Razed Home Sparks Self-Immolation

2013-02-15

Chinese man sets himself ablaze after developers evict his family and destroy his home.

AFP

A resident reacts after failing to protect her home from a demolition crew in Guangdong province, March 21, 2012.

A migrant worker from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi who returned home for Chinese New Year to find his ancestral home demolished remains in critical condition this after setting fire to himself, his relatives said on Friday.

Hu Tengping arrived at his home--like hundreds of millions of Chinese--in time to celebrate the Year of the Snake with a traditional family get-together on Jan. 29, according to a rights activist from his hometown of Xinyu city.

But Hu's ancestral home in Xinyu's Zhoukang village had been razed to the ground in his absence and his family forcibly evicted.

While some 100,000 yuan (U.S. $16,000) in intended compensation had been paid directly to his bank account in his absence, Hu's shock was enough to prompt him to douse himself in petrol and set himself ablaze, rights activist Liu Xizhen said on Friday.

"By the time [I] heard about it, he was already in the hospital," she said. "He was very severely burned. Only the top of his head and the soles of his feet were unscathed."

"His family, including his wife and those closest to him, are watching over him," Liu added.

Severe burns

Hu's niece confirmed that her uncle had suffered severe burns over 95 percent of his body, had undergone surgery on Thursday, and was still in intensive care at the Xingang Center Hospital in Xinyu city.

"He is still in a critical condition," she said. "He is only semiconscious."

Hu's niece, also surnamed Hu, said her uncle was currently undergoing surgery every four or five days.

"When things like this happen, you'd think they would care more about what happens to ordinary people like us," she said. "They just knocked down my uncle's entire house."

Liu said she had tried to visit Hu at the hospital along with two fellow activists, but were turned away by security personnel at the hospital entrance.

"We weren't able to get in," she said. "The local village-level government had posted more than a dozen people there, watching the whole area."

"We tried to get in by posing as a married couple, but they surrounded us and asked us what we were doing. We said we wanted to visit a patient and they asked who it was, and then they stopped us."

Calls to the Xingang Center Hospital and to the Xinyu municipal police department went unanswered during office hours on Friday.

Calls to the Xinyu municipal government offices resulted in a repeated busy signal.

Forced evictions 

On Jan. 23, a man protesting forced eviction from his home in the eastern province of Shandong set himself on fire in front of government advisers during a parliamentary meeting.

Violent forced evictions, often resulting in deaths and injuries, continue to rise in China as cash-strapped local governments team up with development companies to grab property in a bid to boost revenue, according to a recent report by rights group Amnesty International.

Amnesty International collected reports of 41 cases of self-immolation from 2009 to 2011 alone due to forced evictions. That compares to fewer than 10 cases reported in the entire previous decade.

Nearly half of all rural residents have had land forcibly taken from them, with the number of cases on the rise, according to a 2011 study by the Landesa Rural Development Institute.

Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

山西前副书记侯伍杰出狱回家 当地官员富商列队欢迎

    来源：中华网论坛
    

侯伍杰资料图片
   
    据微博爆料，2006年因贪污受贿被判入狱11年的前山西省委副书记侯伍杰，于近日提前出狱，当地官员和煤老板及名流富商们，争相迎接贪官“荣归故里”，或列队欢迎，鲜花簇拥，甚至欲以礼炮迎接；回家后门庭若市，其礼遇犹如英雄凯旋。
   
    无论官员、富豪，还是平民百姓，如果一旦“摊事儿”，特别是改变了你前途命运的大事之后，才能考验出谁是你真正的朋友，谁真正念你的好。这种考验很简单，甚至一目了然。
   
    如果你是富豪，一夜之间倾家荡产，变一无所。此时有人来安慰你，有人出手来帮助你，这类人就是破产富豪的真正的朋友。如果你是普通老百姓，你没有能力帮助别人，反而需要别人帮助你的时候，有人主动对你提供帮助，这类人就是遇难老百姓的的真正的朋友。如果你当过官儿，在岗时曾帮助过别人，或者交结过一些兄弟、哥们、朋友。一旦你退下来之后，还有人来看望你，还有兄弟、哥们、朋友如从前一样，这些人就是你真正的朋友，或者值得交往的人。
   
