As the latest public personality in China to be verbally attacked en masse by web users and become a media hot topic, sociologist Li Yinhe (李银河) is feeling the force of creeping social change in the country. She is playing an unenviable role, you might say, in the dress rehearsal for free speech in China, the revolutionary idea that all Chinese have the right to speak their own mind and make their own decisions about what is truth.
On July 21 Li Yinhe, a sociologist and well-known expert on sex and gender (who proposed for a third time this year that gay marriage be legalized in China), presented a talk in Nanjing in which she reportedly discussed everything from one-night stands to incest. Nanjing’s Jinling Evening News ran what most now agree was a news report with a negative spin on July 23, and suggested Li had said in her talk that she had a “desire for multiple romantic relationships” (Li later told Y Weekend her words had been taken out of context, that she was expressing not a personal wish but rather a hope for social diversity).
In any case, the Jinling Evening News article created a sensation online as netizens rushed to make their own views on sex and marriage known, many issuing personal attacks on Li Yinhe. Capitalizing on obvious reader interest, newspapers and magazines followed suit, printing editorials and summaries of the controversy. Li Yinhe told Y Weekly she hadn’t ruled out a lawsuit, but found the idea troublesome: “In order to clear my reputation, must I sue them [the Nanjing newspaper]? . . . I don’t want to get involved in a lawsuit, that’s too much trouble. Some people might say that by getting involved in a lawsuit over such a thing I’m just trying to build myself up?” [2005 article on Li at Xinhua in English with photograph][Li Yinhe on rural unrest at Danwei.org].
China Youth Daily called the Li Yinhe controversy and others like it examples of “comment posting culture”, in which not only web users but also other print media follow a news topic with intensity and make their views known. “Along with the development of the Internet, a kind of ‘comment posting culture’ (跟帖文化) has become popular”, the newspaper wrote on August 6. “It already exists on more than just the web, expanding to print media and with an influence not to be overlooked”.
While “free speech”, where it concerns criticism of Communist Party leaders or government policy, remains extremely sensitive, the issue is being discussed more generally in the media in cases like the recent Li Yinhe controversy. In an editorial last week, Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post (东方早报) said that “what should be most precious in an open society is that everyone have the right to speak”. With reference to post-structuralist theory, the article suggested each person has a “right” to their own “readings” of the truth, a radically new concept to find in a major newspaper in a country where the Communist Party has traditionally claimed a monopoly on the truth, and where “guidance of public opinion” remains the cardinal principle of media policy.
The Oriental Morning Post response to the Li Yinhe controversy follows, with excerpts from the original Jinling Evening Post report and Li’s rebuttal in Y Weekly:
——————–
HEADLINE: Be Slow to Anger, please, Li Yinhe
— What should be most precious in an open society is that everyone have the right to speak. The most difficult thing about free speech is tolerating that speech we find most abhorrent. —
While I don’t share Li’s point of view, I admire her for having the courage in challenging social prejudices; and I despise those netizens who heaped their scorn on her (particularly those who tried to turn her personal life against her). Still, the report that appeared in Jinling Evening News [and launched the controversy] belongs to a different category [from these online attacks]. And judging from Li’s condemnation of the newspaper it’s difficult to find any outstanding points of untruth [in the Jinling report], much less anything constituting a violation of law. At most this newspaper wrote a negative news report on Li’s talk in which it described how some audience members broke with the use of strips of paper to submit questions [to Li Yinhe] and debated with her on the scene. As to the accuracy of these descriptions Li has offered no challenge. From the viewpoint of readers this was definitely a scene to attract one’s attention, and it’s no surprise it found its way across the Internet.
Li, who is highly-educated, understands that news reports may stray despite the best efforts at objectivity. This is particularly true with such explosive topics [as sex and family] about which people can’t help but be moved. Starting from different points of view, people will naturally see different “facts” . . . People emphasize what they want to see and that is precisely what they see. It’s hard to talk about which version is “objective”.
What most infuriated Li Yinhe was that this newspaper [Jinling Evening News] said she “desired multiple romantic relationships”. She said after the fact that by using “desired” she meant not that she desired “multiple romantic relationships” but that she desired diversity . . . But even in her rebuttal [interview with Y Weekend] Li said: “Things like multiple romantic relationships, one-night stands, I think these are simply new kinds of social relationships. As [French philosopher] Foucault has said, we already have marital relationships, family relationships, but these social relationships are far too few. Our people are capable of creating many different types of social relationship”.
Isn’t it at least an understandable error for any normal person, on hearing words like this, to assume that she “desired multiple romantic relationships”? . . .
We have all been edified by the various postmodern textual analyses of the 20th century, such as the right to [various] readings (诠释权), etcetera. Any text has independence from its maker, and others naturally have a right to their own readings. Honestly, reading Li Yinhe’s allegations after the fact I too find it hard to believe she doesn’t desire multiple romantic relationships, and believe moreover that there are contradictions in her own thought of which she is unaware. Looking at various elections in the United States we see that the candidate’s every sentence is taken and used in inflammatory ways by his opponent, garbled and taken out of context, twisted. Tell me, who has ever brought a lawsuit for such a thing? Never. The reason is simple: you can’t monopolize readings of your own texts. All you can do is exercise your own right to make a reading [or interpretation] and compete with the interpretations of others.
This is where Li Yinhe is wrong. Perhaps she only wants to say, “That’s not what I meant”, that others twisted the facts.
Actually, “Know thyself” is a much harder exhortation than most of us realize. Socrate’s greatest lesson to humanity was that in most instances we don’t know ourselves well enough, although we may believe mistakenly that we do. Jinling Evening News wrote a report she [Li Yinhe] does not approve of, making a reading of her beliefs that varies from her own. As a public personality (公共人物) Li has sufficient media resources to make express her views. All of us readers are waiting to be convinced. But if you have sufficient ability to instill reason [make your views known through the media] but resort instead to the law, does that not lead us to believe you are short on reason?
Online media have given people precious space to express their own speech freedoms. Those of us who eat by means of our words [media] have the greatest interest in preserving this kind of freedom. Regrettably, there is an unfortunate trend of late, namely the use of the law by those who want to shut up speech they don’t personally like. We have, for example, the case of Fang Zhouzi (方舟子), who was ordered by the court to apologize to those he criticized [for exposing an act of academic plagiarism]. I’m not familiar with the details of this case so can’t offer my own criticisms, but it concerns me. If Fang Zhouzi were to use his own website to launch a false and systematic campaign against me, I might regard myself as a victim. I could choose either to ignore him or respond to him, but I would have no need to take him to court. If we tie Fang Zhouzi up in legal wrangling so that he spends all his time fighting lawsuits and has no energy to do other things then we will be short one level of supervision (少了一重监督), and what good will there be for our society in that? [More on Fang Chouzi from Paul Mooney, Chronicle of Higher Education].
So I exhort public personalities, Li Yinhe included, to be more tolerant of the media, even to the point of letting people make errors. What should be most precious in an open society is that everyone have the right to speak. The most difficult thing about free speech is tolerating that speech we find most abhorrent.
——————–
Here are translated portions of the Jinling Evening News report on Li Yinhe’s talk in Nanjing:
Invited to attend an “Eastern Valentine’s Day” forum at Jiangsu Television on July 21, well-known sociologist Li Yinhe arrived at Nanjing’s Xinjiekou International Theater to give a talk “about love”. [This was for “qixi”, the Chinese Valentine’s Day, the seventh evening of the seventh month, when Herd-boy and Weaving-girl are supposed to meet].
[Article mentions that when discussion starts the viewers have many questions and opinions. Questions are submitted to Li on pieces of paper.]

