Michael Anti: Behind the Great Firewall of China

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Jenny Zurawell

Translator: Juliana So Reviewer: C N

In the past several days, I heard people talking about China.

過去呢幾日，我都聽到有人 喺度談論緊中國

And also, I talked to friends about China and Chinese Internet.

我亦都有同朋友講到中國 同埋中國嘅互聯網

Something is very challenging to me.

雖然要畀朋友知道呢樣嘢係難

I want to make my friends understand:

但我想佢哋知道中國係非常複雜

China is complicated.

So I always want to tell the story, like,

所以我成日都好想解釋畀大家聽

one hand it is that, the other hand is that.

所有嘢都可以從兩個角度睇

You can't just tell a one sided story.

你唔可以只係話畀人知故事嘅其中一面

I'll give an example. China is a BRIC country.

其中一個例子係：中國係金磚四國成員

BRIC country means Brazil, Russia, India and China.

金磚四國即係巴西 俄羅斯、印度同中國

This emerging economy really is helping the revival of the world economy.

呢幾個發展中國家嘅經濟增長 帶起全世界經濟復蘇

But at the same time, on the other hand,

但同時

中國係另一個分類（SICK）嘅一員

China is a SICK country,

the terminology coined by Facebook IPO papers -- file.

亦喺 Facebook 招股書裏邊 第一次出現嘅術語

He said the SICK country means Syria, Iran, China and North Korea.

SICK 嘅國家包括敘利亞 伊朗、中國同北韓

The four countries have no access to Facebook.

呢四個國家都禁止人民使用 Facebook

So basically, China is a SICK BRIC country.

所以基本上中國係一個 SICK （英文有病之意）嘅金磚國家

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Another project was built up

另外有人計劃監察中國同中國嘅互聯網

to watch China and Chinese Internet.

And now, today I want to tell you my personal

而今日，我想同你講下

observation in the past several years, from that wall.

我最近幾年對於呢一埲牆嘅個人研究

So, if you are a fan of the Game of Thrones,

如果你有睇過《權力遊戲》

you definitely know how important a big wall is for an old kingdom.

你應該會明白一埲巨牆 對古老帝國嚟講有幾重要

It prevents weird things from the north.

佢可以隔絕從北方而嚟嘅異物

Same was true for China.

對中國而言，道理都係一樣

In the north, there was a great wall, Chang Cheng.

喺中國北面有一埲巨牆，叫長城

It protected China from invaders for 2,000 years.

佢過去保護中國免受外族入侵 足足二千年

But China also has a great firewall.

而今日嘅中國同樣有一道巨大嘅牆 ——防火長城

That's the biggest digital boundary in the whole world.

佢係世界上最強大嘅數碼防線

It's not only to defend the Chinese regime from overseas,

佢唔單止保護咗中國政權 免受外國嘅普世價值影響

from the universal values, but also to prevent

亦都防止咗中國網民 透過互聯網了解世界

China's own citizens to access the global free Internet,

and even separate themselves into blocks, not united.

甚至將人分成一個個小圈子

而唔係將大家團結起嚟

So, basically the "Internet" has two Internets.

所以，互聯網可以分為兩種：

One is the Internet, the other is the Chinanet.

一個係「互聯網」 一個係「中國互聯網」

But if you think the Chinanet is something

不過如果你以為中國互聯網係 一片廢土、無活力嘅地方

like a deadland, wasteland, I think it's wrong.

你就錯嘞

But we also use a very simple metaphor, the cat and the mouse game,

我想用一個簡單嘅比喻——貓同老鼠

to describe in the past 15 years

嚟形容過去十五年

the continuing fight between Chinese

中國網民同政府網絡審查嘅鬥爭

censorship, government censorship, the cat,

中國政府係貓

and the Chinese Internet users. That means us, the mouse.

中國嘅網民，即係我哋，係老鼠

But sometimes this kind of a metaphor is too simple.

但係其實唔係咁簡單

So today I want to upgrade it to 2.0 version.

今日我想用第二種方法解釋

In China, we have 500 million Internet users.

中國有五億網民

That's the biggest population of Netizens, Internet users, in the whole world.

亦係全世界最大嘅網民人口

So even though China's is a totally censored Internet,

就算點抑制互聯網都好

but still, Chinese Internet society is really booming.

中國嘅網絡人口始終都會不斷澎漲

How to make it? It's simple.

咁中國政府點算呢？好簡單

You have Google, we have Baidu.

你哋有 Google，我哋有百度

You have Twitter, we have Weibo.

你哋有 Twitter，我哋有微博

You have Facebook, we have Renren.

你哋有 Facebook，我哋有人人網

You have YouTube, we have Youku and Tudou.

你哋有 Youtube，我哋有優酷同土豆

The Chinese government blocked every

中國政府封鎖咗所有 Web 2.0 嘅網站

single international Web 2.0 service,

and we Chinese copycat every one.

然後將逐個網站完完全全咁 複製返一個中國版本

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, that's the kind of the thing I call smart censorship.

因為佢哋唔會淨係封鎖你

That's not only to censor you.

所以我認為呢啲先稱得上精嘅審查方法

Sometimes this Chinese national Internet policy is very simple:

有時中國嘅互聯網政策非常簡單

Block and clone.

就係封鎖，然後複製

On the one hand, he wants to satisfy people's need of a social network,

政府一方面滿足 人民對於社交網絡嘅渴求

which is very important; people really love social networking.

呢樣好重要，因為大家都好鐘意社交

But on the other hand, they want to keep the server

另一方面，政府又將伺服器留喺北京

in Beijing so they can access the data any time they want.

方便隨時監控

That's also the reason Google was pulled out from China,

呢個亦都係 Google 離開中國嘅原因

because they can't accept the fact

因為佢哋唔接受 中國政府保留佢哋嘅伺服器喺中國

that Chinese government wants to keep the server.

Sometimes the Arab dictators didn't understand these two hands.

但好多阿拉伯嘅獨裁者 都唔明白監管網絡之餘

都要畀人民有得上社交網

For example, Mubarak, he shut down the Internet.

例如穆巴拉克，佢直接封鎖互聯網

He wanted to prevent the Netizens [from criticizing] him.

佢想阻止網民批評佢

But once Netizens can't go online, they go in the street.

但正正因為網民無得喺網上發聲

佢哋唯有走上街頭

And now the result is very simple.

依家結果非常明顯

We all know Mubarak is technically dead.

我哋都知道穆巴拉克基本上 已經被判死刑，無得翻身

But also, Ben Ali, Tunisian president,

而突尼西亞總統班阿里

didn't follow the second rule.

雖然冇阻止人上社交網

That means keep the server in your hands.

但佢冇攞返伺服器嘅控制權

He allowed Facebook, a U.S.-based service,

佢容許 Facebook 呢一個美國本土設立嘅網站

to continue to stay on inside of Tunisia.

繼續喺突尼西亞營運

So he can't prevent it, his own citizens to post

所以佢根本阻止唔到國民 喺網上發佈批評佢貪污腐敗嘅影片

critical videos against his corruption.

The same thing happend. He was the first

所以，佢係第一個

喺阿拉伯之春當中被拉落台嘅獨裁者

to topple during the Arab Spring.

But those two very smart international censorship policies

但係嗰兩個咁犀利嘅國際審查政策

didn't prevent Chinese social media [from] becoming a really public sphere,

都阻止唔到中國社交網絡 成為一個公開平台

a pathway of public opinion and the nightmare of Chinese officials.

畀網民有機會發表意見

中國官員嘅惡夢亦因為咁而開始咗

Because we have 300 million microbloggers in China.

中國有三億微博博客

It's the entire population of the United States.

呢個數字其實就等於美國人口

So when these 300 million people, microbloggers,

當我哋有呢三億微博博客

even they block the tweet in our censored platform.

即使部分微博文章會被刪除

But itself -- the Chinanet -- but itself can create

但中國互聯網嘅力量就會前所未見咁大

very powerful energy, which has never happened

in the Chinese history.

2011, in July, two [unclear] trains crashed,

2011 年 7 月，兩架高鐵喺溫州相撞

in Wenzhou, a southern city.

Right after the train crash,

就喺事件發生後

authorities literally wanted to cover up the train, bury the train.

當局想馬上將高鐵殘駭就地掩埋

So it angered the Chinese Netizens.

但咁嘅做法引起中國網民憤怒

The first five days after the train crash,

就喺事故發生之後頭五日

there were 10 million criticisms of the posting

喺社交網絡上 有一千萬條批評當局做法嘅貼文

on social media, which never happened in Chinese history.

呢樣之前從未試過喺中國發生過

And later this year, the rail minister

冇幾耐之後

鐵道部部長就被革職同埋被判監十年

was sacked and sentenced to jail for 10 years.

And also, recently, very funny debate between

最近中國環保部同美國駐北京大使館 發生咗好有趣嘅事

the Beijing Environment Ministry

and the American Embassy in Beijing

because the Ministry blamed

環保部鬧美國大使館干涉中國內政

the American Embassy for intervening in

Chinese internal politics by disclosing

指責大使館公佈咗北京嘅空氣污染指數

the air quality data of Beijing.

So, the up is the Embassy data, the PM 2.5.

根據大使館嘅數據，PM 2.5 指數有 148

He showed 148, they showed it's dangerous for the sensitive group.

即係對於身體敏感嘅人嚟講係危險水平

So a suggestion, it's not good to go outside.

所以大使館建議大家唔好出街

But that is the Ministry's data. He shows 50.

但係中國環保部公佈嘅數字係 50

He says it's good. It's good to go outside.

中國政府話空氣質素好好

大家應該出街行下

But 99 percent of Chinese microbloggers

但係 99% 嘅中國微博博客 都選擇相信大使館嘅數據

stand firmly on the Embassy's side.

I live in Beijing. Every day, I just watch

我住喺北京嘅

每日我都係睇美國大使館公佈嘅數據 嚟決定我打唔打開窗好

the American Embassy's data to decide whether I should open my window.

Why is Chinese social networking, even within the censorship,

點解喺咁嚴密嘅審查之下 中國社交網絡仍然增長得咁快？

so booming? Part of the reason is Chinese languages.

部分原因係中文呢種語言嘅特性

You know, Twitter and Twitter clones have a kind of

大家都知道，Twitter 同微博 都有一個特點

a limitation of 140 characters.

就係每段貼文不得超過 140 字

But in English it's 20 words or a sentence with a short link.

但係以英文嚟講

140 個字母只係一句 20 字左右嘅句子 加一條短連結

Maybe in Germany, in German language, it may be just "Aha!"

用德文嘅話可能仲衰

140 個字母可能 只係夠你講一句「呀哈！」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But in Chinese language, it's really about 140 characters,

但係中文嘅話

140 字其實 已經代表一個段落，一個故事

means a paragraph, a story.

You can almost have all the journalistic elements there.

你用 140 字就可以 幾乎講曬一單嘢嘅來龍去脈

For example, this is Hamlet, of Shakespeare.

例如呢段莎士比亞名著 《哈姆雷特》嘅節錄

It's the same content. One, you can see exactly

中英文係同樣嘅內容

one Chinese tweet is equal to 3.5 English tweets.

你可以清楚睇到一條中文微博嘅資訊量 等於 3.5 條英文貼文

Chinese is always cheating, right?

中國人成日都作弊㗎啦

So because of this, the Chinese really regard this

正正因為咁

中國人真真正正當咗微博 係一個正式嘅資訊來源

microblogging as a media, not only a headline to media.

而唔係只係一堆標題

And also, the clone, Sina company is

新浪公司不但止抄襲 Twitter

the guy who cloned Twitter.

It even has its own name, with Weibo.

新浪公司甚至有個新名，叫微博

"Weibo" is the Chinese translation for "microblog".

「微博」有「簡短嘅博文」之意

It has its own innovation.

但平心而論，新浪都有 佢自己嘅創新之處

At the commenting area, [it makes] the Chinese Weibo

喺回覆功能方面

微博冇整到好似 Twitter 咁

more like Facebook, rather than the original Twitter.

