On the morning of 16, July, Sun’s body was found at the foot of his apartment block. He left his last words to his girlfriend and some of his friends. Though the exact cause of his death is as yet unknown, judging from his messages, he committed suicide because he was suspected by Foxconn of stealing an iPhone G4 prototype.

The missing iPhone was deadly to Mr Sun. The security chief of Foxconn, in fear of Steve Jobs’ wrath, was said to have harshly interrogated Sun and searched through his home. The reason that Sun was so heavily pressured was that losing an iPhone prototype could mean losing the contracts from Apple which are worth millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Sun’s last message to his girlfriend reads:

“My dear, I’m sorry, go back home tomorrow, something has happened to me, please don’t tell my family, don’t contact me, this is the first time that I have ever begged you, please agree to that! I am so sorry!”

After that, he apparently committed suicide.

It could have been a normal if regrettable piece of news since suicide because of intense commercial pressure is not so surprising in China, where the industries are highly competitive. But a sensational post widely circulated on the internet changed everything. The post allegedly recorded an online chat of Sun with one of his friends studying in France. In the online chat which happened right at the night of his death, Sun implied that he was beaten up and humiliated by Foxconn staff.

Sun, as the person responsible for mailing the iPhone prototype back to Apple in US, was the major suspect according to his boss. Sun’s 3-day delay of reporting the loss to his manager further added to suspicion of him. But in the chat Sun explained to his friend:

好友100:12:16
勇哥，你还是先冷静下来把整个事情再回想一下
好友100:12:33
看看什么地方出了问题
孙丹勇00:13:03
我仔细想了一下,机台少只有两个可能性
一是我装箱之前确实就被人无心拿走了,
另外一个可能就是确实有人有意在当晚或第二天拿走了
好友100:13:05
我知道你不是那种人，但是害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无啊
好友100:13:29
这件事情后果严重不 ？
好友2 00:13:42
那没有回旋或者查找的可能性吗？
好友2 00:14:12
富士康应该有监管措施吧
孙丹勇00:14:23
虽然纸箱有贴保密封条,但是我在那也放有保密封条,而且大的纸箱有人动过,
好友100:15:43
对你有什么影响？
孙丹勇00:17:17
我之所以脱了3天才告诉主管,是因为我一直在找,我当时只是以为机台应该还在产线,想自己把问题处理掉,后来实在找不到了,也知道如果机台泄密会对公司有很严重的后果,就给JEFF 打电话告诉他了

孙丹勇00:26:55
我今天被环安课做的那么记录,从良心上说,都是真的,没有半句假话,虽然看起来有些地方值得怀疑,我能理解你们,换了我我也会这么想的
孙丹勇00:27:35
但我不能接受环安课对我的人格污辱,

Sun then said:

孙丹勇00:30:02
就是去公安局,法律也明文规定不可以用武力,何况这只是公司而已
孙丹勇00:32:03
我只是有嫌疑而已,亲爱的环安课@#课长,你们有什么理由和资格扣留我在你那,对我动手

好友100:36:58
你千万不要气馁，更不要做什么过激的反应
孙丹勇00:37:58
少机台是我的责任,我能接受,也很愧疚,但他妈的不是我拿的,

好友100:41:47
这样才更应该好好活，以后给那帮狗东西看
孙丹勇00:43:14
只是这次,估计严重的后果还在后面吧,随便再打我一顿,然后又随便找个理由把我丢公安局去?真不知道
好友100:44:47
勇哥，从现在开始，你一定要张个心眼，然后能留证据就留证据。而且适当的时候一定要服软
孙丹勇00:45:36
那个关人的房间居然没有摄像头,太他妈强了,去过C02 1.5F 这么多次,这次才发现那里还有这么个@#的世外桃园,不知有多少人被在那负过

孙丹勇00:57:41
在部门快一年了,真的,很感激部门的各们同仁,和你们相处真的很愉快,特别是我亲爱的JEFF主管,真的很感激你,我之前在工作中出了这么的问题,一直都是你在前面替我挡客户,把事情都处理了,

孙丹勇01:11:51
各位部门同仁,最后说一遍实话:少的那台N90机台不是我拿的

孙丹勇01:19:18
我真的是被你欺负得没话说了,亲爱的@#课长,希望你会很快得到应有的报应,虽然你们有能力打我,虽然能很快再造出一台机子来,但那是FOXCONN 强,不是你强
孙丹勇01:21:28
对了,还有一件事情,欠学校的助学贷款现在只是在还利息,期望不会对学弟学妹的贷款有影响,这件事情的很不好意思了
孙丹勇01:26:27
走了,高歌,好好休息噢,想想明天不用被人欺蓐,不用当替罪养,心里好受多了,

Two hours later, Sun apparently jumped from the top of the building.

The record was verified and thought to be authentic. Journalists soon found the security chief, Gu Qinming mentioned by Sun. Gu Qinming replied:

顾钦明说，7月15日13时30分许，在获悉苹果公司一部手机样机丢失后，他去了孙丹勇说的包装现场，孙丹勇模拟了当时交接手机的现场，并说交接时他中间离开了一会儿。

第一次调查结束后，从当时与孙丹勇交接产品的女同事处了解到，产品交接时孙丹勇一直在场，这与此前孙丹勇说他曾中途离开不一致，所以要跟他对一下细节。

He also denied that he searched Sun’s home by force.

顾钦明说，搜家是孙丹勇提出的。我们让孙丹勇回忆细节时，他突然提出，为表清白，到他家看看。“我当时觉得不很妥当，但孙丹勇挺坚持的，我就说要是去的话，就写个同意书签个字。”

Not many people trust the apology of Foxconn.
gaofei8292 said,

我也是FOXCONN的，对楼主说的深有同感，只要在FSK干过的都一定是深有体会并对楼主说的事情感同身受。
是的，FSK就是这样一个企业。

牵着蜗牛过马路 echoed the complaint:

兄弟走好，我也是在FSK的，不能不顶了，这里干活没有什么尊严，下面的狗一样的所谓陆干，和那些鸟台干一个鼻孔出气，溜须拍马，克扣我们这些基层的，

82926303 said Foxconn is too powerful a company to beat:

没有哪个电视台愿意曝光一些富士康的东西，即使你给他钱也不愿 意，因为不想惹祸上身，多一事不如少一事，富士康太厉害了，因为根源有政府的支持，因为有钱，因为有专业的有名的法律团队……

On the internal forum of Foxconn, there are also posts regretting Sun’s death and complaining about Foxconn’s suppressing atmosphere. Taiwan businessmen are thought to be just like foreign suppressors. sgqlove520 said

哎…台湾，日本的外商从来对我国劳动人民都不当人看。
但是这又能如何呢？不管出了什麽事.主流媒體也不敢報導.
地方政府我想沒什麽好說的了.為虎作倀.草菅人命.
已經屢見不鮮了.到底我國勞動人民的生命及尊嚴
何時才有人出來捍衛呢…

(Bob Guy also contributes to the post.)

More than a week ago, four employees of Rio Tinto were arrested on suspicion of ‘espionage, stealing state secrets and harming the nation’s economic interests and security.' Stern Hu, an Australian national who is in charge of iron ore trade in China for Rio Tinto is one of the four detained.

More than ten people in different Chinese steel companies have also been detained for further investigation, including the executive assistant of China Shougang Group.

The state secret involved is said to be confidential documents that gave Rio Tinto the upper hand in its iron ore negotiation with China’s state-owned steel mills. More specifically, it includes detailed information of the industry's projected ore demand and production data.

In the recent negotiation on long-term fixed price ore contracts, Chinese steel mills demanded a 40% decrease in price, back to the levels of 2007. But Rio Tinto insisted on a cutback of 33% at most, a price already accepted by Japan. The big three iron ore companies in Australia threatened a stoppage of supply to the open market, which meant that China had no recourse if negotiations broke down.

This tough position by the miners is because they have been informed of the forecasts of Chinese steel mills by insiders who took bribes. In past years, although the largest buyer of iron ore in the world, China has suffered from price rises of over 90% since 2004.

