Mafia Boss Jiang Yanhu

Even though messages and postings were promptly deleted, more details of the Weng'an uprising emerged on the Internet. The Mafia boss who instructed local police to release the murderers of a 15 years old girl is Jiang Yanhu, a top CCP Party official in Guizhou Province.

Jiang Yanhu is the Director of Guizhou Security Bureau, First Political Director of the militarized police in Guizhou, standing committee member of the CCP Guizhou Party, and the vice speaker of the Guizhou provincial legislature.

Jiang Yanhu was a colleague of Chinese President Hu Jintao, when Hu was the governor of Guizhou. Now every ordinary people in China knows whom to blame, let's wipe our eyes to see how long can Hu pretend nothing had happened.

The story has been picked up by western media:

• Associated Press: Police Move to Arrest China Protesters
  
• Reuters: China Announces Olympics Stability Drive After Riot
  
• New York Times: Chinese Riot over Handling of Girl's Killing
  
• Washington Post: Thousands in Southwestern China Riot over Alleged Coverup
  
• AFP: China Acts to Preempt Unrest as Olympics Near
  

Angry People Torched Police Station

Angry people in Guizhou torched a county police department on June 28, 2008.

A 9th Grader girl of the No. 3 Middle School of Weng'an County was gang raped then murdered. The suspects were released by local police because of their background and connections. When the uncle of the victim argued with the police, he was beaten to death, and his wife was also severely beaten by the police.

It started with mass protesting of local students on the street, which was brutally suppressed by the police. Soon the anger spreaded to almost the entire population of the town. The police department was surrounded by tens of thousands of people demanding an investigation into the incident.

Indian Immigrants Dominated PERM

In the first half year of 2008, 24,300 PERMs were granted. Applicants came from 150 countries and regions, but Indians dominated the pool with 8127 approved cases, followed by Chinese 1809, Korean 1654, Filipinos 1631, Mexican 1461, Canadian 1340.

Swimming in a River of Blood

This painting titled 'Swimming Mao' was created by a Chinese artist Gaoqiang, and many thanks to a tip from Benjamin Harris.

The painting depicted Mao Zedong swimming across the Yangtze River on the eve of the Great Cultural Revolution in 1966. It's a symbol of Mao's reviving vigorous thirsty of power, and a prelude of the chaos in which 3 million Chinese to be killed. Who said there was no performance artist in China in 1966?

Popular Names of the Supreme Court Justices

List of Most Popular Names of the US Supreme Court Justices:

1. John 13 Justices (#19, 2007)
   
2. William 11 (#8)
   
3. Samuel 5 (#25)
   
4. James 4 (#15)
   
5. Charles 3 (#62)
   
6. Henry 3 (#91)
   
7. Joseph 3 (#13)
   
8. Robert 3 (#47)
   

List of Most Popular Names of the US Supreme Court Justices in the Last 60 Years (for What It Matters), from 1940:

1. John (1955-1971, 1975-, John Roberts 2005-)
   
2. William (William Rehnquist 1956-1990, 1972-2005)
   

A War Lost

Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits lost in battles against Japanese's aggression.

Taiwan canceled a planned protesting trip of its navy fleet in the disputed Diaoyutai area. Both Beijing and Taipei recognize Taipei is directly in charge of the islands. The president Ma Ying-Jeou explained that what he meant the other day that he would launch a war against Japan's aggressions was a war in the international court, rather than on the open sea.


Beijing signed a treaty with Japan, and basically agreed with all Japanese claims on Chinese territory. Any opposing opinions were prohibited from appearing on any media or the Internet. There's no apparent reason to explain why did the communism government made the deal, other than to make Japanese leaders a happy guest in the summer Olympic to be held in a couple of months in Beijing.

That Dame Olympic Game!

Another Year on Occupied Islands

3:50 in the morning of June 16, 2008, Taiwan Coast Guard escorted a civilian boat to the Diaoyutai. Taiwan Coast Guard was authorized to open fire if proved by the Japanese warship in the disputed Diaoyutai area.

Taipei government ordered the Coast Guard to upgrade its fleet to match their Japanese counterparts to better Protect Taiwan fishermen's interest in the area. Beijing government is facing mounting criticism from its people, especially the increasingly vocal online community on its soft stance on Sino-Japanese issue. Many argued the two party must hold hands in defending the country, just as they did during World War II.

Defending Diaoyutai

Japanese warships sank a Taiwan fishing boat near Diaoyutai Islands. Taiwan Coast Guard sent in two ships to examine the situation, but was later ordered by Taiwan Foreign Ministry to back down from a standoff engagement with Japanese ships.

The islands were traditionally a Chinese territory, a fact supported by historical evidents and recognized by Sino-Okinawa treaties and treaties between Okinawa and Japanese before it merged into Japan. During WWII and the civil war between Communism and Nationalism, the Islands were under US's control. When US turned the administration of Okinawa to Japan, it also hand over the Diaoyutai Island to Japan, though without recognizing ownership or attachment of the Islands. For a while neither Japan nor Taiwan was enthusiastic over the Islands. Although students and grassroots movements had been protesting the handover in Taiwan, the Taiwan government did not do anything to bring up the issue. At the time, Beijing was happy to see it a sign of declining US influence in the region. To an extent, it's something to celebrate. The Diaoyu Island became an increased focus of conflict between China and Japan in the recent years amid the change in the political environment. While Beijing becomes more confident in handling foreign affairs, one of the student activist became the President of Taipei in 2008.

Beijing expressed regret and disappointment over the incident, while the president of Taiwan reaffirmed his stance that Diaoyutai is sovereign territory of Taiwan (Republic of China). Both Beijing (The People's Republic of China) and Taipei (Republic of China) recognize Diaoyutai as part of China, and both sides agreed that the islands part of Taiwan Province.

The Progressive Party, Taiwan's minority party that just lost its 8 years holding on the President's position in the election, strongly criticized current government's slow and confusing respond to the incident.

Many Taiwan fish men protested at Taiwan Foreign Ministry, and painted Japan's flag black. The wife of the captain of the sunk fishing boat told the press that had her husband raised the five star (Beijing) flag, the ship would be ok, complaining lack of protection by Taiwan government.

An Artistic Rendition of A Historic Moment

On the right is an artistic rendition of a historic moment when the Chinese President Hu Jintao met Premier Wen Jiabao at a Sichuan airport. Wen had been working non-stop for a week in the devastated disaster area on rescue and relief operations.

In the picture captured by a Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng, the encounter looks like an emperor greets his general on a victory triumph. In the officially released oil painting, however, Wen looks like an old servant facing his master. One question is which edition is closer to the truth, but it is overshadowed by the fact that self-censorship is working any where, any time.

One Time Plastic Bags Banned

As a decisive move welcomed by many environmental activists, the Chinese government banned shops and stores from giving away plastic bags. Commonly seen super-thin one time plastic bags are flatly banned from manufacturing and circulating, while 'environmental friendly' bags are banned from giving away free.

Shoppers were encouraged to bring a reusable bag with them with go shopping. Shops and stores must charge a fee if a packing bag is used. Though moderately at 5 cents, the fee is expected to make a significant impact on people's shopping habit.

Western developed countries criticized the move as authoritarianism, undemocratic and suppressive. However, this is not the first time the Chinese government is scolded by the West on environmental issues. When the Chinese government attempted to limit the destructive harvesting of ancient forests in China, western countries denounced the measure would raise the price of woods on the International market.