The reasoning behind the forced precipitation was because Beijing had been experiencing a drought. The night before the snow, the government had fired silver iodide into the skies. The resulting effect increased the amount of snow by 16 million tons.

“We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought,” said Zhang Qiang, the head of the weather modification office, to the state media.

China has a history of artificially inducing rain, usually in cases to stop drought. At other times, the weather modification office has reduced the rain to ensure clear skies, such as during the National Day parade in October or the Beijing Olympic Games.

Netizens have been divided in their opinions about this past weekend’s man-made snow. Some wrote gleefully about its beauty, like blogger, 鱼干儿.

北京的天气，总是这么让人匪夷所思。毫无预兆的就下了场雪，而且还一发不可收拾。听说是人工催下来的，管他呢，我们就爱这样的天气。

Some, however, have been more annoyed. Wrote 小米：

回来才听说这是场人工降雪，是谁这么主观的断定这是下雪的好时机呢？？到处都是措手不及的冷，电力、交通、供暖等都遇到很棘手的问题。

On an Internet forum, one user complained that the government should have warned people ahead of time, adding that many of the flights at the airport were delayed.

要我说，这种人定胜天的精神是好的，虽然北 京人都“被冬天”了，如果真能解除北方旱情也算是功德一桩。就是没通知大家的气象局太不地道。

A few posts made on the Internet have also expressed worry over what kind of effects the unnatural snow might have on the environment. One blogger, 天边的云, wondered if anyone has the right to alter the weather.

但是，在我们还不能完全掌握天气变化的规律时，就盲目改变局部的天气，是否会对 整个环境造成更大的不利影响呢？比如，这次因为北京缺水，就让原本要下到山东（假设而已）的雪在北京下了，会不会造成山东更缺水呢？

Alex Pasternack, a blogger and journalist in Beijing, wrote a post on Tree Hugger elaborating on what kind of effects the man-made precipitation might have.

The drought has affected 800,000 hectares of farmland by the end of October, official sources estimated, and the snow storm was said to be a much-needed boon to local farmers.

But not all farmers in the region benefited. One possible side effect of weather modification is that it diverts precipitation from other regions that need it too, for the sake of creating stronger storms in a focused area.

Other netizens have poked fun at the snow. Elizabeth Kain wrote on her blog:

Yesterday's snow was the earliest in ten years. I am sure my mother, who sat in the Beijing Airport for 7 hours as all flights in and out of the city were disrupted or cancelled, would be happy to know her inconvenience was state induced.

Another comment about the snow also made an astute observation:

Martin M. November 2, 2009 3:30 pm

Everything is made in China, even snow.

Under existing law, each rural deputy represents a population four times than in urban areas. That means that one rural NPC deputy represents 960,000 rural people, while each urban NPC deputy represents 240,000 urban people. Legal scholars said the amendment reflects the transition of China’s urban and rural society. The current imbalance started in 1953 when the first Electoral Law was passed. At the time, rural population greatly outnumbered urban citizens. The rule was to ensure that urban deputies would not be greatly outnumbered.

While China’s state media carries headlines such as “China's rule by law boosted by equal political rights and equal life compensation in urban and rural areas” and “One step nearer equality”, netizens’ responses are more skeptical.

Netizens from nfdaily.cn question the credibility and limited public participation of elections in China:

1 # 网友 2009-10-28 10:18:40: 当某一权利仅仅是纸面权利，而不被坐实时，大家都不重视它就在所难免。而不重视的结果是，让这一权利更加流于形式. 这么多年在外面遇见很多黎民百姓，问过很多人，结果都和我一样从来不曾有用过一次选举权的事。一切还是务实点好。许多空话对百姓又有什么意义。

While a right merely exists on paper but not in practice, people will not attach importance to it. The result is that this right will only become a formality. These years, I’ve asked a lot of people. Many, me included, simply haven’t ever exercised the right to vote. Be more pragmatic. These are just empty words to common people.

6 # 网友 2009-10-29 23:47:33: 选举制度无论怎样改，内定人选早就安排好了

No matter how you reform it, the preferred candidates are arranged in advance.

Earlier in September, a Southern Metropolitan Weekend article on the reform attracted similar comments:

Mameng 2009-09-17: 其实现在就算这四分之一的选举权都没有充分的给农民行使啊.很多农民这一辈子都没亲眼见过“人大代表”为何方神圣

In fact, farmers didn’t even have the chance to exercise their “one quarter” election right in the past. Many simply haven’t seen an NPC delegate in their lifetime.

One also questions the need for adjustment based on the urban/rural population ratio in the first place:

foxhtj 2009-09-18: 如果构成人民的主体是农民，为什么人代会不能成为农民大会，何况是在没有农会的情况下，难道仅仅是因为按马教教义，工人阶级是统治阶级，高人一等？那又何必上山下乡呢

If farmers make up the bulk of the population, why couldn’t they form the bulk of the People’s Congress? Is it just because Marxism-Leninism stresses that the working class should be the ruling class? If so, what’s the need of the “Down to the Countryside” Movement?

Obviously, more far-reaching issues lie beyond the reform. 孫嘉業 of Hong Kong’s Mingpao provides an analysis:

不過，雖然近幾屆全國人大農村代表比例增加，但真正的農民代表人數與毛澤東時代相較卻不增反減。在3000多名代表中，真正的農民僅百名左右，很多農村人大代表是鄉鎮幹部。即使在毛澤東時代，農村選出的人大代表又能在多大程度上代表農民利益，頗成疑問。在國家工業化的進程中，農民的利益總是最先被犧牲掉的。

Although the proportion of rural delegates has increased recently, their absolute number has declined compared with the Mao’s era. Among the 3,000 NPC delegates, only around a hundred are real farmers. Many rural delegates are village officials. Even back in Mao’s era, the extent to which rural delegates represented farmers’ interest was also questionable. In the ongoing industrialization, the farmers are always the first to sacrifice.

真正增加農民在國家政治生活中的話語權，單靠增加農民選出的人大代表的數量是不足夠的。正如現今的工人代表亦未能充分代表工人利益一樣，要徹底改革人大代表産生方法，就應落實人民的選舉權和被選舉權，擴大選舉競爭性，打破身分職業的界限，做實地域代表制，如此，「幾分之一」的困擾，亦隨之化為無形。

To really increase farmers’ representation in national politics, it is not enough to increase the number of delegates elected by farmers. Similarly, workers’ rights in today’s China are not sufficiently reflected by workers’ representatives. To completely reform the formation of NPC delegates, China needs to implement people’s rights to elect and be elected, increase the competitiveness of elections, abolish restrictions based on occupation and identity, and ensure equitable geographical representation. If so, the debate on “fractional” voting rights would be solved.

Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth of the economy since 2005, focusing on environmental pollution and the problem of schistosomiasis (bilharzia). Over the last three decades, peoples' living standards have constantly been on the rise in the country. At the same time, industrial pollution has brought serious consequences for public health and for the environment at large.

It was the first time for a Chinese national to win this award and, what was more important, one of the first times that China’s perilous environmental situation was presented with such visual power. What is in his photos is something far beyond any single environmental issue, but the desperation and hopelessness of people whose life has been stuck in a hell on earth.

China Hush shows the entire photo collection with translated captions. Here are some samples:

There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008

Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008

Villagers from Kang village in Linfen City, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市下康村) due to long-term consumption of the polluted water contaminated by industrial waste, there were 50 people who have cancer and cerebral thrombosis. 64-year-old Wang Baosheng got ill since 2003, he has fester all over his body so he cannot go to bed and lying face down on the edge of the bed each day. July 10, 2005

Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008

Inner Mongolia province Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District, the couple who worked at the Plaster Kiln and just got home. March 22, 2007

It is not only the critics overseas have been deeply impressed, but citizens at home have also been startled by these images. On one of China’s largest web portals, 163.com, more than thirteen thousand people commented on their frustration, fright and gratitude to the photographer for revealing it in such graphic manner.

这是中国吗？国庆阅兵应该把这些图片展出来。

山西啊，在山西活了20多年，临汾呆了四年，然后下定决心，这辈子再不去临汾了。那边真不是人呆的。记得以前爸爸说过他年轻的时候去临汾，都说那里是花果城，街道旁边都是果树。现在我是没看到什么花果树，在临汾的时候都不愿意上街，出去一圈，鞋子就是黑的了。晚上在屋里睡觉，早上起来，鼻孔里都是黑乎乎 的，两天洗一次头发，水象墨汁。在那四年，学会了不穿浅色的衣服，我的衣服都是黑色的。淡色的没法穿，一天洗一次，但是晾着也脏啊，没几天就洗不干净了。从来没见过月亮星星。晚上的时候感觉天空压的很低，都觉得快喘不过气来了。唉，糟蹋啊

死了一部分人 穷了一部分人 然后富了一些人

是个有良知的中国摄影师！

我是学环境工程的，看到这些，心里就不舒服。我们天天喊着奔小康，奔小康，都不知道人们的贫富差距越来越大了。那些只为赚钱，不管他人生命的人，不是畜生而是禽兽。。。

As expected, there always will be some people irritated by the fact that this is a Chinese photographer getting a reward from foreigners by disgracing China.

将最丑陋的一面展示给世界就可以拿奖，这位摄影师的人品啊····

However, such an attitude is quickly rejected by the common sense of most of other people.

老卢，支持你，我们太需要正视自己的缺点了。那些说三说四的人，你们没有生活在那种地方，不知道他们多么希望有人帮他们能说句话。

Recording breaking price in time of recession

At the same time, Hong Kong has become the number one in the income disparity list. As the property market keeps rising in time of recession due to the inflow of hot money, the dream of sweet home is getting further and further away from ordinary people, such as 貝卡 from uwants:

天匯破世界記錄 一尺7萬蚊成交
如不才(我)要買這房子就以這樣計算

不買衣,不吃貴,不旅遊,不買手機
上例也不重要,以下還有
不養妻,不生子
我就能拿7000蚊出來供樓
工作10個月後就能買一尺
十年後我能買下十尺有多…
100年後我就能買下天匯房子
的一個洗手間了
這時我打比麥玲玲問下我有幾多歲命
佢話算到我有1千3百幾歲
在計下去
到左我8百幾歲的時後就能買下天匯的一個單位了

Stay away from the city center… and then from Hong Kong

When answering the question of a professional couple who could not afford to buy a decent house in downtown area, the Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang suggested them to build their home from smaller apartment unit away from the city, where there are still apartments marked at HKD4000 (USD520) per square foot.

Erynnyes from Those were the day discussed the implications of Tsang's answer:

若連律師、醫生也無法在中環買樓，要像煲呔說到偏遠地方買4000元一呎的樓，那其他人又怎樣？豈不連4000元一呎的樓也買不到？B說，假若有一天連律 師、醫生也要「進駐」新界之時，到時新界樓價，又豈止4000元一呎？那其他打工仔又怎樣？難道要搬到深圳住？煲呔是否不明打工仔的困苦？

In fact the Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang Ying-yen, has spelled out his vision for Hong Kong earlier this year that “by 2020, improved road and rail networks may mean Hong Kong people could be better off living in Guangdong than staying input.”

Hung One Bean was outraged by such logic:

有錢就自己人，冇錢就賤過人─唔該過主，或，你應該衡量下自己既能力，係咪適合係香港居住，當然，來打工是歡迎的，正是有見及此，即使付出昂貴的公帑，都要興建高速又完善的運輸系統。

Money game, number game

Recently a video clip of a TV drama in 1999 in which the protagonist was complaining about the economic situation when the property bubbles had devastated the middle class and the poor has been circulated widely among Internet users via youtube and facebook. Because of copyrights issue, the clip has been taken down several times but netizens keep on uploading and circulating the clip around. Below in a version that remixes the sound of the protagonist with photos of government officials, property developers and the poor:

Here is the transcription of the protagonist's speech:

I have tried, I tried my best to stick to my position, working days and nights and earned a living. I have tried. But people out there, people out there do they know anything about construction and building? They just invest with little bit of money and time, push up the property market and make a hugh amount of money. Is that fair? Please ask people around, ask any people randomly what do they need. Their answer is very simple. What they want is a very simple apartment. Why do they have to spend their whole life to pay the housing mortgage? Because the rich people is manipulating the world. The richer one is, they are more into this game. Is this world fair? Is this world fair?

Among the photos shown in the video clip is the “Conduit Road 39″ building. Apart from its price, the building also reflects how the property developer “played their game”. The 46-storey building turned into a scandal due to the “auspicious” floor numbering system. A total of 42 intermediate floor numbers are omitted in order to turn the top floor into “88th floor” (lucky number for Chinese) and the missing floors are 14, 24, 34, 64 and all floors between 40-59, and the floor number which follows 68 is 88. It seems that Hong Kong has become the Orwell's animal farm where monetary power can redefine our sense of number.

