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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."
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
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.
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
It's true, although Chinese parents can select any one or two characters to name their child from the thousands of characters in common use and the tens of thousands out of common use, there are a few hundred characters that tend to be used disproportionately often.
As for surnames, the top 100 most common surnames make up more than 85% of the country's population and over 1/5 of Chinese are called either "Wang", "Li" or "Zhang".
People having the same name as a leader is quite common. I know at least two guys who cannot write their own name on Weibo because they are called "Li Peng", using the exact same two characters as the former premier (who's name IS still blocked and will be as long as he is still alive for reasons you can look up yourself).
As for Chaiman Xi, his surname is not particularly common and his given name is not common either, however they are all common words. You cannot ask someone "are you familiar with the nearby plain?" without writing his name for example.
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
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.
From the post,..." Premier Web Jiabao". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabao So apparently Chinese parents are naming their children after great technological advances. Perhaps they haven't read "Jennifer Government". :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Government
"He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition