Slashdot Mirror
A Single Re-Tweet Lands Chinese Woman in Labor Camp
lee1 writes "A woman in China has been sentenced to a year of 're-education' in a labor camp for the crime of 'disrupting social order' after retweeting a joke on Twitter (which is entirely banned in China, but popular nonetheless). Cheng Jianping had repeated a Twitter comment suggesting that nationalist protesters smash Japan's pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, adding the words 'Charge, angry youth.' At the time, China and Japan were feuding over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, and groups of young Chinese had been demonstrating against Japan, smashing Japanese products; the tweet amounted to gentle chiding of the protesters. Ms. Cheng may also have been targeted because she is a human rights activist: she had signed petitions calling for the release of China's jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. She has been detained in the past for several other 'crimes,' including criticizing China's Communist Party."
No, she was imprisoned for making fun of the people actually causing racial unrest...
I'm pretty sure Bill Gates doesn't need Re-Education, nor does Stephen Hawking, and they both have twitter feeds.
What would happen if someone tweeted a "joke" about a bomb threat in the EU or the USA?
Oh that's right, they get a visit by their friendly neighborhood police officers. http://boingboing.net/2010/11/13/twitter-users-re-twe.html
This is probably front page news because we clearly all hate China, and Twitter is involved. In full seriousness, relying on the humor of law enforcement/secret police to keep you out of trouble is a bad bet. Relying on that sense of humor when seemingly inciting violence against a nation with whom ties are already strained is an even worse bet. Is this seriously anything new or surprising?
Signatures are the new names.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/18/pakistan.blasphemy/index.html?hpt=C1
"This month a Pakistani court sentenced Isham's mother, 45 year old Asia Bibi, to death, not because killed, injured or stole, but simply because she said something."
"The town cleric, Qari Muhammad Salim, reported the incident to police who arrested Bibi. After nearly 15 months in prison came her conviction and the death sentence."
USA's best friends, China and Pakistan. Awesome.
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A man walks into a bar and tells the bar tender
and gets three years in jail.
No, it's just required to hold a parade, which disrupts traffic and commerce in the area for a short time. There are plenty of other ways to exercise your freedom of speech that don't disrupt anyone, and don't require a permit.
Isn't enough that I ruined a pony, making a gift for you?
20 grand is probably more than a chinese laborer earns in their entire lives
FTFY
Isn't enough that I ruined a pony, making a gift for you?
Correction: the financial human right they disagree with is "people have the right to make a profit off of the financial loss of other, to the point of causing significant suffering/death."
...plus a criminal record and a £3000 legal bill when he lost his appeal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11736785
It is in the middle but unless they are EXACTLY at the same position in the middle, one is closer to A than the other.
Dumping everything into the "it's all grey" category and ignoring every difference is just as stupid as assigning the Good/Bad label as if they were absolutes.
"The conduct of neither [party], if strictly examined, will be irreproachable." -Elizabeth Bennet
You haven't gotten out much since the 60's, have you?
I am merely pointing out a popular belief in China, and how our perceived failures in politics and economy help to promote such a belief across the Pacific. When US was at its height of global dominance, around time of USSR's downfall, having proven Communism wrong, its capitalist and political system were admired by the developing countries and seen as the undisputed correct way forward. And now with the power balance slowly shifts to the new rising powers, the values held by US, freedom and democracy are no longer seen as the undisputed best way forward.
The idea of stable and harmonious society in China can perhaps be traced back to the June 4 massacre in 1989. In the 80's China opened its market to outside, and like many developing countries, corruption and inflation quickly surfaced. The protests against them quickly gained momentum and ended in the tragedy that is still an unspeakable taboo in China. But the story did not end here. China picked up its economic reforms after Deng XiaoPing's southern tour, and began its miraculous growth.
This gave rise to the impression of causation effect. That is, the suppression of the protest ensured social stability, which was a pre-requisite to economic growth. With this idea the communist party justified its actions in June 4 1989 (but they prefer not to talk about it). As long as economy continues to grow, they can use it to suppress any challenge to their rule. The West demanding more openness? That's a conspiracy to undermine the economy.
Any political and economic system is ultimately judged by end results. China's recent success and rise would give more weight to the system they have. And if US and Europe continue to struggle, it only strengthens China's point of view, and ultimately gives it more justifications to suppress people.
Pro tip: yes, they can. See USSR.