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Section 1 of 3: Recommended Photos/Videos/Readings
Section 2 of 3: Brief comments
(China Daily) Actress denies charity fraud By Raymond Zhou. March 16, 2010.
Zhang Ziyi has been criticized for not replying to accusations of charity fraud leveled against her, but in an exclusive interview with Raymond Zhou she tells all.
LIAONING PROVINCE: Zhang Ziyi has vehemently denied accusations that she committed fraud in the name of charity, but admitted to inexperience when organizing a donation drive for the relief of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake victims.
In an exclusive interview with China Daily, the internationally-celebrated Chinese actress - for the first time - answered some 100 questions, most of which involve details about the money she gave to charity or collected for her own foundation.
Ever since an advertisement featuring her was defaced with paint in December, Zhang has been embroiled in a series of allegations. The most serious of the accusations - mostly from netizens - are about discrepancies in the sums that surfaced in various reports. Shortly after the earthquake struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008, killing some 80,000 and dislocating millions, she decided to donate 1 million yuan ($147,000) to the China Red Cross.
As she was in the United States at the time, she asked her representative in China to transfer the money. But due to what she claimed to be a "communication glitch", only 840,000 yuan was sent. She said she took "primary responsibility" for it and had already made up for the shortfall. The other contentious figure was $1 million, which she said she had "hoped" to raise, but had never claimed to have "already" raised. The actual amount pledged for the Zhang Ziyi Foundation is slightly less than $500,000, most of which has not been paid.
The event in the eye of the storm was a fund-raising drive on May 21, 2008, at the Cannes Film Festival. During the one-hour "hastily arranged" initiative, only $1,392 in cash was collected, far less than the previously reported $50,000. The rest were informal pledges. The total adds up to about $500,000, which is the amount she said she had always referred to when answering the media.
Since then, she said she had been making efforts to pressure the donors to honor their pledges, but her efforts have not been very successful. So far, only $15,050 has been collected.
Zhang said she would personally make up for the shortfall but would not reveal the people's names against their will. Zhang also mentioned her foundation was registered in California two days before her fund-raising effort in Cannes. The foundation, a non-profit organization, is of good standing and there have been no financial irregularities, she said.
Tears welled in her eyes when she talked about the incident's impact on her and her family, and again when she recounted the solace and support she got from friends. She said she wants to give back to society because she had got so much from it, using her heavily-subsidized tuition in the drama academy and the dance school as an example.
This story is not as interesting as the story of how Raymond Zhou got that interview. So before you dismiss the above piece as a paid advertorial, you should read this second piece first.
Ever since "Donation Gate" imploded, Zhang Ziyi has rarely shown up in public. Most of time, her agent Qi Lingling spoke on her behalf. An exclusive interview of Zhang Ziyi became the objective of almost all the media outlets in China. Raymond Zhou told our reporter that the degree of difficulty in procuring this interview was completely unexpected: "At first, we did not hold out much hope when we made contact. We wanted to make a try. If they say no, I give up. So we tried and we found out that they did not issue an outright refusal. So there seemed to be some hope." Why did things work out? In Raymond Zhou's words, "a blind cat can even run over a mouse sometimes." He said that he did not make contact with Qi Lingling. "I don't know her. I don't have her contact information." So he found another person in Zhang Ziyi's team, who is a foreigner who keeps a low profile. "At first, I wasn't even sure. In retrospect, the person that I contacted held the English-language title of 'press manager'. Therefore he was responsible for media publicity. Qi Lingling was not responsible for publicity. This meant that I had found the right person at first try."
Raymond Zhou said that he asked for an interview beginning on February 10. The major reason why the interview did not take place until March 12 was: "scheduling." The interview finally took place after he stayed two days at the location and waited for Zhang Ziyi to have a break during her filming. The scheduled time kept changing all the while. "She was very busy. It was very hard for her to find a break in the middle."
"She did not stipluate that personal questions were out of bounds. She basically only promised to talk about the matter of the donation. When I tried to broach softly on personal issues, she gave more officious replies." Raymond Zhou said that he specified a condition to the other side: "There must not be any restrictions about Donation Gate. I can ask any questions that I want and I can frame them in any term without restriction." Zhang Ziyi's side said: "No problem." Both sides also signed confidentiality agreements, which included not disclosing the location of the interview and keeping the contents confidential prior to publication.
Raymond Zhou recalled that the interview took four hours from the intial meeting to the conclusion. "1:30am to 5:30am in the morning." During the whole time, Zhang Ziyi "did not get out of her chair." Apart from the lightings set-up, the initial chat, the midway make-up adjustment and the breaks, the interview itself took about 1 hour. "The video was just over one hour long."
