EastSouthNorthWest contrasts ‘perp walks’ and media coverage of the accused in China, Hong Kong and the US. If you enjoy privacy, Hong Kong is likely the best place to be arrrested.:

The photo with the hoods came from Hong
Kong.  There are two considerations. First, these individuals are only
suspects who are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, and they may yet
be acquitted.  The hoods are there to protect their privacy.
Secondly, they may have to go through a police line-up to be
identified by witnesses, and showing their faces may contaminate the
identification process.  These points do not appear to be considered in
mainland China.

The FEER’s Travellers’ tales blog, meanwhile, notes that trials in democratic Northeast Asia have much in common with trials in China.:

If you were falsely accused of a crime, would you prefer the trial be held in:
A. China
B. South Korea, or
C. Japan
Give up? The correct answer is D. None of the above.
That’s because in all three countries, the conviction rate is 99%. You have virtually no chance of being acquitted, because prosecutors have incredible power over the trial process and judges trustingly assume the prosecutors wouldn’t have brought a case if they weren’t sure the accused was guilty.

Via the FEER’s Travellers Tales blog‘:

Jim Walker, chief economist at CLSA, has done the unthinkable, at least for a banker. He has predicted,
gasp, that in a couple years China will be growing at a mere 3% to 5%.
For most countries, the bottom of the economic cycle usually means
negative growth, but then in China anything below 7% has long been
considered a disaster, since those workers being laid off from
state-owned companies would have no chance of finding new jobs. … Still, we
wonder if such a "collapse" can be as benign as this. If there is a
balance-sheet crisis and all the excesses of the last half decade have
to be worked out, wouldn’t it look more like Korea in 1998?

Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Roach says Asia must prepare for a slowing Chinese economy, the key points of his arguments are reproduced at the China Stock Blog.

The next time someone says China’s energy policies are more environmentally friendly than those of the US, remind them that China subsidizes petrol. (via Danwei):

Gasoline prices in China have dropped for the first time since 2002. Number 93 juice now costs RMB 3.55 per liter (USD 0.43 / liter) in Beijing, RMB 0.13 cheaper than it was yesterday.

In the US state of Missouri which currently has the cheapest gasoline in America, gas goes for USD 1.92 per gallon, or about USD 0.50 per liter. So it’s cheaper to drive your SUV in China than it is in gasoline-loving USA.

Macroblog points to an FT report that notes Dr Henry Kissinger has been acting as an emissary to China on currency issues:

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, is one of a number of unofficial envoys who have impressed upon China the urgent need for action on the 10 per cent target, and on the seriousness of the threat from Congress, people with familiar with the administration’s efforts said.

As well as the minimum 10 per cent target revaluation, Dr Kissinger was briefed by the Treasury on the need for other measures, such as a shift to a currency band against the dollar or a basket against a number of currencies to replace the peg…

Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea to have Kissinger at the recent CLSA Forum.

Odd satire via the Horse’s Mouth:

If I didn’t have faith in the supidity of man, this would be unbelieveable.

Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion

….The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.

Sihamoni was quoted before the fight stating that he felt since his fighters out-numbered the lion 42 to 1, that they “… could out-wit and out-muscle [it].”

They probably should have had more muscle wine.

Jeremy at Danwei rightfully sees a lot of wishful thinking in Nicholas Kristof’s column on Chinese cyber dissent:

But there are a few things to consider before you believe that the Internet is somehow going to unseat the Party:
- People like Li Xinde are far and few between.
- Li Xinde’s website is decorated with a banner featuring a picture of Hu Jintao and animated Party slogans like "Completely support the Three Represents" (reproduced above). Li Xinde is himself a Party member.
- The government is becoming increasingly sophisticated at using different techniques to influence public opinion on the Internet. Aside from blocking websites and monitoring email, the government also employs propagandists to push the Party line on Internet forums and bulletin boards.

Indeed, I suspect the propaganda bureau has even started to pay Australia-based bloggers.

WANTED(Red Notice):Li Hongzhi

He
is the founder of Falundafa evil cult.He believes aliens walk the Earth
and  has said he can walk through walls and make himself invisible.He
also says that he is a being from a higher level, who has come to help
all humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of
the "rampant evil".

Not a Bollywood musical, but a tragedy (via Sepia Mutiny):

After complaints that a film by a Sikh director and a Sikh actor is insulting to Sikhism, some protozoans hid bombs in two Delhi theaters (thanks, Sapna). At least 44 people were wounded when the bombs went off this evening, some critically:
Bombs exploded inside two movie theatres showing a controversial Hindi-language film in the Indian capital on Sunday, injuring at least 20 people, officials said. Both theatres are located in the Karol Bagh neighbourhood of west Delhi and the explosions occurred 15 minutes apart, said Junior Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.

