When It Comes to Free Speech, Mo Yan Agrees With Father of the Great Firewall: China is an Airplane and Chinese are Passengers

On February 18, 2011, the English language website of the Global Times (published by the People's Daily) published an article about Fang Binxing (方滨兴) entitled "Great Firewall Father Speaks Out." It was originally here - http://special.globaltimes.cn/2011-02/624290.html - but was subsequently deleted. Some excerpts:

The father of the Great Firewall of China (GFW) has signed up to six virtual private networks (VPNs) that he uses to access some of the websites he had originally helped block.
. . . .
Fang concedes his Great Firewall doesn't do a great job of distinguishing between good and evil information. If a website contains sensitive words, the firewall often simply blocks everything "due to the limitations of the technology," he says, expecting it would become more sophisticated in the future. 

"The firewall monitors them and blocks them all," he says. "It's like when passengers aren't allowed to take water aboard an airplane because our security gates aren't good enough to differentiate between water and nitroglycerin."

Mo Yan (莫言), the 2012 Nobel Laureate in literature, apparently also feels this metaphor is apt. When asked about censorship in China at a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy on December 6, 2012, Mo said: "When I was taking my flight, going through the customs ... they also wanted to check me — even taking off my belt and shoes. . . . But I think these checks are necessary."

Mo's position earned him the praise of the Global Times:

• Freedom of Speech not Mo’s Mission http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/749359.shtml
• Mo Yan is Wise to Avoid Talking Politics http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/749140.shtml

"Santa Claus" Not a Sensitive Term, But What About "Snuffleupagus"?

Aloysius Snuffleupagus, also known as "Mr. Snuffleupagus" or "Snuffy," is a recurring character on the American television program Sesame Street. He resembles a woolly mammoth with a long thick pointed tail, brown hair, and a trunk, or "snuffle," that drags along the ground.

Snuffy is, by Muppet standards at least, a controversial and divisive figure. For many years he was a source of tension on Sesame Street, as Big Bird was the only character who could see him. Then in 1992 it was revealed that his parents had divorced. Sesame Street originally planned to address the affair, going so far as to film an episode on the subject. That episode proved so controversial that it has been extensively censored in the United States and Canada.

This screenshot, taken on December 16, 2012, show that a search on Baidu for "Snuffleupagus" returns apparently uncensored results.

However, these screenshots show that when a user tries to search for Snuffleupagus and the names of members of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, Baidu returns no results, only a notice saying "Search results may not comply with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, and have not been displayed. We suggest trying other related words." (搜索结果可能不符合相关法律法规和政策，未予显示。建议尝试其他相关词。)

Searches for "Snuffleupagus" and "Xi Jinping," "Li Keqiang," and "Zhang Dejiang"
return no results, just a censorship notice.

This screenshot shows Baidu is also completely censoring searches for "Xi Jinping Snuffy" and "Xi Jinping 史纳菲" (Snuffy's name in Chinese).

These screenshots show that similar searches on Baidu for other (arguably) fictional characters are not similarly censored.

Searches for "Xi Jinping Mickey Mouse" and "Xi Jinping Santa Claus"
return dozens of results.

Baidu's censorship extends to the names of some, but not all, controversial political figures. For example, these screenshots show that, when a user searches for "Bo Xilai Snuffleupagus" (薄熙来) Baidu returns a censorship notice. But when a user searches for "Wang Lijun Snuffleupagus" (王立军) Baidu simply says it is unable to find any results.

Baidu also seems to be censoring results that connect Snuffy to certain controversial events.  These screenshots show that when a user searches for Snuffleupagus and "Jasmine Revolution" (茉莉花革命) and "Six Four" (六四) Baidu returns only a censorship notice. But a search for "18th Party Congress Snuffleupagus" (十八大) returns almost 100 results, and a search for "Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Snuffleupagus" (中秋节) returns a notice saying no search results can be found (but there is no censorship notice).

It is difficult to say whether there is any connection between these incidents and Baidu's censorship. It is also unclear why Baidu is singling out the relatively obscure Mr. Snuffleupagus for complete censorship, while still returning censored results for queries containing the names of far more infamous figures, such as the sadistic Wile E. Coyote (Super Genius) and Legion of Doom member Gorilla Grodd.

Baidu restricts search results for "Xi Jinping Wile E. Coyote" and
"Xi Jinping Gorilla Grodd" to is broad white list.

