My following article appears in today’s ABC Unleashed: Fidel Castro controlled Cuba for nearly half a century. His rule was defined by defiance and dictatorship, brutal repression against dissidents and the management of an immoral American embargo. Free speech has always been the Achilles’ heel of the regime. During my visit to the island last…
Showing all posts tagged Olympic Games
The sound of freedom
As China tries to defend its aggressive behaviour against protesting Tibetans – calling them “criminals” and arresting hundreds of people – the regime’s battle against the internet is temporarily successful but ultimately futile. The Times London explains: YouTube, the video-sharing website which has become a home to amateur footage of news events, has been blocked…
Occupation breeds resistance
The protests in Tibet continue against Chinese rule . Scores are dead. China has blocked YouTube in an attempt to stop videos emerging from its brutality. Australia’s Prime Minister has been urged to use his “influence” with Beijing. Bloggers are transmitting news. The Dalai Lama is caught in the middle. The August Olympic Games could…
Spielberg…from Shanghai
The Chinese blogosphere speaks: After Steven Spielberg withdrew as artistic director for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, it is not surprising to read angry words towards him in the Chinese press, both on- and off-line. But are there other Chinese who think differently on this issue? Shanghai-based scholar and cultural critic Wang Xiaoyu (王晓渔) published the…
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My latest column for New Matilda is about China’s crackdown on internal dissent and its fear of the internet: Although China is also battling a seemingly unsurmountable pollution problem, the regime appears determined to ignore Western calls for greater openness. “Why can’t China accept that dissent and argument are part of being a normal country?”…
Don’t post those full frontal shots
China continues its eradication program of the internet: News from the Ministry of Public Security is that 13 Chinese ministries have been taking a joint action since last month to regulate online order, with the emphasis being given to the cleaning out of such content as candid snapshots, nude pictures and “unhealthy” adult literature. During…
Let the words run free
China’s Beijing Games will have to contend with the blogging phenomenon: The International Olympic Committee is for the first time permitting athletes to write blogs. The IOC has set out guidelines for blogging at the Beijing Games to ensure copyright agreements are not infringed. They include bans on posting any audio or visual material of…
Repression comes at a price
It may be an act of pure symbolism, but I applaud Spielberg for this decision (and expect many more of this kind before the August Olympics): US film maker Steven Spielberg said he was abandoning his artistic role in the Beijing Olympics, accusing China of not doing enough to press its ally Sudan to end…
Osama meets track and field
Let the Olympic Games in Beijing begin (with a generous helping of “sugared Osama Bin Laden-shaped candies”):
Spread only good propaganda
Keep a blogger locked up at home long enough with nothing but Chinese state TV and an internet connection to keep them occupied and they’re bound to subvert something eventually. The case of imprisoned Chinese blogger Hu Jia is symtematic of the Chinese government’s fear of the online medium. After all: Chinese President Hu Jintao…