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BEIJING -- We’ve written a lot about China’s Great Firewall, or Net Nanny. In the process, we’ve always tried to make the point about how straightforward it is for people here with wherewithal to circumvent the government’s Internet controls.
But what really impresses us is how easily people here get around not just by using VPNs (virtual private networks) but by using the Chinese language.
Take the would-be Jasmine Revolution. Last weekend, an anonymous circular made the rounds on various Chinese sites run outside of China, calling for an uprising fashioned after those in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and elsewhere. The note called on people to show up at designated locations in 13 cities to protest corruption and censorship and to demand a more democratic government. Since then, there have been calls for regular attempts to gather every Sunday.
The Chinese authorities responded immediately. In addition to rounding up the usual suspects of dissidents, lawyers and other activists, the government cracked down on the Internet.
Searches for the word “jasmine” were blocked in online chat rooms and Chinese social networking sites like Sina.com’s Weibo. (Like major Western social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube, Twitter is not accessible inside China.)
One report noted that it might be tough for officials to completely ban the word “jasmine” from online use, apparently because it’s also the name of a Chinese folk song popular with the Communist Party leadership.
Regardless, plenty of folks have already come up with ingenious ways to get around the controls. New “codes” have been adopted to circumvent the Great Firewall and help spread the call for another round of protests.
Boxun.com, the website where the original call for China’s “jasmine revolution” was issued, just put up a new post encouraging netizens to use the phrase “two sessions” as a substitute for “jasmine.” “Two sessions” here refers to the annual National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, held in Beijing every March.
In this vein, the phrase “to protest at a square” becomes “to hold two sessions at a square.” This tactic would greatly embarrass the authorities if they tried to censor the phrase as they would need to delete anything related to their own Party events that will dominate China’s media in fewer than two weeks.
Another example of playing around with language is the word “protest.” The act itself is now being represented by the phrase, “to take a stroll,” when people want to discuss online mass demonstrations without being censored.
Of course, as we write this, searches for the name of the U.S. ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, Jr., is now a sensitive “term” on Chinese microblogs. See our earlier blog about Huntsman being spotted outside a McDonald's where some protests were coincidentally being held.
Wonder what great euphemism netizens might come up for him if that’s the case.
China launches sanitized state-run search engine
LinkedIn site disrupted in protest-wary China
Leave a Comment:
Tow the party line or be censored. It happens on these blogs too. Oppose pro-illegal alien activity and your blog might be deleted. Oppose gay marriage and the same thing could happen. China has no monopoly on what we don't learn from media sources. That's why many people, including me, have gone to offshore media sources.
You are correct. We are not much better.
or u could have fox news hammer blatant lies till palin stupids think they are true which takes approx 1 viewing.
u should probably get a job and like um work your way through it.
ALL news in the US is filtered. Left. Right. Whatever. It's all filtered. (Go read David Rockefeller's Memoirs... He blatantly admits there is control over the media, which he is part of.)
Most Americans are mindless sheep, eating at whichever feed trough suits them. And both troughs have the very same weak feed. The US is, in fact, no better...
Since when is it "your" blog? Do you own the domain? Didn't you check a use agreement? It's a free market... blog sites can choose what content they will or won't allow.
If you operated your own website you could post whatever you want.
The most descriptive part of bspurloc's ID are the first two letters, BS.
Sifu,
Your right. See bspurloc #1.2
Paduki is yet another one of those posters who think the TOS doesn't matter when they sign up. Poor baby, you found out the rules DO apply to you. You want to post whatever you want, get your own blog up and running. Just make sure you don't have to agree to a TOS at whatever site you choose to host it, or get your own server.
Considering the phenomenon of "unintended consequences", the creation of the internet has done more to liberate captive nations than was ever anticipated by its creators. Considering recent events, it seems to be the greatest freedom-of-speech engine ever created to date.
At least there's still free porn. That's something I enjoy every three and a half weeks.
Then what are you doing here?
I don't know but maybe they're trying to get BOTH sides of the story instead of a skewed one pointed view.
No way.... I thought word filters worked I mean people CRY and CRY so they must work.
What happens when people use references to certain situations in general ways OMG!
I mean like I was eye balling this blondes top heaviness and became solid in my frontal lower section.
So, you checked out tits and got a boner? Let's see if this makes it.
Later added: I guess it made it through.
