Believe It Or Not, PLA Edition

Believe it or not?

A 48 years jobless woman was sentenced to 10 years by the First Middle Court of Beijing. Xiu Zhu claimed her husband was a Major General, deputy political director. She took CNY 1 million ($150K) from a active duty Major with Last name 'Wei' of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), promising she could make him a Lieutenant Colonel. Wei paid CNY 200K when the two met the first time in April 2009. Wei paid another CNY 800K in installments in the next two months by bank transfers.

Wei was not promoted when he was transferred to another post in April 2010. Xiu Zhu again promised to transfer him to a better post, with a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

Xiu Zhu was arrested on November 12, 2010. She returned all CNY 1 million to Officer Wei. The Court found Xiu Zhu was unemployed. The Court also found Xiu Zhu's husband was not 'as she had described to Officer Wei'.

The Seagull felt that the PLA should administer IQ test when recruiting officers.

This news was reported by New Capital Daily and Beijing Youth Daily.

A Frugal Education

Five little ones were on a bed surrounded by coal powders piled higher than the bed. Some were playing; some were sleeping at home of Yuan Lihai of Lankao County in Henan Province. These children were deserted by their parents, many with disabilities or chronic diseases. Since 1987, Yuan has raised up more than 100 kids like them on his own.

While China is building schools in Africa, Europe and in the US, few outside the country knows the frugal education system inside China. The world average public education expenses is 5.1% of GNP. The figure is 5.3% in developed countries. The South-Sarhara countries average 4.6%. India 3.5%. The poorest countries 3.3%. China: 2.3%. From another angle, 20% population of the world live in China, while the education expenses is 1.5%.

Seven Days Later, 14 Thousands Kids in Beijing Lost School

Only days before the Fall semester started, Beijing authority abruptly shut down 24 private schools for migrant workers who do not hold local residency cards. The action was believed an attempt to drive these kids out of Beijing. However, because their parents are working, usually on bottom level labor jobs, in Beijing, the consequence is 14 thousands school age kids are out of school.

Initially the Beijing Municipal Education Department said the shut down was carried by lower level authorities. After the incident was reported on news media, coincidentally while the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department announced China would spent CND 2B ($300 million) to build schools in Africa using money raised up for rural education in China, the Beijing Education Department claimed all involved school age kids would be absorbed by public schools at free tuition. The Beijing Education Department published a step by step guide for migrant workers on how to enroll their kids to public schools. Seven Days Later, only a few dozens of parents were able to obtain all five certificates detailed by the Education Department. The other 14 thousands kids were unable to collect required certificates, because some certificates were impossible to apply. When the few dozens of parents who managed to jump through the hoops went to the Education Department, they were faced with locked doors. The Department said they were not ready to handle their applications.

The huge economic discrepancy between major coastal cities and inland areas is by and large contributed by the steady free labor force flowing east. Coastal cities used the labor at low cost, while the youth and elders live in inland areas. Coastal cities force older workers to go back to their hometown by not providing retirement and medical benefit, even though they must pay fees and taxes. Now, coastal cities are forcing their youth back by having their schools shut down.

Eyeing for a better image, China has been increased its spending on international aids. Do you believe a government who treated its own citizens this way would treat foreigners nice? They can pretend, but they can't disguise.

Unbearable Burdens

Chinese portal website Sina.com announced that it would censor users who posted inaccurate messages. For example, if a user posted 'The area was struck by an earthquake 2 minutes ago', while the stamp showed 2.3 minutes according to the official earthquake time released by the USGS, then it would be considered an 'inaccurate' message.

It looks like that Sina took an unbearable burden on its back. Was it a commitment Sina was willing to make, that all uncensored messages were 'accurate'?

A draft of the revised criminal procedure law contains a newly added clause which granted the prosecution power to secretly detain five categories of people for six month without telling their families. These groups include persons that are considered dangerous, anti-government, suicidal, etc.

As a matter of fact, the new law granted police power to 'make disappear' anyone they do not like without court order thus justice procedures. The authority may feel it suited their life for now, but the measure would prove an unbearable burden in the long run. Soon, families of every disappeared person would automatically believe their loved ones were taken away by the government. Think of that.

QA888 Skipped Crash after Declaring Mayday in Shanghai

August 13, 2011, originally Pudong bound QR888, a 777-300ER, declared Mayday after waiting more than an hour at alternate airport Hongqiao due to weather condition at the original airport. On its way was a crew with a female Korean captain piloting HO1112, an A320. The Korean Captain refused to give out the descending path.

The Air Traffic Control begged the Korean woman repeatedly to no vain. Later, the crew said they were also short in fuel. After both plane were on the ground, it was measure the Korean captain still has more than 3 tons of fuel.

In more than 100 years of Chinese civil aviation, this was the first time an airplane refused to get out the way to a Mayday declaration. Due to shortage of pilots, China hired a large amount of foreign pilots. Incidentally, the Korean Captain made a real history in China.

EFF Told CISCO Stop Helping Communism Regime Abuse Human Rights

One unique characteristic of high tech companies in the Internet era was their conscience awareness. Google's unofficial 'do no evil' earned them not only reputation and respect, but businesses.

However, there are a few exceptions. One is Yahoo, the other is Cisco. Both earned commissions on helping the communism regime in detecting and putting human rights activists in jail.

Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a campaign to tell Cisco: Stop Helping China Abuse Human Rights.

Tell Cisco: Stop helping China abuse human rights!

Chinese dissident writer Du Daobin may face imprisonment and torture for trying to hold Cisco accountable. Urge Cisco Systems to intervene on Mr. Du's behalf and to stop helping China abuse human rights. Sign our petition now!

Reports indicate that networking giant Cisco Systems, Inc., an American company based in Silicon Valley, has been knowingly selling Internet surveillance and censorship tools to the Chinese government for years. The Chinese government's "Great Firewall" prevents Internet users in China from accessing much of the Internet, including online references to Tiananmen Square and the Jasmine Revolution, as well as social media sites like Facebook. In addition to blocking access to information, these tools have enabled the Chinese government to spy on its citizens and may include special customization to target individuals working to protect human rights and build democracy in China.

Du Daobin, a dissident writer in China, was reportedly detained and interrogated by the Chinese government specifically about a lawsuit he and other Chinese dissidents brought against Cisco. In June 2011, the activists sued Cisco and a number of Cisco executives in the United States District Court in Maryland for their "knowing and willful aiding and abetting of the Chinese government's harassment, arrest, and torture of Chinese political activists."

According to his lawyers,

Mr. Du's persecution began in 2003, when he was arrested while his house was raided by Chinese authorities. On June 11, 2004, he was charged with "inciting to subvert state power" and was sentenced to three years in prison for posting pro-democracy articles online. Instead of immediately serving that sentence, he was placed under probation for four years, after which it was determined that he violated the terms of his probation and was then forced to serve his original three year prison sentence. During his imprisonment, Mr. Du was subjected to extreme physical and psychological torture. By the time of his release in 2010, Du was suffering from extreme malnutrition, cardiac issues, could no longer walk without assistance, and was dependent on a wheelchair.

We believe Mr. Du has since been released, but he still faces the possibility of more imprisonment and torture for challenging an American company's policies and speaking out against censorship. Help us defend this political activist, and call on American companies to defend human rights rather than selling the tools of repression! Sign our petition to tell Cisco to intervene on behalf of Mr. Du and to commit to standing up for human rights.

An in-depth discussion of the background o this case can be found at EFF's site by clicking here.

Gallery Exhibit Canceled

If you like the drawings of a 10 years old boy, so do I.

Alas, a planned gallery exhibit at the http://www.juelab.com/">Jue Lab of Shanghai was canceled in the last minute, because the boy's father committed a crime.  Xia Jianqiang's father Xia Junfeng was a peddler in Shenyang.  When he was beaten by a gang of para-police for no-reason, he managed to fight back and killed one of the mobs accidentally.  Although lawyers across the nation rushed to stand for his defense, Xia was sentenced to death.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in China, Wang Shengjun, spoke on a seminar for chief judges of middle-level court that whether or not to impose a capital punishment should not rely on the law.  "It should reflect people's willingness", said Chief Justice Wang.

W-h-a-t are t-h-e-y afraid of?

University of Hong Kong Celebrated 100th Anniversary

University of Hong Kong celebrated its 100th anniversary. Vice Premier Li Keqiang visited the campus under heavy security. Students protesting were blocked and some detained.

They say a picture worth a thousand words. What kind of idiot will in a chair like that in a university? Chinese are proud of a history with deep rooted respect for academia scholars. Former Premier Zhou Enlai was reported never took car to his alma matar. Each time he would stepped out of the car a few blocks away, and walked in the campus on foot. In ancient time, at intersection of road leading to any major academy, there would be a pole line where officials must tie their horses (and walk to the campus) in respect. Again, what an idiot will sit in a chair like that in a university?

