@Noobs-R-Us: How do you know what we all do/say/know for a living? You can't speak for everyone. How do you know what the Chinese government's agenda is behind the surveillance system? How do you know what they will and will not consider surveillance worthy?

I'm just asking where your authority comes from on this subject, and why you believe everyone visiting China should be nonchalant about it?

DustyButt

... interest on the godzillions of US debt to China?
Mandarin as a second language?

ANoel

@Curves: Vancouver is just a couple years away...

sansovino

@fostina1: Let's keep Texas out of this please.

92BuickLeSabre

"It's doubtful that every cab is being recorded at all times, but the tech is there if necessary."

Don't be so sure. When I worked for EMC we sold some large disk arrays to the US government. Word was that "they" basically captured a sliding window of all land line phone conversations and searched them for keywords using computers. Any phone calls that contained key phrases were stored away for later human review.

I'd be willing to bet there is a similar mechanism at work in China.

Navin R Johnson

just nuke em. they are getting big heads.

fostina1

How long before we get this in the US?

atomx

So, if I'm on a taxi on the highway and I say buzz words like Tibet and Place Tienanmen, the taxi stop without warning ? Cool ! I'm really waiting to see some big car crash caused by this device.

Also, I'm so happy they give the Olympics to such a democratic country.

TheMugs

Just grab a player and play some sitcoms, or some James Bond spy specials.

JaLooNz

@Curves: For the record, you might not want to try it in NYC either. Most of the cabs have cameras the taxi driver can turn on without telling you, and they also have GPS to track you down for a live look-see.

92BuickLeSabre

COOL!

buyj3llo

@Albishor: Chinese cars have the driver on the left side. You can't actually see any other left seats - The other cars all probably have a passenger in the front right seat.

asten77

@Albishor:
Single rides in taxis in most of the Pacific Rim are taken from the front seat (shotgun). No doubt a passenger. China dropped right-hand-drive quite a while back.

reefdweller

So I guess this rules out the possibility of grabbing the cabby's shoulder and yelling in my best Jack Bauer voice "Take me to the consulate!!"

Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans

@Albishor: Actually, he's on the correct side and the others are on the wrong. The other cars are probably from Hong Kong where the Brits who don't know their left from their right.

Noobs-R-Us

You could really mess with the Chinese gov't... start telling 'false' state secrets on a cell phone if you're an American diplomat:

"Hello President Bush.. yessir.. yessir.. the plan to invade is a go if our athletes don't win the most gold medals..."

Maksimir

People, relax, as much as you folks think you're so special that the Chinese gov't is interested in what you say or do, don't. Unless you're there at the Olympics not to watch sports but to cause trouble, they really have no interest so just go about your business, enjoy.

Noobs-R-Us

@SgtToastie: You mean something like the Patriot Act? Is that what you mean?

Noobs-R-Us

@mmmiles: Or you could just sing this over & over:

Oceania, 'tis for thee.
Strong and Peaceful, Wise and Brave
Fighting the Fight for the whole world to save
We the people will ceaselessly strive
To keep our great revolution alive
Unfurl the banners, walk in the street
'Till every home has such glory received
'Till every one has such glory as me
'Can all the world have such glory be seen

Oceania, Oceania, Oceania, 'tis for thee.
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for thee
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for thee
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for thee

Lupus_Yonderboy

@Curves: You never know, they might like that and try and track you to your destination :).

Joseph

@Curves: You can still do it, just expect a standing ovation when you arrive at your destination all flushed.

This is why I'm proud to be an American.

Gann

Why is the driver in the second car from the front on the wrong side of the car? Everyone else is on the left!

Albishor

There goes my plan to have lusty, screamng sex in thge back of a taxi at the Olympics. Foiled again.

Curves

Man and I thought Americans were sheep. I mean the Chinese have got to be really ignorant (ignorance caused by their gov. of course) to give their government so much control.

