picture left: Beijing Times 2-03-2010
Headlines
- Chinese Premier urges people to read more
- Losing Google would hit Chinese science hard
- Google chief sees outcome “soon” in China row
- Google has freedom to quit or stay: Chinese minister
- Millions of Spring Festival messages sent online
- Inside the burned-out TVCC building
- China court throws out “Avatar” plagiarism case
Chinese Premier urges people to read more
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called on the public to spend more time on reading during an online chat Saturday. Wen said reading matters much to the quality and prosperity of a nation. “A nation which is not interested in reading is with no future,” he said.
A survey conducted by the Chinese Institute of Publishing Science last April showed that 61.2 percent Chinese were not satisfied with their reading conditions, and 65.1 percent respondents said they read few books. Wen once said he hoped young people can read books on subway. “Now some young people have really started to do this,” he said. ( Xinhua 02 -03-2010 )
Losing Google would hit Chinese science hard
More than three-quarters of scientists in China use the search engine Google as a primary research tool and say their work would be significantly hampered if they were to lose it, a survey showed on Wednesday. Google’s future in the country is uncertain following a row with Beijing, but Chinese scientists asked by the Nature journal how much they rely on Google said it was vital for finding academic papers, information about discoveries or other research programs and finding scholarly literature. “Research without Google would be like life without electricity,” one Chinese scientist said in the survey, which asked more than 700 scientists for their views.
Google, the world’s top search engine, said in January it had uncovered sophisticated China-based attacks on human rights activists using its Gmail service around the world. Google said other firms had also been affected, and after checks into the attacks, the company had decided it was no longer willing to tolerate censorship on its Google.cn search engine. Google also threatened to shut its China offices.
In the survey, 84 percent said losing Google would “somewhat or significantly” hamper their research and 78 percent said international collaborations would be affected. “The findings are very typical of most countries in the world,” says David Bousfield, an analyst at Outsell, an information and publishing consultancy. “Google and Google Scholar have become indispensable tools for scientists. David Nicholas, an Internet researcher in London, said science in China would not come to a halt without Google, but the search engine had “has transformed information-seeking behaviors in academic communities.” Losing such an important research tool would significantly compromise scientists efficiency, he said in a comment in Nature. (Reuters24-02-2010)
Google chief sees outcome “soon” in China row
Google expects an outcome soon from its talks with China over a censorship and hacking dispute, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.
Google threatened in January to shut its Chinese Google.cn portal and to pull back from China, citing problems of censorship and a hacking attack from within the country. “I’m going to use the word ‘soon’, which I will not define otherwise,” Schmidt told journalists at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit. “There is no specific timetable. Something will happen soon,” he added, without elaborating. Chinese officials have said they were working with Google to resolve the dispute.
Google shocked business and political circles when it declared on January 12 it would stop censoring Chinese search results, and said it was considering pulling out of the country.
In Washington, a second Google executive said the world’s largest search engine had not changed its decision to stop censoring its Chinese language search site in compliance with Beijing’s dictates even if it means leaving that market. Nicole Wong, the firm’s vice president and deputy general counsel, told the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that Google would stop censorship and “(if) the option is that we will shutter our .cn property and leave the country, we are prepared to do that.”
Wong told the congressional hearing on U.S. cyberspace policy that Google’s decisions on dealing with Chinese hacking and censorship were taken by American executives without the involvement of employees in China. But she said Google was moving cautiously, in part out of concern for its hundreds of Chinese employees. She urged lawmakers to ensure that the U.S. government presses international Internet openness as a priority in diplomatic, trade and development policies and work with like-minded governments to craft rules to ensure free flows of information.
The top U.S. trade official said the government was studying whether it could legally challenge those restrictions, which also hurt other U.S. firms operating in China. But Schmidt said any possible appeal by Washington to the World Trade Organization to challenge Chinese Internet restrictions would not affect Google’s actions. “Google’s discussions are with the Chinese government and are not related to the U.S. government. The U.S. government is go to doing its thing, unrelated to Google,” Schmidt said.
