Archive for
May 3rd, 2009

   

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Growing Military Repression in MadagascarPhotos post

While more protests have erupted in Madagascar and were repressed severely by armed forces, the members of the transitional government of Madagascar have been hard at work explaining the circumstances of their rise to power to the international community. The recent reversal of the high constitutional court (HCC) decision on the illegitimacy of the power transfer (fr) seems to have caught the transitional government by surprise and was what most likely led to the arrest of the head of security at the HCC.

Representatives of the UN security council and the African Union are meeting for a “Madagascar contact group” in Addis Ababa to ensure that the nations take a common position in pushing for a return to constitutional order in Madagascar. Although each Malagasy political party announced that they had representatives present at the meeting, it turns out that none of the opposition parties were present during the decision-making process meeting.

In the meantime, former president Marc Ravalomanana, in exile in South Africa, appointed a new prime minister, Mandandafy Rakotonirina, to form a new government, in effect disputing the legitimacy of the transitional government. A few days after Rakotonirina listed the new members of his cabinet, he and his acquaintances were arrested by the security forces on charges of “illegally declaring himself as prime minister, vandalism & possessing weapons”.

Malagasy bloggers were quick to react news of the arrest:

Rakotonirina arrested by Commander Andrianasoavina via andrydago.wordpress.com

Rakotonirina arrested by Commander Andrianasoavina via andrydago.wordpress.com

Malagasy blogger, andrydago posts photos and describes the circumstances of the arrest of Rakotonirina in details and wonders whether the military thinks that this arrest will put an end to the movement.

Avylavitra posts the video of the arrest on his blog:

Jentilisa describes and transcribes what is happening on the video:

Efa tsy zoviana intsony fa ny Komandà Charles Randrianasoavina no nitarika ny miaramila hisambotra ireto mpitari-tolona ireto. Io Komand io no nitazona tamin'ny vozon'akanjony ny praiminisitra Manandafy sady niedinedina hatrany niteny hoe : “Ahy ialahy manomboka androany! Ahy ialahy manomboka androany!”.

Commander Charles Randrianasoavina is the one who leads the arrest. You can see him grabbing the shirt of prime minister Manandafy and boasts to say: “you are mine starting today ! You are mine starting today”

The transitional government justifies the arrest by saying that Manandafy Rakotinirina is charged with illegitimately declaring himself prime minister, instigating the destruction of property and illegal possession of firearms.

A video taken the day after shows an assigned to residence Rakotonirina with bruises on his face.

The instances of dubious actions by the military forces are not limited to the excessive use of force during arrest. Many bloggers report that armed personnel are roaming around in the city in 4X4 vehicles and shooting in the air to intimidate passersby. Solofo posts photos of a vehicle showing a man with a rifle standing outside the car window following a military truck full of armed soldiers.

Vola, in the comment section of the post, writes that the head of the army explains thusly the cause of death of 2 protesters:

… ils se sont cognés avec des véhicules dans la mêlée [..] il est comique Noël Rakotonandrasana sur ce coup là quand même. Ecoutez l'interview [RFI] à la fin

They got hit by cars during the skirmish [..] this Noel Rakotonandrasana has got some sense of humor, doesn't he ? Listen to the end of the [RFI] interview

Another instance of abuse of power by the military can be found in the ongoing case of Razily. Razily is the young man who marched towards the armed forces carrying a flag and who was arrested on the spot for flag theft. Ethan Zuckerman explains the background behind Razily 's story. A petition has been created to demand that the armed forces provide updates on the status of Razily and a time frame for his trial date. The petition has already gathered a few signatures and has been relayed by a few twitter users:

twitter users concerned about Razily's fate

twitter users concerned about Razily's fate

Tunisia: Call to Embrace Work Ethics on Labour Day

May 1st marked International Labour Day around the world and Tunisian bloggers grasped the occasion to comment on the situation of workers and their laziness.

Writing in French, Yellow reflects on the day saying:

Il faut y penser non… une journée mondiale pour les chômeurs, pour le chômage… pour les manifestants, pour les syndicaux… et pour les papas aussi (fête internationale je veux dire) et pourquoi pas une journée internationale pour chaque pays (à part celle de qui fête l'indépendance ou celle qui a marqué l'histoire d'un peuple comme le 7 novembre chez nous..huh^^)

We have to think about it, no?…an international day for the unemployed, for unemployment .. For the protesters, for trade unionists and for fathers too (an international day I mean) and why not an international day for each country ? ( apart from [a country's] national independence day or one which marks the history of its people like November the 7th here …uhhh !!

In a post written in the Tunisian dialect, Clandestine offers the following advice to workers:

نحب بالمناسبة هاذي نشدّ على ايدين العمال و المزارعين (منعرفش علاش العبارة هاذي تحسسني اني شيوعي) و جموع الموظفين في الارض و المدرّسين و الاطباء و الفراملة و الاعوان الوقتيين (المصنفين و غير المصنفين) و الاعوان المتعاقدين و الاعوان الغير متعاقدين وعملة الحضائر (اللي مازالو يستنّاو في الترسيم ) و صنّاع الحجامة و صناع ورشات الميكانيك و صناع المقاهي والمطاعم (خاصة ذوي الخلق الحسن مع الحريف) و بعض صنّاع القرار اللي مازال عندهم شويّة ضمير.
و نحب كذلك ننصح الجميع (و انا معاكم) باش ينقّصو من التكركير و الفصعة وماكلة الكسكروتات و شرب القهوة و التاي بالكاكاوية في البيروات و يركّزو شوية على الخدم متاعهم … هي صحيح تشخر اما ميسالش, منزيدوهاش بوف
On this occasion, I want to take the hands of the workers and farmers (I don’t even know why this expression gives the impression that I am a communist), and the hands of all the employees around the world, the teachers, the physicians, the nurses, and the temporary employees - those with contracts as well as those who do not have contracts yet, the construction workers, the hairdressers, the mechanics, the waiters
(especially those who are kind to customers), and some of the decision-makers who still have some conscience …
I also advise them (me included) to stop being lazy, skipping work, eating sandwiches, drinking coffee and tea with peanuts in their offices and focus instead on their work.

Arabasta writes a short post saying:

تحية لكل من قدّم حياته يوما من اجل العمّال و سحقا لكل من نسِيَ هذه التضحيات يوما ما…
عذرا لقصر هذه التدوينة إذ لا تسعني الكلمات اليوم كي أعبر عما يختلج بصدري عندما أرى أوضاع العمّال و الشغالين في كل أنحاء العالم…
My greetings to everyone who has one day sacrificed his life for workers, and those who ever forget those sacrifices should be damned. I am sorry for the shortness of this post - words cannot describe my feelings in the face of what workers around the world suffer from nowadays.

Happy Labor Day to all workers around the globe!

Libya: Women, Writers and Artists

Apparently swine flu has not yet hit the Libyan blogosphere but I'm sure talking about the status of women would make a good icebreaker.

After exploring several Libyan blogs, Highlander who was
posting about Arab/Libyan writers and bloggers thinks that with
regards to writing it is preferable to use the blogosphere as a practicing space. There was no need to inform all to avoid trouble with the male half.

“I don't think that the Libyan males are against their sisters, mothers, wives etc. writing but more as social pressure and the 3ayb [ shame - dishonour] part - as in what cannot be seen then does not exist… or that the precious females maybe recognised and their ideas misinterpreted and God forbid their reputation ruined because Libyan dudes would be trolling their website/blog .[ref]

An oft forgotten aspect is that living outside Libya is not a guarantee of a different or similar attitude for that matter. Check what happened at the same event in London and Washington DC. Anglo Libyan who attended the London one is so frustrated he asks men to respect women.