In her talk, Li Yinhe had already revealed her desire for “multiple romantic relationships” (多边恋) . . .
Many viewers expressed their doubts and asked on their strips of paper whether the idea of “multiple romantic relationships” broke with the traditional concept of the “nuclear family” and whether it would create inequality and chaos in society. Li Yinhe’s answer was a bit forced: “All things should be rich and colorful. If all families are merely one father and one mother, then that would be too bland”.
Extramarital relationships are the “cancers” standing in the way of happy families in urban life, [but] Li Yinhe spoke for them at the event. “Anyone has the right to have sexual relations with third persons other than their partners. Love affairs are wrong only because they are in violation of the Marriage Law. Concerning one-night stands, if you are single, not only do you have this right but there are no moral problems involved. So the only advice I would have for those having one-night stands is that they be safe and prevent the spread of diseases” . . .
The questions the audience members asked became more and more sensitive and Li Yinhe’s answers made people more and more surprised. When the topic of “incest” came up, Li Yinhe said: “Prohibitions on incest were originally considered from the standpoint of heredity, to prevent the congenital flaws. Incest does not touch on moral issues. I think with the promise they do not reproduce, there is no reason why cousins should not allowed to unite”.
One old woman in the audience could listen no longer. She stood up excitedly and said loudly: “I want to say a few words. I want to say a few words. I think one man and one woman is still beneficial to the development of society. It’s still better if people are more conservative!”
The old woman’s words brought a peal of applause from the audience. An old man on the back row could no longer keep his seat. He stood up, turned his body to the audience and said: ““Girls, pick up your pens for me and write down what I have to say! In love, this you must understand. You must not be to loose in your attitude.” Faced with this attack, Li Yinhe looked noticeably uncomfortable onstage.
Following are translated portions of Li Yinhe’s interview with Y Weekend, a magazine published by the China Youth Daily group. In the interview, Li Yinhe responds to the article in Jinling Evening News that sparked the online controversy over her comments:

