The Contradictions Continue

Xi Jinping rallies the "troops" to fight the war against rumour mongering

Chinese President Xi Jinping is carrying on where Hu Jintao left off in further tightening the media.

Xi has called for a war against China's unruly internet, and for the Communist Party's propaganda department to build "a strong army" to "seize the ground of new media".

The central government is currently accelerating its campaign to stamp out internet "rumours" and rein in influential celebrities, known as "big Vs" for "verified".

Xi made the speech on August 19 at a national meeting of propaganda chiefs, but was only made public recently.

"The wording of his speech relayed in internal briefings is far stronger," said a source. "The most impressive [point] is that Xi said the Communist Party should be combative instead of being passive, and it should wage a war to win over public opinion. Xi also ordered the propaganda apparatus to seize the ground of new media," he said.

After his speech, there were movements on the ground.

The following day Beijing police detained several people related to Beijing Erma Interactive Marketing and Planning, including internet celebrity Qin Huohuo on suspicion of rumour-mongering.

Then on August 23, well-known Chinese-American businessman Charles Xu Biqun, better known as Xue Manzi by his 12 million Sina Weibo followers was detained on what sounds like trumped-up charges of soliciting prostitutes to which he confessed.

Meanwhile state media has constantly reminded celebrities and other influential online figures known as "big Vs" not to spread rumours.

In his August 19 speech, Xi also ordered officials to "unite intellectuals", which was interpreted to mean getting as many intellectuals as possible to back the Party's agenda.

"It is a continuation of the style during the Maoist era to set intellectuals apart from the public," said one senior state television journalist.

Another media source said Xi said there should be a ban on the media talking about "universal values of the West", because there are "no such things as universal values".

Wait a second. We know Xi is hinting things such as democracy and human rights, but if he is advocating "the Chinese dream" which is modelled after "the American dream", aren't dreams universal?

Xi is also invoking paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, by calling for the revival of "ideological purification" in the early 1980s by upholding cardinal principles. They are: upholding the people's democratic dictatorship (sounds like an oxymoron), the socialist path (which the Party is not on anymore), the party leadership (a given), and Marxism-Leninism and "Mao Zedong thought" (continuing where Bo Xilai was cut off).

Does Xi not have any other brilliant ideas of his own? Or is this his way of trying to further consolidate his power by harking back to the past to justify his position?

This obsession for media control either reveals Xi's determination to have a greater grip over the Party or his paranoia of not having everyone on side.

Nevertheless, people in China must be seeing through this exercise and rolling their eyes again at yet another exercise in further tightening the leash on media.

We only hope the squeeze hasn't suffocated those who are still determined to publish the truth.

The Cyber Wall of Shame

Gamble all you want, but just don't have a line of credit running...

Despite the economy slowing down in China, Macau's gambling tables are still going strong. In August, gambling revenue from the city's 35 casinos rose 17.6 percent to 30.7 billion patacas, the first time it has gone over the 30 billion pataca mark.

However, that doesn't mean all the money has been collected.

And so a bilingual website is trying to shame gamblers into paying their debts by posting the personal details of more than 70 people from China.

The Singapore-based site is called Wonderful World in English, and the details include the deadbeat's photograph, date of birth, marital status, how much they owe, and a bounty is even offered to help track them down.

So far the site has recovered over 50 million yuan ($8 million).

The only glitch is that collecting gambling debts is illegal in China, and so Macau's casinos depend on junkets -- companies or agents that bring in high rollers -- to settle the debts. The junkets are usually large conglomerates that are able to lend millions of yuan to gamblers.

Launched a year ago, the site originally posted news and entertainment, but then started the debt blacklist two months ago at the suggestion of Mr Teng, the site administrator's friend.

What's interesting is that the debtors' information comes from the creditors and they can post it up free on the site. Wonderful World does not get any fee or percentage of the money recovered, and the site is cooperating with the police, even though they are investigating the site for an internal report.

"The most important thing is we want more people to see our website," said Teng.

Corruption Crackdown Continues

Jiang Jiemin is being investigated for corruption related to his time at CNPC

After the shocking announcement that former security czar Zhou Yongkang was being investigated, one of his proteges Jiang Jiemin is is being probed for "serious discipline violations", in other words, corruption.

Jiang is a director of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and former chairman of the country's largest oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The 58-year-old was just appointed to the cabinet-level position in March.

It is believed the investigation into Jiang is to mine for information to be used against Zhou.

There are questions of why Jiang was elevated to the SASAC post when there were concerns about CNPC's role in trying to cover up the crash of a Ferrari on March 18 last year.

