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Subscribe to RSSBEIJING -- It was, as one China observer called it, the revolution that wasn't.
On Saturday, websites run by overseas Chinese began circulating a mysterious call for a Jasmine Revolution, apparently taking the lead from the wave of mass demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa. The Chinese campaign urged people to gather on Sunday afternoon in thirteen cities across the country, including Beijing and Shanghai, whereupon participants would shout:
"We want to eat. We want to work. We want houses. We want fairness. We want justice. Protect private property. Maintain independent justice. Start political reform. Finish one party rule. Finish media censorship. Freedom of news. Long live freedom. Long live democracy."
The hashtag #CN220, named after Sunday’s date, also began making an appearance on Twitter.
The would-be Jasmine Revolution
On Sunday, large crowds of people could be seen at the designated Beijing location -- a popular and heavily-congested shopping thoroughfare called Wangfujing, only blocks away from the site of Beijing’s last convulsion, the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square -- but it was hard to tell how many were protesters. Many were clearly journalists, carrying cameras and the like. And this being China, where it doesn't take much to attract a crowd, onlookers or passersby stopped to gawk, thinking there might be a celebrity in attendance.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
A man is arrested by police after calls on social networks for a "Jasmine Revolution" protest in front of the Peace Cinema in downtown Shanghai on Sunday.
But the biggest indicator something was amiss were the ranks of uniformed and plainclothes Chinese police. Some scuffling and pushing ensued, and at least one man carrying jasmine flowers was reported to have been taken away. However, it didn't take long for everything to return to normal outside the McDonald’s restaurant.
Journalists in Shanghai reported similar scenes in their own city whilst no notable gatherings could be confirmed in the rest of the locations.
It would seem, however, the real action had been taking place offline.
A crackdown on activists was already in force across several cities by Sunday. In Beijing, for example, dissidents confirmed they have been under surveillance or house arrest. When we tried to reach one veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, he sent a text message saying, "Not convenient" to speak. And one of the authors of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic reforms and greater human rights (its most famous signatory is Liu Xiaobo, last year’s Nobel Peace Prizewinner), said he was instructed by Chinese police not to leave his home.
Senior leaders were busy all weekend, exhorting for tighter social controls. On Saturday, President Hu Jintao called for stricter oversight of the "virtual society." This was echoed at another meeting of government leaders on Sunday, in which provincial and ministerial-level government officials were urged to step up “social management.”
The virtual controls were also in place. A mass text messaging service on China Mobile was not available in Beijing on Sunday, according to one report. And all day Sunday, users of Weibo, China’s biggest microblog, complained of hiccups, and searches on Weibo and elsewhere online for the word "jasmine" were blocked or did not go through.
Eugene Hoshiko / AP
Police officers urge people to leave as they gather in front of a cinema that was a planned protest site in Shanghai on Sunday.
The Great Firewall in action
Heavy-handed it may all be given that no one seemed to heed the call for action, but these measures are all part and parcel of Beijing's predictable handling, too, of the coverage of tumult in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the region.
Thus far, the Chinese government has been adept, wily, fast, and far tech savvier than their Middle Eastern and North African counterparts appear to have been when it comes to controlling the information flow on the Internet. As writer Evgeny Morozov put it, protesters in Egypt "were blessed with a government that didn't know a tweet from a poke."
China, on the other hand, is believed to have the most sophisticated and wide-ranging Internet filtering system known as the Great Firewall.
Not coincidentally, only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a new plan to finance programs to help Internet users around the world, a rare interview with the father of China’s Great Firewall was published in a state-run Chinese newspaper.
Although Fang Binxing refused to divulge how the firewall works, there were notable tidbits – including the revelation that he uses no fewer than six VPNs (virtual private networks), “but only to test which side wins.”
With additional reporting from Eric Baculinao and Bo Gu
Leave a Comment:
Man, if the chinese government didn't have our balls in their back pocket, I'd love to see us set loose a few Julian Assanges over there to spread the word about the mideast protests.
If Assange did in China what he has done in the west, he would have been executed long before now.
Well yeah, but that can be said about pretty much any journalist or publisher.
Yeah, he'd be executed so fast they would have asked you 'Assange who?'
Consider being grateful for China having not spread Wikileaks news among its people.
