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Photo: The Shanghai Bund, by David Stanley

The Shanghai Bund


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New iPhones, Google Search Plans Could Help Track Chinese Users

The ability to persistently link people’s identities and activities is a core them of China’s raft of developing surveillance and population management schemes. It has arisen in the nascent social credit system, in DNA collection, in facial and voice recognition systems, in real name registration requirements for online accounts and other services, and in a proliferation of ID checks for services such as sending packages and taking long-distance transportation. This week brought news of major steps—one actual, one prospective—by U.S. tech giants Apple and Google to better facilitate this capability.

On Wednesday, Apple announced a trio of new iPhones whose features include long-awaited support for dual SIM cards. In most countries, the new iPhones will accommodate one physical SIM card, and one virtual “eSIM.” Phones sold in China, though, will take two physical SIM cards, an exceptionally unusual bifurcation of the company’s flagship hardware line. The Wall Street Journal’s Yoko Kubota and Tripp Mickle report that identity tracking appears to have been a decisive factor, as physical SIM cards are subject to real name registration requirements that eSIMs might circumvent.

An acronym for subscriber identity module, SIMs are microchips that allow smartphone users to access a wireless network. With dual SIM, users can use two phone numbers on one device.

Outside of China, the new iPhones feature a technology that blends a physical SIM with an eSIM technology, a digital embedded SIM that lets wireless subscribers store a second phone number on the device without a second physical SIM card.

But in China, that is a challenge because of regulations that require carriers and regulators to be able to track the device user’s identity. That would be difficult to do with eSIM, which would be embedded by Apple and not the carriers.

Therefore, Apple has added trays for those physical SIM cards in China alone, further complicating a difficult supply chain by requiring additional components and different production processes. [Source]

The WSJ reported last year that cellular connectivity for Apple Watches had been “abruptly cut off for new subscribers, without explanation,” citing similar suspicion that “the suspension likely stemmed from Chinese government security concerns related to tracking users of the device.” An analyst told the paper that “the eSIM [system] isn’t mature enough yet in China,” and “the government still needs to figure out how they can control the eSIM.” Apple now lists Apple Watch LTE connectivity as available in only seven cities, excluding Beijing, on China Unicom, and as “Coming 2018” on China Mobile and China Telecom. Its website warns that service availability “could be delayed or suspended” by the carriers.

Some analysts have pointed to the lack of eSIM support agreements with Chinese carriers to explain the hardware fork. This situation is far from unique, however: Apple lists only ten countries where eSIM support will initially be available, even there only from selected carriers. Carrier agreements do not therefore seem sufficient explanation for the unique arrangements Apple has made for China.

On Friday, meanwhile, The Intercept’s Ryan Gallagher reported new details of Google’s “Project Dragonfly,” a search engine it had been developing that could accommodate requirements from Chinese authorities and enable the company’s return to the Chinese market. The company’s apparent willingness to comply with censorship, as well as its refusal to clarify its intentions, have sparked widespread concern in the weeks since Gallagher first revealed them. The latest revelations highlight surveillance concerns, with news that Google planned to link search queries to users’ phone numbers, making them more easily traceable and personally identifiable. Searching for politically sensitive terms might therefore be not only fruitless, but actively dangerous.

Leading human rights groups have criticized Dragonfly, saying that it could result in the company “directly contributing to, or [becoming] complicit in, human rights violations.” A central concern expressed by the groups is that, beyond the censorship, user data stored by Google on the Chinese mainland could be accessible to Chinese authorities, who routinely target political activists and journalists.

Sources familiar with the project said that prototypes of the search engine linked the search app on a user’s Android smartphone with their phone number. This means individual people’s searches could be easily tracked – and any user seeking out information banned by the government could potentially be at risk of interrogation or detention if security agencies were to obtain the search records from Google.

“This is very problematic from a privacy point of view, because it would allow far more detailed tracking and profiling of people’s behavior,” said Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher with Human Rights Watch. “Linking searches to a phone number would make it much harder for people to avoid the kind of overreaching government surveillance that is pervasive in China.”

The search engine would be operated as part of a “joint venture” partnership with a company based in mainland China, according to sources familiar with the project. People working for the joint venture would have the capability to update the search term blacklists, the sources said, raising new questions about whether Google executives in the U.S. would be able to maintain effective control and oversight over the censorship. [Source]

The news indicates that Google would re-enter China without one of the core principles to which it adhered last time around: what company biographer Steven Levy described in his book “In The Plex” as “a firm policy against storing personal data inside China—to avoid the problems of having the government demand that Google turn over the data” as Yahoo! had infamously been compelled to do for the prosecution of journalist Shi Tao. Many such precautions would now be illegal in any case under new rules like those in the 2017 Cybersecurity Law, which compelled Apple and others to move Chinese users’ cloud data to Chinese data centers earlier this year.

