Information/Technology - 73. page

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or SARFT, recently issued an order for nationwide satellite channels to “improve the quantity of news programs and to regulate some broadcasters so as to prevent the trend of vulgar or ‘overly entertaining’ programs, and to satisfy the public’s demand for varied, multilevel, and high quality viewing.”

The order emphasized that "satellite channels are mainly for the broadcast of news propaganda and should expand the proportion of news, economic, cultural, science, educational, children’s, and documentary programming." Each satellite channel has been directed to run at least two hours of news broadcasts daily between 6:00 a.m. and 24:00 a.m., produce at least two episodes of news programming daily between 6:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. each of which shall be at least 30 minutes long, and launch an ideological and moral education program to promote “Chinese traditional virtue and the socialist core value system.” It also imposed the restriction that all nationwide satellite channels as a whole have no more than nine entertainment programs daily between 7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with up to two programs for each channel not to exceed 90 minutes in total.

The order required that the provincial radio and television administrative authorities are to establish professionally staffed and dedicated review agencies to track the issue of programs being overly entertaining and vulgar. Where there are problems in political and value orientation, style, and tone, actions may include measures such as criticism, instructed corrections, warnings, an adjustment of air time, or being taken off the air, depending upon the nature and severity of the problem.

Source: Xinhua, October 25, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-10/25/c_111122939.htm

The Beijing Association of Online Media (BAOM) is the city’s media self-censoring organization. According to its website, both Beijing’s Chinese Communist Party committee’s Department of Propaganda and the city government’s Civil Affairs Bureau are responsible for its guidance and supervision. Senior management personnel from China’s well-known online media and IT companies, such as Sina.com, Sohu.com, and Baidu, as well as CCP officials in charge of censorship, are on its board.

On October 17, BAOM held its seventh annual meeting, which focused on strengthening real name registration for online activities. According to Beijing Daily, “Sina.com and Sohu.com, …, hired special personnel to screen and filter bad online information. They target microblogs where the message spreads rapidly; it is easy to use; and  people put in a lot of effort.” “Search engine Baidu established a review team of a thousand people who will examine all of its products on a daily basis so as to make sure the online environment is clean.”

Source: Beijing Daily, October 18, 2011
http://bjrb.bjd.com.cn/html/2011-10/18/content_7652.htm

People’s Daily published a report that included an overview of China’s culture industry in 2010. According to the report, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ recent blue book stated that, in 2010, the value-added output of China’s culture industry rose to 1.11 trillion yuan (US$173.98 billion) which accounts for 2.75 percent of the GDP. That figure is expected to reach 5 percent over the next five years. It was suggested that the culture industry will become a key industry that will bring more employment opportunities and economic growth to the local economy. In 2010, there was an infusion of funding from the Ministry of Finance. There are 26 provinces that have set up designated funds to support the culture industry with the investment reaching 2.5 trillion yuan (US$392 million). The statistics the report released show that China’s movie industry grew 10 times from 1 billion yuan in 2000 to 10 billion in 2010. Since 2009, the news publishing industry grew 20 percent reaching 1 trillion yuan. The computer games industry reached 34.9 billion yuan with a 70 percent share of the domestic market.

Source: People’s Daily, October 8, 2011
http://game.people.com.cn/GB/48604/213917/15820565.html

On October 7, China used the “Long March-III2 rocket carrier” to send the W3C telecom satellite into orbit in space. This is the first time that China has provided launch services for Eutelsat, a European satellite company, which owns the W3C telecom satellite. The W3C was built by Thales Alenia Space, a French satellite manufacturer. The satellite has a 15 year lifespan and will provide TV, radio, broadband, video, data transmission, and Internet service. This launch mission was based on the satellite launch contract signed between China and France in 2008. China Great Wall Industry Co., the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General collaborated in carrying it out. This is also the 148th time that the “Long March” rocket carrier series has conducted a space launch.

Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-10/07/c_122125080.htm

On October 1, Xinhua published a commentary titled “Internet rumors: this tumor must be removed.” The article stated, “Recently, multiple incidents of lies and rumors have been spread on China’s Internet. They have polluted the cyber environment, disrupted the social order, seriously impaired the image and credibility of our nation’s Internet, and incited public indignation from the majority of netizens and the cyber industry. The chief of the Cyber News Propaganda Bureau under the China Internet Network Information Center gave a talk on September 30, in which he condemned the act of creating and disseminating rumors and vowed to severely punish the action of creating and disseminating rumors. Xinhuanet.com launched initiatives calling for the general netizens and practitioners of Internet business to jointly ignore disseminated reports that contain cyber lies and rumors.”

“To remove such tumors needs not only the joint regulation of relevant authorities, but also for mainstream websites to maintain self-disciplinary actions and for general netizens to voluntary boycott them. … People’s Daily Online also launched a special topic on its homepage, ‘Resolutely stop fabricating facts and lies to be spread on the Internet’ to widely induce comments from the media and from Internet users and denounce the despicable acts of fabricating facts and promulgating lies.”

Source: Xinhua, October 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2011-10/01/c_122114976.htm

On September 28, 2011, Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China spoke at a conference of state owned enterprises directly under the central government. Li emphasized that it is important for these enterprises to focus on developing, employing, and utilizing their own IT talent. Li asked these enterprises to “play a leading role in introducing and making good use of high-level talent, assess the situation and seize the opportunity to step up their efforts to attract talent, and build a high-level basis for their innovative and entrepreneurial undertakings.”

According to the Xinhua report, currently there are 8.97 million high-level personnel working for these enterprises, with 1.17 million in the field of IT.

Source: Xinhua, September 28, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-09/28/c_122103234.htm

More and more government agencies and officials are building their own microblog sites to communicate about day to day affairs. Xinhua reported that by August 1, 2011, government agencies and officials had built over ten thousand microblog sites on qq.com, a popular mainland based Chinese web portal. The number included 266 high ranking officials above the bureau level.

Xinhua also reported that Party schools or cadre colleges, including the Party schools in Zhejiang Province, the City of Beijing, the Party School of the Central Committee, and the Chinese Academy of Governance, carry microblogging as a required training course. 

Source: Xinhua, August 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-08/27/c_121916001.htm

A military TV program on CNTV, an online TV station launched by China Central TV (CCTV), broadcasted a 22 minute documentary program titled “The Cyber Storm Has Arrived!” The program featured Col. Du Wenlong, a military expert from China’s top military research institute who analyzed the U.S. cyber war strategy and then discussed how China is preparing for a cyber war. In the program, Du stated that the U.S. was the first to propose the “cyber war” concept and was also the first who applied it in actual war.

The program repeatedly highlighted the U.S. Defense Department’s cyber war strategy, “If other countries intentionally break into a computer system of the United States, that constitutes an act of war; (the U.S.) will counterattack with missiles.” In China’s preparation for conducting a cyber war, Du stressed that China must establish the concept of “Internet border” and the concept of “mobilizing all the people.” The program then showed some shots of a computer screen in which a Chinese military university engaged in cyber-warfare against specific entities in the United States. During the TV program, the screenshots showed the name of the software and the Chinese military university that built it, the Electrical Engineering University of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The CNTV link is no longer working. However, the program can be viewed through youtube.

Source: CNTV, July 17, 2011
http://military.cntv.cn/program/jskj/20110717/100139.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyIdgOHJmCY