Michael Anti: Behind the Great Firewall of China

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Jenny Zurawell

譯者: Karen SONG 審譯者: Chen-Han Hsiao

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

過去幾天，我聽見許多人談到中國

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

我也跟朋友談論中國和中國的網路

Something is very challenging to me.

我發現有件事極具挑戰性

I want to make my friends understand:

我想讓我的朋友了解

China is complicated.

中國是複雜的

So I always want to tell the story, like,

所以在描述一件事情時，我總是會說

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

從某方面來看是這樣，但從另一方面來看又是這樣

You can't just tell a one sided story.

你不能只看事情的一面

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

比如说，中國是金磚四國（BRIC）之一

BRIC country means Brazil, Russia, India and China.

金磚四國指的是巴西、俄羅斯、印度和中國

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

這些新興的經濟體大大提振了全球經濟

But at the same time, on the other hand,

然而，從另一方面來看

China is a SICK country,

中國也是「有病四國」（SICK）之一

the terminology coined by Facebook IPO papers -- file.

這個詞在臉書的上市申請書中第一次出現

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

有病四國指的是敘利亞、伊朗、中國和北朝鮮

The four countries have no access to Facebook.

這四個國家的民眾都不能上臉書網站

So basically, China is a SICK BRIC country.

所以簡單來說，中國就是個有病的金磚之國

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Another project was built up

中國建立了另一套機制

to watch China and Chinese Internet.

來監視中國和中國的網路

And now, today I want to tell you my personal

今天，我想跟大家講講我個人

observation in the past several years, from that wall.

過去幾年對中國網路防火牆的一些觀察

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

如果你喜歡影集《冰與火之歌：權力遊戲》的話

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

你一定知道一道堅固的城牆對一個古老的國家來說有多重要

It prevents weird things from the north.

城牆能抵禦北方異族

Same was true for China.

中國也是如此

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

在北方，我們有座萬里長城

It protected China from invaders for 2,000 years.

兩千年來守護中國不受侵擾

But China also has a great firewall.

但中國也有一座網路長城

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

那就是全世界最大的數字國界

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

網路長城不只維護了中國的政權

from the universal values, but also to prevent

使其不受全球價值觀的影響，但也防止

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

中國人民接入全球自由網際網路

and even separate themselves into blocks, not united.

甚至將中國人民自己也區隔成一塊塊的，而非團結起來

So, basically the "Internet" has two Internets.

所以，基本上“網際網路”有兩種

One is the Internet, the other is the Chinanet.

一種是全球網際網路，另一種是中國網際網路

But if you think the Chinanet is something

但如果你以為中國網際網路

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

就像孤島或一灘死水一樣，我覺得你就錯了

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

我們會用一個非常簡單的譬喻，也就是貓捉老鼠的遊戲

to describe in the past 15 years

來形容過去十五年的情況

the continuing fight between Chinese

這是一場角力

censorship, government censorship, the cat,

一方是中國政府的審查制度，也就是那隻貓

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

另一方是中國的網路使用者，也就是我們這些老鼠

But sometimes this kind of a metaphor is too simple.

但這樣的譬喻有時又太簡化了

So today I want to upgrade it to 2.0 version.

所以今天我想把這升級成 2.0 的版本

In China, we have 500 million Internet users.

中國現在有五億網路使用者

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

居全世界之最

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

所以即便中國的網路受到全面審查

but still, Chinese Internet society is really booming.

中國的網路世界依然蓬勃發展

How to make it? It's simple.

如何做到呢？其實很簡單

You have Google, we have Baidu.

你們有 Google，我們有百度

You have Twitter, we have Weibo.

你們有推特，我們有微博

You have Facebook, we have Renren.

你們有臉書，我們有人人

You have YouTube, we have Youku and Tudou.

你們有 YouTube，我們有優酷和土豆

The Chinese government blocked every

中國政府封鎖了

single international Web 2.0 service,

所有網際網路 2.0 提供的服務

and we Chinese copycat every one.

我們中國人就把每個都複製過來

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

這就是我所謂的聰明的審查制度

That's not only to censor you.

這制度不單單是為了審查你

Sometimes this Chinese national Internet policy is very simple:

有時中國的網路政策非常簡單：

Block and clone.

封鎖和複製

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

一方面，政府要滿足人民對社交網站的需求

which is very important; people really love social networking.

這點很重要，因為大家真的很喜歡網路社交

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

另一方面，政府又希望把伺服器留在北京

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

這樣政府便能隨時取得他們需要的資訊

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

這也是 Google 退出中國大陸的原因

because they can't accept the fact

因為 Google 不肯同意

that Chinese government wants to keep the server.

讓中國政府把伺服器留在中國

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

阿拉伯的專制統治者不了解這兩個面向

For example, Mubarak, he shut down the Internet.

比如說穆巴拉克封鎖了網路

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

想要防止線上公民批評他

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

但民眾一旦不能上網，就只能上街了

And now the result is very simple.

現在結果很清楚

We all know Mubarak is technically dead.

我們都知道穆巴拉克跟死了沒什麼兩樣

But also, Ben Ali, Tunisian president,

同樣地，突尼西亞總統班•阿里

didn't follow the second rule.

也沒有遵守第二條規則

That means keep the server in your hands.

就是把伺服器留在自己手中

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

他讓立基於美國的臉書網站

to continue to stay on inside of Tunisia.

繼續留在突尼西亞境內

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

所以他不能防範國內的民眾上傳影片

critical videos against his corruption.

抨擊他的貪污腐敗

The same thing happend. He was the first

同樣的事情發生了，他是第一個

to topple during the Arab Spring.

在阿拉伯之春中垮臺的政權

But those two very smart international censorship policies

但這兩條非常聰明的審查政策

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

並沒有阻止中國的社交媒體成為真正的公眾論壇

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

成為凝聚公眾意見的通道，和中國官員的夢魘

Because we have 300 million microbloggers in China.

因為中國有三億微博用戶

It's the entire population of the United States.

這相當於美國的全部人口

So when these 300 million people, microbloggers,

所以當這三億微博用戶聚集在一起

even they block the tweet in our censored platform.

即便微博內容會在審查平臺上被攔截

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

但中國網際網路自身就能夠創造出

very powerful energy, which has never happened

非常巨大的能量

in the Chinese history.

而這在中國歷史上是從未發生過的

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

2011 年7月，兩輛動車相撞

in Wenzhou, a southern city.

在中國南方城市溫州

Right after the train crash,

事故發生後不久

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

官方竟然想借著掩埋列車殘骸來掩蓋整起事件

So it angered the Chinese Netizens.

這激怒了中國網友

The first five days after the train crash,

動車追尾事故發生後的五天裡

there were 10 million criticisms of the posting

社交媒體上就已經有數量上千萬的批評和聲討

on social media, which never happened in Chinese history.

而這在中國歷史上從未發生過

And later this year, the rail minister

那年年底, 鐵道部部長被停職,

was sacked and sentenced to jail for 10 years.

並且被判處十年有期徒刑.

And also, recently, very funny debate between

最近還發生了一場令人啼笑皆非的爭論

the Beijing Environment Ministry

另一方是美國駐京領事館

and the American Embassy in Beijing

美國駐京領事館之間的爭論.

because the Ministry blamed

北京環境部譴責

the American Embassy for intervening in

美國領事館干預中國內政

Chinese internal politics by disclosing

因為美國領事館對外公佈了

the air quality data of Beijing.

北京的空氣污染指數

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

上方是美領館公佈的PM2.5

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

它顯示148，這對於過敏人士已達危險水準

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

所以建議大家最好不要外出

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

而這是環境部的資料，只顯示50

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

說明空氣是好的，適宜外出

But 99 percent of Chinese microbloggers

但是99%以上的中國微博用戶

stand firmly on the Embassy's side.

