Weibo to the Rescue!

A few weeks ago, Chinese in Shanghai rescued over 600 cats from being skinned through crowd-sourcing techniques using the micro-blogging website Weibo. Animal rescue groups and volunteers were called to intercept the truck after a message was spread through Weibo. The cats were ultimately saved and the police became involved after the truck that was carrying the cats was stopped by the concerned citizens.

I wanted to share this story because it bares some resemblance to the netizens vs. animal rights violations instances of Human Flesh Searches from the past.

Chen Guangcheng and Microbloggers

China's micro-blogging community has been up in arms these past few weeks as the Cheng Guangcheng affair has unfolded. First they were concerned for his well-being when he escaped from house arrest, then they called out both in support of Chen and the CCP when he left the US embassy, and now once again the microblogs are alive expressing concerns for his safety. BBC News reports that netizens were active in voicing their opinions and concerns for Chen and the politics surrounding the situation between China and the US.

And Weibo users have been uploading photos of their efforts to push the Chen Guangcheng issue into the limelight in China, most notably by creating and posting "Free CGC" stickers:

Other messages of note from the BBC article:
"Although he is blind, he has only recently experienced true darkness." (from Weibo)

"Now is the time to criticise the American government, because the American leadership care about public opinion. The US participated in the misleading and deceiving of Chen in practice... they knew what fate would await Chen once he left the embassy." (Zhang Dajun 10)

"Why should you go to another country with your own country's problems? This person is creating opportunities for other countries to intervene in China's internal politics." (YouTube comment)

"Don't think that politics has nothing to do with you, unless you intend to live like a pig... don't say that other's suffering has nothing to do with you, because you cannot guarantee that such suffering won't fall on you one day. All for one, one for all." (from Weibo)

Chen Guangcheng's Leave

Chinese netizens are once again missing the mark in directing their anger, this time falling into line with the Communist Party's call for the US to apologize for the Chen Guangcheng affair. One Weibo post taken from BBC News' article read, "The US has never paused its attempt to contain China and destabilise China!" But I was under the belief that Chen went to the US embassy on his own volition? Why should the US authorities apologize? For not handing him over?

Once again it's another example of Chinese netizens completely missing the mark. Instead of voicing outrage over Chen's decision to leave because Communist authorities were rounding up his friends and family and threatened him for their safety, or more broadly for the lack of political dissent allowed in China, netizens are directing their anger at the US for "butting" into China's affairs once again.

But level-headed voices prevailed, with Li Kaisheng, a professor at Xiangtan University in Hunan, microblogging, "When a blind man has been subjected to long-term illegal detention and has had to turn to a foreign embassy for protection, our foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin turns a blind eye to the facts and asserts that 'China is a country under the rule of law, and its citizens' legitimate rights and interests are protected by the constitution and its laws'."

Other messages of note from the BBC article:
"They always blame other countries for interfering with China's internal affairs. But why don't they ever consider why the people have lost confidence in China's own judiciary and would rather trust a foreign embassy?!" ("Milktea")

"The US should not interfere with the CCP's tyranny," ("Expecting Dawn")

"This is the CCP's turf. All people living here are slaves to the CCP and must unconditionally accept the CCP's violent rule."

Chen Guangcheng's Escape

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng recently escaped from custody and fled to US protective custody at the embassy in China. Having been under house arrest, Chen managed to evade the guards and make his way from Shandong to Beijing, with the help of He ('Pearl') Peirong, as well as release a video of his safety.

In China, netizen activists are taking to forums and micro-blogging websites to priase the escape. In response, China's censors have been working to suppress online conversation. As a  result netizens are referring to Chen simply as "the blind man." Regardless, many mentions of Chen's prior whereabouts and escape are being censored and removed. One micro-blogger, Jing Huili wrote: "Never has the fate of a single blind man moved the hearts of an entire nation."

Netizens are comparing this recent event to the Bo Xilai scandal that has been unfolding in past weeks and spurring online discussion. It must also be noted that China's assumed stronghold on prisoners is decidedly weak, as Chongqing police chief Wang's fleeing to US protection brought about the Bo Xilai controvery and weeks later a blind man similarly escapes to the US embassy.

Online Discussion Amid Censorship

Amid the Bo Xilai scandal that is currently rocking China's government, netziens in China are finding ways to discuss and dissect the news even as the Communist Party steps up its censorship of all online material related to Bo Xilai. The scandal of late involves prominent Bo Xilai (who was slated for a high government position) who was recently removed from his post after failing to adequately address the Wang Lijun incident. Furthermore, his wife was just investigated into the death of a British national who was caught up in this affair.

Netizens are using methods to bypass government filtering on micro-blogs and web forums, using keywords that represent figures in the scandal instead of using their real names - which are heavily targeted and taken down by online censoring. While the government continues its censorship over the issue, the BBC notes that it appears that most of the posts "praise" the actions of Beijing. Beijing released a commentary urging the people to support the government's actions as this controversy is investigated and cleared by the government. Wang Feng of the Brookings-Tsinghua Centre for Public Policy said "for the last 30 years this is the biggest scandal we can think of" calling it "unprecedented" in Chinese modern history.

China Mirco-Blogs Back Online

Micro-blogging websites were frozen in China for two days after rumors and posts about a coup in Beijing were discovered by the government. While the reports were speculated as being rumors, it appears from the BBC's article that rumors spread around the Chinese internet because there is no mainstream outlet for rumors to thrive such as in America. Furthermore, Beijing appears to be having a difficult time appointing top government officials as it reshuffles its government this year.

I touched upon this tabloid sensation briefly in my research - that a lack of gossip tabloids in China fuels the internet as becoming a space where rumors begin and grow uncontrolled. The state's media bans tabloid and sensationalist gossip from being published, but it finds a home on these web forums where those who in the past have been targets of the HFSE gain notoriety and "web space" as quickly as Hollywood film stars. And this phenomenon because all the more dangerous because discerning truth from fiction on the internet can be near impossible.