SgtToastie

The Chinese people probably don't see this as a bad thing. Having had the longest running stable governments in history (what was the Ch'ing dynasty? like 3000 years?) they see government as all powerful and all deserving, not like us individualistic "freedom" loving westerners

User Formerly known as Arelar

That or grab a stereo for your cab ride and blast one of Weird Al's albums... They probably wouldn't get it, but that's besides the point I guess.

mmmiles

This is why I took those "make fake staticy sounds with your mouth" classes.

"So *sskarskskkkks* I was thi*skrcskks*nking we could *skrscrsks*..."
"Oh forget it! The microphone in that taxi is clearly not working. Let's move to another taxi."

92BuickLeSabre

Flashmob Chinese cab spamming anyone?

2000 (20000?) people reading Shakespeare or Hustler Letters at the top of their lungs across Beijing. I bet you can ride a cab all day there for a few bucks.

Someone make an Iphone app to help organize it!

mmmiles

it's very simple: if you go to China, expect no privacy.
The End.

User Formerly known as Arelar

I hope that when the operator types in "Lucious Fox," the whole system self destructs.

Yifkong

Those have been there for a while at least. I was there a few months ago and asked one of the drivers about them and he just shook his head...

There's also cameras and microphones mounted lots of places around the city (particular in public gathering type places or anywhere near a government or olympic facility), as well as speakers playing propaganda in english and chinese throughout the city.

I'm so glad the IOC chose this wonderful country!

nachobel

If you think this is to crush dissent and not for stealing trade secrets, I have a bridge to sell you.

mullingitover

Fucking commie bastards!!

Munch the BanNail

So as an American, can you go there to watch the Olympics and smash talk the Chinese government while riding in a cab without getting locked up? It doesn't seem that way does it. I don't think any "officials" are going to be discussing state secrets in a Cab in China anyways, but it's still a bit daunting that the Chinese government are such control freaks. Or maybe there has been a problem lately with Cabbies giving out bad restaurant advice...

Hectorvex

@Bender: Now THAT'S an idea! The irony of an "anti-disruption/anti-protest" tool used to disrupt/protest! Brilliant!

DustyButt

Yet even more proof that China is one big Shit Hole!

aussie

As a Torontonian, Toronto being the city with the second most successful bid for the 2008 Olympics, hearing all of this news about China's polluted, totalitarian olympics really upsets me.

Toronto has been trying to revive its waterfront for years, but there haven't been any real strides made in doing so. It was expected thath the olympics would finally bring the public money to undergo that sort of change. In a lot of ways, it was expected to bring Toronto onto the world stage, which hasn't really happened since... well, ever.

strobefx

@Noobs-R-Us:

He's just trying to be cool.

slush

Am I the only one impressed that China has the money these days to pull this off? I bet their roads are free from pot holes, too. That's it --- screw privacy, I am moving to China.

Monty

Someone needs to figure out how to hack these asap.

70,000 cabs simultaneously stalled in traffic would go down as the biggest and most disruptive prank in history.

Bender

... to be introduced next year by the New York Taxi Cab and Limousine commission.

ianmac47

@fostina1: I'd agree if only there are many Chinese that don't deserve the way their government mistreats them, exploits them, overworks them, takes away their homes, lies to them...HEY! The Chinese people are treated just like us!!

SigmundTheSeaMonster

Oh, look at all the totalitarian communist apologists come squirming out of the woodwork like so many self-loathing termite larvae.

middy

@Albishor:

Don't ask questions or they will kill you.

xcharliemx

@rhett121: First order of business, destroy all ONSTAR-equipped vehicles, followed by every smartphone on the planet, which, yes, includes the iPhone.

Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans

@Monty: you can do a lot when your not spending 9 billion a month on bombing a foreign country

damnElantra

In true American form we are in such an uproar over a COMMUNIST country doing something like this when our own supposedly FREE country has been doing MUCH worse than this to us for years with nary a word of revolt. How about we focus on something that actually matters, like OUR OWN liberties!

