The shot across the bow of internet companies - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

After weeks of flying rumors on the internet, China's authorities moved in to curtail stories on disposed leader Bo Xilai and even about a coup d'etat. Internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn guides us in The Guardian through the political minefield.

The Guardian:

"The underlying problem is that you can't get the truth out of the government, so you might as well believe stuff flying around on the internet," agreed Jeremy Goldkorn, who runs the Danwei website on Chinese media. "But what this does is remind everyone who is in charge … Sina and Tencent are going to be pretty cautious and I think will be stepping up censorship: this is a shot across the bows." 

Some have asked why rumours about senior political leaders – particularly Bo – have circulated for so long recently, given that censors are usually quick to delete such speculation. 

"I do get the sense that some things have been tolerated that perhaps in other times would not be. Certainly, it seems it's been allowed that enough has been circulated about Bo Xilai to blacken his name," said Goldkorn.

More in The Guardian.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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How internet users avoid key word filters - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

China has a wide range of filters on its internet, but Chinese users have developed a set of tools to circumvent the censorship of certain banned words, tells China internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn in The Brisbane Times. Premier Wen Jiabao as teletubby.

The Brisbane Times:

''Teletubby'' is code for Wen Jiabao, who chided Bo publicly before his ousting - the Chinese version of the children's TV show, Tianxianbaobao, shares a character with the Premier's name. The popular instant noodle brand Master Kong is known as Kang Shifu in Chinese and stands in for Zhou Yongkang, who is reportedly supportive of Bo. 

''Tomato has retreated; what flavour will Master Kong still have?'' asked another user. 

In keeping with the food theme, the former Chongqing party boss has been dubbed ''tomato'' or ''xihongshi''. 

''It's the classic way that people have evaded keyword filtering: using puns, homonyms, abbreviations or English acronyms of Chinese names,'' said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei, a website on Chinese media. 

''Some are pretty standard, like zhengfu [government] becoming ZF. But a lot of the ones in the last few days are new. With this last round - like Master Kong - you would have to be following internet chatter [regularly] to really get them.'' 

Offbeat China, a blog that spotted the spate of references, said at one point ''Master Kong'' was the seventh most searched-for term on Sina's popular Weibo service.

More in the Brisbane Times Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Unprecedented online chatter on Bo Xilai - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

The recent dismissal of Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai triggered off a lot of comments on China's microblogs. Even veteran internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn has to admit in the Wall Street Journal he was amazed, this time.

The Wall Street Journal:

"I don't recall ever seeing anything like this on the Chinese Internet," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei, a website that tracks Chinese media, of the recent proliferation of political gossip. The presence of so much rumor online is one likely explanation for the stepped-up censorship, he said. 

"Things are getting a little too out of control, so they've decided to rein it in," Mr. Goldkorn said, adding that it was difficult to say whether the decision to block searches came from government authorities or the websites' own in-house censors. 

Searches for "Ferrari," "coup" and Zhou Yongkang's name were also blocked on Sina Weibo this week. To beat the blocks, users have begun referring to Mr. Zhou as "Kang Shifu," using the name of a drink and instant noodle brand in a wordplay on the last character in Mr. Zhou's name.

More in The Wall Street Journal Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Google+ hiccup: American misunderstood Chinese humor - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Over the weekend a leak in China's internet censorship saw thousands of Chinese jumping on Google+, flooding US president Obama's account with calls for their liberation, free speech, human rights and green cards. Americans did not see it was mostly Chinese humor, tells internet analyst Jeremy Goldkorn on VOA.

The Voice of America:

Some comments left by the Chinese called for free speech and human rights. Others asked for information on getting U.S. "green cards" for immigration. Some more extreme comments urged President Obama to work “to free” the Chinese people. 

Jeremy Goldkorn, editor in chief of Danwei.com, thinks many of the comments were meant to be ironic or humorous. 

"Whether they were calling on the United States to liberate the Chinese Internet or calling on Obama to stop being an imperialist, the tone was overwhelmingly humorous," Goldkorn said. "So I don't think anyone should take this as an indicator of U.S.-Chinese relations, or I don't think one should read too much into this. I think for lots of people participating, this was fun, just a game." 

