Social software is spreading out in Chinese cyberspace。 But the interplay between state censorship and the free flow of information and free expression reaches far beyond just the area of technology. In an earlier post I introduced Professor Perry Link’s article on this subject: how “fear” works in China’s censorship mechanism. Another penetrating analysis on this subject is given in this essay “Changing the Subject: The “Invisible” Control Mechanism in Chinese Media”. The author is an American who works for China Central Television. “Ann Condi” is a pen name.

Despite this deep rooted fear, there are more and more Chinese who do speak the truth. Here are two examples: one is Jiao Guobiao, a journalism professor in Peking University, the other is a retired military doctor Jiang Yanyong who was the whistle blower who revealed the SARS epidemic in China.