People in Hong Kong should reflect whether they want the current administration to lead the premier university.

Clash between two basketball teams, tanks not used

The game between PLA's August 1st and Georgetown University's Hoyas halted abruptly when the players, assistants and coaches all took part in a brawl. From the video, people were chasing after each other in gangs, and slap faces with chairs.

It's puzzling as to why the Athletic Department of Georgetown University arranged the game with a military personnel. Every member of the August 1st ('Bayi' in Chinese pronunciation) team are active duty officers. The People's Liberation Army has an 'army' of entertainers in active duty, many holding ranks as high as generals (for example, major general Liu Min, a dancer). Most of the military athletes were recruited in their early teens. Subsequently they missed all school educations and would barely read in future life as adults. Rest assured, these officers never touched a gun or went through a boot camp training. The bright side is they never need to worry about their future, as the military will make arrangement for them. The down side is that they do not have freedom to quit.

The big problem is we usually were told to learn from our opponents. What could students athletes learn from the game with a bunch of zombies who couldn't think and couldn't read?

Being sarcastic, what had happened to PLA's tanks? Last time when Chinese students disagreed, the PLA were not shy to sent in tanks to crush Chinese students in the Tian'anmen Square.

Huang Huixian Released After 5 Days of Secret Jailtime

25 years old Lawyer Huang Huixian was released after five days of secret detainment. Huang was kidnapped by the police without announcement nor paperwork 5 days ago after she posted a message saying she was in preparation to file a legal complain against the spokeswoman Ms. Jiang Yu of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

On March 3, 2011, during an official weekly press conference, Ms. Jiang Yu informed foreign and domestic reporters that no law can be cited to shield them from questioning the government (China Media Project at Hong Kong University, Wall Street Journal, China Digital Space). Her words triggered immediate criticism on the Internet among Chinese citizens. These words was not included in the transcript archive on the Foreign Affairs Ministry's website.

Huang Huixian said she believed Ms. Jiang Yu's words violated Chinese constitution, which protect people from prosecution and oppression when they behave within the boundary of law. Huang accused Jiang of toying around laws in a public capacity.

The Seagull did not see this lawsuit going anywhere in Chinese justice system. There is no constitution court in China. The Supreme Court is an approximate of super-high federal appeal court. Occasionally the People's Congress interpreted the law. The Seagull was not even sure which court would take such a case. By all means, Huang's legal complaint is a mild reminder that officials should take published laws more seriously. By all means, and with illegitimate reasons, any court in China can throw the complaint out and put an end to it.

Still, the authority employed the unimaginable approach. Some secret police kidnapped Ms. Huang without any paperwork, and detained her in an undisclosed location. In five days, Ms. Huang went through 'hell', as she recollected. Ms. Huang was tortured and humiliated non-stop by groups of secret police taking shift. Huang did not repeat details, but mentioned any girl would rather be killed.

Another female lawyer 44 years old Li Tiantian said the same when she was released after a 6 month secret detainment. To crush her mind, in one instance, the police forced her boyfriend's sister in law to watch her sex tape, which was secretly taped by police in hotel.

Reading Notes, Yi Zhongtian's Limiting Government Power

Confucianism: One of three dominant religions through Chinese culture. The other two are Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism is formed in the hundreds of years after death of Confucius. Therefore, it is, in many places, different from the original suggestions of Confucius (551-479 BC) himself. Otherwise, it is also known as Ru.

Yi Zhongtian argued, in the court of Chinese dynasties, Confucianism had been the mainstream ideology of officials conduct and state organizations. As the emperor represents the supreme power, one of duty for Confucianism which had been practiced by most intellectuals was to limit and contain that power. However, it had been a loosing battle, as the gravity of control continuously slid from ministers to the emperor through the thousands of years of history.

It is a very interesting read, and very nicely written. Yi, a scholar made known by his interpretation of ancient novel 'Three Kingdoms', certain has solid research to back up popularity performances.

As a by-product of the reading, it is also interesting to find many practice of the communism regime had deep root in the 5000 years of Chinese culture and philosophy studies.

“太上禁其心，其次禁其言，其次禁其事”《韩非子·说疑》Hanfei (280-233 BC) said, the best strategy is to confine people's mind, the middle approach is to silence people's words, the lowest method is to restrict people's conduct. Making sure people does think out of box is exactly what the Central Propaganda Ministry's functionality. Alas, with the spreading of Internet and technologies such as Google and micro-blog, this had been a mission impossible. Internet censorship and projects like the Great FireWall was the lower alternative to silence people's words. It is only matter of time when they will have to go the lowest approach, to physically constraint people.

“屈民而伸君，屈君而伸天”《春秋繁露·玉杯》Dong Zhongshu (179 - 104 BC) argued, the way it work is: People should sacrifice for their emperor; while the emperor should sacrifice for the ultimate-rule. In other words, the emperor can demand blind loyalty from people; while the emperor also are ready to commit himself on the route to the final happiness. This is exactly what the communism had been using to convince Chinese that they should never question the direction of the Party, because ultimately the Party will fight for their interests.

Chinese intellectuals see the deal as they submit the people (including themselves) to the emperor, while on the other hand, curtail the emperor's power by interpreting the 'Ultimate-rule'. Unfortunately, the chain often failed in the second link. When the emperor asks for loyalty, intellectuals often have no other choice to but to obey, including not to provide interpretations of the 'Ultimate-goal' that is not compatible with the emperor's mind. The dilemma continues to today.

China's Communication Cost Gone Wild

A health economy relies on unblocked flowing of entities, tangible (product, raw materials) or intangible (information, knowledge, labor, etc.). On both ends, the cost of communication is rising as a result of its political structure.

The Great FireWall (GFW) and Gold Shield Project not only blocked 80% of meaningful information flow, it also slowed down communications within mainland China as well as suppress innovations from within. These cost was mandated by the government to control people's mind.

The high cost of ground transportation, on the other hand, reflect a lost control of the central government in resource sharing deals with local authorities. The ground transportation cost in China is already twice of the world average and still climbing. In the first half of 2011, cost of ground transportation totaled CNY 3.7 trillion, a 18.5% increase from same period of last year. According to 2010 data, the raw profit of road toll companies is 59.14%, which place it one of the most profitable markets in China.

Although the central government would not like to see a package tolled dozens of times on a stretch of 100 miles public road, it does not have the resolute to argue with local government who set up random toll stations as revenue resource because it relied on local authorities's heavy hand to control unhappy citizens. One example, the central government's mouth piece, CCTV, revealed the express way which connects Beijing and its airport was only approved to toll one way traffic, which both direction had been tolled for years. The local authority continued to toll both ways after the central government vowed to crack down unlawful toll stations.

China's is riding on a bullet train with no brake, as many pointed out, after the Wenzhou train disaster. The sole power so far was the rapidly increased productivity, released from the confinement of tight government control. However, the rising communication cost has become a huge dragging force. The old question is when the train will run out of rail, while the political structure is only slowing down the speed new rail can be laid down.

India Government Demands Facebook and Twitter Password

India Government asked Facebook and Twitter to hand over user information, including encrypted communications, in name of anti-terrorism.

India passed a new law which states Internet companies must turn over user information, including password, etc. upon government's request. A court issued warranty is not necessary.

In the States, Utah already granted prosecutors warrantless subpoena power in sex crimes with children involved.

In the UK, RIM vowed to assist the London police to track down users of its Blackberry who posted inciting messages online. Blackberry is known for its secure communication, guarded by encryption method which RIM claims impossible to break, not even by itself, or at least as it told the India government last time when they demand access to user information.

Academia Hired Guns

Professor Barbara Sherwin of Canada's McGill University was found having a 'ghost writer' in a paper she published as the sole author in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The 'ghost writer' is hired by a drug company whose product is discussed in the paper.

After the information was revealed by a class action lawsuit against the aforementioned drug company Wyeth (now part of Pfizer), the McGill University refused to sanction Sherwin.

Professor Sherwin explained, at one point, she tried to acknowledge the ghost writer who was commissioned by the drug company, '..but she refused'.

BMS and UMC sued for Poisoning Death

Wang Xiaoye's family sued the Bristol Myers-Squibb, employer of Li Tianhe, and University Medical Center, the hospital where Wang was treated before his painful death.

Sue Epstein of The Star-Ledger reported,

"A talented software engineer and a loving father of a toddler would be alive today if only one of the world's biggest drug makers, and an accredited medical center had just done their jobs," said Robert Mongeluzzi, one of the attorneys representing Wang's estate. "Bristol-Myers knew or should have known that Li was an unstable person who should never have had access to deadly thallium.

"And the hospital and its professional staff, including doctors, should have listened to their patient who feared for his life. Instead they enabled her time and access to finish what she had started. This may sound like a story line right out of Agatha Christie, CSI or HOUSE, but it is tragically true."