Y Weekend: After that article, “Li Yinhe Desires ‘Multiple Relationships'”, came out I saw your claim on your personal blog that you did not say the word “desire”, is that true?
Li: I did use this word “desire”. In my talk I expressed hope for a society of cultural diversity. I don’t desire “multiple relationships”. What I desire is diversity.
Y Weekend: But why did this article want to allege that you desired multiple relationships?
Li: It’s definitely hostile! There’s also that little phrase after the headline that says I “provoked the anger of the crowd”, which is totally untrue.
When questions were asked at the time the atmosphere was charged. Later a 50 or 60 year-old woman stood up and said: ‘I think it still should be one man and one woman, everyone should raise their consciousness’. This woman came many times before to the Academy of Social Sciences looking for me. I won’t dare expose her personal situation. But one time, after we’d talked at CASS, she suddenly turned around as she was leaving and shouted back at me: ‘Let me tell you, Wang Xiaobo, he doesn’t love you!’ What was that about? You tell me. Isn’t there something a bit wrong with her nerves?
After the talk was over, people came up and wanted my signature. Later I went to the elevator. There were so many people the elevator door wouldn’t close. What kind of provoking the anger of the crowd is that?
So it’s clearly ridiculous of this one little Nanjing paper to report that I provoked the anger of the crowd.
Y Weekend: You did talk about multiple romantic relationships, one-night stands and incest at the Nanjing event. While we’re on the subject, do you yourself accept multiple romantic relationships and one-night stands?
Li: I still prefer one husband and one wife. Multiple romantic relationships refer to sexual relationships involving three or more people. This and one-night stands are too much trouble for my liking, so to say that I long for them is simply a violation of fact.
But just because I don’t like something personally doesn’t mean people don’t have a right to them. I have to respect their rights. You can’t say I like homosexuality just because I submit a resolution on same-sex marriage. If I research criminal behavior, does that mean I enjoy such behavior?
Actually, what I wish to emphasize are the sexual rights of citizens. As a citizen, anyone has the right to be master of their own body – this is a basic right. When it [that right] is infringed upon we must stand up and speak, is that not right?
Y Weekend: Why must you stand up and speak? On such a sensitive topic, aren’t you afraid people will attack you indiscriminately?
Li: This is my area of expertise. This is the type of research I do. To see that people have so many incorrect ways of thinking concerns me and I want to correct them. I only want to make correct concepts known. So what then?
Things like multiple relationships, one-night stands — I think these are simply new kinds of social relationships. As Foucault has said, we already have marital relationships, family relationships, but these social relationships are far too few. Our people are capable of creating many different types of social relationship – if you don’t like something, you can choose something else.
Y Weekend: When you emphasize the right to these things in such a way, does that give people the impression you are advocating them? Or that you are encouraging them?
Li: When you voice truths, does that always mean advocating them? During the talk I was objectively describing the situation in the West. I was just describing to everyone how the world is changing. But I was in no way suggesting that everyone should go out and do these things. I had already discussed how much your odds of getting a sexually-transmitted disease go up each time you add another partner. No one cared to report that.
Y Weekend: Some people said on the Internet that you had endorsed one-night stands and that this was sure to please those who have had on intend to have one-night stands.
Li: Endorsed? Um …… Please? Actually they already have a right. I’m only saying it out loud. What is clearly in our rights, no one dares to speak of.
What I want to say to them is that they have the right, but when they have a sexual relationship with a stranger, this is potentially dangerous.
[Posted by David Bandurski, August 15, 2006, 11:20am]

In a statement yesterday former badminton champion Zhou Mi turned her fire on Chinese and foreign media, responding to speculation she planned to relinquish her Chinese nationality and play for Malaysia’s national team.
Zhou said the situation, which has been dubbed the “Zhou Mi Affair” (周蜜事件), spun out of control because foreign media “misled the public” and Chinese domestic media “blew the story out of proportion”. Zhou said in the statement, distributed through major Chinese web portals, that her “patriotism cannot so easily be denigrated”. She added that she has not yet made any firm decisions about her future plans. “When and if I do decide to make a return to badminton, I will speak and act carefully”, said Zhou, who retired from the Chinese national team in 2005 after suffering a knee injury.
The “Zhou Mi Affair” highlights growing tension between China’s increasingly commercialized and freewheeling media and public personalities like Zhou who are sources of interest to Chinese media consumers. The media’s hunt for compelling stories has led to a growing number of defamation cases in recent years. Problems are compounded by a lack of adequate channels of information about personalities, a point The Beijing News makes in its editorial on the affair today [See below].
The “Zhou Mi Incident” was fueled by reports in Malaysian media earlier this month that Zhou Mi would spend a month in Kuala Lumpur as a sparring partner for Wong Mew Choo as Wong prepared for the world championships in Spain. Malaysia’s The Star Online, an English-language online publication, said sports officials had given Zhou Mi the green light to play for Malaysia’s national team and suggested the one-month sparring arrangement was a trial run: “National chief coach Yap Kim Hock said that Zhou Mi would continue to train in Malaysia under national men’s singles coach Li Mao. And she may well represent Malaysia in the future”, the publication said.
Chinese media quickly picked up on reports in the Malaysian press and before long the storyline read that Zhou Mi planned to “relinquish her Chinese citizenship and play badminton for Malaysia“. On August 5, Beijing Youth Daily quoted an article in Malaysian media that said, “former Chinese national badminton player Zhou Mi is already playing for Malaysia”. Beijing Youth Daily said it was doubtful, though, that Zhou Mi would play for the country. In another August 5 report Chengdu Commercial Daily quoted Badminton Association of Malaysia representatives as saying it was possible Zhou Mi would serve as either a coach or a player for the Malaysian team in the future.
The following are excerpts of Zhou Mi’s statement as it appeared at Sohu.com:

News reports about my relinquishing of my Chinese nationality and becoming a Malaysian citizen have no basis in fact. First of all, I am visiting for one month on a tourist visa. During that time I will have exchanges with the Malaysian national badminton team … This is beneficial for enhancing exchange of badminton culture. For me personally, the opportunity enhances my personal life experience, allowing me to improve my knowledge of badminton players of other nationalities … Secondly, I am deeply proud of being a Chinese and looking at the daily development of our country makes me proud …
I think the media bears a large responsibility for taking an ordinary situation and turning it into such a big disturbance … As for some of the comments he made [referring to Chinese national Coach Li Yongbo], foreign media misled the public and Chinese domestic media blew the story out of proportion …
The Beijing News printed the following editorial in today’s sports section. The editorial challenges Zhou Mi’s assertion that media alone bear responsibility for the “Zhou Mi Affair”, and ends with a cheeky play on Zhou Mi’s words in her statement, in which she said her “love for her country could not be so easily denigrated”:

Yesterday former badminton world champion Zhou Mi (周蜜) issued a statement through several major Internet portals saying that her patriotism is not in question, and pointing her spearhead at the media ……
My core question is the same as that in Zhou Mi’s statement, whether the most media were seeking the truth and whether they acted professionally with respect for their readers, [but] I have no doubt [that the media did]. Just as we have never been jealous or suspicious of Zhou Mi’s feelings of patriotism, I believe that the original intention of most media was to seek the facts, and was not, as national champion Zhou said, to take the issue and blindly blow it out of proportion.
If all parties had kept clear heads and serious demeanors, the “Zhou Mi Affair” would not have evolved to the point it has. Even if there really was “untruth” as the party involved [Zhou Mi] has said, well then, National Champion Zhou and Coach Li and even the whole badminton team, and the media are all responsible in their own ways. Moreover, the media does not in this case as the party involved [Zhou Mi] has said, “have major blame” (“有很大的责任”). There are three reasons to reach this conclusion. First of all, our national team has not yet joined tracks with international practice, and if there were an effective news announcement system (新闻发言人制度) there would be no need of troubling Coach Li Yongbo for a response. Secondly, the person around which the speculation centered [Zhou Mi] did not take the first available opportunity to explain the facts in person, and without her guidance it was tough to avoid an overflow of information. Thirdly, the above two factors put the media in a very awkward situation — the pursuit of the facts does not permit the media to give up lightly, simply tossing aside information from various sources, and so responsibility for the so-called “stirring up” of the “Zhou Mi Affair” does not lie with the media, or at least not entirely with the media.
Another convincing fact is that Li Yongbo, one of the parties involved, never came forward to deny his previous comments on the “Zhou Mi Affair” … If Zhou Mi had come forward with her statement earlier things would not have played out as they did.
I end with a truism: the relationship between the media and public figures is, to put it gently, like the relationship between lips and teeth, or more harshly, one of mutual imposition. You might be a star, but the truth or inaccuracy of news is not for you to decide. As for shoving full responsibility on the media, while this is safe and diverts the attention of the public it is dishonest. We in the media can also issue our own statement: the media’s love of the truth cannot so easily be denigrated.
[Posted by David Bandurski and Brian Chan, August 10, 2006, 3:42pm]

In a decision underscoring greater awareness of personal privacy and right of reputation protections in China, a court in Beijing’s Chaoyang District found against Huaxia Times newspaper last month. Without the consent of “Aids orphan” Xiao Li (name changed), the newspaper published a story in December last year about the death of the girl’s parents, who had Aids, along with her photograph and real name. On July 16 the court ordered Huaxia Times to issue a public apology to Xiao Li and pay 20 thousand yuan in damages.
Chinese media reports of Xiao Li’s court victory have still declined to mention the defendent, Huaxia Times, by name. But nearly two weeks after the verdict was passed down the case still sparks soul-searching among Chinese media.
Critics of the Huaxia Times report, which offered a detailed account of the death of Xiao Li’s parents from Aids, said the newspaper had thoughtlessly and painfully reopened the child’s past just as she was beginning to rebuild her life in the care of others. Guangdong’s Southern Weekend newspaper ran a detailed report of the case back in June. Xiao Li had received the help of a number of people, including well-know Aids crusader Gao Yaojie, in starting a new life, Southern Weekend reported. In late 2005, another of Xiao Li’s caretakers shared her story with a reporter from Huaxia Times on the condition they “must not print her picture or use her actual name”. The story appeared with Xiao Li’s picture and real name on page A16 on December 2 and within days was all over the Internet.
In an editorial yesterday, Beijing Youth Daily called the decision an “important caution” to media to uphold their social responsibility and move toward better regulation. The newspaper, published by Beijing’s city-level Communist Youth League, offers a muted appeal for Chinese media to learn from Western media standards, or more precisely, from the American notion of “political correctness”, which is not in fact an American news value as the editorial seems to suggest, or a “system” for ensuring journalistic fairness:

In an ideal and healthy media environment, all responsible media must be self-aware and have a strict sense of discipline, and must ensure this discipline becomes a reality through efficient mechanisms and tools. As to this sense of discipline and systems of guarantee, Chinese media professionals are probably most familiar with American sensitivities over ‘political correctness’. We do not subscribe to Western views of the media, and must vigilant critics of them. However, scrupulously abiding by ‘political correctness’ in the goal of preserving social stability and equality and respect for different [social] groups is something we should turn to for reference. Mature media, when coming across sensitive topics like the ‘Aids orphan’ story, should make respect for the various rights and interests of the subject its ‘cardinal rule’. It should have a series of measures in place to this end so that all possible errors are destroyed by strict procedures.
[Posted by David Bandurski, August 9, 2006, 4:17pm]

The chaos of China’s present media environment, where paranoid control and censorship work alongside commercialization and fierce competition, can make for delightful surprises. Despite the daily obstacle course of orders and bans, independent voices do emerge in the Chinese media. Editorials are one of the best places to look for these voices, and “The Era of Heartfelt Words” (热言时代), a collection of Southern Metropolis Daily editorials published last month by Nanfang Daily Press, brings together some of the most unique from a newspaper that is one of the undoubted innovators on China’s media landscape. The editorials, which span roughly two years up to late 2005, offer original snapshots of serious social issues as well as quirky but intelligent takes on such trivia as award lists for outstanding public servants.

One piece from July 12, 2004, “Why Can’t Lions Study from Tigers?” addressed the growing trend of local Chinese leaders going on educational missions to overseas countries to find out how things were done there:
It has become fashionable for Chinese cadres to “go abroad to take part in advanced studies”. In these times when our own systems are not healthy and corruption regularly occurs, the people have a right to express their doubts: is this not again just coming up with another word for corruption?
The writer refers to a newspaper article in which a Mr. Li Fang argued that study programs in the United States are ineffective because the situations in the two countries are so different (“like horses and asses trying to hold a conversation”). Mr. Li had mentioned a Party secretary from a city in Shandong who spent three months in New Haven, Connecticut, serving as a “special assistant” to the city’s mayor. When then Vice-president Al Gore visited New Haven, the Chinese official remarked that the mayor did not play host to him. In the officials words: “The mayor was selected by the people and was not appointed from above, so his responsibility was to those below him, not those above”.
Mr. Li, said the editorial writer, had argued that this “responsibility to those below, not to those above” was ill-suited to China’s national situation. It was like sending lions to live with tigers – what they studied was of no use back in their own habitats.
The editorial writer took issue with Mr. Li’s conclusions:
This kind of “responsibility to those above and not to those below” in traditional Chinese politics is the root of centuries of poverty and weakness in China … Actually, when the official from Shandong wrote upon coming back of what he had learned [during his time in the United States], it was simple, precious and a good start. He remarked many good things he had learned, for example that American mayors were loathe even to treat him to a meal costing a few dollars for fear misemploying public monies. If Chinese officials can realize little things like this writer is all in favor of sending all of our mayors over there for a stint. This writer believes all officials going abroad for training should do things this way, writing down their thoughts when they return and printing them in the newspaper. This way we can let the people decide whether there is value in having them go out or not.
The first two characters in the name of this collection, reyan, translate directly as “hot words”. None of the editorials in the collection are scalding, but there is an abundance of warmth, insight and irony. If only we could now have a version in English.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 19, 11:35am]