“as I walked in the hotel I found most of the invited people standing outside the hall where the film was going to be screened as the doors were still closed, I noticed very few ladies there, they were standing with their partners, about 20 minutes later I saw a member of staff open one of the hall's doors slightly then suddenly from no where I saw a group of Libyan ladies, about 15 or 20 run past us and straight into the hall, it really was like a flash then the member of staff closed the door, obviously they were hidden somewhere out of sight until some body asked the organisers to open the door for them to keep them away from prying male Libyan eyes!!!! after the doors were open for the rest of us to go in the event hall, the first thing I noticed was how all the ladies were seated right at the back all in one group in a segregated section, I immediately looked at the few ladies I saw in the beginning who were standing with their partners, they all looked puzzled and confused, I am sure they wanted to sit with their families but eventually decided to segregate from their families and sat at back with the other ladies and they really did not look very happy” [source]

On the edge had a very controversial post about foreign women who marry Libyans and how some of them have unfortunately been treated. She says:

” I am constantly reading Libyan bloggers writing about how EASY my life as a foreigner married to a Libyan is here in Libya . […] What I do know for a fact is this …. our lives are dam hard . Real hard , harder than you can imagine at times . We don't have our mothers and fathers to protect us when our husbands and/ or their families decide to mistreat us like a Libyan woman would . Nor do we have a safe harbor to run to when things get bad or ugly . No place or no one there for us to go to , to listen to us and our problems . No helping hand to reach out in love , like a Libyan woman does . No , we just tough it out .We stick to it . We don't run away . We stand and fight for ourselves and our children for all we are worth , in whatever manner we have to defend ourselves by .
We do this because of love . Love , yes love . We love our husbands , even when we want to kill him . We love our kids , even when they disrespect us or are ashamed of us because we aren't Libyans , because we are different .Yes that happens to some of us . Love of our adopted home , Libya and all Her crazy , strange ,beautiful, wondrous , people , places ,and things .”

Needless to say this topic created such a hot debate that it prompted a follow up post.

On the other hand and on the topic of Libyan writers, Ghazi from Imtidad constantly astonishes us with translations of short stories by Libyan writers ( male and female). A published writer himself I think that Ghazi has good future before him. His latest translation is Omar Kikli's ” While drinking teawhich sent chills down my spine.

Shahrazad always the one to plug interesting Libyan things has put up a number of photos of paintings by a budding Libyan female artist.

” Here are a few paintings my sister took at a friends house. The painter is still in her beginning and has never had an exhibition. So I told her Id blog her paintings and see what the feedback would be.”

Personally I would buy one of the paintings if she can arrange a vernissage.

I'll conclude by posting Lostdubliner's experience as an Irish expat female in Libya. She has been here for about two months.

“armed with my camera I leave the hotel room in the hope of catching a bit of the local culture – this however turns from a fantastic idea to a disappointing reality. Practically every car that comes by with men in it horns or stops! I have numerous offers of a lift, phone numbers and friendship! Nervous and frustrated, halfway down the road I quickly turn on my heels and head straight back to the hotel.[…] Back at the hotel the staff are all extremely friendly and hospitable, everyone either knows my name or calls me “sister”. In general the Libyan people come across as a lot more warmer than in the West - they eminate a strong element of goodness and kindness which is very refreshing!” [source]

The above just shows that some Libyan lads are total losers and that others are lovely gentlemen.

Women in Libyan society are loved, respected and cared for as mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters and wives. The state guarantees freedom and equality between men and women but it still runs across cultural norms and traditions and here I don't mean religion. This post is not about feminism, it's just observations about anomalies plaguing our society and a reflection on how to deal with them.

China: He saw no conscience, no sympathy.

At the end of the blog entry, the professor and lawyer Xu Zhiyong (许志永) wrote down the line:

突然忍不住失声痛哭。我打个车,回到家,跪倒地上,再次痛哭,我感谢上帝让我来到这世上承受这一切。然后,我平静地起来,写下这个故事,为我们的子孙后代,我要告诉他们什么是苦难。

I broke into tears. I called a taxi, went back home and kneed down on the floor, tears in my eyes again. I thanked God for letting me to come to the world to bear all this. Then I took hold of myself and wrote down the story. I would like my children to know what is tribulation and suffering.

Here is the partial translation of Xu's blog about his experience of helping a petitioner who was beaten up in Beijng.

晚上七点多刚打开手机就接到盛其芳老人的电话:“许教授,一直打不通你的电话,山东临沂被打的那个人八点多就被停药了,没钱治病,在同仁医院。”

I got a call from Sheng at 7 pm. ‘Professor Xu, I have been trying to reach you. They have stopped the treatment for that woman from Lin Yi, Shandong who was roughed up this morning. We have run out of money at Tongren Hospital!'

Xu asked what happened and Sheng

她上访,被临沂驻京办的打成重伤。昏迷,可医院不给治了,怎么办啊。”

‘She came to Beijing to appeal about her grief to the central government, but was beaten up by the officials sent from the town she's from. She fell unconscious but the doctors refused to treat her; how should we do?'

When Xu rushed to the hospital, he found the victim lying on the bed with her sister and mother accompanying. But there was no dropping bottle. Her sister told what had happened:

姐姐说,4月27号她被关押在青年凤凰宾馆,那天下午妹妹也被临沂驻京办从马家楼拉过来,头栽倒在汽车里面地板上。姐姐听说后过去扶起她,问怎么了,她很费力地说被打了,肚子痛,然后就又昏迷了。打了几次120和 110,终于把妹妹送到右安门医院。医生说,没事。求医生给开点止痛药医生也不给开,说回家吧,没事。只好偷偷把妹妹送到同仁医院。拍片子的时候不敢说她是被接访的打的。但是后来向一位医生说了实话,医生就说,没事的,医院没病床了,你们回家吧。幸运地是终于找到了一位有良心的医生,他看了之后很吃惊,着急地说,千万不能让她动,有生命危险,赶紧抬她到床上,不能让她动。后来知道,妹妹被打脾破裂。带的几千块钱很快花完了。今天早上,开了药,但是没钱了,拿不了药,吊针就停了。找马家楼派出所,派出所也只是说在协调,从早上一直到现在都没有用药。

On 27 April, the victim's sister was locked inside the Phoenix hotel. In the afternoon she found the victim was sent back from the Lin Yi Office in Beijing (the local government's liaison in the capital). She told in weak voice that she was hit at stomach and then fell fainted again. her sister first sent her to You Anmen Hospital, but the doctor there said there was nothing wrong with her. No even pain killer could they get and they were just told to go home. She had to send her to Tong Ren Hospital.

At first she dared not say she was beaten because of petitioning. When they told the truth, they were again informed that no room was available. Finally a doctor with sympathy came up. He was so surprised to see the victim, urging them not to move her or there was life risk. Afterward, they knew she had lienic rupture. A few thousands were quickly spent up for the treatment. This morning the prescription was suspended. Since then she got no more care.

As a professor of law, Xu has been helping petitioners and minorities struggling for their rights. Therefore he has maintained contact with various petitioner groups and that's why he was so quickly informed about the situation. Hearing the victim's story, Xu ran downstair to find the doctor.

来到一楼。急诊医生办公室。我问医生,这个病人需要不需要紧急治疗?医生跟我们来到病房,摸了摸病人的腹部。然后问我,“你是他什么人?”
我只是一个普通公民,我说。
“那我不跟你说。”
“那好,你跟她家人说,她需要什么治疗,需要什么条件。”
“按照开的药治疗。”他说。
“但我们没钱拿药啊。”姐姐哀求。
“走,我们下去拿药。”我平静地说,正好,今天我身上带了银行卡。

I came to the ER office, asking whether the patient needed immediate care. The doctor came to her, examining her abdomen. He then asked, ‘ What's your relationship with her?'
‘I am just a common citizen.' I replied.
‘Then I can't tell you.'
‘Fine, but tell her families what she needs, and at what cost.'
‘Just as the prescription says.'
‘But we got no money!' The sister bagged.
‘Go, let's get downstairs for the prescription.' I said calmly. I happened to have my debit card with me.