BMS is on the hook because it granted Li unlimited and unsupervised access to fatally toxic materials, even after documented cases (unrelated workplace hostility which resulted in a court issued restrainting order) proving Li was a volatile individual/ a ticking bomb.

UMC has a deeper pile to dig. Wang, with poisoning symptom, told doctors the wife, Li, poisoned him. Yet UMC granted Wang's unsupervised visit to Wang until his last day, probably allowing Li to finish what she hadn't able to achieve. In addition, UMC did not take it seriously even after a nurse figured out the source of poison, thallium. Wang's physical condition deteriorated soon after he admitted himself to the hospital and had no way to protect himself from Wang in the 10 some days leading to his death on Jan 26, 2011.

Japanese Cemetery Vandalized by Pro-Government Organization

Five "Anti-Japanese Hero" traveled to Fangzheng County of Heilongjiang Province to vandalize a Japanese cemetery. They hammered the tombstone, than poured paint over it. When they returned to Beijing, they received a welcome party and were rewarded CNY 2000 ($300) each.

The act was organized by Sima Nan, a director at the China Central TV (CCTV, the exclusive ministry-level national propaganda mouth piece), a protege of Fang Shimin (aka Fang Zhouzi).

Many believed the act was designed to off-set the attention on the government corruption unsealed by the bulletin train accident.

Another 'grass-root' organization, Anti-rumor alliance, also traces to Fang Zhouzi, through his private lawyer Peng Jian. The Anti-Rumor Alliance was co-founded by Dou Hanzhang of Renmin Universityand Wu Danhong of China University of Political Science and Law. Curious netizens noticed the Anti-Rumor Alliance held official Internet Publishing Permit, which was against CCP's own law. It is also found that the Anti-Rumor Alliance shares the registration account with previous 'grass-root' movement such as Anti-CNN, etc.

Pointing fingers to neighbors, in particular Japan, has been an old strategy employed by the CCP government. It always works, due to the not long ago history when China was invaded by Japanese Imperial Army and tens of millions of Chinese were brutally killed and slaughtered. It is a period of history that no Chinese should forget. However, just because of it's so heavy and so much pain, this history should not be exploited as a political tool.

The cemetery in Fangzheng county is a quiet place where many Japanese were buried. There is nothing glorifying but names of diseased on the tombstone that was vandalized.

Professor Guo Quan of Nanjing Normal University was a formal anti-Japanese advocate. In 2005, Guo vandalized WangZhi, a Chinese pirate with close tie to Japanese's tomb in Anhui. CCTV applauded for his brave at the time. In 2008, Professor Guo commented on government's handling of the Sichuan Earthquake. He was immediately thrown into custody. Guo is serving a 10 years jail time.

Chinese Love All US Presidents

It is interesting to see the fact that each and every one of US Presidents are adored by Chinese in China, regardless of their domestic image.

Perhaps, Chinese had been so heartbroken by their own leaders.

Helping my Daddy

When Zhu Xuan, an architect, inspected a construction site, he noticed a young boy was sanding stairs. Zhu asked the kid what was he doing. The kid said, I am helping my Daddy, so Daddy can take me home earlier today.

Isn't it the biggest tragedy is that Chinese people are too diligent and hard-working?

How Do they match?

The Palace Museum admitted a rumor that a rare china item was broken by accident 26 days ago. The item was a plate made in Song dynasty, one of 1106 'Level-I' collectibles in China. The value is estimated to billions of dollars.

The official plot was the item was damaged when a newly hired young researcher conducted a reading on an instrument. The reading was supposed to be no-contact, but an incorrect input parameters caused the item smashed.

This is the archived record of the original item:

This is the front of the broken item as shown on the national TV, Central China TV, under the Central Propaganda Department:

This is the rear of the broken item as shown on the CCTV:

It has long known senior communism party leaders take museum collections as personal property and leave duplicated ones on display. We just don't see it happening, until now.

source: http://gududengdai1974.blog.163.com/blog/static/31749932011721395896/

Qinghua University Nuctech Co.

@西门不暗：据查找资料，中国铁路的信息系统，包括CIPS，TMIS，DMIS，客服系统。CIPS是车站编组自动化控制系统和综合管理信息系统；TMIS是货运信息管理系统，DMIS是调度管理系统。系统集成总包商是清华同方威视技术股份有限公司。
7月31日 18:24 来自新浪微博

No comment, as this information is way too sensitive.