Attempting to put an end to the mainland distribution of unauthorized domestic and foreign documentaries and other audiovisual works about China, China’s General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) issued orders yesterday that all audiovisual works (DVDs, CDs, etc) dealing with the Cultural Revolution and other “major topics” (重大选题) must be registered before distribution on the mainland. A GAPP official in charge of audiovisual and web publishing said that in order to boost sales a number of audiovisual publishers had produced or imported works without first obtaining permission [Chinese coverage here].
The term “major topics” refers in Chinese to works about high-level leaders current or past — generally, from the standing committee of the CPC – or important historical events like the Cultural Revolution that are still political sore spots. Films such as Carma Hinton’s documentary on the Cultural Revolution, Morning Sun, have circulated without approval and found audiences in China, media insiders said.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 13, 2006, 12:20pm]

According to a news report in today’s edition of Chongqing Commercial Daily, excerpted on Sina.com, police in the municipality of Chongqing have demanded all Internet users register before October 30 or face fines and denial of web access. Danwei.org has already summarized the story. The article’s lead paragraphs follow [Chinese here]:

Chongqing Commercial Daily
July 7, 2006
It must be completed by October 30, and those who do not carry it out will be fined 3,000 yuan and their computers shut down [Internet access denied] for six months.
Going online in your own home also now requires registration with the Public Security Bureau. The Chongqing Public Security Bureau’s notification on strengthening management of international Internet [user] records was approved yesterday by the city government’s legislative affairs office, taking effect on the day of announcement. Those who do not carry out [the regulations] will, for light violations, receive warning from the police, and in serious cases computers will be shut down [Internet access denied] for a period of six months.
The “Notification on Strengthening Management of International Internet [user] Records”, put out by the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, demands all companies [work units] and individuals connected to the Internet must formally register, including personal users connected by dial-up or cable … According to an expert at the Ministry of Information Industry, in the past only those setting up personal websites needed to register but ordinary people connecting the Internet did not need to register.
“So is everyone who goes online a criminal?” asked one netizen responding on Sina.com. “Do they think that by [requiring] registration they can control criminal online behavior? … Those who made this policy should study those portions of the Constitution dealing with the people’s basic rights. So can you trample on people’s basic rights just to control criminal behavior?”
“Registration, hey that’s OK,” said another. “Who am I afraid of if I haven’t done anything wrong? It’s just like giving your ID when you check into a hotel. There’s nothing wrong with it. Those who are afraid are the ones going online in an unhealthy way. I’m in favor!”
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 7, 2006, 5:12pm]

Three days after a Chinese cabinet official stepped forward to clarify the text of the draft emergency management law, the media’s role in reporting on emergency situations remains a live topic in the newspaper pages. In a page two piece today Southern Metropolis Daily continued its editorial defense of the role of media in informing the public about emergency situations, using the July 4 earthquake in northern China as a news peg. The editorial argues that media reporting is not at odds with the government’s need to control emergency situations and that media and government offices should compete to get information out as fast as possible:
“Reports on emergency events still mean racing against the clock”
Southern Metropolis Daily, July 6, 2006
On July 4 at 11:56am, an earthquake measuring 5. 1 on the Richter Scale occurred in Wenan in northern Hebei Province and shook the area of Beijing and Tianjin. At 12:16pm, 20 minutes after the quake struck, Xinhua News Agency issued a newsflash saying this was a sudden natural disaster. The news quickly spread across major websites, placed right across the top banner. At the first opportunity, China Central Television’s News Halfhour broadcast news of the Wenan quake.
After the quake occurred the media followed with prompt reports, quieting public fears about the disaster. However, in spite of the fact Xinhua came out with news 20 minutes after the quake, some people in the affected area still had stern words for the media. This is because within those 20 minutes, news and rumors about the quake were already speeding across the web and short messaging networks. The Beijing Seismological Bureau said it received several hundred phone calls to its five hotline numbers asking for information within a short time. Seen in light of the technological developments of our time, 20 minutes was still a step too slow, particularly considering the fear under which people passed that time.
20 minutes is plenty of time for an earthquake to destroy our cities and homes. In the people’s eyes, faced with such a broad and profound natural disaster, it behooves the media to report and respond with greater sharpness. If you consider that media must check the accuracy of information and obtain approval [NOT CLEAR: from government or media superiors?] then 20 minutes is not such a long time. But whether we can issue timely news releases within this gap of time — that is something we really need to talk about. At the same time, how we will face the release of information for these emergency events is a question for our whole society.
We are now in a high-level information age. The number of information channels by which people can access and exchange information about society are already multiplying at a tremendous rate. This situation means one of the critical questions for the government in dealing with emergencies is how to compete for speed with the rumors that spread while people aren’t yet clear about the situation. It can be said then that in releasing information about emergencies there is no such thing as too detailed or too fast. With these ordinary demands of society, trying to completely go by the old protocol of first asking for instructions, then looking into the matter, then making decisions cannot possibly yield effective results.
We should admit the fact that when emergencies occur, as government offices seek to enhance their power to control the emergency situation and effectively deal with the crisis, the result is very often an impulse, in handling of information about the emergency, is to monopolize information as relevant offices are under a mandate for tight controls. On the question of basic benefits in a traditional society [like China], there in fact is no conflict of interest between governments that need to get everything under control in emergency situations and participation by professional media. It does no harm to the public interest for both sides to scrabble to get out information as quickly as possible. Quite the opposite, this is beneficial competition that allows the true situation to unfold before the public as quickly as possible. The experience of many modern countries in dealing with emergency situations shows that it’s impossible for the government to play every role in the drama all at once [take on control of everything]. After emergencies occur governments [in such countries] never seek to monopolize information. Rather, they seek to get information out faster and with more accuracy than the media with the goal of offsetting false information.
The media are the most delicate sensory organs of any society. In facing emergencies like earthquakes, the media is totally capable of feeling out the situation and responding quickly, releasing information to the public as soon as possible and mitigating the social implications of obstacles to information. In the recent Wenan Earthquake, the media showed the public what it is capable of through its professional efforts. In the fast-paced world of modern media, 20 minutes is just a start. A report on the Wenan quake coming after 20 minutes just passes muster. As a society we need to shorten this time, and the government must continually attach importance to and study that 20 minutes.
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 6, 2006, 6:12pm]