Before these latest revelations, Suzanne Nossel of the Pen American Center highlighted risks to Chinese users in an extensive article at Foreign Policy warning of the implications of Google’s acquiescence. The article draws on “Forbidden Feeds,” the organization’s March report on social media control in China. Though its focus is on social media platforms, its warnings are also relevant to traceable searches like those planned under Dragonfly.

For media companies, there is no wiggling free from government dictates. “China’s legal system conscripts domestic social media companies to be active participants in the monitoring and censorship of their own users. Chinese companies have no choice but to operate in accordance with the government’s demands. … Within the existing censorship framework, there is simply no way for foreign social media companies to operate in China without becoming active partners in the government’s efforts to silence dissent through censorship, mass surveillance, and the use of criminal charges,” the report adds.

[…] For ordinary users who take advantage of Google’s services, the government’s right to access personal data—such as search histories—housed on corporate servers would be absolute. An appendix to the PEN America report documents the cases of 80 Chinese citizens who have been targeted, detained, or prosecuted for online postings. The list includes people such as the writer Wu Yangwei, who was detained and strip-searched after broadcasting a press freedom protest online; the women’s rights activist Su Changlan, who was convicted of “subversion” for posting articles and comments supportive of Hong Kong’s Umbrella protests; and the blogger Duan Xiaowen, who has been imprisoned and tortured for blogging about government corruption. Another prominent example of an online dissident was 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who died of liver cancer last year while serving an 11-year prison sentence in part for his role in drafting the online “Charter 08” petition on freedom and democracy. The prospect of Google helping to build cases against such courageous advocates is dire. [Source]

Earlier this week, Gallagher reported on one of several Google engineers who have resigned in protest at Project Dragonfly. In a letter to his employers, machine intelligence developer Jack Poulson wrote that “I view our intent to capitulate to censorship and surveillance demands in exchange for access to the Chinese market as a forfeiture of our values and governmental negotiating position across the globe.” Poulson later told Buzzfeed that “I’m offended that no weight has been given to the human rights community having a consensus. If you have coalition letter from 14 human rights organizations, and that can’t even make it into the discussions on the ethics behind a decision, I’d rather stand with the human rights organizations in this dispute.” Half a dozen other staff have reportedly left the company, while 1,700 have signed a letter demanding that ethical concerns be addressed.

The China controversy comes with Google under broader political and legal pressure at home in the U.S., and facing demands for global content takedowns from various other countries. Regarding the former, tech journalist Kara Swisher wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Thursday that “Washington politicians should take all their sanctimony and direct it at the China issue, which actually deserves some scrutiny.” Some have already done so: a cross-party group of 16 senators and representatives wrote to Google on Thursday, asking for clarity about its plans in China.

Apple’s Wednesday announcement, meanwhile, touched another political nerve. A slide used in the presentation listed the “markets”—not “countries”—where new products would be available at launch, and included Hong Kong and Taiwan separately from China. This prompted complaints echoing those aimed at several other foreign companies this year. On Weibo, the Communist Youth League posted a demand for explanation from Apple:

The added highlighting suggests an argument stated outright in a Global Times editorial: that if Apple uses the term “U.S. Virgin Islands,” it should also use language like “China’s Hong Kong” or “China’s Taiwan.” “U.S.” is an integral part of the territory’s formal name, however, necessary to distinguish it from the British Virgin Islands or those under Puerto Rican jurisdiction. Puerto Rico itself appeared on the Apple slide without explicit statement of its status as another U.S. territory, further undermining the claim of a double standard.


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Celebrities Fail Social Responsibility Assessments

Famous Chinese actress and singer Fan Bingbing has been given a score of zero in a ranking of celebrities’ social responsibility jointly conducted by academics at the Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The low rating fuelled speculation that Fan may have run into trouble with the authorities after being placed under investigation over tax evasion allegations involving the use of “yin-yang contracts,” a practice widespread in the entertainment industry whereby stars under report their earnings by submitting a copy of their contract with a reduced salary figure to tax authorities. A directive from propaganda authorities following the allegations against Fan ordered websites to “hold back” on publishing content on the practice. Fan was last seen during a public appearance at a children’s hospital on July 1st. Gerry Shih at The Washington Post reports:

Fan Bingbing is one of China’s biggest celebrities, a ubiquitous actress, model and singer who earned more in 2016 than Hollywood A-listers such as Amy Adams and Charlize Theron, according to Forbes.

But in July, the “X-Men” actress suddenly vanished. And in the weeks since, the mystery surrounding her disappearance from public view has only deepened amid speculation that she ran afoul of Chinese authorities.

The latest clue emerged Tuesday after a state-affiliated think tank and Beijing university ranked Fan dead last in their annual “Social Responsibility Report” — she earned a 0 out of 100 — citing her “negative social impact,” among other things.

The report, which was widely covered by state media, didn’t shed any more light on Fan’s predicament, but it does add to the sense that China’s Communist Party is sending a message to the country’s burgeoning entertainment industry.

In June, days before Fan disappeared from all public events and stopped posting on social media, the party’s propaganda department, which plays a key role in media regulation and censorship, issued a notice chastising the film industry for “distorting social values,” “fostering money worship tendencies” and encouraging Chinese youths to “blindly chase celebrities.” [Source]

BBC’s Kerry Allen has more on the nature of the scoring system:

The 2017-2018 China Film and Television Star Social Responsibility Report, carried widely by state media outlets, ranks Chinese celebrities according to three criteria: professional work, charitable actions and personal integrity.

It praises celebrities who have become “relatively strong role models”, but also highlights cases where it says they have had a “negative” social impact.

[…] The authors said they studied the behaviour of 100 Chinese singers, actors, and public figures – based in China and abroad – to assess the extent of their social responsibility.

They did not specify exactly how they arrived at the results in the test, but said that their findings were based on “research and web-scraping”.

[…] Only nine celebrities were deemed to be socially responsible enough, however, with a pass requiring a score of more than 60%.The report stressed that celebrities had to do more to promote “positive energy” and hinted that they needed to be more aware of behaviour and actions that might have a “negative social impact”. [Source]

Only a handful of celebrities scored a passing grade, with those coming first awarded for the positive social impact of their philanthropy work and their public image as “relatively strong role models.”

In recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of regulations targeting television and video content in an effort to curb the “negative” influence of celebrity displays of fame and wealth. In 2016, regulatory officials prohibited children from participating in reality television shows and limited programs showing overly materialistic content. Bloomberg’s Jing Yang De Morel writes that the social responsibility report comes amid a wider crackdown on the entertainment industry to rein in excessive compensation for celebrities. The move will likely force studios to make productions focusing more on quality rather than the number of A-list stars.

While authorities may not directly undermine bankable stars, industry trends show stellar casts are no longer sure bets.

Just before “Dying to Survive,” a low-budget Chinese comedy-drama without big stars became the summer smash hit, “Asura,” the big-budget, star-studded epic on mythology bombed at the box office and was withdrawn immediately after its opening weekend. Trade magazine Variety called it “the most expensive flop in Chinese history.”

Television streaming is also drawing fans to dramas without big stars.

“Story of Yanxi Palace,” a 70-episode drama co-produced by and streamed on iQiyi, China’s Netflix, emerged as a surprising summer hit with a mostly young, lesser-known cast. A Qing dynasty tale of scheming concubines, the drama has been streamed more than 15 billion times, according to iQiyi.

The success of the drama “brings a new turning point and new opportunities to the industry that has been pressured by excessive compensation for celebrities,” iQiyi CEO Gong Yu said in Beijing Aug. 26 at an event to celebrate the drama’s conclusion. “The industry should stop overcompensating celebrities in low-quality productions just because they have huge fan bases.” [Source]

While Fan has not been charged with any crime, rumours have surfaced that she may be facing an acting ban. From Patrick Frater at Variety:

A Hong Kong news outlet is reporting that Fan Bingbing, China’s highest-paid actress, has been banned from acting for three years amid allegations of tax evasion, but there has been no independent verification as yet of such a move.

[…] According to another report, Fan’s name has been stripped from publicity for Chinese war film “Unbreakable Spirit” (previously titled “The Bombing”), starring Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody, which was to be released in China this month. The movie now looks set to hit theaters in October.

The reports do not say whether Fan is forbidden from acting only in China or also abroad. She has been cast in “355,” an all-female action movie produced by Jessica Chastain, which was the hottest-selling film this year at Cannes. CAA was involved in the sale of China rights to Huayi Bros. for an estimated $20 million.

[…] China has banned prominent performers and directors in the past, including actor-director Jiang Wen and director Zhang Yimou, usually because their films are deemed politically unacceptable by China’s censors. Officials rarely announce or publicly confirm such bans, except when the courts are involved, as was the case of Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee, who was convicted of supplying drugs. [Source]


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China Continues Crackdown on House Churches

Officials in Beijing have shut down Zion church, one of the city’s largest Protestant “house” churches, for operating without a license. Authorities sealed off the church and confiscated printed materials after church leaders refused to comply with demands for greater government oversight. Christian Shepherd at Reuters reports:

The Zion church had for years operated with relative freedoms, hosting hundreds of worshippers every weekend in an expansive specially renovated hall in north Beijing.

