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CYBER WARS
Hong Kong 'mock vote' under cyber attack: university
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) March 23, 2012


A university website offering ordinary Hong Kongers a chance to vote for their next leader ahead of Sunday's election is under "systematic attack" from hackers, organisers said Friday.

Thousands of people who do not have the right to vote in the tightly controlled "small-circle election" are expressing their views through the unofficial poll organised by the University of Hong Kong.

"The system has been very busy," Robert Chung, director of the university's respected Public Opinion Programme, told Cable TV.

"We suspect it is under systematic attack as there are over one million clicks on our system every second."

Chung did not indicate who could be responsible for the disruption, but his team of pollsters has a history of aggravating mainland authorities with surveys indicating public opinion that is at odds with Beijing's official line.

The vast majority of Hong Kong's seven million residents have no right to determine who will replace Chief Executive Donald Tsang, whose term expires in June, as the southern financial centre's next leader.

The vote is restricted to a 1,200-member committee packed with pro-Beijing elites, who will cast their ballots on Sunday.

The leading candidates are Henry Tang, the heir to a textile fortune and former chief secretary, and Leung Chun-ying, a policeman's son turned self-made property consultant -- both regarded as pro-Beijing establishment figures.

The university's so-called civil referendum began at midnight Thursday and continues until 9:00pm (1300 GMT) Friday, with ballots cast through the website, via mobile phones or at 15 "polling stations".

"This is a meaningful exercise because it shows Hong Kong people want direct elections," university lecturer Michele Ho told AFP after casting her vote at a booth.

"Although we can't influence the election outcome on Sunday, this mock vote shows we want to have a say and we should have the right to decide who is our next leader."

Before the polls opened organisers said they had hoped to attract at least five million votes.

Hong Kongers were also expressing themselves through a free iPhone app called "I want to vote for my chief executive".

The version for iPhones had more than 4,200 votes by 1:30pm on Friday, with Leung leading on 34.6 percent.

He was closely followed by blank or donkey votes on 32 percent. Tang was next on 19.2 percent and third candidate Albert Ho had 14.9 percent of the vote.

Tang was seen as China's choice until a slew of scandals and gaffes made him unpopular with the public. Even so, he continues to enjoy the strong support of key committee members including Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing.

Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control from British rule in 1997, with a semi-autonomous status that guarantees broad social freedoms under limited democracy.

Beijing has said that, at the earliest, the city's chief executive could be directly elected in 2017 and the legislature by 2020.

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China bloggers skirt censors with noodles, Teletubbies
Beijing (AFP) March 23, 2012 - Chinese web users frustrated by the blocking of sensitive terms have come up with a system of bizarre code words to allow them to post on a political saga that has gripped the blogosphere.

China blocks all information deemed sensitive under a vast censorship system known as the "Great Firewall", but the huge rise of weibos -- microblogs similar to Twitter -- is making this task increasingly difficult.

In recent days censors have been working overtime to remove references to the dramatic sacking last week of rising political star Bo Xilai and rumours of a coup led by security chief Zhou Yongkang, said to have been close to Bo.

Bloggers have tried to get round this by referring to Zhou as "Master Kong" -- a brand of instant noodles -- because the names share a common character in Chinese.

"Played too big, Master Kong is now in trouble," posted one weibo user under the name Engineer Zhongyu.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who criticised Bo on the eve of his sacking, is referred to as "Teletubbies" because his name shares a character with the Chinese name for the popular children's television series.

And President Hu Jintao has been given the name "carrot" because "Hu" uses the Chinese character for the vegetable.

"For today's tug of war, carrot and Teletubby have patiently waited for years, which is not easy," posted a weibo user called Long Long River, in an apparent reference to the political divisions in the ruling Communist Party.

Censors have blocked all forms of search on the weibos for terms linked to Bo, who was removed as party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing last Thursday.

Search terms such as "Bo Xilai", Bo's son "Bo Guagua" or his wife "Gu Kailai" have all been censored on Sina.com's popular weibo.

References to "Ferrari" have also been deleted after an unknown driver crashed his Italian sports car in Beijing and died, sparking speculation he may have been the son of a top leader.

Political analysts say Bo's ousting has exposed deep divisions in the Communist Party ahead of a generational handover of power later this year.

The lack of an official explanation for the move has served to fuel the online rumour mill, which has this week buzzed with groundless speculation of a a military coup, gunshots and even tanks rolling into central Beijing.



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CYBER WARS
Online rumour fills information void in jittery China
Beijing (AFP) March 22, 2012
Groundless rumours of a coup that have swept Beijing in recent days are a sign of nervousness after the sacking of political star Bo Xilai exposed rifts in China's ruling Communist Party, analysts say. Bo had been tipped to join an elite group of leaders who effectively run China later this year, and his downfall - announced last week in a brief official dispatch - is the biggest drama to ... read more


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