Chinese Websites Are A 'Gold Mine' When It Comes To News And On Political Disputes And New Weapon Systems

Washington Free Beacon: Chinese Websites Produce Intelligence Windfall

Strict censorship unable to stop leaks on political spats, new weapons.

In February 2012 one of the most unusual political dramas in years played out in southwestern China as a regional Communist leader tried to prevent one of his subordinates from defecting to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, in southwestern Sichuan Province.

Concerned that illegal activities, including the murder a British businessman, were about to be exposed by the defector and implicate the up and coming regional Party chief Bo Xilai, armored personnel carriers and other military forces were dispatched by Bo from his headquarters in nearby Chongqing to capture the defector, Wang Lijun.

Within hours, China’s active yet heavily monitored Internet lit up with postings by Chinese “netizens,” who posted information and photos that provided valuable early intelligence on what would eventually result in dramatic fall of Bo Xilai, who had been slated to serve on the Standing Committee of the Communist Party Politburo, the apex of power.

WNU Editor: Russian news and Russian social media are the same thing .... they are disclosing stuff that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago.