Wednesday, March 6, 2013

China's 2013 "Two Sessions" Convene in Beijing

On March 3, 2013, the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (中国人民政治协商会议 - CPPCC), China's political advisory body, opened. The 12th National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会 - NPC), China's legislature, convened on March 5. These are collectively referred to as the "Two Sessions." (两会)

These screenshots, taken on March 6, show that Baidu had banned users from opening PostBar (贴吧) forums under the heading "Two Sessions," "CPPCC," and "NPC."

These screenshots show that Sina Weibo stopped censoring searches for "Xi Jinping" (习近平) on March 4.

These screenshots show that Sina Weibo stopped censoring searches for "Wen Jiabao" (温家宝) on March 5.

These screenshots were also taken on March 5, and show that Sina Weibo was also censoring searches for the following:
  • "Five No's" (五不搞) Refers to these principles, first articulated by Wu Bangguo in 2011: 1. Don't promote multi-Party government (多党轮流执政) 2. No diversification of leading ideology (不搞指导思想多元化) 3. No "separation of powers" or bicameral systems (不搞‘三权分立’和两院制) 4. No federalism (不搞联邦制) 5. No privatization (不搞私有化).
  • "Three Supremes" (三个至上) Refers to the principles, first articulated by Hu Jintao in 2007: 1. Supremacy of the business of the CCP (党的事业至上) 2. Supremacy of the interests of the people (人民利益至上) 3. Supremacy of constitutional law (宪法法律至上).
  • "Three Bows" (三鞠躬) Refers to this story: "Wen Jiabao Bowed Three Times to the Assembled Group After Finishing the Work Report." (温家宝作完报告向大会会场三鞠躬) http://www.sd.xinhuanet.com/sdws/2013-03/05/c_114895714.htm 



Translation: Sun Daluo's Court Judgment for Sharing Books and Articles

The PRC government sentenced Sun Zhiming (孙志明, who wrote under the alias Sun Daluo (孙大骆)) to one year imprisonment for the crime of "di...