Well, let's see if this comment gets deleted or censored:
I oppose illegal immigration, gay "marriage", human fetal abortion, the soon-to-be-dead Fairness Doctrine, socialism, communism, and other frames of entitlement thinking, as well as sympathy and justification for islam (which oppresses by default), and censorship of our freedom of speech and press.
You fogot to add gun control :-)
so u approve of Christian Talibanism, crusades, christian taliban mullahs loving of underage bois and um palin stupid crosshairs on politicians.
LOL you made a liar out of the poster
I oppose illegal immigration, I am for gay marriage, I am pro-choice, I am against entitlement, I am against sympathy for Islam (understanding, yes, sympathy, no), I am for the censorship of press and speech within certain context (like Wiki-leaks)...to add more, I am against mandatory Union membership, and I am against the current fillibuster system.
And yet you feel entitled to publish your thoughts, as evidenced by your cries of censorship.
If you wish to write a blog, feel free. When you post on a forum, however, you are using a resource owned by others. You either follow their rules, what ever they may be, or get deleted.
So in other words, you're uneducated and ignorant. Bravo.
More BS from bspurloc. This is really old stuff and much of it has been proven untrue, but there are plenty of Rachel Maddow fans like old BS here that can't get past the simplest of ignorant rationalizations.
What is the 'soon to be dead fairness doctrine'? Is that the same as 'death with dignity'?
I totally disagree with your silence, Earl...
Paduki and Black.Knight-48 I have to respectfully disagree. I'm an American teaching in Shanghai and you don't know how lucky you are. There are hundreds of accessible sites in America whose authors oppose illegal immigration and gay marriage. If the gov't here in China remotely disagrees with any content on a site its blocked. Freakin IMDB is blocked along with Facebook, Youtube etc. You guys even have an entire network news organization which supports your point of view. Wake up and enjoy your freedom.
I was there in Kenzia for a year and the telephone is the same way. I took a laptop with me stopped using it after the first week because it was useless
nonsense
Tow the party line or be censored. It happens on these blogs too. Oppose pro-illegal alien activity and your blog might be deleted. Oppose gay marriage and the same thing could happen. China has no monopoly on what we don't learn from media sources. That's why many people, including me, have gone to offshore media sources.
bspurloc is a perfect example of crude, insensitive prounion liberals. The day for crushing libs and unions has arrived. We're taking America back to its' founding roots!!
Actually, the founding fathers were quite liberal in their thinking. The majority of colonists fled to America to escape the conservative governments of Europe and the aristocracies and plutocracies they were forced to live under.
Our current Republican politicians are the epitome of "crude and insensitive".
Sichuan I agree with you whole heartily. MAYBE more posters ought to go back and re-read their US history before posting how the liberals are ruining the nation. I think that the lessons will always be lost on them. Forgive them their stupidity, Oh Lord, for they have come under the evil spell of hate mongers on the widely available media. Lead them not into that land of hate for they shall never again see the true light of intelligent thought.
Sichuan, I believe our founding fathers were very smart and forward thinking folk. But I bet they never envisioned what liberals have done to make the lives of our citizens so dependent on big government. I bet they never envisioned that only 50% of this country's citizens would prop up our government with their hard earned money. Republicans, like them or not, are tackling our budget problems head on as opposed to the Democrats who are talking about doing it in the future when things get better. The most popular fix we see touted by Democrats is raising taxes for the rich while shielding their supporters from loss of benefits they have bought votes with for many years. The longer we wait, the harder it will be on all of us. Raise taxes for everyone across the board now instead of pitting class against class. At the same time, our leaders should be cutting budgets whenever and wherever possible. It will only get harder with time.
JimH only sees through the eyes of the Rachel Maddows and the Ed Shultz's of this world. I see know difference between a closed minded liberal and a closed minded conservative. Like I said earlier, our founding fathers surely could not have seen this country being propped up by the pockets of so few of its citizens.
Jim and Si, I respectfully disagree. 2 things:
1. In our case, the founders wanted a chance to have a say in everything, even things on which they disagreed. This is what the "old countries" lacked. It wasn't that they were necessarily conservative (did you forget the Puritans?) it was that they dictated life to their people.
