Interesting kerfluffle in China

[David E. Powell]

..really interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005>

[Andrew Swallow]

Post by David E. Powell
..really interesting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005>

It may not be a failed coup, just one group gaining power by removing
its rivals.

Andrew Swallow

[a425couple]

Post by David E. Powell
..really interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005

I sometimes admire "understatement". But this one seems
a bit chilling:

'He added that that a number of other people had
been "admonished or educated".'

[David E. Powell]

Post by David E. Powell
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005
I sometimes admire "understatement".  But this one seems
'He added that that a number of other people had
been "admonished or educated".'

Another story touching on this stuff which is being very lightly
reported here.

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11121921-jackie-kennedy-of-china-suspected-in-death-of-british-businessman?lite

<http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11121921-jackie-
kennedy-of-china-suspected-in-death-of-british-businessman?lite>

One thing that jumped out at me about this article:

Bo and his wife had been called the “Jack and Jackie Kennedy of
China,” according to the BBC. The son of a prominent Communist leader,
Bo had steadily climbed the party ranks; observers of Chinese politics
believed he would have been a contender when the party chooses its top
leadership later this year.

Gu, an accomplished lawyer who also came from an influential Communist
family, closed her law practice as her husband became increasingly
powerful. In recent years, her health declined, a family friend told
the BBC, and she stayed home to read books.

Ed Byrne, an American lawyer from Denver, Colo., told the BBC that
when he knew Gu, she was attractive, charismatic and funny.

“They were the modern liberal element there," Byrne said.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hm.

[David E. Powell]

Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636

<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-
speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636>

Heck of a coincidence given what else has been going on, hmm?

Post by David E. Powell

Post by David E. Powell
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17570005
I sometimes admire "understatement".  But this one seems
'He added that that a number of other people had
been "admonished or educated".'

Another story touching on this stuff which is being very lightly
reported here.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11121921-jackie-kenne...
<http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11121921-jackie-
kennedy-of-china-suspected-in-death-of-british-businessman?lite>
Bo and his wife had been called the “Jack and Jackie Kennedy ofChina,” according to the BBC. The son of a prominent Communist leader,
Bo had steadily climbed the party ranks; observers of Chinese politics
believed he would have been a contender when the party chooses its top
leadership later this year.
Gu, an accomplished lawyer who also came from an influential Communist
family, closed her law practice as her husband became increasingly
powerful. In recent years, her health declined, a family friend told
the BBC, and she stayed home to read books.
Ed Byrne, an American lawyer from Denver, Colo., told the BBC that
when he knew Gu, she was attractive, charismatic and funny.
“They were the modern liberal element there," Byrne said.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hm.

[Andrew Swallow]

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-
speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636>
Heck of a coincidence given what else has been going on, hmm?

Internet servers are electrically powered machines, so they can be
switched off.

If the Chinese authorities are ordering large scale power downs then the
infighting must be getting very bad. China will change direction when
this is all over.

Andrew Swallow

[David E. Powell]

Post by Andrew Swallow

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-spec...
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-
speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636>
Heck of a coincidence given what else has been going on, hmm?

Internet servers are electrically powered machines, so they can be
switched off.
If the Chinese authorities are ordering large scale power downs then the
infighting must be getting very bad.  China will change direction when
this is all over.
Andrew Swallow

Interesting how little this is being reported on, from the sound of
it, it is massive. Top level government types being locked down or
outright charged with crimes, just before a series of important
meetings in a centrally planned government and economy. Foreigners
associated with people in the top echelons of China's government
turning up dead. Massive internet stuff now happening. I am guessing
what isn't being heard about, at least not yet, is bigger than what is
getting out.

The assertion that the elements being targeted were associated with a
push to liberalize or westernize China is interesting, I can't be sure
of the veracity of it though, just from a couple people online. Would
like more info but that seems to be the main aim of the crackdown, and
it seems very successful because not many people are talking about it
in the press or government over here.

