Saturday, June 16, 2007

Only good news on China's slaves

China Digital News translated the latest censorship order on the discovery of hundreds of slaves, sometimes children, in the kilns of Shanxi province - issued by the central government, so not only the local government trying to protect itself.
We only want good news on our slaves, says the order:
All External Communication Offices, Central and Local Main News Websites:
Regarding the Shanxi “illegal brick kilns” event, all websites should reinforce positive propaganda, put more emphasis on the forceful measures that the central and local governments have already taken, and close the comment function in the related news reports. The management of the interactive communication tools, such as online forums, blogs, and instant messages, should also be strengthened. Harmful information that uses this event to attack the party and the government should be deleted as soon as possible. All local external communication offices should enhance their instruction, supervision and inspection, and concretely implement the related management measures.
The Internet Bureau, CPC Central Office of External Communication June 15, 2007

In stead of addressing the real issue, next will be the hunt for the person who leaked this news: Yahoo might get a visit again. This is exactly what happened when Shi Tao distributed a similar order.

1 comment:

Todd Platek said...

Admitting the existence of criminal acts and establishing a singlemindedness to obliterate such feudalistic abuses appears not to be paramount. Instead, the emphasis is on "damage control" so that negative public relations is kept to a minimum, if not entirely eliminated before it sees the light of day. In several years, the entire phenomenon may be denied as the fictional creation of troublemakers and vilifiers of the Middle Kingdom. There is no doubt the Party is opposed to such abuses, however, a different approach to rectifying social problems without the emphasis on "CYA" would be a relief.