2. Classical liberalism in the vein of our Founding Fathers is not the same as what we have now. Now "Liberals" demand forced acceptance only they rename it "tolerance". If you disagree with what they are demanding be accepted they instantly go into attack mode and call you "ignorant", "racist", "bigot", "tea bag" etc. Both sides do this, but essentially its used as a tool to shutdown debate or discussion. I've always found it ironic that the most intolerant people are the ones frequently shouting about "intolerance".
Classical liberalism included the realization that you can tolerate the existence of something without agreeing with it. With the unfortunate exception of slavery, many things were openly and hotly debated. Even the things we take for granted in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. That would be why we have both the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers published from the beginning of our own nation. So yes, please go back and re-read our history. Be careful that the hate mongers you so easily mock don't also include who you see in the mirror.
Ron, I have to disagree with you on a couple of points. First, while you're correct that the founding fathers likely didn't foresee a time when the federal government was subsidizing the welfare of it's citizens, and was in turn being "propped up" by "50% of this country's citizens", that would be because of the following facts:
1) There was no federal income tax
2) There was no public welfare system
3) There was not such a huge disparity of income between the classes.
I don't disagree that the power of the unions has actually, over time, diminished the role of the blue collar worker in this country as it forced more companies to outsource manufacturing and (wrongly) look to illegal immigrants to fill low paying jobs. That also caused the unions to look to survive in the government arena, stifling true job competition, and overburdening our tax funds.
But, Ron, my 3rd point above, I think is very important. Our understanding of economics is not what it was 250+ years ago. Laissez-faire economics in it's purest form produces imbalances and abuses over time. Money is power, and too much of that power in the hands of so few does corrupt the equalities that the founding fathers sought to ensure in our system of government and society.
Don't ignore certain facts and make statements to support your party line. We are still in a recession, and while I absolutely think the fire hose of government spending needs to be shut down, I will NOT forget the Rebublicans of the past decade who plugged that fire hose into the hydrant and turned the spigot on full blast with no thought to the consequences.
Hey if you don't want to be union don't pply to union shops. That's just as good as the other voices that say if you don't like a job go find another. Unions are good for MORE people. Without them you'd probably not afford your technologies, eh? Because you'd be working like a slave for scraps, unless you became the evil.
RandomB, thank you for your civil and thoughtful comments. Unfortunately, your reasoning that our founding fathers could not foresee where this country would be today has been the excuse used for decades to attack our constitution. Yes, things are different, but this country has done nothing to encourage those that are unmotivated to get off their butts and stop leeching off the generous entitlements our government provides them. I own and operate a union construction company and I can tell you from someone working on the inside, that our politicians have caved into construction unions at the expense of the taxpayers, much like many other states have. Our Hawaii government, dominated by the Democrats for more than 40-years, has assured that government contracted projects will cost us taxpayers top dollar. However the construction union workers always get laid off when the work is done or project completed. With government employee unions, there is no layoff and we taxpayers are saddled with funding the entitlements for which Democrats in particular used to buy their votes while they're employed and well into their retirement. I respect your position, however, to blindly support a particular party, in your case the Democrats, only makes agreement somewhere in the middle unattainable. I voted for President Obama. Dumbest vote of my 63-years on this earth. As for leaving out specific facts, I ask you to practice what you preach. I've paid taxes my entire working life and I'm fed up with having the privilege of being a member of the 50% of this nation's citizens that pay the taxes that prop up the other 50%. Aloha.
About time.
What we need to do is stop looking at the problems overseas and start some protesting of our own. For instance, we NEED to protest this stupid raise in gasoline prices or we will see $5 per gallon by August.
Bush's fault?
Indeed. A time where only the top educated socially and fiscally elite ran things, the ignorant weren't welcomed to the "party", only white male land owners could vote, the cure for any illness was a good bleed, women were viewed as property, it was ok to own slaves, debtors could be imprisoned, and the Democratic-Republican party was the party of choice. Oh, to go back to the founding roots of the country.
Except for the slave part it sounds good to me. LOL
China had been the leader for thousand years. Of course, the Western people dislike it. The Western people also dislike the top students are Chinese in every top universities in the world. So the Western try to do something bad to China. China is not stupid and the Chinese authorities have all the tools to block the virus from the West. You dumb ass Western politician. You lost the fight this time. Ha, ha, ha! Sorry! I have no intention to make fun of the Western politician. It's only a joke.
Wow. Are we feeling a little ethnically superior, Timmi?
