earn $10,000 or less a month. About 41 percent earned $15,000 or less while 61 percent take home $20,000 or less each month. The percentage of respondents earning less than $20,000 is the same as the percentage of respondents with experience of 10 years or less. A 10-year veteran journalist with $20,000 monthly salary can hardly go forward enthusiastically or aspire to greater heights in his career.

...

Highly educated, enthusiastic journalists give up opportunities for making a decent living in order to fulfil their dreams, while managements prefer to take on inexperienced workers at low salaries rather than keep experienced journalists. It looks like decline in the quality of news is inevitable. One former deputy editor-in-chief who left the industry more than a year ago says that quite a number of TV news broadcasts now look like undergraduate projects. News stories that should be followed up or covered in greater depth are not. For newspapers, a senior journalist from the Mainland once asked me: “Hong Kong has a high degree of press freedom. I thought there should be many good stories. But why are the news stories so similar among the different newspapers? And I hardly see any investigative stories.” I really would like to ask him to put that question to the management of different newspaper organizations.

(Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme)  People's appraisal of local news media.  April 26, 2011.

Satisfied/dissatisfied with freedom of the press in Hong Kong: 68%/13%

Local media news reporting

30%: Perceived to be responsible
26%: Perceived to be irresponsible

75%: Had given full play to the freedom of speech
22%: Had not given full play to the freedom of speech

60%: Misused/abused the freedom of press
31%: Had not misuse/abuse the freedom of press

54%: Practiced self-censorship
33%: Had not practiced self-censorship

36%: Had scruples when criticizing the HKSAR government
63%: Had no scruples when criticizing the HKSAR government

64%: Had scruples when criticizing the Central government
30%: Had no scruples when criticizing the Central government

People's main source of news

82%: Television
66%: Newspaper
36%: Internet
26%: Radio
  9%: Friend

Perceived to be the most trustworthy source

51%: Television
18%: Newspaper
14%: Radio
  7%: Internet
  2%: Family member

Satisfaction/dissatisfaction rates

70%/10%: Television
63%/ 7%:  Radio
37%/17%: Internet
37%/22%: Newspaper
  9%/55%: Magazine
52%/13%: News media in general

(Oriental Daily)  May 4, 2011.

Democratic Party vice-chairwoman Emily Lau issued a press release on World Freedom Of Press Day.  She cited the HKU POP poll result in which 54% of people believed that the Hong Kong news media practiced self-censorship.  That figure is a post-1997 high.  She also mentioned the case of the advertising agency for the MTR writing a warning letter to a newspaper.  She pointed out that businesses have frequently use the threat of withdrawing advertisement in order to interfere with freedom of press and editorial independence.

Actually, the HKU POP poll showed that Hong Kong does not lack freedom of press (note: 75% said the media had given full play to freedom of speech).  The problem is that misuse/abuse of news reporting is becoming more severe (note: 60% said that the media had misused/abused the freedom of press).  The most outstanding example is the case of Jimmy Lai's Next Media's Apple Daily.  Emily Lau was responsible for creating this monster when she claimed at the Legislative Council that Apple Daily was being oppressed.  In truth, Apple Daily is well-known as a rotten apple when it comes to journalism ethics and professionalism.

Apple Daily has continued to misuse/abuse freedom of press.  It is critical about the Central Government on everything and it is supportive of the pan-democrats on everything.  Recently it has even stepped over the line by interfering with politics, such as printing an extra election-day edition to help "Democracy Grandma" Anson Chan and also hosting a secret room dinner to instigate the "Five District Referendum."  Apple Daily journalists practice self-censorship all the time and they have no editorial independence.  So why doesn't Emily Lau issue a statement to condemn this rotten apple?

Emily Lau's statement mentioned a study conducted by a certain news organization.  She said that Hong Kong journalists are poorly paid and she called for better treatment from the news organizations.  In truth, a media organization is just like any other corporation -- they have senior-level managers, middle-level managers and base-level workers.  Because journalism requires professionalism, the entry-level workers will start at a low salary because the media organization is forced to invest heavily on training.  Emily Lau ought to know that because she was a reporter once upon a time.

In recent years, the news industry has blossomed in Hong Kong.  We can say that a hundred flowers are blooming with more radio and television stations and new Internet media.  Many formerly poorly paid news workers are now high-income industry stalwarts.  Emily Lau herself is an esteemed Legislative Council.  What is she whining about?

Ministry of Tofu: A Cuckoo’s Nest that no one can fly over – Chinese petitioner locked up again 8 days after escape

(Daqi)  The following information is supplementary.  Would this information change your opinion about the case of Xu Wu?  It might.  If Xu Wu wasn't mentally incompetent, he would be facing some very serious criminal charges that can lead to a very long jail sentence.  Anyway, why wasn't this background not mentioned in Internet discussions or mainstream media reports?  Maybe they didn't know, or they knew but decided that it was inconvenient for their story.  In any case, here it is.

(Xinhua)  43-year-old Wuhan Steel Factory worker Xu Wu had been fined repeatedly for absenteeism and other disciplinary violations.  As a result, Xu Wu had plenty of conflicts with his employer.

On December 2, 2006, Xu Wu said openly that he "will bomb Tiananmen Square in Beijing with dynamite."  On December 16, Xu Wu was arrested by the Beijing police at Tiananmen Square.  At the time, the police found on his person the recipe for building a bomb from dynamite, an electrician's production knife as well as the raw materials required to cause an explosion.  Xu Wu was transferred back to the Wuhan police.  Based upon the <Prosecution Laws for Crime>, the Wuhan police held Xu Wu under criminal detention for a bombing attempt.  On December 27, the father Xu Guibin petitioned the police to have Xu Wu undergo a psychiatric examination.  On December 29, the Wuhan Psychiatric Hospital determined that Xu Wu suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and recommended long-term supervised treatment.  Based upon Article 18 of the <Criminal Law>, the police relieved Xu Wu of the criminal liability (on the ground that he had been mentally incompetent).  On December 31, 2006, the Wuhan Steel Number Two Hospital Department of Psychiatric took Xu Wu in for treatment.  During his treatment, the Wuhan Steel Factory kept paying for the salary and other work benefits of Xu Wu.

In May 2007, Xu Wu escaped from the psychiatric hospital and went to cause trouble again at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  During the process, Xu Wu injured a Beijing police officer.  He was taken back to Wuhan to continue the supervised treatment.  On November 2008, the Wuhan City Psychiatric Hospital evaluated Xu Wu again and determined that he was still suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.  The recommendation was to continue the supervised treatment.

On April 19, 2011, Xu Wu escaped from the psychiatric hospital once again.  The Wuhan Steel Factory and the Wuhan Steel Factory Number Two Hospital reported his escape to the police on the same day.  Acting in accordance with the law (Article 14 of the <People's Police Laws> and Article 29 Clause 2 of the <110 Police Regulations>, the Wuhan police worked with the Guangzhou police to intercept Xu Wu on the road outside the Tongjing restaurant, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou city to fetch Xu Wu back to Wuhan to continue his treatment at the psychiatric hospital.

(Dayoo)  At around 10am on April 27, there was a fire at the Tianhecheng building in Guangzhou city.  By the time that our reporter rushed to the scene, the fire had been put out.  There has been no casualty reported so far.  According to Ms. Qiu who works at the 31st floor of the Tianhecheng builiding, thick black smoke began to rise from the southwest of the building.  The smoke was so thick that the skies were darkened.  At the time, she was in the conference room and she thought that a heavy storm was coming.  The alarm sounded and the office workers evacuated to the Hongcheng Plaza nearby.  At this time, some office workers have already returned to the office to continue working.

Here are some photos.  They are presented in a particular sequence for the purpose of illustrating the all-important news 'angle' -- it all depends which angle you wish to adopt to report an event!

First, some long shots from faraway.

Here are some photos posted on Sina.com Weibo microblogs.  The first one is taken from another tall building at a distance away and showed a thick plume rising up the height of the building.  The second set is taken by workers within the building.  Note that the bright orange glow is supposed to be the flames.

In this photo, it looked as if the skies are darkened and the sun is barely showing through.

This next photo needs a special reading because it is taken from the front of the building.  That is, the smoke is not rising up from the top of the building.  It is rising from somewhere at the bottom of the front of the building.

Another set of photos taken from the ground level.  The fire is at the back of the building, so the location or intensity of the fire is still unclear.

The next photo is taken from the other direction and at street level, but the thickness of the smoke still makes it impossible to discern the location or intensity of the fire.

In this next photo, the location of the fire is clearer.  It appears to be coming from the shopping center adjacent to the office building which is not on fire itself.

(Dayoo)  If you want the 'truth' of the matter, then there had been a electrical short circuit in the central air-conditioning system on the fifth floor of the Paramount Emporium adjacent to the tall Tianhecheng office building.  The building management put out the fire themselves within twenty minutes.

There is nothing more bizarre than the microblog of the official Wenzhou city public security.


Wenzhou city public security bureau (verified ID): According to the latest information, Osama Bin Laden was captured two years ago by American Seals special forces and incarcerated at a secret location.  The current action was a farce directed by Barack Obama for re-election purposes.  Other countries (including China) have obtained the relevant information and many multinational organizations are joining together to investigate.  The details are presently being verified.  The truth will be announced to the world.

Addendum:  On the next day , South China Morning Post issued a correction to say that Obama is the first name of the American president.  That, too, is wrong because it is his last name.

Relevant link: Osama bin Laden Dead, Chinese Netizen Reactions  ChinaSMACK


Apple Daily
911: 10 years later
American soldiers kill Bin Laden
[smaller news story on top of page: A Shanghai family comes to Hong Kong and spends HKD 1,000,000 in two days]


Oriental Daily
Sudden raid by US troops to take revenge for 911
Bin Laden dead


Ming Pao, Page A2
Bin Laden killed, body buried at sea on same day
Officials claimed that identity has been verified 100%, Obama: Justice has been rendered


am730
Bin Laden killed (in English and Chinese)


Headline Daily
Bin Laden dead
American troops, immediate burial at sea after killing


Sing Tao
Obama issued orders, American troops make night raid on huge mansion in Pakistan
Bin Laden killed, body sunk at sea


Sing Pao
Bin Laden shot dead
Sought by USA for 10 years, revenge finally taken for 911
[small news story heading next to logo: stingy boss even deducts pay for going to use toilet]


Wen Wei Po
Page A1: Real estate advertisement
Page A2: Bin Laden dead: Murderer sought by USA for 10 years, Evil leader buried at sea, Son died at the same time


Tai Kung Pao
Page A1: Patek Philippe watch advertisement
Page A2: Bin Laden dead: CIA tracked courier, special forces raid huge mansion


The Standard

Relevant link: Bin Laden on (and off) China’s front pages CMP

Addendum:  Can you count how many newspapers fell for the fake death photo posted by someone on the Internet?

On the evening of April 26, the Xinhua reporter traveled to Didao district, Jixi city, Heilongjiang province after receiving a tip about a coal mine disaster.  The next morning, people in the Heibei community near the coal mines told the reporter that a mining disaster had taken place.  According to one informed person, there was an explosion at the "Baofa" mine and about 10 persons were killed.  Because the gas was still intense, it is unknown if more people were still trapped underneath.  The mine boss was named "Number Three Gao" and he is attempting to reach private settlements with the families of the victims.

Another person also said that a mining disaster had taken place.  A woman tending to the water pump in the mine was killed.  This person pointed to a mountain road and said that many vehicles went through there on the night of April 26 to deal with the aftermath and bury the bodies.

Following tips, the reporter went to the Guifa coal mine.  Several unidentified persons were discussing "compensation" for a Chen Zhongchuan.  In a nearby bathhouse, there were signs that the place had been scrubbed clean.  There were wet towels hanging on the lockers.  In one opened locker, there were some clothes, a wallet and an identity card belonging to a certain "Cui Zhifu."

Close to the main shaft of Guifa coal mine, the reporter found a suspicious well.  The place was padlocked.  The reporter climbed over the gate and found that the entrance had been recently sealed with fresh soil.  There was a bungalow outside, with all the doors and windows nailed shut.  The reporter forced his entry into the bungalow and found signs that it had been recently occupied.  The calendar on the war was dated April 26 and the water in the hot water bottle was still warm.

On the morning of April 27, the reporter went to the Didao district Production Safety/Supervisory Bureau to seek information about the mining disaster.  The Coal Industry party secretary-general Chen Gang said that he had just met with the other leaders that morning and there was no information about any coal mine disaster.  The reporter asked to meet with the Guifa coal mine safety inspector and he also suggested that Chen Gang contact the coal mine boss as well as the district coal administration director.  Chen Gang said that the Guifa coal mine safety inspector was away on vacation and he had no contact information for the coal mine owner.  When told that the coal mine owner was named "Number Three Gao," Chen said that he did not know the real name of this person.  The reporter called the district coal administration director based upon the information supplied by Chen Gang but the phone was turned off.

That afternoon, the Didao district vice mayor said that the district government had sent out 13 groups to inspect all coal mines after they receiving the media tips.  They found no signs of any mining disaster.  On the morning of April 28, the Didao district mayor Li Jingtang said that he had heard about a mine explosion on the morning of April 26 and the leaders had asked him about it.  On April 26 and 27, he went people out to check the mines and found nothing.  "It is unlikely that any incident took place."

On the afternoon of April 30, the joint investigative team from the relevant Heilongjiang province departments arrived in Jixi city.  Overnight, they got the mine owner to admit that there was a mining disaster in which nine persons were killed.  How is it that the joint provincial team can solve the case in one night whereas the Jixi city and Didao district teams found nothing over four days?

During the reporter's work, there were many inexplicable things happening.

On April 27, the reporter asked these questions: Why is the mine owner missing?  Why did the district coal administration director turn his phone off?  Why is the mine safety inspector away on "vacation"?  Are the relevant departments investigating?  On April 29, Didao district mayor Li Jingtang said that the mine owner "Number Three Gao" is ill and out of town; the mine safety inspector has not yet been located.  By April 30, the reporter was still unable to reach the district coal administration director.

On April 28, our reporter found the cremation certificate for a "Liu Guoshan" at the Jidong County Funeral Parlor which is more than 20 kilometers away from Jixi city.  Although the family members said that Liu died during the coal mine disaster, the certificate stated "heart disease" as the cause of death.  The certificate had the stamp of the "Jixi city public security bureau Didao district sub-bureau forensic division."

The reporter asked the police to accompany him to the home of Liu Guoshan.  But both his home and his mother's home were locked up with nobody home.  So far, we have Liu Guoshan cremated after dying during a mining disaster; Cui Zhifu leaving his clothes, wallet and identity card in the bathhouse locker at the coal mine; Chen Zhongchuan's compensation was being discussed.  What more indicators for a mining disaster do we need here?

The Jixi city government and other relevant departments attempted to answer these "doubts" for the reporter.  On the evening of April 29, the Jixi city government investigation team deputy leader and city public security bureau deputy director Cheng Lianjun told the reporter that the cause of death for Liu Guoshan was still unknown because his family members had not been located yet; the death certificate found at the Jidong County Funeral Parlor was not necessarily issued by the public security bureau.  Two other persons at the mine had denied that Liu Guoshan was a mine worker.  Also it has not been established whether the Liu Guoshan of Didao district is the same person as the Liu Guoshan who was cremated at the Jidong County Funeral Parlor.  (Note: Previously, the reporter had established that these two "Liu Guoshan"s have the same national identity numbers)

Cheng Lianjun said that the identity card found by the media belonged to Cui Zhifu, who was indeed a Guifa mine worker.  According to their investigation, Cui Zhifu got into the a fight with other mine workers several days ago and has vanished.

Heilongjiang provincial coal mine safety supervisory bureau commissioner Liu Chunping said that they had reports about a mining disaster in which a "Chen Zhongchuan" died.  But no such person lives in Jixi city.  There were also some phone numbers for families of the victims, but those people all denied that there was a mining disaster.

The reporter took the Didao district vice-mayor Han Shuguo to the suspicious well near the Guifa coal mine.  Incredibly, Han said that he forgot what that mine well was.  Later he said that this was an unused well belonging to the Longmei Group.

Apart from answering this reporter's questions, how was their investigation coming along?  On the afternoon of April 27, the Didao district vice-mayor Han Shuguo told the reporter that they sent out 13 teams to inspect the coal mines.  The reporter did not know what the teams were doing.  On the afternoon of April 30, the reporter got a copy of the progress report which had fewer than 250 words.  In short, they had made no progress.

At around 16:00 on May 1, the Jixi city relevant departments confirmed to the reporter that there was a mining disaster at the Guifa coal mine.  The reporter verified that it was an uninspected (and therefore not licensed to produce) coal mine.  On April 27, the reporter had examined the map provided by the Didao coal administration and located the suspicious well to be the Hongjinyuan mine.  In 2007, Guifa coal mine had merged with the Hongjinyuan coal mine.  Therefore, the mining disaster occurred at a different well but still belonging to the Guifa coal mine.

The reporter also found out that the Hongjinyuan coal mine was among the listed of closed mines as issued by the State Safety Supervisory Bureau in 2007.  This meant that a coal mine declared shut years ago was being mined and a disaster occurred there.

The reporter also found that the Jixi city Hongjinyuan coal mine was soliciting business proposals at a certain website on March 6, 2011.  "We welcome various sectors to contact us to cooperate and develop."  So it is intriguing why a closed coal mine should be advertising on the Internet for business cooperation.

During the reporter's work, the Didao district people reminded him many times: "The government is in transition this year.  It is bad for an incident to take place.  Please be considerate."

On April 27, Tang Jun went to the Nanjing Forestry University to deliver a lecture.  Towards the end of his talk, a fourth-year Nanjing University female student came forth and questioned Tang Jun about his American "green card" and his opinion about the "Zhijin mine pollution incident."  She also asked for Tang's autograph on a copy of a Pacific Western University diploma.  Afterwards, she and her friends distributed copies of Pacific Western University diplomas.

These actions caused surprise embarrassment for Tang Jun and the event organizers.  This incident raised a storm within the Nanjing Forestry University-Nanjing University where debates are continuing.

If it had not been the gate-crashing by this female student, Tang Jun's lecture might have been considered perfect.  The students filled up the lecture hall, including some who sat on the stage.  There were applauses for the legendary background of Tang Jun and his speech.

The topic of Tang Jun's speech was that "My success can be replicated."  Tang Jun said: "I am simple.  I am so simple that even I am touched.  But simple people can do extraordinary things."

According to the Nanjing Forestry University campus news report, Tang Jun said that success is not measured by wealth and status.  Success is about surpassing oneself.  During the process of seeking success, one needs to see if one is improving from day to day.  Tang Jun said that he became the top graduate student at Beijing Telecommunications University due to his relentless quest; when he was unable to go overseas, he went to the Beijing Communications University to seek that overseas study quota; and because he wanted it, he ended up with 25 years of happy marriage.

"Tang Jun's lecture was lively and humorous.  He let the students feel the panache of successful people, and he showed the future for the students.  He told them his success can be replicated.  He opened the vistas of the students and let them benefit."  This was what the Nanjing Forestry University news report said.

After his lecture, Mr. Tang Jun took questions.  Then came that "unexpected incident."  A female student who stood on the stage to listen to the lecture rushed up to the lectern and used the microphone to announce: "I am a Nanjing University student.  You are fortunate that you didn't come to Nanjing University because the students there are not as compliant as the Nanjing Forestry University students here!"  She implied that the Nanjing Forestry University students were being too "courteous."

This female gatecrasher then said: Since the topic of Tang Jun's speech is "My success can be replicated," she has brought some presents for the students present at the lecture hall -- photocopies of a Pacific Western University diploma.  Previously, Tang Jun became embroiled in "academic credential gate" because he had obtained his degree from a diploma mill, Pacific Western University.  This Nanjing University female student said with sarcasm: "Not only can Tang Jun's success be replicated, but it can also be photocopied!"  In order to let "everybody share in Tang Jun's success," she asked him to autograph those photocopies.  Tang Jun said with a smile: "I will sign.  I will sign for you.  It would be best to sign on your body!"

The female student then asked two more questions: How did you obtain your American "green card"?  What is your view as the Xinduhua CEO about the subsidiary Zhijin Mining Company's pollution problem?

With respect to the American "green card," Tang Jun reminded the female student to check the relevant information on the Internet.  As for the Zhijin pollution spill, Tang Jun said: Everybody knows about this problem.  The company has paid a huge price.  Not only has the stock price plunged so that the market value went down by 20 billion yuan, but it also sounded a warning for the company.  "I will forward your opinion to the company when I get back!"

Tang Jun was surprised by the gate-crashing, but he was steady and composed.  But the event organizers were angry.  While the Nanjing University female student posed her questions, they wanted to stop her.  But the smiling Tang Jun said: "Let her come up.  There is no problem!"  Due to the unexpected interjection by the Nanjing University female student, the Q&A session was over with only three questions.  As Tang Jun left the lecture hall under escort, the Nanjing University female students and her companions handed out photocopies of Pacific Western University diplomas.  Many students went up to obtain the copies.  But then a Nanjing Forestry University student seized the photocopies while criticizing the characters of the instigators.  This led to some verbal clashes.

Yesterday afternoon, our reporter found the Nanjing University female student gatecrasher Xiao Du.  At first, she said that she did not want to be interviewed.  "This was just a small farce on a university campus.  Do not attach too much significance."  But our reporter persuaded her to explain why she "crashed the gate."

Xiao Du said that she had been chatting with some friends about the event.  "When we heard that Tang Jun was going to give a lecture at the Nanjing Forestry University, we were disgusted.  We thought that we ought to do something.  It is not that we want to harp on his fake academic credential.  But he has never apologized in spite of doing so many wrong things.  Instead, he is coming to a university to promote his very 'unsound' theory for success."  "Our society is unsound as it is, so we don't need more."  Xiao Du said that Tang Jun was a person without any morals, so he should not be lecturing at a university.

As for Tang Jun's responses to the three questions, Xiao Du said that she was not satisfied.  With respect to the Zhijin Mining Company environmental pollution, Tang Jun responded that this company has contributed a lot to China and it also suffered financial losses as a result.  However, he did not think that the company should apologize to society.  "This was a bad attitude."  Xiao Du said.

With respect to her request to autograph photocopies of the Pacific Western University diploma, Tang Jun said that "it would be best that I sign on your body."  Xiao Du thought that this was a flippant statement from someone in Tang Jun's position.

At the Renren website, there was a post about the incident.  "I admire Mr. Tang Jun.  Under these circumstances, he was able to say kindly: 'No problem.  I will make autographs afterwards.'  Then he addressed the inaccurate information in her questions.  Should a self-described Nanjing University student be allowed to pose questions in this manner?  I have attended many international and regional conferences and I have always looked forward to the Q&A sessions.  But frankly, this was the first time that I saw someone with the goal of insulting the speaker deliberately exploit the good humor of the speaker in order to pose aggressive questions.  Is it a form of success to make Mr. Tang Jun sign an autograph on a Pacific Western University diploma?"

The author continued: "At these university Q&A sessions, there is always a group of young people who think that they are diplomats, politicians, reports, commentators or sacrosanct representatives of the masses but who never consider themselves to be just ordinary students.  In their questions, they exhibit arrogance, superiority, inferiority or false courage.  However, their questions lack intelligent exchange.  Are these people supposed to be the 'next generation of Chinese leaders' as Clinton said?"

On April 20, a photo alleged to be a list of 37 banned songs at a KTV in Lucheng district, Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province was posted onto the Internet.  "Notice of banned songs.  Per the demand of the provincial cultural department, these 37 banned songs must not be played."  The songs in this photo included Julie Su's <Holding hands>, Zhang Yu's <Big man>, Richie Jen's <Xiao Xue>, Chen Xing's <One night in Beijing> and other popular songs.  At a time when Chongqing is mobilizing the masses to sing the 36 "Red" songs, these 37 blacklisted songs also drew attention on the Internet.

Even more perplexing was the fact that the Wenzhou city culture department, the Zhejiang province culture department and the national Ministry of Culture took seemingly inconsistent positions on this issue.  So what is the truth of the matter?

"Just because a song is banned does not mean that it cannot be sung."  On April 25, the Zhejiang province culture department enforcement/guidance department director Yao Songhe told our reporter that there are many MTV versions of Julie Su's <Holding hands>.  Only one version is banned due to illegal video images but the other versions can be played normally.  However, Yao declined to explain what was illegal about those video images.  Previously, the Lucheng district, Wenzhou city culture department had stated that they were "only following orders."  Director Yao Songhe denied this: "The Zhejiang province culture department has never issued any document or bulletin on its own for banning the 37 songs including <One night in Beijing>, <Holding hands>, etc."  "Banning the MTV's for these songs have legal bases."  Yao Songhe cited the 2006 State Council <Entertainment venue administrative rules> and the 2004 <Ministry of Culture urgent bulleing on illegal video products involving obscene language, rap, hiphop, etc>.

According to articles 13 and 18 of the <Entertainment venue administrative rules>, it is forbidden to play nine types of contents: those that are prohibited by the constitution; those that endanger national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity; those that endanger national security; those that violate state laws on religion and ethnicity; those which advocate violence; pornography; obscenity; gambling; and drug abuse.  At the same time, the entertainment venues can only play those audio-visual products or electronic games that are legally published, produced or imported.

Yao Songhe said that some of the banned songs in Wenzhou violate these administrative rules, and that was why they were removed/banned.

"It is the normal function for the culture department to administer and clean up the cultural market.  Which Chinese person can possibly accept something that endangers national unity?"  Yao Songhe asked rhetorically.

"Among the banned songs, some of them were likely banned because of political factors involving Taiwan independence or negativity about the political system."  According to an informed source in the Ningbo city culture department, Teresa Teng's <Plum Flower>, Zhang Yu's <Big man>, Luo Dayou's <Advance Taiwan>, Luokeban's <Taking over the world>, Da Zhi's <Taiwan Song>, Julie Su's <Holding hands>, the Liujia Band's <Song of Taiwan person>, Zheng Jinyi's <Patriotic mental illness>, Andy's <Brave Taiwanese>, Liu Jiachang's <The souls of the Huangpo soldiers> belong to this category.

 

Our reporter checked the contents of the songs of this list.  <Patriotic mental illness> heaped scorn on "one country, two systems."  Da Zhi's <Taiwan Song> contained lyrics such as "A Bian," "Son of Taiwan," "Born as Taiwanese person, died as Taiwanese ghost."  So it is expected that they won't be scred.  Luo Dayou's <Advance, Taiwan> was the election theme song for the "Godfather of Taiwan independence> Lee Tenghui during the 1996 Taiwan presidential election.  <Holding hands>, <Big man>, <Plum flower>, <The souls of the Huangpo soldiers> contained video images of Taiwan independence advocates such as Chen Shui-bian or Teresa Teng singing to Taiwan soldiers.

As the songs of Zhang Zhenyue, Huang Liheng, etc, they were banned for other reasons, mostly due to violence or pornography in the video images."  Lucheng district Wenzhou city culture department deputy director Xiang Weisheng said that "this was normal law enforcement activity."

"Last year, the culture department sent us banned song lists.  There were two batches."  According to Wencity city culture department director Chen Rongguang recalled that the lists were sent directly to the law enforcement division.  He recalled that the provincial department sent either 33 or 34 songs.  The current list that is receiving attention has 3 to 4 more songs.

"Chen Rongguang is talking about two different lists: one list of 34 songs refer to KTV (karaoke) songs; the other list refer to songs containing foul language."  A person within the Ningbo city cultural system told our reporter that the exposed Wenzhou list is basically the 34 songs in the first list augmented by some songs in the second list.

It was a national campaign at the time.  According to an official with Lucheng district, Wenzhou city culture department, the campaign was part of the Ministry of Culture effort in conjunction with the Shanghai World Expo.  "The cities in the Yangtze River Delta in Zhejing and Jiangsu were the key sites.  A major goal was to clean up the song databanks at the various entertainment venues and insure that there be no major political problems in the cultural field.

It is an open secret within the entertainment industry that the KTV's are given lists of banned songs.  According to a KTV owner in Lishui city, Zhejiang province, they received a list of banned songs in 2010.  "In order to guarantee that the World Expo runs smoothly, the law enforcement people came around and checked the playlists room by room."  This KTV owner recalled that apart from Julie Sue's <Holding hands>, there were more than 30 songs including titles such as <Even the pigs are smiling>.

Before these songs were deleted, they had been listed on the official website of the Jiangdong district, Ningbo city culture department law enforcement department.  An informed source that the Baidu cache showed that 34 of the 37 banned songs were already on the banned KTV list.  The three additional songs <Barb>, <Shed Off>, <I love Taiwanese girls> were listed among songs containing foul language.

"Luo Zhongxu's <Barb> was probably banned by mistake in Wenzou."  According to the person within the Ningbo city cultural system, the song that should have been banned is Du Dewei's song of the same name because this latter was laced with obscenities.

Apart from those three songs, there were also rap/hiphip songs such as <Farting>, <Guide to picking up girls>, <McHotdog>, <I go my own way>, <There's a problem>, <Dog guys and gals>, <TROUBLE>, <Eighteen pretty girl tricks>, <Pillow talk excitement> and others.

There are other international examples of violent/pornographic songs being banned.  Michael Jackson's <Thriller>, Robbie Williams' <Rock DJ>, Madonna's <Die Another Day> and other MTV's were banned due to violence.  Christina Aguilera's <Dirty> was banned in the USA due to obscene lyrics.

In the past, songs have been banned for ideological reasons on both sides of the Taiwan strait.  "Decadent music is the common reason."

Teresa Teng's song <Home love> was famous for being banned as decadent music.

Before martial law was lifted in Taiwan, there were many banned songs.  Li Xianglan's <Three years>, <Wish we met before I got married>, Yao Min's <Fishing Light song>, He Luding's <On Jialing River>, Zhou Xuan's <Shanghai nights>, <Don't let your youth slip away>, <When will he be back?> are famous blacklisted songs.

At the time, the Taiwan authorities had ten reasons (which look very familiar to us today) for banning songs: (1) ideologically left-leaning; (2) plagiarizing the tunes of political propaganda songs; (3) dispirited lyrics which demoralize people; (4) preposterous subject matters which may misguide young people; (5) suggestive lyrics which bring down decent behavior; (6) wild, unrestrained lyrics which endangers education; (7) lyrics which encourage hatred and vengeance which endangers public safety; (8) reflections of misleading past mistakes; (9) coarse, vulgar and frivolous lyrics; (10) abnormally excessive sorrow and grief.

Here is the series of @daxa tweets after his release on April 8 after a thirty-day 'absence'.

April 10: During this time, the police investigated me in accordance with the legal process and found that I had nothing to do with the jasmine affair.  At just past noon today, my wife came to pick me up.  I have returned home safely.

April 10: During the local police investigation, they followed the legal process strictly.  During the law enforcement process, there were no brutality, violence, torture or other violations of my personal right.  The detention center took special care of me.  During the investigation, my privacy was respected to the maximum degree.  I was deeply surprised by their civilized approach and manner of law enforcement.

April 10: Prior to this, I had witnessed and hear many cases of police brutality and illegality in many places.  Thus I held certain prejudices about the local and national security police.  These prejudices are exhibited in my blogs/tweets in rash, biased and generalized language, including describing these people and their occupations as "national security Gestapo" and "Satan's spokespersons."

April 10: During the thirty days of the investigation, I am deeply grateful that (1) the investigation showed that I was not involved; (2) I changed my longstanding prejdices against the national security police.  Since late December 2007, I have come across the local national security police.  Up to today, they have followed the legal procedures, enforced the law in a civilized manner and displayed human concerns.  I was deeply surprised.

April 10: I say so not against my will or because I was threatened or intimidated.  This was my actual experience.  There are different levels in quality among law enforcement people.  Since 2007, I have been impressed by the civilized law enforcement and the humanity of the local national security police.  I say this according to my conscience.  I am not here to fawn upon them or praise them.  I don't care if Twitter users will doubt or oppose me.  I am a Christian.  I do not tell lies or suck up to people with vacuous talk.

April 10: These past thirty days has been a trial from God.  I had the time to contemplate and reflect quietly.  I gained plenty.

April 10: Since this matter began so suddenly, my wife, my parents, my relatives and friends thought that I had been arrested for committing a crime.  They were afraid and concerned on my behalf.  I am deeply sorry for that.

April 10: Now that everything is settled, all erroneous ideas should be put aside.  During the investigation period, I give special thanks to my wife, my younger sister and my parents for everything that they did on my behalf.  I give special thanks to my friend Zai Minglei @engengpu for his support and encouragement.  I thank those Twitter users for their support!  Thank you!!!  Thanks!!!

April 10: If the police wanted to seize my Twitter account, they would have done so already.  I am able to to continue to tweet now.  If it isn't me here, then could it be the police?  I just spoke to Zai Minglei and two other friends by telephone.  I am home right now with my wife.  There is no need to defend myself.  Friends, please don't worry!

April 10:  The basis for the law enforcement action can be found in <Law for Criminal Prosecution>.  I used to complain a lot but I knew nothing about the articles in the <Law for Criminal Prosecution>.  You can consult it yourself.  You should read the definition of "crime" in the <Law for Criminal Prosecution>.  I did not pay much attention to that before, so I knew nothing.  After reading it, I realized how shallow I had been.

April 10: According to the <Law for Criminal Prosecution>, the public security department can usually detain a person for a maximum of three days.  In special case, it may be extended to seven days but not more than 30 days.

April 10: I just had dinner with some friends.  We drank some wine.  I took a bath.  I went home.  I am paying my employees.

April 11: I saw someone cursing me out as a serf.  I am depressed.  Why are you happy only if I become a martyr hero?  Do you want me to become a martyr or hero?  Why don't you come out yourself and be the hero?

April 11: I will never join any political party, organization or group.  I will never sing the praises of any political party.  Is there any problems with the local police acting in accordance with the law, enforcing the law in a civilized manner and showing some humanity?  Am I a serf because I told the facts as they happened?  Why are you happy only if I called the police assassins or else you won't be friends with me?  Such a strange logic!

April 11: I give @zengjinyan a big jug!  Jinyan!  During the investigation, I think about you and your child whenever I think about my wife.

April 11: I am firmly opposed to letting individuals and their families, wives and children undergo too much hardship or become martyrs and heroes.

April 11: I spoke to my father for a long time this morning.  My father has read some of my blog posts.  He said; "You think that cursing the government is patriotic.  According to your logic, the more vicious you curse the government, the more patriotic you are.  Is that the case?"  I was speechless, because I really had not realized that this was how I had been thinking.

April 11: I registered on Twitter on March 27, 2007.  I was one of the earliest Chinese-language Twitter users.  I was also one of the earliest Twitter users to pay attention to politics and current affairs.  I was also one of the most passionate when it came to cursing and criticizing the government.  My extreme language gave cause for my friends to be concerned about me.

