It’s been a weird few days in Beijing. I still believe that the calls for a Jasmine Revolution in China are mostly wishful tweeting, but neither have I been surprised by the government’s security minders wildly overreacting to the whole situation.
The Internet has been hit or miss all week, even by the usual standards. VPN services are harder to access and Linked In has now apparently joined Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube as the latest in a long list of overseas social media sites declared verboten by the CCP Net Ninnies. Linked In is now working in Beijing which I think says more about Linked In’s irrelevancy as it does about the the government’s tolerance.
And just in case that wasn’t sufficient, there’s always the old school approach as reported by Tom Lasseter on his blog:
But in addition to cyber tactics, the Chinese government has also apparently resorted to simpler measures: rows of trees in front of part of the Wangfujing McDonald’s, and a new construction site stretching down the street. Signs say the road is being repaired, though there’s not much evidence of that happening yet.
(For pictures, see this post by Beijing-based French journo Jordan Pouille)