Mandarin: Internet subversion case

MANDARIN:  Zhang Jianping’s Subversion Case (09/11/07)

Fang Yuan: According to a report, eight public security officers went to the home of Zhang Jianping in Changzhou city, Jiangsu province, this April and forced him to sign a confession, admitting to the charge of “inciting subversion” for visiting anti-government Web sites. The officers also criticized him of being manipulated by the 64 Tianwang Website and Sound of Hope Radio Network. Zhang refused to sign the document. Two hours later, the officers returned to Zhang’s home with the disciplinary sanction confirmation letter issued by the Changzhou’s Wujin District Public Security Bureau in hand. In the document, Zhang was cited for visiting overseas subversive Web sites since October of last year. He was banned from using the Internet for the next six months as a punishment.

Burma: More soundbites

“Today, the military government has used force. They have done inhumane acts against the monks and the people and have killed them again. Last night, they entered Ngwe Kya Yan monastery and detained the monks and beat them, and kicked them with their army boots. We saw pools of blood at the monastery.” — Rangoon resident

“Now everyone, everyone from the houses, people from the stores, women, men, people my age, many people were holding sticks. All of us were angry and swore at them. We’d already gone and taken a look at the monasteries the night before, and it was really bad.” –  Rangoon resident

Burma: Continuing violence in Rangoon and Mandalay

The following are translated extracts from interviews done by RFA’s Burmese service:

Eyewitness Account
09/27/07

Speaker: I saw it at Myintha Project area.  That was the Number 31 old bus terminal.   I went there because I heard people couldn’t stand it any more, so they had surrounded the security forces and attacked them with knives. It’s really true that with knives they were attacking people holding guns. According to unconfirmed news [Translator’s Note: Unclear], even the guns have arrived.  The military arrived after we did.  They came in their vehicles, and there were at least 15 people in a vehicle.  I saw four vehicles.  I saw them shooting, with my own eyes.  I saw them shooting, and I saw people shot at.  I don’t know whether they died or how many corpses there were.

RFA interview with a Singaporean shot in Rangoon

RFA’s Mandarin service interviewed this man last night. You can read the interview in full below, and go to our English Web story for more background and context. [Photo via Ko Htike.] 

“I’m a citizen of Singapore who lives in Rangoon. At around 4:00 in the afternoon today (Thursday), my wife and I were on our way back to my office… We were some 500 meters from a huge crowd of protesters who were surrounded by troops. We heard gunshots, lots of gunshots. The road to my office was blocked. I got out of the car to see what was going on. All of a sudden, a truck carrying soldiers pulled up. More than 20 soldiers got out and started shooting, firing rubber bullets. I told my wife to duck. One of the soldiers shot me twice with rubber bullets, one in the left leg, one in the right foot. They kicked me and the other people around me and told us to squat down in a ditch.

Burma crackdown: police shoot into crowds

Ko Htike writes more news of the continuing crackdown, showing photos of troops firing on unarmed civilians, and the flip-flops left in pools of blood on the streets afterwards…

To all folk, it is really bad in YGN, pLs can someone do something for our country, now inside YGN it has been look like War Zone, i even heard stooting over the phone. it is over 50 shots, right now. but people are not giving up to protest and more and more people coming out to street.

Burma: Gunshot wounds in the ER

News from the blogosphere on Burma:

Ko Htike writes:

Wednesday, 26 September 2007

today…. 26/9/07 my duty time part is working on Emergency YGH… at about 2:00 pm 5 patients was coming to our Emergency … for Gun Shot from Government militaries… 1 patients died on d spot on arriving Hospital… ( shot on Bladder ) 4 r still bad in Diagnosis… The patient’s attendant said ” the patient r not in d line of protest… they ( victims ) are just chatting and watching d protest line and sitting on Cafe Bar near Shawe Dagon Pagoda , some r pedestrians” when they watching…. Government military Car was crossing to d protest line and randomly shot all of them … what the insanity and inhumanity of their mind don’t they have self-mind..

Burma: Monks continue protest

Some translated extracts from recent reporting by RFA’s Burmese service:

1) The following are quotations from interviews with two monks who were among 2000 monks chanting prayers in front of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound:

“Today we gathered 2000 monks on the Shwedagon Pagoda, and then we came down from western entrance onto Pyi road. We stopped in front of Burma broadcast station and prayed there. Then we marched toward University Avenue from Hledan junction, stopped outside Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound [located on the University Ave.]. When we chanted prayer, she stepped out of her house, coming near the fence and listened to our prayer and receiving our passion.”

China: Pulling the plug on the Internet

FURTHER UPDATE: Authorities in major cities across China have moved to close down large swathes of the Internet, targeting “interactive” sites ahead of the Communist Party congress in mid-October, according to netizens, government Web sites, and service providers.Participatory Web sites, forums, and blogging platforms came under strict new rules last week. But in an unprecedented move, the authorities have begun switching off entire Internet data centers (IDCs), which are home to thousands of servers.This means that if one site doesn’t meet government approval, because it contains pornography or politically sensitive material, all are taken offline.

Mandarin: Listener comment on the Hong Kong media

MANDARIN: LISTENER HOTLINE – Hong Kong Media (08/09/07)
Reporter: Wei Lian
Length: 5:10

Wei Lian: Hi, this is Listener Hotline. I’m Wei Lian.

Male Voice: Hi, Mr. Wei Lian.

Wei Lian: Please tell me where you are calling from.

Male Voice: Jiangxi.

Wei Lian: Hi, listener from Jiangxi. Please go ahead.

Male Voice: I have a question for you. Recently, I read some articles on Chen Liangyu’s case in Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao. I’ve found that the Hong Kong media is very different from what it used to be.

Sorrow, ah! sorrow: Cardboard buns and the prison undercurrent

Click here to hear the theme song for this post
On July 8, Beijing TV’s Life Channel program <Degree of Transparency> aired the report on “cardboard buns” and gained broad social attention. The Beijing city Industry and Commerce department and the Food Safety Administration paid high attention and formed law enforcement teams to check the breakfast markets in the city. But they did not find any “cardboard buns” at those markets. The Beijing public security bureau formed an investigative team and discovered the truth on July 16.

— from ESWN

I am interested in the meme of cardboard in buns. I think the rumour may have preserved itself in popular culture from a genuine experiment in the labour camps