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22/09/2019

China Focus: China accelerates efforts to promote public awareness of cybersecurity

TIANJIN, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — Just scan a QR code on a vending machine, then you will be given a drink. The special vending machine placed at the ongoing cybersecurity expo held in Tianjin has attracted many people to try it out.

Once you scan the code, you will receive a message in a second, reminding you that “arbitrary code-sweeping will endanger personal property safety,” as your personal information might have been illegally collected.

This machine was installed by 360 Security Technology Inc.

The expo is a part of a cybersecurity publicity campaign held in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, aiming to promote public awareness of the issue

In fact, it is also a part of the 2019 China Cybersecurity Week, held from Sept. 16 to 22 nationwide.

The campaign was jointly launched by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and the ministries of education, public security and industry and information technology.

Over 100 cybersecurity and Internet enterprises have attended various activities held during the week.

There will also be themed activities to promote cybersecurity issues related to students, the telecommunication sector and financial sector.

Personal information protection is a major theme of this year’s campaign.

In Tianjin, an interactive experience area has been set up at the expo, which allowed visitors to raise their cybersecurity awareness through taking part in different activities.

“I’ve learned a lot about cybersecurity through these activities. Do not click strange links or download mobile software from unofficial platforms,” said a 64-year-old visitor surnamed Zhang.

Statistics released showed that China has more than 200 app stores providing nearly 5 million apps. They bring convenience for many people, but some of them become “information funnels,” leaking people’s mobile phone numbers, call records, text messages, consumption records and other private information.

According to a report on netizen’s satisfaction on cybersecurity issued during the event, 51.25 percent of surveyed Chinese netizens believe the Internet is safe, up 12.91 percentage points from last year. About 37 percent of the respondents believe there are personal information leaks on the Internet, and 58 percent experienced personal information infringement.

More than 82 percent of the respondents also urge legislation on individual information protection.

Early in January, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration for Market Regulation teamed up to launch a campaign to crackdown on illegal collection of personal information in mobile apps.

So far, more than 600 popular apps have been evaluated, with over 200 apps asked to make improvements in personal information protection.

Source: Xinhua

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05/09/2019

What Chinese women wear: debate reveals battle between freedom and tradition

When Kazakh actress Reyizha Alimjan arrived in Shanghai last month wearing jeans and a camisole it reignited a long-running debate over who gets a say on how Chinese women should dress
Fashion choices that would be regarded as unremarkable in Europe or North America are often seen as outrageous in the world’s most populous nation

Kazakh actress Reyizha Alimjan’s fashion choices sparked a social media storm in China last month. Photo: Weibo

When Li Xiang broke up with her boyfriend over a selfie she posted on social media, it was not just about a woman letting a man know he wasn’t entitled to tell her how to dress in public, but a matter of personal freedom, social norms and cultural tradition.

A few weeks ago, the 24-year-old media worker from Shanghai shared a photo on WeChat that showed her posing at her bedroom door in a camisole and mini shorts. Her boyfriend said it made him very “uncomfortable”, and they quarrelled.

“‘Look how scantily clad you are, and [if] that is not enough, you shared it online,’ he said,” Li recalled.

“I got mad when he said, ‘You should go and ask other men if they’d like their girlfriends to dress like that’, as if he should decide what I wear – as if I were his appendage,” she said, referring to the archaic notion that a woman is secondary to a man in their relationship.

What clothes Chinese women should or should not wear has been the subject of intense online debate in recent weeks. Photo: EPA

Their argument was not unusual in China, especially over the past month when the online world became embroiled in a war of words about women’s freedom to dress as they please.

The controversy erupted when an article defending Reyizha Alimjan – the Kazakh actress criticised for showing too much flesh when she arrived at an airport in Shanghai in late July wearing jeans and a camisole – appeared on a WeChat movie review account called Staff of the 3rd Hall on August 12.

Reyizha Alimjan was criticised for her outfit on Chinese social media. Photo: Weibo

While that perspective was supported by many women online, others disagreed and said that society was open and tolerant but that people had the right to disagree.

By coincidence, a poll about women wearing camisoles in public was launched on August 10 by a WeChat account called Cicada Creativity. About 70 per cent of the nearly 14,000 respondents said they did not dare to do so.

More than 40 per cent avoided doing so for reasons such as thinking they were “not thin enough”, but a quarter said they said no because either their boyfriends disapproved or would not allow it, or they feared they would be harassed.

Chinese women spurn Victoria’s Secret for home-grown lingerie brands

Joy Lin, a feminist from Shanghai, said the debate was so fierce because it was not just about dress.

“It’s more about people’s judgment about one’s character and morals behind what she wears,” Lin said. “If you wear revealing clothes, they would say you are asking for harassment. If you show a little skin, you are frigid. And if you are casual, they call you ‘dama’ [Chinese slang, often derogatory, for middle-aged and elderly women].”

Some women say they are often judged by the clothes they wear. Photo: AP

In her experience, Lin said that if she appeared on the streets of Shanghai – the most cosmopolitan city in China – without a bra, there would be judgmental looks from passers-by before she had walked 10 metres (33 feet).

In contrast, she did just that in Paris in July, and, “no one stared at me or came near me at all”.

“Usually, when it comes to comments about what we wear, they’re not about whether the dress matches the hairstyle or things like that, but about our bodies, whether we’re slim or not and stuff like that,” she said. “Some [comments] can be very malicious and insulting.”

#MeToo rally accuses Hong Kong police of sexual violence against protesters

While shaming women for their clothing choices has been an issue for many years, it reached peak public awareness in China after the #MeToo movement took off in the US.

The social media campaign went viral in 2017 when dozens of women accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assaults over a period of nearly 30 years.

The #MeToo movement took off in the US in 2017 after dozens of women accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. Photo: Shutterstock

Lu Peng, a researcher from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the online debate helped encapsulate conflicts between a growing desire for freedom, gender norms and generations of tradition.

“There will hardly be a consensus on such a question about whether women have the freedom to dress,” he said. “But if this discussion can make people realise that men, not just women, also face restrictions in dressing, then it’s bringing progress.”

The simplest example was to dress for the occasion, which applies to both sexes.

“We have never been free in dressing. We’re only free within a certain extent … About what to wear in public, I don’t think we should emphasise freedom only and ignore the local culture and society,” Lu said.

Keeping a low profile has long been part of the Chinese philosophy. Photo: Xinhua

In China, there is no law banning states of dress or undress in public, nor do the Han people, who make up most of the population, have religious beliefs that restrict their mode of dress. But keeping a low profile and avoiding unwanted attention has long been part of the Chinese philosophy.

“My father will also ask me not to be ‘overexposed’, because he believes it’s increasing the risk of being harassed,” Li, the Shanghai media worker, said.

“They think they mean well, but I just want to be myself. I’m not breaking any law. I want to make my own contribution in changing this culture,” she said.

Source: SCMP

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