Columnist Li Fuyong comments:

在2002年以前，中国因为进口量小，在铁矿石市场几乎没有发言权；但是，自2003年起，中国成为最大进口国以后，依然得不到发言权，影响不了谈判局势。每次谈判都以中方失败告终，不得不屈从对方高额要价，世界三大矿山巨头每次都似乎号准了中国的脉搏，对中方的底牌了如指掌.

More details about how the employers of the state-owned steel companies took bribes were soon revealed. Netizens were furious to see that the people enjoying high pay from their own industry were ‘selling China to foreign companies!’

The article ‘从力拓间谍门看中国商业贿赂‘ (commercial bribery reflected in Rio Tinto's ‘Espionage-Gate')

在2008年北京奥运会开幕前，澳洲铁矿石巨头必和必拓的奥运团队就开始忙碌着接待来自全球各地的“贵宾”，他们主要是购买必和必拓产品的客户和必和必拓各业务高层及业务表现出色的员工。

其中，就包括近年来代表中国众多钢铁企业与必和必拓进行铁矿石价格谈判的上海宝钢集团及马钢等钢铁、有色金属企业的高层。

白天，必和必拓邀请“贵宾”观看奥运比赛，晚上安排客人下榻每间每天数千元的酒店，并与他们在酒店的酒吧或公司预定的场所交流，还专门请演唱“猫”和“Mama mia”歌剧的著名女歌手来献唱。这方面的付出，为澳方铁矿石价格谈判上赢得了先机。

On the internet, the senior officials were called ‘Hanjian', which means ‘rats amongst the Han Chinese'. It more usually refers to people who helped the Japanese invaders during the WW2.

hanyzj commented on 163.com:

中国人太容易被收买了！

And a netizen named Sunny-day complained:

对付国有企业太容易了，哈哈，美女+金钱，可以横扫一切。

Commercial or political?

The national security bureau has intervened to investigate the ‘espionage’ case. The computer of Stern Hu was confiscated and it was said that confidential information on scores of Chinese steel companies was found inside.

As China stepped up the campaign against commercial bribery there was reaction from overseas.

Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, warned China to handle the case carefully so as not to affect international public perceptions. Also the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke reacted with ‘great concern' to the arrest of the four employees. Rio Tinto has asked its foreign staff to leave China or not to return to the country.

Last month a Chinese state-owned company called Chinalco just failed to buy a large stake of the Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. Most Chinese people thought the failure was the result of Australian political concern. Therefore an opinion has suggested that the detention this time could be China’s retaliation, but China has denied, saying it was an ‘individual case'.

Rather than the foreign employees, Chinese netizens are angrier at the rats among themselves. 暗香浮动 criticized that the corruption and bribery are the results of monopoly in the steel industry.

而这些垄断行业多是嫡出身，带有先天的优越性，在行业竞争中有着天然的优势，赚了是自己的，赔了找国家要。

Woyaodese further points out that the centralization of power should be blamed as a hotbed that encourages corruption.

我们对于铁矿石的管制是越来越厉害，这厉害的结果就是中国能够经营铁矿石的进出口的单位只有100多家，远远少于钢铁企业的数量，这些有资质的进出口商最值钱的就是资质，这资质来自权力，当然就要权力寻租了。需要铁矿石的企业，只有找他们代理，而他们的代理费用不如说是倒卖的利润，进口的价格可以加一个 50-100%在给钢厂

Therefore, the qualified companies, which constitute the majority of the negotiation team, all have an incentive to accept a high price. That might be the reason that, this year in order to stop the trend, it is the China Iron and Steel Association who took charge of the bargaining.

A question was raised. Bribery and commission are not unusual in Chinese business circles. Why would China be so adamant in investigating the case that it would even risk international disputes? An article suggested Rio Tinto has violated the hidden rules of business in China. Not only has the failure of China Aluminum Corporation to seize the stake of Rio Tinto seriously annoyed many senior officials, but its tough position in negotiations has also pushed the representatives to the corner.

The article said,

大伙再来看rio近期的表现
通过与中国内地的小钢企达成协议，避开中钢协，满足自己最大利益需求。
大批向中国港口运矿石，就地囤积，制造需求旺盛假象，逼迫中钢协在谈判中就范
这两条还不至于要命，最要命的一点是，把中钢协已经逼到绝路上，放话说，“我们也不坚持百分四十，但三大巨头必须在33%上有所松动”的前提下，依旧步步紧逼。其实中钢协最近那句话完全可以解读为，“老大，算你狠。给我点折扣，让我跟上边对人民有个交代吧，哪怕是0.1%也成，求你了…….”，可是 rio等偏偏装听不见。

其实，33%也好，40%也罢，中钢协谈判组从中没一点提成可拿。他们只需要rio这边有所松动，让他们跟上头和国内舆论有个交代。如果连续两年毫无建树，他们这个组织就没存在的必要，多少人的前程和饭碗就全毁了。但rio不明白啊，一再把人往绝路上逼。既然这样，中钢协和先前被rio得罪的人，也就没路可退了。

（Bob Guy also contributes to the post.)

Although the official media keeps appealing for national and ethnic solidarity, the pictures and coverage of the riot presented to most Chinese indicate it is nothing but a hate crime directed at Han Chinese by Uygur gangs. Furious at that scores of innocent people were killed, Chinese netizens are calling for a tough response to what they think is exactly a terrorist attack.

Kukumusic told what he heared from his friend in Urumqi. In his eyes, he saw no so-called ‘peaceful protest' by Uygurs but only brutal butchers:

早上起来终于联系到了一个在乌市的哥们儿，很高兴他还活着（不是开玩笑），后来说到了乌市的现况，他跟我说了点那边动乱的细节，和现在网上论坛里报道的有些不同，一起说出来吧。
维族人在大街上见到汉族人就上去割喉，分成7、8人一组，杀了汉人后，5秒钟就散开，走在路上，常看见躺着很多具尸体。
暴乱的维族人都是生活在贫困线下的维族，据说被境外收买后，实施暴动行为。有一些维族人已经到了丧心病狂的地步，有直接把人从天桥上往下扔，更狠的是有些维族普通老百姓也受到牵连，也被他们错打。

In EastSouthWestNorth.com, a number of witness accounts were translated into English, along with bloody pictures. The people injured, judged from their appreance, are most Han Chinese.

The brutal killings obviously provoked many netizens. Therefore, on the internet the call for a tough strike-back is prevailing. Some even complained the government is too soft.
lgf5156 (YY无罪) said:

我刚才和在乌鲁木齐工作的弟弟通了电话，感觉乌市汉人对政府的所作所为非常不满
认为
1 政府没有很好的保护他们，不相信政府。恐怖分子杀人时，打砸抢时没有武警（这个可能是政府对事件估计不足），等汉族人上街游行时，又是直升机，又是武警，催泪瓦斯，政府指挥镇压汉族人。
2 单位里本来很荣恰的民族关系变得很紧张。只要看到屠杀的汉族人，永远不会对维族有好感了。这是一个非常严重的问题。也非常难以解决。

The harm by the riot to both Uygurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang is destined to be far-reaching. No one would forget the battle-field-like, horrible killings happened in Urumqi.

A journalist noted down what he experienced after the interview of Uygur women protesting for their missing husbands and sons who are said to be arrested:

当记者结束採访赛马场维族妇女示威后，约过了20分钟，好不容易找到的士返回酒店，车子刚行驶约10分 钟途经大湾北路时，经验丰富的汉族的士司机感觉前面气氛不对，急忙停车说，不能再走这条路了。记者不解其意，问他「为什麽不走？」仅过了1分钟，就见前面 许多行人像避雨一样慌张跑过来，有人边跑边喊，「快跑呀，前面又有事了！」循声望去，只见眼前100米路面已被大批维族人封锁，随即传来玻璃破碎声。的士 司机见状急忙掉头，四周汽车纷纷转向，一时间交通秩序大乱。Mitbbs.com
记者从未经历如此紧张场面，只见路上行人朝同一个方向奔跑….车子至一个交叉路口刚要转弯，车后忽有女人拼命拍打车尾，急呼「帮帮忙，我跑不动了」，好心的司机停车让她上车，
一行人脱险后，记者反问司机﹕「刚才情景好像在伊拉克打仗，要这样紧张吗？」司机回答说，「你没经历过当时惨景，那些维族暴徒连妇女小孩都不放过，被他们撞到能有好结果吗？」

Many Han Chinese are grieved to see that, the effort to restore order in Urumqi is, again, was seen by some western media as ‘crackdown', and the riot as but ‘peaceful protest.'
空气稀薄 complaint:

其实，为了维护民族团结，防止仇恨加剧，中国媒体的报道已经非常“不客观”了，那些血淋淋,惨不忍睹的镜头只有在海外媒体和互联网论坛上才可以见到，无耻的德国媒体竟然说中国政府用宣传propaganda来煽动汉人对维族人的仇恨。
如果是警方武力镇压造成所谓的维族“和平抗议者”大量伤亡，图片呢？视频呢？截至此刻，有哪家外媒，有哪个境外疆独组织能提供哪怕一张（段）这种性质的图片和视频？

On Youtube. in response to a video titled 新疆万人抗议 呼吁国际关注 (Thousands protesting in Xinjiang, call for international attention), ahuich said

放你妈的狗屁！有计划的镇压！
维吾尔人屠杀了154人，重伤800人，是冲突，是示威。武警前 来维持秩序，就是有计划的镇压

Dugles commented:

如果政府机关枪扫射了。拿我做梦都偷着笑。可怜的中国政府，什么 事都不做也照样被人扣屎盆子。既然这样，为什么不痛痛快快的干呢 ！！！

On New York Times, a series of pictures showing the riot is also criticized as catering to stereotypes and distorting facts.
This picture by Nir Elias/Reuters, which shows a man lying on the bed with the caption ‘Uighurs injured at a hospital in the city during a media tour by the authorities on Monday.', is ridiculed by Chin:

是啊，这照片明明是里面的名字明明是汉人，到了注解的时候变成维族了

walala said:

构图的idea就是: 先拍军警, 再拍维族, 拍伤者/血之类, 也放个维族在照片里. 总之
要旨是暗示军警打维族.

Radio Free Asia is also criticized for mistakenly citing a picutre of Shishou incident for Xinjiang riot. What is interesting is that, Rebiya Kadeer, the woman alleged by CCP to be the head of the riot, showed exactly this picture in her interview to depict the situation in Urumqi. Relative information can been at the bottom of this page in EastSouthWestNorth.

The journalists' unscheduled confrontation with a large crowd of Uygurs women, who were wailing for their missing families arrested by authority, was also thought to be suspicious. The protesting women were featured by several influential western newspapers.

The journalist of Wenhui Newspaper wrote about what happened at the time:

在成功吸引众多记者的注意后，这些维族妇女又分成几群，对记者、特别是外国记者，声泪俱下地用维语哭喊。她们当中，每几个人裡便会有一名懂汉语的维族妇女负责用中文作现场翻译，这让记者们很容易地明白其哭诉的主要内容是：她们的丈夫、儿子或父亲，昨晚被警察抓走了、打死了。但当被问及到底有多少人昨晚被抓或死亡时，这些维族妇女却又不断变换「口径」：最初向外媒记者说有100人，之后又改口说300人，最后又称有上千人。

记者注意到，在一些中国记者用普通话向这些妇女提问时，她们会用中文回答说听不懂，但面对外国记者的镜头，她们马上用流利的汉语大声哭诉，并不断有人晕倒。如果发现外国记者没注意到这些「细节」，还会有人主动上前，拉外国记者们去拍。

The newly elected mayor is only 29 years old. His resume shows the rapid promotion he got in the past 5 years. Right after he graduated from Qinghua University, one of the best colleges in China, he was appointed to be the deputy director of the Construction Committee in Xiangfan, a city in Hubei province. A position many people can only dream of in their thirties, it started Zhou's rocketing promotion, that finally leads him to be the mayor of YiCheng (宜城）.

This time, the People's Congress of Yicheng unanimously voted him the mayor, which is another shocking fact. A member in the congress said it was unprecedented. His mysterious promotion, therefore, has become the topic of the heated debate on the internet.

A denial of interview and public concern

A broadcast scription reads:

周森锋成为湖北乃至全中国最年轻市长的消息传开后，各路媒体纷纷要求采访这名政坛新星，但都遭中共宜城市委宣传部拒绝。宜城市委宣传部负责人声称，周森锋比较务实、低调，不希望媒体过多地宣传、炒作。该市组织部门一名工作人员说，相关领导已明确指示，任何人不得私自接受采访。

Meanwhile, none of Zhou's colleagues has given any information about the young mayor in his previous posts.

A short path to power
Three years after graduation, Zhou has been promoted to be the vice bureau chief, which is the second position he took. In the following two years, he was promoted for totally 5 times.

An editorial cited by the official media, People's Daily, posed a question on Zhou's rapid promotion. The writer questioned whether the quick promotion violates the CCP regualtions about the procedure of cadre promotion.

Zhou Pengan, the blogger, writes:

再来看看中共中央关于《党政领导干部选拔任用条例》相关条款的规定。《党政领导干部选拔任用条例》第七条第一款规定， 提任县（处）级领导职务的，应当具有五年以上工龄和两年以上基层工作经历。

周森锋的简历告诉我们，他2004年7月参加工作，其工龄还不满5年并且缺乏两年以上基层工作经历

Justice-Blade echoed the question on China.com:

我相信在科学界，在艺术界，在文化界有天才，但在成熟的政治领域不可能有。

Questioning whether Zhou has special family background that brings him to the position, netizens launched Flesh Search Engine in an attempt to find out the truth. Typing in Zhou Senfeng in Baidu, relative terms such as Zhou Senfeng's father, Zhou Senfeng's wife immediately show up, which indicates that millions of people have already tried to find out about his family.

Zhou's father was the first focus. ‘Who is Zhou's father' became a question frequently seen on the internet. Netizens soon discovered a “suspect”. On around 23, June, the name Zhou Gengyan floated on the internet. According to his public resume, Zhou Gengyan is now the CCP's first secretary of YuZhou, head of the city.

However, official media across the country soon published a story about Zhou's family, claiming that his father is actually a normal worker and his mother a farmer.

The report said:

记者又询问了很多人后，终于找到了周森锋在神垕镇上开摄影店的三姨妈。“我们已经从网上看到了森锋当选宜城市市长的消息了，这孩子越来越有出息了。”周森锋的三姨妈高兴地说，“其实，我们森锋也是贫苦人家的孩子。”

The report, furthermore, depicted Zhou's home as the worst in the town. His father was said to be working in a porcelain plant for living. Moreover, there are netizens questioning that, if Zhou's father is now only the head of a city, he has no way to promote his son to the same level so quickly.

The contradicting versions about Zhou's family lead netizens to question about Zhou's wife. She was first exposed to be the deputy director of the city congress. But again, she was found to be only the head of a subcomittee. Zhou's father-in-law, who is said to be unemployed now has nothing special as well.

Umbrella and research paper
The official statement told that ‘his appointment coincided with the government's campaign to foster more young cadres.' He just took well of the chance and earned his own way in the political sphere.

However, it is not too convincing a statement. In China, it is unbelievable that a person without network can rise up so quickly. It is the belief of the most that there must be something going under the table. Driven by the questions, suspicion and distrust, netizens keep on their fight for truth.

Zhou is now facing the attention from across the country. In Baidu.com, a special post-zone(贴吧）was set for people to discuss about the youthful mayor. More facts about his have been dug out.

Blogger Zhao Dahua said in his post ‘Zhou, can't you hold the umbrella yourself?':

谢疏而不漏的恢恢网络，29岁的研究生周森锋“当选”为中国最年轻市长的消息刚一传开，人们就找到了他今年早些时候下乡视察时由他人打伞的照片。当时，人不多，雨不大，周常委兼常务副市长背着双手，挺着肚子，在他人打着的雨伞下，悠然自得地扫视着瓜地。同时，人们还找到了好几张温家宝、布什、普京等大人物在雨中亲自打伞的照片。比较着这些照片，人们对周市长的架子看着很不爽。

Moreover, people discovered that one of Zhou's postgraduate papers plagiarized the paper of another scholar. The paper is about real estate studies, which is the major research topic of Zhou's post-graduate study. 木有下文 writes in his post which is widely cited on the internet:

于是我在半信半疑中下载了这两篇文章，对照后发现，其中竟然有好几段几乎一模一样，还有不少段落是修改了几个字，基本意思一样。而且周市长也没有注明“引用”的脚注。通篇看来，我认为不只50%的抄袭

The blogger then cited the similar paragraphs in the two papers. Qinghua University has started checking the paper but not yet given any response.

Unlucky Man?
Zhou, as the youngest mayor, is thought to be by some people just an unlucky person. It should have been exciting to hear young men promoted to the leadership. In response to such comments on the internet, Blogger Chenyunx replied in his post ‘Why do we have to question about Mayor Zhou.'

襄樊市引进硕士博士，是好事情。但是当年引进硕士博士一共多少位？其他人才引进之后是不是一开始就这么重用？周市长一开始就能成为建委副主任，是否经过公开的招考，是否经过审慎的考察？周市长一系列的工作变动，有没有经过正常的程序。一系列工作变动之后，周市长最终成为了一市之长，有没有相应证明他能够胜任这个岗位的证据？有没有工作业绩的支撑？这些东西，是我们必须疑问的。因为，作为一市之长，不是随便去找一个打工仔完成一项工作。他的一个决策的失败，影响的是宜城几十万老百姓的生活。这样一个人物，怎么能够不谨慎。

对于强势的官员们，需要的是制衡他们的力量，否则，没有制约的权力带来的只有苦涩的恶果。我们需要的不是盲从，不是盲目支持，而是用带着怀疑和警惕的眼光注视那些强大的官员们，让他们在诱惑面前多一些警醒，让他们感受到做错事之后会受到惩罚，这样，他们才能够如履薄冰，兢兢业业的做好他的工作。

如果面对网民的一点点质疑周市长们都通不过，那么这样的人有什么资格掌管几十万人民的前途？

中国民主的进程注定要从网上监督开始，因此，让质疑来的更猛烈一些吧。

The death of a chef triggered a mass protest that finally brought over ten thousand armed police into the town for crackdown. The dead’s families along with thousands of people resisted the police and protected the corpse, because they know once the body was taken away, the death would be identified as a suicide and the truth will be lost forever.

Rumor said that the chef, named Tu Yuangao (涂远高），was killed because he threatened to expose the drug dealings in the hotel after he failed to get his pay. Now, as more injectors were found inside the burned hotel, Shishou people’s suspicion grows. It seems to confirm the rumor that Yong Long hotel has long been used as a den for drug dealers protected by local officials.

A newspaper said

当地还有人士称，事发酒店有公安人员入股。坊间流传最多的是，永隆酒店分别是由三个部门的副职负责人入股，其中有公安局，工商局，还有电力局的负责人。但记者未能证实该消息的真伪。

The update was reported by a domestic newspaper, which is the first time that Chinese public media gave so complete a coverage, though it still mentioned nothing about the crackdown.

The reporter also said:

21日晚上11时许，本报记者在出事酒店背面的沙堆上发现一些使用过的注射器以及其包装纸。这些注射器的外形与通常医院做皮试的注射器无异。

22日，记者再次探访酒店时，这些注射器依然未做清理。此时，一些围观的群众也对此进行议论，有几个小孩正拿着手机拍摄，一名家住附近的中年女子认为，“这些都是酒店内部吸毒品所用的工具。”

在场的几名市民都对此表示同感，在他们看来，附近没有医院，不可能是医院把这些注射器丢弃在这里，

Moreover, on 22 June, it was said that people were stunned to find 6 more (3 by some source) corpses in the sewage within the hotel, only with bones left. Hearing the news, a few thousands of people gathered again outside the hotel after tens of thousand people were dispelled last night by armed police.

The updates first appeared on twitter:

ChangshaNotes: RT @yuzhiquan: 石首新情况：隆酒店周围又围上了四五千人。永隆酒店又发现三具尸体！（消息来源以为当地的网友，前2天提供了不少实时信息，可信度还不错）现在只能半信半疑。 #石首#shishou#

It soon turned into two versions:
First, someone saw two corpses in the sewage, and they were later dragged out.
Second, a skeleton was seen inside the hotel.

It was publicly denied by local TV station. The government asked people not to be instigated by a small group of agitators, but revealed no details about the latest development and has given no explanation.

On 21, more than ten thousand armed police have reached the corpse and dispelled the crowd. The corpse was taken away for autopsy and the result will be revealed in 20 days. The dead’s families were asked to go talking with the local officials for an agreement of cremation as soon as possible. It was said that some of his families have agreed.

Another disputable issue is the dead’s last words written on a payment note.
The ‘testament’, which was a crucial evidence for the police to identify the death as suicide, states:

亲爱的爸爸妈妈：儿子在这里对你们说声不孝了，我也不知道我是怎么了好像有个阴影一直缠着我不放，可能这是我的命吧，我存的那点钱您们拿出用，就当是我对 您二老的一点小小补偿吧，儿子欠您们养育之恩再能来世再报了。还有哥，我们只能来世做兄弟了，爸爸妈妈就交给你们了，请原谅弟弟这样不辞而别。希望你好好 把事业做大。好了就这样吧。不孝儿子。。叩头。

But the testament was doubted to be faked. Blogger Chai Jing（十年砍柴）questioned that a man who has not even finished grade school has no way to write such a testament.

短短两百来字的遗书，不但字迹流利顺畅，且行文层次分明，逻辑谨严。有如一 件衙门公文，起承转合皆有。一个准文盲，快要自杀前还如此从容写出这样高水准的遗书？

But some of his families agreed that it was indeed his handwriting, though they suggested he might be forced to write down the note.

The battle and resistance has gone far beyond the Shishou town. The Chinese internet has been put in blackout. On Fnafou, the ‘Chinese twitter', if you search for Shishou there returns no result. But the authority cannot take control of everything. The official website of Shishou government has been hacked soon after the crackdown, and the hackers even put up a bulletin board on the webpage that everyone can leave a comment there. The page has been screenshot.

According to the latest update, the twon has been quite again. But how long will it last is yet unknown.

2009年5月12日下午5点多，我在广州市岗顶地铁站靠近C出口的地铁闸口外面等我女朋友….电话联系知道她已经快到了。

这时一个保安（胸牌号PT1776）径直向我走来，一双警觉的眼睛上下打量着我的衣服，一脸凶悍地问道：”你是干什么的？在这里干嘛？”我说我在这里等我女朋友。这个保安瞪着凶神恶煞的眼睛，指着我的T恤衫说：”你的衣服不对，这是什么意思？不能在我们这里穿！”

我自制的T恤衫前面印了”一党独裁，遍地是灾。——《新华日报》”几个字，后面印了”共产党反对国民党的一党专政，绝不是要建立自己的一党专政。—-刘少奇”这样一句话。后面的字较小，现在被保安发现”不对”、引起阶级斗争警觉的是我恤衫的前面。

我反问道：”我的衣服怎么不对了？我穿什么衣服关你什么事？我在这里等人接人碍着谁了？”

Unexpectedly, more attention was attracted.

