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China Quietly Unblocks Names of Its Leaders
hackingbear writes "One of the Chinese Web censorship's central features has long been blocking searches for the names of top leaders to maintain their public images. Sina Weibo, China's largest microblog service, unblocked searches for the names of many top political leaders in a possible sign of looser controls a month after new senior officials were named to head the ruling party, though a number of other senior leaders are still blocked on Weibo, including Premier Web Jiabao. That (President) Xi might be leading by example on softening Web censorship could be a promising sign for future reforms. It isn't on a major shift, but it could portend one."
With 1+ billion people, most names are going to have duplicates.
Just keep making my electronics at low cost please.
Thanks.
It's relevant because web censorship in China is being slightly reduced. Considering web is part of tech and this is a tech website, posting it here makes sense.
It's relevant because web censorship in China is being slightly reduced. Considering web is part of tech and this is a tech website, posting it here makes sense.
Based upon a recent BBC report, there is a majority of Chinese who will go right along with anything the government wants to do, because the consider the Goverment practically a member of the family -- like a wise parent looking after them -- and go so far as to take pride in that. What's more important to the Chinese people is cutting down corruption, not censorship.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
...'Cause I think I just heard someone say "Weibo"!
WE-I-BO! WE-I-BO!
Can slashdot stop posting every bit of tech-related minutiae in Conservative states?
The fact remains it is a way of life and that is their system. This is not new or interesting. Why this is posted to a Liberal-leaning tech news site makes no sense.
See how your logic doesn't work?
because the common main-land chinaman is a primitive savage. we should 'liberate' them with a few nukes.
That attitude doesn't seem to be limited to China.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Dear god people if you dont know anything about the topic dont post....
China blocked the names of a number of their leaders of late (on Weibo [twitter] and Sina [google]) for a few reasons:
1. There may have been an attempted coup - that accounts for a few names
2. There for sure was the downfall of a major regional leader (Bo Xilai) under very ugly circumstances (right hand man tried to defect to US embassy to avoid being murdered,wife poisoned a spy, etc.)
3. There was a huge NYT article calling out Hu Jintao that was straight propaganda - so much so that they disseminated a chinese language pdf of the article to the general web
4. The old leader Jiang Zhemin has been near death and rumors have swirled.
5. Some other guys kid wrecked a car and killed some people
THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY THOSE NAMES WERE CENSORED. This doesnt portend to any changes. Watch the next few years as freeing China becomes a constant narrative....
I could give the reasons why they have unblocked them now but id rather get out to a party. Try to RTFA and then RSMFAs before posting nonsense.
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
That attitude doesn't seem to be limited to China.
I'm certain it isn't. In the most recent US election I frequently saw people vote against their own best interests.
And you can pick dozens of countries where people exist who feel this way. Why would anyone back Assad in Syria? Because the status quo favors them and the spectre of change is mighty fearsome.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
a majority of Chinese who will go right along with anything the government wants to do, because the consider the Goverment practically a member of the family -- like a wise parent looking after them
Not if you are Chinese and speak to Chinese people outside of earshot of foreigners. Face, especially when outsiders are present, is important.
As for the logic of yet another "it's their culture" argument, well suppose for a moment you're right about the citizens' love and appreciation for government, can we accept that apathy over limitations on personal freedoms happens in the US as well? It's often said on /. that Americans are apathetic about censorship, yet Americans are lambasted as sheep/stupid, even boot-lickers of the encroaching police state, and "hey guys, chill out, political apathy is part of their American culture" is never offered as the enlightened explanation. I suspect the latter argument would never pass the bullshit test, either. The fact that opposite conclusions can be arrived at suggests there is a breakdown in reason.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
Unfortunately, since one week ago, virtually all kinds of VPN services have been severely affected recently, if not cut off completely.
In the most recent US election I frequently saw people vote against their own best interests.
51% of voters nationwide did that.
Democracy and Capitalism are the only systems close to workable fixes we have to address corruption. Ugly patches as they are, humanity has experimented with just about any other form of government, and currently the only successful way to handle the innate evil of man is to leverage it. Sure, as the recent environmental problem teach us, it's a work in progress. But it's still better than anything else around.
My concerns are not with today's average Chinese nor his family. I'm concerned for the availability of resources and the quality of the air and water of tomorrow's Asians. Because if nothing gets done, there just might come a day when their corrupt regime might feel it necessary to invade a few neighbors in order to secure resources. And if you think the latest U.S. incursions were too aggressive, wait until you see a single ruling fascist party handle on things. Obama can at least appeal to the masses when, instead of sacrificing them in favor of the elite, he opts to average the quality of life for everyone instead of opening a war every time the price of oil rises. In the Chinese government, the elites are the ones in power and will never sacrifice themselves for the unwashed masses.
And now, more and more automation allows lesser and lesser reliance on personal. What will happen when all it takes is a half a dozen engineers and two dozen more technicians to feed and close a small city ? Will China become less corrupt then ? At least in the west votes still matter while the transition from Capitalism to whatever it is we're moving towards is taking place... In China they could just decide one day to completely throw out all the rights and the people will just nod in approval as long as no one is caught taking a bribe.
What the originator must think about before forming an opinion.
Don't read motives of the Chinese from a western perspective. China's leaders and its people have never been exposed to or experienced free speech, and/or anything resembling democracy in their history. Understanding the why, or even if this is a significant development isn't so easy.
The only thing I read in that. They did something that caught the attention of any people or organizations that look for a political, democratic, human rights, free speech, or any shift in China to ward western values.
But for me, after decades of reading and past history as examples about China. Anything westerners may perceive or think resembles western values isn't necessarily or even close to what is going on. There just isn't that kind of common ground except that china does understand what makes westerners wet their pants.
yay
> China Quietly Unblocks Names of Its Leaders
Sweet! Now people there can Google their president named...um...
They can Google the head of the Communist party named...uhhhhhh...
They can Google the premier, um, the premier, uh, the premier of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I know I probably shouldn't say this, and my comment might get modded down quite badly.
But those people who think that the Internet's control should be taken away from the US and handed to the UN should really look at what other countries in the UN do with their Internet. I know it is bad that US uses copyright laws as excuse to take over domains, like MegaUpload. However you can still search Barack Obama on the US Internet without any problem. I think having US controlling the Internet is the lesser of two evils. I certainly don't want countries like China to get involved in deciding the future of the Internet.
And if you wonder who introduced DPI into the ITU, it is China.
Censorship *is* corruption.
What a Great Leap Forward for the Chineese internet!
How do they say 'irony' in Mandarin? Or Cantonese?