Infighting has happened before though, most notably after Mao Tse Tung
died.

[Andrew Swallow]

Post by David E. Powell

Post by Andrew Swallow

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-spec...
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-
speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636>
Heck of a coincidence given what else has been going on, hmm?

Internet servers are electrically powered machines, so they can be
switched off.
If the Chinese authorities are ordering large scale power downs then the
infighting must be getting very bad. China will change direction when
this is all over.
Andrew Swallow

Interesting how little this is being reported on, from the sound of
it, it is massive. Top level government types being locked down or
outright charged with crimes, just before a series of important
meetings in a centrally planned government and economy. Foreigners
associated with people in the top echelons of China's government
turning up dead. Massive internet stuff now happening. I am guessing
what isn't being heard about, at least not yet, is bigger than what is
getting out.
The assertion that the elements being targeted were associated with a
push to liberalize or westernize China is interesting, I can't be sure
of the veracity of it though, just from a couple people online. Would
like more info but that seems to be the main aim of the crackdown, and
it seems very successful because not many people are talking about it
in the press or government over here.
Infighting has happened before though, most notably after Mao Tse Tung
died.

A power struggle tends to affect everybody. So the anti-Western
targeting may just be sampling bias - the say back_to_the_farm
supporters being arrested are invisible in the West.

The power struggle will probably kill China's fast growth. The
bureaucracy will be taking decisions using questions like this action
permit me to survive and does it support our team rather than does this
make us rich.

Andrew Swallow

[David E. Powell]

Post by David E. Powell

Post by Andrew Swallow

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-spec...
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-
speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636>
Heck of a coincidence given what else has been going on, hmm?

Internet servers are electrically powered machines, so they can be
switched off.
If the Chinese authorities are ordering large scale power downs then the
infighting must be getting very bad.  China will change direction when
this is all over.
Andrew Swallow

Interesting how little this is being reported on, from the sound of
it, it is massive. Top level government types being locked down or
outright charged with crimes, just before a series of important
meetings in a centrally planned government and economy. Foreigners
associated with people in the top echelons of China's government
turning up dead. Massive internet stuff now happening. I am guessing
what isn't being heard about, at least not yet, is bigger than what is
getting out.
The assertion that the elements being targeted were associated with a
push to liberalize or westernize China is interesting, I can't be sure
of the veracity of it though, just from a couple people online. Would
like more info but that seems to be the main aim of the crackdown, and
it seems very successful because not many people are talking about it
in the press or government over here.
Infighting has happened before though, most notably after Mao Tse Tung
died.

A power struggle tends to affect everybody.  So the anti-Western
targeting may just be sampling bias - the say back_to_the_farm
supporters being arrested are invisible in the West.
The power struggle will probably kill China's fast growth.  The
bureaucracy will be taking decisions using questions like this action
permit me to survive and does it support our team rather than does this
make us rich.
Andrew Swallow

This seems to have added a new element. I don't believe local internet
restrictions will stop this from getting out. Also Hillary Clinton is
scheduled to make a visit soon to China.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/04/escaped-chinese-activist-chen-guangcheng-speaks-out-video.html

<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/04/escaped-chinese-
activist-chen-guangcheng-speaks-out-video.html>

There is very little TV coverage of any of this in the west that I
have noticed which is insane. This is nuclear stuff brewing, really
big.

[Loren Pechtel]

On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:22:25 -0700 (PDT), "David E. Powell"

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-speculation-over-a-8216kill-switch/1636

I just got back from 3 weeks over there, I didn't notice the filtering
to be any worse than usual. It still randomly fails to load pages at
times (what it looks like when it hits the filter) but it's been a few
years since I hit a page that can't be gotten with a few reload
attempts. (I have hit stuff that simply won't come through in the
past, never anything I would think would be sensitive {and in one case
I had a friend e-mail me the meat of the page, that came through
fine.}

The internet cafe access rules seem to have been tightened down a bit
more.