Notice the "traffic" and "safety" cameras everywhere?
How about the Patriot Act? Feel safer?
The TSA? A bunch of half-wit power mongers.
A leader who thinks our Constitution is "just a piece of paper" and is still in power despite his swearing an oath to uphold and defend it.

Ever heard of ONSTAR?

If they can illegally tap right into your internet and phone conversations, which they have, and they got away with, and they'll do again, do you really think they can't command full control of your ONSTAR equipped vehicle?

WAKE UP JACKASS!!

rhett121

@middy: You're an idiot. Have you ever taken a cab in a major US city? If so, did you just fail to notice the GPS, cameras, and microphones? If you did notice, were you just not aware that the police can tap into these feeds?

ithcy

@Monty: Dude, they MAKE all that stuff there!
They've got a direct line on inexpensive hardware and inexpensive labor to install, maintain and work it!

I'm not saying they SHOULD, quite the opposite, but man, the STUFF is all right there already.

strider_mt2k

@strobefx: As a fellow GTA'er, I feel your pain. Any theories on what the hell the IOC was thinking?

I guess we'll have to rely on Caribana every year for any international attention

Brian

I just spent a week in China and I was surprised at the amount of day to day personal freedom they have in comparison to the US. I would estimate that their laws curtailing freedoms like underage drinking and smoking laws, child car seats, seatbelts, osha standard etc etc etc are lagging at least 30 years behind the US. Good or bad these laws do impact your freedom to "do" whatever you want.

Consider their whole country is like one giant corp. If you worked for General Electric and talked smack all day about how the company sucked, I would bet you that wont get that next promotion and that if you don't get fired you will probably be cleaning the bathrooms pretty quickly.

As far as speaking about Tibet, protests in T-square etc it is just plain rude. Just like it would be rude for someone from China to start an argument with their US hosts about Bush, Iraq, Nam etc (i.e. Why haven't YOU fixed YOUR country's problems yet?).

Please understand I am not defending any country's horrible human rights record just trying to add a little perspective to all the hate being portrayed in this thread.
The Chinese people are just like everyone else and the more we socialize with them the more we can influence each other.

nospamsam

@User Formerly known as Arelar: Depending on which one your talking about. The first Qing (qin) dynasty was like 50 years. The second (and last dynasty ever) the Qing (the manchurian one) was about 450 years.

China has only had emperors since maybe 2000 years ago, before that you had warring states and what not, governments didn't last very long at all.

nachobel

@Kaiser-Machead's BSDM Shenanigans: Our smartphones? okay now you're out of line

Delvar15

@strobefx: Yeah...but its Canada ;)

pitpawten

@Maksimir:

You made my day sir :)

vee-media

Thank god our democratic western countries don't have "security" cameras on every street corner or intercept phone calls and internet data!

Oh wait...

shinchan

I like how everyone freaks out.
I've been to China, seen the cages (metal with polycarbonate) on cabs.
I've seen them in Chicago too, and they are far worse!

Trust me, 1 in 100 speaks a little english to understand the minimum directions you can give them.
They started adopting this 3 years ago... and now the west freaks out?
Southern China has a problem with security, robbery, thugs, etc.. at night, Shanghai and Beijing (northen part) not so much.

I don't have anything bad to say about China (maybe polution..), if anything my experience has been that they are the most capitalistic nation going. Money talks and progress is going so fast, it leaves all other nation in shame.
If this service can be used by cabs to give them aditional safety and provide translation services for foreigners, the idea is smart and progressive.

Has any other nation done anything similar? Dont't think so...
Or do they equip all their cabs with poliglot cabbies? Didn't think so either...
If they thought to implement a system as such, would they cry BIG BROTHER?

If your were a spy infiltrating China, you sure hell would not be boasting about it in a cab. Right? Makes sense...

Sense is what a lot of people are missing on this thread...

aec007

Are we sure these will even work and just aren't some sort of placebo to keep people from doing unscrupulous things in cabs?

Why else would the Chinese government leak information about the program at all?
To the Wall Street Journal no less...

phor11

"Beijing police tow the general "it's for the driver's safety" line:"

Not to be the grammar police or anything here, but I believe the correct use of the phrase is "toe the line", not "tow the line". You know, like the Olympic runners will "toe the line" before the race starts.

Just sayin'.

Mooby

1936.... all.. over... again....

theotherstevejobs

@Yifkong: I actually laughed. Good stuff.

Chester_Copperpot

Sigh. I keep trying to write an insightful post, and all I can come up with is Fuck China, Free Tibet. Oh well...

ShinySideUp

@rhett121:

CONSPIRACY THEORIST SPOTTED!!

xcharliemx

@Mooby:

Although, as you (John) use the phrase in the article, I can see the different meaning that you may have fully intended.

Continue with the good work.

Mooby

How would China handle dissent from a foreign national during the Olympics? I thought it would be great to see an athlete wearing a Free Tibet shirt during the medals ceremony, if only for the controversy. (Plus you'd be remembered forever like those black guys and their terrorist air-fist bumps.)

anonymousryan

So, I guess the Olympics won't be going back to China again for a long time?

jkr2

after the oil and electricity has been cut, be prepared to be assaulted by a segway-mounted motorized-counter-terrorism unit :)

dedalus987

@mmmiles: That would be absolutely hilarious. Penthouse stories can be heard all around
Beijing as far as the ear can (remotely) hear.

bobx3

hopefully China won't taping all your phone conversations and emails or confiscate your gadgets in airports like America does....

VakeroRokero

China is cool! This is just like the movies said it was going to be!

willyboy

Ummm... fuck China?

and @chamychan: Yes, bush obviously cheated in tons of ways (including putting fake felonies supposedly committed in Texas on the records of thousands of democratic voters in florida in order to gain an advantage.
But everyone cheats in the U.S. prez elections in some way or another.

mferrari

@rhett121:

our own supposedly FREE country has been doing MUCH worse than this to us for years with nary a word of revolt.

As a chinese citizen who has been living in the States for 7 years, I have to say the way Americans live as no different as the way Chinese people do. Without ever experiencing the true idea of democracy, the people of china nod and agree with what their government tells them to do. Love for the country equates the love for the party and the administration.

democracy in the States is an illusion. Yes you have a bipartisan government, but truly do you think your government let its people choose their own president?
(yes im referencing Gore/Bush) Your government is so shady and secretive, egotistic and just idiotic that the true value of democracy is skewed and misappropriated into a weapon to invade another country (Iraq)

chamychan

Meanwhile in the 'free' west they can remotely activate your cellphone mic and listen to you not just in a taxi but in your very own living room, and other rooms too of course.
It seems comforting to see that the chinese apparently are using such old and out in the open methods.

Wwhat

@Curves: Someone capture that video please!

Scott

@Monty: I'm sure there are no potholes where you'd be allowed to go.

Elsewhere? There are potholes that swallow dogs and small children.

banned4life

Ah, but we're better than China because we don't tell people they're being watched, which makes everyone feel better. See how that works?

Killjoy

@Mooby: Dammit, Mooby! You beat me to it! Here I was, reading through this long column of comments, absolutely amazed no one had posted about that mistake. With each post read, my anticipation grew, as I eagerly awaited getting to the bottom so I could call him (John) out...

...only to be beaten to the punch. Oh well.

Even worse, I have nothing insightful to add to the comments that has not already been said! Er... China's pollution is bad! Perhaps from too many taxis? There we go. :)

dwarfgoat

People you got it all wrong. I justc ame back from China ( a month ago) and this microphones are very helpfull. If you are a foreigner who doesnt know Mandarin the Taxi drver will call the operator and ask her to translate. I have used them, but not every Cab driver knows how to use them so its hard to find one that actually does.
By the way the metal cages are down almost all day long, only depending on the area and the Time will they lift up de polycarbonate plate. Also Chinese streets are in ecxelent shape.

hazmx

I wonder how much people here are from NA.

There are Cameras on streetlights all over downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In China, these microphones, as posted have a dual purpose as stated by many.

In the USA, you have a Commander in Cheif and your NSA electronic surveillance program since 2001.

So what's with all the anger?

gothamdarkknight

I hate it when I see people writing posts like "fuck china, and fuck the chinese"

I'm chinese and I love my country. I also love The United States of America. And that is why it pains me to hear some Americans, so blinded by their pride, to see what is actually happening in the world.

The United States had a head start at democracy, no question about that. China has only recently opening up its mindset about the issue ever since the introduction of capitalism. we still have a long way to go when it comes to human rights and other democratic processes.

Why can't these two countries and its people, work together in diplomatic ways to advance ourselves instead of yelling hostile and useless things like "free tibet!"

i mean realistically speaking freeing tibet will never happen. why can't the americans encourage diplomacy between tibet and china?

chamychan

Communism ppl. It's alive and well.

_badtziscool

@mullingitover: You've got your political control in my industrial espionage! Well, you've got your industrial espionage in my political control!

New Reese's Police/Anti-Terror State Cups. 2 great abuses of freedom that go great together!

anderlan

Yeah right...let's not forget all the cctv's, choppers, secret microphones everywhere in the fridge, in the shower, in the lamps... and half of chinese people are not real people they are cyborgs remotely connected through the mainframe and records everything you do and say which is then monitored & analyzed by BB3000. Once you get o the cab you have been spotted by three different visual sources and your face emotion is matched to the database to decide what kind of people you are, then the "smeller" kicks in and analyze the chemical component of your smell to detect any threat....don't forget they are no mosquitos in China, only tiny robot that resembles them and bit you to inject you with tracking devices.

...

mnk086

@chamychan:

I am a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for 24 yrs and in China for 12. And I am sick and tired of the defense you (and countless other netizens) make when people start to point fingers at China. It's always along the lines of "you've got problems too so you're in no place to judge me".

Not only is this kind of response a logical fallacy, it's frankly embarrassing that the best defense people could come up with is to start pointing fingers. And I beg to differ from those that say U.S. is no different from China. Just look at the immigration numbers. Where's the line of immigrants at the Chinese Embassy?

I would say that there's a huge difference between China and U.S. The difference of ideals. Sure the U.S. is far from perfect and has made many mistakes (Iraq, Bush, etc.), but people around the world likes the idea of a government by the people and for the people. And ultimately it is this ideal that's attractive, just like when the communist party first formed.

So what's the ideal of the Chinese Communist Party? -- To stay in power. Yep, and there has been official documents that pretty much states this (look up official response to the t_square incident). And in order to stay in power, the CCP has employed everything from propaganda, manipulating history, censoring, flat out lying, to harassing, incarcerating, and killing so called "dissidents".

You can clearly see what type of "freedom" the Chinese have just by logging on to most private forums. You'll see that that the forum rules will clearly state that you can not post topics regarding religion or politics, but nothing about racist or rude remarks. So you're free to slander and cuss people out online, but politics and religion are taboo? Oh and of course we can't forget about the estimated 30k ~ 300k net police and front man / censors employed by the CCP to "keep your mind pure". And the mockery of the Harmonious Society movement with the phrase "I got harmonized" (referring to altering or deleting posts that's deemed disharmonious by censors).

And this recent surge of Chinese Nationalism is nothing more than CCP's diversionary tactic to keep people's mind off internal issues. I mean sure, nationalism is great, but it also gave us Nazi's and imperial Japan. And with the way Chinese media translate every anti-CCP policy issue to anti-Chinese people sentiment, at this rate, if the nationalism movement doesn't explode, it will implode.

centerpeace

@centerpeace: But you're a-okay when countless people go "FUCK THE CHINESE"? A mindless expression of perverted ignorance and impotent rage?

