Global Voices Online » John Kennedy

China: Plenty of trash to burn

John Kennedy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:28:14 +0000

Between Western imports and domestic consumption, trash landfills in several cities are now quickly running out of space [zh]. Trash-to-energy incineration plants have been in use for several years, and while now banned from urban areas, continue however to be a cause of concern for urban residential communities.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Urban waste is a global problem, and we are no exception. According to head of the Panyu district government Ministry of Forests, Panyu faces becoming a city besieged by garbage, and that dealing with the garbage cannot be put off anymore. I hope construction begins after National Day, the sooner the better. At the same time, the relevant authorities have solemnly sworn that the technology used in this trash incineration project will be advanced and time-tested and that the amount of dioxins released by the trash incineration will be extremely small, will not create any environmental pollution, that the location chosen for this project really was “the optimal choice”, and that they hope residents will not only see the trash incineration plant as a plight on the community. According to reports, the project is now undergoing an environmental impact assessment. The land has already been cleared and some compensation has already been delivered. People are rushing to judgment before they've had a chance to see the outcome.

The relevant authorities have also stated that “this will absolutely not be a polluting project”, but even so, this is not enough to ease or dispel the high degree of anxiety the tens of thousands of residents from the surrounding area have that this project will create pollution and pose a threat to their health and livelihood.

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

In fact, the concern surrounding residents have regarding this trash incineration plant is not unwarranted. Dioxins are internationally recognized as a high-level pollutant, with one of the highest toxicity of all compounds, 130 times more toxic than cyanide and 900 times more toxic than arsenic, and are listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a level one carcinogen. Even trace amounts of dioxins can cause harm to the body. And with regards to current technology, trash incineration plants in fact aren't as environmentally sound and safe as officials have made them out to be; even within academic research on the subject, major disputes and even sharply contrasting views and conclusions exist. In the view of Joseph DiGangi, PhD, director of the global chemical safety program with the U.S. Environmental Health Fund, trash incineration is one of the main sources of dioxin creation. Further, real-time monitoring of dioxins remains a problem worldwide. Senior lecturer in environmental chemistry at the University of Birmingham Stuart Harrad has said that despite all the research into the subject, real-time monitoring of dioxins is still impossible: “currently, the fastest monitoring can be done is within 12 hours, and even that is extremely difficult.”

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

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

1. Dealing with trash isn't the problem
The problem is the manner in which it's done
Why does the public always have to be kept in the dark?

2. If a liar cheats you 1000 times then announces will henceforth speak the truth
Who will believe him?

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

Dealing with problems like this is simple
We've all heard this story: during a meal, a customer finds a fly in the food and calls the boss over. To show there's no problem, the boss snaps it up and eats it.
The shareholders all live in Panyu anyway, so put them up in the surrounding buildings; this'll solve the problem of worker benefits, and will stimulate the local real estate market, as well as putting people at ease…one stone, many birds.

叫张广宁妈妈住到那个厂区去

Tell Zhang Guangning to move his mom into the plant area

其实是业主怕的是他的房子以后没有升值空间。

Actually, homeowners are just afraid their properties will stop appreciating after this.

番禺区市政园林局局长周剑辉希望尽快动工
你们猜垃圾场是谁的

The head of the Panyu district Ministry of Forests, Zhou Jianhui, he hopes to start construction as soon as possible.
And can you guess who the incineration plant belongs to?

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

I think this is just yet another example of how ignorant, incompetent and short-sighted the government is!
Panyu is full of uninhabited land, do they really need to build a trash incineration plant right in the middle of the heavily developed part of north Panyu? The only reason they're building it there is because shipping costs will be low! If you look at a map you can see that right in the area are residences, the new train station, Panyu's business and tourism district, the district that in about eight years is supposed to be as developed as central Tianhe is now!
Just think about it, would it make sense to build a trash incineration plant right beside bustling Beijing Road?
And they're gonna move it in five years?
Isn't this a waste of taxpayers' money?

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

I just don't get how those experts in Panyu chose this location. I guarantee the head of the environmental ministry doesn't live anywhere nearby.
Since they chose this spot early on for development with the new Guangzhou train and bus station, why now are they going to ruin it with a trash incineration plant?……….please, leaders, think about this very, very carefully.
We never win!

群众不理解可以等等.没有地方放垃圾就堆起来,等到群众有要求了在建嘛.

If people can't accept it then they can just wait. When there's no place left to put their trash, just let it pile up, then they'll be begging for the plant to be built.

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

Build it, but don't treat public health like a joke. There's so much empty land that could have been used, but instead they chose a dense residential area!!! And it's not just Panyu's trash, they have to take on Guangzhou's trash as well! Heh, people will be coming out of the biggest train station in Asia, only to say, wow! Guangzhou's “chimney” is amazing!! We welcome everyone to come to Asia's biggest train and get baptized in dioxins!!!

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

I work in the environmental protection field, have for eight years, and have worked on countless emission treatment projects, so I know a bit about these kinds of projects both in-country and abroad, and I've never worked on or seen one that's achieved 100% efficiency in environmental protection. At most they can only lessen the pollution, which makes me wonder if our specialists have any conscience at all? This one hasn't even been built yet, and already they dare say that it will be “pollution-free”? All I can say is that these bloody specialists only speak for money, for the trash generator's state subsidies. What's more, even with backing from authorities, there are barely any state-owned enterprises that can truly say that they are environmentally sound, because they are all in bed with the bodies that supervise them. I strongly oppose this.

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

Close to a venue for next year's Asian Games, close to the soon-to-be-built new train and provincial bus station, close to dense residential areas, has this self-destructive decision to build a trash incineration plant in the future new downtown area of Guangzhou come from Guanzhou's municipal leaders? Are you trying to score political points, or destroy your own political careers? This is too stupid!