As of my last trip it was scan your passport every visit (never mind
that I have a membership card there that also has a scan of my
passport associated with it.) These are simple image scanners, not
devices built to specifically read the info on a passport.

This time it appeared that the old sign-up logs had returned--pure
Chinese, a language I do not speak/read/write. In the past when such
logs existed they normally ignored them with me (the original
requirements were about teens spending long hours in the cafes--I'm
obviously no teen and I'm obviously not Chinese anyway) except for one
day when someone made a stink about being called on the rules and
realizing that I hadn't signed in. They were obviously apologetic
about the problem but we had no language in common. I handed over the
only ID I had on me, my US driver's license and let them figure out
what to do about it. I later saw I was in the log as "Mr. Driver".

I saw the log paper several times (it looks just like the old version
although I won't swear it's identical) but only once did anyone want
me to fill it out and that got stopped halfway through--the person who
wanted me to fill it out couldn't figure out how to pantomime a column
(having my passport in front of us helped for some of it, they could
point to info in it and where it should go) and tried to find someone
who could explain and instead was told to forget it.

All I can figure is that the log paper has some column the
computerized system does not. I wouldn't be surprised if the
offending column was "address", something which I doubt is in the
computer at least in form they know is valid. (In reality the address
I use over there is the same as when the account was originally
created. Whether it's in their system or not I have no idea--the only
thing I know is tied to it is the scan of my passport and that's
because I saw it come up when the card is scanned.)

[David E. Powell]

Post by Loren Pechtel
On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:22:25 -0700 (PDT), "David E. Powell"

Post by David E. Powell
Another story out of Chna. It seems the internet is suddenly going
down there.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/chinas-mysterious-internet-outage-spec...

I just got back from 3 weeks over there, I didn't notice the filtering
to be any worse than usual.  It still randomly fails to load pages at
times (what it looks like when it hits the filter) but it's been a few
years since I hit a page that can't be gotten with a few reload
attempts.  (I have hit stuff that simply won't come through in the
past, never anything I would think would be sensitive {and in one case
I had a friend e-mail me the meat of the page, that came through
fine.}
The internet cafe access rules seem to have been tightened down a bit
more.
As of my last trip it was scan your passport every visit (never mind
that I have a membership card there that also has a scan of my
passport associated with it.)  These are simple image scanners, not
devices built to specifically read the info on a passport.
This time it appeared that the old sign-up logs had returned--pure
Chinese, a language I do not speak/read/write.  In the past when such
logs existed they normally ignored them with me (the original
requirements were about teens spending long hours in the cafes--I'm
obviously no teen and I'm obviously not Chinese anyway) except for one
day when someone made a stink about being called on the rules and
realizing that I hadn't signed in.  They were obviously apologetic
about the problem but we had no language in common.  I handed over the
only ID I had on me, my US driver's license and let them figure out
what to do about it.  I later saw I was in the log as "Mr. Driver".
I saw the log paper several times (it looks just like the old version
although I won't swear it's identical) but only once did anyone want
me to fill it out and that got stopped halfway through--the person who
wanted me to fill it out couldn't figure out how to pantomime a column
(having my passport in front of us helped for some of it, they could
point to info in it and where it should go) and tried to find someone
who could explain and instead was told to forget it.
All I can figure is that the log paper has some column the
computerized system does not.  I wouldn't be surprised if the
offending column was "address", something which I doubt is in the
computer at least in form they know is valid.  (In reality the address
I use over there is the same as when the account was originally
created.  Whether it's in their system or not I have no idea--the only
thing I know is tied to it is the scan of my passport and that's
because I saw it come up when the card is scanned.)

Thank you for the first person report. It's tough for me in the US
because so little comes out of China, and what does come out tends to
either be reported through the media and not heavy on details, or
reported by people with their own politics on the internet, with
commentary and speculation mixed in.

Hope all is going well over there for you and that it continues to do
so. It must be fascinating to go there and see the different sights.

David