Kindly stop referring to yourself as Chinese-American. Just "another brainwashed American" would do.

miborovsky

You people are all paranoid, those microphones have been in taxis for years and were originally installed for mobile communication via cellphone, if you think that beijing has spent all that money equipping taxis with gps enabled mics then you are a few cents short of a dollar in the mind.

I'm all for conspiracies but this is ridiculous

CP

chinapat

@DustyButt: You're suffering from paranoia. Why don't you read @aec007: 's post above to get some perspective.

@centerpeace: I agree with @chinapat: 's assessment of you. You need to go back and study your roots. China's long history can be a guide. Remember, America's only been around for what, 250 years? China's been around for 5,000. For the U.S. to advise China is like a 3 year old trying to advise a 60 year old. It's absurd.

Remember, the west's' policies are about control, they do this by destabilizing other nations in the guise of benevolence. Look for example at the way they tried to "help" Afghanistan and Iraq. Oh yea, thanks a lot! Look at the way Soviet Union collapsed by loosening controls overnight. That's what the west is now recommending to China. What do you think would happen to the Chinese if you were to suddenly just let all controls fall away? Especially in a 5,000 year old country where they never had a democracy? The same can be said about the U.S. and some of the other nations that want the RMB freely convertible right now! Who does that help exactly? The Chinese? The way that the central government of China is doing things right now is absolutely spot on. They're on their own timeline and shouldn't be influenced by other nations that have their own agendas. Rights, along with everything else should develop slowly and carefully overtime, not quickly. They've waited 5,000 years, what's a few more?

Noobs-R-Us

God, how fucking LAME. Why don't they just get it over with and RF ID every living thing and put chips in their brains to control what they say and think. Hooray for Big Brother! Yeah. Fuck those guys.

gloveofpower

@miborovsky: and @Noobs-R-Us:
I don't see how or why you concluded from my post that I'm okay with people that say "Fuck the Chinese". The just of my post is the difference of ideals between CCP and the U.S., and you can't defend the wrongs of your own country by pointing out issues in another. So try to keep your responses in context. So please refrain from the unnecessary name calling.

And I used the word ideal because I am aware that reality is often far from ideal, but ideals sets the course a country follows. I can't disagree with that the U.S. have obviously wondered off course. But at least in California they can recall Grey Davis, and you can vote for Obama (not an endorsement)come this election. Especially the local elected officials who have to be somewhat responsive to the constituents' needs if they want to be re-elected. All this happens because the ideals of this country. Sure the goal of the democrat and republican party is to get elected, not that much unlike the CCP's goal to stay in power. But in a 2 party system, this brings competition and in a 1 party system, it brings oppression.

@Noobs-R-Us:
While I whole heartily agree with you that China doesn't have to follow in the footsteps of U.S. and the Chinese people are not ready for democracy; that time is needed to develop and mature. And I am aware of the parallels between the RMB issue and how U.S. pressured the Japanese Yen to become fully convertible in the 80's and its subsequent consequences.

But I regret to say you are the one that needs to study history. First of all, being older doesn't mean wiser. So you can toss that 3yr old vs 60yr old analogy out the window. Not to mention the founding fathers of this country carries with them culture and history of Europe, so it wasn't like they were starting from scratch.

Second, you don't seem too keen on the controversies that surround the whole 5000 year history claim. I suggest you wiki Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project & Yigupai (Skeptic School of Chinese History) to have a better perspective on Chinese History.

Again, if you 2 want to point out the failures of U.S., I probably will agree with most, if not all of your points. But my original post started with "you can not defend your own deficiencies by pointing fingers at others", and ended with the difference of ideals between the two country. Both of you ignored the topic of my post and took the examples I sited out of context and converted it into some for or against contest.

*dodging flames for talking politics in a tech forum*

centerpeace

@centerpeace: OK, I will put it in the term you want. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. There, do you get it now? China understands this more than anyone after they were gang raped by the west over 150 years ago. That's why they don't go around criticizing other nations or tell them what to do. Have you noticed that they always block U.N. actions by the west along with Russia? Why do you think that is?

So the point here is that everyone should keep their mouths shut. You mind your own business and they'll mind theirs.

Noobs-R-Us

@Noobs-R-Us:

Your point of view was prevalent in the pre-WW2 era where most of Europe and U.S. just watched as fascism grew in Nazi Germany, and look where that got us. I am not saying China will turn into the next Nazi Germany. I'm just using an example to point out the fault of your logic. But you sound like the selfish type that turns the other cheek when things aren't a direct conflict of your interest.

And even if I put aside the intangible ideals of freedom and rights, we're living in the global age now. What China does, such as pollution, the recent product recalls etc., has a very real effect on the rest of the world. Are you aware that by some estimates China has surpassed U.S. as the number 1 carbon dioxide emitting nation since 2006? That Chinese generated pollution turns into acid rain over Korea, Japan, and sometimes California? But I guess if you live in Nevada, that wouldn't be your problem, and you'd keep your mouth shut.

centerpeace

@centerpeace: I see. You're the kind of person that goes around criticizing everyone you see right? That's why you have so many friends correct? Why would you use a double standard? Do you do what you preach about countries in your own personal life? It's like someone in your office that dresses like a slob who constantly complains about someone else's attire. I don't know about you, but I call that person an asshole.

It's ironic that on the one hand you preach about the freedom to do what you want but you don't afford the same curtsey to the Chinese government. Isn't that a double standard? The fact of the matter is that people AND countries should have the freedom to do what they want and develop in their own way. If it doesn't meet your brand of fairness, too bad, it's not your place to judge just like it's not your place to criticize other people on a personal level. If the Chinese citizens don't like things, they will have to do something about it. It's not our place to go do something about it. You should focus on fixing what's wrong here in our own country.

Imagine if the tables were reversed, how would the U.S. feel if China were to complain to every media around the world and at the U.N. about how the prisoners at Guantanamo are treated? Or how about if their diplomats go on the 6 o'clock news and talk about how unamerican the Patriot Act is? Do you not realize how ridicules that would be? Is it their place to make such criticisms when they are not perfect?

In terms of the pollution you cite, it's really silly. China is producing and polluting for the rest of the world since most of the things are exported. On a net-net basis, no more pollution is being produced than before since many of the capacities in the rest of the world have shifted into China. If China were to stop making goods for the rest of the world and production shifted back into different countries around the world, do you think that on a net-net basis that total pollution on a aggregate basis would be reduced??? Please think about things before you buy into western propaganda. As much as the politicians from the west would like to keep the yellow man down in the gutter by using asinine political pressure to break China's development, it won't happen. The Chinese are too smart for that, they remembered what happened 150 years ago. Just like the Jews will "never forget", so will the Chinese.

Noobs-R-Us

See?

middy

I am a Chinese, I lived in China for 15 years. Believe me when I say this, any news in the western media about China are in fact exaggerating to begin with, let along basis and sometimes miss-match photos from up to 10 years ago on some other instances...

maxpnc

China is just terrible. They are a blight on this planet and an affront to basic human rights worldwide.

The only thing worse are the idiot westerners who can't tell the difference between an oppressive, fascist government and a malfunctioning representative democracy.

adocious

Freedom of speech, FTW!*

*Restrictions apply. See your local government for details.

citylights5

difference between china and US:

in China, the public doesn't think they have any privacy so don't bother trying to get it.

in US, the public thinks they have privacy and go to great lengths to try to protect it. but in the end, the government can tap your phone without warrant, listen to everything you say in a public place anyway.

so who's the real sucker. the person that thinks they have privacy but really doesn't, or the person that knows they don't have it in the first place.

krystar

my dear editor, that is not a cam, it's only a Infrared Detector to check if any thief is in the car...

david1223