Global Voices » Oiwan Lam

Gender Gap Widens in Chinese Cities

Oiwan Lam — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:38:01 +0000

China Digital Times highlighted some discussion on gender gap in China. Even though the overall percentage of working women is not very low, as a result of urbanization, employment rate for working-age women in urban areas fell to a new low of 60.8 percent in 2010, down from 77.4 percent 20 years earlier.

China: Online Social Management

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:55:29 +0000

David Bandurski from China Media Project explained the idea of “online social management”, a set of tactics to increase the capacity for channeling online public opinion, put forward by Fu Siming, a professor at the Central Party School.

Hong Kong: ‘Drink Less to Get Raped Less’

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:15:30 +0000

Hong Wrong rounded up Hong Kong citizens’ responses to the city's security chief's comment on the soaring of rape cases. The police head, Lai Tung-Kwok, told women to cut down on drinking in a press conference.

Chinese React to Angelina Jolie's Mastectomy

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:52:49 +0000

Off Beat China translated Chinese netizens’ reaction to Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy. Comments are mixed, some find the act courageous, some say it is over-reaction.

China: Petition System Reform?

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:28:42 +0000

Yueran Zhang from Tea Leaf Nation reviews the Chinese petition system and discusses directions for future reform:

Ongoing reforms should include the enhancement of the institutional powers of bureaus of letters and visits. On the other hand, the citizens flooding the petitioning offices, which are considered a last resort, reveal the ineffectiveness of other channels for hearing complaints and grievances. Enhancement and clarification of the roles of the People’s Congress, NGOs, the arbitration system and the judiciary branch could lessen the burden on the petitioning system.

Chinese Government Bans Seven ‘Speak-Not’ Subjects

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:07:04 +0000

A prominent Chinese law professor recently revealed in his microblog on popular Twitter-like site Sina Weibo that the Chinese government has imposed a policy on university professors instructing them not to teach seven subjects, including freedom of the press, past mistakes of the communist party, and citizen rights.

Zhang Xuezhong (張雪忠), who teaches at East China University of Political Science and Law, listed the other taboo subjects in the May 10, 2013 post as universal values, civil society, citizen rights, judicial independence, freedom of the press, past mistakes of the communist party, and the privileged capitalist class.

Zhang's Weibo account was deleted soon after and the term “Seven Speak-Nots” (七不講) has been blocked on major social media in China.

Seven Speak-Nots, image from “Silly Talks” public timeline from Google Plus.

In addition, it was further revealed in a memo on “Concerning the Situation in the Ideological Sphere” (《關於當前意識形態領域情況的通報》) issued by the Central Committee General Office of the Chinese Communist Party on May 13, 2013 that the “Seven Speak-Nots” policy has been incorporated into a policy for online public opinion censorship. The government's latest round of tightening of its control on discourse and ideology has resulted in the shutting down or suspension of the microblog accounts of several prominent liberal intellectuals and political harassment of rights defenders.

Though most of the discussion on the “Seven Speak-Nots” has been deleted, “Silly Talk”（胡言兌）has collected [zh] and resurrected some censored social media posts in Google Plus:

@Stariver：七不讲也没啥阿。不讲普世价值可以讲专制罪恶，不讲新闻自由可以讲道路以目，不讲公民社会可以讲太平天国，不讲公民权利可以讲屁民遭遇，不讲党的历史错误可以讲假的历史功绩，不讲权贵资产阶级可以讲红二代，不讲司法独立可以讲司法黑幕。

@Stariver: Nothing special about the “Seven Speak-Nots”. We don't have to speak about universal value, we can speak about the evil of authoritarianism. If we can't speak about freedom of press, we can speak about communication with our eyes [an ancient Chinese story about freedom of expression under authoritative rule]. If we can't speak about civil society, we can speak about Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. We don't have to speak about citizen rights, we can speak about the experience of fart-izen [citizen deprived of rights]. We don't discuss the mistakes of the Chinese Communist Party but can talk about all the fake historical achievement. If we can't talk about the “privileged capitalist class”, we can talk about “the second generation red”. If judicial independence is banned, we talk about all the dark secrets of our judicial system.

@余喷：五不搞了才惊叫？七不讲了才哗然？我觉得都涉嫌程度不同的装外宾了。早在枪响之后，就该断绝最后一丝的幻想了。枪响是迟钝划线。此后的所有卖萌动作，最多具有策略性的价值。而策略性的东东，难免欺庙堂不着而惑江湖良多。

@Yu Pen: How come we yell about the Five Do-Nots [note: The Five Do-Nots are: do not make a system in which multiple parties govern in turn; do not diversify guiding ideologies; do not “separate the three powers” and create a bicameral system; do not federalize; do not privatize.] and find the “Seven Speak-Nots” surprising? Don't pretend to be outsiders. After the guns fired, we should not have any illusion. We were already too late to draw the line when the guns fired. All gestures after the incident are strategic aiming at cheating people.

@songshinan：#说出党的潜台词#普世价值不要讲，要讲中国特色；新闻自由不要讲，要讲党管媒体不变；公民社会不要讲，要讲社会管理创新；公民权利不要讲，要讲和谐社会；党的历史错误不要讲，要高举毛邓旗帜；权贵资产阶级不要讲，要讲中国梦；司法独立不要讲，要讲政法委办案。

@songshinan: #Spell out the party's hidden agenda# Speak not about universal value, speak about Chinese Character; Speak not about press freedom, speak about never-changing party media; Speak not about civil society, speak about the innovation of social management; Speak not about citizen rights, speak about harmonious society; speak not about the historical mistakes of the communist party, uphold the ideology of Mao and Deng; Speak not about the privileged capitalist class, talk about the China Dream; Speak not about judicial independence, the party's legal committee will handle all the cases.

Some Chinese bloggers have moved to Google Plus to carry on the discussion. Below are some immediate comments from prominent blogger Wen YunChao's post about the policy.

@agan G: 笑话，现在的年轻人早已不属于那个年代，还TM想洗脑！

@agan: This is a joke. Young people nowadays do not belong to the old time, they can't be f**king brainwashed.

@Loby Liang: 唉！他们总结的比我们总结得还好呢！就应该讲这7件事。

@Loby Liang: Well… Their conclusion is much better than ours! These are the subjects we have to talk about.

@Star Dung: 要培养彻底的奴隶

@Star Dung: The want to cultivate obedient slaves.

@Jack ANNA: 我看到了中国共产党发自内心的恐惧。

@Jack ANNA: I see the fear deep down in the communist party's heart.

@沈宏星哈哈，习近平的尾巴露出来啦。和薄一个样

@Shen Hongxing: Haha, [President] Xi Jinping has revealed his true self. He and Bo Xilai are just the same [Bo is a former CCP leader who upholds Maoist ideology].

@李冠阳我们今天上历史课老师也说这个了,我们老师说教学内容要与国际接轨,价值观不能接轨

@Li Guanyang: Our history teacher talked about this today. Our teacher said the content of our course has to be in alignment with international society, but our values can't be.

“Fairy outside the wall” (@墙外仙）carefully reposted [zh] Zhang Xuezhong's opinion to get around censorship on a Sina microblog:

如果一个国家总是顽固地拒绝人类社会通行的普世价值,并且迟迟不肯建立以自由、民主和法治为基础的宪政制度,那绝不是因为这个国家有什么特殊的国情,而是因为这个国家有一个特殊的政府：这个政府本身极其败坏和不得人心，以至于根本无法通过公正的法律和诚实的手段，来维持自己的存续！

If a country keeps resisting the universal values that have been shared by the rest of the world and refuses to build a constitution based on freedom, democracy, and rule of law, then this is not due to the distinctive character of the country, but the distinctive character of the government: a corrupted government that can't win people's support and cannot sustain itself with a legal system that upholds justice and honesty.

Save Lhasa, Tibet from Destruction

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:41:36 +0000

High Peaks Pure Earth has published Elliot Sperling's translation of prominent Tibetan writer, Woser's recent blogpost urging the world to save Lhasa from being turned into another tourist shopping mall.

China: Report on Sexual Assault

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:07:37 +0000

Patrick Lozada and James Griffiths from Shanghaiist explained on the findings of a report that found that around 50 percent of Chinese men admit to sexually assaulting their partners:

In publishing our original post, and this follow up, we are not seeking to demonise Chinese men [...] Domestic violence is a serious issue in China, but one that the government has long dragged its heals on and shown little inclination to deal with.

Hong Kong's Policymaking Keeps China in Mind

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:06:51 +0000

Two confidential Hong Kong Government memorandums has been leaked. The documents would take effect from 1 June 2013 and require

an assessment on Mainland reaction and related public relations measures will become a mandatory requirement for all policy committee papers and Executive Council submission.

Bad Canto believes that “Hong Kong is finished” if such documents come to effect.

Chinese Politics like Heredity Monarchy?

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:41:44 +0000

The current Chinese Communist Party leaders are the second generation red and the third and the fourth generations are emerging in the political scene. The political system in China is more and more like a hereditary monarchy, said Chinese netizens. Off Beat China summarized the discussion.

Young Woman's Suspicious Death Triggers Rare Protests in Beijing

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:51:37 +0000

Thousands of people took to the streets in Beijing on May 8, 2013, in response to the suspicious death of a young migrant worker named Yuan Liya. Currently, all information regarding the death of Yuan Liya is unsearchable online in China.

The 22-year-old woman's body was found lying outside Wenjing Shopping Mall around midnight on May 3. Yuan had come to Beijing to find work to support her family in Anhui. Both Yuan's boyfriend and mother have demanded the Beijing police release the CCTV recording of Yuan's death. However, the Beijing police claim that the case was a suicide and refuse any further investigation.

Among the thousands of protesters, most are migrants from Anhui province who work in Beijing. Below is a citizen video showing the protest scene:

A post titled “The Mysterious Death of a Girl in Wenjing” circulated on online forums on May 7 but was quickly deleted by internet censors. According to House News [zh], which is based in Hong Kong, the post said Yuan was in a room with many men before her body was found outside of the shopping mall on the pavement beneath the room. Most of the original posts have been deleted. Below is a cached version of a discussion of the original post in an online Baidu forum [zh]:

Yuan Liya. Via House News. Non-commercial use.

失去水的鱼11：听说是保安干的，几个保安都跑了，现在好像有一个自首了，相信很快就有真相了。可是警察好像被贿赂了，记者也不来，都怕摊上事啊。。。
我等不到的春天：什么时候我们才能正确的去看待人命的呢！没钱没权的命，难道就不值钱的吗！
阳光67799：要把事实弄清楚，从前面的一段文字看，就是女孩自己跳的楼也得算他杀。
yanjs2011：一群男人是什么人呀，干嘛凌晨四点还在一起呢？？？？
哼特猎人：求真相咋就这么难？我们真的没有安全感了！
立木斤_7875：派出所办事方式：“自杀”、“没立案”、“无权查看” 呸—–难道警察就没有义务查出是他杀，还是真自杀吗？给家属一个交代，希望有一人受良心遣责，道出真相。
雷朕语：求公布于遇难者在同房间的男子姓名。相信以广大网民的力量可以揭示真相。
你愧胡：人都死了，连个真相都不让家人知道。这是什么世道呀？不是现实的悲惨世界吗？

“Fish Out Of Water”: The hearsay is that the security guards did it. Some of them escaped and one surrendered himself to the police. The truth should come out soon. But the police might have been bribed and there are no reporters following up the case. They were afraid of revenge…
“I Can't Wait Til Spring” : When will be able to treasure human life as it is? A life is worth nothing if it does not belong to someone wealthy and powerful?
“Sun 67799″: We have to dig out all the facts. According to the description of the post, even if the girl jumped out from that window by herself, she was murdered (because she was trying to escape from rape).
“Powerful Words”: [They] should disclose who are the men in that room. I believe netizens could dig out the truth.
“Shame On You”: The girl is dead and you still want to cover the truth. What kind of world do we live in now? We live in the world of Les Miserables.

In response to the protest, the Beijing police explained their investigation on Sina Weibo [jpg, zh]:

經調查走訪並調查現場及周邊監控錄像，反映該人於5月2日晚單獨進入商城內，次日5時許墜樓，未發現與其他人員接觸；現場勘查，屍體檢驗亦未發現可疑情況。目前，警方正在進一步工作中。

Upon investigation, interviews and reviewing the CCTVs around the death scene, the person [Yuan] entered the shopping mall alone on the evening of May 2 and fell from the mall at round 5 a.m. the next day. We have not see any evidence that she was in contact with others. There is nothing suspicious about the death scene and the dead body. Currently the police are still carrying out their duty.

But the police update did not earn people's trust. Microbloggers raised many questions in the comment section [zh]:

图图Win：如果像传说的有后台，那你们作为政府工具你们怕后台！！！后台敢和你们弄？！我草草草！怂比！

“Winxutu”: If the hearsay that [the shopping mall] has a powerful background is true, and as the instrument of the government, you are afraid of such background, what kind of background can touch the police? What the f**k!