Donald Tsang Unwanted

People's anger cannot be contained. Netizens decided to organize a rally against the Chief Executive Donald Tsang on 1 of November. There are several groups in the facebook for the mobilization, including “Power of all citizens against Tsang“, “Light bulb Tsang, We have enough of you“. Below is one of the rally posters:

Built during the Qing Dynasty, it was later sacked by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Countless works of art were also looted from the palace and then taken abroad.  Now many of these items remain in the hands of foreign museums or private collections.

Earlier this year, a few of those artifacts went up for auction in Paris, drawing the attention of the Chinese media. The Chinese government condemned the sale and demanded the artifacts’ return.

Now with the recent passing of the 149th anniversary of the palace’s destruction, China has announced it will send a team of experts to identify and document what items were taken from the historic palace. To do so, the team will visit museums, libraries and private collections in countries like the United States, Britain, France, Japan and more.

But the team’s goal will only involve cataloging what relics were looted in order to understand what the palace was like before it was destroyed. Still, Chen Mingjie, director of the Old Summer Palace’s management office said that they hope some artifacts will be returned to China during this retracing effort.

Like many repatriation issues, the topic has generated different views on what should be done. The hope for many Chinese netizens is that China can correct a bleak part of its country’s history.

One blogger, 村民老尚 described the history of the Old Summer Palace as a disgraceful and heavy burden.

长期以来，“圆明园”在中国人的字典上，基本上是具有莫种沉重与羞耻意义的三个字。她就像一个背负欺辱的受害者，始终在一种不堪回首的状态中存在着。

但是近些年，这种沉重似乎是越来越加重，加重的原因也似乎和圆明园的历史没多大关系了（那些历史已经定格），却和现代咱们中国人对圆明园历史的认识有关，和今天的圆明园要传达什么样的历史和现代文明、现代文化有关。

Another blogger, 高遠 discussed the difficulties China might encounter when trying to search for the relics in museums abroad.

我看这两天西方媒体报道， 他们说欧洲多国博物馆对中国追讨文物的举措感到紧张和担忧。紧张是心虚，担忧是怕自己的强权地位衰落而影响国际形象。但对我们中国来说，追讨遗失文物是早 晚要走的必由之路。

就像季羡林先生生前所讲的：“这些海外遗失文物首先是中国的，然后才是世界的”。问题是，我们才刚刚准备派出几个小分队，西方就开始感 到紧张、担忧了，大规模海外寻宝之旅不久的将来终会启程。那时候，才是真正对西方自我标榜的所谓人权、平等理念的最大考验。

Not all bloggers saw a need to search for the artifacts. 司馬平邦 commented that the palace’s significance has been overstated.

同时它是统治者用民脂民膏搭建的一个奢侈工程，毁了也就毁了，罪有应 得，洋人替老百姓拆了它，另一方面也大快人心。

Other comments have been made, reflecting the feeling that China is now a major power in the world, and should be treated as so.

Replying to an article about how all Chinese artifacts should be returned to the country, one user made a recent comment in the People’s Daily about how China shouldn’t even have to consider buying back any lost artifacts.

中国不能再搞什么回购文物的玩意了，应该名正言顺的要回本就属于我们的宝贝，这才能真正显示中国的力量和尊严！回购不仅仅会使非法文物合法化，甚至还会使那段野蛮的侵略合法化！

A quick poll was done at iDiaoYan.com that asked netizens what they thought about China’s search to archive the taken relics. Users seemed to be pessimistic about the project’s success, with 57.1 percent saying that it would be difficult to find and document all the looted artifacts.

Another question asked what if users though the project would help in returning artifacts to China. 58 percent said it would help a little, while 14 percent said it wouldn’t do any real benefit.

Still, 60 percent of the users in the poll, said they supported the project.

In comments made to the China Daily’s english article on the search for the relics, some netizens pointed out the benefits of having the cultural artifacts stored abroad.

Joanna 2009-10-19 17:18

i am amazed that so many relics were kept in the museums of other country, just as one of my friends said as long as the relics are well stored and some of them can be viewed for free in europe or America, it is a chance for forenginers to know more about China, especially chinese culture.

Give Credit 2009-10-19 13:27

A lot of these cultural relics were bought or stolen. However 100 years ago or even 70 years ago these treasures were lying in the original countries(when poor) as a worthless relics or art. If these cultural heritage are not “rescued” they would have been lost for ever.
Today these heritage are kept in good condition and displayed for free viewing. A good example is London Museum.

A commentary on Xinhua describes this psychology:

每年诺奖颁布时国人总是心神难宁，一旦获奖者有华人身份，更是亢奋莫明。然而热乎不了几天，就会渐渐的冷却，乃至波澜不兴。待到来年，又如是这般，循环往复。

Every year, when the Nobel Prize winners are announced, the Chinese will become very sentimental. If a winner is of Chinese descendant, they will be very excited. But after a few days, this excitement will gradually cool down or even turn into indifference. When next year comes, this cycle will repeat.

詹晟 posted a question on an ifeng blog piece:

有人说歧视华人——诺贝尔奖的不是中国，奖的是国籍。所以华人获得诺贝尔的必要条件是“加入美国国籍”。但为何“一换国籍就获奖”?

Some people said it is a kind of discrimination against Chinese– the Nobel Prize will not be given to Chinese, it will only be given to people with a certain citizenship. Therefore, a pre-requisite for Chinese to be awarded is to become an American citizen. But why are Chinese able to get the prize once they change citizenship?

This echoes with an article on 青青草香’s sina blog:

美籍华人，美藉的“美”字是无关紧要的，关键在华人的“华”字。在媒体热情的引导下，大家觉得高锟得奖几乎就等于中国人等奖了。于是大批脆弱的心灵得以自我安慰

When we talk of an “American Chinese”, the keyword is not “American” but “Chinese”. After the fervent media reporting, we have the illusion that all Chinese are sharing the Nobel pride as well. Our fragile hearts are self-comforted.

高锟已是第八位获得诺贝尔奖的华裔了，我们在引以自豪的同时是不是也该思考这样一个尴尬的问题：为什么同是华人，在别的国家就可以培养成为诺贝尔奖获得者，在中国就不能呢？

Charles Kao is the eighth Chinese Nobel Prize winner. While we are feeling proud, should we ask the embarrassing question: why could Chinese win Nobel Prizes when they are in a foreign but not our own country?