This is all the more puzzling because Snuffy features prominently on the China-based http://www.sesamestreetchina.com.cn, appearing on the home page and having his own profile. But it might be possible to read something into the fact that Snuffy's profile is listed last, even coming after Zoe, who is well-known for her bourgeoisie obsession with ballet.

If you're still reading - yes, this post is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. The screenshots are all real (no photoshopping), but the most likely explanation is that Snuffy is a victim of collateral censorship, not the target of actual censorship. 

How Other Websites Are Censoring Leaders' Names After the 18th Party Congress

This blog has recently posted examples of how Sina Weibo and Baidu have changed how they approach censoring search results for the names of members of the Politburo Standing Committee since the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress in November. In summary:

• Sina Weibo - http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/12/sina-weibo-enacts-new-7-day-delay.html
• Before: No results, just a censorship notice. 
• After: Results are delayed for seven days (except for "Hot Posts").
• Baidu - http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/12/baidus-new-censorship-policies-for.html
• Before: Any search containing the name of a leader was restricted to Baidu's strict white list, which is comprised of about a dozen websites controlled by the central government and the Communist Party - People's Daily, Xinhua, etc. 
• After: Searches containing only the name of a leader is restricted to Baidu's strict white list. Searches containing the name of a leader and a non-sensitive term is restricted to Baidu's broad white list, which is comprised of 100+ large web sites located in China - Tencent, Sohu, Netease, Sina.com.cn (but not Sina.com).

Here are some examples of what other popular websites in China are doing.

Qihoo Search

These screenshots show that Qihoo has been tweaking its search results for "Xi Jinping" over the last two months. During the 18th Party Congress (November 8 - 15) Qihoo was restricting search results to its strict white list. Immediately following the conclusion of the Congress, Qihoo changed to only restricting search results to its broad white list. One month later, Qihoo is once again restricting search results to its strict white list.

Searches on Qihoo for "Xi Jinping" restricted to the China-based Sina.com.cn

A search on Qihoo on December 22 for Xi Jinping restricted to the Hong Kong-based
Sina.com returns no results, just a censorship notice.

Sogou Search

These screenshots show that, like Baidu and Qihoo, Sogou was tweaking its censorship over the last two months, initially restricting search results to its broad white list, then blacklisting search results altogether, then finally restricting search results to the white list once again.

But these screenshots show that things aren't quite that simple. Looking at the left-hand screenshot, it would appear that search results for "Xi Jinping" plus a non-sensitive keyword (in this case, "reform") are also restricted to the broad white list. The right-hand screenshots, however, show that it is possible to get search results from web sites that are not on the broad white list if the user explicitly looks for them (in this case, by including the parameter "site:" and wsj.com).

And while all of this might lead users to think that Sogou has abandoned its strict white list, these screenshots show that Sogou is still restricting searches for "Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan" (彭丽媛 - Xi Jinping's wife) to its strict white list.

Finally, these screenshots show that Sogou continues to completely censor certain search results - in this case searches for "New York Times" and "Hu Jintao," "Wen Jiabao," "Xi Jinping," and "Li Keqiang" return no results, just a censorship notice.

Jike Search

Jike is a search engine launched by the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. As these screenshots show, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang," which on other search engines are restricted to the white list, on Jike return results from the broad white list.

But as these screenshots show, Jike will also completely censor certain search results - in these examples searches for "Xi Mingze" (习明泽 the daughter of Xi Jiping) and site:Boxun.com (a Chinese news web site based outside of China) both return no results, just a censorship notice.

Tencent Weibo

Tencent Weibo does not impose a seven day delay like its counterpart Sina Weibo. Instead, Tencent provides (apparently) real-time results, but restricts search results for leaders' names to posts made by users whose identities have been verified. These screenshots show that, while a search for "Obama" yields results from both verified (red) and non-verified (blue) users, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang" only yield results from verified users.

Baidu's New Censorship Policies for Leaders' Names After the 18th Party Congress

Prior to November 2012, Baidu's practice was to restrict all queries containing the name of a member of

Searches on Oct. 27, 2012 for PBSC members' names on
Baidu restricted to Sina.com.cn return no results.

the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China ("PBSC") to a strict white list of about a dozen websites controlled by the central government and the Communist Party:

State Run News Outlets 

The China Daily (chinadaily.com.cn)
The Economic Daily (www.ce.cn)
The People's Daily (people.com.cn)
The Guang Ming Daily (gmw.cn)
Xinhua (xinhuanet.com)
China News Service (chinanews.com.cn) 

State Run Broadcasters 

China Radio International (cri.cn)
China Central Television (cctv.com and cntv.com) 

Government Agencies 

Communist Party Youth League (youth.cn)
Central Government (www.gov.cn)
State Council Information Office (china.com.cn)
State Council Taiwan Affairs Office(chinataiwan.org)

In early 2012 Baidu also began including its own "Baike" Wikipedia clone in its strict white list - https://plus.google.com/u/0/106378980111121757454/posts/K6wRmyDbJEV.

In the weeks surrounding the 18th Party Congress, which convened from November 8 - 15, Baidu began tweaking its censorship of the names of current and future PBSC members' names, in some cases relaxing its censorship of those names and returning search results from its broad white list, which includes large China-based news and portal websites such as Sina, Sohu, and Tencent. See: http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/11/as-politburo-standing-committee.html

One month after the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress, Baidu appears to have settled on the following censorship policies for the names of senior government leaders:

• Search results for queries containing only a member's name in Chinese are restricted to the strict white list.
• Searches for member's names on Baidu's Tieba, Zhidao, and Wenku products return no results.
• Search results for queries containing a member's name in Chinese plus a sensitive term are either restricted to the strict white list or censored completely.
• New Search results for queries containing a member's name in Chinese plus a non-sensitive term are restricted to the broad white list.

Some examples:

These screenshots show that searches for "Hu Jintao" in 2009 and 2012 only returned results from Baidu's strict white list.

These screenshots show that a search for "Egypt Hu Jintao" in February 2011 only returned results from Baidu's strict white list. The same search in December 2012 returned results from Baidu's broad white list.

These screenshots, taken in December 2012, show that a search for "Egypt Hu Jintao site:sina.com.cn" returns tens of thousands of search results, while a search for "Namibia Hu Jintao site:sina.com.cn" returns no results, only a censorship notice.

These screenshots, also taken in December 2012, show that a search for "Xi Jinping" only returns results from Baidu's strict white list, but a search for "Xi Jinping Reform" returns results from Baidu's broad white list.

But these screenshots show that, while Baidu returned over a million results for a search for "Xi Jinping" restricted to the China-based Sina.com.cn, the same search on the Hong Kong-based Sina.com returned no results, just a censorship notice.

Finally, these screenshots, also taken in December 2012, show that a search for "Xi Jinping" on Baidu's Tieba, Zhidao, and Wenku products still returns no results.

[Updated 12/27/2012]Sina Weibo Enacts New "7 Day Delay" Function for Sensitive Terms Following 18th Party Congress

[UPDATE: Limited testing on December 26 and 27, 2012, indicates that Sina Weibo has stopped employing its seven day delay - see below for details.]

On November 10, 2012, Reuters published a report entitled "China Party Chief Stresses Reform, Censors Relax Grasp on Internet." An excerpt:

China's largest microblog service unblocked searches for the names of many top political leaders in a possible sign of looser controls a month after new senior officials were named to head the ruling party. 

Searches on the popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblog for party chief Xi Jinping, Vice Premier Li Keqiang and other leaders - terms that have long been barred under strict censorship rules - revealed detailed lists of news reports and user comments.

What's actually happened is that Sina Weibo is now imposing a seven day delay on search results for these names, as well as other "sensitive terms" (such as the name of lawyer Xu Zhiyong (许志永)).  Sina Weibo does not notify users when it does this. Read on for more details and examples.

The Standing Committee of Political Bureau of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ("PBSC") comprised the following nine members: Hu Jintao (胡锦涛), Wu Bangguo (吴邦国), Wen Jiabao (温家宝),  Jia Qinglin (贾庆林), Li Changchun (李长春), Xi Jinping (习近平), Li Keqiang (李克强), He Guoqiang (贺国强), Zhou Yongkang (周永康).

It is worth noting that Sina Weibo did not always censor searches for the names of all members of the PBSC. For example, this screenshot, taken in February 2012, shows that a search on Sina Weibo for "Xi Jinping" returned hundreds of thousands of results, including posts made just minutes before.

