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Chinese Bloggers vs. The BBC

Sandra writes "The BBC has an article about how chinese bloggers hate BBC interviews, as from their point of view all the Beeb cares about is censorship in China." From the article: "This being the internet, the conversation also involved various members of the community accusing each other of having ulterior business interests, being "trolls", or covertly blogging on behalf of the state. But overall, it looks as though mutual trust will be regained. And as well as the specific dynamics of talking about China, there's a new phenomenon here of what happens when bloggers are quoted. "

142 comments

  1. Right by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 1

    The Chinese hate the BBC interviews because, supposedly all the BBC cares about is the censorship in China. I failt to see how this is interesting - anyone would be pissed when the only thing your asked about is not at the forefront of your goals.

    1. Re:Right by nihaopaul · · Score: 1

      here's a funnier thing, how would the chinese bloggers know about the bbc and what their doing, i live in china, shanghai to be specific, but, bbc.co.uk is blocked or prehaps the bbc's server is down, excuse me bbc but is your one server down which you do everything from?

      that i doubt, anyway this filtering shit is really annoying, but on the otherhand all the pRon websites load faster since i dont have to fight for bandwidth with everyone reading the beebs website, oh and all those millions on computers in china that are infected and drone's that try to connect to no-ip.com dns's! their is some good to come from this filtering

      hang on let me check googles cache, oh wait, thats blocked too, what about installing tor, oh wait thats blocked oh maybe i should phone my friends with skype but i need to download it first, opps thats blocked too.

      guess i should go read chinadaily for my upbeat news on the world!

      -md5: f64d862b1add785969c89f699f60d0a9 -

  2. Genuine complaners? by stunt_penguin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How do we know that the people who are 'speaking out against the BBC' aren't themselves being coerced into doing so in an attempt by the chinese govornment to negate the BBC's coverage of Chinese freedom of speech issues.

    Damn I'm paranoid

    --
    When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    1. Re:Genuine complaners? by lampiaio · · Score: 0

      and how do we know that you are not being coerced into saying that in an attempt by the US government to negate the chinese bloggers' attempt to stop the BBC's excessive "censorship in China" coverage?

      Now that's paranoid!

      --
      My other account has mod points.
    2. Re:Genuine complaners? by Pneuma+ROCKS · · Score: 2, Funny
      Damn I'm paranoid

      That's what they want you to think.

      --
      Favorite quote: "
    3. Re:Genuine complaners? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps the BBC is coerced by the UK-US governments into doing everything possible to make China look bad.

      The sins we see in others are usually ours as well.

    4. Re:Genuine complaners? by stunt_penguin · · Score: 1

      /hides under tinfoil hat

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    5. Re:Genuine complaners? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      as a chinese citizen living in China for 25 years and moving to western country recently, I am constantly amazed by the propoganda western media and goverment dishing out everyday. And the most pathetic thing is that people buy it. The only thing I feel bad about china is that their propoganda system is much less sophisticated than western countries but they are making progress every day and learning fast.

  3. What else? by HugePedlar · · Score: 4, Informative

    What else are the BBC going to be interested in? What flavour rice the bloggers prefer?

    Seriously though, the BBC is a major news site. Censorship in China is a major issue. What other issue measures equal in magnitude to prompt the BBC to interview a Chinese blogger?

    --
    Argh.
    1. Re:What else? by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Seriously though, the BBC is a major news site. Censorship in China is a major issue. What other issue measures equal in magnitude to prompt the BBC to interview a Chinese blogger?

      Let's see... industrial pollution, government corruption (which Chinese can protest, BTW, just not basic goverment policy), environmental impact of rapid industrialization, Chinese historical and cultural preservation, the recent toxic slick in Harbin. But that's just off the top of my head. I think the problem is that most British journalists are about as ignorant, incompetent and sensationalistic as their American counterparts.

    2. Re:What else? by HugePedlar · · Score: 1

      But why would they choose to interview a Chinese blogger about those issues - unless they were the specific subject of their blog?

      --
      Argh.
    3. Re:What else? by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, that's the point. Blogs cover many different types of subjects. But the BBC apparently prefers to ask Chinese bloggers about censorship instead of the subjects of their blogs, such as (for example) the rapid industrialization in China, which affects people's everyday lives, or about Chinese historical and cultural preservation, which is of intense interest to certain segments of the population. In other words, the BBC only seems to care about one specific political football rather than about China itself.

    4. Re:What else? by lakin · · Score: 1

      You would talk to bloggers about these subjects? Granted, i havent done any research into chinese bloggers, but if its anything like most blogs you wouldnt get anything more from them than you would with a quick "whats your single paragraph say on this subject?" type interview they tend to ask random people on a high street. Just like any problem, if they were interviewing people about government corruption, pollution or industrialization they would go for people in the know - university professors, heads of companies and government officials.
      Sure, its good to get a public view on the subject too (especially if the blogger tends to focus on such issues), but if they are doing a full interview with these bloggers, they want to know their thoughts on things they know more about - blogging and free speech.

      --
      Paul
    5. Re:What else? by Iago515 · · Score: 1
      What some of the readers failed to notice here is that this isn't a regular news story and looks to be more of a column called "WEBLOG WATCH" which is "The Magazine's review of blogs". Now considering that freedom of speech is THE issue, and not just on Slashdot, when it comes to weblogs as a whole, I would think that everyone would be jumping up and down supporting the BBC in this.

      I would think that Freedom of Speech would be vehemently supported with this mostly American crowd.

      --
      Take note, take note, O world,

      To be direct and honest is not safe.

    6. Re:What else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why on earth would they interview bloggers about that? Imagine a French news agency interviewing random American bloggers about the USA's foreign policy. You interview people that have positions relevant to your subject, not just some random loser that happens to have a website. Unless of course, websites are you subject.

    7. Re:What else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the problem is that most British journalists are about as ignorant, incompetent and sensationalistic as their American counterparts.

      Troll

    8. Re:What else? by gobbo · · Score: 1
      the BBC only seems to care about one specific political football rather than about China itself.

      This may be a legitimate concern of an outsider who claims to have high standards for the quality of a source. Imagine the frustration: a billion people living under some stiff rules about what can be said, and lots of imagined or real conspiracy to delude outsiders. Yet you have to bang your head against that, since your job is to report on the place.

      Then, of course, the BBC (and democratic pro-capitalist journalists in general) have to labour under the semi-conscious illusion that they have few forms of censorship or ideology to struggle against in their own working lives. The modern propaganda machine in all its subtleties and gross ubiquity gives us 'democratically free' folks ideologies that we wield like halitosis: it's always someone else's problem. We have to claim impartiality; sales, jobs, pride are based on it, and our general success in the world proves it, in a meta-darwinian kind of way.

      Anyway, this issue points out a blind spot in the BBC's view of things: that's always a good place to look for ideology problems.

    9. Re:What else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget the new Olympic Mascots and fashion-reform in the State Council.

  4. Please by DDiabolical · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Please BBC, stop highlighting our plight for freedom on the internet."

    Hmmm I wonder who could possibly be behind this...

  5. An angel, c'est moi. by kahei · · Score: 1, Interesting


    I love the way the writer of the BBC article completely failed to notice that the issue was not 'whether China censors' but 'whether the BBC would shut up about censorship for five seconds please'.

    The dialectic basically seems to be:

    Some Chinese Bloggers: "Man, the BBC keeps harping on about this shit. And BBC interviewers tend to be excessively confrontational and persistent."
    BBC Journalist: "Oho! You say there is no censorship in China?? Well I guess AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL must be wrong then, eh? Eh??"

    If I were given to making mean, snide remarks, I would say that the BBC's remit is to be the voice of the British people, and if that means being arrogant, politically correct, and ever ready to force narrow definitions of acceptable behavior on the rest of the world, then... well...

    But I am not given to such nasty remarks. No, I am an angel, a lovely angel :)

    --
    Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
    1. Re:An angel, c'est moi. by DDiabolical · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would say that the BBC's remit is to be the voice of the British people

      Then I guess FoxNews is the voice of the American people?

      The BBC's remit is to be the EARS of the British people, not the voice, dumbass.

    2. Re:An angel, c'est moi. by EpsCylonB · · Score: 1


      But I am not given to such nasty remarks. No, I am an angel, a lovely angel :)

      Your a silly arse.

  6. irony by Foktip · · Score: 1

    so now we post this link on slashdot, so that the blaming and troll-accusations may continus onward!

    1. Re:irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's on slashdot because it was on digg.com yesterday.
      You haven't been here very long, have you?

  7. Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only chinese blogs that are allowed to stay online are the ones that are criticizing the BBC.

