China's Pledge of Allegiance

Internet companies in the country are making public proclamations to restrict content on the Web and support the Communist government's stance. How far will they go?


The public proclamations began just over two weeks ago. On Apr. 9, a group of 14 Internet companies operating in China, including the local site for Yahoo! (YHOO), issued a joint statement that they would fight "indecent" and "unhealthy" content on the Web. Among the other signers were the country's top portals Sina (SINA) and Sohu (SOHU) as well as its largest search engine, Baidu (BIDU).

On Apr. 13, dozens of Web site operators in the Shandong province endorsed a "Public Pledge of Self-Regulation" from the Internet Society of China (ISOC), an organization backed by the government's Ministry of Information Industry. A few days later, a government news agency reported that more than 20 blog-hosting companies in the country had signed a "Go Online in a Civilized Way Self-Discipline Agreement" from the ISOC.

Net companies are even beginning to launch purges of the content on their Web sites. Tom Online (TOMO), a Beijing company that operates a Chinese-language Web portal, has deleted 40% of the postings on its site put up by the company's users, according to Rico Ngai, senior manager for corporate communications at Tom Online. Ngai adds that the company has zapped 20% of the photos, largely because they were too sexually suggestive.

FROM THE TOP. Tom Online is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, known for his good relations with China's leaders, and it has always monitored its Web site closely. But recently the company has become even more cautious. "We always have people who monitor the content on our Web site," explains Ngai. But "it's a matter of how we set the threshold. Now it seems the threshold has to be higher, so we have to do things accordingly."

The flurry of public pledges and more aggressive censorship policies is the latest evidence that China is in the midst of a major propaganda campaign. The companies, either directly or indirectly, have been voicing support for President Hu Jintao's new program of "Eight Glories and Eight Shames," an effort launched early this year by Hu to counter the liberalizing influences of China's booming economy. The Internet companies are pledging to support the Communist Party, accept its censorship, and work harder to clean up the content on their own sites.

The statement signed by Yahoo, Baidu, and others said, "We absolutely oppose to [sic] indecent on-line messages that are against social virtues and Chinese people's good culture and traditions," according to a translation from the official Xinhua news agency.

WHY THE SPOTLIGHT? Some China watchers fear that the loyalty pledges signal a more serious crackdown ahead. Rep. Christopher Smith (R- N.J.) led hearings earlier this year into the role of U. S. tech companies in Chinese censorship. "You see this sort of thing from repressive regimes every once in a while," says Brad Dayspring, communications director for Smith, "especially when they feel they're losing control."

Of course, some of this is just for show. China's Communist rulers have a long history of launching intensive propaganda campaigns. Still, even though few Chinese today take such blitzes as seriously as they did back in the days of Mao Tse Tung, people know the importance of playing along. "Everybody is kind of getting up on stage and saying that we are going to toe the line here," says William Bao Bean, an Internet analyst with Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong. The pledge regarding online content is an example of "the guys in the Internet companies getting together and saying [to the government], 'Don't worry about us, we're the good guys.' "

The question is why Internet companies are being targeted so intensely in the current campaign. One theory is that the authorities are taking action because of the proliferation of new types of Internet content that's not easily censored. The Chinese government already has a sprawling censorship machine that limits online discussion of controversial topics.

DELICATE DANCE. It blocks citizens from seeing certain Web sites outside the country and scans words for hot-button topics, such as the banned religious group Falun Gong and the Tiananmen Square massacre. It also employs more than 30,000 people to poke through Web sites and chat rooms.

But, as the current anxiety among China's leaders shows, there remain plenty of holes in the Chinese firewall. The government may have tens of thousands of Internet cops, but China has over 110 million Internet users. While the regime enlists companies to do their own censorship, sometimes even that is not enough. "The government needs the help of industry," says Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China, a Beijing consultancy and research firm. "But the reality is companies will balance that against their own commercial interest in a very competitive market." And, in a competitive market, sexually provocative content sells.

