Web site greatfirewallofchina.org allows you to test whether your blog is blocked by Chinese authorities.

Mine is.

I guess that's an endorsement of sorts. Recently, I've been posting about the media and how certain figures or events are portrayed in the online, print and televised media. Plus expressing opinions as well, when I feel like it.

I will return to book reviewing when semester one ends on 30 June. For the moment, I'm in the thick of course-related reading and writing.

Great Firewall of China has a really neat and succinct FAQ that explains their aims and concerns. Among other items:

According to ‘Reporters Sans Frontières’, in 2003 dissident Jiang Lijun was sentenced to four years imprisonment for ‘undermining the state’. His conviction was based on a draft email found on his Yahoo page. This draft contained proposals for a more democratic China, which, according to the prosecution, could be regarded as taking part in “subversive activities that aim to undermine the authority of the Communist Party”. Yahoo provided the necessary data to find Jiang.

It's not certain from the FAQ to what extent bloggers are being targeted:

In order to control the phenomenon the government wants blog users to register under their real name.

This resembles what the government in Malaysia is currently considering, as I reported a few days ago.