Free Republic

Sarcasm in China: Check. On the cusp of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary ClintonÂ’s diplomatic visit to the Middle Kingdom, a tongue-in-cheek critique of Americans has gone viral on Sina Weibo, ChinaÂ’s Twitter, with over 42,000 retweets and 5,400 comments. This piece, of uncertain author and origin, laughingly criticizes Americans as foolish, primitive, and naive. Lest American readers be offended, it soon becomes apparent that the essay is in fact a sharp, backhanded critique of China. Tea Leaf Nation has translated the juiciest parts (which happen to constitute most of the essay). Please enjoy. DonÂ’t Go to the U.S., A...

from the September 22, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0922/p01s02-woap.html China's model for a censored Internet Some worry China's controls could be copied elsewhere. By Kathleen E. McLaughlin | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor SHANGHAI, CHINA - As China began to go online, observers made brash predictions that the Internet would pry the country open. Cyberspace, the thinking went, would prove too vast and wild for Beijing to keep under its thumb. Now these early assumptions are being sharply revised. Under an authoritarian government determined to control information, China has grown a new version of the Internet. As former US President...