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Arrested Chinese Blogger "Confesses" On State TV, Praises Censorship

Posted by Soulskill on from the i'm-sure-we-can-take-that-at-face-value dept.

Koreantoast writes "As part of a broader, chilling Chinese crackdown on Internet dissent, Chinese blogger Charles Xue appeared on Chinese state television in handcuffs on Sunday, denouncing his blog and praising government censorship. He 'confessed' to becoming drunk on the accumulated power of his Weibo blog, which peaked at 12 million followers, and confessed to recklessly spreading unverified rumors and slander, disrupting social harmony and becoming a vent of negative emotion on mainstream society. He also praised new government legislation cracking down on Internet freedom, stating how dangerous the Internet would be if left uncontrolled by the government. Xue was arrested on prostitution solicitation charges though his television confession did not discuss that. His arrest was also suspiciously around the same time as a broader government sweep that picked up other Chinese Internet activists."

8 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. Drudge and other U.S. bloggers are next by DNAgent · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is exactly the outcome that Diane Feinstein and others of her ilk would visit upon the U.S., given her way.

    1. Re:Drudge and other U.S. bloggers are next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Drudge is a "blogger" now? News to me. Unhinged, shit-flinging monkey perhaps, kind of like you appear to be.

      You just described bloggers. 99.9% of them are worthless drivel.

      And you just assumed that an elected politician would know the difference between a blog and a "news" website. Rights are Rights. You either have them, or you don't. That is why ours are so black and white, to avoid generalized fucktard opinions like this that can become law.

    2. Re:Drudge and other U.S. bloggers are next by icebike · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Impossible? Really?

      Machetes work very well too.

      The second amendment granted the PEOPLE the right to arms, not the government, and it was precisely to control the government that they were given these rights. It was fully expected that the PEOPLE would have the same arms as any soldier, which in this the modern era every citizen should be expected to have a fully automatic military long arm and a side arm.

      See Switzerland. Vastly higher gun possession rate, gun death rate less than half of the US rate.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:Drudge and other U.S. bloggers are next by jcr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The second amendment granted the PEOPLE the right

      No it didn't, and the idea that the constitution created our rights is a very dangerous misconception. Our rights are intrinsic to our human nature, and what the constitution does is delegate certain powers to the government.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  2. Bradley Manning by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And yet when Bradley Manning makes an eerily similar statement plenty of people are willing to take it as proof positive that he was a bad guy.

    1. Re:Bradley Manning by s.petry · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wrong! The first rule you learn in the US Army is that you are to uphold the Constitution and defend the citizens. You also learn that you are not to obey orders that are unlawful and therefor illegal.

      Wear the Uniform and learn the job before you spout off bullshit propaganda. I proudly served my country defending it's citizens, consider myself to be pro-USA, and would have done exactly the same thing as Manning under the same circumstances.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  3. Translation ... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They threatened me and my family, and the only way I can escape prison or a firing squad is to publicly denounce this.

    I do not believe this is anything other than agreeing to repeat the party line under duress.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  4. So, in other words: by kheldan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ..he was black-bag arrested, subjected to torture, beaten, starved, thrown in an oubliette for a time, threatened with death, had his friends and family threatened with all the above, and likely drugged, until he finally broke and was willing to say anything they wanted him to say, no matter the cost to him or his reputation, and no matter how humiliating. Next he'll probably "commit suicide", leaving behind a note explaining how he couldn't live with the guilt and shame for having spoken such lies about the glorious and just Communist government of China.

    Yeah, sure. Sounds like just another normal day in mainland China.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!