Raymond Zhou said that during the pre-interview chat, he told Zhang Ziyi: "Please do not regard me as your enemy. But you should not regard me as a friend either. I am just forwarding the questions from the people." At that moment, Zhang Ziyi seemed to "have become more relaxed." On one hand, she was in the middle of making a film (note: Wong Ka-wai's <A Famous Master>) and she would have to hurry over to the studio as soon as the interview was over. "Maybe I was over-sensitive. But when the camera started, my first words were: 'How are you, Ms. Zhang Ziyi?' She seemed to have trembled once. I think she did not expect that I would start off by addressing her as Ms. Zhang Ziyi. She was surprised."
Raymong Zhou said that the China Daily film crew was there along with workers on Zhang Ziyi. But during the interview, all unrelated persons were in the room next door. Only Raymond Zhou, Zhang Ziyi and the cameraman were at the scene. Due to fact that Donation Gate involved many details, Zhang Ziyi kept the relevant information by her side to consult. "She read from the material quite often. I will release the information later tonight. It came from a Los Angeles lawyer's office. She asked the lawyer's office to make a detailed investigation. The information contained most of the data."
"When I began with the questions, she was typically saying either Yes or No. After the basic numbers were presented, she became more open and she teared up." As for the tension that Zhang Ziyi showed, Raymond Zhou said: "Everybody knows how important this interview was to her. She said that she has never been interviewed before in this manner. I said that this was not a trial, and I do not have the right to make judgments. I was only forwarding the questions from the people. Howver, those questions certainly have that feeling. I only want to deal with the facts. You can give us an explanation. Whether we accept the explanation is our problem."
Raymond Zhou said: "She teared up on two occasions. The first time was when she spoke about the impact of the affair on her family. The second time was when she narrated the story of the child of a friend giving her encouragement. She was supposed to say something to encourage the child. Before she finished, the child said: 'Ziyi, I spport you. You must be strong. The truth will come out.' When she came to this point, tears came out."
Raymond Zhou said that this was the second time that he had an exclusive interview with Zhang Ziyi. The first time was a chat about the movie <Extraordinarily Perfect>. The two interviews were completely different: "In the first interview, she was very natural in her responses. She felt like a charismatic girl and a big star. This time, it can be said that my questions came mainly from scouring the Internet. Therefore, she was somewhat tense." Only when the interview ended did the old Zhang Ziyi resurfaced. "After the interview was completed and the camera turned off, we began to chat about movies. She was relazed and became her old charismatic self."
Did Zhang Ziyi talk to him about her reactions to the interview? Raymond Zhou thought for a moment and said: "She did not seem to have." As for the published article, the two sides agreed beforehand: "This is what she was going to say anyway. I can let her review it. If she did not say something, it can be removed. For example, what are the experts saying about the case? We don't have to have that."
As to why Zhang Ziyi's team chose him for an exclusive interview, Raymond Zhou's view was: First of all, China Daily was an influential platform. "The key is that our platorm is in English. I feel that she wanted to send the same message out inside and outside China without any distortion. There was no reason to choose an English-language newspaper otherwise." Secondly, it may be because Raymond Zhou is a bilingual writer. "I went back and thought out it. I had written two reviews about movies in which she starred in. One was <Mei Lanfang> and the other was <The Banquet>. But I did not mention her in those reviews. I remembered that I have never praised her and I have never denigrated her. Therefore, this should not have anything to do with my previous movie reviews."
On March 16, Taichung mayor Jason Hu encountered an embarrassing situation. Hu was speaking at the National Chung Hsing University about ECFA. As he got up to leave, a student wearing a surgical mask and handgloves and carrying a backpack (which contains a megaphone) yelled at him: "You Taiwan traitor!" Faced with the unfriendly display, Hu replied: "Don't get too excited." Although embarrassed, Hu tried to keep up a smile.
As Hu turned to leave, the student pursued him as other students joined in as well. They followed Hu and kept yelling. The security guards stopped the university student. Someone yelled: "Get the guards to come over! He has a knife. He is not a student. He has a knife. I just saw him take out a knife!"
The situation grew more heated. The guards took the student outside. The police found a knife in his trouser pocket. But the student said: "What crime did I commit? What did I do? I didn't do anything!"
This student claimed to be an Asia University student, but he did not carry any identification. Why did he carry a knife? Is this because he disagreed with Jason Hu's views about ECFA? Does this have anything to do with the upcoming elections? The police have taken him away for questioning. Even though he is a student, carrying a knife during a public heckle poses risks to the public. In any case, this must be the most embarrassing situation that the highly popular Jason Hu has ever come across.
The above written report does not convey the actual circumstances. The following is a television report, in which it was pointed out that the student wore a mask to avoid recognition and gloves to leave no fingerprints behind.
