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As I said, I'm all for information transparency and uncensored internet access. However a lasting progress in political reform comes from inside of a country, not from external pressure. Many Americans seem to believe in the external pressure they place on other countries; this might be a main cause of the problems with the US foreign policy. Looking at history – Americans have been in numerous countries trying to impose an order through external influence, how successful has this been?

Peter Scheer's effort to have WTO sanctions imposed based on Beijing's internet censorship, and the hearings that will be held tomorrow in Washington DC.

In fact, this debate on the premier’s crying should not be a trivial matter. Its poignancy and enormous political implications have been closely related to Wen’s former mentor, Zhao Ziyang, the CCP general secretary who famously cried in Tiananmen Square, begging the protesters to leave the place that would soon become an intended killing field. If Zhao were not indecisive or did not cry in Tiananmen Square in 1989, or if he instead stood on top of a tank sympathetic to the pro-democracy forces—bravely commanding the tremendous force of the millions yearning for freedom, human rights, and for a change of the corrupt system, like Boris Yeltsin in the waning days of the Soviet Union—China may have already had a bold and visionary political leader and a brand new political reality. But in the final crucial moments that decided history, Moscow did not believe in tears, and Beijing did. A great historic opportunity was lost by Zhao for the complete lack of a strong and resolute visionary leader from within the power elite who alone could command the enormous political and military resources to change history. And now, as Zhao’s erstwhile protégé, Wen continues that legacy [7].

Modern Chinese nationalism often veers between Mr. Coubertin's and Mr. Maurras's ideas of nationhood. Officially, the government likes to talk about friendship between peoples, and harmony and peace, while at the same time promoting an injured sense of historical Chinese victimhood at the hands of foreign powers. When demonstrations of Chinese nationalism run out of control, with or without official encouragement, the feeling of national hurt can turn to violent aggression. It has been happening of late in the U.S., among other places, when Chinese students attacked Tibetans, or indeed anyone who "offended the feelings of the Chinese people."

This type of official patriotism is based on a peculiarly skewed view of history. Rather than celebrate the high points of Chinese civilization, the emphasis falls entirely on suffering at the hands of foreigners. The sense of victimhood runs so deep that it is impossible for most Chinese to view themselves as aggressors. The idea that Tibetans, for example, might have some reason to see themselves as victims of the Chinese, is absurd. More than that, many Chinese genuinely believe that this type of Tibetan "propaganda" has been deliberately taken up by the Western press to inflict yet another humiliation on the Chinese people.

This does not mean, however, that democracy would be an automatic cure. In the unlikely event that China were suddenly to have a peaceful transformation to a liberal democracy, nationalism would not go away. No party seen to be soft on foreign powers, especially Japan and the U.S., would be. Modern Chinese history has been so bloody that the scars will take a long time to heal. Ethnic nationalism can be a kind of poison, especially when it is based on a feeling of victimhood. Political freedom should help to soothe such feelings in the long run, but this will not happen in time for the Beijing Olympics.

China and the Internet:History, Economy and Human RightsBy Wolfgang Kleinwächter April 2008

China and the Internet:History, Economy and Human RightsBy Wolfgang Kleinwächter April 2008

ember 2007, ther

China prepared for the Olympics. Is the world prepared for China? Over 5 nights leading up to the opening ceremony, we revealed the controversial politics, history and culture of the world’s newest superpower and host of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. WATCH THE EPISODES HERE! Naked China: Busting Out Naked China: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Naked China: Out of Control Naked China: Fighting for FreedomNaked China: Let the Party Begin

Three of the circumvention tools — DynaWeb FreeGate, GPass, and FirePhoenix — used most widely to get around China’s Great Firewall are tracking and selling the individual web browsing histories of their users. Data about aggregate usage of users of the tools is published freely. You can see, for example, that the three sites most visited by users of these circumvention tools are live.com, google.com, and secretchina.com. Aggregate data like this is a terrific resource for those of us interested in researching circumvention tool usage, and not much of a privacy risk for the circumventing users if it is only stored (as well as displayed) in the aggregate.

那么，我们为什么要隐瞒历史？为什么要粉饰残忍？又为什么要颂扬暴力？我们给农民起义一次次贴金，一次次唱赞歌，到底是出于一个什么样的目的？为一群流氓权力者大肆开脱、百般隐瞒、一味加冕，其真相大白后，最终的结果是:会让我们彻底失望，让我们极度愤怒，让我们加倍渴望民主与自由的曙光来唤醒中国大地上的一片片血泊。

We hear that Tibetans suffer “demographic aggression” and “cultural genocide”. But we do not hear those terms applied to Spanish and French policies toward the Basque minority. We do not hear those terms applied to the US annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1898. And Diego Garcia? In 1973, not so long ago, the UK forcibly deported the entire native Chagossian population from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. People were allowed one suitcase of clothing. Nothing else. Family pets were gassed, then cremated. Complete ethnic cleansing. Complete cultural destruction. Why? In order to build a big US air base. It has been used to bomb Afghanistan and Iraq, and soon maybe to bomb Iran and Pakistan. Diego Garcia, with nobody there but Brits and Americans, is also a perfect place for rendition, torture and other illegal actions.

