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Official Newspaper Praise the Patriotism of the Young Oversea Chinese Immigrants

This front page article, titled “The Young Men Who Protest ‘Tibetan Separatist’ and the Western Media Deformation” and published by International Herald Leader, a subsidiary of the official Xihua News, spoke of the stories of three young oversea Chinese for their “heroic actions” to defend the image of the “country” (China). The three Chinese, aged from 20 to 24, are all recent immigrants to the west. One of them lives in Canada and had produced a Youtube video for the purpose to “educate the west with true facts that Tibet is an inseparable part of China”. The second young man featured in the story, a residence of England, had vowed to place the Chinese national flag inside the “head-quarter of the Tibetan Separatist” in London. The third one had created an ANTI-CNN.COM website aimed at exposing the western media for smearing China with fabricated stories. In the end, the article praises the “grass-root power” and the “patriotism” demonstrated by the generation of 1980’s and their ability to expose the “arrogant and prejudice” of the western media "so more people in the west can learn the truth about Tibet”.

Source: Xinhua April 1, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2008-04/01/content_7896037.htm

Revolutionary Model Plays Become School Teaching Materials


With the Exception of “The White-Haired Girl,” All of the First Group of Model Plays Is Included in the Teaching Materials [1].

On November 28, 1966, the central Cultural Revolution Leading Group held a Proletariat Cultural Revolution Congress for Literature and the Arts in Beijing. Leader Kang Sheng of the central Great Cultural Revolution Leading Group announced that the following Peking operas, “Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy,” “The Red Lantern,” “Harbor,” “Sha Jia Bang,” “The Surprise Attack White Tiger Group,” and the ballets, “The White-Haired Girl,” “The Red Detachment of Women,” as well as the music of “Sha Jia Bang” were all “revolution model plays.”

The authorities showcased the “revolution model plays” from May 9 to Jun 15, 1967, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s speech during the “Yenan seminar on literature and arts.” The performance lasted 37 days with 330,000 audience members attending the 218 shows. Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and the central Great Cultural Revolution group members also watched parts of the show. People’s Daily wrote, “The eight revolution model plays prominently propagandized the brilliance of Mao Zedong’s thoughts, and prominently eulogized the workers, peasants and soldiers. This joint performance is a major event in the revolution of the arts. It has greatly uplifted the proletariat spirit and greatly extinguished bourgeoisie power and prestige… It has established a glorious model for the proletariat revolution’s literary arts.”
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Recently the Ministry of Education office sent out a “Notice on Launching Peking Opera into Elementary and Middle School Classrooms,” requiring the teaching of Peking opera in the music curriculum. The Ministry of Education has revised the “Compulsory Education Music Curriculum Standards” to include the related Peking opera teaching materials, and has chosen 15 Peking operas for elementary and middle schools music classes. Surprisingly all of the “revolution model plays” except “White-Haired Girl” were included in the teaching materials. The selected pieces even include “Harbor,” which promotes class struggle and continuing revolution.

….

The Administration of the Ministry of Education’s Notice On Teaching Peking Opera to Elementary and Middle Schools [2]

[2008]

To the provincial and municipal education departments of Beijing, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, Gansu (Education Committee):

In order to implement the party spirit proposed during the 17th party congress, inherit the Chinese nation’s outstanding culture, and construct the spiritual realms of the Chinese nation, our unit has decided to bring Peking opera into the nine years of compulsory education music curriculum. 15 Peking operas’ classical arias have been added to the revised “Compulsory Education Music Curriculum Standard” to be taught to the students during the 9 years of education. Editing the teaching materials and the production of CDs have already started.

From March 2008 to July 2009, we will experiment with teaching Peking opera to elementary and middle schools in Beijing, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, and Gansu before gradually extending to the entire nation.

Each province (city) will select 20 schools (10 elementary schools and 10 middle schools) for the experiment. We suggest selecting schools in central city areas that have good foundations.

The education department for each site should treat the teaching of Peking operas as a priority. At the same time, each site should maximize the role of professionals in the training of teachers.
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Each site must have model guidance, establish school teaching and research systems, and encourage the general music teachers to enhance their grasp of Peking opera teaching and ability through various means.

In order to help the experimental site to train the teachers and raise the standards of Peking opera in elementary and middle schools, our unit will organize training for teachers in March 2008.

The educational administration departments of the test sites must earnestly summarize their experiences and solve the problems they encounter to help teach the whole nation.

In order to facilitate work in the test site, we ask that each test site earnestly fill in information on their schools (see Appendix 1) and submit it to our unit before February 29.