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

China: Xinjiang restaurant blown up

John Kennedy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:05:30 +0000

Beijing-based Twitter user Maggie Rauch had her camera ready when her local Xinjiang food restaurant exploded on Friday morning. “Could feel the explosion from my apartment,” she writes on her Twitpic of the blast. “Some of the guys who work there standing outside.” One week remains until the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

China: Is Bo Xilai's corruption crackdown good for China?

John Kennedy — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:52:10 +0000

While results from the ongoing crackdown on corruption in central China's Chongqing municipality have shown the campaign's effectiveness and boosted the popularity of Bo Xilai, the high-ranking CCP official heading it, online discussion has also featured several questions.

Such as questioning of the CCP internal discipline ‘double regulation', through which has already led to the death of one high-ranking police official suspect. Also, Bo's motives, whether the crackdown is spurred more by his political ambitions and an eye on the top spot than a commitment to transparency and rule of law. There's also the problem of how the CCP might effectively curb corruption when it's the biggest player in it.

The easiest posts to come across are those like Sina blogger Zhang Xiaofeng's from September 20, supportive of Bo and eager to see more tough action taken against the omnipresent corruption:

黑恶势力的发展，不仅威胁到人民群众的生命、财产安全，而且影响到全面小康社会和和谐社会建设；不仅影响到党在人民心目中的形象，而且任其发展下去，将危及共产党的执政地位。

薄熙来在重庆发动的打黑除恶斗争，表现了他对党和国家长治久安的高度的责任感，表现了他清正廉洁、执政为民的公仆心，表现了他疾恶如仇、无私无畏的英雄气概。深得党心，深得民心。

尽管有些人对薄熙来打黑扫恶行动，有这样那样的议论，但绝大多数的人民群众并不以为然。一个领导干部不管他有什么样的追求，只要他真心实意地“弯下腰来为人民扛活”，只要他真心实意为人民谋福祉，他就是好官，就会得到人民群众衷心的爱戴，衷心的拥护。愿中国所有的官，为官当如薄熙来！

The growth of malignant forces don't just threaten the livelihood and property of the people, but also threaten the very establishment of a well-off and harmonious society; they don't just affect the image of the Party within the hearts and minds of the people, but if left to continue unchecked, stand to jeopardize the ruling status of the Communist Party.

Though some people have this and that to say about Bo Xilai's corruption crackdown, the vast majority of the people have no objection whatsoever. Regardless of whatever ambitions a top-level cadre might have, as long as he is genuinely willing to put his back into it when working for the people and genuinely keep their welfare in mind, then he will be a good leader who will win the heartfelt love, affection and support of the people. If only all officials in China could be like Bo Xilai!

Clearly, crusading high-ranking technocrats aren't sufficient when those being rounded up this year are the rank-and-file as well as the leadership of China various judiciary bodies; writes the Safe Ocean Sohu blogger on September 20:

过去，一些领导在谈论自己防区内的反腐倡廉成效时，总是说廉政建设大方向是好的，腐败分子只是“极个别”，而普通民众眼里却有截然不同的印象。重庆此次对腐败分子给予暴风骤雨般的打击，也告诉国家反腐败部门一个令人失望的现实，那就是中国腐败现象已经十分严重了，绝对不是“极个别”的问题。

重庆此次“打黑”也好，“肃贪”也罢，挖出了如此多的贪官，就是硬道理。 “打黑”行动让众多腐败的党员干部落马，不但没有给党抹黑，反而因为凸显出党中央的反腐决心，而给党增了光、添了彩，也算是为“建国六十周年”献上了一份大礼。

对于重庆市此次“打黑除恶”行动，全国各地的网民都期待，自己的城市何时也能效仿重庆？

In the past, some leaders when talking about the results of anti-corruption, good government efforts in their region, would always say that the overall direction was good, that corrupt officials were rare exception, meanwhile average citizens had a completely different perception. With this storm attack now on corruption in Chongqing, it has shown the national anti-corruption departments a rather disappointing reality, which is that the level of corruption in China today is extremely severe, and absolutely not a matter of “rare exception”.

Whether what we're seeing in Chongqing is simply a crackdown on graft or actually a struggle against corruption, the fact is that is has dug up quite a few corrupt officials, and that is what's most important. With all the corrupt Party officials and cadres taken down in this crackdown action, it still hasn't smeared the reputation of the Party, in fact has displayed the central Party leadership's resolve to fight corruption, brightening up the Party's promise, you could even say this is a great gift leading up to the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

As for this 'strike down graft, eliminate evil' action in Chongqing, netizens from across the country are waiting to see when their city will start following the lead of Chongqing.

How tired you are, Secretary Bo!

The image above, taken recently in Chongqing, was saved by well-known Internet personality Wang Pei before it was harmonized, and seen by many as a throwback to the displays of excessive idol worship seen during the Cultural Revolution; Bo's campaign urging Chongqing residents to 'sing socialist songs' and the use of mobile phones to push revolutionary Maoist memes this year have been the sort of behavior which led prominent writer and twitter Lian Yue to state this week:

重庆这么容易就发起一次小型文革，这是全体中国人的悲哀。

With how easy it's been for Chongqing to launch a small-scale cultural revolution, this is a tragedy for all Chinese people.

In a Sidewiki post alongside news today of Bo's ongoing socialist song revival, Twitter user Taoge wrote of Bo:

这家伙脑壳有毛病
为了争夺权力无所不用其极
当然，某些人为了保住权力，也是一丘之貉。

This guy, there's something wrong with his head.
He'll do absolutely anything to gain power.
Of course, some people, in order to hold on to their power, are no different.

Is breaking the law justifiable means in an attempt to uphold it and stamp out corruption? KDNet author Wang Ce makes the case that the law must come first, in his September 21 post:

有法不依，没有法治精神，没有反腐治贪的长效机制，搞一百次“文革”、一百次“打黑除恶风暴”，其结局都只能是越打越黑、越反越腐。谁能保证今天铁面无私的反腐英雄，明天不会在不受约束的权力腐蚀下走上前任的老路？
中国人有一个“重道轻器”的恶劣习惯，提到反贪惩腐就在“正义与真理”的大道理上绕弯子，没有人肯鞠躬俯首，像英国人那样简捷严谨地遵循法治原则解决问题。所以说地痞流氓不可怕，贪官恶吏也不可怕，可怕的是我们从上到下对规则的蔑视。

Disregard of the law, lack of respect for rule of law, lack of lasting mechanisms in the fight against corruption, instead a hundred “cultural revolutions, a hundred “storms to fight corruption and root out evil”, the result of all which is the more they fight the darker things get, and the worse corruption gets. Who can ensure that the impartial and incorruptible anti-corruption heroes of today, with their unrestricted power, won't end up on the same path as their predecessors tomorrow?

The Chinese people have the vile habit of honoring and being lenient on authority figures, beating around the bush with grand talk of “justice” and “truth” when fighting and prosecuting corruption is mentioned; also, nobody is willing to subject themselves to investigation or legal action, not like in England where they abide strictly by the letter of the law in resolving problems. Which is why local riff-raff aren't the worst, and neither are corrupt officials; what's most frightening is our pervasive defiance of laws and regulations.

At two years and running with over 2,000 arrests, how far is Bo prepared to go in his good fight? Quite possibly until 2012 if the Beijing Calling bridgeblogger is to be believed, in his post ‘Yet to be Crowned':

However, there are others who are also vying for the post — Vice-Premier Li Keqiang who is backed by Hu, and Bo Xilai, currently the party boss in Chongqing who recently tried to break up some corruption rings there.

Both Bo and Xi are “princelings”, whose fathers were heroes in teh 1949 revolution. Xi has the backing of former President Jiang Zemin, who seems to still hold power behind the scenes.

It'll be interesting to see what happens after October 1, when the rest and relaxation of the National Day holiday is over and the power brokering continues behind the scenes.

China: Considering Han chauvinism

John Kennedy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:52:52 +0000

Xinjiang remains offline and online discussion of the recent ethnic unrest there continues to be highly restricted. Building off radical interpretation of Uighur-on-Han violence in Ürümqi, however, and noting that neighboring Mongolia has its fair share of neo-nazis, what conclusions can be made regarding the violence from both sides?

Beijing Spring editor Hu Ping, in a recent post for RFA, wonders if Uighur anger can be attributed to government policies in the region, lists several reasons why that might be and, using the term Han chauvinism, concludes that it is. Wikipedia defines Han chauvinism as:

“Referring to people carrying ethnocentric viewpoints that favor the Han Chinese majority ethnic group in China at the expense of the other minority ethnic groups, often under the assumption of cultural superiority. […] Actions and speech that constitute the ethnocentric and ideological aspects of Han chauvinism (such as hate speech against minorities) are illegal in the People's Republic of China and are either banned or censored.”

Hu's post brought in a number of comments:

08/31: 本人是汉人，去过东突厥斯坦维吾尔地区。胡平先生所说的情况完全属实。该地区的大部分区域目前的汉化状况十分严重，并不断有大量的汉族移民，维族完全被边缘化。

I'm Han Chinese and I've been to the East Turkistan Uighur region. Everything Hu Ping has said is entirely true. The state of Han assimilation in most of these areas is quite severe, and large numbers of ethnic Han keep migrating there, Uighurs have been completely marginalized.

09/01: 如果是这样的话，那美国是不是也在搞英语同化政策呢讲印第安语言的人你在美国可以畅行无阻吗？共产党的干部队伍里不但是少数民族广大汉族也一样被剥夺了宗教信仰的权利啊！维吾尔人可以不受限制地生儿育女，而当地的汉族人却被国家的计划生育政策严格限制哦！作为在中国生长的汉族人，我们真的没有感到所谓的大汉族主义！

Since you put it like that, then isn't America carrying out similar policies of English assimilation? You don't think that people who speak Indian [sic] languages have problems getting by? Within the ranks of CCP cadres, it's not only ethnic minorities who have been deprived of their religious rights, but the Han majority too! Uighurs have no restrictions on the number of children they can have, but Han there are still heavily restricted by state birth planning policies! As a Han born and raised in China, we really don't see any so-called Han chauvinism!

09/01: 同化、融合是社会的进步，拒绝融合是没有出路的，就想在美国不会说英语还有机会进入主流社会吗？陈破空在美国不也只是一个社会的边缘人。

Assimilation, integration, these represent social progress; there is no hope in rejecting integration. Do you think someone in America who can't speak English has a chance of entering mainstream society? Isn't Chen Pokong just another marginalized figure in the USA?

09/02: 维吾尔人或图博人（Tibetan）在自己的土地上说自己的语言应该是畅行无阻，这应该就是当地主流社会的语言。

Uighurs and Tibetans shouldn't have any restrictions on speaking their own language on their own land, it is after all the language of mainstream society there.

09/02: 真会胡扯！在台湾原著民还不是要说汉语.写汉字！

What utter crap! Even aboriginals in Taiwan have to be able to speak and write Chinese!

09/02: 真是胡评了，别忘了汉人到新疆的时间比维吾尔早

Come on, Hu Ping, don't forget that Han were in Xinjiang before the Uighur were.

09/03: 我没去过新疆，但是在我的家乡湖南，最起码我读书的两个城市：永州，长沙。还有现在在的这个城市：深圳。维族人跟我们（汉族人）比起来权利是大很多的—— 他们可以强买强卖，他们卖的价格非常高，而且看了东西一定要买，这个我们一点办法都没有的。警察可以骑在我们头上，对他们是一点办法都没有的，就是犯了事也很快出来！

I haven't been to Xinjiang, but back home in Hunan, I studied in at least two cities, Yongzhou and Changsha. Now I'm in Shenzhen. Uighurs have a lot more rights than we (Han) do: they get preferential treatment in business, they're allowed to overcharge, and if you stop to look at what they're selling, you're forced to buy, and there's nothing we can do about it. Police can breathe down our necks, but can't do anything to them, and when they break the law they get let right back out!

09/04: 对待伊斯兰，必须大棒和胡萝卜政策同时实施，目前来看应该大棒为主。伊斯兰需要改良、进步才有出路。目前它就是反人类的宗教。

With Islam, carrot-and-stick policies must be implemented simultaneously, but at present it seems the stick is winning. Islam needs to change itself before things will get better. Currently, it's an inhuman religion.

09/05: 维族被边缘化.这个基本是事实

Uighurs have been marginalized, this is a basic fact.

Hu's piece was reposted to UighurBiz, founded by the ethnic Uighur economist and netizen Ilham Tohti; Tohti was detained in July and released in late August, and generated some discussion online this week after expressing support for the new Xinjiang Party boss Zhu Hailun's tougher stance (canceling the ‘less arrests, less executions, more leniency' policy) on crime. Here are some comments left today on the UighurBiz post:

*两少一宽应该取消*
伊力哈木还对乌鲁木齐刚刚上任的市委书记朱海仑宣布取消“两少一宽”(少捕少杀，一般从宽)的少数民族政策表示赞同。他认为，法律面前应该人人平等。他说，这个政策确实让少数民族中的犯罪分子获利，同时导致了汉族人的不满。

人都是一样的汉族人被针扎了才想起要王LQ下台,维吾尔人安全受到威胁了才想起取消两少一宽.还能想起自己曾经的态度吗?

伊力哈木算是维族人里面少数能够讲的通道理的人物，对民族和国家有着比较清醒的认识。不象其他在这的一群维族小喽罗根本就是屁也不懂，还去指责汉人的FF，其实也都是五十步笑百步。好好和你们老师学一学。

“Two Lesses, One Leniency” ought to be canceled”

Ilham has expressed support for the new Ürümqi Party chief Zhu Hailun's decision to cancel the “Two Lesses, One Leniency” (less arrests, less executions, more leniency) ethnic policy. Ilham feels that all people should be equal before the law, saying that ethnic minority criminals have definitely benefited from this policy, and that at the same time it leaves Hans feeling dissatisfied.

That's how people are; Han only started calling for Wang Lequan's resignation after they began getting pricked with needles; Uighurs only called for the cancellation of ‘Two Lesses, One Leniency' once they started feeling their safety threatened. Do you think there's a chance they'll each go back to their previous stances?

Ilham is one of the few Uighurs who talks any sense, who sees clearly the difference between ethnicity and state. Not at all like some of his underlings who don't know crap, calling Han [relocation] illegal, treating it all like a big joke. Glad to be able to learn something here from you.

伊力哈木算是维族人里面少数能够讲的通道理的人物

汉族里有多少个对维族没有歧视的？

其实，新疆的很多当地汉人对维吾尔族不仅歧视而且不当人看，举个例子，6年前我在新疆出差，在乌鲁木齐延安南路路边打出租车，比我后来一个维族女孩也站在我旁边打车，冬天在乌鲁木齐往往打车需要很长时间，冻得不行了，好不容易一辆空车来了，根本没在女孩旁边停，直接停我面前了，我还好奇，上车后问司机什么不拉女孩，汉族司机说：我们不愿拉这些皮帽子（维族人）。问问什么？他说有次拉了个维族给的是假钱，我问有没有碰到汉族乘客给假钱的？他说也有。我说如果你们这样对待维族，你们不担心将来维汉矛盾越来越深吗？司机答：他们不敢，我们有枪。我再也没说话。出差3天，每次打车我都问司机愿不愿意拉维族，都是众口一词，什么维族人脾气大、不讲理、不愿意拉之类的话。后来问了当地一个维族人才知道乌鲁木齐全市有近六千俩出租车，由于维族乘客屡遭拒载，终于让200 多辆维族司机开出租，满足不了需求，没办法，很多维族人就做黑车生意了，二道桥一带的夏利基本上都是黑车。了解了情况后我心想这样的地方将来一定会出事！

没有无缘无故的爱和恨，就像一面镜子，你如何对待他人，他们也会如何对待你。不反思一下自己的所作所为，动不动给一个民族去贴标签，对一个世世代代在此繁衍的原住民族带上歧视的有色眼镜，新疆怎能不乱？

Ilham is one of the few Uighurs who talks any sense

And just how many Han are there who don't discriminate against Uighurs?

In fact, Han in many places in Xinjiang don't just discriminate against Uighurs, but don't even see them as human. For example, six years ago I was in Xinjiang on a business trip. I was standing on Yan'an Nan Road in Ürümqi trying to get a taxi, and one Uighur girl came up next to me and was trying to get a taxi too. It always takes a long time to get a cab in Ürümqi in the winter. We were freezing and finally when one empty cab did pull up, it went right past that girl and stopped right in front of me. Strange, I thought, and after I got in I asked the driver why he didn't stop for the girl. The (Han) driver said: we don't pick up those leatherhats (Uighurs). I asked why. He said once he picked up an Uighur who gave him fake money, so I asked if he'd ever had Han customers who gave him fake money. He said he had.

I said if you treat Uighurs like this, aren't you worried about the ethnic conflict getting worse? The driver said, they don't dare, we have guns. Then I had nothing more to say. I was there for three days, and every time I got in a cab I asked if they were willing to take Uighur passengers, and got the same answer every time: Uighurs have bad tempers, can't be reasoned with, they won't stop for them, etc. It was only later after I asked one local Uighur that I found out that there are about 6,000 taxis in Ürümqi, and because Uighurs are always getting refused rides, in the end they hired 200 Uighur drivers, but when that's not enough, there's not much else to be done, so a lot of Uighurs have started their own unlicensed taxi businesses, basically any Xiali car you see around Erdao Bridge is a pirate taxi. Once I got a better idea of the situation, I thought something was bound to happen sooner or later.

Unwarranted love or hate, it's just like a mirror. However you treat people is how they'll treat you back. If you don't think about the consequences of your actions and just go around putting labels on a certain ethnic group, seeing these people who have been here for centuries through a lens of prejudice, how else could Xinjiang not be in a mess?

汉族里有多少个对维族没有歧视的？
其实，新疆的很多当地汉人对维吾尔族不仅歧视而且不当人看
uighurhr 发表于 2009-9-9 07:41

要让别人把你当人，你首先得表现的有个人样。
多谢党妈妈长久以来对维吾尔人的美化宣传，
以至于我们这些内地人在多次遭遇维式流氓侵害后还是不敢相信自己的眼睛。

And just how many Han are there who don't discriminate against Uighurs?

In fact, Han in many places in Xinjiang don't just discriminate against Uighurs, but don't even see them as human.

If you want people to treat you like human, first you need to start acting like one.
Thanks to years of lovely propaganda from Party Mother, when we here in the interior get victimized by Uighur thugs, we don't even believe our eyes.

维族不讲理是惯的，党妈一向对维族的优惠政策，如民族团结最重要，如少数民族优先等等养成了他们越不讲理越能拿到好处然后就变的更加不讲理。

久而久之，汉族们就不喜欢跟你们打交道了。

It's typical for Uighurs not to act rationally. All the preferential treatment Party Mother has given them, like putting ethnic unity first, giving preference to ethnic minorities, etc., it's made it so that the less sense they make, the more benefits they get, and then they act even less rationally.

希望这个网站不要在天天宣传和蛊惑仇恨的魔鬼。看看吧，这个网站有多少文章在宣传仇恨的魔鬼。

I hope that this website won't keep promoting and tempting the demon of hatred every day. Just look how many posts on this website are pushing hatred.

西方人对黄种人，对中国人没有歧视吗？但是和100年前相比，去掉那些意识形态的影响（中国现在还是共产主义国家？），这样的歧视是多了还是少了？从100年前的人见人欺到现在的G2，这样的变化是因为老外道德素质提高了根除了种族歧视？

So what, westerners don't discriminate against Chinese and other Asians? But if you look back over the past 100 years, the effect of leaving ideology behind (is China still a communist country?), has this kind of discrimination increased or decreased? If you look back to the dog-eat-dog past of 100 years ago to the G2 today, has this change come about because those foreigners enlightened themselves morally out of racism?

China: Crowdsourcing subtitle translations

John Kennedy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:16:09 +0000

Activist Tan Zuoren, little-known outside China, is the inspiration for a new documentary from artist Ai Weiwei and his Sugar Jar posse. Featuring civil rights lawyers Liu Xiaoyuan and Pu Zhiqiang, Chinese netizens have since begun transcribing and translating subtitles for the film.

China: Are syringe attacks terrorism?

John Kennedy — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 07:06:10 +0000

Xinjiang in northwestern China has been offline since the riots involving hundreds of Uighurs on July 5 and netizen reports are scarce, but with several hundred syringe attacks having taken place since, leading Han residents of Ürümqi to take to the streets over the past few days, dialogue doesn't seem to be a priority.

Photos from the streets of Ürümqi have been posted to discussion board website Paowang, however, on September 4th and 5th.

Why resort to syringe attacks? nkpoper at Bullog International considers the resistance struggle perspective:

新疆又出事了。

这次好像没人说“新疆扎针案是中共的阴谋”了吧？珍珠港有人说阴谋，911有人说阴谋，75有人说阴谋…嗯，最后一条有人说得还有鼻子有眼，我也只能说“按道理说不是”，没处核实去。

当时我就想，要是这回60周年，维族人把XXX给炸飞了，保不定也有人说是阴谋呢！现在出了扎针事件，有了这个铺垫，万一XXX飞了，也许还可以不算阴谋，纵做鬼，也幸福啊。

More trouble in Xinjiang.

Doesn't look like anyone's saying this time though that these syringe attacks were a CCP conspiracy. People said Pearl Harbor was a conspiracy, people said 9/11 was a conspiracy, and people said the July 5 riots were a conspiracy…even supplying all the details, but all I can say is, that doesn't make sense, and I have no way to confirm.

But it got me thinking, if Uighurs blow up Zhongnanhai during the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, you never know, people might see a conspiracy in that too! Now with these syringe attacks, there's something to go by, and if by some small chance Zhongnanhai does get blown up, it might just not be a conspiracy, but people up to no good, and happily at that.

虽然没看到阴谋论，不过针对此事却有毛左式的语言冒出来：毛泽东说过“哪儿有压迫，哪儿就有反抗。”这哪儿对哪儿啊！汉人游行倒算反抗，但游行的由头却是扎针，扎针既不能算压迫，也不能算反抗。要真是想引用名人的语录，希特勒倒是有句比较沾边的：“恐怖只能用恐怖来对抗。”

不过，我可要声明：希特勒这句话只是沾边而已，未必贴切，更不能说就该这么干。我只想重申那个最基本的逻辑：

在斗争中犯规也许不可避免，尤其是激烈的斗争。象二战，各方都用过很多过激的手段。但是象75事件那样纯粹地指向平民，那就绝对不可接受了。制造这种恐怖的人是不值得任何同情的，任何同情都只能鼓励他继续制造恐怖。75如此，扎针事件也如此。

Though I haven't seen any conspiracy theories, Maoist-style language has popped up over this incident: Mao Zedong once said, “wherever there is oppression, there will also be resistance.” Just who are we talking about here though? Han rallying on the street, that counts as resistance, but the cause of the cause of the protests was the syringe attacks, and syringe attacks don't really count as oppression, but not resistance either. If people really want to quote some great figure, Hitler actually has one line that quite fits here: “only terror is capable of smashing terror.”

However, to make myself clear, this Hitler quote only fits this situation, which isn't to say it's appropriate, and definitely isn't what should be done. I'm merely reiterating that most base of logic:

Violation in the midst of struggle may be inevitable, particularly in fierce struggle. Like WWII, wherein all parties resorted to extreme measures. But with the July 5 riots, aimed solely at civilians, such measures are completely unacceptable. The people manufacturing this kind of terror don't deserve any sympathy; any sympathy they are given will only encourage them to continue creating terror. That was the case with the July 5 riots, and that's the case now with the syringe attacks.
[…]

Can low-grade terror tactics be justified and should Wang Lequan step down, as so many Han have demanded this past week? Roland Soong comments at EastSouthNorthWest on his translation of opinions expressed in Hong Kong media by two mainland (both also active bloggers) voices on Xinjiang issues in his September 4 post, The Xinjiang Syringe Riots:

Central University of Nationalities (in Beijing) Uighur associate professor Ilham pointed out that the 7.5 incident had been violently suppressed and Xinjiang is now under high-pressure policies now. Therefore, it can be expected that the Uighurs should use methods such as syringe attacks to take revenge. He believes that it is not enough to use force to heal the hurt in the hearts of the Uighur people.

The Han writer Huang Zhangjin who studies the Xinjiang problem pointed out the authorities have failed to recognize their mistake after the 7.5 incident and continues to lock down information. “The syringe revenge attacks have been circulated around for quite some time and the citizens are scared. They wouldn't allow this to be reported until after the attacks exploded. How can this satisfy the anger of the citizens?” Huang Zhangjin believes that in order to calm down the tense situation in Xinjiang now, the best thing is to relief Wang Lequan from his job. “The mistakes in the ethnic policies may not have been created by him, but only he can be the scapegoat that can relieve the angers of the Uighurs and the Hans and bring them down the road to reconciliation.”

(ESWN Comments: These are extraordinary comments. On the first comment, it would seem that most people regard it as wrong to use syringe to attack people at random and sow terror. This is called terrorism (”premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents”). Instead, the comment seems to justify the use of terrorism. This is not going to convince many people.

On the second comment, Wang Lequan is proposed as the scapegoat to be sacrificed for the sake of reconciliation between the Hans and the Uighurs. But why is Wang Lequan unsatisfactory to the Uighurs and the Hans? Because both sides perceived Wang to be tilted towards the other side and they want someone who tilts more to their side. Why were water bottles thrown at Wang Lequan during his speech? Because he promised “severely punishing the criminals in accordance with the law” and the demonstrators did not consider this good enough. To appease these Han demonstrators, the replacement would have to be even more oppressive and draconian, which would upset the Uighurs even more. So the idea of scapegoat will only postpone the problem temporarily. It isn't going to lead to reconciliation.)

Possibly related, an anonymous netizen account of the recent situation in Xinjiang, ‘Just back from Xinjiang, the situation there is far more severe than can be imagined', appeared online on Saturday and received more circulation Sunday:

31号到新疆，4号离开，基本都在乌鲁木齐和石河子。先说说看到听到的各种见闻：

1. 老王没啥前途了，不管他有多么辉煌的历史，现在一切都完了，原因就一个：所有的老百姓，包括汉族和各少数民族，都不信任他，都在骂，让他滚。传闻：75出事时在招待一个山东代表团，喝高了。。。93出来安抚群众，挨了矿泉水瓶。。。最新听到的替代人选是强卫，团派，有化工，纪检，边疆经验，各项指标位居前列，热门人选。

2. 75的反应远没有某些人所说的处置及时，出租司机说，警察都在挨打，根本顾不上救人。。。到了76还有数人结伙的歹徒在闹事，77的反击也比原先听到的规模更大，人，饭店，清真寺，都砸的不轻。最郁闷的一个传闻：牺牲的战士，最紧急时对天开了三枪，没子弹了。。。靠。。。希望是假的。。。

3. 乌市乱得很，乌洽会只办了两天就停摆。93当天，乌市全面戒严，准出不准进，只有新A牌照车在严查后可以进，机场火车站必须出示机票车票，否则一律免进。我们正好在石河子参加招标，来的人说高速路上几十辆军车满载荷枪实弹的战士往乌市方向疾驰，走的一个哥们更惨，想去市里结果到处封路，转悠了十几个小时只能回石河子。

I arrived in Xinjiang on August 31 and left September 4, with most of my time spent in Ürümqi and Shixenze. First I'll just say what I saw and heard:

1. Old Wang Lequan has no future there, irregardless of how splendid his past was, that's all gone now and for one reason only: all people, including Han and all the ethnic minorities, do not trust him, are cursing him out, want him to scram. There's a rumor: when the July 5 riots broke, he was hosting a representative group from [Wang's home] Shandong province, and very drunk. When he came out to placate the crowds on September 3, people threw water bottles at him…the last I heard was that Qiang Wei has been chosen to replace him: he's from the Youth League Faction, has a chemical engineering background, experience in the central discipline inspection commission, border control, and his outstanding performance makes him a hot candidate.

2. Certain people weren't as quick as they said in responding to the July 5 riots; taxi drivers said that police were being attacked all over, unable to help people needing saving…by July 6 thugs had ganged up and were making trouble; the Han backlash on July 7 was far bigger than was originally understood: people, hotels, mosques, all damaged quite badly. The most depressing rumor is that the soldiers who were martyred who, when things were at at their worst, went to fire three warning shots in the air, were out of bullets…damn…I hope that isn't true…

3. Ürümqi is a mess. The Urumqi Fair had to stop after just two days. On September 3, all of Ürümqi was locked down, nobody allowed in or out, only vehicles with ‘Xinjiang A' license plates were allowed through the tight inspection points, and all people at the airport and train station were required to show their seat tickets to get on board. We were in Shixenze to participate in an invitation for bidding, and people there said the highways were full of manned emergency army trucks rushing into Ürümqi. One guy who left got it bad, he went to head into the city but all the roads were blocked; after being stuck for more than ten hours, he had no choice but to head back to Shixenze.

4. 31号到新疆的时候就听说有歹徒在扎黑针，捅黑刀，尤其是对上学的孩子们下手，很多大人没办法只能不上班，给孩子们当保镖。让人无法接受的是，乌市8月5 号以来就有这样的事件发生，石河子也有传闻，一个来月，愈演愈烈，ZF不说毫无举措吧，至少是办案不力，怎么让老百姓信任？93当天在石河子至少有三个出租司机说，我们宾馆对面的小区里当天有两人被扎，有人说被杀。。。

5. 歹徒们放话，75只是开始，国庆之前，还有大动作。。。

6. 当地人的生活虽然受到影响，但都对这样的事情有心理准备，生产生活还都算正常，有钱的都想走，流动的人包括我们这些来做业务的，在街上也看不出什么异常，但心里总是紧张，终于明白啥叫笼罩在恐怖气氛里了。

4. When I got to Xinjiang on August 31, I heard that thugs were pricking people with dirty needles, dirty blades, even targeting children on their way to school; many adults had no choice but to stay home from work and be bodyguards for their children. What's unacceptable is that these things began on August 5, similar rumors in Shixenze, and things continued to worsen for a month, with no word from the government of any response, meaning at the very least that they couldn't handle the situation, so how are people supposed to trust them? On September 3 no fewer than three taxi drivers in Shixenze told me that two people had been pricked that day in the neighborhood across from our hotel, someone said someone had been killed…

5. The hooligans have said that July 5 was just the beginning, and that something big is yet to come before the October 1 National Day celebrations…

6. Despite the impact on the lives of locals, most are prepared for something like this, and life is more or less going on as normal; those with money want to leave, and those getting out includes types like us just visiting on business. Nothing too out of the ordinary can be seen on the streets, but I was perpetually nervous, and now I finally understand what it means to be in the midst of a cloud of terror.

China: Blogged down with swine flu

John Kennedy — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:06:45 +0000

Kai Pan at CNReviews traces how China, despite having so far kept H1N1 from reaching the mainland, has still managed to end up at the center of a number of blog posts regarding the epidemic.

China: Journal entries from summer 1989

John Kennedy — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:56:03 +0000

Philip J. Cunningham at Frontier International continues his series of posts tracking the day-to-day developments from this time twenty years ago, during his time as a journalist in Beijing, and updates today with an old journal entry and photos of a lunch with Hou Dejian, among others.

China: Not subsidizing Expo 2010

John Kennedy — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:42:20 +0000

Adam Minter at Shanghai Scrap is having trouble getting answers to why the United States government is having trouble getting its pavilion together for Expo 2010, but he has nonetheless had some success at piecing the back story together.

China: Isaac Mao #twinterviews Hu Yong

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:58:53 +0000

Those faithfully following the #China Twitter stream late on the working day on Thursday were treated to a surprise when Isaac Mao began twinterviewing Peking University associate professor of new media Hu Yong, author of several books related to Internet theory and culture.

From Mao's blog, Isaac 2.0, here is the transcript:

#1 作為中國最早感知互聯網浪潮的一撮人，當時和現在有什么差別？
当时是亚当和夏娃的简单乐园，现在“失乐园”了，成了丛林。盛行丛林法则。

Q1: As one of the earliest few people in China to sense the Internet wave coming, how do things differ now from back then?
A1: At the time it was Adam and Eve and a simple garden; now, “Paradise Lost” has become a jungle. The law of the jungle prevails.

#2 可是《數字化生存》并沒有考慮到那么多復雜情況，是否還是過于理想？
《数字化生存》的最大价值，是指出了未来社会的基本建构成分是比特而不是原子。这可以解释为什么今日众多产业面临绝境，也可以解释为什么中国政府花费那么大的人力物力修墙。当然，我那时和尼葛洛庞帝一样，是个乐观主义者，相信“闪闪发亮的比特”

Q2: Yet in “Being Digital”, things don't seem so complicated, was it perhaps too idealistic?
A2: The main point in “Being Digital” was to point out that the society of the future would be constructed of bits, and not atoms. This can explain why so many industries today are in such dire straits, and can also explain why the Chinese government spends such vast human and material resources in patching up the wall. Of course, at that time, I was just as much an optimist as Negroponte, still believing in “shiny, happy bits”.

#3 可是我還是有疑問，尤其對中國，比特對傳統的思維催生變化了嗎？
传统思维的变化不是一日之功。比特开启了众声喧哗的进程：我们原来鸦雀无声，一旦有些机会说话，谁都不会好好说话，只会聒噪。但不要小看说话的作用：它是心理疗伤，疗中国千年专制之伤。

Q3: But I'm still skeptical, especially with regards to China; will bits bring about change in traditional thinking?
A3: Changing traditional thinking won't happen overnight. Bits have launched a process of rising cacophony: once we were completely silent, but with the first opportunity to speak, nobody is just talking, they're shouting. But we can't undervalue the role of speaking: it's the cure for a psychological wound, curing the wound inflicted on China by a thousand years of autocracy.

#4 正要問《眾聲喧嘩》這本書，大家是喧嘩了，可是獲取手段多的人似乎更焦慮，那么沒有信息的人似乎反倒很安逸，這是真諦嗎？
好问题！这就是为什么那些获取了更多信息的人要致力于发起更多的对话和讨论。有时候我们用新技术武装至死：我们如此陷入技术的拥抱之中，忘记了社会的基本面。今天中国需要的是对一系列社会的基本问题进行讨论：一个拒绝讨论重大问题的文明，不是导向极权主义，就是通向死亡。

Q4: I want to ask about your book “The Rising Cacophony”. Everybody is making noise, and those with the most access to it seem to be the most worried, while yet those people who lack information seem to be the calmeste, does that sound true to you?
A4: Good question! Which is, why are those with more information the ones having the most dialogue and discussion. Sometimes, we arm ourselves to death with new technology; caught up in the embrace of technology as such, we forget about the fundamentals of society. China today needs to discuss a series of fundamental problems within society; a civilization which refuses to discuss major problems, if it doesn't lead to totalitarianism, then it leads itself to death.