April 11: Twitter users often criticize me: "Apart from cursing, can you do something else?  What comes out of cursing the government every day?"  But I was never tired.  I felt like a hero -- a hero who cursed the government, a hero who cursed the police, I hero who opposed the government, I opposed for the sake of opposition, I cursed for the sake of opposition, I released my inner emotions of anger.  But if you wanted me to go into the streets, I wouldn't be going.  I was a hero who cursed the government every day.

April 11: The hero who only knows how to talk is a coward.  An ordinary person.  A real hero is not afraid to die, not afraid to cause his family grief.

April 11: I am afraid to die.  I am not a hero.  I am an ordinary person.  An ordinary Chinese citizen.  A son.  A descendant.  A husband.  A father.  An elder brother.  An individual.  A practicing Chinese medicine pharmacist.  A new media fan ... I have my own family, I have a wife and her soon-to-be-born child, I have parents and siblings.  I love my family, I love my wife, I love my parents.  I must act responsibly with me.

April 11: I am firmly against marching in the streets to chant slogans.  I don't want my friends to participate.  I don't want us to lead the charge.  Each era has its own forbidden zones, which can shrink as time goes by.  But we must never break the law.  I don't want to see my friends become heroes and martyrs.  I don't want my friends to have broken families, and their wives and children suffer.

April 11: Each era has its own limitations which an individual cannot surpass.  Perhaps my ideas have gone beyond this era and its limitations, but my physical body still inhabits within this era.  I need to see the limitations of this ear clearly, and understand the limitations of an individual.  This is the only way to find my role in his era and realize the maximum force and value of an individual.

April 11: I understand Christian thought as "Love thy neighbors as thyself."  I offer those previous thoughts of my to my Twitter friends.  I wish you good health and happy family life!

April 11: After I got out yesterday at noon, I began to go over the various matters at my wife's shop.  I am a man, a husband, a father, a son.  My family is the most important thing in my life.  Nobody can take their places in my life.  I love them.

April 11: I want to be a good son, a good husband, a good father, a good friend.  I want to be a law-abiding citizen who has a sense of family and social responsibility.  I want to be a good example for my son, so that he can be proud of having me as his father.

April 11: My life today has given me more time to care about my family, my parents, my wife and my son.  I love my family.

April 11: I never spoke against my conscience in the past, I am not speaking against my conscience today and I will not speak against my conscience tomorrow.  I have sometimes speak excitedly, but I do not lie.  Anger was one phase of the journey of my heart.  After these thirty days, I have time to quietly reflect on the cause of my anger.  I discovered my limitations as an individual in this era.  I have understood many things.  I have found peace in my heart.

April 11: A person does not have to set boundaries and limits on his own thinking.  But the social actions of an individual has boundaries and limits.  This boundary is limited by the era.  One police officer said: "The limits of an era" are the "limits of its people."  When I heard that, I understood.

April 12: I intend to rest for a few days and deal with the issues related to the opening of my wife's new shop.  Then I will resume work normally.  I have been busy this morning.  But I will make some tweets in between.

April 12: During the couple of days after my release, I read Twitter posts from many people who offered support, comfort, doubts, criticisms, opposition, curses, smearing, smirching ... I am not surprised.  Among the curses, I saw my former self.

April 12: Labeling people, branding people, dualistic thinking ... these used to be my way of thinking.  Since I once was so brash, how can I demand others to be better?  I thank these friends for their concern!  Thanks!

April 12: As for the friends who called me a dog serf, begging down on my knees, suffering from the Stockholm syndrome, you will have a fuller understand if you knew what my family experienced.

April 12: It is irresponsible to smear me over some differences in opinion without knowing my family history.

April 12: In any "revolutionary movement" that is either official organized or seemingly organized by the civil sector, you must maintain a high degree of caution and resistance because this is related to family history.  When you have relatives who starved to death like dogs during these great movement, you may understand my attitude and viewpoint.

April 12: Only if I let my wife and child become like Jingyan and child, only if I become a warrior who fought the government, only if I shut up will certain people be happy enough to call me a man and give me dignity?  I am not a revolutionary, I am not a warrior.  If I want to be an ordinary citizen, I am criticized mercilessly as a serf with no dignity.  What kind of logic is that?

April 12: If you have done nothing wrong, you don't have to be afraid ghosts knocking on your door.

April 12: During the investigation, the local police did not insult me, threaten me, beat me, mistreat me, torture me.  I did not threaten suicide or go on hunger strike.  This has disappointed certain people.  A policeman is no good if he doesn't beat people up, and I am not a true hero because I did not resist to my death.  Ha ha ha ha ...

April 13: If you want to hold a discussion, you have to deal with the facts instead of using the straightforward friend-or-foe live-or-die dualistic style of the Cultural Revolution.  It is easy to oppose.  It is hardest to hold dialogues, interact positively, establish mutual trust and seek consensus, which are most needed in this era.  It is too easy and too gratifying to curse people, and not everyone is willing to abide by the <Rules for citizens>.

April 13: The investigative reporter Wang Keqing said: "It is no big deal to curse someone out as a hooligan.  It is true ability to prove that someone is a hooligan."  I remember these words firmly in my heart.

April 13: My ideals and beliefs have not changed.  I want to have fewer emotional outbursts.  I want to say less that is brash and generalized opposition for the sake of opposition.  I want less hatred and anger.  I want to let the facts speak.  I want to have independent thinking and exploration in a moderate, rational and gradual manner.

April 13: The soul is suffering.  Will the hero stab me once more so that he can die gloriously with dignity.

April 14: My wife work up from her dream crying, my parents are covered with tears.  Jamine flower, I f*ck your mother!

April 14: Twitter used to be a place for the expression of free speech.  Today, it has become the battlefield for ambitious people.  Many innocent people have been hurt, and their families have suffered.  I am leaving that Twitter battlefield as of today.  From now on, I will only talk about family matters and not national affairs.

April 14: I will remember those friends who helped me.  Your @ and RT gave me plenty of warmth and support.  I thank you all!  As for the "friends" who stabbed me, exploited me and made me become a martyr, I thank you for because you let me see the good/evil and true/false nature of Man.

April 14: When I first began to question and criticize a certain incident in late February, Beifeng started to call me a stupid c*nt, said that he did not want to be friends anymore and he stopped FOllowing me on Twitter.  I was detained by the police for 30 days in the investigation of my involvement in this matter.  The police investigation showed that I was not involved.  I came out and I told the facts that the local police enforced the law in a civilized manner and I continued to oppose that matter.  Beifeng has come out again to publicly call me a serf, a fifty-cent gang, brainwashed by the national security police and a stupid c*nt.

April 14: I have been consistent in my doubts and opposition to the "jasmine flower" before and after.  This is the result of my personal thinking and not influenced by the thirty day police investigation.  This can be confirmed by the old tweets.  At the time, three persons opposed the matter (@cxzu, @laowu1989 and @daxa) and they were criticized by Beifeng.

April 14: I always think, analyze and judge independently anything, even those that seem sacred and glorious.  This is to avoid superstition and blind obedience, the passion and violence of the Cultural Revolution.  I believe that I know the value and meaning for independent thinking.

