'Telling the truth directly'
(CDT)
Updated: 2005-12-29 08:51

At the end of the year, Netease, one of the top three portals in China, has posted a special feature "Telling the Truth Directly" which quotes the official line on various issues and events from 2005, followed by a sarcastic interpretation of the comments.

Commercial portals like Netease are not permitted to do their own independent news reporting, but this kind of commentary is their effort to create their own media content.

The title of the feature could be interpreted as playing off the CCTV talk show of the same name, yet here they use quotation marks around the title to show these official statements represent the so-called "truth." Following are translations of three examples, from Netease's list of eight:

1) "There is almost no monopoly in the industries of oil, telecommunications and electrical power... One of the important reasons for such a great situation is competition. You can also say in these industries, there is no one monopoly. Actually, in the oil, telecommunications and electrical power industries, we already have a competitive structure. Moreover, the main resources of these industries all exist within the publicly-listed companies. More precisely, the ownership has already been diversified and socially distributed. The state-owned enterprises after all belong to the state and to the people. Therefore, the profits are all for the people's interests."

-December 22, Li Rongrong, Director of the National Resources Committee at a press conference of the State Council Information Office.

Interpretation: "There is no monopoly in the oil, telecommunications and electrical power industries. They are all serving the people. They introduce competition, and upgrade their technology. Those state-owned enterprises are taking a great leap forward, unloading the baggage on others, attracting foreign investment, increasing profits, defeating the private-owned enterprises. The price of oil went crazy, electricity bills shot up, and the benefit of the employees of these industries improved markedly. They are leading the way for the Chinese people to become a well-off society. They have truly implemented the guiding policy of 'let some people get rich first.'"

2) "One important reason for the phenomenon of collusion between police and criminals is that the pay for police is too low."

-Fu Xiaohua, deputy director of the police station at the Chengdu train station

[Report]: The Chengdu train station police station is a sub-unit of the Chengdu Railway Public Security Bureau, and every day they confront large numbers of travelers coming and going. It is a heavy task. The normal monthly salary is about 2000 yuan. The assets of some of the members of this police force are above one million yuan. And the main source of their income is a monthly contribution from thieves.

Interpretation: "Do you know what kind of place a train station is? So much traffic, all kinds of people. We police have to stay for long periods in this place with dirty air, under the hot sun, with no oxygen. No nutritious foods can compensate for this. We have elders and children to look after. Every so often we need a massage and sauna. How could the monthly salary really be enough?"

3) "Migrants coming to Beijing should abide by the system and gain permission, we cannot let 1.3 billion people flee to Beijing... The quality of these people (migrants) is relatively low. After being out of work for long periods, they engage in risky behavior, and bring unstable factors to the public security situation.

Beijing's development doesn't have much use for these people. In fact, many of the places in Beijing where the management is chaotic is caused by these people (migrants). For example, in garbage collection areas, they beg for money with bad intentions. Their existence damages the lives of Beijing residents."

-January 13, Beijing Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference member Zhang Weiying as a guest on "The Window to the Capital."

Interpretation��"Wouldn't it be cleaner to learn from Hitler and throw the low quality people into the gas chambers? The development of Beijing does not need those low quality people, stop all of them at the gate. We will collect trash ourselves, we will clean the streets ourselves, we will construct new buildings ourselves. Our city's environment will be number one in the country, and our educational level will surpass Britain and America.