Chinese news has been covering protests in the Middle East, people in China are equally informed as those in the U.S... "spread the the word" already accomplished.
Also, this supposed "Jasmine" protest cannot possibly compare to those in Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East. There was no unified effort of the people, minimal participation (if at all), so it is ridiculous to compare it to protests in the Middle East. Of course, there are some major issues that concern the Chinese people and complaints against the current government. But this "Jasmine" business is not representative of the sentiments of the nation.
Actually the Mideast protests are run on Chinese televisions all day long. Google CCTV9 and CCTV4, you will be up to your eyeballs in world affairs including Mideast protests.
People in China are very happy with the government, something that can't be said about governments in the West. It's obvious from the article that the Jasmine protests had no following at all. The Jasmine protests were probably organized by hate filled fanatical Christians. A truly pathetic attempt at stirring up trouble in a very well run country.
After living in China for almost 5 years, I have some insight into the people there.
I agree with you code, most people in China do not care about the government. They see the economy cruising along, they see opportunities and they go about their own business. They do not really care about have a single party communist government, or a multi party democratic system.
The things that they do care about are the things that people everywhere care about. That the government treats all people equal and fairly. That corruption is stopped and punished. That they have the chance to better themselves and their standing in life.
Things are going well in China now. Business is booming. Factories and other businesses have a hard time finding enough workers. Wages are up.
I think if the government believed in the individuals rights more, then there would not be any problems at all.
Actually when you think about real rights, the day to day stuff Jim I'd have to say that the Chinese citizens rights are far better respected and protected than our rights over here in North America.
Here is a simple example, drive in any large city in the USA and make an illegal left turn, pass on the left turn lane of a major intersection against traffic with a police car there. You will be pulled over ticketed and possibly jailed in North America. In China, as long as you don't cause an accident you will just be left alone, the policemen don't care. I've always felt absolutely safe and free when traveling in China, something I don't feel when I travel our airports or borders.
I prefer to have real freedoms that mean something, I like the Chinese version our western version is really a lot of bunk.
Oh pooooooooooolease give me a freaken break. this is such a load of bull s h it.China is the worst human rights abuser on the plant and yeah and most chinese are concerned about the government, and their coruption. they don't say anyhting bercause they're afraid to say anything., they might wind up with a bullet in the head. don't say no because you're both liars..
who the hell do you think you're kidding. Save it!Stop trying to cover up corruption abuse of human rioghts andn all the other bull sh i t you people put out there. you're sickening to say the least. take the chinese government and you know where to put it!
Jim and code-
Clearly you've been effectively brainwashed by the manipulative Chinese system. As evidenced here by Jim's double-blind quote:
"The things that they do care about are the things that people everywhere care about. That the government treats all people equal and fairly. That corruption is stopped and punished. That they have the chance to better themselves and their standing in life."
China has as corrupt, backwards and human rights abusive a government as any on earth. Chinese people only seem happy and don't seem to care because they don't know any better- yet.
Damn those Gideons, they're in every Hotel,...
- Mission Impossible
What's the matter Jim and Code cat got your tongue?ignoring the situation?typical of brainwashed chinese government puppets.all mouth and a large amount of lack of intelligence.
@ Jim n code; You both sound like commie sympathizers. You fail to mention the denial of freedom of religion,no due process of law. If you were the guy sentenced to 10 years of hard labor,for a manifesto you wrote against your government I think time would surely change your perspective.
Few legal safeguards exist in China to ensure fair trials, and the judicial system is controlled at every level by CCP political-legal committees that may determine the outcome of cases before the court hears evidence presented at trial. Legal scholars within China have called for an end to this widespread practice of "verdict first, trial second." With the political-legal committees exercising extensive control, detainees are highly unlikely to receive fair, impartial hearings that are free from official manipulation.
On a per capita basis America has 9 people in prison versus 1 person in prison per 100,000 of population.
When DNA testing became available in the USA over 30% of death row inmates were found innocent. Due process? Justice? Have you ever been passed over for a promotion based on religion? Sure what we need is Freedom from religion; why would you want to step backwards and promote Freedom of religion/superstition?
Anyone who is well traveled will know what China is really like, the China basher's are the brainwashed ones. How has the vote ever helped America - we elected Bush, Reagan complete morons and we are poised to set the bar at it's lowest ever with Sarah Palin.
Instead of answering to the fact China has no due process,you attack our system. Where do you get your facts from you are seriously misguided. You say we need freedom from religion? Who are you to tell people what they need,sounds like you have alot in common with the Red China you defend. I deal in facts not contrived rhetoric.
China executed more people last year than the rest of the world combined, according to a report published Tuesday by Amnesty International. How many DNA tests will they run to spare the innocent? Zero.
why Corral that's all they know how to do. that's what they're conditioned to do.Aren't ya Code?
oh and may i add on the prison BS 9 people in prison in america verses i in China. ya know why that is? they execute them that's why. after all ya gotta keep the prison population down. hell what other better way to do it according to China's Code of Standards.
Code For Nothing is so obviously a brain washed Chinese Government worker it's hilarious.
Also, your statistics are flawed. Very, very flawed. Sarah Palin isn't even in a government office and never will be again.
You are ignorant and stupid, you're a terrible spokesmen for China. Hopefully they won't send you to a Laogai prison for your failures though.
See "code for nothing," here in America, particularly readers of MSNBC.com, we learn something call reason. If the article doesn't mention anything about hate filled fanatical Christians, we tend to think that when you bring that up it makes YOU the one trying to sow discontent and misinformation.
As for the Chinese being very happy with their government, that is impossible. If the government of China thought it was possible that their people would be very happy with them, they would be a democracy. The proof is in the pudding.
It is not "a Chinese thing" to be happy with dictatorship, or a Muslim thing or any other thing. Whether you like to conform or stick out, it is a human thing to wish to have some say in your destiny and manner of living.
these chinese puppets for the government are a laugh a minute. you can see right throught the Bull crap, they're so dam transparent.
code for nothing: your statistics on death row innocents is highly inflated (to suit your argument i presume) Those exonerated are less than 10% a big step down from the 30% figure you use.
It is also obvious you don't have a good sense of significance - you equate driving violations with the small number that might result in being jailed with the human-right losses in China?? You really must be joking.
You are totally cluless. Did you vote in your city council elections? your state elections? your federal and state congressional elections? YOU HAVE A VOICE - THE CHINESE HAVE NO VOICE.
p.s. Sara Palin doesn't want to be elected - she just wants to run
Life in China right now is much like life in the US was in 1950 - personal responsibility is the word of the day, corporate and government influences have yet to really affect everyday life.
What will be telling is how things go from here. If the Chinese people have any sway at all, I urge you to make and keep your government and businesses responsive and responsible to you - that's one thing other governments have failed at (and so far they don't have a great record in your country, but you can change that!), and the results worldwide are obvious today.
Confucious Says: "You have to be a citizen before you can vote,.."
We don't need no stinking rights,.. If i'm a Chinese businessman that screws up, I just blow my brains out,. If I'm a factory worker that doesn't like the working conditions, I just throw myself of building rooftop,...
Yeah you're not obviously working for the Chinese government or anything.
"People in China are very happy with the government, something that can't be said about governments in the West" - How can you tell? Did you take a vote? Oh wait.
Tron, actually I can vote in two western countries: dual citizenship :). I suspect that you only vote in one country, poor sap or should I say lucky fellow?
Apparently voting is a complete waste of time: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/magazine/06freak.html?_r=1
I do know people in China and guess what, they vote. So what was your point? Anyone that disagrees with you works for the Chinese government.
Not to bright to suggest I'm a Chinese national when I'm a western Caucasian business man who has lived and worked in countries all over the world including the USA and Europe. I've also traveled extensively all over China, wonderful country, great people and an impressive professional government.
The police in China are first rate, polite and efficient, something that unfortunately is not always the case in the west (for the most part most police and customs agents are fine in the western countries, but, the only rude ones I've ever met are in the west, never in China).
I never said that the Chinese people were not impressive.
What would you know of not having a say in governance when you get to vote in two countries?
The Chinese government (customs - ha ha ha) are perfect, you are correct. There is not at all a problem with corruption.
The budgets, local and national are open for all the people to see how their hard earned money is spent by the great overlords of China.
You're correct, there is no dissent in China because everything is just fine and dandy.