The Ministry of Education

February 2, 2008

cc: The People’s Education Publishing House and the National Peking Opera Theater

Endnotes:
[1] new century website, on February 27, 2008
http://2newcenturynet.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-post_27.html
[2] Chinese Ministry of Education, on February 2, 2008
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/info1203386774849553.htm

Chinese ‘Hackers’ Denounce U.S. Media: ‘Sheer Nonsense’

A report from CNN on March 7, 2008 stated that several young hackers claimed that they had successfully invaded the government Internet network of several countries such as the U.S., Germany, the U.K., and France; in addition, they had obtained important information from a number of departments including the Pentagon. [1] According to this report, one of the hackers called Xiao Chen claimed his colleague received a cash reward from the Chinese government after succeeding in hacking into the Pentagon.

Three days later, Global Times, a media outlet under Xinhua News Agency, responded to the CNN report with an article titled “Chinese ‘Hackers’ Denounce U.S. Media: ‘Sheer Nonsense.’” [2] The following is a translation of the article.

“Inside an ordinary-looking residential complex in Zhoushan Island, which is south of Shanghai, several young men in their twenties were seated inside a nearly unfurnished apartment unit, fixing their eyes on the computer monitors while moving the mouse swiftly. Although they do not look harmful, they are the key members of hackers who have invaded into the most sensitive network in the world, including the Pentagon network.” [3] On March 7, CNN presented an exclusive report, claiming that CNN reporter Vause conducted a face-to-face interview with several young hackers. In its story highlights, the report stated, “the interview site is close to one of China’s navy bases” [4], as if making a special note for the “Chinese hacker threat.” 

A reporter from Global Times talked to one of the interviewees Xiao Chen (online name) over the phone on March 9. According to Xiao Chen, CNN’s report was “sheer nonsense;” he also pleaded to the reporter to help “clarify the situation.”

‘Chinese Hackers’ Admitted They Hacked into the Pentagon Network?

In the CNN report titled “Chinese Hackers: No Site Is Safe,” the main interviewees are a Chinese young man whose online name is Xiao Chen and his two colleagues. Vause described them in the following manner: “The three belong to what some Western experts say is a civilian cyber militia in China, launching attacks on government and private Web sites around the world.”

According to Vause, Xiao Chen and his friends do not want to reveal their true identities. “No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with high-level security, but there is always a weakness,” says Xiao Chen, the leader of this group. He claims two of his colleagues—not the ones with him in the room—hacked into the Pentagon and downloaded information, although he wouldn’t specify what was gleaned.” Vause also stated repeatedly, “CNN has no way to confirm if his claim is true.”
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Xiao Chen: ‘Obviously They Are Distorting the Story Purposely!’

With the clues revealed from the two-minute video provided by CNN, the reporter from Global Times located the lead hacker Xiao Chen. He is one of the founders of the website “Hacker World.”

“They are literally distorting the story. It’s all negative stuff, sheer nonsense!” That was the first response from Xiao Chen when he accepted a phone interview with our reporter. He pleaded to the reporter to be sure to help to “clarify the situation.”

According to Xiao Chen, the reporter from CNN had emailed to him back and forth over 20 times. The reporter claimed that he would come up with a positive report for his website and he would only need a 3-minute interview with Xiao Chen. However, the reporter came and stayed for two days. Xiao Chen revealed that during the interview, the CNN reporter asked directly, “Can you quickly show me the data you downloaded from the U.S. Department of Defense?” He also asked, “Isn’t it the Chinese government which gives you funds to attack sensitive overseas websites?”

“I said ‘no’ to all these sensitive questions,” Xiao Chen said. “Our website is simply a sharing platform for hackers. We never teach others to attack other websites; nor have we ourselves attacked any website, including that of the U.S. Department of Defense.”

“I did say not a single computer is safe,” Xiao Chen added, “however, it turned out to be no site is safe in the report. I stated that my colleagues and I established this website together, while the report had it as the government sponsored us. As a matter of fact, we have limited income from online advertisements. We are currently expecting to get funding from venture capital.”

