Leading Israeli commentator Uri Avnery on the Tibetan protests: I support the Tibetans in spite of it being obvious that the Americans are exploiting the struggle for their own purposes. Clearly, the CIA has planned and organized the riots, and the American media are leading the world-wide campaign. It is a part of the hidden…
Showing all posts tagged China
The inevitable response
The imprisonment of yet another Chinese dissident yesterday, Hu Jia, proves that the Communist regime has no intention of relaxing its authoritarianism before the August Games. It should therefore expect the global community to act accordingly.
Towards Beijing: March 2008 update
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: Human rights activists have dubbed the Beijing Games the “Genocide Olympics” over concerns of China’s involvement in the Darfur crisis. The situation there is worsening by the day. Human Rights First claims that China is arming the conflict. The…
Net censorship: the basics
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: 1996 was dubbed China’s “Year of the Internet.” Only 150,000 people were connected, roughly one in 10,000. The vast majority of the mainland had never seen a computer and there were 17 people for every available phone line. A…
Uncensor
Amnesty International Australia yesterday launched its campaign to highlight China’s human rights abuses in this Olympic year. Uncensor focuses especially on internet repression and the involvement of Western internet multinationals in this worrying practice (actually the subject of my forthcoming book.) I’m working with Amnesty in the next months, writing and talking about these issues.
Finding a difference
Medialens, April 1: On March 22, an Economist magazine editorial described the recent violence in Tibet as a “colonial uprising”, a “revolt” against foreign occupation. This was accurate, as was the implication that China has no legitimate claims over Tibet. (”˜A colonial uprising – Tibet,’ The Economist, March 22, 2008) By contrast, recent media coverage…
Don’t speak out of turn
If true, this leak to Reporters Without Borders is a revealing insight into a totalitarian mindset: Reporters Without Borders has obtained a classified memo from Chinese sources that sets out the behaviour that government officials should adopt with foreign journalists before and during the Beijing Olympic Games. It tells them to display openness but also…