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September 6th, 2008

China: Handling of Yang Jia's secret trial breeds widespread discontent

John Kennedy · 02:41 · East Asia

The fallout from the closed trial given to Yang Jia after he murdered six Shanghai policemen in July continues to bear down on the blogosphere as one of the most discussed topics.

Discussion has been intense and reactions to the verdict have varied; at least one YouTuber took it upon themselves to interview Shanghai residents on their thoughts on the trial and verdict:

Reads the introduction to the video:

“法律已经不是人民的法律，对杨佳的审判简直就是对中国人民的侮辱！！！！”

“The law isn't even for the people anymore, and Yang Jia's sentence is simply insulting to the people of China!!!!”

For establishment artist and Olympic venue designer Ai Weiwei on his Sina blog, posting videos which have since been deleted of the crowd assembled outside of the Shanghai #2 Intermediate People's Court on the day of Yang's trial just prior and after the trial was held, after having having applied to attend it himself and then denied, were all decisions made after having written a post [zh] calling on his readers to take action in support not just of Yang, but for rule of law in China itself:

太多的任性，愤怒和漫骂，伴随太多的不信任，放弃和死亡。

如果放弃，依然失望，说没有办法，即是坐以待毙，成为被人诅咒的罪恶腐朽的一部分。

Too much gratuitous rage and violent language, followed by too much distrust, giving up, and death.

But to give up, to lose hope, and say it's all just futile, to sit and wait until they pull the trigger, is part of what people are cursing as a rotten sin.

九月一日，杨佳在上海被草率的判处死刑。地方政府和公检法系统，无视宪法赋予公民的神圣权利，践踏法律的尊严，扰乱司法程序，显露出上海公检法体制的严重综合缺陷。

事情还没有那么简单，杨佳案已经不再是关于一个可以被忽视的普通人，一个公民用赴死的意志，考验了中国实践司法公平和社会正义的信心与立场，唤起中国民权意识的觉醒。上海搞不明白的是，中国不是十里洋场，这要比你想象的宽阔复杂的多。

杨佳案并没有结束，对杨佳的宣判，表达了舞弊者蔑视法律尊严的愿望。污浊的灵魂决定了猥亵的命运，他们最终没有逃出背叛人民的逻辑，对权力的滥用和对法律的蔑视。应该提醒他们，这一次，他们依然会因为愚蠢而付出代价。

September 1st, Shanghai, Yang Jia was so hastily sentenced to death. The local government and judicial system, in ignoring the divine rights granted citizens by the constitution, trampling on the sanctity of the law, disrupting the legal process, revealed just how seriously flawed Shanghai's public court system is.

Things are not that simple, though; the Yang Jia case is no longer about some guy that can just be ignored. Through his readiness to die, a single citizen has not only put China's judicial fairness to the test, but its confidence in and stance on social justice as well, awakening China's awareness of civil liberties. The thing that Shanghai just doesn't get is that China is nothing like life along The Bund, in fact it's far more complicated than you could ever imagine.

The Yang Jia case is by no means over; the sentence against him, only illustrates these fraudsters' desire to defile the sanctity of the law. Stained are the souls that decided upon this obscene fate, people who in the end are unable to break free from their logic which forsakes our people, the abuse of power and spite for the law. We ought to show them, that this time, they will have to pay a price for their stupidity.

为了杨佳，为了每一个有尊严的活着或是死去的，杨佳一样的青年，杨佳的母亲一样的母亲。

呼吁国家重审杨佳案，通过公开透明的司法程序，进行公开合法的审判，是对宪法的维护，是对中国司法改革的决心和力量的检测。

你与我一样，作为中国人，相信国家为社会公正司法改革所做的不懈努力，相信具有最高司法权力和荣誉的最高人民法院的公正和严谨，通过合法手段，再次履行职责。

请使用你的宝贵时间，写下你对杨佳案的看法，用行动呼吁公平正义。

For Yang Jia, for every person with dignity dead or alive, for those as young as Yang Jia, for mothers just like Yang Jia's mother.

I call upon the state to retry the Yang Jia case, through an open and transparent judicial process, with a public and legal trial, one that upholds the constitution, as a test of the resolve and strength of China's judicial reforms.

You and I are the same, in that as Chinese people, we believe that the state has made unremitting efforts toward implementing social justice and judicial reforms, believing that through legal means, the highest and most honored legal authority in the country, the Supreme People's Court, can and will resume its duties.

Please use your precious time, and write down your thoughts on the Yang Jia case, and through action, call for fairness and justice.