Oh and if you really are a "caucasian business man" (As if the color of your skin matters to me or any other American), who do you work for? What is your title?
code- a traveling businessman. Ahhh. That explains the delusional la- la- land of rose colored glasses you live in all the time. The only people you make contact with fit the images you want to see and little else. China has an impressive professional government? More like an impressive police-state regime that has an iron fist of control to supress it's general populations. Do you happen to remember the Olympics in Beijing? The Chinese security entourage that accompanied their Olympic torch bearer during his run made news worldwide revealing the rude, arrogant and unprofessional not-ready-for-prime-time behavior typical of Chinese authority thugs used on a regular basis. Grow up, little boy businessman. After '08' you and yours don't exactly hold the credibility or integrity cards anymore, you know?
I recently stood up and voted too, of course there was only one party,... (the one at my house,..)
- North Korean Resident
"The budgets, local and national are open for all the people to see how their hard earned money is spent by the great overlords of China."
Hey Tron,
Do you know what and where the Fed spent your TRILLIONS when they bailed out all the banks? Can you find out from the Fed and let us all know, please, I really want to know.
Sure thing bro:www cbo gov
So where are those Chinese budgets?
Code for nothing:
How are lazy cops that don't enforce the law a good thing? That sounds crazy!
We enforce traffic laws in America to PREVENT accidents! Only ticketing people after an accident is pointless!
The overwhelming majority of Chinese people are poor, unskilled and have ZERO change of upward mobility. They have ZERO religious and social freedom. I can't understand why ANYONE would defend China!
Just look at Tibet and Taiwan .... how many examples do you need?
My goodness, seems that I can't make my examples simple enough for you people. The traffic example was about priorities and not about lazy police. As for the comment about zero upward mobility,what a nutty comment. Anyone who's traveled to China would see that the farmers lives have improved significantly over the years. As for the innocents on death row the 30% is a conservative number, the 10% is what the criminals who wanted to murder these innocents want you to believe.
Having dual citizenship actually allows me to vote in 2 countries, I don't vote in China because I'm not a Chinese citizen. However, most Chinese do vote at the municipal and county level. To vote at the national level requires membership in the Communist Party.
Keep in mind that most democracies have more than 2 parties and very often have 4 or 5.
China has a one party democratic system versus a 2 party system like the USA. Using the logic I hear parroted hear would tell me that America isn't really democratic since we only have 2 parties, we should have 4 or 5 parties, maybe we should have 12 parties, now that's democracy.
Why would any American want to bring up Tibet? Let's look at America and the native Indians, we stole all of their land nearly killed all of them through wars, disease and famine. But of course that's okay if you are American, but it's not okay for China to simply be China. Tibet has been a part of China on and off for over a 1000 years.
China is a rising nation and the USA is in decline. It is always a good thing to be informed, something which the China bashers have no interest in.
spare us the bull crap. Chinas can't make it without the US.you think china puts out all their dirty laundry?Hell No!China right now is so fragmented with different regions of people, one screw up and bye bye.the chinese government is a fraid of it's own people, let's just put it out there shall we?.
i know the US at this point is going down the crapper, but if it does, rising China will be right behind, and the bigger they are the harder they fall.oh and by the way that stupid government should of kept its lecherous hands off of Tibet.who says Tibet has been part of China on and off for a 1000 yrs.oh i know the illustrious government says so.Even if it was, they had to go in and conquer it, now didn 't they? yeah i believe that crap.
one other thing if they do vote as you say,it's probably fixed,and crooked anyway, just like the rest of the corruptionand dirt in the government of that country.
by the way the United States has more than one party. the Democrats, the Republicans,the Green Party, the Libertarians,the Tea Party.i count five.
WOW.............
Such a heated debate............ mostly between people who dont even live in China.
Visiting China is great, and many people should take a trip here, but it takes much much more than that to really understand what is going on around here.