But since April, after they rejected requests from authorities to install closed-circuit television cameras in the building, the church has faced growing pressure from the authorities and has been threatened with eviction.

On Sunday, the Beijing Chaoyang district civil affairs bureau said that by organizing events without registering, the church was breaking rules forbidding mass gatherings and were now “legally banned” and its “illegal promotional material” had been confiscated, according to images of the notice sent to Reuters late on Sunday and confirmed by churchgoers.

“I fear that there is no way for us to resolve this issue with the authorities,” Zion’s Pastor Jin Mingri told Reuters. [Source]

The forced closure of Zion comes amid an ongoing crackdown on religious freedom that has intensified over the years as President Xi Jinping seeks to limit the influence of religion on society. In response to the rapid growth of Christianity in the country, the Chinese government has launched an extensive clampdown that has led to church demolitions and the removal of thousands of crosses in Zhejiang and other provinces. Several Christian lawyers and activists were detained and subsequently released for campaigning against cross removals. Most recently, officials banned online retailers from selling Bibles as the government tightens religious regulations. At the AP, Christopher Bodeen reports that authorities in Henan have allegedly burned Bibles and forced believers to abandon their faith.

Bob Fu of the U.S.-based group China Aid said over the weekend that the closure of churches in central Henan province and a prominent house church in Beijing in recent weeks represents a “significant escalation” of the crackdown.

[…] Fu also provided video footage of what appeared to be piles of burning bibles and forms stating that the signatories had renounced their Christian faith. He said that marked the first time since Mao’s radical 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution that Christians had been compelled to make such declarations, under pain of expulsion from school and the loss of welfare benefits.

A Christian pastor in the Henan city of Nanyang said crosses, bibles and furniture were burned during a raid on his church on Sept. 5.

The pastor, who asked not to be identified by name to avoid repercussions from authorities, said several people entered the church just as it opened its doors at 5 a.m. and began removing items. [Source]

These developments are taking place in tandem with a government campaign to “Sinicize” religion. As a part of this campaign, officials have insisted on removing the domes of a mosque in Ningxia to make it look more Chinese in style. The State Administration for Religious Affairs had also called for the development of a uniquely Chinese Christian theology that is more compatible with Chinese socialism. That desire is also evident in new rules for online religious content:

These events correspondent to a high-level meeting in 2016, during which President Xi Jinping warned government officials to guard against religious extremism and foreign infiltration through religion.  According to a series of recent reports from a UN human rights panel, Human Rights Watch, and others, as many as one million Uyghurs have been sent to re-education camps where they are forced to renounce their religious identity as part of the state’s anti-terrorism campaign.

Churchgoers who attend so-called “underground” churches–those that are not officially sanctioned by the government–have come under increasing pressure to attend registered state churches as “house” churches come under growing interference. Reuters’ Christian Shepherd looks at the increased punishment and regulation facing unofficial churches:

The unofficial establishments, which range from small living room-gatherings to large, professional operations like Zion, had in recent decades been tolerated by authorities.

They were often able to rent large spaces, though these are rarely identifiable from the outside. The only church exteriors in China adorned with steeples or crosses are officially sanctioned.

In February, new legislation increased oversight of religious education and practice, with harsher punishment for practices not sanctioned by the authorities.

In addition to being asked to install security cameras, some unofficial churches have been asked by police to take detailed lists of attendee IDs and phone numbers, churchgoers and activists say.

Some who push back have been visited by police and asked to switch places of worship to officially sanctioned churches, they added. [Source]

Despite the ongoing crackdown, house churches are expanding rapidly across China. The growing role of home churches is in some instances spurred by government suppression itself as worshippers seek alternative venues to continue hosting religious services. In Henan, for example, parents are gathering in private homes to bring services to their children following a ban on minors from entering churches. From Peter Liu at La Croix:

A Catholic in Henan’s Nanyang City who gave her name as “Maria” told ucanews.com that her Catholics parents have responded to state pressure by tightening their communal bonds and organizing gatherings at one another’s houses so they can worship with the whole family including their children.

[…] Priests also attend these “house meetings” to explain church teachings to younger family members and further strengthen their faith, she added.

[…] In the face of similar incidents that have been going on for several months, Maria told ucanews.com she recently purchased books on Christianity for her children to read as she sets about doing the equivalent of home-schooling.

Teresa Zhao, a Catholic in Henan’s Shangqu Diocese, said the Christian community there now feels they must shoulder all of the responsibility for ensuring their faith gets passed down to their children, and they have no choice but to do so in a clandestine fashion.

“This is becoming a general trend in China now,” she said. “There’s no way to stop it.” [Source]


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