April 14: I appreciate Mr. Sha Yexin for his refusal to write for the authorities, I appreciate Ai Weiwei's independent social judgment and responsibility.  I use my good friend Zai Minglei's civics course to train myself so that I can be an Internet citizen with modern civic qualities and social responsibilities who can provide a different voice.  I deeply believe: in the culture and knowledge, a good man must not be afraid of loneliness if he is to be independent.

April 14: Beifeng has been criticizing and insulting my person, character and ideas not just because we have different views over a certain matter.  He gave me labels because of my views and he did not bring up any analyze or judge my views about why I oppose that matter.  I was surprised.  I had treated him as a good friend.  Even if we hold different views, there is no need to insult my character in this manner.  It is commonsense to discuss the facts and not the person, Beifeng.

April 14: Suppose any party, government, people or individual faces dissent, questions, criticisms and objections.  Wouldn't they check the veracity, think about the logic or analyze using commonsense?  Would they directly leap into criticizing the character and cursing out the critics?  Is that what a modern citizen does?  Is this civilized?

April 14: My voice represents only myself.  Do not bundle me with the government.  You have to right to raise questions, to criticize and to oppose my narration of the facts and my viewpoints.  But you have no right to insult my character and dignity, because you are unqualified!  Beijing, don't you want me to shut up?  Then nobody will dare publicly oppose that certain matter and criticize you.  So I will not comment anymore on this matter as of today.  You can continue with your performance!

April 14: Someone is trying to confuse my distinction between the "local police" and the "national security police."  I apologize for any confusion.  "Local police" refers to the several national security police officers who were investigating my case.  These are just several individual persons and the term does not refer to the "national security police" as a whole or as an occupation.  The quality of national security police varies from place to place.  Some are civilized, others are brutes.  I told the facts about their civilized law enforcement.  Now they say that I am singing praises for the national security police.  Isn't that risible?

April 14: Distorting my narration, cursing me for singing praises of the national security bureau, cursing me for bending my knees to praise the government, cursing me for letting my soul be castrated by the government, cursing me for being brainwashed ... either my narrative was flawed and imprecise, or else your understanding was flawed and you don't understand logic.

April 14: The car is almost home. I will be seeing my mother soon.

April 14: I dined with my parents and younger sister.  This was a most unforgettable 35th birthday.  My mother forgave me.  She is smiling.  This is the biggest reward from this case.  Happiness is a good family!

April 15: Yesterday my father said excitedly to me that soon after I was detained, some media called me the instigator of a certain incident.  He thought that I was finished and I would not be let out.  He was scared.  He lost two kilograms of weight within two days.

April 15: Yesterday my father said that if I did anything wrong against the country, then I deserve to be sentenced.  He would support [that sentence].

April 15: When I told my parents about how people called me a castrated slave running dog on the Internet, they both laughed.  They have been through too many political campaigns in their lifetimes, and they have seen through so much.

(South China Morning PostProtesters say Li Ka-shing is city's real boss  April 9, 2011.

Activists behind an unorthodox protest which brought a Li Ka-shing-owned ParknShop supermarket to a standstill said they chose their target because property developers, not the government, were the "real enemies of society". Some activists claimed the raid on a ParknShop superstore at the Hung Hom Bay Centre on March 26 was a success, although one protester admitted it should have been planned better to avoid disrupting shoppers.

The protest, described in a video uploaded to YouTube as "paralyse property hegemony for an hour", brought the packed store to a standstill and led to police being called. There were no arrests.

Activists, who say they were engaging in satyagraha, a form of non-violent protest pioneered by Mahatma Gandhi, filled trolleys with goods, then told checkout operators they had decided not to buy anything.

"We chose ParknShop because it is owned by Mr Li Ka-shing and we all know Mr Li is the real boss of Hong Kong," said Kay Tong, a protest leader. "We are not expecting this [protest] to change the world, or beat down Mr Li or the property-developer hegemony. But we want to make it a start of a new satyagraha campaign. "We used to protest against the government. But it is no use. We target developers because they are the boss of the government and the real enemy of the society. I agree that we should have prepared better. I am sorry for the trouble we caused to the shoppers." Tong said there were no plans to stage similar protests in the near future. "We are always wanting to try something new."

 

YouTube Comments:

(The IndependentBeijing breathes sigh of relief as Dylan plays it safe on debut  Clifford Coonan  April 7, 2010.

... There were reports that the Ministry of Culture snapped up 2,000 of the 18,000 seats for the concert to monitor the set list, which had been strictly vetted, and to make sure there were no songs that could be interpreted as a message to Ai or as supportive of the "Jasmine Revolutions" sweeping authoritarian governments in the Middle East ...

(Ming Pao (Hong Kong)

曾创作多首抗争歌曲的卜戴伦,周三于北京工人体育馆献唱,吸引6000观众入场。英国《独立报》称演出场地保安严密,据报文化部取得现场2000个座位,以便监察演出。他所选的曲目,据报也经过了严格审查,确保卜戴伦不会演唱可演绎为针对艾未未事件的信息,或者支持「茉莉花革命」的歌曲。

[Bob Dyan who has written a great many anti-war protest songs gave a concert for 6,000 spectators at the Bejing Workers Stadium.  The Independent (UK) said that security was tight and also reported that the Ministry of Culture obtained 2,000 seats in order to monitor the performance.  According to reports, his set list had been strictly vetted in order to ensure that Bob Dylan will not sing anything that can be interpreted to be related to the Ai Weiwei affair or supportive of the "Jasmine Revolution."

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(bbs.anti-cnn.com)

The Chinese artist Ai Weiei held a personal exhibit in Münich (Germany) to offer his heartfelt regards to his motherland on the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (http://www.flickr.com/photos/winterkanal/3967547911/).  [Note: the film consists of a number of people saying "Fuck you, Motherland"]

[Comment from Sima Nan: It requires a significant amount of money to produce this kind of art which carries a nasty taste.  After someone produces such crass famous pro-American [note: 带路党 is a derogatory name for the Chinese who would volunteer to show the way for the American soldiers invading China] works of art, does he now have exemption from Chinese law?  Can he do anything that he wants in China?  If not, does it become "deterioration of human rights" in China?]

The basic concept of "human rights" has been positioned to be something completely incompatible with the tremendous economic and social progress in China.  This is a huge joke, and it is the reason why the Chinese people are disgusted whenever the west applies pressure on China overs these so-called "human rights" issues.

The "avant garde" artist Ai Weiwei was recently "taken away" by the Chinese police.  Certain western governments and "human rights organizations" immediately interceded and demanded the release of Ai Weiwei.  This matter was raised to represent "the deterioration of human rights situation in China" with Ai Weiwei being called a "Chinese human rights warrior."

There was no attempt to learn the truth.  Instead, a specific judicial case in China is being magnified in order to criticize China viciously.  This is an ill-considered intrusion on the basic political framework in China as well as utter disregard of Chinese sovereignty over its own judicial system.  The west is deliberately lifting a simple judicial case up the level of national politics (even international politics) in order to distract the Chinese people and modify their value system.