    因为真正的朋友不是那种互相利用的关系，是一种互相帮助、关心或者感恩的关系……
   
    如上这些身份不同的人，经过考验和检验而显现出的“真正的朋友”之间的关系，是属于社会人群正常交往形成的关系。
   
    然而，发生在因违法违纪、贪污腐败被判刑11年的前山西省委副书记侯伍杰出狱后如“荣归故里”的十分刺激人的场面就很值得琢磨了。
   
    今年68岁的侯伍杰，曾是我们官场中“带病”提拔的典型官员。1995年，他在阳泉市当官时，就有到北京与阳泉女官员开房偷欢被警方扫黄逮个正着的劣迹，但此事并没影响到他的仕途，反而升官至省委副书记。2004年12月，侯伍杰出国考察登机时被中纪委扣下“双规”，两年后被北京中级法院以受贿88万元判处有期徒刑11年。
   
    按着我们的宣传、教育而形成的思维模式，这样的贪官，不管你过去有何骄人的功绩，都会一笔勾销，凭着你手中的权利交结了多少“铁杆儿”，一旦你出事了，被免职、双规、判刑以至于到出狱，这些所谓“铁杆儿”，都会如树倒猢狲散、烟消云散一样在你面前没了踪影。从此，摊过事儿的你从此在遗憾、后悔、哀叹、孤独、无助中了却一生……
   
    然而，就是这个背叛11年徒刑的侯伍杰，颠覆了我们过去形成的“思维模式”，他出狱后不仅不孤独，而且出现了如英雄般地被“列队欢迎”、“鲜花簇拥”下“荣归故里”的令人震惊的场面！那么，侯伍杰出狱为什么会有许多官员、富豪、名流出面让其“荣归故里”？
   
    一．侯伍杰当政时，帮助了一些人“官运亨通”，给一些人带来了官场上“一帆风顺”。然而，侯伍杰出事之后，并没把他们“咬出”，没让他们成为“一根绳上的蚂蚱”。这些人到现在对侯伍杰也念念不忘，所以出现网曝侯伍杰“在北京出狱那日，山西省委一副秘书长亲自捧鲜花去机场迎接，但扑空怅然而返”的消息。
   
    二．侯伍杰当政时，帮助了一些曾小打小闹的小商小贩，一夜之间成为富翁、煤老板。这些人对侯伍杰的“知遇之恩”也念念不忘，他们不仅亲自到北京迎接“老大”荣归故里，而且，如果不是侯伍杰害怕太出风头再出事而对他们进行劝阻，这些富豪、煤老板就用礼炮迎接了……
   
    那么，为什么会出现这样的贪官出狱犹如“荣归故里”的高调场面？
   
    一．以及经过“改造”的贪官侯伍杰，没有对过去他犯下的罪过有罪恶感。所以，他才能怂恿、同意他过去的哥们、朋友们用“高规格礼遇”迎接他“荣归故里”。
   
    二．策划或者出来捧场侯伍杰“荣归故里”的官员和富翁、煤老板及名流们，之所以关于“高调”迎接侯伍杰，说明这些人甚至当地“官场文化”。他们这样做，甚至可以给没出事的官员留下深刻记忆，“我们是知道感恩的，讲义气的”，没准因此会在当地官场上留下“人气”，扩大与其他官员的“交际圈”……
   
    贪官侯伍杰出狱出现这样“荣归故里”的场面，的确令人震惊，甚至会通过这“荣归故里”表面的东西，让人联想到这“表面”的背后存在着更多、更可怕的东西：
   
    一．因贪污腐败背叛11年徒刑的侯伍杰，他在监狱中有何突出表现，竟然改造还不足7年，就恢复了人身自由？如果有“立功表现”、符合减刑规定，那没的说。如果不是而“立功”减刑，那些暗中帮助侯伍杰的，比迎接侯伍杰“荣归故里”的人更可怕。
   
    二．当年，侯伍杰以受贿88万元判处有期徒刑11年。但是，事实上，有卖官书记之称的侯伍杰涉贪金额远不止于此。山西省纪检委办案人员曾透露，从各种渠道来的收入至少有5000万元，侯在各地还拥有的房产达38处之多。当时，侯伍杰曾威胁办案人员，“如果你们一定要让我怎么样，那山西会有一大批官员跟着我倒楣，不会少于二、三百个干部”。
   
    是谁帮助侯伍杰由“千万级”贪官，缩减到不足“百万”的小贪官？难道侯伍杰真的保护了“二、三百个”问题官员？
   
    由此及彼，由“表面”联想到“背后”，通过在贪官侯伍杰身上发生的一些不可思议的事情，不难发现山西当地官场上还存有很多“神秘”的东西需要破解……

纽约时报：习近平将释放刘晓波

 
    来源：世界日报
    曾两度获得普立兹新闻奖并着有专着「中国觉醒了」的「纽约时报」专栏作家纪思道(Nicholas D. Kristof)，5日在「纽约时报」网站撰文，预言中国新任最高领导人习近平未来不仅将推进中国的经济改革，在政治上也可能会有某种程度的放松。他并大胆预言习近平将释放系狱的诺贝尔和平奖得主刘晓波，同时把前最高领导人毛泽东的遗体移出天安门广场。
    
    尽管他坦承这一切不会立即发生，但他断言，「中国的变化正在来临」。
    
    　　曾被「纽约时报」长期派驻香港、北京，并亲身经历过1989年「六四」天安门民主运动的纪思道说，习近平是一个改革家。他分析说，习近平有改革家的基因。他的父亲习仲勛是中国经济改革的先驱，也公开批评过中共对1989年民主运动的镇压。而习近平的母亲则一直居住在中国最资本主义化的城市深圳。
    
    　　他说，习近平也是中国领导人中最早把孩子送到美国读大学本科的人之一。他的女儿习明泽目前正在哈佛大学读三年级，反映她的父母对学习英语的重视以及对美国教育的钦佩。
    
    　　他说，习近平继胡锦涛后，担任集党、政、军大权于一身的中国最高领导人。而胡锦涛对中国的统治是失败的，连政府部长们也都称他浪费了宝贵的十年。如今整个社会弥漫求变的气息。
    

    纪思道指出，胡锦涛担任领导人就像一个机器人，只念预先写好的演讲稿。围绕他的也是一圈机器人。其中一具机器人智囊就是令计划，他的儿子去年3月的一个晚上驾驶法拉利在街上行驶时，遭遇车祸而丧生，车内两名半裸身女子其中一人随后死亡。
   
    　　纪思道引述他本人在中国政坛的一个消息来源说，令计划由于担心爆发丑闻而开始掩盖。他前往停尸间，看了看遗体，立即冷酷地否认那是他的儿子。随后几周他继续工作，好像什么都未发生。但他的掩盖计画失败，而这一事件让领导层的财富、滥权和缺乏血性都被曝光。
   
    　　纪思道说，习近平正尝试发出一个信息，即他与胡锦涛是截然不同的领导人。他去年11月就任中共总书记后，第一个动作就是仿邓小平「南巡」。他和他的团队也要求官员们在会议上不念空洞无物的讲稿。另一个正面的迹象是将在今年3月让极有能力的原广东省委书记汪洋担任国务院副总理。
   
    　　他说，习近平可能更喜欢加大经济改革而少在政治上放松，但这在中产阶级教育程度更高，也更加自信的中国已难上加难。而近年来，中国周边，从台湾到蒙古、南韩和泰国，都更加民主化，甚至缅甸都在加入这一行列。中国没有理由比缅甸更落后。
   
    　　刚刚访问过中国的纪思道指出，中国的老百姓越来越难以控制和被操纵，他们对中国的贪腐恨之入骨。几年以前他的一位朋友、一名中央政治局委员的儿子把名字借给一家公司，好让这家公司拿到更廉价的土地，得到的报酬是每月几千美元。但如今这些高层领导人的家人巧取豪夺，动辄捞取数十亿美元。
   
    　　根据彭博新闻社报导，中国全国人大的70位最富有的代表，财富多达900亿美元，超过美国国会议员财富总和的十倍。
   
    　　尽管纪思道认为中国会发生大变，但他也指出，中国对网路的镇压让人困扰。他认为这难以持续。而习近平对「南方周末」事件如何处理，将是对他的检验。
   
    　　纪思道也指出，习近平比胡锦涛更加民族主义，他担心中日之间有关钓鱼台主权的争端会失控。
   
    　　纪思道指出，中国在胡锦涛不成功的统治下经过了发展缓慢的十年，他相信未来十年在习近平的统治下，中国将再获生机。

八大红色贵族瓜分中国财富 老百姓无法忍受了

http://www.creaders.net  2013-02-11 09:20:23  明镜网  [3条评论,查看/发表评论]

    崇尚资本主义的红色贵族

　　当元老们大加谴责资本主义国家的“资产阶级式个人主义”时，他们一半以上的后代子孙皆于国外生活、求学或工作，有些在澳大利亚、英国和法国。太子党们也是革命后第一群可出国旅游和求学的人，他们拥有其他中国公民没有的优势。

与共产中国在1979年建立外交关系的美国是太子党们的首选：根据彭博社的资料，有23位元老子孙及其配偶在美国求学，3位在哈佛大学、4位在斯坦福大学。18人为美国企业工作，包括美国国际集团(AIG)和伟凯律师事务所(White & Case LLP)，后者雇用了邓小平的孙子，12人在美国有房产。

　　对于“太子党”对中国经济的掌控程度没有一个公认的说法。研究中国的学者们估计中国的财富和影响力集中在最少14个家族、最多则有几百个家族手中。

　　哈佛大学专攻中国精英政治的历史学家麦克法夸克（Roderick MacFarquhar）说：“蒋介石时有四大家族；现在则是有44个。改变现在这一体系需整个国家经历一个痛苦的过程，当人们觉得实在无法忍受了的时候。”

　　“八老”现在都已去世，其中除了3人，其他都活到90几岁。他们在中国的地位与华盛顿和杰弗逊在美国的地位相等。他们是邓小平﹑王震﹑陈云﹑李先念﹑彭真﹑宋任穷﹑杨尚昆和薄一波。

王震的形象被中共塑造得十分高大。

　　他们中的一些人在“文革时期”或被靠边站或被迫害，在毛泽东1976年过世，“文革”结束后重新逐步掌权，试图在废墟上重建经济。1978年的中国国民生产总值仅为人均165美元，对比同期美国是人均22462美元。看看日本﹑南韩﹑台湾和香港的繁荣，八老们周围全是资本主义的成功范例。打赢内战的共产党在1949年以后处决了地主，农村成了人民公社，工厂归属国家。

　　八大元老在1980年代将这些措施彻底改变：农人可以租地，私人企业（一开始规模甚小、之后转大）开始被允许、最后被鼓励。着有《邓小平与中国的转型》一书的哈佛大学费正清中心主任傅高义(Ezra Vogel)表示，邓小平赌了一把，他认为为了要刺激经济成长，一些“蚊子和苍蝇”可以被忍受。

　　邓小平1978年在北京对党的高层领导人说：在经济政策上，要允许一部分地区、一部分企业、一部分工人农民由于辛勤努力成绩大而收入多一些﹑生活好一些，影响左邻右舍，带动其他地区、其他单位的人们向他们学习，使整个国民经济不断地波浪式地向前发展，使各民族人民都能比较快地富裕起来。

　　傅高义指出，中国当时计划经济的设计师陈云希望党的老人们及其家族依旧掌握对国家的控制，邓小平也同意了。傅说：“邓小平当时认为这些人因为与党有关系，他们也因此应该更值得信赖。这些人绝对会对党忠诚，而且可以在必要时依赖他们。”

　　清楚自己的财富见不得阳光

　　在那之后的几个月后，王震的儿子王军就被指派为新成立的中国中信集团的业务部总经理，当时中信集团的名称是中国国际信託投资公司。由荣毅仁创立的这个公司是为了要吸引外资，当时中国的外汇储备为8.4亿美元。王军将这间公司转变为一个引导中国经济成长、不断向外伸展的企业帝国。中信集团现在经营中国最大的上市证券公司、赞助北京的一个足球队、发展奢华的房地产项目。中国现在的外汇储备有3.3万亿美元。

　　11月30日，在中国深圳的港中旅聚豪高尔夫球会的一次采访中，王军表示，中国现今已经实现了他父亲那一辈人的希望：“中国共产党希望全国的人可以变得富裕、生活水准更高。”王军在东风日产杯的会所抽着菸、喝着茶，并说道：“在革命的时候，如果吃饱穿暖，他们就很满足了。但是现在人们的需求变得愈来愈多。”

　　在外面的球场上，王军正从一处制高点俯瞰球员们，一位员工在他头上撑着伞替他挡雨。王军是这场比赛的中国队队长，他是《高尔夫杂志》(Golf Inc.　Magazine)2012年高尔夫球界中最有影响力人士排名中的第16位，比老虎伍兹还要高。

　　王军表示，他从1986年就开始玩高尔夫球，因为当时投资中国第二个高尔夫球场的日本银行给了他荣誉会员的身份。王军说：“中国当时正在向外开放、也希望有更多国外的投资者进入。如果一个城市里面没有高尔夫球场，他们就不想来。”

　　中信集团成为中国主要的高尔夫球赞助者，甚至还将触角延伸到高尔夫球场的设计和管理。王军在2008年成为深圳朝向体育管理有限公司的董事长，这间公司是中信旗下一间子公司5年前建立的合资企业。王军从中信那获得了该公司20%的股份。

　　彭博社以电子邮信的方式将几个问题发给朝向公司，包括王军的父亲是否曾对他的商业交易有任何批评，但这些问题都没有得到回应。1990年前往探望病床上的王震的访客说，王震将军表示很生气，因为他认为他的孩子们都脱离了革命的轨道。这位访客希望保持匿名以免遭受报复。

　　1990年，王震因腿伤在医院疗养。据那时去其病床边探访过他的人说，将军感到非常不满，因为他的孩子偏离了革命的道路。

　　王震将军的另外两个儿子，王之和王兵，也没有对彭博社发给朝向公司的问题有所回应，他们的高尔夫球队与朝向公司有关系。中信集团没有接听电话、也没有对询问公司与王军的业务联系的问题回应。

　　彭博社发现“八老”中有6人的子孙或其配偶曾在中信或是它的子公司工作过。杨尚昆的女儿杨李是中信公司部分拥有的一间公司的荣誉董事长。她在商业文件中提供的住家地址是香港的一间公寓，其产权属于中信集团下的一间公司。彭真的儿子傅亮是中信国安信息产业股份有限公司的董事。

　　彭博社通过其各自相关的中信子公司来采访傅和杨的尝试都失败了。

　　实际上，由国家掌控的媒体和网络限制了对这些太子党作为的报道，也将他们的商业交易从中国人民的视线中掩盖住。在公开的文件中找到的信息常常含煳不清，因为他们使用普通话、广东话和英语不同的名字。

　　为了整理出太子党们牵涉其中的企业和他们的商业利益，彭博社搜寻了几千页的企业文件、产权纪录和官方网站，也进行了许多采访──从南中国的一个高尔夫球场、邓小平家族在北京的居所、到密西根安纳堡的郊区住处。

　　彭博社的调查发现，有至少18位“八老”的子孙拥有或经营与离岸注册公司相关的商业实体，这些离岸区包括英属维尔京群岛(The British Virgin Islands, B.V.I)和英属开曼群岛(Cayman Islands)，以及利比亚和其他提供秘密保证的司法管辖区。

More Held, Jailed Over Burnings

2013-02-08

Chinese authorities step up a crackdown on self-immolation protests in Tibetan-populated areas.

Photo courtesy of a RFA listener.

Tibetan protester wounded by gunfire in Draggo, Jan. 23, 2012.

Updated at 01:20 p.m. EST on 2013-02-11

Chinese courts have ordered seven more Tibetans jailed for up to 14 years and have rounded up 70 others over their suspected roles in self-immolations and other protests challenging Beijing’s rule, according to Tibetan sources and state media.

Five of them were sentenced on January 26 for holding protests that turned violent in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture a year ago and two others were sentenced on Friday as Beijing stepped up its crackdown on the burning protests in Tibetan-populated areas in Chinese provinces.

On Jan. 26, the Draggo (Luhuo) County People’s Court in Kardze sentenced monks Tashi Dargye and Namgyal Dondrub to 14-year terms in prison for their role in a Jan. 23, 2012 protest, India-based Tibetan monk Ngawang Khyenrab told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday, citing sources in the region.

“A layman, Trinley, was sentenced to 10 years, and two other laypersons whose names are not known received 11-year terms,” Khyenrab said.

The protest began peacefully when Chinese authorities insisted that local Tibetans celebrate the Lunar New Year against the wishes of residents saddened by self-immolation protest deaths, but turned violent when security forces fired into the crowd, killing and injuring several people, sources said.

The two monks were identified from images captured on security cameras during area protests in 2008 and again during the protest in January last year, Khyenrab said.

The layman, Trinley, had been charged with damaging a bank when the Jan. 23, 2012 protest turned violent.

“Local residents are complaining that their trial was unfair and their sentences unjust,” Khyenrab said.

Two others jailed

Meanwhile, Chinese courts in Qinghai sentenced a Tibetan man to four years in prison for inciting “secession” and handed a 13-year term to another man for encouraging a monk to self-immolate, China’s official Xinhua news service reported on Friday.

In one court, a Tibetan herdsman identified as Gyadehor, 60, was sentenced to four years in prison for promoting ideas related to “Tibetan independence” when he brought money and other goods to comfort the families of self-immolators, Xinhua said.

“His acts constituted the crime of inciting a split of the state,” it said.

A Qinghai court on Friday also handed a 13-year term to Tibetan, Phagpa, 27, following his conviction on a charge of “intentional homicide” for encouraging a monk to self-immolate, Xinhua said.

The monk backed out of his planned protest after a female cousin learned of his intentions, the agency said.

A week ago, Chinese courts sentenced eight Tibetans for their alleged role in inciting or abetting other burnings in Sichuan and Gansu provinces, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday voiced concern over China’s use of criminal charges against persons associated with protesters and over the “deteriorating human rights situation in Tibetan areas.”

Washington continues to urge Chinese leaders to “engage in a substantive dialogue” with Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

“We continue to call on Chinese government officials to permit Tibetans to express their grievances freely, publicly and peacefully, without fear of retribution,” Nuland said.

Ninety-eight Tibetans so far have set themselves ablaze while calling for Tibetan freedom and the return from exile of the Dalai Lama, who lives in India’s Dharamsala hill town.

Stepped-up efforts

Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts in recent months to criminalize the burnings and crack down on Tibetans deemed to have provided encouragement or support.

Lyu Benqian, deputy chief of the Qinghai Provincial Public Security Department, said that 12 of the 70 suspects detained were formally arrested for their involvement in self-immolation cases in Qinghai’s Malho (in Chinese, Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Xinhua said.

“Some of the victims were frustrated and pessimistic in life, and they wanted to earn respect by self-immolation,” Lyu said, adding, “Meanwhile, a few individuals with a strong sense of extreme nationalism showed sympathy with the self-immolators and followed their example.”

China routinely accuses the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating the self-immolations.

But Tibetan exile leaders, while publicly honoring what they call the “sacrifices” made by self-immolators, have denied involvement in the burnings and have called on Tibetans in Tibet to refrain from “drastic actions.”

Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the sentencing court referenced in the third paragraph.

惨:250名想移民美国的中国人被骗1.5亿

    来源： 财经频道 
    
    
    
    美国证券交易委员会网站通告
    
    　　美国证券交易委员会 (SEC)周五在其网站上宣布，居住在伊利诺伊州的一名商人以及其两家公司已对寻求利润与移民的海外投资者形成诈骗，目前已叫停其骗局。
    
    　　美国证券交易委员会宣称，塞思(Anshoo R. Sethi)创建了芝加哥会议中心(ACCC)与芝加哥洲际区域中心信托(IRCTC)两家公司，并向250多位主要来自中国的投资者卖出1.45亿美元股份并收取了1100万美元的手续费。
    
    　　塞思与他的公司欺骗中国投资者称，通过购买ACCC股份，他们将资助位于芝加哥奥黑尔国际机场附近的得到美国绿建筑协会白金授权的世界首个零碳排放酒店与会议中心项目。塞思让这些投资者误以为这些投资能够提高他们获得美国EB-5投资移民签证的通过率。
    
    　　美国证券交易委员会表示，塞思与他的公司欺骗中国投资者称他们已经得到所有必要的建设许可，几家主要酒店连锁店也加入了这一项目。他们还向美国公司身份和移民服务局(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)提交了伪造的文件，似图取得项目许可以及投资者的临时签证。
    
    　　塞思与他的公司还用掉了90%以上的从投资者手中收取的手续费，其中有250万美元打入了塞思在香港的个人账户，虽然塞思承诺如果签证不成功将退回这些手续费。
    

New York Times Hit by Hackers

2013-01-31

Security experts hired by the paper say Chinese hackers breached its network.

AFP

A man walks past the New York Times office in Shanghai, Oct. 30, 2012.

