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meh
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China's Xi to Roll Out His Own Brand of 'Political Thought' at 19th Congress
2017-08-17



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Delegates applaud as China's President Xi Jinping makes his way to the podium to deliver a speech at a ceremony to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing, Aug. 1, 2017.
AFP

President Xi Jinping is gearing up for an important political meeting later in the year with ever-tighter policing of public speech, and plans to have his own version of political ideology enshrined in the ruling Chinese Communist Party's constitution, analysts told RFA.

The crackdown on any public comment not already sanctioned by the official media has been most starkly carried out in higher education, according to political commentator Wei Pu, who linked the trend to the 19th Party Congress expected in October.

Earlier this month, authorities in Beijing held Zhu Delong, a deputy professor at the Capital Normal University, for five days' administrative detention over posts he had made online criticizing a growing "cult of personality" around Xi.

But Zhu failed to reappear when that five-day jail term, which can be handed down by police without trial, was up, fellow activists said.

"I think we are seeing yet another escalation [in the crackdown on free speech]," veteran journalist Zhu Xinxin told RFA. "The available space for public debate is getting smaller and smaller; now you can't say anything that isn't flattering to the government."

Zhu's detention came after his friend, the Sichuan-based party ideologue Zi Su, was taken away by police after calling in an online letter for Xi's resignation.

Zi had written that Xi's "biggest mistake of all" was to institute a policy known as the "seven taboos," which ban any talk of democracy, rule of law, the separation of powers and related topics.

'Shock and awe' censorship

Hunan rights activist Zhou Jie said Zhu now appears to have broken one of those "taboos" himself.

"Controls over public comments are getting tighter as we head towards the 19th Party Congress," Zhou said. "They are using the so-called national security law to step up the pressure for some cases and incidents."

"The effect is one of shock and awe."

In January, Shandong Institute of Architecture lecturer Deng Xiangchao was fired for "incorrect wording" in his social media posts, prompting a nationalist flash-mob to show up and denounce him on campus.

More recently, Beijing Normal University lecturer Shi Jiepeng had his contract terminated on July 25 after being accused of posting "inappropriate comments" to social media, including WeChat, according to a copy of his termination letter posted on Twitter.

And Li Mohai, a deputy professor at the Shandong Institute of Industry and Commerce, was fired from his job after he criticized government propaganda via his microblog account.

Members of the Communist Party have also been warned in clear terms to stay away from the "wrong words" online, which it defines as anything that departs from the official line.

"Wrong words means anything criticizing Mao Zedong, the ideology of the Communist Party and its brainwashing education system, its history, of state capital ... or any negative content," political analyst Wei Pu wrote in a recent commentary for RFA's Cantonese Service.

"The seven taboos form the red line, the seven things which can't be spoken about," Wei said.

"As a result, there is no academic freedom in higher education, and online freedom has been greatly reduced," he said. "This ideological management is being extended ahead of the 19th Party Congress. No different opinions will be allowed."

'Xi Jinping thought'
Instead, "The Political Thought of Xi Jinping" will be enshrined by the Party Congress, Beijing-based political commentator Zha Jianguo told RFA.

"Xi Jinping Thought will definitely make it into the party constitution at the 19th party congress," Zha said. "

"[Former president] Jiang Zemin had his Three Represents, and [former president] Hu Jintao had his Scientific Development ... but I think Xi will want his to hold a higher significance than Jiang's or Hu's political thought," he said.

China's leaders are currently believed to have spent 15 days beginning on Aug. 2 on an unofficial annual retreat at the beach resort of Beidaihe, where much of the preparation for formal congresses typically takes place.

The absence of top leaders from state media reports is a general indication that the secretive Beidaihe retreat is underway, as Xi prepares to install allies in top positions and press his agenda of tightened state control and muscular diplomacy, the Associated Press said.

The congress also comes amid growing speculation that Xi may be seeking to buck recent limitations on power at the highest echelons of the party by seeking a third term in the top spot, it said.

Hong Kong-based political commentator Willy Lam said Xi will likely pick poverty reduction as the main theme for the congress.

"The economic pie may still be growing overall, but it's still the political and financial elite who are getting the biggest slice of it," Lam said. "That includes the big eight elite families, and those who benefit from their wealth."

"And the proportion of the pie that is eaten by them is extremely large."

A Chinese scholar who asked to remain anonymous said there will be no significant break with the economic policies of the past, however.

"Urbanization is another aspect; there is a shrinking rural population as people head to the cities, and an increase in human capital," the scholar said. "Maybe they will see income growth, but the Chinese Communist Party has now placed a lot of barriers to this urbanization process."

"It takes three decades to acquire a Beijing household registration, so nobody can get them," he said. "And there is no state healthcare once they enter the cities; they can only claim back about 40-50 percent of their medical expenses."

Reported by Xin Lin, Qiao Long, Gao Feng and Gao Xin for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wei Pu for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
 

sorcerer

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China’s bikini beauty pageant for children sparks controversy

Earlier this month a soutwestern city of Chengdu, China, played host to a beauty pageant for young girls aged 3-12. The beauty pageant was akin to the American lingerie brand Victoria Secret's fashion show. The young participants were seen donning heavy make-up, huge feathered wings, and a bikini, while strutting along the ramp walk in front of an audience.

While one of the web users commented saying, "There's nothing wrong with a children's fashion show", he also remarked, "but such an underwear show is something else". The brewing controversy revolves around this same notion as there have been several high profile molestation cases in the recent past in China. Campaigners are pointing out to such cases and saying that it is high time the society pays more attention to children's rights.

Some concerned viewers say that this could be a boon for paedophilia because not only could children think that this kind of dressing and being looked at is appropriate, but also because recent news reports highlighted that several children are unaware about what constitutes sexual harassment.

Some previous concerning incidents include a brother molesting his adoptive sister in front of his parents at a railway station in Nanjing. Another case involves a man molesting his niece in a hospital waiting area in Chongqing. The increase in such blatant offences has raised concern over parents' negligence.

Sun Xuemei, the founder of Girl's Protection Fund, reminds everyone that children are individuals who have rights to their own body just like any adult does. Parents have to be respectful of their child's privacy and teach them what is acceptable or not.

"It will have some negative impact for them to expose their bodies like this, even if their parents and the business do not consider the show anything close to pornographic, but it will confuse the kids."


http://beautypageants.indiatimes.co...n-sparks-controversy/articleshow/60207777.cms
 

Tshering22

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Like the IVC seals , those are proto-indian script before sanskrit-brahmi develop
One little correction;

Sanskrit never really had any script.

What you call 'Sanskrit' is just Devanagari script. There are villages in Karnataka and some place in Andhra which speak Sanskrit even now but their write in their variant of the Brahmi family of scripts.
 

lcafanboy

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Steer clear of screens and masturbation, Chinese military recruits told
AFP
Published : Aug 24, 2017, 4:30 pm IST
Updated : Aug 24, 2017, 4:33 pm IST
The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit, healthy enough.


This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle. (Photo: AP)
Shanghai: The Chinese military is fretting about the growing number of would-be recruits failing its stringent fitness test, but says it has the answer: avoid masturbating and playing computer games.

People's Liberation Army chiefs aim to ensure that applicants are in tip-top condition to join the rank and file of the world's largest military force.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle.

It said 20 percent were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.

The newspaper did not spell out how army officers knew about the vein issue but said the problems were caused by too much masturbation, too much time playing video games and not enough exercise.

Obvious or oversized tattoos were also a no-no, it said, pointing out that others failed the test because of liver problems associated with too much alcohol.

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit and healthy enough. Beijing said the PLA had high standards.

"China's recruitment process has strict rules and procedures," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The quality of our recruits is guaranteed and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong."

Since coming to power in 2012 President Xi Jinping has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while leading efforts to centralise the Communist Party's control over it.
http://www.asianage.com/world/south...turbation-chinese-military-recruits-told.html
 

lcafanboy

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Steer clear of screens and masturbation, Chinese military recruits told
AFP
Published : Aug 24, 2017, 4:30 pm IST
Updated : Aug 24, 2017, 4:33 pm IST

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit, healthy enough.


This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle. (Photo: AP)
Shanghai: The Chinese military is fretting about the growing number of would-be recruits failing its stringent fitness test, but says it has the answer: avoid masturbating and playing computer games.

People's Liberation Army chiefs aim to ensure that applicants are in tip-top condition to join the rank and file of the world's largest military force.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle.

It said 20 percent were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.

The newspaper did not spell out how army officers knew about the vein issue but said the problems were caused by too much masturbation, too much time playing video games and not enough exercise.

Obvious or oversized tattoos were also a no-no, it said, pointing out that others failed the test because of liver problems associated with too much alcohol.

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit and healthy enough. Beijing said the PLA had high standards.

"China's recruitment process has strict rules and procedures," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The quality of our recruits is guaranteed and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong."

Since coming to power in 2012 President Xi Jinping has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while leading efforts to centralise the Communist Party's control over it.
http://www.asianage.com/world/south...turbation-chinese-military-recruits-told.html




:pound::pound::pound::pound::pound:
 

sorcerer

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The Dark Side of China's Tech Boom

China’s tech giants are helping the state build a digital panopticon.

Chinese smartphone users have the world at their fingertips. With a few taps, they can order food, message their friends, send money, read the news, play games, hail a taxi, pay off utility bills, and more through a single app like WeChat.

But there’s a catch. All this convenience comes with a heavy price: their freedom and privacy.

Thanks to China’s Internet giants – Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba – the authoritarian regime now has the means to monitor a user’s every action, purchase, thought, and location in real-time. The Chinese government has long sought the means to more closely keep tabs on its citizens, but with smartphones, people are voluntarily logging their every move for the government in a single, convenient place.


China’s Tech Giants

While tech titans like Google, Amazon, and Facebook have become essential to the daily lives of many Americans, their reach pales in comparison to their Chinese counterparts.

This year, 79.1 percent of all smartphone users in China are expected to use WeChat, a messaging app, with nearly 500 million people using it at least once a month. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the entire population of the United States, Canada, and Mexico combined.

But what makes WeChat’s use so significant is how deeply integrated it is with a person’s daily life. Far more than just a messaging app, WeChat is a hub through which Chinese smartphone users access the Internet and other services.

In addition to its basic communication functions, WeChat enables users to order wine, check in for a flight, make a doctor’s appointment, get banking statements, search for books at their local library, donate to charity, pay for things offline, and more. An American venture capitalist described WeChat as being “at every point of your daily contact with the world, from morning until night.”

Meanwhile, Alibaba China’s equivalent of Amazon, delivers an average of 30 million packages a day, more than the U.S. Postal Service on its busiest day in history. In 2014, 86 percent of all shopping done on smartphones in China was through Alibaba.

Building the Digital Surveillance State

A byproduct from all this heavy use is a torrent of rich data that reveal highly-detailed specifics about each individual user. But unlike the United States, which has laws – imperfect as they may be – about when and how the government can access this type of data, no such prohibitions exist in China. Tech companies routinely hand their data to the government which has made no secret about its efforts to integrate that data into its surveillance apparatus.

With the help of a mobile phone company, police in the city of Guiyang are tracking the movements of migrant workers in real-time. And as part of its anti-corruption crackdown, officials are monitoring social media accounts to trace spending on wine and luxury goods.

China’s censors already meticulously monitor social media for taboo topics like :pound:criticizing the government:pound: or:pound: promoting democracy:pound:, and now they are going even further. The Chinese Ministry of Education has suggested cataloging the individual :rofl:political sentiments of university students.:rofl: By pulling data from library records, surveys, and social media posts they hope to create a political ideology database.:rofl:

But perhaps the most worrying development is the government’s plan to create a “social credit” rating system. An individual’s score will be determined by social, financial, and political behaviors that are drawn from a variety of databases. Infractions would include falling behind on bills, jaywalking, and :rofl:violating family-planning rules.:rofl:

Those with low scores will have a harder time travelling, securing loans and insurance, and would be barred from privileges likes staying in a luxury hotel. Meanwhile, individuals like lawyers and journalists will be more closely monitored:rofl: According to government planning documents, the system will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”:bounce:

The rating system is currently being tested in 40 towns and cities across China with plans to expand it nation-wide by 2020.

Personal Files

The elaborate social rating system envisioned by the Chinese government can be traced to the dang’an. Created under Chairman Mao, the dang’an, or personal file, contains an individual’s grades, employment record, and reports on how they interact with others, their religious affiliations, psychological problems, and potential political liabilities.

But the proposed rating system would take the dang’an to another level. The government can now add every purchase an individual makes online as well as their search history to their digital file. Purchasing certain products could potentially affect a person’s score. In a controversial move, Alibaba’s rating system Sesame Credit, which functions like eBay seller ratings, takes into account what a user buys online.

“Someone who plays video games for 10 hours a day, for example, would be considered an idle person, and someone who frequently buys diapers would be considered as probably a parent, who on balance is more likely to have a sense of responsibility,” said Li Yingyun, Sesame’s technology director.

