Holiday Shopping with SFT!
Earlier this year, SFT rolled out a new set of fundraising merchandise, including some new beautifully printed shirts. All of these goods are made sweatshop-free and definitely NOT made in China. They are also made with high quality materials, so their fashionable looks will last.
I personally think these shirts and bags are proof you can look and feel great while still providing a conversation starter for discussing an issue you care about with people you encounter throughout your day.
So, please support a good cause this holiday and buy some consciously-made goods from SFT at http://www.indiemerchstore.com/sft.
New York City Pressuring Internet Companies to Uphold Free Speech
New York City comptroller William Thompson has filed resolutions as a shareholder of Google and Yahoo demanding the companies craft policies that prevent them from assisting in internet censorship, particularly at the request of China. Thompson controls the New York City pension fund, which has large holdings of Google ($276 million) and Yahoo ($110 million) stock. Both companies have helped China construct search tools that proactively censors information from users inside China and Tibet. Thompson’s resolutions would also require these companies to inform end users when their information is being censored and when they might give information about them to the Chinese* government.
Thompson has not threatened to divest NYC pension fund’s holdings in Google and Yahoo. I’ll be interested to see what traction, if any, he can get in passing these improved guidelines. More importantly, if his resolutions fail, is Thompson prepared to take further action and divest from these companies for their dubious records on human rights?
*Thompson’s resolutions apply to authoritarian regimes, specifically China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Burma.
Hat tip to SFT Board of Directors member Jonathan Hulland for bringing my attention to this article.
Technorati Tags: censorship, China, Google, William Thompson, Yahoo
China’s Media Censorship in Action
Via Jeremy Golkorn of the China media blog Danwei, Bruce Humes has a clear-cut example of how censorship manifests itself in published articles in China. I recently wrote about a New York Times travel section piece by Joshua Kurlantzick. It turns out that Kurlantzick’s article is being republished in China in the daily newspaper Cankao Xiaoxi, but with heavy censorship of lines that describe the political and economic plight of Tibetans, as well as parts that are critical of China.
Predictably, politically incorrect references to the Dalai Lama, the Cultural Revolution, Tibet’s unique Sky Burial (the corpse left at high altitudes to be devoured by vultures) have been deleted, and there are no mentions of Tibet-related web sites blocked by China.
I took Kurlantzick to task for failing to pass any moral judgment about the phenomena of Tibet’s cultural and economic destruction that he described in his article. It’s ironic that the reproduction of his work in China receives such a heavy hand from the censors pen. I hope it serves as a reminder for Kurlantzick, the Times, and all other journalists who refrain from condemning China’s occupation of Tibet that even apologists are subject to censorship.
In sum, Cankao Xiaoxi’s extract regales the benefits of the opening of Tibet to visitors — foreign and domestic — with nary a mention of the contradictions and concerns that pepper Kurlantzick’s original.
Most interestingly, a close look at the two texts shows that most of the Chinese copy is lifted paragraph-by-paragraph from the original. But in most cases, 1-2 sentences from each paragraph have been deleted. Here are those deleted sentences which apparently contain content that Cankao Xiaoxi censors deem unfit for the Chinese reader:
* “…and workers had to build special features into the [Beijing-Lhasa train] cars, like oxygen tanks for passengers gasping at such high altitudes.�
* “…as we approach 16,000 feet, some Chinese train riders ruin their clothing by lying on the floor, moaning as their heads ache from the thin air.�
* “Next year, a company called RailPartners plans to introduce $1,000-per-night cars that will include private suites, butler service and haute cuisine.�
* [10 million visitors may come] “…potentially threatening conservation efforts. Unesco has warned that China is allowing the destruction of Lhasa’s traditional buildings.â€?
Let’s close with a look at one paragraph in the English original that was not translated in full or in part for readers in China:
The Potala [Palace in Lhasa] exit sends me into a sea of vendors selling prayer beads. Though they are selling Tibetan objects of worship, most vendors seem to be Chinese migrants. “ The Chinese tourism just allows migrants to take tourism jobs–Chinese businesspeople mass-produce Tibetan jewelry and they run the jewelry shops in the Barkhor [older part of Lhasa],â€? says one Tibetan guide.
Tibet is not free and neither is China. Censorship of this kind is not the product of a liberal society. When will the American press start honestly confronting the Chinese Communist Party on their illiberal policies?
Technorati Tags: censorship, China, Joshua Kurlantzick, Tibet
Yvonne, Tiananmen Square
Originally uploaded by PhiloTBG.
This is a picture of University of California, Santa Barbara SFTer Yvonne in Tiananmen Square, in front of the clock that counts down to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. She is holding a sign that says “China Stop the Genocide in Tibet.” Here is her account of this courageous action:
Me and Michelle went to Beijing with a tour and we arrived in Tiananmen on the 4th and last day of the tour. It was freezing cold and around a nice fuzzy -5 Celsius degrees. The tour guide took us to this gigantic countdown to the Beijing Olympics. They have countdowns like this sprawled out all over Beijing, but this one was especially large. It was in front of a governmental building in Tiananmen Square.
There were soldiers marching by in different black, green, and blue uniforms. So to keep it safe, we waited until most of our tour took pictures, then I whipped out my SFT sign and told Michelle to get ready to snap a quick shot. We took one shot then I asked if she wanted to take a picture, so we switched places but as soon as we were done, more soldier marched right past us, a close call.
But we were not quick enough for the tour guide or some other members of the the tour to catch us. The tour guide basically told us not to take it out again and that most Chinese soldiers now are multi-lingual and know how to read our sign. It was too dangerous with so many soldiers. She then told us that we could have had the whole tour arrested in addition to ourselves. I’m not too sure if that would be true or not… but it certainly spooked us enough not to do it again in the main area of Tiananmen Square (where Mao’s body laid).
This turned out to be a GREAT idea since there were 10 times as many soldiers, marching, sitting, standing, guarding, and watching all of us. In addition to that, there were a lot more cameras and not enough people so that we could get away quickly. Our tour guide then watched us warily after that, which was okay (and funny), at least we got away with some shots.
We also were able to take pictures with the sign on the Great Wall of China!
Free Tibet!
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Thanks,
Matt
- Freddie Matthews
on Heavenly Tibet? or Hell on Earth? - Peter S.Mulshine
on Heavenly Tibet? or Hell on Earth? - Lora McCoy
on SFT Canada’s Tsering Confronts HDI/Continental Minerals’ Executives
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