Most of what passes for sexually provocative content in China is quite tame by American standards. But even China has its share of shocking Net images. For example, one online video in which a young Chinese woman with shoulder-length hair dressed in a leopard-spotted halter top and black skirt cuddles a kitten, gently places it on the sidewalk -- and then stomps on its head with her stiletto heels. The incident sparked an outcry, with the Shanghai Daily reporting on Mar. 3, "Cyber sadists have figured out a way to profit from cruelty to small creatures." According to the paper (which, like all newspapers in China, is government-controlled), "a Shanghai Daily investigation turned up several such sites" offering animal snuff videos for less than $2 a piece.

DISSIDENT SILENCED. The scandalous snuff videos have been getting a lot of attention from the Chinese media, as examples of Internet freedom run amok. The new campaign "I think partly is because of this online video clip," says Tom Online's Ngai. "The government wants all Web site operators to be more vigilant about the things that go onto the Web site."

Still, the role that private companies, including U. S. companies, play in Chinese censorship is extremely controversial. Under the government's regulations, companies are required to cooperate with the censorship effort -- or be banned from doing business in the country. That means that companies must have their own employees take down controversial postings and block sensitive words.

Among American companies, Yahoo has come in for the harshest criticism, because materials it has supplied to the government have been used in the prosecution of several dissidents. The other American Net giants haven't escaped without criticism, however. Microsoft (MSFT) recently shut down the blog of a Chinese dissident, Zhao Jing. And Google (GOOG), which had long resisted Chinese control, launched search and news services in China earlier this year that screen out controversial material. The American companies say that in China, like in any other country, they need to comply with local laws.

NOT PARTICIPATING. In the latest round of loyalty pledges, neither Google nor Microsoft has participated. Though some have interpreted this as the American companies taking a principled stand, that's probably not the case. Though Google does now have server computers in China to provide search results within the country, it has a limited amount of other services that it offers there. So it doesn't fall under the parameters of the most recent pledge.

Microsoft's MSN doesn't operate its own portal in China, either. The local version of MSN is in a joint venture (the only one of the big U.S. companies to have gotten a JV partner in China) and its partner is Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd. As the name suggests, SAIL is based in Shanghai, not Beijing, and the original group of 14 is comprised entirely of Beijing-based companies.

偽善東方太陽連消帶打

"曲線救僑民 包機還中國" from 4月 26日 星期三.

【太陽報專訊】一九九八年，印尼發生排華運動，別有用心的人將僅佔印尼人口百分之三的六百萬華人渲染為「控制了印尼經濟的百分之七十的為富不仁的奸商」，騷亂的人群在懷有政治目的的暴徒唆下，闖入商店搶劫放火，有上千人因無法逃脫而被燒死，數以百計的華僑婦女遭到強姦，但在騷亂發生的三十個小時內，軍隊和警察卻失蹤了，任由無助的中國僑民遭人凌辱及殘殺。

事隔不到十年，同樣的噩夢在所羅門群島首都霍尼亞拉發生，反華暴徒藉口華僑操控了當地的選舉結果實行暴動，乘機洗劫唐人街，一夜間，唐人街變成火海，所羅門中國僑民陷入突然而來的劫難中！

在四月十八日下午四點騷亂開始後到十九日這短短三十二小時中，中國僑民命懸一線。雖然中國政府對此表示高度關注，但由於中國同所羅門群島沒有外交關係，令救援行動無法展開。幸而，中國政府在此關頭啟動了緊急機制，一面敦促所羅門群島當局立即採取措施切實保障中國公民安全；一面商請澳大利亞、新西蘭、巴布亞新畿內亞等三國政府協助，對沒有邦交的所羅門實行「曲線救僑」，同時指示中國駐巴布亞新畿內亞使館即派外交官赴所羅門群島，了解、跟蹤形勢發展。而也正因為這一系列的及時舉措，使得近五百名所羅門僑民第一時間躲進相對安全的所羅門群島警察總部避難。其後，約三百多名希望回國避禍的僑民被安排乘坐中國包機，輾轉返回自己的祖國。

回憶驚心動魄的三十二小時，有人的畢生積蓄全被燒光；有人冒生命危險衝出重圍；有人被迫在二樓跳窗逃出被縱火的房屋；也有人衣衫不整便倉皇逃難。在生命受到嚴重威脅的關頭，不少華僑心中都存有一個信念：「中國的親人一定會救我們出去的！」因此，當他們在廣州機場，看到各地鄉親舉寫地方名號的旗子來接他們返回家鄉時，都禁不住嚎啕大哭，宣洩重見親人、恍如隔世的激情！

