Wider Media Freedom is needed in China

Constitution of People's Republic of China: Chapter 2, Article 35: Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.

However, how much freedom do people have in media, such as internet, newspapers, magazines, TV, books in China? Just have a look at some affairs in the following.

On 18 June, 2007, when Xiong Peiyun's article "How is it that there have been no resignations over the illegal kiln affair?" was published on Southern Metropolis Daily, thousands of people commented on this issue through the internet. Comments had accumulated to more than 60 papers, though the editor had to removed some “sensitive or extreme words” according to Chinese law. But just after a few hours all comments had been deleted.

Before the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where the next generation of the party's leadership will be unveiled, the government tightened controls over domestic media content. On August 19, Five of the country's largest newspapers --the People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, People's Liberation Army Daily and the Beijing Daily published almost identical front pages layouts (see http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2007/08/one_editors_job_for_four_newspapers.php) to improve the political image of Chinese priminister. What's more, during the 17th congress, many websites are blocked by government, and Chinese citizens are not allowed to get visa to go abroard.

As far as I know, because there were some comments on the China policy, the MSN Lifespace written by my friend were deleted.

“The Chinese government seems to see a free media as an enemy rather than a watchdog of public safety and social stability.” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

People don’t have guaranteed freedom on the internet, and journalists are vulnerable to the regulations of strict media censorship conducted by government. ''Media is the ears, the eyes, the voices of the masses.'' The human rights to be informed with various news and opinions should be protected. Only in this way, people can obtain information of the happenings of the world and keep up with the pace of changes. Moreover, media freedom could help people prevent misunderstandings and eliminate discrepancies.

Is Chinese stock market on the verge of “Black Thursday”?

On Thursday, October 29, 1929, which is called “Black Thursday”, the Wall Street Crash broke out, followed by a world-wide collapse of share values and the Great Depression. Before that day, most investors never even thought a drop was possible, as the Dow Jones had rocketed from 60 to 400 during the past 8 years. However, the index slumped 21 percent at the end of that day. The common viewpoint is that the stock prices were too high, and the extraordinary speculation on Wall Street resulted in the crash.

After 70 years, Chinese stock market seems to on the verge of “Black Thursday”. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Index was 998.23 in June 2005. However, just at the time of writing this article(19/09/2007), it has already soared to 4204.70, almost as much as four times as that one and half years ago. Floods of small investors are gambling in a the crazy market, with the wish of get rich overnight. Although Chinese Central Bank has raised the interest rate for five times this year (from 2.52% to 3.87% in one-year deposit rate and from 6.12% to 7.29% in one-year loan rate) to cool down the stock market, it is not working.

There may be some reasons for the boom of Chinese stock market. First of all, the increasing revaluation of Renminbi is a strong support. Secondly, foreign capital flooded into Chinese stock market, which push the stock index up to around 3000 points. Last but not the least, confidence in the development of Chinese economy.