Cristy Li

Chinese Navy Submarine Attends Intl Fleet Review 2009 near Qingdao

Reports of a radiation leak on a Chinese nuclear powered submarine have led Beijing to impose tight censorship on more than 1,000 Chinese language websites in a further sign, that hardliners still hold the upper hand.

The Defense Ministry issued a curt denial that any accident had occurred but the Chinese public have lost faith in official pronouncements after attempts to stop ‘negative’ reporting of a recent rail disaster in Wenzhou. Many citizens hide behind online anonymity, have accused the Chinese regime of another cover-up.

More here from China View

Related: China Seeks to Silence Dissent Overseas –China Digital Times

Chinese Blogs Dare to Defy Propaganda Dept Decrees –Epoch Times

CCP Officials Fear Netizens & Internet –Qzone QQ.com

Chinese websites have fallen 41% during the past year, according to a new report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences there were 1.91 Million websites operating in China at the end of 2010–41% fewer than a year earlier attributing the change to stronger censorship regulations.

On the 21 December, 2008 I wrote here that Chinese authorities have blocked access to the NY Times–Free Speech is essential in the pursuit of learning, every idea or thought is not an avenue of incitement, censorship only results in the pursuit of finding cracks in the Great Firewall of China.

More here from China Digital Times

Related: China Press Regulator Speaks Against Journalists ‘Black Lists’

Yunnan Province Earthquake Damage on the 10th March

Kunming: Rescuers Search for Survivors of the 5.4 magnitude earthquake in Yunnan Province on 10 March which killed at least 26, injuring over 400 people and toppling more than 1,000 homes.

Rescuers Survey the Damage of a Collapsed Building in Yunnan Province

Chinese Central Television CCTV announced in 2008 that they will “work toward raising and improving” the quality of CCTV Nightly News–it seems that the propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party still has some work ahead of them.

“Watching CCTV on the 10 March,” Yang Hengjun writes, “I was completely taken aback. The 30 minute newscast placed news of the earthquake in Yingjiang, Yunnan Province–which happened that very day with serious loss of life and property…coverage slide by in a flash. The news story was given less attention than a forum om Revolutionary Hero’s and Qaddafi’s victories against Libyan rebels. The 27 minutes of content prior to the brief spot on Yingjiang, was all devoted to National Peoples Congress (NPC) Delegates, who all glorified our building of a Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics and went on about how prosperous our people are and how democratic the NPC  and Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference have been. What kind of Journalism is that?”

Rest here via China Media Project

Many people in China (and some in the United States) have been reporting problems with Gmail these days. Google has accused China of interfering with Gmail accounts—Chinese authorities of course are denying the allegations.

According to testing performed by Great Firewall.Biz Google is 45 times slower than QQ (who could of have imagined) and 8 times slower than Yahoo.

Related: Censorship in China: Leaping the Wall –The Economist

China Tightens Censorship of Electronic Communications –China Digital Times