Responding to recent pressure from Chinese media and the online community over a draft emergency law some said would severely limit news media reporting on disasters, a Chinese cabinet official sought in a news briefing yesterday to cool the controversy by “clarifying” related portions of the draft emergency management law. [pdf_southern-metro-daily-coverage.pdf].
Fielding questions from reporters yesterday, Wang Yongqing (汪永清), vice director of the legal affairs office of the State Council, said the draft “does not impact the normal reporting of journalists during emergency events” and that it would not penalize media for violating regulations by local governments. The “regulations” in the draft, Wang said, pointed to national regulations and not ad hoc rules made by local leaders. The implication seemed to be that it would not be a problem for media to expose cover-ups by local governments, so long as there were not “serious” violations of national regulations.

The official’s statements were a sign of cautious progress over an issue that has worried Chinese media, and headlines today were bullish. “Media can report emergency situations as normal”, declared a page two headline in Beijing Youth Daily. Important questions remain, however. Not least of which how orders and bans from the Propaganda Department will be handled – these missives, which are generally delivered to editors by telephone, fall beyond the scope of law. And the central government’s intention is clearly to reign in what it perceives as potential enemies on both sides – a freewheeling press and entrenched local leaders.
An article in today’s edition of Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Daily shares the thoughts of former CMP fellows Lu Yuegang and Pu Zhiqiang on the draft law:
Concerning the Emergency Management Law (draft) being discussed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, veteran China Youth Daily reporter Lu Yuegang said portions were in conflict with China’s constitution, and that if these portions pass it will be a great shame for China’s press, “effectively putting a noose around its neck”.
This courageous reporter with a track record for brave reporting on the mainland said, “SARS, avian influenza, natural disasters, all of these were reported by the media, forcing local [governments] to pay attention to them. We’re nearing 30 years of opening and reform, and our leaders still want to use blind methods like this to rule the country. If this isn’t a great sadness for China, I don’t know what is.”
Beijing lawyer Pu Zhiqiang told our newspaper that not only do related portions [of the draft law] violate the constitution but also go against the public’s right to know and give government a pretext for legalizing control of the news … He said this was not an isolated incident but part of a comprehensive strategy of speech control on the part of the Propaganda Department …
[Posted by David Bandurski, July 4, 2006, 11:39am]

As the controversy over the media clause of the draft emergency law continues, a page six article in today’s Southern Metropolis Daily offers a rather ambiguous clarification, if you will, of the People’s Congress position on the draft law and media-related portions. The statement, from People’s Congress information office spokesperson Kan Ke (阚珂), seems to be a direct response to the wave of attention harrying the media clause, which would set fines for “news media making bold to report on the handling of emergency situations in violation of regulations or issuing false reports”. One of the most interesting and debatable presumptions in this statement is that the government can all at once ensure “unity” (统一) and “accuracy” (准确). [PHOTO: Authorities at the site of a gas explosion in April this year, www.qjqjt.gov.cn police website].
The final paragraph is full of apparent contradictions, particularly for anyone approaching this issue from the standpoint of liberal press theory. But this seems to be an unsurprising affirmation of CONTROL as the heart of Chinese media policy. The government, in other words, intends to monopolize information, releasing so-called “accurate” information as suits it needs. If one reads this with the presumption the government always knows best in matters of public interest, the announcement is at least internally consistent. But this, of course, is exactly the issue at contention — we want to monitor you on behalf of the public, the media opposition are saying. Anyhow, here is the Southern Metropolis Daily story:

The Director of the Information Office of the National People’s Congress, Kan Ke, said China’s government has always placed a high priority on increasing transparency in the work of dealing with sudden emergencies. By building a relevant system [he said, the government] sought unity, timeliness and accuracy of information dealing with emergency management.
[Article here reiterates the text of the media clause, the nature of the proposed fines, etcetera] …
Kan Ke said that the draft had made stipulations in this area [meaning about news media] in order to further improve the system of information release for emergency situations and increase transparency.
Stipulations about management of reporting in the draft emergency law [Kan Ke said] are the product of years of work and experience and are consistent with current practice. The goal [he said] was to provide service to journalists and make their work more convenient, protecting journalists’ normal rights and interests in reporting (采访权益) while perfecting management and making media more timely, accurate, their stories reporting the true nature of the situation in order to better deal with emergencies, safeguard social stability and the public interest.
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 30, 2006, 1:07pm]

As Chinese leaders continue to debate the draft emergency management law, media in south China, which have traditionally earned a reputation for relative outspokenness, are leading the push against the media-related clause. Here is an editorial appearing in yesterday’s New Express, a commercial newspaper in Guangzhou published by Yangcheng Evening News. The editorial intelligently discusses the media portion of the draft law against the stated goals of the law itself.
The editorial also addresses what has traditionally been an ideological blind-spot in Chinese coverage of natural disasters as well as accidents – their relationship to human error, or failures of leadership. Once again we have a direct reference to [Chinese] “watchdog journalism”, or yulun jiandu, as a necessary factor in monitoring the handling of emergencies:

One portion of the draft emergency law has drawn a great deal of attention. According to that portion “news media making bold to report on the handling of emergency situations in violation of regulations or issuing false reports” may be fined between 50 thousand yuan and 100 thousand yuan by the local government with the responsibility for “coordinated leadership” (统一领导) .
Looking at the draft law, it seems that not only the State Council but also provincial, city or county governments may take on the role of “coordinated leadership”, with the power to employ any number of “compulsory measures” – this would include monopolizing information, and during this monopoly news media must not “make bold” to depart from the will of the government.
In the case of draft laws, specific regulations and their possible ramifications must be considered thoroughly, so that the objective of the law itself is not compromised by the language. The [media] clause [of the draft] at the very least ensures the harm done by information interference and the propagation of rumors does not exceed the harm of the [emergency situation itself] …
However, in the first place, it does not consider that there is not way of verifying that the information in the hands of the government is the truest and most accurate under this imperative of news “monopoly”. If government information is incomplete or inaccurate, this could potentially lead to incorrect decision-making by governments (including both central and regional) and ultimately impact the handling of the emergency situation.
Secondly, [the clause] does not take into consideration the possibility that there are “man-made calamities” amidst “natural disasters”. If an emergency incident touches on interests of the local government (provincial, city, county), well then, in such a situation the so-called “report to superiors” we can expect from the local government will be a non-report or a false report. Interference of this kind is not without precedent, a good example being “collusion between coalmines and officials” (官煤勾结). In such situations this clause of the draft law would actually become a tool for corrupt local officials who want to cover up their dirty deeds – a highly effective legal sanction for [these governments] to set their own ground rules and avoid watchdog journalism (“supervision by public opinion”).
[Editor’s Note: We saw this sort of “interest” in operation with the recent Xining Coalmine Disaster in Shanxi Province. It took days for the story to appear in the provincial Party newspaper, Shanxi Daily. Why? We can speculate that scheduled leadership changeovers this year in this and other provinces made officials wary of bad press.]
Thirdly, [the draft law] has not clearly considered which theme of this [emergency law], the manifest or the latent one, has the most force [Editor’s Note: In other words, the stated goals of the law or the letter of the law, including the media clause]. Whose regulations should the news media respect? If media conduct watchdog journalism in violation of the “regulations” of some local government and reveal the truth, thereby ensuring the emergency incident goes only so far and doesn’t become more explosive – should they or should they not be punished with “fines”? It’s plain to see that if this clause were to indeed to become law, it could conceivably be used, abused and twisted during emergency events, working against the original spirit of the law itself.
As to the relationship between the principals and stipulations of law, the former governs the latter. If the stipulations of law violate that law’s very principles, they must either be changed or removed. If the stipulations of the draft law do harm to the very objective of the law, then reason suggests it will stand in self-contradiction. This demands urgent consideration. We must consider the ramifications of this law once it is formalized, and we must deal with these issues as the law is being made.
[Posted by David Bandurski, June 28, 2006, 12:53pm]