要求最高人民法院，撤销杨佳案原审判决，指定异地法院，重新公开审理，维护国家法制，维护公民权力。

呼吁国家领导人，责成中纪委、中央政法委、最高检、最高院、公安部、司法部成立联合调查组，介入杨佳案起因、审判内幕等违法作为的调查，整顿上海市公、检、法，扫清与国家对立、无视国法的地方势力，维护国家法制统一和宪法权威地位。

Demand that the Supreme People's Court dismiss the first trial verdict in the Yang Jia case, appoint a court in another jurisdiction, rehold the trial and make it public, uphold the state constitution, and uphold his rights as a citizen.

Call upon the national leaders to bring the Central Disciplinary Committee, the Central Politics & Law Committee, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, the Public Security Bureau and the Ministry of Justice together to form a joint investigative team, to get to the bottom of the origins of the Yang Jia case, and to investigate the illegal conduct of a closed-door sentencing; rectify the Shanghai PSB, Procuratorate and Courts; clean up those local forces working against the state and disregarding national laws; uphold the unification of the national legal system and the authority of the constitution.

以快递方式寄给

最高人民法院

北京市东交民巷27号最高人民法院邮编100745，

Then courier this to:

Supreme People's Court
#27 Minxiang, Dongjiao
Beijing
100745

此时此地，我对你的努力充满敬意。

At this very moment, I'm brimming with homage for your efforts.

Indie blogger Robert Mao takes a look [zh] at the logic of Yang's case having been held in secret:

杨佳被判了死刑，说实话对此没有人感觉到惊讶。由于审判是秘密进行的，没有媒体和非官僚阶层的人能了解其内幕，因此只有“据说”。比如据说：“杨佳及其辩护人在宣判全程中未发一语，也未表示是否考虑上诉”，　杨佳一语不发，可以理解，因为他已经对这套系统失去了信心所以才自己去寻找说法了；而律师居然也一语未发，实在是让人感慨，的确公安局这个法律顾问的钱没白付啊，不但可以做顾问，还能帮自己的官司对手当不说话的辩护律师。

Yang Jia's death sentence, to be honest, didn't surprise anybody. Due to the trial being held in secret, with no media or people from outside the bureaucracy able to understand what went on behind the curtains, there is only hearsay. For example, it's said that “Yang Jia and his defence didn't say a single word throughout the entire sentencing, nor did they indicate whether or not an appeal is being considered.“ It's understandable that Yang Jia wouldn't have spoken a word, because it was precisely due to his lack of confidence in this whole system that he went looking for his own conclusion; but for his lawyer also to go without saying anything, that really just makes you sigh: money definitely wasn't wasted with having the PSB as a legal consultant! They don't just advise, they can even make the lawyer for the other side go dumb.

其实结果大家是能预料的，这些事实只不过进一步再次强化了大家对目前这套体系的认识而已。　对于类似我过去那样，或者类似杨佳过去那样，对司法体系的公正性还存在一丝幻想的人，可以说是进一步的棒喝　－－该醒醒了。

In fact, everybody knew what the outcome would be, and the truth of it has only served to further strengthen people's perception of this whole system. For people like me before all this, or people like Yang Jia before all this, people for whom there still existed some sort of fantasy regarding the justness of the legal system, we can say this has been an eye-opener—and it's time to wake up.

More on the ‘legal consultant' mentioned by Mao comes from lawyer and elected official Xu Zhiyong has also written [zh] on this, offering an analysis of the case and all the legal and constitutional holes in how it has been handled. Xu starts by pointing out that Yang's appointed lawyer, Xie Youming, as legal counsel for the People's Government in Shanghai's Zhabei district, where the crime took place and the trial was held:

…属于利益冲突，违反了《律师法》第三十九条关于”律师不得在同一案件中为双方当事人担任代理人，不得代理与本人或者其近亲属有利益冲突的法律事务”的规定。谢律师在接受媒体采访时说出明显不利于杨佳的言论，也受到民众的广泛质疑。

…constitutes a conflict of interest and violates article 39 of the : “Lawyers cannot simultaneously represent both parties in a case, or act as representation in legal matters in which there exists a conflict of interest with either yourself or your close relatives.” Things lawyer Xie has said in media interviews are clearly against Yang Jia's interest, and have given rise to widespread public distrust.