划价,这个晚上的药费是850元。似乎这个过程很漫长,终于拿到了单据,一直很坚强的姐姐突然跪到了地上,泪流满面。我扶起她,想我应该早一点来,应该早一点。从来没有像此刻觉得这点钱这么有价值。

It was 850 RMB for the night. Paying the money seemed to be a long process. When I finally got the receipt the usually stubborn sister suddenly kneed down with tears on her face. I pulled her up, wishing that I could have come earlier, just a little earlier. I have never felt that the money could be of so important a use.

他们一家来北京上访,因为2006年妹妹和母亲被人欺负,打伤很重,但对方被判缓刑。妹妹不服一直上访。2007年被临沂驻京办的打成了脑外伤,也曾经被送过精神病院

The girl's name is Yao Jing. Their family came to Beijing for petitioning because in 2006 her sister and mother was bullied and wounded but the culprit was simply on reprieve. They felt it was unfair. In 2007 she had been beaten up and got brain trauma, and had been sent to insane asylum.

Xu described the Phoenix Hotel the victim's sister was locked in:

那是一个很黑很黑的黑监狱,我听到的同样的故事太多太多了,我怎能不去黑监狱呢?

That is a black prison, deep black. I heard so many stories about it. How can I not go to visit the black prison?

在一个特权腐败成为常态的社会里,他们没有任何社会关系,可是他们偏偏认死理,执着上访,他们是这个国家的贱民,他们是我的同胞,我的兄弟姐妹。

In a state where privilege and corruption turned routine, the petitioners had no connections at all but they believe in justice stubbornly. They are the ‘untouchable' in this country, but they are my countrymen, my brothers and sisters.

走廊里突然传来呼救声,一个妇女被五六个男人拖走了。护士进来说,“待会外面有吵闹不要开门。”也有一个男人挨个进门说:“把门关好。”
我和盛其芳来到走廊里。又有两个妇女一先一后被五六个男人拽着拖向电梯。我问怎么回事,没人说话。那个妇女在电梯关门前喊了一声“中国没有人权!”

Suddenly, a yell for help came from the corridor. A woman was pulled away by 5, 6 men. The nurse told us to ignore the noise.
I came out with Sheng to the hallway and saw another two women being pulled by 5 men to the elevator. I asked what had happened but no one answered. The woman shouted ‘no human right in China' before the door was closed.

姐姐在一旁说,听说他们是东北的,在天安门服毒自杀被送到这里的。一个接访的恶狠狠地问我干嘛的,我说在这里看病人。“没你的事,一边去。”

The sister said they were from northeast China and sent here because of taking poison in Tiananmen Square for protest. A staff questioned me what I was doing there, I answered I was watching a patient. ‘None of your business, get lost.' he said.

“绑架!怎么会没我的事?”我说,“应该报警。”
可惜这时我的手机没电了。一个挂着同仁医院胸牌的男人过来说,“我就是同仁医院保卫处的,你少管闲事啊。”
刹那间,我终于爆发了,我听到了一个仿佛穿破时空的惊天动地的怒吼:“丧——尽——天——良——!你们知不知道什么是——丧—尽—天—良!丧—尽—天—良!”

‘It's kidnapping! None of my business? I should call police.'
But my cellphone had no power. A man with a tag indicating him as a security guard in the hospital came by, telling us not to boss around.
At that moment, I finally burst into fury. I heard myself yelling piercingly, ‘You have no conscience! No conscience! No——CONSCIENCE!‘

恍惚中,我穿过人群

I walked through the crowd in a faint.

Indian Elections 2009: Lower Voter Turnouts And Questions Regarding Campaigns

Photo courtesy Chhavi Sachdev

Photo courtesy Chhavi Sachdev

The Indian blogosphere and mainstream media is abuzz with debate on why the voter turnout in Mumbai has decreased to 44.21% in spite of voter registration initiatives like Jaago Re and transparency initiatives like Vote Report India.

Most people are trying to explain why Mumbaikars didn't vote.