    The ones that agree are simply deleted, as are the authors. /tinfoil hat

  8. From TFA: by xtracto · · Score: 2, Funny

    From the BBC article:
    We don't know why Chinesse have the idea we censor them, when they state that "BBC MAKES ME **C*"
    The writer continues:
    " Being **ed by BBC is no fun, it is a **ing experience. At times, ***rs can get very ***.
    Recently over a ** in the ** ****. BBC news reader Jonathan asked the Home Secretary: 'Did you threaten to **ck him (a junior minister)?',
    the home secretary replied calmly: 'I *ed him'.
    Jonathan: 'Did you *** him!'
    Secretary: 'I *ed him'
    Jonathan again Did you **** him'
    Secretary again: I *ed him
    Jonathan again: Did you **en him?' .......
    **ed 9 times, ** Jonathan *ed: 'You are a *ard, aren't you? Why can not you just admit that you *ed him!'

    --
    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  9. How can we do this without being introspective? by Rahga · · Score: 1

    These articles are a bit like FOX running a story about the anti-FOX News camp and their books and blogs, or Anderson Cooper insisting that an "anti-gay" politician's stance unfairly impacts "us" during an interview. Always interesting, but there's simply no way to apply the objective label to this reporting.

  10. Maybe a cultural thing by iBod · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think Chinese people expect the sort of combative, probing, in-your-face interviewing techniques that the best of the BBC journalists employ.

    IMO, most BBC journalists really do the job - i.e. asking questions of the 'high and mighty' as well as the 'man in the street' that the viewers/listners would like to ask themselves, and not taking waffle and bullshit for an answer.

    I'd love to see the BBC's Jeremy Paxman interview George Bush, for example - nah! never going to happen.

    1. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by EpsCylonB · · Score: 1


      I'd love to see the BBC's Jeremy Paxman interview George Bush, for example - nah! never going to happen.


      A goldfish could interview Bush better than most american journalists.

    2. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by david.given · · Score: 2, Funny
      I'd love to see the BBC's Jeremy Paxman interview George Bush, for example...

      *splork*

      I'd pay money to see that...

      "So, Mr. Bush. They say you're an idiot. Are you?"

    3. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by ynohoo · · Score: 1

      I must admit I am surprised Jeremy Paxman is still working for them, or that anybody agrees to be interviewed by him.
      Even when he is interviewing people you dislike, you cant help feeling sorry for them.
      He is an obnoxious c*nt of the first order.

    4. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by EiZei · · Score: 1

      I'd love to see the BBC's Jeremy Paxman interview George Bush, for example - nah! never going to happen.

      If I dont recall wrong Henry Kissinger once walked out on him and Kissinger has pretty damn thick skin compared to the neoconvict gang in charge at the moment.

    5. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by Rayonic · · Score: 1
      "So, Mr. Bush. They say you're an idiot. Are you?"

      Is it just me, or is that a question a 5-year-old would ask?

      Quality political discourse, indeed.
    6. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by MullerMn · · Score: 1
      Is it just me, or is that a question a 5-year-old would ask?

      The OP's point was not that he asks funny questions, it was that Paxman has a reputation as a very hard interviewer who does not let political guests off lightly when they are squirming. From Wiki:
      One of Paxman's most famous Newsnight interviews took place on 13 May 1997, with Michael Howard, who had until 13 days earlier been Home Secretary. Howard was questioned regarding a meeting he had convened with the head of the Prison Service, regarding the potential dismissal of the head of Parkhurst Jail, following a well-publicised jail-break. The head of the Prison Service had argued against dismissing the head of Parkhurst. During one continuous sequence Paxman put the same question - "Did you threaten to overrule him?" - twelve times to Howard, who on each occasion gave a qualified or evasive answer, such as "I did not overrule him".


      Not to be confused with Jeremy Clarkson, who would ask childish questions, but would probably be a lot funnier to watch ;)
    7. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      I must admit I am surprised Jeremy Paxman is still working for them, or that anybody agrees to be interviewed by him. Even when he is interviewing people you dislike, you cant help feeling sorry for them.

      Newsnight is a pretty important show, watched by a lot of major players and opinion-formers. If there's been talk that day of a scandal within the government and nobody involved turns up to the interview... well, the Opposition will certainly have the relevant shadow minister there, and if Paxo turns to camera after interviewing him and says 'Nobody from the Government was available for interview tonight, but they released this statement...' and proceeds to read out some cover-your-ass release - well, it looks very bad indeed.

      As a result, you can't simply refuse to turn up. Viewers will assume the worst.

      A practice that seems quite widespread is to identify an expendable junior minister loosely connected with whatever's been done and throw him to the wolves. I wonder what it must be like to be the one who gets the pager message from Millbank, 'ALASTAIR SAYS YOU'RE GOING ON NEWSNIGHT TONIGHT'... Scary.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    8. Re:Maybe a cultural thing by Rayonic · · Score: 1

      Hey, a response. I think I'm a little late in noticing it.

      "Did you threaten to overrule him?" is a pointed and biting question. "Are you dumb?" is a bit silly, and not the kind of question anyone would bother dodging. Most normal people would answer "No." and be done with it.

  11. Aggressive interviewing by Bogtha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From one of the bloggers complaining about the BBC's aggressive interviewing:

    Their belief is that the interviewee is unwilling to tell the truth, therefore they must design their questions in a way that they can squeeze out the truth.

    This is particularly true when they interview politicians.

    No shit. Did you ever think that it's because, particularly in the case of politicians, they are unwilling to tell the truth, or at least give a straight answer?

    The example given is a politician dodging the question of whether he threatened somebody or not. The (repeatedly asked) question was "Did you threaten him?" and the (repeated) answer was "I warned him.", without any clarification of the distinction being drawn. Why couldn't the politician say "No, it wasn't a threat, because..."?

    This is very reminiscent of Paxo's famous BBC interview, in which he repeated the same question twelve times when the politician dodged the question. I think it's a good thing to do. If you defer to the interviewee and don't call them on it when they dodge the questions, you are, in essence, just giving them a mouthpiece to offer their unchallenged claims. That's not an interview, that's an advert. They might as well do away with the interviewer altogether if they can't get answers to their questions.

    --
    Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    1. Re:Aggressive interviewing by gowen · · Score: 5, Interesting
      This is very reminiscent of Paxo's [wikipedia.org] famous BBC interview, in which he repeated the same question twelve times when the politician dodged the question. I think it's a good thing to do.
      Which was between Michael Howard (then Home Secretary) and Jeremy Paxman. It ran like this :

      HOWARD. Mr Marriot was not suspended. I was entitled to express my views, I was entitled to be consulted . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. I . . I . . was not entitled to instruct Derek Lewis, and I did not instruct him.
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. The truth of the matter is that Mr Marriot was not suspended. I . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. . . . did not . .overrule Derek Lewis.
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. I took advice on what I could or could not do . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him Mr Howard ?
      HOWARD. . . and I acted scrupulously in accordance with that advice, I did NOT overrule Derek Lewis . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. . . Mr Marriot was not suspended.
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. (pauses). I have accounted for my decision to dismiss Derek Lewis . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. . . in great detail, before the House of Commons . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) I note that you're not answering the question of whether you threatened to overrule him.
      HOWARD. Well, the important aspect of this which is very clear to bear in mind . .
      PAXMAN. (Interrupting) I'm sorry, I'm going to be frightfully rude, I'm sorry, but it's a straight yes or no question which requires a straight yes or no answer. Did you threaten to overrule him ?
      HOWARD. I discussed this matter with Derek Lewis. I gave him the benefit of my opinion. I gave him the benefit of my opinion in strong language. But I did not instruct him because I was not ENTITLED to instruct him, I was entitled to express my opinion, and that is what I did.
      PAXMAN. With respect, that is not answering the question of whether you threatened to overrule him.
      HOWARD. It's dealing with the relevant point, which is what I was entitled to do and what I was not entitled to do, and I have dealt in detail with this before the House of Commons and before the Select Committee.
      PAXMAN. With respect, you haven't answered the question of whether you threatened to overrule him.
      HOWARD. Well you see . . the question is what was I entitled to do and what was I not entitled to do. I was not entitled to instruct him, and I did not do that.
      PAXMAN. Uh . . we'll leave that aspect there.
      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
    2. Re:Aggressive interviewing by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Don't you think it's interesting that this guy and those who moderated him interesting all think western government is corrupt?

      It is and so is the chinese government, we'll see who falls first I suppose.

      Governments don't have to be corrupt, it's very 1984 that both the Chinese and the west think the other's government is corrupt and evil.

    3. Re:Aggressive interviewing by pfafrich · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The example given is a politician dodging the question of whether he threatened somebody or not. The (repeatedly asked) question was "Did you threaten him?" and the (repeated) answer was "I warned him.", without any clarification of the distinction being drawn. Why couldn't the politician say "No, it wasn't a threat, because..."?

      I think we've seen quite a rise in aggressive interviewing of late. Often they are asking unanswerable questions, questions intended to trap the interviewee. The interviewee is well aware that it is a trap and responds with a fudge. No one in their right mind would actually answer the question as stated, so we get a deadlock. These questions tend to be yes/no black and white questions, where the reality of the situation is more a shade of grey in the middle.

      Recent BBC coverage of the last election certainly suffered through this type of questioning, which in the end reveals nothing. I'd much rather hear less aggressive more exploratory questioning, which probes deeper into the subject.

      --
      There are four sorts of people in the world: fools, lunatics, idiots and morons. - Umberto Eco, Foucaut's pendulum.
    4. Re:Aggressive interviewing by Bogtha · · Score: 1

      The interviewee is well aware that it is a trap and responds with a fudge.

      Oh yes, I've seen some bad questions of the "when did you stop beating your wife?" form that can't be directly answered without accepting an incorrect premise. But these types of questions can be stopped by challenging their assumptions. That's not dodging the question, and I agree that those types of questions are inappropriate.

      Recent BBC coverage of the last election certainly suffered through this type of questioning, which in the end reveals nothing.

      Yes, Paxo's interviewing of George Galloway in particular irritated me. However, it wasn't the fact that he was aggressive that was the problem, it was that he was asking a question while implying an utterly stupid premise. "Are you proud of having got rid of one of the very few black women in parliament?" Obviously Galloway was proud of having won the election, but he couldn't say that without implying that he was proud because he was a racist.

      It's leading questions like that, which are often coupled with aggressiveness, that are the real problem. The aggressiveness alone is quite useful, I think, at least when somebody starts dodging reasonable questions.

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    5. Re:Aggressive interviewing by Dazza · · Score: 1

      In fairness to Paxman, the question was raised because a (black) member of panel raised the issue that Galloway had chosen to attach Labour, via standing against one of their MP's ( in this case Oona King IIRC) and that his attack on the Labour party had the effect of removing one of the few black female MP's in Parliament.

      Paxman was just putting the point to Galloway to answer himself.

      --
      -- "I know that this is vitriol, no solution, spleen-venting, but I feel better having screamed, don't you ?"
    6. Re:Aggressive interviewing by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      Well, it seems to me that China's government is in fact corrupt and evil. But I never saw anything about this "west" country. Probably its governemnt is also corrupt and evil, I never listened about one that wasn't, but now I am very curious about this country, where is it?

    7. Re:Aggressive interviewing by slvi · · Score: 1

      The site's down. It says: Server Error in '/' Application..

      Not quite slashdotted, merely slashed!

  12. Well, it's certainly justified by jacoplane · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If I were a reporter interviewing chinese bloggers, censorship would be high on my list. Some of these bloggers maintain there's not much censorship going on. Have they forgotten the whole MSN Spaces fiasco? In my book, government censorship is never acceptable, and we should never stop criticising it. That includes journalists being annoying and asking tough questions.

    1. Re:Well, it's certainly justified by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      jeremy paxman once said that that the one question he always keep in the back of his mind while interviewing is:

      "why is this lying bastard lying to me"

  13. Understand. by Ditaki · · Score: 2

    If what they're saying is true, it's kind of an interesting problem. On the one hand, interviewers should stay on the topic at hand. No use asking about the Great Firewall when the topic at hand is the toxic water flowing through Harbin right now, ya know?

    But at the same time, from a socialogical perspective, the Firewall is fascinating. How selective can you make such a firewall, and in what ways are the people still happy knowing that they are being sheltered from things. Is this brainwashing (as it must certainly appear to a Western perspective) or is this simply a different view on the world that the West cannot wrap their heads around.

    It reminds me somewhat of WWII, and the rush during and afterwards to understand the essence of the Japanese people. In short, Japanese were doing things that seemed bizarre and impossible to the Western soldiers, and this set off a near 60 year rush to understand the Japanese people. I think we're beginning to see the inklings of the same thing here (for more information, go look up nihonjinron, or Ruth Bennedict, author of the first book of these studies.)

    1. Re:Understand. by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 1

      But at the same time, from a socialogical perspective, the Firewall is fascinating. How selective can you make such a firewall, and in what ways are the people still happy knowing that they are being sheltered from things. Is this brainwashing (as it must certainly appear to a Western perspective) or is this simply a different view on the world that the West cannot wrap their heads around.

      Well, the west hardly sems immune. Almost everyone thought that there were WMDs in Iraq for instance.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    2. Re:Understand. by Ditaki · · Score: 1

      Of course. But for most everybody, it's much easier to point out the flaws in others than it is to identify the flaws in oneself. So, while similar things happen in the west, we'll gladly point out if it happens in China.

  14. No no no... by mustafap · · Score: 1

    >and if that means being arrogant, politically correct, and ever ready to force narrow definitions of acceptable behavior on the rest of the world, then... well...

    Get your facts right. Thats the *Labour Party*
    Brits are polite to the point of annoyance, slightly foppish, and terribly middle class. Have you not seen 'Four weddings & a funeral', 'Notting Hill' etc? Have you learnt nothing?

    --
    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
    1. Re:No no no... by baadger · · Score: 1

      ...you ever see 'Little Britain'?

    2. Re:No no no... by mustafap · · Score: 1

      *Please* dont let that get outside of the UK :o)

      --
      Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
    3. Re:No no no... by legojenn · · Score: 1

      Too late! I saw it on BBC Canada. I laughed, I cringed.

      --
      I make a reasonable middle-class wage by going to work and not spamming blogs with scams.
  15. Re:hm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesse Helms! I didn't know you read slashdot! I guess you need something to do in retirement.

  16. Genuine Post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do we know that the parent poster who is 'commenting in this discussion' isn't himself being coerced into doing so in an attempt by the US government to negate slashdot's coverage of the actually falsified Chinese freedom of speech issues?

    Damn I'm paranoid.

    1. Re:Genuine Post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.

    2. Re:Genuine Post? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      How do we know that you aren't part of a plot by the Chinese government to make it look like the US government's attempting to negate slashdot's coverage of the Chinese freedom-of-speech issues?

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    3. Re:Genuine Post? by Khuffie · · Score: 1

      How do we know that you aren't part of a plot by the terrorists to make it look like the Chinese government has a plot to make the US look like its attempting to negate slashdot's coverage of the Chinese freedom-of-speech issue, hence causing conflict between the two countries?

    4. Re:Genuine Post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do we know that you aren't part of a strategy by the RIAA/MPAA to make it look like a plot by the terrorists to make it look like the Chinese government has a plot to make the US look like its attempting to negate slashdot's coverage of the Chinese freedom-of-speech issue, just so people will not take notice of copyright legislation, rootkits, DMCA, etc.

    5. Re:Genuine Post? by stunt_penguin · · Score: 1

      I'm Irish, we're netutral on everything.

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
    6. Re:Genuine Post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just to clarify: That was the point I was trying to get across, that without facts or anything but a "hunch" or whatever anyone can say "what if you" about anything they like and somehow turn that into an argument. Since everyone can do just that it makes those kind of arguments bascily always completly void.

      And yes I am the ggp AC.

    7. Re:Genuine Post? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 2, Funny

      I was just continuing the joke. If somebody gets this far they should hopefully have figured this out.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    8. Re:Genuine Post? by Loquax · · Score: 1

      I'm Norwegian, we're staring at our feet hoping nobody notices us.

  17. Doesn't ring true by sane? · · Score: 4, Informative
    A quick look at the Asia-Pacific BBC page has the following stories on China:
    • Toxic leak in river
    • Bird Flu Death
    • A WTO conference
    • Torture
    • Art on show in London
    So maybe not overflowing with positive stories, but this IS typical news coverage. You have to wonder if these Chinese Bloggers are paid/told to put forward that censorship is somehow a non issue.
    1. Re:Doesn't ring true by minus_273 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      actually just wait a few minutes and there will be a ton of posts on this thread praising china. there is literally an army of chinese communist astroturfers out there and i think they are employed by the state. They tend to crawl out any time Taiwan, china or Tibet is mentioned.

      --
      The war with islam is a war on the beast
      The war on terror is a war for peace
    2. Re:Doesn't ring true by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Uh...I hate to say "you f---ing idiot", but news.bbc.co.uk is blocked by the Great Firewall of China. Duh.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    3. Re:Doesn't ring true by Pingla · · Score: 1

      The point is not that BBC is or is not covering such events, the bloggers themselves wanted to be asked about this, not only about censorship. There is a reason why they are bloggers, they have strong opinions on various matters, and most likely they see an interview with the BBC as a great chance to voice their opinion. The reporter is only interested in censorship when talking to them, which is natural. They get pissed off and later bash the BBC.

  18. Western Insults by Gryle · · Score: 1

    From the article: "Edwyn Chan's Weblog is among the milder critics, describing the BBC as "annoying" for always asking about freedom of speech when interviewing Chinese citizens."

    It sounds like the bloggers are irritated at the BBC for getting stuck on a single issue, Chinese censorship. From their point of view, the BBC is spinning everything the bloggers put out as a symbol of China's repressive government and therefore, in the eyes of the Western world who equate freedom with progress of any kind, a symbol of Chinese backwardness and inferiority. In other words, the BBC is critizing the Chinese people, not just the Chinese government.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  19. Freedom of Association anyone? by Chaffar · · Score: 4, Informative
    From the blog mentioned in the article http://www.chinatopblog.com/?p=6:

    The first sentence was misleading and wrong. BBC said something like this- More than 300 bloggers attended the conference.

    Yining corrected the BBC woman."No. you are wrong, the meeting participants are less than 200."

    According Chinese law, any assembles by more than 200 people should be approved officially.If not, it's illegal.

    Clever clever boy Yining... he caught the BBC in a lie. However, the Chinese "Law" he mentioned, interestingly, says waves more than anything he could've said in any interview. I don't know if he did it on purpose, but that by itself should give the BBC enough to write about. Right of association anyone?http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/ amendment01/12.html

    The beauty of Yining's comment is that he takes such laws as accepted truths, and uses it to disprove the BBC's claim the same way a physicist would disprove a certain claim using Newton's or Einstein's theories.

    1. Re:Freedom of Association anyone? by vain+gloria · · Score: 1

      Not to contradict your take, but if I'd been put on record as having participated in an illegal assembly I'd swear blind that it was perfectly legal one too.

    2. Re:Freedom of Association anyone? by grimJester · · Score: 1

      The beauty of Yining's comment is that he takes such laws as accepted truths, and uses it to disprove the BBC's claim the same way a physicist would disprove a certain claim using Newton's or Einstein's theories.

      Yes, there could not be more than 300 bloggers there. That would be illegal.

      Stormtrooper: There are more than 300 of you here.
      Rebel: There are less than 200 here. Any more would be illegal.
      Stormtrooper: There are less than 200 here.
      Rebel: You don't need to see our papers.
      Stormtrooper: Wee don't need to see you papers.
      Rebel: You were mistaken.
      Stormtrooper: My mistake, carry on.

    3. Re:Freedom of Association anyone? by karzan · · Score: 1

      Why quote the US constitution? The US is just one country out of 190, and its constitutional strictures don't inform us about universal human rights, only what rights are guaranteed by law in the US. If you want to talk about rights that have been agreed upon internationally, cite the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Or if you want to argue that people have some kind of 'innate' right to freedom of association, then cite or argue philosophy. But a legal document pertaining to one particular country is of no relevance here.

    4. Re:Freedom of Association anyone? by Chaffar · · Score: 1

      Well to make things clear, I'm French, but I quoted the U.S Constitution because it's the first example I came accross on the Internet, not because I believe it's better/more accurate/the ultimate truth. So yes your comment is valid and I apologize for being a lazy bum :P

  20. These Chinese are so mistaken... by Errandboy+of+Doom · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Clearly, the BBC has tons of stories from China that aren't about censorship. For example, this story is not about Chinese censorship, it's about Microsoft's censorship, coincidentally in China. This story about political coersion doesn't even mention censorship. Frankly, with this range of topics, I don't see why these poor people, who are typically subject to such intolerable censorship, have anything to complain about.

  21. British Journalists are a tough bunch by thelost · · Score: 1

    there is one thing I would like to say about this isn't necessarily important in the larger context of this story but is very true, and that is that - not just BBC but UK journalists (which in essence what the inteviewers are) - are very, very tough cookies. My friend who is American came over to the UK 5 years ago and was shocked to see the way that people who were interviewed were treated, and it's true, our journalists are exceptionally harsh, taxing and dogmatic. Here is an example that shows the essence of tough uk journalism. This particular interview is notorious for Jeremy Paxman asking Michael Howard the same question 12 times. That is the actual interview quoted in the article called 'Chinese Whispers', and the interview was not called Jonathon. But I believe that is a mistake on the part of the chinese blogger quoted (what, a blogger making a mistake!!).

    --
    Promote Charity on Myspace, Show Your Colours!
  22. blogger bs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    anything that comes from china has to be suspected of being state influenced , even the pro girl counter-strike video game competition team china has to represent their prowess in all aspects of society. they will eventually have a state supported poker champ! having a state run blogganda would be totaly in line with everything communist leaders need to do to justify there existince within a political structure that at one time was a worthy solution and still may be for just a little more time.

    but who the hell has time to read blogs and who gives a damn......except for the media of all types, t.v., radio, internet sites, i think the general public make take a little look but it's the news organizations are the ones that are so concerned. why is that?. is it for the content or is it because it is a threat to their lively hood?

    it's ridiculous the indepth coverage a news service may give to a particular site. especially that cnn thing where they have that special internet correspondent covering the blogs...is it that there are looking for that one site that would be equivalent to the second coming?
    seek and one day u shall find.

    i can't even deal with half life 2, day of defeat? and still haven't had time to load up doom3? how the heck can i waste time reading some hacks blog???

    just kidding.

  23. I may have got the wrong end of the stick here... by wellybog · · Score: 1

    Isn't it funny how all the western countries look down their noses at China and it's state control of information.

    And here we all are using various open source software applications...

    (I'm not going to join the dots here between communist ideologies and open source, but it does amuse me how jingoistic and easily manipulated western audiences seem to be these days).

    (this is the point where I jump off the fence and start running - pulling splinters out as I do so)

  24. Yeah but you can't bully all the time by brunes69 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    If you base your whole interview on the fact that the interviewee is unwilling to tell the "truth", then what happens if they are telling the truth, but it is just not what you think it was? Answer - you keep probing. Basically, your whole agenda is to try to slant the interview toward your bias you had going into the thing.

    This is not good reporting. Good reporting, by definition should be reporting the facts, which in this case, are the interviewees responses. If they are not responding the way you would like, then you shouldn't be trying to force them to do so thorugh agressive bully tactics, just move on to the next question.

    I do not have a hard time believing that censorship is the last thing on most of these guy's minds. Has anyone even looked at one of the blogs that was probed by the BBC? Does this blog look like it was being censored? (Hint - take a look about midway down the page at "The other side of China" post - not very flattering for the government)

    I have no doubt that censorship in China is very troublesome. That does not mean it is troublesome to *everyone*. The guy was asked to give an interview about his blog, he probably wants to do just that, hopefully to promote it and get more page hits. Maybe he does not want to wax philisophical about the problems of his government. That's his right, so stop harassing him! You're supposed to be a member of a country who values freeodom of speech, give him a chance to exercise his.

    1. Re:Yeah but you can't bully all the time by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's a huge difference between bullying and demanding a straight answer.

      In the famous paxman interview, the politician *repeatedly* refuest to give a straight answer to a simple question. He was lying, and it was becoming more apparent as the questioning went on that (a) he wasn't going to admit publicly what he had done, and (b) it was painfully obvious that he had done it.

      A good interviewer will try any means possible to get a straight answer out of the interviewee. Someone who is fudging will have a *really* bad time (unless they resort to barefaced lies, which tends to get them thrown out of office), and someone telling the truth will have a relatively easy time.

      Politicians are easy meat, because they *never* give a straight answer to anything. If you asked one what time it was they'd talk crap for 10 minutes and still not tell you the time...

    2. Re:Yeah but you can't bully all the time by Tim+Browse · · Score: 2, Interesting
      One thing about the Paxman/Howard exchange that wasn't revealed until much later by Paxman was that the reason he kept asking the same question was because the Director had just told him via his earpiece that the VT for the next item wasn't ready yet, so he (Paxman) should try to string out the item with Howard a bit longer while they sort it out.

      Of course, that doesn't change the fact that there was nothing wrong with Paxman asking the question until he got a straight answer, and that Howard gave a classic performance as an evasive untrustworthy politician, and it all made for great TV.

      Sort of reminds of the time time when Indy just shoots the guy with the sword, because Harrison Ford was ill for two days and they'd run out of time to film the big swordfight that was originally planned.

  25. Re:I may have got the wrong end of the stick here. by m0rph3us0 · · Score: 1

    I forgot how the gov't forces us to use open source applications. And shuts down the press when they talk about commercial software. China has almost nothing to do with communism anymore, and a whole lot more to do with fascism.

  26. BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Sleeping+Kirby · · Score: 1

    I have to admit, I do find some of the interviewers at the BBC a bit too pushy for my taste. But they're just trying to get to the trust beyond the euphenism, beyond the denotations and I can appreciate that. If those bloggers can "really" post what they want. Have them post an entry on 1 of three things. 1) arguing for liberty and personal freedoms for citizens. 2) arguing for Taiwan independence. 3) arguing for uncensored internet in China. Then we'll really see how "free" he is to say whatever he wants... assuming he doesn't disappear before we get to see the posting.

    Oh yeah, BBC reports on censorship because a) it's everyday just like the weather b) it effects everyone in China c) because they're being censored from doing other news in China. :p

    --
    please... let me sleep... a little more... yay, no longer annonmyous coward.
    1. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Typical white man, so you think the average chinese citizen have to show their freedom to you by going against their country.

      Nice try, but I am not buying.

    2. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Ph33r+th3+g(O)at · · Score: 1

      The fact that a Chinese citizen is arguing that liberty and personal freedoms is "going against your country" illustrates that those (unfortunately few) refusing to do business there and those pressing for the restoration of the legitimate government of China in exile in Taiwan are correct.

      --
      I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
    3. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by liangzai · · Score: 4, Interesting

      OK. I take the bait.

      Slashdot is a blog. It is on the Internet. I am posting this from China.

      Here is my blog entry:

      1. Chinese people ought to have the same or more freedom as people in the West.

      2. Taiwan IS an independent state, which all Chinese already know.

      3. China should abolish the fanghuo changcheng (GFW) immediately, and let people use the Internet as freely as in the West (and it can be discussed how freely it can really be used in the West). I don't how many times I have argued this on Chinese state-owned BBS:s.

      4. Mao Zedong was an asshole, a pervert and a mass murderer. He was renowned for his serious cases of VD after trying out guniangs in the villages on every one of hid goddamn trip. I have said this too on state-owned BBS:s.

      I am now waiting for the gong'an to storm my apartment, transport me to a football field and give me the neck shot in front of a cheering audience...

      Oh, before I die, let me just add that I, too, am fed up with the BBC, because they DON'T report the social and cultural context to the filtering in China, but see it all from a modern Western perspective (just back fifty years, and it would be different); they DON'T realize there is a process, and they CAN'T see that much has already gone in the right direction. Freedom IS gradually increasing in China, but you should NEVER expect China to be EXACTLY like the West.

      OK, off to the football field...

    4. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously you're a loyal Party member participating in what is illegal for other citizens in order to help contradict the general knowledge that the Internet is censored in China to keep the flow of dollars for prisoner made-goods flowing.

    5. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see through your clever selection of words. I assert the following. Do you assent? If you do, I urge you to quote this post and say as much. I venture that, even if you do, you can not do this. Feel free to edit these points as you see fit.

      1. The Chinese Communist Party rule must be replaced by a representative government that is democratically elected at all levels and done so in an election process that holds up under international scrutiny.

      2. Taiwan is an independent, sovereign *nation*, to which mainland China has no legitimate claim.

      3. The Chinese Communist Party has and continues to systematically suppress the basic human rights of freedom of worship, religious assembly, and religious expression. It is the basic human right of House Christians and Falun Gong followers to assemble for the purpose of religious expression, a right which no government has the legitimate authority to suppress.

      But if you are a government tool, no doubt you will be permitted to respond to this solely to spread disinformation. Do so for your own satisfaction.

    6. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a paranoid idiot.

    7. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Sleeping+Kirby · · Score: 1

      You brought up a good point. Are all these blogs blogs that the chinese government moniter? Because I doubt a lot of those chinese offical will have a vast aptitude in english, nor will they *forum* tread (and this is a forum, not a blog) a techie news site that's beyond their control and most common people don't know about.

      On the subject western perspective of Chinese freedoms.
      The chairman of Apex Digital arrested in China
      I assume from your aptitude of the language, that you know something about the western culture. But freedom because the ruling party is *letting* you do something isn't real freedom, it's just turning a blind eye until they decide they don't like you. Which is why I posted that article. I listen to the BBC almost nightly here in the US and just about every other night there some report about the new things that are going on in China (almost to a point to where I'm sick of it). From the water cut off due to a polluting plant explosion, to the newest fads in china, and their views of video games, and their views about western cultures, and their cultural change from the 1970's, elder people's view on things like credit cards, social changes and attitudes about jobs. Maybe people china doesn't hear about these cultural and social reports because *gasp* they were censored/filtered in China?
      It's hard for a blind person to blame the sun for not being bright enough. ^^;

      --
      please... let me sleep... a little more... yay, no longer annonmyous coward.
    8. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by liangzai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, fuck, I actually do know something about Western culture, since I am a Westerner. And as a such, I can tell you that in most Western countries, you are only allowed freedom because the ruling party is *letting* you. I don't have the freedom to drive on the freeway in 190 mph, because the ruling party forbids it. In my native home country, I am not allowed to do nuclear research, because the ruling party forbids it. In neighboring Germany, I cannot express Nazi views, because the ruling party forbids it (and also does the same filtering as China with regards to US Nazi parties). In neigboring Denmark, I can't marry a pretty Chinese or Moroccan or even US girl until they are 25 or so...

      And in the holy USA, the land of the free, you can't take a goddamn joint without risking being jailed, stripped of all your property, and also stripped of all your democratic rights. This is because the ruling party in the US decided you shouldn't be allowed to vote if you have a deviant opinion from theirs. And since the other party agrees, it doesn't matter that you formally have a democracy (a two party system).

      The BBC, like most other foreign news sources, get their news from Chinese sources. There is a vivid debate in most areas in China, and people are interested.

      The censorship in China really boils down to a few key points, like independence movements and other threats (or imagined threats) to the regime. Although I certainly don't agree with this or think it is a good situation, it isn't as bad in China as people in the West are LED to believe by BBC and others.

      But to understand the censorship in China, one needs to understand the country, its history, its cultural heritage, its social context and so on. I suggest that you start with Confucius. Fuck, the BBC should be doing this background job for you, but they don't care.

    9. Re:BBC reports Censorship like we report weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      you should NEVER expect China to be EXACTLY like the West.

      So you're saying Chinese will always demand some level of arbitrary neck-shooting?
  27. Empathy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a chinese living in your(western) world, I find the western mentality intersting to the degree of slight irritation. Every issue concerning china gets boiled down the freedom/democracy in which the west holds absolute moral superiority. Any critism to this view gets labled as being coming from brainwashed commies or agents of the state.

    It seems to be the westerners have no empathy nor any intention of understanding and issue from any view othern than their own. And attack the messanger as defence.

  28. Makes sense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fact that the bloggers that have problems with censorship are already locked away in "re-education camps" probably has a lot to do with the fact that you don't hear from those ones....

  29. Re:I may have got the wrong end of the stick here. by DaleBob · · Score: 1

    It may be possible to draw parallels between communist ideologies and open source anything, but does censorship coincide with the idealistic form of communism that you are speaking of?

    I'm sure a political scientist could do a better job of categorizing the authoritarian state that China exists in, but the word "communist" seems insufficient and probably inappropriate. If anything, the Chinese government uses the word "communism" to propagandize the necessity of their oppressive tactics (i.e., it's not so bad because we get this perfect, moral society in the end!).

  30. The interview in full... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Paxo: So, Mr. Bush. They say you're an idiot. Are you?

    Bush: The accusationality of idiocity is only a tool of the widespread international evillism that is todays terrorism. We must spread liberty-ism(tm) throughout the planetiod and hand out billion dollar contracts to Halliburton and other Friends of Freedom(tm).

    Paxo: Mr president, thank you. Goodnight.

    Paxo: And now a brief look at tomorrow mornings papers...

  31. Not the same at all by brunes69 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If I write a blog about Chinese pop stars, and someone from the BBC contacts me about an interview, I naturally assume they want to talk about a) the blog, and/or b) Chinese pop stars. I do *not* assume they are going to start probing me about how the government censors my blog, which they may or may not do. So, if they ask me these kinds of questions, is it unheard of that I would want to redirect the interview to the original purpose ?

    The whole reason these people even give these interviews is to promote themselves and their blog. It is not to act as a political messenger. If they are anywhere near as apethetic toward politics as 99.99% of the western world, they likely give two shits about government censorship, since they don't have any radical ideas worth censoring.

    Despite what you may or may not believe, the majority of middle-class Chinese are not much different from you ("you" being the average westerner), your'e both happy little consumer monkeys, who swallow whatever the press and big money market toward you, and is too busy obessing about the latest Teen Idol(tm) episode to worry about AIDS pandemics in Africa or anything else worth worrying about. (Seriously - WTF is with all this bird flu paranoia about something that may or may not happen, when thousands are dying daily in Africa from preventable diseases just because they can't afford the few bucks a day for treatment?)

    1. Re:Not the same at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I naturally assume they want to talk about a) the blog, and/or b) Chinese pop stars. I do *not* assume they are going to start probing me about how the government censors my blog

      That would be talking about the blog, wouldn't it?

  32. Re:I may have got the wrong end of the stick here. by johnty · · Score: 1

    i think you may be confusing communist ideologies with specific forms of communist implementations.

    --
    I am unique, just like you, and you, and you...
  33. This just bugs me... by reset_button · · Score: 0

    "This being the internet"

    When talking about the internet, use a capital "i" (Internet)! When talking about internets in general, lower-case "i"! I would hope that big news organizations would catch things like that, but then again, it's the BBC...

  34. No, not if the government does not censor my blog by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    If the government does not censor my particular blog, then it has absolutely nothing to do with the interview. Whether or not it may be censoring other blogs is irrelevant, and my personal opnions on the matter (if I even have any, most likely don't care since they are simple plebs), pro or con, would likely not have any place in the original subject matter of the interview.

    So, either the interviewer was working under false pretenses from the get go, or they are incompetant and have no other questions. Either way, I would want out of that interview ASAP, since it will do netiher me nor my blog any benefit to being in it.

  35. Why the Chinese hate the BBC by melkorainur · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every Chinese guy hates the BBC. But I think I know the real reason why. It's because of history. Britain is the only country in the world that succesfully conquered China. The Chinese have always felt humiliated by the British. The Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion , still raise deep emotions among people of Chinese origin. It's the same reason why the Chinese hate the Japanese for the Rape of Nanjing. It's all about the loss of face.

    1. Re:Why the Chinese hate the BBC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Wow you are one idiotic troll. Who modded you interesting.

      Disclaimer- I am Chinese.

      What the fuck does those events has to do with the current situation. The difference is huge. Namely, the Chinese are complaining that everytime BBC interviews Chinese citizen, they try to force the interviewee to say "chinese censorship is bad."

      Furthermore, you say that because of these events, every Chinese hates Brits. Compare to WWII, those incidents are nothing. How many Chinese people died in the hands of Japanese, compare to Europeans. So using your logic, I could say every Chinese hates Japanese. Is this true? No one remember hatres for that long- especially after the political, economical, and period state change radically. I don't see any "apparent agression" for Franchies toward Germany, or Americans toward Japan.

      You made two fallacies- 1. assuming all chinese hates the Brits
      Unless people in Hong Kong or Taiwan are not chinese, you are so wrong. And last I checked, people in Hong Kong didn't mind the Brits so much...especially after the economical meltdown that occurs 3 months after the transfer.

      2. trying to link past historical events to current events.
      There are some resentment, of course. But _every Chinese_? Where did you get the idea? The older generation hates the brits, that's for sure- just like how they hate the Japanese. But they are dying off, and the new gerneration are taking over. As time move on, past conflicts would be dampen and, hopefully, forgiven.

      Which bring us to this question-why the hell are you spreading false information that does not help nor contribute to the current issue.

    2. Re:Why the Chinese hate the BBC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What kind of sorry, racist crap is this? The other poster is right: how did you get modded insightful??

      You say the reason the Chinese hate the Japanese for the Rape of Nanking is because of "loss of face". Maybe it's because 200, 000 civilians, including many women and children, were tortured, raped, and killed. Maybe it's because even now Japanese textbooks don't mention this because they consider it rumor and unconfirmed, e.g. "Nanking? Nothing happened there." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_Nanking. It's the equivalent of being a Holocaust denier. I'm sure plenty of Jews would hate Germany if the official position of the German government was to deny the Holocaust.

      The Opium wars? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars Geez, I wonder why anybody would get upset about that. It's not like the British were drug dealers, oh wait, they were! On purpose to force favorable trade agreements. Despicable by itself, one needs no appeal to "loss of face" to be disgusted by the history.

      And someone you take this well-justified dislike of certain actions by the British and Japanese in the past and turn it into "Every Chinese guy hates the BBC". Bravo, how much stupider can you get?

    3. Re:Why the Chinese hate the BBC by blingbing · · Score: 1

      a tiny bit of yes but a resouding NO! Opium war the 1st of many humiliations done to China by imperial western powers, but that was 1840, over 160 years ago. Save a few hardcore nationalists, majority chinese just don't hold it against the current british people or government. You are wrong to claim Britain successfuly conquered China. That's just not true. Britain certain had tried, but China was just too big and the chinese civilization just too resilient to be conquered by the Brits alone. What happened is western powers carved their area of influence in china: The brits had HK and neighboring Canton province, French had Fujian and indo-china, German had Tsingdao etc. Of course, all these ended when Mao and his comrades took over China and established PRC. Before the Opium war, the machu Qing dynasty was running a huge surplus with the Brits but with no crediblity military, that made china a fat turkey on thanksgiving table. Not unlike the situation today, except it's between China and U.S.. let's hope nobody does anything stupid.

  36. Re:No, not if the government does not censor my bl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the government does not censor my particular blog, then it has absolutely nothing to do with the interview.

    So how would the interviewer know that? By asking, of course!

  37. Harsh and taxing is not dogmatic by karzan · · Score: 1

    Dogmatic would be if the reporters adopted a bias toward one side of the story and stuck to it no matter who they interviewed. What British reporters--especially BBC reporters--do is treat everyone harshly. They try to put the interviewee under pressure in order to try to get them to defend their point of view. They play devil's advocate. In short, they do exactly what they ought to be doing: getting to the heart of the matter rather than simply let someone get away with saying things that others would challenge.

    This is the same kind of culture that carries through to parliament, question time, etc., and it leads to a much healthier attitude toward government, authority, etc, i.e. one of scrutiny and unforgiveness. The way it should be.

    1. Re:Harsh and taxing is not dogmatic by Savantissimo · · Score: 1

      Hear, Hear!

      --
      "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - Patrick Henry
    2. Re:Harsh and taxing is not dogmatic by rjordan · · Score: 1

      I think the idion is Hear Here. Not sure - been a point of debate in my household for some time - none of us can be bothered looking it up of course, so who knows...

      --
      "When no-one around you understands start your own revolution and cut out the middle man"
  38. Re:No, not if the government does not censor my bl by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    Sure, that is fine.

    But you should really RTFA, because this is exactly what happens. The interviewer asks them about government censorship, they say it does not really affect them so they don't really have a comment, then the interviewer goes on a crazy tangent where they keep probing about it and basically make the interviewee out to be either a liar or someone who is afraid for his life, neither of which is likely the case.

    It is *totally* slanted and bad journalism.

  39. Re:china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Excuse me but aren't you the same right wing bastard who opposes the overthrow of the feudal regime in Nepal and supports the murdering raving lunatic Gyanendra?

  40. Doesn't work for the IRA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    When Sinn Fein get interviewed like that they refuse to play ball, and tend to say things like "I'm sure your viewers are more interested in..." or threaten to leave the studio, all with eyes that say "I know where you live. Don't make me angry."

    On the other hand European Commisioners are the complete opposite. They could get interviewed by Paxman or Ali G about the most difficult subject without ever breaking into a sweat or imparting any actual information.

    So ideally Paxman wants some junior minister who can be "broken" with persistant questioning.

    For the viewer who wants information, the ideal is the President of some third world country, who usually wants to tell his countries life story in the five minutes he has allotted and can't be bothered lying.

  41. Lies. by Rickler · · Score: 1

    I don't see any articals on censorship with a quick search on china. http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results .pl?scope=newsifs&tab=news&q=china&go.x=0&go.y=0&g o=go

    --

    The human race is artificial intelligence created using object orientated programming.
  42. Could it be that ... by Empty+Yo · · Score: 1

    they want us to concentrate on what they can do (and are doing) instead of what they can't? I would be upset if the BBC wanted to interview me about my blog and all they could talk about was my country's politics, especially if my blog was about something completely unrelated.