这时，一个警察（警号是018464）来了，另一个保安（2409号）来了，地铁工作人员数人来了，其中地铁一人手持相机对我拍照。围观的人越来越多，人们以新奇和不解的目光注视着我的衣服和眼前突发的事情。在警、保、铁三方如临大敌、铜墙铁壁的包围中，在围观人群不明就里的注视中，我犹如汪洋中的一条独木舟。

“你上面这句话（指”一党独裁，遍地是灾”）不对，要跟我们去调查。”保安满脸阶级斗争。

指着胸前的文字对保安解释：这是共产党自己说过的话，是新华日报的社论，如果你读过书的话，应该知道抗战时期有个《新华日报》，你可以自己去查，并且告知他我是律师，请你不要妨碍我的人身自由。1776号保安暴跳如雷，露出了十足地痞的面目，当着警察以及众多围观人群破口大骂：”你个傻逼，管你是什么师，我读书比你多得多。”并且当众对我讪笑道：”就你这个样子也有女朋友？”面对这个满嘴喷粪的人渣，我怒不可遏，一阵恶心。

警察态度虽然没有保安恶劣，但是显然把我当嫌疑人看待，这让我很不舒服。我给他解释：这句话是1946年3月30日中共中央机关报《新华日报》的社论，并跟他说，我女朋友已经出站了，现在她找不见我，我要去接她。警察不许，并要对我“进行传唤”。我指出这是对我人身自由的非法限制，我接不到女朋友，她会很着急。这时警察人数已增为几人，有的强硬，有的和缓。他们和保安将我推拽到一处空地上，然后地铁人员迅速地在我周围竖起了屏风帷帐，将我圈在墙边，以隔阻围观人群探寻的目光和我恤衫文字的对接。

The police and guards later took Liu to a small room for investigation. A security guard, according to Liu, shouted ‘F**k you' for several times and rushed to in an attempt to punch him. Fortunatelly, the irritated guard was stopped by the police. They then took pictures of Liu.

警察问我衣服上这句话的出处。我向他们作了详细说明，并且提出愿意帮助他们在网上搜索这句话，警察说这里上不了网。但是我相信他们通过一定的渠道验证了这句话的存在。

During the process, Liu noted down their police numbers on the sneak with his cellphone.

我要求警方向我出具对我进行留置或者其他类别强制措施的法律手续，但是警方称没有。我要求做笔录，先是被拒绝，后来在变换了一个拘禁地点后，才应允我。我于晚上19时自书了一份《我被非法拘禁的经过》交给警方，要求对方“赔礼道歉，赔偿损失。”我告诉警方：这是非法拘禁，我作为律师日后将会告你们，并且会把这件荒唐的事情传上网。

一位警察态度明显和缓，要和我“交流思想”，称：“抗战的时候，国民党很独裁，那个时候共产党反对国民党的一党独裁，所以发表了那篇遍地是灾的社论。但是这句话放到现在，就很敏感……”云云。

我回应道：我是一个律师，做的是法律工作，我判断是非的第一尺度是法律，符合法律规定的事情没有人能够阻止我去做，违反法律的事情我压根不会去做。“依法治国”不是已经入宪了吗，是依法治国，不是依“敏感”治国。

I replied, ‘ I am a lawyer. The yardstick I use to judge about right and wrong is law. No one can stop me from doing anything that is not prohibited by the law. Isn't ‘ruling the country by law' written into the constitution? It doesn't say ‘ruling the country by considering whether it is sensitive or not'.

一警员经过较长时间的伏案工作，终于敲出了一份针对我的“讯问笔录”。我粗略地看了一下：上面关于涉嫌违法的事由是“制造谣言和扰乱社会秩序”。我讥笑着对张副所长说：“你不觉得这太侮辱公众常识了吗？如果把它放到网上去，你不怕这个东西会气死躲猫猫？”张副所长无言。鉴于笔录中多处与事实不符，并且警方不同意我复印该笔录的要求，所以我顺理成章地拒绝在那份笔录上签字。

或许是警方已经查证了那句“敏感”话的出处，或许是与我对程序的熟知和严谨苛责有关，或许是警方觉得凭一件文化衫就拉一个人太过意不去（特别是那个喷粪保安的行为太过出格），或许是受我要告他们和上网的声言所影响，最后警方人员摆出了要和解的姿态，问我有什么要求。

Perhaps the police had found out where the quote was from, perhaps I was so familiar with the due process of investigation, or perhaps they didn't think it proper to detain someone just for his T-shirt, perhaps they were alerted by my warning that I will put my experience online, they compromised, asking what I wanted.

Finally, the guard that cursed and shoved Liu apologized to him.

晚上8点10分，我离开岗顶地铁派出所。从开始在地铁闸口被盘查，直到被放走，前后历时近3小时。

在和女友回家的路上，我满脸疲惫，感慨万千。今天的环球已然大不同于抗战时期，星星不再是那颗星星，月亮也不再是那个月亮。我不知道，在人类近三分之二的国家已经采用民主制度的今天，因为将某一政党昔日曾经揭示了客观规律的一句历史名言印在恤衫上，而受到后世同一政党（政府）如临大敌之生猛对待的，在当今世界扳着指头数，究竟还能扳倒几个指头？

The dead man, Deng Guida, is the chief of county investment promotion office. He came with his two colleagues to the entertainment venue Dream City for a massage, and met the waitress there. They asked for 'special service', meaning sex service in China, but were refused.

It is alleged that Deng Guida took from his pocket a wad of money and hit the waitress on the head with it. Humiliated by the action, Deng tried to leave the room but the victim twice pushed her onto a sofa as she attempted to do so. The waitress found a knife, stabbing at the victim's throat, killing him and also injuring one of his colleagues.

The waitress later called police and surrendered.

The news immediately triggered a public discussion after it was revealed. At first it was about whether the girl's action should be regarded as self-defense. Though legal experts agreed she is likely to be charged, some in Xing-Dao Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, argued,

邓贵大要求邓玉娇提供“特殊服务”，邓玉娇不从，使用暴力手段，两次将邓玉娇按倒在沙发上，已构成强奸行为，且该不法侵害正在进行，并即将邓玉娇的人身造成严重损害。邓玉娇的防卫行为，是在情况紧急，精神高度紧张的情况下采取的自卫行为…不负刑事责任。

The official had requested Deng to offer 'special service', but was refused! He violently pushed Deng onto the sofa twice, an action that could well be seen as an attempted rape. The infringement on Deng's rights was an ongoing one and may well have severely injured Deng. Therefore her stabbing was an act of self-defense and given the emergency….she should face no criminal charge!

Many netiznes spoke highly of Deng. Yi Li in Tianya commented on the news, saying,

邓玉娇，你是好样的。敬佩你，支持你，向你学习。望保重。

Moreover, her story was written into a short chronicle in traditional Chinese that was usually used by ancient historians to memorize a heroic example. For those who knows Chinese, the text is here:

邓玉娇者，荆州巴东人也，美而烈，以修脚为业。
一夕，浣纱于室，野三关镇吏黄德智、邓贵大、邓某相携寻欢不遇，见玉娇，遂破门而入，欲强狎焉。玉娇严词斥之，邓贵大怒，鞭面以币，曰：吾辈多金，岂惧汝不从哉。玉娇不顾，贵大愈怒，乃按其于卧塌，强起，复按之，三者相视而笑。玉娇羞愤，遂操细刃刺之，三创而毙，德智复犯，玉娇又刺之，重创，邓者大惧，不敢前。玉娇乃投刃自首于官。

jy_xyp said:

娶女如此,此生足已!!!!

Virginity is very important in China, and there are numerous stories on how women defended their honor. The sentiment of admiring a girl for defending her virginity, is here combined with a hatred against corrupt officials in the case.

In People.com, a blogger Sun Xiaobo questioned:

一是这些官员哪里有那么钱？因为在争执中，被刺死的邓贵大曾从怀中拿出一沓钱抽打邓某的头部，一个靠工资过日子的公务员哪来的那么多钱，而且一点也不怜惜。到底是公款，还是腐败得来的。官员为何热衷于去娱乐场所？为何热衷于特殊服务？

How could they visit entertainment venues so frequently and are obsessed with 'special service' so much?

Bloggers, netizens and intellectuals are taking action to support Deng Yujiao. A public letter calling for people to send their words of comfort to Deng, who is now imprisoned, appeared on the internet saying Deng is a heroine. Many still worry though that the police may manipulate the evidence to help the court rule against Deng.

