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CNNIC Released 24th Statistical Report on Internet Development

Statistics released by China Internet Network Information Center suggest that by the end of June 30, 2009, Chinese personal blogs and my space users had grown from 19.7 million to 182 million.

The study suggests that Internet users access information mainly through search engines and Internet news. The survey also suggests that 84 percent of the users feel the Internet is the most important information channel and 48 percent of users have more trust in the Internet than in television.

Source: Xinhua, July 16, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-07/16/content_11719076.htm

Google Was Set up and Yielded Once Again

Epoch Times reported that, in an effort to justify the forced use of Internet filter software, China used faked evidence against Google and even shut down Google China for a few hours. On June 18, the host of the popular prime time show, “Focus Report,” on state-run CCTV demonstrated that a large number of pornography terms could be found in a Google search. On June 25, network traffic analysts found that a week before the CCTV program, some people had deliberately searched lots of pornography terms on Google. The daily pornography terms search rose 5950 percent, in a linear fashion as opposed to a smooth curve that would  occur in normal situations. Those searches came from Beijing. Netizens also found out that the student who appeared on the "Focus Report" program accusing Google China of linking to pornography information was actually an intern for CCTV’s “Focus Report” program.

As a result, Google was forced to stop the suggestion and translation features on Google China, which had given it a competitive advantage over some other search engines operating in China. Those features also made it easy for individuals inside mainland China at least to see links that the government had blocked. There is also a report that Google China agreed to install server filtering software (the so called server version of the "Green Dam" filtering software) on its servers.

Source:
[1] Epoch Times, June 29, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/29/n2572846.htm
[2] Epoch Times, July 8, 2009
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/19317/

Xinhua: The Beijing Police Target Gangsters

Xinhua reported that, in order to create an absolutely secure environment during the 60th anniversary celebration of the Communist Regime, on June 30, Beijing Police initiated a 60-day Operation, “Frightening Thunder.” The operation employs a large number of police in plain clothes, to target gangsters in entertainment facilities (though normally the police protect gangsters, the police operation serves the higher political purpose of protecting the security of the 60th anniversary celebration – Ed). Xinhua reported that, in 10 days, the Beijing police solved 1519 criminal cases, arrested 1095 suspects and cracked down on 51 gangster groups.

Source:
[1] Xinhua, July 1, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2009-07/01/content_11630725.htm
[2] Xinhua, July 15, 2009
http://bj.xinhuanet.com/bjpd_bjzq/2009-07/15/content_17102396.htm

China News Agency: The US Has Responsibility for the Situation in North Korea

Regarding internantional questions of whether China had been enforcing the economic punishment of North Korea according to UN Security Council resolution 1874, China News Agency countered that the reasons of the development of the North Korea issue up to today are comprehensive. It is completely irresponsible to pass the buck to China. According to Chinese experts’ opinions, when China tried to resolve the situation, some countries played a contrary role. “For the situation in North Korea to come to today’s point, the United States has certain responsibilities. Japan announced that North Korea is a hostile country… The Japanese media highly exaggerated the ‘North Korea threat theory.’… Since Lee Myung-Bak, President of South Korea, took office, he has taken a hard-line policy on North Korea… These factors have led to the deterioration of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.” 

Source: China News Agency, June 26, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gj/gj-fxpl/news/2009/06-26/1751297.shtml

Study Times: Too Much Deregulation May Lead to Problems

The government and local authorities have been trying to deregulate in order to stimulate the economy, but they have over-done and set up potential problems, warns Study Times. The authorities have adopted measures to expedite processing of permits and deregulated certain restrictive policies. “However, there has been a tendency to over-relax.” “Some cognizant departments have approved projects outside their authority, have turned a blind eye to violations of regulations originally implemented to increase economic efficiency and employment, have done absolutely nothing to stop the resurgence of programs already eliminated, and have excused serious violations of law that would protect workers rights and interests.”

Source: Study Times, July 6, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2766&nid=10035&bid=4&page=1

Study Times: From Financial Security to National Security

Financial security is a matter of national security to China, according to Study Times. An instability in the financial system may ultimately lead to a social political crisis. “Loss of financial control means loss of control of the economy.” “By building a financial security network, we can guard against the technical attack of financial risks to China’s financial security, strengthen public confidence in China’s financial security, and safeguard our financial stability and financial security.”

Source: Study Times, July 13, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2790&nid=10103&bid=10&page=1

Qiushi: Hu Jintao’s Instruction to Military on Safety and Stability

Qiushi Journal published an article by Fang Fenghui, the Commander of the Beijing Military Area Command, on studying President Hu Jintao’s instruction on using the military to maintain social stability. Some of Hu’s instructions are quoted as: “Development is the hard truth, the number one mission; stability is the hard mission, the number one responsibility. Development is achievement, maintaining stability is also achievement.” “(We) must always take it as a critical mission for the military to maintain society’s stability.” The Military should “consciously follow the big picture, to actively contribute to the steady and fast economic development and the harmonious and stable society (of the nation).”

Fang stated that in the past, the PLA has been a critical force during political turmoil and offered strong safety protection in complex situations, and thus has become the most reliable force of the Party when dealing with a crisis.

Source: Qiushi Journal, the 13th issue of 2009, published on July 1, 2009
http://www.qsjournal.com.cn/qs/20090701/GB/qs%5E506%5E0%5E19.htm

Central Military Committee Modifies the Sergeant System

The Central Military Committee recently published “The Revolution Plan to Deepen the Sergeant System” for the military and armed police. Out of the seven areas of reform, two are to increase the intellectual level of the soldiers. The first one is that, while keeping the total number of military staff unchanged, the number of sergeants will be increased to 900,000 and the increase will be allocated primarily for those with high-tech specialties. The fourth one is to increase the number of direct recruits from college graduates and recruit them as sergeants.

Source: Xinhua, July 13, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-07/13/content_11699069.htm