China Unblocks the BBC (In English) 158
An anonymous reader writes in with news that China has unblocked the BBC Web site — the English-language version at any rate. No announcement was made, because China has never acknowledged blocking the BBC for the last decade. The Chinese-language version of the site has been blocked since its inception in 1999. The article speculates that the easing of censorship may be tied to the upcoming Olympic Games.
regarding the olympics (Score:3, Interesting)
It's Transistor Radios All Over Again (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a page right out Chairman Mao's playbook. When Nixon went China, the handlers routinely gave people on the street transistor radios [time.com] to listen to. That way Nixon and Kissenger would say, "Wow. What a nice scene. China truly is wonderful place." Then as soon as these people were out of sight of dignitaries, goons (I'm sorry, "the advance team") would collect the radios for redistribution to other Potemkin Villages.
As David Byrne said, "Same as it ever was."
I'm going to be in Beijing next month in a hotel down by the Bird's Nest. I'm going to have to check out the Great Firewall.
Re:Expats got around it anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
That's wrongheaded, anyway. You don't give a bully what he wants and then tell him it's because you want him to stop being a bully. No, you tell him up front he won't get what he wants until he stops being a bully, and that only as long as he continues to play nice.
This had nothing to do with trying to encourage change in China's government and everything to do with trying to curry favor. We let that particular group of sociopathic leaders grab us by the short-and-curly (and by "us" I mean the entire industrialized world, if you think China is after the United States only you're not up to speed) and now we have to toady up to them. It's ridiculous on the face of it.
cat and mouse. (Score:5, Interesting)
My conclusion was that the firewall was very very definately real, and the moment it found a foreign news story, the wrong keyword then suddenly wierd timelags and delays in page lookups would occur as my unseen companion blocked or cleared at whim. I also could of sworn that the system could tell the difference between the net being accessed from a posh hotel occupied by Western Engineers and a street cafe.
Re:regarding the olympics (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Tibet a factor (Score:4, Interesting)
There is strong belief that the Dali Lama was an illegitimate monarch who enslaved his people. And it's fascinating how the West and China see him so completely differently. Cruel dictator? The Dali Lama? Surely not.
But of course listening to arguments on why there IS democracy in China is fascinating too.
She did admit that one reason for the invasion was to create a defensive barrier, to take control of a strategic area when it came to mountain fortification. But yes, the idea of historic control of Tibet by China, by that argument Italy should claim control of most of Europe, they controlled it 2000 years ago (a longer claim then China over Tibet). And from the history I've read, for parts of this period, the control was the other way around - Tibet controlled large parts of China, they weren't always pacifist monks.
Re:It's Transistor Radios All Over Again (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't get excited... (Score:2, Interesting)