    --
    I'll tolerate anything except intolerance.
  43. BBC interviewers ARE kind of aggressive by jlusk4 · · Score: 1

    Any NPR (American "public" radio) listeners here listen to the BBC news programs we get over here? Those interviewers really are kind of pushy. I wouldn't call them "probing", I'd call them biased and rude. The NPR folk tend to ask questions that highlight the flaws in somebody's position, but at least they're polite about it and less antagonistic.

    I feel like the BBC is overdoing what I perceive to be an attempt to be "less British": they seem to use people's first names a lot and are a little too jocular w/each other, and they're a lot less reserved in their interviews (i.e., they're pushy).

    (Must go, turkey's on fire.)

    John.

    1. Re:BBC interviewers ARE kind of aggressive by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      Any NPR (American "public" radio) listeners here listen to the BBC news programs we get over here? Those interviewers really are kind of pushy. I wouldn't call them "probing", I'd call them biased and rude.

      Biased? Yes, but not in the sense that the /. mob will understand it. BBC interviewers are very strongly biased towards the assumption that the politician they are interviewing is hiding something. Now, maybe that's wrong, maybe you should be nice and assume that you're dealing with a politician who is completely honest and has nothing to hide, but when did we last see one of those involved in anything newsworthy?

      This assumption on the part of political interviewers that all interviewees are hiding something probably stems in great part from the example of Jeremy Paxman, who has been presenting Newsnight for years; this is one of the main political analysis shows on British TV. Paxman's widely-quoted motto is 'why is this lying bastard lying to me?' After his celebrated interview with Michael Howard (already quoted in a +5 above, in which he asked the same question again and again to receive increasingly pathetic and terribly obvious evasions) he inspired a whole generation of interviewers to emulate his very aggressive style. Everyone wants to be the new Paxo.

      It's also, I think, a product of British culture as a whole. The metropolitan media elite in the UK especially have a tendency to sneer at everything. This is the world of Private Eye, of Spitting Image and Blackadder and Have I Got News For You, in which nobody ever has a virtuous motive for anything. I know British comedy is very popular among certain Americans, especially of a geeky persuasion, so you'll all know how dark and nasty a sense of humour we tend towards. We're a deeply cynical nation.

      As far as I'm concerned, sycophantic interviews are a waste of time. Why does a politician give an interview? Not to explain details of policy; he does that in Parliament and it is then reported upon. He does it to explain his reasons, or what he wants us to think are his reasons. So we're outside the realm of dry unvarnished facts, we're getting the politician's angle, coloured by whatever his agenda may be or whatever the whips or the guys in Millbank want said. If left to his own devices the politician will deliver a distorted view of reality; we therefore need interviewers who will assume the worst of their interviewees and take them to task on any inconsistencies, significant omissions, blatant evasions or outright lies they may commit.

      I might further add, though I've gone on far too long already, that it's not just the BBC who have this attitude. Parliament is a rowdy and cynical place, too. Here's the latest of Blair's weekly half-hour Q&A sessions there.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    2. Re:BBC interviewers ARE kind of aggressive by jlusk4 · · Score: 1

      Eh...

      It's possible to ask probing questions and expose weaknesses in an interviewee's position without constantly interrupting the interviewee, deliberately misinterpreting his/her statements, repeating the same question over and over, and putting words in the interviewee's mouth ("isn't it true that...?").

      Polite != sycophantic.

      True, I had sort of forgotten the whole culture of the British news media. There's a fundamental difference in libel law between Britain and America, isn't there? In Britain, the accused politician has to prove the statements are a lie, while in America, the accusing media outlet has to prove the statements are true. Or something like that. Leads to fundamentally different behavior in the press.

      I think there are several different flavors of British comedy. I myself prefer the John Cleese stiff-upper-lip-in-the-face-of-utter-outlandishnes s variety. Or stiff-upper-lip-leading-to-utter-outlandishness.

      There's also that whole Benny Hill/Are You Being Served? slapstick thing. Not so much to my liking.

      [Imagine more inane blather here, and I won't bother typing it.]

      John.

    3. Re:BBC interviewers ARE kind of aggressive by 10Ghz · · Score: 1
      It's possible to ask probing questions and expose weaknesses in an interviewee's position without constantly interrupting the interviewe


      Well, if the interviewer asks a simple yes/no question, and the person being interviewed gives a lenghty "answer" that doesn't answer the question at all, what can you expect? the Howard/Paxman-interview is a good example of this. Yes, Paxman interrupted Howard onnumerous occasions. But which is worse: Interrupting a politician spouting BS, or knowingly spouting pure BS to the public? Apparently your idea of an "interview" is the one where the interviewer just nods agreeingly and says "yes Mr. Rumsfeld, thank you for your time".

      I believe that most politicians are dishonest (as in that they do not tell us everything, or they downright lie) by their very nature. And I see no problems in asking them tough questions. And I see exactly ZERO problems in holding them accountable for the BS they spout.
      --
      Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
    4. Re:BBC interviewers ARE kind of aggressive by Savantissimo · · Score: 1

      IANAL but I believe that in British libel law the defendant must prove that the derogatory information was likely true, whereas in America the plaintiff must prove that the information was definitely not true and was made with reckless or knowing disregard for the facts. The British reporters just have way more balls than the Americans.

      --
      "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - Patrick Henry
  44. Censorship in North america just as bad... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Censorship in North america just as bad... with all the Corps deciding whats 'newsworthy' and what's not not to mention the U.S. Government's influence on media. Almost all media subscribes to the dominant idealogy or perspectives about their own country they (gov or corporations) want to engineer into their populace. i.e. "china doesn't have free speech" so america must be good! Meanwhile things like illegal immigration or bad immigration policy taking jobs in North america is 'downplayed' or not much in the news at all, not to mention the huge amount of poverty and squalor in many places throughout North america that virtually goes ignored.

  45. bbc vs chinese blogger == /.er vs the joe-sixpack by AtomicBomb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In slashdot, we talk about stuff that matters, like whether this electric toilet seat can run Linux, is the recent act of MS/SCO/Sony/RIAA/Google.... violates the privacy of the user... It is fine to about that here. I understand what you mean, concern and worries... But, if one day slashdot becomes so powerful that it runs a cable tech news network and start interviewing some random guy in the local mall about the same issue, you can expect they will answer huh!?! It does not really mean privacy, online security etc are unimportant. It just means a large segment of the society has no interest in this in their daily life.

    The Chinese bloggers being interviewed by BBC must be feeling the same as the joe sixpack in the local mall being interviewed by CowboyNeal. First, if that guy is a political activist, he or she probably won't have time hang around blogging for unrelated stuff. The other bloggers probably has an interest of travel, career, music, movie and porn. Asking them topics about politics is kind of out of context.

    Second, sometimes, the journalists tend to ask questions which has an information content of close to zero. For example, ask if you can freely express about your opinion freely about some banned groups. Okay there are three scenarios. 1) that person answers along the line of "I don't want to talk about this/ I have no interest about this". The reporter reads that the blogger cannot express his opinion freely. 2) that person says no. The reporter reads that the blogger is controlled by the state. 3) that person says yes. The reporter says "yeah. I know the censorship is everywhere"...

    While we all know censorship still prevalent in China, conducting such kind of interview is kind of meaningless. Many western reporters tend to have a mindset that there are only two groups of people in China: democratic activists and evil communists... The fact is the China has changed a lot. Most people just don't care about anything, or have an opinion quite different from the stereotype, just like anywhere in the world.

  46. Wang Jian Shuo is by Analogue+Kid · · Score: 1
    How do we know that the people who are 'speaking out against the BBC' aren't themselves being coerced into doing so in an attempt by the chinese govornment to negate the BBC's coverage of Chinese freedom of speech issues.


    Well, first off, I've talked with Wang Jian Shuo, and he's not that kind of guy. If he were that much of a risk-adverse, self-censoring person he wouldn't have written what he did about Microsoft back when he worked for them. Secondly, he's broken laws about with what he's written multiple times in the past and he's even been ballsy enough to draw attention to it. Finally, his blog gets over a million unique visitors a month and he's financially independent. If he wanted to leave China he easily could.

    I'm not Chinese, but even I get pissed off at how slanted western media is whenever China comes up. In terms of basic freedoms, I think most westerners have a very unrealistic picture of both China and their own countries.
    --
    I'm a gnu world man.
    1. Re:Wang Jian Shuo is by stunt_penguin · · Score: 1

      Okay I didn't mean to sound quite so flippant, but with the current state of affairs, it's very hard to tell where the truth lies. Everyone has their own version of the truth :o(

      --
      When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
  47. My housemates by dusqi · · Score: 1

    I'm a university student in England living with two Chinese housemates who came here to study. Neither of them have any kind of political views as far as I can tell, nor have they heard of Amnesty International. It's interesting how this kind of apolitical lifestyle manifests itself; satirical political shows, for example, are to them a genre that isn't even conceivable. So, it seems to me that if my housemates are at all representative of Chinese people in general: however much the BBC writes about censorship in China, it's not enough.