In recent years, Ai Weiwei has been active as a "performance artist" and "avant garde artist."  He is a unique loner in Chinese society.  He opposes traditional art and he likes to come up with "astonishing words and acts."  He likes to tread on the "margins of the law" and do things most people don't know for sure whether it is "legally permissible."  On April 1, it was reported that "he failed to complete the procedures" on his way to Taiwan via Hong Kong.

Ai Weiwei ought to know that his independence and his propensity to do "what others don't dare to do" has gathered a number of like-minded persons around him.  He often goes right up to the red line in Chinese law.  Perhaps he likes that feeling.  Objectively speaking, China does not have much experience dealing with people like him.  There are not many legal precedents.  But if Ai Weiwei continues to charge ahead, it is a matter of time before he "steps on the line."

There are 1.3 billion Chinese people and it is normal that there should be a few stubborn and unruly people like Ai Weiwei.  In art, exceptions are the rule.  In law, exceptional behavior is to be restricted and regulated.  It is unrealistic and impossible for China not to set up legal boundaries for people like Ai Weiwei.

The west glosses over the complexity of the Chinese judicial system as well as that of the individual activities of Ai Weiwei.  They reduced the matter of "Ai Weiwei being taken away" down to a simple political slogan: "The human rights situation in China is deteriorating."  "Human rights" is like a bucket of paint -- the western politicians and media can use that paint to smear anything that they see.  They are erasing the detailed differences of everything in this world.

It is a huge joke that the west should make out a basic concept such as "human rights" to be something thoroughly incompatible with the economic and social progress in China.  This is the fundamental reason why the Chinese people are disgusted whenever the west applies pressure on China over these so-called "human rights" issues.  In China, people's livelihood is improving.  Meanwhile the government/party is coming under more supervision and scrutiny than before as it is the trend for the public to express their opinions on the Internet.  Can this be denied?  The experience of Ai Weiwei (as well as certain other independent activists) should be not be put on the same scale as if they represent the development and progress of human rights in China.

The truth about "Ai Weiwei being taken away" will become clear soon.  Generally speaking, given that Ai Weiwei chose to have a different attitude towards the law than common people, the law will not compromise for such a "special person" just because of western public opinion.  History will pronounce judgment on people like Ai Weiwei, who will sometimes have to pay a price for their choices.  This is true in any society.  Even as China moves ahead as a whole, nobody has the right to demand that the entire Chinese people must satisfy the personal preferences of one person or the other.  This has nothing to do with respecting the rights of a minority group.

(Nanfang Daily)  April 5, 2011

Yesterday a certain Hong Kong newspaper reported on the "scary Negative AIDS disease."  When someone is infected, they show symptoms of lymph swelling, subcutaneous bleeding, slimy tongue, and other symptoms.  This disease is incurable so far, leaving infectious disease experts clueless.  The disease has continued to spread, infecting several thousand people in six mainland provinces/cities.

The so-called "negative AIDS disease" usually refers to people who suffer from cold sweating, limb numbness and other symptoms that are often associated with AIDS.  But these people come up negative on AIDS after repeated testing.  The clinical examination reports also showed that they do not suffer from any obvious organic infliction.  Therefore these people have decided to call themselves the "negative AIDS infected patients."

According to this Hong Kong newspaper, a Hong Kong resident named Wang had unprotected sex with a Hong Kong female Internet user whom he had known only for six months.  Last November he began to suffer from lymph swelling, slimy tongue and decreased immunity.  He also suspected that he might have infected his wife.  Because he suspected that may have caught a sexually transmitted disease, he took multiple tests but came up negative for AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases.

This newspaper report was quickly picked up on the mainland microblogs.  Our reporter saw that a certain famous microblogger posted it at just after 7am.  Before noon, it was already forwarded more than 1,000 times.  Many netizens sway between believing and unbelieving.  One netizen asked the Ministry of Health to come out with an accurate statement to allay concerns.

Yesterday, our reporter began to investigate.  Many hospitals have come across these cases.  When the symptoms show up, the victims often proceed to AIDS-related Internet forums and diagnose their own conditions.  But the AIDS forums usually only take test results as the sole basis.  When the AIDS webmasters and other volunteers tried to allay the fears of these suspected victims, the latter decided to break away to set up QQ groups to discuss their own conditions and treatements.

At Sina.com Weibo, the user "Person infected by unknown virus" wrote: "I am one of the 59 patients who participated in the examination conducted by a certain Beijing hospital."  According to him, these 59 patients also exhibited the same physical symptoms: mouth ulcers, shriveling gums, pharyngitis, rhinitis, deteriorating eyesight, lymph swelling.

The netizen "Rashness is Devilish" and her boyfriend both tested negative for AIDS and their fears were allayed.  But then she began to develop erythema and she got worried again.  She went on the Internet to search for information and joined the QQ "Truth Group."  At first, she thought that these symptoms arose due to hypochondria.  But then she developed other symptoms such as gurgling sounds, headaches and slimy tongue.  Now she is firmly convinced that she is not being hypochondriac.

The reporter also found that most of these people had engaged in risky sexual behavior before.  They described their disease as "an undetectable HIV-like virus which can spread via saliva and attack the human immune system."

At the Guangzhou Number 8 Hospital, the Infectious Diseases Department director Cai Weiping said that these people could not be suffering from AIDS infection based upon their conditions.  Cai Weiping said that there is no way that the antibodies are undetectable.  A very small number of persons may be misdiagnosed during a single test, but they can't be misdiagnosed all the time.  "They have undergone many different types of tests many times.  There is no way that the antibodies could go undetected."

Other Chinese AIDS experts are also almost uniform in saying that the current symptoms for this group do not constitute any medically significant symptoms: These people claimed to be feverish but the doctors could not measure any fever; they claimed to have slimy tongue furs, but the doctors think that they have unbalanced secretions due to nervous tension; they claim to have lymph swelling, but the doctors found that the so-called enlarged lymph nodes were just their muscles; they said that they have skin rashes, but the doctors cannot find any clinically significant skin rash.

Some experts say that these people are providing subjectively significant symptoms but they do not exhibit any major objective symptoms.  The existing symptoms are more likely to have been induced by AIDS phobia.

According to the Hong Kong newspaper, the Guangzhou City Department of Health deputy director Tang Xiaoping said that there is no such things as "negative AIDS" in the existing medical science.  So if these people do not test positive for the HIV antibodies, they could not be suffering from AIDS or variants.  However, Tang allowed for two possibilities.  Some of these people are suffering from AIDS phobia after engaging in high-risk sex.  Other people may have been infected by some other kind of virus.

The Ministry of Health Center for Disease Prevention and Control leader said that they have conducted epidemiological studies in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangsu and Guangdong on this matter.  Blood samples from 59 patients collected from these locations have been sent to the Center for Disease Control in the United States of America for analysis.

In the case of Guangdong province, they were notified in February by the Ministry of Health and they have set up an investigation team consisting of clinical doctors, psychologists, epidemiologists and AIDS experts.  The Guangdong province Center for Disease Control AIDS Prevention and Treatment Department director Li Peng said: "We have tested seven to eight samples in Guangdong province, and this clearly cannot be AIDS."  He declined to say whether it was another unknown virus because that kind of announcement should be made at the national level.


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