Internet: October 2008 Archives

TODAYonline.com (Singapore) | MediaCorp Press
October 21, 2008

Despite hopes the Olympics would improve human rights, China's crackdown on dissidents before and during the Games has likely set the stage for a lasting period of even tighter controls, government critics say.

Beijing-based AIDS campaigner Wan Yanhai is back at work following a government-imposed shutdown of his activities during the recent Summer Olympics, but he's treading carefully.

He said police have tailed him recently and the government last month applied new pressure with a surprise tax probe of his Aizhixing Institute, which advocates for the rights of AIDS victims, a touchy subject in China.

"With the Olympics over, it looks like they have even more time to give us trouble," Wan told AFP.

They also lament the failure of a Chinese to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize as another lost opportunity to advance human rights and bring greater openness to the communist-ruled nation.

Wan, 44, who works from a cramped and dingy office, said China was unlikely to loosen the tightened grip taken in the Games run-up after developing an even deeper understanding of dissident activities during the crackdown.

"That is important to understand," said Wan.

As the Games approached, critics say China harassed, detained or jailed dissidents, and ramped up security over the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

Among those tried in court were Hu Jia, an AIDS and human rights campaigner and one of the best-known dissidents within China, who was sentenced to three and half years in jail in April on subversion charges.

Hu's wife Zeng Jinyan, who lives under unofficial house arrest in Beijing, said the situation was grim.

"A lot of people are scared (of speaking out)," she told AFP during a furtive recent interview.

Chinese authorities regularly insist that the cases of government critics arrested are handled properly under Chinese law, and has repeatedly rejected charges that it has unfairly cracked down on dissidents.

However, speculation was rife this month that the Nobel committee would seek to punish China's perceived heavy-handedness by awarding the peace prize to Hu or another Chinese rights campaigner.

The award went to Finnish peace negotiator Martti Ahtisaari, disappointing Chinese activists, who said Beijing's growing economic clout was muting vital foreign encouragement of rights campaigners here.

"If the Nobel Peace Prize had been given to (a Chinese), this would have been very encouraging. That is something that China needs," said Dai Qing, 68, a journalist who has campaigned against the harsh environment and social costs of China's Three Gorges Dam Project.

Dissident writer Liu Xiabo, who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, scoffed at those who believed the Olympics would further human rights in China.

"Those people don't understand the Communist Party," he said, estimating that it could take 20 years before the party altered its approach of stamping out any voices that challenge its supremacy.

That could mean trouble ahead, he added, noting rising discontent and frequent outbursts of violence throughout China by marginalised segments of society.

"China needs major (political) reforms or there will be an explosion. But it is very hard for the government to do that," Liu said.

For now, activists such as Wan are keeping their heads down. He tries to work with the government as much as possible, the memory of a detention two years ago still fresh.

"After that experience, I've become more careful because you know, you have a responsibility to your family and, actually, the government has put a lot of pressure on me recently," he said. 

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By Agence France Presse | via UNCENSORED Yahoo! News
October 02, 2008

China is monitoring the chat messages of Skype users and censoring them if they contain sensitive keywords such as "Tibet" or "Communist Party," according to a group of Canadian researchers.

The massive surveillance operation of TOM-Skype, a joint venture between Chinese mobile firm TOM Online and Skype, owned by US online auction house eBay, was alleged by Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research group.

"TOM-Skype is censoring and logging text chat messages that contain specific, sensitive keywords and may be engaged in more targeted surveillance," the computer security researchers said in a 16-page report.

"These logged messages contain keywords relating to sensitive topics such as Taiwan independence, the Falun Gong, and political opposition to the Communist Party of China," they said.

"These text messages, along with millions of records containing personal information, are stored on insecure publicly-accessible web servers," they said.

The researchers said they were able to gain access to the servers and discover which words attracted the attention of the Chinese authorities.

"What is clear is that TOM-Skype is engaging in extensive surveillance with seemingly little regard for the security and privacy of Skype users," Citizen Lab said.

The report, "Breaching Trust: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China's TOM-Skype platform," was published on Wednesday on the website of Information Warfare Monitor, a joint project between Citizen Lab and the SecDev Group, a think-tank on security issues based in Ottawa.

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