These screenshots were taken on October 27, 2012, and show that by then searches on Sina Weibo for the names of all of the members of the Political Bureau 17th CPC Central Committee always returned the same result - a censorship notice informing the user that "In accordance with relevant laws,  regulations, and policies, search results for 'XXX' have not been displayed." (根据相关法律法规和政策，“XXX”搜索结果未予显示。).

As noted previously on this blog, during the 18th Party Congress (November 8 - 14), Sina Weibo began tweaking its censorship mechanisms, at first eliminating the censorship notice in favor of saying it could find no results. Then it restored the censorship notice in some cases, while in other cases it appeared to show complete search results, but attempting to view more than one page of results would eventually result in a censorship notice. See -
http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/11/in-week-before-party-congress-sina.html

At around noon on November 15, 2012, Xinhua announced the "List of members of Standing Committee of Political Bureau of 18th CPC Central Committee": Xi Jinping (习近平), Li Keqiang (李克强), Zhang Dejiang (张德江), Yu Zhengsheng (俞正声), Liu Yunshan (刘云山), Wang Qishan (王岐山), and Zhang Gaoli (张高丽).

The screenshots below show that, two weeks after the announcement of the new Politburo, Sina Weibo administrators had yet to settle on a consistent approach to censoring information about the Communist Party's new leaders. At first glance, it initially appeared that Sina administrators had decided to not censor searches at all. For example, in the left-hand screenshots below, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang" apparently returned thousands of results and there is no censorship notice anywhere on the page. A closer look reveals, however, that all of the "Hot Posts" were several days old, and the posts following the "Hot Posts" were actually delayed by almost exactly 48 hours.

The right-hand screenshots show that Sina Weibo administrators continued to gradually increase the amount of censorship following the initial relaxation. By November 27, search for "Xi Jinping" was once again returning no results, only a censorship notice, and a search for "Li Keqiang" was returning no results from the previous 48 hours - the most recent result was three days old, and there was only one result from that day.

One month after the announcement of the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, Sina Weibo appears to have settled on a "new normal" - it will impose a one week delay for search results for all PBSC member's names in Chinese, except for "Hot Posts". The screenshots below show that the most recent results for searches for "Xi Jinping" on December 13 and 14 are from December 6 and 7, respectively.

Sina Weibo does not display a censorship notice for these search results.

On December 14, 2012, Sina Weibo was showing results but imposing the delay for searches for the names of all members of the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin. It was, however, completely censoring searches for "Wen Jiabao."

At the bottom of each search result page, Sina Weibo informs users "In order to provide more varied search results, we have excluded some posts that are relatively similar, you can click here to see all results." (为了提供多样性结果，我们省略了部分相似微博，您可以点击查看全部搜索结果) For uncensored results clicking on this link will take users to an up-to-the-second stream of posts. In the case of the names of Politburo Standing Committee members, however, the user is told "Apologies, unable to find results relating to 'XXX'" (抱歉，未找到“习近平”相关结果。). These screenshots, which show what happens when the link was clicked after a search for "Xi Jinping," indicate that sometimes it takes a few minutes for Sina Weibo to remove search results.

In the left-hand screenshot above, Sina Weibo returns a single search result, along with a censorship notice. The right-hand screenshot, taken a few hours later, shows no results and no censorship notice, just a notice saying no results could be found.

Sina Weibo also continued to engage in selective censorship for queries related to China's leadership. These screenshots, taken on November 13, show that searches for "XJP" and "Xi Jinping" in Pinyin returned no results, just a censorship notice.

As another example, these screenshots show that, while Sina Weibo was returning delayed results for "Peng Liyuan" (彭丽媛 - Xi Jinping's wife) in Chinese characters, searches for "Peng Liyuan" in Pinyin returned no results, just a censorship notice.

Finally, these screenshots show that Sina Weibo completely censored searches for "Xi Mingze" (习明泽 - Xi Jinping's daughter) in both Chinese characters and Pinyin.

The new rule is not only being applied to leaders and their families. These screenshots show that, whereas a search for "Xu Zhiyong" on November 27 returned results from as recently as November 25, the same search on December 18 did not return any results from the preceding seven days (with the exception of "hot posts").

