A “panopticon” in which everybody treats everybody else with distrust is quickly forming in China, after Beijing in March implemented a new set of regulations governing Internet users and content, an article by National Cheng Kung University professor of political science Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富) said.
The guidelines, which seek to reassert the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) control over the nation, encourage people to report any online comment that could erode the CCP’s rule — for instance, comments that contravene the party’s fundamental beliefs and those that could undermine social security, Hung wrote in an article published in the latest issue of the Mainland Affairs Council’s overview of developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The guidelines also encourage Internet users to disseminate content created by the CCP, which are designed to spread the CCP’s ideology and justify its grip on territories, the article said.
They further undercut the already limited freedom of speech on the Internet granted Chinese and include rules on when, what and how content produced by the party is to be broadcast online, it said.
This type of content is always catered toward the CCP and sometimes Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) himself, it said.
It shows Beijing’s concerns over an increasingly liberal and democratized Internet, which has the power of linking large numbers of people instantaneously, Hung wrote.
In other news, the Chinese-language Ta Kung Pao yesterday reported that it had received information about two main “escape routes” Hong Kong activists have used to flee to Taiwan since pro-democracy protests began in the territory in June last year.
The report lists three locations in the territory — Sai Kung Town, Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan — where Hong Kongers are picked up by boats and taken to the Taiwan Strait, where they board another boat and are dropped off either in Hsinchu or Chiayi county, or Taichung, Tainan or Kaohsiung.
Alternatively, they are driven to Xiamen before being taken out to sea and landing in Hsinchu County, the report said.
Hong Kongers entering Taiwan in this way enlist the help of fishers, whose starting price is HK$300,000 (US$38,704) and could cost more than HK$500,000 for celebrities, it said.
Fishing boats are less prone to attract the attention of Taiwanese law enforcement, while yachts have a 80 percent chance of being inspected, the report cited fishers with knowledge of the matter as saying.
Since China’s National People’s Congress passed a resolution to introduce national security legislation for the territory, Taiwanese authorities have stepped up inspections, and some Hong Kongers have been unable to enter the country even after three attempts, it said.
When asked for a comment, the National Immigration Agency cited a response it issued in December last year, saying that it had not received reports of stowaways from Hong Kong, but that it would keep close tabs on the situation.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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