China: Hu Jia-related blogs blocked as netizens try to deliver baby milk to Zeng

This is the first part of a documentary made by AIDS activist Hu Jia, who was detained on Dec. 27 for subverting state power, and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, who is now at home with the couple’s month-old daughter. The other six parts are available on YouTube. Thanks to John Kennedy for cutting them to size and uploading them. John also has many more links and details, including a proposed “HU JIA, FREE!” campaign.

Zhai Minglei’s blog, Yibao, has also been blocked now.

“I think it’s because I’ve been doing some posts on the situation of Hu Jia,” Zhai told RFA’s Mandarin service.

“It was blocked soon after I posted an article from Ai Xiaoming entitled ‘Saving an ordinary person in a everyday way‘(zh),” Zhai said.

(Photo of Zeng and baby from Channel Four News in the UK, posted by Black and White Cat)

“It must be that, because I have been posting articles about him and appeals on his behalf since the blog was unblocked. I posted three in a row.”

Zeng Jinyan’s blog (zh) has also been blocked. Zeng is currently under 24-hour surveillance at the couple’s Beijing apartment.  However, large numbers of netizens were still visiting her blog, and some were asking how they could deliver baby milk powder to Zeng, who gave birth to a baby daughter just one month ago. (See photo of baby formula from blogger “Mike”).

The overseas-based Chinese news site Boxun posted a call(zh) for ordinary citizens to go to Hu and Zeng’s apartment Sunday and take her necessities for the baby.

“They have almost certainly got wind of the news via the overseas media. Now, a lot of the grassroots media in China are reporting Hu Jia’s detention. A lot of people have heard about it, and some are even getting together to send Zeng some baby milk powder. There is a lot of concern, because some of the milk powder was not delivered, but was intercepted by those guarding the door. People are not only sending the milk powder but are also making a public record of the fact. People have got used to much more intellectual freedom in the past year or so they are willing to make judgements and even to play a part in spreading the news of events like this.”

Mao, a prominent blogger and keen proponent of citizen media and grassroots Web development, said blogs containing posts that the government deemed politically subversive would be deleted, and the author warned by the government. Those hosted on overseas servers would be filtered through the use of forbidden keywords.

Zhai said the government’s reaction appeared to be even more sensitive than usual, given the tenor of many of the comments and blog posts. “Most people who are making these comments have no knowledge of China’s civil rights movement, and they are commenting from a humanitarian perspective, because Jinyan hasn’t managed to get milk to feed the baby, and she still has big black bruises on her arm where the national security police gripped her. The articles that I have written, as Hu Jia’s friend, and which have been written by Li Jinsong and Ai Xiaoming are pretty middle-of-the-road and moderate. I don’t think it’s very wise of the government to suppress such moderate hopes that the government will managed to reconcile its differences with Hu Jia.”