The New York Times newspaper has accused hackers traced to China of "persistently" infiltrating its computer networks over the last four months, sparking an angry denial from Beijing.

"Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees," the paper reported.

The paper had hired a team of computer security experts to trace the attacks and block any back doors through which they were gaining access to the system, it said.

"The Times and computer security experts have expelled the attackers and kept them from breaking back in," the report said.

It said the timing of the attacks came as the paper's journalists were researching several billion dollars' worth of assets it later reported were held secretly by relatives of outgoing premier Wen Jiabao.

By the time the paper published the results of its investigation on Oct. 25, the security of its' employees e-mail accounts had already been compromised.

The paper hired security experts who had gathered evidence that Chinese hackers breached the paper's network, the report said.

"They broke into the e-mail accounts of its Shanghai bureau chief, David Barboza, who wrote the reports on Mr. Wen’s relatives, and Jim Yardley, The Times’s South Asia bureau chief in India, who previously worked as bureau chief in Beijing," the paper reported.

However, a spokeswoman for the papers said no evidence had been found that outsiders had accessed sensitive information or files from the research effort.

Cover their tracks

According to experts at Mandiant, the security firm that investigated the security breach, the hackers tried to cover their own tracks by routing the attacks through compromised computers at U.S. universities.

"This matches the subterfuge used in many other attacks that Mandiant has tracked to China," the New York Times' own article said.

It said the malware used to install spyware on the paper's network was also of a type previously associated with Chinese hacker attacks.

It quoted Mandiant as saying that the attacks started from the same university computers used by the Chinese military to attack U.S. military contractors in the past.

The paper said there appeared to be a "broader computer espionage campaign" against American news media companies that have reported on Chinese leaders and corporations.

It cited Chinese hacker attacks on Bloomberg News after Bloomberg published an article on June 29 about the wealth accumulated by relatives of president-in-waiting Xi Jinping.

An employee at the New York Times in China, who declined to be named, confirmed that the e-mail accounts of "some colleagues" had been taken over by hackers.

But he declined to speculate on whether the Chinese government was involved.

Meanwhile, a German foreign correspondent based in Beijing said his e-mail had been hacked several times before.

"My e-mail account has been taken over at least four times," the journalist said, including, "Once from Hong Kong, once from Taiwan and once from mainland China."

"My e-mails were opened," he added.

Revenge attack unlikely

Beijing-based scholar Chen Yongmiao, who follows cyber-security issues, said he believed that official military involvement in a revenge attack on the Times' networks wasn't very likely.

But he said that didn't rule out privately motivated attacks by people affected by the Times' recent reporting on China, who might well have a military background.

"I don't think that the military would target a specific company simply because of some media reports about corruption," Chen said.

"Unless it was someone from one of the families accused of corruption, who used his military connections to get revenge on the New York Times."

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied any involvement in hacker activities, saying it is opposed to them.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday that the suggestion that China was involved in the hacker attacks on The New York Times was "irresponsible."

"To arbitrarily assert and to conclude without hard evidence that China participated in such hacking attacks is totally irresponsible," Hong told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

"China is also a victim of hacking attacks," he said. "Chinese laws clearly forbid hacking attacks, and we hope the relevant parties will take a responsible attitude on this issue."

A similar denial was quoted in the New York Times from the defense ministry in Beijing.

Significant threat

A U.S. security watchdog reported last year that China has advanced its computer network capabilities to the extent that they pose a significant threat to U.S. military operations in the event of a conflict.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report detailed how China is advancing its capabilities in computer network attack, defense, and exploitation and examines issues related to cybersecurity and potential risks to U.S. national security and economic interests.

In August 2011, China rejected suggestions that it was behind a massive cyberspying initiative reported earlier that month by security firm McAfee.

McAfee said in a report titled "Operation Shady RAT" that hackers compromised computer security at more than 70 global organizations, including the U.N. and U.S. government bodies, sparking speculation that China was behind the attacks.

McAfee did not identify any country behind the hacking campaign, but its security experts had said in February last year that hackers working from China had targeted the computers of oil and gas companies in the U.S., Greece, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan.

The “coordinated, covert, and targeted” attacks began in November 2009, and the hackers succeeded in stealing sensitive information, it said.

Reported by Grace Kei Lai-see for RFA's Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

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