  48. Re:china by minus_273 · · Score: 1

    hello sarcasm. trust me, communist and their left wing have killed about 10k people in nepal Gyanendra does not even compare to that. leftists like you should rot in hell.

    --
    The war with islam is a war on the beast
    The war on terror is a war for peace
  49. censorship in china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, I am an Chinese. Few things to say here:
    1) The censorship really exits in China.
    2) The censorship is not techinically hard to be breakthrough.
    3) The censorship is not efficiently enough to censor all things that suppose to be censored.
    4) The censorship is loosening but will still be there in the near future.
    5) The censorship is just a small piece compared with the control of media and lots of other things on the dark side of china.

    So what should I do as an Chinese?
    I will try to tell the truth to my compariot about the censorship and the way to break it.
    I am not supposed to be exposed by westen media like bbc that maybe noticed by the censorship.

    However not everyone tends to help others.
    They just keep themself safe that is reasonable after things happened in 1989 Jun 4.

    For those /., you can also experience the censorship in China.
    i.e. The current headline of the people's paper (ccp's official paper) is now:
    http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/3887454.html
    add some parameter to it you can still visit it, i.e.:
    http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/3613060.html ?x=abc
    add some censored word in parameter then you will not be able to visit it, i.e.:
    http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/3887454.html ?x=%B7%BD%D6%DB%D7%D3
    (%B7%BD%D6%DB%D7%D3 is some censored chinese word in hexadecimal coding)
    and you will be not able to access the page in certain period of time.

    It interesting that sites censored are mosty in chinese and sites like slashdot and bbc are not censored.

    Finally thank you all care about the censorship in china.

    For those chinese who are not censored or breakthrough, do something positive but not keep silence.
    "They came first for the Communists,
    and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
    Then they came for the Jews,
    and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
    Then they came for the Catholics,
    and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
    Then they came for me,
    and by that time no one was left to speak up."

    ---by Martin Niemoeller on the New England Holocaust Memorial

    1. Re:censorship in china by liangzai · · Score: 1

      Well, that's not the way the GFW works, since it 1) doesn't censor calls from the OUTSIDE world, and 2) doesn't censor WITHIN the Chinese network. The GFW only censors calls from China to the outer world. That is the reason Google breaks so easily, while Baidu always works for the same topics. Now, all this makes sense, since the only reason for the GFW to exist is to make an information speed bump for the large majority of users; tech savvy people don't even notice it when set up properly.

      The process, the Intrusion Detection System, will cut off the connection for a while if several criteria are met. Entering "Fang Zhouzi" in a search engine isn't enough criteria, since there are many people with that name, not just a person associated with 6/4.

      I tried the links to Renmin Ribao, and as expected, there was no cut off. If you experience a cut off, it is your ISP that has an additional monitoring system. I currently surf in standard mode.

      Chinese sites are censored, because most Chinese don't care for foreign language stuff. The BBC is actually blocked, and has been for a long time. The reason is just because they are so obnoious about China and internet censorship, not because of their content. The BBC is like an irritating fly to the Chinese gubmint.

      But I agree with you that internet censorship is a small thing compared to journalism and the regular censorship of litterature. The entire Internet in IS available to any Chinese, and I believe the gubmint will one day scrap the system when they discover that enough people already know the stuff that they aren't supposed to know, and when they realize it is harming more than it is preventing (whatever it is supposed to prevent). For instance, access to Wikipedia has now been cut, because you can find all the "bad" stuff there (but also all the "good").

  50. Re:china by karzan · · Score: 1

    right. as if 10s of thousands have not died as a result of the abject poverty they are kept in by the feudal regime, not to mention the countless people victimised by the army and police every day, the journalists 'disappeared', tortured, etc. gyanendra should be tried for crimes against humanity. it's not just the maoists who think so now either--the political parties agree. hopefully soon gyanendra will be rotting in prison in the Republic of Nepal. sorry, you lose, fascist.

  51. It's a point of interest. by SeaFox · · Score: 1

    The BBC has an article about how chinese bloggers hate BBC interviews, as from their point of view all the Beeb cares about is censorship in China.

    Well, why else would the BBC care about a Chinese blog? Few blogs (Chinese or those based in the UK or USA) are big enough, widely read enough, or interesting enough to be worthy of major media attention. Look at all the people who post on Slashdot and I don't think I've ever heard it mentioned in the media. The Brits do care about people being punished by communist regimes and denied the ability to speak out against their rulers, though. And since blogs and other internet activities have allowed many to do so, it's going to be a topic of conversation when the foreign press calls.

  52. foreigner perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not Chinese but I do live in China currently.

    Firstly get your facts straight dipstick.
    "Britain is the only country in the world that successfully conquered China". Mongolia conquered China long before the Brits along with most of the known world creating for a brief period the largest empire ever to span the globe.

    What has this got to do with censorship in china? About as much as writing about English dope dealers pillaging China over 100 years ago.

    I've been welcomed into this country with open arms and I don't even live in one of the major cities that are becoming alarmingly western these days. These people are damn civilized courteous and live simple lives, they really don't give a damn about the government.

    I've never been questioned by police or asked for my ID or even felt unsafe in the streets. Admittedly I've dropped my wallet in the street 3 times only to have it returned by someone chasing me down a minuet later and that's with about 3 months of their salary sitting inside.

    Just keep poking them with a stick and asking (leading) questions about their government then you do get your anti British sentiment.

    The fact is to meet a Chinese person outside of China they have to be considerably wealthier than the rest to leave and don't represent the majority.

    Hands up if you have lived in China, no?
    Good luck with your baseless opinions.

  53. Re:china by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    right.. the leftists did kill many people, but what about the right-winged? the hawkish can get away with bombing iraq to 'liberate' their oil, why can't the leftist do the same?

  54. All Frenchmen are lazy bums. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nt

  55. No, the Brits only care about proving to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    themselves that they somehow still matter.

  56. BBC website unblocked? by yingguoren · · Score: 1

    I'm an English guy who's just moved to China this month. I'd heard the BBC's website was blocked in China and trying news.bbc.co.uk seemed to confirm this. But I just tried clicking on this link (mainly so I could post an "the irony is you can't read this in China" comment) and what do you know, it's moved to newsvotes.bbc.co.uk and I can read it. This is great as I've really been missing it, and it should help keep my sanity in smalltown China. I'm hoping this is a new policy from China, and it's not going to vanish in a few hours. With regards to the BBC's coverage, they are very keen on highlighting things like democracy and censorship in China, far more than most other media in the UK, especially in Hong Kong. I guess the real reason they're censored in China though is that they have their own Chinese language site. This still seems to be blocked.

  57. Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eh? None of their business.

  58. The media is interviewing the media. by dwalsh · · Score: 1

    Think about who the BBC are interviewing - bloggers are an internet medium. It makes sense that the BBC would ask about censorship, as it is how the law affects what the media can report.

    If they want to ask about politics/industry/the environment, they would ring the government, other political groups, corporations etc. They would not ring bloggers.

    The media interviews the media usually to talk about bias, censorship or other influence on how they work, whether internal or external.

    --
    ${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
  59. Re:China free to say whatever they want by chrisnewbie · · Score: 0

    How can truth be flamebait!!!! oh yeah when it's a republicain or communist moderating

  60. Re:china by minus_273 · · Score: 1

    and in your workers paradise people will be slaughtered systematically like animals killed and by famine. Why? because people like you are too dumb to realize that communism is fascism in the name of the people. Ah! the glorious dictatorship of the people except the people do not rule. Are you telling me there is any difference between a monarchy and the workers paradise in N. korea?

    If you know anything about Nepal (or actually lived there) you would know that the political parties are weak and corrupt. They have one goal and one goal alone, lining their pockets.

    You lose commie, and that not something i need to tell you. Your ideas are so discredited, there are only a handful of countries left that follow it. History and economics is my friend you are all alone bastard.

    --
    The war with islam is a war on the beast
    The war on terror is a war for peace
  61. Re:china by minus_273 · · Score: 1

    wow, such logic! you sir deserve a prize. i wish everyone could see this as an example of leftist wisdom. I am sure King Gyanendera of NEPAL bombed Iraq. What are you smoking?

    --
    The war with islam is a war on the beast
    The war on terror is a war for peace