He adds that this kind of humor has its roots in Chinese culture.

"You know there is this idea in China that has been adapted for the Internet of 'weiguan,' of standing around and looking at something interesting, and this seems to me like a very weiguan behavior, where people probably spread virally that 'Hey, you can comment on Obama's page,' and people went to have a look, and they left comments." 

Goldkorn adds that many Chinese would visit President Obama's webpage simply because it is such a novelty to leave comments for a well-known top leader, because they do not have the same opportunities in their own country. But he warns that these comments do not accurately represent public opinion throughout the country. 

"It shows you one aspect of public opinion as held by very high-tech savvy Internet users, most of whom are in their 20s or 30s," he said. "To read it as what all people in China are thinking, it would be wrong."

More on VOA  


Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Ban on foreign TV productions not that dramatic - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Much attention has gone to a recent ban of foreign TV-productions on Chinese TV. Overdone, tells media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn in LA-Times. The ban will not change the life of China's TV audience.

LA Times:

Jeremy Goldkorn, a China media analyst and founder of the online magazine Danwei.com, said the series of regulations may push younger viewers toward Internet-based forms of entertainment, which are generally more difficult to control. 

Goldkorn said there are too few foreign shows on Chinese airwaves for the new limits to seriously change the habits of most Chinese TV viewers. 

"It's not going to affect the hundreds of millions of people who just turn on the TV and leave it on all day," he said.

More in LA Times.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Vacation or political trouble for famous crime-fighter? - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Holidays in China are over and the internet has its first meme, writes internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn on his weblog at Danwei. Chongqing has sent its famous crime-fighter Wang Lijun on a therapeutically vacations. Or is the popular official running into political problems?

Jeremy Goldkorn:

On Thursday February 2, Chongqing’s Information Office announced that Wang Lijun (王立军)，the triad-busting police chief who has been working under Bo Xilai to crack down on gang crimes in Chongqing would be given a new portfolio in charge of economic affairs in place of his public security post.

Early on February 8, photos began circulating on Weibo showing a large police presence around the American consulate in Chengdu.

Soon after that, people on Twitter and Sina Weibo began speculating that Wang Lijun had sought refuge inside the U.S. consulate and was intending to defect.

More at Danwei's weblog

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.  

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New rules won't kill weibo - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

China's authorities try to curtail the internet and especially try to implement a 'real-name' policy for online debate. But internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn does not see the end of the internet in China as we know it, he tells in the Voice of America.

VOA:

Jeremy Goldkorn, the founder of the China media monitoring website Danwei.org says although authorities said the new system would start in December, not much has changed. “I don’t think it has actually been implemented anywhere, at least not thoroughly. Because it’s still possible to do a lot in the Internet without using your real name, including Weibo services.” 

If authorities do follow through on the plan, Goldkorn agrees with other critics who say that the loss of anonymity will have a big impact on microblogs. 

“It will certainly have a chilling effect on discussion on Weibo, because a lot of people will be wary of speaking their mind if there is going to be a real name attached to their account.  But I don’t think it’s going to kill off Weibo,” Goldhorn said.

More in the VOA.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

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IPO 'People's Daily' no surprise - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

The announcement the People's Daily, the daily newspaper of the Communist Party, is going - at least partially - public did not come as a surprise to media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn from Beijing, he tells AFP.

"This has been brewing for some time," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Beijing-based media research firm Danwei. "Why not get the money from the market, instead of the government, if they can," he told AFP. Up to 10 state-owned media websites, including those of the People's Daily, state broadcaster China Central Television and the Xinhua news agency -- are planning domestic stock listings, state media said last year. "If they are going to have state-controlled media companies that are successful in holding people's attention, then being run like commercial enterprises is going to be better," Goldkorn added.

More in AFP

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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British media on China - Zhang Lijia/Jeremy Goldkorn

Zhang Lijia

The British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing is hosting a debate on how British media report on China, on November 29. Among the panelists, two of our speakers, Zhang Lijia and Jeremy Goldkorn. Is it fair to say the British media paint an unjust picture in its discourse and analysis?

