Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
China Censorship Crime The Media Politics

China Arrests Anti-Corruption Blogger 113

Posted by Soulskill from the forcibly-recommending-a-new-line-of-work dept.
quantr tips this news from Bloomberg: "A Chinese journalist who posted allegations of corrupt dealings during the privatization of state-owned assets has been formally arrested on a defamation charge, his lawyer said. The Beijing People's Procuratorate approved Liu Hu's arrest on Sept. 30, lawyer Zhou Ze said by phone yesterday. Liu, who worked for the Guangzhou-based New Express, had been in detention since Aug. 24, according to Zhou. Liu's arrest adds to evidence that the government is stepping up a crackdown against people who go online with revelations of official malfeasance. At the same time that the Communist Party has vowed to get tough on corruption, authorities have targeted outspoken bloggers and announced that people who post comments deemed defamatory could face as much as three years behind bars."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

China Arrests Anti-Corruption Blogger More

China Arrests Anti-Corruption Blogger

Comments Filter:

  • Don't you think? Yet is really is ironic.

    Sounds like they're not so much worried about stopping corruption, as stopping people reporting about corruption.

    Just like every other government.

    • This is almost more honest than the approach of other governments.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ackthpt ( 218170 )

      On the subject of ironic

      Why did Iron Man go to China?

      He needed a charge.

    • I thought this at first too, but then it occurred to me that the opposite is more likely.

      The Chinese government is cracking down on corruption, and in turn the corrupt are cracking down to silence anyone who would make them look bad.

  • over hear in Crook County, IL, then might find the Chinese government's ideas intriguing and would wish to suscribe to their newsletter

  • obvious conclusion is obvious (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cellocgw ( 617879 ) <cellocgw.gmail@com> on Friday October 11, 2013 @11:52AM (#45102023) Journal

    They've simply defined "corruption" as "Speaking out against the government." As experienced coders, you should all be familiar with this type of "operator overload" :-(

    • It was in The Fucking Summary.

      He's charged with defamation, not corruption.

      • Yes, people need to be jailed for the things they say.

        • So defamation isn't a crime?

          Or do you *know* that corruption was taking place.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by ihtoit ( 3393327 )
            it depends on the jurisdiction. Some (such as England which is a constitutional legal system) defamation is a civil matter. In others which operate a primarily statutory legal system, it can be civil or criminal - depends how far the legislative branch has gone to suppress freedom of speech or expression of dissent.

    • War is peace.

      Just like here. Closed is open.

  • Progress! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    They didn't hang the blogger on a tree, didn't beat him to death and throw the body somewhere in pit. Instead they arrested this guy officially and they're going to press charge by real laws.

    That's so much better than what they had before. People should celebrate!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ackthpt ( 218170 )

      They didn't hang the blogger on a tree, didn't beat him to death and throw the body somewhere in pit. Instead they arrested this guy officially and they're going to press charge by real laws.

      That's so much better than what they had before. People should celebrate!

      Real laws, which they'll make up as they go along, same way as they invent charges to suit the situation.

      The blogger rubbed someone the wrong way.

  • Um, yeah. It's China.

    They are a communist dictatorship. They don't have freedom of the press. If you say things that the government doesn't like, they lock you up. (If they find out and get around to it - for run of the mill stuff, they will have people with the drive and efficiency of your average telephone sanitizer on the job.)

    • That's one way to fight corruption -- by quieting those who point it out.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ackthpt ( 218170 )

      Um, yeah. It's China.

      They are a communist dictatorship. They don't have freedom of the press. If you say things that the government doesn't like, they lock you up. (If they find out and get around to it - for run of the mill stuff, they will have people with the drive and efficiency of your average telephone sanitizer on the job.)

      A dictator implies 1 leader calling all the shots. What you actually have is an oligarchy, many leaders, agreeing on policy and electing a figurehead. Lip-service payed to Chairman Mao (who was a bandit chieftain before co-opting the communist movement and ruthlessly purging his rivals and creating myths to suit his goals) so ... there's a pretty good chance that the rising rich in China are now pwning "party" members and some of them don't take kindly to criticism.

      • Re:It's China (Score:4, Funny)

        by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Friday October 11, 2013 @12:18PM (#45102315) Homepage

        A dictator implies 1 leader calling all the shots. What you actually have is an oligarchy, many leaders, agreeing on policy and electing a figurehead.

        No, an oligarchy implies corporations are running the show.

        How's "oppressive regime" work for you? Or, "dictatorship ran by committee"? I guess there's always "Glorious and selfless people's leaders", but people might laugh.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          No, OP is right, an oligarchy just means that the power in a society rests with a just a small class of people. A corporatocracy is just one kind of oligarchical rule.

      • A dictator implies 1 leader calling all the shots. What you actually have is an oligarchy...

        Yeah, that makes it sound a lot better.

    • Um, yeah. It's China.... If you say things that the government doesn't like, they lock you up. (If they find out and get around to it - for run of the mill stuff, they will have people with the drive and efficiency of your average telephone sanitizer on the job.)

      You seem to be under the impression that sort of behavior is exclusive to the Chinese government.

      They don't have freedom of the press.

      Neither does 'Murica, apparently:

      http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/politics/06cnd-leak.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 [nytimes.com]

      http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/209539/fox-news-reporter-who-wont-reveal-sources-threatened-with-jail/ [poynter.org]

  • The best way to live outside the law in any country is to live within it.

    • The best way to live outside the law in any country is to live within it.

      Truly, living inside the laws would be the best way to rule as rules, for anything, not just for countries...

      The laws are intangible thought machines. As the laws grow they increase in power and complexity, more laws means more subjugation of mankind. The complexity of the legal systems have nearly surpassed the bar for sentience. Once that occurs you get a combination of The Matrix and The Terminator. Now, re-watch those movies and realize they are allegory for the intangible thought machines which alr

  • Didn't pay the necessary bribes to blog about anti-corruption

    in bitcoins

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Yeah but nobody is arrested in America for criticizing China!

    • And 50% of the population are perfectly fine with shooting someone because you're scared of them. including and especially cops. We need to clean our own house before worrying about someone else's.

  • Documentary Narrator: Fortunately, our handsomest politicians came up with a way to combat government corruption. We simply arrest anybody who talks about government corruption. Of course, because the corruption still takes place, we need to arrest more and more people for speaking out against it, solving the problem once and for all.
    Suzie: But...
    Documentary Narrator: Once and for all!

  • It is not possible to form a government where power flows from the top down without the government becoming corrupt. Can't be done. This blogger's arrest proves the point. When a citizen reports official corruption, the citizen is jailed for leaking state secrets. Yes, corruption in China is considered a state secret. Can corruption get any worse? Yes! Look at North Korea. A communist state with a hereditary emperor for a leader. North Korea went from democratic to communist to feudal fiefdom. All to benef
  • Think of it this way: He was arrested for libeling a government official. He just blogged "omg he did something illegal", without proof, and without the ability to prove it.

    The only difference in the US is that this would be a civil matter instead of criminal. But with a government & laws based in non-capitalist ideals I imagine there are a lot more criminal than civil offenses there when compared to the US.

  • Am I the only one who sees the irony in the "Communist Party" overseeing "the privatization of state-owned assets"? It's like "we'll go instantaneously from the extreme totalitarian left to the extreme totalitarian right without passing through any democratically controlled space in between. Oh, but we'll hang on that 'Communist' brand name because to admit that didn't work would be losing face."

  • ...but in England, the defence to a defamation claim is the facts in evidence. The trick is to get the facts in evidence. If you're defending a defamation claim and have the supporting facts in evidence, providing you're not in front of a corrupt judge you're home free; if either condition isn't met, you're fucked.
  • Sounds like Snowden episode to me.

Slashdot Top Deals

One man's constant is another man's variable. -- A.J. Perlis

Close