Tag Archives | China

Hollywood Now Needs Censorship Consultants In China

By on January 15, 2013 in News 4

Two of the booming occupations of the future: government mole who weeds out and reports dangerous movies and cultural works, and consultant who helps creators navigate censorship standards. The Atlantic Wire writes:

China’s censorship has become a huge headache for Hollywood lately, as movie studios struggle to break in to the world’s second largest film market. Every single film bound for Chinese theaters has to make it past China’s all-powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) whose guidelines for what is and isn’t acceptable is more or less subjective and entirely unpredictable. All the studios can do is hire consultants who are familiar with the ins and outs of censorship in China and hope for the best.

Bringing in consultants does help movie studios frame projects in a censor-friendly manner, but after filming begins the filmmakers have to be very careful not to deviate from the plan. SARFT sends spies to the set to make sure everything is going as planned.

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China’s Top 10 Internet Memes Of 2012

By on January 2, 2013 in News 2

When the first lolcats emerged, who imagined they would morph into a key tool for transmitting political dissent? The Wall Street Journal runs down ten Chinese memes of note of the past year, including Liu Bo is Very Busy, seen at right:

Protestors scored a double victory in the Sichuanese city of Shifang in July, scuppering plans for a molybdenum copper plant while simultaneously giving Chinese Internet users their own version of the Occupy movement’s Lt. John Pike (aka Pepper Spraying Cop).

The overzealous policeman in China’s case, identified by web sleuths as Liu Bo, was wielding a baton instead of pepper spray. Posting under the hashtag #LiuBoisVeryBusy in Chinese, Sina Weibo users published images of the rotund Mr. Liu bearing down on a variety of victims, including the distressed subject of Edward Munch’s “The Scream,” Chinese track star Liu Xiang and a terrified-looking puppy.

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China To Mandate All Internet Users To Register With Their Real Names

By on December 29, 2012 in News 20

The days of secretly being a dog on the internet may not last much longer. Via the The Next Web:

The Chinese legislature has approved a proposal that includes stipulations for real-name registration requirements for Internet users, state media reported on Friday.

The new rules [are] meant to “enhance protection of personal info online and safeguard public interests.” It’s worth pointing out that the exact timing and the implementation of these regulations have yet to be sketched out.

The most likely solution will be the requirement of showing government-issued identification at the point of sale for Internet service providers, both fixed-line and wireless. Internet cafes will likely feel the squeeze if restrictions force them to keep close track of their clientele, and dissidents will be hurt by the new restrictions, as it will become more difficult for them to operate anonymously online.

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Desperate Letter Describing Chinese Forced Labor Camp Found Inside Halloween Decorations Kit

By on December 28, 2012 in News 8

Imagine if we understood where everything we have came from. Via Oregonian:

The letter came in a box of Halloween decorations purchased at Kmart, a $29.99 graveyard kit. On a Sunday afternoon in October, Julia Keith intended to decorate her home for her daughter’s fifth birthday, days before Halloween. She ripped open the box and threw aside the cellophane. That’s when Keith found it. Scribbled onto paper and folded into eighths, the letter was tucked between two Styrofoam headstones.

“Sir: If you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Right Organization. Thousands people here who are under the persicution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you forever.”

“People who work here have to work 15 hours a day without Saturday, Sunday break and any holidays. Otherwise, they will suffer torturement, beat and rude remark. Nearly no payment (10 yuan/1 month).”

“People who work here, suffer punishment 1-3 years averagely, but without Court Sentence (unlaw punishment).

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Man In China Created Fleet Of Floating Doomsday Pods

By on December 26, 2012 in News 2

The best thing to come out of rumors that the world would end this past week? A former furniture maker, Liu Qiyuan of the small village of Qiantun became obsessed with the possibility of a Mayan calendar apocalypse and was driven to build what you see below for his family. The fiberglass pods cost $48,000 each to create and are equipped with oxygen, seat belts, food, and supplies allowing 14 people to survive inside for at least two months. I foresee a future in which we all float through life in these:

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China Arrests 500 Alleged Doomsday Cult Members

By on December 19, 2012 in News 3

Have rumors of the apocalypse in China triggered mass panic and inspired a bizarre and horrific knifing spree? Or is the Mayan calendar proving useful for Chinese authorities as a scapegoat and justification for crackdown? Via the BBC:

Chinese police have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult for spreading rumors about the imminent end of the world, state media say.

At least 400 followers of the Almighty God Christian group were detained in western Qinghai province in recent days. Dozens more were held elsewhere. China’s state news agency Xinhua describes the Almighty God Christian group as a cult, saying it was established in 1990 in Henan.

In Henan province, six officials have been sacked after a knife attack by a suspected doomsday cult disciple wounded more than 20 children. The attack sparked widespread anger. The officials sacked had handled the incident improperly, state media said.

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Chinese Man Who Stabbed 23 Children Was Inspired By Mayan Doomsday Rumors, Authorities Claim

By on December 18, 2012 in News 5

Is the possibility of a looming apocalypse causing people to lose it in horrific fashion? Via the Christian Science Monitor:

Chinese police said that they suspect that the man who stabbed 23 children in a rural Chinese elementary school just hours before the Newtown, Conn., massacre “injured innocent people and children with a knife because he was influenced by doomsday rumors.” None of the wounded children died of their injuries.

The knifing spree is the darkest manifestation yet of how end-of-the-world rumors have taken hold in China. Chinese are susceptible to doomsday reports, suggests social psychologist Wei Zhizhong, because “scientific knowledge is still not widespread in China. People have abandoned their traditional mystical relationship with nature, but they are still exploring scientific ways of coexisting” with the natural world.

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Seven Sentenced To Prison In Case Of Teenager Who Sold His Kidney For An iPad

By on December 5, 2012 in News 5

Was it worth it? Shanghai Daily reports:

A surgeon and six others were jailed yesterday over their involvement in the case of a teenager who sold a kidney to buy an iPhone and iPad. He Wei, who organized the illegal transaction, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, and Song Zhongyu, the transplant surgeon, was sentenced to three years with a reprieve of five years.

Wang Shangkun, a 17-year-old high school student from Anhui Province, agreed to sell one of his kidneys after he found the group through an online chatroom. His kidney was transplanted to a recipient in Chenzhou on April 28, 2011. Wang was given 22,000 yuan (US$3,529) and bought an iPhone and an iPad with the money. But he later suffered renal failure and told his mother what had happened.

Human organ trade and organ donations from living donors, except for close family members such as spouses and blood relatives, are illegal in China.

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They’ve Found Genghis Khan’s Tomb…Maybe

By on December 4, 2012 in News 1

Picture: Portrait of Genghis Khan, anonymosu court painter (PD)

A team of American and Mongolian scholars may have discovered the final resting place of one of history’s greatest warriors, Genghis Khan. The discovery, if confirmed to be true, could prove to be problematic for a variety of reasons. Khan is still revered in Mongolia, and disturbing his tomb in the name of science would upset many Mongolians. The Chinese government fear that the site could be a touchstone for troublesome political action.

Via Daily Beast:

Altan Khuyag, a 53-year-old herder and forest ranger, offers us a cup of warm milky tea, insisting that we stay the night, in a typical display of Mongol friendliness. Among the nomads, reciprocal hospitality is a vital part of life on the steppe. When I ask about Genghis, he dips his ring finger into a bowl of vodka, flicking a drop to the sky, towards Tengri, the god of the blue heaven.

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