Chinese Government tries to censor local press again
One has little choice but to engage constructively with the Chinese Government. Apart from their size and power, they are a step above the former USSR in that their ambitions don’t stretch to a global empire etc.
But the incident yesterday in Wellington is a timely reminder that they are fundamentally an intolerant Government. They refused to take part in an official signing ceremony because they objected to a local Chinese journalist – an accredited member of the press gallery. Bad enough they suppress the media in their own country, but I really resent it when they try to do it here also.
The other thing i resent is their near total disregard for the truth, claiming the signing was delayed because the talks had gone on for longer than expected, when it was in fact their attempt to suppress the media. They have a culture where they are used to being able to lie, and not be held accountable for it.
So while I favour engagement and trade, we should never forget the nature of the beast we deal with.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Wow!! DPF, you struck a chord with this quote.
For a moment there I was unsure which political entity you were talking about.
…”They have a culture where they are used to being able to lie, and not be held accountable for it.”….
March 27th, 2007 at 9:23 am
I was in China at this time last year, and I got the local English Language paper delivered to my hotel room.
There was a big headline with article one day that said “Chinese Internet Censorship in line with World Norms”
The gist of the article was that other countries censor illegal content on the internet, and China is no different.
The difference being, that in most countries bestiality is illegal and will probably be censored whereas in China critisizing the govt is illegal and will also be sensored.
They also said that the vast majority of what is censored is related to piracy and porn, which may well be true, but doesn’t really help.
If they censor 99 porn websites and 99 piracy websites, plus cnn and bbc.
As to what I could or couldnt’ access in China, I actually could get to the bbc and cnn websites, but I couldn’t access any of the New Zealand newspaper websites. Hoping to get around that I tried to go via some anonamous proxies, but I hadn’t looked for any beforehand. Every website I looked up via google that had anonamous proxies was blocked, even the cached google page for it.
About the only method I was able to do to look at some pages I particularly wanted to see, was to go to google translate, and put in the URL of an english language website and tell it to translate it from Chinese (or other language) into english. The translator has trouble doing that and mostly just displays the page in English so you can read it, but with the odd word changed.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:33 am
“they are a step above the former USSR in that their ambitions don’t stretch to a global empire etc”
Really.. China is assembling a blue-water navy, with a fleet of 29 modern submarines, including 13 super-quiet Russian-made Kilo class subs and 14 Chinese-made Song and Yuan class diesel electric submarines. At least 10 more of these submarines are in China’s shipyards, together with five new nuclear ballistic missile and attack boats. China’s surface fleet is also undergoing a similar modernization.
China’s power in the air and in space is also on the rise. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has about 300 Russian-designed fourth-generation Sukhoi-27 Flankers and a number of Chinese-built Jian-11 planes and 76 Sukhoi-30 multi-role jets. With Russian and Israeli assistance, the PLA Air Force has acquired an additional 50 or so Jian-10 fighters based on U.S. F-16 technology, and reportedly plans to build 250 more.
Despite the Chinese Communist Party leadership’s espousal of China’s “peaceful rise,” the unprecedented peacetime expansion of China’s military capabilities betrays a clear intent to challenge the United States in the Western Pacific and establish itself as the region’s predominant military power
http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20070317-114439-2186r.htm
Comrade Klark’s good friends, the Chicom generals. She’s the first in the developed world to sign a free trade with them..
March 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
I await strong protests from the government, the media and the unions on this issue.
Also it seems that the minders at parliament need to be taken to task allowing this ridiculous charade to even take place.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:04 am
BTW- spotted.. one craven hypocrite.. Mr. D Baigent, who had this to say on Sir Humphrey’s..
I’m all in favour of a variable time limited BANNING of a small number of the more extreme and obnoxious commentors..
How else can these ?people? know what is considered reasonable content.
I would also suggest that people like sonic (on DPF blog) get a total monthly count during the monthly stats report and are also candidates for some sort of message as well.
I know that moderation as a personal responsibility may be foreign to some, but a little prompting could be a community good..
—
Why don’t you fuck off to China Mr. Baigent, and join the PLA. You sound like you’d fit in very well there.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Redbaiter defending me? I feel a Cognitive dissonance headache coming on.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Sonic,
Is it really that surprising that Redbaiter’s belief in freedom of expression is stronger than any personal antipathy felt towards you?
I’m all in favour of people exercising restraint in the use of “Anglo Saxon” phrases, but it is the fact that there are strongly opposing views on this site that makes it interesting (and at times entertaining).
March 27th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I still await strong protests from the government, the media and the unions on this issue.
Also it seems that the minders at parliament need to be taken to task allowing this ridiculous charade to even take place.
Remember the bally hoo from TVNZ when Espinon was curtailled in his little act with Winston and George W
March 27th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
DPF siad: One has little choice but to engage constructively with the Chinese Government. Apart from their size and power, they are a step above the former USSR in that their ambitions don’t stretch to a global empire etc.
DPF. What planet are you on??? Being the dominant world power both miltarily and economically, is China’s entire focus and purpose.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
TORTURED TIBET – Tsoltim Ngima Shakabpa
When will you stop pleading and begging?
Pleading with plunderers
Begging to slaughterers
When will you stop compromising and debilerating?
Compromising with conspirators
Debilerating with fabricators
Unchain your chains
Make better gains
Taunt the taunters
Haunt the haunters
Comatose the colonialists
Fight with the truth if not with fists
Cremate the occupiers
Scorch them on burning pyres
Tibet! My Tibet!
Play not into the hands of weakness and false decor
Fall not into the web of deception and trap door
Thou shall not be tortured and humiliated anymore
Thou shall gain your right through strength and galore
–
FREE TIBET!
March 27th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
China: A communist dictatorship
NZ Labour: A wannabee communist dictatorship
March 28th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
China are only small-fry, tiny-fry actually when compared to the USA – in terms of military spending.