This week's Yellow River Chronicles may contain even less content than usual because of the current "slowdown" of Internet services. The slowdown has created a small problem here at the YRC. As you may have noticed, we don't actually do anything original here. We simply read the China Daily and shazam, a column is born. But things are moving a little slooooooow here on the Other Side of the World, so there may be less photos, but more facts, people.
Slow What? Many foreign observers and media have falsely assumed that the Internet was slowed as part of a general "information management" effort here in the P.R. of C during the Party Congress. For example, this from the LA Times:
Google and many of its services, including its popular email service Gmail, are being blocked in China, according to a report from GreatFire.org, a Chinese website that monitors outages.
Google could not be immediately reached for comment.
[Updated at 9:33 a.m.: In an emailed statement later, Google said: "We've checked and there's nothing wrong on our end."]
The search giant has weathered intermittent outages in the world's most populous market since Google said it would end its practice of acquiescing to Chinese government officials' demands to censor search results in China nearly three years ago.
Google's Transparency Report shows a decline in traffic to all of its products in China over the last several hours.
Users trying to reach Google services end up at a vacant IP address, GreatFire.org reports. Only those with special access to a virtual private network, or VPN, can now reach Google services, it said.
GreatFire.org argues that this outage could be a step toward "fully separating the Chinanet from the Internet." Others speculate it could be a temporary move during China's leadership transition.
Google pulled the plug on its search engine operation in China in March 2010 after a tense standoff with the Chinese government over Google's allegations that it had been a victim of a sophisticated cyber attack originating in China.
What Are They Talking About? All of this conspiracy, schmiracy about the epic changeover in leadership during the Party Congress and the control of ping pong balls (This from the NY TImes):
BEIJING — A word of advice to anyone hoping to celebrate the gathering of Communist Party apparatchiks who are about to descend on the capital next week to anoint a new generation of Chinese leaders: Leave the balloons at home.
As Party Congress Nears, Beijing Fears Subversive Ping-Pong Balls
Share your thoughts on the IHT Rendezvous blog.
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Andy Wong/Associated Press
The window crank of a Beijing cab was removed to prevent riders from tossing out anti government messages.
As this sprawling city of 20 million people steels itself for the 18th Party Congress, all sorts of potentially buoyant objects — balloons, homing pigeons, Ping-Pong balls and remote-control toy airplanes — are finding their way onto lists of suspicious items that could potentially carry protest messages and mar the meticulously choreographed political spectacle.
And this is just a tiny portion of the government’s rules and restrictions, circulated on the Internet but never officially acknowledged, that seem likely to make daily life especially challenging during the week long congress, which one provincial police department likened to a “state of war.”
In recent days, kitchen knives have been removed from store shelves, Internet access has mysteriously slowed to the speed of molasses, and international news channels like CNN and the BBC have disappeared from television sets in upscale health clubs.
At the Bookworm, a popular English-language bookstore, the section previously devoted to Chinese politics and history has been stuffed with Stephen King thrillers, child-rearing guides and Victoria Beckham’s “That Extra Half an Inch.”
“We’re just reorganizing,” one employee said with a helpless shrug. “They’ll be back after the party congress.”
In recent days, the list of interruptions and inconveniences has grown longer than a post-congress communique. Running marathons, academic conferences, pet adoption fairs, film productions and jazz concerts have all been canceled or postponed. Not just in Beijing but across the country, business deals at state-run enterprises have been frozen for weeks, employees say, while one frustrated Web designer said no new sites could go up until after party elders publicly presented the new slate of top leaders at the end of the congress.
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| Nihao, China!! |
Everybody knows that Elton John is terribly afraid of ping-pong balls (ever since that unfortunate incident in Vegas). The Internet is slowing down because everyone is downloading megabits of Elton tunes. Why you can't get in an elevator without somebody humming "Your Song".
So slow down, foreign media. Chill out. Relax. Put on "Madman Across the Water" and open a Tsing Tao or two. The Party Congress is over and its time to....party! See you in two weeks (visitors next week!) at the Yellow River Chronicles!
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| Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli check out the stage where Elton John will perform on Thanksgiving Weekend. |
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