On a CNBC-TV18 panel discussion, independent candidate Meera Sanyal, Madhav Bhatkuly from Empowered Mumbai, B Venkatesh Kumar from Mumbai University and Vivek Gilani from MumbaiVotes try to explain the low voter turnout in Mumbai.

IANS explains the low Mumbai voter turnout by arguing that most Mumbaikars are only concerned about local issues, which were not really highlighted in the election campaigns. Neha Bagoria on Twitter says that most of the educated young voters in Mumbai are from other states for jobs and can't vote as their names aren't in voting list. Niyukti on Twitter believes that voter apathy to the 'same old politics' and heat wave are the two top reasons for lower voter turnout in Mumbai. Bombay Addict says that the apathy of the middle class is the reason for the low voter turnout.

Harshad Oak argues that the low voter turnout numbers may be a reflection of the Election Commission's inefficiency, instead of voter apathy. Neelakantan also points to issues with how voting lists in India are maintained. Amit argues that broken voting machines and missing voter names can't be an excuse for not insisting on voting.

Randheer Singh develops an elaborate conspiracy theory on why the Indian middle class doesn't vote. The Acron at National Interest calls for a more in-dept analysis of the Absent Indian Voter Syndrome.

Mohyna Srinivasan and Vrushali Lad are shocked and saddened that Mumbaikars didn't go out and vote. Kamal Chaturvedi didn't vote himself, but calls Mumbaikars shameless for not voting.

Subin, Dina Mehta, Chhavi Sachdev and Kayezad Adajania share their experience of voting for the first time. It's a sad story of missing voter names, confused poll officials and shoddy poll arrangements. Model-turned-writer Shobha De had an easier time voting. Rajesh Jain explains how he ended up not voting for the first time since 1992, because of his name missing from the voter list. Priya Ramani at LiveMint explains why she didn't vote.

Another set of people believe that the expectation that voter turnout in Mumbai would be high was wrong to begin with.

Columnist Vir Sanghvi is not surprised by the low Mumbai voter turnout and argues that we were deluded in believing that the Mumbai terror attack will lead to higher civic engagement amongst India's urban youth. Ananth Krishnan blames the media for creating a false expectation of higher voter turnout. Kaushal Karkhanis on Twitter says that most outreach effort focused on the classes, not the masses, who form the majority of voters.

Finally, a third set of people are trying to think of ways for encouraging people to vote in the future.

Rediff asks its readers if voting should be made compulsory in India, given the low voter turnout. Mohit Atale believes that the ‘none of the above option' would have led to a higher voter turnout.

I personally believe that this was an unprecedented election for India in terms of online voter registration, transparency and outreach initiatives.

These initiatives have tapped into the sense of outrage after the Mumbai terrorist attack, channeled it into constructive conversations, and created an online space for civic engagement. It is because of this groundswell that people like writer Shashi Tharoor , danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and ABN AMRO India chief Meera Sanyal stepped up to contest the elections.

Perhaps, these initiatives haven't resulted in a significant increase in voter turnout but they have laid a foundation for engaging India's urban middle-class youngsters into serious civic issues. Talk is cheaper than action, but civic engagement must predate collective action. It's a cycle we have seen in the US. In 2004, online engagement didn't get the nomination for Howard Dean, or the presidency for John Kerry, but it set the foundation of the netroots movement that Barack Obama tapped into in 2008. The 2009 elections in India are similar to the 2004 elections in the US.

Perhaps, in 2014, we will see a charismatic leader emerge on the national scene, who will capture the imagination of India's youth. In these elections, neither Congress nor BJP had a charismatic prime ministerial candidate leading from the front. Also, young people in India are disappointed with the sycophancy in the Congress, wary of the communal extremism in the BJP, and alarmed by the fragmentation in Indian politics as a result of the growing power of the regional parties. Therefore, we have seen discussions on section 49(O) and negative voting ever since the Mumbai attack. Hopefully that will change in 2014.

This post is part of the Global Voices special coverage on the Indian Elections 2009

Cross-posted at Gauravonomics, my blog on social media and social change.