The Chinese Context The Chinese government is responsible for the well-being and security of one-fourth of humanity. Race riots and rebellion cannot be tolerated, not even when done by Buddhist monks. Chinese Civilization was already old when the Egyptians began building pyramids. But the last 200 years have not gone well, what with two Opium Wars forcing China to import drugs, and Europeans seizing coastal ports as a step to complete colonial control, then the Boxer Rebellion, the collapse of the Manchu Dynasty, civil war, a brutal invasion and occupation by Japan, more civil war, then Communist consolidation and transformation of society, then Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Such events caused tens of millions of people to die. Thus, China’s recent history has good reasons why social order is a higher priority than individual rights. Race riots and rebellion cannot be tolerated. Considering this context, China’s treatment of its minorities has been exemplary compared to what the Western world has done to its minorities. After thousands of years of Chinese dominance, there still are more than 50 minorities in China. After a few hundred years of European dominance in North and South America, the original minority cultures have been exterminated, damaged, or diminished.

China’s one-child-policy seems oppressive to Westerners, but it has not applied to minorities, only to the Han Chinese. Tibetans can have as many children as they choose. If Han people have more than one child, they are punished. There is a similar preference given to minorities when it comes to admission to universities. For example, Tibetan students enter China’s elite Peking University with lower exam scores than Han Chinese students. China is not a perfect nation, but on matters of minority rights, it has been better than most Western nations. And China achieved this in the historical context of restoring itself and recovering from 200 years of continual crisis and foreign invasion.

朋友説：我以為過份强調「人權」就是想要絕對自由。我説我的理解不是那樣，我從来沒有認可過「絕對自由」，但我追求「人權」。我眼中最簡單的人權卽是對其作為人的基本尊重：這個尊重應該是允許獄中的病人就醫（GFWed），把他當作人看，而不是「敵人」，戰俘尙可得到的「待遇」，國家「公民」卻得不到！這個尊重應該是對内、對外眞實公布某建築事故中死難人數，這是對死者最最最基本的尊重，而不是虛报和遮掩！這個尊重還能是甚麽？而它現在又是甚麽？

“黄帝是哪里人？”，对这个问题的现实回答是，哪里肯出钱，黄帝就是哪里人。——陕西刚刚在黄帝陵举行高规格的公祭，4天之后，河南新郑又以“黄帝故里”名义高规格再祭。近两万余名炎黄子孙冒雨虔心祈祷，政府组织的高规格的祭拜让咱祖宗深受感动，黄帝文化基金会首日就“纳捐”400余万。接下来，黄帝文化国际论坛、炎黄文化周开幕式、旅游推介及商贸洽谈会将粉墨登场。 据悉，为了黄帝陵公祭，当地子孙主动放弃了清明法定假日，1万余名警察和2万余名巡防队员全城戒备。完全可以想象，如此兴师动众的喜人成果就是新城人民可以明年在祭拜的时候感谢祖宗带来了好项目、拉动了GDP。顺带再问问祖宗和哪路神仙还有亲戚关系，继续拜女娲？玉皇？太上？

20世纪五六十年代，他曾在游泳池边上穿着泳裤接见赫鲁晓夫。你不是以老子党自居吗？我让你牛！到了70年代，毛泽东就更是深居简出，常常让大国政要，如尼克松总统、田中首相等上书房觐见。最近读回忆文章，读到1975年 10月，前德国总理施密特访华后受到毛泽东接见，十分兴奋和自豪，因为当时西方大国政要往往攀比的是访华是否受到毛泽东接见，会谈时间多长……而且法国总统戴高乐以未能实现访华见毛泽东的夙愿而成为终生大憾。这才是大国领袖的风范与魅力。

What is occurring is the meltdown of the biggest pyramid game in human history.

The right course of action is for the US government to establish a Resolution Trust Corporation to take over failing financial institutions, including hedge funds and private equity firms, and leave the Fed to tackle inflation. But a Republican administration could not go to a Democratic Congress for money to capitalise such a corporation. It could not justify spending US$1 trillion to bail out those who deceived investors around the world and destroyed the finest financial institutions in America for their own gains. Instead, the Fed will be called on to save the financial system, boost the economy and suppress inflation at the same time.

天下事无巧不成书，有其父亦有其女。当初林彪猜透了毛澤東的心思，于是每天“万岁不离口，语录不离手”，终于坐上副统帅交椅。您得知南街村高举毛澤東旗帜后，便义不容辞地动员政治资源，为之输血打气；毛澤東想借林彪之手打倒了刘少奇，您想借南街村的高速发展，来证明你父亲的英明伟大；当南街村干部们得知，打出毛澤東这张牌，就能换来取之不尽、用之不竭的贷款时。当然会按照放贷者的意愿，有声有色地假戏真做。林彪驾机身亡温都尔汗，南街村牛皮吹破难还巨额贷款。两者同工异曲，结果大同小异。

李讷女士，您千万不要以为，过去的事情已经过去了。指望绝大多数受害者不斤斤计较，只是您的一厢情愿。许多身受其害的人一直念念不忘，且愤愤不平。不计较必须有一个重要前提，那就是责任者认错悔过。您的父亲无法完成这一使命了，但是还有其它许多相关者对受害者的情感置若罔闻，甚至拿着不是当理说。在这种情况下，受害者当然有权利讨还公道。听听国人要求建设纹革博物馆的强烈呼声，看看网上对于极左路线的激愤声讨。您就会懂得，为什么偌大的中国只有一个南街村，为什么大家对您父亲的评价有那么大的争议。