值得一讚的是，當三十七名從所羅門群島歷劫歸來的香港人乘車抵港之後，入境處處長並沒有墨守成規，破例豁免所有人的簽證，讓他們能順利入境和親人團聚；民政事務總署也及時向每個僑民家庭發放八千元的緊急援助金；社署則為他們提供心理輔導及其他援助，充分表現出對自己同胞的熱誠和工作效率。希望他們日後能一如既往，繼續發揚這種福為民開的精神。

這次所羅門群島的反華事件縱然是所羅門華僑的不幸，但不幸中的大幸是，在國家的關懷之下，幾乎所有僑民都能安全撤退，無一身陷險境。

九八年印尼排華時，數千華僑被暴徒殺害，數百華僑婦女被強姦，當時中國政府鞭長莫及，只能望洋興嘆。但今日中國政府運籌北京，決策萬里，由「曲線救僑民」到「包機還中國」，將所羅門僑民從地獄救出生天，前後不過五天時間，這證明今日的中國政府已有了巨大的進步。由此亦可見，一個強大、進步的祖國，不但是我們的驕傲，也是海外中國人最強有力的靠山。

「路遙知馬力，日久見人心。」香港人也應在這次所羅門排華事件中有所覺悟，好好的體會一下「美不美故鄉水，親不親一家人」的道理！

*************************************************************

事實上東方太陽喱兩份三流報章近年對中國政府都十分"尊重"，在六四事件上已淪為沉默的羔羊，提都唔敢提；在互惠互利的前題下對共黨更是唯命是從，有乜辦法？身家唔清白自然成為過街老鼠，但勾結共產黨便可穿州過省甚至黑都變白，大家狼狽為奸各取所需 所以連港府都奈佢唔何…，至於「美不美故鄉水，親不親自己人」喱番話是否發自內心，好有商榷餘地囉

東方太陽一向利用自己最大的報業市場佔用率，經常說三道四，唯恐天下不亂。或許他們今日才真正領略到祖國的強大及對之應有的尊重罷, 好一個「美不美故鄉水，親不親自己人」，希望他講的都是發自內心啦。

東方太陽的社評一貫作風係借題發揮說三道四反港府媚中共，悉逢今次所羅門事件又乘勢向大陸阿諛奉承一番，果然不脫看風駛梩狗奴才本色，擦鞋之餘亦不忘寸寸香港人；不過今次竟然"無奈地"對兩個政府部門美言幾句，有違佢地係又鬧唔係又鬧o既宗旨，搏好感目的何在？

消費對香港人來說何其重要啊﹗沒有消費，香港人還有什麼﹖

曾經聽到一位朋友說﹕香港人貧窮得除了錢之外，就什麼都沒有了。

我很贊同這論調，故此對於這題目我會這樣想﹕香港人除了消費可以令自己開心，還有什麼呢﹖

William Glasser（心理學家）的理論提到，每個人都需要愛、成功感、樂趣和自由。在很多香港人的日常生活中，能夠得到以上必需品的人有多少﹖

愛情已經淪為單純從性慾出發，「沒有feel」是最多的分手原因。朋友間的情誼淡薄，兩插刀是電影橋段。父母對溺愛孩子，無窮無盡的補習班、興趣班，孩子從小就缺乏自由。愛在香港，有，但罕有。

勞動人口愈趨兩極化。月薪低的，從事重複、低技術、低變化的工作，基本上用機械人是沒有分別的。很難想像這樣的工作能給予員工成功感。

可令港人得到「基本所需」

相反月薪高的，每天做14小時，每星期上班多少視乎手頭上的工作進度，每天上班＋進修＋交通＋睡覺＋吃飯＋梳洗大小解＝24小時，什麼是做人樂趣﹖唯有以「投入工作是美德，盡情消費是樂趣」來麻醉大眾。

自由﹖法例保障了香港人的自由，但是在這個年代，real power徹底擊潰constitutional power，即是「有錢使得鬼推磨」，大眾「貧賤不能移」（沒有本事不跟主子的意思辦事），有錢有自由。

