Dissident Author Freed; Dissident Internet Celebrity Detained

Hello everyone, this is Chris Chappell from China Uncensored, on loan for the Run List. Let's play another round of good news, bad news. The Chinese government doesn't like to give you any good news, without giving you an equal amount of bad news, thereby neutralizing, or perhaps, harmonizing, the good news.

The good news first. PEN international, a London based world wide association of writers, has just reported that Chinese poet and Journalist Shi Tao has been released from his ten year prison term 15 months early! He was arrested for "leaking state secrets abroad," after he sent an email detailing media restrictions imposed ahead of the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Protests to a New York based website.

So yeah, good news for China is a writer serving 8 and half years in jail for fighting censorship, instead of 10. We work with what we have.

Just a side note, the Chinese government found out about Shi Tao's emails because Yahoo, willing gave information about his personal email account to the Chinese government. That's why I use google.

Now for the bad news. Charles Xue Biqun, a venture capitalist better known by his Internet celebrity alias Xu Manzi, has been detained. He's gained a following of 12 million fans on Weibo for criticizing top officials, when suddenly on Friday Xue, now 60, was detained for allegedly hiring a prostitute in a residential neighborhood. Wow, that so damaging for his reputation and everyone should be sure never to listen to him again. And of course, everyone knows prostitutes are most commonly found turning tricks in residential neighborhoods.

So yeah, on the one hand you get a dissent writer serving only 8 and half years in jail instead of 10, and on the other, you get a suspicious prostitution allegation against a popular Internet personality who criticizes the government.

I know what you're thinking; the Chinese regime is really easing up on dissidents. Well, it may surprise you then to know, that also this weekend, investigative reporter for the Guangzhou based newspaper New Express, Liu Hu, also has been detained for fabricating and spreading rumors, after he posting information that kind of made it look like senior Communist officials may have been corrupt. What silly rumors.

So what do you think? Do you think China is easing up on dissidents? Or just cracking down harder and harder. Or am I just spreading rumors and stirring up trouble? Leave your comments below, check back for more from the Run List and if you want more great China news, check out my Channel, China Uncensored.