From beyond the Great Firewall…

Two days from now will mark the twentieth anniversary of a particular unnamed event in China. I’m a little bit away right now, but I was actually there during the tenth anniversary. For that entire week, the whole area was blockaded off. Things in the city were just a little bit more quiet (with a feel of caution) than usual.

I don’t know how things are there this week, but I will certainly ask my cohorts. From where I am though, there’s a big impact, and at the same time, very little. Why very big? Many of us have affectionately coined the term, The Great Firewall of China. And that very firewall is at work again. YouTube has been blocked on and off for a few months now. Blogger just got blocked not long ago. And tonight I noticed that Twitter and Flickr have also joined the ranks. Oddly enough, I have never able to access Wordpress blogs, however, I can get to the Wordpress main page. So far, email, (Gmail and Yahoo Mail, at least) Facebook, iTunes and Skype are still working. My friend emailed me some photos from her recent vacation hosted by Picasa (also owned by Gmail) and I can access those as well. I wonder if those are to follow. I use a VoIP telephone in order to maintain a 212 number and I’m wondering if later this week, I’ll have troubles with that.
(All of these firewalled sites can be accessed if you have a VPN. But that’s not the point.)

And why do I say there is very little impact? Well, I was curious about what the media and people actually think, beyond the government trying to suppress any opinions or views being expressed on blogs, videos or photos. I started on the CCTV web site, and could not find one mention of the anniversary. Even a search for the name of it did not bring up anything new. Then, I started to surf channels on TV. I have had the TV on for a few hours now (procrastinating and doing research…) and have gone back forth on CCTV – both Chinese and English language, Asia versions of BBC and CNN. Not one mention.

Why isn’t there any media coverage? Fear? Apathy? Or are people trying to forget?

I plan to keep checking tomorrow and the day after. I will also walk by the newsstand to see if any magazines or newspapers make mention. Note: none did, as of today.

So, if you don’t hear much from me, know that I’m okay. And enjoy the silence. :)