Re: csg policy about sensitive material

From "Dale Wen" <dale.wen@gmail.com>
Date Sun, 5 Aug 2007 23:08:03 -0500
Cc Mobo.Gao@utas.edu.au, aday999@yahoo.com, husunzi@hotmail.com, zhongguo@openflows.org, chinastudygroup@gmail.com
Dkim-signature a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=gwxv0YJLJjDO1nYNu/t18ni/cDXmlAPnVrPBRjDTYi1KqBhILtuQadqY3XmQRRnS5AlJ3Ocj5i4TG4gL3USuH8dhE9CraFU823BnUH5EM0rQrJpNmvkjoUCi7APLwO+H8fsTFgKq4pcGAoXq7slBUA4JQkJNMQPnKpbVv5oUUXw=
Domainkey-signature a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=Y1oLAf3mNA9J7zt50PmtMAEmoWH6pYLrRS6I3YX0ZHDLlfDizzrZC7xRYvfsOIe4W/00Dm/S6sog0ID7M76DtgXh7kevctOmawoD01eVOzNTqJfFEkaVkLwPxJTdTexdh2WdsdI1QhUlA5JaEhHpnA85ae1htFbE65Xmi4L8l2E=
In-reply-to <ce7.15eb6c5e.33e4a567@aol.com>
References <ce7.15eb6c5e.33e4a567@aol.com>


This has nothing to do with my views about old left: if any of my own
articles get CSG blocked inside China, I would not hesitate one second
to suggest CSG to remove that article. I agree that CSG's role is to
bring various strands together, and getting blocked in China is not
serving that role! Several of us have discussed and decided that it is
really important to strengthen the Chinese part of the website and
reach more Chinese audience, and some of us are ready to donate money
so CSG can hire a full time staff in China to facilitate this work.
Being blocked is rendering all these ongoing efforts meaningless--so
far,  I simply  don't see any article important enough to risk the
whole website being blocked inside China.

I am in the middle of my two-month field research in China. I will
write more later about the various progressive trends/people I've
encountered, and some thoughts on how to bring them together.

Dale

On 8/3/07, Rwchina@aol.com <Rwchina@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 8/2/2007 3:44:11 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> dale.wen@gmail.com writes:
> Honestly, I don't see any reason why CSG should stick its neck out for
> the old lefties, especially as they themselves have caved in.
> I think it is foolish, idealistic, and frankly, self-indulgent, to dismiss
> the "old lefties" in this way.  First, it is not a matter of our doing
> something "for them."  It is a question of whether their statement is of
> value as a part of the critique being offered to the present policies.  If
> they have been slow to act in many cases, that does not render their present
> position any less relevant, and it may help free up others to do the same.
> In any case, there are members of the "old left" who have certainly risked
> more than most of us in helping to keep the goals of the revolution alive.
> Before we sit in judgment on their "caving in," perhaps we should be more
> sensitive to the implications of our potentially "caving in" by removing the
> Ma Bin et al. letter as well--and at the first whiff of difficulty to boot.
> But as Alex correctly notes, for many of us, however we deal with this bears
> little personal risk, since we are based outside China.  We therefore need
> to be very aware of the implications of our actions on those who are there,
> and perhaps take our lead from them on how to act now.
>
> As for the larger issues this raises, it seems to me that if the CSG has any
> meaningful role, it is in helping bring together the various strands that
> will be needed to begin to build something different--"old" left, "new"
> leftists, mass based movements, etc.  None of these--and certainly not U.S.
> based NGOs--will be adequate on their own to help lead things forward,
> whether in China or anywhere else in the world today.  Our limited potential
> is to help offer a place where these various forces can meet and exchange
> ideas.  As one leftist activist said to me last summer, assistance is needed
> from those outside because we are freer to act and have access to materials
> that are hard to obtain inside.  So we face a dilemma--if we start
> self-censoring ourselves, we lose an important part of our role, but if we
> do not, we may have more difficulty in playing it.
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.


-- 
Dale Wen, Ph.D.
Consultant on China issues

I recently published a report about China and globalization
A shorter English version
 www.ifg.org/pdf/FinalChinaReport.pdf
A longer Chinese version
www.wyzxsx.com/ebook/002.doc