China: Quarantining all Mexicans

Health officials in China might be reading too much Michelle Malkin these days; following a decision to cancel all flights from Mexico, which then warned its citizens to stay away from China, authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are reported to have rounded up at least 41 Mexican citizens, none of whom are said to be showing any symptoms of H1N1.

Portal news websites such as Global Times are closely reporting on all developments of the global endemic; in a story on the “dissatisfaction” expressed by the Mexican ambassador to China, Jorge Guajardo—who earlier suggested that H1N1 originated in Eurasia—at seeing Mexican citizens being singled out, readers have written:

自己生病的时候本就应该为了别人的健康老实在家里待着养病而不是到处传播病毒。谁又没请你们来,不来正好。

When someone gets sick, out of concern for the health of others they should just stay put at home and take care of their pigs, not go around spreading the virus. And nobody invited you here, so it's better than you don't come.

对于这种程度的传染病,我们就是要怀疑一个,隔离一个。怀疑一堆,隔离一群。为了13亿人口密度。我一百个赞成。

With communicable diseases of this degree, we should quarantine anyone who comes under suspicion. If we suspect a bunch, then quarantine them all. With a population of 1.3 billion, I'd be fine if we quarantined a hundred of them.

唉,别说了啊,他想要我们国家大乱啊,把我们国家搞垮啊,他们真是居心叵测

Aye, enough already. They want to come to our country and make a mess, bust up our country, they're just really devious.

对于对中国如此敌视和不友好的国家,我们为什么要帮它?! 我们的外交人员究竟是干什么吃的? 为什么不能把所驻在国对我国的真正的态度反馈回来? 看来,我们政府这次五百万美元算是白花了。 应该追究我们的外派外交人员的失职!

With countries as hostile and unfriendly to China as this one, why should we help them?! Just what do our diplomats think they're doing? Why aren't they telling us what the real attitudes toward China are overseas? From the looks of it, that five million USD was a real waste. We should be calling for the dismissal of our diplomatic personnel posted overseas!

倒是理解墨外交人员的“不满”,可这种不满对保护人民生命安全丝毫起不到作用,墨西哥几天内如此大规模的扩散已经说明他们政府的措施不得利。

I can see why Mexican diplomats are “dissatisfied”, but this dissatisfaction is absolutely useless in protecting the lives of the people. That H1N1 spread so widely in just a few days just goes to show that the measures taken by their government aren't paying off.

撤换该大使

Fire this ambassador and get a new one

做的好,必须考虑到我们人民群众的生命安全,如果病毒扩散到我们全国,那西方政客会帮我们么?不要指望他们,暂时停止航班是真确的。政府这次做的非常对,全力支持

Good job, you need to consider the lives and safety of the people. If the virus spreads to our country, will Western politicians come help us then? Pay them no attention. Putting a temporary halt to flights was the correct thing to do. The government has done an extremely good job this time, and I support them wholeheartedly.

全部送回去最好,赞成隔离,不愿意回去呗,万一传染了怎么办?这个时候,应该为大多数人民的利益着想,隔离了还送东西给他们,吃力不讨好

To send them all home would be the best, but I support quarantining them. If they're not willing to go back though, what happens if it spreads? At this time, we should be thinking about the interests of the majority of the people. Even though we quarantined them, we are still treating them, and no thanks for it

滚回墨西哥去!
流感也是有潜伏期的,我们自己人都隔离,你们凭什么有特权?!况且,中国境内的首例病例就是你们墨西哥人!如果你们不来,中国的感染和疑似病例仍然为0!!!!!

Roll off back to Mexico!
Influenza has an incubation period, and even our own people are in quarantine, so what makes you so special?! What's more, the first case within China was one of you Mexicans! If you hadn't come, China's number of infected and suspected cases will still be at zero!!!!!

为了大家安全有什么不对?非常时期是哪里人不重要,中国人倒霉与病人乘了同一架飞机也被隔离呀!被病毒感染了吧这位?!

What's so wrong about thinking about everyone's safety? In times like these, where people are from isn't important. The Chinese people unlucky enough to be on the same plane as the infected person were quarantined too!! You haven't been infected with the virus yourself, have you?!