Ok so if were going to do away with entitlements I say the first ones should be coorperate welfare. IE make them pay taxes and do away with programs where towns fit the bill to build facilities for these companies on the promise of jobs then then company leaves and the town is stuck in debt with a specialized facility and no use for it. The senate and house members that want to cut wages for all public employees and benifits, which Im fine with need to lead by example and do the same instead of firing hard working firemen and police and cutting education and adding to unempolyment. The next group of entitled are our frinds overseas of whom we pay for their defense(way to many to name.) America needs to get out of the business of buying friends especially when we are broke. It doesnt work anyway. Unions on the other hand have gotten out of control and while some of the things they provide are good for keeping companies honest the unions themselves are dishonest. Its good to be able to negotiate with companies other wise we would be subjected to same conditions our relatives were at the beginning of our industrial revolution. Ask India how they feel about it.
I wonder if folks know how to circumvent US control of the internet and to see wikileaks. Is there a brave resistance with code words?
Does it bother anyone that the US government can do a better job of internet censorship than China?
The only censorship I ever see here is, for derailments of topics and name calling. Avoid that, and you dont get censored. And rightly so. Using mature discussion is something you agree to when you sign up. And derailments are used to get people off topic. Its a form of manipulation. Keep people from talking about something. So that cant be allowed either.
Hate speech is something I fully endorse being illegal and/or censored. Im glad that where I live, it is. Groups like the West Burrough Baptist church cant operate their garbage here.
Who decides what hate speech is?
Hate speech is the most necessary to protect. Kill that speech and it's just a matter of time before any speech is labeled as hate speech. It is not wrong to hate evil. Hate speech is only speech. The problem is when action is taken. I hate your opinion and think you weaken peace.
Progress is the key. The point of free discussion and exchange of opinion is to create something better; whether that be a better government, or new smart phone. Hate speech is also free speech, but qualifies as hate speech because it impedes progress.
when it comes to communist China just get it to go .
The last true watch dog of society died with Walter Cronkite.
to the people of china.you will not be able to read this but,there are more of you -then your army
and communist goverment. it will be very hard -trust me but get together and just take you country
back! they will not be able to stop all of you. the goverment can not count on the army. the army
may help you,after all they are you sons,fathers & husbands
Glad you are so willing to sacrifice Tony. China is no more communist than is the USA.
To quote a phrase often used in the masthead of the early issues of Mad Magazine, "It's crackers to slip a rozzer a dropsy in the snide." You'll require the right Partridge or Henley to decode, or a remaining geezer from the early Mad staff.
Enough!
If we really want to "get back to the country as it was founded," we need to come to grips with the fact that we'd have NO standing Army or Navy, the currency of the realm would be gold or silver, most of us would be either poor or slaves, and you'd have no vote if you didn't own property. White males only.
Washington warned against "foreign entanglements," so we'd have a much lower footprint. But slavery would also never have been dealt with. It's a crime that Americans don't know their own history, or choose to ignore it.
Actually I think the only military authorized to stand is the Navy.
Mong and Bu Gu----- nice of you to reveal this!
As long as the Internet is up and running (required in today's business) there will be ways around any controls. The Chinese "Great Firewall" is leaky at best, and worthless to stop the determined. Just as a house lock will keep honest people honest. The Chinese censors are just keeping the satisfied complacent. A true dissident can and will get their message heard!
While our media is nearly as controlled as China's (in more discrete but just as effective ways), the internet and what people are allowed to write aren't nearly as censored. Take Youtube, for example. It is absolutely FILLED with anti-US Government videos, calls for protests, even calls for civil war and forceful government overthrows. Surely doing that in such a blatant way on the internet is not possible in China without some sort of serious and possibly deadly repercussions via their government.
But the media, TV coverage, and all that... it is no less censored than in China. All the censorship is just covered up a lot better. Hopefully we Americans will smarten up some day and go through a little revolution of their own.
Watch bbc or cbc it is dull and dry but mostly accurate. Unlike action news fox msnbc americans are so affected by attention deficit disorder their news needs to be exciting lol.
noodles= AM
chicken=PM
egg roll= weekday
lo mein= weekend
easy to get around them..11 noodles 3 egg rolls--- will be 11AM Wednesday
To channel Reagan:
China, Take Down That (Fire)Wall!