Beyond online shopping, a person’s Sesame credit can shape their romantic lives. A Chinese dating website has taken to factoring in a person’s Sesame rating and prominently featuring those with high scores.

These developments are problematic as “negative” behavior from one part of an individual’s life could soon have far-ranging consequences. Under the new social credit system it is a distinct possibility that failure to pay a parking ticket could keep an individual from booking a train ticket or receiving a bank loan. :laugh:Watching banned Western TV shows like “The Big Bang Theory” and making politically-charged social media posts could result in a travel ban.:rofl:

The government has already established this precedent, publicly blacklisting nearly 7 million people who failed to make loan repayments and barred them from buying airplane tickets.

The authoritarian regime has also shown its willingness to regulate and punish individuals for personal choices. In addition to the long-standing One Child Policy, under the Elder Care Law of 2013, all adult children are required to visit parents over 60 “often” otherwise they can be fined or even face jail time.

Public-Private Partnerships

China’s ruling party is on the cusp of exercising unprecedented control over its citizens, and it’s been made possible with the cooperation of tech companies.

“The line between private companies and state institutions is often quite blurred,” said Maya Wang, a researcher from Human Rights Watch. “In theory, there are protections on citizens’ data, but in practice there are no controls about how this data may be used.”

But it’s not just Chinese companies that do this. In order to operate in China’s lucrative market, American companies have capitulated to the demands of the regime. In the hopes of regaining access to China, Facebook has created a censorship tool that would allow officials to keep posts from appearing on people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas.

A new cybersecurity law requires that all foreign companies operating in China must store their data within the nation. Major American companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM have all complied with the government’s order, raising fears about the security of user data.

The tools and technologies that once promised freedom and openness are instead creating the very dystopian reality we feared most. Far from science fiction, the pieces are already in place – the databases, the technology, the policies, and the precedent.


In a vicious twist, each time Chinese users sign in to WeChat, order something from Alibaba, or search using Baidu, they are tightening the Communist Party’s grip over their lives.


Eugene K. Chow writes on foreign policy and military affairs. He has been published in The Week, Huffington Post, and The Diplomat.

http://thediplomat.com/2017/08/the-dark-side-of-chinas-tech-boom/
 

Villager

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Excessive Masturbation’ is Chinese Army’s Latest Headache
The Chinese Army has said that 20 percent of the potential recruits were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.
Updated on: August 26, 2017, 10:54 AM IST
AFP
Shanghai: The Chinese military is fretting about the growing number of would-be recruits failing its stringent fitness test, but says it has the answer: avoid masturbation and computer games.

People's Liberation Army chiefs aim to ensure that applicants are in tip-top condition to join the rank and file of the world's largest military force.

This month the official PLA Daily spelt out on social media 10 reasons why so many potential recruits fall at the first hurdle.

It said 20 percent were overweight while eight percent were refused because they had an enlarged testicular vein.

The newspaper did not spell out how army officers knew about the vein issue but said the problems were caused by too much masturbation, too many video games and not enough exercise.

Obvious or oversized tattoos were also a no-no, it said, pointing out that others failed the test because of liver problems associated with too much alcohol.

The PLA Daily said that in one city alone more than half the candidates were rejected after failing to show they were fit and healthy enough.

Beijing said the PLA had high standards.

"China's recruitment process has strict rules and procedures," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The quality of our recruits is guaranteed and the headwaters of our military will flow long and strong." That did not stop some Chinese internet users from having a bit of fun with the news.

"Going online everyday on the computer or phone, late-night gaming and masturbating, it would be weird if they were actually healthy and fit!" said one user on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

Another saw a more serious side: "Young people nowadays are living too comfortably, they're turning into couch potatoes."

It is not the first time this month that military officials have railed against modern lifestyles.

The same army newspaper said officers were worried about young soldiers getting so addicted to the online battle game "King of Glory" that they would struggle to remain focused during an actual war.

"Once a soldier is cut off from the game for an urgent mission, he could be absent-minded during the operation if his mind remains on the game," the PLA Daily warned gravely.

Since coming to power in 2012 President Xi Jinping has trumpeted the need to build a stronger combat-ready military, while leading efforts to centralise the Communist Party's control over it.

China's military budget had seen double-digit increases for several years until last year, when it was raised 7.6 percent.
 

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