A Chinese adviser on trade strategy said in an opinion piece that the United States would not have any standing to bring a case against Chinese Internet restrictions to the WTO. WTO rules state that countries have the right to censor Internet content, Zheng Zhihai, deputy director and general secretary of the China Society of World Trade Organization Studies, wrote in China Daily. “If someone intends to challenge China’s right to govern its Internet by resorting to WTO rules, they are apparently misguided and bound to fail,” wrote Zheng, whose organization reports to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
The WTO ruled last year that China’s import monopolies on books, films and other entertainment materials violated market access rules, but upheld its right to censor specific materials. (Reuters10-03-2010)
Google has freedom to quit or stay: Chinese minister
It is up to Google to decide whether to withdraw from China or continue to stay, Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, said Friday. Li made the remarks in response to questions about Google’s suspenseful “quiting China” claim at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliament session.
Google, the world’s largest Internet search engine, said in January it was considering leaving China because of censoring requirements and alleged hacker attacks. However, there had been no major actions or further comments from Google until its vice president Nicole Wong urged the U.S. Congress Wednesday in a hearing to put pressure on countries scrutinizing Internet contents, saying the company was firm in the decision to “stop censoring our search results for China” and that it was “prepared” to leave the country if that was the option.
“If Google decides to stay in China, we welcome and it will help boost the development of the country’s Internet industry,” Li said. “The company is welcome to expand its business and market share in the country.” “If it decides to quit, we will follow our procedures,” he said, adding that Google’s quit, if it does so, will have no major influence on China’s Internet market, which will continue its fast expansion momentum.
The company, which entered China in 2007, now accounts for more than 30 percent of the country’s search engine market, according to Li. “I hope Google can abide by China’s laws and regulations,” he said. “It is irresponsible and unfriendly if Google insists in doing something that goes against China’s laws and regulations, and it will have to bear the consequence for doing so.”
The minister said China’s Internet environment is open and administered in line with the country’s laws. “Internet administration is not a special case in China as all countries regulate networks according to their own laws.” (Xinhua12-03-2010)
Millions of Spring Festival messages sent online
The Internet has played a larger role in the celebration of Spring Festival this year, with more young Chinese sending online greetings to family members and tuning into web-based entertainment. Social network website kaixin001.com said more than 100 million messages were sent from the mainland on Feb 13, the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, and Feb 14, the first day of the Year of the Tiger. “Most Chinese born between the 1970s and 1990s belong to the only-child generation. They have been influenced by the Internet and have had their will to communicate face-to-face weakened,” said Zhai Li, a professor at Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University in Yangling, Shaanxi province.
Spring Festival is a time for family members to reunite, as well as an opportunity to visit temple fairs. But some young Chinese said they preferred to spend the holiday shopping online and enjoying virtual fireworks, instead of setting off firecrackers in the street. “After so many years, the holiday brings few surprises. I usually feel tired during the week and would rather stay at home,” said 24-year-old Li Ying, who works at a State-owned company in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province.
According to statistics from taobao.com, the country’s biggest online retail site, transaction volume of Spring Festival special goods exceeded 1 billion yuan （$147 million） in January alone, much higher than the 280 million yuan a year earlier. ” Meanwhile, more young people have chosen to watch online festival galas instead of sitting in front of the television from 8 pm to midnight watching the China Central Television’s （CCTV） Spring Festival Gala, the country’s most watched annual show. The gala, with a kaleidoscopic array of singers, dancers and comedians, is one of the most viewed television programs in the world. But the gala’s staid stand-up routines and traditional singing and dancing performances have been criticized as outdated by audiences in recent years, with many turning to online entertainment galas to welcome the New Year. An interactive Internet Spring Festival gala kicked off last Saturday, jointly organized by sina.com, Beijing TV and China Mobile. Netizens could vote for performers whom they want to see in the performance line-up.
“I prefer the online Spring Festival gala as it gave youths the opportunity to choose our favorite performances, while the CCTV gala has too many restrictions,” said Chen Han, a postgraduate from Wuhan University, who watched the online gala with friends. “The tradition would survive only if it could win approval among young people. In the Internet era, youths long to voice their opinions, which can hardly be realized in a television performance,” said Li Hao, deputy secretary general of the Shandong Folklore Society.
China’s Internet community hit 384 million last year, with one in three online users younger than 19, according to China Internet Network Information Center. ( China Daily 17-02-2010 )
Inside the burned-out TVCC building
Today’s Beijing Times presents an unusual view of the iconic CCTV building. Rimmed in cracked glass and smoke-stained beams, the new headquarters was photographed from inside the neighboring TVCC building, which caught fire on February 9, 2009 due to an illegal fireworks display conducted by the television station.
This and other photos of fire damage are part of a feature story in this week’s Caijing magazine. The Beijing Times offers a taste: Standing on the 30th story platform, you can hear the sound of fire-damaged metal structural parts clanging against each other. The metal framework atop the platform is distorted and collapsed in many places. Walking down the smoke-stained stairwell, this reporter reached the 29th and 28th stories, both equipment floors not seriously damaged by the fire. The restaurant-in-the-air on the 27th story was severely damaged in the fire, which baked the outer glass walls on the east, west, and south as it raged, and incinerated all of the interior decoration. With the ceiling fixtures torched, ductwork is exposed and burnt electrical wires hang from the ceiling. All around are load-bearing walls and support columns marked “remove” (拆). There are no traces of the fire in the kitchen in the middle of the floor or in the storage room; kitchen equipment is in excellent condition. Hotel rooms occupy the 5th to 26th stories. This reporter discovered that most of the rooms on the north face escaped the blaze and are largely completed. Rooms on the other faces have suffered varying degrees of fire damage. Many of the rooms on the 9th and 10th stories have been completely destroyed. There is little obvious evidence of the fire on the first through fourth stories. Along the narrow corridors in the multi-use basement, there is no sign of the fire, and the parking garage is in excellent condition.   (http://www.danwei.org/2-03-2010)
China court throws out “Avatar” plagiarism case
A Beijing court has thrown out a case filed against “Avatar” director James Cameron by a Chinese man who claimed the idea for the sci-fi blockbuster had come from a novel he published online.
Zhou Shaomou had demanded a whopping eight percent of the total worldwide revenue earned by “Avatar” – the top-grossing movie of all time, raking in more than two billion dollars since its release – over the alleged plagiarism. But the court dismissed the case, citing insufficient evidence, the state-run Global Times reported Monday.
Court officials declined immediate comment on the case when contacted by AFP about the report.
Zhou said the plot of “Avatar” – the story of a paraplegic former US Marine who is sent to live with a race of blue aliens on the Earth-like moon Pandora – closely resembled that of a novel he wrote in 1997. The novel, “The Legend of the Blue Crow”, was published on two Chinese websites in segments in 1999, the report said. “’Avatar’ is a film based on my fiction but shot by James Cameron,” the author said. “But he never paid me any copyright fees.”
The official website for the film says Cameron first developed the idea 15 years ago – a few years before Zhou’s novel was completed. Previous reports said Zhou had taken his complaint to several courts which refused to accept it, before seeing the case taken up by the Beijing Number One Intermediate Court. Zhou and his lawyers were reportedly attempting to gain further evidence for a possible second attempt to sue Cameron.
The film has been wildly popular in China, quickly becoming the highest-grossing film in the country’s history after its January 4 release in both 2D and 3D versions. Authorities sparked a controversy when the 2D version was reportedly pulled from some theatres to make way for homegrown epic “Confucius,” which was panned by critics. ( AFP 11-03-2010 )
(EDITOR: Jackie Fang YIN)
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