From the invite:

In China there is a widespread belief that the Western media paints a distorted view of what is happening in the country. Recent cries from a range of sources have encouraged the media to be less bias in its portrayal of the Middle Kingdom. However, others argue that there is a solid connection between events on the ground and the way news is reported. 

Is it fair to say the British media paint an unjust picture in its discourse and analysis? Has the UK media’s reporting on China become distorted into the sensational and overly negative because of growing competition in the commercial news business? Or is this so-called ‘China bashing’ simply a true portrayal of the nation’s events? 

Join us in the latest of our Speakers Series in which we hold a lively debate analysing the portrayal of China in the British media. Our panelists will bring their diverse experience and points of view allowing us to hear opinions from both sides of the spectrum.

Apart from Jeremy Goldkorn and Zhang Lijia, other guests include Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph and Tom Pattison, a media consultant and writer.
Tuesday 29th November 2011 19:00 – 19:15
Registration 19:15 – 20:30
Debate 20:30 – 21:30 Drinks & networking
Venue: Face Bar Add (EN): 26 Dong Cao Yuan, Gong TiNan Lu Chao Yang Ou, Beijing , 100020
Tel: +86 (10) 6551 6788
Cost: 100 RMB members; 200 RMB non members


Zhang Lijia and Jeremy Goldkorn are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need them at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links on Zhang Lijia and China's moral crisis on Storify

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China 'soft power' fails - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

China is trying to put up a nice face by using 'soft power' to get things done globally, but it meets mostly distrust, illustrated by a troubled bid from a Chinese tycoon to buy a part of Iceland. Beijing resident and media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn tells the New York Times why.

 The New York Times:

“I was moved by that bleak, wild nature,” [developer Mr. Huang] told The International Herald Leader, a newspaper affiliated with Xinhua, the state-run news agency. 

The developer, who has climbed Mount Everest twice and published six volumes of poetry with titles like “Don’t Love Me Any More,” “looks forward to become a wandering poet and lead a wild life,” according to his company’s Web site. “Why do people want to ruin this win-win investment?” he asked in the newspaper interview. 

One answer: deep suspicion about a country with increasing global weight but little “soft power,” analysts said. 

“It does show what a failure they’ve been at their soft-power efforts,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, the founder of danwei.com, a Web magazine and research firm, and a 16-year resident of China. 

The phrase “gets bandied about in various ways,” said Mr. Goldkorn. “It should mean that you have the power of attraction, and China’s been very bad at that,” he said, citing its lack of transparency, harsh treatment of dissidents, hard-line stance over claims in the South China Sea and food safety scandals. “The soft power that they are getting is exclusively because of their money,” he said. “They haven’t managed to build a country where people feel safe.”

More in The New York Times

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Party secretary puts squeeze on Sina Weibo - Jeremy Goldkorn

Public debate has gone wild on China's internet fora, especially on the twitter-clone Sina Weibo. The party establishment try trying to regain control and the Beijing party secretary paid a visit to the Sina headquarters. Internet observer Jeremy Goldkorn comments in the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal:

"This kind of thing–these visits–have been going on a long time, but if it's the Party secretary of Beijing, that does seem to be sending a fairly clear signal," Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei, a website that tracks Chinese media, said Tuesday... Exactly what signal Mr. Liu intended to send over Weibo remains unclear, though Mr. Goldkorn said he thought a complete shutdown was "unlikely." The political costs of taking away such a popular service, he said, would be too great, "but they could squeeze it to the point where it becomes far less interesting." The government has several tools at its disposal for exercising more control over what gets said on Weibo without pulling the plug entirely. For example, it could require that Sina step up in-house censorship by banning more searches for sensitive keywords and hiring more human censors to take down sensitive posts.

More in the Wall Street  Journal   Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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How does media censorship work? - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn discusses the elaborate way media censorship works in China. Yes, the official censorship is very much in place, but both internet users and journalists have ways to deal with it - within limits.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Online rage continues, but does it change anything? - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

China's official media have been trying to catch up with the online anger of the country's internet users after the Wenzhou train crash, tells media analyst Jeremy Goldkorn in the Voice of America. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last time. But does it make a difference?