I hope that the future will see more people taking the time to really find out about China for themselves..............and not through the impressions of others who may have alterior motives (like selling books or other publications)
Of course no place is perfect, so please...............if you want to critique something....look at your own backyard and focus on cleaning that up first.
oh yeah WOW life is great in China!on the surface it is!ask people like the nobel prize winner sitting in prison, and for what?Then there's the blind man imprisoned in his own home and for what NOTHING, but for telling the real truth! of course you'll have a lame excuse as to why on that one. hell the list is endless and they all want democracy. they all want the shallow corrupt government running this mascarade GONE, and real democracy in it'as place.look up the word democracy you might learn something.
your post is shallow, to say the least. you're mind set is shallow. you can't even see past your pomp ass nose, which is so high in the air, you'd get runned over by a car crossing the street because you couldn't see it coming.
there's no alterior motives here as you spew on, just the truth.the truth which you know nothing about.you sound like a tourist guide for the your illustrious corrupt government.the worst human rights abusers on this planet.oh yeah we understand whats going on around there.younthink because on the surface your country is flying high economically there is no evil underneath?you're a smug elitist joke to say the least. who the hell do you think your kidding?all you are is another brainwashed cheer leader for the chinese government. so save the bull sh it,and speak the real truth.oh wait you can't do that, because it's a crime in China and you might join the others these SOB's have sitting in prison.
there's plenty to critique in both countries. what ever is going on in your country sure as hell is my concern. in case you're too brain dead to understand, in case you haven't forgotten, both country are tied together like two conjoined twins.hell your country even has lobbiest in Washington DC.now why's that?so in a case like that sir or madam, i like to be ahead of the game, and look past all the bull sh it. i like to focus on both backyards, and GET RID OF THE GARBAGE.of course you're too brain dead too see that.Go b ack to sleep!
you might want to chill out
The administration supported the egyptian government overthrow and now has protests everywhere in the middle east but no support for the chinese protestors. The admin's bought and owned by the chinese money.
You can believe that, if you don't understand financing.
The difference between the Egyptian protests and any protest in China is a protest in China will be met with a violent military reaction. Do you not know what happened last time? They'll kill every single person and not blink an eye.
yeah protest ment with violen t military action. Hell of an army. any army that turns on it's own people is worthless military TRASH!
6 billion people, what's a couple of hundred thousand?,...
yeah BXURZ, they're only peoples lives.
proamerica:
You've got your facts wrong. The administration did NOT support the Egyptian calls for the ouster of their dictator president. The administration RIGHTFULLY said that it was an Egyptian matter but of course we support greater democracy and freedom. Nothing really happened in China. Why would the administration get involved? Why SHOULD they get involved?
Let China collapse! That way we won't have to pay them the cash we owe :)
Code and Jim are correct. I moved from Omaha, Nebraska to China a few years ago .... Chinese people are very proud of and satisfied with their government. p.s. the Great FIrewall is like swiss cheese for anybody who cares ... I just use my American VPN in china ... and have complete access ... youtube, facebook, netflix ... etc.
And here we have another brainwashed Chinese convert. Chinese people have been duped by 30-odd years of blinding progress. Of course compared to where they were when their parents grew up they seem happy- for the time being. China has big problems that cannot be resolved. They cannot possibly effect any sense of a true democracy there. Their ancient cultural roots and pride of tradition will not permit it happening in so short a time frame. They have a good work ethic, determination and smarts, but culturally/socially the notions of Chinese sovereignty are quite removed from our free ideas about what ought be.
In five thousand years of history they have learned to eat food with two sticks and carry two buckets of sh** with one,...
Cause obviously if they disagree with your notions of China they're brainwashed Commies. What an intelligent comment LOL.
The current regime is at a crossroads, various factions are vying for power and preparing for the 2012 handover to the new Politiburo. 2012 will be an interesting year in E. Asia, all the major actors from US, China, Taiwan, S. Korea will transition to new leadership. The CCP wants stability at all cost for the changing of the guard are are heightened.
Hopefully these calls for protest, prod their paranoid minds towards more reforms rather than token gestures. Who knows, it maybe a shape of things to come.
China is merely following the path of Japan/Taiwan and S. Korea. Authoritarian regimes pretty much facist that modernize and industrialize a nation like Chiang Kai-Shek and Park Chung Hee, which eventually turn to a democracy.
China is going through a pretty bad drought right now. Imagine 800 million pissed off chinese farmers and workers. Luckily, China is more industry than agriculture.
Always welcome democracy!
The development of real democracy respecting human rights is never to be feared.