UPDATE: DECEMBER 27, 2012

These screenshots, taken on December 26, show that Sina Weibo was no longer imposing a seven day delay for searches for "Hu Jintao" and "Li Keqiang." The same was true for the names of all other members of the 18th PBSC. Sina continued, however, to completely censor searches for "Wen Jiabao."

Government Withdraws Inciting Subversion Charge Against Chen Pingfu

Court decision granting leave to withdraw
the indictment against Chen Pingfu.

On June 27, 2012, public security officials in Lanzhou placed Chen Pingfu (陈平福) under residential surveillance on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power.

On August 14, 2012, the Lanzhou People's Procurotorate filed an indictment against Chen with the  Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court. According to the indictment:

From July 2007 to March 20012, defendant Chen Pingfu did on various occasions register blogs and microblogs under the name Chen Pingfu on Wangyi, Baidu, Sohu, Mtime, Sina, Tianya and other web sites, and published and republished 34 articles . . . stating that Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Three Represents, and the Scientific Development Concept did not offer any benefits to society; that the Communist Party's governance knows only the suppression of the people and will not allow people to have a livelihood; that the current political system is insufficiently democratic; that democratic constitutionalism should be put into practice; and other viewpoints intended to incite.

According to Procurator Wang Hailong (王海龙) Chen's actions were illegal because they constituted "dissemination of speech attacking the Party and the government, vilifying and libeling the state regime and the socialist system."

A full translation of the Indictment is available here: http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/09/translation-chen-pingfu-indictment-for.html

According to a document posted on Sina Weibo, on December 13, 2012, the Lanzhou Procuratorate filed a motion to withdraw the Indictment and dismiss the charge of inciting subversion of state power against Chen. The Court issued a decision affirming the motion on December 14.

The following is a translation of one of Chen's essays that the Procuratorate listed in its indictment. The text was taken from a blog on the China.com.cn website, which is operated by the State Council Information Office: http://forum.china.com.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=560157&do=blog&id=8622

I Can No Longer Suffer Humiliation in Silence

After reading my blog posts, a small number of Internet users have said that I'm mentally unbalanced, too extreme, too depressed, too negative . . . there are also some friends who say that I must have been on the receiving end of some provocation that led me to write such "extreme" things. These friends have got it right!

Five years ago, I was destitute because of illness and could not sit at home waiting to die, of absolutely no use to anyone, that might not count as any real provocation. This was all just the fault of my family being impoverished, and the goal of hospitals is to make money, and anyway this kind of thing happens all the time, its incredibly common.

Finding myself at an impasse, I was forced to perform my violin on the streets of Lanzhou, whereupon Lanzhou Public Security's roving "law enforcers" pressed me to ground and forcibly detained me, the Lanzhou Aid Station arrested me, and several beasts grabbed me by my limbs and threw me into an iron cage in a prison van - that kind of experience is not a provocation! One law abiding citizen who, because his life has trapped him, is forced to wander the streets busking, to be repeatedly subjected to a hundred kinds of humiliation by Party and government agents. This is why I can no longer silently bear humiliation, why I have become this "extreme." For the average homeless person this kind of humiliation is nothing, but to a person who is ill with heart disease, this kind of humiliation and mental irritation is fatal. Each time I was subjected to the humiliation of violent detention by government agents I would suppress my anger, but it was still difficult to control my increasing heart rate, and feel the end of my own life approaching as my heart beat sped up. But every time my life reached this critical juncture, I would always look to the heavens, and pray silently in my heart, asking God for peace and tranquility. I have survived difficult times, and each time difficulties would reach their apex, I would receive God's tender touch, and the crisis would pass. At the crux I would always implore God to forgive those slaves, that it was not the fault of the enslaved thugs, that it was the Party and the government who had forbade busking, who did not permit seeking this "illegal" livelihood, who did not permit the destitute to eat this "illegal" food. This gang of thugs was only carrying out the orders of their superiors, these beasts did not know they were doing evil, they only knew that they were "enforcing the law!"  Perhaps it truly is the end of days, where executive power is unchecked, these slaves abuse their power and influence, and are capable of every evil  act imaginable. With no faith, no belief, and no morality, these government thugs will, in order to fulfill the mission given by their masters, wantonly trample on human rights, by any means necessary, with no concern for any consequences. Compared to those who have burned themselves to death when their homes were demolished, I'm actually quite fortunate.

Each time my life has reached a critical juncture, I have comforted myself, calmed myself as the Bible teaches. I live despite calamities, and cannot die like that in vain. I simply look back on my own life, and discover I have lived half my life for nothing, having not done one single thing of real value or meaning. I can no longer suffer humiliation in silence, so I constantly ponder, breaking through cultural despotism by reading broadly, letting my thoughts wander thorugh a broader world, striving to make myself better able to write blogs with a bit of power.

The major Communist countries around the world have already cast off the shackles of the evil teachings of Communism, and have begun to walk the path of national awareness and revitalization. But our government still forces students and scholars to study some theories on special characteristics. I hope the country will turn peacefully toward democracy, I hope that the people will wake up, I hope that the Chinese people's traditional culture and the nation's constitutional system can soon be rebuilt, I hope that I might avoid oppression and be free to pursue my livelihood, I hope that I might follow my own artistic pursuits. The stale rhetoric of Marxism and Leninism has long since been cast aside by the average Chinese, Party papers and magazines have lost their readership. That is the strongest proof. 

The government prohibits busking, secret pronouncements trump the law, and are not subject to any legal restraint whatsoever. The law is whatever the leadership says it is, and politics is whatever they say it is. This society is lacking any normal political process or order, and is devoid of any political principles or morals. Politics cares nothing for the suffering or pleas of the people, and is entirely subject to the whims of the leaders and their ever-changing rhetoric. Given this exceedingly abnormal political system, power is everything, connections determine everything, and society brims with vicious struggles for personal gain. Corrupt officials embezzle billions, and those who serve the people can legally spend public funds like water without oversight or criticism, security forces can legally plunder the goods from the merchants' shops and the fruits from the farmers' fields. The destitute are forbidden to earn an "illegal" livelihood" eat an "illegal" meal. This is not a society in which any normal personal can survive.

The Great and Merciful Buddha enlightens humanity to do good works, shake off this mortal coil, and returns humanity to a state of original grace. The thugs of the Marxist atheist government do their evil under the banner of "law enforcement," and the more evil they do, the more evil they become.

我无法默默地忍受屈辱

少数网友看了我的博文后，说我心态不正、太偏激、太消沉、过于消极，，，还有朋友说我大概是受到了什么刺激，才写出了这些“偏激”的话，这位朋友正好说对了！

五年前我因病没钱在家等死，叫天不应叫地不灵，这可能算不上什么刺激。这都怪我家境贫寒，医院以赚钱为目的，何况这样的情况曾经有很多很多，极为平常。

在走投无路的困境中，我被迫在兰州街头拉小提琴献艺谋生，被兰州市公安局流管办“执法”人员摁倒在地强行抓捕、被兰州市救助站捉拿，几个畜生抓着我的四肢把我扔进铁笼囚车，这样的经历算不算刺激！一个守法公民因生活陷入困境而被迫流落街头献艺谋生，累累遭受来自党政机关的百般凌辱。正是因为我无法默默忍受这样的凌辱，我才变得如此“偏激”。这样的凌辱，对于一般流浪者来说，也许不算什么，可是对于一个患有严重冠心病的病人，这样的凌辱和精神刺激是致命的。每次遭遇政府机关暴徒捉拿凌辱时，我都强压怒火，但还是很难控制自己不断加快的心率，感觉到自己的生命快要因心动过速性心肌病而结束了。但是每当在生命的紧要关头，我都会仰望上天，在心里默默祷告，祈求上帝的安慰和眷顾。我大难还活着，而且每当大难临头时，都得到了上苍的眷顾，转危为安。关键时刻我总是祈求上苍饶恕了这些奴才，这不是奴才打手们的过错，是党和政府不准卖艺，不准“非法”谋生，不准穷苦人“非法”吃饭。这伙暴徒只是在执行上级领导的指示，这些畜生不知道它们在作恶，它们只知道自己在“执法”！也许真的是到了末日，无法无天的行政权力达到了疯狂的程度，这些奴才凭借权势，什么伤天害理的事情都做得出来。没有信仰、不信神佛、没有道德底线，这些政府机关土匪为了完成领导交办的任务，可以肆意践踏人权，可以不择手段，不计后果。比起那些因为家里的房子被强拆而自焚的人，我算是很幸运的。

