chinese censorship again
Part of my most recent (Monday 28 November 2011) journal entry:
While I can't be certain that a mention of Mao as 'murderous' in one of the photo posts I emailed earlier for matt dalby journal [http://mattdalbyjournal.tumblr.com] caused the delay in it getting through, there was a more certain sign of censorship.
Yet again - I think for the third time - I was unable to open an email from Amnesty International.
Surely the Chinese authorities can't keep a lid on protests forever?
Earlier this year as the Arab Spring got underway there were 'jasmine' protests in China [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civil_disturbances_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China_(2011)].
And the government's clumsy persecution of Ai Weiwei seems to backfire at every step. Their attempt to claim that obviously non-sexual images are pornographic has seen others upload similar images [http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sTrmIJdQanv3mxa1OelYV2g/view.m?id=15&gid=world/2011/nov/21/ai-weiwei-porn-investigation-naked&cat=artanddesign].
China has obviously changed a lot in the twenty-two years since the government murdered protestors in Beijing and around the country [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989].
Perhaps there is truth in the suggestion at the end of an article in The Atlantic [http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/arab-spring-chinese-winter/8601/] that the great firewall deliberately has 'gaps' to relieve pressure.
Even so, how much longer can the leadership hold off the desire for greater openness and democracy that has been present since at least 1989?
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While I can't be certain that a mention of Mao as 'murderous' in one of the photo posts I emailed earlier for matt dalby journal [http://mattdalbyjournal.tumblr.com] caused the delay in it getting through, there was a more certain sign of censorship.
Yet again - I think for the third time - I was unable to open an email from Amnesty International.
Surely the Chinese authorities can't keep a lid on protests forever?
Earlier this year as the Arab Spring got underway there were 'jasmine' protests in China [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civil_disturbances_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China_(2011)].
And the government's clumsy persecution of Ai Weiwei seems to backfire at every step. Their attempt to claim that obviously non-sexual images are pornographic has seen others upload similar images [http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sTrmIJdQanv3mxa1OelYV2g/view.m?id=15&gid=world/2011/nov/21/ai-weiwei-porn-investigation-naked&cat=artanddesign].
China has obviously changed a lot in the twenty-two years since the government murdered protestors in Beijing and around the country [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989].
Perhaps there is truth in the suggestion at the end of an article in The Atlantic [http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/arab-spring-chinese-winter/8601/] that the great firewall deliberately has 'gaps' to relieve pressure.
Even so, how much longer can the leadership hold off the desire for greater openness and democracy that has been present since at least 1989?
____
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