In a preliminary assessment, Deng was identified as having a mental condition. Also, the police allege that the weapon Deng used was actually a fruit knife rather than the nail clipper that Deng used in her job of clipping nails for customers. On this point, blogger Zhou Zhongming wrote an article:

首先,他们故意不提招商办官员用钱打修脚女的细节.

其次,他们将自卫工具修脚刀换为水果刀.这看似细微的差别,所能形成的造案效果却不可低估:用修脚刀自卫,说明是在工作被挑戏激愤慌张中自卫,用水果刀则不同,洗脚物包间通常不会有,这就为构陷修脚女”折出拿刀再返回刺杀”埋下伏笔.这样就使显而易见正当防卫往故意杀人上靠.

再次,他们声称在修脚女的包里查出治疗抑郁症的药.这一招最狠毒:可以维护官员的形象;又可以将修脚女投入精神病院折磨,谁都知道进政治精神病院是比死刑恐怖千百倍的事.

The blogger gave a possible scenario of the police conclusions: that the girl, because of her mental condition and persecution paranoia, stabbed the two officials with a purposely prepared knife.

Could such a speculation be true? Netizens are waiting for a final answer from the police.

Now the authorities in Hangzhou seems to be taking these effort even further. The city congress has legislated that all local users, including bloggers, should register with their real names.

A post by blogger West-of-Lake-West is very popular on the internet these days. This blog entry detailed several articles in a regulation which was to be implemented on 1st May. The piece of law, passed by city congress, is named ‘Regulation on Protection of Computer Information and Internet safety' (计算机信息网络安全保护管理条例).

In article 18, the blogger found that

…..应当记录上网用户的上网时间，用户帐号，互联网网络地址或者域名，主角电话号码等信息。

The blogger questioned:

我要问的是，如果我去杭州百货大楼去买某品牌的衣服，我需要向杭州大厦登记我的姓名，地址，身份证号码么？有这样的道理么?凭什么我去上网，我的上网信息要被他们记录。你给我个理由，你问过我们没有？

He then posted online the article 19:

提供电子公告，网络游戏和其他即时通信服务的，具有用户注册信息和发布信息审核功能的，并如实想起申请开设上述服务的用户的有效身份证明。电子公告指的是户料网上的论坛，聊天室，留言板，博客等交互形式。

An article he found to be the most ridiculous is:

鼓动公众恶意评论他人，公开发布他人隐私，或者通过暗示，影射等方式，对他人进行人身攻击的。

He made fun of the article:

再说了，我想请教法律专家，如何操控定义恶意评论他人，更如何在法律的框架下定义影射与暗示。我说，在杭州有一个姓王的胖子很坏，我是不是影射那个胖子王姓市委书记？

Finally he said he would be considered as a criminal after 1 May, because

注意，我这篇帖子违反了法律：首先没有身份登记，还有鼓动公众恶意评论，第三，我还可能影射了一个胖子，这个胖子有人说是苹果王，有人说是王苹果，还有pgw,还有王书籍。。。

我们该怎么面对这份法律，我们以后还能怎么说话？我们还有没有批评权利？谁能保证我们在批评的时候的权利？

我们向全国网友求救。、。。。

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。

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。”

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。”

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。

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。

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。

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

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？

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。

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！”

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。”

“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！”

恍惚中，我穿过人群

从车上下来的高举冲锋枪的警察高喊“把手举起来，原地不要动”这个只有大片中才有的场景让我有些不知所措。

In his blog, Li Peifeng so recalled his encounter with the police in Si-chuan. No smuggling, no robbery, all he was doing is simple - he was volunteering. But his story is no less exciting and hair-raising than any thriller. He was chased by Chinese police.

A covered fact

As the anniversary of Si-chuan Earthquake, the devastating disaster that claimed over 80000 on May, 12 last year is approaching, China has to pick up the heavy, heartrending topic again. But for many parents whose children were buried in rubble, their nightmare has never gone away for the entire year.

The government failed to publish a complete list of the victims in Si-chuan earthquake. There are only cold numbers of death toll while their names, age, and reasons of death remain unknown. In particular, the names of student victims are seen as a top secret.

Los Angles Times explained,

The possibility that corruption might have been involved in the building of schools is the most politically sensitive aspect of the earthquake post-mortem.

According to an official announcement last year, over 6000 students died at the earthquake. Schools collapsed at an extraordinary high rate compared to other buildings standing nearby. In Beichuan, the county middle school had its two floors sunk into the ground.

Netizens and bloggers, scrutinizing pictures of the relic, found that the wreckage exposed the scarcity of steel girders, which should have been a major supporting component.

Premier Wen Jiabao, inspecting the area devastated, has avowed to tell the public who should be responsible for the shoddy works. But the promise has not yet been fulfilled. Though the recently released National Human Rights Action Plan has emphasized on a state effort to register names of victims, Blogger Ai Xiaoming felt frustrated,

5·12地震过去即将一周年，人们遗憾地看到，到目前为止，尚未有任何一份有关灾区垮塌学校建筑质量的专家调查报告得到公布；公众不仅难以查询到某一学校垮塌原因的详细信息和鉴定结论，而且也不了解这一调查过程到底持续了多久、经过了怎样的程序、是由哪些单位以及责任人实施的.

校舍倒塌，除了天災，究竟有沒有”豆腐渣工程”的人禍？哪些有？哪些沒有？遇難學生的家長需要一個答案，但政府卻再三推搪，連最基本的遇難學生確切人數，至今都無法公佈。

The blogger also noted that the public propaganda had already set the tone about who is to blame:

四川地方媒体数家报纸在2008年6月25日同一天登出了同样内容的报道，标题为 《地震是毁房罪魁 幸存者应理性看未来>。

Citizen volunteers, a vulnerable new force

江油市局的警察曾拿着打印的我的照片到旅馆，跟老板说“这个人是一个犯人，看见他的话通知我们”，我可不想再被他们连夜送往“到了你就知道了”的地方了。

What the government has failed to accomplish, citizens were going to take over. Ai Weiwei, a Beijing artist known for co-designing the “Bird's Nest” Olympic stadium, launched a small project that sends volunteers to Si-chuan for investigation. They knocked at the doors one after another, visited families with victims, and tried to interview school officials.

In this way, the volunteers have managed to detail as many as 6000 names of dead students.

However, it was so costly a process. Ai Weiwei's predecessor Tan Zuoren was the first victim of the government's effort to prevent such investigation. The Los Angles Times reported,

Tan Zuoren, a literary editor and environmentalist who was creating an archive of children killed in collapsing schools, was arrested in March 2009 on charges of subverting state authority, according to Amnesty International. It said his dog was stabbed and his computer stolen in a pattern of harassment leading to his arrest.

Tan Zuoren's project kicked off in February. He appealed to people on the internet and mustered an army of self-organized volunteers. Asia Times reported that

他的好友、四川作家冉雲飛感慨：”你是一個鬍子拉碴的堂*吉柯德，一些自詡聰明的人甚至不無暗諷你的大戰風車，但你依然故我，做著你的調查與努力。”
他被拘時，只有十五歲的小女兒在家，她說：”四五個人沖進來，有人穿著警服，有人沒有，他們出示了證件，然後抄家，然後帶走爸爸。爸爸一句話都沒有說。”

Later, Ai launched his long-term project. Hepublished a notice about his campaign on his blog

2008年12月15日，我们开始了“5.12汶川地震死亡学生”的调查整理工作，在多次向四川省政府民政，公安和教育机构要求公布死亡学生人数及名单,遭到拒绝的情况下，通过网络信息线索，对地震重灾区域进行了实地走访调查。在2009年5月12日的地震周年到来之前，完善这份“汶川地震死亡学生”名单。拒绝死亡，尊重生命，寄托哀思，告慰亡灵。

He starts with an anecdote of his childhood:

我小的时候非常胆小。记得五六岁那会儿，有一次姐姐放学回来给我讲了个她听到的鬼故事，非常恐怖。我吓得整晚上都睡不着，一直抱着父亲。他要睡过去，我就叫醒他，让他抱着我。第二天，被折腾了一夜的父亲怒斥我姐：“你看看，你都把他吓成什么样了？！以后再敢这样我就揍你！”