The U.S. Has Played Up the Chinese Hacker Threat Several Times

In recent years, the American media and some U.S. officials have been attacking China with “China’s hackers are dangerous” being one of the main accusations. Especially in the last year, with the American media taking the lead, British and German media also constantly play up the propaganda that “hackers within China’s People’s Liberation Army are a threat to the world.” In the sensational description in Western media, not only the Department of Defense of the United States has been attacked by “Chinese hackers sponsored by the Chinese government,” some cross-national companies, and even some of the physical training associations in the U.K. have been the “target of attacks from China.”
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On March 4 this year, the U.S. Department of Defense submitted the 2008 annual report on “China’s Military Force” to the Congress. In this report, China is criticized for hacking into the government websites of other countries. In response to this, the spokesperson of China’s Department of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang replied that this claim is ungrounded. He also said the Chinese government and military would not hire civilian hackers to attack other countries’ government websites.

According to a report released by Symantec, an Internet security company in the U.S., the U.S. is home to hackers making chaos internationally. The number of attacks originated from the U.S. far exceeds other countries. The report also said, among all target countries of these hackers, China is the biggest victim.

Endnotes:
[1] CNN, March 7, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/07/china.hackers/index.html
[2] Xinhua, March 10, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-03/10/content_7754330.htm
[3] The original CNN English: “ZHOUSHAN, China (CNN)—They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world’s most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.”
[4] The original CNN English: “The hackers met with CNN on an island near a Chinese naval hub.”

Nanfang Daily: It Is Time to Return Power Back to People

An article from Nanfang Daily (a Guangzhou newspaper) stated that it is time to return power back to the people. The article reported a “Biweekly Forum on Humanities” held by two prominent columnists and attended by over 30 on media commentaries in Mainland China.

The most important progress in the past ten years is Internet and media working together reporting social problems, thus pressuring the government to compromise, the columnists stated. Media commentaries are a matter of freedom of speech of the entire nation. They furthered that every citizen should be critical of the government and question what it says.

Source: Nanfang Daily, March 31, 2008
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/southnews/jwxy/200803310070.asp

China Continues to Blast Dalai Lama

On April 1, 2008, China’s state media Xinhua republished a commentary articles from People’s Daily (oversea’s edition) that continued the recent campaign of attacking Dalai Lama. The article, titled “Dalai Lama Lied Again” and authored by deputy director of China’s Tibetan Cultural protection and development, attacked Dala Lama’s recent public statement of “not seeking Tibet independence” and “not involved in the recent Tibet protest” as lies. Under the title, a series of recent related articles were listed and linked to the full text, including:
Revealing Truth: Before and after the Fourteenth Dalai’s Fleeing (video clips of CCTV’s Documentary “Dalai Lama”)
The True Intention of Dalai Clique’s “Middle Path” Is to “Tibet Independence”
Lhasa Incident Exposed the Lies of Dala’s “Human Rights”
The Living Buddha of Tibet Asks Dalai not to Damage National Unity and Ethnic Harmony

Source: Xinhua, April 1, 2008

http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-04/01/content_7895862.htm

Xinhua: China Meets Friends in Vientiane, Japan Unhappy Being Excluded

On March 31, 2008, Xinhua reports that China’s Premier Wen Jiabao met leaders of Burma, Lao, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam and signed a series of cooperation agreements during the meeting of Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation (GMS) on March 30 and 31, 2008. The report attacked Japanese media article reporting the meeting, saying that the Daily Yomiuri’s article vilifies China’s aid to Lao and GMS areas. It says that Yomiuri’s article accuses China of intending to establish a “base” in East Union and to control the development in GMS area, and that is unhappy with the exclusion of Japanese government from the regional cooperation activity.

Source: Xinhua, March 31, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-03/31/content_7889645.htm

Xinhua Article: U.S. Is the Real Source of Nuclear Dissemination

Xinhua posted an article on March 31, 2008 saying that U.S. is really the most important source of nuclear weapon dissemination. The article was published after U.S. Defense Department stated U.S. Air Force had mistakenly shipped to Taiwan four electrical fuses designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles. The article claims that U.S. and Taiwan pretend to be “innocent” of the incident and that U.S. is meant to signal a mini-scale nuclear threat.

Source: Xinhua, March 31, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-03/31/content_7887781.htm

500 Uighur Seized When Protesting in Xinjiang

Protests by nearly 1, 000 people broke out recently in the City of Khotan (Hetian), East Turkestan (Xinjiang), 500 seized and total information blackout in effect, reported Taiwan based China Times on March 30, 2008. 

World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilixiati told China Times that the protests occurred on March 23 and 24 and that 80% of the protesters were women.  He said that the protesters made several demands, including the cessation of the torture of the Uighur people, the release of political prisoners and the return of unmarried women that the authorities forcibly took away as cheap labor.

Source: China Times, March 30, 2008
http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-Rtn/2007Cti-Rtn-Content/0,4526,110109+112008033000357,00.html