While I understand why there was no protest over stem-cell research in my former home Singapore (protesting is illegal) I share the puzzlement of Jodi at Asiapages about the lack of public outcry in South Korea (after all, Koreans protest almost everything):

CNN used Israel as an example of one country that is known for its strong religious background yet is aggressively pursuing progress in stem cell research, a topic that many religious conservatives elsewhere are bashing as being "unethical."
Israel defends its support of stem cell research by stating that according to many Judaic sects the embryo in its early stages of development isn’t considered to be fully human. (Apparently many sects of Islam recognize this belief as well.)
Various sects of Christianity on the other hand, see the process as the sacrifice of a human life and many Christians worldwide are therefore opposed to stem cell research for this reason. They have in fact, been the loudest opposers to stem cell research. (See link for a more thorough exploration of this.)
But what about here in Korea?
Does anyone else find it interesting how unusually quiet the huge Christian following is here regarding South Korea’s recent breakthrough in stem cell research?

Star Wars Episode III and best picture are not words that should be used together, and Rebecca MacKinnion avoids doing so in her round-up of the best Episode III blogging by awarding mr brown the prize for best photos.

An American Expat in SE Asia notes that Indonesians are still protesting over Newsweek’s now-retracted Koran-flushing story. Encouragingly, there were far fewer protesters than was being reported. The down side, Expat thinks the protests were funded by money that should have been used elsewhere:

Update 9:50 PM Sunday evening.

Reports late this evening are stating that the crowd numbered up to 7,000 - Allow me to be the first to say that it was no where near 7,000 at most maybe 2,000 plus an almost equal number of police officers. Most of the protesters were wandering off to go eat and drink before noon because of the heat. No violence just a bunch of the typical anti-american rhetoric and a US flag burned partially that took several attempts to get lighted.

But in the end sensationalist headlines sell more papers. Just like the one that is being accused of igniting these protests in the first place. What the paper fails to tell you is that the protesters were all brought in on buses to protest. The question that should be on everyone’s mind is "Who paid for all this?" You might be shocked to find out the answer. I hope to have more details within the next day or so. But lets just say for now that almost all the money for the tsunami victims never made it to the intended victims. Outraged? You should be.

Simon notices a reoprt on a fishy public-relations slip by Disney:

The makers of Finding Nemo, the environmentally
friendly yet culturally sensitive mouseketeers at HK Disneyland, are
intending to serve shark fin soup.  The BBC estimates Hong Kong alone imported the fins of 28 million sharks in 1999.

Also visit the linklets, daily.

Last year Singapore lifted its long-standing ban on the import of racy magazines such as Cosmopolitan and FHM. This year it’s taking media liberalization further. First Cosmo… now Malaysian newspapers (via Tomorrow):

The Star reported about the possibility that the newspaper ban between Singapore and Malaysia might be lifted.
The ban was imposed in 1965 following the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. But much water has since passed under the bridge and better ties that have developed have raised the possibility of the ban being lifted.

If true, this is fantastic news! Singapore’s heavily censored pro-government press will face competition from Malaysia’s heavily censored pro-government press.

Bill Bishop points to an interview on Chinese blog hosting business Blogchina. He notes:

Very impressive usage stats, still no visibility on a revenue model,
and unclear how they are going to compete with the portals long-term.
Both Blogchina and Blogcn are raising money, but they are rumored to be
having a slow go of it given business model, valuation and regulatory
concerns. The first two issues are universal, the regulatory one is
more China-specific. These guys are effectively trying to start
grassroots news services in a very news-controlled country. A very
admirable effort, but a very risky one.

    Amit Varma hosts  a blog mela at India Uncut.

India is considering accrediting ‘citizen journalists’ (aka bloggers) (via Preetam):

India is in the process of framing rules for granting
accreditation to Internet journalists and bloggers for the first time,
taking a reality check on an evolving world of net writers who could
shape opinion and who have already been granted access to official
corridors in countries such as the US.

“We are framing the
rules for giving accreditation to dotcom journalists, including
bloggers,” Principle Information Officer Shakuntala Mahawal said.

The always astute Nitin Pai contrasts this move with China’s move to establish government-authorized bloggers:

In sharp contrast, China’s reaction to ‘internet journalism’ has
been along predictable lines. Blogspot and Blogger are locked out
behind the Great Firewall of China. And as CDT reports, the Chinese government ‘has formed a special force of undercover online commentators to try and sway public opinion’.

The best use real
Indian bloggers can make of the opportunity is not much to sway public
opinion — which does not require a government license — but to ask
those questions that the mainstream media is failing to ask. As for
China, it has just become more difficult for real Chinese bloggers to sound convincing when they actually support their government.

Still, Amit Varma doubts that many Indobloggers will be rushing to register:

Most reporting, such as I’d done after the tsunami, does not need
government accreditation, and while I may need it to enter a press
conference by the prime minister, what will I have to do to get it?
Knowing how government works in India, they’ll ask me for a traffic
certificate, and there’ll be a panel of babus to evaluate my blog and see if my content is "serious". Hazaar
questions will be asked. I know how difficult it is to get
accreditation for anything for even a bona-fide print journalist, as I
experienced when covering the recent India-Pakistan cricket series for
the Guardian. (You can read my chronicles of that tour in my March and April archives.) It wasn’t the government giving accreditation then, of course, but I imagine they’d be even worse.

So, um, thanks for the kind words, but I don’t think we’ll be applying to you anytime soon.

Picking up where John at Sinosplice left off, Issac Mao has rekindled the Adopt-a-Blog project.

Introduction

Ever since blog became popular in China, there have been a number of occasions where some blogs were shut down by telecommunications company or internet service providers due to their political speech. These incidents not only brought risks to bloggers themselves but also to blog service providers in China. Many blog service providers had to increase their effort in content filtering. All these brought pressure and helplessness to people who dare to make truthful expressions.

Especially since April 2005, when the law on non-profit website registration became effective, website owners are required to submit their real personal information when they register their websites. The annual registration process as well as hefty penalty for failure in compliance have angered many website owners that use an independent virtual server and domain names.

Therefore, many bloggers in mainland China began to consider moving their blogs outside of China. But because of language barrier, financial, payment and other issues, the cost of moving is rather high and the situation is not optimistic.

It is based on the belief of free speech that we started the Adopt a Chinese blog project. We hope that we and others on the internet who shared the same belief, can share resources and help bloggers who want to freely express themselves and find a safer space for blogging, so that they can continue to blog without worries.

If this is true, I hope Google has the sense to sue:

unverified sources (i.e. rumors) said that chinese search engine
Baidu.com set up a special task force to search politically sensitive
terms in Google.com, therefore making Google unstable or even totally
inaccessable to chinese users, it’s said that baidu even wrote to the
government against Google’s "politically harmful contents" in china.

Baidu is seeking a Nasdaq or overseas listing.

via bingfeng

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China must teach its young people not to let the nation’s growing political and economic might threaten its neighbours, former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said Tuesday.
"China’s young must be made aware of this need to reassure the world that China will not turn out to be
a disruptive force,'’ Lee said in a speech at elite Fudan University.
Lee’s comments were unusually blunt for a visiting foreign dignitary in China, most of whom avoid critical statements.

I almost always like the "unusually-blunt" LKY.

Via Howard French.

SINGAPORE: Sometime last year, the People’s Action Party tossed about the idea of making a film to mark its 50th anniversary. 

But the organisers tossed it out soon enough when they realised it
could contravene a law on “party political films,” a piece of
legislation that PAP MPs backed in 1998. 

The law is the Films Act, which bans the making and showing of “party political” films. 

It essentially bars political parties from producing films or videos to advertise themselves.   

But it also restricts people not involved in politics from making any films “directed toward any political end” in Singapore. 

This means that the film content cannot contain any matter intended
or likely to affect voting in any election or national referendum
here. 

Neither can the film include partisan or biased comments on any political matter.

While this is an extreme restriction of free speech, it’s a shame that they didn’t extend the ban on promotional political media to print and broadcast. Indeed, it would probably be a good thing if TCS-5, Channel News Later and the Straits Times had to stop running PAP promotional pieces.

Via Windswept

Imprisoned blogger goes on hunger-strike

Reporters
Without Borders today called on bloggers throughout the world to post
messages in support of Iranian blogger Mojtaba Saminejad, who has been
in prison since 12 February and who began a hunger-strike on 14 May.

"The
life of this young blogger is in danger as he is being held in a prison
where several detainees have died or have been injured in violence
between inmates," the press freedom organization said.

"You must
talk about him on the Web and in the media in order to put pressure on
the Iranian authorities," the organization said, adding, "all bloggers
must feel concerned about his fate and that of his two colleagues who
are also imprisoned."

Via Singabloodypore.

His successor seems likely to establish a different legacy:

Vatican ready to sacrifice Taiwan for China

The Vatican is moving quickly to improve relations with Communist China, which has not recognised the Holy See since Chairman Mao drove out the papal nuncio more than half a century ago.

A former senior Vatican diplomat suggested ties could be renewed. "If they give us the possibility, we’re ready tomorrow," Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said.

Daily Telegraph via Danwei.

Alan at the Good Beer Blog reports:

Andhra Pradesh is dry this summer. A dispute between manufacturers and
suppliers of beer has left bars and liquor shops without any stocks of
beer, the state’s most popular summer drink.

Nitin at the Acorn notes a movement to include Pakistan dictator Musharraf’s picture on the currency:

Ishfaq Chaudhry, the Pakistan People’s Movement
chairman, has moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to direct the State
Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to publish the picture of President General
Pervez Musharraf on the Rs 5,000 currency notes.

The petitioner said that 80 percent of the people of Pakistan supported President Pervez Musharraf’s policies. [DT]

"Mr Chaudhry does not go far enough," Nitin suggests. "The Pakistani Rupee could also be renamed to the Mushee."