A $1million black Ferrari lost control on Beijing's North Third Ring Road and slammed into a wall. The driver, who died instantly, was Ling Gu, the only son of Ling Jihua, then chief of staff to then President Hu Jintao. He was in the car half naked, while two other women, one naked, the other half clothed succumbed to their injuries.

Ling Gu's Ferrari split into two after a crash in Beijing

Jiang raised eyebrows when he transferred tens of millions of yuan from CNPC to the families of the two women who were subsequently killed in the crash. Last year Jiang was questioned about this, why money from a state-owned company was funneled to two families, which he (as far as we know) had no relationship with.

But in the coming weeks and months, we will get to know more, as the infighting within the Party continues revealing more dirty details.

Bo Xilai's trial and now the investigations into Zhou Yongkang and Jiang Jiemin reveal how the patronage of senior officials is crucial in fast-tracking one's career, but if your mentor falls politically on the wrong side of the tracks, you can be eternally doomed with them.

Eating Around Sham Shui Po

Lining up outside Lau Sum Kee and the resident cat has disappeared...

My friend YTSL loves going to Sham Shui Po to check out the local atmosphere -- and get good shopping deals -- but mostly for the food.

She'd asked me to go with her before, but I declined. Sham Shui Po? All the way in Kowloon? Some Hong Kong Island residents refuse to cross the harbour, likening it to crossing the border and joke about having to bring your passport. But for me it was hard to understand why it had to be a destination.

But if you want cheap, cheerful and good, a few local eateries there are worth checking out.

Shrimp roe noodles with a side of braised beef tendon

We first went to Lau Sum Kee (48 Kweilin Street). The resident cat with half a tail was sitting in a cardboard box outside and seemed annoyed by customers wanting to stroke it and jumped off.

We didn't need to wait too long to get a table -- well share a table. Lau Sum Kee is best known for its noodles that are made by kneading the dough with a bamboo pole. We didn't get to see this in the tiny shop, but saw everyone ordering dried shrimp roe noodles and so we copied them, mine added with beef tendon. We also saw another customer have a plate of cow stomach (牛柏葉) and beef cooked with spring onions and ginger on a bed of choi sum.

Crunchy cow stomach and tender beef on a bed of choi sum

The noodles were OK, though YTSL reported the thick egg noodles were much nicer in texture and had more surface area for the shrimp roe. I prefer soup noodles, but I was warned the wonton aren't good here, so I was kind of stuck with the dry noodles. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the cubed marinated turnip in vinegar and chillis that went well with the dish.

The beef tendon was excellent, full of flavour, while the cow stomach was a winner, because it was crunchy, contrasting with tender beef slices. Dipped in a slightly spicy soy sauce was a fantastic combination.

Our meal here came to HK$104.

The heart attack-inducing French toast with kaya spread

Almost full, we headed over to Wai Kee Noodle Cafe (66 Fuk Wing Street). The shop has actually expanded to three shops in a row, though we lined up to go into the original premises. Here the specialty is pig liver soup noodles.

However, the other thing to eat here is the French toast -- the Hong Kong style one which is deep-fried in an egg batter. YTSL had one with kaya spread in the middle, while I opted instead for kaya toast which came on a thick piece of toasted bread.

Thankfully the kaya spread here isn't as sweet at the Singaporean one I've tried before. It went down well with iced lemon tea, though it would probably be better with milk tea or yin yeung (a mix of tea and coffee). This came to HK$54.

More customers lined up outside Wai Kee for a bite to eat

Then we headed to Pei Ho Restaurant on 54 Pei Ho Street. It's run by Ming Gor, who is best known for doing his bit for the elderly poor in the district.

He has been working at the restaurant business since 1983, first as an employee and now as the owner. In 2008 he started working with the Society for Community Organization (SoCo) and they started giving out HK$22 meal tickets with sponsorships from large companies and donations.

The program ended, but he continues to give out rice boxes to the elderly thanks to individual donations. Then the last Saturday of the month is the busiest time for Ming Gor, as they know people may have run out of money by now and are hungry. This is when he and other NGOs give a bit more food to tie people over -- and they must wait in line for hours.

Celebrities have come to Pei Ho Restaurant to see Ming Gor

It is because of initiatives like Ming Gor's that not only demonstrate there are caring people in Hong Kong, but also shows how blind or ineffective the government is in dealing with the poverty issue.

We didn't see Ming Gor today, but we plan to be in Sham Shui Po a few more times to check out the neighbourhood.