There is actually a global political awakening of the exploited and impoverished youth of the Third World denouncing inequality, exploitation and oppression. It is largely driven by the Internet and social media. The aim is to promote democracy of the people for the people. Any humanist cant denounces this. It is not a country-by-country problem. If all the dictators actually defending their power with bullets had respect their people, they would not be in the position they are now. Libya, Bahrain and Yemen used lethal force to quash antigovernment protests. China detains hundreds of activists in the biggest police crackdown since last October when dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. Unsurprisingly, Chinese authorities have suspended text messaging in politically tense areas. Dictators act to maintain power, not for the good of their people. The problem for China is that the actual revolution wave strengthen the oppressed population in their determination, self-confidence, and give more power to the independent social groups and institutions of its people.
We actually see massive shut-downs of the society, general strikes, mass stay-at-homes, defiant marches increasingly undermining dictators’ organization. Dictators become powerless and the democratic defenders triumph without violence. At least two dictatorship disintegrates in front of their defiant population. The collapse of these dictatorships doesn't erase poverty, crime, bureaucratic inefficiency, and environmental destruction. It opens the way for hard work and long efforts to build more just relationships. It also helps the rebuilding of greater political democracy, personal liberties, and social justice. But revolutions open the door to all kinds of problems and all kinds of threats to human rights. In many countries, decades of oppression and submission to rulers have deliberately weakened the social, political, economic institutions of the society. If revolution is becoming just a tool for the elite to gear politics to their interests and deprive the majority of their rights, it's no longer a democracy. All men and women prizing human rights should support democracy. It is not the best but the less worst way to govern. All the countries of this world have a chance to help shape a more democratic world. Promoting democracy serves all human interests. It entails inherent risks but the denial of freedom carries more long-term dangers.
The Chinese roll tanks over protestors and we look the other way when it hits our pockets. We will go to war for oil and resources as long as there is a payoff...................everyone else is on their own.
How could our illustrious Coniver-In-Chief EVER bite the hand of "Those who pull his strings".
These were very brave young chinese who fought and died for democracy in Tiananmen Square in 1989:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzFmw3A3Rok&NR=1
"Foil?" Who wrote this title? The Chinese Government? Foil: prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding. Sometimes I really question the US and their support of China. Do I now need to question MSNBC too? Maybe I'm being nit-picky but if you write for a living you have to know that every word matters.
Quick, get Dudley Do-Right to end this despicable caper,....
That the CNBC's Beijing Desk Political Minder ensuring that the article title text is politically correct,....
I don't believe this is going to happen in China....
I have proof that Jim and Code are in fact impostors, they are Chinese spies blogging pro communist propaganda. blog under hundreds of alias user names. Just like the article says, the Chinese are the most internet savy.
If you have proof then why don't you post it us, dumbass. Yeah 1.3 billion people are brainwashed, but some ignorant American who can't speak Chinese knows much more about China than even the Chinese themselves. Typically argument from ignorant American: If you support China then you are brainwashed or an impostor.
How does that work? They can't have a differing point of view? This is what is wrong with Western countries. They can never allow other to follow their own path, but have the follow the white man's way.
If anything, Americans are the most brainwashed of all people since they are so damn ignorant and only listens to talking heads on their favorite network to confirm what they already themselves believe. They are not looking for truth only for confirmation of their own biased reality. Think about it?
I'd post it, but then, I'd have to kill you,..
- Spycraft Manual
The chinese governement is not peaceful, moral, or open to their people knowing the truth. The chinese government is sneaky, selfish, IP stealing theives; daily business of spying, hacking, and planning their future to go to war with the US.
Stop buying CHINESE made products!! Next time you're in the store shopping, check the tag for any other country other than Made in CHINA.
Thank You JayMan, well put!
If I don't see it must be true. Try buying something that like Louis Vutton, and wonder why they have factories in China but say made in France? ;)
Things are not black and white, Ford is more foreign than Toyota as Toyota does much of its manufacturing in USA while Ford in Mexico. Coca-cola isn't American owned anymore and trade laws let you say MADE IN (insert country) so long as a label made that country but 99% was made in China.
I tried to boycott all Chinese products for a year,.... and ended up with a Whiskey barrel for clothes and a roll of toilet paper,.. (suspenders optional,.. made in Vietnam,..)
