China’s Armed Police Forces issued an order restricting its peronnel’s use of computer networks. The Order "Preventing Network Security Spillage and 10 Prohibitions" went in to effect July 7, 2007.
Information/Technology - 104. page
Ban on Popular Journal “Minjian” Shows Growing Censorship before the Olympics
On July 10, 2007, the Chinese authorities ordered the popular journal Minjian (Among the People), which is dedicated to social issues, to cease publication. Since July 4, it is the second journal to be banned. The first was the online publichation China Development Brief. According to June 4 Tiannet in a July 13, 2007 article, the goverment’s move is seen as part of the growing censorship before the Olympics.
New Regulation in Shanxi: The Government Must Approve All Mass Text Messaging (SMS)
The Shanxi Provincial Communication Administration recently issued a new regulation restricting mass text messaging (Short Message Service) over cell phones. The regulation mandates that information service providers must self censor, while government approval is required for dissemination of content pertaining to national security and social unrest.
Beijing TV (BTV) Producer of the News Paper Stuffed Dumplings Detained for Fabricating News
On July 8, 2007, the special program “Transparency” on the BTV life channel (BTV-7) and “Beijing News” of BTV-1 reported about “Paper Stuffing Dumplings” at Beijing breakfast booths. On July 18, however, “Beijing News” of BTV-1 declared that the report was “fabricated.” The producer of the report has been detained. BTV expressed a deep apology to society. The “Transparency” program appears to have been shut down and the website cannot be accessed.
What the Chinese Think about Censorship
Two organizations based in the United States released the results of an online survey they jointly did of Internet users inside China. Edoors.com, a Chinese language portal site, and Qingxin, a Chinese language online message board, jointly conducted the survey from June 27 to July 28, 2007, on Internet censorship and circumvention among Internet users inside China. 94% of those surveyed know that the authorities routinely censor information generally available to people in China. 94% believe that China is implementing Internet filtering and censorship out of fear of losing control once its citizens have access to the truth.
Bird’s Nest Designer Blasts Olympic Opening Ceremony
Ai Weiwei (艾未未), who contributed to the design of the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the “Bird’s Nest,” said of the ceremony, “I’m afraid it’s going to be awful.” He was speaking in an interview for Friday’s issue of a German newspaper Hessische Allgemeine. “The Chinese government has chosen choreographers and directors who sacrificed their so-called art in favor of propaganda,” the artist and architect said. “They were taking part in a grand manipulation of the public.”
Source: Min Pao News, January, 5, 2008
http://www.mpinews.com/htm/INews/20080105/ca61452a.htm
Forty Percent of Chinese Use Mobile Phones
The Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China reported that there were over 539 million mobile phone users in China in November 2007, an increase of 78 million compared with the number of subscribers in 2006. The reform of mobile phone roaming tariffs was part of the reason for the rapid increase.
Guangdong province took the lead with 77 million cell phone subscribers while Tibet has only 765,000 subscribers. According to People’s Daily, the number of text messages sent over cell phones exceeded 535 billion in November 2007.
Source: Ministry of Information Industry Website, January 3, 2008/People’s Daily, December 25, 2007
http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2008/01/03/art_2001_35674.html
Prostitutes Help Censorship?
On November 27, an explosion occurred at Lianhua Science and Technology Inc. of Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, causing dozens of deaths. After the incident, the city government launched an emergency response mechanism and managed to deter 69 journalists with 21 media outlets including Xinhua News Agency, China Youth Daily, China News Services, Xinhua daily, and Jiangsu TV Stations from covering the incident. Surprisingly, the local government sent prostitutes to the reporter’s hotel rooms, and in addition resorted to bribery and police force in an effort to make sure that the incident was “correctly” reported.
Source: Chinese Media Net, December 31, 2007
http://www6.chinesenewsnet.com/gb/MainNews/Forums/BackStage/2007_12_31_9_52_43_426.html