A commentary by 丁果 on the Southern Metropolitan Weekend outlined a few structural problems of the Chinese academic environment:

中国仍然缺乏宽松自由的学术环境，这样就难以出现    的创意人才；中国缺乏进行高端研究的基础设施，或者说实验室，这使优秀的科学家，尤其是从事理论研究的华裔科学家，难以下决心回来报效祖国；中国缺乏培养创新头脑的人文环境，缺乏适合全球最优秀科学人才长期居住的社区条件，这就决定了不少优秀人才难以带领全家回来，怕耽搁了下一代的成长。

China still lacks a free academic environment, which makes it difficult to nurture innovative talents; China lacks high-end basic research facilities, which makes it hard to attract Chinese to return to their own country; China lacks the social atmosphere to nurture groundbreaking ideas and a suitable community for leading scientists to settle down for long periods.

詹晟 and 青青草香 also discussed some other disturbing realities.

詹晟 said:

看看大陆学术腐败盛行，有所谓“博导”年出书量，少则数本多则数十本。地方政府“拍脑袋”做决策，请洋智库出点子，只为“附庸风雅”。

Look at the corrupted academic environment in China. There are so-called book publication amount of PhD mentors, each ranging from a few to dozens per year. Local governments like to employ foreign consultants for advice as it is a “stylish” act.

若没有形成严谨的学术环境、科学的奖惩机制，胸前别着“人民教师”的光荣牌，照样也会耐不住寂寞纷纷投奔商海

If a rigorous academic environment and an effective reward mechanism do not exist, even with the glory of being the “People’s Teacher”, most academics will leave the circle and join the commercial world.

大可不忿地将种种学术怪现状，归为转型期中国的尴尬现实，或者商品经济大潮的强力冲击，但是否与文化和心态有关？

We can blame a transforming China or the waves of materialism as being the causes of all the irregularities. But isn't it also related to our cultures or attitudes?

青青草香 remarked:

中国是个喜欢数字、重视数字而且精于使用数字的国家。国内高校多以学术论文发表数量来评价一名教师的水平和贡献，也以发表一定数量的论文作为研究生、博士生进入毕业答辩的标准。在这种考核体系下，教师们为职称为课题为成果为奖金、学生们为答辩为毕业为今后的工作都必须大写论文。结果拼凑剽窃成风，拿来主义盛行。中国在荣登学术论文数量世界第一宝座的同时，可能还应该戴上学术泡沫和论文垃圾产量世界第一这顶桂冠

China is keen to use number. The number of published research papers is used to determine someone's academic quality, or to decide if a research student can proceed to the stage of thesis defense. Under this system, teachers and students alike have to publish a large amount of papers, with the accompanying result of widespread plagiarism. While China becomes the number one producer of academic dissertations, it may also be the number one producer of academic garbage.

在现有的教育模式和科研体制下，中国可能很难培养出真正有自由思想、有独立精神、有创新能力的科学家，因此一时半会儿要想捧回个诺贝尔奖恐非易事。

Under the current education and research system, it is difficult for China to nurture liberal, independent and innovative scientists. Producing the first indigenous Chinese Nobel Prize winner will take some time.

In the collective English blog, the Fool's Mountain, there is also a hot discussion on “What Lies between Chinese Writers and the Nobel Prize”.

[Photo taken from nobelprize.org]

However, in recent years, the term “the masses” is more and more associated with large scale protests, or the so-called “mass incidents”. From the perspective of local government, such kind of “mass incidents” implies social instability and has to be repressed. And hence, “the mass” becomes more and more in association with negative adjectives. A typical example can be found in a report earlier this year on social unrest in Luliang County of Yunnan Province in which hundreds of farmers confronted the police. The local state owned media then quickly described “the mass” as those “who are ignorant of the truth and facts are stirred up by a small cohort of vicious power in the village…”

To rescue “the masses” from negative connotation that jeopardizes the communist party's revolutionary legacy, the Propaganda Department of Yunnan province issued a notice demanding local media to stop using terms like “刁民（sly and difficult people)” and “恶势力（vicious power)” and to stop labeling the masses as “不明真相 (ignorant of the truth and facts)”, “別有用心 (having secret and ill-intentioned motives)” or “一小撮人 (a handful of people)”.

The liberal-orientated South China Metropolitan (Nandu) Daily and the Beijing News promptly responded to the ban with editorials (Links: Nandu; Beijing News) in the subsequent two days. Nandu Daily traced the use of the term “ignorant of the truth and facts” back to a Xinhua News Agency's article on a social unrest in Jilin Province in July and pointed out that:

云南省委宣传部门的通知，激起了对一张“不明真相”的政治和社会标签的检讨。清理和检讨这些难孚人心的陈词滥调，也就是承认和检讨公共生活中那些心照不宣的权力之恶。这种恶既包括官员滥权的投机，也有媒体不能自主的跟从。因此，这对公权力是一种进取，于媒体是一种反思。但更重要的原则是，其实没有谁可以给公众随意贴上或者撕下所谓不明真相的标签，因为历史的真相始终掌握在他们的手里。

The absent/omnipresent subject

Tianya forum writer, Chao Yong, noticed that in the discussion of the Yunnan propaganda department's move, the subject - “the masses”- of the negative label of “ignorant of the truth and facts” has been omitted and its absence paradoxically marks its omnipresence in the Chinese political history -

在革命年代里，“群众”常常是作为一个褒义词出现的。究其原因，主要是因为“群众”乃革命的主体。…而毛泽东更是把“群众”推向了政治峰顶，他说：“群众是真正的英雄，而我们自己则往往是幼稚可笑的。不了解这一点，就不能得到起码的知识。”这种表扬让“群众”扬眉吐气，也让他们陷入一种集体幻觉之中，以为群众运动就是正确的，群众的眼睛就是雪亮的。实际上，无论从哪方面看，“群众”都不可能自己为自己释义与正名；只是因为革命，他们才被生产出了一种“政治正确性”。

另一方面，当“告别革命”的时代来临之后，“群众”的地位则开始下降，其词性也由褒义而中性，由中性而贬义…然而，改革年代，阶级斗争被束之高阁，下岗工人、无业游民、上访农民等等不再是革命的主力或帮手，而是变成了社会的不稳定因素。改革所依傍的对象也不再是无产阶级，而是有产阶级（中产阶级乃至新富阶层）。“群众”本来就没有经济上的优势，接着又失去了政治上的庇护，结果，他们被逼向了底层——这是经济、政治、甚至道德意义上的最底层。与此同时，相关部门与媒体也开始了对“群众”的舆论围剿。于是每当群体性事件发生，相关报道总会把“群众”指认为“不明真相”。这种固定搭配既唤醒了“群众”的本来涵义——乌合之众，也是对“群众”的“丑学”赋形。而通过“不明真相”的反复涂抹，“群众”也最终完成了其词性的蜕变与转换，被指涉的对象也被丑化和妖魔化了。