此案名义上是公开审理，但在８月２６日开庭审理 “杨佳故意杀人案”时，法院把旁听席位全给了上海市公安局，前来旁听的国内外二十多家媒体和一些市民都被拒之门外。上海市第二中级人民法院的做法，违背了审判公开原则，也违反了《最高人民法院关于加强人民法院审判公开工作的若干意见》规定（”对群众广泛关注、有较大社会影响或者有利于社会主义法治宣传教育的案件，可以有计划地通过相关组织安排群众旁听，邀请人大代表、政协委员旁听，增进广大群众、人大代表、政协委员了解法院审判工作，方便对审判工作的监督。”）迄今为止，上海有关部门并没有对此进行任何解释。

拒绝披露真相，禁止媒体讨论，拒绝敢言律师介入，拒绝异地审理，不准记者和公众参加，不准被告亲属参加，所有这些，进一步加剧了公众对司法的不信任。

This case was tried publicly in name, but on August 26 when the “Yang Jia Premeditated Murder Case” trial was held, the court gave all observer seats to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, and the 20-something domestic and foreign media and several residents who had come to observe were all refused entry. The Shanghai #2 Intermediate People's Court's actions have violated the principle of open trials, and have violated the regulation that “in cases widely observed by the public, with significant social impact or those favorable to Socialist Rule of Law propaganda education, plans may be made through the relevant organization to arrange for public observers, the invitation of People's Congress representatives and CPPCC members for the enhancement of their understanding and convenience in monitoring of court trial work.” Until now, the relevant departments in Shanghai have yet to offer any explanation on this.

To refuse to reveal the truth, to forbid media discussion, to refuse lawyers willing to speak out any involvement, to refuse holding the trial in a neutral location, to bar journalists and the public from attending, to bar the accused's family from attending, all of this, further exacerbates the public's distrust in the judiciary.

[…]

杨佳案很可能会成为中国司法史上具有标志性的案件，对转型中的中国社会来说意义重大。比复仇更重要的，是真相；比结果更重要的，是程序正义；比死刑更重要的，是对法治的信仰。有关政府部门应该深刻检讨警察执法的问题和警察制度的弊端，检讨秘密审判、新闻和网络管制给公众心理带来的巨大伤害，检讨社会冲突和危机的制度原因，反思我们如何才能建成一个健康的、开放的、人道的法治社会。

The Yang Jia case could possibly become one of the most symbolic cases in China's legal history and have enormous significance on China's transforming socity. More important than revenge is the truth; more important than results is procedural justice; more important than the death penalty is faith in the legal system. The relevant government departments ought to deeply reassess the the problems in how police enforce the law and abuse of power in the policing system, reassess the practice of secret trials and the enormous harm done to the public psyche through media and internet supervision, reassess the systematic reasons for social conflicts and crises, and reflect on just how we will be able to go about establishing a healthy, open and humane rule of law society.

1 comment · »»

September 1st, 2008

China: Yang Jia given death penalty in problematic trial

John Kennedy · 10:16 · East Asia

After going to court last week, cop killer Yang Jia's (杨佳) first trial concluded today with the handing down of the death sentence. Yang has ten days to appeal for a second trial, which if he does will be followed by a review at the People's Supreme Court of his having been given the death penalty, to then be commuted or carried out.

Lawyer-blogger Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原) has written eleven [zh] (not including those that have already been harmonized) posts about this case over the past week, looking at all aspects of the case. His post today [zh], however, deals not so much with the social factors that would see a brutal cop-killer receive so much support and sympathy both online and off, but the logistics of Yang's case as it moves forward from here, as well as problems he perceives in the non-transparent way it has been handled so far:

一审判决后，杨佳日子已不多了

从7月1日袭警案发，到今日宣判，整整两个月时间。奥运会的召开，让杨佳多活了一些日子。

杨佳袭警案会如何判决，不要说是律师，就是普通民众也能预料到结果。

我们关注杨佳袭警案，并不是支持他“以暴制暴”，而是关注案件的作案动机、司法机关办案程序，以及发生案件的深层次原因。

Now with a first trial verdict, Yang Jia doesn't have many days left

Since the police attack incident on July 1, until the verdict today, two whole months have gone by. Because of the holding of the Olympic Games, Yang Jia was able to live a few days longer.

As for how Yang Jia will be judged in the cop-killing case, you don't need a lawyer to tell you, even average citizens can predict what the outcome will be.

As we pay attention to the Yang Jia cop-killing case, it's not because we support his ‘fighting violence with violence', but rather that we're interested in his motive for committing this crime, in judicial procedure in handling cases, as well as the deeper reasons which led to this crime taking place.

杨佳袭警案，仅从表面上来看，案情并不复杂，也不特殊，以前也有类似的案件发生，只不过没有杀死杀伤这么多警察。

杨佳袭警案，是一起全国有重大影响的案件，司法机关在办理案件中一些遮遮掩掩的做法，引起了社会的广泛质疑。

杨佳杀人了，本应受到社会的谴责。出乎预料的是，他竟然得到了很多人的同情。难道民众都好坏不分了吗？到底是什么原因，使民众的社会价值观如此颠倒了呢？

我想，除了社会深层次原因外，可能是司法机关办案中一些不透明做法。

The details of the Yang Jia cop-killing case, looking just at the surface of it, are not particularly complex, nor are they unique; cases similar to this have taken place in the past, only not so many police were killed or hurt.

