20 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
In a report yesterday by the New York Times(NYT), an anonymous source identified some of the information stolen in the December cyberattack on Google. The hacks prompted the company’s withdrawal from the Chinese market. Google has only specified that “intellectual property” was compromised in the attack, but the NYT claims its sources have confirmed that a password programme called Gaia, which allowed Google employees and other users access to a range of its web services, was one of the targets. No personal Gmail passwords or account details were breached, but the attack revealed vulnerabilities within Google’s own security system. To date, Google has refused to commented on the situation. US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton has called for a “transparent” Chinese inquiry into the incident.
19 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
According to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun the Chinese Central Propaganda Department has issued guidelines on reporting of the Qinghai earthquake disaster. All internal news items circulated within mainland China are to be approved by state officials before publishing, and can only focus on positive aspects of the relief effort.
Western media has already been more critical, focussing on aspects such as the unrecognised efforts of the 200 Tibetan monks who were banned from accessing certain areas of the city, instead concentrating on helping the rural population whose houses suffered the most damage. Other aspects that have hampered the rescue operation include delays in the arrival of aid packages and the altitude sickness experienced by many workers not native to the area. In a similar twist to the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, people have again been questioning why only government buildings have remained standing, whilst schools and homes have suffered the most destruction. Chinese news channels have been banned from reporting on these aspects of the disaster.
16 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The South China Morning Post issued a formal apology on Wednesday after misprinting a front page photograph caption of President Hu Jintao arriving in the US to meet President Obama. Instead of printing Hu Jintao’s name in Chinese, the paper accidentally published that of Hu Jia, the Chinese political dissident who was recently denied medical parole by Beijing authorities. On its front page, the South China Morning Post stated that it “sincerely apologises for the Chinese name translation error”.
16 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The People’s Daily newspaper published a lengthy article on ex-Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang on Thursday penned by President Hu Jintao. During his time in the Party, Hu Yaobang was known for endorsing a number of economic and political reforms, as well as helping those persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. His death and subsequent public mourning on 15 April, 1989 was the trigger for the ensuing Tiananmen Protests. Hu Jintao’s article has been analysed by many critics, and whilst some see it as a step forward towards greater openness, those more cynically minded regard it as a “calculated effort by China’s leadership to placate intellectuals, journalists and some retired party officials” in order to enhance its own national image.