This seems to be more like a gathering rather than a protest. Did you see anybody holding protest signs? It is held in a busy shopping center on a Sunday afternoon. Considering the large number of people with cameras and police, most people who didn't bother to read that tweet would think that some celebrity is coming here on that day.
code for nothing wrote:
"...drive ..in the USA and make an illegal left turn, pass on the left turn lane of a major intersection against traffic with a police car there. You will be ...ticketed and possibly jailed [in America] ...In China, as long as you don't cause an accident you will just be left alone, the policemen don't care."
If that is really true about China, then I would say that there is at least some respect for individual liberties in China, and that is a very good sign. I still wonder what would happen in the driving example if (for whatever reason) the Chinese policeman DID decide to ticket and/or arrest you. Would you be informed of your legal rights? Would you have any right to remain silent? Would you be given a chance to call your family or a lawyer? Is there a right to know the exact charges against you? Would the police operate under any time limits for reaching a decision to either charge you with a crime, or let you go free? In the USA this time limit was often held to be about 24 hours (at least prior to the "Patriot" Acts).
If arrested in China, do you have the right (upon the next regular business day for the court) to go before an independent* judge for an initial hearing of the charges, for establishing your need for a court-provided lawyer (based on the expected legal cost, as compared to your income) and to set the amount of bail** in your case?
*NOTE1: In this context "independent" just means a judge who is not directly controlled/employed by the police dept.
**NOTE2: "bail" is the amount of money (or property) the court requires you to put up, before being released from jail, in order to guarantee your appearance at the next court date. If you can produce this money (or "make bail") then you are released from jail while awaiting your court date (which can be several months away). If you cannot afford bail, or if bail is denied by the judge (only in rare cases) then you are held in jail until your court date. In some cases where the crime is not too serious, and where you (or your family) are well regarded in the local community, then the judge may allow your release without any money required, and your court appearance is guaranteed only by your personal promise and your signature (i.e. essentially, your good reputation is your guarantee).
The Chinese people need to send their corrupt gov't packing!
It makes me VERY proud of America when I see how nasty and hateful the Chinese government is!
a jkingston we need to get a few facts straight.the chinese government is the lowest common denominator on the human food chain. however the American government is no boy scout either. do you realize that it is run by the corporations?both parties Dem and Rep, are bought and paid for by these corporations.you sir live under a Corporatacracy.it's no longer the government by the people and for the people,it's the government by the corporations and for the corporations, and screw the people.
Yeah, so proud of American dropping bombs on civillian. Starting war illegally. Rape of Iraqis and Afghanis. Constant war.
There were riots and protests in 13 Chinese cities this week against government policies and more are coming. I believe the chinese bubble economy will burst within next 5 years and they will dump all US dollars they possess into the market.making US dollar worth half of its current value.
That's one reason why the West loves every protest in China, no matter how small it is. Even there is no protest, they still hope for one.
China is a big country of 1.3 billion people, it's funny how the West get so excited over a bunch of Chinese protesters.
Its inevitable that change will come to China. Maybe not at the pace we'd like to see it but it will come. You can see from the rest of the world that it is starting from a youth movement and education is the key. I used to look down on on-line social networks but now I can see how incredibly powerful they are in this day and age. We are witnessing an amazing shift in human awareness at a blinding rate. The down fall of the corrupt Chinese oligarchy is just a matter of time and education.
Ed-3080023: I agree with you that sometime in the future the Chinese government will change. I think though, that government is more likely to parrot the current US form of democratic Plutocracy. This type of government is elastic enough to look one way when pushed by the electorate, then after effecting faction settlement, returning to it's paramount purpose. Such has endured in the US for the last 150 years and looks stronger than ever today.
Code for nothing,
My impression is that you have never lived in China or you work for the Chinese government. Many years ago I lived in China and I found that most of the population lives in total fear of government officials. If an individual says the slightest thing against the government, or an official of the government, it was off to “re-education camp” with them. Perhaps a Tiananmen Square would be in order.
If a Chinese citizen invited one of us to dinner, they would first have to obtain permission from the local party leader. A Foreign Service government official would then be assigned to attend dinner with us. The reason for this was to make sure we did not discuss anything that was not approved by the government. For example, we were not allowed to discuss any aspect of democracy. If two of us went to dinner, we would be accompanied by two Foreign Service officials.