The Voice of America:

Jeremy Goldkorn, a Chinese online media analyst and founder of Danwei.org, says state media found it difficult to ignore the amount of online criticism.

“By Monday morning there had been such a huge outcry in the Chinese internet and particularly on Sina Weibo about it that as the work week started on Monday the media was, the news media was playing catch up with the citizens reports on the Internet," said Goldkorn.

Seemingly, there is little the government can do to put a lid on [quiet] the outcry. Even its directives to state media outlets to limit coverage and to not investigate or comment on the cause of the accident have been leaked online, and are not being followed entirely.

State media have published strong editorials demanding a thorough investigation. ...

Then there were problems with the high-speed system.

"Just about three weeks ago, at the beginning of the month, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway opened and ... and in some of the first few journeys through Beijing to Shanghai, some of the trains were delayed," noted Jeremy Goldkorn, "what should have been a five-hour journey ended up taking much, much longer, and people got stuck on cars where the air conditioning had broken down and they weren't given an explanation, and this became something like a little micro-scandal on the Internet, because people were posting photographs and complaints about that."

However, Goldkorn says it is hard to say if the public anger will prompt a re-assessment of the high-speed rail system. He notes that after a milk safety scandal hit China in 2008, there was also plenty of similar commentary online. In the end, he says, it did not seem to change monitoring of the dairy industry and food scandals continue to happen.

More in the Voice of America.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Weibo stopped toeing the party line after railway crash - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

China's successful microblogging service Weibo ignored the party line, as the online anger about the railway crash near Wenzhou exploded. Internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn explains in CNN the government is trying to put the ghost back into the bottle. Yang Feng, who lost family in the crash, became an overnight hero.

CNN:

While [the official broadcaster] CCTV shunned him, Yang became an overnight hero in the eyes of Chinese netizens who were riled by the government response to the accident, especially the perceived ineptitude and arrogance of the railway ministry. Less than 24 hours after he posted his first message on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, Yang has gained more than 110,000 followers.

"The closer you get to the centrally controlled media, the more they toe the Communist Party line," explained Jeremy Goldkorn, a long-time Chinese media observer whose Danwei website monitors the industry. "For this accident, Weibo posts have been so far ahead of official responses."...

For Weibo users, however, any sense of vindication may prove short-lived. Analysts say Internet censors have already begun deleting more posts as netizens became critical of not just the scandal-plagued railway ministry but also of the flaws of the political system.

"They are trying to shove the genie back in the bottle," media observer Goldkorn said. "Weibo is such an effective amplifier of people's dissatisfaction that it is worrying the government a lot."

Now Yang has turned uncharacteristically quiet. Pleading for his supporters' understanding, he alluded in his most recent Weibo posts that he was under tremendous pressure to keep a low profile for the well-being of his family -- including his father-in-law, who survived the train crash.

More in the aftermath of the railway crash at CNN.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Defining the mess Groupon finds itself in - Jeremy Goldkorn

Media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn tries to analyze for TechCrunch the mess Groupon it getting itself in, now the US firm is teaming up with China's internet giant Tencent. Sending inexperienced expats to China, might just be only one of its problems.

Jeremy Goldkorn:

But, based on my personal experience since 1997, every foreign-funded company I have ever encountered in China talking about making money from local vendors based on a “lifestyle” proposition has about a year or so before bankrupting itself or being run out of town.

And on the support from research firm iResearch:

I don’t know if Groupon is paying iResearch, but iResearch has a reputation in China for doing “research” for companies who pay them. Somehow, the companies always end up looking very good in their research reports.

It’s all pre-IPO spin. Groupon China is simply a way to bleed cash.

More in TechCrunch

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Hacking emails hard to link to Chinese government - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Is China preparing on a government level a sophisticated arms' race, reporters in the US wonder after Gmail accounts got hacked, allegedly from a province in China. Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei explains that linking any hacking activities to China and certainly its government is hard.

Goldkorn says that independent operators in China could be linked to hacking activities, but it would be a tough call to blame China's government for those. Google followed a link to hackers in China, but it was a dead lead and could originate from everywhere.