Another story from Global Times writes of netizen anger in response to the Mexican Foreign Minister's warning for his country's citizens to stay away from China; other comments there read:

所有网民们:你们好
现在你是代表全中国人吗?你们对中国的现实有多少知道?”墨外长“别赴中国旅游”言论引发中国网民愤怒”这个中国一字是可以让人去用的吗?我也是一个网民,可是你说的是在我还没看到.请问环球网????????????????????/

Dear All Netizens: Hello.
Do you represent all Chinese people now? How much do you actually know about the reality of China? Do you think anyone can use lines like “Mexican foreign minister: ‘tourists advised not to go to China', Chinese netizens enraged”? I'm also a netizen, but I still don't see what you're talking about. Just saying, Global Times…………….

紧急情况下别管人家咋说,只要国民安全,个人意见

In emergency situations, it doesn't matter what other people say. What matters is the safety of the nation's people. That's my opinion.

Over at NetEase, news that H1N1 has now passed from a human to pigs on one farm in Western Canada has received over a thousand comments; those currently being highlighted read:

乱了乱了,到底是猪不对还是人不对啊

Craziness, but is the problem with pigs or with people?

全世界的猪都在恐怖:“人流感来了”

The world's pigs are terrified: “people flu is coming”

以前我好像看过,如果传到猪身上它就会变异,加拿大遭殃了

I think I read before that if passes to pigs, it can mutate. Canada's in trouble.

原来还是猪的错“

Ah, so it's the pigs' fault?

说猪不能得此病的专家估计跟猪有血缘关系,
否则他怎么了解得如此清楚!

Specialists who said pigs couldn't catch this virus must be blood relatives of pigs themselves, otherwise they wouldn't be so clear on the subject!

Typical of NetEase readers, sarcastic comments further down appear to be in reference to the health official mentioned above, someone it seems who was quoted as saying that a virus such as H1N1 could not be jump species between humans and pigs:

猪和人是近亲!所以两者的病容易互传!专家这个难道不说吗?想隐瞒大家?我这个不是专业的人都知道,你们专家为什么不说?是不是不敢说?

Pigs and people are closely related! That's why the two can easily cross-infect each other! Haven't experts said so? Or are they keeping something from everybody? Even a non-expert like myself knows this, so why aren't you experts saying it? Could it be you're afraid to?

猪和人是血亲!所以两者的病容易互传!专家这个难道不说吗?想隐瞒大家?我这个不是专业的人都知道,你们专家为什么不说?是不是不敢说?

Pigs and people are blood relations! That's why the two can easily cross-infect each other! Haven't experts said so? Or are they keeping something from everybody? Even a non-expert like myself knows this, so why aren't you experts saying it? Could it be you're afraid to?

猪和人血浓于水!所以两者的病容易互传!专家这个难道不说吗?想隐瞒大家?我这个不是专业的人都知道,你们专家为什么不说?是不是不敢说?

The blood of pigs and people is thicker than water! That's why the two can easily cross-infect each other! Haven't experts said so? Or are they keeping something from everybody? Even a non-expert like myself knows this, so why aren't you experts saying it? Could it be you're afraid to?

猪都是人民的公仆!所以两者的病容易互传!专家这个难道不说吗?想隐瞒大家?我这个不是专业的人都知道,你们专家为什么不说?是不是不敢说?

Pigs are the public servants of the people! That's why the two can easily cross-infect each other! Haven't experts said so? Or are they keeping something from everybody? Even a non-expert like myself knows this, so why aren't you experts saying it? Could it be you're afraid to?

猪都为人民服务!所以两者的病容易互传!专家这个难道不说吗?想隐瞒大家?我这个不是专业的人都知道,你们专家为什么不说?是不是不敢说?

Pigs serve the people! That's why the two can easily cross-infect each other! Haven't experts said so? Or are they keeping something from everybody? Even a non-expert like myself knows this, so why aren't you experts saying it? Could it be you're afraid to?