消費卻可以令香港人得到「基本所需」﹔有錢買東西、玩，很開心，不用討論。消費的時候「顧客永遠是對的」，有做老細的感覺，消費多的能「尊享×××」、被稱「尊貴的×××」，有成功感乎﹖有錢能夠選擇，選擇買什麼、吃什麼、去哪裏，自由乎﹖消費高突顯個人身分，換來前呼後擁，彷彿有一種被愛的感覺，就算我們知道這不是愛。


消費對香港人來說何其重要啊﹗沒有消費，我們還有什麼﹖

Yahoo again accused of helping jail China user

The Associated Press
Updated: 1:52 p.m. ET April 19, 2006

BEIJING - Yahoo Inc. turned over a draft e-mail from one of its users to Chinese authorities, who used the information to jail the man on subversion charges, according to the verdict from his 2003 trial released Wednesday by a rights group.

It was the third time the U.S.-based Internet company has been accused of helping put a Chinese user in prison.

Jiang Lijun, 39, was sentenced to four years in prison in November 2003 for subversive activities aimed at overthrowing the ruling Communist Party.

Hong Kong-based Yahoo Holdings Ltd., a unit of Yahoo Inc., gave authorities a draft e-mail that had been saved on Jiang's account, Reporters Without Borders said, citing the verdict by the Beijing No. 2 People's Court. The Paris-based group provided a copy of the verdict, which it said it obtained this week.

Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is not familiar with Jiang's case.

"We condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognized as free expression, whether that activity takes place in China or anywhere else in the world," she said.

The draft e-mail, entitled "Declaration," was similar to manuscripts called "Freedom and Democracy Party Program" and "Declaration of Establishment" that were recovered from a computer and a floppy disk owned by two other Internet activists, the verdict said.

The information was listed in the verdict under "physical evidence and written evidence." It proved that Jiang and the other activists were planning to "make preparations for organizing a party and to use violence to overthrow the Communist Party," the verdict said.

Jiang also was one of five activists who signed an open letter calling for political reform that was posted on the Internet ahead of the Communist Party congress — a major event — in November 2002.

"Little by little we are piecing together the evidence for what we have long suspected, that Yahoo is implicated in the arrest of most of the people we have been defending," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

The group said there were other cases that were similar, but it could not release any details because they were still being investigated.


While China encourages use of the Internet for business and education, it also tightly controls Web content, censoring anything it considers critical or a threat to the Communist Party. Blogs often are shut down, and users who post articles promoting Western-style democracy and freedom are regularly detained and jailed under vaguely worded subversion charges.

Yahoo also has been criticized by rights groups by providing information in the cases of Li Zhi and Shi Tao.

Li, from southwestern China, was sentenced to prison for subversion after posting comments online criticizing official corruption.

Shi, a reporter, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he sent an e-mail abroad containing notes about a government memo on media restrictions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in February that China has a right to police the Internet and "guide its development in a healthy and orderly fashion."

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also have been accused of enforcing Chinese censorship guidelines.

Google started a Chinese version of its popular search engine that omits links to content deemed unacceptable by the government.

Microsoft shut down, at Beijing's request, a popular Chinese blog that touches on sensitive topics such as press freedoms. (MSNBC.com is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

American lawmakers have taken the companies to task, accusing them at congressional hearings of helping China crush dissent in return for access to its lucrative and rapidly expanding Internet market.

China already has the world's second-largest Internet population, behind the United States, with more than 100 million people online.

The Reporters Without Borders report came as Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the United States. His first stop was Seattle, where he dined with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

醫管禽獸揮利刀 窮兇極惡刮民膏

香港曾有高人因五行格局的變化，提出北旺南衰的看法，指出未來將會出現「國家好，香港不好」的形勢，雖然，這種看法十分玄妙，然而，以現實情況所見，香港確實是每況愈下，令人擔心不已.