今天收到一封孩子的来信，信中写道：“我最近有件很担心的事情，请您帮帮忙。之前，我在百度BLOG上面发表有关学潮的文章被删除了，之后账号也被锁定。还有在学校校园网屡屡使用翻墙软件看国内禁止浏览的信息。那么，我会不会已经被当成黑名单记录在案了？这些事情会不会影响我出国？我早就计划出国啦…. 希望您能帮我解答下，谢谢啦。”

看完之后我大笑，然后回信用几乎是谐谑的口气安慰了他。但紧接着便有些心酸，想起了我父亲责骂我姐的话：“你看看，你都把他吓成什么样了？！”

制造恐惧并不一定需要暴力，只要处处加大行为的成本就够了，甚至都不用真的加大成本，只要展示一下行为的成本有随时被加大的可能便够了。….看看那些这些日子被请去喝茶的人们的故事，看看那些公民调查者们最近在四川的遭遇，看看这些人心里的担忧，便知道了。

成本弄得那么重，瘦弱的肩膀实在是担不动啊。

如果只是匿名上网牢骚几句都被噤声，即便远渡重洋都还要为自己的“错误言论”惴惴不安，只是说几句话都要心头挣扎半天，又如何能抱怨面对恶徒的拳头和匕首时，人们不见义勇为呢？更别说我们还曾经真的把最容易站立的青春用坦克履带压成了扁平。

49 年的时候，有人说：“中国人民从此站起来了。”可从那以后，每隔一段时间，我们都要重新站起来一回。香港回归，站；卫星上天，站；奥运开幕，又站。外国人有时候不解：“你们不是早就站起来了么？怎么还反复站了又站，有完没完啊？”看到这样的误解我就很愤怒：“妈的，平时都爬着，怎么还不让人动不动站起来伸伸懒腰啦？我们对自己人忍气吞声，自然就要对你们外国人扬眉吐气，否则不他妈憋死啦！”

是啊，我们自己都要爬着活，又如何敢腆颜教育下一代“勇气”和“爱”呢？我们能做的，不过是在他们小时候讲讲勇气和爱的童话，然后在他们长大了真正要展示勇气和爱的时候，大喝一声：“快！趴下！”

也许下次回国的时候，我该去拜会一下那具广场上从未谋面的尸体，调侃着说：“你看看，你都把他吓成什么样了？”

The case was first investigated last year when a victim's mother reported her daughter had been enticed into the ring and raped. After an eight-day secret probe, provincial police discovered the prostitution ring, which was run by three individuals including a 14-year-old girl who is a school drop-out and her 15-year-old boyfriend. Surprisingly, the venue provided by another criminal for sexual service  was actually in the building which houses the staff of the judicial department.

More than ten school girls, some of them under 14, were coaxed or threatened with violence to join the ring. Netease.com reported how a thirty-year-old teacher deprived the girl named Wang Qing of her virginity. Wang was lured by her friends to meet the prostitution organizers.

“当时我很怕，被他们逼着进了一家旅馆，一个30来岁的男人锁上门后就动手脱我的衣服，我吓得直哭。事后‘结拜姐姐’威胁我不能把事说出去，否则要叫人打我。”在这里，王清被一个叫冯支洋的教师夺走了第一次。“我后来才知道他是习水县第一职业高级中学的老师。他很变态，玩了许多花样。

Later, however, Wang took another thirteen-year-old girl into the ring. The organization thus expanded step by step, with more innocent girls falling into the trap.

A few regular customers were listed by the police, including:
Official Li Shoumin, of the county migration office, land and resources official Chen Mengran, social security official Huang Yongliang, legal affairs official Chen Cun, local real estate developer and representative on local legislature Mu Mingzhong, school teacher Feng Zhiyang and taxi driver Feng Yong.

Degeneration, from the top down

The public was shocked that the officials from judicial system flouted law themselves and deflowered girls the age of their daughters. Moreover, the teachers that should have educated and protected students were doing exactly the opposite. What's wrong with these public servants?

Blogger Yang Genshen expressed his indignation in his blog:

当悲剧以一种令人发指的方式呈现出来，留给人们的却是一种从未有过的荒凉与寒冷。习水县多名公职人员嫖宿年幼女生案不只是一场人伦悲剧，更像是一场恶魔的狂欢。

The Communist Party secretary of Politics and Law in Xishui County, where the case happened, said in an interview by China Youth Daily:

“我们都是为人之父，如果我们的女儿被别人这么搞，我们的感受会怎么样？

He further commented, ‘the crime is more unforgivable than a murder!'

But the story has only just started with the exposure of the ring. As the officials were brought to trial, by what charge should they be prosecuted becomes a controversial issue.

The trial opened on 8 April. Hundreds of people stood outside the court waiting for the ruling verdict and scores of journalists waited but they were held outside as the court intended to protect the privacy of victims. Families of the victims were also denied entry to the courtroom.

The lawyer assigned to the defendants, however, didn't show up. Later he announced that he refused to defend them as he thinks it as a shame. Another lawyer was assigned.

A more dramatic scene followed. When the public got to know that the prosecutor tried to charge the defendants with ‘visiting an underage prostitute（嫖宿幼女）' rather than the more serious charge ‘raping', many suspected that the defendants were being protected in secret.

Lawyer Luo in his blog explained his doubts:

习水县人民检察院撒了个弥天大谎，以最低刑的起点来认为嫖宿幼女罪比强奸罪高为由，表白自己是在从严打击，可是稍有点法律常识的人都知道我国《刑法》中嫖宿幼女罪的处罚程度远低于强奸罪，因为强奸罪最高刑是死刑，而嫖宿幼女罪最高刑期是有期徒刑十五年，孰轻孰重我想地球人都知道。

Lawyer Yao echoed the point in his blog, condemning that the procurator was manipulating the public:

虽然大多数法律人倾向于以强奸罪定罪，但公诉机关仍然坚持以嫖宿幼女罪起诉，….当记者问到为什么不以强奸罪起诉时，习水县检察院检察长是这样回答的：嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点是五年以上有期徒刑，强奸罪是三年以上，嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点高，因此有利于打击犯罪。这样一个回答，如果不是出于无知，那就一定是别有用心，是欺侮民众的智商。嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点固然高过强奸罪，但最高刑期不过是15年，而强奸罪却是可以判无期乃至于死刑的.

More than the specious justification of choosing a lighter charge, people have been questioning how the crime can possibly be interpreted as ‘visiting underage prostitute' rather than ‘raping'.

On Jinghua Daily, a Beijing-based newspaper, the well-known blogger Wuyuesanren (五岳散人）considered what the charge means:

那是说当事的女孩子是自愿出卖自己的，只是因为没有到岁数，所以有此规定。在嫖宿幼女的场合，多是幼女“自愿”，甚至是在幼女主动纠缠的情况下进行的。换言之，犯罪行为的实施，受害幼女本人也有一定的过错。相比（奸淫幼女）而言，行为人的主观恶性也较小….就是说，这么一个罪名不但开脱了侵害人，还把受害人给描绘成了有一定自愿情节的卖淫者。

Lawyer Yao also commented on the whether it should be considered as raping:

按媒体的报道，这些可怜的孩子是在被殴打之后，是在被“打毒针，拍裸照”的威胁之下屈服的，与这些“公职禽兽”发生性关系不是出于她们的自愿，追求钱财也不是她们的目的，这难道还不算强奸吗？也许，在这位检察长的眼里，只要给钱了，就没有强奸罪了，那我看强奸罪也就可以取消了。

The trial has been adjourned. Whether the suspects will be found guilty and on what charges, the victims have been almost irretrievably damaged! But will they receive any comfort from their families or communities? From what a victim’s mother told the reporter we see no sign of any relief:

“那个案子发生后，只有14岁的康倩和她的女朋友一起跑到深圳去打工。后来，公安局让我去把她找回家来，辨认那些嫖客。可她一句话都不肯说，就是不肯承认被男人欺负过。从深圳回来后，本来读初二的她就不再愿意去上学了，而是天天在外面混。有时一跑就是一两个月不回家，被我抓到后，痛打一顿，然后把她的头发剪得乱乱的，这样她才老老实实地在家里待上一阵。可过不了多久，又是经常不回家过夜，后来我干脆就买了条锁狗的铁链，把她锁在家里。”

Post co-edited by Bob Guy

China and France unveiled a press communique simultaneously after the meeting, in which France stated that it ‘reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy and the position that Tibet is an integral part of the Chinese territory', so that “France refuses to support any form for ‘Tibet independence'”.