The Chinese government officials were little more that transparent thieves who cared little about their own people and were interested in stealing as much of our equipment and technology as they could get their hands on. At the end of our contract, the government had the option to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of our scientific equipment. They stated that they did not have the funds for the purchase. We then began to arrange for the shipment of our equipment back by train. We were informed that we would have to leave everything there and we would not be allowed to remove it. In other words, they were trying to steal it. Rather than turn everything over to the Chinese government for free, we destroyed every bit of it.
We certainly have corruption in the United States, but it is nothing compared to what goes on in China. The Chinese government believes there is nothing wrong with stealing technology, pathological lying, and crushing anyone who gets in their way. Why should they care what the world thinks? After all, we are nothing but a bunch of “big nose foreign devils” to them.
I really like the Chinese people, but I learned to despise the communist party and all it represents.
I certainly understand the discontent and resulting uprisings of the middle eastern people. China though, is a different story. For the first time in the modern era, that country is on the rise and will likely become the worlds preeminent nation. In this instance, I think outside influences were probably testing the water.
To All 1.5 billions of oppressed, harassed, tortured, imprisoned, enslaved innocent innocent Chinese!
IT IS THE TIME FOR ALL MEN AND WOMEN OLD AND YOUNG INCLUDING SOLDIERS IN CHINA TO STAND UP TO DESTROY ENTIRELY THE EXTREMELY BLOODY AND WORST COMMUNIST, TERRORISM, CORRUPTED DICTATORS, AND THEIR CRIMINAL AND LAWLESS COMMUNIST RULING BLOODY DICTATORIAL EMPIRE!
All Chinese innocents have to unchain themselves from the the slavery applied by their extremely bloody communist dictatorial regime!
This Chinese Communist dictatorial regime is illegitimated and it has no any reason to continue to survive to condemn and enslave 1.5 billions innocent Chinese anymore!
THE UNITED 1.5 BILLIONS OF INNOCENT CHINESE IS THE MOST POWERFUL SOURCE TO OVERTHROW THIS EVIL COMMUNIST DICTATORIAL REGINE!
Chinese innocent poeople have absolute rights and obligations to destroy criminal terrorists or the communist Chinese Regime and its criminals or the terrorizing murderers and corruptors! All Chinese People have tounite like a most powerful force to burn to the ground their dictatorial commiunist regime! This bloody regime is absolutely illegitimated and has no any reason to survive to continue to bring deaths, corruption and abuses and harassment and illltreat Chinese people! Chinese people have all rights and obligations to take control their nation,their future, their destiny. their rights to live as free citizens and to choose not to allow any Communist Chinese to endanger them at all! (BellaLiberta)
All 1.5 Billions of Chinese courageous innocents have most powerful power todestroy their criminal regime or the bloody dictatorial communist evil regime!
Communist regime in China is the unionized of human-like devils or Draculasor Satans in this world today! These satanic communist Chinese regime DEFINITELY MUST BE DESTROYED BY ALL 1.5 BILLIONS CHINESE UNITED TOGETHER TO CRUSH THEMTO DUST!
The day of the end of the Chinese Communist Regime is very close to be destroyed now!! Now is the time for all 1.5 billions of Chinese to unite and stand up to crush this evil dictatorial bloody communist regime!
All world people are on the side with all 1,.5 billions of Chinese citizens! All world nations and people are supporting all 1.5 billions of Chinese innocents due to they realize all 1.5 billions of Chinese innocents in China are forced to live like 1.5 billions of slaves for the bloody and criminal communist chinese corruptors , terrorists, thieves, killers, communist Chinese! It is very very wrong for all 1.5 billions Chinese tohave to live lile slaves for a smalll group of communist chinese of the Chinese Communist Party!
Please destroy completely the Chinese Communist Party and its dictators! Bring them to justice to dictate their lives!
Chinese Communist Party and its criminals or criminal communist party-menmbers are belonged to a criminal organization or the terrorist organization! and all 1.5 billions of enslaved and harassed and terrorized Chinese innocents have to destroy completety their criminal Chinese Communist regime and Chinese Communist Party and its members!
This is the only way that all1.5 billions innocent Chinese citizens can destroy the chains attached totheir bodies caused by communist criminals in China!