From “the masses” to “the citizen”

由此看来，无论是“群众是真正的英雄”还是“不明真相的群众”，说到底都是“意识到形态国家机器”的生产之物。经过这番忽而捧上天忽而摔到地的加工制作后，“群众”本身究竟是什么，反而变得晦暗不明了。而鉴于“群众”一词已被意识形态严重污染，我就觉得相关部门在禁用“不明真相”一词的同时，也该把“群众”一起禁用。或曰：把“群众”打入冷宫，谁来代替它出场呢？答案很简单：公众、公民或者民众。

In the comment section, many echoed Chao's view:

群众一词，现在已有贬义的成分，一说群众，必是和不明真象联系起来。可悲！政府是谁的政府？党是谁的党？

群众就是平头百姓，只有作为公民时才能显现作为“人”的权利。

用什么不一样呢?公众\民众\群众不都等于百姓.替党说话还是替百姓说话就以经把百姓与党分割了.

The head of the journalism department explained the decision:

论文要求在某一领域有独到的见解。可是你想想，要一个本科生在新闻学研究或新闻学史论上有什么突破或是真知灼见，可能么？学生为了完成任务，只好大量复制、粘贴，等于把学生往剽窃上赶

Thesis writing requires having insights and findings in a particular field. But just think about it: is it realistic to expect an undergraduate to have new ideas on the theories or histories of journalism? To fulfill the requirements, students can only copy and paste; we are pushing students onto the path of plagiarism.

业界评价我们，有句非常不好听的话，说什么‘本科生知道《泰晤士报》是哪一年办的；研究生知道《泰晤士报》是哪一月办的；博士生知道《泰晤士报》是哪一天办的’—虽然很刻薄，但也反映出我们的大学教育与业界脱节，学的东西和实践完全没有联系的现象。

The journalism sector likes to mock with with this joke: “undergraduates know which year The Times was founded; masters know which month; PhDs know which date.” This sarcastic story reflects that our university education is detached from reality and not practical at all.

This decision has sparked a heated debate online.

盛大林 supported the claim that undergraduates are not equipped with the ability to write thesis:

论文，就是研究某些问题的文章。也就是说，“研究”是撰写论文的基本前提。可是，本科生能有什么“研究”呢？

A thesis is a research paper on a problem. That means “research” is the pre-condition for writing an essay. However, what “research” can an undergraduate do?

对于本科生而言，他们的任务就 是系统地学习本专业的基础知识或基本技能。可以说，本科生既不具备研究所必须的知识基础或实践经验，教学大纲中也没有研究方面的安排。既然没有“研究”， 怎么撰写“论文”？

For undergraduates, their task is to master the field’s fundamental knowledge or skills in a systematic way. We can say that undergraduates are not equipped with the knowledge or practical experience to conduct research; the curriculum has not include research method. How can a student write a “thesis” without “research”?

乐透 directly addresses the top concern facing undergraduates – securing employment – and the fact that writing a thesis is completely detached to this reality:

作为一名大四在校生，我很熟悉现在的学生都在做什么。大致可以分为几类。一类是考研的，一类是靠公务员的，还有一类是找工作的。精力旺盛的可以兼任三职。但无论归为哪一类，最终必须要迈过毕业论文这道坎才行。这条规矩已经存在并霸占了好多年，但质量或者说成效却是越来越低。

As a fourth-year undergraduate, I know what students are doing. They can be classified into several types: applying to be postgraduates, applying to be civil servants or applying for other jobs. Those strong enough can do these three together. But no matter what, all students need to produce a graduate thesis. This rule has been in place for many years, but its quality and effectiveness is declining.

真正体现大学生价值的方面不是在一篇毫无意义的论文上，需要的更多的是实践、活动、模拟场，甚至是社会的洗礼。因为只有这样，当代大学生才能觉醒。

The value of a university student would not be reflected in a meaningless thesis. They need more practice, training or even real social experience in order to develop enter the social realities.

However, 周育民 disagrees with the decision and values the training of thesis writing:

教会学生写论文，是教育的一项基本目标。简单地说，就是要让学生学会发现问题、分析问题、解决问题，并把这一思维过程通过学术论文的形式表达出来。只有具备了这种能力的学生才达到学士学位的要求。论文的水平高下不是主要的考核目标。

Teaching students to write a thesis is an educational aim in itself. It is to teach students the process of discovering, analyzing and solving a problem, and expressing this thought process in the format of an academic thesis. Only by having these abilities can a student fulfills the requirement of a bachelor’s degree. The quality of the thesis is not a major consideration.

进入信息时代以后，对于劳动者的素质要求进一步提高，这也是大学教育迅速普及的社会动因。学会运用专业知识，进行复杂思维的能力，是完成大学教育的基本目标

As we enter the information age, the requirements on the quality of our labour are increasing. This is also one of the reasons why university education is more popular. Training students the ability to think in a complex way by utilizing the knowledge acquired should be the basic aim of our higher education.

Finally, 朱四倍 criticizes the over-emphasis on the utility of education:

笔者以为，以培养应用型人才为主的专业、学校，可以取消本科毕业论文，而以培养研究型人才为主的大学及相关专业则不宜取消毕业论文的观点并不适当，甚至可以说是一种逃避。

I do not agree with the viewpoint that professional based and applied science universities can cancel the requirement of graduate thesis, while research-intensive universities can keep it. It is an excuse of being irresponsible.

大学是研究高深学问之场所，这意味着自由探究与批判精神的养成。

University is a place for advanced studies of knowledge, which means nurturing a spirit of liberal research and criticism.

但在笔者看来，与其说是“大势所趋”，不如说是显现了大学、社会和学生的过度功利化心态。

To me, rather than saying that it is an inevitable trend, it shows the utilitarian mentality of universities, students and the society.

Why is this movie so successful? Certainly, one should not forget that 176 celebrities of Chinese cinema were cast, which made the trailer almost seem like a Power Point presentation. The fact that such cast will be once and never again has generated a huge buzz. Kai Pan of CNReview commented:

Come now, it’s true, and it’s true because — believe it or not — many Chinese already expect the film to be propaganda. They’re keenly aware of the circumstances surrounding it and the bigger question for them is: How many stars can they spot and identify?

An even simpler reason many bloggers have pointed out is that, the movie is not at all bad! It is not the type of third-grade propaganda nonsense that Chinese viewers were brought up with in the past. In a defense against the likely dismissal of the movie as mere propaganda, Kai Pan wrote:

…I’m happy to report that while a few events were portrayed in a noticeably skewed manner, there’s thankfully few — if any — obvious to outrageous rewritings of history (excusing dramatic artistic license). In fact, the movie was far more gracious in their handling of Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT Nationalists than I expected. (Of course, this was because I feared the worst from this movie, and now I probably owe the CCP responsible for this movie a measure of respect for, well, not living up to my fears.) Unlike so many lesser PRC produced films and television shows set in the Chinese Civil War era, Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT were not grossly vilified here. They were portrayed, I think, rather respectfully as multi-faceted humans with their human greatness, human flaws, and human mistakes.

IMDB User Markringo, likely someone from outside China, also praised the movie from a cinematic point of view.

I think Han (the director) really did his best this time - Kaige Chan successfully portraits warlord Feng Yuxiang, Jet Li as a hero and Andy Lau as an air force commander, Jackie Chan as a journalist..oh my what a crew… The most unforgettable role that I think is Jiang Wen as Mao Renfeng. Actually it is a personalized history of Han himself - the story telling almost sticks with Zhang Guoli and Chen Kun from the start to the end. The Shanghai gang bloodbath is the most decent scene in this film, full of Han's style. If you've watch some movies he made you will realize that. This is definitely not, as some unknown media says, a government's propaganda film.

However, the same comment pointed out another key factor behind The Founding’s success: the guaranteed support from the state around the time of the People’s Republic of China’s 60^th anniversary:

Usually government doesn't invest money on commercial films, once it does, it should reflect the highest film making level of this country as least. John Woo made the movie in which five pigeons fly out, whilst Han made this one nearly 5,000 pigeons fly out with a gunshot, what a difference!

The presence of the state may be felt everywhere, even outside the sphere of physical resources or financial backing. For instance, all 176 movie stars are allegedly “volunteers”, which means, as if for a charitable movie, they all chose to receive no pay no matter how involved they were. This helped to trim the budget to no more than 10 million dollars, a stunning feat with Chinese characteristics that the whole world will try very difficult to emulate.

No surprise that despite sincere portrayal of history and aggressive marketing strategy, the movie always follows the Communist party line. Kai Pan commented:

As for the Mao Zedong and the Communists, well, they were portrayed decidedly without much weakness and fault, save maybe being far poorer than the KMT Nationalists. While Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalists are repeatedly shown being driven around in fancy cars and pondering the precariousness of their rule within grand villas, Mao & Co. are huddled in mud huts, conserving candles, and laughing about getting stewed meat twice a month. This juxtaposition, of course, serves to make Mao and his band of merry Communist leaders seem the rugged, scrappy, and long-suffering David that eventually brings down the Goliath.

The movie itself might not be bad, and the heavy odor of propaganda may be set aside from the discussion for a while, but a much bigger irony remains: If the story of the founding of People’s Republic of China is a struggle for the prosperity, equality and democracy for all people, as it was portrayed in the film, what then of the result?

As dictated by this movie’s subject matter, a proper appreciation will inevitably involve a serious re-consideration of China’s past and present, after which, most people will find out something very awry. The People’s Republic now is still far from the kind of nation the founding fathers had imagined. It is a promise yet undelivered. It has been a long, long winding road with no end in sight. Han Han, the famous racer and satirical blogger, raised up this question in his typical sharp style:

我很怀疑导演是在用反讽的手法来拍摄这部电影。看着那些开国元帅们纵情唱着国际歌，毛泽东说，我们永远要团结。我看到了这部电影成为一部真正的优秀电影的潜质——那就是它不在1949年结尾，而是以1976年结尾。在1949年的时候，诚挚的人民诚挚的望着诚挚的毛泽东和诚挚的新中国，然而六十年后，人们依然没有一米自己的土地，大家都是寄生而已。以前我们的旧社会由很多的阶级组成，现在简单了，只有四个阶级，那就是穷人，房奴，富人和富豪。

从另外一方面来讲，建国大业是一部爱情文艺片，它委婉的讲述了穷小子追求富家女的故事，当时的共产党就是穷小子，新中国是待嫁的富家女，国民党是订了婚的情敌，各民主党派和社会名流是富家女的朋友，穷小子成功的秘诀就是一开始要有理想，谈未来，许承诺，拉拢朋友，乱开空头支票，当然，会打架是排在第一位的。最终终于成功的娶了新中国。当然婚后的生活就和在座的各位当年花言巧语的男同志们的婚后生活差不多。

你们泡妞时的承诺都做到了吗？

A Taiwan TV news report has reproduced the CCTV interview in which you can see Jackie Chan acted out his excitement. The clip is now at youtube:

ESWN translated the TV interview:

Chan: Our generation is so lucky because of what we run into. China has never been better in the last 5,000 years. Great unity … everything is good. Even the heavens are helping us. The call went out: “Everybody stand up and sing the national anthem!” You hear that … (making the sound of music) … Wow, it was unbearable. The tears. Really.

(note: the reference to “the heavens” is about how the weather in Beijing turned good in the morning of October 1st. The television host was embarrassed and had to inform him that more than 400 rockets were fired to disperse an incoming bank of clouds.)

(the voice over said that Jackie Chan was sitting in the first row of the audience at the Tiananmen parade)

Chan: The impulse. I saw our Chairman Hu come down. I really wanted to rush over to shake his hand. But I know that even before I can stretch my hand out, there would already be “Bang Bang Bang.”

TV hostess: There won't be.

(the voice over said that Jackie Chan then switched over to condemn the wave of immigration out of Hong Kong before the colony was returned to China. In so doing, he glossed over the fact that his wife lives in the United States and his son was born there and therefore an American citizen.)

Chan: You see, at the time I cursed them out. I said that those of you who leave are not Chinese. Now every one of them is back. They came back on their own. Chinese nationality is the most difficult to obtain around the world. You go anywhere else and you can buy citizenship with money. In China, you cannot even get it with money. This is why us China is awesome.

Many, who read Jackie Chan's interview as it is, were outraged. Charles Mok said in his facebook status on Oct 6 that he would boycott Jackie Chan's movie from now on. His comments were echoed by many others, such as:

Shame on him PK Jackie Chan

Shame of Hong Kong>< bastard Jackie Chan is a super medal of Chinese people!!

Jackie Chan is a Facist PK!

However, when one reads into the interview closely, one can see that he has spoken some truths, such as the fact that he would be “Bang bang bang” (shot) if he rushed to shake hand with Chairman Hu. In the youtube, the discussion pointed towards different directions:

merkabah read into the meaning of “Bang bang bang”

好一句蹦、蹦、蹦暗諷中共六四當年就在該處屠殺無辜學生，成龍大 哥果然是不為五斗米折腰的中華民族真心英雄！

yuhon09 agreed that Jackie Chan tried to assassinate the CCP by his praise/lie:

“捧殺中共”

Kelvinc8 said:

Jacky is funny, haha. Can't blame him, he's a joke. Anyway, he is right, I'm from HK living oversea, how can I be 中國人 (Trans: Mainland Chinese)? I don't have their passport. I'm 華人 (Trans: Hua Ren or Chinese) , 唐人 (Trans: Tang people), 東方人 (Trans: Oriental) but not 中國人 (Trans: Mainland Chinese). Just like Taiwanese, they have their own nation, how can they be 中國人 (Trans: Mainland Chinese). But of cause they are 華人 (Trans: Hua Ren). There is a difference between nationality and race, for crying out loud.

hin1972 commented on the idea of unity brought forward by Jackie:

什麼大團結,極權統治下叫大團結!
白色恐怖下既大團結!人民敢發一言嗎?
中共只係比奏始皇做得更好!懂得思想改造而已!

telecake and bblkwok discussed about Jackie Chan's nationality and education background:

telecake : Please keep in mind that he doesn't even have a basic high school education. And I believe he holds an American passport? I feel embarrassed for him in every which of ways.
bblkwok : he has not even had elementary school education, and I think he has Aust passport, while his wife and son hold US one.

stiafro commented that he had taken too much drug:

Too many stunts… hit too many times in the head.. now you are fucked in the head.

http://www.youtube.com/user/futubh>futubh made fun of his Chinese name by saying that the dragon has turned into a Chamaeleo.

浮誇偽人
成 了變色 龍
白痴冇得救小丑
蠢

Earlier this year, Jackie Chan made another outraging comment on “Chinese need control” which was interpreted by some as being racist. So what's your reading of Jackie Chan's comments this time?

Southern Metropolis Daily journalist Liu Tianzhao has been paying the issue attention recently on Twitter after her work was harmonized [zh] pre-publication, noting that regulations passed last year require new incineration plants built over the next three years [zh] to maintain a buffer safety zone of no less than 300 meters and, in one Bullogger post, quotes [zh] two Chinese specialists on the risks and specific challenges faced in seeking to reduce the release of dioxins while incinerating Chinese trash.

She also notes [zh] that 20 trash-to-energy incinerators will be built in coastal Fujian province alone over the next three years, each with a capacity to reduce harmful emissions to that of 70% of international standards.

This tweet she directed at social critic and active Twitter user Lian Yue, who lives in Fujian. He in turn notes that various departments offer incentives to encourage the building of trash incinerator plants—a sign, Lian Yue morbidly points out, that bodies such as the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Environmental Protection aren't just incapable of curbing pollution, but in fact benefit from the failure to do so.

Earlier this year, the government in Panyu district in southern China's Guangzhou announced the planned construction of a trash incineration plant which has given rise to much local controversy. As Yangcheng Evening News blogger Mo Ke writes, the plant will likely already be up and operating by this time next year:

城市垃圾的处理是一个世界性的难题，我们也不例外。据番禺区市政园林局长周剑辉称，两年内番禺或遭遇“垃圾围城”，垃及形势刻不容缓，故希望国庆后就开工建设，且越快越好。同时，有关部门信誓旦旦地表示，该垃圾焚烧项目的技术、工艺先进成熟，垃圾焚烧释放的二恶英含量非常少，不致造成环境污染，而且该项目的选址也已是“最优选择”，希望居民不必视垃圾焚烧厂为“洪水猛兽”。据悉，该项目正在进行环评。但已经征了地，并完成了部分补偿工作。未敲钟先入饭堂矣。

有关部门也声称，“不可能上一个污染项目”，但即使如此，这并不足以缓解和打消周边数十万居民对该工程项目可能造成的环境污染，及其对人们生命健康构成威胁的极度忧虑。

实际上，周边居民对垃圾焚烧厂的担忧并不多余。二噁英是国际公认的一级污染物，是毒性最大的化合物之一，其毒性是氰化物的130倍、砒霜的 900倍，国际癌症研究中心已将其列为人类一级致癌物。即使是微量的二噁英也对人体有害。而就目前技术而言，垃圾焚烧项目事实上也并非如官方所说的那样环保、安全，即使在学术研究层面上，也存在巨大争议乃至截然相反的观点和结论。美国环境健康基金全球化学安全项目总监约瑟夫·迪冈认为，垃圾焚烧炉是产生二噁英的重要途径之一。而目前国际上对二噁英的实时监测尚是难题。英国伯明翰大学环境化学高级讲师斯图尔特·哈瑞说，对二噁英的实时监测，虽有很多研究，但他认为到现在还是不可能的，“现在最快的监测速度只能做到12个小时，且非常难做到。”

With the Panyu incinerator located just a few kilometers from several of the largest residential communities in Guangzhou, as NetEase reports, tens of thousands of homeowners in the area now oppose the plant's imminent launch; comments on that report included:

1
解决垃圾不是问题
关键是程序
为什么公众永远被蒙在鼓里？
2
一个骗子骗人1000次以后宣布从此要讲实话
谁敢相信他？

处理这类问题很简单。
我们都听说过：就餐时，客人发现饭菜里有只苍蝇，喊来老板，老板立马吃掉，以示无碍。
反正都住番禺，利益相关人都安置在周围楼盘，既可解决员工福利问题，又可拉动房地产市场，还可以照顾人心….一石多鸟。

叫张广宁妈妈住到那个厂区去

其实是业主怕的是他的房子以后没有升值空间。

番禺区市政园林局局长周剑辉希望尽快动工
你们猜垃圾场是谁的

我觉得这又是政府无知、无能、短视的又一个例子！
番禺拥有广泛的未开发地方，真需要在已经发展成熟的华南板块中心，搞一个垃圾焚烧厂？在此搞的唯一理由只是运输成本低！
从地图可以看到：附近是住宅、是新火车站、是番禺的商务旅游区，八年左右就会发展为类似现在天河体育中心一样的区域！
试想在繁华的北京路旁边有一个垃圾焚烧厂，合适吗？
使用五年再搬？
这不是浪费纳税人的钱吗？

[listing all the large residential communities in the vicinity] 真不知是番禺的那些专家选的地址.环保所的局长一定不在附近居住.既然最先选择了开发这一地区(广州新客站)为什么又要去破坏这一地方呢(垃圾焚烧厂)…………..请各位领导再仔细考虑考虑.既生俞,何生亮呀!

