Comments on: A Phone Call to the PSB

By: FYIADragoon

FYIADragoon — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:17:29 +0000

God I can’t stand Chinese police. It really helps me appreciate how understanding and fair the police at home are by comparison.

By: KINABLOG.dk » Bank af politiet: Kinesisk havfrue-kunstner Ai Weiwei har det godt efter operation

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:05:33 +0000

[...] China Geek har oversat et af Ai’s blogindlæg, der er fra ugen før hans inldæggelse. Her beskriver han [...]

By: Ai Weiwei Quick Update | ChinaGeeks

Ai Weiwei Quick Update | ChinaGeeks — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:25:36 +0000

[...] know Ai’s still in the game. Whether you think he’s a brilliant social critic/artist or self-centered blowhard with a victim complex, it’s good to know the man’s still [...]

By: C. Custer

C. Custer — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:39:09 +0000

You don’t need to quote something that’s only a single word. When you do, it’s generally called a scare quote. Scare quotes are often used to indicate that the writer disagrees with or disbelieves the original author.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes

By: MatthewTan

MatthewTan — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:58:36 +0000

The documentary – the PSB suspects that there are “specialised agents” creating and spreading “black” and untrue information on the internet to stir up social unrest. This is something I suspected also.

By: MatthewTan

MatthewTan — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:53:52 +0000

C. Custer,
“I also wonder why all the scare quotes. If you doubt my translation, go read it yourself. ”

Because I am quoting you, like this one below.

“scare quotes” – what is that supposed to mean? Who is getting “scared” or what is “scaring”?

I said the call is “normal” because this is what I expect a responsible PSB to do, to check whether there are children who have died and are not accounted for, or the reverse, to check whether there exists phantom names of non-existent “dead” children.

By: Old Tales Retold

Old Tales Retold — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:42:39 +0000

@ MatthewTan,

Why talk about the documentary at all? How was that within the PSB’s area of responsibility?

By: C. Custer

C. Custer — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:47:51 +0000

@ MatthewTan: I agree that Ai Weiwei is overreacting a bit; however, I don’t think there’s much that’s “normal” about the initial phone call. I also wonder why all the scare quotes. If you doubt my translation, go read it yourself.

By: MatthewTan

MatthewTan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:34:35 +0000

1. It reveals that the PSB made serious check on the names of children died during the earthquake
2. It reveals that some troublemakers must have claimed that Liu Yanping’s “another daughter” died during the earthquake
3. It was a normal ordinary call check by a public official, but the conversation turned “ugly” over the “veracity” of the “documentary”, and the public servant sincerely believed that the “documentary” was “masturbatory” and there were “specialised agents” stirring up trouble
4. “I don’t care what trouble you’re making on the internet, I only dare to say that I welcome any challenge from you!” This final statement does not really amount to a “threat”. It does reflect that the public official was confident of himself.
So, who is or are the real trouble-makers?