China appreciated France's stance on the issue and in the G20one day later the host, British premier Gordon Brown seemed to recognize the repaired friendship and assigned Hu Jintao a seat right next to Sarkozy at the formal banquet.

The rift between China and France started since last year when France failed to prevent the Tibetan dissidents from spoiling the torch relay in Paris, a ceremony viewed by many Chinese as showing that China's honor as a great power was restored. The China-France controversy escalated when Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama more than once and peaked when Chinese citizens voluntarily boycotted the French goods and enterprises in China.

The Chinese administration echoed their dissatisfaction by suspending some business deals with France. Premier Wen even avoided France deliberately at his diplomatic visit to Europe in February.

Now, everything seems to have been changed  with the global economic downturn in which China prevails with her ongoing growth and huge market. The western world conceded. Criticisms on Beijing died down and France gave up.  Is it so?

The Chinese blogsphere and internet, however, show their disappointment at the communique.

yun3578ufolala, posting on the popular online bulletin board Tianya, thought the statement was acutally a French ploy:

看似法国向中国低头认错，问题来了，以前从未有任何国家作出类似的表态，要表也是表台湾，说明台湾确实存在地位未定的问题（就国际社会的立场来看），所以我们要求别人承认。但西藏跟台湾完全不一样，一是西藏一直处于大陆的主权范围，二是西藏从未有单独的对外外交关系。和尚是以个人的身份（顶多是个宗教领袖）在外与人打交道，主要目的是让政治实体（特别是有国际影响力的如五常和欧盟）承认其政治地位，造成西藏问题国际化和西藏地位未定论。

那么让我们来看看，法国这样一表态，在国际社会的眼里，西藏的地位开始慢慢向台湾问题靠拢了

Pages of replies followed the post. inzaghile agreed on the point, saying

以后的国际事务中西藏问题又成了别人的一个砝码!!!

SpEedBaBy thought CCP should have done better:
个人也觉得吃亏了…….

tg脑子进水了,自己家的事情,老是和人家联合公报个p……
真他妈有病…..自己的老婆,儿子都要人家认定…不知道怎么想的….
直接让其道歉才是真的……

水寨头目 thought it was not all a concession and had no binding power

从公报字面看，法国以后该见老和尚还会见，没有什么约束，因为傻上次见秃，也没说支持藏独，只说关注人权啊自由啊民主啊什么。

风马云旗 parodied a row of statements:

我重申一个中国….承认北京是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认天津是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认上海是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认河北是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认山东是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认山西是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认河南是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认辽宁是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认内蒙是中国的一部分
我重申一个中国….承认新疆是中国的一部分

huangdiany concludes

法国棋高一着成功将西藏问题台湾化

The G20 meeting came right after the meeting. Though Chinese netizens commonly think it as but a G2 meeting in which only China and America matter, pessimistic voices and worries are not absent. 統一口徑 supposed that Chinese should be more realistic:

G20不是北京奧運

要知道，G20裏除了中國，還有韓國，還有印度，還有墨西哥，還有土耳其等等。在G20裏，中國隻是其中一員。就像我們早期處理國際關系堅持的原則，這個世界不是美國的，也不是蘇聯的。同樣，即便中國現在成了世界第三大經濟體，這個世界也不隻是中國的。

對中國來說，對過去取得的經濟成就沾沾自喜是可恥的，因爲它迄今仍是一個鉗制言論、沒有新聞自由的國家，仍是世界上貧富懸殊最大的國家，仍是一個封建特權思想濃厚的國家。中國在經濟上已步入世界前列，但卻與民主政治和現代文明相去甚遠。

對于普通中國人來說，我們迫切需要的不是一個在國際上動辄展示自己“不高興”的中國政府，不是一個在世界各地一擲千金博取“中國有錢了”奉承的中國政府，我們今天需要的是一個懂得自我約束、自我檢讨的負責任的政府，一個真正接受最高立法機構和公民監督的理性政府，這個政府真正相信并懂得，現代民主政府的惟一合法基礎來自選舉産生它的公民。

Post edited by Bob Guy

The conference, according to the ruling Communist Party (CCP), is one of the most important institutions which carry out Chinese-style democracy, that is multiple-party co-operation led by CCP. However, the conference has always been viewed as simply a rubber stamp with its sole purpose being to give endorsement to decisions already made, thus giving semblance of ‘popular' support for  government programs.

However, what is really popular on the internet in China these days is to highlight and satarize some of the most astonishing, impractical and absurd proposals made by the delegates.

Blogger Song Shi-nan (宋石男） gives a list of such ‘amazing' proposals on his blog. In the appendix, he notes an interesting news:

本次全国政协会议，给每位委员配发了一台笔记本电脑，以实现无纸化政协会议。据称，这是为了响应国家节能减排的号召，节约纸张和环保.

全国政协十一届二次会议副秘书长、民革中央专职副主席修福金认为，本次大会将会期缩短了两天，而且还用电脑替代了原来大量的纸张，这表明从政协开始已经过简朴的生活，开始了艰苦奋斗。

Accordingly, 5 million RMB on paper use will thereby be saved.

However, netizens soon found that the so-called frugal measure actually costs 7.5 million RMB . Some more industrious blogger went even further and calculated how much paper was represented by the 5 million RMB and found that each delegate would have received 36,363 sheets should the 5 million have been spent! Blogger Uncle Y pokes fun of the ambition of 'saving money' by saying, “what a paper mountain the conference would have been!”

At a time of global economic downturn, a notable theme of the meeting is to bolster the economy, and the delegates didn't disappoint us taking much care of the issue. But their proposals are sometimes  unintentionally ironical and hilarious.

His proposal was named “economic-cultural industry of  Chinese traditional clothing”.

On NetEase, a popular online discussion board, one comment was:

我一开始还以为他是开制衣厂的,再看不是,那我就搞不懂了.这位代表是不是很少出门啊.我的天啊,我真的不敢想象把国家大事交给你们讨论会是怎么样的结果.

Other than clothing, another delegate, Zong Licheng (宗立成), proposed,

全国政协委员宗立成：确立国花可刺激经济

Blogger Song Shinan seems to be thrilled by so creative an idea. He comments:

骂国骂是不是也可刺激经济增长？那就来一嗓子——卧槽泥马！

More proposals have been presented:

张亚忠：大学生去卖猪肉不是一件坏事

赵超代表：建议设立子女养老社会保险金制度

In response to the proposal, a netizen questions:

赡养老人是应该的，但我想问一下，我每年要交3万多税,这三万多的税被用到哪里去了?

Another proposal concerns college students again, who are particularly troubled by job losses this year.

上海人大常委会原主任龚学平：恢复大学五年制教育第一年军训

Song Shinan laughs at the idea:

为缓解就业，干脆把战线再拉长一点，小学9年制，初中5年制，高中5年制，加上大学5年制，硕士6年制， 博士7年制，这样博士毕业差不多44、5岁，即使找不到工作，失业10来年也就退休了.

Ran Yun-fei, reviewing all these proposals and opinions, so categorized them:

疯狂言论、愚人提案、八卦愚乐.

But why all these ridiculous statements and happenings could happen in a solemn and important conference? He said:

两会代表不经民选，不在代表来源、阶层分布、利益博弈、民众意愿等方面加以改进，两会不只是橡皮图章，而且是十足的笑料大世界。