The Yang Jia cop-killing case is one that has had huge impact across the country, and the behind-the-curtains way that the judiciary have handled this case has given rise to widespread suspicion throughout society.

Yang Jia killed people, and this should have been condemned by society. What comes unexpectedly, though, is that he actually earned many people's sympathy. Can't people tell right from wrong? What possible reason could there be, for public and social values to get as screwed up as this?

I think, deeply-rooted social reasons aside, that it's possible that the reason is due to certain practices of the judiciary that, in processing cases, just aren't transparent.

在这起袭警案中，令人不可思议的是，杨佳母亲竟然莫明其妙的“失踪”了。她“失踪”后，当杨佳父亲委托的北京律师，来上海要求会见杨佳时，检察院又拿出了杨佳的笔录，说其只接受母亲委托的律师。有了这份笔录后，上海谢有明律师就在北京找到了杨佳母亲，并办理了授权委托书。这事有点离奇吧？

如果谢有明律师的授权委托有问题，则要影响到审判程序和判决的合法性。因为按照《刑事诉讼法》及司法解释规定，对可能判处死刑的案件，被告人一定要有辩护人进行辩护，当然，这个辩护人必须是依法委托或法院指定的。谢律师不是法院指定的辩护人，而是由杨佳母亲委托的辩护人。假设这个委托不真实，一审判决是不是程序违法呢？

这个案件中，不可思议的还有，杨佳的精神病鉴定，是无司法鉴定主体资格的机构所做。我不知，检察院或法院有没有对杨佳重新做司法鉴定。如果没有重新做过，而是以司法部司法鉴定科学技术研究所的鉴定，作为认定杨佳具有刑事责任能力的证据，那么，上海市第二中级人民法院的一审判决就存在严重问题。

In this cop-killing case, the most unbelievable part is that Yang Jia's mother actually and inexplicably “disappeared.” After her “disappearance,” when the Beijing lawyer retained by Yang Jia's father went to Shanghai demanding to meet with Yang Jia, the Procuratorate brought out Yang Jia's statement, which said that he would only meet with a lawyer appointed by his mother. Once in possession of this statement, Xie Youming (谢有明), a Shanghai lawyer, then went to Beijng and was able to find Yang Jia's mother, and gain authorization to handle the case. Sounds a little strange, right?

If there were a problem in how lawyer Xie Youming came to be entrusted, this would affect both the proceedings of the trial, as well as the legality of the verdict. Because, according to the “Criminal Action Law” as well as rules for judicial interpretation, with regards to cases which bear a possible death sentence, the accused are guaranteed counsel as means to provide a defense, so of course, said counsel must be either entrusted legally or else be appointed by the court. Lawyer Xie is not court-appointed counsel, he is the counsel entrusted upon by Yang Jia's mother. Suppose this entrustment were invalid, wouldn't the initial sentence be in violation of procedure?

That's not all the unbelievable there is in this case, Yang Jia's mental illness evaluation was performed by a body which lacks judicial testimony qualifications. I don't know if the Procuratorate or the court have re-sought expert testimony on Yang Jia or not. If they haven't redone this, and instead have relied on the Ministry of Justice's Science and Technology Research Institute's own expert testimony as evidence in determining Yang Jia's criminal responsibility, then serious problems exist with the Shanghai #2 Intermediate People's Court's first trial verdict.

一审判决后，杨佳还有十天的上诉期限。如果上诉了，还有二审程序，由上海市高级人民法院审判。二审判决后，还有最高人民法院死刑复核程序。如杨佳不上诉，只直接进入死刑复核程序。

按照《刑事诉讼法》第196条规定，第二审人民法院受理上诉案件，应当在一个月以内审结。至迟不得超过一个半月。有本法126条之规定情形的，还可以再延长一个月。

杨佳袭警案，不符合《刑事诉讼法》第126条规定的情形。也就是说，这个案件的最长审限是一个半月。

Following the first trial, Yang Jia now has a maximum of ten days to appeal. If he appeals, the second trial gets heard by the Shanghai People's Higher Court. Following that, there still remains the death penalty review procedure at the People's Supreme Court. If Yang Jia does not appeal, the case goes straight to the mandatory death penalty review procedure.

According to article #196 of “Criminal Action Law”, second-trial appeal cases in the People's Court should be concluded within one month. At the latest they are not allowed to run longer than a month and a half. Under circumstances found in article #126 of this Law, the deadline can be extended by one month.

Yang Jia's cop-killing case does not fall under the circumstances stipulated in article #126 of “Criminal Action Law”. In other words, the longest this case will last is a month and a half.

7月1日案发，7月10日侦查完毕，上海警方将案件移送上海市人民检察院第二分院审查起诉。7月17日，检察院二分院向上海市第二中级人民法院提起公诉。如果不是因为奥运临近，7月28日就要开庭审理。从中可以看出，公检法对此案是速侦、速审、速判。

二审判决后，死刑复核期限没有明确时限规定，也就是说，可快可慢。

原山东省济南市人大常委会段义和炸死情妇一案，2007年8月23日二审当庭作出判决驳回上诉，案件进入死刑复核，仅用十天就复核完毕，9月4日执行了死刑。段义和一案，7月9日案发，到执行死刑，只用了五十八天时间。我担任律师的廖思齐死刑复核案，案件在六月初就到了最高人民法院复核，至今三个月了还没有复核完毕。

如果不是奥运会，杨佳一案也会象段义和案那么快。

如快的话，也许在九月底之前，杨佳一案会走完全部程序，最迟不会超过十月底。

The crime took place on July 1, the investigation concluded on July 10, at which point the Shanghai Police handed the case over to the Shanghai People's Procuratorate to prepare the charges. If it hadn't been for the coming of the Olympics, the trial would have begun proceedings on July 28. From this we can see that the public prosecutors expedited the investigation, the trial hearing, and the sentencing, in this case.

Following a second trial, there is no clearly-stipulated time limit for death penalty review; in other words, it could go fast, or it could go slow.

Former Shangdong Province Jinan City National People's Congress Standing Committee member Duan Yihe's (段义和) sentence for blowing up his mistress, when his appeal was rejected in second trial on August 23, 2007, the case went into death penalty review, with the review process concluding in just ten days, and the execution carried out on September 4. Duan Yihe's case, from the time the crime took place on July 9 to the carrying out of the death sentence, only 58 days had passed. As lawyer in the Liao Siqi (廖思齐) death penalty review case, the case reached the Supreme Court for review at the beginning of June, and today, three months later, has still yet to see the review conclude.

If it weren't for the Olympic Games, Yang Jia's case would have proceeded as quickly as Duan Yihe's.

If it had gone that quickly, it's possible Yang Jia's case would have run its complete course by the end of September, and early October at the latest.

6 comments · »»

August 26th, 2008

East Asia

Famed she is, though definitely not for her blogging, which is too bad, because there's no doubt that a lot of people would be interested to see the control-room photos and series of Chinese-language sources that Tibetan writer Woeser has just posted which show just how close of an electronic eye Chinese authorities now have over Tibet in “Project Skynet” (not to be confused with that Skynet.

China: Cop-killer online hero case goes on trial

John Kennedy · 08:27 · East Asia

lingua → mg · fr · bn · pt · mk

Yang Jia's case goes to trial today, after having been postponed for the Olympics. Previously he had been harmonized after having been heroized by many online for walking into a police station in Shanghai last month and killing six cops after what was accepted was an earlier case of injustice and police brutality of which he was rumored to have been on the receiving end.

Tuesday afternoon in China and many bloggers are waiting to hear what the verdict will be, if it even comes today. Writing about it is not working very well, as demonstrated by lawyer and legal blogger Liu Xiaoyuan in his post on his Sina blog, ‘A ban has been sent down on featuring blog posts discussing the Yang Jia case':

昨天，有外媒采访我，让我谈奥运期间新闻和言论自由问题，我只好实话实说了。在奥运期间，管理部门不屏蔽外媒网站，我们可以自由地去游览，这确实是一大进步。但是，对网络言论的控制比以前更加严格，很多话题不能谈论，如写了这类博文也会被删除。

想不到奥运结束了，网络言论仍然没有放开。昨晚，我获知杨佳一案开庭的消息，立即写了博文发到各个博客，有的博客照样不给放行。我发在凯迪网猫眼看人论坛中的帖子，也被锁定不能予以回复。

今天上午，我又在该网发了谈杨佳案的帖子又遭锁定，网友不能加以评论和回复。

Yesterday, I was interviewed by some foreign media; they wanted me to talk about issues of press freedom and freedom of speech during the Olympics. During the Olympics, authorities stopped blocking foreign media websites, and we were free to browse them, this is definitely a big step forward. But, controls on internet speech are tighter than they were before, and many things cannot be talked about; even posts like this one will be deleted.

What I didn't expect is that now that the Olympics are over, internet speech still hasn't be let go. Last night I heard that the Yang Jia case is going to trial, and I immediately posted this out to all my blogs; some of them, as usual, wouldn't let me post. The thread I posted on the Cat898 BBS? Locked so that no-one can reply.

This morning, another thread I posted about the Yang Jia case got locked down, so netizens couldn't leave comments or respond.

中午，我给博客网一位熟悉的编辑发短信，希望能推荐一下博文《上海二中法院为何不在网上公布杨佳案开庭消息》。他回复短信称，有禁令。我又发短信询问，是以前的禁令，还是现在的禁令？他回复我说，以前的还在，现在的也有。

有网友将我的文章发到某论坛上，点击后打开不了。

正如《财经网》记者所说的，这一切是早有周密安排的。

This afternoon, I sent to a text message to a close friend who's an editor at Bokee, hoping they could feature my post “Why didn't the Shanghai #2 Intermediate Court put the information about Yang Jia's trial online>”. He texted back: there's an order. I texted back to that, asking, ‘is it an old order, or an order now?' He wrote back: ‘the old one's still here, and there's a new one too.'

Some netizens reposted my post to a certain BBS, but if you click it, it won't open.

Just like the Caijing reporter said, this was all carefully planned long ago.

One anonymous commenter on Liu's post has written:

不让人说话,只能说明心里有鬼

(2008-08-26 13:43:55)

Not letting people speak, that just shows they must be hiding something

6 comments · »»

August 25th, 2008

East Asia

“Wow,” says Twitter user @frankyu, retweeting @PatrickSearle: “Amazing set of Olympic pics: http://stuff.thdesign.be/forum/varia/OS.html.” Note, though, that nudity can be seen there.

August 24th, 2008

East Asia

Well we couldn't watch it on YouTube, but there was Twitter so we know the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony involved [note: links to profanity] some sort of [profanity] hot-pot tower of babel that spiderman climbed up…and we heard something about ants and a transformer bus. Anyway, we're very thankful we had it and we all learned a lot from the Olympic experience.

August 23rd, 2008

China: Re-education through labor sentence for two elderly protesters

John Kennedy · 04:41 · East Asia

lingua → fr

The Olympics have sure gone by quickly! Over the past two weeks a lot of people have been quite adamant about overlooking any news or issues not directly pertaining to the competitions in Beijing and other Olympic venues themselves (or am I just perpetuating a myth?), and even those, it seems, that involve anything unpleasant, even the infraction of IOC rules. It almost makes you wonder how much more harmonious the Olympics would be online if bloggers had access to things like footage of Usain Bolt setting not one but TWO world records.

Anyway, it was hard to ignore the news of two seventy-plus-year-old women who in applying to protest in special ‘Olympic Games protest zones' ended up unknowingly applying to be arrested, and were then sentenced to one year of re-education through labor. One photo now circulating around the internet is also helping popularize the latest anti-censorship slight-of-hand, aka ‘don't speak just look at this photo'. Even anti-CNN.com got talking about the story in response to a 08/20 Guardian report on the controversy:

龙威不可犯:
呵呵，俺现在对这样的新闻报道一笑而过，连气都不会生。

Don't Mess With The Dragon:
Hehe, I just laugh and move on now when I see news like this, I can't even get angry over it.

hqt1972
毫无感觉

hqt1972:
No feeling whatsoever

changyuqi
笑笑就算了….我相信我们政府脑子还没那么混乱,抓2个70岁的老太太再告诉你们西方媒体?

changyuqi
Just laugh and forget about it…I don't think our government is foolish enough to arrest two 70-something old ladies and then tell those western media

于哲
怎么可能呢
外交部记者会上竟然也有记者问这问题

The Wisdom:
How could this be?
Some journalists actually asked about this at the Foreign Affairs press conference

无耻白人
中国入侵西藏的新闻都编得出来,这还不是毛毛雨

Shameless Caucasian:
They make news up about China invading Tibet, this isn't just a piffle

stkanon
挖靠, 这种谣也造得出来
倒底是记者太没常识还是太不要脸?

stkanon:
Damn, even this kind of news gets made up
Is the problem that journalists just have no common sense, or do they have no self-respect?

klmn170
看完楼主的帖子，我的心情竟是久久不能平静。正如老子所云：大音希声，大象无形。我现在终于明白我缺乏的是什么了，正是楼主那种对真理的执着追求和楼主那种对理想的艰苦实践所产生的厚重感。面对楼主的帖子，我震惊得几乎不能 …
[note: 提示: 作者被禁止或删除内容自动屏蔽]

klmn170:
After reading this post, I felt upset for quite some time. Just like Laozi emphasized: great wisdom is not readily apparent. Now I finally understand what it is I'm lacking, that being your stubborn search for the truth, and the weightiness that comes with your painstaking upholding of ideals. Faced with this post of yours, I'm so shocked I can barely…
[Note: the above comment has been deleted, but could be retrieved further down where another reader had, by the time it was deleted, already replied to it]

bird327
此消息是否真实，不得而知，但是当前社会问题频发确实不容回避的事实，

bird327:
I have no way of knowing if this news is true or false, but it's a fact that the recurring social problems nowadays cannot be avoided