#5 你的電視媒體實踐也產生了很多影響，例如CCTV-2的變化（我叫#CCAV)，是否更有相互比較的意味
我反对有人主张的对央视的新闻、宣传节目与网络都采取“不看、不上、不听、不说”的“四不”政策，因为每一寸阵地都值得去争取

Q5: Your experience in television media has had great impact, such as the changes at CCTV-2. Between the two, which has comparatively more significance?
A5: I object to any stance which advocates not watching, visiting, listening to or talking about CCTV news, propaganda programs or websites, because every inch of territory is worth fighting for.

#6 在《草根不盡》報告導讀中，講了媒體和權力的關系，新媒體似乎更激進地改變這種關系，但是也被有效地鉗制在一定強度內，縱觀媒體史，會亘古不破嗎？
福柯尝言：“权力得以稳固，为人们所接受，其原因非常简单，那就是它不只是作为说‘不’的强权施加压力，它贯穿于事物，产生事物，引发乐趣，生成知识，引起话语。”新媒体就是要既反抗“不”的高压，又反抗“是”的贯穿；既牢记奥威尔，更不忘赫胥黎

Q6: In the Info-Rhizome report, you say that within the relationship between media and authority, new media seems to more radically change this kind of relationship, but at the same time are constricted within a certain degree of influence; looking at the history of media, can that ever change?
A6: Foucault once said that, “[w]hat makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that is doesn't only weigh on us as a force that says no; it also traverses and produces things, it induces pleasure, forms knowledge, produces discourse.” New media, however, revolts against the high-handedness of “no”, but also revolts against the traversal of “yes”; which is why we must remember Orwell, and definitely mustn't forget Huxley.

#7 在美國，傳統媒體產業已經惶惶不可終日，四處尋找出路，這種先發焦慮是不是更有利于中國媒體軟轉型？
报刊和书籍更容易转型，因为它们的市场化较高；电视很难，因为中国电视有着畸形化的结构，且有意识形态和垄断的双重挡箭牌。无论如何，450亿元的外宣投资不会鼓励转型。

Q7: In America, traditional media are nearing their end of days, searching everywhere for a way out. Does this sort of early anxiety signal well for the soft transition of media in China?
A7: The transition will be much easier for periodicals and books, because they are more highly market-oriented; television will find it more difficult, because of now abnormally television is structured in China, burdened by both ideology and monopoly. Regardless, an investment of forty-five billion RMB for external propaganda will not encourage transformation.

#8 这个外宣媒体让我很困惑的，是不是会解决很多外国人就业的问题？
南加州大学传媒系尼古拉斯•卡尔教授有个精辟之见，他把中国政府通过报纸、电视和文化交流作出的一系列努力称作是“通过对外宣传的对内宣传”。换言之，对中国政府来说，让中国人看到他们在向全世界宣传中国文化更为重要。很多人在质疑外宣的效果，这是树错了靶子

Q8: This external propaganda media leaves me feeling quite confused; is it supposed to create jobs for a lot of foreigners?
A8: Journalism professor at the University of Southern California Nicholas Cull put it very precisely. He said that the Chinese government has relied on newspapers, television and cultural exchanges in a series of attempts at what is called “internal propaganda through external propaganda”. Put another way, the way the Chinese government sees it, letting the Chinese people see that Chinese culture is being promoted to the entire world is the most important. Many people doubt the effects of propaganda, seeing it as barking up the wrong tree.

#9 那么中国教授呢？在教室里，是否也需要時常自我審查？尺度是什么？
尺度？跟媒体的情形一样吧，存在于边界的试探之中。当年关于淫秽物品的界定在美国有个笑话：淫秽物品？它从来不能成功地用浅显易懂的语言界定，但是当我看到它时，我就知道它是。在中国，言论的非法与失当，也是如此吧。

Q9: What about Chinese academics then? In the classroom, do they regularly need to self-censor? And what is the yardstick for that?
A9: Yardstick? No different than that for media, it extends as far as people are willing to probe. Back in the day, there was a joke in America about the definition of obscene material: ‘Obscene material? I know it when I see it.‘ In China, whether speech is inappropriate or illegal, goes about the same.

#10 如果倒退回20年，有互联网，是不是社会看上去比今天更乐观一些？
呵呵，回到未来……80年代是中国60年最好的时光，那时，至少有“两个重大”——重大事情让人民知道，重大问题经人民讨论……想想看，用互联网实现两个重大，是不是更乐观一些？

Q10: If the Internet had been around twenty years ago, do you think society would have been a bit more optimistic than it is today?
A10: Haha, back to the future…..the eighties were the best years of China over the past sixty years. Back then, we at least had the “Two Majors”, the ‘Major Affairs The People Need To Know' and ‘Major Affairs The People Need To Discuss'…if you think about it, using the Internet fulfills both the Two Majors, isn't that a bit more optimistic?

China: Response to Yellow Peril talk

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:46:11 +0000

The anonymous China News Wrap blogger has translated People's Daily editorial, “Talk of a ‘Yellow Peril’ begins again in the West”.

China: Living Buddha stuck in court

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:38:30 +0000

More than a year since the March 14 riots in Lhasa, Joshua Rosenzweig at Siweiluozi gives an update on the case of Tibetan living Buddha Phurbu Tsering, charged in part with possession of a firearm, along with reasons why delivery of a verdict in his trial has been postponed.

China: Reading Mao Yushi

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:16:58 +0000

Little-known outside of China, Mao Yushi is one of the more prominent individuals associated with Charter 08; for more on what really defines the respected economist, see several valuable translations from Anton Lee Wishik II at Mei-Zhong Guanxi.

China: Questions about progress

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:57:18 +0000

After ninety years of democracy and science, can a blogger get sincere answers to to-the-point questions posed to his Peking University professor about the progress China has made since the May Fourth Movement? Find out from Alec Ash at 6.

China: Uyghurs in Pakistan extradited

John Kennedy — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:22:11 +0000

A blogger at The New Dominion notes that while nine Uyghurs in Pakistan have been extradited to China, the fate of others at Guantanamo remains uncertain.