Self Determination 人民自決

According to People's Daily, on March 22 2011, during a routine press conference, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu claimed that Libya's future should be decided by the Libyan people themselves.

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956, was crushed by the invading Soviet army.

According to some sources, the Chinese leader Mao Zedong played an important role in Khrushchev's decision to suppress the Hungarian uprising. Chinese Communist Party Deputy Chairman Liu Shaoqi pressured Khrushchev to send in troops to put down the revolt by force.

So far, Chinese government has not apologized to Hungarian people and government.

True, current Chinese leaders are not Mao and Liu.  But if they truly believe in the self determination of people, inside and outside China, they would have offered such apology long ago, and welcomed true democracy everywhere.

據人民日報报道, 在2011年3月22日的例行新聞發布會上，外交部發言人姜瑜稱，利比亚的未来应该由利比亚人民自己决定。

1956年匈牙利革命，一個全國性自發活动, 反抗匈牙利人民共和國政府及其蘇聯強加的政策，從10月23日持續至11月10號，被入侵的蘇聯軍隊粉碎。

據一些消息人士透露，中國領導人毛澤東对赫魯曉夫的決定鎮壓匈牙利起義發揮了重要作用。中共黨的副主席劉少奇对赫魯曉夫施加壓力，派軍隊平息了叛亂的力量。

到目前為止，中国政府尚未向匈牙利人民和政府道歉。

目前的中國領導人与毛澤東和劉少奇的確不同。但是，如果他們真正相信不论在中國内外的人民自決，他們应该已经作出這樣的道歉，並歡迎世界各地的真正的民主。

Chinese Authors Accused Search Engine Baidu Stealing - 中国作家指控百度搜索引擎盗窃

Search engine Baidu, which has a 75 percent market share in China, after the exit of Google, has long been accused of supporting piracy through its web site.  Its mp3 search has been accused of sharing hundreds of thousands of illegal songs hosted on third-party sites.  Just two weeks ago, two of China's biggest websites, the search engine Baidu and online retailer Taobao, were named as "notorious markets" in a new U.S. government report for allegedly supporting pirated and counterfeit goods.

Recently, more than 40 writers have signed a letter to accuse Baidu of providing their works for free to download on its online library Baidu Wenku, without their permission.  The author said "Baidu has become a totally corrupt thief company" that runs a "marketplace of stolen goods."

Copyright protection is still relatively new in China and the emergence of eBooks definitely made it a greater challenge.  Considering it is still a very thorny issue in the U.S., it is no surprise that it would be very difficult to combat such theft in China.



百度搜索引擎，占有自谷歌退出後的百分之75的中國市場份額，一直被指責通過它的網站支持盜版。它的MP3搜索被指責，導致幾十萬非法歌曲在其第三方網站上被分享。就在兩個星期前，兩名中國最大的網站，百度搜索引擎和網上零售商淘寶，在一個新的美國政府的報告上分別命名為 "臭名昭著的市場", 涉嫌支持盜版及冒牌貨品。

最近，40多個作家簽署了一封信，指責百度沒有他們的許可, 在其網上圖書館百度文库，提供他们的作品免費下載。筆者說： "百度已經成為一個完全腐敗的小偷公司，運行一个"贓物市場"。

版權保護是在中國還是相對較新的问题, 電子圖書的出現無疑使其成為更大的挑戰。考慮到在美國，它仍然是一個非常棘手的問題，毫不奇怪, 在中國, 對付這種盜竊將是非常困難。

Book Group - 读书俱乐部

Reading, Oil on Canvas

© Matthew Felix Sun

Just finished reading a book for the "assignment" of my book group, which I joint about five years ago. Before I lived in the U.S. from China, I didn't know anyone who was associated with of any book group or book club.  It is quite ironic considering that I grew up in a household filled with books.  I remember that when I was little, I never had any toy of my own, but I had books.  The only times I asked for something in shopping streets and would roll in mud if my requests were denied, were occasions I wanted to have some new books.

In China, when people get together, they feast, they play Mahjong, and they chitchat aimlessly.  Discussing a book?  No.  Oh, no, my dear sir.  No.  Chinese nowadays give little thoughts to literature.  Considering any congregation might be viewed suspiciously by the ever-nervous government, it is also very wise not to get together with other thoughtful people and converse intelligently.

剛剛讀完我的書社的“任务”。 我是約五年前加入这个書社的。在我從中國移居美國前，我不认识任何人与任何读书团体或读书会有关。這很具有諷刺意味，因为我生長在一個充滿了書籍的家庭。我記得我小時候，我從來沒有我自己的任何玩具，但我擁有書。唯一時候，我在購物街里要买东西，而如果我的要求被拒絕，我在泥濘中打滾，是我想要一些新的書籍。

在中國，當人們聚到一起，他們宴饮，他們打麻將，他們漫无目的地侃大山。討論書籍？不，哦，不，我親愛的先生。中國人現在很少想到文學。考慮到任何集会可能愈来愈緊張的政府被視為可疑，不與其他有思想的人作深刻的交談，是很明智的。

Mobile Positioning in Beijing - 北京手机定位

Various media in China recently reported that Beijing Science and Technology Commission proposed to use modern technology to monitor the movements of mobile phone users to facilitate the traffic layout and population management.  As soon as the news came out, it immediately drew attention to civil liberties and personal privacy concerns and other issues.

一些媒体最近报道说北京市将利用现代科技手段，掌握手机用户的行踪，以利交通布局和人口管理。这一消息刚一传出，立即引起人们对公民通信自由、个人隐私权等问题的担心。

I searched the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily for such report and found results as shown in the image below:

我在中国共产党机关报人民日报搜索了该报告, 发现下面的图片中显示的结果：



However, most of the links to the search results led to only error message pages now, such as the first result Beijing Science and Technology Commission response to "mobile positioning public travel" - which linked to a message: "The Page You Want to See Does Not Exist!":

但是,大部分的搜索结果，链接到错误信息网页，比如第一个检索结果 - 北京科委主任回应"手机定位市民出行":



After a bit more carefully worded search, still on People's Daily, I was able to find some archived stories, such as Mobile Locating Makes Citizens Uneasy and It Is Also Unsafe, which was credited to China Economic Times, which in turn, credited the story to Beijing Morning News.  However, I couldn't find such story in Beijing Morning News anymore.

经过一些在人民日报上措辞更谨慎的搜索，我能够找到一些存档的故事，如手机定位公民行踪, 让人不爽也不安，这篇稿是源于中国经济时报，而它又援引了北京晨报。不过，我在北京晨报无法找到这个故事了。

The story gave more details of the proposal tha:

这个故事提供了该建议的细节：

Beijing will based on China Mobile's 17 million mobile phone users data, to establish a "dynamic information platform of people's travel information in Beijing," in order to grasp the population distribution in selected area and the flow distribution at different times.  "In addition to service traffic needs, it will be helpful to population management.  For example, [we can] obtain more comprehensive information regarding the number of people in one region at a time," said Li Guoguang, Deputy Director of Social Development, Science and Technology Commission, Beijing. (March 2, "Beijing Morning Post")

北京将以中国移动的北京1700万手机用户数据为基础，建立“北京市市民出行动态信息平台”，掌握选定区域的人口数量分布以及人口在不同时间段的流动分布情况。“除了服务交通外，对于人口管理也很有帮助，比如某一地区在某一时间的人口数量，通过手机定位获取的信息将更加全面。”北京市科委社发处副处长李国 光说。（3月2日《北京晨报》）

Story continued with people's reactions:

报道继续下去描写人们的反应：

Mobile positioning has such power, one can imagine that when this technology is used on ordinary people, our travel trends, every movement were all in the hands of governmental power. If so, are there any privacy? Of course, the original intention of Beijing's such mobile location is to grasp the number of people in a certain zone within a certain time, at first glance appears to be in the public interest; it is clear that the mobile phone positioning is double-edged sword, people today can use it to grasp the population trends, tomorrow, they can locate the whereabouts of the every one of us; today, the target is a group, tomorrow it may be individuals.

手机定位有如此威力，可以想见一旦用于每个普通人身上，我们的出行动态、一举一动无不尽在公权力的掌握之中。果如是，还有何隐私可言？当然，北京此 次手机 定位的初衷，是为了掌握某一地区某一时间内的人口数量，乍看起来是为了公共利益，但很显然的是，手机定位是把双刃剑，今天可以掌握人口数量来定位，明天则 可以另一个借口定位我们的行踪；今天定位的是群体，明天就可能定位个体。

Although Li Guoguang said that in the process of data services, privacy protection will be strictly enforced.  The question is, who is watching the governmental power?  Morality is unreliable, to rely on the power to monitor themselves is also unreliable.

尽管李国光表示，在数据服务的过程中，将严格执行隐私保护。问题是，谁来监督公权力？道德是靠不住的，自己监督自己同样是靠不住的。

In contrary to the general mobile positioning on only a few mobile phones, Beijing's new proposal is to target as much as 17 million mobile phone users; once the user's personal information got stolen, the consequences could be disastrous.

与一般手机定位的只是少数人不同，北京此次手机定位的对象多达1700万手机用户，用户的个人信息一旦泄露，后果不堪设想。

Mobile location will no doubt increase the scope of supervision of public authority, the privacy of citizens face greater challenges, which make people unhappy and this is disturbing.