起檀檀檀起：好像是说女孩儿是被5个保安强奸了，警方不敢立案是因为京温老板后台很强。没调查就直接火化了，女孩男朋友去说不是直系亲属无权调查录像后来她妈去了说是自杀的没立案。出了这么大的事，没一家媒体敢报道，微博把关键词屏蔽。真是黑啊！现在数百人都在游行示威了，目前直升飞机都出动了。

“Building A Stage”: The hearsay is that the girl had been raped by five security guards. The police gave up the investigation because the boss behind Wenjing has very powerful background. The body has been cremated without investigation. The girl's boyfriend asked the police for CCTV records; the police said he was not a direct relative. The mother asked for the CCTV; they said the case would not be investigated because it was a suicide. Such a big incident and not a single media outlet reported on it. The Chinese microblogs have filtered all the keywords related to the case. This is so corrupted. Now that hundreds of people are protesting you send the helicopters.

小姐你节扌喿掉了：为发现可以现象？？？案件八大疑点疑点一：死者并无自杀的任何预兆和理由。通过和她来往的朋友了解到，她5月2号在大红门早市下班后都很正常，下午一点发给男友的微信也很正常，跟男友感情一直很好，没有理由要自杀; 疑点二：死者为何要在京温市场内部待上整整一夜后再跳楼? [...]

“Virginity Lost”: Nothing suspicious found? There are eight suspicious spots. First: There is no sign and reason for her suicide. According to her friends, she looked normal when she left for the shopping mall on May 2 and the message she sent to her boyfriend at around 1 p.m. was normal. Her relation with her boyfriend was very stable. There is no reason for her to commit suicide. Second: Why did she stay in the Wenjing shopping mall for one whole night before she jumped down? …

田正经:几个疑问：1.家属说是被强奸杀害，警方说没有与他人接触。2.既然有视频监控录像证实，网上却说不让家属看监控录像。3.既然无可疑情况，为啥出现大规模人群聚集，武警、警察、直升机都出动了。4.为啥网上全面屏蔽和删帖。

“You Yizhizhu”: A few questions: 1. Her family insisted she was raped and killed; the police said she had not been in contact with anyone. 2. The police said they had CCTVs as evidence. How come the family could not get access to the videos? 3. If there is nothing suspicious, how come so many people are protesting in the street and the armed police and helicopters were sent to the protest scene? 4. Why have all the discussions been deleted and censored online?

ashenyi：公开信息把一切放在阳光下才能取信于人民！

“Ashenyi”: Disclose all the information under the sun to earn people's trust!

悠悠子洛：解决方法：1，公开或请多家民间媒体和家人监督监控录像查看过程；2，尸检过程需要家人和媒体监督；3，这侦察结论在没有相关报告时别下得太早，尤其是息事宁人的结论会引众怒；

“Youyouziluo”: Solution: 1. Disclose the CCTV footage to a number of citizen media outlets and the victim's family; 2. Let the family and media monitor the autopsy; 3. The conclusion should not be made until all the reports come out. The kind of conclusion that aims to pacify people will instigate more anger.

潘譩：如果是自杀为何要进行信息封锁呢？

“120TC”: If it is suicide, why is all the information and discussion censored and blocked?

This morning the Beijing Police published another official micro-blog saying that all evidences show that Yuan's death was caused by her jumping down from the building and the family has not disputed against the police report. Yet, netizens are very quick to highlight the strange wording of the police post:

陳明樓主： “自主高坠死亡”是法律术语还是刑侦术语？什么意思？有参考书可查或法律可查吗？

“Chen Ming”: “Death caused by autonomous-falling from high rise” is this a legal term or criminal investigation jargon? What is its exact meaning? Any related reference or law that we can look into?

Chinese Communist Party's Benevolence?

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:31:16 +0000

The term Party's benevolence is frequently used in political propaganda in China. Mary Ann O'Donnell looks into how's the term being used in ordinary people's daily life.

Marijuana in China

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:02:16 +0000

Chengdu Living has an interesting post on the potential disappearance of relatively free weed smoking atmosphere in China as the police has recently started to crack down on Marijuana trade.

China Earthquake Donation Protected by Spell

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:49:44 +0000

Hong Kong based inmediahk.net's Facebook page shared an image circulated widely on Chinese social media which shows spells written on money, that says, “This is a donation for a Ya'an earthquake victim, those who dare to misuse this money will go to hell.”
(more…)

Red Cross’ China Scandal – This Time About Sex

Oiwan Lam — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:40:48 +0000

While Chinese people still remember Red Cross China's corruption scandal during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, a new scandal has exposed, this time it also involves Guo Meimei, a then “manager at China Red Cross”, showed off her fancy sports cars and luxury handbags on Sina Weibo in 2011. This time it involves a sex tape showing someone who looks like Guo having sex with a few high-ranking China Red Cross officials. More from Offbeat China.