每当生命的紧要关头，我总是按照圣经的教诲安慰自己，放松自己。我大难还活着，不能就这样白白地死去。我简单地回顾了一下自己的一生，发现自己已经白白地活了大半辈子，还没有做过一件真正有价值、有意义的事情。我无法默默地忍受屈辱，所以才不断地思索，通过广泛地阅读突破文化专制，让自己的思维走向更加宽广的世界，努力使自己能够写出有点力量的博文。

全球主要GC国家都已经摆脱了GC魔教的束缚，开始走向了民族的觉醒和复兴，可是我们的政府还在强迫读书人学习什么特色的理论。我期待国家的和平民主转型，期待人民的觉醒，期待中华民族的传统文化和国家的宪政体制尽早重建，期待自己能够免受强权的迫害而自由谋生，期待自己能够自由地从事个人的艺术活动。马列的那套陈腐说法，早已被中国的普通大众所唾弃，党报党刊早就失去了读者，这种事情就是最有力的证据。

政府不准卖艺，红头文件比法大，不受任何法理约束。领导的指示就是法，领导的说法就是政治。这个社会没有正常的政治运行秩序，毫无政治伦理和道德。政治不关心民众的疾苦和诉求，完全是随着最高领导的爱好而不断推出新的说法。在这样一个极不正常的政治体制下，事事仰仗权力、依靠关系，社会充满了你死我活的恶性争斗。贪官污吏可以贪财上亿，人民公仆可以合法使用公款挥金如土不受监督批评，城管可以合法抢劫小商贩的财物和农民的瓜果，穷苦人不能“非法”谋生，不准“非法”吃饭，这绝对不是一个正常人能够生存的社会制度。

大慈大悲的神佛教化人类行善积德、脱离苦海，回归人类善良的本性。可是马列无神论政府机关土匪，打着“执法”的旗号作恶，作恶越多越心黑。

Relevant Reading from November 2012 - GFW, Chongqing Speech Prosecutions, Andrea Yu

On November 7, 2012, the Wall Street Journal wrote in "Why Using the Internet in China is So Frustrating These Days":

Data from CloudFlare Inc., a company that provides web performance and security services for hundreds of thousands of websites, confirms that Internet users inside China are not just imagining things. CloudFlare Chief Executive Matthew Prince said the company’s engineers and consumers have reported increased difficulties with traffic out of China beginning at the end of August. 

Mr. Prince added that the blocks didn’t appear to fit any specific pattern, saying that both foreign sites and domestic Chinese sites experienced blockage problems. 

Foreigners and a savvy minority of Chinese Internet users have typically gotten around blocks of Western sites like Facebook and Youtube with VPNs, which form an encrypted link to a server outside of the country, thereby directing traffic around China’s Internet filters. But in recent weeks VPNs as well have been targeted, with two separate VPN companies telling China Real Time that they have noticed an uptick in blockages and interferences. 

A spokesman for Witopia said the recent disruption is “one of the most severe” the company had ever seen. 

“We’ve been in this business for almost eight years and have had customers in China since the beginning. The Chinese government definitely reminds us now and again that they ultimately control their part of the Internet, and disruptions definitely increase surrounding political events,” he added.

In November several state-sponsored media outlets questioned the use of re-education through labor in certain cases implicating the right to free speech. In "Speech Crime Cases in Chongqing" the Economic Observer noted the following cases:

The case of Fang Hong (方洪) is a classic example of the recent spate of “speech crime” sentences that have been overturned.
. . . .
At 9.30am on Apr 22, 2011, Fang posted a comment to Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging website that is similar to Twitter, from his Fang Zhusun (方竹笋) account. The comment was in relation to the case of Li Zhuang (李庄), a lawyer that had become entangled in Chongqing’s crackdown on organized crime, which was the focus of much attention at that time.
. . . .
[T]wo days later Fang was visited by two police officers who took him to the local police station for questioning.
After questioning, the Fuling (涪陵) District public security sub-bureau decided to hold him for 10 days of “administrative detention”. This decision was later revoked. However, on the same day, Fang was told that he was to be sentenced to re-education through labor.
. . . .
In October 2009, Peng Hong (彭洪) was handed a two-year re-education through labor sentence for libel after he forwarded a cartoon that presented Wen Qiang (文强), the former director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, as an “umbrella” for criminal gangs on the Tianya website. Peng also included a short innocuous comment – “what a strange umbrella!”  (这把伞好怪哦).
. . . .
Ren Jianyu (任建宇) was sentenced to two years re-education through labor on Aug 18, 2011 for spreading a large number of negative comments about the party and the government and the people who were in charge of Chongqing at the time.