wulixuan:
原帖由 klmn170 于 2008-8-21 10:43 发表
看完楼主的帖子，我的心情竟是久久不能平静。正如老子所云：大音希声，大象无形。我现在终于明白我缺乏的是什么了，正是楼主那种对真理的执着追求和楼主那种对理想的艰苦实践所产生的厚重感。面对楼主的帖子，我震惊得几乎不能 …
–你吃饱了撑得慌的话，去跑马拉松吧！

wulixuan:
klmn170:
After reading this post, I felt upset for quite some time. Just like Laozi emphasized: great wisdom is not readily apparent. Now I finally understand what it is I'm lacking, that being your stubborn search for the truth, and the weightiness that comes with your painstaking upholding of ideals. Faced with this post of yours, I'm so shocked I can barely…
–If you ever get full from eating your own baloney, you should go run a marathon!

六毛党党员
上面有几个我认为可以涨工资了!

Sixty-cent party member:
I think the few of you commenting above should get a raise!

没心的石头
两个70多，抗议？儿子去告诉媒体？媒体还要报道？什么概念？为**记者悲哀，一个国家要灭亡，总是记者先疯狂！！！

Heartless stone:
Two 70-somethings, protesting? Did their sons go tell the media? And the media reported on this? What nonsense is this? Showing grief to ~~foreign~~ reporters, that's what destroys a country, and it's always the journalists who go nuts first!!!

porky017
现在拆迁很难，因为一个个都是狮子大张口，不把重孙子的钱要出来就不同意，好多农民都是这样一夜暴富的，估计如果真有此事，估计那两位老妈妈嫌以前要少了。北京地安门有一个拆迁，一共30来平米，要一套70多平米的商铺（价值400多万），另外再要1600万，最后被强拆了，这主是不是也和人权观察中心联系了。像这种人就得强拆，要闹事，就应该判刑。

porky017:
Forcefully evicting people is really tough now, because they all suddenly become fiercer than lions; if you don't put up the money for their grandkids' college funds, they won't agree. This is how a lot of those farmers suddenly became rich overnight. I figure that if this case is for real, it's probably that those two old mums just didn't get paid enough previously. There was someone near Tiananmen in Beijing who got evicted, they had a total of 30-something square meters and wanted a 70-plus square meter commercial property (which is worth over 4 million), and 16 million on top of that. In the end they got forcefully evicted, and who knows if they even went and got in touch with a human rights monitoring center. People like this who get forcefully evicted and then make noise about it, they should get criminal sentences.

lasd:
原帖由 porky017 于 2008-8-21 11:38 发表 From:Anti-CNN求实交流论坛www.anti-cnn.com
现在拆迁很难，因为一个个都是狮子大张口，不把重孙子的钱要出来就不同意，好多农民都是这样一夜暴富的，估计如果真有此事，估计那两位老妈妈嫌以前要少了。北京地安门有一个拆迁，一共30来平米，要一套70多平米的商铺（价值400多万）， …
–对就是这样贪得无厌，利益谁会怕多呢？如果每个人都这样没有止境的要价，怎样办事情？人也应该要有一个度。

lasd:
porky017:
Forcefully evicting people is really tough now, because they all suddenly become fiercer than lions; if you don't put up the money for their grandkids' college funds, they won't agree. This is how a lot of those farmers suddenly became rich overnight. I figure that if this case is for real, it's probably that those two old mums just didn't get paid enough previously. There was someone near Tiananmen in Beijing who got evicted, they had a total of 30-something square meters and wanted a 70-plus square meter commercial property (which is worth over 4 million)…
–Right on about this kind of endless greed. Who doesn't want more benefits! If everybody were like this and put no limit on the prices they asked for, how would anything get done? People need to have standards.

和谐共生
很多事情都不是表面看到的那样简单,这样的报导只能糊弄心里反感中国政府的老外

Harmonious symbiosis:
A lot of things aren't as simple as they appear on the surface; these kinds of reports will only deceive those laowais who are so revolted by the Chinese government

北门北风
典型的假新闻！

North Gate North Wind:
Classic fake news!

gwgzx
这些家伙一般提问都是诱导式的找自己想要的

gwgzx:
The questions these guys usually ask are all misleading, just out to find what they want to find

wxz
70多数的大妈应该晚饭过后去跳秧歌，不应该到处闹事，那么大的岁数了，也该要点老脸了。

wxz:
70-something old mums should be dancing the yangge after dinner, not heading out and about making trouble. At such old age, they should have some dignity.

Widely-read blogger Lian Yue has, in his usual style, posted a link on his Lian Yue's Eighth Continent Bullog blog to the news in English providing only a brief explanation of the situation, with the title ‘Gold medal for re-education through labor‘. He posted the photo as well, and these are the comments from the first page (out of a total of more than 80 with over 15,000 views):

[匿名] 外宾 [60.176.172.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:41:25
这也叫新闻？

You call this news?

[匿名] 那些事 [60.209.121.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:41:28
不老实就劳教，不用审判，让你老实点。

If you're dishonest, you're gonna get re-education through labor, no sentence needed. That'll make you more honest.

[匿名] 洋大人 [60.176.172.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:42:47
什么事情想不通，只要想想这是在中国，就啥都想通了。。

None of this makes any sense until you remember that this is China, and then it all makes sense…

[匿名] 牛逼犯 [123.128.130.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:42:52
我党何时不悲哀过？

When has The Party not been sorrowful?

[匿名] marmoset [220.231.35.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:46:32
看那jc的高兴样，真想冲上去给丫一个大嘴巴。

狗屁体育盛会，就是一奥林匹克劳改营

Look how happy that cop looks, I really wanna rush up and give him a big ‘ol fat lip.

Dog-ass sports ceremony, more like an Olympic labor reform camp

[匿名] OmegaLee [58.60.161.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:55:09

呜呼哀哉~

sigh, this is so hopeless~

[匿名] kdc [203.143.160.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:56:14

[匿名] 外宾 [60.176.172.*] @ 2008-8-21 17:41:25

这也叫新闻？

=========

对外宾来说永远都是新闻。

You call this news?
–It'll always be news for those foreign visitors.

[匿名] 塔夫 [123.154.235.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:00:15
人们常说，“金钱是万恶之源”。这无疑是对金钱的污蔑与栽赃。君不见，那富可敌国的比尔·盖茨不仅给世界带来了优秀的软件，也为世界造就了一个伟大的慈善家。回顾人类历史上的种种悲剧，真正的结论或许应该是“不受约束的权力是万恶之源”。而对权力最有力的约束，对社会最有力的保障，莫过于可兑现的法治。如洛克所说：“法律的目的不是废除或限制自由，而是保护和扩大自由。这是因为在一切能够接受法律支配的人类的状态中，哪里没有法律，哪里就没有自由。”

People often say, ‘money is the source of all evil'. This is no doubt meant to slander and defile money. Yet, Bill Gates of that rich but enemy state has not only given the world excellent software, but a huge charity as well. Looking back at all the tragedies of human history, the true conclusion might just ought to be “power without constraint is the source of all evil”. And the most effective constraint on power, the most effective safeguard of society, is nothing other than the invaluable rule of law. Like Locke said, “the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom.”

[匿名] 路人衣 [88.165.120.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:00:56
其实。。我也经常说我党。。。

Actually, I often say it myself: The Party…

[匿名] 呛你 [218.58.10.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:05:19
我党常出金牌教练

The Party creates a lot of gold-winning coaches

[匿名] 两大法宝 [218.98.33.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:11:39
劳教与污蔑是我党的两大法宝

Re-education through labor and defilement are The Party's two biggest magic weapons.

[匿名] 白咏冰 [65.49.14.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:18:44
是因为申请游行被劳教的。

They got re-education through labor because they applied to protest.

[匿名] 怎么办？ [203.97.213.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:29:57
反华媒体又在到处报道这个消息了。。。

There go anti-China media again reporting this news all over…

[匿名] bw [58.38.221.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:55:14
[匿名] 怎么办？ [203.97.213.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:29:57
反华媒体又在到处报道这个消息了。。。
———————-
反个p华，是反土共。

There go anti-China media again reporting this news all over…
–Anti-China my ass, they're just anti-CCP.

[匿名] 做中国人的悲哀 [58.217.180.*] @ 2008-8-21 18:56:52
做中国人真悲哀

Such sorrow to be Chinese

Such a weighty topic, can anyone recommend any well-thought-out blog posts looking at the movement in China to abolish ‘re-education through labor' as an official form of punishment?

57 comments · »»

August 22nd, 2008

East Asia

They haven't been call the SchizOlympics for nothing (that piece is serious though, and worth a second read), and now Google News is behaving oddly; read all about it at Danwei: “The absence of China from news searches does not appear to be a Net Nanny phenomenon or at least it does not resemble the usual blocking and filtering.”

East Asia

Silicon Hutong blogger David Wolf notes that the iTunes Music Store is now blocked in China, assumes this was due to the release on iTunes of a Tibetan music album, assumes Apple chose to release it during the Olympics as an act of “passive-aggressive panda-punching,” and then advises Apple choose between building a market in China and displaying this kind of bi-polar behavior.

East Asia

Academic-blogger Bill Chameides at The Huffington Post looks at the issue of e-waste in China, noting that 70% of it worldwide ends up there: “Even though the Chinese government has banned the importation of e-waste, the stuff continues to find its way in.”