links for 2008-01-23

• Xiamen: the triumph of public will? | openDemocracy
  "A rare victory for Chinese citizens highlights the need to create reform through a political process, says Li Datong."
  (tags: china activism politics xiamen)
• Trial of dissident Chinese writer Lu Gengsong opens as curbs tighten on dissent | csmonitor.com
  Lawyer Ding Xikui: ""Lü Gengsong penned 226 essays. In one of them he called for the depoliticization of the People's Liberation Army and the police. The authorities charged him with inciting to subvert the state."
  (tags: humanrights freespeech china)
• BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Web pornography targeted in China
  "Chinese authorities closed down 44,000 websites and arrested 868 people last year in a campaign against internet pornography, state media has reported."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch pornography censorship regulation)
• China Media Project » China’s most grateful peasant: a vigilant blogger finds revealing patterns in the party charm offensive
  "Zuo You Yi Guo Hui’s revealing news smash-up is the latest example of how the Internet is changing the nature of news consumption in China even as the party does its utmost to control public opinion and monopolize the message."
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch internet news journalism newmedia propaganda freespeech government)
• 安徽惊现慰安专业户
  "幸运的灾民，三个月受到五级领导慰问" .. blogger pokes major holes in party/media propaganda machine.
  (tags: china propaganda internet blogs blogging news freespeech government journalism newmedia)
• EastSouthWestNorth: Estimating the Number of Chinese Internet Users
  Roland Soong analyzes the quality of CNNIC's survey methods in generating statistics on Chinese internet use: "Technically speaking, the study contains flaws that may not be acceptable (e.g. no respondent selection within household or dormitory). This wa
  (tags: china chineseinternetresearch internet statistics)
• Interlocals.net | China and Hong Kong: Bloggers who eat river crabs
  "The success of the Chinese internet citizen movement depends on the massive participation of individuals and they have to take risk in voicing out because of government crack down."
  (tags: china blogs blogging chineseinternetresearch journalism citizenmedia CitizenJournalism censorship freespeech)
• Black and White Cat › When Hu Jia wasn’t an ‘enemy of the state’
  report about Hu Jia from 2001, via Roland.
  (tags: hujia humanrights freespeech activism china)
• Learning Cantonese: Rule of Law or Rule by Law--Part 1
  "The biggest question looming in that High Court courtroom on Friday was this: Why in the world does the Hong Kong government think it needs to expend so much money, talent and legal firepower to stop a band of upstart radio pirates from broadcasting..."?
  (tags: hongkong politics freespeech media journalism broadcast radio censorship regulation law)
• 广道网络安全审计管理系统
  (tags: cnwebwatch chineseinternetresearch gfw internet china censorship technology)