反而係似 Facebook 咁

So these innovations and clones, as the Weibo and microblogging,

所以當包含抄襲同創新嘅微博

when it came to China in 2009,

喺 2009 年喺中國市場面世嘅時候

it immediately became a media platform itself.

佢即刻變咗資訊平台

It became the media platform of 300 million readers.

佢變咗個有三億讀者嘅資訊平台

It became the media.

佢變咗媒體

Anything not mentioned in Weibo,

如果有某啲嘢無出現喺微博

it does not appear to exist for the Chinese public.

佢喺中國人眼中就會好似無發生過一樣

But also, Chinese social media is

同時，中國社交網絡的確 改變緊中國人嘅思想同生活

really changing Chinese mindsets and Chinese life.

For example, they give the voiceless people

例如，佢令以前發唔到聲嘅人 有渠道發聲

a channel to make your voice heard.

We had a petition system. It's a remedy outside the judicial system,

我哋曾經有過上訪制度

一個獨立於司法制度嘅系統

because the Chinese central government wants to keep a myth:

因為中國政府想畀人感覺係

The emperor is good. The old local officials are thugs.

中央政府係關心人民嘅 本地嘅官員係衰人嚟嘅

So that's why the petitioner, the victims, the peasants,

所以上訪者、受害者、農民 希望搭火車到北京搵中央政府協助

want to take the train to Beijing to petition to the central government,

they want the emperor to settle the problem.

佢哋想中央解決佢哋嘅問題

But when more and more people go to Beijing,

但係愈來愈多人上訪又會增加革命風險

they also cause the risk of a revolution.

So they send them back in recent years.

所以政府近年遣返佢哋

And even some of them were put into black jails.

有啲甚至會被拉去坐監

But now we have Weibo, so I call it the Weibo petition.

但係而家我哋有微博

我叫呢樣做「微博上訪」

People just use their cell phones to tweet.

人民可以用佢哋嘅電話發文

So your sad stories, by some chance your story

所以你嘅悲慘故事

可能會咁啱俾記者、教授 或者名人睇到

will be picked up by reporters, professors or celebrities.

One of them is Yao Chen,

例如微博女王姚晨

she is the most popular microblogger in China,

佢係中國最受歡迎嘅微博博客

who has about 21 million followers.

有大概 2,100 萬粉絲

They're almost like a national TV station.

姚晨嘅微博簡直係一個全國性嘅電視台

If you -- so a sad story will be picked up by her.

如果你嘅故事俾佢睇中

咁就會有好多人睇到

So this Weibo social media, even in the censorship,

呢個就係微博，即使有政府審查

still gave the Chinese a real chance for 300 million people

都阻止唔到三億嘅微博用家每日傾偈

every day chatting together, talking together.

It's like a big TED, right?

就好似大型嘅 TED 咁，係咪？

But also, it is like the first time a public sphere

同埋，呢種公眾平台都係 第一次喺中國出現

happened in China.

Chinese people start to learn how to negotiate

中國人開始學習點樣商議同埋同人呻冤

and talk to people.

But also, the cat, the censorship, is not sleeping.

但係，隻貓， 即係審查冇停過

It's so hard to post some sensitive words on the Chinese Weibo.

要喺微博上講一啲敏感字 依然係非常困難

For example, you can't post the name of the president,

譬如，你唔可以 打國家主席嘅名︰胡錦濤

Hu Jintao, and also you can't post the city of Chongqing, the name,

你亦都唔可以打「重慶」兩個字出嚟

and until recently, you can't search the surname of top leaders.

直至最近，你更加唔可以 搜尋最高領導人嘅姓

So, the Chinese are very good at these puns

但中國人非常擅長玩雙關 近義詞同埋諺語

and alternative wording and even memes.

They even name themselves -- you know,

佢哋甚至會將一件事講成係 草泥馬同河蟹之間、影響世界嘅鬥爭

use the name of this world-changing

battle between the grass-mud horse and the river crab.

去避過耳目

The grass-mud horse is caoníma,

草泥馬即係羊駝

is the phonogram for motherfucker,

同粗口「操你媽」發音非常相似

the Netizens call themselves.

亦係網民對自己嘅稱呼

River crab is héxiè, is the phonogram for

河蟹發音近似「和諧」

harmonization, for censorship.

即係審查、被和諧嘅意思

So that's kind of a caoníma versus the héxiè, that's very good.

所以草泥馬同河蟹兩個名係絕配

So, when some very political, exciting moments happened,

當有政治事件發生

you can see on Weibo, you see a lot of very weird stories happened.

你會喺微博見到一個非常奇怪嘅現象

Weird phrases and words, even if you have a PhD

好多好奇怪嘅詞語、句子會出現

即使你有個中國語文嘅博士學位

of Chinese language, you can't understand them.

都唔會明白佢哋講嘅嘢

But you can't even expand more, no, because

但係你唔可以走去解釋

Chinese Sina Weibo, when it was founded

因為中國嘅新浪微博係

was exactly one month after the official blocking of Twitter.com.

喺中國封鎖 Twitter 啱啱一個月之後 出現嘅產物

That means from the very beginning,

即係由一開始 中國政府就已經控制咗微博

Weibo has already convinced the Chinese government,

we will not become the stage for

即係話微博唔會威脅到中國政權

any kind of a threat to the regime.

For example, anything you want to post,

你喺微博上發表嘅任何嘢

like "get together" or "meet up" or "walk,"

好似「聚集」、「碰頭」 或者「散步」等等

it is automatically recorded and data mined

都會自動紀錄低

攞嚟做政治分析

and reported to a poll for further political analyzing.

Even if you want to have some gathering,

即使你計劃好要集會

before you go there, the police are already waiting for you.

喺你到達之前，警察已經嚟到

Why? Because they have the data.

點解？因為佢哋收到料

They have everything in their hands.

佢哋手上有曬所有資料

So they can use the 1984 scenario data mining of the dissident.

佢哋可以用 1984 年 查異見者嘅方法去查你

So the crackdown is very serious.

所以壓制係非常嚴重

But I want you to notice a very funny thing

我又想你留意一件好有趣嘅事

during the process of the cat-and-mouse.

喺貓捉老鼠嘅過程入面，貓係審查者

The cat is the censorship, but Chinese is not only one cat,

但係中國並唔係得一隻貓

but also has local cats. Central cat and local cats.

除咗中央貓之外，仲有地方貓

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You know, the server is in the [central] cats' hands,

大家都知道，中央貓控制住伺服器

so even that -- when the Netizens criticize the local government,

所以即使網民喺網上批評地區政府

the local government has not any access to the data in Beijing.

地區政府都無權取得儲存喺北京嘅資料

Without bribing the central cats,

如果唔賄賂中央貓

he can do nothing, only apologize.

地方貓根本咩都做唔到，只可以道歉

So these three years, in the past three years,

所以過去呢三年間

social movements about microblogging

微博上面嘅社會運動 的確令地區政府愈嚟愈透明

really changed local government,

became more and more transparent,

because they can't access the data.

講返轉頭，伺服器喺北京

The server is in Beijing.

而地方政府無能力接觸到啲資料

The story about the train crash,

咁喺高鐵追尾事故裏面

maybe the question is not about why 10 million

問題可能唔係問 點解五日內會有一千萬個批評

criticisms in five days, but why the Chinese central government

而係點解中央政府 會容許人民喺網上自由討論五日

allowed the five days of freedom of speech online.

It's never happened before.

同埋點解中央政府 當件事從來無發生過咁

And so it's very simple, because even the top leaders

理由好簡單，因為最高嘅領導人

were fed up with this guy, this independent kingdom.

都頂唔順呢個部長嘅獨立王國

So they want an excuse --

所以佢哋需要一個理由去整治佢

public opinion is a very good excuse to punish him.

而社會輿論係一個非常好嘅理由

But also, the Bo Xilai case recently, very big news,

順帶一提，近期嘅薄熙來案 係一件大新聞

he's a princeling.

佢本身係太子黨

But from February to April this year,

但係今年二月至四月

Weibo really became a marketplace of rumors.

微博變咗一個講謠言嘅地方

You can almost joke everything about these princelings,

你點樣開太子黨玩笑都得

everything! It's almost like you're living in the United States.

形形式式！就好似你喺美國一樣

But if you dare to retweet or mention any fake coup

但如果你夠膽發表任何 關於北京政變嘅虛假消息

about Beijing, you definitely will be arrested.

就一定會被人拉

So this kind of freedom is a targeted and precise window.

所以呢次嘅自由係有目的同有限制

So Chinese in China, censorship is normal.

所以喺中國 審查係一件再正常不過嘅事

Something you find is, freedom is weird.

你會發現，自由真係好奇怪

Something will happen behind it.

自由背後總會發生某啲事

Because he was a very popular Leftist leader,

因為薄熙來曾經係 一個好受歡迎嘅左派領導人

so the central government wanted to purge him,

所以中央政府想清算佢

and he was very cute, he convinced all the Chinese people,

同埋佢好有魅力

佢說服咗中國人民接受佢會咁壞

why he is so bad.

So Weibo, the 300 million public sphere,

所以擁有三十億用戶嘅微博公共空間

became a very good, convenient tool for a political fight.

係一個既好用、又方便嘅政治鬥爭工具

But this technology is very new,

雖然社交科技好新

but technically is very old.

但係背後嘅概念仍然係舊

It was made famous by Chairman Mao, Mao Zedong,

毛澤東發揚呢個概念

because he mobilized millions of Chinese people

佢曾經帶動幾百萬中國人 喺文革時期挫毀每個地區政府

in the Cultural Revolution to destroy every local government.

It's very simple, because Chinese central government

道理好簡單

中央政府根本連控制民意都唔使

doesn't need to even lead the public opinion.

They just give them a target window to not censor people.

佢哋只係需要唔審查人民就得嘞

Not censoring in China has become a political tool.

喺中國，「不審查」 反而變成一個政治工具

So that's the update about this game, cat-and-mouse.

以上就係貓捉老鼠遊戲嘅近況

Social media changed Chinese mindset.

社交網絡改變咗中國人嘅思維

More and more Chinese intend to embrace freedom of speech

越嚟越多嘅中國人重視言論自由同人權

and human rights as their birthright,

相信呢啲係佢哋與生俱來嘅權利

not some imported American privilege.

而唔係由美國入口嘅「特權」

But also, it gave the Chinese a national public sphere

同時，社交網絡畀咗中國人 一個全國公開嘅討論空間

for people to, it's like a training of their citizenship,

畀人民學識行使公民權力

preparing for future democracy.

為未來民主做準備

But it didn't change the Chinese political system,

但係社交網絡並無改變中國現時嘅政制

and also the Chinese central government utilized this

而中央政府亦都用 中央化嘅伺服器加強佢嘅政權

centralized server structure to strengthen its power

to counter the local government and the different factions.

用以對抗地區政府同其他勢力

So, what's the future?

咁未來究竟會係點？

After all, we are the mouse.

始終我哋都係老鼠

Whatever the future is, we should fight against the [cat].

無論未來係點，我哋都應該繼續抵抗貓

There is not only in China, but also in the United States

並唔係淨係中國，美國都需要

there are some very small, cute but bad cats.

因為美國都樣有啲 細細隻、可愛但係壞嘅貓

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, TPP and ITU.

禁止網絡盜版法案、保護知識產權法案 反假冒貿易協定

跨太平洋戰略經濟夥伴關係協議 知識產權法與權利

And also, like Facebook and Google, they claim they are friends of the mouse,

Facebook 同 Google 話自已係老鼠嘅朋友

but sometimes we see them dating the cats.

但係有時我哋會見到兩間公司同貓一齊

So my conclusion is very simple.

所以我嘅結論好簡單

We Chinese fight for our freedom,

我哋中國人喺中國爭取我哋嘅自由

you just watch your bad cats.

你哋就睇實你哋嘅衰貓

Don't let them hook [up] with the Chinese cats.

唔好畀佢哋同中國貓有合作嘅機會

Only in this way, in the future,

只有做到呢一點

未來我哋先可以實現老鼠嘅夢想：

we will achieve the dreams of the mouse:

that we can tweet anytime, anywhere, without fear.

可以隨時隨地發表任何意見 而唔需要怕被清算

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）