都堅決站在美領館這邊

I live in Beijing. Every day, I just watch

我住在北京。每天我都會看

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

美領館的資料空氣品質指數的資料, 來決定我當天是否該開窗

Why is Chinese social networking, even within the censorship,

為什們中國的網路社交，即使有審查也能蓬勃發展？

so booming? Part of the reason is Chinese languages.

部分原因在於中文（的特性）

You know, Twitter and Twitter clones have a kind of

你們知道，推特和推特的複製品都有

a limitation of 140 characters.

140個字的字數限制

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

在英文中，這只夠20個單詞，或者一句話加上一個短連結

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

也許在德文中，只夠表示“啊哈！”這個意思

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

但是在中文裡，這是真真切切的140個方塊字

means a paragraph, a story.

能表示一個段落，能講述一個故事

You can almost have all the journalistic elements there.

（140個方塊字）幾乎能涵蓋所有的新聞要素

For example, this is Hamlet, of Shakespeare.

比如說，這是莎士比亞的哈姆雷特

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

同樣的一段內容。你能清楚地看到

one Chinese tweet is equal to 3.5 English tweets.

一則中文推特等于3.5則英文推特`

Chinese is always cheating, right?

中國人擅長作弊對不對？

So because of this, the Chinese really regard this

正因為這樣，中國人是

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

把微博當成媒體本身來看待的，而不僅僅是媒體的標題

And also, the clone, Sina company is

新浪公司

the guy who cloned Twitter.

複製了推特

It even has its own name, with Weibo.

並命名為“微博”

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

“微博”是微型博客的中文翻譯

It has its own innovation.

它有自己獨到的創新

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

它的評論功能讓中國的微博

more like Facebook, rather than the original Twitter.

更像臉書，而不是原版的推特

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

微博和其他類似網站，帶著這些創新功能和克隆功能

when it came to China in 2009,

當2009年甫一開通

it immediately became a media platform itself.

就立刻演變成了一個媒體平臺

It became the media platform of 300 million readers.

演變成了擁有3億讀者的媒體平臺

It became the media.

它自身就是媒體

Anything not mentioned in Weibo,

微博上未提及的話題

it does not appear to exist for the Chinese public.

對中國的公眾來說就不存在

But also, Chinese social media is

同時，中國的社交媒體

really changing Chinese mindsets and Chinese life.

正在改變中國人的思維方式和生活方式

For example, they give the voiceless people

比如說，它讓沒有發言權的人

a channel to make your voice heard.

獲得了發言的管道

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

中國有一個上訪系統。這是司法系統之外的一種補償系統

because the Chinese central government wants to keep a myth:

因為中國中央政府希望維持這樣一個神話

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

皇帝是好的；地方當局的老傢伙才是惡棍

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

這就是為什麼那些上訪者、那些受害者、那些農民，

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

希望能坐火車到北京去中央政府上訪

they want the emperor to settle the problem.

他們希望最高領導者能解決他們的問題

But when more and more people go to Beijing,

但是當越來越多的人進京上訪

they also cause the risk of a revolution.

就存在引發革命的風險

So they send them back in recent years.

所以當局近年來老是把上訪者送回老家

And even some of them were put into black jails.

有些甚至進了黑監獄

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

我們現在有了微博，我稱之為微博上訪

People just use their cell phones to tweet.

人們用手機上網發微博

So your sad stories, by some chance your story

你的悲慘故事，就有可能

will be picked up by reporters, professors or celebrities.

被記者、學者和名人選中

One of them is Yao Chen,

其中一個是姚晨

she is the most popular microblogger in China,

她有全中國最受歡迎的微博帳號

who has about 21 million followers.

擁有2100萬粉絲

They're almost like a national TV station.

這相當於一個全國性的電視臺覆蓋面

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

如果你的悲慘故事能被她轉發，那可想而知

So this Weibo social media, even in the censorship,

所以說微博這個社交媒體，儘管有審查制度

still gave the Chinese a real chance for 300 million people

還是為3億中國人提供了一個機會

every day chatting together, talking together.

能每天一起談天說地

It's like a big TED, right?

就像一個大型的TED，對不對？

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

同時，這也是中國首次

happened in China.

出現公眾論壇

Chinese people start to learn how to negotiate

中國人開始學習如何談判

and talk to people.

如何與人對話

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

當然，審查制度這只大貓也沒睡覺

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

在中國微博上發佈敏感詞彙是非常困難的

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

比如說，你無法發佈主席的名字

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

胡錦濤，你也無法發佈重慶這個城市名

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

不久以前，你甚至不能搜索國家領導人的姓氏

So, the Chinese are very good at these puns

而中國人

and alternative wording and even memes.

又十分擅長雙關語、別稱

They even name themselves -- you know,

他們甚至為自己命名

use the name of this world-changing

用諧音改詞

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

包括“草泥馬”和“河蟹”的對立關係

The grass-mud horse is caoníma,

“草泥馬”的讀音為caoníma

is the phonogram for motherfucker,

是網友用來自稱

the Netizens call themselves.

“X你媽”的諧音

River crab is héxiè, is the phonogram for

“河蟹”的讀音為 héxiè，是

harmonization, for censorship.

“和諧”的諧音，意思是審查

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

這就是“草泥馬”和“河蟹”有趣的關係

So, when some very political, exciting moments happened,

於是，每當有重大政治事件發生

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

你就能在微博上看到各種貌似詭異的故事

Weird phrases and words, even if you have a PhD

用詞千奇百怪

of Chinese language, you can't understand them.

就算你是中文專業的博士，也未必能看懂

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

但你也無法再去擴展了

Chinese Sina Weibo, when it was founded

因為中國的新浪微博

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

在推特被正式遮罩後的一個月就出現了

That means from the very beginning,

這就意味著在最開始

Weibo has already convinced the Chinese government,

微博就已經說服了中國政府

we will not become the stage for

我們不會成為

any kind of a threat to the regime.

任何反政權言論的舞臺

For example, anything you want to post,

比如，你想發佈的任何內容

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

像“聚會”，“碰頭”，“走動”

it is automatically recorded and data mined

會自動記錄和資料採擷

and reported to a poll for further political analyzing.

並且被上報，用於政治分析

Even if you want to have some gathering,

如果你想要集會

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

在你到達集會地點之前，員警就已經在等著你了

Why? Because they have the data.

為什麼？因為他們有資料

They have everything in their hands.

他們掌握了一切資訊

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

他們可以用1984年叛亂來進行情景模擬和資料採擷

So the crackdown is very serious.

鎮壓十分嚴厲

But I want you to notice a very funny thing

但我要向你們指出

during the process of the cat-and-mouse.

貓鼠遊戲中有趣的一個地方

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

審查是貓，但不只一隻

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

除開中央政府貓，還有地方政府貓

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

你們知道，伺服器在中央政府貓的手中

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

所以，就算線民開始抨擊地方政府

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

地方政府可無法染指北京的資料

Without bribing the central cats,

不能賄賂中央政府貓

he can do nothing, only apologize.

地方政府就只能道歉了

So these three years, in the past three years,

所以在過去的三年中

social movements about microblogging

與微博有關的社會運動

really changed local government,

真正改變了地方政府

became more and more transparent,

它們變得更加透明

because they can't access the data.

因為他們無法擅自修改資料

The server is in Beijing.

伺服器都在北京呢。

The story about the train crash,

關於動車事故有這樣一個故事

maybe the question is not about why 10 million

也許問題不在於為什麼在五天之內

criticisms in five days, but why the Chinese central government

就有上千份批評抗議，而是在於為什麼中央政府

allowed the five days of freedom of speech online.

允許了網上有這五天的言論自由

It's never happened before.

這可是從未發生過的

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

這很簡單，因為高層

were fed up with this guy, this independent kingdom.

也對當局忍無可忍了，那裡就像一個獨立的王國

So they want an excuse --

所以他們需要藉口——

public opinion is a very good excuse to punish him.

而民意是一個很好的藉口，來處理這個人

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

最近薄熙來的案件是大新聞

he's a princeling.

他可是“太子”

But from February to April this year,

但在今年的2月到4月期間

Weibo really became a marketplace of rumors.

微博真的變成了謠言傳播的市場

You can almost joke everything about these princelings,

你能對所謂“太子党”開任何的玩笑

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

隨便來！這簡直就像生活在美國一樣

But if you dare to retweet or mention any fake coup

但如果有誰膽敢轉發或提及任何捏造的北京政變

about Beijing, you definitely will be arrested.

那就肯定會被捕

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

所以說這種（言論）自由是一個有準確目標的視窗

So Chinese in China, censorship is normal.

對於在中國的中國人而言，審查制度是正常的

Something you find is, freedom is weird.

而自由卻是蹊蹺的

Something will happen behind it.

自由的背後肯定有事發生

Because he was a very popular Leftist leader,

因為他以前是一個非常有號召力的左派領袖

so the central government wanted to purge him,

中央政府向要除掉他

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

還採用了非常精明的辦法來說服所有的中國民眾

why he is so bad.

為什麼他這麼壞

So Weibo, the 300 million public sphere,

微博，這個3億人的公眾論壇

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

成為了政治鬥爭的一種十分有效又好用的工具

But this technology is very new,

這種科技是新的

but technically is very old.

而這種戰術卻很有年代了

It was made famous by Chairman Mao, Mao Zedong,

毛澤東曾將它發揚光大

because he mobilized millions of Chinese people

因為他鼓動了幾百萬的中國人

in the Cultural Revolution to destroy every local government.

在文革時期毀掉了所有的地方政府

It's very simple, because Chinese central government

原理很簡單，因為中國中央政府

doesn't need to even lead the public opinion.

甚至不用去引導民意

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

他們只是提供了一個沒有審查的目標視窗

Not censoring in China has become a political tool.

無審查在中國已經成為了一種政治工具

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

這就是貓鼠遊戲的新進展

Social media changed Chinese mindset.

社交媒體改變了中國人的思維方式

More and more Chinese intend to embrace freedom of speech

越來越多的中國人想要擁抱言論自由

and human rights as their birthright,

認為人權是與生俱來的

not some imported American privilege.

而不是美國式的舶來價值觀

But also, it gave the Chinese a national public sphere

同時，一個全國性的公眾論壇

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

起到了培養公民性的作用

preparing for future democracy.

為未來的民主做了準備

But it didn't change the Chinese political system,

這無法改變中國的政治體系

and also the Chinese central government utilized this

而中國的中央政府利用了（社交媒體）

centralized server structure to strengthen its power

這個集中的伺服器結構來強化自身的力量

to counter the local government and the different factions.

來對抗地方政府或是其他內訌

So, what's the future?

那麼，未來會怎樣？

After all, we are the mouse.

畢竟，我們只是老鼠

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

無論未來如何，我們都要與貓戰鬥

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

不僅中國有，美國也有

there are some very small, cute but bad cats.

一些很機靈但也很壞的小貓

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, TPP and ITU.

像SOPA法案、PIPA法案、ACTA協定、TPP協定，還有ITU（國際電聯）

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

還有像臉書和穀歌這樣的公司，他們宣稱自己的老鼠之友

but sometimes we see them dating the cats.

但有時候我們看到他們與貓約會

So my conclusion is very simple.

我的結論很簡單

We Chinese fight for our freedom,

我們中國人為自己的自由而戰

you just watch your bad cats.

你們也要看好自己的壞貓

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

別讓他們跟中國貓勾勾搭搭

Only in this way, in the future,

只有這樣，在未來

we will achieve the dreams of the mouse:

我們能達成老鼠們的夢想

that we can tweet anytime, anywhere, without fear.

那就是能隨時隨地毫無懼意的發微薄

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)