群众不理解可以等等.没有地方放垃圾就堆起来,等到群众有要求了在建嘛.

建可以，但也不能拿老百姓的健康开玩笑啊，那么多空地不选，选一个居民集中区！！！不仅仅是番禺的垃圾，还要承担广州市的垃圾！呵呵，人们从亚洲第一大火车站出来以后，一定会感叹：哇，广州的“烟筒”如此壮观！！欢迎大家到亚洲第一大火车站接受“二噁英”的洗礼！！！

我是环保行业从业人员，从事环保治理工程8年，参与过废气处理项目数项，也了解了一些国内外同类项目，没做过，也没见过那个环保治理工程效率能达到100%，而只能减轻污染，我们的专家良心在哪？还没建就敢说“无污染”？我只能说，狗屁专家为钱说话，为垃圾发电的国家补贴说话。另外在权力支持下的国有企业没几个认真做环保的，因为他们和上级部门一家的。强烈抵制。

在亚运会场附近、在即将建成的新火车站新省客运站附近、在密集的居民生活区附近、在广州未来的新天河城里建垃圾焚烧场，这种自毁广州的做法，是广州市领导的决策吗？你们是在建政绩还是毁自己的政绩呢？太愚蠢了！

“What shall we do with the garbage?” asks China Dialogue author Huo Weiya in a piece on Beijing's own trash troubles. “Burning them is not the end of the story.”

However, the majority of government officials resists against the Act. Southern Weekend reported that 97% of officials opposed the policy in a sample survey. Conversely, 90% of the public hoped that the policy could be introduced as early as possible.

Faced with the reality that only 3% of the surveyed officials support the anti-corruption policy, Southern Weekend askes if the public and the officials could make a compromise? There are three possible ways for implementing the Sunshine Act.

The article goes on to explore three possibilities (quoted from the English version of the Southern weekend article):

The first is an iron-fisted method favored by those who have endured corruption for a long time. From the highest officials at the center to the lowest public servant, everyone must make public a full account of one’s property down to the last cent within one day’s time. Those who have committed crimes will be punished accordingly. Those not accused of anything will receive due praise and those not suspected of any wrongdoing will be promoted.

The second method is fairly ridiculous … that if any member of the public would like to publicly declare their financial situation that is up to them, but they will pass.

The third is for those officials who have not completely lost their consciences…They can declare their financials and whatever they have illicitly squirreled away will go into the State Treasury. This is under the conditions that there will be no punishment and they will be able to continue to work for the Party and country.

The first two options represent the public and the officials' positions respectively, while the third one is considered a compromise. The article concludes by raising a question:

Whether there is amnesty for those with illegal assets and income or we just put aside this knotty problem, it is going to be a complex political process … If the public has already seen the big picture and does not insist on using an iron fisted method, then are officials ready from this moment to begin to govern honestly?

In the comment section, some agree to compromise:

wunanwunan 28-9-2009: 我很愿意妥协,希望将来的官是清官.我们不必亡党，更不会亡国.问题是民众能妥协的标准是什么,如何知道民众那一天已经能妥协了,然后党中央开始实施阳光法.要不然就说民众一直不能妥协,阳光法也一直不必实施了!

ruolanhuakai 26-9-2009: 为了国家的前途命运着想我支持妥协方案,我们老百姓宁愿再作出一次巨大的牺牲!只是我们作出这个巨大牺牲之后真的就能换来财产公示制度的建立吗???

But it seems that there are more opinions supporting the iron hand policy:

hualinplant 26-9-2009: 不敢对贪污腐败讲认真，是对历史的不负责。旧中国都能改造成新中国，贪官问题就大的很吗？

tanzi2287216 25-9-2009: “反腐，亡党；不反腐，亡国”这话说得太对了，那么，是亡党恐怖，还是亡国恐怖。

yippee 25-9-2009: 现在正是考验我们党的政治智慧的时候啊。我支持铁腕方案。因为这是民意。中国共产裆一直以来的宗旨就是为人民服务，如果主子要求了，人民公仆又凭什么不同意，又怎么好意思不同意，以后还敢说“为人民服务”这五个字吗

buyongzhenmingz 25-9-2009: 共 产 党要抓紧治疗自己身上的毒瘤了，不然我们只能面临再次亡国。

Apart from choosing between compromise and iron hand policy, some raised more fundamental issue of institutional reform:

tiger7428 25-9-2009: …我敢断言，没有真正的政治民主，既便实施，所谓的官员财产申报就只能像其它反贪招数一样是个花瓶。道理很简单“申报、公示、监督、问责这四个重要环节，最终都要靠官员来执行”，仍然是左手打右手。指望这样的一个技术性招数就能治疗“贪腐”，不过是异想天开。而官员在没有外在民众监督的情况下，在不需要向民众负责的前提下，铁腕执行，不过是回到“包青天”时代的政治理想，而这一点，历史上的“明君”已经多次证明了它的失败！

919938075 25-9-2009: 古代皇帝为了让江山永固，靠多生儿子。中共为了维持执政地位，靠党员数量多。如果说党内的民主程度都不高，整个国家的民主程度会有多高？没有民主为基础，再好的想法，也只能是一厢情愿的梦话。官员们不愿为人民服务，因为人民对官员没有制约力；官员们喜欢选择性地听党的话，因为作为“家法”的党纪常常会网开一面。而在现实中，党纪比国法更全能些。所以要纠正戴志勇的说法，民众一直都在妥协，何来愿意、不愿意的选择？

These opinions echo with the comment made by Chinese public intellectual Ran Yun Fei:

但最重要的问题是，权力的来源、构架与运营、官员的筛选机制以及他们的权力受监督的问题，如何真正得到良好的解决。如果不能实现民众对官员真正的选举，实行民主自由的制度，那么任何官员与民众达成的妥协，都是治标不治本的暂时策略，无助于整个社会朝向可以期待的良性的发展。