手机定位无疑加大了公权力的监督范围，公民的隐私面临更大的挑战，这让人不爽也不安。

The original articles are shown below:

下图是网上原文：

Social Secretary and the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name - 社交秘书和不敢言名的愛

Image source: sfgate.com

It has been widely reported, such as in San Francisco Chronicle, "The White House made history Friday by announcing the appointment of Jeremy Bernard as the first male, and openly gay, social secretary."

Many other media reporting, inevitably mentioned Mr. Bernard's being openly gay.

When I first read this, I felt a little uneasy.  Why does his sexual preference matter for a man taking on a typically viewed as women's job?  Then, I accepted that this is part of the story and the reporters need to tell the whole story, if they are to report on anything.

This story even made it to the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper - People's Daily.  It was an exhaustive report, including the background the the duty of what a social secretary of the White House does.  However, it had a glaring hole - it failed to mentioned the fact that Mr.s Bernard is gay.

However Chinese people or government want us to believe that China is a progressive place, same-sex love there is still "the love that dare not speak its name".

据如舊金山紀事報和其他媒体廣泛報導，"白宮週五宣布任命傑瑞米·伯納德作為第一個男性, 公開的同性戀者, 总统社交秘书，而創造了歷史。"

其他許多媒體報導，也不可避免地提到伯納德是公開的同性戀者。

當我第一次讀到這里，我感到有點不安。為什麼在这个男性首次担任通常被視為女性工作职务的故事, 他的性傾向問題值得报道？思考一会儿，我承認這是故事的一部分，需要記者报道，如果他們认为故事值得报道。

這個故事，甚至登到中国共产黨的機關報-人民日報。那是一個詳盡的報告，包括白宮社交秘書的背景和責任。但是，它有一個明顯的漏洞- 它沒有提到一個事實，即伯納德先生是同性戀。

不论中國人和政府怎么希望我們相信中國是一個進步的地方，在那里, 同性愛還是 "不敢言名的愛"。

Shark Fin Debate in San Francisco - 旧金山鱼翅的辩论

San Francisco Chronicle recently reported, Calif. shark fin bill would ban Chinese delicacy, that

A law that would ban the sale and distribution of shark fins in California, preventing hundreds of restaurants from serving an ancient Chinese delicacy, was introduced Monday, igniting an emotional debate between conservationists and Asian leaders.

The bill, introduced by Assemblymen Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Paul Fong, D-Cupertino, would halt all California trade in shark fins, which are used to make Chinese shark fin soup, a tradition at banquets among Chinese people around the world.

Assembly Bill 376 says the California market for the expensive dish is helping drive rampant illegal shark finning in international waters. The practice involves cutting off the tails and fins of living sharks, which are then thrown back into the ocean to suffer and die.

The shark fin trade is believed by many scientists to be responsible for a catastrophic collapse in the worldwide shark population.

The proposed law, coming on the heels of a similar ban passed in Hawaii last year, faces considerable opposition from Chinese American restaurant and market owners, sea food distributors and fishermen.

State Sen. Leland Yee, who is running for mayor of San Francisco, called AB376 an "attack on Asian culture."

Mr. Yee's argument is pure nonsense.  Asian culture doesn't lie on shark fins.  Many Asians never had any chance to sample a drop of shark fin soup.  It had usually be consumed by the super rich and powerful, till perhaps Costco jumped in.  Consuming shark fins had no inherent connection to Asian costume, and it is not a culture.  Even if there was some linkages to certain traditional ways amongst a group of people, it has to change.  Chinese people used to bind women's feet, had emperors, and men had concubines.  Would Mr. Yee oppose the changing of those as well? 

I was glad to see that not all people with Asian heritage agree with his self-serving argument.  SF Chronicle continued: "Shark fin has lost a little luster among some Chinese Americans who are aware of the environmental consequences."

I unknowingly had a serving of shark fin soup more than 10 years ago and had avowed never to have it again and am trying hard to persuade my parents and other relatives to stay away from it.  I hope more enlightened people would realize that some "traditions" must change.

Huan Da Yu, a Chinese herbalist (left), and David Lu conclude a news conference opposing the proposed legislation at the Far East Cafe by eating shark fin soup.     中醫 Huan Da Yu 和 David Lu　以在遠東咖啡廳吃魚翅湯来结束反對立法建議的新聞發布會。
Photo: David Paul Morris / Special To The Chronicle

舊金山紀事報近日報導，美國加利福尼亞州魚翅法案將禁止中式美食：

週一提交的一項法律，將在加利福尼亞州禁止銷售和分發鯊魚鰭，禁止數百名餐廳提供一個古老的中國美食，點燃了亚裔头面人物和环保界的激烈辯論。

由州代表Jared Huffman（民主党-San Rafael）, and Paul Fong（民主党-Cupertino）提交的該法案，將停止所有加州鯊魚鰭貿易，鯊魚鰭是用來做魚翅湯的，一個各地世界中國人宴席的傳統。

議376法案說，加州市場為这一貴菜，正推動在國際水域的猖獗非法狩猎鯊魚鰭。這種狩猎涉及活生生切斷鯊魚尾巴和鰭，然後再把它拋回海裡去，任其受苦和死亡。

許多科學家認為魚翅貿易应为災難性的全球鯊魚數量崩潰負責。

擬議的法律，紧随去年在夏威夷通過的一個類似的禁令，面臨相當大的美國華人餐館和市場業主，海洋食品分銷商和漁民的反對。

州參議員Leland Yee，正競選舊金山市長，稱AB376為 “攻击亞洲文化。”

Yee先生的說法純粹是無稽之談。亞洲文化並不在存在於鯊魚鰭。許多亞洲人從來沒有任何機會來尝一滴魚翅湯。魚翅湯通常被超級富豪消费，直到Costco 之类加入后变得更普及。魚翅不是亞洲习俗不可分的成分，它也不是一種文化。即使有它与某一些一群人的某些傳統方式有聯繫，　它也必須改變。中國人过去让婦女缠足，有皇帝，男子纳妄。 Yee先生也反對改变這些吗？

我很高興地看到，並非所有亞裔都同意他的自我服務的說法。紀事報繼續說：“魚翅一小部分華裔美國人中已經失去了光澤，他们知道其環境後果。”


10多年前，我在不知覺情况下吃了一次魚翅湯。从此，我公開宣稱拒绝魚翅湯，我还在努力說服我的父母和其他親戚不吃它。我希望更多的開明的人都會認識到，一些“傳統”，必須改變。

Rich Food Worry - 豐富食物的擔心

San Francisco Chronicle reported that half of the blood donations in China immediately after lunar new year had to be discarded due to high fat content.  People consume huge amount of high protein and fatty food during the celebratory period.

I spoke to my parents recently and they worry about how to preserve huge quantity of food - fish, meat, poultry, etc.  Their two freezers are full and the temperature is rising so the food in the balcony will not stay frozen much longer.  I asked if they want to give some food away, they said that all the relatives have plenty and share the same worry.

My next question was would they give some to the poor and my dad was dumbfounded by my question.  Once he realized that I was serious about giving the abundant to the poor, he started to state obstacles - people don't give away food, people are leery of food given to them - they even worry about the safety of those purchased from stores let alone free from strangers, the poor had help from the governments, etc.

It is sad to realize that there is still no tradition of sharing with the less fortunate there.  In the US, many people donate goods and time to the poor (though I would rather see no one falls into that category, but that is unrealistic).  Many NGOs help to facilitate such charitable efforts as well.

China is a very tough country to live in for the poor - there are many working poor and unemployed and the helps they got, survived skimping from various levels of corrupted official, were dismal.  Chinese government also does not like organizations not sanctioned by itself.

It is hard to combat poverty if the better offs would not see the needs or usefulness to helping the poor.  US is doing better now but it seems the rich and powerful here are determined to learn from China, and siphon more money from middle class to their ever expanding coffers.  



舊金山紀事報报道，中國農曆新年後一半的捐獻血液被丟棄了，因為它的高脂肪含量。人們在慶祝期間消耗大量的高蛋白質和脂肪的食物。

我跟我的父母最近通话时，他們擔心如何保存大量的食品 - 魚，肉，家禽，他們的兩個冷凍機等都以满了，随氣溫上升，在陽台上的食物也不會凍結更長的時間。我問他們有没有想把一些食物分给别人，他們說，所有的親戚都有很多食品，並有相同的烦恼。

我的下一個問題是，他們會不會把一些食物送给一些相对贫窮的人。我的爸爸觉得我的問題很不着边际。当他意識到我是認真时，他開始狀设障礙 -- 中国人不乱送食物，人們对從商店里購買都懷疑安全性, 对陌生人的赠与食物，他們会更擔心安全，窮人有政府的幫助，等等。

認識道那裡沒有與不幸的人分享的傳統是很让人悲叹的。在美國，許多人向窮人捐贈物品及時间（儘管我寧願看不到贫穷现象，但那是不現實的）。許多非政府組織提供促進慈善的種種努力。

窮人在中國是非常艱難的 - 許多工作窮人和失業者得到了的從各級貪官污吏剋扣后点滴幫助，總是差強人意。中國政府也不喜歡未获它批准的組織。

如果富人認识不到幫助窮人需要或效用，消除貧困是很難的。美國现在做得好些；但是，現在看來這裡的有财有势的人正決心學習中國，以從中產階級虹吸更多的錢，以不斷擴大他們的金库。