近年來除了經濟不景、疫症橫行之外，香港人尚流行醫療憂鬱症。因為，由六十年代開始，香港的醫療系統已相當成熟，政府開設的公共醫療系統、民辦的慈善醫療系統和私家醫院，分擔了各階層的煩憂，香港人不再受有病無錢醫的威脅。但香港回歸之後，醫管局就像一個只會揮霍，不識理財的敗家子，令家道中落，日日叫窮，市民活得提心吊膽，只怕有一天，他們會突然宣布結束免費的醫療服務，從此，香港人將會墮入有病無錢醫的深淵之中。

果然，在社會人士冷不防的情況下，醫管局突然向政府建議增加多項醫療收費，而且增加幅度之高，令人為之愕然！

據悉醫管局計劃在今年內提出加費建議。住院費由現時每日一百元，變為首三日每日收五百元、第四至十日每日收三百元，之後每日一百元；另一個加費建議，是今年先將住院費增至每日三百元，明年再增至每日五百元。藥費維持十元不變，但則會由原來提供十六個星期的藥物，減縮至原來的四分之一，即只可提供四個星期的藥物。急症室收費亦考慮由一百元，增至一百五十至二百元。

醫管局主席胡定旭表示：除了急症室外，濫用住院情況亦相當嚴重，由於現時住院比住老人院還便宜，加上人手短缺及床位不足，如果能增加少許收費，或會令濫用的情況減少。

不過，胡主席口中的所謂少許，就是床位費躍升四倍、藥費加三倍、急症室收費加百分之五十至百分之一百。雖然，對比起私家醫院來說，加幾百元算不了一個大數目，但對每日辛勞所得僅可餬口的低收入家庭和中產階級來說，仍然是一個沉重的負擔。

或許，醫管局高層已經計算過，最有影響力的富有階層，他們從來沒有機會去使用這些幾百元一天的病床；人數眾多的香港的綜援家庭和新移民也有免費醫療的保障，所以加費對他們不會產生任何影響；至於十六萬香港公務員，他們及其家人均有終身公費醫療，所以如何加費也加不到他們頭上；唯一受影響的，只是香港的低收入家庭和中產階級，不過，這些人慣於逆來順受，即使不滿，也難以影響大局。

胡主席還表示，局方會設立安全網保障低收入市民和中產人士，令他們不會因入院而傾家蕩產。

但是，這安全網並不是設置在公共場合供人休息的座椅，是需要經過繁複的申請才可以獲得的。所以，低收入人士和中產人士想避免破產，就得先低頭彎腰，很多人為了保持自己的自尊，寧可破財，也不擠進醫管局的安全網，到頭來，醫管局這一刀仍然紮紮實實的砍在低收入家庭和中產人士的身上！

我們認為，在今天醫管局財政問題已有好轉的時候，提出加費是不合時宜的。而且，政府必須公平對待各階層的人，如果非加不可，也應該先取消以各種形式出現的公費醫療，代之以統一標準的社會安全網，絕不能讓香港中產階級承受所有的社會壓力，讓這些對社會貢獻最大的人失去自尊，失去保障，成為社會新興的賤民！

China firm wants Internet calls blocked

Shanghai Telecom seeks system to prevent VoIP connections

NEW YORK - A U.S. maker of network management systems said Wednesday it had received an order from Shanghai Telecom Co. for a system that can detect and block telephone calls placed over the Internet.

Shanghai Telecom, which has 6.2 million landlines, plans to use Narus Inc.'s system to improve its ability to block "unauthorized" Internet calls that connect to its phone system, bypassing its toll structure.

Use of Internet calling, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is growing quickly across the world, threatening the business models of some telephone companies.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission fined a small telephone company that prevented its Internet subscribers from accessing competing VoIP service, but some countries with state-owned telecommunications companies are taking a different tack.

In China, the government has sided with carriers and allowed them to block VoIP services that compete with the carrier's own products. A recent report in the Financial Times quoted an executive with a Hong Kong company as saying that the government would not issue new licenses for computer-to-phone calling services until 2008.

The Chinese government and major phone companies have refused to confirm that account.

Steve Bannerman, a spokesman for Mountain View, Calif.-based Narus, said carriers in several countries, including Egypt, are using its software to block gateways that connect VoIP calls to the phone network.

VoIP-blocking software from another U.S. company, Verso Technologies Inc., is being tried out by an unidentified Chinese carrier.

Narus' and Verso's software can be configured to block the use of Skype, eBay Inc.'s popular VoIP application. However, Shanghai Telecom has not bought the module from Narus that blocks Skype calls, Bannerman said. The Chinese version of Skype does not connect to the phone network, unlike the international version.