"Certain local governments regard the Internet as a monstrous beast. They are scared of the Internet, they hate the Internet, they blame the Internet, they ignore the Internet, they cut themselves off the Internet, they choose to be silent in front of Internet opinion. That is uncalled for." At just past 10pm on March 14, Yunnan Provincial Communist Party Committee Department of Publicity deputy director Wu Hao thus wrote on his microblog.
Just a few hours ago, Wu Hao who was undergoing training in Beijing made a few phone calls and then made one post on his microblog. This was enough to smash the Internet rumor about a Yunnan leader having made the proposal at the two Congresses to "detain the familes of those died in detention centres in insane asylums."
Many netizens are concerned that certain unsourced rumors may lead to greater control of the Internet as an exchange platofrm. But Wu Hao and some reasonable netizens gave people confidence through their actions this time. "The Internet has its own ability to correct mistakes and most netizens are reasonable." Wu Hao told our reporter last night. He said that the key is the attitude of the government towards handling crises. The governent also has to respond immediately. "The goverment must take an active attitude."
In the present case, the rumor was based upon an Internet post titled <Yunnan People's Congress delegate: The families of those who died in detention centre should be sent quickly to insane asylums>. This post was wildly popular over the past couple of days. It was supposed to be based upon a report written by <Legal Times> reporter Zhou Bin: "Since the Internet reaches everywhere, the deaths of many criminal suspects in the disciplinary committee offices, the public security bureaus, the police stations and the detention centres have frequently been hyped up on the Internet ... this has brought a lot of pressure of the political and legal departments ..." Therefore, the National People's Congress delegate and Yunnan provincial commitee deputy secretary has said at the two Congresses, "We recommend to enact the <Methods of handling the accidental deaths of criminal suspects within the political and legal systems> into law. It will be required that the direct relatives be sent to the local asylums within two hours of the death of a criminal suspect so that they cannot complain all over the Internet and cause an Internet incident."
Internet searching showed that this post had actually been circulating on the Internet more than a month ago. In February, the post titled <Yunnan Provincial Party Committee: The families of those who died accidentally inside detention centres should be sent to insane asylums quickly> appeared on the Internet. It was specified that this article was "suppressed by the chief editor before going into print, but some newspaper worker has leaked it out for general consumption." Now that the Two Congresses are taking place, this story morphed into a proposal by the Yunnan People's Congress delegate.
Some netizens noticed this point too. Southern Metropolis Daily verified that the earlier post had originated from an overseas website.
This post drew attention because its sensitive content appeared during the two Congress. Certain netizens re-posted it and criticized the National People's Congress delegate for being foolish. Yet many other netizens did not just pound on their desks in anger because they were thinking about the authenticity of the post. They even asked the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee Department of Publicity deputy director Wu Hao for confirmation.
"I found this speech by a Yunnan provincial leader to be unbelievable. How could a government official be so foolish? This was suspicious. I thought that I ought to ask director Wu." A netizen who posed the question to Wu Hao told our reporter.
The messages from netizens drew Wu Hao to look at the rumor and check with the relevant departments. A microblogger also helped to obtain the telephone number of <Legal Times>'s reporter Zhou Bin. "I spoke to Zhou Bin. He said that he had never covered the Yunnan delegation and he had never spoken to this deputy secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee. The so-called interview with secretary Li on the Internet was forged using his name, because he was <Legal Times>'s reporter on the Two Congresses beat and he had written many articles already. Therefore, his name was used as the author of the Internet post." At 8pm on March 14, Wu Hao made this clarification on his microblog.
"This was entirely fictional." Wu Hao explained to our reporter again. He said that this view had never been mentioned by the Yunnan province delegation. He had checked with the Yunnan province delegation at the Two Congresses and nobody had made any such proposal.
The <Legal Times> reporter Zhou Bin wrote on his own blog: "I have never published such an article for any media or Internet. I did not write this article. I have not interviewed any of the principals mentioned in the article."
From there on, the Internet opinion leaned overwhelmingly in support of Wu Hao and against the rumormongers. Some people were concerned that these types of malicious lies can only lead to the narrowing of speech space on the Internet. "Even the information from microblogs has to be scrutinised for veracity -- we cannot just all chime in," said another netizen. One netizen wrote: "I did not re-post this article because it had not been confirmed." Another reporter wrote on the microblog: "This was a nice piece of interaction. This time, no one is likely to criticize you."
But even Wu Hao was surprised that a timely response in the form of a single microblog post was sufficient to smash the Internet rumor. "I totally did not expect that."
In his view, the success this time depended on the speediness of the response but it was also important to have the authoritativeness. "I am the Internet spokesperson for the Yunnan provincial party committee." Wu Hao said that some local governments also have Internet spokespersons, but they don't use their real names. "If you need to use a real name, you should use your real name. This showed that the government is open and sincere."