There are some very talented hackers, who operate as individuals in China. On the other hand, bear in mind the nature of the alleged targets of the hacking campaign that does seem like an attempt to get information that would be of strategic importance to China's military or government.

Listen to the full audio fragment at the Takeaway.org here.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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Government no talking partner in hacking issue - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn

Why would you want to talk to the Chinese government on Google's hacking issues, when there is no proven link - to put it mildly - between the government and the hacking, wonders internet analyst Jeremy Goldkorn in VOA.

Jeremy Goldkorn on the potential hackers:

"The hackers who are alleged to have committed this latest attack on Google users, on gmail users, may or may not be government employees. I would be very surprised if the people who  did the hack actually worked for the government. It doesn't mean that their not in touch with the  government, it doesn't mean that their somehow not associated with the government. But they may very  well be citizens either acting on their own or in some kind of loose collaboration with one or  another government agency. It makes it very difficult to understand who they are [and] pin them  down. And it makes it very difficult to talk to the Chinese government about what's going on."

And on the question whether Google has a future in China:

"Google has had a very difficult time adapting to the local conditions in the Chinese market. And a big part of that is because the government regulates or interferes with Internet companies to very great degree in China. SoInternet companies are responsible for self-censoring their content. And if you're not willing to self-censor, you will not get a license to operate in China. Google eventually came to the point where they announced they weren't willing to carry on doing that. It is a very tough market by itself. It's not an easy market  to operate in as a business. In addition to the problems of creating a successful Internet business here in a very competitive landscape, you also have the problem of a very great amount of government scrutiny and regulation."

More, including the viewpoint of Hillary Clinton, in VOA.

Jeremy Goldkorn in a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

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The pros and cons of Renren's IPO - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

The valuation of China's leading social network Renren has done up dramatically just ahead of its IPO on Wednesday. Jeremy Goldkorn explains in Seeking Alpha why both excitement and caution should lead the investors.
On the pros: It is probably the closest a Chinese internet firm can come to Facebook. Renren has a highly competitive management with much experience in social networks. It has build up a close relationship with (potential) advertisers and is making some money.
On the cons: Renren is not China's equivalent of Facebook and is facing at home a brutal competitive landscape. And while it might make money in the future, is does not do it yet.

More in Seeking Alpha.

Jeremy Goldkorn is one of the leading voices on China's internet scene. He is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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Humor as a tool against the authorities - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

An active and vibrant internet culture trying to push the limits, describes internet expert Jeremy Goldkorn in this video produced by the Asia Society. Humor as a tool against censorship.
(Jeremy's comments after the cartoon).

Jeremy Goldkorn in a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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My-daddy-is-Li-Gang get a trial - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

Jeremy Goldkorn explains in CNN the background of the online uproar that emerged when the son of police chief Li Gang killed a girl and thought he could get away with it. China's internet community watches his trial closely.
CNN:

It's more than just a tragic traffic accident. "There is a lot of popular anger about 'guan er dai,' the children of officials who sometimes literally get away with murder," says Jeremy Goldkorn, founding editor-in-chief of Danwei, a China media website. He said the online uproar is focused on "how likely it is that Li Qiming will get away with a light sentence, and whether blood money will secure his freedom."

Official media have reported that Li was drunk when he ran over two female students on the Hebei University campus, killing Chen and injuring fellow student Zhang Jingjing. Li allegedly tried to speed away from the scene. It was also reported that, when students and campus security guards stopped him, he shouted at the guards, "My daddy is Li Gang" -- referring to a local deputy police chief.

When indignant Chinese Internet users got wind of the story, they blogged and reposted it widely. Before long, "My-daddy-is-Li-Gang" went viral. "It spread on the Internet -- on blogs, forum websites and the Twitter-like microblog service Weibo," recalls Goldkorn, a long-time observer of China's social networking sites. "The public expressed outrage on the Internet, and the traditional news media and the government reacted to the Internet coverage of the event."...

"There have been enough similar cases over the last few years that -- according to Chinese media reports -- some government officials have now acquired 'Internet phobia,'" observes Goldkorn. "They fear of having their wrongdoings exposed by angry netizens."

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Jeremy Goldkorn in a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.