Regarding the Ren Jianyu case, Fan Zhengwei (范正伟) wrote in an editorial entitled "The System Should Keep Pace With the Times" (制度供给应跟上时代脚步) in the People's Daily:

Clarity can be achieved only through understanding, justice can be achieved only through accountability. Ren Jianyu's freedom may be restored now, but there has yet to be any clear explanationas to why he lost his freedom. If one is to say that Ren Jianyu was suspected of committing the crime of "critical speech,"then was it reasonable for relevant agencies to use the re-education through labor system to restrict his personal freedom for a year when the procurotorate did not believe he had committed any crime? Given the background of the nation having repeatedly reaffirmed citizens' right to know, right to participate, right to express, and right to oversee, how do we avoid having citizens' basic rights be threatened with criminalization? Even if citizens' abuse their right to expression in violation of the law, do administrative agencies have the right to unilaterally reexamine a case and pass judgment?
有明白才有清白，有公正才有公信。如今任建宇恢复自由了，但其当初为何失去自由，依然缺乏明确说法。如果说任建宇发表“负面言论”涉嫌犯罪，那么当检察院不认为是犯罪时，有关部门却通过劳教制度限制其人身自由长达一年，是否合理？在国家多次重申公民知情权、参与权、表达权、监督权的背景下，公民的基本权利如何避免“扣帽子”式的威胁？即便是公民表达权利被违法滥用，行政部门是否有权单独甄别判定？

For more on the Peng Hong case, see - http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/09/peng-hong-posts-image-gets-two-years.html.

On November 15, 2012, Han Lei published an opinion piece in the China Daily entitled "Reporter's Log: Thoughts on Welcome Questions From Abroad." Some excerpts:

My initial disappointment at not being given the chance to ask a question at a news conference on the sidelines of the 18th Party Congress on Sunday was soon forgotten.
It was good to see five of the eight opportunities to do so going to overseas journalists, which, as I see it, is a sign that Chinese officials are becoming more confident and comfortable in dealing with them.
Among the five was Andrea Yu from Australia, who has become something of a celebrity among her peers at the congress and in cyberspace, earning herself the nickname "sister of questions".
Yu had the chance to ask questions at two out of four news conferences planned for the congress. . . .
Her case is just one example of the growing confidence among Party officials in facing up to the outside world, or to be more specific, in answering sharp questions.

Stephen McDonell of the Australian ABC had a chance to interview Andrea Yu about her good luck. Some excerpts:

Apart from Taiwan, the only question that Zhang Ping took from a foreign 'reporter' was from Andrea Yu of CAMG.
Did she ask if China was happy with the price it was paying for Australian iron ore? Did she ask if Chinese companies were satisfied with the restrictions placed on them investing in Australia?
No - this was her question.
ANDREA YU: Mr Zhang, please tell us what policies and plans the Chinese government will be implementing in cooperation with Australia.
. . . .
STEPHEN MCDONELL: Is it a little disingenuous for you to be up here I suppose with the appearance of being an independent international journalist when really you're working for a Chinese company?
ANDREA YU: Yes, that's a good question. It is interesting, and a lot of people have asked me about that. The fact is, I chose to be employed by them, and I'm representing their company.
So when I ask questions in press conferences and anything like that, I'm representing the company as well as representing Australia.
STEPHEN MCDONELL: The company though, it's controlled from Beijing, right?
ANDREA YU: Ah, well we do have a head office in Melbourne, so…
STEPHEN MCDONELL: The majority shareholding is from Beijing - that's right, isn't it?
ANDREA YU: Ah, yes, yes that's true.
STEPHEN MCDONELL: And is that from the Chinese government, Chinese government companies?
ANDREA YU: We have a partnership with CRI, Chinese Radio International, which does have a fairly large connection to the government, yes.
. . . .
STEPHEN MCDONELL: Well maybe I could ask you this way - it's not a coincidence that they keep choosing you to ask questions at the press conferences, is it.
ANDREA YU: I don't think I would say that it's not a coincidence because they had already asked me the previous day.
STEPHEN MCDONELL: Because they know they're going to get an easy question from you, though, don't they?
ANDREA YU: I think that's part of it, yes.