Section 3 of 3: Blog posts
(March 17, 2010) Defloration Gate A high school girl established her credentials as an alternative lifestyler by hiring a man to deflower her and posting the relevant video on the Internet.
(March 15, 2010) How The Hong Kong Police Created The Conditions For The People To Criticize The Government Blogger Yang Hengjun observed a demonstration outside the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
(March 6, 2010) Bearing Testimony To Chinese Contemporary History Through Nude Push-ups Beijing Youth Daily interviews Ou Zhihang, who won an award at the World Press Photo competition with his series of photos of himself doing nude push-ups at the locations of major social incidents in China.
(March 3, 2010) The Diary of the Tobacco Bureau Chief The purported diary of a Tobacco Bureau Chief in Guangxi is a sensational hit on the Internet for its depiction of a life involving alcohol bingeing, multiple sex partners and bribe-taking.
(February 27, 2010) Sexy Video Gates Shoushou Gate, Beijing Film Academy Zhang Yaru's Gate and ICBC Girl Gate all occurred in the first week of the Year of the Tiger.
(February 26, 2010) The 23-Year-Old Female Deputy Bureau Chief In Xintai city, a 23-year-old female was appointed a deputy chief in the land resources bureau. Netizens set out to show that she must have some powerful guanxi.
(February 22, 2010) The Lanxiang Vocational School Hacked Google A collection of information about the Lanxiang Vocational School (Shandong) which purportedly hacked Google.
(February 13, 2010) Sexy Chinese Women's Soccer A series of fashion magazine photos.
(February 3, 2010) Li Zhuang's Second Trial Whereas you might expect lawyer Li Zhuang to talk about freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law in China, he said something quite unexpected.
(February 2, 2010) Chinese Reporters Jailed For Taking Bribes Companion China Youth Daily piece about the interactions between local government officials and reporters to negotiate "gag" fees for non-coverage of mining disaster.
(February 1, 2010) The Cover-Up Of The Yuxian Mining Disaster A China Youth Daily story about the mental thinking processes of local government officials who want to cover up a mining disaster.
(January 25, 2010) Those Worried Young People Interviews with the CEO's of Blogbus.com, Fanfou, BTChina and Yeeyan.com all of which were blocked in China in 2009.
(January 19, 2010) Two Deaths In Guizhou A policeman shot two farmers dead. Was it execution? Or was it self-defense? The answer depends on which newspaper you read.
(January 18, 2010) "I am just speculating" Translation of a Han Han blog post that speculates on events in China from 2010 to 2020.
(January 17, 2010) Hong Kong Reporters On The Express Rail Link Protest Two Hong Kong reporters wrote blog posts about the anti-Express Rail Link demonstration on the night of January 15, 2010.
(January 16, 2010) Google Search Results On Chinese Subjects A Chinese netizen shows what Google suggests when searching for terms like China, Chinese, Baidu or simple numbers like 1, 6, 8 or 9. Is it a bug? Or a feature?
(January 2, 2010) January 1, 2010 in Hong Kong A round-up of news reports about what happened on New Year's Day, including the demonstration march as well as other front page stories.
(December 31, 2009) Deng Yujiao and the Law A status update for Deng Yujiao, as well as reflections on the roles of the family, the lawyers, the netizens, the media and the government in this famous case.
(December 30, 2009) Top 10 Internet Phrases In China In 2009 As you read and ponder the humor and absurdity behind each phrase, you will recognize that these are the most rational contemplation of reality in China today.
(December 26, 2009) The Top 10 Media Incidents In China During 2009 Translation of a Southern Weekend article about the top 10 media events in China during the year 2009.
(December 24, 2009) The Case of Akmal Shaikh British national Akmal Shaikh is given the death sentence in China for heroin smuggling. Should his mental illness lead to a reprieve?
(December 21, 2009) Internet Crime Gangs Manipulate Public Opinion A CCTV news report on Internet promotion companies that will fabricate and distribute Internet stories for pay. This is the about the commercial side of "50-cent gangsters."
(December 16, 2009) Lawyers In Trouble In Chongqing A gang boss on trial in Chongqing denounces his Beijing lawyer for fabricating evidence and obstructing justice. Is this a case of malfeasance by one lawyer? Or a case of retaliation against human rights lawyers?
(December 13, 009) Sex, Drugs and Government In Fuxin A People's Congress delegate uses his real name to denounce a senior government official for running group sex/drug orgies.
(December 4, 2009) The Chengdu Self-Immolation The female homeowner Tang Fuzhen set herself on fire in the hope of stopping the demolition of her house in Chengdu city.
Many, many more previous blog posts in the Blog Post Archive ...
